The Teacher's Breakroom

It’s safe to say that all teachers agree teaching for understanding is the ultimate goal in the classroom. After all, teachers deliver information every day with the objective that students will understand what is being taught.  However, many teachers do not adequately understand the goal of teaching for understanding. There is a lot of evidence that “to understand” or “to teach for understanding” are slippery terms.

For example, teachers often have different ideas of what it means to understand. Some teachers say it means to internalize knowledge, while others believe to understand means to grasp the core essence of information. Do they all mean the same thing? And how can you recognize a student who “really understands” — what does he or she do when they understand that is different from what he or she may do when they do not understand?

Understanding is different from knowledge

Obviously, you have to have knowledge of something in order to understand it. But understanding is more than knowledge. All teachers have probably seen this for themselves firsthand. Students can have a great deal of knowledge about a subject but don’t really understand what that knowledge means. The other side of the coin is that a student may not have completed their homework or give a half-hearted effort in the classroom, but yet seem to grasp the core essence of an idea – ideas more conscientious students seem to miss.

The truth is knowing the facts and “aceing” a test does not mean that students understand what they know. Doing poorly on a test doesn’t mean that students don’t understand the ideas of the topic.

The key difference between knowledge and understanding

Understanding based on knowledge is always transferable and transformable. In other words students can transfer their knowledge to new context or transform it into a new idea. Simple knowledge is more rote — it has more to do with correct factual information than insight. Knowledge involves little more than being able to remember or recall.

This is a universal problem. All too often teachers are satisfied by signs of apparent understanding such as when students give the correct definitions, words, or can spout off a formula. But if you change the question so that it is asked in a way that students have not seen before it becomes obvious that they really do not understand what teachers thought they did.

This problem affects both successful students and low achievers. And in the academic world of high-stakes testing and grading, sorting out the difference between apparent and genuine understanding becomes even more pressing. When students are given an incentive to seem to understand what they are supposed to learn, the challenge of teaching and assessing for real understanding can seem overwhelming

Understanding “understanding”

According to Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, authors of Understanding By Design, understanding has 6 facets:  explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge.  When teachers themselves fully understand what “understanding” really means, they will be able to gauge student response and performance by how well they demonstrate these 6 facets.

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One of the most meaningful ways to demonstrate the relevance of classroom learning to the real world is to offer students opportunities for project raised learning. Project based learning is a teaching strategy that employees higher-level critical thinking skills in order to solve an authentic problem.

The project centers around real-world issues and allows students to glimpse a realistic view of the relevance of what they’re learning. Students become valued members of a project team while honing their critical thinking skills to investigate, create, analyze, and find solutions to authentic problems that interest them.

Look to the real world for guidance

Depending on the subject matter, projects usually zero in on finding a solution to a problem that is taking place in their community or even globally. Practically any dilemma that is occurring in the world can potentially be the focus of the project, though environmental issues seem to be a popular choice.

But regardless of the topic, the first step is for teachers to carefully lay out the guidelines as well as the learning goal and objectives of the activity.

Here are seven steps for a successful project

Obviously a project of this scope requires careful attention and planning. The following steps can guide both teachers and students through the process.

1. Choose the topic to be explored.  The topics should obviously stem from the curriculum but they also need to have the potential for deep investigation. One of the best things teachers can do is to simply ask the students what they’re interested in. Students are much likely to immerse themselves in the process if they are curious and motivated. You may want to reveal local community issues students would like to address to help them along.

2. Clearly define learning goals.  Learning objectives need to be aligned to state standards. Also focus on skills objectives as well as learning objectives.

3. Determine the task.  Teachers need to establish the guidelines and timetables for how and when the project will be completed. This is essential for successfully finishing the project, as students will need guidance to keep them on track.

4. Determine due dates.  Students need to be aware that projects of this scope may take more time than they are accustomed to spending on a project. The last thing they need is for a due date to sneak up on them and find them unprepared. They also need to understand that it is essential to use their cooperative learning skills to stay on schedule.

5. Determine how students will demonstrate learning. Students do best when they are offered a choice of how they will demonstrate and document what they have learned. Choices can include PowerPoint presentations, website development, oral presentations, videos, skits, or elaborate displays.

6. Decide on an assessment tool.  This should be done before any work begins. Inform students they will be evaluated either through a grading rubric, portfolio assessment, a written essay, or any evaluation tool the teacher thinks is appropriate.

7. Determine how you will provide feedback.  Students need to know how they are progressing throughout the process. Set aside a designated schedule to offer feedback so students can change direction if necessary.

The benefits of project-based learning

Both students and teachers report that project-based learning activities are one of the most satisfying accomplishments of the year. Not only are they more engaging but these types of activities have been shown to decrease behavior problems and increase attendance.

Project-based learning activities are the perfect way for students to engage in real-world problem-solving, a skill they can carry over to other disciplines throughout their school days and beyond. Many teachers develop their projects using the principles of  Bloom’s Taxonomy.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, there was an interesting article about the current standoff between legislators, administrators, teachers and parents regarding whether or not layoffs of teachers should be based on the seniority system.

The article was not an opinion piece and did not take a position, but gave the views of all sides in the debate.  Basically, it pointed out that state and local governments were looking at all the ways to deal with the current recession, including laying off teachers.  In fact, lay-offs of teachers skyrocketed in 2009 and the situation is not really projected to improve in 2010.

While this seemed to be accepted as a fait accompli, the method of choosing which teachers should be dismissed is the crux of the argument.  Many teachers and their unions feel that the experienced teachers should be retained, at the expense of the newer ones.

Many administrators and parents, however, feel that it would be better to choose the teachers to be dismissed based on performance factors alone.

Arguments can be made on both sides.  One must look, however, at hidden agendas.

A teacher with 10 years experience (versus a first year teacher) undoubtedly brings more value to the classroom.  She or he has dealt with most of the issues which are inherent in learning any profession and require minimal supervision.  However, with that experience and knowledge comes a cost:  higher salary and higher collateral costs to the administration.

Administrators are often judged not only on academic performance of a school, but also their budgets.  An administrator who can achieve standards at a lower budget that her or his peer is often rated higher (objectively or subjectively) by their superiors.  Obviously, all things considered equal, an administrator who can ‘control’ costs is considered more effective.  What is the largest variable cost?  Teacher salaries.

If an administrator can hire 1.5 young teachers instead of 1 experienced teacher (from a salary standpoint), then the school is 50% ‘more efficient’.  The question then becomes whether the trade-off is worth it.

We all know people who become entrenched in their jobs and who only do a mediocre job, even though they are highly experienced.  Why shouldn’t these people be put at risk?

The answer seems to lie in providing protection to the individual.  A person who has invested years in a career has a stake and it seems inherently unfair to dismiss a teacher who has done nothing wrong, other than earning a higher salary, even though it’s merited.

Further, the movement toward allowing administrators to select higher salaried employees for dismissal in a cost cutting move should serve as a warning to those just starting their career.  Giving up the right to be protected (either by contract or implication), will affect them when they, in turn, become ‘the experienced teacher’.

Yes, a seniority system can be abused.  There will always be cases where an undeserving person will be protected and a hard charging newcomer becomes a victim of the numbers.  This simply cannot be avoided.  Many of today’s teachers are not protected by a union and are simply employees who serve at the pleasure of their employer.  Usually, however, there are some rules which govern why and how a person can be dismissed.

Personally, I have a daughter who is completing her first year of teaching.  I would HATE to see her laid-off in favor of someone who had less potential, but had more experience.  But, even more, I would hate to see a 10 year teacher laid off in a pure cost cutting move.

Everyone will have different opinions on this.  I’d love to hear your comments.

Hello, All!

This is our first post.  As you might see in our About post above, we are the owners of American Classroom Supply, a teacher supply store that provides thousands of products for the K-12 teacher.

This should be a fun adventure, since we like nothing better than to talk with fellow teachers.  We’ll be making some different posts, some educational, some folksy and some just fun.  We’d appreciate any comments.

If you’re looking for some articles, please see our Articles Section on our website. We’ve got a couple hundred articles there, some of which you might find useful.