I really enjoyed this week's reading due to the emphasis on the increased accountability of high-stakes testing and its negative effects on authentic, real-world learning and understanding. Because of this focus, many teachers are "teaching to the test" and putting authentic learning like PBL and CBL on the backburner which is hindering the students' learning. As I mentioned in my discussion board, this "teaching to the test" is not doing our students any favors because the tests do not mimic real-world situations; however, the teachers feel there is no other way. This is truly sad because students are being disengaged in learning and not being adequately prepared for the 21st century.
I also enjoyed the fact that many of the articles were related to high school because I teach high school English. Many of the points made in the unit's readings were very relevant and evident in my school and my students. It is important for teachers to know that traditional teaching is not fostering deep understanding of the content in our students, and other methods need to be implemented in the classroom, along with collaboration. Students should be given opportunities to not only create their own meaning and understanding of school-related materials, but be able to use and apply this deep understanding to new situations in order to be successful in the real world.
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