#10

Best

• My cooperating teacher gives each student at number at the beginning of the school year and they write that number on their papers along with their name. This ends up saving her A LOT of time. She puts the papers in number order to file or put on the grading sheets. When she is passing out papers she calls them by number and they come up to her desk on the right side, the students are like little soldiers. I liked this as far as filing and the grading book because she already has all the information in number order and make sit a lot easier than putting their names in alphabetical order.
• The students dissected owl pellets while I was there. Even though it was discussing and I am pregnant with a weak stomach it was fun to see how much the kids enjoyed this hands on experience that related to the unit they were learning on owls.

Worst

• This was by a long shot my least favorite field experience. I felt like my teacher did nothing at all that I have been learning for the last year and a half. Such as Words Their Way, creative writing, literature circles, guided reading (well any literacy instruction at all), differentiation, morning meetings, science, her social studies was not even on grade level, investigations math. OKAY OKAY I'LL STOP BEING SO MEAN but I didn't learn a thing.

#9

For this blog, I'm asking you to have a "What if?" experience. Think of one of the strategies you've learned about, and a realistic application in, let's say, math, in your specific field experience classroom. (If not math, you choose the subject area... but something you really might be teaching during field!). This does not have to be lengthy... just state the content you're talking about and the strategy you can envision using.

The only that I can picture differentiation math, my topic is multiplication, is by creating a learning menu. I would instruct all the students with the "meat" the same and then let them do the "dessert" on their own level. I think I would do the dessert by letting the students explore the topic in different ways, manipulative, algorithms, problems at their level, maybe problems that they have created themselves. Unfortunately the cooperating teacher I am with right now does not differentiate AT ALL so I have not been able to see any thing in practice.

#6

Please find someone's blog in the other class (not yourclass, the other one) and read their blog about the hero unit. In YOUR blog, tell me whose blog you are discussing, and then tell me what you learned or confirmed about differentiation from reading that idea for the hero unit. Don't critque the idea; just tell me what you learned or confirmed about differentiation.

I read Brianna Young's blog and I liked how she said that for her choice of a differentiated strategy to work with this unit would require a creative teacher. She chose to do a RAFT chart and let the students pick a way to represent and explain their hero. I thought it was interesting how she said that simply having a chart was not going to suffice, we have to be creative and make sure that the options on our chart are going to be something the students are proud of when they finish.

Blog #5

For this week's blog, please look over the variety of strategies and unit structuring ideas I have posted for you on Blackboard (in a folder that says, "Strategies and Ideas for Differentiating"). Then write and tell me about one of those ideas that you can see would work in my unit on heros. Tell me a little bit about why you think it would work for my unit, and why kids might feel the work is engaging and respectful for all.

I thought that students choice process and product would work great with this idea. The students can each pick their hero and the book that works best for them and their level and then create their own way to represent that to the class. I like how there are two rows for 4 options for the students to chose from, this way it is still teacher directed so we can make sure that their work is going to be worthwhile yet the assignment that they chose will be engaging and respectful to them.

Blog #8

The strategy that I liked the most and could see myself using was journal prompts. This strategy appeals to me because I love creative writing and the idea of having my students keep a journal the WHOLE year. I don't want my students to get board with always having the same journal prompts as their peers. I want them to have options and something to connect with in the prompt. I think to differentiate journal prompts in the most useful way is to have different levels of prompts. Have open ended questions. Letting students pick their own prompts. Everyone is different which means everyone is going to have something different to say. Sometimes it may be appropriate to ask the same prompt of all the students but when doing that I will need to have different levels of grading the prompts going on. There are so many things that are great about journal prompts and I will be using them in my classroom.

Blog #4

Blog Assignment: There are two parts to this week's blog response. Part A is required of everyone. Part B is also required of everyone, but you have three choices. Select Part B-1 or Part B-2, or Part B-3.


Part A (everyone address this, individually; do not work on this with anyone): Read through the 12 Hallmarks (or principles) of Differentiation (again). Choose any 2 of them you wish, and for those two, do the following:

Re-state the # of the hallmark from your "golden ticket," and the bolded words of the hallmark.

#2 Absolute clarity about what he or she wants the students to know, understand, and be able to do - about what is truly important to learn in this unit.

#7 "Respectful" and engaging work for all students.

Create (make up) and describe a brief scenario of good instruction that does NOT specifically "adhere" to this hallmark.

#2 Making sure that I give instructions vocally and very clearly to the students.

#7 Giving an assignment to my students that is from the curriculum and covers the standard and objective. Making sure that the activity is engaging to the students and appropriate for them.

Then create (make up) and describe a brief scenario of differentiated instruction that DOES specifically "adhere" to this hallmark.
An example of Part A: Hallmark #10: Active partnerships with specialists. Scenario that does NOT adhere: Dr. P has Principal Sylvia Allan come and speak to the class about morning meetings. Scenario that DOES adhere: Dr. P invites Principal Sylvia Allan and Nebo District teacher Cheryl Nielson to teach about morning meetings. Dr. P has the students who want to try the more "discussing" and "sharing" method of morning meeting go with Sylvia and roll play having a morning meeting with discussions of current events and sharing important things in their lives. Dr. P has, at the same time, students who want to follow the 4-component structure of morning meetings from the video go to a different room with Cheryl Nielson, and role-play a morning meeting similar to the video and article we saw.


#2 I should give instruction in a couple different ways for students that learn differently. I can vocally give the instructions clearly, I can write the instructions on the board, and for those students who are not proficient in English I can have a translation of instructions in their native language.

#7 If I was teaching my students about fractions and some of them were really grasping it and some of them were struggling I would give the students who were grasping it more difficult numbers so that they are still being challenged and the students who are struggling numbers that are appropriate for them and at the end we would still be able to have a class discussion about fractions and what we learned. This is great because all students will be doing the same activity and will be thinking on their own highest level.

Part B (Choose one):
B-1: Consider a "fox-taming teacher" and describe yourself as you would like to be such.
I think this metaphor is extremely true and applicable to teaching. It breaks my hear to read the line "in the end, the fox and little prince must part ways, of course". Just from doing my 3 weeks of field work I get so attached to the children in my class. I want to be the type of teacher that instills those two important truths into everything that I do. #1 "What is essential is invisible to the eye" like love and understanding. I think children will excel if they make connections with their teacher and are loved. #2 "You become responsible forever for what you have tamed" I think this is important because teachers are forever responsible for how they treat their students. Teachers have the power to make children HATE school and that will forever effect their lives. Or teachers can instill a passion for learning in their students that will more positively effect the lives of their students.

B-2: What most appealed to you from the scenarios of important, focused, engaging, demanding & scaffolded work in Mr. Johnson's classroom?

B-3: Which "additional strategy" discussed on pages 78-87 are you most interested in learning more about? Explain.

Blog #3

Option 2: Choose 2 (two) of the hallmarks of differentiation (from the golden ticket) to discuss on your blog. Be certain to choose ONE from hallmarks 1 - 6 and ONE from hallmarks 7 - 12. Explain what you now understand about differentiation because of these two hallmarks. Also explain how differentiation is different from just very, very good teaching where you might find elements of these hallmarks, but where there is no differentiation occurring.

#1 A strong link between assessment and instruction. Assessment and instruction are inseparably connected. The teacher continually assesses student knowledge, understanding and skill in both formal and informal ways, making ongoing adjustments to instructional plans to ensure progression toward individual and group goals. I love this! I think it is so important that teachers plan their instruction with the assessment in mind. It is a waist of time to teach students without knowing where you want to take them. It is so true that assessment and instruction are connected. Without assessing students ongoing understanding of the material being taught teachers would not know where to make adjustments in the lesson for higher student understanding. I think this is where diferentiation comes into play because if teachers are continually assessing their students progress they will know what areas each student may need extra help in.

#2 Respectful and engaging work for all students. Each student is assigned work that looks as inviting and important as the work of his or her classmates. Each student focuses on the essential knowledge, understanding, and skill as determined from the core, by the teacher. Each student is required to think at his or her own highest level in order to complete the work. Drill and wrote repetition do not habitually mark struggling student, and advanced learners are not indicated by habitually reciving all of the engaging tasks, nor do they get "tangential" tasks because of fast finishing or not needing what is being taught. I think there is a lot of information in this one that is important to diferentiated instruction. If a student feels like he is being given work that is "dumbed down" he or she is not going to be motivated to work hard at that assignment. It is so important to treat each student with respect and give them the most essential learning possible. The other day I read in my mathematics book that numbers are really useful in diferentiation. If you are teaching your class about fractions you can simply give each student the appropriate numbers for their skill set. If a student is having a difficult time understanding the concept of fractions, let them work with smaller easier to work with numbers and the students that are grasping the concepts faster, give them numbers that are challenging to them.