Teaching for Meaningful Learning

I think the most important aspect of this article is encouraging teachers to take the project-based learning approach and encourage "learning by doing" in the classroom.  Even though this may be a big culture shock in some schools, it has proven to create a new kind of learning experience that students will remember.  Like the other articles we have read about implementing new teaching strategies throughout the school, this program is not cheap and school districts would not be able to provide these services to their schools if not for outside help, such as grants, volunteer work, and donations.

The blog posting I chose to read is entitled "Preparing Tomorrow's Learners".  This post discusses implementing a fun environment in the classroom that also encourages students to investigate and discover new things wile learning skills they will need in the future.  Students are encouraged to take part in expeditions in the classroom.  During these expeditions, students work hard and do research to solve the important dilemma they have been given.  Not only is this approach fun for students, but it makes them feel as though they are accomplishing something purposeful, rather than filling out worksheets all day.

This posting and our study on culturally responsive teaching are similar in many ways.  Both ways of teaching focus on making connections between the content being taught and real world situations so that students can relate to their work and understand the purpose of what they are being taught.  Another similarity is using scaffolding in the classroom which is building upon prior knowledge and making connections to concepts students have already grasped.  The purpose of both strategies is to prepare students to go into the real world and teach them how to communicate and understand information they encounter.