Reading for September 30th

Something that stood out to me in this reading was the importance of having a good classroom environment.   It's not just having a "cutesy" room and being creative and making it look nice but it's about having the students make the classroom their own.  I think its so important to involve my students in creating the classroom.  I want to show their work so it has a purpose.  I have done so many projects throughout my schooling and once it was graded it just gets thrown out because nobody really cares anymore.  When kids see their work displayed it makes them feel important and I think it really empowers them to have pride in their work.  

I also want to have humor in my class but I think that sometimes teachers go too far with it and make kids feel stupid.   In the chapter it talks about how humor should be used to make us better, not to make us hurt.  Positive humor is the key and I think that it is necessary.  Kids love to laugh and love to tell jokes so I believe that as a teacher we need to make time for our students to laugh and let loose once in awhile.  

I LOVE the idea of windshield checks.  It is sooo creative and it makes sense.  I can see kids really going with it and being honest with their answer.   It's also nice because we all know that windshields can be cleaned.  It's alright if their is mud on it now but we can fix that... we can go over it again and wipe away the mud.  We can always go through the car wash and get it all cleared away and start from scratch.  This is something that I want to implement in my classroom... the poster on the wall would be real cute too I bet...

I also think that it is important to involve students in scheduling decisions... they are the ones that are going to be learning after all!  If you have some flexibility in plans then ask your class what they would rather do, either which activity or what day to do the activity.  They will feel involved and will be more excited for it.  Most of the time we could probably guide them towards what we want them to do anyway which makes it a win/win for us! 

Readings for Sept. 23rd

How would I use the information this would produce in differentiating? 

First off,  I really like how these worksheets remain positive.  Instead of asking what you are bad at in school it asks, What's hard for you? and , What makes it hard?   I also like where the students can list things like me and not like me.  Its not, what I like and what I hate.  I just really think its important to be positive about all things right from the beginning.   

You can get to know your students pretty well by doing these surveys.  If you have them do these before school starts and you get that back you can try to group your students accordingly.  For example you can group the kids that sit still when they learn with the wigglers so you don't have 15 wigglers all next to each other.  Hopefully by putting the wigglers next to those students who sit still you will get everyone to sit still rather than everyone wiggling.  I don't even know if that makes sense!   Hopefully the still kids will rub off on the wigglers... (in a perfect classroom I guess.. haha)  It might be good to group kids that have things in common for the first few weeks of school just so they already have instant friends.  They are able to make connections with those students.  You can also group kids with differences so they get to know more about other people and learn new things that they wouldn't have previously.  

This is something that you did at the beginning of the year... did you use them for something? 

What would I like to add or remove from the survey? 

I had a harder time doing the first survey with the different columns.  It was harder for me to separate the like me and the not like me.  Maybe it's because I don't know myself well enough or that I don't think I am very good at anything... who knows.  I don't like that you can't put things in the middle.  I think that if I did it I would add a column called "sometimes like me", because sometimes I like math and am good at it but sometimes I'm not and I think that it should be included.  

Do any of these hold potential for me in my student teaching classroom? Explain. If they don't what are you going to do for pre-assessment toward differentiation? 

Since we will be teaching a math unit I really like the subtraction and multiplication inventories.  I think that I will be able to tell a lot about my students when they complete the inventory.   I think for younger grades too the smiley faces are a nice easy way to answer questions.  When I administered the Garfield Motivational Survey last field to one of my students they loved it.  We were able to tell a lot about his attitude towards reading and also some of his home life.   It is a not confrontational way to find out if they like reading and what they like to read about etc.  

Chapter 1 and 2 of Fulfilling the Promise

These two chapters were very interesting.   I like the phrase in the beginning of the reading that says, "... teachers must take into account who they are teaching as well as what they are teaching."  It isn't just about the material we are teaching, we have to take into consideration the types of children we are teaching and the way that we present the material that needs to be taught.   We need to consider how our children learn and what learning style they are and try to use as many learning styles as possible.  If there is a way to incorporate kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learning all in one lesson we need to do it.  

A key ingredient in the learning environment is the "mood" of the classroom --> I think the mood in the classroom plays a huge roll.  Even in the college classroom, if we are tense and nervous we are less likely to respond and contribute in the classroom.  If we feel comfortable and their is a calming mood we are more likely to be active and contribute in class discussions. It is up to the teacher to set the mood in the classroom and I believe our attitude towards ourselves and our attitude towards the students and curriculum plays a big part in that. 

We need to also continually assess our students readiness, interest, learning profile, and affect.  By doing this we have to modify our lessons continually in order to ensure maximum learning.  Students are always changing and we need to take that into consideration.  We can't be teachers that make a curriculum and stick to it like glue... we need to reflect on what we taught, what worked, what failed, what the students got from it, how we can change it to make it better next time.  There are too many teachers out there that are so set in their ways and think that their way of teaching is the only way of teaching.  I feel really bad for the students in their class because they don't take the time to change their methods of teaching to benefit those in the classroom. 

"Connecting with each child is at the heart of differentiated teaching."  We need to get to know our students because if we don't know them we can't teach them.  We need to "tame them" and also learn from them.  Connections are so important and I think that it will not only make my job as a teacher more rewarding but it will also help my students learn and feel like they belong.  

Morning Meetings

After reading the packet and watching the morning meetings video last class I think that I am a believer in them.  I like how it builds community and helps the classroom be more like a family rather than a bunch of different kids from different backgrounds forced to learn together.  

I notice even in our cohort that we work together better when we know each other at a personal level.  We are not afraid to share our ideas and feelings with our friends.  We got to be comfortable with each other last semester and had a family environment but now we have new people and we tend to stay with the people we are comfortable with.  I think that by having morning meetings we will be able to get to know each other better and be like a big family.  

The only thing that worries me about morning meetings is convincing administration and others who haven't been introduced to them that it really works.  It's not just a waste of time because you can do academic things in the activities and it is a great way to start the day.   Who doesn't want a greeting, a time to share, a quick activity, and a review of the day?!  That sounds pretty sweet to me! 

Differentiation in Practice: pg's 1-16

The first line of the chapter says, "Differentiated instruction is really just common sense"... I was thinking about that and was like, SWEET... I have common sense!  I can do this!  

As I continued to read though I realized that common sense does help but you also need to know your students very well and know how to help them each in their own way.  

I really liked how they went and described each of the students in Ms. Johnson's 3rd grade class and the special talents they have.  It wasn't just the negative things that we some teachers focus on, it was about what they love to do, what they have some trouble in, and how they like to work.  It helped a lot to put differentiation in perspective for me.  I will have a real class with real students that all have different talents and learning styles.  I also liked how the author kept referring back to the students throughout the chapter to make it more real for us reading it. 

It is so important for teachers to have a good learning environment for their students.  If they don't feel comfortable in the classroom they won't take risks or try to learn.  "The learning environment in her classroom may be the single most important make-or-break element in helping her students become the best they can be." 

I also enjoyed Ms. Johnson's two truths about her teaching; First, she wont be able to do everything that each child needs every day of the year... teachers aren't superheros.  Second, the more she woks to know her students the more likely it will be a successful year.   We need to get to know our students on a personal level so we can know how to teach them and gage material toward them.  

Overall, I am really enjoying reading this book.  It flows very well and makes sense to me... which is weird because text books normally confuse the heck out of me.  It has good metaphors that I can relate to which makes it easier for me to learn.  I hope that I will be able to get to know my students and provide the best learning environment for them I possibly can.  I know that differentiation will take time and practice but I hope that it will pay off and that I will be able to be the best teacher for each of my students.