Saturday, September 16, 2006
Too Much, Too Fast
One of the issues with allowing the students to use new methodolgy and allowing them to construct their own understanding is the time that it takes. Now don't misunderstand me, I agree with most of the comments going on over on the fischbowl, but I am troubled by my first time through an AP class. There is a lot of information to get through in this class and the test score is the most important thing about this class (or is it?). If I do not get to the information, there are consequences to deal with. The students right now are doing a good job of not being too worried about their class grades because I think they are learning a lot. But how do we balance the large amount of information that I need to cover with the limited time (a lot of it taken by standardized testing that the school needs to do) and the use of allowing the students to find their own direction? I guess this will be a question that I (and we) will be looking for an answer to long after I leave teaching.
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1 comment:
I think you need to give yourself a little bit of a break with the A.P. class. I do believe all the things we are talking about will work there as well, but the first time teaching an A.P. class is rough - go with what's comfortable, easy and likely to produce decent results. After you have a year under your belt, then you'll have a better idea of ways to integrate more constructivist approaches into A.P. (or not).
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