Chapter 5
Chapter 5 is all about curriculum and what needs to happen to make curriculum successful in differentiation. I liked a quote at the beginning " The teacher's agreement to make ties recognizes the learners need for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge. The agreement responds with a pledge to being investment, invitation, opportunity, persistence, and reflection to the time, place, and interactions that will bind together teacher and learner. It sets the tone for what is possible. The agreement is the first step, a step of immense consequence, but it is a beginning." I liked this quote because it ties everything together and reminds me of the cogs in chapter 1. The teacher has to take interest in the students needs and put forth effort. The book talked about that we as teachers need to teach the curriculum to our students, not just teach math, but teach our students math. I really liked this because I remember when I was in third grade my teacher was all about the drill and skill and i hated everything about school. I felt like he didn't care if I succeeded so why should I. But then in Fourth grade my teacher got to know me and invested her time and talents in me and I loved school that year. It just goes to show that it matters how you teach not just what you teach. There are five characteristics in the classroom that will help students learn; importance, focused, engaging, demanding, and scaffolded. I am just going to give a few highlights of each of these. Importance means that the curriculum is essential to the structure of the discipline, and it is a road map toward expertise in a discipline. Focused curriculum is whatever we do is unambiguously aligned with the articulated and essential learning goals. Whatever we do is designed to get us where we need to go. Engaging curriculum means students most often find meaning in their work, students most often find the work intriguing, and students see themselves and their world in the work. Demanding curriculum means, the work is most often a bit beyond the reach of each learner, student growth is nonnegotiable, and standards for work and behavior are high. Scaffold curriculum is the teacher teaches for success, criteria for success are clear to students, and criteria for classroom operation and students behavior are clear to students. The end of the chapter states that you can only care about a students if you understand the student. So we as teachers need to make an effort to understand our students, then we can learn to care about them.
Chapter 6
Chapter 6 gave a lot of strategies for teaching important, focused, engaging curriculum. Some of those include: focus student products around significant problems and issues, use meaningful audiences, help students discover how ideas and skills are useful in the world, provide choices that ensure focus, and look for fresh ways to present and explore ideas. I liked a lot of these ideas. It gives me hope that I may in fact be able to differentiate my teaching. There are so many ways that a teacher can achieve differentiation, if you have the right tools you will succeed.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Chaspter 3 and 4
Chapter 3
I found this chapter very interesting and so full of information. Its hard for me to focus on the all the information that the chapter presented so I tried to keep notes of the things that I felt would be the most beneficial.
The main thing hat stuck out to me in this chapter was that as a teacher I need to gain a personal life lasting relationship with everyone of my students. If I gain this relationship I will be a better teacher in more than one way! Some ideas that I had for gaining this relationship was through one-on-one conferences with each one of my students and doing the pre-assessments and inventories that we read about last time.
The chapter talked about good teachers and the reason why they are so good at teaching is because they live what they believe. When I read this I thought back to a teacher that I had the chance to work for and realizing that she really lived what she believed and she had that relationship with every student and she still kept up with everything else.
The chapter talked about five responses to students needs. They are: invitation, opportunity, investment, persistence, and reflection. I picked one thing that I liked out of each one of these section. In the invitation section I like that not only should the teacher learn about the student they should also learn from the student, and i just liked that because it opens the door for opportunities. The part that I liked in the opportunity section was how many opportunities I can give my students. Then there was investment and this came easy for me. When I was reading about it I thought back to one of my classroom management classes and the teacher of the class saying that she tries to go to at least one extra curricular activity for each one of her students. I just thought that it was a great idea, I know that it will take a lot of time, but what doesn't in the educational world. In the section on Persistence I liked the quote "there is no finish line in learning" I just really liked that because it just goes to show that learning is a life long adventure and that we must keep going and going. In the reflection section I liked the quote "Failure is not an option" I would have never put that with reflection, but if I were to keep that in mind when I was reflecting with my students I would never give up on them. There was so many great ideas and lots of information in this chapter that I almost felt overwhelmed, but then I think that is why we as teachers need to collaborate. What I see in the material someone else might have looked over and what they see may help me in my future teaching.
Chapter4
There were six main points in this chapter. The first element is the classroom environment. We have talked about the environment in class before and that we need to make a positive environment for our students so they can feel safe and feel free to express their concerns. In order to achieve this they gave some examples, but I think the one that I will fall back on is Morning Meetings, just because I see the benefits that it brings to a classroom. The next element is communication and one way that the book suggested to enhance communication is to hold goal-setting conferences. I liked this idea cause in addition to enhancing communication it would also help me gain that personal relationship with each child. The next element I was a little confused on, guidelines for classroom operations. The thing that stuck out to me was that students would understand that the class would be governed by what the student needs to succeed. I liked a suggestion that it had that stated that fair is ensuring all leaner's get what they need to succeed. Routines was the next element and students always learn better when there is structure in the classroom. I liked that it stated that routines help the students achieve autonomy, which is one thing that all children need to learn in their life time. The support system was the next element and I never thought of this as an element, but after reading the chapter it makes perfect sense. I just think that it will be hard to be that support system for every student and in order to differentiate is going to take a lot of patience and practice. The last element was sharing the responsibility and this just takes me back to the story of the fox and the little prince and how it stated that everyone is both a teacher and a learner, and I think that is one thing that will I will have to remember when teaching.
I found this chapter very interesting and so full of information. Its hard for me to focus on the all the information that the chapter presented so I tried to keep notes of the things that I felt would be the most beneficial.
The main thing hat stuck out to me in this chapter was that as a teacher I need to gain a personal life lasting relationship with everyone of my students. If I gain this relationship I will be a better teacher in more than one way! Some ideas that I had for gaining this relationship was through one-on-one conferences with each one of my students and doing the pre-assessments and inventories that we read about last time.
The chapter talked about good teachers and the reason why they are so good at teaching is because they live what they believe. When I read this I thought back to a teacher that I had the chance to work for and realizing that she really lived what she believed and she had that relationship with every student and she still kept up with everything else.
The chapter talked about five responses to students needs. They are: invitation, opportunity, investment, persistence, and reflection. I picked one thing that I liked out of each one of these section. In the invitation section I like that not only should the teacher learn about the student they should also learn from the student, and i just liked that because it opens the door for opportunities. The part that I liked in the opportunity section was how many opportunities I can give my students. Then there was investment and this came easy for me. When I was reading about it I thought back to one of my classroom management classes and the teacher of the class saying that she tries to go to at least one extra curricular activity for each one of her students. I just thought that it was a great idea, I know that it will take a lot of time, but what doesn't in the educational world. In the section on Persistence I liked the quote "there is no finish line in learning" I just really liked that because it just goes to show that learning is a life long adventure and that we must keep going and going. In the reflection section I liked the quote "Failure is not an option" I would have never put that with reflection, but if I were to keep that in mind when I was reflecting with my students I would never give up on them. There was so many great ideas and lots of information in this chapter that I almost felt overwhelmed, but then I think that is why we as teachers need to collaborate. What I see in the material someone else might have looked over and what they see may help me in my future teaching.
Chapter4
There were six main points in this chapter. The first element is the classroom environment. We have talked about the environment in class before and that we need to make a positive environment for our students so they can feel safe and feel free to express their concerns. In order to achieve this they gave some examples, but I think the one that I will fall back on is Morning Meetings, just because I see the benefits that it brings to a classroom. The next element is communication and one way that the book suggested to enhance communication is to hold goal-setting conferences. I liked this idea cause in addition to enhancing communication it would also help me gain that personal relationship with each child. The next element I was a little confused on, guidelines for classroom operations. The thing that stuck out to me was that students would understand that the class would be governed by what the student needs to succeed. I liked a suggestion that it had that stated that fair is ensuring all leaner's get what they need to succeed. Routines was the next element and students always learn better when there is structure in the classroom. I liked that it stated that routines help the students achieve autonomy, which is one thing that all children need to learn in their life time. The support system was the next element and I never thought of this as an element, but after reading the chapter it makes perfect sense. I just think that it will be hard to be that support system for every student and in order to differentiate is going to take a lot of patience and practice. The last element was sharing the responsibility and this just takes me back to the story of the fox and the little prince and how it stated that everyone is both a teacher and a learner, and I think that is one thing that will I will have to remember when teaching.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Inventories
I really liked what I read in the book. If I were to have my students fill out some of these papers that would help me to get to know them, and in helping to get to know them I would be able to know exactly what some of their needs are and then I can differentiate my teaching according to that. When I was going through the information that one of these surveys would provide I was thinking to myself what could I do to get to know my students even more. I came up with an idea of having them bring in something from home that would describe them. It brought me back to what we do in the Morning Meeting and show and tell. I really like this idea because it lets me relate to the students even more personally.
The readings on BB where very interesting to me. I really liked the pre-assessment inventory. Last semester in Field we administered a similar survey, that evaluated the students attitude towards reading. I am a strong believer in these surveys, I believe that they provide us with so much information that is crucial to differentiation teaching. I think that all of the inventories would be valuable to administer in my student teaching, but I realize that probably one or two of them would provide me with the information that I would need. I think that when I have my own class I could administer these inventories throughout the year and then I could compare the results and see how my students are growing and expanding. Before I did this reading assignment I never would have thought to administer one of these pre-assessments. But now that I have read about these surveys I will most definitely have my students fill out some sort of survey or inventory, so I can get to know them and their needs.
The readings on BB where very interesting to me. I really liked the pre-assessment inventory. Last semester in Field we administered a similar survey, that evaluated the students attitude towards reading. I am a strong believer in these surveys, I believe that they provide us with so much information that is crucial to differentiation teaching. I think that all of the inventories would be valuable to administer in my student teaching, but I realize that probably one or two of them would provide me with the information that I would need. I think that when I have my own class I could administer these inventories throughout the year and then I could compare the results and see how my students are growing and expanding. Before I did this reading assignment I never would have thought to administer one of these pre-assessments. But now that I have read about these surveys I will most definitely have my students fill out some sort of survey or inventory, so I can get to know them and their needs.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Chapter 1 and 2
The very first thing that I noticed when I was reading was that at the very beginning there were some suggestion made to accommodate for students. I noticed that they used many words to describe change, such as; adapting, provisions made, mechanisms, support, and active planning. I like this because it made me think that there is no one way to implement differentiation in my classroom.
There are four student traits that teachers must address to ensure effectiveness. Readiness, Interest, Learning profile, and Affect are those factors. There are so many little things that affect each of these areas so I am thinking how am I going to accommodate for every different little factor that affects the four main factors for each of my students.
I really liked the metaphor of the Little Prince, it put things in perspective for me. I now see that differentiation will take time, patience, and listening. Its not just teaching to each student, you must go above and beyond and make a connection with each student.
In chapter 2 there are five needs that students seek to achieve; affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge. While I was reading about each of these needs I thought that one way that would greatly help students to achieve these needs is to have Morning Meetings and gain a sense of community in your classroom. I also liked the part at the end of the chapter that said the main part of differentiation is connecting with each child. I now understand why some teachers choose not to implement differentiation in the classroom because of the time and extra work that goes into this kind of teaching. I want to differentiate my teaching, but how do I meet all the needs of all of my students. I am only one person and I will have 20 plus students.
There are four student traits that teachers must address to ensure effectiveness. Readiness, Interest, Learning profile, and Affect are those factors. There are so many little things that affect each of these areas so I am thinking how am I going to accommodate for every different little factor that affects the four main factors for each of my students.
I really liked the metaphor of the Little Prince, it put things in perspective for me. I now see that differentiation will take time, patience, and listening. Its not just teaching to each student, you must go above and beyond and make a connection with each student.
In chapter 2 there are five needs that students seek to achieve; affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge. While I was reading about each of these needs I thought that one way that would greatly help students to achieve these needs is to have Morning Meetings and gain a sense of community in your classroom. I also liked the part at the end of the chapter that said the main part of differentiation is connecting with each child. I now understand why some teachers choose not to implement differentiation in the classroom because of the time and extra work that goes into this kind of teaching. I want to differentiate my teaching, but how do I meet all the needs of all of my students. I am only one person and I will have 20 plus students.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Morning Meetings and Part 1
What?
I read about Morning Meetings and Part 1 in Differentiation in Practice. The Morning Meeting Packet was very interesting. It talked about the Four components of Morning Meetings: greeting, sharing, group activity, and new and announcements. It also talked about the rationale behind morning meetings. The main purpose for morning meetings is to accomplish a sense of community in your classroom. They also help students to develop cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. For learning to take place, learners must feel safe, and morning meetings establish that safe environment. The packet also gave insight to some concerns that teachers have had, the main concern is what parents will think.
Part 1 of the text book talked about that parents use differentiation in raising their children depending on their children's personalities. The book talked about balancing two factors in instruction: needs of the students and requirements in curriculum. There are four classroom elements that affect differentiation: who, what, where, and how. The book goes into detail about each one of these factors and how it affects differentiation. The book also talks about that there is no "right way" to differentiate instruction.
So What?
All of this in important, because morning meetings are one of the best ways to gain that sense of community in the classroom. There are other ways to achieve community, but through morning meetings the students gain so much more as well. In one classroom the students scored higher on the end of the year test because they participated in morning meetings. One other aspect of morning meetings is that they are fun. I think that teachers are starting to forget that its okay to have fun with your students. Having fun with connect the teacher with the students and make the classroom environment so much more enjoyable.
Knowing what differentiation is and how to implement it in your instruction is so important for teachers to know. Its important to know that one-size does not fit all and that each student deserves their own instruction, for the best way they learn. Its also important to remember that there is no one "right way" to differentiate instruction and we just have to learn form mistakes and keep pushing forward.
Now What?
Now that I have read about Morning Meetings I am so excited to do my student teaching and implement them in my teaching. I want to have that safe environment in my classroom so students feel free to learn and ask question and grow as a community. By reading about differentiation it scares me that I may not be able to differentiate my instruction to fit every child every day, but I will so my best and I now know the importance of differentiation and how it will benefit both my students and me.
I read about Morning Meetings and Part 1 in Differentiation in Practice. The Morning Meeting Packet was very interesting. It talked about the Four components of Morning Meetings: greeting, sharing, group activity, and new and announcements. It also talked about the rationale behind morning meetings. The main purpose for morning meetings is to accomplish a sense of community in your classroom. They also help students to develop cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. For learning to take place, learners must feel safe, and morning meetings establish that safe environment. The packet also gave insight to some concerns that teachers have had, the main concern is what parents will think.
Part 1 of the text book talked about that parents use differentiation in raising their children depending on their children's personalities. The book talked about balancing two factors in instruction: needs of the students and requirements in curriculum. There are four classroom elements that affect differentiation: who, what, where, and how. The book goes into detail about each one of these factors and how it affects differentiation. The book also talks about that there is no "right way" to differentiate instruction.
So What?
All of this in important, because morning meetings are one of the best ways to gain that sense of community in the classroom. There are other ways to achieve community, but through morning meetings the students gain so much more as well. In one classroom the students scored higher on the end of the year test because they participated in morning meetings. One other aspect of morning meetings is that they are fun. I think that teachers are starting to forget that its okay to have fun with your students. Having fun with connect the teacher with the students and make the classroom environment so much more enjoyable.
Knowing what differentiation is and how to implement it in your instruction is so important for teachers to know. Its important to know that one-size does not fit all and that each student deserves their own instruction, for the best way they learn. Its also important to remember that there is no one "right way" to differentiate instruction and we just have to learn form mistakes and keep pushing forward.
Now What?
Now that I have read about Morning Meetings I am so excited to do my student teaching and implement them in my teaching. I want to have that safe environment in my classroom so students feel free to learn and ask question and grow as a community. By reading about differentiation it scares me that I may not be able to differentiate my instruction to fit every child every day, but I will so my best and I now know the importance of differentiation and how it will benefit both my students and me.
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