Blogging about Bloom and Marzano

           Both Marzano and Bloom have created skills and strategies that impact teachers in how they deliver instruction in their classrooms. They have also helped teachers focus on how to help their students learn the content of their presentations. Information on both processes can be found on the Internet.

                Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and Digital Bloom’s Taxonomy help teachers choose activities that move students from lower order thinking skills to higher order thinking skills while focusing on verbs to show action at each level. Each skill builds on the lower level and requires students to transfer knowledge and make connections to reach the next level. Implementing these skills into lessons will allow for comprehension and independence in learning. The Digital Bloom’s Taxonomy was created to integrate technology into the skills and meet the 21^st Century Skill demands our students need to succeed.

                Marzano’s Instructional Strategies were created to “guide classroom practice in such a way as to maximize the possibility of enhancing student achievement.” (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001) There are nine instructional strategies that teachers can integrate into their instruction. Some of the strategies focus on student work while some focus on what the teacher can do. Strategies can be combined or used on their own, depending on the lesson.

                After researching about Bloom’s Taxonomy and Marzano’s Instructional Strategies my knowledge in how I plan lessons has changed. I feel I have more “tools” that I can pull from to enhance my lessons to best fit my student’s needs. I was aware of Bloom’s Taxonomy but never really looked at it while planning. Now that I have had the time to sit and study it, I was happy to find out I do use some of his skills in my lessons. There are some skills that I hardly use that I would like to integrate more into my planning. I think to make these skills more effective, a teacher needs to get to know their students and how they learn. A teacher also needs to know themselves and what they can do well and what they are comfortable with teaching. The skills are guidelines that help teachers reach the highest level of thinking. They offer ideas for teachers but can be changed as every classroom is different. My knowledge about Bloom’s Taxonomy will help challenge my student’s more in their thinking and processing of information.

                The Digital Bloom’s Taxonomy also allows me to add technology elements to my lessons that still allow for higher order thinking skills. Digital Bloom’s Taxonomy is new to me and something I would like to become more familiar with for my next year of teaching. I would like to implement more technology for my student’s to use in their assignments. I currently use a Promethean board for all of my lessons and allow students independent time on our classroom computers for educational games. Adding more assignments that have students create projects on the computers will integrate Digital Bloom’s Taxonomy.

                Marzano’s Instructional Strategies are newer to me as I was not aware of them and have not heard colleagues talk about them. After researching the strategies, I was confident in implementing them into my lessons because I already did without knowing I was! There were aspects of each strategy I already used in my classroom. After researching, I found more ideas and better ways I can incorporate them into my lessons. Many strategies can have technology incorporated within them that still meet the requirements of the strategy. I think to make these strategies more effective; teachers need to alternate using them. Teachers should not use the same strategies for every lesson. They should mix and match strategies so students do not become accustomed to specific strategies and allow for practice in all. Not all strategies are good fits for every lesson either. Some strategies will produce better outcomes than others.

                Thinking about my school, I do not hear about these resources during conversations. I am not sure how many of my colleagues are aware of these skills and strategies and actually use them in their classrooms. One way I could share this information with my colleagues would be to create a simple presentation and handout. I have found at my school that the shorter a presentation could be and if there is a handout provided (for those not so tech savvy) they are all ears. Making a connection with these skills and strategies to our teaching and our school will also be useful because I know a lot of teachers won’t pay attention if they do not see a connection to their class. Having a visual for teachers to refer to (on the computer as well as a handout) will be beneficial and something I can refer to. Giving examples of the strategies and skills for use in the classroom would also help and give ideas. A quick brainstorming activity for more ideas can check for understanding and give more resources for teachers to use in their classrooms.

                The most important information I would want to share is how these skills and strategies can be integrated into the classroom through technology. All of our classrooms have Promethean boards that teachers use to deliver and support instruction. We are always sharing resources with each other for these boards. Showing how Marzano and Bloom’s skills and strategies can be used with our Promethean boards would get more teachers using these ideas. Ideas for practice that meet each skill and strategy that students can use and teachers can implement would also be beneficial. Ideas for students to use on classroom computers could also be shared. Creating a wiki for teachers to add information and ideas to would keep the collaboration component going throughout the year.

Resources:

Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock J.E. (2001). Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.