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Effective educational planning reflects the need for instruction thoughtfully designed to consider content knowledge, curriculum goals, students’ learning needs, and best educational practices.  It realizes the diversity that exists within a learning community, and the need to address this variety of learning styles and abilities.  The following paragraphs will illustrate and reflect upon aspects of planning at the course and unit/lesson levels, as well as address the role of diverse learners in the planning process.  They will also show how I incorporate these ideas into my own planning.

Meaningful instructional planning should begin at the course level.  In order to effectively do this, a curriculum calendar or course schedule should be created.  Alan J. Singer (2003) writes in his book, Social Studies for Secondary Schools:  Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach, that the value of social studies curriculum, and the willingness of educators to teach this curriculum, lies in the creation of such a course calendar.  He continues by implying that curriculum calendars for academic subjects are often created at the state level, such as with New York State.  Singer provides an example of a calendar in his book, for greater detail.

Some experts in the education field believe that it is at the course level where planning for diverse learners should begin.  Two such supporters of this idea are B. Keith Lenz and Donald D. Deshler (2004).  In their work, Teaching Content to All:  Evidence-Based Inclusive Practices in Middle and Secondary Schools, the authors claim there exists great importance in planning instruction—that includes varied methods, activities, and modifications—when done at the initial level of planning.  Further, Lenz and Deshler think selectively choosing instructional content for diverse learners at this level is just as important as choosing instructional methods at the individual lesson level.  By keeping in mind who is in the classroom an educator can better select what to teach each student.

After planning at the course level is complete—when a curriculum calendar or course schedule containing units to be covered is established—planning can begin on individual units.  Effective unit planning requires a great deal of thought and strategy.  One such strategy is illustrated in the following paragraphs.

Backward planning is a concept that results in the creation of purposeful units and lessons.  It was developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (2005) and documented in their book, Understanding By Design.  Backward planning stresses the importance of beginning with identifying the expected learning outcomes students should gain as a result of the unit or lesson taught.  Creating an assessment structure that allows students to show measurable evidence of reaching these outcomes is the second step.  The third step is designing activities that will give students the necessary skills to demonstrate mastery of learning objectives.

Looking at backward planning in more concrete terms, learning outcomes are derived fromidentifying and interpreting state or local standards, choosing enduring concepts students need to understand by unit’s end, naming skills that are needed to achieve understanding, creating an assessment for tracking progress in skill acquisition and understanding, and choosing lesson activities that will teach these skills (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).  By following Wiggins and McTighe’s model, purposeful instruction is created and curriculum standards are met.

Wiggins and McTighe (2005) also wish to point out that this planning structure must not only take into account state and local academic standards, but also the diversity of the students being taught.  This point necessitates thoughtfully selecting activities and assessments that will enable all students to achieve the expected learning outcomes.

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In applying the instructional planning concepts mentioned to my own practice, I first address the use of curriculum calendars.  I do not have much freedom in deciding the units I teach, but that does not bother me because I appreciate having a set foundation with which to use as a beginning teacher.  I imagine the calendar is something I will utilize more regularly once I am a full-time teacher, and that it will make unit and lesson planning much easier for me.

Courtsey LifeSip

Backward planning is the primary strategy I currently use to create lessons, and the strategy I plan to continue using going forward in my career.  As mentioned in the reflection section, it is something I find very natural.  A backward plan greatly helped in designing a unit on the Civil Rights Movement during the fall semester, and in designing a lesson on the Harlem Renaissance that I taught to in October. I expect backward planning to serve me well in designing a Cold War/Communism unit this semester. Two additional tools that aid in this strategy are the unit organizer and concept map models, advocated by Lenz and Deshler on page 181 of their book. I am currently using these tools and the same backward planning format from the fall semester in designing the Cold War unit, which will be taught in March.

Finally, taking into account the various learning styles and abilities of students in any given inclusion classroom, I plan to continue creating lessons that are modified for the needs of my students.  In this document, modifications exist that I plan to use regularly, such as important words and concepts on the board, repeating instructions and responses to ensure clarity, and scaffolding activities whenever possible.

REFERENCES

Lenz, B. K. & Deshler, D. D. (2004). Teaching content to all: Evidence-based inclusive practices in middle and secondary schools. Boston: Pearson Education.

Singer, A .J. (2003). Social Studies for secondary schools: teaching to learn, learning to teach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Courtesy Dance Dentistry

Communication takes many forms, and so can be implemented in many ways.  It is important to keep open lines of communication in any profession and among all relationships.  This fact is certainly true of the teaching profession.  In the following paragraphs, I will discuss communication in terms of verbal, non-verbal, and media.  Additionally, I will include examples from my own experience to demonstrate how each of these communication forms can be applied to the classroom.

In opening the discussion, I begin with verbal communication.  It is arguably through speech that the most explicit form of conveying thoughts, instructions, and information occurs.  Some of the most interactive, meaningful, and student-centered forms of verbal communication occur through class discussions.  As Stephen Brookfield (1999) explains in Discussions as a Way of Teaching, discussion’s effectiveness derives from its ability to build upon background knowledge, personal experience, and interpretation of ideas.  Therefore, discussion becomes relevant to the participants.

A major element of discussion, Brookfield explains, is questioning.  Verbal communication expressed through thoughtful questioning of ideas, events, and/or opinions keeps students engaged in the lesson at hand.  Also, questioning is not necessarily inherent to teachers or students, so practice and skill must take place when utilizing this strategy.  In planning questions for an engaging activity, the author suggests discussions include those questions that ask for further support of ideas, link experiences and prior knowledge to new ideas or opinions, and encourage students to predict, infer, or form their own opinions.  He also points out that this form of verbal communication can often be unpredictable and surprising, so teachers must be ready to create thought provoking questions on the spot, in addition to the planned questions (Brookfield, 1999, pp. 85, 87-89).

Continuing with communication in teaching, I shift my focus to non-verbal methodology.  It can include such outlets as body language, eye contact, and gesturing.  While non-verbal communication has many uses, I will focus on its use in incentive systems and student self-praise.  In Educational Psychology:  Theory and Practice, Robert E. Slavin (2003) discusses how grades can be used as non-verbal incentives in motivating students.  He notes that using grades as incentives for learning motivators can be an effective way communicating encouragement and/or feedback when applied close to the time when the students’ performance took place.  The closer to the time of the event, the more motivational power the grades hold.

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based on student progress rather than raw scores.  Doing so takes into account all levels of student ability—lower achieving learners can receive intrinsic incentives for improving from an F to a C, while higher achieving learners receive intrinsic incentives by progressing from a B to an A (2003, p. 358).

The author also discusses how students can receive encouraging non-verbal within themselves through self-praise.  By patting themselves on the back for accomplishing a task or meeting a goal, students increase their confidence, self-value, and academic success (Slavin, 2003, p. 358).  I suspect self-praise is a skill that must be modeled by teachers if it is to be used by students.

In concluding this discussion on best practices for communication methods used in active and meaningful teaching, a short discussion on media’s role in accomplishing this goal is in order.  Various media are used in the classroom, but this discussion focuses on two major categories—audiovisual media and computerized media—as outlined in Computers in the Classroom, by Edward Vockell and Eileen Schwartz (2009).

First, Vockell and Schwartz look at the benefits of audiovisual materials in communicating information that elicits active learning.  Photographs and other graphics, for instance, serve as more realistic modes of communicating subject content than textbooks.  Pictures and sounds—such as songs, spoken readings, or recited speeches—can grab students’ attention more easily that printed texts alone.  Finally, audiovisual materials give students of differing learning styles more opportunities to access subject content taught in a lesson (2009).

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As illustrated in the preceding paragraphs, there are many types of communication used in teaching.  Verbal, non-verbal, and media strategies are used collectively in lessons that successfully engage students in active and lasting learning.  In the remainder of this discussion, I will provide examples of how each communication type can be incorporated into curriculum planning.  I will explain specific lessons created over the past two semesters to support these examples.

My first example focuses on verbal communication.  In an introductory lesson to my unit on “The Spread of Communism”, I created an activity that required students to solve a problem based on a specific scenario.  In this scenario, each pair of students found a large sum of money lying in the street.  The problem was required the students to jointly decided what to do about their discovery.  The scenario become even more complicated once each student received an opposing solution to this problem.  The goal of the activity was for each pair to negotiate an agreed-upon solution, thus using compromise to do so.  In addition to analyzing their own ethics, students required a great deal of verbal communication to complete their tasks.  Through discussing their difference of opinion and forming unified answers, students learned what skills were required of the Big Three leaders during the Yalta conference of 1945.  The activity provided a smooth transition into acquiring information and meaning on a historically significant event.

A second example of learning through communication involves non-verbal interaction.  During the middle of the communism unit, I opened a lesson on the Berlin Airlift with an interactive and experiential activity.  This activity used both verbal and non-verbal communication, but it was the non-verbal interactions that created the most impacting learning experiences for the students.  Once they were seated, I asked two volunteers to divide the classroom in half with duct tape.  The tape was attached to opposite walls running the length of the room, and at about three feet above the floor.

Once the room was divided, I gave students directions to the main activity of the day, which was to complete a map on NATO and the Warsaw Pact.  Next, I showed the students where the map and art supplies were located in the room—on only one side of the tape barrier.  At that point in the activity, I told students to begin creating their maps then remained silent for the next two to three minutes, to observe what students learn from the set up of the room.  As some of the students realized their inability to acquire the needed items for their classwork, they began analyzing their environment very precisely—to devise a plan for acquiring the forbidden items.  The blockaded half of the room noticed that they were denied items essential to their academic survival due to a manmade barrier, and that the students on the other side were free to use those same items as they pleased.

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The situation and setting of the room spoke to the students louder than any simple lecture on the Berlin Blockade and Airlift ever could.  It was this non-verbal interaction that provided the learning opportunity necessary for understanding the causes, effects, and consequences of Joseph Stalin closing off the capital of Germany.

My final example of communication in the classroom illustrates how media can be used to convey valuable information to students.  In the Fall 2008 semester, I designed a lesson to teach the important inventions from the Industrial Revolution.  Being that the revolution occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries, I realized the possibility of disconnectedness between the time period and today.  As a result, I created a webquest that allowed students to connect the Industrial Revolution to the 21st century.

In the webquest, I introduced students to general everyday household items—such as email and cell phones—then led them in a computerized adventure back in time to observe these items (or their predecessors) being invented.  In the activity, students clicked on links to articles and videos that discuss the invention of these items and their inventors.  Students were expected to read each article, watch each video, and take notes on information they deemed important.  After “witnessing” the creation of these inventions, students were asked to choose two innovations, play the role of a New York Times reporter from the Industrial Revolution days, and write a one-page newspaper article on the impact of each item on 19th century society, and compare those thoughts to each item’s impact on society today.

By creating the Industrial Revolution webquest, I expect students to use such skills as online research, analysis of primary and secondary resources for important information, applying prior knowledge and personal experiences to new knowledge gained, and to synthesize knew learning through creation of an authentic product.  In doing so, computerized, audio, and visual media can communicate important subject content to a wide variety of learning styles and abilities.

Thank you for visiting my site and reading the articles.  Because of your support, I am currently experiencing a record number of visitors!  I will continue to write articles relevant to modern education issues every Tuesday.  Keep checking back and spread the word  I appreciate your support.

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An effective teacher provides an environment of safety, productivity, and involvement in the classroom.  Without these elements, students cannot successful acquire the skills, information, and lifelong desire to learn that all educators hope their students will achieve.  The following paragraphs will discuss elements involved in creating a satisfactory learning environment, as well as how these elements can be applied in the classroom and instructional settings.

One way in which a welcoming, safe, and motivating learning environment can be created is through the teachers’ relationships with their students.  Getting to know students on an individual level usually results in meaningful learning, due to knowing how to catch their attention and how to make curriculum meaningful.  As stated in Gloria Ladson-Billings’ (2006) chapter, “Yes, But How Do We Do It?” from the book White Teachers/Diverse Classrooms, in order to create a learning environment where students feel comfortable and are motivated to engage in activities, a teacher must create lessons that are culturally relevant.  Culturally relevant lessons consist of three elements:  academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness.  Ladson-Billings calls these three components “culturally relevant pedagogy”.  The basic idea behind this concept is to emphasize the importance of creating lessons connect classroom curriculum to elements of students’ lives—from outside the classroom as well as from inside the classroom.  As a result, the educator shows a level of care for the child as a person, not just as a student, and makes the material covered in the lesson more applicable.

A second way to build a welcoming learning environment is to build trust in the teacher-student relationship.  This trust can be created

and maintained by the teacher’s demonstration of genuine care and concern for the student.  This idea is described by Anne Gregory and Michael B. Ripski (2008) in their article, “Adolescent Trust in Teachers:  Implications for Behavior in the High School Classroom.” The authors believe that by adopting a relational approach to teaching, teachers can gain their students’ trust.  This trust is manifested through respect for authority, compliance to requests and rules, and greater academic achievement.  A relational approach to teaching in this article as a teacher-student relationship in which a teacher connects with students in connection with their lives and stays in tune with their emotional needs.

A third way to create safety, openness, and a positive atmosphere in the classroom is through the creation of basic class management procedures.  Just as with any other community, a classroom cannot function without procedures to protects and structure the environment.  If there is not level of order instilled, learning cannot take place (Queen, Blackwelder, & Mallen, 1997, as referenced in Kellough & Kellough, 2007).

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In applying the information obtained from the research above, I will demonstrate how those ideas can be applied in the classroom.  In practicing the concepts of getting to know my students and building their trust, I attempt to consciously provide opportunities for them to tell the things that matter to them in conversation and in writing.  In the classroom, I try to make a habit of talking with students between classes, during lunch, and after school to build rapport.  Most students are pleased that their teacher is interested in learning what songs they like, what sports team they follow, and what they will do over the weekend.

Second, in starting my fall semester student teaching experience, I provided written opportunities for students to express their interest in reading and other free time activities.  For instance, in a reading attitude survey I distributed to my class, students indicated their interests in reading, their choice of reading materials, and how these selections fit into their culture and personal interests outside of school.

Finally, during the fall student teaching experience, I established some guidelines and goals for creating the welcoming, trusting environment mentioned in the research portion of this essay.  Three of the guidelines I set for the class include respect, community, and fairness.  Respect included care for one another as diverse assets to the classroom as well as care for themselves as capable and smart individuals.  Community refers to the idea that the classroom is a small community of cooperative learners, not competitive learners.  Fairness went both ways in the class:  the teacher toward the students, and the students toward the teacher.  I promised to not intentionally pick favorite students or be inconsistent in giving learning opportunities.

REFERENCES:

Gregory, A. & Ripski, M. B. (2008). Adolescent trust in teachers: Implications for behavior in the high school classroom. School Psychology Review, 37(3), 337-359.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). Yes, but how do we do it? Practicing culturally relevant pedagogy. In J. Landsman & C. Lewis (Eds.), White teachers/diverse classrooms: A guide to building inclusive schools, promoting high expectations, and eliminating racism (pp. 29-41). Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Queen, J. A., Blackwelder, B. B., & Mallen, L. P. (1997), Responsible classroom management for teachers and students, as referenced in Kellough, R. D. & Kellough, N.G.  (2006). Secondary school teaching: A guide to methods and resources. Boston: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

Courtesy Utica Schools

On President Barack Obama’s personal website, he states his overall vision of education in America as that which enables students to compete in the global community.  However, Obama believes our education system, as it stands today, is unable to do so.  During a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire in November 2007, he proclaimed that the nations which beat the US in educational achievement will be much better equipped to play an important role in the global economy.  Further, he stated that China graduates eight time the number of engineers as the US, and that our high school seniors possess lower math and science test scores than much of the rest of the world.  Change is needed, and we need to “Rise to the Top”.

It seems Obama’s main rationale for this inadequacy stems from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (otherwise known as No Child Left Behind, or NCLB for short) – passed during George W. Bush’s presidency.  Now, the President presents the disclaimer that NCLB in itself is not the problem.  In fact, he thinks it is founded on good principles.  However, it is the implementation and funding that are flawed.  One mistake with this legislature is that it makes schools hire and retain highly qualified teachers, attempt to close the achievement gap, increase accountability, and raise learning standards – all without the money needed to do so.  Another misstep he notes is through deeming certain schools and students as failures, yet walking away without support – thus allowing them to be left behind.  Essentially, Obama thinks more funding is needed for NCLB to be effective.

With the problem and potential cause stated, in the opinion of President Obama, he proceeds with his solution:  to reform NCLB.  He has coined the terms “Rise to the Top” and “New Vision for 21st Century Education” to describe his reform.  According to Suite 101’s education blog, in regard to standardized testing mandated by NCLB, “teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests…[President Obama] will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college.”  In regard to federal funding through the Act – as addressed during the New Hampshire meeting – our nation needs to support its schools in need, not punish them through removing funding.  Finally, the President explains that standardized learning goals should not come at the expense of a well-rounded education (such as cutting certain programs, like music, art, or gym), rather they should be a part of this well-rounded education.

At this point in the article, you may be saying to yourself, “great ideologies, but what specifically are you going to do?”  In further analyzing the 2007 town hall meeting, Obama rattles off a list of programs and ideas he plans as part of his reform package.  First, he wishes to make early childhood education more affordable through expanding pre-kindergarten programs, such as Head Start, Children’s First Agenda, and Early Learning Grants.  Second, he plans to recruit and prepare new educators through Service Scholarship programs that staff hard-to-fill rural and urban schools in high-need subjects.  Third, he requires all schools to achieve accreditation.  Fourth, he wishes to institute a national performance assessment for all teacher preparation programs.  Fifth, he hopes to establish official mentoring programs for new teachers.  Sixth, Obama aspires to provide increased pay and resources to reward teachers for making a difference in terms of school and student performance – not just based on standardized test scores.  Seventh, he will implement peer evaluation and peer support systems for all teachers.  Eighth, he will create standardized student standards that diagnose student learning need in which to be helped, such as digital portfolios, technology, and science components – in addition to the other core subjects.  Finally, he places the need for a greater emphasis on science education, which will greatly help US compete on a global level.  This list is quite ambitious, but is it feasible or even possible?

Pie in the sky or it’s about time?  There are plenty of supporters and opponents to Obama’s NCLB reform ideas. Eric Tipler

Courtesy Stanford University

of Huffington Post sees the original NCLB as the non-realistic of the policies.  The proficiency deadline for 2014 was unrealistic in that it held TESOL and ESL students to the same level as native English speakers.  Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) held schools to an unrealistic standard of perfection as its goal, rather than a more realistic goal of relative yearly progress.  Current state standards based on NCLB do not prepare students for college or the working world, and Obama’s idea of national college/career-based standards are more realistic.

Many opponents of NCLB reform see Obama’s emphasis on more funding for early childhood education as inappropriate, because improving this age group’s development should fall in the hands of parents, not the school system – that more emphasis should be place on K-12 education.  Opponents of NCLB reform also believe Obama’s idea of merit pay will not necessarily attract better teachers, as much as attract teachers who enter the field for the pay rather than the virtue of teaching.  Obama’s reform to make higher education more accessible in terms of learning standards ignores the fact that college costs are rising – according to these opponents – and the increase in Pell Grants won’t compensate for these rising costs, they claim.

Can President Obama’s reform occur, given the state of our nation’s economy and given the ever-widening bipartisan split occurring in Congress?  At the time of his election in November 2008, Obama believed more funding was needed for NCLB to be effective, but would be a challenge with the economic downturn before the beginning of his administration.  At that point, NCLB reform was placed on hold. Though his reform ideas were placed on hold initially due to the recession, the president would like these reforms to be reauthorized as a part of the 2011 federal budget.  Andrew Rotherham of Education Sector (a think tank) thinks getting this reform to pass through Congress will be tough.  Many education leaders think Obama’s plan takes on a more forceful role of government on education than experienced before, and that more specifics are needed in order to for the reform plan to be justified.  Personally, I am completely on board with Obama’s ideas of more meaningful and applicable learning standards – including greater emphasis on technology and science – and I believe more funding should go into education.  However, I just do not know where the money will come from at this time.  While I see the spending that has increased our deficit as the best attempt at investing in a stronger future economy, I note that education often takes the back seat and much of the nation’s citizens are fed up with mega-spending.  So my final thought is that NCLB reform will unfortunately go back on the shelf to collect dust.

Courtesy Linda Causey

What are your thoughts?

REFERENCES:

The Better Teacher Project, “Assessing President Obama’s Educational Reform Initiative”,  (accessed 2/2/10, http://betterteacher.org/Professional-Development/Obama-Health-Plan.asp)

Hopkins, Leigh. Suite 101:  Educational Issues, “President Obama’s Proposed Education Agenda: Will No Child Left Behind Be Left Behind in the New President’s Plan” (accessed 2/2/10, http://educationalissues.suite101.com/article.cfm/president_obamas_proposed_education_agenda)

Organizing for America, “Education”, (accessed 2/2/10, http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/)

Paulson, Amanda. Yahoo! News, “Education reform: Obama budget reboots No Child Left Behind”,  (accessed 2/2/10, http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100202/ts_csm/277450)

White, Deborah. U.S. Liberal Politics, “Obama’s Education Plan to Reform Schools & Reward Teachers”,  (accessed 2/2/10, http://usliberals.about.com/od/education/a/ObamaEdPlan.htm)