Week Five

Question #1: One thing I liked in the section titled teaching curriculum that is important is the idea that “the brain is inefficient at rote memorization and seeks instead to make meaning of information.” I know personally from my own quest for knowledge that I have to understand a concept before I can ever begin to remember it. Once I am able to understand a concept, then I can remember it and use it in the future. Unfortunately, I am stumped if I can’t understand it. Rote memorization would never help. I greatly appreciate the professors who are willing to be patient with all my questions as I build an understanding of a new concept that I will be able to build upon once I “get” it. As a teacher, I realize I will need to be patient with my students and help them discover the meaning of information, not have them memorize random bits of information. Then they will be the “owner” of the information and will be able to use it to build upon in the future.

A second thing I liked in the section titled teaching curriculum that is important is the idea that “teachers need to help students master and retain essential information, organized knowledge around essential concepts, develop essential understandings, and competently utilize essential skills.” This is extremely significant to me and I thought of the rope spider web climbing thing at the Hogle Zoo. As an adult, I have tried to climb on that thing and I found it nearly impossible. This was very frustrating. At the time, I was thinking that if the ropes were just a little bit closer, I might be more successful. This climbing thing was riddled with holes which was a real problem because my feet kept falling through. As a teacher, I do not want my students to give up over a frustrating spider web of loosely woven information. I need to teach the essential curriculum in a way that connects to students’ prior knowledge and to other curriculum so that it weaves a well connected “fabric” to support the footing for the students.

Question #2: I found two quotes in the sixth chapter of Fulfilling the Promise by Carol Ann Tomlinson which were meaningful to me. The first quote was found on page 73 and it is “Take time to be human with your students and give them time to do likewise.” Tomlinson used this quote in suggesting that it is okay for teachers to share their experiences, the things they love, the places they visit, and the things that helped them succeed. I think this is very important as I believe it would be difficult to build a community of learners when the students knew very little about their teacher. I believe students would be excited to know their teacher leads a different life outside of school. A second way to think about this quote is to realize that as a teacher and as a person, I am not super human and I will make mistakes, and it is okay. In addition, students should realize that they too will make mistakes, and that is okay for them as well.

The second quote I found on page 81 and it is “It is likely that we underestimate what any student can accomplish, often establishing as performance ceilings goals that ought to be planks in the floor.” This reminds me of something my mother always said to me while growing up. “If you reach for the stars you might drag your feet in the treetops; but if you reach for the treetops you might drag your feet in the mud.” My mother instilled in me the desire to always reach high when setting my goals. She let me know that there was no reason to fear if I didn’t accomplish a lofty goal as long as I tried my best. Amazingly, when you set high goals and someone has confidence in your abilities, you are able to accomplish them a lot of the time. I believe that encouraging students to set high goals for themselves will help them see we have confidence in their abilities and they will be able to meet the mark. The opposite of this thought has damaging consequences. I think students would feel very badly about themselves if teachers set expectations low and didn’t have any confidence in their ability to succeed. So as a teacher, I will encourage my students to reach for the “stars” and I will provide the scaffolding they need in order to reach their dreams.