Week 5

A road trip to Arizona this weekend has given me the opportunity to get ahead, and thus I am blogging in advance! Say goodbye to night-before-blogging! This week I have chosen option #1 for my blog: In chapter 5, Tomlinson discusses 5 (five) bullet points about the differences between teaching curriculum that is important, and “covering” what she calls “scaling Everests of information [that is] not effective for our students." Choose two of the bullets to explain what they mean to you, and how they help you envision the kind of teacher you want to be.

The first of the bullet points that I have selected says the following: "The brain is inefficient at rote memorization and seeks instead to make meaning of information. If we don't make meaning of what we study, we are likely not to remember it, be able to retrieve it, or be able to use it." To add to that, I take another quote from earlier in the chapter: "...teachers shape lives...by equipping students with the intellectual wherewithal necessary to make their way in a world that increasingly demands academic preparation for full societal preparation. As teachers, we teach."

As the beginning of the chapter states, though we wear many hats as teachers and play many roles, our primary role is simply to teach. The trick is to teach in a meaningful way. If you ask anyone the way in which they prefer to learn, I could almost guarantee that they will tell you they learn the most when connections are made to their real lives, to current events, or to their emotional or intellectual desires. As the book also tells us, "we rarely succeed in teaching subjects unless we teach human beings as well." I fully believe that the curriculum is in place for a reason, that it is a necessity, and that it can be a positive tool and guide in teaching, rather than an arduous task we dread to complete. However, the curriculum alone is not enough. What is the point of a differentiated classroom, if not to connect with out students personally in order to find out how we can then connect them to the subject matter on a personal level as well? Differentiation in and of itself is exactly what the quote above says, so everyone should find meaning in this bullet point! This is the goal that I will have as a teacher!

The second of the bullet points states: "Students in schools, classrooms, and educational systems that teach less and teach it better score higher on standardized measures than students in schools that seek coverage of massive amounts of information with little emphasis on understanding. In other words, curriculum that is a mile wide but only an inch deep is ineffective in producing real learning."

I chose the two bullet points that I did because they seem to, in some way, embody the other bullet points I will not mention as well. This particular concept was very interesting to me. It seems that every year, we add more and more to the "need to know" lists for our students, causing the curriculum to expand in a timeframe that remains stagnant. How can we fit it all in? What would happen if we taught our students certain concepts in such a way that when new ones are introduced, they are able to apply critical thinking and apply their past knowledge of other concepts to come to a conclusion about how to handle the new information? Did that make sense? If we aren't taking the time to truly cement what we teach into out students brains, if we aren't making sure those vital connections are made, then it has all been for nothing. It will all have to be retaught the following year, losing more precious time for the students and teachers. We can never reach the bar that has been set so high. So, if we focus on making meaningful connections, apply critical thinking, class discussion, free thought, etc...would students begin to figure out other concepts for themselves? I suppose this is something that if I were able to do, I would certainly apply in my classroom. I see the dilemma though...how can you make certain kids the guinea pigs? What if it fails and they fall behind? However, what if it is successful and they move forward just as the other students do? This simply put an interesting twist in my mind and I would be interested to experiment with it in my own classroom.

My two month old nieces are crying in the background, so I'm having trouble concentrating and putting my thoughts into the exact words I would like. This blog was not my best. Perhaps getting ahead on this trip will prove to be somewhat unsuccessful. I will attempt to come back and edit before class this week as I'm able to think about the reading more. Either way, enjoyed these chapters. This whole book is making me think in a different way than I have about my classroom before. It is especially interesting to read as student teaching and internships approach! Really enjoying this class!