Navigating the New Pedagogy by Halstead Jeff;

Author:Halstead, Jeff; [Halstead, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Education
Published: 2011-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Closing

If teachers expect students to grow, then they need to make it a conscious practice to nurture student learning. When students understand standards for success, when they receive individualized descriptive feedback, when they are encouraged to take that next step in the learning process, this is when they grow and when student learning flourishes.

Principle 4

Construct Meaning

Writing has essential parts. Whether it’s a novel, a feature story, a news story, or an essay, the purpose of the opening of a written selection is to hook reader interest and introduce the guiding idea. The middle is meant to enrich reader understanding through exploring ideas or narrating a series of events. The closing, to be effective, must tie up the writing so that the reader either feels closure or a desire to act. For a written work to be effective, each element must be carefully crafted to achieve the desired impact.

Like the parts of writing, effective lessons or units have stages as well. The teacher’s skill at crafting and delivering each element of the lesson will determine whether or not the lesson is engaging and successful.

While our standardized tests and analysis of student data reduces parts of education to a science, teaching is still very much a performance art. Lessons and units, to be effective, must be carefully crafted to achieve the necessary outcomes (meeting a standard or understanding). Effective lessons are crafted using the following distinct parts:

Activate, Engage, and Assess: Student interest is hooked, prior learning and knowledge are engaged, and background knowledge/necessary skills are assessed and, if necessary, supplemented. Teachers check for naive preconceptions. (Note: The term “naive preconceptions” is used in this chapter rather than the more commonly used term “incorrect preconceptions.” In general, people make meaning out of what they see. The term “naive” implies lacking experience, as opposed to “incorrect,” which suggests a lack of good-quality thinking.)

Explore, Discover, and Differentiate: A knowledge base is built through exploration and discovery (a constructivist approach), although more didactic methods may be employed. While the exploratory stage is in process, teachers differentiate instruction to assist students individually or in groups.

Synthesize and Integrate: Students synthesize information into a meaningful, relevant final performance task. If applicable, teachers check for the revision of naive preconceptions that may have existed at the start of the lesson.

Reflect and Revise: Teachers assess the effectiveness of the lesson or unit. This may occur while the lesson or unit is in progress and may be in need of redirection. Reflection will also occur at the lesson’s end. Teachers use information gathered from final assessments to revise the lesson to make it more effective for future use.

These steps in the teaching process are essential for a successful student-learning experience, and they can be applied to short learning activities or long units.

This chapter is devoted to a deeper understanding of how to Activate, Engage, and Assess; Explore, Discover, and Differentiate; Synthesize and Integrate; and Reflect and Revise each function.

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