Hello Everyone,
My Name is Robert John Vandunk and I am a secondary teacher at Mt. Vernon High School in Mt. Vernon New York. I do not know if many of you are familiar with this school but it has a vast amount of stereotypes. I hope to take everything from this program and apply it to my classes and hope to see change.
I am a big believer in "Hands-on" Strategies as well as metacognitive approaches in teaching. Teaching is the front line of the future and we all need to be "Hands-on," so what better way to do that then connecting with them with things they like to do.
I hope New Media and New Literacies and help us all achieve that and close the gap...
Your blog is great!
ReplyDeleteHaving worked the most of my educational career in SpecEd with students with ASD, I am all for hands-on learning as the best way to experience what is taught by us in the classroom. It adds a concrete life experience to connect with the abstract of what is being learned.
ReplyDeleteHands on! Great concept. I am a firm believer. The pedagogy of teaching the arts is always hands on and in project based learning. Add the contextual ideas of connecting to the world around the learner is excellent.
ReplyDeleteCome from a corporate/ military training background hands on is the only way I know!
ReplyDeleteThough I do not have any experience in a classroom, I have worked with the physically and mentally disabled for the past 5+ years, and I must agree that the idea of a hands on approach is one that will benefit many students. Being better able to connect with students, and understand their likes and dislikes, will allow us to work better within those parameters, giving our students a better reason to pay attention to what is going on, something that is desperately needed in an age of so many easy distractions!
ReplyDeleteI certainly think that you have first hand experience to base this on, but why can't the idea of critical thinking evolve away from a traditional approach, and move to one that embraces technology? Educators are not only creating learning environments but also responsible for preparing students as future citizens and contributors in society. As part of that, technology is something that is going to part of their day to day lives more so than it is now. They will be need to understand it and utilize it as they move through education into the employment sector. I believe that there is a way to find a balance between evolving technology and critical thinking without thinking that one takes away from another. The information is more readily available, that much is true, but the critical thinking is what each one of those students do with that that information, how they question it, how they respond to it.
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