Parker County Today April 2016 | Page 76
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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