FIAE+B2+Chapter+2




 * Abstract and Synthesis: Tiarra L.**

**Abstract~** In chapter Two of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal,// Wormeli attempts to define the concept of [|Mastery], and paint a picture of what Mastery should look like in our student’s work. The chapter emphasizes that there is a difference between knowing and understanding in every content area, and as teachers we must be sure to design assessments to flush out demonstrations of complex mastery as to more simplistic understanding. In order for a student to be considered a master in any subject he must be able to display [|the six facets of understanding] by producing work that shows both substantive content and skillful demonstration. Teachers should set clear objectives identifying the essentials understandings and questions of a subject in order to emphasize to their students the importance of mastery as opposed to grades. By assigning multiple differentiated assignments and tracking student progress over time, teachers can assemble a more accurate picture of a student’s mastery of the content area. Teachers have a multitude of resources, (many of which are listed in this chapter), from which to create their own definition of mastery and learn to produce lesson plans that will flush out deep understanding in their students.

**Synthesis~** While reading through all of our responses it became clear to me that learning good strategies for differentiating between mere memorization and real, authentic mastery of a subject is important to us all. We have all developed and will continue developing our own definition of mastery as we work towards designing lessons that will allow our students to display this mastery on a multitude of levels over time. We are all subject to our own biases and preferences when it comes to teaching in our subject area and color or lessons accordingly. However we all realize that to teach effectively we must continue to learn and expand our own mastery of a subject as well. By breaking down standards and giving students the essential questions we will be able to arm them with the tools they need in order to achieve mastery. toc

Tiarra
In chapter two of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal//, Wormeli attempts to define the elusive concept of Mastery. The chapter emphasizes that there is a difference between knowing and understanding in every content area and teachers should have their own definition of mastery in order to accurately assess students. While no definite answer is given about how we define and evaluate Mastery, there are a multitude of suggestions and examples of what we should be looking for. Giving students a clear goal of what they must learn by breaking down the standards is central in order to provide them with the tools to master any content area. As a teacher I will need to be able to tell when genuine learning is taking place and implement a variety of tactics in order to evaluate and track this learning over time. This chapter also pointed out what resources a struggling new teacher or even a veteran of the classroom has at their disposal to help create meaningful and engaging lesson plans that help students to display their academic prowess.

Justin C.
Chapter 2 was based on the concept of mastering a content area. Upon reading a few pages into it, I came to realize that there is no real clear cut answer to the question “Has a student mastered the material?” It seems as though there are many pieces to the puzzle of figuring out if students indeed have mastered a subject. When the chapter first starts out, it shows a student correctly answering the math equation. She was able to come up with the correct answer. Granted that this showed the student was able to understand the process of getting to the solution, it does not necessarily show that she understands how that result was obtained. If the student was able to show that she understands what all of the component pieces did and how they all fit in to the big picture, and can explain it well, then it could be said that she’s mastered the material. In my classroom, I hope to be able to successfully explain all pieces of a topic in mathematics to the point where students are able to understand why we can do certain things to get a desired result, and why other things cannot be done.

Will L.
Chapter two focused on the concept of mastery of the content area. Mastery is considered to be when not only when one learns something, but when they are then able to apply it in their lives. The chapter also talks about how a teacher can assess mastery. The easiest ways to go about doing this would be giving multiple assignments in the content area, as well as take note of how well the student comprehends the material through the process of teaching it. One thing to consider is that the way a teacher interprets material, and then teaches to their students, is going to be different than everyone else. So, a student’s mastery of the material is going to be slightly skewed by the way a teacher knows their content area. Generally, the school and state regulate how a student can prove that they’ve mastered the material, but this often comes in the form of a standardized test. Standardized tests, I feel, should be completely stricken from curriculum and as a form of assessment. They cause more stress than anything else.

Dan B.
In chapter two Wormeli talked about mastery of a subject and I learned that mastery is not only memorizing dates or names or numbers, but it is also about understanding the significance behind everything that the student learned. I learned that I am going to have to make it so my students can not just memorize certain aspects to get a good grade on the final test, they need to truly understand the significance of everything involved to get a good grade on the final test. I can do this in a number of ways though. For example if I was doing a unit on the Constitution of the United States I could ask them to put themselves in the position of the Founding Fathers and ask them to explain WHY they put in the each of the 10 amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. This would ensure that the student not only knows what the 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights are, but it would also showed that they grasped an understanding of what the Founding Fathers were thinking about when they wrote them. I believe that students need to truly understand what they are taught, because if they don't it will be much easier for them to retain what they learned.

Grace K.
Chapter 2 in __Fair Isn’t Always Equal__ focused on several distinct ideas related to student mastery of a subject. As Wormeli notes, mastery of a subject cannot be defined as simple memorization of facts. Instead, a student must show a true, deeper understanding of a subject, as demonstrated by the six facets of understanding that we learned about in class (and that were mentioned by Wormeli, as well): explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge. The chapter also discussed how to assess such traits, and how to decide what aspects of a subject are important enough for a student to master. This last point was especially interesting to me as a Social Studies/History concentration, because there is far too much history available for us to cover in high school. Also, it is natural for individuals to be drawn to different parts of history, and the book addressed this as well. Wormeli suggests accepting this fact, but also consulting available resources to “flesh out” our interpretations of standards and what our students must master. This was welcome advice, since I often wonder how schools and teachers decide what parts of history are “worth” teaching, and how my own ideas about this will be accepted in whatever school I end up teaching in. I liked Wormeli’s suggestions about ways to more fully understand the standards, and what to teach to meet them. Also, his assertion that individual teachers will naturally emphasize one aspect of history over another reinforced two ideas for me: that teaching history is a lifelong commitment to learning as well as teaching, because we must constantly refresh and expand our knowledge, and also that history is a great discipline with which to partner with other teachers.

Jen R.
The content of chapter two is centered on the idea of mastery. I learned that to master a subject is to know more than just the basic information from memory; it is to manipulate and apply the information in various other situations. Chapter two taught me the strategies necessary to differentiate between memorization and a genuine understand of the material within my students. In today’s schools, a majority of students set aside time to cram and memorize information, rather than develop a genuine understanding. As a teacher, I need to be confident in my ability to recognize when this is taking place and make the proper adjustments in my teaching to better suit those students who are struggling. This chapter also taught me to be very detailed when explaining to my students what is expected of them throughout a lesson. Lastly, I learned to present my students with a variety of assignments, presentations and projects to complete so I can determine all areas of mastery.

Grady B.
In reading this chapter of //FIAE//, which dealt with the concept of mastery, I found myself initially taken aback by the author’s dismissal of the notion that an instructor must draw a distinction between complete mastery and partial mastery combined with hard work (pg. 18). Upon first reading this, I had trouble seeing both the real difference between these two states, and the moral argument that students should not be graded on a combination of both mastery and effort; my thinking being that if a student’s hard work can make up for a deficit in understanding by applying extra time and effort, why deny them the grade that they worked for? However, once I reflected on this thought, I realized that if one buys into the idea that a child is in school to gain mastery, it is unfair to the student to not provide them with that mastery. I feel that with this mindset, though, the burden is on teachers to ensure that every student is provided with the means to acquire complete mastery, or else the fault does not lie with a student for a poor performance in true mastery. This chapter has definitely begun to challenge some biases about what the profession of teaching means to me, and I know that this conflict and dialogue will ultimately lead to me being more prepared to teach. In that way, this chapter provided a good stepping stone toward me being a more able teacher.

Danny K.
Chapter two talked about mastering your content area. When the chapter talks about students having mastered the content area they don’t just mean understanding the content in the classroom, but also being able to apply the material learned to their own lives. For a student to be able to master the content area of the class, the teacher must also master the content area before teaching. Then after the teacher has mastered the content area, they must master the way they teach the content to their students. When assessing a student’s mastery of the content it is important to give them different ways to show that they have mastered the material. When I am teaching I will use a variety of assignments, projects, presentations, tests, etc. to assess my student’s mastery of the content area.

Jonathan B.
Mastery, and evidence of it comprise two of the most important concepts in education. What are the big ideas that students must grasp? How is this grasp going to be assessed? The first step is to identify key points of mastery. What do students need to know? This is something I will surely practice in the future—setting out clearly defined goals for understanding is paramount. You can't get where you need to go if you don't know where you are going. Thus, I will recognize the skills that go into the understanding and grasp of material that I expect from students, and construct my assessments accordingly.

Chris D.
Chapter 2 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talked about what mastery really is in terms of content. In my opinion, the book is right in saying that mastery of a subject isn’t just the repetition and echo of the subject, but rather being able to explain, interpret, apply, acknowledge, experience empathy, and reflect on the subject. These six different facets came from Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins’ book //Understanding by Design// (2001). In terms of math, to me it’s not enough if my students are only able to just echo what I taught them in my class. I want them be able to take the knowledge that they gained from my class and continue to ask questions, develop their knowledge further, explain it to others themselves, etc. To do this I would need to assign a variety of different assignments and track my students’ progress over time. A fact that I came across while reading this chapter is that teachers don’t always teach useful information to their students. In order for me to decide what information is useful and what’s not, the book suggests many methods in order to figure this out. For example I could look at what the state requires students to have for skills in math, I could consult a colleague on what they’ve done in the past, or just simply look at the textbook and pick out what I believe to be important.

Kaitlin T.
Chapter two of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discusses the the topic of mastery: how do I know if my students are mastering a topic? Wormeli first recommends, “If the school promotes itself as one in which teachers focus on true mastery, then it’s wise to ahve a commonly accepted definition of what that means.” Educators, students, parents, and members of the learning community alike to understand what exactly is being covered on the realm of mastery when they hear such terminology. Teachers should seek advice from colleagues, professional organizations, posted benchmarks, etc. to understand what is worth mastery. Mastery is more the repetition. If a student regurgitates information onto a test, it doesn’t mean that he or she will remember the content the following week. Students are more likely to remember material if we give them a solid reason for doing so. As teacher, it is our responsibility to create clear objectives and goals for our students to obtain. By knowing exactly what our students should be striving for, we as teachers will be better able to assess our students progress, and the better we will be able to differentiate instruction for our students as needed.

Tyler S
Chapter two is all about being able to tell how well a student understands the subject being taught. Similar to the UbD reading, it tells how hard this can actually be. Asking just a couple questions will determine mastery of something extremely specific, giving you only a small idea what the students actual understanding is. They may simply have forgotten how to do that one thing, but still remember how to do everything else just fine. Unfortunately, those questions the student did remember how to complete may not have been mentioned, so it looks as if the student is clueless.