Thinking Piece #6: Oakes Reading

Jeanine Oakes: Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take another Route

Premise:

• Parents
• Teachers
• Students
• Tracking
• Grouping
• Strategies
• Different
• Normal
• Knowledge
• Consequences
• Ability
• Mission
• Accomplish

Authors Argument:

Jeanine Oakes argues that educators and parents need to come together, compromise, and take action when it comes to being able to help make every child, no matter what their ability range is, understand and be provided with all of the material that is needed to succeed in their future classrooms.

Evidence:

1.“Alternate strategies, while not simple to implement, promise to help schools reach their goal of providing high-quality, relevant education to all students” (178). According to Oakes quote she is stating that students that have strategies and appropriate materials are gaining a “relevant education”. However, she also states that all of these strategies and materials are only going to those students who are at a higher advantage than other, what about the rest?

2.“First, lessons will probably be most successful if they require active learning tasks rather than passive ones, have students working together rather than alone.” (180). Oakes is proving that although many teachers might be scared to teach in a different way, there are many techniques they can use to help ALL of their students understand. And this is only the first technique!

3.“Second, learning tasks are probably most helpful when they are full of complications and when they require multiple abilities…” (180). Oakes also suggests that using some lessons that pull together more than one skill gives the students a better grasp of not only the required material but when the appropriate time to use it will be.

4.“Third, learning tasks will suit most students if they are modeled on complex and challenging “real world” problem solving” (180). The last technique Oakes points out is a very important one. She explains to teachers that whenever teaching a lesson do not be afraid to go big, introduce and prepare children to the real world. It’s never too early!

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:

This week the reading was definitely easier that last weeks. This article really affected me when I realized that some teachers and parents actually have a problem with new material. If something is thrown at me (especially something that will help my students) I will not be afraid to try it. I, personally would want to be able to pass all of my knowledge down to my students and if there is ever a way to make that more successful then I probably will be the first one to use it. Wouldn’t you?