The World is OUR Oyster!

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            The World is Your Oyster…a saying many adults (including teachers) tell children. But this inspirational quote should not and does not exclude the adults! Teachers need to realize that they should be telling themselves that the world is their oyster – and it can all be through their fingerprints hitting the keyboard into technology! This is something I have truly recognized after spending hours on the internet, listening to podcasts and teacher talks, researching various Inquiry and Project-based schools, and more, just for one class assignment. With all this newfound information that has filled my brain to the brim, I am going to focus my blog post on just the tip of the iceberg of what I absorbed.

            First, teachers need to realize they are also researchers throughout their journey in the classroom. I watched a one hour “open mic” discussion through OSSEMOOC on professional learning with a focus on reflections from Dean Shareski’s presentation: Teachers as Researchers. As I began to watch the audience’s chat, and listen to what Shareski had to say, I went from bored and inattentive, to quite engaged and jotting down several notes to share with my class, and my blog! First, the concept of a teacher also a research seems quite crazy, however, this collaborative job role makes complete sense! A teacher creates lessons, reflects in-action and on-action based on how the lesson went, how the students performed, what needs to change, and how to further promote student learning. This as a whole is what a researcher does! Now I do not encourage teachers to make teaching students an experiment (I had this experience done by a high school teacher of mine for his Ph.D. and I completely hated the experience…) Students are not like mice in a lab; so you can just poke and prod at them just to see how they will react to a new teaching concept. HOWEVER…sharing this ‘research’ and reflections you have done through some lessons you have created and explored is what Shareski is referring to when he discusses Teachers as Researchers. Teachers should share what they see, learn, know, explored and failed at! He points out that many teachers share this information with their school colleagues in the staffroom, so why not share online, too? It can be shared through a blog, twitter account, Youtube channel, or simply joining a webinar like the ones OSSEMOOC offers, and share with fellow teachers who are also interested in sharing and helping one another out.

            The career of a teacher is universal, but so is teaching – share your experiences and lessons with the universal population of teachers! Contribute to the technological world of “The World is Our Oyster” for all teachers! 

            Project-based learning (watch PBL video), the latest instruction and teaching tool that is encouraged to be used in various subjects, such as Science, History, Math, English and Art. However, why not Health and Physical Education (HPE)? Schools and educational programs such as High Tech High, and Galileo Educational Network are based off of the PBL framework. They claim that it represents an effective pedagogy and helps students with various learning styles and academic experiences, by offering different entry-points for students to address the Essential Questions. PBL requires a lot of teacher design prior to the implementation, and reflections done by the students and teachers throughout the various projects. I found tonnes of examples for Science (click here for High School Science examples), Math, and various Humanities courses; but none of them included or even mentioned HPE! If I am being encouraged to include PBL into my future teachings, then how do I connect it with the HPE curriculum, and the physical activity aspect of the course? But, as I continued down this rabbit hole of PBL research, the last blog post my professor gave us the option to read was for HPE and its connection to PBL (Using Project Based Learning in Physical Education!) Of course I jumped at the chance to read it through the Buck Institute of Education (BIE) website, and find out what they recommend one doing to integrate PBL into the HPE curriculum and learning environment. First, it is key for a teacher to create a compelling problem or question; and no it cannot be to ‘create a healthy lifestyle plan’ in every grade level! HPE teachers must keep the task open ended, but ensure that physical activity and movement is still incorporated into the PBL lesson. The classroom is in the gymnasium, hence the necessity to not forget about having the students MOVE and stay ACTIVE!

            I apologize for such a long blog post, but all this research I did has truly inspired me as a future educator and has told me that the world IS my oyster and I can be the best teacher possible, to help promote the highest level of student learning and educational interest with the help of sharing with the education world, and incorporation of PBL!