Learning Tools

I realized yesterday that there are some fundamental questions that I as a teacher must answer before I teach:

1. What will my students come away with from my class?
2. How will I know what they come away with from my class?

As I thought about these questions, I realized that I also needed to answer a third question:

3. What will my students bring to my class?

As I thought about how to answer these questions, I began to wonder exactly what it was that students would either be bringing or taking away from my class. I then had this idea that
 
knowledge, like language, is a tool.

This idea is really important. If knowledge is a tool, then in order to assess what students are bringing and taking away from my class, I need to understand the way that the students use their tools. I also need to know what tools they already have. Also, in order to teach the use of a tool

I must give students the opportunity to showcase and utilize their 'tools'.

So when I plan any lesson, I should create opportunities for student experience in which they are able to use their 'tools' to do something. In the doing, the students will show me what they have and how they use it. This is quite different from administering static standardized tests. I do not want to test specific tools,

I want to know from the students about as many of their tools as possible.

I want to understand what their favorite tools are and what their favorite uses are. Then I want to understand why.

I believe that understanding the things I have discussed will help me to better understand my students, which will enable me to design my instruction to more effectively meet their needs, capacities, and 'tools'.