Remember the unfair and totally inaccurate phrase “drill and kill?” Looks like it turns out drill and kill was really drill and master, or drill to master. (If you don’t believe me, just think of what you have to do to master a sport.) With the Common Core State Standards Initiative in 46 states upon us, a rigorous, knowledge-based curriculum of any sort is a requirement. Do you teach with a focus that disseminating knowledge and skills to your students is the goal? If not, what is your goal in your classroom? What kind of curriculum do you use in your school? Do students leave your class knowing something they didn’t know before? Is that something foundational, substantive, or mired in what the student thinks, the student’s feelings, void of facts and proof? Let’s discuss: How do you teach your knowledge-based curriculum?
