Smith, M. S., Bill, V., & Hughes, E. K.. (October 2008). Thinking through a lesson: Successfully implementing high-level tasks. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle Schools. 14(3), 132-138.
The authors of the article Thinking through a Lesson: Successfully Implementing High-Level Tasks want teachers to know, though it is hard to think of high-level tasks, it is worthwhile to create these tasks using TTLP (Thinking Through a Lesson Protocol). Teachers may complain that it is overwhelming to plan a high-level task for every day, but the authors suggest that TTLP shouldn't be used every day at first. With the help of other teachers to develop more and more cognitive tasks, TTLP should be used periodically to where eventually a teacher will have a task for every day by accumulating them over time. Though planning a high-level lesson takes a lot of time using TTLP, it is possible to use only part of the TTLP method. The goal of using TTLP is to help teachers change the way they think about a lesson. By using TTLP, teachers will be able to further the use of a high-level task, so that students are able to learn more. Using TTLP will also enable a teacher to know how to respond to complications in the task, thus helping the task to go a lot smoother, and for the goals of the task to be met.
I think TTLP is a great way to create lesson plans that will promote cognitive thinking in students. Though there are a lot of things to think about when planning a lesson using TTLP, I think that the outcome is worthwhile. TTLP helps teachers to think about questions to ask students to further their thinking, and also helps the teacher think more about how students might respond to the task. When a teacher has already looked into where students might have trouble or how they can further a child's thinking if students are having a relatively easy time accomplishing the task, a teacher can then be more prepared for these cases. A teacher will already know how to respond. Knowing how to respond before something happen gives an advantage to the teacher, so that the teacher's task will go smoother, and will help the teacher and students stay focused on the goals of the task.
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I really had a difficult time reading this entry, because I didn't know what TTLP was. The more I read, the better I was able at guessing what parts might be included in doing TTLP. What would have really helped me most, though, is a brief description of TTLP.
ReplyDeleteIf I pretend that I know what TTLP is, then I notice that the structure of the two paragraphs is strong. You have good topic sentences for both paragraphs, and you support and develop the main points in these sentences throughout the paragraphs. And yet, the paragraphs don't make a lot of sense to me.
Great job! I think you did a really great job keeping a professional attitude and explaining things well. The only thing I wish you had written more on would be explaining exactly what TTLP was.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an interesting article. You did well in sticking to your thesis and summarizing clearly. I think I could have understood it better if you had defined the terms you had used. You did a good job on touching on a lot of points but also keeping your summary concise.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job of explaining the main points of your article. It was clear what the article was about and what the authors wanted to get across. You mantained a very professional voice and it was very well structured. I would have liked to see some example of how the authors proposed to complete the goal of creating these tasks. Overall, great job!
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