Widget: Discovery Learning

When I think about my future classroom, I see discovery learning being an integral part of my teaching and curriculum. I want my students to learn through doing, rather than just parroting what I tell them to do. As someone who believes in a progressive approach to education, I will be excited to see my students asking their own questions, performing their own research, and learning in the way that they learn best. Instead of being "the sage on the stage," I will focus on being "the guide on the side," assisting as necessary but not pretending that I am the source of all knowledge.

In the Widget project in class last week, we got a big taste of discovery learning-we found for ourselves what a widget is, we decided on a country to research, and we chose how to present our country. With few limits, our imaginations and creativity were allowed to blossom in the project. We got to enjoy seeing our own ideas on display, and it was a blast to watch all the other presentations, since they were so different from each other. If our professor had told us exactly how to do the research and presentations, they would have been quite boring. But since we had so many fun and creative ideas to share, none of the presentations were the same, yet they all fulfilled the criteria given. The Widget project was discovery learning at its finest.

Image source: http://www.petheartprints.com/Parrot/graphics/parrotamazon.jpg

No parrots in the classroom!