Ch. 2 Mastery

I always thought that a teacher tested a students’ mastery on a subject or lesson by giving tests, quizzes, etcetera, but through this chapter, we learn that mastery is more than just knowing the information. The six facets (explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge) all are factors in “mastering” a topic. The art of mastery does not come by simply repeating or memorizing the information. The students should be able to take the information and analyze, evaluate and create own material at the end. They should know the topic so well that they could teach to others. To assure that they reach a “mastery” standpoint, we must flood their brains with the knowledge by tracking their process and assigning multiple assignments. This means that we may need to tweak the curriculum for certain learning styles so that we are ensured that they get the best out of what we are teaching. With differentiated learners we must keep in mind of the pace and communication because if we stay in isolation we have a bigger hurdle to jump. Learning is an ongoing process and shouldn’t be dull and droning, it should accommodate to all. I know that this may be hard and take a long time to make my lesson plans “perfect” but I want my students to get the best out of what I’m teaching. I don’t want to teach about the planets and have them take from the whole lesson that “Styrofoam is hard to paint.” They should remember what they learned and not the assignment used for knowledge. Learning about Styrofoam was just the “busy work” of the lesson not the “mastery.” Teachers must know the true definition of “mastery” before they impede on the journey of teaching it to their students.