AMLE Sessions: The importance of being intentional

This blog addresses the following: classroom management, working with exceptionalities, and technology in middle schools. (Know that people will be responding to your posts and offering their insights and advice.)

In our document 'This We Believe,' there is direction regarding curriculum and instruction. We should include 'varied and ongoing assessments advance learning as well as measure it.' In a presentation this morning at the AMLE (Association for Middle Level Education) conference, a colleague, Hillary Dack shared research on 'effective practice in teacher education.' She talked about metacognition of being intentional with why we are doing what we are doing so that our students know what to do and why they are doing it.

So, one of the things that our candidates are having to do is teach process skills, teach content, teach 21st century skills, and teach students skills that will prepare them for post secondary school. If we are going to teach students language functions (describe, compare, analyze, evaluate...) we must be intentional about what we are doing and how to do it. Are you being intentional?

I am at the conference with professors, a superintendent, district leaders, consultants, and classroom teachers. We talked about how we model best practices in our teacher interactions, and we believe that if we give the Why of our work, we have more potential that our candidates will be more metacognitive and will learn to be more intentional about how students learn as well as the content they learn.

Advice: As a tool for classroom management, consider giving students the what and the why of teaching. At the end of instruction, be intentional about helping them communicate their own metacognition.