Integrating disciplines

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Students need to learn how to integrate subjects in their minds. Students need to make the connection between math and science to be able to succeed in chemistry. Rather than seeing math and science as two distinctly separate periods and subjects, utilizing the new and background knowledge across subjects will help them not only succeed during the school year but also remember what they learned.

I personally know that I remember new information better when I make multiple types of connections to other new things I am learning as well as things I already know. Students need to be able to make connections like these in order to tap into the full capacity of their learning and memory capabilities. However, students may or may not be able to learn to do this on their own.

Teachers need to learn how to teach the students through integration of subjects, or at least teaching students about the links between subjects. How powerful would it be to have an art teacher talk to an English class about William Holman Hunt’s painting of "The Lady of Shalott" or other similar paintings while they are reading Lord Tennyson’s ballad? How many more connections could be added by a history teacher? Understanding of the poem could be much deeper and memory of the connections would be much stronger.

What I am trying to say is that teachers should be teaching in a more collaborative and integrated way in order to teach students to make the connections between the subjects. When I was in my middle school placement for student teaching, I saw teachers teaching in exactly the same way they have always taught middle school, completely separate from other subjects. Sure they met as teams, but that was only by subject. Math with math, social studies with social studies. The thing that bothered me most about this way of teaching was the school had been built to facilitate collaboration between subjects.

There were four classrooms and a shared space that made up a pod, and each classroom in a pod was a different subject. Furthermore, most of the students had most of their classes in one pod; a student who had math in pod B usually also had history, language arts, and science in pod B. So why weren’t these teachers collaborating and trying to link their curriculums to find places where they could teach the student to utilize multiple disciplines at once? Yes, it takes a lot of time, but isn’t a school supposed to be about creating success for the students? I think if schools would open their eyes to how beneficial integration of subjects is, there would be more time allocated to collaboration between subjects as professional development.

Project Learning Tree

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Yesterday my cohort had the opportunity for environmental studies professional development through a Project Learning Tree workshop. It was a great, eye-opening experience into both environmental issues and incredible ways in which to incorporate environmental sudies into all school subjects.
I think the most impactful thing I learned, however, was the "pyramid" approach to environmental education. Our instructor introduced us to the concept of creating a base for student knowledge not through fear and guilt, but through connection to and love of the environment.

So many environmental programs go for the upfront "wow" factor by showing pictures of damage world climate change has caused to the earth or showing videos of the giant trash spot in the Pacific Ocean. While these photos and videos may frighten or guilt kids in to turning off a couple lights at home or recycling when it's convenient, it's not going to get lifetime complete buy-in to saving the earth.

However, if we were to start by getting kids to love the environment through outdoor education and direct connection, they would have a reason to want to help save what they have grown to love. For example, if a student were to become interested in birds and when they arrive back to a specific area each year, that student would be more interested in making the environment around where he/she lives livable for birds. That student might move on to studying birds in other ways. If he/she then discovered that human water conservation also impacted bird or other animal populations, the student would then have a personal, deep connection and drive to conserve water. This connection would remain part of this student much more than fear and guilt would. They would have personal investment in environmental concerns.

Although I still plan on teaching middle school math once I'm done with this program, I'm looking forward to using the resource book I bought at the workshop to try to implement some environmental activities in to math lessons. Thanks for the great workshop PLT!