I recently went to a training on teaching United States History. Wow, how lucky you say. Hush! It was great and I enjoyed every minute. There were several really eye opening activities in which we participated throughout the day. Teachers feel like we know exactly what should be covered in our classes. After all, we are the ONES TEACHING IT. Our feeling is normally we are the authorities in our classrooms. I agree up to a point. Back when I was in the classroom (you know 4 months ago ;) I knew what needed to be covered and what was important. When I stepped back, though, if I am being honest that assurance was largely based on my opinion and not the TEKS.
You are thinking "Oh great, a blog on the importance of the TEKS." A real page turner. No, this blog is not on the importance of the TEKS. It is on the importance of knowing the difference between what you WANT your kids to know and what the TEKS say they MUST know. You can accomplish both and drive home those concepts you want students to remember in twenty years. The activity used a diagram where you listed (without using the standards) what your students NEED to KNOW, what was NICE to KNOW and WHAT TO REMEMBER IN TWENTY YEARS. You then go back and use the standard to see what you missed or categorized incorrectly. It was interesting because things were missed or things were said to be a MUST that were really just nice to know. When we do not use the standards to drive instruction we are doing a disservice to the children in our classes. That is not to say they are missing out on great lessons or to infer learning is not taking place. However, when they test they will miss questions due to our lack of detailed attention to the state standards. Regardless of your opinions, it is the yardstick by which they are measured. I encourage you to use this framework when planning for your upcoming classes. Perhaps it will provide a new focus and intention that proves successful in your classroom.
Until next week....
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