Hypothetical Scenario

One of my favorite episodes of the Simpson's (cartoon on Fox) is one where Bart steals all of the teacher editions of the text books from his school. The teachers are in the lounge chain smoking and having apoplectic fits, wonder how they will teach. It's just plain funny, because it is true in some places.

Luckily, not here! So, what would you do next year if you had no textbooks? You've got your computers, SmartBoards, Internet, classroom libraries, support materials...but no textbooks of any kind. Oh, and you have your Standard Course of Study - with the essential skills specified.

What would learning look like in your classroom? How would you plan for learning? How would you structure your short-term and long-term goals? How would you address the needs parents have to see "stuff" come home?

How could we use learning teams to address learning in this scenario? What could the role of Bloom's Taxonomy be?

Bloom's Taxonomy

Let's talk about higher levels of learning. The new teacher evaluation instrument is based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (click on the links to see examples - take a look at the Bloom's Taxonomy activity for lesson ideas - look at the active verbs that are used).

How do you think we can use this information with our learning teams to improve student learning?

How can you structure lessons you are teaching now to move students to higher levels of thinking/understanding/learning?

Talk about what you have read and discussed so far to make connections and extend your thinking.