Teaching For Understanding

Companion guide to: Teaching for understanding / Martha Stone Wiske, editor. 1998.

Based on a Harvard University research project, this book answers such questions as: What is teaching for understanding? How does it differ from traditional teaching approaches? What does it look like in the classroom? And, how do students demonstrate their understanding? The book presents a framework for helping teachers learn how to teach more effectively.

Teaching for Understanding with Technology shows how teachers can maximize the potential of new technologies to advance student learning and achievement. It uses the popular Teaching for Understanding framework that guides learners to think, analyze, solve problems, and make meaning of what they've learned. The book offers advice on tapping into a rich array of new technologies such as web information, online curricular information, and professional networks to research teaching topics, set learning goals, create innovative lesson plans, assess student understanding, and develop communities of learners.

In Powerful Learning, Linda Darling-Hammond and an impressive list of co-authors offer a clear, comprehensive, and engaging exploration of the most effective classroom practices. They review, in practical terms, teaching strategies that generate meaningful K–2 student understanding, and occur both within the classroom walls and beyond. The book includes rich stories, as well as online videos of innovative classrooms and schools, that show how students who are taught well are able to think critically, employ flexible problem-solving, and apply learned skills and knowledge to new situations.

Students become experts and innovators through Concept-Based teaching Innovators don’t invent without a deep understanding of how the world works. With this foundation, they apply conceptual understanding to solve new problems. We want our students to not only retain ideas, but relate them to other things they encounter, using each new situation to add nuance and sophistication to their thinking. To do this, they need conceptual understanding. This book serves as a road map for Concept-Based teaching. Discover how to help students uncover conceptual relationships and transfer them to new situations. Specifically, teachers will learn: Strategies for introducing conceptual learning to students Four lesson frameworks to help students uncover conceptual relationships How to assess conceptual understanding, and How to differentiate concept-based instruction Look no further. For deep learning and innovative thinking, this book is the place to start. "The authors tear down the false dichotomies of traditional vs innovative education and provide a practical toolkit for developing creativity and applying knowledge through Concept-Based learning. Every practitioner needs this book to juxtapose what worked well in the 20th Century with what is essential in the 21st Century and beyond." Michael McDowell, Superintendent Ross School District, Ross, CA "While most good educators recognise the incredible value of teaching conceptually, it is challenging. The authors have created accessible, practical baby steps for every teacher to use." Dr. Vincent Chan, principal Fairview International School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

Harness natural curiosity for conceptual understanding! Nurture young learners’ innate curiosity about the world and bring intellectual rigor throughout the developmental stages of childhood. Concept-based teaching helps students uncover conceptual relationships and transfer them to new problems. Readers of this must-have road map for implementing concept-based teaching in elementary classrooms will learn • Why conceptual learning is a natural fit for children • Strategies for introducing conceptual learning • Instructional strategies to help students uncover and transfer concepts • How to write lessons, assess understanding, and differentiate in a concept-based classroom • How concept-based teaching aligns with best practices and initiatives

Leading experts on teaching and policy research provide concrete illustrations of what teaching for understanding entails.

Understanding Learning and Teaching in Secondary Schools has been specifically researched, written and developed to inform, support and guide anyone training to become a secondary teacher today. This comprehensive new text strikes a balance between the depth of theory covered in the book and its practical application in the classroom. The authors introduce and explore key ideas and issues in an accessible, highly readable way, inviting you to reflect on your own practice and challenge both your own and others thinking.

Discover the teaching practices that make the biggest difference in student performance! This practical, research-based book gives principals, teachers, and school administrators a direct, inside look at instructional practices from top award-winning urban schools. The authors provide detailed examples and analyses of these practices, and successfully demystify the achievement of these schools. They offer practical guides to help educators apply these successful practices in their own schools. Teaching Practices from America's Best Urban Schools will be a valuable tool for any educator in both urban and non-urban schools-schools that serve diverse student populations, including English language learners and children from low-income families.