Marc+Traversy

Hi, My name is Marc Traversy. I teach at International Programs School (IPS), located in Khobar in Saudi Arabia. I currently teach grades 7 & 8 social studies and English. This is my 6th year as a full-time teacher, and this year is my second year in Saudi Arabia. Prior to that, I was teaching French and social studies in Montreal, my hometown. I expect this class to make me a more effective teacher. I would like to be able to plan my classes more efficiently in concert with the backward design. I would like my students to be aware of the underlying established goals rather than the performance tasks or activities. This would benefit our students in a way that they would learn in a meaningful way instead of learning by rote formulas and other notions. They would be aware of the goals and then reinforce them with activities and experiments. As I am navigating through the workbook, I am realizing that the “Understanding By Design” idea makes a lot of sense and I am starting to see its potential. I actually started to reflect on the UbD as I was teaching my classes last week. That is what I call professional growth! Moreover, I would like to be a school administrator someday and will now be able to pass down the UbD process to my staff and expect it from them. I think it is about time to move forward in a meaningful way in regards to teaching rather than simply going through textbooks. In “Knowledge Alive”, the author David Perkins discusses the idea that the traditional learning that takes place in the classroom is often passive or dead knowledge. Perkins also says that conventional learning in the classroom is rarely applied outside in the “real world”, and is not really meaningful for the students. The author also point out major shortages in the learning process, like failure to transfer and manipulate the knowledge outside of the classroom. As a solution, Perkins suggests strategies on how to incorporate the knowledge arts in teachers’ curriculum, so that the students can use these skills and notions in their everyday lives. I believe that knowledge arts should be incorporated in every curriculum. I know that it will require a lot of planning and creativity on the teachers’ part, but it will benefit our students in the end. While I was reading, I realized that knowledge arts also meant: the skill of using knowledge in a meaningful way. It is all about bringing the knowledge alive. The students’ motivation to learn will also improve by teaching skills that the students can use to create their own understanding. The student need knowledge that can be applied to everyday life; debate, using MapQuest, using technologies to present their findings or relating historical events to today’s news. Being able to manipulate, transfer, and create their own knowledge outside of the classroom would make our students better critical thinkers in this hands-on world. Curriculum designers must include more knowledge arts if we want to develop better critical thinkers. To do so, teachers and designers must put less focus on dead knowledge, and more on knowledge that can be transferred into their lives. We (designers and teachers) must think outside of the box, and find ideas to bring the knowledge to life! __**Journal 2 - Preparing for Today and Tomorrow**__ Too often, schools focus on knowledge that is not really transferable in the students’ real world. Seeing the students only as receivers of knowledge will not prepare them for the ever-changing world of tomorrow. The students need to be able to apply these skills outside of the classroom in their own lives. That way, they will come up with their personal understanding and opinion on a given subject. Eisner suggests 5 aims that would better equip our students with the knowledge and the tools to face the world once they are out of schools. These aims are judgment, critical thinking, meaningful literacy, collaboration, and service. The integration of these 5 aims in our curriculum would make our students well-rounded individuals during and after their school career. For example, the aim “service” would really help students to become global citizens. Schools should introduce the concept of volunteering and community service to students during their whole schooling. That way, the values of giving, understanding, and collaboration will be instilled in them at an early age, and they will live their lives as socially responsible individuals. I think that administrators and parents put too much emphasis on the students performing well on tests and other “knowledge vomiting” tasks. Instead, the learning ought to be meaningful and genuine for the student. It should allow room for the students to be critical about issues and come up with their own understanding. Thus, a major reform in our educational is in order, and shift to a more meaningful education. The education should be knowledge that students can use today and tomorrow. My present teaching situation is a sharp contrast to Eisner’s views of the 5 aims. The emphasis is mostly put on knowledge that is not really transferable. The evaluation is pretty much evaluation for rote knowledge. The parents are expecting page numbers, review exercises, test scores, etc. I always try to relate my teaching to the 5 aims that I practiced for 5 years in Quebec. In my present school, the education lacks a bit of the backbone or framework that we find in North America: educational reforms or the structure of a ministry of education. Back home in Canada, the Quebec’s Ministry of Education has implemented a reform that included 5 broad areas of life-long learning: ·  Health and well-being ·  Personal and career planning ·  Environmental awareness and consumer rights and responsibilities ·  Media literacy ·  Citizen and community life Have a look at the reform: http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/DGFJ/dp/programme_de_formation/secondaire/pdf/qep2004/chapter2.pdf I think Quebec is going in the right direction in regards to preparing the students for tomorrow! Having taught in the Quebec system for 5 years, I was able to see how it got the students involved and motivated about learning. All classes taught were supposed to include a broad area of learning like “consumer rights and responsibilities” where teacher asks students to set up a kiosk to sell fair trade products. In my history/geography class, I always try to find parallels that students can relate to from the classroom into their everyday lives. For example, when introducing the forms of government in Athens, it can be easily related to today’s crazy race to the White House! I am more aware that that learning needs to be relevant to the students, and that they need to relate to it outside of a classroom setting. I always keep in mind that the knowledge learned today needs to useful for tomorrow! Constructivism is an approach that allows the students to learn by constructing their own idea of the world through manipulating experiences. With the constructivism approach the students develop their own knowledge on a topic. The students are actively involved in the learning process: questioning, researching, experimenting, and problem-solving. The students will also be more involved, and enjoy learning, if they are empower with the role of creator of knowledge as opposed to a recipient that needs to be filled with rote knowledge. Constructivism also promotes a hands-on learning which can help them deal with “real-world” situations. In the constructivism approach, the teacher lets go of his role as an imparter of knowledge, and becomes facilitator of learning. The teacher helps students by guiding them in their experiment and questioning, so that the students are responsible for the content learning. The teacher can assist students when they are doing a research and need to become an “expert” on the subject they chose. Everyone involved in the process; teachers, students, parents, and administrators need to know how the constructivist approach is applied in schools. The teachers will to need to familiarize themselves with the approach. The teachers need to be open-minded about this approach and be ready to veer away from the traditional rote knowledge. The educators must also make sure that all students are involved in the process. In a collaborative learning environment, the students can easily loose focus, or rely on others to do the tasks. The parents will also be asking for textbooks and test scores. Therefore, they need to be explained that the focus is on the construction of their knowledge, and not knowledge giving by textbook or teacher. Instead of bringing home a test, the students can show their work/project that was generated by the day’s lesson. Constructivism is a great approach that deserves to be looked at. It is a different way of teaching but I am up for the challenge! It is what is best for the students. I would have liked to have been taught in a constructivist approach.
 * __ Journal 1 – Introduction __**
 * __ Journal 2 – Knowledge Alive __**
 * __ Journal 3 __**

In my teaching, I try to bring the knowledge close to them. I find examples that affect them directly in their lives (i.e. pollution, economic crisis). People in general are more receptive to things that are relevant or personal to them. Therefore, the learning will be meaningful for them, and students will display motivation to understand the topic at hand. I totally agree with Brandt’s Conditions for Learning. It says that students should be stimulated with different media for presentations; I try to use as many different media in class for students or teacher exposés (Power Point, Smart Board). I will to include the use of a Wiki and a blog this term. Students need to be stimulated with realistic and achievable goals. They must feel challenged, or there are risks of losing the students’ focus or may become disinterested. In my English class, I expect them to read a novel per term, and report back in the form of reading journals. They really enjoy dialoguing with text; it challenges them to reflect, and be critical on their reading assignment. I think it is an achievable goal for them. Students learn at different paces, depending on their experiences and education background. They will enter my classroom with different levels of confidence, life experiences, and abilities. Teaching internationally has taught me that I need to assess the students to know where their skills and knowledge are situated, so I can build on from there. This is true in English where the students need to know the part of speech and know where they fit in a sentence. This year, a student from Turkey arrived in my “Language Arts” class, and the student only spoke limited English as a second language. I had to bring her up to par with the rest of the class and make a different program for her. My teaching needs to cater to all types of learners. We learn better when we see and touch. In English, when we do grammar, I ask them to write a part of speech on a cue card. That way, they manipulate the cards in order to make sentences with them. This technique caters to the visual-spatial learners in the Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory. I try to cater to all types of learners in class because everybody learns differently. People always try to relate a new situation to one that it is familiar to them. The learning needs to be accessible for them to grasp. They need to be able to construct/associate the new learning to something that is tangible around them. At IPS, we decided to divide the whole school into 4 “Tribes”. The concept of Tribes is like the different houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff) in Harry Potter’s Hogwarts. We find different tribes within a classroom, and we are holding school-wide activities the students also meet in their tribes. The teacher picks the tribes according to the students’ strength and weaknesses. This would maximize the cooperation and interaction within a tribe. In class, I often tell them to go into “tribe mode”. This group work setting allows them to exchange in the form of debates and discussions, and help their fellow tribes mate. The students should get a qualitative feedback in a timely fashion. We must also give the opportunity for the students to know about the evaluation criteria. I always go over the rubrics that I will be evaluated them with prior to assigning the work. I believe that we should have interviews sessions with the students to see how they are feeling toward their goals and where they should be. I think they need to have a say and take ownership of their learning. My students are allowed to evaluate themselves with a self-evaluation rubric. At the beginning of the year, I always show them how to use a planner (agenda) efficiently. The students will use this skill for the rest of their school days and for life. Every day, I go over their agenda with them to make sure that they have all the information they need to succeed (test dates, assignments, projects, etc.). In the reading class, they also use reading journals to dialogue with the text. It allows the reader to reflect on the read. To succeed, the students must equip themselves with efficient work skills; these must be taught at the beginning of the year. That way, the students will also know what is expected of them. I believe that a positive emotional climate is necessary for learning to happen. The students should feel safe and supported in their acquisition. A way that I liven up my lessons is to make them laugh. We laugh a lot. I must make sure that they know when laugh time is up, and focus more on the task at-hand. A good teacher is able to strike a balance between the two poles. Another way to support the students is to make sure that there are no put-downs or that nobody becomes a target in class. The learning will happen easier if they are emotionally well and not feel threatened by anything. My classroom setting promotes group work. The desks are organized in an “island” setting. It promotes social work and cooperation. On walls, we can find classroom procedures, expectations, and students’ projects. In the bookcase, one can find dictionaries, novels (to read when done the work), and magazines. I think an effective teacher will have all of these conditions in his teaching. All the conditions can be found in my teaching at one point or another. I would like to improve on the condition that stipulates that teachers should give feedback in a timely fashion. Sometimes, I delay the correction of essays for too long. I am working on it!
 * __ Journal 4 __**
 * People learn what is personally meaningful for them. **
 * People learn more when they accept challenging but achievable goals. **
 * Learning is developmental. **
 * Everyone learns differently. **
 * People construct new knowledge by building on their current knowledge. **
 * Much learning occurs through social interaction. **
 * People need feedback to learn. **
 * Successful learning involves use of strategies-which themselves are learned. **
 * A positive emotional climate strengthens learning. **
 * Learning is influenced by the total environment. **
 * Which of these conditions are viable in your present teaching assignment? **

ü  **// "We're no longer content driven," Lupton says. Content becomes a tool to help students develop life skills - such as critical thinking or discourse. Teachers select and cluster the expectations that they feel their students should acquire. //
 * __ Journal 5 __**
 * __ The best lesson and unit are “backwards” __**
 * I believe that the “backwards” design helps teachers to plan their classes effectively and meaningfully. **
 * By starting with the end in mind, a teacher makes sure that the focus of the learning follows the established goals or standards set by state or provincial curriculums. This practice will make the teaching more meaningful as oppose to random recall knowledge tasks. **
 * The backward design maximizes the learning opportunities that take place in the classroom. The integration of the design in one’s classes cannot be done overnight. Instead, teachers who plan traditionally can try to incorporate UbD to their yearly planning, one unit at a time, and see the positive changes in students’ level of understanding and participation. The students generally respond well to meaningful activities, and when they are aware of their goals (established goals). **
 * When using planning with UbD, the learning will be more concise and more relevant for both students and teachers. **
 * For this journal entry, I went on the WWW to look at some feedback given by teachers who adopted UbD in their planning practices. **
 * Below are a few of their comments that inspired me to give UbD a try. **
 * Here is the link: http://www.oct.ca/publications/professionally_speaking/june_2004/backward.asp**
 * ü  **// Lupton goes on to say that UBD is not just another education bandwagon. "We don't have to eliminate teaching activities we love. Instead, it enables us to use our favorite lessons and resources within a new framework that shows us how and where they fit into the curriculum." //
 * ü  **// UBD has also had a big impact in the math department at NDHS. As department head Yvonne Yarker explains, "For the first time in my career I'm not frantic about how I'm going to cover the content and get my students ready for the exam. It all flows and makes such sense." //
 * ü  **// Principal Lewis cites some tangible evidence of the benefits to students, including lower failure and absentee rates, higher scores on EQAO math and literacy tests (with the most significant improvements from students working at the applied level). //
 * ü  **// Tech teacher Jeff Overeem adds, "When you have great curriculum, you don't have many discipline problems." //**

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 * __ Journal 6 __**
 * __ What behaviors do you associate with student understanding? __**
 * Traditionally, teachers had been relying solely on recall tasks to come up with the students’ marks. The established goal, set by the teacher in this case, was to pass the test. Often, the goals were nebulous or unknown by the students. The teacher’s assessment of a student’s understanding was based on his or her quantitative success on a test. **
 * In contrast, the UbD suggests that we find meaningful activities where the students can reinvest the knowledge and skills gained through meaningful authentic performance tasks. The students who are successful at completing the assessment, know that they have successfully transferred knowledge and skills previously learnt, to a new situation. At that point, the student displays satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment because not only has he or she learnt something new, but he or she has found a use for it long term. I.e. How to find different elements on a map. In other words, they will able to transfer the concepts learnt to new situations.
 * __ How do you distinguish between students “knowing” and “doing” versus understanding what they are studying? __**
 * This is very good question. As teachers, I think, we rarely ever stop to ask ourselves these fundamental types of question. I even had to discuss with my wife about it, she is also a teacher. **
 * Personally, I see the link between “knowing” and “doing” versus “understanding” in the way that the first two are the foundation for the third. **
 * Learners need to “know” the facts and get a base of knowledge (factual knowledge). In addition to getting knowledge, the students need to know how to manipulate things, and this is done through “doing” (skills). If we take for example, mapping skills. The students need to know the specifics of a region (knowledge). They also need to know how to locate the different features of a map, and how to interpret specific information on a given map (skills). **
 * It is only after having practiced the “knowing” and “doing” stage that a student can achieve the “understanding”. This phase is only achieved when the student can transfer knowledge and skills learnt in the “knowing” and “doing” phase onto other concepts or situations. **
 * To take our previous example of mapping skills, once the students have achieved understanding, they would be able to read, draw, or analyze any maps that we may give them and make sense of it. **
 * I think the knowing and doing lead to understanding. **