Best Practice Instruction / First Year of Teaching
Thinking about best practices.
A great deal has been written about instructional best practices. Discussions about best practice have dominated the educational landscape now for well over a decade. Past blog articles illuminate my thoughts on what goes on in many of our classrooms. To be fair, there are also numerous examples of best practice instruction happening every second in our classrooms across the country. However, there still remains too many classrooms where students are disengaged and there is too much teacher talk. Teaching reform must begin in the classroom with each individual teacher. When enough teachers grasp this message, true school reform will occur.
With that being said, let us take a look at some widely accepted ideas relative to best instructional practice.
The Fairfax County Public School District in Virginia has developed impressive on-line resources to help teachers. The following excerpt is taken from an easily read brochure dealing with best practice. It is divided into three sections. Let us superficially examine these sections.
- Create a Student-Centered Learning Environment
Arrangement of classroom
Safe and positive environment, procedures and practices
Relationships
- Plan and Teach for Student Learning
Teacher collaboration
Content Knowledge
Engagement
Cooperative learning
Critical and creative thinking
Student communication
Grouping of students
High yield instructional strategies
- Assess Student Learning
Goal setting and reflection
Check for Understanding
Feedback
Assessment (Fairfax County Public Schools)
When one visits classrooms using best practice techniques, one will see:
- Active and engaged students
- Cooperative and collaborative hands-on learning
- Experiential learning
- Plentiful resources and materials
- Creative seating arrangements
- A variety of supporting roles such as coach or guide.
- Teacher modeling
- Purposeful and exciting learning
- Cross-curricular activities
As a school leader, I have always talked to my teachers about the importance of developing their own “Best Practice Toolbox”. I am convinced that it is only when we are able to push away from the lectern and the over reliance of teacher directed lessons, including the dependency on photocopies, will student learning skyrocket.
I encourage each of you to read the work of some of the recognized experts on best practice including Harvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman, Marilyn Bizar, and Arthur Hyde.
References
Best Practices for teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http.//www.fcps.edu.
