Standard C.Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning

Adult education has the advantage of students coming in knowing exactly, why they are in class, what they are there fore, and more often than not, they have a willingness to 'go the extra mile' to get what they want. Not so with children. I think very few children have a natural value for understanding, for instance, eye anatomy.  As teachers, we need to find out what our students are naturally interested in and connects curriculum to those interests. For the topic of eye anatomy, one student may be interested in art and visual perspective, another may be interested in telescopes and lenses, while another may find interest in the eye's receiving light waves. interesting subject is often dependent upon its presentation.

References:
Although not instructive, MobileMe gives a comprehensive checklist for Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning.

Connecting students prior knowledge, life experience and interests with learning goals by:

• Using a variety of instructional strategies and resources to respond to student's diverse needs
• Facilitating learning experiences that promote autonomy, interaction and choice
• Engaging students in problem solving, critical thinking and other activities that make subject matter meaningful
• Promoting self-directed learning for all students

For each of these standards they also give information on: a) What the classroom looks like, and b) the

Teacher's Instructional Methods.

The Visalia Unified School District's web site gives a  Standard for Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning

Also in the standards form, this web site defines what it means to engage all students in learning by:  creating physical environments that engage all students and purpose for learning activities, having a strong working knowledge of subject matter and student development subject matter, planning instruction that draws on and I use students backgrounds, prior knowledge, and interests, establishing a clearly communicating learning goals for all students, actively  planning their professional development