"Because you matter, and because learning matters to you, I will do my best to:
- Make sure I teach and you learn what is genuinely of value in a subject;
- Pique your curiosity about what we explore, capture our interest, and help you see daily that learning is inherently satisfying;
- Call on you consistently to help you become more than you thought you could become through dedicated work; and
- Be your partner, coach, mentor and taskmaster all along your learning journey in this class."
It mentions that to do less than this would be to send negative messages to the student and the importance of the mission to teach and be taught. The chapter explores some ways that teachers make certain curriculum and instruction are important, focused, engaging, demanding, and scaffolded to maximize the likelihood that each student is well served in the classroom-both as human being and as a learner.
Strategies for Important, Focused, Engaging Curriculum and Instruction
-Focus student products around significant problems and issues
-Use meaningful audiences
-Help students discover how ideas and skills are useful in the world
-Provide choices that ensure focus
-Look for fresh ways to present and explore ideas
The example shown in the chapter is "Mr. Johnson's Two-Tiered Inquiry on Buoyancy". His first version of the buoyancy inquiry below is more structured and guided than the second version. The second is set up to be the "fuzzier" in processes and goals. It also has some more complex requirements that extend the essential goals of the unit.
I'm glad that the beginning of chapter 6 grabs you like that. It does me, too, especially because that is exactly the way Carol Tomlinson teaches... I had the priveledge of learning from her, in the environment she writes about, and sincerely wants teachers to desire. 5 pts.
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