I too, liked this type of reading assignment, choose what’s best for you. The website Lisa linked us to had a lot of articles on many teaching subjects. It was hard to pick two to read and respond to. I read several of the articles. The two that I will discuss here are on questioning and assessment. I chose the questioning article as a follow up to the other article we read on questioning and compare it to other ideas on questioning I’ve come across as a classroom teacher. I chose assessment as my other topic to discuss, since assessment has some bearing on my research topic. There were many other useful articles on the website that could easily be used for discussion. I am curious to see what others chose to read...
Effective Techniques of Questioning:
This article included some of the hallmarks of questioning: clear, specific, logical, sequential questions asked at appropriate level for students. It included a set of possible questions for a discussion of predicting. It was good for the purpose of predicting and explaining predictions. It could also be adjusted to fit other concepts as well. The article described how teachers should allow wait time and how to follow up on student answers - ask for elaboration and other students comments. The article included a discussion of three types of questions: Playground, Brainstorm and Focal. I had never heard of Playground questions, they are narrow questions aimed at an aspect of the content material. Brainstorm questions are a good and fun way for students to produce as much info on a topic as possible in a short time. Focal questions, do not limit discussion to a single aspect of the concept or topic. These questions seem similar to clarifying questions based on the issues at hand.
Classroom Assessment Techniques:
This article was great, for me. It did a great job explaining how assessment can be used for two purposes: Improve student learning and improve teachers teaching. Assessment provides an excellent tool for showing the effectiveness of teachers and the progress of learners. This should occur ongoingly. This is a point often raised in my experience as a classroom teacher and a college student (under and post grad). Generally, assessment is viewed as a means to assign grades. It can be used for so much more. If only used for grading purposes, test and quizzes are too late to improve the teaching and learning. Formative assessments - not used solely for grading, help determine any gaps in the process of teaching. Teachers know what they have been teaching and assessment allows teachers to determine what was learned. Using assessment effectively then, we can go back and reteach, to improve our teaching and student learning. The article listed seven characteristics of using assessment effectively, that are very similar to what I have seen before, as assessment purpose and intention:
- learner centered
- teacher directed
- mutually beneficial
- formative
- context specific
- ongoing
- rooted in good teaching practices
I chose the two articles, “Dealing with the Disengaged Student” and “Active Learning”. The first one dealt with adult students but I found that the suggested ideas would work with kids as well. Two basic things mentioned were, get to know students on a personal level and be prepared to teach. I thought back on our last reading in “The Courage to Teach” and how the author become obsessed with a disengaged student in his guest lecture and learned later that the student was struggling with issues with his father who criticized his decision to go to college. As teachers I think it can be draining to be too emotionally involved in personal lives, but it is wrong to jump to the conclusion that a student is just not motivated. Often, what masquerades as disinterest can be depression or learned helplessness and has nothing to do with teaching style. It helps to identify exactly what you are dealing with. The second idea of being prepared, although basic, suggests that without preparation there can be gaps in your teaching were you can lose a student. Preparation also included having teaching goals. This makes sense. If you don’t know were you are going, there is no way the students will be able to follow you.
ReplyDeleteThe “Active Learning” article reminded me of the way Matt talks about teaching. It suggested that we learn better when we engage in dialogue with ourselves (which could be in the form of journaling), dialogue with others (small or large groups) and also by observing and by doing. These things could be used alone or together and provide more engaging methods than reading alone. Doing can be direct experience or vicarious, like in role-playing. The idea is to "create rich new experiences and deep meaningful dialogue." These methods make sense to me in that it reinforces the different learning styles. By approaching a subject through different avenues, it gives students the opportunity to absorb the experience in a way that makes sense to them. Also, you are not relying on just one method to get the information across. Going from dialogue with self to dialogue with others gives a student other perspectives and helps everyone to look at it in a way they would not have come up with on their own. I liked this article and will keep it in mind, not only in my teaching, but in my own learning. Even though I have identified for myself the way I learn best, I still find myself relying on too many traditional methods and I have to remind myself over and over that traditional methods (like simply reading) don't work as well for me.
@Matt: I almost went with a classroom assessment article as one of my readings. I agree that it is something that ought to be ongoing in the best interest of both student and teacher. This is another area that I could improve in. I often think back on how teaching went on a given day, but don't necessarily sit down and write out what I should and should not do again, as well as what new elements I should try. Given your positive review, I will have to check this article out!
ReplyDelete@Amy: I have the sneaking suspicion that every single one of the articles on that site would be a fantastic resource for us all. Looking at these two articles of yours reaffirms that for me. The first one definitely speaks to me. "Getting to know the student" is exactly how I like to operate, and it's one of the things I've struggled with in our limited interactions with our groups. "Being prepared to teach" seems like a no-brainer, but it's something I'm sure I could improve upon. No matter how good of a handle I think I have on the curriculum for a program, it seems I always am able to look back and pick out something that I forgot to mention, or point out a missed learning opportunity.
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