Responsive Classroom initiative strives to further reinforce some best practice, data/results-driven, and evidence-based teaching principles that I have always aspired to implement in my teaching in order to deliver an authentic, welcoming, and engaging learning experience for students.
Applying technology in instruction to transform the learning experience of students while affording ever greater autonomy and authentic learning experiences to students where they practice 21st century skills for collaboration and exploration allows for implementing and spreading the responsive classroom initiative in a measurable manner.
Recently MYP9 Science completed a project-based, student-centered, and authentic learning unit on infectious disease and covid19 in a very timely manner with a very rich and relevant global context, where students practiced (ATL skills) collaboration, maintained a process journal with rich contemporaneous reflections, sharpened academic research skills, learned and exercised ATL skills for communicating their work product presentations, as well as collaborating to write Op-Eds as the service as action component to start a discussion on the current impact of the pandemic, what mistakes were made, and how to avoid/combat future pandemics through preemption and taking individual and collective responsibility as model global citizens (international-mindedness). Despite the covid19 disruptions, MYP9 students, even some who had struggled throughout the year, outperformed and for the first time reached a higher grade - a reaffirmation that affording greater autonomy and choice to students so they take ownership of their learning is indeed consistent with responsive classroom principles and leads to better learning outcomes. I believe a cornerstone of responsive teaching is collecting formative data and then acting on it. Thanks to technology collecting formative data designed to tailor teaching can be fun/energizing/engaging to students and it can be streamlined to save time and it promotes personalized/individualized instruction - the current and near future trend in 21st century education. On the horizon is the application of AI to virtual learning and platforms such as moodle (open source learning) will inevitably transform learning and teaching experience.
The link below demonstrates recent MYP9 Science engagement in metacognition, reflection, evaluation consistent with an iterative design cycle:
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