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?

In response to :"File of Inventories/Pre-Assessments

Do any of these hold potential for you to use in your ST classroom? Explain.

I will be student teaching in first grade and feel that the pre-assessment that would work very well in my classroom would be the Attitudes and Interests (reading and writing) survey. I think it would work well for a couple of reasons; first the survey combines words and pictures. The combination of words and pictures would be helpful for my first graders to understand and successfully answer the question. Second, I also like the part for the students to write or draw anything else they like to read about. I feel that giving the students a chance to draw what they like to read will help them realize that they are not just limited to the choices that I have given to them on paper.

I hope that the survey would help me know how the students feel about reading and writing, and in turn I may be able to inspire them and that they can read anything that they set their mind to and that the possibilities are endless.

Fulfilling the Promise pp. 100-103

How would you use the information this would produce, in differentiating?

I would use the information from the survey to help improve my lessons and make them geared toward the students’ interests. For instance, in teaching math, I would present a word problem that would combine what students were interested in, perhaps maybe the scores of their favorite sports team, or the price of the favorite movies. I would also know from the survey what the students like to read, and I would make sure that I had those specific books and those genres in my library. I would also use this information to help establish groups. I would pair up students who would compliment each other in their abilities.

What would you, personally, want to add to or remove from this inventory?

I personally would want to know, who the child’s hero is or who do they look up to in life. We all have heroes and it is our hero’s example that we try to emulate. My hero, well one of my heroes is my mom. I hear from my husband many times that I’m just like my mom, and to me that’s a compliment. I think knowing who my students’ heroes are will help me understand who they want to be like when they grow up, or the kind of person they want to be.

Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom CHAPTER 2

I really feel like I connected with this chapter. As it described the needs of the student, I thought about myself and the teachers I have and had in the past. I was thinking about if my needs were met on different occasions. When I read about what the student seeks, I realize that I still go through these questions or elements such as: in affirmation- “Do people believe in me here?” and in contribution- “Do I bring to this place abilities and unique perspectives?” I realized what is really important to me right now is power, everyday in class I ask myself “Is what I learned useful to me now?” For the most part I feel these needs are met, sometimes, like the books states the teacher will not meet all my needs, but I know that my teachers keep on trying. I look back at the end of the year and often feel that I accomplished things here I didn't believe were possible. I couldn't have accomplished any of my assignments without the help and encouragement of my teachers.

I even experienced affirmation today. I was at home complaining to myself that I didn’t want to do my reading for this class and I certainly didn’t want to blog about it. At this moment in time I thought it was silly. However, because I care about how I do in my class I will do what is asked of me. Anyway, as I was complaining to myself, I looked at my blog and read my previous blogs to try and get motivated to respond to the readings. I noticed that my teacher had commented on one of my blogs. My teacher wrote encouraging words of advice to me. Just knowing that my teacher took time out of her busy schedule to comment on what I wrote, helped me see that this wasn’t a silly assignment at all. In fact I felt as stated in the chapter, I felt, that “People believe in me here.” And just that feeling of my work being validated that made all the difference in my attitude in completing the assignment.

I now realize that our students are not just simple vessels for us to fill their minds, my students will be far more complex. The deciding factor for my students whether they will want to learn from me or not, is if I choose to learn and connect with them. I hope to do my best to fulfill such a huge challenge.

I also liked the Peanuts comic strip, I will defiantly share that with anyone I know having a bad day.

Fullfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom CHAPTER 1

I learned from this chapter that differentiation is a little more than just common sense. I am the type of person that needs to see a lot of great ideas and examples in order to get my creative juices flowing….and so, chapter one was really beneficial for me because I feel like it laid the groundwork of what makes up a differentiated classroom. It helped me visualize what I need to do and be like as a teacher. It also made me step back and think if I have seen differentiation in action in the classes I have observed.

Primarily, differentiation is, as stated in the chapter responsive instruction. As a teacher grows in understanding the different needs of her students come to light and she will align her teaching accordingly. I liked learning the four traits of the student: readiness, interest, learning profile, and affect. I know that by keeping these traits in mind will help me to plan my lessons effectively and efficiently. As well as the student traits, the classroom elements were very useful in helping visualize the type of classroom environment I want to create. I know for one thing that Morning Meetings will contribute greatly to the tone and will help produce good “weather” in my classroom.

I loved the metaphors in the chapter as well, especially the link made that both the teacher and the student can learn from one another, and it does not simply have to be one way instruction. I also loved how it said, “We need to make time to ‘see the invisible’”, simply we need to take the time out from the busy teacher work, and see our students learning progress.

Morning Meeting Packet on Blackboard Homepage

I did not realize how much of an impact Morning Meetings made in the classroom. I wish that my teachers in grade school did Morning Meetings. I think I definately would have enjoyed the social and cognitive aspects of a Morning Meeting.

I also appreciate how the Morning Meetings are structured, with Greeting, Sharing, Activity, and News and Announcements. I like how the structure is very basic and allows room and time for the students to be creative and where fun learning can happen. I also think the Morning Meeting is an excellent way to start the day with showing the students that school/ learning can be fun and rewarding.

I am convined as well that Morning Meetings are the way to start the day, and can not wait to see the impact they make on my future classroom.

Differentiation in PRACTICE, Part 1: pp. 1-14;

I learned many things from these first 14 pages and am excited to learn many ideas and ways to help my students learn.

The first quote I liked was on page 6 which talks about accepting truths about teaching "she will never be able to do everything each child needs on a given day or in a given year". I understand I won't be able to do everything for my students (and I will try not to get frustrated at my shortcomings), but I know that the things I can do will make a difference. I will work dilligently to get to know my students, match my teaching to their style and needs. Inturn, I hope the students will be successful and that I may feel successful as a teacher.

The second quote that provided inspiration is on page 8, "maximum effort to achieve maximum potential". I find this quote inspiring, because I know that if I work hard and encourage my students to work, then we will both be successful in the classroom and also in life.