Marzano and Bloom

Bloom and Marzano are ever present in my lesson plan strategies.  I made many lessons without even knowing about Bloom and Marzano, and looking back at those lessons, I see how their ideas are present throughout my lesson plans.  Now that I know more about the two, I can make better plans, especially in the context of online education. 

While all of Marzano’s strategies are noteworthy, there are a few that stick out for what I’ll be teaching.  Homework and practice are a very important part of learning a new language.  Learning a new language takes discipline and practice, practice and more practice.  With the many technology tools available online, I can use Digital Bloom’s to help guide students to worthwhile assignments.  Websites that offer interactive games stand out as a resource for homework and practice, while chatting or Skyping with native speakers is a great way to improve conversation skills.

I will want to encourage group participation where possible, a component of cooperative learning.  Some examples using Digital Bloom’s include having students create blogs and commenting on each other’s posts, or creating various other projects where they interact, such as Voicethread or Prezi.  They can also upload and describe pictures, share travel stories and help correct any language mistakes.

Knowledge about Bloom and Marzano will help me become a better planner.  They serve as a foundation for my lesson; a good place to start when I have an idea and want to mix and match objectives.  Say I want to focus on creating.  I can just look at the many ways to apply Digital Bloom’s taxonomy to creating (such as blogging, podcasting, and mixing) and I have an outlet for my ideas.  Marzano keeps me grounded.  He guides me to specific goals before I get too lost on strategies that might not work so well. 

For me, the most important information to take away from Marzano and Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy is creativity; creativity in the digital world to make teaching and learning more interesting.  Marzano is cut and dry, but the way you apply his strategies can be fun and enriching.  Bloom’s Taxonomy sounds like something you might file with the IRS for an extension, but the plethora of digital resources available to us today make Digital Bloom’s much more interesting.  I would encourage my colleagues to explore and utilize some fun new technologies best suited for their content area.  I would tell them not to be afraid of learning new information.  Students of today will be expecting web-based learning, and it is up to the teachers to keep up with the best ways to apply these tools.  Marzano and Bloom provide the framework for