Are the Students Truly Understanding It? Are We? Part 2

This is part two of a three part look at what teaching is all about.

I think we live in one of the most exciting times when it comes to education. The students are changing in ways that challenge us to look at what we are doing in the classroom and make changes when needed. From outside the classroom we are being held accountable for what we are doing. Basically, we are being called to be a professional. Never before have we had so much learning available for us outside a classroom. In the past we had to take classes and read textbooks written by people that hadn’t been in the classroom for awhile. True, we’re still called to take classes. But now, as teachers, we can interact with professional learning communities online, take classes online, and share with other colleagues from around the globe our successes and failures so that we can improve what we do.

And what do we do? We educate kids. Our whole focus should be on the student. Without them we’re out of a job. In Part 1 of this article written last month I challenged you to think about whether your motivation was to just get through the curriculum, or educate the student. It’s an easy trap to fall into with all the pressures being brought to bear on the teaching profession today.

Another problem is that the way we were taught in school doesn’t work well with today’s digital students. Dave Warlick, a nationally renowned educational speaker, made some interesting statements in his Oct. 16th blog I’d like to quote: “I think that it’s part of the job. It is my job, as a teacher, to be able to teach today — to be skilled at using today’s information technologies within today’s information environments and apply pedagogies that reflect today’s information environments. We suffer from the myths of old world education, that you go to school so that you will be prepared for the next 30 or 35 years. But the teacher we are at graduation from college, is not necessarily the teacher we need to be five years later. Those days are long behind us — and I think that the job has become a whole lot more exciting as a result.”
He ended his blog with another statement that sums up what I’m talking about. And again I quote: “It’s part of the job of the teacher to continue to grow,” then we can get on with the far more interesting question, “What does the school and classroom look like where learning is what you see happening, not teaching — where learning stops being a job, and, instead, becomes a lifestyle.”

To help students learn, I need to focus on my learning. If I expect to be told what to do all the time, that is what I will expect out of my students. If I work on becoming a self-directed learner, I will help my students to do the same. These are the skills of the 21st century. Focusing on the learning, and not on the teaching, has helped me focus more on the individual student. With student centered learning it’s great to hear from the students and guide them like a coach in the learning process. It’s exciting to walk by each group of students and hear them discussing the focus question and helping each other to understand the material. They are now engaged in the learning process, not just checking out as I stand up there lecturing. Students today are interactive. Is their learning interactive or one sided? Do you follow the textbook, or do you look for a way that meets the needs of your students and how they learn? That is where we, as teachers, become the professional. We need to always be looking for the strategies that help our students learn.

The educational term being used today is differentiated instruction. This isn’t a bad thing. When you begin to operate this way you will get to know your students better. Have you ever asked them what they liked when it comes to teaching strategies? I work with fifth graders and they have no problem telling me. When I reflect on what they have said and use their feedback, I find a more motivated student. All of us understand the importance of motivation.

My goal as a teacher is to engage every student anytime there is learning taking place. What I have found is the more engaged they are the less I have to deal with discipline issues. My students work in pairs and groups most of the time. I will ask a question and then move around the room as they work on it. Sitting at my desk is rarely an option. There are times where they work on something by themselves, but I allow them to ask questions of their fellow classmates or myself when needed.

This hasn’t always been the way I’ve taught. I was a lecture type teacher for many years. I was never satisfied though, but didn’t know any other way. After all, that was how I was taught. I then took an on-line class on helping students to become self-directed learners. Then, as I read more about the expectations of the work world and 21st century skills it all began to come together. I will tell you it is a work in progress, and I haven’t arrived yet, but it is exciting. I’ve shared with other teachers and we are learning together. More teachers are joining us, one teacher at a time.

So now it’s time to make your choice. Jump in and begin the change. It’s a process that doesn’t happen overnight, but will happen. Get involved in some of the online educational forums. There’s plenty of support and help out there online.

In the next article I will be talking about formative and summative assessment and some of the tools available to help you get to know where each of your students is at any given time.

Are the Students Truly Understanding It? Are We?

This is part one of a three part look at what teaching is all about.

Everyday, as teachers, we work hard to have students learn material and acquire skills they will need in the future. Along the way, we attempt to see if they understand the material by asking questions of individual students, or giving them a quiz. This is called formative assessment. From this type of assessment we make decisions how to proceed with the material. In the end we may give a final test to measure their final understanding of the material. This final form of measurement is called summative assessment.

What is this formative and summative assessment about, you may ask? Giving final tests have been around forever (summative assessment). Asking questions of the students isn’t new either (formative assessment). But what have you done with the answers the students gave? Did they help in guiding where you were going with the material? Did it help you assess the success of your teaching strategies? Let’s look a little deeper at this.

What is your motivation in teaching the curriculum, or skills, that you, as a teacher, are expected to present within your subject matter or grade level? Is your motivation to get through the material and hopefully the students will get it, or is it to teach for mastery? If I’m feeling overwhelmed by the amount of material I have to teach in a year, I’m going to teach in a way that gets me through the material. Is this what we are called to do? Do you know, at any point in time, where each individual student is in their comprehension of the subject matter or skills? What is your motivation for giving worksheets or answering questions on paper? Is it to just get a grade or practice the skill? Or should there be more? I know these are heavy questions, but we, as professionals, should be asking them each time we teach. Today’s 21st century teacher is being called upon to raise the bar, but do we know how?

If you notice, I haven’t mentioned No Child Left Behind, until now. As frustrated as we get with the way this concept is being carried out, the idea isn’t bad. How many students have been dropped through the cracks over the years because of how we approached teaching? How many times have we been frustrated because students act like they have never seen the material, even though we know the previous teacher had taught it? It is time we start looking at out teaching strategies and ask ourselves if this is working. We need to be willing to talk with other teachers about what we are doing in the classroom and sharing among ourselves what has worked and what hasn’t. From this dialogue we can make adjustments to our strategies so that all students can be successful in some way.

Now, I know I haven’t addressed formative and summative assessment. I haven’t dealt with the many questions I brought up and the motivation behind our teaching. This first part was to get you thinking. In the next part I will address these questions. So think about it.