Yesterday, as per my usual weekly routine, I found myself in Winooski High School, in the Community Based Problem Solving Class. I greatly enjoy my time spent in this class, and I find myself wishing I could attend it multiple days, but unfortunately my schedule does not allow it. Therefore, I must make the most of it while I am there. I feel as if I am integrating into the class, and am not excited for the end of the semester, when I will no longer be able to be a part of it. For the time being, I will not consider that possibility though.
As usual, I was bouncing around the classroom, going from student to student, and determining what they needed assistance with. Whether it be guidance back on the track for work, formatting their blog, proofreading a post, or helping with creating titles. I really enjoy it, because I like interacting with all the different personalities, and helping out in whatever way I can. My previous experience at Winooski had me questioning if I wanted to be a classroom teacher, as I was unsure if I wanted to deal with unruly students, and do all these large lectures. I still feel that way, but now I am no longer writing off the experience of working with high school students. Either this is a particularly well-behaved group of high schoolers, or I was too quick to judge in my previous experience. Regardless, I know that I would not necessarily want to teach in a traditional classroom setting, but there is something to be said for teaching in a place like the iLab, where the content is more open-ended, and the structure is completely different. That is something I am looking for, as though I like the idea of working in a place like a science museum, I want a sense of community. I want to have a reliable connection with those I am working with, and not to just meet individuals once and then be done with them. I need to explore more options to know where I can find an experience like this, but my time at Winooski is definitely confirming that this is what I want.
The iLab is the future of high school learning. The hope is that all classes look like the iLab where students pursue their passions and interests while demonstrating their proficiency with particular skills in the disciplines.
ReplyDeleteThere are many programs like iLab already in existences - Studio H, Big Picture, the MET and there are expeditionary education schools too.