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Best Practice
Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde’s compilation of best practice gives insight into what educational researchers recommend we should see in high performing classrooms.
According to “Best Practice, Third Edition” we should see:
- LESS whole-class, teacher directed instruction
- LESS student passivity: sitting, listening, receiving and absorbing information
- LESS presentation, one-way transmission of information from teacher to student
- LESS prizing and rewarding of silence in the classroom
- LESS classroom time devoted to fill-in-the blank worksheets, dittos, workbooks, and other “seatwork”
- LESS student time spent reading textbooks and basal readers
- LESS attempts by teachers to thinly “cover” large amounts of materials in every subject area
- LESS rote memorization of facts and details
- LESS emphasis on the competition and grades in schools
- LESS tracking or leveling students into “ability groups”
- LESS use of pull-out special programs
- LESS use of and reliance on standardized tests
- MORE experimental, inductive, hands-on learning
- MORE active learning, with all the attendant noise and movement of students doing, talking, and collaborating
- MORE diverse roles for teacher, including coaching, demonstrating, and modeling
- MORE emphasis on higher-order thinking; learning a field’s key concepts and principles
- MORE deep study of a smaller number of topics, so that students internalize the field’s way of inquiry
- MORE reading of real texts: whole books, primary sources, and nonfiction materials
- MORE responsibility transferred to students for their work: goal setting, record keeping, monitoring, sharing, exhibiting, and evaluating
- MORE choice for students
- MORE enacting and modeling of the principles of democracy in school
- MORE attention to affective needs and varying cognitive styles of individual students
- MORE cooperative, collaborative activity; developing the classroom as an interdependent community
- MORE heterogeneous classrooms where individual needs are met through individualized activities, not segregation of bodies
- MORE delivery of special help to students in regular classrooms
- MORE varied and cooperative roles for teachers, parents, and administrators
- MORE reliance on descriptive evaluations of student growth, including observational/anecdotal records, conference notes, and performance assessment rubrics
Looking at Learning offers a way for teachers to know what mix of instructional activities is currently in place in their classrooms and it allows teams of teachers to plan for a more engaging mix of instructional activities and then verify the results of those strategies.