Application

Day 3, Bloom's Taxonomy

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Acts 17:11 (ESV)

              My third-grade math students drove me bonkers at the beginning of the year. They were whiney, clingy, and had not been taught to think independently. I had gotten spoiled with my fourth and fifth grade math groups.

              I decided to try something different and checked out twenty picture books from the library. There was no particular theme that led me to a book, only the drawings that were inside. The next day, I paired the students up and gave each group two books. In the first book, they were to examine each page and list as many geometric features as possible. We were learning about line segments, vertices, types of angles, two and three dimensional shapes, and categories of the kinds of shapes. I needed to know they could apply the skills I’d been teaching them to real life.

              During the activity, I walked around the room listening to conversations. Sometimes I heard arguments about what shape they thought it was and I’d encourage them to prove it to the other person using facts they had learned. They could only argue if they had facts to back up their point.

              Toward the end of our time, I meandered over to a pair of boys. They were in a heated debate, so I tuned in. “No, SpongeBob is not a rectangle. He’s a rectangular prism. Look at this picture. He has two large rectangles that represent his front and back and then three other sets of smaller ones.”

              The other kid bantered in return.  “But look at this vertex. It’s not ninety degrees. If he is a rectangular prism, he has to have all corners at ninety degrees.”

              My heart puffed up as I heard the discussion happening. These kids were listening. Comprehending. And applying what I was pouring my heart and soul into teaching them. My efforts weren’t futile!

              The Application level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is vital for content mastery. Not only do students show they understand, they display that they can take content understanding and make it make sense in a different setting.  Some of the questions used to assess students at the Application level are:

·       Classify the various items in the appropriate state of matter: solid, liquid, gas, plasma.

·       Give an example of a situation that impacted the character in this story and explain how they could have handled the situation differently.

·       Connect the issues that Johnny faced to something you see happening in real life. Explain the connection.

·       What examples of using the Pythagorean Theorem do you see in the world around you?

Applying previous content to other situations shows that the student’s level of understanding has grown to the Application level. No longer are they simply regurgitating and pulling facts from the text, but they can apply it to real life and model it in other situations. This is also important in our spiritual lives. Are you transferring the pastor’s message into your mind and then applying it to real life situations? Or are you staying stuck in just the hearing and not the doing?

Do the Heart Work

1.      Do you have high or low expectations for your students? Explain.

2.      In what ways are you teaching students to apply what they are learning in the classroom?

3.      Can you prove why you believe what you believe? Do you have the contents of your faith so deeply rooted that you can use them to defend your position with facts? Explain.

Digging Deeper

              Read James 1:19-27 (NIV)

              My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,  because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.  Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

              Becoming a doer and not only a hearer is a mark of being able to apply what has been passed on to you. Doers make the teaching a reality, while hearers seem to take things in one ear and out the other. Doers make changes in their lives. Hearers stay the same.

If You Get Spare Time 

Take a look at the students in your class. Do you have a room filled with hearers only or are they making the changes to become doers? Now take a look at yourself. Are you a hearer of the word or are you applying it in your life? If someone watches your actions, will they know that you are a Christ-follower? Spend time in your journal or in prayer thinking about these questions.