Chapter 1 opens with a quote by John Dewey claiming that we must teach children how to think rather than what they should be thinking. I feel this perfectly sums up the job of teachers. It is our duty to encourage critical thinking and allow for creativity in the classroom so that students may be innovative and possibly discover something new. This is how we as teachers continue to learn throughout our profession- from our students. As I was reading the Tyler Rationale for lesson planning, it struck me that probably the most important step would be the reflection. If a lesson falls short of the needs of our students, it is important to actually take note of that and make adjustments. I think an important note to make at this point is that these adjustments will need to be made every single school year, because no two classrooms will be alike so as a teacher I will have to be ready to alter my lessons to cater to the needs of new groups of students. Hunter's mastery also includes a need for reflection to make sure students are truly understanding classroom material, and that they can perform on their own. Of course, this is no easy task. Every unique student has a myriad of needs. Blooms taxonomy goes into greater detail of each tier of knowledge that students can master- from rote memorization all the way to synthesis and evaluation. ASCD's 'The Whole Child' talks about good education requiring teachers to notice the whole picture. According to the video, we don't outgrow what makes us children and teachers need to realize this and cater to emotional needs of students in order to keep them focused on school because their basic needs are met.Also, we have to realize once again that no two students are alike and therefore we cannot teach them all the same way.
Outside of reflection, I think that it is also very important to get students involved in their education in a hands-on manner. I will use teaching strategies such as 5-E to get my classes to become active participants. Once you are successfully able to do something and teach somebody else how to do it, you really have mastered a skill and I believe that interactive classroom time will greatly help advance the learning process. I think this idea of interactive learning can be tied in with the jurisprudential inquiry approach. It is healthy to debate controversial opinions in a safe environment such as the classroom. By teaching students how to effectively communicate touchy subjects in a school environment, they will learn to take their opinions outside of the classroom and broach taboo topics in a politically correct manner. Debates can be used often within units, especially in history, as our past is littered with so many make-or-break decisions.
Overall, I believe the lesson to be taken from this chapter is the importance in learning who are students are as individuals so that we may be able to best teach them how to think and come upon their own answers throughout their education. One simple assignment that could be fun for the students and informative for the teachers is a quiz to determine if one is right or left brained, thus discovering if they will be a more analytical or artistic learner.
Are You Right or Left Brained?
Finally, a question to walk away with- at what point is it time to move on in order to keep up with the curriculum rather than slowing down the class to ensure total comprehension? Sometimes you don't have the time to take multiple approaches, or to backtrack after a batch of poor exam results. Is there a point where teachers have to move on at the expense of a students success in their classroom?
