Sinatra: Teaching Learners to Think, Read, and Write More Effectively in Content Subjects
"The method of teaching learners to think, read, and write more effectively described in this article is a teaching-learning construct that incorporates text structure, concept or cognitive mapping, and a shift in teaching style that helps learners achieve the reading-writing connection in content subjects." The article then goes onto discuss how schools can implement a plan like the Teaching-Learning Construct. Teachers initially have to model to their students what they are expecting from them, especially whole-class instruction to explain and organize the content information of the current topic. Once students have completed a few model mapping lessons, the teacher can move to "guided practice," in which students are practicing the strategy with the help and guidance of the teacher. Finally, once students have had to opportunity to work together they can then complete these mapping strategies on their own by incorporating higher-level thinking and planning.
I believe it is extremely important for teachers to remember how valuable a picture or visual representation can be for students' academic success. "Because concept maps portray model plans of text structure, students formulate mental plans of comprehending and composing as they read and write." Through implementing this type of strategy in the classroom, teachers are capitalizing on the "big idea" and allowing students to discover it on their own, which gives the material much more meaning. This style of teaching can certainly be applied to by content area because it is extremely important in mathematics for teachers to understand that this different teaching style, "involves moving from a didactic, direct-instruction teaching style to one that is more indirect and calls for student participation." Giving students the opportunity to really explore a topic by completing hands-on and authentic activities, they are able to gain a deep understanding of the concepts and ideas. Mathematics teachers could definitely use a classification map in geometry because the main topic is classified or categorized into different subclasses and/or by relationships of different examples (i.e. triangles).
Jenna, I think that this type of teaching is new to a lot of teachers, but I definitely see the benefit of having a more student-centered classroom. Like you mentioned above, visual representations of math should be used frequently to show students how the information learned throughout the year is connected and categorized. As I was reading through your post, I was thinking about the class I am currently teaching (Algebra 1), and I realized that my students may be overwhelmed because I have not shown them how the material they are learning is connected to previous topics. I hope to use more visuals next semester when I am teaching geometry because there are several topics that can be easily organized into a classification map. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteJenna, I love how you capitalized on this new way of teaching for mathematics teachers. When I read this article, I definitely thought that geometry would significantly benefit from concept mapping. Many other mathematics courses would as well, but I like how you mentioned this, too! Visual representations are huge in geometry, but I agree that these visual representations are a major factor in teaching mathematics. This new way of teaching is a big change for all of us, but I think after reading your reflection, I think we can find ways to make it work!! Great job Jenna.
ReplyDelete