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REGARDLESS OF THEIR LEARNING STYLE, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, OR SPECIAL LEARNING CHALLENGE, ALL CHILDREN must learn how to read, write, listen, speak, organize information, study and do math. In addition, they must learn the three behaviors associated with academic success: how to start on time, stay on task, complete assignments.
I can't imagine democracy being better served than by explicitly teaching all students to master these fundamental academic skills and behaviors, required for them to continue their educations and hold jobs with a future.
Unfortunately, too many students are not mastering these skills and behaviors. Measured by any standard, far too many American students can not read, are unable to write or speak, can not listen or organize information, are unable to study or solve rudimentary mathematics problems. In addition, many don't value starting on time, staying on task, bringing their assignments to conclusion.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT what I would teach prospective teachers, no matter what grade or subject being taught: All would earn the honor of being called teacher, instructor or professor by being able to demonstrate a mastery of core teaching skills. The fact that many are not familiar with these skills, or any other particular set of teaching/learning skills or theory of instruction, is the #1 problem facing American education today, placing us nearly dead last on any international evaluation of student competency.
THE CORE TEACHING SKILLS
- Accelerated Learning/Study Skills
- Accountability and Evaluation
- Answers First
- Behaviors
- Behavior Management
- Best Practices
- Breakouts
- Chorusing
- Cooperation and Contracts
- Consistency
- Copying
- Core Knowledge
- Corrective reading
- Correction/Self Correction
- Counting/Graphing
- Curriculum Development
- Decoding
- Delaying Negative Response
- Direct Instruction
- Educational Literacy
- Effective Rewards
- Example Sets
- Excuses
- Fast Writes
- Format/Pace
- Homework
- Interventions
- Involvement
- Learning Styles and Intelligences
- Mastery
- Memory Maps
- Morphographic Spelling
- No Child Left Behind
- Note taking
- Ongoing and continuous testing
- Pacing the presentation
- Play
- Portfolios
- Positive Discipline
- Praise
- Precision Teaching
- Project Follow Through
- Prompts
- Proximity Management
- Punishment
- Questions
- Reading Aloud
- Reading Mastery
- Reinforcement
- Repeat until firm
- Research
- Response
- Rewards
- Scripts
- Seating
- Self Correction
- Show you are ready
- Signaling
- Skill level/ability/groups
- Solution Keys
- Student Orientation
- Teaching by Objective
- Teaching to Mastery
- Tell Backs
- Testing the Learning
- Theory of Instruction
- Timing
- Voices off. Eyes on me.
- What Mom and Dad can do to improve the academic lives of their children
- What the research says
- Quality
To learn these skills all participants begin by mastering SRA's Reading Mastery One and Two. Learning how to deliver these fundamental programs, how to supervise and test, and how to develop and deliver one's own accelerated learning/direct instruction scripts, provides a foundation for an effective theory of instruction, all subjects, all grade levels, Kindergarten through post-graduate university. With the mastery of this basic skill set, any subject can be effectively taught, to virtually all students - regardless of learning style, emotional intelligence, or special learning challenge.
The failure of students to learn, as a general rule, isn't the fault of the students. Ninety-five percent of the time the fault lies with teachers who have failed to teach.
Additional information on teaching these fundamental skills and behaviors may be found at the Brainsarefun index of solutions and research results.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: BRAINSAREFUN TEACHER TRAINING © February 2004 by Rory Donaldson. All rights reserved. In order to help reverse the tide of academic failure and optimize success, individuals may copy brainsarefun solutions for non-commercial use at no charge. Contents may not be sold or repackaged in any manner without the written permission of Rory Donaldson. Since all material is copyrighted, please ensure that this entire copyright notice and contact information continues to be attached to each article you download. Mr. Donaldson appreciates the feedback. Additional solutions may be viewed and downloaded at no charge by logging on to brainsarefun.com. Titles are being updated, edited and added regularly. To view most recently added titles you may click here.
Suggestions and comments encouraged, email: roryd@brainsarefun.com.
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