When working out "Understanding" in the backward design, I wonder , when does an understanding become meaningful for teachers and students?
Doubtlessly when it is based not only on facts but also on experiences.This is absolutely true, because students need to inquire, think, ask questions of the facts instead of getting only the meanings of data.
Besides, teachers must guide our learners to get more transferable knowledge and apply the big ideas in real-life situations.
As a concrete example in my teaching environment, I make use of specific comprehension strategies such as summarizing, making inferences, questioning the texts and predicting to get understanding and at the same time to develop reading skills on the learners, especially with upper -intermediate students who have acquired prior knowledge and have experienced a more creative thinking.
But, how can we increase the use of Understanding as a worthy target in our teaching reality? Unquestionably, it is a challenge in our teaching -learning process, but we can not deny the benefits our learners can get in order to enrich their learning process and live more stimulating experiences.
I think it is time to be up and start doing it little by little!!!
It is interesting what you are doing with your students. It would be great if we could create a similar teaching/learning environment. In my opinion, there has been a lack of guidance.
ResponderEliminarThat's right. We all may have good intentions in order to improve our teaching practices, but I also feel that we haven't received appropriate guidance, and that in the end we have to do things based on common sense.
ResponderEliminarI could not agree more. Sometimes we try to do different things but we don't know how appropriate are our intentions for our students realities or contexts. There is a lack of guidance and support in many cases.
ResponderEliminar