Don't cover, Uncover!

One thing that I have noticed in my site classroom is that students don't seem to ever do their homework! It seems like an impossible task to get them to accomplish assignments. As I read Harry Wong's First Days of School, I see that the students may not be doing their work because they do not completely the assignment. They also may not be working hard enough to comprehend the lesson.

An important thing for teachers to remember is that the student is responsible for the learning and achievement. Wong says, " The role of a teacher is not to COVER. The role of a teacher is UNCOVER" (pg 209). Take a minute and think about this. Teachers always say, "This week, we will cover..." It is important that we don't cover things, but we uncover the knowledge the students will gain. A teacher should simply lay out what the student's need to do and learn to have academic success and leave the learning and work to the students.

When teachers are creating their lesson plans, they should not ask, "What am I going to cover?" but instead, "What are my students going to learn?" If you plan your lesson plans on what you are going to cover, you will be the one doing all the work. If you plan your lesson with what your students will accomplish and know at the end of each lesson, your students will be more successful. Wong makes an important statement in his book, he says, "The person who does the work is the ONLY one who learns" (pg. 204). If teachers plan all their lessons to when their just the ones teaching, they are the only one getting work done. Teachers should have students do the work , so that the students learn and are able to achieve their goals.

Wong says, "If students know what they are to learn, you increase the chance they will learn." Focusing on objectives in the classroom make a difference in student achievement. Objectives help teachers and students alike.When objectives are clearly written, it tells students what needs to be accomplished and learned. When objectives are clearly written, it tells teachers what is to be taught.

 The goal of a test should be to see if the students mastered the assignment. Wong defines mastery as, "ability to use what has been comprehended." Students should be able to break down and explain what they learned. I think that it is important to test students so you can see their development in a subject.

The most important thing that I took away from this chapter is to plan with the end in mind and uncover what the students need to learn.