Week 4 Reflection

Bloom's Taxonomy is an ordering of cognitive skills, that start simple, and get more complex. As the students move up the pyramid, their cognitive skills are improving and they are becoming more knowledgeable. The skills in the pyramid are verbs that state the learning objective of the student. They have to master the level they are on before moving up the pyramid onto the next one. There are six levels: 

Level 1: Remember ⇨ The students recall information about material.

Level 2: Understand ⇨ The student recalls information, and demonstrates their understanding of that information.

Level 3: Apply ⇨ The students take their current knowledge and apply it to different situations.

Level 4: Analyze  ⇨ The students draw connections between ideas.

Level 5: Evaluate ⇨ The students critique information.

Level 6: Create ⇨ The students take what they know, and make something new.

In my future classroom, Bloom's Taxonomy will assist me in creating my lesson plans. It acts as a framework for my lesson plans, in determining the level of difficulty. Using Bloom's Taxonomy in my classroom allows for the alignment of the learning objective and the standards and assessments. I will use it to ensure that the students are practicing at their highest potential in the classroom.

Webb's Depth of Knowledge is a type of model that describes the difficulty level of activities. It categorizes activities according to the level of complexity in learning. It focuses on the process of thinking to identify knowledge, rather than focusing on a verb to classify the level of thinking. There are four levels:

DOK 1: Recall & Reproduction ⇨ The students recall facts and define the procedure.

DOK 2: Skills & Concepts ⇨ The students use the knowledge they have to answer questions.

DOK 3: Strategic Thinking ⇨ The students plan, and demonstrate complex reasoning. They explain how concepts can provide results.

DOK 4: Extended Thinking ⇨ The students interpret the data to solve a problem, as well as determining how the information can be used in real world context.

In my future classroom, I will use Webb's Depth of Knowledge to help the students develop their understanding of the material. It supports literacy skills, in a fluid manner, rather than the students being required to master each level one at a time. This allows for me to thoroughly work with each of my students. I would use it to establish how the students engage with the content, and how I would create my lesson plans.