What you (Lynne) said about there being no need to make students memorize huge chunks of information just for the sake of it really resonated with me. I have always found big memorization tasks to be the cop out way of adding challenge to a class — a sort of lazy or just ill-informed attempt at “setting high standards.” Too many teachers just pack in extra details for students to spit back. It is easier to assign, present and grade for the teacher, but it just wastes time and mental energy — not to mention enthusiasm for learning — for the students, especially now that we all have such easy access to information 24/7. I think this happens a lot in advanced/gifted classes that are really just accelerated. These kids end up doing double the work of the regular classes, but not getting the time or opportunity to really think and process…so they’re actually being trained OUT of thinking…which in my opinion is the opposite of what we want to be doing. (This is why we pulled our daughter out 2 out of 4 of her accelerated classes for middle school — we wanted her to have more time to think and process and connect, not to mention explore some of her own interests, sleep, adjust to middle school, and interact with friends and family. To us, these things are more important — and provide better opportunity for success — than building the perfect transcript for Harvard…which she would never want to attend anyway. :))
So, the question is: how do I do it better in my own classroom? I think part of it is attitude: If teachers are willing to make the effort to think deeply, then they will be better equipped to create opportunities for their students to do the same. Another big part, it seems, is building (or finding) assessments that measure this type of higher order thinking. With the right assessments guiding instruction, “teaching to the test” is no longer a limiting construct. I am thankful that I will be entering the profession at a time when the standards-focused trend is subsiding in favor of a more balanced approach, and I hope that wherever I end up working, I will be lucky enough to land in a team of teachers that is already on board.
Dr. Stohr, our discussion of what makes a good assessment reminded me of my other/past life, in which I learned how to create, administer and analyze marketing research instruments (surveys, focus groups, etc.). Many of the same principles I worked with then seem to apply to building good assessments for education: ensuring both reliability and validity; norming; clarity and consistency in constructing questions; parallel structure; selecting the appropriate instrument for the type of data you wish to collect; etc. It is always encouraging when I can connect my past experiences to current learning — it wasn’t a total waste after all! 😉 However, because I do have some experience with this, it is one of the reasons I am so picky about lesson plans and assessments I find online (or that my kids bring home!) — and why it takes me FOREVER to find something I am comfortable using or adapting for lesson plans. Although I am by no means an expert at creating instructional/assessment resources, I am pretty good at being critical of what’s out there…in other words, I know just enough to make me obnoxious!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 My challenge for myself is to get more familiar with where to find good resources, and more efficient at adapting/creating good materials so that when I’m sitting in a team meeting in a couple years, I can bring solid solutions to the table instead of pointing out problems.