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This Blog is from a teacher, Matthew R. Morris. He writes that allowing students to teach in his classroom not only gives more knowledge to the students teaching but other kids seem to be more engaged. Students learn more of the topics they discussed because its more interesting to be part of the investigation that just to learn it. In my proposed course (Life 101) students will research topics they like and dislike, filling them with knowledge in the subject and expressing that knowledge in a presentation. This will help students learn and explore topics of their interest.

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The saying goes, "G et told about a topic and you may get it, write or talk about a topic and you have demonstrated some knowledge about it, but when you teach about a topic you really learn it. " The quote is something like that; don't quote me though (actually, if you do, use that quote and cite me, thanks in advance). The gist of the sentiment remains: when you teach a topic you have to go through a mental process yourself to really learn it. Giving students the opportunity to teach certain topics in class is such a valuable teaching tool, as ironic as it sounds. And that is why letting students teach is probably the most valuable way to instill learning inside of a classroom.

This is not really ground-breaking stuff. It is rather simple common sense that you should have as a teacher mixed with a little bit of security in your role as the educator combined with a sense of accountability that will automatically register if a lesson really hasn't done what you expected it would. Regardless of your trepidations, you should be in the business of letting students teach.

And this is why: All teachers come into the classroom with a wealth of knowledge that is way beyond the scope of the students that you preside over. And when we teach, we may or may not gloss over some of the finer points that may be significant for young students as they are learning a concept. There have been many times where I have tried to explain a simple concept to a student and failed to get through. It was only until I ceased my power as the authoritative figure in the room and told Carter to go and ask Azhar how to do it because I myself was doing a bad job of explaining. Times that two-fold by the fact that I stand up in front of my class every single day and teach students facts, big ideas, and overall concepts from September to June. Selfishly, I wonder why some students easily grasp these things while others have no clue as to what I am expecting of them. I could be the lazy teacher and blame them for not swimming with the rest. But instead, I feel that there is a greater opportunity in letting my students introduce and re-introduce topics that I have expounded upon.

Funny things happen when I let students teach. The first thing that I noticed was that the students are more engaged. Hearing about a lesson from fellow students may be slightly novel and different to them. In turn, it makes them listen a little more attentively than they listen to me day after day. Secondly, the students who were teaching the lesson, in one case a lesson on photosynthesis, knew more about the topic than I would have ever anticipated. They brought forth information that I would have neither expected them to know nor expected my students to ever comprehend at their grade level. But because their own peers were delivering the point of academic contact, the bar seemed to become raised; students listened and took notes. They thought that because Nisa and Shari were up there teaching about these topics then, at the very least, they were to listen and learn about them.

Letting students teach is a valuable tool that all teachers should use. I understand that it requires one to loosen the reigns on the classroom and allow for a little bit more of an unstructured environment than perhaps you would like. But remember, in all your esteem as a teacher-candidate taking over lessons and units while that veteran teacher sat silently (hopefully) in the back of the classroom, the same thing was happening. You were really learning the material. You were really learning how to teach. And when you let students teach the class, they and the students they are speaking to, are really taking in that material.

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And that is why letting students teach is probably the most valuable way to instill learning inside of a classroom. This is not really ground-breaking stuff. It is rather simple common sense that you should have as a teacher mixed with a little bit of security in your role as the teacher combined with a sense of accountability that will register if a lesson really hasn't done what you expected it would.

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I wanted to include a first person experience. I interview my best friend, Erika. Erika like myself had a four year high school experience similar to many more students. she went through high school learning facts and getting good grades. But there's something that lack, she said. In her words "High School thought me a lot of facts, but didn't make me think outside the box". She mentions that through her education in high school she wasn't too engaged into experiencing new things outside of the normal lessons. She wished there was more real life courses that would prepare her for life after high school. This is one of the reasons I think having a course that teaches students to explore topics on their own can help spark an interest and teach them about life.

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The article, Stability of the LA-i in measuring learning approaches among medical students, by Muhamad Saiful Bahri Yusoff, It shows different learning methods such as the Learning Approaches Inventory (LA-i) instrument. There are different learning approaches students execute. The deep learners take the facts, interpret it and make their own conclusion from it. The surface approach in learning is when student learn the facts in a more mechanical way, they memorize facts without questioning them and this approach has proven to be less effective for performance and achievements. Overall teachers want to help students reach the deep learning approach to have them explore their own knowledge and fuel their outlook on life.

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High School students often struggle with being motivated in school. My goal is to provide high school students with a class called Life 101. This class will be a 1 unit class each year until their senior year. This class will motivate students to explore their likes and dislikes in life. By exploring  what makes them happy and what doesn't they will learn to think for themselves and this will spark their motivation for life.