Primary Tech (formerly Integrating Technology) is a blog by Kathleen Morris. Upon first looking at her blog, she had a reflection post since she would be leaving soon for her maternity leave. She had some interesting tid-bits that I thought, as a fledgling teacher, I might want to take into account.
Though she had prided herself on making useful worksheets, she had finally come to the conclusion that she really didn’t need them, especially with a more open-ended, modern classroom. They just aren’t effective in that type of environment, despite the general public believing that worksheets are a staple in education. I highly agree with her when she states that they’re just “busy work.” I didn’t mind worksheets in school because they were easy, but I know the honor-roll and gifted students hated them because they were so easy for them and very boring.
I liked this quote she had about worksheets: “It is clear to me that hands-on, authentic, collaborative, open-ended tasks have a much bigger impact on students than a prescribed worksheet.”
That’s the kind of classroom I would like, open-ended and hands-on.
Here’s a list of her other reflections that she sums up quite nicely, rather than me trying to paraphrase:
- Ideas and resources are always available: I can use Twitter, blogs and other online tools to brainstorm or source the ideas and resources I need in the future. I know my international professional learning network (PLN) will always be there. I don’t need to keep an artefact of an idea I had five years ago “just in case”.
- Digital resources don’t take up space: A lot of what I’ve created for my classroom is housed on my computer or in the cloud. My work programs used to take up a lot of shelf space. Now I work on them collaboratively with my team via Google Docs. This is just one example of saving physical space and working more effectively.
- I don’t need to provide it all: The modern classroom is a lot less teacher-led than it was when I began teaching. I don’t need to create all the work, resources or projects. This is something students can do authentically and collaboratively.
- Prioritising is powerful: I’ve always enjoyed creating a bright and attractive learning environment in my classroom. However, I have come to realise that spending hours on beautiful bulletin board displays isn’t a good use of my time. I’ve had to simplify things over the years to devote more time to avenues that can offer my students amazing outcomes, such as blogging and global projects. I no longer have as many “decorative items” to store and students can play a bigger role in working on their physical learning environment.
One of the main things I worry about is being “thrown into the fire while others watch to see what happens.” I keep forgetting that I have resources available to me and teachers who are supporting me. I just worry I won’t be able to access them when I need them. I almost feel like I’m having to learn to run before learning to crawl. However I should know that’s my mind blowing things out of proportion (it likes doing that). Just need to keep my chin up.