Keeping Students well organized and distributed in the classroom could be entirely a complex and difficult task for teachers, because of the fact that every class is heterogeneous. Every class is composed of diverse pupils with different abilities and needs. There are some students who need more attention and comprehension than others. Meanwhile, there are pupils who are very self- sufficient and independent. For this reason, having a good organization and design of a class, will help teachers to obtain optimum results in the process of student’s learning.
Referring to how to design, Jane Jacobs wrote an article called “The Death and Life of American Cities”. In her article she refers about the design of cities. Nevertheless, the main purpose Jacob’s text is to give us a reflection about how to design a classroom.
But, what teachers do to design a class? Commonly Teachers tend to separate problematic students, from those who are calmer and “smart”. Apparently this likelihood is not merely appropriated if we want to incorporate or promote interaction among students. Jane Jacobs in her work says “When two or more such hostile islands are juxtaposed the result is called “a balanced neighborhood”. (Jacob Jones, “The Death and Life of American Cities”, New York: Modern Library, 1993, page 5-7). This can be compared with a class design because learning through interaction promote a good develop of communication and respect for other’s differences. As a result we can have a “balanced neighborhood” as Jacob mentions or in this case, a balanced classroom.
On the other hand, some teachers try to put students all together in the center or in a “circle” where everyone keeps eye contact and good interaction among themselves. In this sense, this way of organization is one of the best because it encourages students to express themselves and participate as a community. Even though there exists many ways to designs a class, perhaps, the most relevant is that one who is design taking consideration student’s differences, interests, abilities, and needs. As I said before, every class is heterogeneous and it is composed of people who belong to a different context, culture and history. For this reason, before designing a class, it is imperative that teachers bear in mind carefully of this issue in every educational context.
Referring to how to design, Jane Jacobs wrote an article called “The Death and Life of American Cities”. In her article she refers about the design of cities. Nevertheless, the main purpose Jacob’s text is to give us a reflection about how to design a classroom.
But, what teachers do to design a class? Commonly Teachers tend to separate problematic students, from those who are calmer and “smart”. Apparently this likelihood is not merely appropriated if we want to incorporate or promote interaction among students. Jane Jacobs in her work says “When two or more such hostile islands are juxtaposed the result is called “a balanced neighborhood”. (Jacob Jones, “The Death and Life of American Cities”, New York: Modern Library, 1993, page 5-7). This can be compared with a class design because learning through interaction promote a good develop of communication and respect for other’s differences. As a result we can have a “balanced neighborhood” as Jacob mentions or in this case, a balanced classroom.
On the other hand, some teachers try to put students all together in the center or in a “circle” where everyone keeps eye contact and good interaction among themselves. In this sense, this way of organization is one of the best because it encourages students to express themselves and participate as a community. Even though there exists many ways to designs a class, perhaps, the most relevant is that one who is design taking consideration student’s differences, interests, abilities, and needs. As I said before, every class is heterogeneous and it is composed of people who belong to a different context, culture and history. For this reason, before designing a class, it is imperative that teachers bear in mind carefully of this issue in every educational context.
Hi, Paulina
ResponderEliminarNot a bad post, considering that you missed our class discussion of the Jacobs text. It's important to understand that when Jacobs talks about the "balanced neighborhood" of two juxtaposed neighborhoods, she is being sarcastic. When we revise this post in class, you may want to re-write that paragraph.
some corrections:
"congregated" is not the right word--I think you mean "composed of"
You need to add a pronoun to this sentence:
In this sense, this way of organization is one of the best because *it* encourage*s* students to express themselves and participate as a community.
But you don't need the pronoun here:
For this reason, having a good organization and design of a class *will* help teachers * obtain optimum results in the process of student’s learning.
ps. Did you forget to mention the New Yorker abstract?
ResponderEliminar