The Purpose of School

In the discussion post last week, Sir Ken Robinson suggested that schools are killing creativity.  Seth Godin also challenges us in his TedTalk, Stop Stealing Dreams: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS, to think about what is the purpose of school.  He suggests eight things that will change education and shift our education system, including “there is zero value worth memorizing anything ever again. Anything worth memorizing is worth looking up.” He also shares that “we should measure experience instead of test scores” and “grades are an illusion.”  What connections do you see to the ideas that Sir Ken suggested about schools killing creativity?  Are Common Core State Standards a help or a hindrance in fostering creativity?  How would following Seth Godin’s advice support or inhibit the idea that our students need to be better prepared to compete against others in the global economy?  How would this advice inhibit or improve the ability for students to learn twenty-first century skills? Explain your thinking. 

 

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Intelligence

Are you aware of what your preferred type of intelligence is?  Complete the survey on multiple intelligences,  Assessment: Find Your Strengths!  In no more than one page, explain the following:

a.       Did the results match the way you were taught in school?

b.      If your profile results were actually that of one of your students, how would you shape learning for that student?

c.       What type of learning activities do you think would be most engaging for your profile?

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your journal entries.

 

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Effective Lesson Planning and Design

Chapter 9 of the textbook focuses on the importance of designing effective lessons. For this assignment, you will create a presentation using PowerPoint,Prezi, or another presentation tool of your choice to analyze effective practices in designing effective instruction for students.
Scenario: You have been asked by a colleague or administrator to support other educators in designing effective instruction. It has been observed that most of the educators have been planning instruction using a traditional model. The objectives of the presentation are to explain the backwards design model of designing instruction, to provide an overview and rationale of the process, to compare and contrast the two models, and finally to provide an example that other educators could use as a model for their own planning.
The presentation will consist of three parts:

Part One: Effective Lesson Design and Backwards Design

In this section of the presentation, you will need to discuss the following topics:

What are the most important elements of effective lesson design?
Why are good learning objectives critical to planning effective instruction?
Provide an example of a good learning objective aligned with the Common Core State Standards. What makes this a “good” learning objective?
What are some common pitfalls in planning effective lessons? How can we avoid these pitfalls?
What does backwards design mean?
How does the Common Core State Standards Initiative play a role in designing effective instruction?
Part Two: Compare and Contrast Backwards Design and the Traditional Model

In your presentation, include a visual representation using a chart, diagram, concept map, infographic, or any other visual that compares and contrasts the backwards design model with the traditional model of lesson planning.
Part Three: Backwards Design Activity

In this section of your presentation, you should demonstrate the process of planning a brief lesson (not an entire unit) for any grade level through a backwards design approach. Your example should be a specific example that starts with planning for stage one (identifying desired results), then stage two (assessment evidence), and lastly, stage three (the learning activities). Your activity must be aligned to a Common Core State Standard.

Optional: If you are interested in honing your professionalism and speaking skills, consider delivering your presentation to an audience and videotaping it (you can include a YouTube link in the slides) or creating a screencast of the presentation using Screenr or Jing and recording yourself presenting the information. If you choose to record yourself or do a screencast, be sure to have relevant information on the screen (such as your presentation slides) while you are speaking and include the link in your presentation for your instructor. This could be a great addition to your professional portfolio and to any professional networks in which you are involved (i.e., LinkedIn, Twitter, or any professional organizations). Such a presentation can provide you an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and professionalism to others and to gain meaningful feedback.
In your presentation, you should cite your sources both in your slides and in your references using APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. You must cite the course textbook as well as at least one other peer-reviewed source. The presentation should be 12 to 20 slides in length, not including title and reference slides. Be sure also to save a copy of your assignment for your Final Project and for future professional development.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

 

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Khan Academy: Innovative or Traditional? 

In the discussion forums for the last two weeks, Sir Ken Robinson and Seth Godin challenged us to think differently about what the purpose of school is.  Seth suggests that students should be able to watch lessons at home and meet with the teacher during the day to engage in deep conversation answering questions from the video and not simply sitting in class listening to a lecture.  In fact, Khan Academy is considered an innovative flipped classroom model that has taken this strategy to scale across America. In the video, Salman Khan: Let’s Use Video to Reinvent Education, Salman Khan, the developer of Khan Academy discusses how shifting lectures to video provides a way to revolutionize education by making learning accessible anytime, anyway, and anyplace.  On the contrary, the video What if Khan Academy Was Made in Japan? suggests that Khan Academy reinforces the American model of learning, which continues to focus on the idea of watch a lesson and practice the skill.  After you watch both videos, think about the focus of this week’s reading: delivering effective lessons that connect your students to learning.  How do you reconcile the two different perspectives on learning exhibited in the videos?  What relevance do you see in each perspective?  In what ways, if any, does either approach to teaching and learning reflect constructivism?  If you were asked to pick a side to support, which strategy would have a greater impact on ensuring students master twenty first century skills?  Explain your thinking. 

THIS TUTORIAL INCLUDES TWO ANSWERS FOR THIS DISCUSSION QUESTION TO HELP YOU SCORE BETTER        

 

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