Where Great Teaching Begins: Planning for Student Thinking and Learning

by Anne R. Reeves

Overview

What comes to mind when you think about lesson planning? If you're like most teachers, you focus on the material you need to present, what you will do and say, what you will ask students to do, and the assessments you will create and administer. And if you're like most teachers, you also know what it's like to be disappointed when this careful planning doesn't always lead to the deep understanding and mastery you'd intended.

There's a better way to approach instructional design says author and teacher-educator Ann R. Reeves, and it's within every teacher's grasp. It begins with a simple mental shift from "planning for activities" to "planning for learning outcomes" and a critical concentration on learning objectives.

Remarkable for its clarity and filled with vivid examples, Where Great Teaching Begins is a step-by-step walk through the crucial, behind-the-scenes intellectual work necessary to make instruction truly effective and help students learn deeply and meaningfully. Here, you'll discover how to

* Translate even the most inscrutable standards into strong, learning-focused objectives.

* Use effective objectives as the basis for excellent assessment.

* Craft engaging learning activities that incorporate both targeted content and necessary thinking skills.

* Pull objectives, assessments, and learning activities together into powerful plans for learning.

Whether you're a novice instructional designer or a veteran seeking a new, streamlined process, this book is a must-read take on how to plan and achieve the excellent learning all teachers aim for and all students deserve.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416613329
Publisher:	ASCD
Publication date:	11/09/2011
Pages:	215
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Instructional Design: Who and What Is It For?
Objectives as the Foundation for Learning-Focused Instruction
A Closer Look at the Language of Objectives
Two Special Cases When Creating Objectives: Read and Write
Checking the Validity of Objectives
Creating Instructional Objectives
Developing Assessments
Checklists and Rubrics
Designing Learning Activities
Creating Plans for Learning
Afterword
Appendix A: The Revised Bloom's Taxonomy
Appendix B: National Standards from Professional Organizations
References
Index
About the Author