In the last post, I mentioned allowing my students to choose the direction of their biology classes. They chose to start with vertebrates (I think because we humans are vertebrates), but after looking through the material I had to confess something to them. I told them that if we still start with animals, but with invertebrates (without backbones) we could dissect worms. After letting them decide, I came to class the next day with an agenda. To be honest I would have been ok with vertebrates first, but preferred that we learn about invertebrates first. They took my bait, and changed to invertebrates with the promise of a worm dissection after break, and vertebrate biology to follow. A fair compromise, I think and hope that my students agree.
So Monday of last week, we started learning about invertebrate animals. The really fun part about this is I am learning along with my students. My specialty is Biochemistry, not vertebrate or invertebrate biology. They ask me questions that challenge my knowledge, and we get into lively discussion and debates. On Friday we had one of these debates.
The definition of sessile is: an organism that is permanently attached to the surface. I asked my students to think of a land animal that we could consider sessile. This opened a huge debate in all three of my classes if a person in a coma could be considered sessile. We spent all of Friday’s class talking about this question. I was very proud that my students would think to question what sessile meant, then extend the definition to fit things that they see in their life.
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A cool method of teaching in my opinion!! As newer teachers, I know how hard it is to loosen the reins and let the students lead the way. It's an uneasy feeling at first, because one thinks that be letting students have more power it will create disorder. You have proved this theory incorrect! Also, I bet students are more likely to be engaged knowing that they were the ones who chose what they were to study. Gives me a great suggestion to try in my classroom -- thanks!
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