Mag. Katarina Dolgan, Osnovna šola Danila Lokarja Ajdovščina
My everyday practice as primary school teacher is proving me, that besides the learning content, the learning process and learning strategy are almost equally important. I try to provide a quality teaching to my pupils, therefore I create an open learning environment in which I listen to my pupils, direct them, advise them and encourage them towards their independence and accountability. We try to develop critical thinking skills and judgment. We organize learning activities together in a way that will optimally lead them to conceived goals. In class I use didactic approaches, which belong to the constructivist model of teaching (cooperative learning, project based learning, problem teaching, role-playing, field, experimental and research work, e-teaching) formative assessment and differentiation and individualisation of teaching. I am aware that I should not be the only source of information and expert only on the content area. I try to organize lessons that are not limited to the classroom and the lesson hours that are not limited to the schedule. The interaction with the environment is necessary, therefore we often invite external experts and professionals to our classroom or we visit them. I tried to include all that facts in learning material of lessons My body in the 4th grade. At the beginning the pupils expressed their prior knowledge, interests, preferences and needs for knowledge about the human body. Then we planned the course and divided the learning material into several lessons. We learned how to do it by doing the first lesson together. We learned where and how to find information and critically evaluate them. Divided into small groups, couples or single pupil chose one of the lessons, examined it and presented it to others. Pupils prepared experiments, short videos, posters or PowerPoint presentations. The presentations were supported by different didactic materials and ICT. Contents were also cross-curricular linked. When the lesson was over, we wrote down the fundamental facts that are part of the learning objectives of the curriculum. We also invited two external experts from Ajdovščina Health Centre and the Red Cross to learn how to provide first aid if needed. At the end pupils used different methods and ICT (didactic computer games, quizzes, crosswords) to revise and consolidate the acquired knowledge. The things pupils liked the most in this kind of learning were diverse approaches, feed materials, their own activity and the possibility of creating a lesson. An open learning environment that promoted high-quality independent and collaborative learning was organized with this method of work.
