Ch. 3 What Really Matters in Learning? (Content)

What do you do when there is too much content? Tomlinson and McTighe suggest that we, as teachers, must make choices and set standardized goals. In these goals we must bring forth essential questions, and show the “big idea.” I really appreciate their description of planning backwards. This helps to accommodate everybody’s learning needs. But, in doing a backwards plan, one must not always be activity-oriented or stretch to cover too much information in one setting. We must keep in mind that, “a river needs banks to flow” just as children need boundaries to grow. We must set forth our goals and expectations and then let them move forward from there. Having faith in your students encourages their individual thinking. Be accommodating, be assertive, be fun, but remember to always have a plan.