Chapters 1-7

It is somewhat annoying for me to read all of these wonderful things in these chapters and then to not see them put into place in my placement. In chapter 2 of our text, it says that learning takes place where “knowledge is clearly and powerfully organized [and] ... assessments are rich and varied” (8). This could almost be common sense, but there are so many times when the knowledge is NOT clearly and powerfully organized and assessments are the same old thing. It’s like, what’s the point of teaching if all we are doing is reading some bolded script and starting on page one and then going through each page until we finish the end of the book. Students need differentiated instruction, and the reading says that this is not making one child write two hard book reports while another child writes one easy book report.

On a brighter note, I wanted to mention that I really felt drawn to the quote on page 9 that says, “our students – each of them – is a message that we can never stop attending to the craftsmanship and artistry of teaching.” So many times, I have heard people negatively say that their work as a teacher is never finished. There is always something to do whether it is paperwork, teaching, or grading papers. This quote is a reminder to us all that teaching is a craft and an art and that our work is appreciated by students whether or not they express it.

Another piece that caught my eye while reading was the part about how differentiation doesn’t mean that learning “hooks” all students all the time. It just means that a teacher creates a reasonable range of approaches to learning much of the time so that most students find learning a fit much of the time. This statement makes differentiated learning much more “do-able” and realistic in the fact that a teacher is not responsible for reaching out and “hooking” every student in every lesson. It is something that I believe all teachers should strive for, but teachers should also realize that perfection is impossible.