Coming to IFS last year I made the false assumption that the students would only ever be interested in the football education offered by the college. I thought the kids would have little interest in the academic program and would simply be focused on getting any college work done as quickly as possible so they could go back to dreaming of the coming weekend’s game. Thankfully I was wrong! Recently I have noticed Stage Four students becoming increasingly engaged in their learning in both subjects I teach, (maths and science).
In maths I have had students taking books home on a regular basis in order to complete extra work. This really did amaze me and is something I have not seen in any other college I have worked at. I put it down to a couple of things; first of all our students individual drive which is instilled in both the football program and in PBL, (Project Based Learning). The second is the college’s no homework policy; students see homework as an opportunity to show enthusiasm for a subject area to both their parents and teachers.
In science I have had students recreate practical work that was completed during college hours at home. This really was very impressive; students have taken learning from the classroom and re invented it at home with no direction from myself and certainly no instruction. It was a proud moment for myself as a teacher to realise students were so engaged in learning, it must have been a similar proud moment for those parents.
I wanted to include two things today:
The first is a picture I received via email from a student who had completed a project at home. This was a biosphere, (that plastic in the background seals the plant, creating a model water cycle).
The second is a video about my favourite scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, who literally went the extra mile.
Where was Crash Course Chemistry when I was at college?? Who knew the Periodic Table could be so interesting!