Two-Column Notes

Date:
Name: Brianna Appelfeller
Class/Subject: EDTL 2760
10/25/16
Newmann, F.M., & Wehlage, G.G. (1993). Five standards of authentic instruction. Educational
Leadership, 50 (7), 8-12.
Page #
The Text Says
I Say
Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)
My notes, commentary
Paragrap We use the word authentic to distinguish
h #1
between achievement that is significant
and meaningful and that which is trivial
and useless.

Figure 1

Five Standards of Authentic Instruction

According to this article, there is a difference

between education. It seems to describe the
difference as being that one form of education
is meaningless, and one is thought-provoking.
In many classes, specifically in high school, we
are taught to take and pass tests, and achieve
the grades we need to graduate. Many teachers
do not bother to ensure that students really
understand the information, as long as they do
well on standardized testing and achieve
decent test/quiz scores. Authentic instruction is
described by the author as a method in which
the teacher makes sure that the students can
relate the information to everyday life, and that
they actually look forward to learning it.
As I was reading over these standards to
teaching an effective, authentic lesson, I
compared them to the classrooms I frequented
as a high school student. Higher-order
thinking, Depth of Knowledge,
Connectedness to the World Outside of the
Classroom, Substantive Conversation, and
Social Support for Student Achievement are
all of the standards, that have a range from 1
to 5. The number representing how connected,

Paragrap Social support is high in classes when the

h 14
teacher conveys high expectations for all
students, including that it is necessary to
take risks and try hard to master
challenging academic work, that all
members of the class can learn important
knowledge and skills, and that a climate of
mutual respect among all members of the
class contributes to achievement by all.

Paragrap The standards attempt only to represent in

deep, etc. the information presented is. In my

high school classroom, I was not forced nor
encouraged to pursue higher order thinking,
nor was the conversation between student and
teacher substantive. But in my high school, I
was taught deep subjects, that we related to
everyday lives, and most importantly, I always
received an outstanding amount of support for
my achievement. In my opinion, classroom
teachers can better their methods if they would
rank themselves in these standards and change
what they feel may be wrong.
As a recent high school graduate, I believe that
the most important of the scales was that of
social support. I grew up in a school system in
which we were encouraged to step-up to
challenges. We were rewarded for our
classroom success, and those who needed a
little more encouragement, always received it.
In my opinion, every member of my high school
class had a mutual respect for one another, we
even challenged one another to be better in an
almost competitive way. Our teachers ensured
that every student was granted equal
opportunity to succeed, and many of us were
motivated to do so. I know that many schools
arent like mine, but many can be. Having a
positive attitude in the classroom, and treating
students with mutual respect can change any
regular classroom environment; this
encourages students to participate and
challenge themselves. Which can lead to
bettering their higher-order thinking.
The standards are implemented to help

h 17

a quantitative sense the degree of

authentic instruction observed within
discrete class periods.

teachers understand where they stand on the

chart, and how they can improve. This may
help teachers understand why some classes
may not be as willing to participate as another,
or why some classes may achieve different
grades from another. This can be caused by
different attitudes, different teaching methods,
and different learning methods. Any teacher
who is willing be ranked or can rank themselves
in relation to these standards can understand
exactly what they may be doing wrong, or can
continue the things they do correctly.

Connections to previous MR:

I believe that these standards can relate to the OLS. While the OLS standards tell teachers what to teach,
these Authentic Instruction standards tell teachers HOW to teach. Another connection that can be made
easily is the connection to the Why Kids Hate Social Studies blog post. Students often replied that they
did not enjoy social studies because they felt that the information was unnecessary. One of the standards
within the Authentic Instruction was that the students are able to relate the information they are learning
to real-life. Maybe that will help students to see it as more relatable.