Curriculum Minutes - Creative Science Teaching for the 21st Century

Differentiating Explicit Instruction and Direct Instruction The difference between explicit instruction and direct instruction involves the instructional strategies and how mastery of concepts is determined in learners. The role of the educator in instruction and how content is delivered are addressed in discussing these instructional methods.  In explicit instruction, learning strategies are modeled, explained, and applied through practice (Joyce et al., 2003). This method of instruction follows a more holistic model and is more focused for Tier 2 Response to Interventions (RTI). These comprehension skills resist segmentation and operate as a whole. According to Joyce et al. (2003) the learner acquires skills by degrees as opposed to assembling them from subskills. The teacher models during the instructional process by demonstrating skills as opposed to telling students what to do.  In explicit instruction of comprehension, meta-cognition in which students are able to think about what

  Since the global pandemic, the need to adapt with technology happened seemingly overnight as brick-and-mortar buildings shut down and restrictions of quarantine required swift adjustments to instructional delivery. In my own classroom, I have used learning management systems to deliver instruction to absent students, but only in a shallow presence by posting in class worksheets online. Then when the pandemic happened, it became imperative to ensure that students could still be successful when out for weeks at a time. The learning management system used the most has been google classroom. I posted videos, interactive assignments, worksheets, and discussion boards online. Zoom meetings were utilized to supplement where face-to-face learning takes place with instructional videos providing direct instruction.  The advantages to distance learning are that there is more access to learning materials and students have the opportunity to stay caught up on work when gone. However, even though

 A Reflection on the Experiences and Applications of Group Projects In my own previous experiences with group projects, I have had both positive and negative results. In the negative experiences I had people who were procrastinators and it really stressed me out when I had everything finished and the other participants would wait until the last minute. Being grouped with people with different values of learning and different degrees of time management skills can be very frustrating. When everyone does not do their part it is difficult to feel you have gained any experience other than frustration with your peers. Therefore, when I give group assignments in my classroom I assign specific roles/jobs that students are required to do. An example given would be in labs when I have a “Measurement Manager” who is responsible for assuring the right units of measurements are being used with the right tools. By giving students specific jobs to do they feel they have a purpose in the learning expe