The above picture is Darth Vader trying to implement strict classroom tradition and deprive his students of creativity. In the Strong chapter, the above picture can represent what is called the "stand-and-deliver" type teaching. The "stand-and-deliver" approach reminds me of certain classes I've had in high school that depended on route memorization and single word answers, and as soon as the class would end, all the "learning" would soon fade away into oblivion. Instead of a "stand-and-deliver" approach, I found it helpful that the chapter mentions that students learn best by a "learn by doing" approach, and this actually makes learning meaningful, instead of learning to memorize and eventually forget, learning by doing has a student connect a lesson to a meaningful life experience. Considering my content area is English Language Arts, in order to keep students engaged and excited to learn, having a classroom read a book and write according to what they believe will "please" the teacher will only hinder higher thinking skills.
In this chapter it mentions ten design principles, and it is also helpful for future teachers like me to know what exactly to avoid. For example, a few of the ten design principles emphasizes the importance of creating a design that invites a student to critically think and one that will elicit meaningful and specific responses, as opposed to a design that is solely "question and answer" or one that hinders inventive thinking. Although there will always be an expected criteria/rubric, if a student has a choice and is allowed to be creative, this will truly have a student "learn by doing" as opposed to route memorization or answering to what one believes the teacher wants to see.
Although I have heard of RAFT before, I was unfamiliar with the CRAFT design and I find it to be very helpful, especially for my 406 class and my content area. Instead of creating vague and abstract writing designs, the CRAFT design helps to narrow down a focus which in turn will have a student understand the assignment.
Lastly, this chapter extends the importance of approaching every lesson with a "why are you doing this" approach. There's more to teaching than a "stand-and-deliver" approach. Teaching becomes a lot more valuable when the learning has a purpose, and it's exciting to know that going about instruction one way isn't valued but actually discouraged because allowing teachers and students free reign of creativity only allows for a richer learning experience I believe.
Caroline,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the "learn by doing" approach. I, too, have had many classes in high school that favorited the "stand and deliver" method, and I can honestly they were some of my least favorite. I didn't really hold on to the learning. I also found the ten design principles to be beneficial, but I never really knew how much goes into an effective writing assignment. There's a lot to consider, but the principles act nicely as guide.