Sunday, April 24, 2011

Collaborative/Cooperative Learning as Strategy in Teaching

Student’s classroom atmosphere should not be harsh and distractive to the point that students hate to learn in school. Student-centered instruction is a must in schools so that students will have the opportunity to learn happily and find learning a friendly and effective tool in education.

Getting away from the traditional way of teaching, collaborative and cooperative learning is an essential tool that embraces students to access better processes and understanding of the activities.

This kind of teaching strategy makes everyone aware that he has a given task to perform. All members are collaborating and accomplishing a certain activity as a team where they will help each other in meeting the desired positive result.
Studies revealed that collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. This is formed of a group of students who are discussing a lecture or students from different schools working together on a shared assignment. On the other hand, cooperative learning is a specific kind of collaborative learning in which the students work together in small groups on a structured activity. It is specifically viewed in which the students are individually accountable for their work, and the work of the group as a whole is also assessed.

In this kind of teaching strategy, the teacher gives the students the opportunity to actively participate in the entire assigned task to accomplish. Teachers become learners that learners sometimes teach. There is respect that is given to every member since all of them are able to express and donate their respective ideas. But if conflicts arise, student learns skills for resolving them. This kind of strategy in teaching make members draw upon their past experiences and knowledge in accomplishing the given task to do. This envelope the students to discover that they have such potentials and skills in accomplishing given task based on what they have learned.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

WHERETO Considerations for the Learning Plan

The acronym WHERETO summarizes the key elements that should be found in the learning plan. The elements need not appear in the same order as the letters of the acronym. WHERETO is used as a checklist for building and evaluating the final learning plan, not a suggested sequence.

WHERETO
W – Where are we going? Why? What is expected?
H – How will we hook and hold student interest?
E – How will we equip students for expected performances?
R – How will we help students rethink and revise?
E – How will students self-evaluate and reflect on their learning?
T – How will we tailor learning to varied needs, interests, styles?
O – How will we organize and sequence the learning?

Monday, April 18, 2011

What is a Rubric?

In order to measure the performance of the children especially to activities that can’t be easily measured in score, e.g. oral presentation activities, etc., it is best to have them score in a Rubrics. What then is a Rubric? Why is it essential to use the Rubric? What are the components of Rubrics in a specific approach?

A Rubric is an assessment tool used by teachers and students. It is a guide for critiquing the effectiveness of compositions, oral presentations, term papers, plays, reports, multi-media presentations and other projects. It is a process of establishing the essential goals and assessment criteria for a school work whether written or oral. It is also a set of categories which define and describe the important components of the work being completed, critiqued, or assessed.

A Rubric answers the questions like - By what criteria will the work be judged?, What is the difference between good work and weaker work?, How can we make sure our judgments (or scores) are valid and reliable?, How can both performers and teachers as judges focus their preparation on excellence?

Rubrics are very important because it can be an aid to focus instruction intentionally. It is use to guide feedback descriptively. It is used to characterize desired results objectively. It is operationalizing performance standards purposefully and it develops self-assessment competence constantly to develop students thoughtfully.

The basis for making Rubrics is to form criteria which condition a performance that must be met for it to be considered successful and valid.

For example: This criterion is for an expository composition.

CRITERIA
- Content, Organization of Thoughts, Style or Fluency, Grammar, Usage, Mechanics and Spelling, Neatness and Legibility, Time of Submission

Teachers can make their own Rubrics. What is important in making a Rubric is that it will always have that sense of direction in making clear the measurements of a certain test or ability that it doesn’t void the result.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

No Fax Payday Loan

In this competitive world where everyone is talking about business and living to live life with much business, it is thus the sole guide to fully know and learn about the concept laid on by Payday Loan.

Payday Loan is the answer to every people's needs. The instant and immediate need that they want can be best attain through Payday Loan with its No Fax Payday Loan. It is the services of attaining on time the needed standard of making life possible through meeting the demands of what one has to fully know and learn.

It is also with the concept of Payday Advance that Payday Loan informations are totally explained and that the masses are well-informed.

There is no sure way to fully grasp the need of insufficient and inactive action because there is really that way that could help make every questions about where to seek financial help in an immediate way. There is always that Payday Loans that tops the need to be of help and they directly take actions.

Questioning for Understanding

From the Understanding by Design (UBD) of the way of instructing learning, here are some guide questions to fully direct what interrogations best for this type of understanding.

Explanation
What is the key idea in...?
What are examples of...?
What are the characteristics and parts of...?
What caused... What are the effects of...?
How might we prove, confirm, justify...?
How is ________ connected to...?
What might happen if...?
What are the common misconceptions about...?
How did this come about? Why is this so?

Interpretation
What is the meaning of...?
What are the implications of...?
What does ________________ reveal about....?
How is __________ like ___________(analogy or metaphor)?
How does ________________________relate to me or us?
So what? Why does it matter?

Application
How is ___________ applied in the larger world?
How might ___________ help us to...?
How could we use ______________ to overcome....?
How and when can we use this (knowledge or process)?

Perspective
What are different points of view about...?
How might this look from...'s perspective?
How is ___________ similar to or different from...?
What are other possible reactions to...?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of...?
What are the limits of...?
What is the evidence for...?
Is the evidence reliable? sufficient?

Empathy
What would it be like to walk in....'s shoes?
How might ____________ feel about...?
How might we reach an understanding about...?
What was __________ trying to make us feel and see?

Self-Knowledge
How do I know...?
What are the limits of my knowledge about...?
What are my "blind spots" about...?
How can I best show...?
How are my views about__________ shaped by ____________?
What are my strengths and weaknesses in...?