Parker County Today April 2016 | Page 76

Phoenix Transmission Your World-Renowned Home Town Transmission Shop Since 1983. 1304 Mineral Wells Highway • Weatherford, TX 76086 817-599-7680 Leaders in 3D Mammography I don’t just want a Mammogram, I want Peace of Mind. C M Y CM MY CY APRIL 2016 74 © Copyright 2016 Solis Mammography K PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY CMY Schedule at SolisMammo.com or Call (866) 717.2551 18 locations across DFW including: 914 Foster Lane, Weatherford, Texas 76086 T he educator’s “red pen of death” for marking on student worksheets isn’t something Amanda Rogers keeps handy. Her kids don’t even have worksheets to mark. Considered an educational liberator by some and a renegade by some “traditional” educators, Rogers said she does everything in the interest of her students’ success. Roger’s preferred tools in the classroom are the students’ own curiosity and a teaching method called Project-Based Learning (PBL). A third-grade teacher at Weatherford ISD’s Curtis Elementary, Rogers said her decision to change her entire way of teaching came from a revelation she had while facing the drudgeries of traditional education. “I was bored with traditional teaching. So, it was like, ‘I’m bored, I know these kids are bored,’” Rogers said. “And pulling them to small groups and having them read to me, what were they getting out of it? OK, so they might have scored a little bit higher on a certain traditional reading assessment, but how were they going to take that and apply it outside of school? There was nothing.” Rogers immediately went to social media and began hunting for viable solutions. She found her answer, a tool she now uses not only for self improvement, but to educate others wanting in on her new journey.  “I heard about [Project-Based Learning] through Twitter, connecting with other educators. ... I started getting into PBL and then I went to a future-ready academy last year at Region 11. They talked about PBL, and I was like, ‘I want to do this.’” In late September, she went out of state to visit with one of the educators she is connected with through social media. Asked how far her network reaches, Rogers said, “I have international educators that I am connected with through Twitter and Voxer, as crazy as it seems.” Rogers said her biggest motivation for incorporating PBL is kids get to take control of their education. Unlike traditional teaching methods where educators regularly use curriculum and quote lessons line-by-line before giving students