Chapter 4

Some of the main points I got out of this chapter is that learning has more to do with a student’s ability to use skills to address problems than with retaining data. I also learned that to teach for understanding is to provide an intellectual diet that yields thoughtful, capable, and confident learners and therefore citizens. The book said “the more powerful the curriculum the greater the possibilities for the classroom, the teacher, and the students. One of the things that impacted me the most from this chapter is that in order to be an effective teacher, I must continually attend to the quality of the curriculum and instruction. This was discussed in Dr. Theresa’s class when we talked about PCK. The chapter introduced the idea that if a student isn't growing then the teacher isn't teaching that student. This statement will greatly impact my philosophy of teaching. I feel like a lot of teachers blame the students for not learning but the idea that is the teacher’s fault that the child isn't growing will impact the individual attention that I give to the growth of my students. At the end of the chapter three questions were asked that will greatly impact me as a teacher and therefore my classroom. The three questions were: Do we have the will and skill to accept the responsibility for the diverse individuals we teach? Do we have a vision of the power of high-quality learning to help young people build lives? Are we willing to do the work of building bridges of possibility between what we teach and the diverse learners we teach? I feel I can be a good and responsive teacher if every day I can answer these three questions with a confident yes.