What I took most from the book's explanation of the definition is that we need more quality, rather than quantity. (p. 15) As an 8th grade Social Studies teacher, finding the balance between these two is sometimes very difficult. There is so much in the time span of American History I must cover, I often have to 'skim over' some names and events like they happened in a flash rather than getting deep into the topic. Rather than going with the 'inch deep, mile long' approach, I think it may be more beneficial to go 'deeper and a shorter distance' to get the quality of thought and perspective our students need and desire. Keeping this balance is an increasing challenge with more standards, but I think this is the best approach to see our students succeed not only on TCAPs, but also as we prepare them for high school, college, and beyond. (p. 10)
Friday, September 11, 2009
Rigor Week 1
The attempt to define rigor as outlined in Chapter 1 was very beneficial for me as I begin this book study. The perspective of "Rigor" and what it actually means is often misunderstood among stakeholders within the school community. Teachers have their definition, parents have theirs, and students definitely have an opinion. I like the comment from the five year old: "Rigor? Isn't that what mean teachers do?" (pg. 5) With such diverse opinions surrounding the word itself, an increased knowledge of what rigor looks like in the classroom becomes much more beneficial, as we try to see what it looks like when applied to an education setting.
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I think that when I learned about this in-service activity, I assumed it would have to do with the "honors" level or "advanced" student. Blackburn's perspective on providing rigor to all students at all grade levels is eye-opening. The State Dept. of Education is obviously incorporating many of this movement's ideas into the new set of graduation requirements. It is great to read opinions and experiences from teachers of middle school, elementary, as well as high school (and of many different subject areas).
ReplyDeleteA part of the definition of 'rigor' that really hits home with me is "rigor is creating an environment in which EACH student is expected to learn at high levels" (p.20). I beleive we sometimes have higher expectations of our honor or accelerated students and 'push' them to higher levels of learning. However, we need to have these same expectations for average and below-average students. As the author states, "students live up to or down to our level of expectation for them."
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with your assessment that rigor means a focus on quality versus quantity. I have found that once I focus more on the quality of learning, my students are able to cover more standards as a result of the quality learning of some key skills and knowledge. Thanks for your insight.
ReplyDeleteI feel like quality is so much more important then quantity. We can use all these fabulous texts and follow them using a script each day however if we do not give quality instruction none of it will matter in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the concepts that I find myself struggling with the most. I know that quality is what our focus should always be; however, I constantly feel pressured to not only "cover the standards" but to do it before TCAPs. "Covering" the material means I don't always get to teach what and how I feel necessary to ensure my students gain a true depth of knowledge.
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