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The Road to Clear Learning Goals: Standards and Learning Targets
“Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.” – Washington Irving How do we communicate clear learning goals to students? The plethora of terms that describe learning goals often create more confusion than clarity in helping teachers map out curriculum and communicate clear expectations to students. Washington Irving’s quote emphasizes the relationship between “great minds” and…
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How to Choose Primary Sources for Learning Routines
Across all subject areas and age levels, teachers spend a great deal of time searching for images, historical, and primary sources to inspire student questions and provide artifacts to help students understand the past from different perspectives. Choosing media sources is crucial to support effective and efficient learning. Students see themselves and their histories and…
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Fewer questions, better questions, and time to think.
“It is better to have a classroom full of unanswered questions than unquestioned answers”. – Morgan, N. & Saxton, J. (1991). Teaching Questioning and Learning. New York: Routledge; 8. What makes questions effective? Effective questions produce thinking. Learning is the result of thinking. Therefore, questions are one of the most important tools used in teaching…
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What does teaching for understanding look like?
“The principle goal of education is to create [people] who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done – [people] who are creative, inventive and discoverers” – Jean Piaget Jerviw, K. & Tobier, A. Eds. (1988). Education for Democracy, Proceedings from the Cambridge School Conference on Progressive Education held…
