KUD'S

I think KUD’s are fantastic! The two lessons that I liked are the Social Studies unit: We’re all in it together and the Language Arts unit: We each have a role to play. I just finished a classroom management presentation in building a community in the classroom. The social studies unit struck a chord with me so much that I could visualize this social studies unit helping to build community in my classroom. Also in my classroom management presentation, my classmate Brittany talked about belonging, and that each student must feel that they belong in the classroom. After reading the Language Arts lesson, I felt that this lesson would help to create an atmosphere of belonging in my classroom. Each student has a role to play and each and every role is important.

I liked these lessons, because with the KUD’s given, the lesson details provided, I was able to visualize what the classroom setting looked like, and how the classroom atmosphere felt. I tried to put myself in the students’ shoes, and ask myself if I was a student would these lessons be engaging for me or would I be bored out of my mind. After reading the lessons, I felt that they were both engaging and fun for the students, and what was mostly important to me was that there was a purpose for this unit, there was a purpose for each lesson.

I think the KUD’s are essential to the success of the lesson. If you don’t know what you want your students to accomplish in a unit, then you have to ask yourself why are you putting so much effort into something that is basically fluff. So, my new mantra, I’ve decided in lessoning planning is to eliminate fluff. If my unit or one of my lessons, doesn’t serve an important purpose in helping the students understand, know, and do, then its fluff and I should get rid of it!!

I do have a question though, what is the difference between “the students will know” and “the students will understand”? To me knowing and understanding come and in hand, why is there a separation between the two?

Fullfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom pp.120-162

I think this section of reading helped me open my eyes to all the ways and possibilities of how to present information and how to teach this information while differentiating and using tiering. I am so grateful for all the examples in this section because I work best with lots of examples and then I can generate my own ideas.
Soooo…to get it all straight in my mind I had to break them up and look at them individually and add pictures so I can remember them.

Graphic organizers-these organizers help students ORGANIZE information!! I think they are wonderful to use for students, and they make it very clear for students to see how ideas connect to one another.

Evaulation Checklists-these help because the teacher and the student have a way to communicate their opinions in a non threatening way.

Learning Menus-like in restaurant menus you can pick and choose what you want to eat, with learning menus students have their pick of the tasks they want to complete. What is excellent is that the learning menu can help students understand, know and learn skills that are important for their success.

Learning Goals-This is a fantastic way to let the students know what you expect of them, what a finished assignment looks like, that way they have a point of reference if they are lost in their assignment.

Think Tac Toe-I loved this because it is such a fun way to present students with choices and alternative ways for them to explore what they are learning.

Raft-which stands for role, audience, format, and topic. I really liked this idea as well because it allows students to develop as an author as well as to develop their voice, by writing from different point of views.

Tiering-we discovered in class that tiering is when the teacher assigns the tasks and is tiering to readiness. It is all the same assignment but it is slightly different for each student’s readiness level. So, like tiers of a cake, it’s all the same cake, but each tier is a different size and with a different amount of frosting.

Complex Instruction-I really liked the task card example of complex instruction. I think complex instruction requires many parts to be completed, however it is broken up into smaller tasks and helps to utilize the talents and abilities of everyone in the group.

Task-Specific and Generic Rubrics-I love having rubrics they are such a great guide as to what the teacher requires of the student, in every assignment. I once had a high school teacher who wasn’t very nice make a rubric to grade for oral presentations, and she was kind of rude in her comments, she would put for the “poor” performances-“scores poorly shows that the person clearly waited till the last minute to put together talk, is making the teacher and class fall asleep”….I think rubrics are great, but we should be tactful and careful not to make students feel bad about their score on the rubric.

Learning Contracts-also help students know what the teacher expects of them, the teacher can also practice tiering in these learning contracts, because she will be the one to assign the assignments. Each assignment could be different for each student’s readiness level. I liked the math ticket example, because this seems very straight forward and the student and teacher were able to conference about the student’s work.

Think Dots-are used to help review the information, or show their understanding of the information. I think it is a great and quick way for the teacher to assess if the students’ have learned the material.

Multiple Entry Journal-this seems very similar to dialectical notes, but are not the same because the teacher provides multiple questions for the student to focus on while they are reading, and the students are able to respond to the questions before, during, and after reading the material. What is nice is that the multiple journal entry can be used for several subjects such as math, science, and English.

Tiering...

All this talk about tiering makes me think of a tiered wedding cake. I couldn't resist putting in a picture.

Anyway...

1) pp. 136-140 Do you understand what tiering is?

Yes. As a teacher tiering is planning a lesson that will challenge all your students at each of their zones of proximal development. Tiering is not making several new and different lessons for the same subject, but making the same lesson and tweaking it so all students can participate, understand the objective, and successfully complete the required assignment using their skills and expertise they all have at different levels. I think the main goal for tiering is providing an assignment but making it so all students can complete it successfully.

2) pp. 130-135 Are these tiered? If not, how COULD you tier them?

I think these lessons are tiered, in the fact that it is the same assignment, yet there are several ways to go about completing the assignment. I like the think tac toe, because the students have a choice in what they can complete. I also liked the think tac toes because the assignment choices also catered to students’ multiple intelligences, for instance the choice to draw or paint a greeting card will be very enjoyable for students who are especially artistic, it will give them a chance to shine in their work. I also liked the choice about finding songs to make a collage about the character and the student. Students who enjoy music and are attuned to music and its moving characteristics will enjoying putting this assignment together. I think that student gain more from the assignments when they can put themselves into the assignment, and they make connections with the characters from their book and themselves. A deep connection between the reader and character is magical and would be wonderful for a student to experience.

3). pp. 149-162 Are these “tierable”? Explain

Yes. Each lesson is tierable because the lesson has several versions, starting with a basic version to an advanced version. I like especially the math ticket because the teacher can make sure that each student has work to complete, but at their own level, or ZPD. I like how the teacher lets the student know what they will be graded on and how they have a choice on what piece of work they want to present as well as the teacher can choose a piece of work to grade.

I loved all the tiered lesson examples because I was apprehensive as to how to tier my lessons, or how to write a tiered lesson plan. I hope with lots of help and guidance that I can be successful in writing tiered lesson plans. I think they are definitely more creative lessons that engage the students and help them to feel successful.

Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom:CHAPTER 6

I really liked this chapter because it provided lots of ideas of how to differentiate the same lesson for different students. I loved all the strategies, it helps me envision what I can do, and will do in my classroom.
I really liked the creative assignment, instead of just lecturing about buoyance, the teacher made up a creative situation to help get the students involved in the learning process. Even I was intrigued with the lesson. I also felt that the 2 types of assignments were wonderful, because they were geared to the different levels of each student. For instance the first one was a little more simple in that it had them draw the design of the boat and asked straight forward questions. The other assignment included a little more higher level thinking questions such as calculations, cost estimates. The assignments were essentially the same, however differentiated for students level.
I also like the evaluation for contributions on group work. I feel that the evaluation helps to make students accountable for what they contribute and they are really able to reflect on the work that they produced.
I always hated where my group members evaluated me, I thought that group evaluations were just unfair, because my group did not know what I was capable of, but with a self evaulation, I can reflect and think did I use my strenghs, did I help solve problems...etc.
I feel the over all message of this chapter was to help me realize that students need fun and creative lessons, but more than that they need lessons with a purpose, so they can see that the information they are learning can help them in real life.
I life what Tomlinson wrote when the student says invest in me, and the teacher agrees, because we see value, we see uniqueness, and we want to honor the student.

Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom:CHAPTER 5

I was sitting in one of my other classes and the teacher asked us a question, can't remember the question, but I know that the answer was hope. She said our students need hope in order to accomplish the tasks that we as teachers set before them.
I feel like that is what this chapter has provided me, and I hope, again to be able to provided that hope to my students.

I especially liked how Tomlinson pointed out that we can teach a subject to the students, but we may or may not reach or teach the student. Kind of like that saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink"...same thing with students you can give them the information, doesn't mean they will make connections with it and remember the information.
I have had teachers in the past that just teach students material, they cram and "cover" all that's required and then expect us to regurgitate it out on the test or paper. A lot of good that did for me......I still can't remember my history facts correctly...

Tomlinson wrote, "it seems to most of us that there should be so much more to learning than checking off a standard or making note that facts have been dispensed" (58). I really like this quote because I think it addresses that sometimes teachers may teach to the test and need to check off in the minds that they covered the material, and may think "hey it's not my fault that the student didn't pick it up, something must be wrong with them".

The message that I felt through out the whole chapter is that we need to teach our curriculum and instruction in a way that students can make connections, they can realize that what they are learning is for their good, and the main thing, that we care about them and want to do everything we can to help them learn the skills, not just useless material, but SKILLS to succeed.

Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom CHAPTER 4

I feel like chapter 3 gave me the hope and inspiration I needed, which was like the gravy to my mashed potatoes, and then chapter 4 was the nitty gritty, the “how to do all this”, kind of like the meat and potatoes to my meal. Anyway, I must be hungry for all these food analogies.

I loved chapter 4 strictly because it provided examples of what other teachers do in their classrooms and how each practice helps their students. I liked how in the beginning of the chapter it states what we as teachers need to let the students know, for example things like “you are unique and valuable as individuals, we are here to help you find and develop abilities as individuals and as a class” (36) etc. There was a whole list, and I felt like I should hang those up in my classroom as a promise to try and fulfill those items, and in turn have the student create a promise to themselves, to each other, and then to me with similar goals. I would have all of the students sign it and then hang the written promises in the classroom.

I also enjoyed reading about creating a classroom environment and feel in my classroom to help develop a strong, hardworking environment, I will hang the “Never Give Up” sign. I love this sign! To me this sign will help serve as a reminder to my students, that I will not give on them and that they should not give up on themselves.

I also like the example of one teacher who passed out key rings to each student and then gave them keys for the ring whenever they made a contribution to their learning and success. I think it is so important for students to be able to have something tangible to help remind them of their successes.

As I said before chapter 4, was chalk full of wonderful advice and examples, and I am definitely inspired and want to implement many of these strategies in my future classroom.

Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom CHAPTER 3

Sometimes when I read things I get inspired, this happened while reading chapter 3. I don’t know how, but I get these insights into my future as a teacher. I literally see myself doing certain things in my classroom. For some reason while reading chapter three I got another insight/ daydream, but I believe they’re more than dreams, they are visions of hope. Like in chapter 3 it states “the very least we ought to expect of ourselves is that we figure out what we hope for in this life” (25)

Sooo….I guess this is my subconscious trying to figure out what I hope for in this life….anyway….In this insight, I saw myself having a morning meeting, in that morning meeting I included an extra element, song. I am a musical person, I believe music can mend a broken heart, excite the mind, and improve the spirit. Anyway, back to my insight, I saw myself doing the morning meeting, and in it we are doing a song, and it is a song that we’ll learn piece by piece everyday. Anyway, I saw that we were learning a song and that song was “We are Family” by the Pointer Sisters. I can just see my class dancing to the song, and we are all feeling great because as a class we are more than just a community we are a family. This song is awesome because it just lightens the spirit and the last verse of the song is wonderful and sums up exactly what I want my students to know and how I feel about them and how I want to live too, because that was also expressed in the chapter, to live what you believe...so this is a part of what I believe now:

That life is fun and they’re future (the students) has just begun, have high hopes for the future, keep the goal insight, don’t get depressed because we just need to have “faith in you and the things you do”. I would love it if my students made this self realization, I already believe it and I can’t wait to share this message with them.

Pointer Sisters - We are family Lyrics
CHORUS
We are family. I got all my sisters with me. We are family. Get up everybody and sing.
We are family. I got all my sisters with me. We are family. Get up everybody and sing.

Everyone can see we're together. As we walk on by, And we fly just like birds of a feather. I'm not telling no lie. All of the people around us to say, Can we be that close? Just let me state for the record We're giving love in a family dose, yeah

CHORUS

Living life is fun and we've just begun. To get our share of the world's delights
High hopes we have for the future.
And our goal's in sight. No we don't get depressed. Here's what we call our golden rule: Have faith in you and the things you do. You won't go wrong, oh no. This is our family Jewel, yeah!

CHORUS (REPEAT FOUR TIMES)

P.S. I'm sorry Dr. Peterson, this is probably what you weren’t looking for in a blog/chapter summary, but I couldn’t help but write out what I was thinking and envisioning play out as I read the chapter. I felt like I was going to burst. Crazy huh?