D&Z Ch 12

Here we are, at the finish line!!! D&Z provided some great strategies this past semester that I will keep in mind and refer to when I have my own classroom.  The "How Students See it" section was probably the most valuable to me in regards to the kind of teacher I want to be.  Take Hal's perspective for example, "I asked Mrs.Stoop, "What's the point in reading anyway?" "So she sat me down and she printed out an article that told all the different ways that reading could help me.  She really took the time for me." [Amy explained later that he had been on the verge of dropping out, but was now a very successful student.]  I think there was much more to that story that "saved" Hal's academic career, however, had she answered with a simple generic "because it's important," Hal would have probably rolled his eyes and not read. As a student, knowing that a teacher has faith in you. believes in you and is willing to take the extra step is incredibly motivating.  At least it was for me in high school.  I think that's what separates those who were meant to be teachers and those who teach for convenience.  There are teachers who cover content and their job is over at 3:00 when they walk out of the building.  And then there are teachers like the one i want to become.  Your work day is never finished. You go home and think of new ways to do something, better ways, how to improve and how to be there for your students.  Those were the teachers who had a substantial influence on my life and I feel as though I owe my success thus far in college to them.  They inspired me to become a teacher and instill in my students the motivation they instilled in me.......Even if that means I have to be a super senior and spend ridiculous amounts of money on multiple brutal Praxis tests!!!!! :)

D & Z Chapter 11

Chapter 11 connected well with my SPED 312 class.  My professor often stresses that by the time students enter high school many of them are unprepared or come with lower reading levels than we may expect. So what do we do? At that point RTI is irrelevant so we must come up with strategies to help these struggling readers. I agree with D & Z that creating a supportive relationships with our students is essential to the success of a student.  If a student trusts their teacher they are more likely to go to the teacher when they need help without feeling insecure about themselves or level of ability.   In the past students may not have established a form of trust with their teachers and felt as though they were failures.  Fostering motivation and determination and a "can do" attitude is much more encouraging and beneficent than having a student throw together a book report.  This has been more and more apparent in my observation at North Providence High.  The 11th grade American History inclusion class has many students who struggle with reading and writing.  From conversation with my teacher, many other teachers do not like working with her students, complain about them and essentially give up.  The students in this class have a great relationship with their teacher.  The kids were with her last year as well and there is a certain level of respect between both student and teacher.  The students are willing to try because they feel comfortable and they know it is acceptable to try again. 

D&Z Ch. 9 and 10

Chapter 9 brought up something I never really thought of doing, but totally love - Content Area Book Clubs. In many of my history courses in college we read at least 2 books each semester, yet in high school I don't recall reading much in history classes, which is a shame.  History is a content area with a countless number of great nonfiction books that can provide as supplemental material to a lesson and just enjoyment in general for the students.  The note taking choices and roles of connector, questioner, passage master, vocabulary enricher, illustrator and researcher are great tools to ensure that everyone is accountable.  Small groups can be difficult as some will not speak at all, and others may do all the talking.  With this method each student is responsible for reading the material.  I also asked the question of assessment because when reading a novel, certain moments will sick with students, and not all of the moments will be the same. The idea of a portfolio and project takes away the stressful aspect of assessment.  In high school it was easy to go on spark notes and memorize the characters and plots and regurgitate them on the test, without even opening the cover of the book.  That certainly did nothing to foster a desire of reading.

For my AP Human Geography class in high school we read the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. It is a story about Hmong immigrants and at first glance I dreaded having yet another novel to read on top of a heavy course load of my senior year.  My teacher organized the class similar to that of the book club.  We had many class discussion and activities that coincided with the book. Unfortunately the assessment part was more traditional with quizzes here and there to make sure we had read the material.  However, to my surprise, I actually really enjoyed the book and found it as enjoyment more than just "another homework assignment."  The book is used in a variety of fields.  I have friends in the nursing program who are reading it as part of health care classes.  I toculd be used for sociology as well.  Check it out!

http://us.macmillan.com/thespiritcatchesyouandyoufalldown/annefadiman

D & Z Ch. 5 and 8

I regret renting this book and not purchasing it because the strategies in chapter 5 are super helpful and is the perfect go to when planning lessons and introducing a new unit that may have difficult content. The strategies are all aligned to the Common Core Standards which is also helpful. For history, I particularly liked front loading with images post-it response notes (something totally new) exit slips and admit slips and tweet the text. Front loading with images prior to reading is common in many history classes and as a visual learner it was something I always appreciated.  I think what I liked most about the strategies offered in this chapter is that they are geared towards all students.  There are strategies for all learners and they allow for differentiated instruction in the classroom.  The Tweet and talk strategy caught my eye as a millennial who is overly addicted to technology. This concept can go much further than simply summarizing a text. A class twitter account is a great way to connect with students.  However, it is something to be cautious of when creating this account.  Do students have the ability to access twitter at home? Do they have a laptop or smart phone? Will it be used strictly in school?  Anyway, I checked out the link that was provided in the text and if offers some pretty cool stuff!  For history or sociology classes there is so much you can do! I particularly like the idea of following accounts with different biases to see how the media covers current events and interprets them differently. Tracking the government by following organizations is also a good idea.  In regards to current events and the news, lets face it, it's 2015 and our students are most likely not reading the newspaper.  I get almost all of my news from twitter. It's instant and in 140 characters you get the gist of what's happening and can chose to click the article and continue reading.  Students can share their findings via twitter and create a small academic sphere outside of the classroom. Check out some other cool ideas here! http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom

Another cool strategy that incorporates social media and was not mentioned (but maybe could have been) is having students create a facebook page as a specific character or person in time.  For example, each student can assigned someone in history, let's use the Civil War.  Someone creates a page for Abraham Lincoln and after reading about him they can summarize what they learned and create a status perhaps with a picture.  Other figures of the time can comment and create a dialogue.

Moving on from that excitement, the independent reading workshop is great to get students to read for both learning and enjoyment. Giving students choices can motivate them and they man actually look forward to reading.   As a teacher you would have to pay close attention to scheduling and timing to ensure that it does not too much time away from instruction. Other than that I think the idea is great!

D&Z Ch. 6 and 7

Chapter 6 is a great tool for the textbook analysis assignment, so I am glad to have read it before I started looking into textbooks. I will definitely look back to the Textbook Feature Analysis on page 184 as I analyze my textbook.  Questions 2-5 will help me assess areas that I had not previously put any thought into - sidebars and pull boxes, typography, color, and symbols and icons.  While reading a boring text with just black and white print can be boring, too much color, symbols and sidebars can be overwhelming. While looking through the text i will think about what activities would work well with the text, if any.

However, what I really want to talk about is Chapter 7, "Building a Community of Learners."  I first want to start with PBIS because I think when they threw it in the text it was a little confusing. PBIS is part of what is called MTSS, Multi-Tiered Support System which includes both PBIS and RTI. PBIS is used in many schools in Rhode Island, all of which have been trained by members of the Sherlock Center here at RIC. From all of my almsot 4 years as a college student and zero years of being teacher, I think D&Z did a poor job discussing it.  They threw it out there and say "We certainly hope this is not just another fad or mandate to be piled onto teachers, however."  Research has shown PBIS to be effective in the schools in which it is implemented.  Tier 1 is universal, for all student sin the classroom.  At this tier, students collaborate with each other and their teacher and devise a system or procedure for the classroom. Students have a say in how they conduct their classroom expectations and environment.  This is a crucial aspect in creating a community that establishes success, belonging, and value before students can establish academic belonging, success and value.  For student who express excessive problem behavior, supplemental intervention is applied in tier 2, which may include checklists, behavior systems or a check-in, check out system.  In order for students to work well together in an academic setting, respectful behavior must be established early on with each other and the teacher.  PBIS offers that opportunity and so much more.

Now I've cleared that up for myself, I like the five points they mention that help teachers build a community in the classroom.  High school is so much a social sphere as it is academic.  Some students may be timid to ask questions in fear of looking dumb, or may not try their hardest because its cooler to look like you don't care. Developing a classroom where all students feel safe to ask any question and work to their full potential will not only aid them right here and now, but in the future as well in college and their future careers. I particularly liked the idea of "using jigsaw activities in which small groups of students give presentations to help the rest of the class learn about various aspects of a topic.  Students dive into the material, while practicing teaching and presentation skills and helping their peers in an academic setting.

Connecting learning with students' lives and larger issues around them is also extremely important, not just for building community but for students to understand the importance of what they are learning and how it will affect them outside the walls of the classroom.

Strong Ch. 6

       The craft assignments given as examples in the reading were all very interesting and great ways to promote writing motivation.  While reading, I thought about assignments I've had as a student both in high school and college and which ones fostered the most motivation. Take these blog assignments for example. I we were assigned a 1-2 page APA format reflection or a paper in response to a prompt every week, we would most likely groan the first day of class looking at the syllabus (I know I would).  The fact that we are using a blog, a form of technology with which are familiar, and writing in a less formal academic tone, the burden is lifted.  I look forward to reading how my peers responded and seeing if they have the same questions and feelings. The dialogue aspect of these assignments motivates me to not only write a quality blog, but to actually read the material.  If I just skimmed every reading, my blog would be lacking and I would miss out on the conversation - hence motivation (for me anyway).
       I wish I could go back in time and give multiple teachers the Ten Design Principles, specifically #2 :"Would I be interested in doing this assignment if I were one of my students?"  I've had many assignments I am sure my teachers would not have the time or energy to complete.  I was thinking about an assignment I had a few weeks ago.  I was assigned a "Critical Essay" about Morocco's history precolonial, colonial and post colonial. Going into the assignment I had no knowledge of Morocco (which was the point) however, I did not particularly care about the history of Morocco.  Why should I?  I don't live there, don't know anyone from there and it does not really play that big of a role in international affairs. I wrote the paper to get the A.  The essay could not be more than 5 pages, even though Morocco's history can be dated back for centuries.  As a history major, research skills are implanted in brain and it is a routine task. A "no brainer" - literally. Essentially I researched and regurgitated what I found.  I did not have to formulate any type of opinion or idea about Morocco's history.
        Lately, I find myself in "teacher mode" more often when I sit through hours of classes and complete numerous tedious assignments.  I ask myself what the purpose is and why the professor thought this subject or assignment is important.  I also think of how I can alter the assignment if I were to give it to one of my own students.  I came to the conclusion that the "big idea" of the Morocco assignment was to catch a glimpse of how a period of colonialism can affect those being colonized. We have been learning about the colonialism of Africa in general.  As a future history teacher I would definitely change the assignment. First, I would ask students to research material and organize/minimize their research.  (The essay only being 5 pages tells that it was meant to be a brief overview).  This could be done by providing students with questions they can search.  Did women's roles change and if so how? Which time period produced the best economy?  How did the political system work in each period?  After organizing their thoughts, students could write a letter to the French government as the sultan asking for independence based on the evidence they found about precolonial and the colonial time period. Students could act as citizens writing to the sultan during the neo colonial era about the various issues they now had to face as an independent country, etc.  This type of assignment shows that students have researched the material while causing students to actually think about the material they found. Students are forced to think about how people were affected by repression and exploitation and what it means to rebel and fight for freedom after it has been taken.  Students can relate this more recent struggle of freedom from a European colonizer to that of the 13 colonies of the United States.  Comparisons can be made of taxation without representation. Students will be aware of the big idea and the assignment will be worthwhile, and worth their time.  Students have the ability to be creative and as a teacher, I will not have to read 100 essays of the timeline history of Morocco or any other country for that matter.
   

(I could elaborate on writing motivation but I will stop here! This took a totally different path than I intended but it's okay because I like it!!!)

D&Z Ch. 3 and 4

While I appreciate the writing in D&Z, I have to admit chapters 3 and 4 were a little "much" for me.  I feel like it could have been consolidated into one chapter.  I got the point rather quickly that textbooks are not enough to be the sole basis of class instruction and the only supplemental material in the classroom.  Maybe it is because this is nothing to me, a frustration I have always had a student, so the emphasis placed on numerous pages became boring to me.  With that being said, I enjoyed the portion where they talk about how to balance reading from a text with other sources....

When I used other sources such as primary and secondary sources, documentaries and novels in high school I became more interested in history.  We had always used a text book (some years more than others) but the years when the book was a source of terms to know and and overview were the years I learned the most.  The supplemental sources allowed me to bring the text to life, to make it "real" and to make it "matter."  Reading about the March on Washington in a text book is much more dull then watching footage of Martin Luther King Jr.'s  "I Have a Dream" speech. Allowing students to actually witness what they are learning through media or other outlets of text brings a sense of reality that a text book cannot.  Students may become more engaged or motivated when they get this sense of reality.  When teaching history there is also the opportunity for students to relate content to current events and link the events of the past to the present.

I particularly appreciated the content areas D&Z provided.  I agree that there are key concepts that should be linked to teaching all year.  This made me think about our class discussions of backward design when trying to design desired results.  The "Big Ideas" that we want students to learn may not come out of one single unit.  I can definitely see myself placing little emphasis on textbooks in my classroom.  Last semester I had a geography class where no textbook was required.  The first day of class Professor Dixon placed 4 huge textbooks on his desk and I was immediately frightened I was going to need them all! He had a little speech on how each book had something better than the other and how each book was over 100 dollars and about 20 pounds. Instead, he showed a website he created with materials, links and articles that would take place of a textbook.  At a high school level this may be a little more difficult to align with curriculum but it could be used as a supplement in addition to the text.  Geography is an easier content area to do this with as well because students could chose any article about a certain region to read and review.  I learned so much more from these articles than I would have from a textbook.  There were length requirements and other specifications, but reading something from a newspaper or watching something from the BBC was much more interesting and enjoyable than scanning a textbook.

Overall I think textbooks are not entirely awful if they are used appropriately and sparingly.  Having a classroom set rather than one for every student is a much more efficient idea budget wise.  Students can use the text during group work, copy an pertinent info or terms to know and then use the other materials for more direct instruction and cooperative learning.



Here is the website I used for my geography class! Super informative, user friendly and FREE!
Geography Education