Module 4-PEAK Principles

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University of West Alabama *

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628

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Communications

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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1

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Discussion Prompt :  What are your thoughts on the four PEAK principles put forth by Dintersmith? Response: Ted Dintersmith (2018) noted that students perform best in environments that allow them to reach their peak potential. Peak is the keyword here: Purpose, Essentials, Agency, and Knowledge. These ideal environments enable students to develop purpose- students tackle more difficult tasks they know are important to their learning, essentials- students gain the skill and mindsets needed for our evolving society, agency- students take ownership of their learning and knowledge- the learned information is deeply rooted. I agree that these four principles are important for student growth and achievement and are key ideas to foster in every classroom.  Dintersmith stated these types of environments are commonly found in preschool, kindergarten, and more organic school settings. Additionally, he stated most public schools don't foster this type of envrionment and can be considered anti-PEAK. I don not agree with this conclusion. This book was written in 2018; I was in my fifth year of teaching at the time and personally, I haven't seen drastic changes in the six years that have followed. I have witnessed these principles being fostered throughout my 10 years as a teacher, so I don't believe this is something that public schools have jumped on just recently. While some schools and teachers may offer a better PEAK environment than others, I believe these principles are present and evident in today's public classrooms.  In regards to purpose, effective teachers articulate "what" and "why" the students are learning. The "what" comes from student objectives, essential questions, I Can statements, etc; the students know what they are going to learn about. The "why" is equally important; teachers explain why students need to learn the specific content at hand. There are teacher-student conversations discussing what jobs or real-life scenarios would require them to have this knowledge. This helps to motivate students to give their best effort even if the task or skill is more difficult. The same concept applies with essentials. As students learn what is important and why it is important, they can shift to developing the necessary skills to accomplish these tasks. As our text states, we live in an innovative world that is constantly evolving. Effective teachers are always looking for ways to integrate new technology into their content lessons to foster the development of the skill sets necessary to keep up with the changing world and the mind sets to persevere. I believe these two principles are a gateway to agency. Students can only take ownership of their learning once that have developed the concepts of purpose and essentials. In addition, effective teachers are also helping their students take ownership of their learning by working with them to set goals and plans to achieve those goals. When students understand what they're working toward, they are increasingly more motivated to reach those goals and grow into intrinsically motivated adults. Finally, when these three principles are woven together, it leads to deeply rooted knowledge that is easily accessible when needed and becomes a foundation to buld upon.  I see this happening every day in public schools. Many teachers are pouring their heart and sole into their students. Many schools are shifting to a more project-based learning atmosphere.  Again, some schools and teachers may have a stronger grip on the PEAK principles than others, but it would be inaccurate to group all public schools together and label them as anti-PEAK.  Reference: Dintersmith, T. (2018).  What school could be.  Princeton University Press. 
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