Teachers Reading Journal Summary

Introduction

Planning of teaching and learning is very important. It enables the teacher to cater for the individual needs of his or her learners because each learner is unique and has different learning needs. Therefore, a teacher is supposed to plan learning instructions with the interests of learners in mind. This paper will endeavour to summarize the reading journals.

Effective learning in classrooms

For effective learning to occur in the classroom, it is important to note when the best learning takes place in classroom. The teacher needs to identify a range of creative perspectives and they include those of the learners. The role of the learners as well as their potential needs appreciation. More importantly, a teacher ought to bring into the classroom the best of his or her teaching experience from the past by remembering their achievements in bringing about effective teaching (Watkins, Carnell and Lodge 3).

Children learn effectively when they are involved actively in the learning process; take responsibility for their learning; actively involved and see themselves as successful students. On the other hand, a teaching will be effective when the teacher becomes invisible in the learning process (Watkins et al 5). The teacher ought to take the role of a facilitator so that he or she can allow the learners to learn by discovering for themselves. The teacher does not have to give knowledge to the learners because this will make them passive learners and effective learning will not take place. When planning for teaching and learning a teacher needs to reflect on the teaching plan as well as evaluate it. For the teacher to be able to choose the best teaching and learning plan, he or she has to know the class. The knowledge of the class will come from observation, student surveys, exploring students’ interests, formal assessments, learning profiles and multiple intelligences.

Meta-learning is vital in effective learning. Learners need to understand their own learning process. Teachers help learners to get this understanding by making sure that the learners do not take learning as a process that ends once with an exam. The learners have to understand the intrinsic value of learning that transforms an individual to become a better person. The learning activities applied in the classroom should reflect the importance of knowledge and not just merely memorisation for getting high grades in exams (Watkins et al 9-12).

Differentiated classrooms

Classrooms are full of students from diverse background. The learners have different learning abilities because they are unique individuals. In differentiated learning, a teacher acknowledges this fact and plans learning around an individual instead of the whole class. The teacher engages learners using different learning modalities that are tailor made to specification for each learner. Teachers do not assume that their learners learning maps are similar (Tomlinson 3; Tomlinson and McTighe 67-75). The teacher ought to plan for everyone and each one of his or her learners. When planning a lesson a teacher should ensure that, the learning materials are appropriate and the lesson design meets individual needs. In addition, the expectations of the learners ought to be put into consideration.

Cooperative learning is necessary in effective learning. It gives the learners an opportunity to interact and develop their social skills. A teacher decides the group size and encourages the learners to work together. The teacher then monitors the group and evaluates it based on academic task and cooperative skills.

Conclusion

Meeting the different needs of learners is not easy. Teachers have to work every day to meet the needs of their learners at their different levels. These kinds of teachers know their students individually and have a relationship with them. Their students find learning meaningful because they are encouraged to compete against themselves and thus pushed to achieve more than they would otherwise have. Learners in such environments are allowed to be different and thus they bring in their diverse talents and interests into the classroom. More importantly, the teacher should include all aspects of teaching and learning into their lessons to increase effectiveness of learning.

Works cited

Watkins, Chris, Carnell, Eileen and Lodge, Caroline. Effective Learning in Classrooms. London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2007.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann. The differentiated classroom: responding to the needs of all Learners. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann and McTighe, Jay. Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 2006.