Although, I have very little concrete experience in teaching I see how curriculum, instruction and assessment has evolved over the past several decades. As I think back to my training while I was earning my M.S. degree, the instructional focus was to deliver material in a manner where students would have the opportunity to have hand-on activities and lots of cooperative learning with in the classes. This is a more suitable learning environment than just entering a classroom and opening a book and taking notes. Examples of assessments that I incorporated were writing reports on instructed material, checklists indicating if objectives had been met and then the traditional multiple-choice, fill in the blank test. The curriculum was a little different. Because I was Ag Ed, there was no set curriculum to follow. It was pretty much what ever one wanted to teach. I know that is not the case with the core academic classes. Regardless of the type of class, I recognize that curriculum, instruction, and assessment have made many changes over time. I also do see that the traditional ways of teaching are still present and in some cases are still necessary.
Once I do obtain my classroom, I plan on incorporating different instructional and assessment methods in my teaching. I know that this is necessary to reach out to multiple learners.
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Kelly: I think that you are right-on in your assessment. I agree that there are times when traditional methods are effective and alternative methods are necessary. My philosophy is to try to change things up as much as possible and keep the students, as well as myselt, interested in what is taking place in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteKelly,
ReplyDeleteYour comments concerning cooperative learning are excellent examples of a way to incorporate different teaching styles to meet different levels/ways of learning. I know it is frustrating to teach in an area with few or no set curriculum. A few of my friends, as in Spanish, have the same frustrations in that they are often having to make use of a unique lesson without having the guidelines of State requirements. While this may seem less constricting to a point, I know it must be difficult to consult with other teachers in the area to ensure the students have some sense of standardization.
Sorry I posted late, but I had some difficulty finding you post based solely on my lack of expertise in working with blogs. I have you saved in "favorite places" now, so I should be able to respond in a more timely manner in the future.
Kelley,
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your comments comparing your own leanring/assessment experiences in college versus what ahs developed in the middle school.