{Grad School Post} Concept Attainment Model

As I've studied the Concept Attainment Model this week, I've really struggled with my opinion of the value. I was convinced today. I have the joy of being able to work with Janette Bales (also an ASTL student taking this course) who is an EAST facilitator I've always "clicked" with. Janette filmed her lesson today and I watched it 'work'. I believe the students gained the information in the lesson, but also gained a little better understanding - of learning.

I plan to film my lesson tomorrow. I will be using this lesson to teach presentation skills. In the EAST environment we use presentations for many reasons. Our students present project ideas and budget requests to school administrators as well as community members outside of the school. They present their projects and learning obtained in the EAST environment to each other and to students outside of the EAST classroom. They also present this information to their facilitator - for grading purposes. Of course, they learn a lot of technology when they create these presentations. They use PowerPoint, MovieMaker and sometimes even free software they find on the Internet. They use language skills. Their writing and communication skills are constantly honed. I believe these skills are one set of the many things outside of the 'core' curriculum that is important to teach our students. I believe being a strong communicator can give them a 'leg up' in the world beyond high school. I hope using the Concept Attainment Model will help me teach them not only the skills they need, but the importance of those skills. I'll post more after I've gone through this (six times :-) tomorrow. I expect each group of students will be unique, as they always are.. but especially after observing Janette's film today, I expect they will learn - and that's what our journey in education is all about.