A Learners’ View (ALV) Is Of Choices On The Shortest And Fastest Path To Learning, The Oxygen Of Social Life.
Main Page: Checklists for Educators rev. 2.0
THIS LIST is based on observing and on self-reports of what people have done to prepare and then have offered 1.0 Lessons consistently. Through trial-and-error with one or more colleagues, they refined (edited) lessons as best they could before instructing them. Teachers:
1. Identify specific patterns they expect learners to demonstrate during and at the end of each lesson.
2. Demonstrated or described each lesson, then edited out any words, motions, etc., including favorite examples and stories, not crucial for promptly connecting the dots of the lesson.
3. Reviewed each other’s lessons after instructing them and again refined them further in order to increase the pace and amount of learning.
They worked with these resources, sometimes from common background, sometimes in writing (such as for Common Core State Standards). Lists:
1. Of expectations, such as Common Core State Standards, translated into observable (measurable) academic performances.
2. Expected academic performances analyzed into a hierarchy of the minimum performances learners must demonstrate to meet those standards.
3. Each teacher keeps these lists handy in order to design lessons that meet expectations examined during audits conducted by third party evaluators, such as through State required testing and reporting of student academic performances.
4. Schedules of sufficient time, initially daily after classes, to assess and refine the adequacy of each lesson.
Suggestions for extending uses of the ALV Path based on observing and using it. Use these as reference points to choose priorities for an instructional schedule, especially for choosing how much time you plan to spend on each lesson. Tip: On average, the shorter time spent designing and testing a lesson, the longer the lesson and the fewer learners will learn that lesson.
1. Calculate the number of seconds assigned in the formal school schedule for you to have “contact” with students. For example, a 50 minute class period has 3,000 seconds x 180 day academic year = 540,000 seconds per academic year per scheduled 50 minute class.
2. Estimate the number of “facts” and “manipulations” a learner must demonstrate to score 100% on the state required test (arguably an audit of your teaching) for your classes. Keep and update that list. Divide the list into subject areas, such as primary grade subjects of reading, writing, math, etc. or secondary school part of subject matter, such as scientific properties of chemical elements, chemical processes, etc. according to what you are teaching.
3. You can also use these numbers with reimbursement rates per student your state pays your school to calculate dollar-costs and benefits, such as what does it cost for learners to learn one of the expected facts and manipulations. Possibly your school district administrators, state education administrators, political watch groups as well as unions and other advocacy groups do such calculations for you.