Ch. 2: What Really Matters in Teaching? (Students)

Tomlinson and McTighe’s focal point of this chapter was on the student’s needs and growth process. “Teaching is an art” that we must analyze and figure out (1) what we want students’ to know, (2) what we want students’ to understand and (3) what we want students’ to be able to do. In any situation, students may only be waiting for the bell to ring and have absolutely no interests. We must make each lesson exiting and entertaining. As Tomlinson said, “Learning is a journey that should be shared” (page 13), so we want the experience to impact the child’s life and not just leave them twiddling their thumbs until class is dismissed. No matter how interesting we make a lesson, we will always face barriers though. A barrier can be something happening at home, between friends, a relationship issue, etc. and we are not always inclined to these barriers. This is where getting to know your student’s is important. As I become a teacher, I want to be there for my students. It is important to know our students multiple intelligences to adapt our curriculum to how each individual learns best, like Noah who learned best when he was on the move (page 15). I want to be the teacher that knows her students and switching the plan each day to make being in my class fun and exciting. For example, one day we could have small groups and the next day an interactive lesson and so forth. I also think that it is a neat idea to keep a dialogue journal with each student so that they can “talk” to you even if they are too shy to confront you during or after class. This technique would bring you closer to your students, but you would have to careful about their spilling of personal problems. I would tell my students to not write anything that they wouldn’t be comfortable sharing with others in case I had to report abuse, etc. This chapter basically initiated different strategies and such to run a productive and class and be a respected teacher.