On Saturday, I was able to attend a Power 3 training my school was providing on Science and Math. In alignment with our SIP goal to increase student engagement, I was able to learn more ways to utilize science notebooks as well as decode and deconstruct the science curriculum guides (which has always seemed a daunting task to me). Anita Ventura and Amber Mueller did a fantastic job of modeling effective and exciting science instruction, and provided practical ways to implement it into the classroom. Though the training was aimed at current instructional faculty, I was glad I was able to go in order to support my CTs planning and teaching as well as my own learning in my Science Teaching course. I love seeing science as an interactive subject! The cherry on top of a great day was winning a raffle of supplies and goodies, special thanks to Cindy Stuart. Overall, a Saturday well spent.
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The first day of preplanning went off with a fantastic and welcoming vibe. With Mort Elementary channelling Dave Bugess's Teach Like a Pirate this year in efforts to increase engagement with our students, the administration really pulled out all the stops when it came to hooking us in for a fantastic year! Because of the renovations our building was undergoing over the summer, the majority of our week was spent being front-loaded with a lot of new policy and curriculum. Even still, I am really excited to get started with my team!
The most powerful philosophy of this course was from the article “People First Language”. Titles of medical diagnoses speak little to the needs on an individual, and it is important to support all students in ways that meet their unique needs. As Kathie Snow said in her article, “potential cannot be predicted by [a student’s] diagnosis.” By incorporating pretests to assess prior knowledge, for example, instruction can be differentiated by readiness. I believe multiple modes of differentiated instruction should be tried to find what is most effective. Once an environment of inclusion and equitability is created, all students will recognize the benefits of have diverse learners in the classroom.
In my field experience, my CT alternated between homogenous and heterogeneous grouping of students. With mixed-ability groups, students with disabilities can benefit from receiving encouragement and models from their peers. When grouped by like-need, there is less pressure about the gap of understanding and the instructor can focus content. I still struggle finding the balance between being sensitive to a student’s needs and reinforcing poor learning characteristics such as learned helplessness. In my field experience I was quick to “rescue” my students and coach them through their every problem. I also struggle with knowing how to maintain classroom management when there is so much differentiation to keep track of. I did feel I was successful at connecting content to the students’ interests, especially in writing, and their performance reflected their enthusiasm. Through working in an inclusive classroom, I got to know students that had disabilities I previously had no experience with (such as autism and CAPD) and was able to see the role it played in their classroom learning. Some questions that have come up this semester are: -What do I do if a parent is not appropriately advocating for their child with a disability? -How can build a relationship with the Special Ed teachers as a resident intern? -How can I tell if my CT is doing enough to accommodate a student? ![]() Since the new semester has started, my CT and I have designated Monday afternoons as a time to share lesson plans, ideas, and notes for the upcoming week. I really appreciate this time because I don’t have to compete with the continuous disruptions that come up during the school day and I can get a clear focus to plan ahead for as opposed to the “winging-it” approach I felt I had last semester. With the added responsibilities, it is important that I stay organized. Tuesday morning I had my first “do I REALLY want to be a teacher?” moments while my CT was at a meeting and I took the lead in the classroom. Lately I’ve been disheartened by my lack of authority in the classroom and it came to a head when a student made a negative comment to another student about his academic ability. I felt I had lost control: of the class, of my composure, even of my strengths that had kept me going. My CT does a great job supporting me and presenting me to the class as equal to her, however it only makes me more embarrassed and frustrated that she NEEDS to remind the students of that on a weekly basis. I did eventually cool off, and by the next day I fell back into the grove of feeling productive and competent in the classroom. I was excited on Wednesday when the students were able to interact with the SMART Board for the first time during a math lesson. My CT and I have agreed that my next big project for our class is to incorporate centers into our math block. Although intimidating at first, I’ve really been motivated think of creative and engaging ways to make centers work for our class. My guided reading group has been developing comfortably into the classroom schedule and after a few days I feel like I have the hang of it. As the weeks go on, I will get more involved in planning them myself and making adjustments based on student needs. In my Incorporating Exceptional Students course, we spent a lot of time analyzing how culture plays in to the social and academic lives of our students. After reading the article “Canary in the Coal Mine” by Mano Singham and watching clips of news stories on the issue, our class was lead to a heated (at least on my part) discussion about the achievement gap and how it pertains to us as teachers. After narrowing down my focus of inquiry during Seminar, I was particularly invested in the topic. This week, 3rd grade hosted an FCAT information meeting for parents in order to give tips on how to help students prepare for the test this spring. I was happy to see a few of my students attend the presentation (which was offered in Spanish and English). I believe it is important to offer families involvement in the education process. Despite it being a short week in the schools, something pretty enlightening came up in seminar. While discussing how to "find your wonderings", as The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research puts it, I was able to narrow in on what my particular passion of inquiry is. The eight passions listed were all intriguing, but the one that stuck out to me was "Social Justice". The past few years especially I had already invested in the concept on a person level and I am totally inspired by the idea of incorporating into my career as an educator.
Inclusion and appreciation for differences is a value I hold strongly. My courses and textbooks this semester specifically cater to teaching through diversity and I see it manifested in my classroom and school. In my Incorporating Exceptional Students course this week, we studied the history of care and legislation involving people with disabilities and how, despite having come a long way, there is still advocating to be done. I am fortunate to have many privileges going for me in society and I am constantly evaluating the role they play in my daily life. As a teacher, I intend to influence the self-awareness. of students. I wish to awaken a spirit of justice-seeking in children, regardless of their age. The combination of my Instructional Planning course and my subject courses (social studies, math, literacy) has already given me tools to begin incorporating culturally responsiveness to my teaching. By simply adjusting the details of a word problem, or by knowing what background knowledge your students bring to the table can make all the difference. ![]() Some over arching themes from this week: 1) Equal=/=Equitable Though this is not a knew idea to my program, we really delved deep into it this week. In Planning, we completed a student learner profile so we can track what accommodations and approaches are best suited for the students. In my Math course, we discussed how the language and content of word problems should be culturally responsive. By ignoring the knowledge and experiences that our students possess, we may not meet their needs appropriately. And in my Integrating ESE course, we noted that the needs of students with disabilities are not "special"; they are unique as any student's are to the goal of reaching their potential. By the time my colleagues and I all met for Seminar, we understood the urgency of creating an equitable environment in our classrooms. 2) Know Your Students When in comes to planning lessons, teaching content, or strengthening classroom community, I believe that knowing your students is key. In Literacy this week, we read in Classrooms That Work some things that highly effective teachers do, one of the most important being knowing students on a personal and academic level, which I am realizing with my own students. With formative data coming back to the classroom, it's tempting to get caught up in the numbers. But when it comes to meeting the needs of children, it takes so much more than considering percentages on bar graphs. Some of the most heartwarming moments from the time I've spent in the classroom come from when a child engages me in something they are passionate about. I love to share in their excitement, and try to file it away so I can somehow connect it to their learning in the future. 3)Modeling In Math my instructor made an interesting comparison that I had never considered: math problem solving is a lot like literacy. Just like when tackling a new passage or article, a math problem can be introduced by having the teacher think-aloud the process of "decoding" unknown parts. Just as learning to read requires a balance of decoding skills (phonics) as well as automaticity (sight words), math requires decoding skills (strong conceptual knowledge) as well as automaticity (procedural/"drill and kill"). All of these parts should be modeled to students because good problem solvers, and good readers, use them continuously. In my experiences this week, I have spent a lot of time modeling summary responses to my students. Now that I have the chance to write them on my own as opposed to using my CTs model, I feel more involved in the process. I am certainly not perfect, but I am learning more and more each day on how to keep students accountable and engaged. Happy 2014! This was such a stressful and exciting first week back! On top adjusting to a new schedule, the expectations for the new semester are definitely more involved and I'm looking forward to the challenge.
So far, I am most excited to regularly experience the Math block with my students. Having previously been departmentalized to this subject, my CT is eager to involve me in the subject. On Thursday, I sat in on some math planning with the 3rd grade team and we discussed the best way to teach the lessons leading up to the fractions test. I'm glad I was able to get a preview of these important conversations. This semester I'm taking a Teaching Mathematics course, and soon I'll feel confident enough to guide students on small group and eventually lead whole-class instruction. One of the benefits of staying with my same CT would be how easy it was to pick up where we left off in my acquisition of more challenging responsibilities. Each day I was in the classroom this week, I led the writing lesson: I read aloud an article, modeled my plan and paragraphs, and conferenced with students about enhancing their writing. This week's freezing temperatures really set the mood for our "What would you do if it snowed in Florida?" prompt. I love reading the things they come up with! Something that stuck with me throughout the week was a reading from my Instructional Planning course titled "Willing to Be Disturbed" by Margaret J. Wheatley. In essence, it was about being okay with not knowing everything and the importance of engaging others and experiencing different perspectives. This semester I expect to my values and philosophies to develop, and I welcome the growth that will come with this new year! This week has been pretty hectic with the end of the semester quickly approaching. AS a way to demonstrate my understanding of all my courses, I’ve been completing my “Critical Task” projects and assignments to the all-too-intimidating Chalk and Wire… As the deadlines come and go. I can’t help but realize how much I’ve really been exposed to in the last few months. The conversations I’m having with peers, colleagues, and family about my experiences and learning have become rich and exciting. I’m encountering things daily that I wish to bring into my classroom, most recently it has been this printable self-care flipbook. In accordance to my Alberts-esque management philosophy, I believe that teachers have an influence over how children choose to get their needs met. By truly knowing the students as individuals, the process of meeting their needs becomes much easier.
After downloading and printing the flipbook PDF, I was able to write in additional “feelings” and “needs” that I remembered discussing in my Child Development course. By combining Maslow’s and Glasser’s hierarchy of needs and choice theory, I think this resource can cover a broader range of needs. To be honest, especially in times like these when stress is high, adults (like myself) could probably benefit from this explicit communication tool. Too often we move and think too quickly to realize we are overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted. I suppose this is just a reminder to myself the importance of self-care; children aren’t the only ones who need to feel tended to. ![]() With excitement leading up to Thanksgiving break, I appreciated the timing of Hillsborough County's “Great American Teach-In”. This program is designed to bring professionals of all fields into the classroom and engage students with a variety of career options and hobbies they could pursue. Based on the particular demographic of our school, this is many students’ first exposure to specific tracks of higher education. MY particular class hosted a former helicopter pilot and current helicopter simulator engineer. I loved seeing the students’ eyes light up when the visitor brought out toy models and explained how the different parts made them fly! Our visitor’s presentation was thorough and enchanting. Based on the constructivist theory that all learning is built upon prior knowlesge, I find these programs to be incredibly beneficial to these students who may have limited exposure to the concepts or professions. By relating these “totally cool” jobs to specific subjects of science and math, students are more likely to find value in studying them. |
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March 2015
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