Moving to the Partnering Pedagogy

Last week we discussed podcasts and vodcasts. I think vodcasts are absolutely brilliant. What would be better way to explain a topic covered in class that students can access any time they need it? This would be really good because then you could visually demonstrate examples so that if students need additional help, they can review them whenever. It could be a good homework help and study tool for exams. I had trouble with the computer at school making a vodcast, but I'd like to try and create one and post it on here. Maybe next week!

Additionally, this week we read about moving towards partnering pedagogy. Firstly, I really liked how they gave examples of classroom setups. I was having difficulty envisioning what kinds of desk arrangements would support this, and the images in the book were great. I also really liked that they gave alternatives within partnering, especially how to ease into it. I have always been in honors classes where teachers lectured and told us what they want. One teacher even told me, "You just find out what the teachers need you to do and you do it. It's a game. You have to learn how to play it." Because the idea of assisting in my learning is so foreign to me, I would definitely need to figure out how to think in the way partnering works. It's so ingrained in me to just let teachers lecture, it'll take true effort on my part to get past that. But it's a task I'm willing to take on.

Alison & Angelica Podcast 518

Podcast Example

Partnering

This week we discussed partnering, which is the idea that students and teachers need to work together to learn. This means that students should have a more active role in their learning so that they can learn in their own way. 

In this situation, students should learn how to figure out what they need to know on their own, rather than have someone tell it to them. They should also learn how to teach themselves (as they will do in the future) and take it upon themselves to use technology to accomplish these.

Teachers need to learn how to ask the right questions to make students think. This is the best way to inspire the students to learn on their own terms. Additionally, teachers need to become more like coaches and guides so that they can set the students on the path to the right goals and let the students arrive at the knowledge however it works best for them. Teachers should also give students a context for the material so that students know what is being asked of them.

Responding to What Do You Think?

I think the presentation was really efficiently presented. The Prezi presentation was very informative and presented the information in a straight forward manner. My only suggestion, and not a major one, was that during the presentation, some of the slides seemed a bit rushed. I would have loved to have had a bit more time to look at them. But overall, great presentation! I only have superficial questions about blogs left, but I am sure that those are things that I could easily find out by playing around with the blog some more.