Herbert Simon's quote, "Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks. The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what the student does to learn," jumped off the page to grab my attention with its simple truth. I think this quote needs to find a place on my classroom desk to act as a daily gentle reminder to what my "job" is.
The teaching and learning principles motivated me to spend some time reflecting upon my daily practices.
Learning Principles
Sometimes I forget the importance of feedback to students as I'm so intent upon guiding students to our goals. In the hustle and bustle of rewriting curriculum, writing semester tests, etc., I have cutback on the time I spend providing feedback in small groups as well as one-on-one in my rush toward the metaphoric goal. Number 6's discussion of students' developmental level affecting their learning made me chuckle. Teaching 7th grade, sometimes our social level is that of kindergartners with the emotional level of a toddler who can't find his/her blankie added to the hormonal, yet intellectual, climate of the classroom...and I wonder why some days it's so difficult for my students to learn! Number 7 was a nice reminder in regard to the necessity of educators to model strong "intellectual habits."
Teaching Principles
The portion of the teaching principles that spoke most loudly to me was the "expert blind spots." Sometimes, I think my comfort level with the curriculum and my content areas cause me to have some blind spots. I usually catch myself when I seem to set the cruise control in the classroom and then reverse toward being more methodic in walking through the steps of what we're learning, exploring, etc. If I don't catch myself, one of my students will undoubtedly say, "Hold up Mrs. Zimmel! What!?"
