Chapter One
1. Standards have altered teacher preparation programs and curriculum requirements in schools. The intention behind standardization is to ensure equivalent and consistent instruction and to provide measurable outcomes. Do you believe that the implementation of standards identified by national, state, and curriculum organizations has accomplished their intent? Explain why or why not.
When thinking about my answer for this question I focused strictly on the stated intentions: equivalency, consistency and measurability. I think doing otherwise leaves a door open to argue whether the overall educational outcomes may be better or worse with more leeway given to the individual creativities of teachers and individual schools or school districts. That being said, I believe that all three stated intentions benefit from standardization. Though my personal familiarity of the established standards is certainly lesser than most, of not all, of the others in this class, it seems to me that the standards set by PT3, NETS, and P21, and others does help professional educators to attain consistency in instruction. Like a recipe in a cookbook that provides guidelines for repeatable results in the classroom, standardization seems to provide a guide for attaining a consistent result within the realm of education. Standardization also has the ability to show which areas are found to be lacking, so that improvements can be made and equity improved for both the individual pupils as well as across geographical boundaries. Standardization’s biggest strength probably lies in its facilitation of measurable outcomes. Without defining goals it would be difficult to produce quantifiable identifying the levels of progress towards them. This measurability in turn helps to facilitate the first two intentions of equivalent and consistent instruction.
Chapter Two
2. Different students have different learning styles and their learning styles influence their learning. As a teacher, you should understand your students learning styles when preparing for the classes. Discuss your understanding on different learning styles and its influence on learning.
From what the text said about differing learning styles, there are generally thought to be three broad categories. These categories are auditory, for those who learn best by listening, visual, for those who learn best by seeing, and kinesthetic for those who learn best by doing. Knowing your students’ learning styles helps greatly improve the communication process by giving the teacher the best chance to have a student fully receive the intended message being presented. Choosing an incorrect method to communicate a message, for example, hoping that a predominantly kinesthetic learner will retain the bulk of a lengthy lecture, has a greater likelihood of producing subpar results, which benefits neither the learner nor the teacher in terms of both goal attainment and time required to meet those goals.
Chapter Three
3. This chapter introduced you that lesson planning was an outgrowth of your instructional design. The DID section helped you see the overall organization of your instructional unit, and this lesson plan section helped you address what you would do to achieve the unit on an instructional day-to-day basis. Now identify, describe and use the most common steps in lesson planning.
The most common steps of lesson planning include readying the learner, targeting objectives, implementing the lesson, and checking for success. Readying the learner includes reviewing the learning styles and knowledge bases of the learners. Targeting objectives includes setting specific goals for the intended outcomes of the lesson. Implementing the lesson involves milieu preparation, deciding on intended communication strategies and identifying required materials and technologies. Checking for success evaluates the effectiveness of the lesson, provides an opportunity for feedback, and helps illuminate whether or not learners are ready to continue progressing through a lesson plan, or if further review of the material is needed.
1. Standards have altered teacher preparation programs and curriculum requirements in schools. The intention behind standardization is to ensure equivalent and consistent instruction and to provide measurable outcomes. Do you believe that the implementation of standards identified by national, state, and curriculum organizations has accomplished their intent? Explain why or why not.
When thinking about my answer for this question I focused strictly on the stated intentions: equivalency, consistency and measurability. I think doing otherwise leaves a door open to argue whether the overall educational outcomes may be better or worse with more leeway given to the individual creativities of teachers and individual schools or school districts. That being said, I believe that all three stated intentions benefit from standardization. Though my personal familiarity of the established standards is certainly lesser than most, of not all, of the others in this class, it seems to me that the standards set by PT3, NETS, and P21, and others does help professional educators to attain consistency in instruction. Like a recipe in a cookbook that provides guidelines for repeatable results in the classroom, standardization seems to provide a guide for attaining a consistent result within the realm of education. Standardization also has the ability to show which areas are found to be lacking, so that improvements can be made and equity improved for both the individual pupils as well as across geographical boundaries. Standardization’s biggest strength probably lies in its facilitation of measurable outcomes. Without defining goals it would be difficult to produce quantifiable identifying the levels of progress towards them. This measurability in turn helps to facilitate the first two intentions of equivalent and consistent instruction.
Chapter Two
2. Different students have different learning styles and their learning styles influence their learning. As a teacher, you should understand your students learning styles when preparing for the classes. Discuss your understanding on different learning styles and its influence on learning.
From what the text said about differing learning styles, there are generally thought to be three broad categories. These categories are auditory, for those who learn best by listening, visual, for those who learn best by seeing, and kinesthetic for those who learn best by doing. Knowing your students’ learning styles helps greatly improve the communication process by giving the teacher the best chance to have a student fully receive the intended message being presented. Choosing an incorrect method to communicate a message, for example, hoping that a predominantly kinesthetic learner will retain the bulk of a lengthy lecture, has a greater likelihood of producing subpar results, which benefits neither the learner nor the teacher in terms of both goal attainment and time required to meet those goals.
Chapter Three
3. This chapter introduced you that lesson planning was an outgrowth of your instructional design. The DID section helped you see the overall organization of your instructional unit, and this lesson plan section helped you address what you would do to achieve the unit on an instructional day-to-day basis. Now identify, describe and use the most common steps in lesson planning.
The most common steps of lesson planning include readying the learner, targeting objectives, implementing the lesson, and checking for success. Readying the learner includes reviewing the learning styles and knowledge bases of the learners. Targeting objectives includes setting specific goals for the intended outcomes of the lesson. Implementing the lesson involves milieu preparation, deciding on intended communication strategies and identifying required materials and technologies. Checking for success evaluates the effectiveness of the lesson, provides an opportunity for feedback, and helps illuminate whether or not learners are ready to continue progressing through a lesson plan, or if further review of the material is needed.