My Time in the Field

I learned a lot in my field work. I learned that not every student is the same and they definitely don't have the same learning styles, needs, or likes. My students all challenged me in their own ways. I worked really close to my lowest students, they needed more one-on-one attention. I saw amazing growth in one boy in particular. He blossomed in some thing with the right instruction and guidance. There were many students that shocked me in the three weeks I was there. I had to teach a math unit and some literacy lessons as well. There were a lot of surprises and changes that I had to make to my original plans.
Instead of looking at the individual math lesson plans the entire unit can be analyzed. In each of my lessons I included a differentiated scale or a salsa scale. The salsa scale is my way of determining a student's understanding and feelings of the math concept that was taught. There are three levels in the salsa meter, hot, medium, and mild. At the midpoint of my less I would stop at an appropriate place and ask my class to rate their understanding or how they felt on the salsa scale. If they felt that they understood the information fully and didn’t have any questions they fell into the HOT category. If they still needed clarification of had questions they fell into the MEDIUM category. Last, if they had no understanding and needed to be retaught they would fall into the MILD category. They would show me how they did this with their hands. They would raise their hand high if they were hot, they would put there hand a little lower and give me a sort of get it shake of their hand, and if they were mild they put their hand on their desk. For my hot students I assigned them individual work. If they finished it quickly I provided an enrich activity they could do in pairs. The medium students would work on the back table with me and I would go through each problem with them. If many students in the class showed that they were medium I would model more problems and give better instruction. I never had any mild students, but if I did I would reteach them. I determined the majority of my differentiation in math based on their understanding and feelings.
    My literacy lesson plans were made with very little differentiation. I have a plan for my fast finishers and the lower students. The fast finishers were given more activities to work on in partnerships or individually. The lower students or those that need more instruction would be paired up for activities. In the Text structure lesson plan for literacy I included key words that could be listed on the board for the lower students. In the fluency lesson plan I would want to divide my students into tiers for the reading groups. I would choose the groups according to each individual students reading level and I would take into account their interest or preference. There would be at least three different readers theater groups and three different stories according to their levels. All the groups would be asked to perform the story in front of the class, but there would be accommodations for each group. The lowest group would have their story in hand when they perform and can read from it as they act it out. The middle group can have their story, but would expected to look at the audience and say some lines without looking at their story. Also they would need to add some actions and movement to the story. The highest group would not be allowed to have their story in hand, they must memorize their parts for the performance. They would also be asked to act out the scenes with movement and actions. Another requirement could be that they must make costumes and props. For the text structure lesson plan I would once again set up tiers. The lowest tier would be asked to read the information provided and fill out a simple graphic organizer and write a one paragraph summary or information sheet. The middle group would do the same graphic organizer and write a three paragraph information paper from the reading and further research. The highest group would be asked to create a presentation along with a paper to present to the class.
I feel that my changes would help with those various students and their needs. The more help we can provide for students that better they can do in school. Having specific expectations for the whole class is important, but I feel that allowing those students that struggle a way to complete their assignments is better than letting them fail. The math additions I made or would make could be used to create a better understanding of information for my lower students. They would have the same work as the other class members, but it would be taught in a different setting and in a different way. I noticed that as soon as I worked with them in a more one-on-one setting they understood the material and could work out their math problems. Those students needed a more specific teaching strategy to succeed. Another strategy I didn’t talk about too much is the use of whiteboards during instruction. Instead of just direct instructing the class I would model a math strategy on the whiteboard and the class would help me solve it. Once I feel they understand the basics of the strategy I would assign a math problem and they would do it on their own whiteboards. This allowed me to check their understanding, if they were still struggling I would send them back to their board and work through their problem again. This was also a way for me to gauge their understanding and base the next part of my lesson off their work. I used this as my summative assessment.
    I learned a lot about the importance of differentiation in the classroom. In class we hear about different strategies, but until you are in the field and working you won’t see how important differentiation is. It is an important part of teaching. You cannot teach effectively without the use of differentiation. If I want my students to do well I must teach to them individually and to their needs.
  

Tools for Thinking

Like every good mechanic, handyman, or all around man, we need our tools to do our work. As teachers our screwdriver, drill, and hammer are our organizers and notes. We use these tools to help develop learning students. As for Differentiation the same can be said. These tools are at our disposal we just need to use them. Some specific ones that are listed in the textbook are:

• Graphic organizers: Used to organize information and thoughts
• Notes: Used to jot down important points in a lesson
• Think dots: These can be used for dual purposes - tiering and review
• Learning contracts
• Learning Menus: This is a fun and active way to give students options, but keep them on their right level
• Think-Tac-Toe
• RAFT: Used for writing
• Journals: I am a big advocate for this idea

There are many more, but I felt these few were the most useful and need to be mentioned. Students could really take to any of these tools. The one I focused o most was journals. I use a writers journal and a science journal. Both are interactive and promote thinking. A journal could be used in math as well. They could create a word journal or dictionary as well.
Tools are meant to be used, not sit in the corner rusting. Use them, don't waste them!

Sing to Your Gravy

How do we create a positive effect on students? James Stronge shared some research in the textbook. Below are a few I felt were good examples:

• Students consistently want teachers who respect them, listen, to them, show empathy toward them, help them work out their problems, and become human by sharing their own lives and ideas with their students.
• Teachers' enthusiasm for learning and for their subject matter is an important factor in student motivation that, in turn, is closely linked with student achievement.
• Effective teachers accept responsibility for student outcomes.
• Effective teachers know and understand their students in terms of abilities, achievement, learning preferences, and needs.
• Students achieve at higher rates when instruction focuses on meaningful conceptualization of facts.

That is just a small part of all the research he offers. There is so much we can do as teachers to help our students grow in a positive environment.
"It's hard to care because we don't know how to see through someone else's eyes, to speak someone else's language, to make the world better for a child whose world is out of control. IT's hard because there are too many students to connect with. It's hard because there is barely time to survive between the race that begins with the first bell and ends so long after the last bell rings. It's hard because people at home need so much of us too, and there seems never to be enough of us to go around, even for those people who are at ground zero in our lives, let alone those who inhabit the perimeters of our lives."
There is some much pulling at us every moment of the day. How can we juggle all the responsibilities put upon us. We are in charge of a couple dozen children, it is our job to help them become good members of society. It's a big order to fill with in such a small amount time. But if we allow ourselves to fall in love with what we do, we will be reborn countless times, almost always in a form stronger and more fully human that one that preceded it.
We have two challenges we need to face:

1. We need to cultivate passion for what we do.
2. We need to remove our protective armor and allow our students to shape us, reflecting on and learning from what we see. 

To be reshaped by what we do, is to become one with it. We can use the same ingredients as another great teacher, but without love we can not make it the same. We need to sing to our "gravy" or students, show them the love we have. One "loaf" at a time, each bread needs the time required to raise before we cook it.
How do we begin when there is no paved road for us to travel? Simple, we just begin. We need to trust in ourselves and our students. Be open to change and becoming the teacher and person we need to be!

Keep Moving Forward

Objectives or expectations are important to all lesson plans. The plan for any differentiated lessons need to have these aspects if you want your students to understand and do well during the lesson. There are some keys actions or tools for teachers when writing a lesson that come from the textbook:

• Explain what the students should know
• Explain what students should understand
• Explain what students should understand
• Also provide an essential question to guide exploration

It's important to be focused and engaging in all lessons. The textbook once again gives some great tips for doing just that:

• Focus student products around significant problems and issues
• Use meaningful audiences
• Help students discover how ideas and skill are useful in the world
• Provide choices that ensure focus
• Look for fresh ways to present and explore ideas
• Share your experiences and invite students to do the same

There also needs to be support for demanding curriculum and instruction:

• Use tired approaches
• Incorporate complex instruction
• Use a variety of rubrics to guide quality
• Provide learning contracts at appropriate times
• Aim high
• Take a "no excuses" stance
• Become computer savvy
• Help support realize success is the result of effort
• Use the new American lecture format
• Designate a "keeper of the book"
• Like a note taker for those that are absent. This allows students to get caught up on assignments with the help from other students.
• Try think dots
• Directly teach strategies for working successfully with text
• Use think aloud
• Use small group instruction as a regular part of instructional cycles
• Establish peer networks for learning
• Promote language proficiency
• Use weekend study buddies
• Bags for struggling learners to take home for the weekend. It will contain instructions, books, or materials for students to use over the weekend.
• Make peer-critique or peer-review sessions a regular feature
• Cue and coach student responses
• Team with resource specialists

This chapter had so many good ideas to help support students and help them reach their potential. I especially liked the think dots, weekend buddies, and keeper of the book ideas. Your student can all be successful with the right support and direction. Keep looking forward, but don't forget those great experiences that can be used too.

Be Your Own Teacher!

Differentiation, or an important part of differentiation, is like a wedding cake. There are many layers and they are all different sizes or cuts. They all have the same ingredients, but are different levels. A good teacher is one that teaches the WHOLE class from bottom to the top. It is also teaching each child at the level they, as individuals, require. It should be engaging for all levels!

The Layers

The bottom layer is those students that need basic, very supportive work.

The middle layers could be one cake or more. These layers become more and more independent as they move up.

The top layer is the most independent students in the class. They are more capable of doing work on their own.

 

*Below is an example of how tiering can be applied to a lesson:

 

 

It is also like a stew. Students won't stay in the same place all day. They need to be part of the "stew", providing something unique and flavorful.

 

The other part of my class the other day was a presentation from a teacher named Mr. Youd. He talked to us about morning meetings. He tries to make his meetings upbeat, positive, and exciting everyday.

Goals! He has his class set a goal for the day and they talk about their goal the day before and if they had met it. An important part of the morning meeting is giving students time to talk, share, and be excited.

Leadership! He doesn't set up any group leaders, the power needs to remain with him so if changes need to be made he can do so quickly and without problems.

Games! Games need to change regularly and how the students are teamed up. Start a collection of games and right down any new rules or adaptations made to a normal game.

Sharing! Doing random shares keeps things light and different. There isn't a mundane feeling in the class. They need to be things that gets the students thinking. There can be a few people sharing or the whole class. It allows students a chance to express their feelings and open up.

Manners! This may be the most important part of morning meetings! Rules are great, but if you can teach your students manners all the other rules just fall into place without being said. Be that boss that is a friend and promotes good actions, instead of a boss that yells at you for lame reason. No one likes to be told what to do or have strict rules placed upon them.

Poems, Music, Character Ed are some great additional tools in morning meeting. Just keep it you, your style. Be your own Teacher!

 

Here is a fabulous website he gave us: www.mrsgolds.com

Easy is Not Always the Best course

Chapter five of the Differentiation textbook explains the importance of using curriculum and instruction as a vehicle for teaching.
Is there such a thing as a good teacher compared to a bad teacher? I personally think there are teachers that are good at connecting information to their students lives. They are those teachers that act as a bridge to good knowledge for students. A 'bad' teacher can be defined as those teachers that teacher a subject, while those 'good' teachers teach students a subject.
How can curriculum and instruction be used as a vehicle?

• Important "We cannot teach the breadth of the entire world and at the same time achieve any depth of understanding" The world is expanding and is information.
• What we study is essential to the structure of the discipline
• What we study provides a roadmap toward expertise in a discipline
• how can we use it?
• What we study is essential to building student understanding
• Avoid "coverage" and look for "uncoverage" of information
• make it full of meaning and applicable to life.
• What we study balances knowledge, understanding, and skill
• curriculum can be a mile wide and only an inch deep, it won't provide real learning

• Focused "No more building sugar cube igloos without it connecting to essential knowledge."
• 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
• Both the teacher and students know why we doing what we're doing
• Both the teacher and students know bigger picture knowledge, understanding, and skill

• Engaging "Students need a feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction while enjoying their work."
• Students most often find meaning in their work
• Students most often find the work intriguing
• Students see themselves and their world in the work
• Students see value to others in the work
• Students find the work provokes their curiosity
• Students often find themselves absorbed by the work

• Demanding "We believe each person knows quite clearly what it means to do one's best, and that everyone, given a chance, would like to savor that experience as often as possible."
• The work is most often a bit beyond the reach of each learner
• Student growth is nonnegotiable
• no watering down information
• Standards for work and behavior are high
• Students are guided in working and thinking like professionals
• There is no "loose" time

• Scaffolded "Raise the celling of performance for each learner."
• The teacher teaches for success
• Criteria for success are clear to students
• Criteria for classroom operation and student behavior are clear to students
• Varied materials support growth of a range of learners
• Varied modes of teaching support a variety of learners
• Varied avenues to learning support a variety of learners
• Small and large group instruction focuses on varied learner needs
• Varied peer support mechanisms are consistently available
• The teacher uses modeling, organizers, and other strategies to point out success

Two principles lie at the heart of envisioning the role of curriculum and instruction in creating ties with students:

1. The opportunity to be shaped by rich, defensive curriculum ought to belong to every learner.
2. Learners need to interact with curriculum in ways that work for them.

Curriculum and instruction need to be engaging, important, demanding, scaffold, and focused. To be that "good" teacher your students need all they element in their lessons. They need to know they are important and what they learn is important!

Help Them Grow Their Wings

How do you show your students what you feel about them? In chapter 4 of the Differentiation textbook it provides some good examples of what your students should feel or hear. Create that environment and space where they can grow and spread their wings. Don't stunt them with your own doubts and fears. They have so much potential!

• You are unique and valuable as individuals, and we are important as a class.
• We are here to help you find and develop abilities as individuals and as a class.
• Our goal is to help each person and our class become as capable as a possible.
• This is an important goal, and work we do to achieve it must be both important and challenging.
• The time we have to achieve our goal is valuable.
• Therefore, we have to figure out together how to work in the most effective and efficient ways we can.
• We'll need to learn about one another and ourselves, so we know where we need to go and how we're doing in getting there.
• We'll need to determine guidelines for working, so we can reach our goal, both individually and as a class.
• We'll need to figure out working routines that enable us to succeed in reaching our goals, both individually and as a class.
• We'll need to develop support systems to ensure that we continually grow, both individually and as a class.
• Like all important goals, our goal will require investment and persistence.

"You'll see those things in me as your teacher. I'll expect to see them in you as individuals and in our class as a whole. I need you to join me in making our class work for each of us." This is called a Map of Thought. It is the thought process that teachers can follow when weighing decision and actions.
The environment of the classroom is an important aspect when teaching. It is the first messenger of how learning will be in the class. The teacher is to act as the primary architect of the physical attributes and the climate.
In one of the scenarios Mr. Atcheson uses flash cards every couple weeks to gauge how his students are doing. On one side they write how they are doing in the class and on the other side they write something about themselves that they think he will find interesting and useful. He uses this as a way to build bonds with his students. The better he knows them the better he can teach them.
Ways to promote a positive classroom:

• Study Students Cultures
• Convey Status
• Commend Creativity
• Make Room for All Kinds of Learners
• Help Students Know About One Another (Word Jars, Idea Jars, Question Boxes)
• Celebrate Success
• Hold Goal-Setting Conference
• Use Dialogue Journals
• Incorporate Teacher Talk Groups in Lesson Plans

The book also offers some great rules or guidelines for classroom operation:

1. We will show respect for people, their ideas, and their property
2. We will work hard to ensure our own growth of others
3. We will persist, even when things are difficult and uncertain
4. We will accept responsibility for the quality of our work and for our behaviors and actions

Other strategies that will enhance classroom operation:

• Time is Valuable: use spare moments well
• Fair is ensuring all learners get what they need to succeed
• Teach up, work up!

Routines that support flexible teaching

• Use Visual Cues
• Pre-establish Groups
• Use Goal Cards Regularly
• Teach for Smooth Transitions

Supports for learner success:

• Vary Materials
• Use Graphic Organizers to Help Structure and Extend Thinking
• Provide Survival Packets
• Use Participation Prompts
• Build Language Bridges

Ways to help with shared responsibilities:

• Use Evaluation Checklists
• Involve Students in Scheduling Decisions
• Engage Students in Assessing Their Own Progress
• Help Students Learn to Set Their Own Academic Goals

There are so many fabulous tools the book provides for making a classroom positive and effective for your students. Success is important, any help is good help!