School is on in some parts of the world, like Texas, where Christian Long is returning to teaching. Our kids don’t go back to school until September 4th, but I was going through some saved RSS feeds and I came across these guideline on a post from last year titled Why we still need teachers, and it just seemed appropriate:
Rather than a minimally-guided problem-based learning approach, we see effective teaching when …
- The goals of teaching include facts, principles, process, and application
- Learning is interactive and not one-sided (wholly teacher- or student-focused)
- Learning from example and problem-based learning are not mutually exclusive
- The ties between theoretical and practical knowledge are explicitly looked for and taught if students don’t get them.
- The limits and assumptions of information and subjects are considered, and applications to the real world, constantly reinforced.
- Teachers are taught to be very aware of working memory demands of material – so they are able to provide organization or scaffolding for students unable to assimilate information or problem-solving steps.
- Finally, practice and instruction in problem-solving are given, so students don’t get all A’s, but later flunk life.
I wish all returning teachers and students good luck in the coming year and may you be passionate in your teaching and learning, because that is what really counts.
Thanks for the good wishes for the upcoming year. I traveled across Canada by myself this summer (I stopped in Sackville – what a beautiful part of the province)and that trip will certainly form part of the passion I hope to share with my students. I really experienced what a huge and diverse country we live in.
I hope your homeschooling/unschooling goes well with your son.