Reading #6 - D&Z Chp. 6&7: Textbooks & A Community of Learners

My last few posts have been filled with textbook related gripes. After reading chapters 3 and 4 from Daniels and Zemelman, I was beginning to wonder if textbooks really deserve a place in our education system. While that question may still up for debate, in chapters 6 and 7, Daniels and Zemelman provide some timely advice on how to cope with a textbook if a teacher is mandated to use one. Their advice is reassuring to me because I feel as if I have already been following their train of thought as you can see in some of my previous posts. Ideas such as not assigning the whole textbook – not letting them dictate lesson plans but using them to enhance instruction – sample different text materials instead of using one book as the end all be all – GET STUDENT FEEDBACK. The last note is pivotal to classroom success and most closely relates to the next chapter from D&Z.   

D&Z delve into “classroom community.” The classroom community, I believe starts with us teachers. Gradually, I feel as if I am starting to make the transformation that Dr. Horwitz has been talking about. This transition of course is from student to teacher. Not only do we need to be thinking and acting like teachers rather than like students, but we need to be thinking and acting like teachers FOR our students. While this transition is paramount, we mustn’t forget our roots. What will make us good teachers is by remembering where we came from. Compassion and empathy. Our students and their learning need to be the crux of all decisions and discernments we make as education professionals. It starts with reaching out to the individuals and catering to our student’s differentiated learning styles. Students need to feel welcomed and assured that they are an asset to the class. Students need to be accountable for their own learning but also made to feel as if they are a part of a team. Cooperative learning allows for this communal sense. The best example of this idea is represented in our very own SED 407. Seldom do I get the sense of feeling that translates into the traditional, rigid, and formal classroom format. I feel as if every Wednesday at 4 I get together with a group of people to have a well guided discussion about our passion for education. The secret is getting students to learn without them knowing that they are learning. This is exactly what Dr. Horwitz has accomplished. A classroom community filled with learners who are responsible for their own learning. As D&Z recommend, students need to feel comfortable enough to take risks and they need to know that their opinions are valued.

This is some good insight on classroom community building in regards to making student's learning PERSONAL. As D&Z suggest, if what the students are learning effects themselves and/or their community, they will become more involved/invested. Let me know what you think....and for some reason I wasn't able to patch the video in through the post so I just provided the link...it's a TED talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-WnwKrMLEU