Five Insights

I agree with all of the insights from Meggie and Julie as well, but here are some other things I have learned as well.

1. Worry Less, Enjoy More: I think if I could go back and tell myself (on day one) some advice it would be worry less and enjoy more. I would tell myself to not feel so overwhelmed. That things will come together, you will be ready to teach, and you will feel successful by the end.  Student teaching is so fun and so much is to be enjoyed and learned everyday.

2. During lessons, be flexible and read the students: Have a well planned lesson ahead of time to ensure valuable use of time and that students are meeting objectives, but don't be afraid to change things during the lesson. Read the students, if they are getting restless you may have to move ahead in the lesson plan or change plans. Don't be afraid to stray from the plan or any script you may have had. It will keep students more engaged and they will probably learn more. If you are feeling defeated during a lesson, try to power through the lesson and do the best you can.

3. Don't be afraid to try new things (activities/lessons) and make mistakes: If you have a new idea that may work with the content you are teaching don't be afraid to try it. It may end up being a great lesson or you may make some mistakes and then learn from them for next time. Each time you teach you have an opportunity to reflect on what went well and what did not work. This will make the next lesson better. I have gotten ideas in middle school math that I just wanted to try for the fun of it. I didn't know if things would work out, but the experience was so valuable.

4. Be Organized: Teachers have to deal with so many student papers and materials it really helps to have some organization in the room for supplies and a way to manage all of the student papers.  Also, have lesson materials ready ahead of time so they are easily accessible while teaching. Students can get off task if the teacher has to stop and find the materials/supplies.

5. Be flexible with noise in the room under certain circumstances: I have learned that the room does not always have to be completely quiet for it to mean that students are on task. Students can be talking during parts of a lesson and it can still be going well and they can still be on task.

five insights

Well, Julie you set the bar so high with your catchy taglines, I hope I can keep up!  Here goes...

1.  Come with a plan, and plan to change it.  I have been constantly amazed over the last few months by the number of interruptions a classroom teacher must juggle.  A well planned day always makes me feel at ease (and I think the students as well) but I have also learned not to be too tied to the plan, because inevitably, it will have to change.

2.  Trust the students to lead the learning.  Some of the most interesting and successful lessons are the ones where I really relinquish control of the lesson to the students.  I allow their questions and curiosity to drive the lesson and ask more questions than I answer.  While it sometimes feels scary to put the control in the students' hands, I think this allows them agency over their own learning and gives them the opportunity to experience the joy of learning/discovering something new.  These always seem to be the lessons with the most "lightbulb" moments.

3.  Be energized by the kids.  In a classroom of 30 noisy fourth graders, it is easy to be overwhelmed and exhausted by the children.  I have learned that I can either feed off their energy and let it build mine up, or I can be annoyed by their energy and become exhausted trying to calm it down.  Obviously, the students' energy sometimes has to be channeled into an academic task, but the days where I can match their level are always the most successful and more enjoyable.

4.  Grading, record keeping and form filling out isn't always fun, but it is worth it.  I haven't had the best model of record keeping and grading in my mentor teacher, but when I took the initiative to grade the assessments and homework myself, I got a much better idea of where my students were meeting our learning goals and where more work was needed.  I hope in my future classroom, to take this a step further and build targeted small groups to address specific needs.

5.  To quote Diane, "if the teacher ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."  One thing I have learned from Diane is that it really is important to take care of yourself, and keep the duty free lunch holy.  You have to give yourself time to relax or you won't make it through the long haul.  Taking care of yourself really does make you a better teacher, because it means you are ready to give the kids the time and energy they need.

Five Insights

My 5 Insights:

1. Lean into the craziness.  When my students are really rambunctious I used to try to get them to control their bodies and voices, now I just turn on a funny song and go with it.  I have found that getting goofy (so long as we don't have serious work to get done) can be more helpful when it's time to refocus instead of trying to fight through it.
2. Don't investigate every concern.  In first grade, there are a lot of times where students would like you to intervene, but there simply isn't enough time and often the students can handle it themselves.  
3. When I get flustered as a teacher, take "time out" to solve the problem.  Acknowledging that the Promethean board isn't working at the moment and asking the kids to turn to their neighbor and tell them about a specific prompt while I take a moment to get my baring has worked much better than not directing the students in this fashion- they will always talk, but at least I can get them on a topic that increases learning while I sort out the situation.
4. Come in early.  I have realized that I am not nearly as productive in the  afternoon as I am in the morning.  I find that if I get a day ahead in the morning versus prepping afternoon before, I enjoy my day much better.
5. Be a team player.  I often times see where work has been reduced (or could be) because of teamwork.  The teachers often plan things together and print things off as a group.  I can only imagine if a full grade could commit to one type of homework packet how effective it could be.  

monitoring lessons

One way that I monitor my lessons is to ask my students whenever there is some confusion if they understand.  I ALWAYS ask for non-verbal responses to yes and no questions so using this technique is a quick way for me to gauge is I should move forward or continue explaining.  This way I can keep the lesson at the pace the students need it to be.  Recently I have experimented with allowing students who understand the instructions to return to their desk and begin working and the students who need further explanation to remain on the carpet.  This has worked really well.  The only downside is that not everyone finishes at the same time.  The positive side is that students who understand aren't getting restless on the carpet causing interruptions and that I can give these students additional assignments occasionally.   I would use this strategy again, but that choice would be made on a case by case basis.

Best Teaching Skills

I think one thing I am good at is planning lessons. I try to think through my lessons in-depth and identify a purpose for the different parts. I also like to plan lessons with a variety of parts so I am not just doing direct instruction the entire time or just group work the entire time. I look to the standards and plan lessons according to the material that students need to know. I also try to be very organized. I prepare my materials a head of time and make sure I have everything needed for the day. I have gotten better about being flexible during lessons and reading my students as well. In middle school I get to teach the same lesson most of the day so if something didn't work well in one hour I change it and do something different the next time. If I learn something new during one hour, I add it in to the next lesson if it will be valuable for the students to know. I have gotten a lot better about giving directions as well and making things clear to students when explaining information.

skills

One teaching skill I feel very confident about is the ability to be flexible and adapt my plans as I go.  One thing that we have definitely learned is that, no matter how well planned out the lesson is, something outside your control may and likely will happen to derail your plans.  Perhaps this will be a good distraction as students become engrossed in something that was only supposed to take, and perhaps it will be a less productive distraction, like a code red drill, or a technology mishap.  I have experienced many distractions this fall, and feel very good about my ability to roll with the punches and adapt my plan as needed.

Another thing that I feel really good about, is that I have a solid idea about how much time I need to prepare a lesson.  I began student teaching terrified because I had been spending 6 hours last spring on each ECOstars lesson I taught.  I was convinced that there was no way I would be able to plan a whole day everyday.  Now I have a good sense of how to manage my time and energy so that I can still deliver quality lessons, without giving up my whole night to planning.  Knowing this goes a long way in making me confident that I can be a teacher for the long haul.

purpose for learning

This seems to be a very hot topic at Lake Harriet right now.  Today the associate superintendent came for a learning walk at our school.  Diane had volunteered to have her and her team visit/observe our room.  They only stayed for about 15 minutes but the most important thing for the district people was did we have our learning target posted (I can statement) and were the students able to explain to the visitors what they were learning.  

I think often the I can statements do a good job of framing the purpose for the lesson and activities, but don't always go far enough in helping students understand WHY this is a valuable thing to learn.  I often say somewhere in my lesson, "I bet you are wondering why Ms. Morrow is making you learn this, who cares?"  I sometimes even ask students to raise thier hands if they felt that way.  I try then to explain why this skill is important.  I think this is especially important with some of the literacy strategies we teach.  By fourth grade, a lot of our kids have heard about inferring a hundred times already, they have probably sat through almost the exact same lesson in a earlier grade, just with a simpler text.  Most of our students are also such strong readers, that they feel it is a waste of time to stop and write out/ask questions as they read, because it takes away from enjoying the story.  I try to explain that even the best readers end up reading something that is difficult to comprehend, and all readers will eventually use some strategies.  I try to make explicit that many of us are already doing this, but today we are trying to slow our brains down and notice how we comprehend.  

skills

The area that I feel most developed since beginning at LHLC is my overall classroom management skills.  I feel much more comfortable dealing with discipline without interupting the flow of the class.  I also feel that I have become more comfortable with taking the innitiative to have kids put their heads down.  At the beginning of student teaching, no matter what I would try to stay on pace and keep the lesson moving.  Now, I see the benefits of taking a few minutes to calm our bodies and minds down and then reintroduce the lesson.  I comfortably determine when students need this time and I feel very secure when making this judgement call.  As a whole,  my management of the students in the classroom is something I finally feel confident in.

Purpose of Learning Explicit

I agree with Julie in that I make the learning targets known to students at the beginning of the lesson or within the lesson to help them focus on the purpose of the work being done in class. I have started having students write them in their agenda books. I also try and let them know why certain work is being done. If I give a warm-up problem that will help them on a test, quiz or in class I let students know the reasoning behind my choice. I want them to know that I pick their work with purpose, not just to keep them busy. If I have to redirect a student I also try and tell the student why I am redirecting them. "You can't talk to people at other tables during math work time not because I am mean, but because it disrupts your learning and the people around you." Whenever I can I try to relate the math content to the real world. Hopefully this shows students that there is a point to learning the material. They will either be able to use the information in their lives or it will help them be successful in another math class. If I use a type of math in my regular life I try to mention that to students. I was doing a warm-up problem with sixth graders yesterday and I had them converting between several different measurements. I explained how I convert between measurements all of the time in life and gave some examples. Ms. Meyer was explaining to students during study hall the correct way to label cents as an answer to a word problem. She showed them the correct way and the incorrect way and told students that many adults and businesses label cents incorrectly and that they could look for errors and find them in the world around them. She mentioned that one year DQ had a bunch of signs printed incorrectly. The students all thought it was so cool they could be smarter than adults. I think throwing some fun information like that into lessons also makes students realized the benefits of learning the material.

purpose of learning

The way that I make it explicit the purpose of learning is that I start with the I can statements and refer back to them throughout my lesson.  I feel like starting with the purpose of learning helps the students to become goal oriented during the lesson.  I finish the lesson by asking them if they met the "I can" statement.  This helps to conclude the lesson and remind the students of what they have accomplished.  When applicable, I remind the students of how they can apply this new knowledge to their daily life.   Today we took an assessment and I was able to introduce the test by reminding them of the I can statements that we have met.  I explained that now is the time to show me that they did meet them like they said they did.  The students seemed less anxious when I gave them this connection to the fact that they had already mastered the skills and this was just a way to make sure they could do it independently.

listening techniques

I think this prompt is asking how I make sure that I am being a good listener when students are talking.  A few things I like to do are rephrasing the student's answer, whether in a private conversation or in a whole group discussion I think this helps clarify that I am hearing and understanding what the child is trying to communicate.  If I'm not quite sure what the student is trying to say, I am very honest with them and ask if they can try saying it again in a different way because I don't quite understand.  Sometimes this is frustrating to the students and they feel like I'm not listening, but ultimately I think it is best to respond to their actual message and they deserve to get their ideas out the way they intended.

feedback from supervisor

I think I've gotten some very helpful feedback from Dr. Kaback.  I like that it comes in many forms--a response to a posting, written on lesson plans and verbal after an observation.  I feel very supported and connected.

One thing that has been most helpful is our conversations after an observation.  We always debrief the lesson and Dr. Kaback offers helpful ideas and insights, but I particularly like when we end up discussing a teaching strategy more generally.  Last time I was observed, we ended up talking about theories on the writer's workshop model for a good 15-20 minutes.  I really appreciated the way Dr. Kaback spoke with me as a fellow professional, not telling me which approach was best but giving me some research that backs up both sides of the debate.  This led me to think more deeply about the way our school teaches writing and how I would want to approach writing in my own classroom.

Listening Techniques

Hi All!
    Some of my best listening techniques I have learned from my cooperating teacher.  There are cues that we use in our class to enhance listening one of these being "123 eyes on me".  This strategy works really well to get the students attention immediately.  It is a great way to get the "listening started".   A strategy that I use while I'm teaching frequently is to ask the students to put what I just said into their own words.  It requires them to be listening, but also to be able to rephrase what I have told them which shows that they heard, understand, and can explain it.  There is a double bonus in that I may not have explained something well enough and by putting what I said into kid language, the students might be able to assist their peers.

Happy Monday!
Julie

Listening Techniques

Some ways I have found to improve my listening skills with students is to try to practice active listening. I make sure that I focus on what students are saying and try to understand their explanations or questions clearly. If I am not sure what a students means I ask them clarifying questions to get more information or I ask them to tell me more about the topic. I also look at them while they are speaking and make eye contact. I sometimes repeat back to them a short summary of what I heard them say or try and rephrase their question to make sure that I heard them correctly and to show I was listening. I use  wait time as well. I like to allow students to finish what they are saying before I jump in and comment. This has been hard for me though because I am always trying to balance that practice with the fact that I have to keep the discussion moving and keep the other students interested. I still need to improve on how much I chime in when students are explaining and when I need to hold back.

Feedback from Supervisor

I think some helpful feedback I got was to work on your assessment section of the lesson plan right after the objectives have been planned out and written  down. When I write lesson plans now I have certain goals in mind, or objectives that I want students to have learned from my lesson. After I write those, I always think about how I am going to assess whether or not the students have learned what I am trying to teach them. After I have thought about and written the assessment section I can work backwards and write the rest of my lesson plan. This ensures that I am going to be able to tell at the end of each lesson if students got the material needed and that I didn't en up forgetting to check for understanding. Another piece of advice I got was to try and move around the room during lessons. I try to be aware of that now when I am teaching to help monitor students and manage the classroom. I also really appreciate taking time to unpack lessons after I have been observed. I get many pieces of advice and can ask questions when I need to.

constructive feedback

I really appreciate meeting with Dr K after each lesson that she watches.  It gives us a time to bounce ideas off of eachother and to improve certain areas of my teaching.  An example of this is her first observation.  I had been so worried about my students behavior that it appeared to be my primary concern from an outside perspective.  It was nice to get this feedback and easy to implement her ideas that making the lesson fun, quick paced, and asking off task students questions instead of reprimanding them for their behavior.  Hearing these verbal responses after each lesson really helps me to implement the feedback into my next lessons quickly and efficiently because I can immediately ask questions if I do not understand something about the feedback.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Student Thinking

To sample student thinking I like to start lessons with a question that is relevant to the lesson. I want to hear what students are thinking about the topic and get them thinking about the topic before we start the lesson. I have also used a KWL chart. I used that during a science lesson when I was in 4th grade and it was fun for students to share what they already knew on a topic and it was interesting, and beneficial, for me to see what students already knew. Students are excited to share facts that others may not know.  To check for understanding on a topic I like to use thumbs up, down, or sideways. I have also had students show me on their fingers, 1-5, how well they felt they understood the material from the lesson. My cooperating teacher also had a target that was lamented so students could write on it. She would sometimes have students come up and put their initials in a certain area depending on how well they understood the material. I thought that was interesting. For my action research project we used small group interviews to sample student thinking about math journals before and after our project. I like the idea of doing that, but have not used that during a normal lesson/unit. We also did a survey which could be done at the beginning of the year or at the beginning of a unit. I have not figured out a great way to check for understanding in middle school yet. I have used exit slips and work samples so far. I also use questioning.

student thinking

This week I did a KWL on thanksgiving with my students.  We started and ended each lesson with adding information and questions to our chart.  I understood from this where the students understanding was starting during the unit (no one mentioned Pilgrims in our conversation).  It also showed me where the students were interested in going with the Thanksgiving unit (they wanted to learn more about Squanto who they had learned about in Media this week).  At the end of each lesson the L served as a time to summarize the things that we had learned in the lesson and allowed me to double check that the students had in fact met the objectives.

I also use nonverbal cues frequently to check for student understanding.  this is a quick way that I can determine if the students need more examples or if they feel prepared to begin working independently.  It is a quick way to get feedback to any yes or no question.

I also frequently ask the question "How did you get that answer?" and "what made you think of that?"   as a way to understand my students internal thought process.

assessment strategies

One strategy I use for assessment is to mark scores using the scale that is used for report cards.  If I use this grading scale and record it on a grade sheet it makes it easy to see how students are improving.  It also will help in determining quarter grades.  Finally, having these scores laid out in a visual manner helps to see who needs an intervention in a given area/ subject.  Another strategy that I use is post-it notes that I discuss with the students.  I find that the best way to give more specific feedback on the first grade level is to discuss what I want to see different with them.  It gives them a chance to explain their thinking and see if it is something that just needed more clarification.  Writing these concerns doesn't help because many of the students cant read the feedback well.   If I write a note directed at the parents on the paper, that helps them to know what is expected of their child, but I really like to have a post it note to talk with the child and then the post-it note can be thrown out without marking up the child's work excessively. I think this helps build self-esteem in the child when I don't write all over the assignment they put so much effort in.

Strategies to sample student thinking

I'm not quite sure what this means... I guess I sample student thinking in every question I ask them and  in every activity I ask them to do/produce.

One thing that was really interesting was watching the students work through our math journals that Nicole and I used for action research. We were asking students to slow their problem solving process down and explain their thinking.  They struggled with this, and still do, but I think they journals helped a lot.  I think it is especially difficult for students to explain and reason through their thinking when it comes to math.  They seem to think that if they got the answer right, it doesn't matter how they did it and more importantly it doesn't matter why the answer makes sense.  I have seen this a lot in our most recent math chapter which challenged students to go back and forth between multiplication and division --using strategies from one to help understand the other.  The problem was kids would mix things up and end up dividing when they were supposed to multiply.  I would ask "does it make sense that the answer of our division problem is BIGGER than the numbers we started with?"  Suddenly students would start to realize why their answer didn't make sense.

Throughout the day I try to ask students lots of questions and try to take the time to keep breaking things into smaller questions when their first response was incorrect.  As I listen to these responses I get a glimpse into their thinking, but it definitely is easier with the really verbal kids who can express their thinking clearly.  I would like to learn some ways to get inside the heads of the kids who really struggle.

assessment strategies

I like to use a combination of assessment strategies to get a well rounded view of how my students are understanding a concept.  I like to assess using work samples and observations of participation and effort to augment information I get from more formal assessments.  In math this week I have been using homework as a way to check in on mastery of concepts from the day, however this always presents a more rosey view of student progress than may be accurate, as parents are helping kids with homework. I can't always get around to everyone during worktime to check in class work, as I am usually working with a small group, so I try to do quick checks on understanding during the lesson.  I like to ask for thumbs up, sideways or down to have students show me if things are making sense.  If I do this during the lesson, I know who I need to see individually during worktime.

I also give the formal unit assessments to all students at the end of a chapter.  As I corrected these yesterday I was not surprised by the results.  Students did pretty much as I had expected based on my previous assessments.

Assessment Strategies

One assessment strategy I used this week was to developed a set of questions (work packet) that was made up of different questions from practice skills books. I picked the questions based on the learning targets students needed to know for their benchmark tests next week. I gave students the packets today, they worked on them and I corrected them. From the questions I was able to see what topics students still need to review. This way I did not have to waste time teaching concepts that students already knew. My cooperating teacher and I picked the questions students missed the most and are going to go over those questions together as a class tomorrow. Students are then going to do some practice work on two skills they still need help with. I have developed a few other tests or worksheets that I have also used in classes. I have also assessed students by observing them during work time and looking at their class work that I had them hand in. I recently used exit slips in middle school math as well which is a nice quick assessment to see if students learned important concepts during the lesson.

Student teaching experience

If I were asked to describe my student teaching experience in one word that word would be "a blast" (okay, I guess that's two words).  I did not come into student teaching expecting to have this much fun, I started the year overwhelmed and feeling like I was just going to be working so hard I wouldn't have time for anything.  I am surprised and happy to report that more than anything else this placement has been fun.  I am finishing up here at LHUC feeling like teaching is definitely the right field for me.  I came into this year all worked up about university expectations and needing to get everything right that I had kind of forgotten how much I love working with kids.  This fall has reminded me how much kids energize me and make me want to work hard.

The other huge part of why my experience has been so positive, is Diane.  She has been a great mentor for me, because she has pushed me in ways that I don't normally think.  She is much more sensitive to students' emotional needs, whereas I tend to focus on academic.  Talking about and dealing with feelings has always been a struggle for me and consequently something I avoid, but Diane is the opposite.  She's great at connecting with and supporting students emotionally, and I've learned a lot watching her.

As I begin to hand subjects back to Diane this week, there are still a few things that I want to practice/try.  I still don't feel like I have had enough experience using data to make decisions--Diane does not do this at all, she makes her groups based on 'knowing the kids'.  I did lots of data driven decisions in Reading Corps but I would like to have more practice with how to make those choices on a whole class level.  I remember how much time and testing we put into each child's intervention for MRC, and I have trouble imagining how to do this for 30 kids.  The fourth grade teachers are supposed to be designing interventions for students in math, but every week we go to the meetings, they talk about it in the abstract and make no movement towards actually implementing anything.  It is especially frustrating because every time I try to make materials to get things underway, I've been told to hold off until a decision is made by the group.

Student Teaching Experience

Student teaching has definitely been an eye-opening experience.  I have gotten a lot of experiences that I didn't get at my previous field-sites regarding the inner-workings of a school, curriculum, and teacher responsibilities outside of the classroom.   I've even gotten to see how to utilize union representatives first hand.   At the same time, I have become aware of just how much time it requires to be the type of teacher I would like to be.  The lessons I'm most proud of I spend hours creating and developing.  I can see the appeal of following the curriculum with minimal creating of ones on lesson plans.  I however have also seen the difference in my kids when they know that the lessons we are doing I made especially for them.  

Another important thing I have learned about is the importance of a good team.  When I see how well the first grade team at LHLC works together to get things accomplished, it makes me hope that I'm lucky enough to end up at a school where teachers can spend their meeting time so effectively.  Thinking about the teaching field I have always thought about my classroom and I how would want that space to be.  Looking at how one teacher must make decisions that wont "rock the boat" for the remainder of the grade,  student teaching has given me a new appreciation for working with great teachers alongside me.

The final thing that student teaching has taught me is how much teachers have to let go of.  There isn't the time to make everything fair and to make sure every student gets the assignment completed.  Student teaching is helping me to find the balance between keeping everyone on track and keeping everyone moving forward, keeping everything even and keeping everything fair, running a quiet classroom and running a fun classroom simultaneously.   Overall, it is helping me to find a balance in the things I value in my classroom and the reality of what needs to happen to best fit the needs of all children.

Feelings About Student Teaching Experience

There are many things I can say about my student teaching experience thus far. I feel very blessed to have had two great cooperating teachers. I think both teachers differ in their management styles and teaching methods so I have gotten to see a variety of things. Also, both teachers have been very welcoming, they have given my a lot of opportunities to create some of my own lessons and let me try new things. I appreciate their flexibility and willingness to have me in their classrooms! After talking with other people student teaching, I know not everyone gets their ideal placement so I just had to comment on how I have enjoyed both of my teachers so far.  Also, I really appreciate having both of my placements at the same school. The transition from 4th grade to middle school was overwhelming and I think it would have been even more difficult if I would have had to move to a new school. I will say that I have liked having two placements though. It is so interesting to see how elementary school and middle school differ. The classroom management and ways you present lessons are similar in ways, but can also be very different. I feel like I have learned so much since the beginning of my student teaching experience, but still have so many things that I want to try and learn that part of my wishes I could student teach longer. I know I will be able to continue learning when I have my own classroom though. One thing I do wish is that I was getting a little more practice with EL learners. I have not gotten any experience with modifying lessons for EL learners and I think the reality is that when I do get a job I will probably have to do that. Another thing I want to comment on is the behavior at LH. For the most part the students are so wonderful! They are so polite and most of the students are performing above grade level. Even the middle school students say thank you to my cooperating teacher and I as they leave the room at the end of class. I know not every school I may work at will have students that are performing at such high levels and that are so well behaved. I have gotten a lot of actual teaching and curriculum experience because I have not had to deal with as much behavior management. I  know that other schools I go to may have lower level learners and more behavior issues and I hope I have skills to deal with that having not gotten that much practice while student teaching.
Overall, I am really enjoying my student teaching experience so far! The school I am working at is great and is filled with experienced teachers. I feel lucky to have been placed there. At the beginning of the experience I was very nervous and overwhelmed, but I can see how much I have learned and grown. I hope to continue to enjoy the next three weeks. My cooperating teacher is letting me get some practice with differentiation and small group work this week as we prepare for benchmark tests. I was able to look at areas students were still struggling with and create groups and lists of students that need work in each area. I am also practicing some math learning centers. I have been doing a lot of research on math learning centers, guided math groups and math differentiation and I really excited to take some baby steps in trying these things out with support from my cooperating teacher!

connecting to prior knowledge

Connections with prior knowledge may be one of my favorite parts of learning and teaching.  As a student and as a teacher watching her students, finding ways to make meaningful connections to what we already know really seems like the best way to get excited about learning something new.  

A few things I like to do...
1. KWL charts are a great tool for assessing and building background knowledge as the class shares our body of knowledge we already know as a group and develop questions to answer.

2.  I like to whet everyone's appetite for a lesson with an image and ask kids if they can use the clues in the image and on the I CAN board to figure out what we might be discussing today.  This worked really well when I introduced the probability unit in math.  I created a Promethean page with a bunch of images connected with jobs that use probability/make predictions that students may have heard of.  As we talked about what the images were, students began to understand what probability meant and where they had already seen it used.

3. The easiest thing to do is just a quick survey of "has anyone ever see/heard/read ____ before?"  "What do we know about____?"  "Who can tell me anything about____?"  This is a nice way to get the discussion and energy going before introducing the lesson.

connecting to prior knowledge

Hi all!
     One way that I challenge my students to link the current lesson to prior knowledge is using KWL.  If I fill it out before hand it refreshes the students minds about the topic so that we can build from where they are at currently.   I also am often surprised just how much information the kids already know about the subjects I'm teaching.  They teach their peers a lot as well during this time because of the information we are able to combine from all of our background knowledge.  This really gets us prepared to start where we left off.

     Another strategy I use during reading is always asking the students to make a 1) text to text connection 2)text to life connection.   This helps the students to think about what they know and relate it to what we are currently learning.  My students always have something to share!

Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!"

Hi All!
     For the choice reflection I read Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!"  I really thought a lot about my own use of the term good job in my classroom as I read.   The thing that struck me the most was when the article talked about setting the students up to always need positive feedback and how it limits students abilities to stand up for their thoughts and ideas within their work.  I think that these are very valid points that should be addressed as a whole school.

     In my classroom my students are always running up to me for a "good job".  I have offered them up willingly as a quick response as I'm addressing the students who need interventions in their work.   The fact that it is the same hand full of students that come up to me is worrisome after reading this article.  Am I setting them up to not be intrinsically motivated?  Am I teaching them to not explain their thought process and back down if I give "good jobs" instead of always asking more questions.  These are all valid points that are alarming from a teaching standpoint and will definitely effect how I give praise.

     There were a few concerns that crossed my mind while reading.  The first one is the amount of time it would take.  Asking for more information from each child takes a lot longer than stamping their paper and correcting the errors.  I already struggle to find the time to give meaningful feedback on my daily lessons, the suggestions in this article seem like a lot to fit in.   My second big concern is that my students will not be used to not receiving this positive feedback.  How many years of "good jobs" is enough for students to be affected?  Also, am I the "mean teacher" because I don't think it will be very effective for me to change this if all it will do at this stage is deter my students from completing work.  I think it would have to be a school-wide, district-wide, community-wide initiative in order to be effective.  It would also be something I would want to discuss with my families and students before I stopped giving "good jobs."

helpful feedback

The most helpful type of feedback I receive is written notes on my lesson plans.  I really enjoy being able to see where an outside point of view saw a lack of efficiency or understanding in my teaching.   If  I am just told orally, it is less likely to soak in and less likely to be applied to my next lesson plan.  For me, having a long list of short comments like "unclear" next to one of my instructions or "John Doe was off task during this time" or "Great chart!"  Really helps me to look back when planning future lessons at what areas need more explanation, which students need more attention, and which strategies I'm using well.  I can get a lot more feedback on a single lesson this way than if I were to just get to spend 5 minutes discussing with my observer after my lesson.

How to create nonreaders

It was interesting to read this right after going to our class tonight about job searching and hiring.  The article talks about how important it is to give students agency and autonomy to develop as creative and critical thinkers rather than just good test-takers and rule followers.  Kohn argues that students need to develop curiosity and love of learning, and that the best way to do this is to let them read or learn for the sake of reading or learning, rather than for a grade.  He gets at the idea that when we teach students to read simply in order to do a task or get a grade, we are teaching students to be mediocre.  They are good at doing what they are told, but bad at doing anything beyond that.    It seems like Kohn's ideal student is one that thinks critically and creatively because he/she knows that the teacher will support his/her risktaking and thinking.
This is great and something I can support--that is exactly the type of learner I would like to cultivate.  But, as I read this I just kept thinking back to the lady from the career office today, telling us "not to stand out too much because recruiters and hiring staff do not like that."  "Make sure you use key words and phrases in written responses to trigger the computer program to know you will be a good teacher."  "Make sure you respond correctly to the survey questions so that the computer knows you are caring."  "All of these things will make districts want to hire you."  I couldn't help but feel a bit defeated, that for all of Kohn's building up of individuality, creativity and agency in students, our adult world still seems to favor mediocrity.  The message I took away about hiring practices is that it does not really matter how great of a teacher you are, what matters is if you use the words and phrases that the computer program has correlated with quality teacher characteristics.  If this is the real-world that we are preparing students for, maybe we should just teach them how to answer the predictable way and follow directions.

Sorry, perhaps this comes across totally defeatist.  I realize/hope/pray that this apparent appreciation for conformity and mediocrity will not carry our students or me as far as we can go.  Hopefully, once I get a job (and once my future students get their future careers), the ability to be creative problem solvers will set us apart and allow us to rise beyond our conforming peers who do only as much as they are extrinsically motivated to do...

Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job"

I decided to read this article because I have read some other information on over praising and I thought it was interesting. It is one of the concepts I try to keep in the back of my mind at all times while teaching. The article mentions that saying good job can be more for the teacher or parent than for the student/child.  I think it is a habit for some people, including myself, and it is hard to break. Alfie Kohn mentions that at first not saying "good job" and giving praise can seem unnatural and cold, but after a while it will become easier. I like that the article offers some other things to say in response to children and that people need to keep in mind the long-term goals for children. Over praise can make children dependent on praise and they will start to perform certain tasks just for the praise or evaluation from an adult. Instead teachers or parents can state specifically what the student did in their work or ask questions about the work. Even just saying "you did it" in an encouraging tone is more worthwhile. I found it interesting that the article talked about how over praise can actually interfere with how well a child performs a task. If a child was over praised while completing one task, they are more likely to not do as well at the next creative task. Continually praising children also made them more hestiant to answer questions in class. I found that very fascinating. I think if students are constantly being told they are good at something, they are almost afraid to not get postive praise each time they answer or complete work in class. This may make them too dependent on positive evaluations and afraid of what they might see as failure or not getting that "good job".

helpful feedback

The best feedback I get from Diane is not directly feedback, but in the form of questions, when she asks how I did something, where did I learn that/find that etc.  During our official feedback conversations--both our weekly check-ins and our quarterly conference--Diane tends to be extremely positive but doesn't really give any details.  While it feels great to be told you're doing an excellent job, I know there are areas I need to improve and it would be nice to hear about those as well.  I guess the best feedback I get in terms of ways to improve is also indirect and comes when Diane steps in to help me out, even if I haven't asked for or planned it.

This placement has been a blast and I have learned a lot from Diane, but one take away is definitely the understanding that blanket statement praise is not nearly as powerful as one or two concrete, detailed bits of feedback.  This is something I will certainly remember when responding to students.

Helpful Feedback

One thing I had to work on during the beginning of my teaching was giving directions. I got some feedback on how to give directions and manage supplies in my science lessons and that really helped my teaching. I really think about how I want to give directions, what I should say to students and when I should give the directions in the lesson. I try to make sure that students know to listen to my directions first and then move. I also try and have the directions listed somewhere on the board if there is a lot to remember. I have been working on how to phrase directions as well, to be clear and concise with my wording. I am working on how to ask questions in the classroom as well. I got a book from one of my cooperating teachers and I have been reading that when I have a spare minute. In my math classroom, I have been working on how to ask questions that engage students and how to prompt students if they have been asked a question.

I got some feedback or practice with assessment as well. When I was in fourth grade I was able to give a pre-assessment in math class. I then worked with my cooperating teacher and we looked at how the students did on the test and were able to sort of make some groups of students that were struggling with particular concepts. She gave me some ideas on how I could use preassessments in my own classroom someday and told me how she uses them. I found that feedback really helpful and will take those ideas with me.

nonverbal cues

I use a few different nonverbal cues to redirect students, I find them especially helpful if I am trying to continue talking or reading aloud but want to redirect without interrupting instruction.  Mostly these are looks given to a student, although I will also point to a new spot that I want the student to move to.  Diane likes to snap to get kids to stop talking, but I am not sure how I feel about that--it feels a bit too  much like the way I get my dog's attention.  Also, if I am getting frustrated with having to stop and wait for kids to stop chatting over and over I make sure that my body language reflects that frustration.  In the same way, I try to make sure that I model positive body language when talking to other students and teachers and when doing a task.

Nonverbal cues

The prompt for this post reads, "Explain ways you have effectively used the following nonverbal cues." There are no cues listed so I will just write about some nonverbal cues that I use or have used. When I was teaching in fourth grade we used a hand in the air to signal "give me five" then I would count down with my fingers. Sometimes I would count out loud, sometimes not. I would also put a finger to my lips to signal students to stop talking. I know in middle school if I have told students to be quiet, and then they are still talking when I want to teach, I just wait silently at the front of the room until people realize and stop talking. I also give certain looks to students if they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, a head shake no works well. I can give positive nonverbal cues to students as well if they are on track.  I am having a hard time thinking of others right now. I will post more as I think of them.

What to write about on Wednesday, November 14

Hi All, This week with our reflective prompts, Wednesday is a free choice day--or, shall I say, it WAS a free choice day. Here's what I'd like you to do: Go to the following website and choose an article that looks interesting to you. Everything was written by a man named Alfie Kohn, and I'm of the opinion that you can't be a full-fledged teacher unless you know about Alfie. Here's the web address: http://www.alfiekohn.org/articles.htm Five Reasons to Stop Saying 'Good Job!' is always a favorite, and students usually appreciate the ideas in How to Create Nonreaders The choice is yours, though. Once you've selected and read your article, write a paragraph about an idea or two that really challenged your thinking OR that expressed exactly a principle you hold about teaching and learning. That's it! Dr. K

Intrinsic motivation

I think the best, most authentic ways to increase students' intrinsic motivation is to provide them opportunities to feel successful all along the way and to develop lessons that peak and build on their curiosities.  While not all lessons will intrinsically interest every learner, having even a few lessons that engage a child's curiosity can give him or her the opportunity to experience the joy of learning for learning's sake.  I think that this in turn will motivate students to seek out more opportunities to develop their natural curiosity.

I try to do these things in a few ways.  The first is by activating prior knowledge, I think kids are often surprised by how much they already know, and that activating this tends to lead them to generate thier own questions.  It also makes them feel a part of what they are learning.  Another way I try to both allow the kids to feel successful and to build their curiosity, is that I tell them as little as possible.  This may sound odd, but I try to kind of talk around the subject and lead them to discover the answer themselves.  When they finally hit upon it, they have ownership of their learning.  This is especially fun and easy for science, when I would try to only give students the background knowledge they needed and then allow them to discover the answers/solutions themselves.

When a student is struggling I think the best way to build up intrinsic motivation is to provide intensive scaffolding (maybe that's the wrong term...) so that they have many small opportunities to feel successful as they build up to the larger concept.

Intrinsic Motivation

I think I might need some suggestions on how to increase students' intrinsic motivation. I am looking forward to reading the other posts on this topic for suggestions. I have found it interesting to see how extrinsically motivated students are. In 4th grade if a treat was offered as a reward students instantly wanted to do a good job. I thought a lot about intrinsic motivation when I would see examples like that.
 One way I try and increase intrinsic motivation is by helping students to realize that the whole class needs to work together to get through the day and accomplish tasks in the room. When students are in the classroom they are there to learn, work with the peers and support each other. If one student is continually disrupting the class that student is making it difficult for others to learn and the class can not accomplish what needs to be done. I think that helps students realize that everyone in the room is important and we all need to do our part to make the day a good one. Also, in math class, I think helping students to connect math to their everyday lives and helping them understand that what they are learning now is important for their futures is beneficial. If students understand that they are more likely to pay attention and take the work seriously.

Intrinsic Motivation

Hi All!
    One of the best ways that I have found to increase student's intrinsic motivation is to ask students if they felt good about finishing their work.  By verbally discussing the good feelings that my kids get for finishing their tasks it serves as a reminder that we feel good without an extrinsic reward for it.   Another conversation that I have had with some students is about their leadership role in the classroom.  I talk to my students about how they are a leader in the room and that because of this I hold them to a higher standard.   The students like being called a leader and I think that the title really weighs on them when they are trying to decide whether or not they will break a rule.  It really is the little things that build work ethic and intrinsic motivation.  The things that I do to build this are always positive things.  I don't believe that criticism of misbehavior's help the students to improve in this aspect.

Julie

technological resources

It has been really fun learning how to use some of the technology in or room over the past few weeks.  I have learned a lot about the Promethean Board and continue to learn more about how to use this tool as interactively as possible.  Since we began our year with only an overhead projector, I am also really able to appreciate the benefits of having tools like the interactive whiteboard.  My favorite part about it is that we can save our thinking and charts from the previous day and add on to them as lessons progress.  I have a whole flipchart devoted to our author study and it includes stuff the kids and I did 6 weeks ago all the way up to what we worked on yesterday.  I can go back and pull up our work from before easily and without wasting tons of chart paper.

Another tool that I'm hoping to work with more are the ipads.  Unfortunately, we don't have a classroom set, but Diane allows students to bring in electronic devices from home to use during math differentiation time.  I would like to learn more about the app choice for math, because I think right now , much of this differentiation time is being wasted and there are probably more useful educational tools and sites that kids could be using.

technological resources used

I think this prompt was asking about what technological resources we use in our classrooms. In my classroom I have used the document camera and the Promethean Board. My cooperating teacher does not use technology that much, but I am trying to use some while in her classroom in an attempt to engage students. Also, my cooperating teacher just got an I-pad from the school to use. She has not used it yet though and may not while I am there. We don't have a class set, just one. I know in the science classroom they use clickers with the Promethean Board, I wish we had some in  math as a way to get all student involved during questioning.

adjustments made for individuals

          I consistently am making adjustments for the student in my room with an IEP.  The biggest one is allowing him to complete a task before joining class discussion for the next activity.  He is a very bright student academically and I have found that it allows the class to run much smoother if I allow him to continue to do work from the previous activity.  This time is made up when he works one on one with an EA in the afternoon if he misses any work or a concept.   However most of the time the student is still able to finish up the written work along with the rest of the task so long as I continue to invite him to join us on the carpet the moment he is finished.  This benefits the other students in the class who should not have wasted time in their day waiting for this student to transition.    

lesson closings

I have practiced closing my lessons a variety of ways- exit questions, review questions, and assessments.  My favorite way to close every lesson however is to revert back to the objectives for the day.  I have found that it is a good way to check that the kids understood the material and that if further explanation is needed I can quickly try to address it.  I read each objective then I ask the students if we met it (using nonverbal responses).  I then call on one student to tell me when they met it or to explain how they met it.  It really works well to remind both them and myself what the point was of what I had taught them.

Adjustments for individual students

In my classroom we are lucky to have a number of adults entering and exiting the room throughout the day.   We use the services of these adults to make adjustments based upon the needs for our students.   We have 4 reading groups in the morning and an additional teacher in the room which means that 3 small groups (5-7 kids) are getting 30-60 minutes of small group instruction based upon their academic needs.  My student with an IEP also gets pulled out during this time for one on one time with the special education teacher.  We also have America Reads pull out two kids during our morning for an additional 20 minutes of one on one practice with reading.  

In the afternoon the social worker spends recess with my class to monitor the safety situation on the playground by being one on one with my student with an IEP.  We also have an EA in our room for math in the afternoon.  I use her to work in a group of 1-5 students based on their individual needs.  Sometimes I send out my kid with an IEP, but other days I will send out the students who scored low on their CBM math assessment.  I also will choose to send out the students who have a hard time focusing or students who didn't score well on an assessment for a bit of review with her.  

Adjustments for individual students

We have a very wide range of abilities in our room--based on the MAP scores our students range from the 3rd percentile (9th in math) to the 98th percentile (89th in math).  This means that we have to make a number of adjustments for individual learner's needs in our room.

One example of this has been with our author study.  In the author study, students have been asked to read a number of Chris Van Allsburg books individually as well as as a whole class.  Many of these books are not written at the reading level of all of our students.  To make these book available to some of our more struggling readers, I have set students up with audio recordings of the books that they can read along with.  On other days, I have been more flexible with the author study curriculum, and have been having students read books of their choice at their level to practice the skill or concept of the day.

Another adjustment I have made is with our math division unit.  I realized that one of our lowest performing students, who is also new to the district, had never done division before.  While the other students are encouraged and many times 'forced' to use more abstract strategies for division, I have been giving this student manipulatives and worked with her on drawing diagrams to help solve the problems.  One of the goals of the division unit is to move students from drawing pictures towards using partial quotients to divide.  I have adjusted this objective for this student, because I think it is more important to give her the time and practice with the more foundational methods of division.

Adjustments for individual learners

I have a couple examples that I could share. One example happened while I was teaching 4th grade. I had one student in my room who had an IEP. He was on the autism spectrum and had trouble staying focused. He was also being evaluated for ADHA/ADD. During a writing lesson, students were writing personification poems. I could tell he was having a hard time getting started with his rough draft. After talking with the special education teach a few times before, I knew that this student always found it easier to get a task started if he felt it was attainable.  I thought if I gave him more specific directions and did not leave the poem instructions so open ended he would have an easier time with it. I got a piece of paper and I wrote out the different sections of the poem that he needed and I told the class about. I then modified the number of sentences he needed to write for each section and wrote that under each section. This way the student knew that for the beginning he needed 1-2 sentences, the middle should be 3 sentences and the end should be 1 sentence. He then knew exactly what he needed to write, how to start, and how to organize his thoughts.

Recently in middle school, we have had to make some adjustments in work load for one student who is EBD and has a heart defect that is requires surgery this week. In class last week we allowed him to work on a smaller set of problems as to not overwhelm him, but still allowing him to get the most important content.

Sub day

Today we had a sub in room 107.  It was really fun for me, because basically the sub walked in, announced that she knew there was a student teacher in this room and that she had brought a book.  She spent the entire day reading in the back of the room while I ran the class.

I was really nervous about doing the whole day without DIane, because while I've taken over all subject areas already, I knew it would be very different without Diane's presence in the room to support me.  The morning was a bit tough, and I had a few kids testing me, but after a chat at morning meeting they really shaped up and did a really nice job.  We got through all of our material for the day and were able to follow the regular schedule which I think the kids appreciated, rather than having worksheet packets with a substitute.

One thing I did notice, was that since I was a bit more on edge than usual, I was not able to effectively adjust my Social Studies lesson when it was going south.  I knew that the lesson was not going well, and I had even anticipated many of the problems we were having, but since I was nervous and more focused on behavior management, I couldn't figure out a good way to adjust on the fly.  This is unusual for me, as I almost always change a few things between my lesson plan and my actual delivery.  I guess what I've learned is that being in such a supportive environment and with a great cooperating teacher has allowed me to be confident enough to make these adjustments as I see what the kids already know, where their attention is at, and what questions and discussions really engage them.  I hope that as I grow professionally and get more and more comfortable I can continue to be able to make adjustments to lessons even when other factors are pulling at my attention.

Hi All, I was inspired to write a general post about the motivation prompt from last Friday. Your reflections got me thinking about a few connections. First,it's funny how our overall philosophy guides motivation (and behavior management), but also how little "tricks" can be equally effective, like Meggie's use of the stylus and Nicole's use of games and "magic ink" on the Promethean board. I guess the tricks we choose to use match some part of our philosophy or we wouldn't use them, right? I see a definite match between your "positive motivation" philosophies and the strategies you've found most effective. I wonder if you've been in classrooms where an opposite philosophy is at work--control and coercion. I have, and it's unpleasant for everyone, even the teacher, which makes me wonder why s/he continues with the approach. Lack of options? Poor professional development and in-class support? Here's another thing I'm wondering about motivation. What role does praise/feedback have in motivating (or de-motivating) students? I have an interesting article I'll share with all three of you that relates to motivation and learning. It's called Five Ways to Stop Saying 'Good Job'. It's by Alfie Kohn, and I'm giving you a link to a list of articles he's written. If you've never read anything by Kohn before, you'd all be well-served to do so now, while you're student teaching and have a strong support system for talking about some of the issues he brings up. Here's the link to his website with a list of publications--all have direct links to the full text version of his articles: http://www.alfiekohn.org/articles.htm Next Wednesday, November 14, is supposed to be a free choice reflection day. I think I'll take over that "choice" by asking you all to write about an article you read by Kohn and to share your reaction to it. I'll remind you as the day gets closer, but here's your advance heads up. I'll see you all in the next couple of days, and I'm looking forward to it! Dr. K

Lesson Plan Adjustment

I am sure I have had to change lesson plans while teaching, but I am having trouble remembering a lot of examples. One example I do remember, happened while I was teaching a genre study and the students were analyzing poetry. I had the students gathered on the carpet and we had read over three poems and analyzed each poem's layout and structure. After that, I had students break into groups and read a poem as a group and come up with three things to say about the poem's layout and structure. After students had worked in groups, I had the whole group come back together and we began to talk about each individual poem and groups shared. About half way through the groups, I seemed to be losing the interest of students. I could tell they were getting restless. I decided while teaching to cut the sharing short and directed students to move on to the next task at their desks.  For the sharing, I could tell students were getting what I wanted them to out of the lesson.

Another time I made an adjustment to my lesson plan while teaching happened during my TPA. During my third lesson I could tell that some of the students were struggling with the concept. I decided to pull a small math group together. Students could choose to work on their own or they could come to the small group to get help. I had a few students that I did not give a choice. I knew those students were not able to work alone at that point.

I think it is important to be able to read the students during the lesson,to see if you as the teacher are losing them, and make adjustments as necessary. Adjustments need to be made at times due to the pacing of the lesson as well and time constraints.

lesson plan adjustments

I find myself constantly adjusting my lesson plans as I teach.  When planning my lessons I always assume things will take longer than they do, but plan for extra material in case it takes them less time.  An example of this is when I was teaching a science lesson a few weeks back.  The students were very engaged in the discussion so I had a choice: cut the lesson short to finish the assessment piece or continue the lesson without time to complete the assessment.  I chose to continue the discussion because the students were asking and answering higher order thinking questions.  I then continued my lesson the next day, starting by summarizing what we had done and talked about the day before.  The students still did well on the assessment and they got more out of the conversation because I was flexible with my lesson plan.

Motivating Students

I agree with Meggie in that I like to use positive classroom management and make it known when one or more students are doing a really great job. This usually causes the other students to also want recognition or to please the teacher and they too get on task.
Besides that, another motivator I have found is turing lessons into games or activities. If students think what they are doing is a like a game or a challenge activity it seems to get them more motivated to want to participate. I turned what could have been a dull social studies lesson into something really fun by using magic ink on the Promethean broad and challenging students to come up with the same summary sentences that I did while reading certain sections in their books. Students were very excited to get to come up to the board to "reveal" the secret answers. Also, for math class I found an Algebra game online and made game boards to use in class. Students played the game on Thursday and were very engaged the whole hour. Students were essentially practicing solving two-step algebraic equations, but were having fun because they were playing the game Sequence against their partner.

motivational techniques

I think one of the most powerful motivational tools we have is clear and focused feedback on student behaviors.  I love being able to "catch" students being really on task, working hard etc. Noticing this and verbalizing what is favorable about the student's behavior is very powerful, not only in building that child's esteem, but also in reminding others what the expectations are.
Another more concrete motivator I love to use is the stylus for the Promethean board.  If I remind students that I will be looking for someone to show their work for us on the board or a volunteer to navigate an interactive activity for us, students are suddenly very interested in getting their own worm done.  Everyone wants a turn to write on the board :).

benefit of co-teaching

Hi all!
     One of the benefits of co-teaching that I have found is behavior management.   Kellie and I take turns teaching and recording behavior observations.  With so many concerns regarding staying on task in our room, we are better able to record data about these students because there is two of us.  We also are able to talk with students about their behavior because of this with little disruption to the lesson.  When our student with an IEP is blurting, it means that we can pull him aside and do a separate activity temporarily so as to not impede on other students ability to learn.  Having two or more adults in the room at all times makes for a smaller ratio of kids to manage and it overall improves classroom climate.

choice

Today we had a record keeping day.   I spent the majority of my day inputing and sorting data for our pre-assessments for unit three of math, number sense.  I know the most about excel in our team and so a project that would have taken days I was able to complete within a few hours.   Originally we had planned to just look at the assessment scores, but then we wanted to look at ORA scores as well.   Finally , we noticed which specific questions students struggled with was important to our data, so I made a spreadsheet in which we marked which questions each student got incorrect.   I then sorted the data by ORA score and again by the pre-assessment score.  This showed the students in order for how we wanted to break down the classes.   The other teachers are still baffled at how I got the list generated.  It was nice to feel like I had something to offer to the group that would save everyone a lot of time and energy.

We ended up using the data to sort kids with 10-12 on the assessment and an ORA about 190 into our first high group.  The second group scored between 10-12 with an ORA above 150.   We then double checked to make sure each individual teacher was comfortable with where their students were placed.   With our groups organized, we are ready to begin our differentiated math unit on Friday!

TPA

For my TPA I taught a unit on quilts.  We were at the tail-end of our geometry unit so I was able to look at my last quiz as a pre-assessment for if they are able to use shapes to fill a space.   My lessons started with what a quilt is then we turned our attention to making our own.  We talked about patterns and what a "unit" is when working with quilt patterns.  We made a quilt square (unit) and repeated it to fill a quilt.  From there, we analyzed our quilts for new shapes that we saw in them and discussed how the only original shapes we used were right triangles and squares to create them.   My unit finished with an assessment where the students had to find shapes on 2 quilts, trace one unit from a finished quilt, and use either a drawing or a sentence to explain the relationship between a square and a triangle.

I think my lessons went really well.   I was very comfortable with the material and I had great flip charts to use throughout.   My favorite part of filming my lessons was how in-tune to the camera my students were.  They were really focused on being quiet when the camera was in the room and everytime someone started to talk a student would shout SHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! WE'RE BEING FILMED!!!!!! That being said, the camera wasn't a huge distraction for the kids, if anything it kept them more on task.  

Benefit of co-teaching

    One of the best things about co-teaching is the ability to leave the room if you need to and know that there will still be a teacher with the class.  I am constantly wondering, how will I ever do this alone.  As I mentioned yesterday, we've had some kids in our class going through rough times this week, and parents and kids have been needing alot of extra attention from us.  The last two mornings I have run the whole first hour of the day while Ms. Jorde has been in the hall and elsewhere dealing with these personal issues.  Since there are two of us, we can afford to give these kids the TLC they need while still making sure the rest of the class is attended to.  Then, today during math we did an activity that groups were finishing at different times.  After the activity was our class's turn for differentiation in the computer lab.  With two teachers, one of us could take groups who finished early down to the lab, while the other stayed upstairs to help groups who were still working.
    Another benefit of co-teaching, that wasn't really mentioned in our orientation, but which has been very important to me, is that it means there is another adult in the room to support you as a teacher and as an adult.  What I mean is, I have a blast not only with the kids but also with Diane.  It is so nice having another adult in there to laugh with when the kids say something hilarious, but they don't realize how funny it is.  It's also nice on days that are a bit more tedious to have someone else in the room on your side to help you out.  As a student teacher, the emotional support of co-teaching might be one of its biggest benefits.

Choice

Sorry! I was a day ahead yesterday. I wrote the blog post for Wednesday on Tuesday and today when I went to school I thought it was Thursday already. I think I have it straight now...:)

Now I will follow the prompt from Tuesday!
Today, my third day in middle school, I got to teach for two class periods. I didn't really get to teach a new math concept because students have not started their new books yet, but I got to lead some activities. Students were cleaning out their math binders today, reorganizing the materials and creating their math portfolios. They also got new textbooks today. For two of the class periods I got to guide students through all of those processes. I watched Zoe teach for two hours and then I just decide to give it a try. I was sort of nervous at first because the student were older and I was not sure exactly what classroom management techniques would work with them. I was surprised at how certain management phrases and techniques came back to me and were more natural to me than when I first started teaching in 4th grade. I was able to feel pretty comfortable teaching the students right away. Actually, I was able to use a lot of the management techniques I used when teaching 4th grade science.There were so many supplies and directions that I needed to give when teaching science and there were also a lot of directions and supplies today. I was glad that I spent so much time teaching science and learning how to manage supplies and activities! The students are a little chatty, but for the most part they are really nice middle school students. I am enjoying this age group so far. The students are fun to talk with and Zoe seems to have a really good relationship with them. Tomorrow I am going to introduce an algebra game to them.

Choice

  This week has been an important reminder to me about how important it is to communicate openly in the classroom and how important it is to think of the students as whole people, who are affected by thier lives outside the classroom.  We have two kids who are going through some serious family challenges this week--one has a grandfather who is in the hospital after a heart-attack and another who's father is moving out.  The good part of this is that both students felt comfortable and even wanted to share their situations right away in the morning.  One chose to talk to Diane and I during morning work time privately and the other chose to share this during our morning meeting.  It was really helpful to know about these situations going into the day because, not surprisingly it had an affect on both boys' behaviors. I tried to maintain reasonable expectations on both cases but also remember to be empathetic as well to the fact that the kids were having a rough day.

One thing I admire most about Diane is her ability to create this classroom climate where children feel safe to share what is bothering them.  At parent night last fall one mother said that over the summer when she and her ex-husband told their child they would be getting a divorce, the child's first reaction was to ask if he could call Ms. Jorde and talk to her about it.  I'm trying hard to develop a similar rapport with the kids and I think I have a solid start, but I can only hope to be as good at this someday as Diane.

Benefits of Co-teaching

I think co-teaching has a lot of benefits, both for students and the student teacher. Probably for the cooperating teacher as well. When I was teaching in 4th grade, we used one teach, one observe. I was not observing Jane's teaching, instead I observed the students and their work as I walked around. Jane and I had brainstormed some categories the day before and as I walked around I wrote down names of students that fit into those categories. The students were doing a writing assignment and we wanted to know how far along students were and what areas they were having trouble with. I was able to gather some valuable data. From that data, Jane and I were able to pull students for small groups to work on specific things. It is sometimes hard to observe everything one would like if you are the only adult in the room. This was one time it really helped to have two teachers.
I also think co-teaching was valuable when we tried one teach and one assist. If I was teaching a lesson, Jane could help me monitor students or check in with groups during science or social studies activities. Students were able to ask more questions and get feedback quicker. At the beginning of teaching, this helped me feel less overwhelmed. This method was also helpful during Writer's Workshop. By having two teachers Jane and I were able to conference with each individual student on their first writing project. The students really enjoyed the feedback and their final drafts turned out very well. You could tell that the individual conferences really helped. Conferencing with each student on every writing project is much harder to manage with just one teacher.

Feedback

Monday was my last day of filming my TPA.  It was just the assessment portion of my lesson and since they were taking a unit exam I knew that I wouldn't be able to give a lot of feedback.  I found that many children struggled with the last question on the test in which they had to explain the relationship between a square and a triangle in regards to their quilt.  Many students that asked me for help were having a difficult time with this question but I was equally having a difficult time because I was struggling with how to support them while still not giving them the answer.  I found that the best way to trigger their thoughts and get them started in the right direction was to remind them that the day we learned about this we practiced turning the shapes on the promethean board and laying them next to each other.   By doing this I was able to trigger what part of the unit they should be thinking about and many of them were able to take that information and apply it to what answer they should be giving me for the test.

feedback

We've written a bit about giving feedback before, I believe, so I guess today I'll focus on how I gave feedback during my TPA.  I had given the students a pre-assessment assignment the week before beginning our writing unit.  I didn't give them a specific grade on this assignment, or even hand them back to students.  Instead, I responded to the class as a whole in one of my mini lessons during the TPA.  We talked about some of the challenges students had experienced and some of the area I had noticed for improvement.

One thing I really like about the writer's workshop model is that the longer writing time gives me more of a chance to walk around the room and read students' work with them right there.  I can ask them questions about their thinking and give them ideas about things to think about in terms of where they will go next.  Generally, I prefer to respond to student work in this format--they have it out on their desk and I can walk around and write a short comment as I read it.  I think it's more interesting for them because we can have a quick conversation about it and it's much faster/easier for me than collecting everyone's work, correcting and passing back.

I am still analyzing students' final draft copies.  I haven't given them a 'grade' and I don't think that I will.  I am using the same checklist that I had them use with their peer reviewing, so they have had them opportunity to check one another's work and check their own with the checklist.  Since they are so proud of their work, I'm wary of giving them a grade on it.  I might just use the rubric to inform my own next steps.

Feedback

Today was my first day in middle school and it was a very interesting day. Middle school is a lot different than the elementary day I was used to. I enjoyed my elementary school experience, but I think I am going to also enjoy my middle school experience from what I experienced today. It was sort of nice to only focus on one content area today instead of having to focus on all subjects. We will see how the rest of the weeks goes, but I had a good day today.
This week is sort of a work week in my math classroom and I did not have much of a chance to give feedback. Students just finished a math unit last week and took a unit test. This week Zoe is taking time to review some math concepts and switch to a new math book. Students will also take a preassessment on Thursday. Due to the review week, I mostly got to work with students on worksheet problems today. I worked with one student during 4th hour and helped her complete problems on multiplying fractions. I gave her some feedback and methods for completing problems in an easier way given the work I had seen from her. She was able to take my advice and complete the problems in a different way. She could reduce some of her fractions first and then multiple. Then when turning the answers into mixed numbers they were smaller and easier to work with.

choice

I wanted to write a bit about my TPA which I completed this week.  I did writing and we worked specifically on descriptive paragraphs about a person we care about.  I was really nervous going into the lesson because up until last week we had never done a full week of writing or finished a full project with all of the drafts.  I am happy and proud to report that the mini-unit went REALLY well.  The kids wrote 3 distinct drafts and complete a prewriting activity.  Each draft was supposed to show some revisions from the prior draft, which is new to these kids (they are more used to editing than revising), but they thoughtfully revised and changed their work.  I was most happy because they were all so proud of their final copies, which we mounted on colored paper and they read aloud to classmates in small groups.

In addition to the actual writing skills, one of my goals for the TPA was working on writer's stamina and writer's etiquette for peer conferencing.  I was impressed by  how receptive the kids were to this and I think it contributed a lot to the level of pride everyone had in his/her work.

My one frustration was that I had the opportunity to work one and one with our EL student and really dig deep on her revisions and reteaching what exactly was meant by description, but during that conference, DIane was out of the room and so it didn't get taped!  ugh!  It's hard to balance the feeling that you are putting on a show with an authentic desire to work with kids when they need it most.  I guess in the end it's more important that she got the help she needed than me getting the footage.

Choice: My last day in fourth grade

Friday was my last day in fourth grade. It was a bittersweet day for me. I am amazed at how fast the time went. Looking back on the first day of school, I realized how much I have learned. I was just getting into a routine and feeling comfortable and now I am starting all over. On Monday I start in middle school. I am thankful I will still be at LHUC though. I am glad I do not have to learn a whole new building layout. Also, I worked with my cooperating teacher last year which makes the transition easier as well. I will be working with 3 classes of 7th graders learning 7th grade math, a group of 6th graders learning 7th grade math and then a group of 6th graders during a math study hall. I am looking forward to learning how the middle school day/routine is different than an elementary school day/routine. I will then be able to determine which I would like to teach more.
My cooperating teacher was really great at making my last day memorable. The morning meeting that day was dedicated to me and all of the students got to greet me. During sharing, students got to ask me different questions about things they were curious about. The class also presented me with a book they made. Each student wrote me a letter stating something they will remember about our time together and advice for me. My cooperating teacher also got me a gift. For lunch all of the fourth grade teachers and student teachers sat together and ordered food from Damico's. At the end of the day,I got a big round of applause, a couple students gave me gifts, and I got a lot of hugs and handshakes. It was sad to say goodbye to all of them. I hope to be able to come back in the winter as a volunteer or a substitute teacher to see the kids again! I really enjoyed my placement! I feel blessed that I had such a great cooperating teacher as a role model! I learned many things and I have some great ideas to take with me to my own classroom. I enjoyed Jane's teaching style and the way she managed the students. The whole Lake Harriet community has been very welcoming and supportive thus far! Hopefully I have made some good contacts for the future!Tomorrow starts a new adventure, I will keep everyone posted on how it goes. Wish me luck :)

Don't look at the snow!

I thought of this story when it started to snow on Thursday last week--and then I thought of all three of you in your classrooms with kids who would certainly (and rightfully) be excited to look outside. Here's one of my favorite stories about teaching and writing. Maybe it will make you smile, too. “It’s starting to snow!” the teacher said to her class. The fourth graders looked up. “Come over to the windows. We’ll open the blinds and take a good look at it.” The kids hurried over, eager to eyeball the year’s first snowfall. One boy held back and stayed at his desk. “Come on, Brent,” the teacher urged. “Join us.” But Brent was adamant. “Don’t do it!” he cried to the other kids. “Don’t look! She’ll make us write!” From What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher

choice

Yesterday we had a sub and I was in  charge for the whole day.  I did have a sub in the room, but he wasn't supposed to do anything unless I asked him for assistance.  It was exciting to get the opportunity to run the whole show.   I got to try out some behavior management strategies that I had not previously tried.  I also got the exposure to what it will feel like when all of the choices are mine.  It was nice to have a one day preview of this before I take over completely.   It was my first time leading group reading and it went really well.   I felt confident in what I was teaching and the kids were very interactive.  Since it was the first day of snow the kids were a bit rowdy, but I am glad I got the opportunity to manage the classroom under such conditions in a setting where if I needed assistance, the sub was there to offer ideas and opinions.  

co teaching strategy

One of the co-teaching strategies that we use is differentiated teaching.  We do this during reading groups and WTW groups.  We have found that we are better able to meet the needs of our students this way because we are able to adapt the curriculum based on their needs.   With such a wide span of ability levels (our CBM scores range from 5-168) we really have to use this strategy every day.   We alternate groups based upon a weekly schedule with myself, my cooperating teacher, and an additional teacher aid.  Each group has a specific book that they are working to read and answer questions.  The books and questions vary in difficulty and the higher level group is working on written responses instead of verbal.

Co-teaching

The co-teaching strategies we have used most often are team teaching and one-teach-one-assist.  We had a blast team teaching math on Wednesday.  Somehow our lesson turned into a sort of game show staring Ms. Morrow and Ms. Jorde.  We were talking about using the distributive property to break difficult multiplication problems into 2 or 3 easier problems.  With two of us we were able to kind of take on characters--Diane being the stubborn one who hadn't learned her higher multiplication facts and me being the one who knew the facts and knew how to break the problem down.  The kids thought it was hilarious and Diane and I had a good time too.  We hadn't done much co-teaching for a while as I have been taking over most lessons so it was refreshing and fun to team teach again.

While every lesson certainly can't become a show it was a fun way to spice up a math lesson on a grey day.

Co-teaching Strategy

One co-teaching strategy that we have used in our room is parallel teaching. I was excited to try this strategy because I thought the students would be able to get more attention and feedback this way and it would be nice to teach a smaller group of students. We tired this co-teaching strategy in science and social studies. The science lesson worked out okay. I was able to monitor one side of the room and make sure students were successful with their science kits and Jane was able to monitor the other side and answer questions. When we tried the co-teaching strategy again in social studies it did not work out so well. We divided the room in half and had students move their desks into two groups. I taught one side of the room and Jane taught the other, we both tried to teach the same activity. The problem was our space. It was difficult to have two lessons going on in the room at the same time. If one group of students got too loud, the other students were distracted. Also, with two voices talking it was sometimes hard for students to concentrate. I think this strategy could be a good one if we had more space or could take one group of students to another room. I hope to get some opportunities to try different co-teaching strategies in middle school in the next couple weeks. It will be interesting to compare my experiences with co-teaching in elementary school versus middle school.

building climate

There has been a major shift in building climate since I have been at LHLC.   There was a disagreement between the principle and the teachers regarding who gets to pick the format of the PLC's.  Unfortunately, the teachers (knowing they were correct) chose to vote on the issue as a union (Which is entirely within their rights to do).  However, the principle became really upset about it and told the staff they had been insubordinate.   Following this, a few teachers told the principle that they were following the group for fear of being "hastled" by their peers.  Now, no one wants to speak to anyone and no one wants to take on new responsibilities or offer ideas at meetings because they are fearful of anyone saying anything negative about them.

I had never seen this side of being a teacher and it has been very worisome to me.  It has clearly damaged some relationships within the building.   From this experience I am reminded of the importance of being united as a teaching staff as well as how difficult the role of a principle must be and  how their choices affect their relationships as well.  I'm glad that student teaching has given me these insights as I enter the professional field.  

Routines

One of the most effective routines I have observed is the way that my cooperating teacher gets the attention of her class.  She uses the phrase 123 eyes on me, in which the students respond 12 eyes on you.  It works really well to get the classes attention quickly without side chatter continuing on.  The other technique that she uses is that when she's really drained that is when she chooses to sing.  She says it keeps the kids happy and engaged and lightens her own mood at the time.  We have a special song we sing on fridays, a song about being ready to move to the next task, and a song about waiting by the door (like flies on a garbage can!).  The kids love these songs and it allows the kids to still be on task even though they are making noise during a transition.

routines and procedures

Routines and procedures were a bit nebulous and hard to come by at first in our room.  Since Diane had these kids last year we never actually went over any routines or procedures.  As the year has progressed we have fallen into some routines especially in the mornings as students arrive.  They know I will have a morning work assignment on the Promethean BOard for them to complete and that we will do a morning meeting.  When one of these doesn't happen they are extra squirrly.

Another routine we have developed on Diane's suggestion helps with the transition from math into reading.  Since some students are with us for math but others have to come back from another room it often takes a few minutes to transition.  Now the students know that as soon as math is over they are to take out their independent reading book and begin reading.  This allows time for bathroom breaks as necessary and for the other kids to come back to the room and put their things away from math.  When everyone is reading I know I can begin the mini-lesson.  At that point the kids know to simply set thier book down on their desk and join the group up front for the lesson.  When it's time for them to go back to their seats everyone already has their book out an ready to go, so that we don't have to spend time with another transition.

Effective Routines and Procedures

Some effective routines I have witnessed take place at the beginning and end of the day. Each morning students know that they need to go to their lockers, hand in their homework in the homework basket, and sign in on the attendance board. After that routine, the students know there will be a morning message for them to check and they should do what it says. Each morning we have morning work for students to complete before the bell rings. At the end of the day, students take the last 10 minutes to get out their agenda books and write down the homework that is due the next day. Jane puts her agenda book under the document camera and students copy down the homework. As students leave the room to get their backpacks, their agenda books are checked to make sure everyone has their homework written down. If students do not have a planner, they use a post-it note and stick it in their homework folder.
Another effective routine I have seen happens during math class each day. Students know that each day at the beginning of the hour they switch papers with someone at their tables and correct the homework that is due that day. We read off the answers and students score each other. This is a very quick way to get the homework corrected. They also record their scores in their math binders on their score sheets.

Building Relationships

In order to build relationships with students, first I  try to get to know students on a personal level. I like to ask them about their lives outside of school and their interests. I try to remember events or activities students have mentioned to me and then I ask them about them periodically. I also like to share things about myself with them. The second thing I do, is to try to show students that I care about their learning in the classroom and what they have to say. I try and call on many people to participate during class discussions. I also walk around and conference with individual students and talk with them about their work. If students need help I try and help them succeed.  Third, I try to redirect students in a positive way in the classroom. I want them to know that I am redirecting them so they can learn better not because I am being mean, or I want to embarrass them. I try to be compassionate, but firm in the classroom. I try to have a positive attitude, but I want students to know that I have a plan when I am teaching and I can keep the lesson in control and moving forward.