After reading Chapter 1 and 2 in Wagner's "Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do about It", I feel it is true that teachers, even the best ones, have a certain expectation to "teach to the test". Many teachers would like to be able to provide a more student centered, discovery type classroom, but with the required standards, it is hard for the teachers to justify the time put into the discovery lesson with the time it takes to do direct instruction. I am a firm believer that students learn more by doing, rather than being told the answer. We do produce bright students who are able to take a multiple choice test, but cannot critically think through a problem. We need a way to adjust the standards, or a change to the way we assess them, so that teachers can feel like they have more wiggle room in their lessons, or at least give them more time to accomplish the goals of a inquiry, student centered classroom.
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May 2015
Kyle HutchinsTeacher Candidate at Cal State San Marcos. Currently doing clinical practice at Orange Glen High School in Escondido. Categories |