Treat Biblical perspective like you really want your students to learn it
01/08/08 08:20 Filed in: Understanding
the importance
You know that your students can’t learn
everything. To help them focus, you use
certain strategies when you really want them to learn
something and other strategies when you just want to
expose them to something.
You think to yourself, “I’ve got to help them connect what they study and a Biblical perspective. What can I do?”
Tip: Use the same strategies you use when you really want your students to learn something. For example, imagine you're teaching a unit on Hamlet. You want your students to learn Shakespeare's view of evil.
Don’t take my word for it. Read the interview below of a high school teacher and a high school student.
Interview
To teacher: What do you do when you really want your students to learn something?
I design an assessment and then prepare students for the assessment by teaching a lesson. Later, I have my students review the material. I give my students an assessment and grade it. Then I use the assessment data to modify instruction.
To student: What do your teachers do when they really want you to learn something?
My teachers say, “This is important.” They make us take notes, and they repeat key points. They put what they want us to learn on a study guide, and they put what they want us to learn on a test.
To teacher: What do you do when you just want to expose your students to something?
I talk about it in class. Or I have my students discuss it briefly. Maybe I’ll show them something, like a poster. For things I just want to expose my students to, I tend not to make specific lessons plans, I don’t spend significant class time, and I don’t give an assessment.
To student: What do your teachers do when they just want to expose you to something?
They spend less class time than they would if they really wanted us to learn the material. They say, “This is not going to be on the test.”
To teacher: Which do you treat as more important?: (A) What you really want your students to learn (B) What you just want to expose your students to
I want my students to learn, but I know they can’t learn everything. To help them focus, I treat what I really want them to learn as more important than what I want them exposed to. If you want to know what I really want my students to learn, look at my assessments.
To student: Which do you treat as more important? (A) What your teachers really want you to learn (B) What your teachers just want to expose you to
What’s going to be on the test is what’s important. So, I guess I treat what teachers really want us to learn as more important.
You think to yourself, “I’ve got to help them connect what they study and a Biblical perspective. What can I do?”
Tip: Use the same strategies you use when you really want your students to learn something. For example, imagine you're teaching a unit on Hamlet. You want your students to learn Shakespeare's view of evil.
- What do you do? You design a student assessment on Shakespeare's view of evil and you prepare your students for the assessment.
- What don't you do? If you really want your students to learn Shakespeare's view of evil, you don't use the strategies you use when you just want to expose your students to something—like mentioning a factoid only once (Mel Gibson once played Hamlet).
Don’t take my word for it. Read the interview below of a high school teacher and a high school student.
Interview
To teacher: What do you do when you really want your students to learn something?
I design an assessment and then prepare students for the assessment by teaching a lesson. Later, I have my students review the material. I give my students an assessment and grade it. Then I use the assessment data to modify instruction.
To student: What do your teachers do when they really want you to learn something?
My teachers say, “This is important.” They make us take notes, and they repeat key points. They put what they want us to learn on a study guide, and they put what they want us to learn on a test.
To teacher: What do you do when you just want to expose your students to something?
I talk about it in class. Or I have my students discuss it briefly. Maybe I’ll show them something, like a poster. For things I just want to expose my students to, I tend not to make specific lessons plans, I don’t spend significant class time, and I don’t give an assessment.
To student: What do your teachers do when they just want to expose you to something?
They spend less class time than they would if they really wanted us to learn the material. They say, “This is not going to be on the test.”
To teacher: Which do you treat as more important?: (A) What you really want your students to learn (B) What you just want to expose your students to
I want my students to learn, but I know they can’t learn everything. To help them focus, I treat what I really want them to learn as more important than what I want them exposed to. If you want to know what I really want my students to learn, look at my assessments.
To student: Which do you treat as more important? (A) What your teachers really want you to learn (B) What your teachers just want to expose you to
What’s going to be on the test is what’s important. So, I guess I treat what teachers really want us to learn as more important.
