 |
Home
| How It Works
| Stats
Login | Register |
|
Case: Change Style of Teaching? Mr. Taylor has been enjoying his first year of teaching sixth grade in a comfortable suburban setting. He has been implementing the new and innovative teaching techniques recommended for ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Mr. Taylor's sixth grade ESL students outnumber his English speaking students in the classroom. Mr. Taylor has been very motivated about the visuals and manipulatives he has added to his lesson information in order to enhance the learning opportunities for all of his students. The animated read alouds and the fun role playing activities certainly have been assets when presenting comprehension skills to the second language learners. Mr. Taylor feels strongly about his successful unconventional strategies that seem to close the language gaps and truly help make learning connections for the ESL students. While the school year is progressing smoothly, Mr. Taylor starts to worry about the conventional end of the year standardized achievement tests. He knows that these scores will be a reflection of his teaching profession as well as an integral part of his school's overall assessment averages. Questions: 1. Should Mr. Taylor change his style of teaching? 2. Is Mr. Taylor's concern about the end of the year assessments a valid concern? 3. Will the conventional assessments administered at the end of the school year reflect Mr. Taylor's teaching ability? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) 1. Mr. Taylor should continue his style of teaching because his strategies are useful and effective. Mr. Taylor should incorporate the curriculum that will be covered on the standardized test, using the same strategies as much as possible. Then provide an opportunity for the students to practice in a more formal way. Take away some of the visuals and manipulatives, and see what your students know. 2. Mr. Taylor's concern about the end of the year assessments is a valid concern because this can influence the academic future of the students. Standardized testing has become very important in decisions about whether a student should go to the next grade, be put in special needs classes, is performing at appropriate grade level, etc. 3. The conventional assessments administered at the end of the school year will reflect Mr. Taylor's teaching ability to a degree. It is not all about the test scores, because many students can perform on different levels depending on the way they are assessed on the knowledge and skills. Also, with so many standards to cover there are times when the students do not get the full understanding of something the teacher taught but do not say anything. |
||
Rating
|
||||||||||||||||||
Rating
|
||||||||||||||||||