After reading Create a Syllabus for High School Students, by Starr Sackstein, and the article written by Maryellen Weimer entitled What Does the Syllabus Say About You and Your Course?, I have come to the realization that utilizing a syllabus in the classroom is an essential organizational tool. Sackstein illustrates the importance of introducing students to syllabi in order to better prepare them for college and the real world. I can completely relate to her because I was not introduced to these great organizational tools until I was a freshman in college. Similarly, I was use to the paper copy, therefore I knew the value and importance of such document. According to Sackstein, providing students with a syllabus at the beginning of a course not only prepares them for …show more content…
This allows students to clearly understand specific expected behavior in addition to the learning that will take place throughout the course of the year. Furthermore, the author notes the various ways syllabi improve a teacher’s effectiveness by helping them stay on track; allow for backwards planning; and provide occasional flexibility for student input. Overall, Sackstein recommends that a syllabus should be written more like a contract. Wiemer, on the other hand, believes the syllabus should be a tool that is inviting and student generated. As a result, she discourages educators from creating a syllabus that is dry, wordy, and reads like a contract. According to Wiemer, such syllabi simply serve to decrease student interest and motivation. Oftentimes, she notes, students overlook the logistical details and put it away forever. Instead, she suggests tapping into students’ thoughts about their perception towards such documents. She adds that allowing them to be part of the process by providing input increases student interest, motivation, and buy-in. Although both articles focus on the importance of providing a syllabus for students, they differ in the approach to generate
Stiggins, R., & Chappuis, J. (2008). Enhancing Student Learning. Retrieved from July 2009 from, http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticlepf.aspx?articleid=1362.
Hibler in Gryphon by Charles Baxter. Mr. Hibler mainly applies the bureaucratic curriculum approach whereby, the teacher decides what the students will study. Under this curriculum, students are only bound to the limits of their syllabus. On the other hand, Miss Ferenczi applies the existentialist curriculum whereby there is nothing like the right answer but rather, students are directed towards facts that will enable them to choose the correct answers. As seen in the analysis, “this prompted them to do more research and discuss amongst themselves hence, expanding their knowledge”. When the narrator reaches home after school completing his first day with Miss. Ferenczi, the narrator says that “I ran into the living room, pulled out a dictionary next to the TV stand and opened it to the G’s. Gryphon: Variant of griffin. Griffin: a fabulous beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. Fabulous was right. I shouted with triumph and ran outside to put my father’s tools back in their place.” This suggests that an effective school curriculum should motivate students to be more curious, do research and yearn to learn more. However, like Mr. Hibler, most teachers fail to achieve this. Consequently, this results to bunch of children who are only interested understanding what their syllabus for exam purposes rather than motivating them to do more research. The author uses Miss Ferenczi to indicate what a good curriculum should be like. The children were not aware if the stories that Miss Ferenczi told them were true. Consequently, this prompted them to do more research and discuss amongst themselves hence, expanding their knowledge (characteristics of a good school curriculum, Baxter
... the students a better understanding of what I am looking for in each entry. I think I will use a suggestion from McTighe, “Teachers can also use the examples (with student names removed) with future students to help them see the difference excellent, good, fair, and poor work.”(Richardson, 2009) This will be a great way for students to identify what is expected of them and it will save instructional time in the process so we don’t fall behind in my pacing scale
Since Grey’s Anatomy is a very real life universe, it was hard to try making up a “fictional syllabus”, so instead I made my syllabus as real as it could be. This syllabus will be distributed from the doctor to the interns on a typed out piece of paper, just like we would receive it from a teacher. Using a computer to type out the syllabus makes it very easy to read and follow for the interns, and easy to assess by Doctor Webber. Printing the syllabus allows the interns to be able to keep and follow these guidelines throughout their whole internship. Through my research, I found out everything that I needed to include in my syllabus and how to produce it. I used the source, Center for Research on Learning and Training, as an extra guideline
“The universal design for learning involves the conscious and deliberate planning of lessons and outcomes that allow all students access to and participation in the same curricula.” (Ashman & Elkins, 2008, p. 248) When curricula, instruction and assessment are designed using UDL students are offered various approaches of; presentation, expression, and engagement (who, what and why of learning). Using the UDL teachers must allow students to present information and content in different ways, differentiate the ways that students can express what they know, and stimulate interest, engagement and motivation for learning. (Ashman & Elkins, 2...
We must provide an environment that provides new leaning experiences that help the students to reach the maximum cognitive development of the stage. Our classroom is one of the tools that we going to use throughout the school year, in which we have to provide our students we visual information about the topics that we are talking, continuously renovate it and post works done by them. This way we are encouraging them to continue learning and getting involve in their learning path.
In the lessons that are present in today’s classroom, there is little room for creativity or deviation from the very scripted curriculum. Students are not encouraged to raise their hand and make everyday life connections to share with the rest of the cla...
Learning Theories and Instructional Strategies 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.
I have ensured that I meet my students’ science needs by assuring that the material needed to be cover in the class was covered. Furthermost, the students are able to learn from exploring, which is different from teaching the students how to and giving them the information needed. The students were still able to learn the material needed to be covered by discovering the content.
In a classroom, a teaching strategy is a generalized plan for a lesson which includes structure, instructional objectives and an outline of planned tactics, necessary to implement the strategies. Reece and Walker (2002) describe a teaching strategy as a combination of student activities supported by the use of appropriate resources to provide particular learning resources. It is that procedure by which new knowledge is fixed in the minds of students permanently. For this purpose, a teacher does extra activities in the class. These activities help the teacher to take shift from one strategy to another. A method of teaching on the other hand is directly related to the presentation of the lesson. The choice of the teaching method depe...
The understandings I have gained from this course have completely revamped my way of teaching. I have been using the unit plan and curriculum map I created in this course for the past two years, and my students enjoy it more and more each year. Learning the importance of using big ideas and essential questions in the classroom have made me a better educator and has assisted my students in learning content and skills that they can transfer to all academic areas and into their everyday lives. I now use big idea and essential questions in every ...
We ignore the plain fact that students learn at different rates and in different ways” (3). Furthermore, teachers are the main source of knowledge in the classroom. When teaching, teachers determine almost everything that happens within their classroom. Including what information they have students learn, and how they pass on that information. However, over the years, it has been neglected that every student learns differently. Additionally, it needs to be remembered that it is the students who are learning. A school system is needed that can retain all students’ curiosity, individuality, and creativity. For instance, whether it is the amount of homework given, the type of test, the pace of teaching, or the style of notes required, students should not be confined to only one way of
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.
The syllabus is a commonly created and shared document in the education world (Parkes & Harris, 2010). For some high school, and most higher education courses, it is the first form of contact between an instructor and their students. The organization and content of the syllabus sets the tone of the course and stands as a resource throughout the semester or year. Continual analysis, reflection and refinement helps to maintain the syllabus as a dynamic educational resource for every student in that class (Slattery & Carlson, 2010). An effective syllabus provides, not only an introduction and overview into the course, but also outlines the academic standards and essential questions that are to be covered, shares the course schedule and
In many cases, it has become very complex to keep students interested in their education. So the teacher must be creative and find ways to keep pushing the student onward as well as upward. In order to devise the ultimate plan for educating students, a teacher must acknowledge that the “students” are what teaching is all about. The most important factor in the equation is unequivocally the STUDENT! All humans are different in some sort or fashion. But the fact still exists that we all have only this place to function in. So help by putting forth an effort to make it a better place for us all.