Significant Learning Refltction

8/29/2014

In class today, we took some time to reflect on the following prompt:

Recall a time in your education (moment, class, project, etc.) where you experienced significant learning, or where the learning experience was significant.

Afterwards, we attempted to distill, or unpack, our experiences to find common themes to our experiences.

What made these experiences significant?
Why was is "worth our time"?

Below, in the comments section, add your thoughts about what contributes to significant learning experiences. What would YOU like to see in our work and time together this semester? What would make our time in class worthwhile.
What skills, habits or ethical concerns should we consider to help us become successful beyond this class?

Your responses will be used to create self-assessment questions that will serve as a basis for your weekly self-evaluation (your self-grade).

24 Comments

Gil

8/31/2014 03:20:47 am

I believe that one of the things that contributes greatly to significant learning. (Especially at High Tech High.) Is when the teacher allows you to slightly alter your requirements for the project so that you can make the project something you wish to do and are truly proud of.

I am not quite sure what I want to see in class this year. I actually quite look forward to studying the principles of chemistry.

I believe that simply learning the material will be more then enough to make my time in class worthwhile.

I think learning safety procedures in both laboratory and non-laboratory environments could be one of the broadest applicable skills we could learn from this.

Gabriel Jacobs

9/2/2014 11:30:21 am

One experience that really meant a lot was watching Michael Stevens from Vsauce for the first time.

Without going into lots of detail (Have lengthy essay written already) His ability to connect to the audience with his enthusiasm and leave you with the knowledge to answer your own question is something I find extraordinary.

TeAndre Allen

9/2/2014 11:42:54 am

The significant learning experiences for me generally happen when the subject or project is fun, intriguing, and interesting while still tying into education and lessons. An example for me personally was last year when we were learning about music. We were learning about everything from sound waves, to instrument vibrations, and even how to play instruments themselves. The more interesting a subject is for me, the more I pay attention and learn in the long run. You could ask me a question about anything during that project and if I didn't memorize it, its in my old notebook somewhere. I was so into that project that I'm hooked on playing guitar and considering a career in the field of music.

Mario Avila

9/2/2014 12:20:17 pm

Often times classes would have a name and you wouldn't really learn anything about what the class is called.
For example: chemistry, if I had chemistry in the past they wouldn't really teach anything about chemistry they would cover the basic things but nothing that leads to deeper thinking, such as What and How.

Which brings me to my next point significant learning or "good" learning I think is when you cover the basics and lead into deeper thinking because like said in the Quantum physics videos people are afraid because they don't know what and how something is happening and if we do get into the what and how part I believe it would be a significant learning experience for everyone.

ryder

9/2/2014 12:37:15 pm

One of the things that I remember was a big event was the first project at HTH. It was extremely fun for me and was the first time that I honestly had fun the entire time in a project.

Ryder

9/2/2014 01:26:31 pm

Oops, that posted before I was finished with it. That first project at HTH was making a design based on a poetry piece and creating a mechanical wall plaque with a laser cutter. I learn by doing, especially if it is something I consider interesting. It's great when a student can put their own twist on the required project, making it truly their own creation. I am looking forward to making things and doing experiments while we are learning. I find I retain the information better that way. We will need to make sure we are safe in our experiments, and that we watch out for each other. I also enjoy smaller groups or just partners for projects because then you get to know people better and it is less confusing as to who is responsible for what part of the project.

Isaiah Anderson

9/2/2014 12:46:49 pm

In my experience as a student the bet times ive learned is when the project is engaging and fun and i want to know all i can about it and i presented in a followable fashion

Vivien

9/2/2014 01:03:28 pm

For me, really interactive, hands-on type of learning is how I prefer to do things, it's easier to stay engaged and really learn how to do something. I mean like if you are teaching coding for example, have us do/make something with code, because through that, I can see what's going on, and I can make mistakes and understand why they were mistakes and what made it work.
I think that in general, a really important trait for someone to develop is a "do-it-yourself" attitude, because later on in life you're going to have to be self-accountable, because for the most part, what you do with your life, will usually just affect you. Not many other people. So I just think that's something we should all learn overall, and it's something we can apply to almost anything, especially in class.

Eve

9/2/2014 01:07:39 pm

For me the time I experienced significant learning was when I first started out at HTM and found that just the style of teaching was so much easier for me to understand. Especially because I was having trouble at my previous school, the hands on way of going about projects really made me enjoy school more.

Jeff

9/2/2014 01:30:17 pm

I truly think that something that improves my personal learning experience would be hands on experiences that actually contribute to what we are learning in class.

I've done so many things in HTH that are totally off topic from what the goal of the project is for. I'd rather do an experiment to determine what we are learning is true rather than go to a museum to walk around and most of the time goof off like the rest of the class.

Emily Smith

9/2/2014 02:10:03 pm

What makes these experiences more significant to us is that we always go back to what we are actually suppose to learning. In other projects at High Tech it felt like we were doing something more abstract (ex. doing art in a humanities class) that what we are suppose to be doing.
With Chemistry we always go back to the subject of learning. We could still do hands on project learning and it could still be relevant to our learning subject. Not only that, we learn on how to look at a more scientific way at life. We start to question on things like "How does this react to..." And we figure it out.

Spencer

9/2/2014 02:10:54 pm

For me to feel as if I am "significantly learning" or, "truly learning", the project or task needs to be interesting and hands-on. If I am not interested, I will have less of a desire to learn about something that I really don't care about. I am the type of person who likes to learn things that are going to be beneficial to me now and in the future. In our work this year, I would like to see people helping each other. I am always there to help someone and, if I can, share my knowledge with them. I think that if people were to talk less about random things and focus more, we would move faster as a class and learn more. There's a time for talking and a time for listening, know the difference. Success is defined by YOURSELF. Don't let anyone ever tell you if you are successful or not. If you're doing what makes you happy, you are successful, you have found happiness in your life. Don't let money define success.

Beatrice

9/2/2014 02:12:51 pm

I have experienced significant learning while doing hands on and engaging projects or activities that allows us to connect to the outside world. I find it much easier to remember what I am actually learning and there are times when I end up learning more than I intended to.
For example, last year in Physics, my partner and I were given the the topic Matter/Energy. We began the research phase and found a lot of what we read to be so interesting. We became really eager to dig even deeper and learn more about are topic. Our final product ended up being a presentation of how the universe began. Although this was a small project that took only two weeks to complete, we learned a lot just by researching from different resources such as books, articles, videos, etc.

Although it is nice that we are given quite a lot of freedom in creating some of the projects that we do, having the teacher's support and challenging us is helpful. I also think it is important to stick to the Common Core Standards(it was created for a reason) and our assignments, projects, experiments, and research should be based off of it.

August

9/2/2014 02:17:45 pm

I would like to see an overall growth in the understanding of our universe. What would be worthwhile would be things that make people enjoy themselves in chemistry , but eventually hunker down and learn the science. I think that everyone should have an understanding of the concepts, whether they like them or not for to understand the world is to have a greater appreciation for it. I definitely feel that respect and knowledge should go hand in hand, that we will get nowhere taking shots at people when focus should be placed on ideas.

Bella

9/2/2014 02:32:38 pm

A time in my education where I learned a lot was during the science labs in middle school. Being able to visually see the changes happening with the different substances was a great way for me to understand what exactly was happening. Visual, interactive, hands on learning experiences are worthwhile to me personally because I can't get a good grasp from looking at equations and numbers that I'll forget the next day. Over the years, that's what I remember specifically and not the formulas. For this semester, I would love freedom to learn and experience, but I would also love to develop closer relationships by working with classmates and the teacher.

Carleigh

9/2/2014 02:50:40 pm

I learn the best in fun projects. When I work alone I tend to learn my best rather than working with a partner because instead of sharing the information between each other I am learning it all on my own.

Zach Smith

9/2/2014 02:51:41 pm

I have always learned best by being hands on and interacting with other to gain information from them. I do best in pair projects because its the easiest way to split the work evenly.

Krisztina

9/2/2014 02:52:44 pm

I think what makes a good learning experience is when you not only succeed but also when you fail. Learning from you mistakes sticks with you longer that just a regular lesson would because you learned it first hand. I think that the time we are given in class is important and worthwhile because then we have time to create quality work and if we need to, ask questions.

Liz

9/2/2014 02:52:49 pm

The times in my life where I've had a significant learning experience all have at least one thing in common; enthusiastic people. Whether the people in question are the speakers or listeners (though more often than not, they are the speakers), the enthusiasm they show towards the topic is infectious. While listening, you just get dragged along on a merry adventure by someone who genuinely loves the topic that is being discussed, and that, at least for me, makes me more interested in the subject itself.

Applying that to our class, I think that enthusiasm and genuine interest in the project/subject we are focusing on makes it both more of a learning experience and enjoyable. It's no fun to try to do something exciting with unenthusiastic bystanders who are blocking the doorway to knowledge. Of course, enthusiasm does not count for everything, and while I think it does matter, some topics are just that uninteresting. But you should at least try.

Andie Galland

9/2/2014 03:51:09 pm

I often felt most successful when learning was interactive. It is very difficult for me to understand and grasp new material when a teacher is just in front of the class explaining things. I don't find just taking notes an effective way to learn. I find it easier to work alone on things because that way it is not as easy for me to get distracted.

Fabian Peraza

9/3/2014 08:59:29 am

When I have have significant learning experience is with my 8th grade teachers. I really understood the math and the humanities. In math everyone like the teacher he was cool, funny and overall a very cool person to be around. Humanities same exact thing, those were great teachers. My math teacher created his own way learning math called "judo math." He gave us packets that we didn't have to do nor finish, to have the sense of responsibility as student helps me with having a great learning environment. As the same with humanities teacher. It was worth the time because the class was having fun. Usually when I have fun about learning something I learn most of it and I contained it.

natalie

9/4/2014 09:59:55 am

I find that I learn well if I know there is something great on the other side of this project instead of just something I need to know.

Michelle Lozano

9/4/2014 03:55:21 pm

When it comes to learning I always give all I have in a project when the teacher believes in me. Having the support of an adult keeps me going and I never give up.

Cole Rahn link

12/17/2014 04:41:03 am

One time we were building lamps out of hot glue skewers and mod podge. I learned how you can take simple stuff and build a piece of art.
It was a great learning experience because we used supplies wisely and shared cooperatively, unlike the rocket project which was a free for all and no respect was used with the sharing of materials. I learned how to protect your belongings and how to argue to get my stuff back. it was significant because I learned life is a free for all and I learned how to fend for myself

Significant Learning Refltction

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