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Welcome to Ms. Jesseau’s Grade 4 Class |
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When we make good choices, we all achieve success. |
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Choices into Action stresses the need to develop the academic, social, and workplace skills of the student to ensure success beyond the classroom —success in life. |
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Choices into Action -Teaching the whole-child |
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We can best achieve the objectives of teaching the whole child when we make learning meaningful, when we ask our students to make choices for themselves and then to reflect on those choices. Teaching the whole-child is teaching the child to think critically, to explore authentic problems and to work in an environment that gives explicit instruction and practice, not only in the curriculum areas but in cooperating, in active listening, and in setting goals. I found an article in Education Week that compared two approaches to teaching mathematics at different schools in the UK. One school used textbooks and whole-group (academic) instruction while the other worked on open-ended projects in heterogeneous groups (mimicking real life). The results after three years with the different teaching strategies were quite surprising.
The second method taught the students to simultaneously develop their academic, interpersonal, and workplace skills while the former only developed academic skills. The author made a valid point about one method not being better than the other but that a variety of strategies that include real-life applications will have a tremendous impact on our students’ learning. The approach implemented in the ‘project school’, in addition to developing greater math competence would also have a significant positive influence on the students’ learning skills development (i.e. problem solving, class participation, cooperation with others).
The full-text of the article can be found online: Mathematics for the moment, or the millennium? Boaler, Jo. Education Week; 03/31/99, Vol. 18 Issue 29, p30, 2p, 2 bw
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Phone: 613-555-1234 Fax: 613-555-4321 E-mail: anne.jesseau@ocdsb.ca |
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To contact us: |
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Teaching Strategies to Develop the Whole-Child in the Primary/Junior Divisions |
