FIAE Ch2: Mastery

Abstract:

This chapter gave insight to what mastery is of a subject and how it is used in the classroom. Mastery is not just being able to repeat the information back, but to actually make a connection to it of some kind and be able to relate to it. This allows the students to apply what they have learned to the surrounding world around them. Educators must be able to give their students an outline for what they expect them to know and how they will get to that point. This allows the student to know what is expected to come, prepare themselves, and then put their own spin on the material. Another huge issue with mastery is what content is essential in the classroom and what can be left out. This is hard for teachers, because there is information that teachers have tend to teach just because it’s there and not because it has any relevance or connection for the students. It is important for teachers to make sure that they are teaching the information in a way that will impact students. The Six Facets were included in this chapter, because they focused the teacher on seeing the deeper side of the information they were relaying to their students and that if there students could do some or all of these facets the teacher would know they were not just memorizing information and repeating it.

Reflection:

It was helpful to know that there are ways to make learning fun and enjoyable by doing simple steps to connect students to the content teachers need and want to teach. Teachers are looking for information on how to make that connection with students and are finding it in this chapter. Working with information is not simply researching and then repeating it to your students, but helping them make that connection in their life. Testing for students is seen as a negative way to test whether or not learning is taking place, because of the memorization techniques students are so used to using. Teachers need to be clear with their objectives, aims, and goals so that students may follow along and be learning at the same time. The six facets are extremely important because they can be broken down into an assessment tool for teachers to use in their classroom to see if students are really learning and how they are applying it to their world.