Authentic Learning

The theme for this school year is all about building a growth mindset -- this is great for teachers AND students! One of the best ways to do this is to provide authentic learning experiences for our students. What does that mean, anyway? Some of the things that happen when authentic learning takes place include

• Students are solving real world problems or dealing with real world issues, not manufactured lessons.
• Students are working with real world tools and resources, not simulated ones.
• Students are personally invested in their work; they aren't just working so they can earn a grade.
• Students have a real audience for what they are doing; it's not just for their teacher or their classmates.

This can sound risky and hard to do. But it's really not! Use safeguards that already exist to help create the authentic experiences. Use your curriculum to find real world connections and talk with your kids to see how they connect what their learning to the real world. Here's an example of something I just started doing this year:

It is mandated by the state that students get internet safety instruction starting in grade 3. My lesson for grade 4 in the past has been a video that we watch and discuss about protecting personal information online. This year, I kicked it up a notch. I told the students ahead of time that they need to think about the most important lesson they learned from the video and the discussion because they are going to be responsible for teaching an internet safety lesson to others. After the video and the discussion, I ask the students to come up with the lesson and state it in a sentence. Then the students have to write it as a Tweet. I teach them quickly how to construct a Tweet. I then collect their internet safety Tweets and post them from my Twitter account, signing each Tweet with the students' initials instead of their names so they can identify their own Tweet without compromising their safety. I send a letter home to parents explaining the lesson, too. The kids are so excited to discover that they are sharing what they have learned with the whole internet and that they are helping others be safe online! This was an easy way to create something that was a little more authentic by making it real with a live audience and related to their lives.

Check out this article called "Three Ways to Create Authentic Learning Opportunities for Your Students" for some information and inspiration!