Shannon Page, a fifth-grade teacher at A.B. Combs Leadership Magnet Elementary School, readily admits to conducting unconventional classes. For one thing, they’re usually loud. “I’m not sure I’d be comfortable in a quiet classroom,” she says. “Without constant conversation, I would feel as if no one was learning.”
Then there’s all the activity. Every day her students do “hands-on” group projects, and every other week the kids change desk locations in the classroom. “I use a random-event generator to determine who will sit where. Every other Monday everybody gathers his or her stuff and moves.”
She hesitates even to call herself a teacher, preferring the terms “facilitator” or “mentor,” because her goal is less to transmit information than “…to teach my students how to think.”
Her method for reaching her salutary goal is project-based instruction. “I love it,” she states. “It’s rigorous and relevant. It teaches kids reasoning skills and requires them to take control of their own learning.”
Her instructional strategy, she insists, also keeps her actively engaged. Because the kids’ curiosity drives the lessons, “I’m continually challenged to keep up, to answer surprising questions and stay ahead of research when projects take unexpected turns, which they often do. I’m not exaggerating when I say I never know what to expect.”