Chapter 3: HOW WE TEACH

Blog Post about Chapter 3 (10/30)  HOW WE TEACH

I really liked reading about the research on elements of effective lessons and the idea of Conley’s four intellectual standards.  It was nice to read the highlights of what great researchers recommend for best teaching practices.  All of the suggestions are things that I learned when I did my education degree work but it is good to be reminded of them.  I also think that the current work in implementing Common Core Standards makes the work of simplifying the curriculum easier and focusing on objectives easier also.  I have seen this year how this shift to Common Core also is igniting a new discussion on assessment and how do we know what students know.  My main “take-away” from this chapter though is how much formative assessment really makes a difference in student learning outcomes.  Schmoker gives an example of an Ohio professor who uses clickers to check for understanding and the classes he uses these in perform a full letter grade better than other classes! (page 69)  I like the idea of using the clickers because everyone gets a chance to answer and there is no opting out.  Normally when I ask a question and use partner share and then call on a few students, you still only get to hear a few point of views and you don’t know what everyone is thinking or if one kid had a great insight.  I definitely agree that “we must ensure that every student is responding, multiple times, to questions throughout the lecture.” (page 73)  I remember going to a PD one time and the speaker said you have to give more chances to struggling students.  The point that really hit me was if you call on the students who raise their hands and know the answer you are giving more chances to students who already understand and those who don’t, when compounded over their school career, received tons (don’t remember how many) fewer opportunities to explain their thinking.  Sometimes when a lesson is tough and students aren’t getting it, it is easy to just call on the students who do raise their hand to help move the lesson along but I have realized that this doesn’t help the whole class.