Brain Drain

This artifact represents what actually happens in the classroom where I do my placement. At first I thought this was only on Fridays when I was there, but after some discreet questioning I learned that it is like this every day. The teacher teaches for about a half hour from an IPad and then the students complete a worksheet with the students at their bench. There are no other resources available to the students. There are no textbooks, no online supplementary materials and no other type of supplementary material that I have found. The teaching that occurs does not follow any particular format, such as power point slides, it is more like a few “screen shots” from an IPad. The most interactive I have seen is the teacher allowing the students to write on the IPad.

 

This concerns me for a number of reasons. The students, in reality, have one opportunity to learn the material. If they need more practice, there does not seem to be anywhere else to get that. There is not any differentiation with respect to curriculum or instruction. His style of instruction is most targeted to those students who are those auditory/visual (and that is a stretch) learners and those learners who learn it the first time every time.

 

There are a few things missing from the framework of the class. There are textbooks in the classroom, they are just not utilized. Using them would help in a number of ways. First, it would allow students to have another resource in which to consult when they need extra help understanding material. Secondly, it would eliminate some class time covering material that would more easily be covered in homework reading. For example, I once saw the teacher take twenty-five minutes covering two definitions that could have easily been covered in a five page reading assignment. Finally, it would give extra practice problems for students to have available.

 

The other concern I have is the lack of any meaningful interaction between the teacher and the student. The use of the IPad is a necessity due to the set-up of the classroom, but its exclusive use limits any interaction between the teacher and student. The students are always looking at the monitors on their lab benches and other than the occasional answer to a question, their gazes never reach the teacher. I feel this lack of unspoken communication really contributes to the overall disconnected atmosphere in the classroom and I think it detracts from the learning of the students.