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My Vision of Instruction
I've always been about constructing learning with the students as the central players. Yes, I have spent, and still do spend time directly teaching my students, and I always will. However, a significant portion of my time in the classroom is spent in a student-centered environment. Much of the time in the past, I was creating on the fly, if you will, and sort of working with gut instincts as to how to tie various portions of my projects together. The pieces fit, but they weren't as seamless as they could be. The IDE LATIC method is a way to effectively integrate multiple teaching and learning modalitites into "one thing," without it seeming to be forced.
 The LATIC Workshop, Summer 2003
This summer, I gained insight on how powerful differentiated instruction can be, when thematically integrated under a common idea. I've learned that allowing students to schedule their time in class is an effective way to make sure that time is used wisely for both the students and myself. This is an area I constantly struggle with, as I'm not a particularly effective time scheduler - I never have been. I also like the idea of more flexible timelines and tasks, where students have opitons on what to work on, as opposed to such a rigorous, linear schedule of tasks.
Learner-Active Structures
One of my goals this year is to focus on scheduling! Some of my growth will come from setting up a schedule within a schedule, as I learn to partition - or should I say direct the partitioning - of the students' times within the class period. I would also like to begin to become more generative in creating and using more PBL's, as I work to link together areas in the curriculum in a more effective and meaningful way.
Students at the Center
I like a loose classroom environment, where the students know what to do, have their tasks in hand, and are able to use their time to get done what they need. At the same time, there are instances where I do need to control directly that which happens to be going on at the time. For instance, the students may be working by themselves in teams when getting ready to teach chapter two, but I will take control when explaining protein synthesis, as it is a complex and abstract process that I must break down into manageable parts, lest my students' collective mind has a meltdown! My philosophy in most aspects of education, both as a teacher and a student, is one of balance. My role is direct teacher when necessary, "the guide on the side" when necessary, and a bit in between most other times. Science lends itself well to collaborative and thoughtful work in small groups, and much of what I do is guiding those small groups into generating insight and perspective into the natural world.
Technology in the LATI Classroom
While these days "technology" is thought of by most as computers, technology to me is any varitey of things, from rulers to filmstrip projectors to mobile laptops to microscop es to scalpels. I think we as teachers need to be careful when we "use technology" just for the sake of using technology. Sometimes it isn't appropriate to use a computer. Other times, it isn't appropriate to use a book, but it IS appropriate to use a computer. I think we, as professionals, need to integrate technology into  what we do, but I think there needs to be a purpose and an understanding as to WHY the technology is being used. Many teachers think that just because a few students typed their homework in the back on the computers that they are USING TECHNOLOGY. Well, maybe so, but there are more powerful things that the computer can do...these are the things teachers must discover in their free time (oh, what little of it there is!). I use a variety of technology in my classroom, and as a result of IDE, I now have a great idea how to intregrate many different types.
Future Unit Plans
I'm currently thinking about how to integrate adaptation, evolution, and scientific classification into a nice, tidy little PBL activity. It is only in the planning stages in my herad right now, but I'm hopeful that it will come together nicely in the future. I'm also thinking about an original research project for the students to do, which would fit nicely inot a PBL format. I have the general idea, and am beginning to put it together.
Click on these items to view them:
Task and rubric that asks students to explore the expansion and growth of the town
List of terms for the students
Letter to Parents at the Beginning of the School Year
For Mark's current math task, click here.
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