SEVEN! Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, THE NEW SCHOOL
diazmagg@newschool.edu
The teacher’s most important job is to organize for learning to happen. (Danielson, 2007)
LEARNING Student’s prior knowledge • Students come into our classes with knowledge, skills, beliefs and attitudes gained at home, at play, and in other classes. • This knowledge can help (pre-requisites) or impair learning (preconceptions). Knowledge organization • Students naturally make connections between pieces of knowledge, When the organizational structure works, it is easier for students to recall. Motivation and learning • Motivation plays a crucial role in guiding the direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of the learning students engage in. Mastery • To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned. Practice + Feedback • Practice does NOT make perfect. • Practice makes permanent. • Practice o goal specific o at the right level o quantity and frequency o Feedback: nowfuture Course climate • Intellectual • Social • Emotional • Physical Self-monitoring • In order to become self-directed learners, students must learn to engage in a variety of metacognitive processes that help them monitor and control their learning.
SEVEN! Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, THE NEW SCHOOL
diazmagg@newschool.edu
TEACHING Knowing the students • Effective teaching involves acquiring relevant knowledge about students and using that knowledge to inform course design and classroom teaching and assessment. Alignment Learning objectives Assessments Instructional activities Expectations • Articulate explicitly what is expected of students regarding learning objectives and policies. Priorities • Coverage is the enemy so, less is more! • Uncovering the curriculum. Blind spots • We are not our students! • Blind spots are the result of expertise. Roles •
Effective teaching involves adopting appropriate teaching roles to support our learning goals.
Refinement • Effective teaching involves progressively refining our courses based on reflection and feedback.
SEVEN! Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, THE NEW SCHOOL
diazmagg@newschool.edu
STRATEGIES STUDENTS’ PRIOR KNOWLEDGE • Talk to colleagues. • Have students self-assess. • Use mind mapping. • Look at students’ errors. • Explicitly link new material to old. • Use analogies and examples. • Ask students to explain and justify their answers.
MASTERY • Push beyond your blind spots. • Talk to colleagues. • Focus sts’ attention on key aspects of the task. • Provide isolated practice of missing skills. • Explicitly include integration in the performance criteria. • Give students opportunities to PRACTICE and APPLY. • Use comparison and contrast. • Specify knowledge and skills and ask students to identify contexts of applicability.
KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION • Create a mind map to analyze your own knowledge organization. • Analyze tasks. • Explicitly share the organization of each class. • Use contrasting cases. • Explicitly highlight deep features. • Make connections among concepts explicit. • Monitor students’ work
PRACTICE + FEEDBACK
• Be explicit about goals. • Use rubrics. • Build multiple opportunities for practice.
• Build scaffolding into assignments. • Give examples or models. • Show students what you do NOT want. • Prioritize and balance your feedback. • Incorporate peer-feedback.
MOTIVATION AND LEARNING • VALUE • Provide authentic, real-world taks. • Connect to sts’ interests. • Identify and reward what you value. • EXPECTANCIES • Align objectives, assessment and instruction. • Identify appropriate levels of challenge. • Provide rubrics. • Provide targeted feedback. • Teach learning strategies. • VALUE + EXPECTANCY • Provide flexibility and control. • Promote reflection. COURSE CLIMATE • Make uncertainty safe. • Resist single right answers. • Incorporate evidence. • Be mindful of low-ability cues. • Reduce anonymity. • Model inclusive language, behavior and attitudes. • Establish and reinforce ground rules. • Address tensions early. • Facilitate active listening.
SELF-MONITORING
• Assessing the task at hand. o Be explicit.
• Assess own strengths and weaknesses. o Help students plan.
• Applying strategies.
o Promote self-and peer-assessment.
• Help students adjust their approach.
o Create assignments that focus on strategizing rather than implementation. o Provide activities requiring reflection.
REFERENCES Ambrose, A., Bridges, M., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. amd Norman, M. (2010). How learning works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. Alexandria: ASCD. Diaz Maggioli, G. (2012). Teaching Language Teachers: Scaffolding Professional Learning. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Educ.