I have been volunteering at a wonderful school in Lima, Peru and am reminded of some universal basics in education:

• Have an objective;
• Teach to the objective- use a text, activity, … to teach the objective remembering that the text is not the objective;
• Evaluate whether or not the objective was met;
• Reteach or move forward depending on the assessment.

When teaching I need to let the students do the work- talk, write, create, use the information- so they can show what they know and are able to do.  I love the workshop model where I give some input for no more than 15 minutes and then have the students use the information.  Then, I can provide more input.  Build up scaffolding and then remove it when it is no longer necessary.

I also like to backwards plan my units where I decide what I want the students to know and be able to do by what date.  Then, I backwards plan the lessons necessary to get them there.  And of course, relationships are key.

¡Feliz día del maestro amigos peruanos!  Happy Teacher’s Day to my Peruvian friends!