Student Oriented Curriculum

I thought that this was a very interesting presentation. I really enjoyed the early part of the presentation because we got up and moved around; it was fun to have to choose a side of the room depending on the answer to the question. I also really enjoyed the ending assignment with us each getting to choose one of the statements that best suited us and then write about why we chose it and how we would use it. It is always good when a teacher allows you to give your opinions on a topic and they do not correct you just because they do not like your answer.

On another note, I thought that the decision to use the jig-saw groupings was a good idea but that it did not work as well as I thought it might. It did get us moving around and talking to other people in the classroom, but I personally felt like the information that I learned in the jig-saw, as good as it was, would have been better if it came from a person who actually read the book. I think it would have been fun if the presenters walked around the to the other groups and did a form of jig-saw instead of the students doing it.

My only questions that I have at the end of the presentation are: Would you try this "let the students lead the unit" concept in your classroom? and Do you think that it can work?

very good overall. I learned a great deal.