Best Practices

Best practices in education
Project based learning: While there are appropriate times for lecture, I think that students get a lot more out of project based learning. As they complete a hands on project, they are able to learn by doing. Just adding numbers up may be a struggle, but creating a grocery store flyer may give students access to the knowledge in another way.

Peer tutoring: Peer tutoring benefits both the tutor and the learner, as the concepts are reinforced both ways. Students often respond better to their peers, and their peers may find a way to present the information that may just click for the student being tutored. Peer tutoring also fosters positive student to student relationships.

Response to intervention: As the school I work in is in the fourth year of sanctions, they are trying everything possible to bring our students up. The school has adopted the RTI model in an effort to increase the performance and learning of students. While there are some classes that are best blended, having low and high kids in a math class (particularly if the gap is large) may not be best for students. With the response to intervention, these students are tiered and are given on-going assessment to see their areas that they have mastered, and those that still need work. RTI also has a strong preference for research based instruction.

reference: http://www.nea.org/tools/16963.htm


Best practices in instruction

Integrating technology in the classroom: I think this is crucial, especially in math. The video of Wolfram only reinforced this idea. Students live in a world of technology, and utilizing the many programs available allows increased individualization of instruction.

Parental Involvement: Our district has hired a parent volunteer coordinator, and the number of parents involved in the schools has skyrocketed. As parents become more involved in the learning process, their students benefit.

"Sacred morning" time for reading and mathematics: This is another practice implemented in our middle school. The math and language arts periods are first thing in the morning, and the class periods are longer than the other periods. Math and language arts are 1 hr each, one right after another. They do switch classrooms, unlike the example given (which was an elementary school) in order to be taking classes from the highly qualified teachers. I think this longer amount of time with the best teachers in the school provides students with great opportunities to learn.

Reference: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/bestprac/bpc_instruction.html