This week I reviewed Marzano’s 9 strategies, wrote about my use of them and read how others had used them. I had been introduced to them last summer, had referred to the book every month during this past year of teaching, and had mixed success. Identifying similarities and differences worked very well for students to work individually and cooperatively, so I used it often. I struggled with homework, because I’d had so many students push back on it, and remembered that homework with no specific feedback translated to little effect. Yet, I gave homework almost every day and only gave feedback occasionally. Timely return of homework and giving individual feedback was difficult to do, and I finally settled on making warm ups and additional examples address common homework mistakes. I would like to make summarizing and notetaking a bigger focus next year. This past year, I required notebooks, and had students use Cornell-style note-taking, but these were more verbatim and not summarizing. I am considering adapting and practicing with a note-taking style of Mr. Long at the school who had a designated space for summarizing.
This week I also learned about the 5 philosophies of curriculum and instruction, which are different ways to answer “what is the purpose of schools?” It was helpful to have these 5 distinct philosophies spelled out clearly, because I’d read about different impacts, and now I have a purpose that the impact might be used for. It’s fair to say I tend toward an “informed eclectic” who will pick and choose among the philosophies for what makes sense for my classes.
Posted by maryeun 
