SED 407

Prof. Napolitano

Textbooks and how best to use them. . . .

I just finished reading Chapters 3 and 6 all at once.  A luxury to be sure. Time is a luxury.  And I only bring that up, because textbooks robbed me of a lot of time some years back.  

I carried those books around in my backpack from class to class.  I highlighted them, fell asleep on them, re-read them at least 3 to 4 times only to find that I didn't get it, I felt stupid.  I couldn’t give up though.  I had tests to take and at the very least pass.  Which I did.  But ask me what I remember.  Only what I found interesting.  Only the things that continue to touch my life.

I was so happy to read both of these chapters.  And this happiness piggybacked my first week at RIC when I discovered that the required reading materials for my classes consisted of only two textbooks.  The rest have been a variety of excerpts and articles with connecting content.  I am enjoying this kind of reading, more importantly I am not having to read it 3 times to remember it much less comprehend it.  I am being challenged, and I am thinking, and I am being provoked. I am alive with opinions that are being supported by research.  And I get to add hyperlinks of my choosing to my reflections.

And as much as I want to say my head hurts form my perceived enormity of the task of becoming a  teacher of young people, I am relieved that there are pioneers of this new approach of providing content from both traditional and non traditional sources.  There are indeed vast and growing genres to be tapped.  (The list is on p. 55).  And I can add my own materials, and students can choose as well.  How smart is that.

A few years ago, when my daughter was home for a weekend from college, I came across her Art History Text. I opened it and began to read.  Moments later I was texting her screaming (the way you scream in a text. . . )  “WHAT TEACHER HAS ASSIGNED YOU THIS GARBAGE. . .”  (She  loved me for doing that).  I call it ego driven text.  Someone had the “need” to be published.  It was perfectly horrible and I was furious that she was required to read it.  In no way was this going to help her in life.  To it’s credit, maybe there was some viable content, but I could neither see nor comprehend it, so how was my daughter going to get anything out of it.  Twenty years ago, my response would have been quite different.  I would’ve thought “well of course I’m an idiot because I can’t understand this.”  But my experience now tells me that just because it’s published doesn’t mean it’s well written.  And just because someone is a teacher doesn’t necessarily mean they are good at it.  And to add insult to injury I was paying for this.

As I head into the classroom, I know that I will be on the lookout for a comprehensive textbook on Biology.  But I so appreciate that our textbook, "Subjects Matter" offers guides as to what to look for, and how to help students engage with the material.  And to grasp the big ideas. How to choose the most important "fenceposts".  Further, to utilize other resources that have more of a connection to a student’s own experiences, and then having them engage with each other and help each other learn the material, just makes good sense.  It’s time, resource and people management skills, all good things to learn.

When I tackle an art assignment or idea if you will, no resource is out of bounds.  And what works is different every time.  Creating an environment that is fun, engaging, and makes sense to those whom it impacts is the best and most effective kind of learning experience there could be.  That is certainly what has worked for me.

I want to be a good if not great teacher.  I want to encourage kids to dream.  This is not ego driven.  I do not need anything more than to see them hungry to find their own way.  That’s it.  And I hope to find a school system that will support this approach.  Because it is smart.  

Understanding by design

SED 407

Prof. Napolitano

UbD response

“Understanding by Design” provides a curriculum planning framework for organizing big ideas for learning into manageable and assessable lesson plans.   The framework describes effective learning as a “Backwards” scenario.  Beginning with analyzing what is to be learned; the big picture, followed by the essential questions: the big picture objectives, then developing pre, during and post assessment techniques.  Only then can one create truly effective lesson plans.  The concepts of a Big Picture and Essential Questions align perfectly with the design and development of thought provoking effective units and lesson planning, and direct explicit teaching that I am currently exploring in SED 406 and FNED 346.  Once again I feel as if I am the student that I am learning these processes for.  I will be working on my first lesson plan soon.  Understanding by design makes so much sense.

Module A, part one of the concept “Understanding by Design”, gives a descriptive account of what is considered the Big Picture.  While reading, (before reaching "What Is Understanding?" on page 6) I had a bit of a knee jerk reaction to the word “understanding”.  Bloom’s Taxonomy discourages using “understanding” as an objective behavior because it is difficult to measure without additional context or explicitly defined conditions.  I continued to read "What Is Understanding?" and was pleased that my concern was addressed (to my satisfaction, as if that matters!).

In Module F, part 2 of “Understanding by Design”, the essence of an essential question is explained.   Similar to the objectives used by Bloom, the essential questions are objectives for students to achieve, but are a bit more open ended. They could be answered with a "yes" or "no" but encourage further inquiry by the phrasing of the questions.  They provide a jumping off point for true learning.  These Essential Questions aid the teacher in focusing a unit while prioritizing appropriate issues. 

Using both Modules, A and F, teachers and unit designers, should be able to develop “thought-provoking essential questions related to the unit topic and understanding goals” and “precisely state the desired understandings as full-sentence generalizations.”  ( p.70)

This approach, consistent with the principles I am working with in my other Education classes, provides additional consistent supporting tools for the development of good unit design.  It also supports the reflective approach to teaching.  With gratitude, I have added them to my toolbox!

SED 407

Prof. Napolitano

Thoughts on "A Theory of Reading"

I have written and rewritten this first paragraph of an assessment of J. Wilhelm’s  “A Theory of Teaching” more times than I care to count.  I tried writing the middle first, then the end.  I thought maybe sleep would help.  Then, at some point, there came a very tiny “aha” moment and here it is.  Wilhelm introduces the theories of teaching reading, I read, he describes the best ways to teach, I read more, he compares techniques, I am still reading.  Then on Page 54, he shares the “Six Methods for Teaching Reading Strategies”.   And there it is.  

Perhaps this text exceeds my own “zone of Proximal Development”.  I was certainly frustrated with this material.  And it clearly reminded me of my high school and first college experience.  We were left to our own devices in text driven classes.  I was exhausted, feeling helpless, and believed I was stupid.  English is my first language, I am white, middle class, grew up in a liberal highly educated  family and community.  And yet I felt inadequate.  In retrospect, I reflect on that time in life and accept that I was not interested in the reading.  It did not relate to the world I wanted to be in.  I was not an at risk student but if a student is struggling is it not at least similar?  I am in this text.  It is Escher-esk.  And that is why I struggled with this assignment.

                                              M. C. Escher, 1948

Can you see it?

Getting back to Wilhelm, here is my original questions, “Self, what did you get out of this, what can you get out of this?”  

There are connections between Vygotsky’s theory and Hillock’s “environmental teaching” with elements in my other education classes.  Good.  I like that.  In SED 406, I am creating a lesson plan based on “Direct Teaching”.  It is a Learning Centered Teaching model.  If it is not Vitgoskty, it is very close.

For my “Direct Teaching” lesson plan, the goals must be clear.  Objectives must be visible and measurable.  The lesson has degrees of difficulty starting with simple tasks, teacher modeling, then leading the learner through group activities towards more difficult development of new abilities and finally independence. And there must be a way to assess success, and learned abilities.

Wilhelm’s summation of the “Six Methods for Teaching Reading Strategies” (53) includes all of the above.  I find myself, as I have so often this semester, feeling grateful.  Grateful for the continuity, guidance and methods that will help as I move towards certification.  And so these Six Methods are now part of my tool box.  And that’s what I “got”.