Learning at the Museum

What a wonderful tour of the Science Galleries. And what an awesome exhibit! Art and video are such great tools to use for teaching, learning, and understanding. I felt like today’s presenter was totally in tuned to who his audience was, what we are learning, and the “language” we are hearing and beginning to use ourselves. When he talked about the “big idea” we knew what that meant…..What do we want to be known from this? When he talked about “chunking” some of us knew that it really means categorizing; grouping. He talked about an object theatre which is what our table-top exhibit will be; using objects to spark inquiry and then engage in extension activities. Throughout the presentation of the gallery, terms like formative and summative assessment were mentioned. We know that formative assessment is used to help the teacher know what the student knows; what misconceptions may already exist or have come about, and how we can gear our lessons to help fix these misconceptions and in what direction we need to go in. And he used the term misconceptions too! Having kinesthetic learning going on is also familiar to us. It’s part of the multiple intelligences that he mentioned and that we have studied and allowed for when planning our lessons. Allowing students to learn in a way that is meaningful for them; what comes naturally to them; kinesthetic….through movement, is wonderful. The presenter was also explaining that prior experience (I also say prior knowledge) makes a difference in what questions the students may ask or what information they may offer to a discussion. This is so important to be aware of because a teacher will be able to understand where the child is coming from, and again, any misconceptions they may have. He said to “challenge your knowledge.” By thinking that way, great informative discussions will arise and veering thoughts in different directions will occur (those misconceptions again.) The challenge may also lead you to explore further and learn more.

Because of all the use of “our language” many connections were made for me. I have made the connections in the classroom and with my lessons and teaching, but I never thought of the formative and summative assessments being used at a museum. I guess I never realized how closely related putting a museum display together was to a classroom teacher’s way of thinking and how the needs and outcomes are the same. Making your classroom into a museum for all subjects would be great. Too bad we don’t have three years and millions of dollars to do that, but we could do it in piecemeal and with meaningful displays.