These two articles were very similar in their ideas about effective instruction. They both talked about the importance the lesson making sense to the students. They had slightly different organization models of instruction, but they were very similar. A teacher should start by stating the goals or objectives of a lesson. The students background knowledge should be activated to make them ready for learning. Then, they both stressed the idea of having motivating content. If the work is interesting, they are able to do it, and it makes sense to them, students will be motivated to learn. A lot of times, I think of motivation as being fun lessons that are hands on. Motivation can come from something as simple as knowing exactly what is expected of them. They both stressed the idea of not going to fast through a lesson, but also not to go too slow. It is also important to have a culture of respect where students feel valued and praised. It is important for students to reflect on what they have learned and be given an appropriate amount of time to master content. This is difficult in schools when you have a pacing calendar to follow, but it is crucial to real learning.
Effective instruction is so important for an LMS because students will come to us to do really hard work. We must be prepared to support them in that work and teach them effectively. Although not all LMS will be responsible for teaching students lessons each week, it is important to know about effective lesson design when helping teachers plan. If you are co-planning, or co-teaching a lesson with teachers, you need to know what it takes to have a strong lesson. LMS should be instructional leaders in our schools that help students go deeper. Through research projects, book check-out, and informal library lessons, we are responsible for standards that students are required to know. It is important that we deliver those standards so students can understand. We are all responsible for every student in the schools learning and we need to have effective strategies to teach them. Also, as we help teachers integrate technology and children's literature, it is critical that they are integrated in meaningful ways for increased learning. Other wise, what’s the point?
