To do this I use several different teaching strategies, in particular, cooperative learning groups.  Within these groups children learn to use effective communication techniques, solve problems and learn from each other. Students are engaged in solving real life problems whenever practical. As children grow and develop at different rates and in different ways, I believe they need support that fits their particular needs.  I also focus on teaching key skills based on the standards for our state in all subject areas.  Lessons are engaging and involve student interaction in a variety of ways; hands on, musical, written, dramatic, etc.  Tapping into all learning styles assures meeting all student needs.  In addition, differentiating lessons that build on students’ current knowledge base generates more success.   

            Educators should remain current in best practices and new, proven instructional strategies to engage learners and produce desired learning outcomes.  Teachers themselves cannot stop learning.

Race to the Top – Obama’s plan to make available large sums of money for schools that can turn things around and improve student test scores is impressive in that our government is finally looking at education seriously; however, listening to his speech about it leaves me wondering about some of the gaps in his plan.  For instance there is no mention to how we will address the problem of student’s lack of attendance in school or the effort they put into their learning.  I feel that a lot of unfair pressure is put on the teacher and administration to affect change in areas that they do not have complete control.  I also feel that as a country we need to look at how to assure more parent involvement and accountability to promote student success.  Obama mentions that the jobs will go to the best educated people – whether they are American, East Indian, or Asian – referring to better educated students in other countries.  What is overlooked here is the fact that America, not Asia or the Middle East has a more culturally diverse population which creates new challenges in education.

Core 24 – At first glance, I feel that this is a step in the right direction for helping students find their place after high school. College is great, but not for everyone.  I am happy to see that attention is being paid to blue collar jobs and promoting them with equal value.  I would be interested in learning more about this. I don’t believe that this increases or decreases the rigor of our standards, but simply opens more doors and opportunities for our students’ futures. Another positive facet is that the government won’t go forward with this until funding is in place!  Wow!  That’s new!

How are teachers best supporting their students?

Diane Moore

Based on the article:

Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity_Brief.pdf

Culturally responsive pedagogy involves three areas:

Institutional – how the administration perceives cultures in regard to policies and values

Personal – the cognitive and emotional processes teachers must engage in to be culturally responsive in their classrooms

Instructional – how the teachers use materials, strategies, and learning activities to engage all learners

What can teachers do in the classroom to be more culturally responsive?

• Reflect on their own attitudes and beliefs; reconcile negative feelings
• Explore their own personal histories – reflect in journal
• Learn about the histories and experiences of diverse groups – make connections to your own
• Visit students’ families and communities  - helps teachers gain insight into student attitudes and behaviors
• Visit classrooms of teachers who are successful with diverse students – use them as models
• Develop an appreciation of diversity – view differences as the norm
• Recognize differences as well as commonalities among students
• Validate students’ cultural identities – in literature, bulletin board presentations, classroom activities, and textbooks.
• Help students gain needed skills to interact within a global culture – email pals from other countries is one good way
• Assessment tools should be varied and suited to the population
• Foster positive relationships with students/families/communities

            About one third of Valhalla’s population resides in the high crime rate neighborhood of Camelot Square Mobile Home Park.  In 2007 there were 77 recorded incidents of criminal activity as compared to an average of 3-15 incidents in other apartment/mobile home parks in Federal Way.  (City of Federal Way Department of Public Safety, 2007). These students are exposed to gangs, assaults, illegal use of weapons and more; some within their own families.  Coming to school offers them a safe haven, with meals, warmth, consistency, security and friendly, caring people. A challenge I have as a teacher is to validate students’ home struggles while maintaining educational expectations.

Diane Moore

ECU 525

            Self directed learning was and is prevalent among adult learners, but there is some evidence of it becoming more popular with younger people.  Self directed learning is basically learning that is owned and driven by the student.  To be a self directed learner requires a vast amount of skills that that are but not limited to: self motivated, able to work independently, interest and investment in their learning, goal setting skills, processing skills, including strong reading skills, and a general sense of self awareness.  I believe some students come by these skills naturally.  They are the ones in our class who, after teaching a topic once – they get it and generally retain it. The question is how do students who don’t come by this naturally cope in a self directed learning environment?  Are they able?  Can they be taught these initial skills?  Some experts suggest that teachers help students by involving them in discussions about topics on the Self Directed Learning Readiness Scale (which apparently needs to be purchased.) This scale presents topics such as: I know I want to learn and I am a learner, and, if I want to learn something I can, putting hard work into learning can be fun.

            There are several benefits to being a self directed learner.  Studies have found that these individuals are generally more effective in social situations; they view problems as challenges to be overcome, see learning as an enjoyable activity, and use a multiple array of strategies to attain their goals. In an online environment the control of the learning shifts from the teacher to the student.  Traditionally, the teacher knows all and imparts their knowledge to their audience in the form of a lecture, but online, students have access to a multitude of resources and information.  They direct their route of their learning.  Also, when an instructor delivers a lecture, it can be either in the form of a video or a written document, both of which can be viewed and reviewed any number of times. 

            Self directed learning really is ideal for older students, but from where I stand as an elementary teacher, I believe using cooperative learning strategies diligently with students is more appropriate.  Also, cooperative learning in the younger grades will help prepare students to be more independent thinkers and ready to tackle a self directed learning situation.

            The following are a few websites that can give more information.

http://www.indiana.edu/~reading/ieo/digests/d169.html

http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructionalstrategies.asp

http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Huey.B.Long-1/Articles/sd/selfdirected.html

Different Brains, Different Learners by Eric Jenson

Chapter 9: The Challenged Learner: Learning Delayed

Diane Moore

            A learning delayed childe (LD) is a child who fails to make learning progress at the usual developmental stages.  Five to 8% of children have some sort of learning disorder.  The causes of LD can be attributed to blows to the head, exposure to toxins, prenatal exposure to drugs and toxins, and difficult births and maternal infection.  However, the most pervasive problem that contributes to LD is fetal alcohol syndrome. As this disorder grows more prevalent in our schools, teachers need to be taught the skills to work effectively with these students.

            The chances for success for these children depend on the degree of severity of their condition.  Teachers should focus on hope and believe the extra effort they put into these children will pay off.

            Some tips for teachers:

• Provide structure, routine and consistency; let student know in advance of any changes
• Utilize the multiple intelligence learning styles into your teaching
• Keep instructions brief and simple
• Be concrete when teaching new concepts; provide hands-on practice
• Repeat information numerous times
• Tell students the learning goals and objectives repeatedly
• Arrange for interventions with tutors or specialists

            Jensen encourages teachers to allow LD students to make mistakes, because there is emotion in mistakes.  This is what allows the brain to rewrite itself.  He relates an upgrade on a computer to an upgrade on a brain.  The error enables the upgrade to occur through correction, repetition and reinforcement.   Also suggested is incorporating the arts into their instruction, as this also build up the operating system.

Becoming a Better Teacher: Eight Innovations That Work by Giselle O. Martin Kniep

Chapter 4: Authentic Assessment

Diane Moore

            The author begins by defining authentic assessment as an assessment that requires students to engage in real-life problem solving for an audience that genuinely cares about the outcome or has a stake in what the students learn.  It focuses strongly on the application stage of learning.

            Some examples of authentic assessment include surveying the local community about summer jobs and following through on the application process, creating games about social studies topics to be played by children ages 8-14, and conducting research on environmental issues, writing children’s books about it and then working with a publisher to test-market it in schools.

            The fact that these assessments have a real purpose and audience, incorporate content skills, in addition to utilizing a variety of thinking skills, make them an ideal means for testing student abilities.  Throughout the process, students are involved in self and peer reflection which offers specific feedback that encourages revision to produce quality work.

            Authentic assessments take a quite a bit of work upfront for the teachers, but the author suggests that they team up during the summer or other nonteaching times to create “quality assessment design modules.”

College Words

Craig – Rubrics

Have the students sort the example papers into categories of high, medium, low, and answer the question of what makes it that way.  Students make a list then, of what characteristics make a paper high, medium, low. How I might use it, is to make or find from last year’s students, examples of work that follow the BAME for meeting standards.  Then from there they can make a list of qualities needed for making standards – voila!  a rubric!

Chandra – Mini Lessons

• Have kids up close
• Room arrangement important
• Have your expectations clearly posted
• Kids help create charts – put their names or intials next to their comments, track who is doing the sharing and help them recognize thier own efforts
• Connect learning to what kids already know, processes they have previously experienced

Mat – Collaborative Learning Groups

• Positioning students, do your best to avoid students with back to you
• Reading Review Partners – assigned (lab partners are different)

Jimmy- Look Listen and Link

• stress, anxiety, suicide, depression
• Senteo – clickers for electronic response system
• “Do Now” activity that connects to prior learning
• Direct instruction, and cooperative activities
• Stress relievers, get up, get out of your seat – yoga type things
• Students will lead the stress reliever activities
• Read and pause (for students to fill in reading the next few words) then continue reading
• Some popcorn reading
• Use graphic organizers for topic sentences, and vocabulary words
• Pyramid of success, students create a fill in the blank – 3 points, multiple choice – 3 points, true false 2 points, kids get a day to make the questions, then make a game out of it while students travel around the room to answer other students questions.  Work in teams of two.
• look for the problem, listen for the problem, and provide a link for someone (for how someone can solve it.)
• exit strategy, one minute game in small groups.  What was a challenge for me, one or two facts I learned today, what I still have questions about.

Zandria – Kaygan Classrooms

• P Positive Interdependence
• I Individual Accountability
• E Equal Participation
• S Simultaneous Interaction

Team building – fun, no content, easy

Class building – students are up, moving, sharing

Uses timer and selector tools to aid cooperative groups (online stopwatch.com or you can buy them at Kaganonoline.com)

Rally coach – math sheet in partners (shoulder/face) one partner does the problem while the other partner coaches, then they switch, they always give a complement – “good job”.

Quiz Quiz Trade – students have note cards with a question on one side and an answer on the other, and they move about the room reading a question to another child , then a second child.  Hint, hint tell, good, job, then they switch when done, the partners trade cards and go and find another partner.  If no one is quizzing you, you walk with your hand in the air until someone see’s you and comes to you. Takes 20 minutes. can use white boards to draw answers.

Fan-n-pick – have an array of cards  (like a card game) with questions, a partner picks one and uses their white board to answer the question, then switch.

Numbered heads together- computer program, like jeapardy, you enter questions into the computer and then it operates a bit like jeapardy. Kids write their answers on the white boards they have with thier numbered partners.

Silly sports and goofy games – movement