Bloom and Marzano Reflection

               For years I have been aware of Bloom’s and Marzano’s ideas of learning and instruction yet I have never stopped and compared the two side by side. When looking back I can tell that Bloom focuses more on the learner and Marzano focuses on the teacher. As I move forward and think about my own instructional practices, and what I want to help communicate to my teachers, that we’ll use Bloom’s Taxonomy to determine the level of learning that will occur in class (to try and keep higher level learning happening all the time) and what instructional strategies from Marzano that will be used by the teacher. About a year ago I created a TCPK (Technology, Content, Pedagogy, and Knowledge) Planning Tool for teachers to use when planning out a lesson. I included Marzano’s Instructional strategies since I knew those strategies focused on teacher behaviors, yet I didn’t include Bloom’s Taxonomy. I’m not sure why I neglected this but after my studies, and as I mentioned before, teachers should use Bloom to determine the level of learning of their lesson, and Marzano for the pedagogy strategies they’ll be using.

               As a teacher coach my focus has been on helping teachers implement these instructional and leaning theories, however, it has been a grave error on my part not to acknowledge and use these strategies with my adult learners. As I plan for professional development, I’ll ensure that my teachers will be utilizing high-order thinking skills (Bloom) and that I’m using appropriate pedagogy strategies as their instructor (Marzano). One thing I have recently learned is that when you want teachers to implement knew learning whether it be a new tool, instructional strategy, or learning theory like blended learning, you should incorporate and demonstrate that piece in your lesson (professional development). Ultimately I think I will revamp my TCPK Planning Tool since I want to incorporate Bloom’s Taxonomy and what I learned about backwards planning in my Instructional Design class to create a powerful planning tool for both myself and my teachers.

               Overall I really appreciate using the activity planning tool where I had to think about the Marzano Instructional Strategy and the Bloom’s Taxonomy level and how they connected and supported each other. As I planned my lesson I found myself jumping to Bloom’s first, determining what level of learning I wanted for my group of learners. After understanding the learning level I sought out the pedagogical practice from Marzano that would most effectively reach and support that learning level. reflect on an instructional practice/tool and then comment and give feedback to each other. I knew this was higher-order learning since they were creating their own self reflections yet, I hadn’t thought about what pedagogical practice from myself as the instructor, would best support them. As I browsed Marzano’s Strategies I decided that providing feedback through commenting (both myself and the students) using a rubric to guide the comments would maximize their learning. Ultimately it’s amazing that I never thought about how these two theories blend together. I know from here on out I’ll always be aware of both of these and ensure my teachers are using the TCPK planning tool so they are aware of these as well.