Self Directed Learning

I am one of those old-school learners (even though I'm quite young) who can appreciate the Classic view of teaching.  I prefer a teacher to be in front of me giving a lecture so that I can take notes and know what exactly is on the test.

My first year of teaching tended to reflect this style of learning.  I stood in the front of the class and gave the kids notes.  They did ok on their assessments, but it had to be just horrible for those students who have different learning styles.  Thankfully I have since grown in my ability to teach, and switch it up quite often.

That brings me to today.  I was looking at my class as they worked in small groups.  Their objective was to answer the questions on the worksheet.  The worksheet corresponded to a section in our textbook that, in the past, I would have just had them write boring notes.

By using doing this, the students were able to gleen the information they needed in their own style.  They had the option to work together if they wanted; some chose to work alone.  They worked at their own pace, and learned what they needed in order to begin our new unit.

Best of all:  they seemed to like it.