Plan and Teach for Student Learning
To plan and teach for student learning a teacher will: set learning
goals and plan assessments in alignment with the POS/SOL;
purposefully plan to adjust teaching practices to meet the needs
of individual students; employ teaching strategies, techniques,
and resources that meet the needs of all students; and be
responsive to the variety of ways students demonstrate thinking
and learning.
- Lesson Aligned with POS and Pacing Guides: Align lessons to FCPS
curriculum paying attention to pacing in planning and delivery to ensure
that student-learning experiences are vertically aligned for all students.
- Teacher Collaboration: Participate in collaborative learning teams (PLC)
to analyze data and collaboratively plan for instruction and assessment.
- Content Knowledge: Develop a deep understanding of assigned content
areas. Design and differentiate learning that is relevant and challenging
for students.
- Instructional Delivery Model: Use a FCPS supported plan for learning.
- Critical and Creative Thinking: Promote conceptual understanding and
higher-order thinking skills by creating learning experiences that allow
students to construct knowledge.
- Engagement: Actively engage, challenge, and motivate students.
Provide varied and ample opportunities for students to practice and process
new information.
Case Study:
How to Best Plan and Teach for Student Learning
Centreville Elementary Principal Dwayne Young is the first to
admit that getting students to learn is an art not a science.
“How teachers effectively put all of the essential ingredients
together for effective instruction is something that not only takes
years of training but takes years of hands-on experience,” he
says. “Sometimes new teachers come into our schools ready to
teach, but there are many more powerful things that have to
come together to make them truly prepared to teach.”
Young takes issue with the current push to bring more teachers
into the profession who don’t have classroom experience.
“With the recession and layoffs impacting every
profession, many people are willing to go on the fast
track to get into the teaching business. From the outside,
it is inviting because it seems like a stable profession
that nearly anyone can do. But what people
don't realize is that teaching is a complex and
demanding career that is
not easy to jump into.”
He firmly believes that
the first requirement for
being a good teacher is
having a passion for learning
as well as having a deep
desire to be a catalyst for
change in others.
When it comes to planning
and teaching for student
learning, good teachers
realize that success does
not mean simply having
students master the SOLs.
“Teachers need to have
an understanding of student
development, and
they must believe that
every student is able to
access and develop capacities
at varying levels,” he
adds. “They also need to
be someone who builds a positive relationship with
kids. We learn from people we like and from those
who are interested in us.”
From there, the real work begins, for Young also
believes that success in life comes from the ability to
problem solve.
“As adults, you need to deal with a lot of things
coming at you at the same time. Our job as educators
is to help students master this important ability. For
many people, it doesn’t come naturally. Students
need to be taught how to master higher-order and
critical-thinking skills.”
To that end, he instructs his teachers to give students
hands-on experience with every lesson where it
is possible.
For example, if the class is studying a unit on
plants, Young not only wants students to learn from
the textbook, he wants them to grow plants in class
and go outside to experience nature firsthand.
“When students experience a lesson in action,
whether it is how a plant grows or anything else, they
become engaged in the material and develop a deeper
understanding of what they are studying,” he
says. “Learning is not checking things off a list. It's
giving students intimate, personal experience with
the world around them. Because each child learns differently,
a teacher must assess how each and every
student in class will master the lessons — then create
lesson plans that engage them.”
Young realizes this is a tall order, and knows that
teachers need to work collaboratively so they can
truly educate all the students in the class.
“It certainly can't all be done by yourself, which is
why Professional Learning Communities are critical,”
he notes.
Young also realizes that every lesson needs to be
done with assessment in mind.
“It is a fact that tests are important, mostly
because they help teachers understand what kids
have learned and what they haven’t.”
But that doesn’t mean teaching to the test, he
says. Rather, the bottom line for Young is that educators
need to take responsibility for preparing kids to
tackle big issues — such as how to protect the environment.
“If we are not helping prepare them to understand
how to tackle this challenge and the other big
problems they’ll have to solve when they are adults,
the nation — and the world — will be in trouble.”
He believes the great thing about America is that
we have the roll your sleeves up mentality.
“Our kids are filled with the gift of unlimited possibility.
We just need to plan and teach for student
learning for that to happen.”
Next: Assess Student Learning
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