Ranting and Raving

I guess this blog is just supposed to be us ranting about all of our miseries. To be honest, I don't really have anything to complain about... honestly. By some miracle, with a job, volleyball and boyfriend I have managed to stay on top of my homework and in most cases ahead of schedule. I am really excited for field, my teacher is amazing and is willing to try WTW in her classroom and is willing to hand the reins over to me at any time. I guess if I had to rant and rave about something it would be about next semesters teachers. I just don't understand why an adjunct is taking on 2/3 of the seniors. Don't get me wrong, Jan is a great woman and very passionate about what she does, but she is not very organized and is the worksheet queen! There are so many great professors in this program and a number of them would be fabulous as our senior teachers, I guess I was just a little disappointed that some of the more seasoned professors won't be able to see us off in our last semester.

Fulfilling the Promise pgs 120-162

The section we had to read today was the toolbox in the back of the book with 24 different ways that instruction can be differentiated. Especially this semester I am really beginning to see the value in having books like this with appendices in the back. There are so many great teaching resources out there and these toolboxes are so great to have. I loved her idea with the menu because kids feel empowered when they have a choice. There were things they had to do, things they could choose from and then extra things they could do if they have extra time or just want to continue doing what was being done in class. When kids are given choices (just like adults) they don't feel so bossed around and suppressed. They feel like they are part of the learning experience and they feel ownership of it.

Fulfilling the Promise Ch. 7

One statement that I thought was particularly powerful was on page 90 when she says "living the simplest truths is seldom easy." I think this is a very powerful statement. You think about some simple truths that we live by and those are usually the hardest to live. For example, think about loving others. A very simple concept and very easy to preach, but when that person cuts you off in traffic or when that classmate makes a questionable comment, it may not be so easy to live. The other statement that hit home for me was on page 91: "If we allow ourselves to fall in love with what we do, we will be reborn countless times." One concept that is hard for me to grasp is the fact that my first year of teaching, I will not be perfect, in fact there is a chance that I will be pretty terrible. The process of being reborn countless times will require time. Being the impatient person that I am, I want to be "that teacher" that everyone loves now. The process of being reborn however, will make me stronger and make me into the teacher that one day I will be able to be.

Fulfilling the Promise Ch. 5-6

The beginning of chapter 5 had a really interesting point of view about teaching. The author talks about her algebra teacher and her German teacher. When talking about her algebra teacher she said. "that teacher knew her curriculum. She instructed with a bulldog-like intensity (I love that description by the way! I think we can all name at least one teacher in our lives that taught with a "bulldog-like" intensity). She taught algebra. But she did not teach me" (pg 57). I think that is an important distinction to make. ALL teachers teach. Everyone can teach something, but not everyone can teach someone. After talking about her German teacher Tomlinson says, "The difference was that the first teacher taught algebra. The second teacher taught me German" (pg 58). That is the key right there to tying curriculum into differentiation, we can all teach the material at the students, but it is the memorable teachers that teach the curriculum to the students.
One good point that was made in chapter 6 was about student work ethic. I think it is easy for teachers to see the lack of success in their students and blame themselves for their failures. The students must understand that knowledge is not a passive accomplishment. Just with anything in life there is a great need for a strong work ethic. Especially with kids who think that the "smart kids" have everything come easy to them, we have to remind them that they struggled too to learn what they have learned. Students must be goal oriented and tenacious to get what they want. They are not entitled to anything without effort. I think especially in today's world, some kids get that message some how. As educators we have to help them understand the importance of effort for success.

Fulfilling the Promise Ch 3-4

I really liked that the author is now going into detail about the words she put surrounding the cog. One of the elements that I really connected to was the element of Persistence. I think that in our country, we have kids that are really good at accepting answers given to them and if they can't figure out the solution, they will just tell the teacher they don't get it and then the teacher will show them how to get the answer. Dr. Tuft told us about a math exam that is administered in several different countries and proceeding the exam there is a questionnaire that is netorious for being long and tedious. A lot of people don't even complete it because they just don't want to. What is interesting is that the scores on the actual math portion correlated perfectly with the completion rate of the questionnaire. Or in other words, those who were persistent enough to finish something, even if it was hard and tedious were more successful at math. I think that if the teacher is a model for this attribute (like the book suggests) that the feeling of "I can do something even if it's hard" will be applied to all subjects.

I really liked the section on communication in the classroom. I feel like every psychologist and talk show host (not that they are the best source for teaching children) talk about the importance of communication in order to maintain a healthy family and marital relationships. If we are trying to create a close community of learners in our classroom, shouldn't we base the health of our relationships on communication? Just like everything else, we have to model this behavior because, lets get real, a 7 year old is not going to have the best communication skills. I think as teachers we don't necessarily have to worry about letting things go in order to avoid hurt feelings, but better find a good way to communicate our concerns in a constructive way.

Fulfilling the Promise 100-103 and Online reading

How would you use the information this would produce in differentiating? There are a lot of dynamics that these surveys address that I never would have thought to address previously. For example, on of the qualities that students are asked to identify if they are good at or not is if they like to plan things. I never would have thought to ask that. But that information will help the teacher understand if they work well in groups or not. You would also get a good feel about what interests the child and what kind of things you can do to trigger their intrinsic motivation and their desire to learn.
What would you personally like to add or remove from this inventory? I think one really important question to add would be "I like (don't like) it when teachers___________ because...." There are just some things that really annoy kids and can interfere with their learning. For example, some kids don't like it when their teacher uses a bell to get their attention because it makes them feel like a dog. Or some kids will say they like it when their teacher puts their work on the wall. I think this question will give the kids the chance to voice pet peeves and what they want their classroom to be like.

Do any of these hold potential for you to use in your ST classroom? Explain. If they don't, what are you going to do for preassessment toward differentiation? First of all, allow me to put the disclaimer that I will only do the preassessments that my student teaching teacher will allow me to do:) That aside, I have to say that I had a really good experience with the reading attitudes preassessment in field last semester. Through the "Garfield" test, I was able to discover that the child that I was working with LOVED to read at school but any mention of reading got one of the lowest two ratings. I think that simple test can give really good insights and lead to other great questions as to a child's reading attitudes. As for the preassessment tests for other subjects, I like any preassessment when kids have to EXPLAIN what they know. For example there was one that asked for a definition (with pictures or words) of multiplication. You can see how much a person knows (adult or child) by how they explain it. If they are unsure about a subject then they wont be able to explain or teach that concept to another. It is also through these explanations that you can also look at the child's writing skills and their comprehension of what the questions are asking. Some assessment should also be done orally in order to make sure that what the child is writing is a true reflection of what they really know. This could be done by listening in on small group discussion or by conducting interviews with each child.

Fulfilling the Promise ch 1-2

I really liked these two chapters because they went a little more in depth about what we spoke about in class last week. I think that chapter one can really be summarized by the quote, "teachers must take into account who they are teaching as well as what they are teaching" (pg 2). Though one thing that I couldn't really relate to was the metaphor with the story of the little prince. Maybe it is because I have never read the story or that I am getting hung up on the word "tame" as it refers to children, but I think there are better examples out there; however, I'm not doing a good job of validating my point because I am struggling with thinking of an original idea myself. There was one aspect of the metaphor however that I did like. It says on page 10 that "both parties are teachers and both are learners. Their roles mingle and reverse." I like that because often times we think of the teacher-student relationship as a dichotomy. Each role separate and defined, when really a good teacher is the one humble enough to be the student.

As I was reading chapter two, something that Dr. Peterson always says came to mind. She always says that students need validation. I think that word covers all of the what the student seeks. Whether it is validation on their contributions to the classroom, or validation of their purpose, or validation in their abilities, all students need validation. I often think about what I need as an adult student to feel good about my work and most of that comes from being validated in all those aspects mentioned on the "what the student seeks" cog. If these are things that I as an adult student need, then how much more a child with an instable home life or lack of confidence will need that validation!

Morning Meetings and pages 1-14

I really liked the reading about Morning Meetings. I connected to it by thinking of it as a warm-up. In volleyball, we do a variety of things in order to get ready for practices and competitions. First we start with high knees and shuffles to get some blood flowing. Then we will do a simple passing warm-up to remind our arms and bodies how to pass correctly and efficiently. Then, of course, there is an arm warm-up so that we can get our shoulders ready to hit the ball. I think of a morning meeting as this kind of warm-up for kids. You have the greeting which prepares them for their interactions with one another that day. Then there is the activity to wake them up and get them excited and engaged to learn. After that comes the sharing to create a greater sense of unity and cohesiveness within the classroom. Finally, there is the announcements portion which will "warm-up" the students minds for what they will face academically that day. I think that it is also crucial to remember these things when we begin teaching each subject. We can't just jump in and expect the best results. For example, when teaching math, you are not just going to start teaching new material, but should start with simple tasks that they know so that they can have success and shift their brains into "math mode."

I also liked in the Differentiation in Practice reading how the author described what differentiated teaching really is. She said that "differentiated teaching is responsive teaching." She didn't say prescribed teaching or set teaching, she said responsive, which means that you have to understand your students before you teach them. She was very careful though to make sure that the readers didn't become teachers that "wing it." She says that we need to have a plan, but that plan needs to be based on the children's readiness, interest and learning profile. She also said that differentiated instruction is the "how we teach" part of responsive teaching. Obviously the who, the what and the where are also part of it, but it is the how that really defines what differentiated instruction is.