Standards and Objectives in Effective Teaching Reflection

 I have volunteered in my children classroom for some time.  Also, I have had teaching experience in public health.  However, I have never been in charge of a classroom.  Subsequently, most of the elements in this unit were new to me.  I need to admit that I had to do lots of analyzing to be able to analyze and translate these concepts into practice for this unit’s assignments.  Nevertheless, I have enjoyed the learning process in this unit. 

During the course of this unit I have gained new knowledge and skills, including dissecting a standard, formulating big ideas and essential questions, identifying students’ skills that show proficiency, and creating teaching strategies, lesson objectives and assessments, that match the identified standard. 

As I live overseas, I selected two International Baccalaureate guidelines for Activity 1.  For activity 2 I selected two Common Core standards from the CCSS website.  It was interesting for me to compare them both.  I like the interdisciplinary approach of the IB curriculum.  However, I like how the common core standards are more concrete and specific.  IB guidelines for English and Math leave plenty of room for personal interpretation.  In both cases, it was very difficult to find standards for science, as they are not published by either organization. 

Teachers need to pay close attention while dissecting standards to get the most out of it.  It is in the teacher’s best interest to understand what the standard is supposed to mean to create the most appropriate lesson objectives, learning strategies and assessments.  It is also fair for the students to have have a learning experience that is based on evidence and careful planning, which promote deeper understanding of the content.  

The recognition of verbs and nouns in relation to Bloom’s taxonomy has been an enlightening concept for the creation of lesson objectives and their link with specific standards.  Even though we have studied Bloom’s taxonomy in past units, this is the first time I understood its relevance and practical importance in the learning process.  The appropriate use of Bloom’s taxonomy can help teachers to establish high expectations in the classroom.

Also, while I was doing research to have a better understanding of the concepts, I found all kinds of material targeted to teachers, some being good and some being bad.  Teachers need to be careful to select suitable reference material. 

Overall, this unit has helped me to appreciate the importance of having high quality standards, and to gain familiarity with the resources and methods for creating a learning environment aimed at maximizing students’ opportunities to achieve standards.

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