Fair isn’t Always Equal: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 in Fair isn’t Always Equal explains how “Mastery is more than knowing information, of course, but it can even go beyond manipulating and applying that information successfully in other situations”(pg 11).  It is said to be true that students will not fully understand a content area unless “they can explain it, interpret it for others or other situations, apply it, acknowledge and explore alternative perspectives on the topic, experience empathy for the topic (or appreciate the experience of others who do), and accurately identify and reflect on their own self-knowledge regarding the topic”( pg12) They are many different ways to evaluate your students mastery of skills, a couple examples are:

·         Provide multiple assignments.  This can help provide a good comparison in the different intelligences of your students.

·         Track your students learning.  If your student is constantly raising the bar of knowledge that they have for a certain subject your evaluation should be very easy.

Determining what’s important for your students to master is ultimately up to you. “Curriculum is subject to a teacher’s interpretation”. (pg 18)  I feel as though this is very important for a teacher to understand.  There are always going to be things that you have to get through in your classes although they way you get to them could be a direct reflection of your students MI’s.  As a teacher if your class is more visual in their learning styles having them read a book may not be as powerful as if you showed them a movie.  The two could have the same information but because your students are visual learners the movie will more than likely be a better alternative than a book would be.