Active Learning

Thankfully, the old ways of learning in the classroom, with just a textbook and a lecturing teacher, are gradually coming to an end. There is nothing worse than seeing students yawning, out of boredom. With technology, there seems to be an endless number of choices and ways to learn. What really makes a difference is that students are getting to have a say about how they learn. They are given options. When students take ownership of their learning, it has greater meaning. They might be given the choice of making a skit or video, a Powerpoint or Prezi presentation, a Popplet, a newspaper, an art piece, poem, or storyboard. The word “active” in active learning means students are not simply passive learners, but are learning by doing.

While there are so many different technological resources and opportunities, it is important to analyze the value of activities, making sure that learning is possible and not taken over by gimmicks. However, sometimes a little wasted time with gimmicks can be the very factor that motivates a student to engage in learning. The fun factor can make a difference!

For the past several years, I have been co-teaching a remedial reading summer school class that has been very successful, as our students all create a newspaper of their own design. We encourage the students to choose their own topics to research and write about, as well as to add interviews, puzzles and quizzes. What motivates the students is their autonomy with content and design. After writing an article on a topic, they choose images and interesting fonts and layouts for their newspaper. I am amazed by how motivated students are when they can produce a polished piece that looks really professional. Knowing they will print and share the newspaper with others also motivates them to spend more time adding detail to their writing, proofreading, and editing their work.

Some ideas can be simple, but produce surprisingly varied and creative results. A project called "One Year in Six Words" required students to choose words carefully, reducing thier choices to only six words, to sum up thier school year.

One Year in Six Words- Link


PREZI LINK  

The article “What is Learning?” in the USFSP Distance Learning Blog talks about the criteria that makes students active learners. Autonomy, relevance, exploration and reflection are all important in the learning process. 

https://usfspdistancelearning.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/what-is-active-learning

image source

The graphic above shows the different retention rates when students learn by lecture compared with increasingly active and interactive ways of learning. Clearly, the trend to move away from traditional lecturing methods is worthwhile! What matters is what a student takes away from a learning experience, whether the knowledge and skills can be applied at another time or are simply forgotten. Too much energy is wasted with rote memorization of facts that are forgotten as soon as the test is taken. 

Technology is not an essential element in active learning. Our school's 7th graders had a fabulous interdisciplinary unit where students read The Call of the Wild by Jack London. The students were divided into teams that designed and built their own Iditarod sleds (with wheels rather than runners), made creative team names, shirts, cheers or songs, built fires, created questions that needed to be answered by teams at race stations and, finally, raced other teams around the school, with one student riding as the musher and the others pulling the sled. The project required a great deal of coordination and planning, with parent participation to help with the supervision of power tools and stations along the race, but the effort was worth it. The students were so highly motivated and engaged, with real hands on learning, and it was a true highlight of their time in middle school. They will certainly remember The Call of the Wild.

Certainly creating active learning experiences require more effort and planning than the traditional lecture and test model of teaching, but the rewards can be great for teachers and students alike.

Why did I name this blog "Brushstrokes"? Several years ago, I learned the art of Sumi-e painting, an ancient Japanese ink painting technique, where I learned how to manipulate a brush to create different types of strokes to create different effects. Knowing some basic brushstrokes then opened a world of possibilities for painting. We all need ways to communicate and express ourselves, and given the right tools, the possibilities are endless.

Sumi-e painting by Roosevelt 5th grader

https://youtu.be/iGQriYl0r80

I have been teaching for a long time, always combining my interests in art and special education. Those interests overlap, as they both have so much to do with expression. In my first job, back in the 80s, I taught in a residential school in England for severely emotionally disturbed children, which is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. (I'm actually amazed that 30 some years later I am still working in the area of special education, as those early years were so physically and emotionally demanding.  However, I didn't get any help in my classroom back then. Having the support of other adults in the class makes a world of difference and I continue to be amazed and inspired by students who are unique and experience the world in a less typical way.) Very early on, working with troubled kids, I found that so many of their emotions came out in their artwork, in a way that wasn't possible with words. Kids often find it difficult to talk about their feelings, and drawing or painting feels more like play. I really wanted to know how to encourage greater creative expression, and to respond to them in a meaningful way, enabling them the opportunity to work through some of their troubles. That desire to help led me to train as an art therapist.


After living in England for seven years, I moved back to Chicago and worked with children with autism, first at Michael Reese Hospital's Developmental Institute, then Easter Seal's Therapeutic Day School. Again, I was able to experience the power of art and its ability to offer a means of expression for individuals who are unable to communicate well in other ways. I also had the privilege of supervising art therapy interns from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was rewarded with free continuing ed art classes. This opportunity enabled me to explore so many different areas of art that I had not experimented with before. I took sculpture, figure drawing, charcoal drawing of abstractions from nature, portrait drawing, Sumi-e painting, printmaking and quite a few other classes. I continue to bring what I learned in these classes into my teaching of art, particularly since I now teach in the regular education setting as well.
I have been lucky that my combination of interests have been valued by administrators. I teach art to over 150 fifth graders each year and offer an adaptive art class at the primary school, with their lowest functioning special needs students (the Skills class). I also job share teaching the middle school special needs class, where I teach reading, writing, math, and life skills, including the best part of the week, cooking!

In recent years, our Skills students are spending less and less time in the self-contained classroom and are going to far more regular ed classes. They used to attend just art, music and PE with their peers, but now we are including them in Science, Social Studies and more. Technology is a valuable tool for students with special needs in the classroom, as it allows them to access so much that was impossible in the past. Some of my students are unable to speak, so we are exploring ways to use technology and communication devices. There are now exciting possibilities for these kids and I am wanting to know more!
I guess both of my jobs, in special education and art, focus on providing opportunities for students to explore, grow and learn to express themselves. I am thinking this blog could be a way to share ideas that promote expression, combining the worlds of art, special education and technology.

In my personal life, I am crazy about traveling and having adventures. I am married to an artist and we have two kids who share our passions as well. My daughter, Naomi, is 25 and works as an occupational therapist. She made her first trip abroad when she was just six weeks old! She is in love with a lovely young man from Ecuador, so I see the purchasing of many more plane tickets in our future! My son, Carl, is 23 and he is passionate about the environment, permaculture, and photography. He just returned from a summer photography/farming trip in Peru and Bolivia and is about to travel by van from California to Alaska. We all have an insatiable desire for adventure. (Carl and I went skydiving to celebrate his 18th birthday!) We travel cheaply, and have been to so many amazing places: national parks in the U.S., including Yellowstone, the Tetons, Glacier, Arches, Rocky Mountain and more, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe, and Canada. Still, some of our best trips have been closer to home. One of our favorite places in the world is Sleeping Bear Dunes, in Michigan. Hmmm, I think this blog could have a travel tips section as well!

An amazing Christmas at Machu Picchu - personal photo