Learning Without A Textbook

I read five comments from the article "No Books, No Problem:  Teaching Without A Text."  The main argument I gathered from what people thought about the article were rather positive, falling more in favor with not using a textbook than using one.  One argument given was that textbooks are often not to state standards.  I don't know if I really agree with this.  In my classes throughout school my teachers were able to use the textbooks to accomplish their objectives and seemed to have no trouble in doing so.  Another argument made is that there is more information contained in textbooks than can be taught in the year.  I do agree with this.  I don't think I've ever once made it the entire way through a textbook in school.  There was a lot of information given and my teachers often commented that there was no way they'd be able to cover everything.  The argument was also made the textbooks limit teachers, which I suppose I can understand because textbooks give one version of the information, or in the case of history, the story.  It was also suggested that textbooks limit the teacher and that they cannot always be adjusted to the needs of the students, and I suppose I can agree with this as well.  There was also a comment about using projects that relate to the students to teach information instead of the textbook.  In some subjects I can see this working better than teaching from the textbook.  For history, though, it might be rather difficult to do this when teaching certain things.  Overall, I agree with the statements made by these people to the article and I think they made some very valid points.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Brittany Morgan and I'm from Preston County, West Virginia.  I am currently a student at Fairmont State University, and this is my blog for my EDUC 2201 Instrustional Technology Class.  I am a Secondary Education Major and my focus is in Social Studies and History.  I love everything about history, though my favorite time would have to be Tudor England.  I have a slight obsession with King Henry VIII.  When I graduate, I hope to teach either middle school or high school.  I haven't really figured out which I would prefer yet, but I think as long as I'm teaching history the grade level won't matter.  I believe that children learn in many different ways.  I think the best way to learn, though, is to be involved.  When one is actively engaged and doing something hands on, he or she is more likely to learn.  I also think that teaching others is a helpful way to learn, and so students in my classroom may be engaged in activites like group projects and presentations where they can learn with others and have a chance to share what they know.