E-School News – Patricia A. Wargo
“What does it mean to truly apply classroom knowledge? Years ago, application meant a comprehensive exam or essay. In today’s educational environment, students are encouraged to apply what they’ve learned, not just on tests, but during multifaceted, multimedia projects that bring relevance to lessons and help students realize how their learning is used every day in the real world. Walking into one of our four STEM classrooms at Huntingdon Area Middle School, you won’t see students working quietly on worksheets. They’ll be huddled up in small groups, collaborating, brainstorming, critically thinking about how to solve the world’s problems. The expertise of four diverse teachers from different disciplines created a project-based, rotation model that has given middle school students a new realization that skills they learn in a classroom can be found in real-life situations, not just on a test.”(more)