For years I have always wondered who is Dr.
Robert Marzano and why does his findings affect my teaching practices. Finally my questions have been answered! Marzano is an educational researcher who
studied various teaching practices that correspond with student
achievement. Through this study Marzano
found that teachers matter and there are nine strategies that showed a higher
likelihood of increasing student achievement.
As teachers we are always looking for ways to
increase student achievement, unfortunately receiving a book from your
principal on your first day of professional development at the beginning of the
school year telling you that you need to implement these nine strategies into
your daily teaching on the first day of school which happens to be two days
later isn’t what Marzano intended.
Marzano’s research suggests that teachers need to teach beyond the
“right answer” and instead teach to give students a deeper understanding of
their learning.
The Common Core is high set of standards/goals
of what students should know and what they should be able to do at the end of a
grade. The Common Core aligns with Marzano’s research, CCSS also wants students
to go beyond the right answer and show their thinking and explain how they got
their answer. By explaining their
thinking students are able to show that they deeply understand what they have
learned instead of just giving an answer and moving on. It also helps students who might have
difficulty reaching that deeper thinking because instead of teaching with just
one strategy there is nine to choose from that might help those students that
need more. The importance of this
alignment is crucial for both students and educators.
Marzano’s research also included technology
because the students of this generation are using technology to enhance their
thinking which then also enhances their learning, creating that deeper
understanding that Marzano and the CCSS suggest. Using technology needs to include deliberate
planning and it must also add value to teaching and the learning process. Placing a student in front of a computer or
tablet and asking them to research a specific topic or idea doesn’t work. Some students will become frustrated and
instead of achieving a deeper understanding of a topic they will have the
opposite reaction and not want to participate in their learning at all. As teachers we need to show students how to
use technology responsibly and give them the tools to go deeper with their
thinking. Using the I do, we do, you do
model will show the students what they need to do, working with them together
to make sure they understand what they need to do, and finally allowing them to
explore and navigate on their own to help them deeper understand a topic.
Marzano’s strategies are great for educators to
provide various ways to teach a concept or idea to students. Students are given the chance to use these
strategies to enhance their understanding and go deeper. Using Marzano’s strategies as part of your
everyday teaching is crucial to students and their learning. What educators and administrators need to
understand that Marzano’s strategies should be used to guide instruction not is
the only form of instruction. All nine
strategies do not need to be a part of every lesson instead they should be used
as tools and should be intentional when planning for various lessons.
This was my first introduction into John Hattie
and his research about high yield research strategies what struck me the most
was how much his research intertwined with Marzano and the Common Core. Much like Marzano he suggests that teachers
should provide students with different strategies rather than more strategies. As adults this is true with completing
various tasks in our lives. We are given
various tasks to complete in a given time period when more tasks are given to
us we begin to drown in a sense. We
become overwhelmed by additions and sometimes just walk away rather than
continue to drown and become frustrated.
Students don’t need more ways to complete something instead providing
them with a choice helps motivate them and makes them feel as though they are
in charge of their learning rather than the teacher.
That inner motivation is what helps to drive
student achievement. Hattie says that
people shouldn’t say, “Do your best” because that allows the learner not to be
challenged. When the learner needs to be
challenged to help them reach that deeper level of thinking. Learners also need specific feedback so
simply saying “Good job” doesn’t show what they did right or wrong. Sharing with them specific feedback allows
them to think about what they learned and how they can apply that learning to
something else in the future. “Good job”
doesn’t allow for deeper thinking, it allows for learners to forget about what
they learned because there is nothing specific about they did or didn’t do. Deeper thinking allows students to be engaged
in their learning and provide them the motivation to do better work not their
best work.
Hattie’s strategies also allow educators a
chance to align technology with the standards of the Common Core. Allowing students to complete a task with
options to complete it make students feel as though they are in charge of their
learning. The Wakefield article goes on
to support Hattie’s strategies and thinking.
The idea of the “Flipped Classroom” is something that I know myself and many
of my peers in this program have used with their students also found
success. As educators we need share
these successes with parents because the idea of students being in charge of
their learning can scare some parents.
We need to change their idea of thinking that the only teachers can
teach, instead we can show them how students can teach each other and still
learn which is the most important thing.
In terms of at intentional planning I looked at
my peers ideas of using technology to support the deeper thinking that Marzano
provides is something that should be used in an early elementary classroom
setting like my own. What Kara and Trish
both did I also do in my classroom. I
work with students to summarize a story we have read and as a class we work
together to figure out what was really important in understanding the
story. I also provide my students with
multiple opportunities throughout the day to work in cooperative learning
groups. During literacy workstations I
have students work together that have the same needs in homogenous groups but
during math workstations students work in heterogeneous grouping. In both ways of groupings students work
together and help learn/teach each other.
Both Marzano and Hattie give various strategies
that work in various classroom settings and grade levels, I cannot suggest just
one that is a one size fits all. Instead
I suggest that teachers look at their student’s needs as well as the learning
outcomes in the Common Core and use those to drive instruction.
References:
Technology in Schools: Future Changes in Classrooms
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