Reading the really thoughtful posts here that people have already contributed has almost made me change my mind about my most important principles! But I'll stick with what I originally wanted to say.
First of all, I like materials that have clear instructions (and even examples). I like instructions that are not more difficult than the activities on the page. For very young learners, that often means the instructions can be images (like pencil icons). I like everything on the page to be useful and designed with the learners in mind, from the title down to the page number.
The other thing I really care about is contextualization. I like materials that fit into a wider context of what is going on in the learning environment (which might in turn fit into what is going on in the world in general or whatever microcosm the student inhabits). I like materials that have a clear goal (clear to the teacher AND the students), especially when that goal ties into the goals of the class or curriculum.
Reading others' posts have also drawn my attention to the importance of images, especially images rich in language, interaction, and balance. I hope I can think more about these things as I create more materials for my students.
Thanks for your thoughts on principles, Anne. It's great that other participants' comments made you reconsider your own principles. I think ur principles change all the time depending on what we are writing and we can have as many or as few as we like. Everything you say above makes perfect sense to me and I share those principles too. The most important thing for me is that we think about principles before and while we're writing. Even it's just for a few minutes. It's a good habit to get into.
ReplyDeleteWhatever microcosm students inhabit. I love this! Our schools become the cultivated environment that we base our learning in. It is our little world that we can call our own. It won't always be 100% authentic but what happens is (for those who experience it). Thank you. What microcosm do you try to cultivate for your learners?
ReplyDeleteI really like the reflective note of your post, Anne, and I agree with you 100%. All the principles you mention are important to me as well and as I most often teach early teens - teens (10-17), each student's microcosm might at times be the decisive factor not only in the design of materials, but of stages of the lesson as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anne for your post. It made me think about my mistakes. I often find myself creating materials specifically for one class and then later realize that I could have made it more flexible and adaptable to different classes and to a wider context. I need to work on that. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMiss Alex That's something I need to work on, too! :)
ReplyDeleteRhett Burton Hi Rhett, I wasn't really thinking of cultivating a microcosm - the possibility hadn't crossed my mind, so thank you for adding that! - I was more thinking of responding to the microcosms the students inhabit already: around the clubs they're in, their hobbies or sports, the music and video games they like. I think it's important to acknowledge those things because it helps me see and acknowledge my students as people for whom my class is a very small part of their lives.
ReplyDeleteAnne Hendler Gotcha. We are on the same page about learning more about the student's lives outside of school. I have a few ideas about creating student-generated content based on their daily routines, interestes, abilities and such. I don't know when I will delve into it but it is on the desk amongst all the other papers.
ReplyDeleteMaking materials flexible or easily adaptable is always a good idea, I think. Another idea for someone making a lot of materials is to find a template that works well and then use it again and again. If the content changes, it won't be boring. Writing to a familiar template or pattern can help to make sure you include stages, perfect instructions, etc. Sometimes it's nice to do something completely different too, of course.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Bilsborough I agree with that. Having a familiar template also puts less burden on the students, I think. And then when you change it up, they pay more attention! We do that on a very small scale sometimes with instructions: replacing things like "Talk to 2 partners" with other things like "Talk to 200 partners." ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved the way you put it: "microcosm the student inhabits". I definitely agree that it's very important to draw context from these microcosms. I keep reminding it to myself all the time, but, for me, it does get difficult sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAndreas Charatzidis What kinds of challenges do you face? I'm afraid I don't know anything about your context.
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