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.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
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.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
105- How Teachers Learn
Q: Throughout this reading, I found the one major stumbling block to really supporting teachers being that there are so very many ways to do it, but few programs that do enough to truly support teachers, according to the article. Knowing that all teachers learn differently, how do we possibly select the most effective (including time-effective and cost-effective) manners to support teachers without overwhelming them?
Q: "Action research is an approach to professional development in which,typically, teachers spend 1 or more year working on classroom-based research projects. While action research has has multiple forms and purposes, it is an important way for teachers to improve their teaching and curricula, and there is also an assumpting that what teachers learn through this process can be shared with others." (199/200?). I found this quote interesting because, having just come from college where I was accustomed to doing research and getting credit for it, my brain is somewhat still in that 'mode.'Being in that mode, and knowing that I benefit from this type of collaboration, I think pushing myself to do this in the future, could really benefit me as a teacher, and also make me feel significantly more productive just personally.
C:One thing that really struck me was when the article discussed how the percentage of money invested by schools in educating their teachers is minimal-- 1 to 3 percent of the operating budget. When you consider that, it seems to be no wonder that teachers can feel so isolated and unsupported in the typical classroom setting. I do not feel this so much at Rocketship, but this feeling was a huge possibility we were warned about this summer at Institute. I can only imagine how much more success schools might see in teacher retention if they truly invested in making their teachers have important resources. The Guided Reading in-services are something I really appreciate about Rocketship, and seeing that statistic only made me appreciate them more.
Q: "Action research is an approach to professional development in which,typically, teachers spend 1 or more year working on classroom-based research projects. While action research has has multiple forms and purposes, it is an important way for teachers to improve their teaching and curricula, and there is also an assumpting that what teachers learn through this process can be shared with others." (199/200?). I found this quote interesting because, having just come from college where I was accustomed to doing research and getting credit for it, my brain is somewhat still in that 'mode.'Being in that mode, and knowing that I benefit from this type of collaboration, I think pushing myself to do this in the future, could really benefit me as a teacher, and also make me feel significantly more productive just personally.
C:One thing that really struck me was when the article discussed how the percentage of money invested by schools in educating their teachers is minimal-- 1 to 3 percent of the operating budget. When you consider that, it seems to be no wonder that teachers can feel so isolated and unsupported in the typical classroom setting. I do not feel this so much at Rocketship, but this feeling was a huge possibility we were warned about this summer at Institute. I can only imagine how much more success schools might see in teacher retention if they truly invested in making their teachers have important resources. The Guided Reading in-services are something I really appreciate about Rocketship, and seeing that statistic only made me appreciate them more.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
105: How People Learn, Assignment #1
Learning from Speculation to Science
Q: "The new science of learning does not deny that facts are important for thinking and problem solving. Research on expertise in areas such as chess, history, science an dmathematics demonstrate that experts' abilities to think and solve problems depend on a rich body of knowledge about subject matter. However, the research also shows clearly that "usable knowledge" is not the same as a mere list of disconnected facts. Experts' knowledge is connected and organized around important concepts." (p 10).
This quote really struck me as I, all too often, find myself falling into the category of giving them random knowledge, but not making it entirely applicable category. Our incredibly randomized spelling lists from the beginning of the year stood out to me especially--- without a true reason, why would my students remember the words? It is little surprise that they did as poorly on the first spelling tests as I did.
Q: The article spoke of the idea of how we must incorporate pre-existing knowledge in order to be successful. However, this is something I really struggle with when, sometimes, at the first grade level, very little pre-existing knowledge may exist. How do we tailor this to a lower-elementary level? What are some strategies to make a year a cummulative buildup of pre-existing knowledge?
C: I found it interesting to even frame learning in the context of a 'science'. It takes it to the metacognitive level, but also forces thoughts on methodology and process, and fact as opposed to 'theory'. This article kind of stood in the face of what we have all heard so often-- 'this' or 'that' theory of education. When we are forced to think of education beyond the context of theory, and take it to the level of research-compiled fact, with both the behavioral and academic contexts considered, I think we have the opportunity to reach new depths as educators.
Q: "The new science of learning does not deny that facts are important for thinking and problem solving. Research on expertise in areas such as chess, history, science an dmathematics demonstrate that experts' abilities to think and solve problems depend on a rich body of knowledge about subject matter. However, the research also shows clearly that "usable knowledge" is not the same as a mere list of disconnected facts. Experts' knowledge is connected and organized around important concepts." (p 10).
This quote really struck me as I, all too often, find myself falling into the category of giving them random knowledge, but not making it entirely applicable category. Our incredibly randomized spelling lists from the beginning of the year stood out to me especially--- without a true reason, why would my students remember the words? It is little surprise that they did as poorly on the first spelling tests as I did.
Q: The article spoke of the idea of how we must incorporate pre-existing knowledge in order to be successful. However, this is something I really struggle with when, sometimes, at the first grade level, very little pre-existing knowledge may exist. How do we tailor this to a lower-elementary level? What are some strategies to make a year a cummulative buildup of pre-existing knowledge?
C: I found it interesting to even frame learning in the context of a 'science'. It takes it to the metacognitive level, but also forces thoughts on methodology and process, and fact as opposed to 'theory'. This article kind of stood in the face of what we have all heard so often-- 'this' or 'that' theory of education. When we are forced to think of education beyond the context of theory, and take it to the level of research-compiled fact, with both the behavioral and academic contexts considered, I think we have the opportunity to reach new depths as educators.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The times that I have spent the most alive as a learner are when I have been an active participant, actually 'seeing' the things that I have learned about. I was inspired to be a history major in college by time that I spent in concentration camps in Poland and Germany-- really feeling the atmosphere, taking it all in, etc. Back in the US, for me, this meant going to the US Holocaust Museum in DC on a regular basis--- I needed to actually see pictures and experience the subject matter more deeply in order to stay grounded in it and reprioritize my learning again. I wrote a my undergrad thesis on a Holocaust-related topic, and spent many hours pouring through research articles, documents from the post-war trials, and so on. I often had to remind myself to put what I was reading into the context of what I had seen with my own eyes, to make it real. I feel like this can be very much the case with the learning that our own students do... if they can't relate what they are learning to their own life, and if they do not find it personally applicable, it's much easier to forget what they have learned and just move forward. We need to provide them with a context in which to file the information and knowledge that they have gained, to answer that question of 'Why am I learning this?'
This quote made me think a lot about those experiences I had in the camps-- and the fact that, in those times, I really did feel that I was 'living more fully than during the rest of life'. Because of the subject matter, it was not a particularly happy feeling of being 'alive' but it was a very real, strong feeling. There's something about an experience of that depth and intensity that really gives you a new appreciation for the things you are learning in a lecture, in a classroom, in another time and place. It was a very humbling experience and I consider myself fortunate to have been able to experience learning in such a hands-on way.
This quote made me think a lot about those experiences I had in the camps-- and the fact that, in those times, I really did feel that I was 'living more fully than during the rest of life'. Because of the subject matter, it was not a particularly happy feeling of being 'alive' but it was a very real, strong feeling. There's something about an experience of that depth and intensity that really gives you a new appreciation for the things you are learning in a lecture, in a classroom, in another time and place. It was a very humbling experience and I consider myself fortunate to have been able to experience learning in such a hands-on way.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Course 109- Writing
QQC
Q:
I'm still trying to find my bearings with Spelling. I was glad to have Peggy in my room last week to check out how I was teaching spelling, but totally bummed when my students still did NOT do well on the spelling test that week. I don't want to lower my expectations to give them easier words, especially since I know the other first grade class is making an okay average with the same words. So, I've been wondering what's going on with my teaching that is impeding their learning... what are they missing that they need? How can I explain things better to them.... which leads me to my question that I still have on the spelling instruction portion of writing instruction. This article talked about teaching students to monitor and check their own spelling (p. 135), but how? I have them switch papers before they hand their papers in to me sometimes. They are set up at table groups with High-Med-Med-Low, so in theory, they should be getting extra support. But so many of them are phonetic spellers that they think 'in' really is the way to spell 'and', or 'hows' truly is the way to spell 'house'. I encourage them to read the room, use their word wall... and am instituting vocab sheets in writing folders for my bottom 4 or 5 kids per class. Still, when checking their spelling, it is only my highest 10 (Spartans) and maybe highest 2 (Highlanders) that can catch and correct the majority of spelling mistakes. I guess what I'm trying to ask is... How do I do a 'monitor and check' in spelling without pulling out dictionaries or wasting time for my ELLs, lower kids, etc? How can I make the spelling check work for them during or at the end of writing workshop?
Q:
"Under the modeled writing method, the most teacher-directed approach, the teacher writes in front of the students, creating the text, and controlling the pen. Even more importantly, the teacher constantly "thinks aloud" about writing strategies and skills. This approach allows students to hear the thinking that accompanies the process of writing. Those thoughts may address choosing a topic, organizing your ideas, using a plan to write your rough draft, removing repetitive information or proofreading to fix grammar."
I pulled this quote out to remind myself to do this more. I'd say I think aloud maybe only once or twice per week when writing. I'm better about doing it when writing than reading too, so that's not a particularly great sign. I NEED to do this more... I often model 'mistakes' to make sure that they catch them too, and to remind them to reread each sentence to make sure it makes sense. I need to do this more in both areas as we move into narrative writing-- I know it's crucial to their development as writers, but also important as a think-through and a re-tell of the directions for my ELLs.
C:
I think it's especially beneficial for me to spend some time reading about and working on Writing Strategies, and I appreciated having differentiated readings this week. Several veteran teachers told me, going into this year, that writing was a place where they really struggled their first year. As a result of having that information, I've tried to make it something that my students do every day (I think we've only not written twice this year so far), but at the same time, I know that I'm not giving them ENOUGH instruction in writing. It's happening, but not at the depth I want it happening-- and that is totally a result of me not knowing enough and not using my resources enough. I've finally started instituting Step-Up to Writing (although last week it was a lame, somewhat halfway attempt) and I'm planning on spending more time on writing in December... this is an area where I plan on working with my mentor teachers a lot. Writing is both rewarding and challenging for me-- for some students, I'm seeing so much more progress in reading than writing, and the opposite is happening as well. For my ELLs, it's frustrating to see parts of speech all mixed up, yet phonetic spelling on target.
On another note, it was great to go back through and read something from the TFA literature that we had this summer. Honestly, I don't remember all too much from what we read.... mostly because I was reading it on a cross-country flight where the idea of being a teacher in four months was really, really abstract and still didn't seem all that possible. It was so much more applicable now.
Q:
I'm still trying to find my bearings with Spelling. I was glad to have Peggy in my room last week to check out how I was teaching spelling, but totally bummed when my students still did NOT do well on the spelling test that week. I don't want to lower my expectations to give them easier words, especially since I know the other first grade class is making an okay average with the same words. So, I've been wondering what's going on with my teaching that is impeding their learning... what are they missing that they need? How can I explain things better to them.... which leads me to my question that I still have on the spelling instruction portion of writing instruction. This article talked about teaching students to monitor and check their own spelling (p. 135), but how? I have them switch papers before they hand their papers in to me sometimes. They are set up at table groups with High-Med-Med-Low, so in theory, they should be getting extra support. But so many of them are phonetic spellers that they think 'in' really is the way to spell 'and', or 'hows' truly is the way to spell 'house'. I encourage them to read the room, use their word wall... and am instituting vocab sheets in writing folders for my bottom 4 or 5 kids per class. Still, when checking their spelling, it is only my highest 10 (Spartans) and maybe highest 2 (Highlanders) that can catch and correct the majority of spelling mistakes. I guess what I'm trying to ask is... How do I do a 'monitor and check' in spelling without pulling out dictionaries or wasting time for my ELLs, lower kids, etc? How can I make the spelling check work for them during or at the end of writing workshop?
Q:
"Under the modeled writing method, the most teacher-directed approach, the teacher writes in front of the students, creating the text, and controlling the pen. Even more importantly, the teacher constantly "thinks aloud" about writing strategies and skills. This approach allows students to hear the thinking that accompanies the process of writing. Those thoughts may address choosing a topic, organizing your ideas, using a plan to write your rough draft, removing repetitive information or proofreading to fix grammar."
I pulled this quote out to remind myself to do this more. I'd say I think aloud maybe only once or twice per week when writing. I'm better about doing it when writing than reading too, so that's not a particularly great sign. I NEED to do this more... I often model 'mistakes' to make sure that they catch them too, and to remind them to reread each sentence to make sure it makes sense. I need to do this more in both areas as we move into narrative writing-- I know it's crucial to their development as writers, but also important as a think-through and a re-tell of the directions for my ELLs.
C:
I think it's especially beneficial for me to spend some time reading about and working on Writing Strategies, and I appreciated having differentiated readings this week. Several veteran teachers told me, going into this year, that writing was a place where they really struggled their first year. As a result of having that information, I've tried to make it something that my students do every day (I think we've only not written twice this year so far), but at the same time, I know that I'm not giving them ENOUGH instruction in writing. It's happening, but not at the depth I want it happening-- and that is totally a result of me not knowing enough and not using my resources enough. I've finally started instituting Step-Up to Writing (although last week it was a lame, somewhat halfway attempt) and I'm planning on spending more time on writing in December... this is an area where I plan on working with my mentor teachers a lot. Writing is both rewarding and challenging for me-- for some students, I'm seeing so much more progress in reading than writing, and the opposite is happening as well. For my ELLs, it's frustrating to see parts of speech all mixed up, yet phonetic spelling on target.
On another note, it was great to go back through and read something from the TFA literature that we had this summer. Honestly, I don't remember all too much from what we read.... mostly because I was reading it on a cross-country flight where the idea of being a teacher in four months was really, really abstract and still didn't seem all that possible. It was so much more applicable now.
Course 109- Strategies that Work
"Reading is Thinking" and "Reading is Strategic" QQC
Q:
One thing I noticed in the 'Reading is Thinking' reading, that struck me right off the bat, was how well the students were able to make connections to things they had read in the past. This seems to be a major challenge for my students, and I think it's something cognitively that I just don't quite understand in them yet. While my students *might* sometimes refer back to a book that they have read over and over again, they generally can't tell you what book they read for their Reading Packet the night prior. They' haven't made those connections and remembering details from specific stories seems to be a major challenge for them. How do you foster this in first graders? On the one hand, I want them to remember details so that they come to have 'favorite books' as part of the 'good readers ___' strategies from Debbie Miller's Reading With Meaning. On the other hand, they simply need to improve their skills in this area, since passing the DRA Level 4 and beyond requires correctly sequencing details from the short stories they have just read. It's a skill that is definitely stronger in some kids than in others, and it's one that I want to find strategies to improve. The 'Reading is Thinking' article got me thinking... but most of the strategies in terms of making connections seemed more applicable to older kids. How do I get those connections into my first graders? I already do the sticky-note method, and I have just initiated 'Reading Logs' for my students to rate their favorite books and from which I will display 'Class Favorites'... but on a more basic level, what activities can help students fine-tune these skills?
Q:
"Like writing, reading is an act of composition. When we write, we compose thoughts on paper. When we read, we compose meaning in our minds. Thoughtful, active readers use the text to stimulate their own thinking and to engage with the mind of the writers. Readers construct and maintain understand by merging their thinking with the text." (p.21)
This quote stood out to me since it is a connection that I often try to make with my students. We talk a lot about how writing and reading are so, so linked. I stress the importance of being good writers to try to get them to place themselves in both frames-- as a writer who is getting better and better each day, but also as a reader who improves their writing by reading it, if that makes any sense. We talk about the balance of reading and writing and how very connected they are. This quote puts it in a more theoretical framework, but it's an idea that I'd really like to share with my students and that I will incorporate into one of my mini-lessons during an 'Editors Workshop'.
C:
This article was so, so dense with so many strategies that I can work into my instruction. Some I remembered from having read Debbie Miller's book.. and I think I need to go sift through that again to see how she managed to apply the higher-level comprehension piece to first graders. I'm only imagining that if this is a lot for MY brain to process right now, it's also overwhelming for my students. One thing that I took away from both this article and from our professional development day with Judy Miller is that I need to make a tracking system for comprehension on my assessment wall. I've got spelling, sight words, reading levels, guided reading groups, a record of their oral reading behaviors... and essentially no way to track comprehension beyond an occasional writers workshop piece that ties in. If I'm going to sort this all out in a way that works for my mind, I always have to put it in a format that they can understand. I want them to work hard for goals in Reading Comprehension, and work hard to 'master' the strategies that are SO important in their development as a reader.
Q:
One thing I noticed in the 'Reading is Thinking' reading, that struck me right off the bat, was how well the students were able to make connections to things they had read in the past. This seems to be a major challenge for my students, and I think it's something cognitively that I just don't quite understand in them yet. While my students *might* sometimes refer back to a book that they have read over and over again, they generally can't tell you what book they read for their Reading Packet the night prior. They' haven't made those connections and remembering details from specific stories seems to be a major challenge for them. How do you foster this in first graders? On the one hand, I want them to remember details so that they come to have 'favorite books' as part of the 'good readers ___' strategies from Debbie Miller's Reading With Meaning. On the other hand, they simply need to improve their skills in this area, since passing the DRA Level 4 and beyond requires correctly sequencing details from the short stories they have just read. It's a skill that is definitely stronger in some kids than in others, and it's one that I want to find strategies to improve. The 'Reading is Thinking' article got me thinking... but most of the strategies in terms of making connections seemed more applicable to older kids. How do I get those connections into my first graders? I already do the sticky-note method, and I have just initiated 'Reading Logs' for my students to rate their favorite books and from which I will display 'Class Favorites'... but on a more basic level, what activities can help students fine-tune these skills?
Q:
"Like writing, reading is an act of composition. When we write, we compose thoughts on paper. When we read, we compose meaning in our minds. Thoughtful, active readers use the text to stimulate their own thinking and to engage with the mind of the writers. Readers construct and maintain understand by merging their thinking with the text." (p.21)
This quote stood out to me since it is a connection that I often try to make with my students. We talk a lot about how writing and reading are so, so linked. I stress the importance of being good writers to try to get them to place themselves in both frames-- as a writer who is getting better and better each day, but also as a reader who improves their writing by reading it, if that makes any sense. We talk about the balance of reading and writing and how very connected they are. This quote puts it in a more theoretical framework, but it's an idea that I'd really like to share with my students and that I will incorporate into one of my mini-lessons during an 'Editors Workshop'.
C:
This article was so, so dense with so many strategies that I can work into my instruction. Some I remembered from having read Debbie Miller's book.. and I think I need to go sift through that again to see how she managed to apply the higher-level comprehension piece to first graders. I'm only imagining that if this is a lot for MY brain to process right now, it's also overwhelming for my students. One thing that I took away from both this article and from our professional development day with Judy Miller is that I need to make a tracking system for comprehension on my assessment wall. I've got spelling, sight words, reading levels, guided reading groups, a record of their oral reading behaviors... and essentially no way to track comprehension beyond an occasional writers workshop piece that ties in. If I'm going to sort this all out in a way that works for my mind, I always have to put it in a format that they can understand. I want them to work hard for goals in Reading Comprehension, and work hard to 'master' the strategies that are SO important in their development as a reader.
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