Ah-ha Moments

Have you ever had that “ah-ha” moment? Just had one this morning and it felt good.  I’m on my lunch break and I’m really enjoying the ISW (instructional skills workshop) at SFU.    Yesterday’s session was great and this morning was even better.  My ah-ha moment happened this morning during our theme session about “active learning.”  It was taking the tacit to the explicit, making me realize that my approach with Assessment for Learning (AFL) provided me with a framework of active learning in my math classes.  Here’s the catch… my ah-ha moment happened when I realized that’s how the new math curriculum has been designed.  Active learning is embedded in the learning outcomes to produce different entry points for students to understand the math content.  The approach suggested adopts the pedagogy of active learning which in turn reaches more students with varying learning styles.  Active learning engages the students to make connections and find relevance.  The teacher, in turn, must also “allow” the learning to unfold and to help facilitate student learning.  And for me, AFL allowed me to do that successfully… a very nice ah-ha.