Best Practice Teaching

After reading about Best Practices in Teaching, I was able to reflect upon how these might be or are being used in my classroom.  There are seven basic structures that embody best practice including small group activities, reading as thinking, classroom workshop, authentic experiences, reflective assessment and integrative units.  These practices are most important because they take the teacher out of the spotlight and pass the responsibility of learning to the students.  I think this applies to what I will be doing for my action research project because my goal is to form connections between all the kids and myself.  And before I can accomplish anything in small groups or integrative units, the kids need to feel safe, valued and connected.  This will enable us to move through the curriculum and have authentic experiences that will help them be successful.