The First WWSC Summer Academy is in the books. The staff from U.W. Stout and Western Technical College gave tremendous leadership along with business partners from Fort MCoy, Burr Oak Winery and Organic Valley. The two weeks were outstanding learning opportunities for educators to take back their classrooms. The expectations are now in place to use contextual teaching in the first career pathway the teachers undertook. That pathway, Agriculture and Environmental Education are going to be the door to infusing Math, Science and career and technical areas in a spiraled fashion for grades K through 12.
It has inspired many to rethink how they teach and how to consciously apply contextual aspects instead of teaching math and science because this is how we were taught so we will continue to teach others in the same fashion. It is now teaching with purpose. It is teaching with discussion among colleagues on better ways to help kids understand. It is taking educational standards and applying what is essential and giving them a perspective as to why the information is needed and how it really works.
Teachers are finding with the vast change in information reception and research that is available, the teacher truly is no longer the "Sage on the Stage" but the "Guide on the Side." The educator is quickly becoming a resource agent as well as facilitator of resources, information and assets in the community. The teachers in this project have tapped into community resources that were untouched and willing to partner in ways unthought of.
As the Western Wisconsin STEM Consortium moves into the fall there will be many exciting things happening to classrooms big and small all over western Wisconsin.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Math - Science Partnership Grant
The first STEM Academy is just around the corner for 60 teachers from across Western Wisconsin. This opportunity has garnered national attention, both from the U.S. Department of Education as well as the International Foundation run by Bill Daggett. The summer academy will be focusing on one of the Career Clusters essential to Western Wisconsin and to Wisconsin as a whole - that being Agriculture and the Environment. The summer academy not only taps into the knowledge base of the lead instructor, Dr. Charles Bomar of the University of Wisconsin - Stout but into the knowledge and background of field practicioners from Fort McCoy, Organic Valley Cooperative and Burr Oak Winery. This is a great chance to learn math and science at all grade levels K-12 along with the infusion of Career and Technical Education teachers to offer the insight into what is a classroom based approach to one that becomes a contextual approach.
These sessions are not "sit and get." The teachers will be actively engaged from the moment they walk into the opening session at the Lunda Center on the campus of Western Technical College in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Teachers will be in work groups, doing activities, developing lessons, sharing knowledge, and creating programs that can be used no matter how large or how small the district is that is represented. The model that will be followed is called REACT. It wsa developed by CORD, which is the Center for Occupational Research and Development of Waco, Texas.
This project is bringing teachers together who may have never worked together let alone knew each other as they will be in grade band teams. It brings specialists and business partners into the fold in a meaningful way and it stretches across the United States to bring the finest leadership to the forefront of contextual learning to see if we can make a change and impact the way kids learn and the way teachers teach.
This is an exciting time for all involved. Follow the blog for pictures and and information as to the progress of this one of kind program.
These sessions are not "sit and get." The teachers will be actively engaged from the moment they walk into the opening session at the Lunda Center on the campus of Western Technical College in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Teachers will be in work groups, doing activities, developing lessons, sharing knowledge, and creating programs that can be used no matter how large or how small the district is that is represented. The model that will be followed is called REACT. It wsa developed by CORD, which is the Center for Occupational Research and Development of Waco, Texas.
This project is bringing teachers together who may have never worked together let alone knew each other as they will be in grade band teams. It brings specialists and business partners into the fold in a meaningful way and it stretches across the United States to bring the finest leadership to the forefront of contextual learning to see if we can make a change and impact the way kids learn and the way teachers teach.
This is an exciting time for all involved. Follow the blog for pictures and and information as to the progress of this one of kind program.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Essesntial Learning Standards
Essential Learning Standards have been and certainly are all the buzz. The Chief State School Officers (CSSO) and the nation's Governors understand that there have been way to many standards and they were so different from state to state that it was a struggle to see how students really measured up. that is why they have released what is being termed, "The Common Core." Measuring up is very important. Our society is no longer measured by schoolhouse or community or county. We are a part of a much larger community, the world. Communication and the ability to work in a team are key factors in success. A team could have members in China, Germany, Australia and the United States. They are not sitting at a single table but at a computer using video conferencing or a webex service. Because of this education MUST change. Instead of a mile wide and an inch deep, we need to determine what is essential? Essential to our community and to the educational and workforce systems we are sending our students off too.
It is not enough that our kids are versed in the basics any longer. 60% of incoming students at Western Technical College have to take some sort of remedial course work. Preparation is no longer about passing a student to the next level in the hope they will take care of things. It is a matter of teaching and learning differently. For years we have taught in what educators call "silos." Everybody teaching their content independently and sometimes oblivious to what others are doing, and why? Because that is how they were taught or what the curriculum required of them. We taught to get to the end of the book not to level of understanding.
Education must meet the needs of all learners. The best way is through establishing Essential Learning Standards (those that have been plucked from the state standards and are the root core of what is necessary) and insuring that those standards will be taught with rigor and relevance no matter what happens. The second part to this is to stop teaching in isolation and bring contextual learning to the forefront. Contextual learning can be done similarly to those mentioned above working in various countries. All teachers do not have to be teaching the same lesson at the same time etc. They need to reinforce and support the lessons that are being taught and to demonstrate in real world ways, how the information can be transferred and use in a real world context.
This is no small switch in education. There are places that this is taking place and in the Sparta Area School District the revolution has begun. But in the United States where it is all about academic freedom and so on, systematizing this is no small chore and will take years to change. But for us the change has begun, slowly and surely. Our train has left the station and we have no intention of turning back. As we tell staff, it is time to jump on or stand at the platform and wave good bye.
It is not enough that our kids are versed in the basics any longer. 60% of incoming students at Western Technical College have to take some sort of remedial course work. Preparation is no longer about passing a student to the next level in the hope they will take care of things. It is a matter of teaching and learning differently. For years we have taught in what educators call "silos." Everybody teaching their content independently and sometimes oblivious to what others are doing, and why? Because that is how they were taught or what the curriculum required of them. We taught to get to the end of the book not to level of understanding.
Education must meet the needs of all learners. The best way is through establishing Essential Learning Standards (those that have been plucked from the state standards and are the root core of what is necessary) and insuring that those standards will be taught with rigor and relevance no matter what happens. The second part to this is to stop teaching in isolation and bring contextual learning to the forefront. Contextual learning can be done similarly to those mentioned above working in various countries. All teachers do not have to be teaching the same lesson at the same time etc. They need to reinforce and support the lessons that are being taught and to demonstrate in real world ways, how the information can be transferred and use in a real world context.
This is no small switch in education. There are places that this is taking place and in the Sparta Area School District the revolution has begun. But in the United States where it is all about academic freedom and so on, systematizing this is no small chore and will take years to change. But for us the change has begun, slowly and surely. Our train has left the station and we have no intention of turning back. As we tell staff, it is time to jump on or stand at the platform and wave good bye.
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