Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash

Why do we need to learn this?

This age old question hangs over every classroom, whether it’s articulated with brazen defiance or muttered under the breath with resignation.

And Sweetwater teachers take this challenge seriously, as was evident during their pre-service days of professional development this week.  Here are just a few of the ideas that SUHSD teachers shared in their discussions and presentations.

Start with student interests

Tupac lyrics

Make connections from classroom to local to global

Desmos for immediate feedback and transparent student work

Novels and poetry can teach you how to behave on a date

Google Classroom or OneNote for collaborative documents

Analyze historical debates (historians disagreeing)

Escape Room Math

Kendrick Lamar album

Use Inquiry

Don’t start day one with the syllabus

MVP – Create units of study around the mission, values, and purpose of the content

These educators are thinking deeply about how to “hook” their students in order to shepherd them to rigorous content, and this question of student engagement is at the heart of our work at Sweetwater this year, which is to produce student engagement that leads to mastery through a lens of equity.

Where does technology fit in?

Some of these solutions involve technology and others do not, which is exactly as it should be.  Technology is a tool and teachers should evaluate every tool against its costs and benefits. Sometimes, a tech solution is the perfect answer that enhances both the content and context of a lesson. Other times, a face to face discussion and some old fashioned chart paper will do the trick.

The classroom is about creating the best learning environment for each lesson and unit of study and technology should always be a part of the discussion, but it may not always be chosen for that particular solution.

As Sweetwater teachers get ready for opening day of the 2017-18 school year, I look forward to hearing about their many successes engaging their students in the skills, content, and dispositions that will prepare them for work and life.  Be sure to share your stories – both good and bad with our SUHSD hashtags so we can continue to learn from one another all year long.

#suhsd

#suhsdedtech