Chapter 4: Active Learning

This chapter focuses on the idea of active learning. To begin the chapter Wormeli talks about the benefit of physical movement for the brain. Saying that the brain functions best on high levels of oxygen, and that if we get middle school students up and moving throughout our lesson, chances are they will be more interested, focused, and engaged. One thing I found particularly (and it made sense), was that young adolescent students are constantly uncomfortable because they are growing so much. A simple task, such as sitting at a desk, can be painful for them. That is why it is our jobs as their teachers to provide them with as much opportunities as possible to get them up and moving around. I enjoyed his story about teaching ratios to his class, and how he actually brought them outside to visualize and walk around the school grounds and use ratios to find the heights of the trees. That brings the real world into the classroom, or in other words, outside of the classroom. The list that is presented in the end of the chapter with other ideas on how to get the students up and moving around will be a really good source for when I have a classroom of my own.