As I work my way through the Curriculum and Instruction program at Seattle Pacific University, I find my capacity for self-reflection increasing in prodigious ways. Now, I don’t mean prodigious in the extraordinary or phenomenal or even exceptional sense, I truly am not that smitten with my own thinking. When I say prodigious, I mean […]
Category Archives: EDU 6526 Instructional Strategies
I love skim milk. I crave its’ thin, watery consistency, that near ethereal bluish hue it imparts when poured fresh from the carton into a tall glass. If my stomach is giving me fits, I reach for a glass of milk. When hit by a sudden late-night craving, a simple cookie just won’t do; I […]
The teaching of virtues and moral character is rift with potential points of friction, especially in a multicultural setting; can we say with utter confidence that there are universal mores that guide all human behavior? Tom Lickona (2003) would argue that virtue or good character is an aspect of the human condition that has been […]
It’s easy to lament the multiple barriers to achievement that are present for many students; low socioeconomic backgrounds, single-parent households, poverty and other issues create a conundrum of obstacles that serve to obstruct the learning process. However, framing the issues of underachievement as an unfortunate and unavoidable by-product of poverty presents a simplistic and somewhat […]
Cooperative Learning- Jigsaw Despite being one of the most theoretically grounded (Dean, Hubbell, Pitler & Stone, 2012) and widely used (Dell’Olio & Donk, 2007) instructional strategies, cooperative learning is susceptible to misuse and overuse, potentially undermining the potential benefits of this highly effective instructional strategy. According to Dean et al., (2012) there seems to be […]
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [you aren’t alone] In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry] An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promised joy. To a Mouse~ Robert Burn, 1786 Like most experiences in life, what I imagine […]
Student’s background knowledge Both learners brought a fairly simplistic level of background knowledge about China in particular and the social studies concept “movement of people and goods” in general as evidenced through their anticipatory writing prompt and KWL charts. Anticipatory writing prompt/KWL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha7C963MGbI For example, the grade 8 learner focused her response to the impact […]
Advanced organizers are practical tools that function as a scaffold for student cognitive development across the curriculum. David Ausubel, the developer of advanced organizers envisions their use as a means to “bridge the gap between what the learner already knows and what he needs to know before he can meaningfully learn the task at hand” […]
Strategy Entry: Advanced Organizer , Jigsaw Classroom Context I will be working on a social studies lesson with two girls that are typically home schooled; one is Grade 5 the other is Grade 8. Currently, the students are being taught the same curriculum from a survey of world history book text that was recommended to the […]
Advanced Organizers Advance Organizers help students see the big picture of a content area at a high level of abstraction before honing in on specific content; it is an introduction, not a detailed summary of the following lesson. Advance organizers help students learn a large amount of material. Teachers prepare for advance organizers by considering […]
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