EDU 330 Elementary Mathematics introduced me to Jerome Brunner and Richard DuFour.
Jerome Brunner brought along the CPA (Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract) Approach. This was a reminder to me that an Early Childhood Educator, it is my responsibility to provide concrete opportunities for children.
In most of the teaching in early years, I have to break down the abstracts to simplified and concrete experiences for them before they can move on to the pictorial then abstract in the later years. It is important for me to take into account the materials which I choose to use and the ways I plan my lessons. This will then lead to Richard DuFour's Theory.
Richard DuFour shares that the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model flows from the assumption that the core mission of formal education is not simply to ensure that students are taught but to ensure that they learn.
Dr. Yeap took the following out from the PLC article by DuFour which are essential in Lesson Planning -
1. What do I want students to learn? (Learning Goal - Not Teaching Goal)
2. How do I know? (Assessments)
3. What if they can't? (Scaffolding)
4. What if they already can? (Enrichment)
It is easier to plan lessons with teachings goals in mind over
learning goals for students. To plan learning goals for students, one
must know their student before, during and after their lessons.
It
is important in a classroom to plan learning goals for the students as
it will vary among students. There will always be diversity among
students and thus it is my duty as an educator to provide differentiated learning for
the diverse group of children.
Just as it is not a fair way to see the capabilities of the following animals in climbing a tree, it is neither a fair way to assess especially children of a young age, with only one type of assessment or teach with only one standard objective in mind.
