Never+Work+Harder++Discussion+Questions

Discussion Questions: Introduction Chapter 1. What is something about teaching that you did not learn in school but learned on the job?

Preparation never ends.

Coming to teaching from an Alternative Certification Program, there is a lot that I did not learn about teaching. I have learned to appreciate the hard work and dedication that it takes to be an educator.

2. Which of the seven principles resonates with you the most?

Based on the inventory, I scored the lowest on "Start Where Your Students Are". This is going to be the biggest challenge for me and I completely understand why it is important to see the problems how the student is seeing them to address the same issues they come across in the learning process.

3. If you took the mastery assessment, what were your results?

Chapter One 1. How can you determine what currencies your students have already?

2. What tacit knowledge or soft skills do students need in order to be successful in your classroom?

Students need to know how to organize the information they are going to receive, what to do with that information, and how to perform each of procedures that they are tasked with while in your learning environment.

3. What currencies are you currently accepting in your classroom? What currencies are you spending and what currencies are students spending? Is there a disconnect?

4. What, in your estimation, constitutes a "good student"?

5. What are the various "codes" your students already use? How can you help them learn to "code switch"?

6. What strategies can you use to convince students to spend their currencies in your classroom?