A recent article in the The Daily Riff, discussed "21 things that will become obsolete in education by 2020." The list included lined rows of desks (students will be collaborating on a daily basis), computer labs, computers, homework, standardized tests as we know them, paperbacks, high school algebra I (will be required in 8th grade) and paper, to name a few.
Homework gone forever? Well, not exactly. There is a new phenomena sweeping schools these days called, Flipping the Classroom. The concept begins with students watching the teacher developed mini-lessons online on course content and doing specific readings at home. This eliminates the need for the teacher to spend so much time lecturing in class. Instead, the teacher acts as a facilitator and coach, if you will. When students come to class the next day, they are not taking notes but are working collaboratively in groups to demonstrate an understanding of the content knowledge or applying it to real world scenarios developed by the teacher. The teacher is then spending the majority of the class time answering questions and guiding students both in groups and individually.
The role of the student is now to closely work with each other to solve problems and develop answers to questions they may have. This concept, engages, by far, the highest levels of thinking- analysis, prediction and evaluation. As our teachers start to develop their own professional learning groups with their colleagues, it is my hope that ELHS can explore this model and put it into practice.
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