How do we design instruction that sticks?

Unfortunately, field experience has ended and, due to the fog delays, I was unable to attend my
final visit. Besides the last day, I had a fantastic experience in my classroom and I hope I have
just as positive of experience with the next class. My observations within the classroom have
helped my understanding of teacher-student relationships and helped develop my own style of
teaching in the future.
How well are teachers utilizing essential questions?
Essential questions are questions that are challenging and open ended. These questions shouldnt
have one definitive answer that can be answered at the beginning of the lesson, instead they
should keep answering and asking more questions. EQs should also be provocative, simple and
clear, and arguable (Bower, B., Lobdell, J., & Owens, S.). Throughout my observations, I noticed
that Mrs. Hanna starts each lesson with one essential question. Throughout the lesson, she adds
more, up to three. Each essential question is placed on the front board, so every day the students
can think about the question as they learn new material. The most recent essential question that
was asked was What role did geography play in the rise of Roman Civilization? Although I did
not hear anything specifically related to the EQ, the lesson plan did slightly touch upon the
geography of Italy.
Are teachers adapting to students individual learning style?
Each student has their own personal learning style. It is up to the teacher to decide how to teach
the class and to reach all the students, the educator must use a variety of methods and strategies
(Cantrell, D.). Within the classroom I observed, Mrs. Hanna seemed to use only the exposition
method, meaning the teacher simply delivers the information straight forward. This is the

opposite of the Inquiry method, being that the teacher presents the information and allows the
students to understand the material in their own, individualized way. Exposition and Open
Inquiry represents the two ends of the spectrum. It spans from Exposition, Discussion,
Demonstration, Guided Discovery, to Open Inquiry.
Bower, B., Lobdell, J., and Owens, S. (2010). Essential questions. Bring learning alive! Methods
to transform middle and high school social studies. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers Curriculum
Institute, pp. 226-228.
Cantrell, D. (n.d.). Using a variety of teaching methods and strategies. OSU Extension School of Natural
Resources.