0.2 A summary of principles  (Page 3/5)

GOAL: To deepen your understanding of what makes for effective teaching.

GIVE: Feedback to others on their assignments at the TWB Learning Cafe by clicking here .

Assignment 1: Your Assessment of Aspects of Good Teaching

• List which concepts in the "Aspects of Good Teaching" section fit with your current attitude towards andmethod of teaching. Next to each concept you list, write a phrase or sentence that triggers a thought or anecdote (story) for you.
• Choose one concept from your list and expand upon it. Write a paragraph describing the situation - the learning moment - whathappened when that concept was applied in your own teaching or in observing another teacher in action.
• From the list you've created, choose another concept and describe an example in your own teaching or in observing another teacher that tellsthe story of what happened when this concept was not applied.
• Look at the original Teachers Without Borders list of "Aspects of Good Teaching" in the previous two pages. Are there any concepts youdisagree with in part or its entirety. Explain why.
• If you were to add 2 more "Aspects of Good Teaching" to the Teachers Without Borders list, what would the new titles be? Write a 2-3 sentenceshort description for each title/concept.

Tasks

Successful teachers, worldwide, differentiate between basic and advanced tasks and use them appropriately:

Basic Tasks

- Disciplinary - rules and punishments

- Copying, drawing from the board

- Repetition and rote learning/memorization

- Silent reading

- Repeating a demonstration

- Skill drill

Advanced Tasks

- Imaginative answers to problems

- Collecting evidence, solving problems, reasoning, creating questions

- Applying new knowledge to tasks; analyzing the tasks themselves in order to ask new questions.

- Reorganizing ideas into new statements or relationships

- Demonstrating knowledge through multiple intelligences

- Developing skills in order to ask questions

New classroom culture

What emerges is a new classroom culture whereby:

• The process of learning is important.
• The focus of our work is on a long-term design project.
• Curriculum incorporates content, processes, and products.
• Assessments evaluate students' new understandings.
• We celebrate ourselves in our work, our classroom, and our community.
• The teacher is the mentor and the facilitator of learning.
• The student is a novice who is learning how to be an expert.
• Interactivity, such as cooperative and collaborative learning, is essential.

Questions to consider

As teachers begin planning, they must ask themselves some essential questions regarding concepts, processes, products,assessment, schedule, and lesson plans. Some questions are as follows:

Concepts

What are the big ideas in this course of study?

Processes

What are the ways of knowing?

Which of the following expert processes will you include: thinking, collecting data, analyzing data, drawingconclusions, and representing knowledge?

Design Products

What product will the students design to demonstrate mastery of the content and processes of the disciplines?