This week's reading poses some interesting hypotheses about enduring understandings for teachers. One of the them is that teachers must grapple with a student's misconceptions and background knowledge in a content area. One such example was Newton's Law of Gravity. Students may perceive that a larger object will hit the ground before a smaller object, but that is not the truth. The fact is that objects fall at the same rate. That was an enduring understanding that students must be able to transfer into application of that knowledge.
Another facet that teachers must grapple with are the six facets of understanding, which are explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy and self-knowledge. Each facet takes the teacher through another step in the transfer process for students.
Another area that a teacher must grapple with is the "expert blind spot" This was reiterated in this chapter even though it was talked about in previous chapters. The enduring struggle for teachers in getting students to truly understand a subject is to understand that as a teacher "expert" in their content area, that the students may be learning this material for the first time. Overcoming the expert blind spot is a big key in determining if students truly understand the material.
And finally, teachers grapple with finding truly enduring questions to ask students. These come in two forms, one is the big ideas and the other are topical questions. The big ideas are those essential questions that probe the student's thought process. The topical questions should be used as a stepping stone to further understanding. Teachers need to sequence topical questions so that students follow along the necessary understandings to the larger overarching questions and big ideas.
If teachers can accomplish all of these aspects of enduring understandings with students it can foster true learning for the students.
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3 comments:
I never knew that so much thought and planning should be made when designing lessons. I'm glad I'm learning now. Many people can fall victim to the expert blind spot. Have you ever listened to a group of people who try to incorporate you into a conversation only to have to explain every acronym they use? We all can fall victim to the expert blind spot. You did a very nice job summarizing all three chapters. I focused more on crafting understanding chapter. So what? I feel there needs to be an answer to the So What question before anything is really taught.
I look forward to reading your blog entries.
I agree that teachers sometimes neglect the fact that students do not know as much as we think they do. We sometimes need to be reminded that explaining or teaching something to a student could be the first time their seeing it. One of the biggest struggles I had when I began teaching was learning to break things down to there simplest form. I could not understand why it was difficult for my students to follow what I teaching them. Fortunately, I was able to realize what I was doing wrong quickly.
When I first started teaching I was amazed how many students were well below my expectations. However, I have adapted my lessons and plans to match their learning abilities and I am doing it even better now. We have to understand that there are many bad and incompetent educators out there that are shaping the future of our country. Most of the time it is not the students' fault. It is the fault of those who have failed them time and time again. We just have to look forward and do our best to help them.
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