"What makes the learner want to test her ideas?"
Professor Zull focused the importance of the learner being in control. But what needs to happen for the learner to obtain and maintain this control? How do the different parts of the brain need to engage each other to make the connections? What makes the student care about the process and not the answer? Though he shared many short stories about how students not originally owning their learning/knowledge the question for me is how do help the students get to this place sooner than later? How do I get the students to experience, reflect, develop, and utilize ideas without it feeling like a formal procedure?
I also never thought of thinking as a natural process because in teaching we are asking students to think about something they may not have initiated themselves. Something for me to think about will be how to 'trick' students into thinking about math instead of what they are doing after school. One way would be to present the students' with a problem and have them come up with the question(s) and see how they try to answer their questions. This would also encourage the students to form "images" as they map out their plan of attack.
One aspect of teaching and using Best Practices in the classroom that I have struggled with is how to use reflection effectively. I know that it is an important aspect of the learning process, and Zull has made enough arguments that I need to make it an essential part of a students' experience in my class!
Professor Zull focused the importance of the learner being in control. But what needs to happen for the learner to obtain and maintain this control? How do the different parts of the brain need to engage each other to make the connections? What makes the student care about the process and not the answer? Though he shared many short stories about how students not originally owning their learning/knowledge the question for me is how do help the students get to this place sooner than later? How do I get the students to experience, reflect, develop, and utilize ideas without it feeling like a formal procedure?
I also never thought of thinking as a natural process because in teaching we are asking students to think about something they may not have initiated themselves. Something for me to think about will be how to 'trick' students into thinking about math instead of what they are doing after school. One way would be to present the students' with a problem and have them come up with the question(s) and see how they try to answer their questions. This would also encourage the students to form "images" as they map out their plan of attack.
One aspect of teaching and using Best Practices in the classroom that I have struggled with is how to use reflection effectively. I know that it is an important aspect of the learning process, and Zull has made enough arguments that I need to make it an essential part of a students' experience in my class!
"Students can hit any target they can see and which stands still for them."
Rick Wormeli has been one of the most influential educators in my teaching practices. He is constantly pushing educators to do what is right for students' because he recognizes that the way most of us have always taught doesn't work for students. He uses logic to drive his decisions around learning and assessment while always keeping the end in mind. I feel very fortunate to work in an environment that embraces the importance of differentiation and authentic assessments around scales (learning targets). What I enjoy the most about his writing is his use of quotes from teachers. If we took time to listen to ourselves on how we justify our teaching practices, especially grading practices, we would not believe what comes out of our mouths.
The difficulty is that using learning targets (scales) to assess students and reporting out on targets is a climate change. What do the targets really mean about the grade a student is getting in a course and how to communicate this to parents? How do we as a school or even within a course consistently communicate proficiency (mastery)? There has always been inconsistencies in grading practices but it seems as we move towards targets we also need to try and minimize the inconsistencies. It seems teachers are finding value in the KUDs and Learning Targets than standards of the past, which is causing teachers to have more collaboration about best practices in the classroom.
Rick Wormeli has been one of the most influential educators in my teaching practices. He is constantly pushing educators to do what is right for students' because he recognizes that the way most of us have always taught doesn't work for students. He uses logic to drive his decisions around learning and assessment while always keeping the end in mind. I feel very fortunate to work in an environment that embraces the importance of differentiation and authentic assessments around scales (learning targets). What I enjoy the most about his writing is his use of quotes from teachers. If we took time to listen to ourselves on how we justify our teaching practices, especially grading practices, we would not believe what comes out of our mouths.
The difficulty is that using learning targets (scales) to assess students and reporting out on targets is a climate change. What do the targets really mean about the grade a student is getting in a course and how to communicate this to parents? How do we as a school or even within a course consistently communicate proficiency (mastery)? There has always been inconsistencies in grading practices but it seems as we move towards targets we also need to try and minimize the inconsistencies. It seems teachers are finding value in the KUDs and Learning Targets than standards of the past, which is causing teachers to have more collaboration about best practices in the classroom.
Twitter... I am disappointed that I didn't use this educational resource more when school began. I am including it her because I don't want to forget about it being a powerful resource to keep me thinking about education and doing best for student learning!
Images From Web:
http://www.amazon.com/Fair-Isnt-Always-Equal-Differentiated/dp/1571104240
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Changing-Brain-Enriching/dp/1579220541
http://www.amazon.com/Fair-Isnt-Always-Equal-Differentiated/dp/1571104240
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Changing-Brain-Enriching/dp/1579220541