The “living context” method engages students in their learning. Jen, a teacher of the 4th and 5th grades, chose Kiva, a microloan website used by entrepreneurs from developing countries around the world, to bring numbers to life for her young pupils. Jen’s student soon began helping people with loans all over the globe. The only catch? They had to justify their decisions using some “pretty complicated numbers.”
Jen chose GDP, AIDS and population, literacy rates, and life expectancy as statistics for her young students to mull over. It wasn’t long before the students became emotionally tied to the numbers. Through this Kiva exercise her students gave loans to those who were affected by AIDS and lower literacy rates. The children felt empowered by giving to those in need.
By engaging her students emotionally, Jen brought warmth to the “cold world of mathematics.” She was able to cover learning objectives and now finds herself “actively seeking engaging, relevant, and emotional contexts for all of [her] teaching in Math.”
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What would you say are the features of a 21st Century classroom based on the KIVA post?
ReplyDeleteDennis
Yes, what are the features of a 21st Century classroom based on the KIVA post? Perhaps this is a good idea to develop for your learning summary.
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