Bloom and Marzano

Bloom’s taxonomy and Marzano’s research have been a part of my learning for years; as a student and as a teacher.  Both strategies promote higher order thinking skills and best practices in the classroom.  I try to be mindful of their relevance in my lesson planning, yet I realize that I continue to fall short of higher level thinking, focusing more on the lower level concepts, on a regular basis.  I am reminded of their importance as I study these concepts again, and will be more deliberate to include them in my daily instruction and lesson planning. 

I currently use many of Bloom’s and Marzano’s strategies in my daily instruction, but I realize I get hung up on the same few, lower-level, concepts.  Bloom’s and Marzano can have a higher impact on student learning by addressing differentiation at the various learning levels.  Planning with these strategies in mind, will ensure that students are being challenged with rigor and relevance.  I plan to keep a copy of Marzano and Bloom’s taxonomy skills on hand as a reference tool for guiding my daily instruction and lesson planning.  I believe this will be a valuable asset in maintaining a high level of learning for every student.

In sharing what I have learned with my teammates, I would want them to also have copies of the Marzano and Bloom strategies for use in their lesson planning. I believe that having awareness of the varying levels of thinking and strategies, and how the two support one another, we will begin to utilize a wider variation of learning tools, therefore, pushing our students to a higher order of thinking skills.  We, as educators, often underestimate the ability level of our students.  They are capable of much more than we tend to expect from them.  When we embrace teaching and learning with rigor and relevance, using Bloom’s taxonomy and Marzano’s strategies to guide us, we can push all students to a new level of knowledge, understanding, and ultimately, success!