Participants are responsible for obtaining their copy of this month's text before the beginning of the book study.
Join Gabrielle Wood for April's book study The Knowledge GAP: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System and How to Fix It by Natalie Wexler.
The Knowledge Gap encourages teachers to rethink their instructional strategies to provide more equitable and effective education, ultimately improving student outcomes.
Wexler explores the significant disparities in educational outcomes across the United States, largely due to the way schools approach teaching. Wexler argues that the focus on developing general reading comprehension skills, rather than building students' background knowledge in subjects like history, science, and the arts, is a key reason for the achievement gap. The author emphasizes that students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, struggle not because they lack reading skills but because they lack the content knowledge that aids comprehension. Wexler advocates for a knowledge-based curriculum to improve equity and student success,
This book study is facilitated by educator, Gabrielle Wood. Gabby is a Middle School FACS teacher from Northeast Missouri who loves to learn. When she's not actively teaching, she is helping to facilitate PD in the Hannibal School District. In her free time, she loves to be outdoors. When the weather doesn't permit being outside, she enjoys crafting, cooking, hanging out with family and learning something new.
- The Learning Management System, Teachable, is used to house discussion board conversations and group materials. Guiding questions and tasks are posted in the Teachable course. These questions allow participants to share and reflect on the topics and ideas presented in the reading. Teachable courses are by design asynchronous.
- If this is your first online learning activity with MSTA, you will receive an email from Teachable to confirm your email address. (This is the email address you used to register for the event.) After confirming your email address, you must create a password. On the next screen, you will see the course(s) for which you are registered.
- If you have previously participated in one of MSTA's online activities, you can log into Teachable. Your email is your username, and the password you used when confirming your email address. This will give you access to your account and products.
- There will be a required Zoom meeting to provide an opportunity to network with other participants over the concepts shared. The time of the Zoom meeting will be determined by the facilitator with book study participants.
- Application is used throughout the course as participants complete Core Concept Assignments that are reflective in nature. Assignment details are shared in the Teachable course and intended for participants to apply concepts learned and discussed during the course to their classroom. Once enrolled in the course, participants will continue to have access to the resources shared that support the learning in the book.
PD Certification: At the end of the month, PD certificates will be generated for participants who completed all book study requirements. PD certificates will be emailed to participants.