Practice makes perfect--a phrase your parents probably bored you with as a child. Of course, in hindsight, like many of the things our parents said to us. This statement becomes remarkably more sane as we mature and grow up ourselves. This week I was in training and the trainer said "If an assessment asks for it-then instruction needs to provide practice."
How can something so obvious go so undone? We lecture, we give projects, we assign homework but we do not give questions similar to what their test will show and are bewildered at their low grade? We hand them a 18th century document and wonder why they are unable to determine its meaning. Those are not natural skills for our students. We have to model for our students what we want them to do. Teachers are far more likely to do this with behavior but then skip it with content. As you plan for your upcoming lessons ask yourself what am I doing to show my students what I want in return. This can be done easily with projecting examples, working through problems or marking up a primary source. Try it out and see if your students are better understanding your expectations and becoming more successful at reaching them. It may take time but remember practice makes perfect....
Until Next Week
KJ
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