1) After completing this seminar, how do you see your use of technology in the classroom?
I really think I am lacking in this department. To some degree, I have always known this; technology is not a focus at our school in the classroom because of the amount of technology our students are exposed to outside of the classroom (in a daily computer lab course and daily accelerated reader quizzes taken online). However, it is something I have noted that I am personally lacking in and could make a much great effort to incorporate. I am excited to teach the lesson on expression and end marks that I modified for this unit-- I can imagine that teaching it may lead me to other ideas of how I can use technology to help with writing especially. Overall though, I just think I've been pretty deficient in this area and need to seek out my own resources for technology since they are not provided by the school/district.
2) What resources are you going to explore next to continue your own learning and growth in this area?
I have started looking into how to use different elements of Reading A to Z-- both in classroom and externally to benefit my own planning. Before, I had only been using one portion of the sight but am now looking into having my students interact with the comprehension quizzes that are online, the science units that are available etc. I also am going to explore different resources that I will be able to use in our January science unit on States of Matter and in our Spring Geography unit-- I know that videos and interactive materials exist online which I should be showing my students, especially because of multiple modalities and the technology "gap" or "divide" that my students are susceptible to.
3) [We did in fact use our regular blog]
4) What were the strengths and drawbacks of an online seminar? What could enhance the quality of online instruction, in your opinion?
I really enjoyed the online seminar for two reasons. First, I felt like I was able to delve a little deeper into the material on my own and explore my own interests within it. I think this came down to the format and it's inherent freedom. I worked on this primarily over a three-day span, which personally helped me to keep the information fresh. Secondly, I appreciated that this seminar in particular offered so many options. We had options of what to read, there were multiple pieces to Internet Safety video, and we had options in terms of which webinar to read. This freedom helped me to feel like I had choice in what I was learning and was able to really use the pieces that would be applicable for me in the classroom. I did not particularly see any major drawbacks with this course and would definitely be willing to use online courses again in the future.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
115 Technology #3
1) What are the learning targets for this lesson? What do you want students to know, understand or be able to do after this lesson?
My learning goal is that SWBAT identify the necessary end marks in dialogue based on intonation and expression. My desire is that students will be able to better gauge when to use exclamation points, question marks, and periods based on a deeper understanding of the nuances of spoken dialogue through a more interactive video lesson.
2) What technological resources do you have available that relate to these learning targets?
I intend to use two youtube videos (one of a basic conversation with a mixture of interrogative and standard declarative sentences, and another of an argument that will require them to use exclamation points), projected onto our classroom drop-down screen via my laptop. The major advantage to doing this on a laptop as compared to doing it verbally/orally is that I can rewind and ensure that the same exact intonation is used so that students can re-check their work with greater accuracy than I could offer them in person if I was doing it independently.
3) How will these technological resources enhance the students’ learning—in other words, what does technology allow you to do in relation to these learning targets that isn’t possible without it?
As mentioned in question two, I could not ensure the accuracy that a video could. When I have done this lesson in the past, one of the challenges that I have run into is that it is hard to replicate the same sentence twice orally in person-- inevitably, I will change my tone slightly each time. A video allows for higher accuracy and for the students to get the opportunity to rewatch sentences, phrases and dialogue as they seek to determine the correct end marks.
4) Post your lesson plan to the site.
Name: Kate McCarthy Coach: Peggy Dove
Grade Level/Subject: 1st Grade Literacy- Rocketship Date: December 14, 2009
Established Goals/Standards: Essential Questions or Habits of Mind: Understandings:
Students will understand… Knowledge:
Students will know… Skills:
Students will be able to…
Written and Oral Language 1.6—Correct grammar and punctuation. 1) How do I know what tone/intonation to use when reading a sentence?
2) How can I express a certain feeling through my end marks? -Punctuation may be used to express different tones/voice in writing.
-Punctuation corresponds to the speakers intent (asking a question versus expressing excitement and anger, etc).
-An exclamation point is used to express excitement/ add emphasis to an important point.
-An exclamation point is an additional choice of end mark punctuation (in addition to periods and question marks).
-That they may use exclamation points as an end mark in their writing to indicate excitement. -Correctly identify where exclamation points belong in a short story.
-Write a sentence that concludes with an exclamation point.
-Express appropriate vocal tone when reading a sentence that ends with a question mark.
-Identify which sentences end with a question mark and which end with an exclamation mark based on verbal cues.
Note: Use the “Essential Components of Differentiated Instruction” to help differentiate instructional strategies, products and assessments.
Evidence of Learning (Product or Assessment): Differentiation: Materials:
Students (as a table team), will verbally create a sentence that needs an exclamation point.
Students (individually) will turn in their own punctuated paragraphs with correct end marks (see differentiation).
Students will also be assessed on their ability to read the punctuation with correct intonation.
Students will assess whether individuals in a video are speaking in interrogative or exclamatory sentences and record the necessary punctuation based on their tone. Group 1 Students (Alyson, Josue, Andres, Giovanni, Ana, Mariah) will be expected to punctuate a 2-paragraph story, with varied punctuation (period, exclamation point, question mark).
Group 2 Students (Julietta, Adrian, Sandra, Lizette, Luna, Darian, Kevin, Gerardo)
Will be expected to punctuate a 5 sentence story, with varied end marks (period and exclamation point).
Group 3 Students (Brian, Ismar, Oscar, Roy, Nicolle,) will punctuate a 3 sentence paper, all of which require exclamation points. Chart Paper Exclamation Point.
Modeled story on Wipe-Off Lined Board.
*Pre-created paragraphs, missing punctuation [3 options, 10 copies each]
-Clipboards
Worksheet with video conversation text (s)
-2 YouTube Videos- one of a simple conversation; other of an argument.
Teaching Strategies & Sequence:
Opening (10 minutes)
-Students will begin the lesson seated on the floor. We will do our dots and squeezies activity, and put our ‘writing gloves’ on. This is the standard opening to writing workshop, and transitions out of the previous activity.
Will begin by unveiling a large exclamation point on chart paper. I will ask students if they know what the exclamation point means. After taking a few responses, I will record their answers inside the giant exclamation point. Questions to ask:
1) Where have you seen this before?
2) What does it mean?
3) Can you think of a sentence that would end with this punctuation?
Instruction
-Will send students back to tables and instruct them to turn their chairs to face forward.
- We will begin by ‘Air-tracing’ an exclamation point, altogether as a group.
-As a reminder, we will then air trace a question mark (which was covered a month previously) to jog their memory of how we use question marks.
-I will then model how an exclamation point should sound in a sentence, writing the sentence on the board and then changing the punctuation to indicate the change in tone (i.e. Wow, what delicious ice cream. Versus ‘Wow, what delicious ice cream!’).
-I will then do a ‘Think Aloud” with a story that is written on the Wipe-Off Lined Board. I will model how I decide what punctuation belongs, how I can whisper it aloud to myself to try to figure it out, etc.
-Call up three students to add in punctuation at end of paragraph.
Guided Practice
-Students will then do a ‘Heads Together’ to come up with their own sentence that deserves an exclamation point.
-Will do a class ‘whip around’ through tables to share out their sentences.
*I will write the 2 best sentences on the board, making sure to emphasize how to write a punctuation mark again, and having students air-trace the punctuation as I do this.
Independent Practice
-I will instruct the students that I found stories today, that had been written by first graders recently, but were missing their punctuation! I will talk about how I wanted to put them up on the Word Wall, and how they deserved stars, but they were missing a crucial piece—correct punctuation.
-Will remind them of how I added in punctuation on the paragraph again.
Students will individually go through and punctuate their paragraphs. Paragraphs will be distributed according to skill level. I will circulate throughout the room, asking students to read me a sentence (on their story) that has an exclamation point, and listening for correct intonation.
Extension Activity:
Video Lesson [GP/IP]
When students have completed the activity, I will bring them down to the rug and direct their attention to a video of people carrying on a basic conversation. I will have them follow along to the text (pre-typed into a worksheet for them), pausing for them to fill in the correct punctuation based on the intonation of the speaker’s voices. Students will use clipboards so that they can stay close to the pull-down projection screen and watch the speakers expression as they speak. I will rewind as necessary. We will do the first few sentences as a whole group, with myself modeling, and then students will be responsible for filling in end marks independently as I prompt along with the video.
Extension activity: If time allows, I will have students repeat this activity with a video of people arguing, wherein the students will have more of an opportunity to watch the speaker’s intonation and add in exclamation points and question marks.
Closing:
Closure
-I will gather the paragraphs and look through quickly as I call students to the rug.
-I will select three pages that now belong on the word wall.
-I will also introduce the option of ‘exclamation point’ to the Editors Checklist; while I will not go ahead and add this on now, I will extend this activity and cover this in the following day’s writer’s workshop.
Homework
5) Read and comment on someone else’s lesson plan—what do you see as the strengths of this person’s use of technology? Do you know of other resources that might help this person’s students even more?
My learning goal is that SWBAT identify the necessary end marks in dialogue based on intonation and expression. My desire is that students will be able to better gauge when to use exclamation points, question marks, and periods based on a deeper understanding of the nuances of spoken dialogue through a more interactive video lesson.
2) What technological resources do you have available that relate to these learning targets?
I intend to use two youtube videos (one of a basic conversation with a mixture of interrogative and standard declarative sentences, and another of an argument that will require them to use exclamation points), projected onto our classroom drop-down screen via my laptop. The major advantage to doing this on a laptop as compared to doing it verbally/orally is that I can rewind and ensure that the same exact intonation is used so that students can re-check their work with greater accuracy than I could offer them in person if I was doing it independently.
3) How will these technological resources enhance the students’ learning—in other words, what does technology allow you to do in relation to these learning targets that isn’t possible without it?
As mentioned in question two, I could not ensure the accuracy that a video could. When I have done this lesson in the past, one of the challenges that I have run into is that it is hard to replicate the same sentence twice orally in person-- inevitably, I will change my tone slightly each time. A video allows for higher accuracy and for the students to get the opportunity to rewatch sentences, phrases and dialogue as they seek to determine the correct end marks.
4) Post your lesson plan to the site.
Name: Kate McCarthy Coach: Peggy Dove
Grade Level/Subject: 1st Grade Literacy- Rocketship Date: December 14, 2009
Established Goals/Standards: Essential Questions or Habits of Mind: Understandings:
Students will understand… Knowledge:
Students will know… Skills:
Students will be able to…
Written and Oral Language 1.6—Correct grammar and punctuation. 1) How do I know what tone/intonation to use when reading a sentence?
2) How can I express a certain feeling through my end marks? -Punctuation may be used to express different tones/voice in writing.
-Punctuation corresponds to the speakers intent (asking a question versus expressing excitement and anger, etc).
-An exclamation point is used to express excitement/ add emphasis to an important point.
-An exclamation point is an additional choice of end mark punctuation (in addition to periods and question marks).
-That they may use exclamation points as an end mark in their writing to indicate excitement. -Correctly identify where exclamation points belong in a short story.
-Write a sentence that concludes with an exclamation point.
-Express appropriate vocal tone when reading a sentence that ends with a question mark.
-Identify which sentences end with a question mark and which end with an exclamation mark based on verbal cues.
Note: Use the “Essential Components of Differentiated Instruction” to help differentiate instructional strategies, products and assessments.
Evidence of Learning (Product or Assessment): Differentiation: Materials:
Students (as a table team), will verbally create a sentence that needs an exclamation point.
Students (individually) will turn in their own punctuated paragraphs with correct end marks (see differentiation).
Students will also be assessed on their ability to read the punctuation with correct intonation.
Students will assess whether individuals in a video are speaking in interrogative or exclamatory sentences and record the necessary punctuation based on their tone. Group 1 Students (Alyson, Josue, Andres, Giovanni, Ana, Mariah) will be expected to punctuate a 2-paragraph story, with varied punctuation (period, exclamation point, question mark).
Group 2 Students (Julietta, Adrian, Sandra, Lizette, Luna, Darian, Kevin, Gerardo)
Will be expected to punctuate a 5 sentence story, with varied end marks (period and exclamation point).
Group 3 Students (Brian, Ismar, Oscar, Roy, Nicolle,) will punctuate a 3 sentence paper, all of which require exclamation points. Chart Paper Exclamation Point.
Modeled story on Wipe-Off Lined Board.
*Pre-created paragraphs, missing punctuation [3 options, 10 copies each]
-Clipboards
Worksheet with video conversation text (s)
-2 YouTube Videos- one of a simple conversation; other of an argument.
Teaching Strategies & Sequence:
Opening (10 minutes)
-Students will begin the lesson seated on the floor. We will do our dots and squeezies activity, and put our ‘writing gloves’ on. This is the standard opening to writing workshop, and transitions out of the previous activity.
Will begin by unveiling a large exclamation point on chart paper. I will ask students if they know what the exclamation point means. After taking a few responses, I will record their answers inside the giant exclamation point. Questions to ask:
1) Where have you seen this before?
2) What does it mean?
3) Can you think of a sentence that would end with this punctuation?
Instruction
-Will send students back to tables and instruct them to turn their chairs to face forward.
- We will begin by ‘Air-tracing’ an exclamation point, altogether as a group.
-As a reminder, we will then air trace a question mark (which was covered a month previously) to jog their memory of how we use question marks.
-I will then model how an exclamation point should sound in a sentence, writing the sentence on the board and then changing the punctuation to indicate the change in tone (i.e. Wow, what delicious ice cream. Versus ‘Wow, what delicious ice cream!’).
-I will then do a ‘Think Aloud” with a story that is written on the Wipe-Off Lined Board. I will model how I decide what punctuation belongs, how I can whisper it aloud to myself to try to figure it out, etc.
-Call up three students to add in punctuation at end of paragraph.
Guided Practice
-Students will then do a ‘Heads Together’ to come up with their own sentence that deserves an exclamation point.
-Will do a class ‘whip around’ through tables to share out their sentences.
*I will write the 2 best sentences on the board, making sure to emphasize how to write a punctuation mark again, and having students air-trace the punctuation as I do this.
Independent Practice
-I will instruct the students that I found stories today, that had been written by first graders recently, but were missing their punctuation! I will talk about how I wanted to put them up on the Word Wall, and how they deserved stars, but they were missing a crucial piece—correct punctuation.
-Will remind them of how I added in punctuation on the paragraph again.
Students will individually go through and punctuate their paragraphs. Paragraphs will be distributed according to skill level. I will circulate throughout the room, asking students to read me a sentence (on their story) that has an exclamation point, and listening for correct intonation.
Extension Activity:
Video Lesson [GP/IP]
When students have completed the activity, I will bring them down to the rug and direct their attention to a video of people carrying on a basic conversation. I will have them follow along to the text (pre-typed into a worksheet for them), pausing for them to fill in the correct punctuation based on the intonation of the speaker’s voices. Students will use clipboards so that they can stay close to the pull-down projection screen and watch the speakers expression as they speak. I will rewind as necessary. We will do the first few sentences as a whole group, with myself modeling, and then students will be responsible for filling in end marks independently as I prompt along with the video.
Extension activity: If time allows, I will have students repeat this activity with a video of people arguing, wherein the students will have more of an opportunity to watch the speaker’s intonation and add in exclamation points and question marks.
Closing:
Closure
-I will gather the paragraphs and look through quickly as I call students to the rug.
-I will select three pages that now belong on the word wall.
-I will also introduce the option of ‘exclamation point’ to the Editors Checklist; while I will not go ahead and add this on now, I will extend this activity and cover this in the following day’s writer’s workshop.
Homework
5) Read and comment on someone else’s lesson plan—what do you see as the strengths of this person’s use of technology? Do you know of other resources that might help this person’s students even more?
Sunday, December 13, 2009
115: Technology #2
I watched the Education in the Digital Age: Insights and Findings
PBS webinar. I chose this program partially because I was slightly familiar with Digital Nation (an ongoing program about digital media and it's impact on children that PBS is focusing on). I had seen a documentary about the very beginnings of this exploration back in a sociology class in college. Plus, with the content being relevant for our current coursework, I figured that it was important to explore digital media. I also would have loved to have watched some of the Reading Comprehension or ELL focuses (and in fact tried to watch a webinar on Response to Intervention, but was not able to do so).
1) What are the advantages to watching a webinar as opposed to reading an article?
I like that the webinar gives you so much more interaction than watching a TV or listening to a sound clip would-- it is so much more of an integrated learning experience. The webinar that I watched had a "chat" feature on the side, as well as different tools to put the scope of the webinar in perspective-- an interactive map where teachers could mark where they were communicating from, plus respond yes or no, chime in as necessary, etc. Moderators exist to keep the conversation focused on the webinar ( mostly.. I was slightly disappointed at the off-topic sidebar discussion happening) but people can "type" in questions or actually verbally chime in during Q and A times. It was so much more interactive than reading an article and I think as such is in some ways "easier" or at least much more engaging.
2) How can you see this tool being used to support your own development as a teacher?
I plan on using webinars to learn more about other perspectives. Just in looking for one to watch, I found multiple webinars on RTI which our school site is in it's second year of experimenting with. I have just been exposed to a few other methods of doing RtI and I am curious about what else exists, what methods have seen significant progress and how I can use the information in the webinars to create more focused Independent Learning Plans (ILPS) to be used to plan RtI. Our school is currently improving their RtI methods and I think I could be much more of an asset to the school site, as well as generally more knowledgeable as a teacher, if I take the time to look at how I create goals for my students and follow up on them through RtI. Thus, I think this could directly affect the achievement of the 12 students that are currently in RtI.
3) What are some other topics on which you would like to see webinars?
I would love to also go into the ELL webinars. One of my REACH ongoing goals has been related to finding more methods to help my struggling ELL students. Without a base in Spanish to communicate, this is certainly an area of growth for me as a teacher and I intend to continue try to work on this and grow more as an educator. I think webinars on instructional methods could help me be a more engaging teacher with integrated visual/audio assistance etc for ELLs.
PBS webinar. I chose this program partially because I was slightly familiar with Digital Nation (an ongoing program about digital media and it's impact on children that PBS is focusing on). I had seen a documentary about the very beginnings of this exploration back in a sociology class in college. Plus, with the content being relevant for our current coursework, I figured that it was important to explore digital media. I also would have loved to have watched some of the Reading Comprehension or ELL focuses (and in fact tried to watch a webinar on Response to Intervention, but was not able to do so).
1) What are the advantages to watching a webinar as opposed to reading an article?
I like that the webinar gives you so much more interaction than watching a TV or listening to a sound clip would-- it is so much more of an integrated learning experience. The webinar that I watched had a "chat" feature on the side, as well as different tools to put the scope of the webinar in perspective-- an interactive map where teachers could mark where they were communicating from, plus respond yes or no, chime in as necessary, etc. Moderators exist to keep the conversation focused on the webinar ( mostly.. I was slightly disappointed at the off-topic sidebar discussion happening) but people can "type" in questions or actually verbally chime in during Q and A times. It was so much more interactive than reading an article and I think as such is in some ways "easier" or at least much more engaging.
2) How can you see this tool being used to support your own development as a teacher?
I plan on using webinars to learn more about other perspectives. Just in looking for one to watch, I found multiple webinars on RTI which our school site is in it's second year of experimenting with. I have just been exposed to a few other methods of doing RtI and I am curious about what else exists, what methods have seen significant progress and how I can use the information in the webinars to create more focused Independent Learning Plans (ILPS) to be used to plan RtI. Our school is currently improving their RtI methods and I think I could be much more of an asset to the school site, as well as generally more knowledgeable as a teacher, if I take the time to look at how I create goals for my students and follow up on them through RtI. Thus, I think this could directly affect the achievement of the 12 students that are currently in RtI.
3) What are some other topics on which you would like to see webinars?
I would love to also go into the ELL webinars. One of my REACH ongoing goals has been related to finding more methods to help my struggling ELL students. Without a base in Spanish to communicate, this is certainly an area of growth for me as a teacher and I intend to continue try to work on this and grow more as an educator. I think webinars on instructional methods could help me be a more engaging teacher with integrated visual/audio assistance etc for ELLs.
115: Technology #1
1. Was there anything in the internet safety presentations that was new to you? What about for your students? Do you think they are aware of this information?
There was nothing that was particularly new to me in this, as the information in the cartoon video seemed to be more generated at teenagers than first graders in the specific community I am teaching in. That said, I think there are absolutely still dangers to my students in terms of technology, but it does not seem like my students risk the issues of cyber-bullying etc that older students are involved in. I think the largest benefit to me in terms of watching the presentation was that it covered various different forms of social media and how those things could be a danger to students even though they can also be a benefit as well.
2. What technology do both you and your students have available? Be specific & 3. What kinds of technology do you currently use in your classroom/what could you use?
I use my computer in the classroom on occasion. Our attendance is done via computer, the school site maintains an information database for filesharing via google docs (to assist with paperwor, and eventually, in theory, with lesson planning). Though I do not have a projector in my own classroom, I do have a pull down screen so that I can borrow our school's shared projector. I have used this for incorporating pictures, songs and images in UbD science and social studies units in the past and hope to integrate more into the general literacy curriculum for our students who are visual/auditory learners and would really benefit from these types of technologies.
I do often find myself using my personal computer, particularly in my planning (using teacher-oriented websites for Guided Reading books, phonics packets, etc). For my very lowest and most struggling students, I use one particular website (Starfall.com) where there are specific phonics activities, especially tailored to vowels, etc that those students really seem to benefit from.
For my students, they use computers every day in our learning lab-- I think they are very fortunate to have a daily computer class and I think it absolutely impacts students achievement. However, being totally honest, I am not positive what online curriculum they are currently using as I know our school has been testing out various types to try to meet students at their academic level as opposed to using a blanket "first grade" or "math" curriculum. I know that accelerated reader (the read a book, and then take a quiz online format) is used by them daily.
While most of my students do not have home computers available to them, I did notice on a few occasions at home visits that some students do. I was thrilled to have conversations with two parents who said that they translate the homework online when the language barrier means that they cannot fully assist their students. I know this must be time consuming for them and it is something I wish I personally had the time to do for them ahead of handing out the packets. Most of my students parents do have phones and texting, which I think we sometimes forget as a use of technology. A few parents will text or email me for parent communication.
There was nothing that was particularly new to me in this, as the information in the cartoon video seemed to be more generated at teenagers than first graders in the specific community I am teaching in. That said, I think there are absolutely still dangers to my students in terms of technology, but it does not seem like my students risk the issues of cyber-bullying etc that older students are involved in. I think the largest benefit to me in terms of watching the presentation was that it covered various different forms of social media and how those things could be a danger to students even though they can also be a benefit as well.
2. What technology do both you and your students have available? Be specific & 3. What kinds of technology do you currently use in your classroom/what could you use?
I use my computer in the classroom on occasion. Our attendance is done via computer, the school site maintains an information database for filesharing via google docs (to assist with paperwor, and eventually, in theory, with lesson planning). Though I do not have a projector in my own classroom, I do have a pull down screen so that I can borrow our school's shared projector. I have used this for incorporating pictures, songs and images in UbD science and social studies units in the past and hope to integrate more into the general literacy curriculum for our students who are visual/auditory learners and would really benefit from these types of technologies.
I do often find myself using my personal computer, particularly in my planning (using teacher-oriented websites for Guided Reading books, phonics packets, etc). For my very lowest and most struggling students, I use one particular website (Starfall.com) where there are specific phonics activities, especially tailored to vowels, etc that those students really seem to benefit from.
For my students, they use computers every day in our learning lab-- I think they are very fortunate to have a daily computer class and I think it absolutely impacts students achievement. However, being totally honest, I am not positive what online curriculum they are currently using as I know our school has been testing out various types to try to meet students at their academic level as opposed to using a blanket "first grade" or "math" curriculum. I know that accelerated reader (the read a book, and then take a quiz online format) is used by them daily.
While most of my students do not have home computers available to them, I did notice on a few occasions at home visits that some students do. I was thrilled to have conversations with two parents who said that they translate the homework online when the language barrier means that they cannot fully assist their students. I know this must be time consuming for them and it is something I wish I personally had the time to do for them ahead of handing out the packets. Most of my students parents do have phones and texting, which I think we sometimes forget as a use of technology. A few parents will text or email me for parent communication.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Health Course #3
How do you see the physical health, or lack of health, impacting your classroom? What are the explicit and implicit messages you give youth about their health and physical development, both positive and (inadvertently) negative? What efforts does your school make to support physical health and education?
I think I see more of the negative on this topic; lack of time for movement and play really impacting my classroom. It is hard to strike a balance at our school sometimes; I feel pressure to mold my students into perfect little scholars, but at the same time, I know students need more time to be physically active.
This is one area where I have always felt kind of a conflict between my own thinking and the school's philosophy. Having worked in schools at the opposite end of the SES spectrum, where movement, free play and creativity were paramount, I know that both systems can have immense payoff. It has been hard to strike a balance between what I feel comfortable with and the cultural expectations of the school. I am definitely still working on this.
Last year, I would often take my students outside to do our daily Read Aloud-- especially as we began reading chapter books together as a class. They would still need to be in LEARN position, still focused and listening attentively... but it made me feel at least a little bit better that they were spending time outdoors. Honestly, I think our 20 minute recess + their time with Coach Jessica is just not enough. They need more activity, more time exploring and enjoying the outdoors. I am so glad that the camping trip exists, but I wish we had hte funding and ability to do smaller-scale outdoor experience type of programs for the younger grades. If has made me think of our grade-level parent-family meeting being something outdoor/hiking/exercise related, just to give students that exposure that they may not necessarily be getting at home.
One thing I have been asking parents on my home visits is what their students are doing afterschool, especially since some of them now do get home at a reasonable hour. I have been advocating giving their students a break from homework to go outside and play after school, instead of doing homework and then staying inside to watch TV. Most parents have been pretty receptive of this, and it seems like most students are capable of getting their homework done in a reasonable amount of time independently this year. I have been happy that some parents have enrolled students in other activities; church afterschool programs where the students get to use the playground equipment, cheerleading, dance, football, soccer, karate, swimming, It is nice to hear that parents are taking the initiative to have hteir students involved in these activities.
I feel like I was much better about being explicit about healthy living last year than I am this year; I probably should put in more of an effort. My students last year all knew that they should be drinking water or milk with lunch instead of soda, that they should be eating fruits and veggies, etc. I took the opportunity, whenever possible, to remind them about healthy choices. This year I have only talked about it in relation to the core value of responsibility; working in messages about healthy diet and exercise into my morning message and their journal prompts will probably be a good way to get these points across without "loosing" learning time.
The yardsticks article really gave me a lot of proverbial food for thought; there were elements of it that Alicia and I were laughing about (i.e. my chewed up pencil bin being a natural thing for a six year old- we have often referred to them as goats since they WILL chew anything) but lots more that I just don't feel like quite fit with our cultural expectations and 100 culture items. Striking a healthy balance is not easy and I know I will need to keep working on this.
I think I see more of the negative on this topic; lack of time for movement and play really impacting my classroom. It is hard to strike a balance at our school sometimes; I feel pressure to mold my students into perfect little scholars, but at the same time, I know students need more time to be physically active.
This is one area where I have always felt kind of a conflict between my own thinking and the school's philosophy. Having worked in schools at the opposite end of the SES spectrum, where movement, free play and creativity were paramount, I know that both systems can have immense payoff. It has been hard to strike a balance between what I feel comfortable with and the cultural expectations of the school. I am definitely still working on this.
Last year, I would often take my students outside to do our daily Read Aloud-- especially as we began reading chapter books together as a class. They would still need to be in LEARN position, still focused and listening attentively... but it made me feel at least a little bit better that they were spending time outdoors. Honestly, I think our 20 minute recess + their time with Coach Jessica is just not enough. They need more activity, more time exploring and enjoying the outdoors. I am so glad that the camping trip exists, but I wish we had hte funding and ability to do smaller-scale outdoor experience type of programs for the younger grades. If has made me think of our grade-level parent-family meeting being something outdoor/hiking/exercise related, just to give students that exposure that they may not necessarily be getting at home.
One thing I have been asking parents on my home visits is what their students are doing afterschool, especially since some of them now do get home at a reasonable hour. I have been advocating giving their students a break from homework to go outside and play after school, instead of doing homework and then staying inside to watch TV. Most parents have been pretty receptive of this, and it seems like most students are capable of getting their homework done in a reasonable amount of time independently this year. I have been happy that some parents have enrolled students in other activities; church afterschool programs where the students get to use the playground equipment, cheerleading, dance, football, soccer, karate, swimming, It is nice to hear that parents are taking the initiative to have hteir students involved in these activities.
I feel like I was much better about being explicit about healthy living last year than I am this year; I probably should put in more of an effort. My students last year all knew that they should be drinking water or milk with lunch instead of soda, that they should be eating fruits and veggies, etc. I took the opportunity, whenever possible, to remind them about healthy choices. This year I have only talked about it in relation to the core value of responsibility; working in messages about healthy diet and exercise into my morning message and their journal prompts will probably be a good way to get these points across without "loosing" learning time.
The yardsticks article really gave me a lot of proverbial food for thought; there were elements of it that Alicia and I were laughing about (i.e. my chewed up pencil bin being a natural thing for a six year old- we have often referred to them as goats since they WILL chew anything) but lots more that I just don't feel like quite fit with our cultural expectations and 100 culture items. Striking a healthy balance is not easy and I know I will need to keep working on this.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
107, Healthy Development
Question:
I'm not sure this is so much a question as it is something that I'm somewhat irked by, but I was frustrated by the over-simplifications on the role that gender plays in behavior and therefore achievement. The reading mentioned the issue with Kolberg's theory for instance, as being male-focused or male-dominant. It also talked about girls as having more care-based or altruistic social connections (Chapter 13, p. 436)-- this seems like it may occur moreso at the high school level but I think in first grade, at least over the course of the last year, I have seen males associate almost equally as much in this way. I also question the idea of masculine "helping" roles (i.e. boys will be more willing to help in situations that are actually dangerous- p. 442); I'd love to see this experiment done at the elementary level and see the results!
Comment:
It has been interesting for me to read these articles and work on this unit so far. I took a child development course back in high school, plus a few high school psych and sociology classes that talked about a lot of what I'm reading I have already read before. At the same time, it's totally different to read it now that I see it playing out every day in the classroom. On the other hand, when I was taking the child development class I also worked as an assistant teacher in a preschool-- it is so amazing to reflect on the difference that two years or even only a year and a half makes in terms of development!
I also thought the information presented about empathy was interesting (Chapter 13, p. 437)-- basically that around four years old, children begin to develop some sense of empathy and connection to others that helps develop sharing skills, etc. I have found that empathy is the most abstract of Rocketship's Core Values for the students. They struggle most with the idea that they should care about other people's feelings and make choices that demonstrate an understanding of others feelings and perspectives. I think, in retrospect, maybe the reason for this is partially developmental. It has always felt somewhat strange to me to teach empathy explicitly-- how do you teach someone to care? Some kids seem to be very genuinely empathetic naturally (I have 2 particularly empathetic students in my Thoroughbreds class that come to mind); many others are totally oblivious.
Quote:
"As children move into the middle and late childhood years, parents spend considerably less time with them. In one study, parents spent less than half the time with their children aged 5 to 12 in caregiving, instruction, reading and talking as when their children were younger." This quote really stood out with me because I think it's exactly what Rocketship as a community is trying to ward off with our homework packets and reading packets. We are ensuring that parents ARE taking that time; we can see on a daily basis that our students still need the support of people reading with them, giving them that attention, etc. It all plays into child development and I think we need to continue to work to make sure that those aspects aren't neglected.
I'm not sure this is so much a question as it is something that I'm somewhat irked by, but I was frustrated by the over-simplifications on the role that gender plays in behavior and therefore achievement. The reading mentioned the issue with Kolberg's theory for instance, as being male-focused or male-dominant. It also talked about girls as having more care-based or altruistic social connections (Chapter 13, p. 436)-- this seems like it may occur moreso at the high school level but I think in first grade, at least over the course of the last year, I have seen males associate almost equally as much in this way. I also question the idea of masculine "helping" roles (i.e. boys will be more willing to help in situations that are actually dangerous- p. 442); I'd love to see this experiment done at the elementary level and see the results!
Comment:
It has been interesting for me to read these articles and work on this unit so far. I took a child development course back in high school, plus a few high school psych and sociology classes that talked about a lot of what I'm reading I have already read before. At the same time, it's totally different to read it now that I see it playing out every day in the classroom. On the other hand, when I was taking the child development class I also worked as an assistant teacher in a preschool-- it is so amazing to reflect on the difference that two years or even only a year and a half makes in terms of development!
I also thought the information presented about empathy was interesting (Chapter 13, p. 437)-- basically that around four years old, children begin to develop some sense of empathy and connection to others that helps develop sharing skills, etc. I have found that empathy is the most abstract of Rocketship's Core Values for the students. They struggle most with the idea that they should care about other people's feelings and make choices that demonstrate an understanding of others feelings and perspectives. I think, in retrospect, maybe the reason for this is partially developmental. It has always felt somewhat strange to me to teach empathy explicitly-- how do you teach someone to care? Some kids seem to be very genuinely empathetic naturally (I have 2 particularly empathetic students in my Thoroughbreds class that come to mind); many others are totally oblivious.
Quote:
"As children move into the middle and late childhood years, parents spend considerably less time with them. In one study, parents spent less than half the time with their children aged 5 to 12 in caregiving, instruction, reading and talking as when their children were younger." This quote really stood out with me because I think it's exactly what Rocketship as a community is trying to ward off with our homework packets and reading packets. We are ensuring that parents ARE taking that time; we can see on a daily basis that our students still need the support of people reading with them, giving them that attention, etc. It all plays into child development and I think we need to continue to work to make sure that those aspects aren't neglected.
Monday, April 20, 2009
111: Differentiation of Special Needs Student
Prompt: One of the key elements of TPA task 2-4 (and a key element of effective teaching) relates to how you differentiate, accomodate and/or modify your teaching to make sure that you systematically meet the special needs students and still make sure that they achieve the expected outcomes of the course. How do you make sure that special needs students meet your UbD outcomes and are successful on their assessments despite their disabilities? What do you need to improve?
I think one of the things that I have realized more and more recently is that I need to find my own 'style' especially in dealing with students outside of the mainstream. When we recently went on a classroom visit to a school at Stanford, the classroom was so open, unregimented and calm. While it did stand in total opposition to the type of teacher that our school site wants us to be, there was also an amazing (and nearly infectious) creative energy going around- the differentiation was incredible too! It really inspired me to step back and re-evaluate the time I am spending with my struggling students. It was such a positive for the children in this classroom-- doing special projects, having additional steps built in to ensure completion of a task (such as having their work 'pre-edited' by a parent, then typed back for them to evaluate themselves), etc. It was definitely apparent that there was a path to success for these students, and there are some critical links missing with my own. While I am not sure how well it would be recieved at our school, I think that a lot of what I read up on in Chapter 2 (movement, wait time, environment, lighting, 'safe space', softer relationships with the students, etc) could potentially really help my strugglers to feel safe with their challenges rather than hiding, averting their eyes, avoiding putting up their hand, etc. I also loved the idea of students learning how to self-monitor their own 'attention level' and having to guide them on how to pay attention- something I majorly lacked in my first semester of teaching. Whereas learning how to be a student came so naturally for other students, I questioned why these few kids couldn't just stay in their chair, keep their eyes on me, etc. Now I see that there were so many other factors in play most likely, that I had not even considered-- emotional/developmental maturity, etc.
There are a few ways that I think I've gotten decent at differentiating this year, or at least have made improvements in the last few months. I am fortunate to have E. in my class-- a student with mild emotional/developmental needs as well as fairly minor academic challenges. Despite his challenges, he is super cooperative, eager to please and really willing to let me try out new tactics on him before moving them onto other students. Communicating with his team of support staff there to help him has really helped me understand some 'small ways' to help my learning disabled students out, and it has made a HUGE difference. For instance, I was able to get an inflatable 'balance' cushion for students to sit on when they are struggling with moving in their chairs, two small rugs to place outside of the classroom carpet for students who need more individual space, and a weighted vest suggested by an Occupational Therapist to help the student regain focus or balance, especially when transitioning from a more physical activity to a more sedate one.
At the same time, there are some pieces I'm definitely missing. While I'm getting better about chants and movements, I still do not do nearly enough (especially not for D, a student with an IEP for speech who is still really struggling with spoken English). I need to work on incorporating this more-- I did just get a set of chants to try out in terms of grammar/vocab building and I'm excited to try these out. There is so much from the two articles that really I'd like to see if I can experiment with this year, to see if it helps me be more effective and find my teaching strategy with those specific lowest students. I often comment that I feel like I've found my teaching style with my 'other 34' but still can't figure out how to reach my lowest six. At this point, anything is worth a try-- be it better lighting, more movement, more sound, rhythms, bell sounds/transition sounds, effacy/personal responsibility individual reporting, etc.
I think that this course should give me a jumping off point to work with those six students-- and I think I'll really be able to devise a plan that more effectively hits their needs. As of now, I have all sorts of extra time blocked into the day for them, which I feel is somewhat taking away from my instruction of other students, but needs to be done because there is such a wide gap in my classroom right now between the 'low kids' and 'everyone else'. Until this gap closes a bit, I feel pretty powerless to help others when some are struggling so very much. However, in reading and thinking about this unit, I think there may be a huge part of me that is approaching my instruction of these students wrong, and perhaps that is really contributing to their lack of success. I plan on revising my plan for these students that I have with the academic dean to reflect some of the things I will come away from this course with.
I think one of the things that I have realized more and more recently is that I need to find my own 'style' especially in dealing with students outside of the mainstream. When we recently went on a classroom visit to a school at Stanford, the classroom was so open, unregimented and calm. While it did stand in total opposition to the type of teacher that our school site wants us to be, there was also an amazing (and nearly infectious) creative energy going around- the differentiation was incredible too! It really inspired me to step back and re-evaluate the time I am spending with my struggling students. It was such a positive for the children in this classroom-- doing special projects, having additional steps built in to ensure completion of a task (such as having their work 'pre-edited' by a parent, then typed back for them to evaluate themselves), etc. It was definitely apparent that there was a path to success for these students, and there are some critical links missing with my own. While I am not sure how well it would be recieved at our school, I think that a lot of what I read up on in Chapter 2 (movement, wait time, environment, lighting, 'safe space', softer relationships with the students, etc) could potentially really help my strugglers to feel safe with their challenges rather than hiding, averting their eyes, avoiding putting up their hand, etc. I also loved the idea of students learning how to self-monitor their own 'attention level' and having to guide them on how to pay attention- something I majorly lacked in my first semester of teaching. Whereas learning how to be a student came so naturally for other students, I questioned why these few kids couldn't just stay in their chair, keep their eyes on me, etc. Now I see that there were so many other factors in play most likely, that I had not even considered-- emotional/developmental maturity, etc.
There are a few ways that I think I've gotten decent at differentiating this year, or at least have made improvements in the last few months. I am fortunate to have E. in my class-- a student with mild emotional/developmental needs as well as fairly minor academic challenges. Despite his challenges, he is super cooperative, eager to please and really willing to let me try out new tactics on him before moving them onto other students. Communicating with his team of support staff there to help him has really helped me understand some 'small ways' to help my learning disabled students out, and it has made a HUGE difference. For instance, I was able to get an inflatable 'balance' cushion for students to sit on when they are struggling with moving in their chairs, two small rugs to place outside of the classroom carpet for students who need more individual space, and a weighted vest suggested by an Occupational Therapist to help the student regain focus or balance, especially when transitioning from a more physical activity to a more sedate one.
At the same time, there are some pieces I'm definitely missing. While I'm getting better about chants and movements, I still do not do nearly enough (especially not for D, a student with an IEP for speech who is still really struggling with spoken English). I need to work on incorporating this more-- I did just get a set of chants to try out in terms of grammar/vocab building and I'm excited to try these out. There is so much from the two articles that really I'd like to see if I can experiment with this year, to see if it helps me be more effective and find my teaching strategy with those specific lowest students. I often comment that I feel like I've found my teaching style with my 'other 34' but still can't figure out how to reach my lowest six. At this point, anything is worth a try-- be it better lighting, more movement, more sound, rhythms, bell sounds/transition sounds, effacy/personal responsibility individual reporting, etc.
I think that this course should give me a jumping off point to work with those six students-- and I think I'll really be able to devise a plan that more effectively hits their needs. As of now, I have all sorts of extra time blocked into the day for them, which I feel is somewhat taking away from my instruction of other students, but needs to be done because there is such a wide gap in my classroom right now between the 'low kids' and 'everyone else'. Until this gap closes a bit, I feel pretty powerless to help others when some are struggling so very much. However, in reading and thinking about this unit, I think there may be a huge part of me that is approaching my instruction of these students wrong, and perhaps that is really contributing to their lack of success. I plan on revising my plan for these students that I have with the academic dean to reflect some of the things I will come away from this course with.
Monday, April 6, 2009
110: Equity Resources
After browsing through a few other resources, I chose to really look at the Rethinking Schools site. I was more than impressed with what I saw, but most impressed with the quarterly magazine. I read a few of the articles-- the one that stuck with me most was about the integration of technology in the classroom. I've over and over again said that I should try to get some grant money (or Donors Choose) to get a projector in my room-- having the kids huddled around my computer in the classroom is not ideal at all. I know from home visits that very few of them had computers in the home-- and if they did, they were not up to speed with modern technology. Reading the article-- about how much access to technology can affect end result in education brought me back to that. However, the article also put things into perspective-- what we stand to lose by over-emphasizing technology in education. Would it push consumer culture? Or disadvantage those students who did not learn best that way? The article, in the end, left me thinking that while I think better technology in my room still could really positively impact UbD (and give some students outside context), it is not the saving grace that I had previously imagined it to be.
I also really liked the listing of links/other resources that Rethinking Schools Online had. I was already familiar with using the ERIC database from a few college papers, but this list encompassed just about anything I could possibly need in terms of academic journals designed to improve cross-cultural equity. I could see myself coming back to this list in my planning next fall and to get new ideas of ways to ensure that my classroom becomes more and more equitable.
I also really liked the listing of links/other resources that Rethinking Schools Online had. I was already familiar with using the ERIC database from a few college papers, but this list encompassed just about anything I could possibly need in terms of academic journals designed to improve cross-cultural equity. I could see myself coming back to this list in my planning next fall and to get new ideas of ways to ensure that my classroom becomes more and more equitable.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
112: QQCCalla Handbook Chapter 3
Quote: "In our view, academic language can be best identified by describing the language functions and the level of the thinking skills needed to engage in specific content activities. Thus discrete language elements such as vocabulary, grammatical structures, spelling and pronunciation are integrated into the language functions used in the content activity, not taught as separate functions of content subjects." (41) This piece stood out for me for a few reasons. First off, because I see so much success with this in my classroom amongst some of my higher readers-- they are so much more willing to try out new vocabulary that they have picked up from a book. I have been reading Alice in Wonderland to them lately, for instance, and it has been awesome to see them using some of the more obscure words that we have pulled out as our vocab from the book, as well as some of the words that we did not specifically define but that I think they pulled from context. On the other hand, I think my lower readers are often disserved by the lack of grammatical sophistication in what they are reading. This is something I had touched on when our reading consultant came for professional development lately-- that they do not get the "fun", quality literature from which vocab can really explode. This is something that I am trying to make more of a priority in my classroom.
Question:
In a classroom with a wide range of ELLs, what is worthwhile to target in terms of vocabulary? I am pretty decent about pulling this out when I'm creating UbD units, but really poor about integrating academic vocab otherwise. Resources of what academic vocab a first grader should have by the end of the year? Most useful?
Comment: I think I got a lot out of reading this chapter. I really had not put that much thought into academic language versus social language, and in recent CFUs since beginning this unit, I've found that vocabulary is way more of an issue than I had previously realized.
Question:
In a classroom with a wide range of ELLs, what is worthwhile to target in terms of vocabulary? I am pretty decent about pulling this out when I'm creating UbD units, but really poor about integrating academic vocab otherwise. Resources of what academic vocab a first grader should have by the end of the year? Most useful?
Comment: I think I got a lot out of reading this chapter. I really had not put that much thought into academic language versus social language, and in recent CFUs since beginning this unit, I've found that vocabulary is way more of an issue than I had previously realized.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Teaching ELL: Self-Assessment Summary
This is a unit that I am really looking forward to and hoping to grow from. It is perhaps where I feel most inadequate in my teaching. Without a solid knowledge base in my student's native language, I often feel like I lack in several of the 'best practices' categories and I really strive to become stronger in this regard
The categories that I think I am weakest in are using my assessments to inform instruction, specifically with my kids that are still learning basic English. I'd say that most of my in-class work is geared toward students at the CELDT level 3-4 [since this is where the bulk of my students are currently] and I have not yet totally adapted to meet the needs of my students at CELDT-2. I am only just know getting better at working on issues of sentence structure/word order with my lowest ELLs as well-- I had falsely assumed that it would just 'come' with more practice/English-only interaction. Parts of speech and word order are proving to be a major challenge.
I'm also really week in terms of respect for home language and cutlure. I am constantly praising them for being able to speak Spanish/ "talking up" being bilingual, but I really don't know enough about their culture. I constantly finding myself thinking that I need to read up on this, but have not have time yet. I want to understand their culture better, but with the language barrier... my conversations with their parents about this have not been as productive as I had hoped.
I am probably strongest in terms of using the GLAD strategies for UbD, and I'll even admit that I did not do the best job of this during past units. So far with geography I've used a KWL, T-Chart, Web, Input Chart, CCD, etc... and I have been really trying to focus on bringing more visuals in to my UBD as well as Blending, Read-Alouds, etc. I marked myself highest on Meaningful, Thematic instruction and Models/Visuals/Graphic Organizers. This seems to be an area where I am finally now getting confident about using these strategies, but I still look forward to more improvement as I learn more from this unit.
The categories that I think I am weakest in are using my assessments to inform instruction, specifically with my kids that are still learning basic English. I'd say that most of my in-class work is geared toward students at the CELDT level 3-4 [since this is where the bulk of my students are currently] and I have not yet totally adapted to meet the needs of my students at CELDT-2. I am only just know getting better at working on issues of sentence structure/word order with my lowest ELLs as well-- I had falsely assumed that it would just 'come' with more practice/English-only interaction. Parts of speech and word order are proving to be a major challenge.
I'm also really week in terms of respect for home language and cutlure. I am constantly praising them for being able to speak Spanish/ "talking up" being bilingual, but I really don't know enough about their culture. I constantly finding myself thinking that I need to read up on this, but have not have time yet. I want to understand their culture better, but with the language barrier... my conversations with their parents about this have not been as productive as I had hoped.
I am probably strongest in terms of using the GLAD strategies for UbD, and I'll even admit that I did not do the best job of this during past units. So far with geography I've used a KWL, T-Chart, Web, Input Chart, CCD, etc... and I have been really trying to focus on bringing more visuals in to my UBD as well as Blending, Read-Alouds, etc. I marked myself highest on Meaningful, Thematic instruction and Models/Visuals/Graphic Organizers. This seems to be an area where I am finally now getting confident about using these strategies, but I still look forward to more improvement as I learn more from this unit.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
110 Equity
I found the article The Silenced Dialogue to be perhaps the most interesting of the articles that we have read so far— it reminded me of the conversations we had about Diversity and Achievement during the summer institute.
Question:
Given what we have learned in this article, what is the answer for a teacher who does not know the language? Frankly, after reading the article I am grappling more than ever with what I am likely doing wrong, how inaccessible the information might be because of my lack of cultural knowledge, etc. I especially found myself puzzled by some of the conversation on the implications of language in culture of power versus a culture without the nuanced language that I am accustomed to speaking with. (34). I often find myself asking students questions like “What should you be doing to get on green again?” or “How does a Rocketeer behave?” in my classroom management. The idea of indirect adherence to rules that Delpit spoke of is something that I think I struggle with—should I just be more direct to help these children? Or is not helping them at all if I am not using the language of the culture of power?
Quote:
“The rules or codes I’m speaking of relate to linguistic forms, communicative strategies, and presentation of self; that is, ways of talking, ways of writing, ways of dressing and ways of interacting. [3.]The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture who have power” (25) This piece of the article- listing off the attributes of the ‘culture of power’ stuck with me in a particularly strong way. It is something that I often feel so conflicted on—am I being entirely disrespectful to their ways and culture in my lack of awareness? Our school emphasizes the importance of the culture of power, but what will happen when the ‘power’ this children are getting will inevitably clash with the cultural ties of their families and community?
Comment:
There is so much on this article that was really valuable—it caused me to think back on my own cultural associations, inherent power possessed, etc. I have recently experienced some frustration in terms of student/home/family lives so I think this unit could not possibly come at a better time for me. I am still trying to adjust and learn more about the community that I’m teaching in—I sometimes feel like the biggest outsider among the staff since I do not even speak the appropriate language and I think that drives an inherent divide between myself and the students.
Question:
Given what we have learned in this article, what is the answer for a teacher who does not know the language? Frankly, after reading the article I am grappling more than ever with what I am likely doing wrong, how inaccessible the information might be because of my lack of cultural knowledge, etc. I especially found myself puzzled by some of the conversation on the implications of language in culture of power versus a culture without the nuanced language that I am accustomed to speaking with. (34). I often find myself asking students questions like “What should you be doing to get on green again?” or “How does a Rocketeer behave?” in my classroom management. The idea of indirect adherence to rules that Delpit spoke of is something that I think I struggle with—should I just be more direct to help these children? Or is not helping them at all if I am not using the language of the culture of power?
Quote:
“The rules or codes I’m speaking of relate to linguistic forms, communicative strategies, and presentation of self; that is, ways of talking, ways of writing, ways of dressing and ways of interacting. [3.]The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture who have power” (25) This piece of the article- listing off the attributes of the ‘culture of power’ stuck with me in a particularly strong way. It is something that I often feel so conflicted on—am I being entirely disrespectful to their ways and culture in my lack of awareness? Our school emphasizes the importance of the culture of power, but what will happen when the ‘power’ this children are getting will inevitably clash with the cultural ties of their families and community?
Comment:
There is so much on this article that was really valuable—it caused me to think back on my own cultural associations, inherent power possessed, etc. I have recently experienced some frustration in terms of student/home/family lives so I think this unit could not possibly come at a better time for me. I am still trying to adjust and learn more about the community that I’m teaching in—I sometimes feel like the biggest outsider among the staff since I do not even speak the appropriate language and I think that drives an inherent divide between myself and the students.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
108 Assignment 2: Differentiated Assessment
For the unit that your Lesson Study lesson plan is situated in, what are your student outcomes (unit topic, understandings, knowledge, skills) and your end of unit assessment? How does your planned instruction & formative assessment for the lesson plan move your students toward that goal?
It's a little tough to answer this question since I chose to differentiate my blending (or, well, re-differentiate my blending... I tried it about a month ago but I had too many things going on for the kids to do and time-wise it was all over the place). The Top 10 standard I was hitting is Reading 1.10- Generate the sounds from all the letters and letter patterns, including consonant blends and long- and short-vowel patterns, and blend those sounds into recognizable words. Since blending is 'ongoing' the outcomes are essentially what's written in the standard, but I know that for some of my students, they still have a way to go on that. On the other hand, I have 7 that are fairly proficient in this arena, so giving them the independent work to do makes sense I think.
In terms of assessment, its different if we're taking about this in terms of the 'unit' or in terms of the specific day. For the day that I had videotaped, the goal was for the students to be able to blend words that contained the ou (/ow sound/) spellings. We were working on the OCR 'cow card' (day 2 of this study, since we'd already covered the ow spelling). Understanding being that vowel teams paired together can make a different combined sound than the two vowels do separately-- something we've also been working on in the past two OCR 'mini-units'. My instruction for the day moves my students toward that goal by ensuring that all have reached a level of understanding of the sound (via two different means-- written communication with higher students, verbal with lowers) and are able to sound out words that contain the sound. This didn't happen 100% in the lesson for all students (I had 2 that still didn't totally 'get it'), but I had built-in the option of continuing it in Guided Reading groups later in the afternoon to go over it again and specifically address these issues. I'm trying to track what's going on in terms of blending with these specific few kids, because I'm thinking that I may need to implement a 'blending center' (I have a variety of thoughts on how to do this, but will be running a few by Peggy this week) just for my lowest reading group. They seem to need more than what I was able to provide during the differentiated lesson, and without boring the majority of my class (who, per ongoing assessment, totally 'get it'), I think I need to look at other avenues to ensure mastery for them. I hope that that makes sense-- I track 'blending' (and general phonemic awareness lapses) through a system of notes on which kids still need to work on what, and I definitely plan on getting myself together more on this and pulling together a more cohesive system of assessment for this soon.
It's a little tough to answer this question since I chose to differentiate my blending (or, well, re-differentiate my blending... I tried it about a month ago but I had too many things going on for the kids to do and time-wise it was all over the place). The Top 10 standard I was hitting is Reading 1.10- Generate the sounds from all the letters and letter patterns, including consonant blends and long- and short-vowel patterns, and blend those sounds into recognizable words. Since blending is 'ongoing' the outcomes are essentially what's written in the standard, but I know that for some of my students, they still have a way to go on that. On the other hand, I have 7 that are fairly proficient in this arena, so giving them the independent work to do makes sense I think.
In terms of assessment, its different if we're taking about this in terms of the 'unit' or in terms of the specific day. For the day that I had videotaped, the goal was for the students to be able to blend words that contained the ou (/ow sound/) spellings. We were working on the OCR 'cow card' (day 2 of this study, since we'd already covered the ow spelling). Understanding being that vowel teams paired together can make a different combined sound than the two vowels do separately-- something we've also been working on in the past two OCR 'mini-units'. My instruction for the day moves my students toward that goal by ensuring that all have reached a level of understanding of the sound (via two different means-- written communication with higher students, verbal with lowers) and are able to sound out words that contain the sound. This didn't happen 100% in the lesson for all students (I had 2 that still didn't totally 'get it'), but I had built-in the option of continuing it in Guided Reading groups later in the afternoon to go over it again and specifically address these issues. I'm trying to track what's going on in terms of blending with these specific few kids, because I'm thinking that I may need to implement a 'blending center' (I have a variety of thoughts on how to do this, but will be running a few by Peggy this week) just for my lowest reading group. They seem to need more than what I was able to provide during the differentiated lesson, and without boring the majority of my class (who, per ongoing assessment, totally 'get it'), I think I need to look at other avenues to ensure mastery for them. I hope that that makes sense-- I track 'blending' (and general phonemic awareness lapses) through a system of notes on which kids still need to work on what, and I definitely plan on getting myself together more on this and pulling together a more cohesive system of assessment for this soon.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
These chapters were full of great ideas, but I think I still need more time to shift through them and really think about what would work with first graders. It was awesome to read a 'case study' of how stations should work in a 4th grade classroom, but at this point I can't quite figure out how I'd be able to manage them while keeping order with my first graders. That aspect is still a bit of a question for me, so I'm looking forward to hearing how other teachers would approach a 'stations' work time instead of centers. I did really like how Tomlinson added in the "Differentiate Why" aspect-- something I don't always even consider myself. Like I spoke about in last week's blog and last week's meeting, I fall into the trap of pulling my kids out by High-Middle-Low, giving them variants on the same task and then calling that differentiate. Considering the 'Why Differentiate' aspect has really made me change my own understanding of flexible groupings (which I feel like I only do in terms of Guided Reading at this point).
On the other hand, there were elements of the reading that I think could be immediately applicable to my teaching. Agendas are something that I have found to work great with my kids already-- although they have been given the same tasks to complete. I also have only given then daily agendas (or occasionally one runs for 2-3 days). I think that agendas would be hugely effective in writing for me. My students are already accustomed to an editors checklist, and I've been seeking more effective ways to differentiate writing for my lower students especially, as well as my students who are even still struggling with the handwriting element. The article stated that "Generally, students determine the order in which they will complete agenda items. A particular time in the day is set aside as agenda time. In
elementary classrooms and block scheduled secondary classrooms, teachers often select the first part of the day or block. In other classes, agendas are
used once a week or as anchor activities when students complete other assigned work." While creating the actual agendas could be more time consuming for me, in the long run I think they could be hugely effective, especially since I have been transitioning my writing process into a 5-day web, pre-write, drafting, publishing etc process as Peggy has suggested. There is just so much to do in writing that I'd love to have agendas for both their benefit and mine.
In Tomlinson's Chapter 8, the concept of "Entry Points" was especially fascinating to me-- basically the idea that different students may need different jump-off points to access content, and that making content accessible is a crucial element of differentiating. I often find that I wish I was more aware of my students place on the topic of multiple intelligences-- I wish I knew early on how to determine who was spatial, who was linguistic, etc. I will be interested to discuss more of this in our seminar and how other teachers make content immediately accessible for kids who are not the 'typical' learner or who do not do as well with the Rocketship style.
I have been feeling (in general) really overwhelmed with teaching in general at the moment. Not necessarily with instruction or being in my classroom with my students, but moreso in terms of being pushed beyond what I'm capable of juggling at the moment. Throwing more differentiation into the mix is only adding to that stress, so I'm trying to really think through what my best routes would be to differentiation-- how to do it effectively for both the benefit of myself and my students. I'm looking forward to hearing about different ways to differentiate during the next meeting.
On the other hand, there were elements of the reading that I think could be immediately applicable to my teaching. Agendas are something that I have found to work great with my kids already-- although they have been given the same tasks to complete. I also have only given then daily agendas (or occasionally one runs for 2-3 days). I think that agendas would be hugely effective in writing for me. My students are already accustomed to an editors checklist, and I've been seeking more effective ways to differentiate writing for my lower students especially, as well as my students who are even still struggling with the handwriting element. The article stated that "Generally, students determine the order in which they will complete agenda items. A particular time in the day is set aside as agenda time. In
elementary classrooms and block scheduled secondary classrooms, teachers often select the first part of the day or block. In other classes, agendas are
used once a week or as anchor activities when students complete other assigned work." While creating the actual agendas could be more time consuming for me, in the long run I think they could be hugely effective, especially since I have been transitioning my writing process into a 5-day web, pre-write, drafting, publishing etc process as Peggy has suggested. There is just so much to do in writing that I'd love to have agendas for both their benefit and mine.
In Tomlinson's Chapter 8, the concept of "Entry Points" was especially fascinating to me-- basically the idea that different students may need different jump-off points to access content, and that making content accessible is a crucial element of differentiating. I often find that I wish I was more aware of my students place on the topic of multiple intelligences-- I wish I knew early on how to determine who was spatial, who was linguistic, etc. I will be interested to discuss more of this in our seminar and how other teachers make content immediately accessible for kids who are not the 'typical' learner or who do not do as well with the Rocketship style.
I have been feeling (in general) really overwhelmed with teaching in general at the moment. Not necessarily with instruction or being in my classroom with my students, but moreso in terms of being pushed beyond what I'm capable of juggling at the moment. Throwing more differentiation into the mix is only adding to that stress, so I'm trying to really think through what my best routes would be to differentiation-- how to do it effectively for both the benefit of myself and my students. I'm looking forward to hearing about different ways to differentiate during the next meeting.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
108: Self Assessment
The Tomlinson reading and this assignment provided me with a good opportunity to reflect and realize that, even when it seems like progress is slow going, I definitely have shown improvement this year. I have such a long way to go still before I would consider myself truly 'skilled' in any of my areas for growth, however, I know that I am making progress and will continue to make progress based on the reflection I've done.
There was one specific quote that really jumped out at me regarding differentiation "Differentiated teaching is responsive teaching. It stems from a teacher's solid (and growing) understanding of how teaching and learning occur and it responds to varied learners' needs for more structure or more independence, more practice or greater challenge, a more active or less active approach to learning and so on." It is this particular facet of differentiation-- how it is responsive, changes, etc that scares me to some degree. As I become more and more comfortable with teaching, as presenting the material becomes more routine and streamlined, I start to think of how, in some ways, next year will probably (hopefully?) feel easier. I will have my materials, know what is reasonable to expect from first graders etc. But at the same time, each year of teaching means completely starting fresh in terms of differentiation. Every child will have different needs.
All of this, plus Christmas break and being away from teaching, gave me some time to think about ways to really target kids. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize that three of my 'higher' students had serious deficiencies in one specific area until December. One student is in my morning class, the other two in my afternoon class, and they are all at slightly different places in all of it. This week I have started a whole new course of action with them- having them bring home extra work, spending more time with them during school and after to work on this one specific need. Still, I don't want the same thing to happen next year-- I'd really like to assess needs better (or rather, make sure I am addressing the whole range of academic needs, not just comp and decoding struggles etc) so that I can be better differentiating for all of my students, not just my extremely high or extremely low ones.
I think my current level of understanding, in general, varies widely in terms of the TPEs we have been working on. I feel the weakest on Instructional Planning-- while I generally have weekly plans done ahead of time now, and I always do what I intend to in the time that I intend to use, I still feel like I'm not maximizing the time that I have with my students necessarily, nor am I pushing for their participation as much as I should be. I think there are still a few students, in both classes but moreso in my morning class, who are not getting nearly as much out of class as they should be. That comes down to my teaching, and my not reaching them as much as I should be. Also, this to some degree ties in with investment. While my middle-to-high students are VERY interested in making it to Level 16 on DRA, my lower students can still sometimes come off as ambivalent. It's often the higher kids trying to motivate the lower ones as opposed to the lower ones really giving their best effort independently.
Somewhere that I think I have improved on the Mid-Year Review is Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning. Its been a strange process of even figuring out the most effective ways to use a classroom and the space I have, and keeping it organized in a way that makes sense to both my students and myself. I want them to have ownership over the space, and I think I do still have a ways to go in that (i.e. making sure a lot of their work is up on the walls, etc).
In summary, I think the areas that I am doing the best at are differentiating for my higher students (finding ways to challenge them, making their work appropraite to their level), specifically with my afternoon class; Instructional Time and making content accessible to my ELLs (though I am definitely still working on this). In terms of Instructional Time, this is where I have seen the greatest improvement in my skills as a teacher. Though I still have a good ways to grow in this regard, I have gotten significantly better at sticking to our daily schedule, following the 10-2 rule, using up extra time in effective ways (with activities that we are able to do whole class, or that students are able to do independently or with a partner, etc). I feel like my use of instructional time is almost completely different than the first month of school, where I was just looking for things to do to fill the time or stretching activities longer than they needed to be. Now, class is a lot more fast-paced and I hope this continues. I also think that I have majorly grown in terms of classroom management and I am so happy with how things have changed in that regard. I totally attribute that success to my work with Peggy, Melissa, etc, and being taped, watching the video and reflecting on that.
I am looking forward to more growth in terms of reaching the needs of all of my students. I often reflect on how much better things go with my afternoon class, and their scores on assessments always show that. The mood is more fun and engaged, the students are more interested, etc. I feel like their energy (which was overwhelming at the beginning of the year) has been channeled into a love of reading and that is so rewarding to see. Making that happen for my morning class is something I'm really going to push hard for in the next few months. They are simply not as engaged, not as invested, etc despite being very well-behaved. They have taught me a good lesson that classroom management on its own is not enough, and I need to push them more.
I still think I have a long way to go on my UbD instruction as well. This particular unit is a major challenge for more, so I'm trying to push through it (as we had it 'planned') for the next week or so before I meet with the other first grade teacher and we make any changes we need to. Overall though, I'm not sure that my UbD instruction teachers for 'deeper understanding' quite enough, and I plan to adhere much more closely to Jay McTighe's vision of what UbD should look like, and how to combine it with DI in our next unit.
Reflecting back on my Continuum of Teacher Development, two things stand out. First, I misjudged my skills after the summer institute. While those may have held true for the grade level that I had taught over the summer, they did not necessarily hold for first grade. The most obvious spot where I did this was in 'Determining Student progress toward achieving essential outcomes'. I placed myself in the emerging category, and looking back, I was definitely in Beginning. I'm just NOW getting into emerging. Better communicating the standards and learning objectives was my professional development New Years resolution, and something I am determined to do better at in 2009.
Secondly, I think I am still, for the most part, still in the Emerging/Applying categories overall. Looking at that is a bit frustrating; I now realize that teaching is a huge learning curve and I have such a long way to go. I really want to be in the Innovating category for the sake of my students, and it is hard to see myself still struggling in certain aspects of teaching. That said, I am seeing lots of progress and I know I will get there, if I really focus on the specific needs that I have. Something that I began doing in the middle of last semester, and plan to continue doing this year is to focus on one personal goal per week. One week, that goal was differentiating my phonics instruction for my higher student. Another week, it was pushing for better understanding of spelling rules and patterns, etc. I plan to keep doing this, since I found it, in conjunction with tying it to the seminars and my one-on-ones with Peggy, forced me to move forward on small aspects that are part of the larger picture in terms of the continuum. Tying my goals more closely to the rubric will hopefully help me make progress in the specific areas that most need it during the second half of the year.
There was one specific quote that really jumped out at me regarding differentiation "Differentiated teaching is responsive teaching. It stems from a teacher's solid (and growing) understanding of how teaching and learning occur and it responds to varied learners' needs for more structure or more independence, more practice or greater challenge, a more active or less active approach to learning and so on." It is this particular facet of differentiation-- how it is responsive, changes, etc that scares me to some degree. As I become more and more comfortable with teaching, as presenting the material becomes more routine and streamlined, I start to think of how, in some ways, next year will probably (hopefully?) feel easier. I will have my materials, know what is reasonable to expect from first graders etc. But at the same time, each year of teaching means completely starting fresh in terms of differentiation. Every child will have different needs.
All of this, plus Christmas break and being away from teaching, gave me some time to think about ways to really target kids. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize that three of my 'higher' students had serious deficiencies in one specific area until December. One student is in my morning class, the other two in my afternoon class, and they are all at slightly different places in all of it. This week I have started a whole new course of action with them- having them bring home extra work, spending more time with them during school and after to work on this one specific need. Still, I don't want the same thing to happen next year-- I'd really like to assess needs better (or rather, make sure I am addressing the whole range of academic needs, not just comp and decoding struggles etc) so that I can be better differentiating for all of my students, not just my extremely high or extremely low ones.
I think my current level of understanding, in general, varies widely in terms of the TPEs we have been working on. I feel the weakest on Instructional Planning-- while I generally have weekly plans done ahead of time now, and I always do what I intend to in the time that I intend to use, I still feel like I'm not maximizing the time that I have with my students necessarily, nor am I pushing for their participation as much as I should be. I think there are still a few students, in both classes but moreso in my morning class, who are not getting nearly as much out of class as they should be. That comes down to my teaching, and my not reaching them as much as I should be. Also, this to some degree ties in with investment. While my middle-to-high students are VERY interested in making it to Level 16 on DRA, my lower students can still sometimes come off as ambivalent. It's often the higher kids trying to motivate the lower ones as opposed to the lower ones really giving their best effort independently.
Somewhere that I think I have improved on the Mid-Year Review is Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning. Its been a strange process of even figuring out the most effective ways to use a classroom and the space I have, and keeping it organized in a way that makes sense to both my students and myself. I want them to have ownership over the space, and I think I do still have a ways to go in that (i.e. making sure a lot of their work is up on the walls, etc).
In summary, I think the areas that I am doing the best at are differentiating for my higher students (finding ways to challenge them, making their work appropraite to their level), specifically with my afternoon class; Instructional Time and making content accessible to my ELLs (though I am definitely still working on this). In terms of Instructional Time, this is where I have seen the greatest improvement in my skills as a teacher. Though I still have a good ways to grow in this regard, I have gotten significantly better at sticking to our daily schedule, following the 10-2 rule, using up extra time in effective ways (with activities that we are able to do whole class, or that students are able to do independently or with a partner, etc). I feel like my use of instructional time is almost completely different than the first month of school, where I was just looking for things to do to fill the time or stretching activities longer than they needed to be. Now, class is a lot more fast-paced and I hope this continues. I also think that I have majorly grown in terms of classroom management and I am so happy with how things have changed in that regard. I totally attribute that success to my work with Peggy, Melissa, etc, and being taped, watching the video and reflecting on that.
I am looking forward to more growth in terms of reaching the needs of all of my students. I often reflect on how much better things go with my afternoon class, and their scores on assessments always show that. The mood is more fun and engaged, the students are more interested, etc. I feel like their energy (which was overwhelming at the beginning of the year) has been channeled into a love of reading and that is so rewarding to see. Making that happen for my morning class is something I'm really going to push hard for in the next few months. They are simply not as engaged, not as invested, etc despite being very well-behaved. They have taught me a good lesson that classroom management on its own is not enough, and I need to push them more.
I still think I have a long way to go on my UbD instruction as well. This particular unit is a major challenge for more, so I'm trying to push through it (as we had it 'planned') for the next week or so before I meet with the other first grade teacher and we make any changes we need to. Overall though, I'm not sure that my UbD instruction teachers for 'deeper understanding' quite enough, and I plan to adhere much more closely to Jay McTighe's vision of what UbD should look like, and how to combine it with DI in our next unit.
Reflecting back on my Continuum of Teacher Development, two things stand out. First, I misjudged my skills after the summer institute. While those may have held true for the grade level that I had taught over the summer, they did not necessarily hold for first grade. The most obvious spot where I did this was in 'Determining Student progress toward achieving essential outcomes'. I placed myself in the emerging category, and looking back, I was definitely in Beginning. I'm just NOW getting into emerging. Better communicating the standards and learning objectives was my professional development New Years resolution, and something I am determined to do better at in 2009.
Secondly, I think I am still, for the most part, still in the Emerging/Applying categories overall. Looking at that is a bit frustrating; I now realize that teaching is a huge learning curve and I have such a long way to go. I really want to be in the Innovating category for the sake of my students, and it is hard to see myself still struggling in certain aspects of teaching. That said, I am seeing lots of progress and I know I will get there, if I really focus on the specific needs that I have. Something that I began doing in the middle of last semester, and plan to continue doing this year is to focus on one personal goal per week. One week, that goal was differentiating my phonics instruction for my higher student. Another week, it was pushing for better understanding of spelling rules and patterns, etc. I plan to keep doing this, since I found it, in conjunction with tying it to the seminars and my one-on-ones with Peggy, forced me to move forward on small aspects that are part of the larger picture in terms of the continuum. Tying my goals more closely to the rubric will hopefully help me make progress in the specific areas that most need it during the second half of the year.
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