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Post by colemanaj1776 on Feb 1, 2016 12:07:33 GMT -5
What are some ways to get your students involved with the primary discourse of your content area?
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Post by rachel1827 on Feb 1, 2016 14:59:59 GMT -5
Something I try to do with my students is to challenge them to question how things work around them. An example would be when my friend's little sisters came to visit at my house. We have a pond in the back of my house and my friend's little sister was questioning why we had a certain plants around the lake and certain animals. She saw an alligator (affectionately named Ally). I asked her questions, utilized her prior knowledge, and her curiosity to get her to dig deep and research to answer her own questions.
For me I try to make science come alive and make it relatable using things they come in contact with all the time. Making it relatable helps students become interested in a particular area.
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Post by rachelgoodbar on Feb 1, 2016 19:25:06 GMT -5
Making it relatable to them and help them find things that are important to them in the topic so that they actually want to learn something. Especially teaching English and teaching books I think that its important to help students find their own connections and then using that connection to link their interest back into the content area.
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Post by wmm12d on Feb 2, 2016 9:01:52 GMT -5
I agree. I try to tie history and government to their lives in a way that fosters an appreciation and a need for knowledge in these areas. For example, discussing how a bold but vague foreign policy could lead to a conflict with another country, in which your son or daughter, brother or sister, mother or father may have to fight, can leave a lingering need for more information.
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Post by brittanysinitch on Feb 3, 2016 0:17:52 GMT -5
I like the idea of having our students take over the teaching role. For our video critiques I stumbled upon a teacher who had her students lead discussions and make decisions on their own. This engaged the students and got them involved in the content area. Students were not only working with one another to accomplish a common goal, but they were also growing as individuals and I find that inspiring!
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Post by kcornelison93 on Feb 3, 2016 13:24:10 GMT -5
rachelgoodbar and wmm12dFor this week’s readings, I read an article called “‘I'm not a Pencil Man’: How one Student Challenges Our Notions of Literacy ‘Failure’ in School” by Michele Knobel. I don't know if this was one of the articles we were supposed to read but it is what cropped up when I googled “notions of literacy.” I honestly found this article pretty useful. Up until now, we’ve read a lot of theory about why we, as teachers, should not only focus on “school literacies” but also literacies with “real world” practices and implications. This is the first article I've read that has had anything to do with actual practical implications of these practices (if anyone wants to read it I found it on the JSTOR database through our libraries). Definitely recommend (plus it's pretty short!). Basically, I think what readings crop up in different school years will have to relate to what students in the classroom have expressed interest in (perhaps hand out a survey or questionnaire at the beginning of the year??) and then be tailored to them. For my content area (Spanish) I anticipate having a lot of opportunities to cover different cultural and global topics but I still think it will depend on what the students are interested in (re: the pencil man article, something like mechanics or business).
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Post by savannapoulson on Feb 6, 2016 20:49:08 GMT -5
I think one way to increase involvement is to implement the use of multimedia and technology. Recalling my high school classes, there was always the most involvement and interest when something that could also entertain students was involved. For example, a teacher could play Schoolhouse Rock (which could work for multiple subjects, but for the purpose of this discussion I'll be focusing on the English/Language Arts components) which can introduce students to grammar terms which in turn can be used as a part of scaffolding for a writing unit.
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Post by morgan on Feb 7, 2016 16:00:50 GMT -5
A way to get students involved in the primary discourse of our course is to really be aware of the discourse that they don't know. So maybe that includes teaching some academic terms that we will be using in the lesson we're teaching and placing them on the walls so that the students will know what we are talking about. It's probably a good idea to start with the big ideas of the lesson and move to small (or scaffolding would be very helpful, as Savanna suggested). This would give students a good base of knowledge to help them get into more specific intricacies of the topic and talk about them.
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Post by rachelgoodbar on Feb 7, 2016 21:38:58 GMT -5
Morgan I really like that idea. I remember sometimes feeling lost as a student because teachers were using academic terms that I was unfamiliar with so being aware of this is really great. Getting students involved in the primary discourse of our subjects, should mostly be aware of what they know and don't know, recognizing what they do, and teaching them how to be involved in the primary discourse. There is nothing more frustrating then trying to be a part of a conversation but not being able to keep up because you don't speak the "language" so really getting to know our students and their own primary discourses is a really good idea. Another way to get them interested in the primary discourse of our courses might be to interlock the primary discourse of their favorite subject to ours. Maybe having a student who is really interested in history be able to write about that, and bring one discourse over the the next.
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Post by brittanysinitch on Feb 9, 2016 16:40:51 GMT -5
Another thought that just came to mind: In our class on Monday we talked about the importance of getting students to truly understand the text at hand. It's important to always be teaching English, but it's also just as important to remember to teach to our students. By that I mean, we should use the standards as a guideline, but we should also learn how to accommodate our students and do what is best for them. One of my main goals as a future educator is to find a balance between teaching English and teaching students and making that a priority in my classroom.
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Post by rachelhinder on Feb 10, 2016 8:53:13 GMT -5
I really like what Morgan said about how important it is to be aware of what students don't know. Word/concept walls are a great resource for students to be able to keep up with things they may be unfamiliar with. Back to the main question, to get students interested in anything you have to make it relatable and approachable. Making those connections in the classroom encourage participation and real learning - not just "for the grade" learning. To make it approachable, I agree with Savanna that scaffolding is a great way to slowly introduce students to complex subjects.
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Post by seanwillis on Feb 10, 2016 12:30:22 GMT -5
Along with Savanna's idea of incorporating multimedia and technology, I think humor is another great way to obtain student interest. The other day in class a group presentation included a particularly funny meme that caused everyone to snap to attention. Even if just a few students understand the joke, then suddenly every other student is thinking, "I want to know what's so funny," and returning their attention to the teacher/presentation/lecture/activity.
The key thing here is that the humor is relevant to your students, because if it's not then you end up looking super lame in front of your students.
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