The term ‘rigor’ when it is applied to teaching appears to belong to an era in education where we used inkwells or slates or chalkboard summaries. It sounds like an Old Fashioned term; in reality a rigorous class, one where students are thinking for themselves, should be the goal of every dedicated educator.
It is interesting to note that the word rigor means rigid, inflexible and unyielding, yet when applied to classrooms and learning experience the term relates to encouraging students to think creatively, critically and more flexibly.
Blackburn and Williamson (2008) define Rigorous Teaching as creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels. She goes on to say that ‘only when you create a
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Take individual skills and putting them together to create an entire process ( real thinking requires an entire process not disconnected skills)
4. Apply what they have learned in new and novel situations
She encourages every teacher to think rigorously about their planning process, if they want rigour from their students. A good lesson plan or unit outline will show where student are making meaning for themselves; imposing structure on information, using skills to create a process and applying what they have learned to new and novel situations.
There are many strategies for teaching in a way which demands rigour from students. A simple example is this: Asking a student to provide a definition for a word is straightforward. The student may know the definition but not truly understand what the word means and how to apply it. Ask the student to then create a riddle about the word or a ‘play’ on the word; this requires a deep understanding of the word and the student needs to think critically. At the moment in schools we have teachers working harder than the students because they are creating the riddle for
Lesson plans are very well organized including visuals for the materials being illustrated. Academic vocabulary is addressed in many ways. For example, key concept and vocabulary words will be introduced to the students at start of lesson using building background. Students will be provided a hard copy of anticipation guide and words will be displayed on the Smart Board, too. Students will be provided with
By adapting an academic tool with the words “rigor” and “relevance” in its title it is bound to ensure that no student will be miseducated. The staff of the International Center for Leadership in Education developed the Rigor and Relevance Framework in order to effectively evaluate and develop curriculum, instruction and assessment. This framework focuses on two important features. The first one is the continuum of knowledge, which can be seen on the left hand side of the table on the next page. This continuum is based on the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and explains the different levels in which we think. The second dimension is the continuum of action, which can be seen on the bottom of the table. It describes how knowledge is put into action (Daggett, 2012). As the table suggests the two dimensions are then divided into four different quadrants.
In this lesson, all three dimensions of the Quality Teaching Framework [QTF] are used to ensure pedagogy that promotes intellectual quality, a quality learning environment and ensures the significance of their work is known to students (NSW Department of Education and Training [DET], 2003). To guide my practice in meeting the needs of the students within this class, I have focused on substandards 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 3.1, 3.5, 4.1, 4.3, and 5.2 from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2011).
Doing that involves an increasing mastery of skills, knowledge, and ideas." (Robinson, p. 119) The mentioned idea can be used to motivate students to participate in the learning process. The same way young children learn playing with others, the older child can do it experimenting and prove their theories. As a teacher is easy to noticed the difference between a lesson that is pure theory, and the lesson that incorporates creative factors. Students present a better behavior during the lesson, participate, interact, formulate questions and get the answers working together without
Essentialism, made popular by William Bagley in the 1930’s, is the form of education most of us know well from our schooling experiences. It has also been called the “...
...ualized plan due to time constraints, it is reasonable to treat each student as they do have an individualized education. Teachers should know their students well enough to individualize the classroom activities so all students have strengths in each lesson. Through collaborative efforts, teachers can gain knowledge about the students and new ways to teach according to different learning styles. Working together, each student can receive an individualized education where their full potential is used.
Therefore the teacher proactively plans a variety of ways to ‘get at’ and express learning” (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 3). Planning for a variety of teaching strategies does not mean giving more work to the smart children. Instead the teacher must assess who understands the material, who is struggling, who needs to be challenged and decide what or how to teach the students from there (Tomlinson, 2001). Differentiation should occur naturally and involve individual, class and group work to allow for the differences in all students and all subjects of study (Tomlinson, 2001). Probably the most important aspect of differentiation is the idea of challenging all learners at their level instead of giving extra work to those students whom learn the concepts quickly.
In today’s classroom, the teacher is no longer viewed as the sole custodian of knowledge. The role of a teacher has evolved into being amongst one of the sources of information allowing students to become active learners, whilst developing and widening their skills. Needless to say, learning has no borders – even for the teacher. One of the strongest beliefs which I cling to with regards to teaching is that, teaching never stops and a teacher must always possess the same eagerness as a student. Through several interactions with other teachers, I always strive for new ideas, techniques, teaching styles and strategies that I might add to my pedagogical knowledge. Furthermore, through personal reflection, feedback and evaluation...
The lessons contained in this unit of instruction were based upon Madeline Hunter’s Seven Steps of Lesson Plan Formatting. This lesson plan format is a proven effective means for delivering instruction. When designing lessons, the teacher needs to consider these seven elements in a certain order since each element is derived from and has a relationship to previous elements. It should be noted that a lesson plan does not equal one class period. Throughout the course of the lesson, it may take multiple sessions before the student is ready to independently practice the skills learned. Anticipated lesson duration is included with each lesson plan provided in this instructional unit. Madeline Hunter’s Seven Steps of Instruction includes stating the objectives, anticipatory set, teacher input, modeling, checking for understanding, guided practice, and independent practice (Hunter, 2004). For the purpose of this instructional unit, input and modeling have been condensed into a streamlined event; as well has, checking for understanding and guided practice. This form of lesson planning is preferred within the Elkin City Schools district and lends itself to the creation of engaging lessons.
It is expected that the profession of teaching embraces many qualities of any other professional practice. Teachers must possess a combination of many qualities beginning with a strong academic background and wide-ranging knowledge. The National Framework for Professional Standards for Teaching (2003) it is the knowledge of students, curriculum, subject matter, pedagogy, education – related legislation and the specifically teaching context that is the foundation on effective teaching, and a firm foundation on which to construct well educated judgments.
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.
Considering the traditional teaching methods and the abundance of test-taking in schools, it is evident that the philosophical theory, Essentialism, has a strong presence in classrooms. Although Essentialism affects policymakers, parents, and the mass public, it most importantly affects the students. By deeply analyzing the issue of an overwhelming Essentialist presence in education, one can conclude that Essentialism is the root of contemporary issues in education.
...em to look at several elements that affect their student’s motivation and ask why and how this affects them in the first place. After that, I would tell him to arrange a lesson plan utilizing structural factors such as patterns and sequences, with a view to individual application and the group dynamics of the class. By doing so, the teacher can grow in his students a sense of shared motivation guided by these structural factors, so that each interrelated lesson are remembered. These lesson plans must also consider the effective ways of instilling discipline in the students. The teacher must allow for response from the students so that he may understand the students’ perception of reality, value systems, and will, so that he may understand how to motivate his students more. By understanding the motivations of his students, he can bring about a change in their lives.
Pike, B., & Bradley, F. (1997). The philosophy of teaching: Developing a statement that thrives in the classroom. Clearing House, 70(3), 125. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9703092460&site=ehost-live&scope=site
In the process of completing this coursework, I have realised that every teacher should be all-rounded and equipped with adequate skills of educating others as well as self-learning. As a future educator, we need make sure that our knowledge is always up-to-date and applicable in the process of teaching and learning from time to time. With these skills, we will be able to improvise and improve the lesson and therefore boost the competency of pupils in the process of learning. In the process of planning a lesson, I have changed my perception on lesson planning from the student’s desk to the teacher’s desk. I have taken the responsibility as a teacher to plan a whole 60-minutes lesson with my group members. This coursework has given me an opportunity