EDU 416 Teaching Literacy in Middle & Secondary Schools

people learn best when they make knowledge with others John Dewey argued that experience was a key ingredient in learning Paolo Freire used the metaphor of banking to critique lecture/test school knowledge was a currency, limited value, students did not actively construct it for themselves, limited value in the actual world where the knowledge had to be put to use discussions simulations investigations writing to learn research reports-difficult to carry out with 15 year olds ironically Dewey gave long lectures that weren't super engaging sometimes resort to lecture when students don't understand the reading of the text brainstorm phenomena  people learn best when they can experience many different ways of making meaning and when they grapple with ideas and with texts Why Teachers Lecture NOT to be in control to feel powerful to "plow through content" Reasons teachers think students learn through lectures lectures are economical? lectures a...

Time is every teacher's enemy: there is always more to teach than time to teach it We're not only expected to cover our content but also to ensure that students meet the demands of rigorous state and national standards Teaching is incredibly complex, and we take our job very seriously Lecturing can make covering unrealistic amounts of content conceivable, but do we have evidence that students have really learned when this is our main method of instruction? Observation 1 (Social Studies Class)  If a question is getting little participation, attention isn't good.  When there is more to teach than time to teach it, taking over is faster than letting students construct meaning on their own Lectures can share information, ideas, points of view under the right circumstances some people learn from it  The problem is that when our only instructional method is lecture, we can't tell which students are constructing meaning and which ones are tuning out fire hose: ...

how to minimize teaching as telling Few educators are as effective as Cris with both students and adults why and how to minimize telling as teaching isn't merely a what-not-to-do for teachers but rather a way to find time and opportunity for students to engage every day in relevant, problem-based work some students are good at behaving like students. What may look like engagement is actually compliance. Few would argue with the contention that too much lecture is a problem Cris and Elizabeth provided extraordinarily practical solutions  Section 2: what research supports about true-learning, long-term retention, and reapplication of concepts. This is the long sought after guide for instructional coaches and principals to make the case that lecture only teaching is not effective Section 3: Cris provides practical solutions for small-group instruction, including a model for reimagining the daily class period. She finally leads us to understand how crucial it is to know studen...