From Reflection to Action

From Reflection to Action

Schacht, Alecia

Walden University Pam Fitzgerald

Teacher as Professional EDUC-6610R-9

From Reflection to Action

Teachers today have many responsibilities and with responsibilities, come challenges. “Many of these challenges (we prefer not to label them ‘problems’) exist because teaching and learning are rooted in the human dimension” (Kottler, Zehm, Kottler, 2005, p. 99). In my opinion one of the most important responsibilities of a teacher is to provide students with a variety of learning opportunities that are meaningful and relevant to diverse learners in the classroom. Meeting the learning needs of all learners is my biggest challenge.

While searching for articles that focus on best practices in meeting the learning needs of diverse learners, I discovered The Bridge Between Today’s Lesson and Tomorrow’s (2014). Tomlinson (2014) discusses how formative assessments can improve teaching and learning. She explains the difference between a pre-assessment and a formative assessment. Tomlinson (2014, p.12) says, “A pre-assessment provides a ‘dipstick check’ of students status as a unit begins.” She explains that a pre-assessment gives a sample of where the student is in relation to the material. Pre-assessments help teachers understand which students are showing early mastery, which students are misunderstanding various portions, and which students are showing great difficulty with some of the material. She describes a formative assessment as an ongoing communication between the student and the teacher. The conversation between the teacher and the student is designed to help both student and teacher. This communication helps the student grow in his or her learning, and also helps the teacher contribute to the student’s learning as often as possible (Tomlinson, 2014). She states, “To realize its power, feedback must result in a student thinking about how to improve” (Tomlinson, 2014, p.13). Tomlinson (2014) also says it is...