Act of Teaching Notes

Chapter 6 (Planning Instruction)

Pros and Cons of Instructional Planning

What to teach; how to teach; and how teachers determine whether students learned and
were satisfied

Planning is Especially Beneficial for New Teachers

New teachers will have little experience or no experience to draw upon.

You will be apprehensive and unsure of yourself and your teaching skills
You likely will not know what students are expected to know and do.
Given time to think and plan, teaching will be more creative and fun.

Deciding what to teach

State standards and how they are developed.

a. Factors Influencing State Requirements= naturally, the standards the committees set
are influenced by eth groups they represents-teachers representing teachers and so on.
Influenced by three factors:
Societal expectations=result from national and international events
The Nature and needs of Learners=schools are about and for youth so their
consideration is essential
Professional Societies with Interest in Education=there is at least one professional
society or organization representing each subject area.
b. What state standards look like
Standards differ in several ways from state to state. As an example, some are general
and others specific.
c. The power state standards
State standards are powerful in two ways:
Proficiency Test that measures the extent to which students at various grade levels
have attained the standards.
Good curriculum avoids discipline problems, the standards flow down to school
districts and influence the curriculum or what is taught.
d. What happens at the school district level
At the district level, representative teachers, administrators, and others, with
educational interests periodically are convened in curriculum development
committees.
e. The formal and taught curricula
This discussion has been about the state and local school districts and what they
require that learners must know and be able to do, and that is a lot.
f. The power of the curriculum
 What is to be taught and learned-the curriculum- drives life in classrooms. To the
extent that it is presented in meaningful ways and authentic, your students are more
likely to learn and be satisfied.
Instructional Objectives
a. What instructional objectives look like
Describes what learners must know and be able to do.
b. Instructional Objectives differ in two ways
Four specific instructional objectives inspire different kinds of learning:
Cognitive
Humanistic
Behavioral
c. Some objectives are general, others are specific
Both general and specific objectives are valid and have their place. Since general
objectives are more skeletal in nature, they make more sense when people are
discussing the broad goals or aims of education or instruction.
The kinds of objectives we use result in three different kinds of learning;
a. Cognitive Domain
Knowledge=learners have knowledge of and the ability to recall or recognize
information
Comprehension= learners understand and can explain knowledge in their own words
Application=learners apply knowledge, that is they are able to use it in practical
situations
Analysis=learners are able to break down complex concepts or information into
simpler, related parts
Synthesis=learners are able to combine elements to form a new, original entity
Evaluation=learners are able to make judgments.
b. Affective Domain
Receiving or attending=learners are willing to attend to, concentrate on, and receive
information
Responding=learners responds positively to the information by actively engaging
with it
Organization=learners compare and integrate the attitude or value they have
expressed with attitudes and beliefs they hold, thus internalizing the value
Characterization=learners act out their values
c. Psychomotor domain
Perception=learners use sensory cues to guide their later attempt to perform a skill
Set=learners are ready to perform a skill or an action
Guided response=learners practice the skill under the supervision of an expert
Mechanism=learners become more proficient in the skill through practice
Complex or overt response= learners perform the skill with a high degree of
proficiency
Adaptation=learners modify previously learned skills to perform related skills
Origination=learners create new, original performances based on previously learned
skills
 Another way of classifying learning outcomes
Verbal information=used to describe the vast amount of information obtained and stored
in our memory
Intellectual skill=learning how to do something mentally
Cognitive strategies=learning ways of thinking and solving problems, including learning
how to learn
Motor skill=although Gagne does not refer to the Bloom or Simpson designations of
psychomotor skills, they seem to be the same type of learning outcome as Gagnes motor
skills
Attitudes=Gagne likens attitudes to Blooms affective domain
Writing Specific Objectives
a. The Value of Specific Objectives
Counterpoint
b. When are objectives good?
Preparing Instructional Plans of Varying Duration
a. The long and short of planning
b. Preparing long range plans: yearly and semester plans
c. Preparing unit plans
Part of a unit plan
Benefits of unit planning
d. Preparing lesson plans
Parts of a Lesson Plan
e. Evaluating lesson plans
f. The backward design idea of lesson and unit planning
Resources useful when planning
a. Curriculum Guides
Tell you what you are expected to teach
b. Instructional Material
Include those things that assist the students learning of the curriculum
Collaborative, cooperative, or team planning
a. Teacher-term planning
b. Teacher-pupil planning
Comparative Planning
(Cruickshank, Jenkins & Metcalf Chapter 6)

Chapter 7 (Four Instructional Alternatives: Presentation, Discussion, Independent Study

and Individualized Instruction)

Presentations; Teaching as telling and showing

What is presentation?
Is an informative talk a more knowledgeable person makes to less knowledgeable persons
Purpose and characteristics of teacher presentations
To inform an audience of certain facts, ideas, concepts, and explanations
Good Presenters
Good presentations
 Preparation
Delivery
Handouts
Closure
Computer Presentations: pros and cons
When teacher presentations should be used
Limitations of presentations
Summary of presentations

Discussion: learning through informative interaction

What is a discussion
A situation wherein students, or students and teachers, converse to share information,
ideas, or opinions or work to resolve a problem.
Purpose and characteristics of discussion
Purpose of Discussion
Characteristics of Discussion
Interaction Pattern
Group size and composition
Group arrangement
Role of the Teacher
Good discussion leaders
Good discussion
Preparation
Delivery
Closure
When discussion should be used
Research on Discussion
Limitations of discussion
Summary of discussion

Independent Study: teaching as giving and guiding seat work and homework assignments

What is independent study?

Is any assignment learners complete more or less on their own.
Purpose and characteristics of independent study
Purpose of independent study
Types of Independent Study
Teachers role
Context
Good independent study leaders
Good independent study
Preparation
Delivery
Closure
 When independent study should be used
Limitations of independent study
Making good homework assignments
Summary on independent study

Individualized or differentiated instruction: tailoring teaching

What is individualized instruction?

Terms used to refer to any instructional maneuver that attempts to tailor teaching and
learning to a learners, or group of like-learners, unique strength and needs.
Purpose and characteristics of individualized instruction
Goals of instruction
Learning activities
Resources
Master level
Time
Types of individualized instruction
Contracts= are signed agreements in which learners promise to perform specific
academic work
Programmed and Computer-assisted instruction
Individually prescribed instruction
Individually guided education
Tutoring
Distance learning
The prophet method: self-directed learning
Good users of individualized instruction
Good individualized education programs
When individualized instruction should be used
Limitations of individualized instruction
Summary of individualized instruction

Matching instructional alternatives to learners

Overview of 31 instructional Alternatives

academic games or competitions

learners compete with each other one to one or team to determine which individual
or group is superior at a given academic task such as in spelldowns, anagrams, or
project competitions
Brainstorming
To generate creative ideas, learners are asked to withhold judgment or criticism and
produce a very large number of ways to do something
Cases
Students make detailed analysis of some specific, usually compelling event or series
of related events so that learners will better understand its nature and what might be
done about it.
 Centers of interest and displays
Collections and displays of materials are used to interest learners in themes or topics
Colloquia
A guest or guests are invited to class to be interviewed
Constructivism
Learners coming to learn through purposeful experiences
Contracts
Written agreements students and teachers may enter into describe the academic work
students plan to accomplish in a particular period of time
Cooperative learning
Students working in groups are rewarded for collective effort
Debates
A few students present and contest varying points of view on an issue
Demonstrations
The teacher or learners show how something works and operates, or how something
is done
Using technology in teaching

Selecting quality software and websites

Utilizing digital content
Get better prepared for the digital age

Some thoughts
(Cruickshank, Jenkins & Metcalf Chapter 7)

Chapter 8 (Four more instructional alternatives: Cooperative learning; Discovery learning;

Constructivism and Direct Instruction)
Cooperative learning: teaching learners to like and care for one another

Purpose and characteristic of cooperative learning

Some variations on the theme of cooperative learning
Students teams, achievement divisions
Teams, games, tournaments
Team-assisted individualized and team-accelerated instruction
Cooperative integrated reading and composition
Good leaders of cooperative learning
Good cooperative learning
Preparation
Delivery
Closure
When cooperative learning should be used
Limitations of cooperative learning
 Summary of cooperative learning

Discovery learning: Figuring things out for yourself

What is discovery learning?

Purposes and characteristics of discovery learning
Good facilitators of discovery learning
Good discovery learning
Preparation
Delivery
Closure
Facilitating discovery learning online
When discovery learning should be used
Limitations of discovery learning
Summary of discovery learning

Constructivist teaching and learning: problem solving under teacher guidance

What is constructivism?
Is a way of teaching and learning that intends to maximize student understanding.
Purposes and characteristics of constructivism
Active learning
Communities of learning
Authentic and situated
Good constructivist teaching and learning
Preparation
Delivery
Closure
Good facilitators of constructivist learning
When constructivism should be used
Limitations of constructivism
Summary of constructivism

Direct instruction: teaching in the most efficient and effective ways

What is direct instruction?

A variation on the theme of teacher presentations in that it is teacher-dominated and
directed
Is there a single best instructional alternative?
(Cruickshank, Jenkins & Metcalf Chapter 8)

Chapter 10 (Personal Attributes and characteristics of effective teacher)

 What is effective teaching?
Good teachers are:
Caring
Supportive
Concerned about the welfare of the student
Knowledgeable
Helpful
Able to get along
Genuinely excited what they do
Personal attributes
a. Motivating
Enjoy what they are doing
Supportive of students
Believable and easy to trust
b. Enthusiasm
Confident
Enjoy what they are doing
Trust and respect students
Subject is valuable and enjoyable
c. Warmth and humor
Positive
Interpersonal relationships w/ students
Open and willing to work things out with students
Work hard to help them succeed academically
Smile frequently
Use nonthreatening physical to students
Encourage students
Draw out students opinions, feelings, ideas
Make leaning fun
d. Credibility
(Cruickshank, Jenkins & Metcalf Chapter 10)

Chapter 11 (Professional Skills and abilities of effective teachers)

Focusing and engaging students attention

Establishing set
Providing advance organizers or lesson entry
Using variety
Instructional activities and materials
Interacting with students

Using instructional time efficiently

 Optimizing time
Allocated time
Amount of mandated time intended or scheduled for academic activities
Maintaining momentum
Refers to the flow of activities and to the pace of teaching
Making smooth transitions
Points in instructional interactions when contexts change
Conducting interactive instruction

Using questions
How to ask questions?
Obtaining good answers
Following up students responses
Redirecting
Rephrasing
Providing clear instruction
Preparing and entering the lesson
Introducing and emphasizing important points
Elaborating on important ideas or concepts
Ensuring students understanding
Monitoring students progress
Providing feedback and reinforcement
Feedback
Primarily intended to inform students about the quality and accuracy of their performance
and help them to learn how to monitor and improve their own learning
Reinforcement
Intended to strengthen and increase the frequency of a desirable behavior or response,
usually by providing some type of reward

(Cruickshank, Jenkins & Metcalf Chapter 11)

Chapter 14 (Reflective Skills of effective teachers)

Thanksgiving reconsidered
Characteristics of reflective practitioners

Deliberate
Open minded
They are willing to question their own views of and reactions to their teaching practices
and the school culture
Responsibility
Sincere
 Their reflection is purposeful and exciting because it helps them better understand who
they are as teachers and how they can be more effective
Spirit of inquiry
Want to learn all they can about teaching from both theory and practice
Benefits of reflecting on teaching

Enhancing your learning about teaching

Increases your ability to analyze and understand classroom events
Enhance your classroom life
Self monitoring
Personal and professional transformations

Developing reflective thinking

The reflective process

Becoming a reflective teacher
Dialogue journals
Portfolio
Action research
Laboratory experiences
Reflective teaching

(Cruickshank, Jenkins & Metcalf Chapter 11)