How do we teach? There is so much more to teaching than basic facts and knowledge. As mention in my previous post, understanding is key. And here I'd like to add that puzzling students is golden.
    What do I mean by puzzling students? I'm talking about asking questions students will be puzzling over and revisiting, re-answering, and re-evaluating beyond one school year, let alone one class period. Teachers are responsible for more than instilling facts to be recited into tests and essays. They elicit deeper questions from the students and instill such curiosity within them, that they are searching for better understanding beyond primary schooling.
    But this is so difficult when students sit in the class staring at their teacher, blank-eyed, uninterested, or--worse!--storing up every word said without argument, assessment, nor application. In order to surpass memorization, students require what Understand by Design states to be connection with meaningful, real-world problems. We all remember sitting in at least one class, scribbling every word tumbling from the teachers mouth, and questioning how on earth this could ever be applied to "my life." And that is where teachers need to evaluate how they are presenting their lessons.
    Students need to know upfront why the information is important and how it can be applied in life situations. In order to effectively instill the lessons in their students, teachers should be engaging and thought provoking; their information should encourage debate, reconsideration, analysis of support and contradicting information. As touched on in Ariel Sacks article "Did it Sink in Right Away?" (provided at the end of this post) teachers are providing students with questions and techniques that will continue rounding them for years to come. When asking students questions, there should be no immediate single answer. Immediate response prove a question to be pointless and ineffective in furthering student understanding. Teachers need to provoke their students into asking their own questions, intriguing learners to utilize the skills being taught and apply knowledge beyond assessment questions.
    But how do teachers do this? Understanding by Design and Essential Question provide many suggestions in drawing in the learner. In many cases where teachers reflected on effective lessons in their own childhood, they came to the conclusion that hands-on activities, personalized assignments, and encouraged debate were common tools for learning. When teachers presented students with options of assessment with clear goals and expectations, the students were more comfortable in challenging their understanding. When hooked with thought provoking introductions to new material, the students pushed themselves to uncover the mystery and understand the information. In activities involving Socratic discussion, perplexing open-ended questions, and personal evaluation intermittently throughout the lessons, students were comfortable and driven to learn.
    So teachers must puzzle their students. They must be sensitive to the questions of their students and encourage them to assess what they know, why they know it, and how it applies to their own life. The results of many lessons may not appear in one year. Indeed, teachers are constantly building upon prior knowledge and understanding, refining, and encouraging students to pursue autonomous learning.

http://www.teachingquality.org/content/did-it-sink-right-away

    Understanding. It's more than knowing the facts. It's more than being able to apply the Pythagorean theorem upon demand. Understanding is the ability to take the knowledge given and recognize it as a tool, not an answer. Educators are supposed to be supplying our students with the knowledge that the world is open for dissection. Teachers supply our students with recognition that the lessons we teach them will help them pick apart the world for themselves.
    If that is our goal, why are so many students coming out of high school and into college struggling with open ended questions? Why, when prompted by the teacher that there is no specific answer, do students wrack their brains for "the obviously correct answer" to the question? Why are they afraid to answer?
    It is because they have been trained with nonessential questions. It is because they have been introduced to new material in the wrong manner. Look at the 'Brainology' Approach of the September 11, 2013 Edweek article: "Growth Mindset Gaining Traction as School Improvement Strategy." (I have provided a link at the bottom of this post.) Students in the classroom often maintain one of two mindsets: fixed or growth. Students of a fixed mindset will believe their intelligence is ingrained in their DNA, that's it is fixed and incapable of significantly improving. But students of growth mindset will approach knowledge as something they can easily obtain with effort. These mindsets are introduced and entertained by how teachers question their students. When asked questions such as, "In what ways did the pilgrims mistreat the Native Americans?"--students are being trained to answer questions with facts found in their book. What is not being taught are deeper connections between the past and present. In the same sense, teachers introducing new material under the impression, "This is an easy question to begin our lesson," are leading students who struggle with the easy question to negatively view the lesson and, more importantly, their own intelligence. If something that is supposed to "be easy" leaves a student struggling for the answer, how are students supposed to be encouraged to challenge their knowledge and trust their understanding as a useful tool for harder questions.
    Let's go back to the pilgrims and Native Americans and try broadening the question: "How might one culture be affected by the introduction of a new and different culture?" Stop and think how the students might approach this question. They are still able to use the example of the pilgrims moving in on the Native Americans to develop their answers, but this question also allows them to argue their own opinions and dig deeper into the mixing of cultures, what changes might occur (good or bad), what biases might be made, and how differences can be overcome or reinforced. Such a question may have stemmed from the subject being taught, but it is essential in the basis that the students can make connections between what they are learning and how it applies personally in their own lives. That is understanding. Being able to take the information beyond "the right answer" and using it as a tool to answer "my life question."
   How teachers phrase the question or introduce new material can affect students' learning and should be monitored. Remember that "easy question" introducing the new lesson? By reintroducing that question as "This one might take a few tries" students who struggle are not as discouraged as those who struggled with the "easy question." Instead they are approaching the same question with a growth mindset: "I can figure this out if I try hard enough and learn from my mistakes."
    Teachers must keep in mind the importance of wording and application. Questions should be more than test material; they should encourage the students to strive for knowledge. Questions should reveal to students important skills and provide a deeper understanding in which students can take said skills, apply them effectively in situations outside of the classroom, and do so without explicit directions on how to solve problems.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/09/11/03mindset_ep.h33.html?tkn=OMMFBUpoZuQwY4qvMMvS1tu%2BEpDD9iqQZV0U&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

What do we teach? According to Classroom Instruction that Works (CIW); 2nd Edition teachers need to teach beyond curriculum and facts. Chapters 1-2 speak of setting objectives and goals, as well as teaching the relationship between true effort and achievement. This idea was reflected in an article I recently read from ASDC SmartBrief. (I have provided a link to the article at the bottom of this post.) The article described an after school program where girls in grades third through fifth train for a bi-yearly 5K. The program focuses on more than physical exercise, but teaches the girls teamwork strategies and goal setting that will help them assess their achievement. As described in CIW, the importance of goal setting and teamwork teaches the students how to not only apply effort but to assess how their efforts effect their achievement, as well as assess the levels of effort needed to attain their goals. The third chapter also touches on cooperative learning and responsibility partners hold towards not only their teammates but themselves. Such a concept was seen in the Girls on the Run program discussed in the article. The girls learn through practicing for their relay races to support one another in their efforts. Recognizing the importance of teamwork the girls work hard on supporting and encouraging each other in reaching the finish line.
http://www.app.com/article/20130908/NJLIFE04/309080018/Girls-Run-program-builds-strength-self-esteem?nclick_check=1