New teaching approach gives Shikellamy pupils active role
By Jaime North
The Daily Item
February 25, 2009 07:26 am
— SUNBURY — High school has become a whole new world for Kali Oshetski, who no longer stares at the classroom clock, waiting for the bell to ring.
Instead, the 16-year-old Shikellamy High School junior wakes up eager to start the day. Kali has taken ownership of her education, and she loves it.
“There’s not a lot of lecturing, which makes it easier to stay focused,” she said. “I really like working with other students. Plus, it’s easier to get motivated when you’re doing different things and working in groups.”
Kali attributes her newfound love for school to Shikellamy’s focused-learning approach, where students have a hands-on role in classroom instruction.
Students spend more time working in groups and using laptop computers and digital projectors in class. They create their own study sheets and even teach some of the material to each other through presentations.
The change in teaching strategy — launched last year and used in all subjects this year — has given many students a boost in their studies, according to teachers.
“We’re seeing a lot more kids engaged in class and many coming out of their shell to do some really good work,” said Jon Steese, a social studies teacher. “This gives students a lot more responsibility. Students won’t give up anymore simply because they can’t learn a certain way. Now, they have an opportunity to learn material in their own way.”
Steese said one example of what he has done is have students write newspaper articles instead of research papers.
“I’ve found the kids are more apt to look at what their friends wrote then sit and review worksheets I hand out,” said Steese, who also has his students creating presentations using the Microsoft PowerPoint program as class reports and travel brochures as study guides.
Focused learning is working in other areas, too, according to Jennifer Gurski, a biology teacher.
“There is so much information you have to convey in science, but this approach allows you to pull out the key concepts and have students learning the basics,” she said. “This gets every single student doing something. I’m not getting kids with their heads down in class anymore. It’s a more active environment.”
Terry Roden, school principal, said focused learning is not a new concept but a full-scale implementation and teacher training is under way at Shikellamy because research says the strategy is getting more students to achieve better in class.
Shikellamy already has seen a hint of proof by having fewer 11th-graders fall below proficiency in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests in math and reading from 2007 to 2008.
The new approach certainly has gotten a stamp of approval from the students.
“I’m not really held back anymore, just sitting in class waiting for other students to get done,” said Emily Christian, 16, a junior. “You also have to make sure you know the material, because you know your classmates will ask you questions. You don’t want to feel stupid in front of the class.”
T.J. Hertzog, 17, another junior, said the new approach has helped him survive difficult classes and increase his motivation for tough subjects.
“I definitely don’t dread classes anymore,” Hertzog said. “It’s not like you’re just listening to the teacher all period. We have different things going on all of the time with different people presenting in class. It’s a really nice change of pace.”
n E-mail comments to jnorth@dailyitem.com.
