Foundations of Teaching for Learning (Part 2)

Basically to develop the thinking skills required of teachers desire for continuous learning and thinking. The natural place to use the Connect-Extend-Challenge routine is after we have learned something new. It doesn’t matter how much we have learned – it can be a lesson’s worth, or a unit’s worth. The routine is broadly applicable: Use it after we have explored a work of art, or anything else in the sylabus. Try it as a reflection during a lesson, after a longer project, or when completing a unit of study. Try using it after another routine!

This routine works well with the whole class, in small groups or individually. Keep a visible record of students’ ideas. If you are working in a group, ask students to share some of their thoughts and collect a list of ideas in each of the three categories Or have students write their individual responses on post-it notes and add them to a class chart. Keep students’ visible thinking alive over time: Continually add new ideas to the lists and revisit the ideas and questions on the chart as students’ understanding around a topic develops.

Aspect 1: Connect as a routine for connecting new ideas to prior knowledge (existing)

CONNECT: How are the ideas and information presented.

CONNECTED to what I already knew?

As an example: Being a teacher: a professional privilege

One of the problems facing in education world is the problem of lack of learning process. Less students in the learning process are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills and systematic. Learning process is more geared to the student’s ability to memorize information. Brain students are forced to remember and hoards of information without being required to understand the information and does not attempt to connect with everyday life. As a result, when our students graduate from school, they are smart in theory, but poor in the application.

In order to achieve the learning outcomes and as expected, the first attempt to do is position the teacher as a professional worker, why is that?. For many people, including teachers themselves who doubted that the teacher is a professional position. People think that everyone can be a teacher.

Is it correct?. If teaching is considered only as a process of delivering the subject matter, such an opinion is true. Thus the concept of teaching, of course, very simple, which is the origin of the information that will be familiar to students taught, then he can become a teacher. But teaching is not so simple like that. Teaching is not just delivering course material, but a process of changing the behavior of students in accordance with the expected goals.

Aspect 2: EXTEND:   What new ideas did you get that EXTENDED or pushed your thinking in new directions?

Therefore, in poses teaching activities are guided, trained intellectual skills, psychomotor skills, and motivate students to be innovative and creative ability. Therefore, a teacher needs to have the ability to design and implement a variety of instructional strategies that are considered suitable with learning materials, including trending utilize media sources and to ensure an effective learning process. Thus, a teacher needs to have a special ability, that ability may not be owned by someone other than the teacher. “A teacher is the person charged with responbility of helping others to learn to behave in new and different ways” (James M. Cooper, 1990). That is why teachers are professional jobs that require special skills outcomes of the educational process is carried out by the Institute of Education.

Aspect 3: CHALLENGE:    What is still CHALLENGING or confusing for you to get your mind around? What questions, wonderings or puzzles do you now have?

To produce professional teachers is a formidable task that must be carried out by the Institute for Workforce Education as an institution that have the role in preparing teachers in my country, in this case done by experts (professors) are professional as well. In preparing prospective teachers are professionals suggested that future lectures that equip prospective teachers, must demonstrate some relevant learning criteria for the teaching profession, namely (1) Prospective teachers need to be prepared to teach with the right strategy, able to plan and implement learning, and be able to evaluate learning outcomes, (2) is more effective when implanted Lectures learning experiences such as digging and processing information, not giving information, (3) the lecturers need to develop questioning skills designed to help prospective teachers to think critically about the material being studied, and raise the ability of prospective teachers to be able to ask questions, (5) strategies course for prospective teachers need to be directed to build awareness of the difficulties of conception, practice skills, and cultivate an attitude of curiosity. Whatever we have to realize that obtained and experienced by prospective teachers during teacher education institutions prepared (pre-service) tend to leave their mark and will be replicated in carrying out his duties as a teacher someday. (YK)