Trial run on being a blogger

Last night i was inspired to become a blogger. Thanks to my amazing blog stalking friend... you know who you are and the other amazing people who rock the blogs I have decided to try it out. My last posts were for my class, so they are pretty cheezy. Feel free to read them if you want a full reflection on "differentiation in the elementary school classroom"...I know boring! (well i kinda like it. good thing since it is becoming my life!). Ok I better stop rambling and get to blogging. Who knows how long this will last. This may be my first and last post.

For those of you who are still tuning in a little fyi i am not married, but i am dating this amazing guy, so most of my adventures are with him. This past weekend we went to park city with his family. It was a blast! I adore his family so much and it was great being stuck in a gigantic lodge with them for a weekend. I feel like I got to know all of them even better! I have also decided that if you put two extremely childish grown-ups in a huge lodge then crazy things happen. We had a blast jumping on mattresses, practicing cartwheels and figuring out how many different ways you can slide around on a tile floor (p.s. having someone grab your legs and pull your around is the funnest!) We also discovered that close encounters with trees are bad when sledding and that the further you sled the longer you have to hike back up. We also learned that we are old and out of shape.

I also got to see some of my most favorite people in the entire world this weekend! Once a year my favorite girls get together and we just chat and remember how much we love eachother. Though this year there was definitely a void seeing as how two members of the posse were not able to come (one who has run away to Zion...rude!) but it was so good just being together. Each year when we get together I am reminded how amazing they all are! I am so grateful for the huge influence they have had and continue to have in my life. WOW! I am so blessed!

Well thank you for tuning in on April's first real blog post ever! Who knows if this will ever happen again. p.s. It is too late for proof reading. The end!

Oct. 29

One thing that I am kinda bugged about is that when I was in elementary school I did not witness a lot of differentiation. Sometimes I fear that because strait direct instruction or drill and kill was what I am most familiar with, those methods will be what I fall back on. I recognize the huge importance of differentiation and i will strive to make a conscious effort to do it. I just wish that i could have seen more examples of this amazing teaching practice in my own elementary school experience.

Oct. 22

I am so excited to have all the resources found in the "toolbox" of this book! I was especially impressed with the large variety of resources. I feel that it is extremely important to constantly be changing the style of teaching and assessment in order to reach all types of learners. Looking through these resources I realized how important they are to plan differentiated lessons. Many of the resources are directly related to assessing students readiness, learning profile or interest and some indirectly assess, through they all tell you as the teacher something about the individual student. I am learning more and more that differentiation does not always have to be based on strict assessments or anecdotal notes, but can be based on any type of student response that is provided to the teacher. Our students are telling us what they need all the time, we as teachers need to be open and aware to receive and implement that information!

I wish that I would remember to read this chapter each month for the rest of my teaching career. I felt that it was so realistic and empowering! I loved how it simply summed up the main method that we have been learning in the bullets at the beginning. I hope that I can remember to be aware of the points on that list because I know that is what my students deserve. I also really enjoyed how the rest of the chapter basically told it like it is. Teaching is going to be hard and there are going to be students that you have a hard time with. Integrating differentiation perfectly all the time may not be feasible, but it is worth the effort it takes to try. We, as teachers have the opportunity to and an obligation to give each student what they need, though this may not always be completely possible, it remains our obligation and quest!

Oct. 1

It was oddly surprising to me to hear on of our professors say "you wont be able to teach the entire core". I guess that was something that I should have realized before, but it had never occurred to me. Chapter five solidified and clarified the statement made by my professor. There is no way to teach the entire core, but it is essential to teach what the students need to know. Looking at the core and understanding the amount of standardized testing that my students will be subjected to makes me a little stressed. I sometimes fear that I will be so focused on filling my students with all this information that others tell me they need to know that I will loose sight of their learning. I will become some one who "teaches" a concept, not someone who helps my student "learn" a concept. I am empowered to realize that as a teacher I have the power (whithin reason) to teach what I feel my students need to know in a way that is meaningful to them. Shoving my students full of information will benefit them nothing and will waste their time.

I really enjoyed reading the second chapter and reviewing some of the basic principles of differentiation. I love hearing about teachers who make this style of teaching apart of their method and make it work! I especially liked reading about the teacher who incorporated a community building sharing activity into a science lesson. Building a community in your classroom is so fundamental, but it can become overlooked. I think it would be a great idea to incorporate that community building across the curriculum. As teachers we need to realize that we are not just teaching a bunch of kids all at the same level, but that we are teaching a group of individuals who are all on different levels. We need to accommodate and create the best learning environment for all students. This is what differentiation is all about. That does not mean allowing not insisting on progression. It was good to remember that differentiation not only means getting to know your students needs, but that it is also requiring students to push themselves to new levels.

Sept. 24

This section of reading has opened my eyes even wider to what my attitude needs to be in order to have a differentiated classroom. In the last chapters it seems that the focus has been to really understand what the student is thinking and feeling. In these chapters I really enjoyed how it focused on what the teacher should be thinking and feeling in order to best provide the needs of the students. As teachers our attitudes and encouragement effects students greatly. It is important that we realize how essential it is for us to be aware of the many points that are mentioned in the first chapter. Validating students and encouraging them in the ways listed needs to become a habitual part of our instruction.

I also really liked more specifically in the second chapter how in depth the study of how the environment affects the student. We have studied the effects of environment a lot, but it is always good to review them. It was also beneficial for me to read about how many teachers are making their classroom environments the most beneficial for their students.

Sept. 17th

* I originally posted this last night, but I wanted to add a couple things. Please let me know if you would rather I didn't do this so that you can get an adequate understanding if the posting assignment was done on time. Sorry, I really didn't think about it when I opened the window, but realized there was no turning back because the update time would have already changed on this post.

I believe inventories and pre-assessments to be a key part of understanding what your students know and how they feel. Because there are so many different types of assessments I believe that every teacher can find on that will fit their personal style and purpose of teaching.

I really liked the idea of having pictures included in the inventories instead of having a rating scale. I feel that children at any age would benefit from having a scale that includes pictures instead of only numbers because pictures are easier to understand. I feel it's easier to understand and interpret numbered rating scales for people of all ages. We can relate better to pictures.

I also found it useful to have a set characteristics and have the students sort them into whether they are like them or not. I fell this would help students really evaluate themselves on the level decided by the teacher. This may also help students learn as much about themselves as the teacher does because they may not have thought about these traits before.

Many of the specific subject pre-assessments were focused of investigation, which I believe to be very important. When you ask students to define or explain a topic to the best of their knowledge it provides a pure understanding of what they know and how they understand it. This gives teachers an understanding of the students knowledge as well as the student's learning profile. A couple of these types of pre-assessments also had a section where the student could draw the concept. This is an important part of the assessments because it allows the students an additional means of expression giving the teacher clearer data.

I would love to conduct some type of inventory like this with my student teaching class. Because I haven't been in the classroom with them these last few months it will be important for me to know and understand them as individuals so I can focus my instruction. I would like to do an inventory that would have a section where they can tell me what they want me to know about them. I feel this will help us catch up a little for the time I have not been with my students in their classroom. I feel that allowing them to express themselves openly will also make them feel more comfortable when I ask them more specific questions about their learning.

It is crucial that we understand our students so we know how to teach them. I believe that assessments and inventories play only a very small part in gathering this information. The most important thing that we can do to accomplish this goal of knowing our students is to observe and get to know them. We must establish an environment where students can be themselves and receive the instruction they need to succeed.

Sept. 9 Reading

I miss read the sylabus and didn't realize that I needed to post about yesterdays reading. I know understand that every reading needs to be posted about, so it wont happen again. I also realize that I will probably recieve no points for this post, but because I really enjoyed the reading I would like to reflect on it anyway.

What stood out to me the most in these two chapters was how the students perspective was so plainly explained. I feel that so many times I get overwhelmed with what is expected of me and what I am feeling that I don't take the time to think about what the students are feeling. I had a real "ah ha" moment when it said that to the studnets the teacher is asking them to "come play. come learn what I have designated as important" and that we expect the students so comply willingly with out any hesitation. I love how when we differetiate we try to understand students and learn from them. Just like in the little prince metaphore we are there working together to learn. It was interesting to me that the fox kind of teaches the prince how to tame him. The fox is not just some dumb animal with no understanding of its world. It is the fox's idea to be tamed and he defines how he needs to be tamed. This is the same with our studnets. They may come in with an attitude that is completely complyiant or they may not. We as teacjers need to work with them to ensure that everyone knows why certian things are being taught and that teachers are learning from the students how they can be best "tamed".

I also really liked the table on page 16 that explains the seperate aspects of the cog metephore through simple statements. I feel that to really understand and practive differentiation a teacher should look at this model offten through out the year. I belivce that reviewing this(and similar models that are found later in the book)offten, differentiation can become integrated into how I teach each student.

Differentiation: Morning meeting readings

When reading the morning meeting information packet several things appealed to me. Since first learning about morning meetings I have always had a desire to use them in my future classroom and these reading reaffirmed that desire. I especially enjoyed reading the student responses about morning meetings. It was inspiring to read about students who are so excited about a certain aspect of school. It was apparent in their responses how much value they saw in morning meetings. the students were empowered. This student empowerment is something that is very important to me. I can see how having a morning meeting fostered this student empowerment. The students in this article were able to express themselves and their views in a safe and friendly environment. They had an opportunity to find and express themselves. I want this atmosphere and growth in my future classroom that is fueled by a good morning meeting routine.

I also found the article found in the packet about eliminating back-biting and other problems to foster a good classroom community very appealing. I think what appealed to me most about this article was the teacher centered approach that was taken to address this issue. The attitude of the classroom really starts with the attitude of the teacher. We as teachers need to constantly evaluate ourselves to make sure we are the type of person we expect our students to be. I also am a big fan of lists. I can definitely see myself creating a list of negative behaviors in my classroom that I can help change. By creating a list I feel I will be able to focus on what is important and be more aware of students who are not participating in that behavior.