Submitted by Daydra (Greensboro, NC) (not verified) on March 25, 2008 - 20:33.
I too believe that students are spending most of their academic learning time being taught the test. Students spend so much time memorizing facts and details that they are not able to apply the material to real-world situations. They lack a very important skill--problem solving.
When I was in school I do not remember so much emphasis being placed on standardized tests. We did however learn a multitude of things in every subject--not just those being tested. The things we learned were used throughout the school year in many different situations helping us to retain the information.
I try to use similar methods in my teaching by relating concepts across subjects and using hands-on-activities. This is extremely helpful because I work with the special needs population who need ways to connect information in order to retrieve it later.
The hardest thing for my students to do is to take information they have learned and apply it to various situations and problems. If things are not word for word or number for number the same way they learned them, it looks foreign to them. I am sure this is not only a special education thing.
What do you all see among your student population?
Teaching Lessons or Teaching the Test?
Submitted by Daydra (Greensboro, NC) (not verified) on March 25, 2008 - 20:33.
I too believe that students are spending most of their academic learning time being taught the test. Students spend so much time memorizing facts and details that they are not able to apply the material to real-world situations. They lack a very important skill--problem solving.
When I was in school I do not remember so much emphasis being placed on standardized tests. We did however learn a multitude of things in every subject--not just those being tested. The things we learned were used throughout the school year in many different situations helping us to retain the information.
I try to use similar methods in my teaching by relating concepts across subjects and using hands-on-activities. This is extremely helpful because I work with the special needs population who need ways to connect information in order to retrieve it later.
The hardest thing for my students to do is to take information they have learned and apply it to various situations and problems. If things are not word for word or number for number the same way they learned them, it looks foreign to them. I am sure this is not only a special education thing.
What do you all see among your student population?