WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:03.879 Greetings, this is the Reading Instruction Show. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:07.900 I'm your host, as always, Dr. Andy Johnson. Topic 00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:12.400 of today's presentation, train seals, reading 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:16.039 instruction, and educational overlords. Let's 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:20.320 talk about reflection. Effective teachers are 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:24.920 reflective teachers. They think about what they're 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:28.679 doing, what they did, and what they're going 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:33.439 to do. Now there are two levels of reflection, 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:38.159 surface level reflection and deep meaning reflection. 00:00:39.140 --> 00:00:43.799 Both are necessary, but one without the other 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:48.200 is not sufficient. So let's look at surface level 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:52.159 reflection. Surface level reflection focuses 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.619 only on the lesson objective. How did I do today? 00:00:58.030 --> 00:01:02.469 Did I achieve my objective? Did students learn 00:01:02.469 --> 00:01:06.310 what I intended? Could I have done something 00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:11.290 differently? I, I, I. Surface level reflection 00:01:11.290 --> 00:01:15.349 focuses on your performance and how you might 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:19.650 go about improving it. This level of reflection 00:01:19.650 --> 00:01:23.730 is based on the conception of teacher as trained 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:27.430 seal. The goal is to get the trained seals to 00:01:27.430 --> 00:01:30.150 perform the right sort of tricks in the right 00:01:30.150 --> 00:01:33.870 sort of way so that all reading problems will 00:01:33.870 --> 00:01:39.230 go away. Arf! Using surface level reflection, 00:01:39.450 --> 00:01:44.349 the trained seal asks, did I perform my tricks 00:01:44.349 --> 00:01:49.230 the right way? Did I follow the directions with 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:54.359 fidelity? But... Teachers are much more than 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:59.060 trained seals performing tricks for fish. At 00:01:59.060 --> 00:02:03.780 least they once were. Deep meaning reflection 00:02:03.780 --> 00:02:11.860 focuses on four big questions. Number one, does 00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:15.840 my teaching align with what I know about human 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:19.479 beings, human learning, and human development? 00:02:21.229 --> 00:02:24.030 reflects the kind of things you'd learn in a 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:27.889 good educational psychology course. Number two, 00:02:28.349 --> 00:02:34.610 what am I teaching and why? Is what I'm teaching 00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:38.389 necessary? Should I even be teaching it? Am I 00:02:38.389 --> 00:02:41.590 teaching it simply because it's required? Who 00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:45.969 made it required? Of what value is it? Should 00:02:45.969 --> 00:02:50.789 I instead be teaching something else? The third 00:02:50.789 --> 00:02:56.370 question, how am I teaching? Are the approaches 00:02:56.370 --> 00:02:59.490 and strategies being used aligned with what a 00:02:59.490 --> 00:03:04.330 body of research says is effective for most students? 00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:08.150 And is it effective for the students in front 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:14.069 of me? And number four, does my teaching reflect 00:03:14.069 --> 00:03:18.310 my educational philosophy? And an educational 00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:21.610 philosophy commonly has three parts. First, what 00:03:21.610 --> 00:03:24.610 do you believe to be the purpose of education 00:03:24.610 --> 00:03:28.550 in a democratic society? In other words, why 00:03:28.550 --> 00:03:32.430 do we educate our children? Of what worth is 00:03:32.430 --> 00:03:35.930 it to both the individual and our human communities? 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:41.229 Second, what's the desire to end a state? And 00:03:41.229 --> 00:03:44.849 third, what are some objectives for attaining 00:03:44.849 --> 00:03:49.740 this end? These questions don't get asked nearly 00:03:49.740 --> 00:03:55.280 enough. What's wrong with you? The overlord asked 00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:00.400 me angrily. We can't have teachers running around 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:03.939 thinking whatever they want to think. Why not, 00:04:03.939 --> 00:04:07.800 I asked. Because there'd be chaos, he shouted. 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:12.360 Chaos and pretty soon teachers would be doing 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:16.860 all sorts of things. all sorts of things, even 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:21.560 creative things. And he shuddered. Yes, I replied, 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:25.920 that's the purpose. Teachers would be designing 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:29.480 learning experiences based on their students' 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:33.459 needs and interests. They'd be using their professional 00:04:33.459 --> 00:04:37.899 knowledge and experience. Nonsense, he said, 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:43.980 pounding the desk. Nonsense. We know what's best 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:49.319 for teachers. We know what teachers need. We 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:53.759 know what's best for their students. But you 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:56.360 don't even know their students, I pointed out. 00:04:56.860 --> 00:05:00.379 Oh, this infuriated the overlord. Guards, he 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:05.399 shouted, guards. Two men and a woman all wearing 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:09.600 identical brown suits ran into the room. The 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:13.769 overlord pointed at me. Take this man out and 00:05:13.769 --> 00:05:18.250 cut off his head, he shouted. The suits looked 00:05:18.250 --> 00:05:22.730 at each other. One of them finally spoke timidly, 00:05:22.970 --> 00:05:27.730 cut off his head, sir. You heard me, the overlord 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:32.029 said. Get a big sword, take him outside and then 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:34.769 cut off his head. It's not that complicated. 00:05:36.250 --> 00:05:41.379 There was more silence. Well. The overlord demanded 00:05:41.379 --> 00:05:46.079 impatiently. What are you waiting for? One of 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:50.779 them spoke up. Last year, sir, the board made 00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:54.819 a policy about the head thing, sir. Remember? 00:05:56.100 --> 00:06:00.819 A policy, you say? Yes, your lordship. It was 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:04.259 making a mess on the carpets. Damn, he said. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:09.120 That's right. Well, what can I do? You could 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:14.120 debunk him, sir? Oh, very well, he said impatiently. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:17.560 He fluttered his hand at me and said, in the 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:21.240 name of lexia learning, I hereby debunk you. 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:24.399 Now get him out of here. I've got puppies to 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:28.639 kick and Barbie dolls to shoot. And the three 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:32.319 suits grabbed me, took me down to the lobby and 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:34.839 roughly threw me out of corporate headquarters. 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:38.949 And I sat on the ground. all debunked up.