Before this class, my philosophy of adaptation may have sounded more like how do we accept and make the most out of change and flourish through adapting. However, now with a stronger leadership mindset, adaptation means being a leader, whether a small or big role, during the change. Not only do you need to be a strong leader, but also shift your perspective.
Leadership can make or break adaptation, which puts greater emphasis on what it means to be a leader. My vision statement is that we change, adapt, and grow in order to inspire, nurture, and guide. As for perspective, this can do more than being a great leader. If we change our perspective, we often can see through to the other side or become more transparent ourselves. I learn from others and what they do and do not do. If there is one takeaway from what I have learned in my first year of teaching it is that I need to have an open-minded perspective. I watch those who have taught for years with perhaps a more closed mindset and their perspective skews the good to do more harm. I know that as a leader, my perspective needs to be that change is okay, and change needs to be talked about. When we adapt, we should adapt as a cohort rather than individually. Adapting is not just accepting. Adapting is shifting your perspective to gain the benefits of the change.
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Even though my cohorts teach a range of ages and subjects, it is nice to see how similar our units are in terms of how we evaluate and what we consider important.
Gerald pointed out that pre and post tests are the best way to show that learning occurred. I completely agree with this and its effectiveness. Though I would like to have strictly performance assessments, these lack the ability to see exactly how much learning happened. I am excited to see how much students gained with the post-test. I always battle this question, should I be giving the same or slightly different post test for my second graders? Other points in this week’s question that brought new insight was thinking about how I can show my evidence. Is there some way to compile this information on a graph-- or just stick to taking pictures of the assignments? These are little details that I will figure out in the upcoming days. Ways I contributed to this week's topic was talking about my different forms of assessment. A few people commented on exit tickets and Kahoot by either agreeing they enjoy those forms or asking more questions about how I use them. Passing on tools and strategies is the best way to improve any teaching practice, so I am always happy when I learn from others and pass on that knowledge. Knowing that I am reporting my evidence back to this cohort is making what I do much more meaningful-- or maybe I’m hyper aware? Each lesson that I teach about money I intentionally create ways for them to show their understanding and how much more they understand compared to the day before.
Ways I have been able to do this are by assessments, observations, exit tickets, and quick checks. I started out the unit with a pre-assessment and the highest score was 67%. Since that point, I have been using Kahoot or paper assessments to gauge their understanding. This has greatly shaped the pace of the lesson and what I teach each day. I have been using Prodigy- an online game- regularly and using the data it automatically collects to steer learning. At the end of week 1, Prodigy is able to show me that over 70% of the class is still struggling with identifying dimes, nickels, and pennies. This will be a focus area coming into this next week. Other types of evidence of learning I have for this unit include, mini-projects (money foldable, books, and games), and pictures. Students are on track for the pacing of my unit and this is all because I analyzed every bit of data/information. The next steps are to introduce the performance project and encourage them to use technology to create a game based on money. This week was equally great and challenging as I started my unit. I have never taught money before and although I knew my students have never been taught this concept, I underestimated how basic I would have to make it. Through the learning moments and mistakes, I am really excited to see the amount of growth by the end of this unit.
A few challenges that I noticed this week were:
As my understanding of this week’s question, we are to examine 5 elements of differentiated instruction created by our findings throughout this course. A large portion of my undergrad was specifically on DI plus the addition of this course means I have had a lot of interaction studying DI. Based on my research the five elements of DI are as follows:
Element 2 has been stated in many readings. Students need to process the information to make connections and find meaning. Differentiated instruction helps support this by giving students the necessary tools or strategies. In the table from the blog, Tool Box for Planning Rigorous Instruction, it explains process as, “how the learner interacts with the material presented. It involves methods of presenting material, activities, thinking processes, and questions asked (Essential Elements, 2010). Element 3 is often explained as the product. In my perspective I think we should focus a lot on if the goal is attainable and was the goal met. When we keep in mind the goal and not the product, we are able to see growth for what actually matters instead of losing sight of the goal. Element 4: using data- is my most recent study about DI. Week 9 we focused on our assessments and how this will guide our unit. When I actually plan step by step my assessments and why I am using those assessments I am able to see how I’m providing DI (or lack of). The readings I used in my blog gave detailed explanations of why we need to incorporate a variety of assessments. If we can gauge our student’s knowledge on more than just a paper-written test, then we are reaching parts of their brain that supports their understanding. Element 5 is the learning environment. I know I cannot learn in a white wall, cold, plain room. The library, cafe, or home supports my learning because of the environment. All students need an environment that encourages creativity and exploration. Week 8 we focused on brain-based learning and I gained a lot of insight from the research I did during that week. I am confident that I have a great classroom environment to support different types of learning, but there is still room for growth. Learning environemnt isn’t just what you put (or don’t put) on your walls, but your minute-by-minute actions. I can set my students up for a great activity or a very unproductive activity based on the way I change and shift the atmosphere. These elements were touched on, some more than others, in my lesson. I am focusing a lot on data to steer my lesson (both individual and as a class). My pre-test is going to be used to see where students are at with their money understanding so that I can keep the content within their individual ZPD. Money is relatively easy to connect and find meaning, but I am going even further with this and making sure all my lessons are something they can relate to in their own lives. Element 3 and 5 (goals clear and attainable/learning environment) are strategically placed throughout the unit. They are more fluid and shown through the assignments I give, the way I explain concepts, and students performance ability. Essential Elements of Differentiated Instruction. 2010. Retrieved from https://tpri.wikispaces.com/Essential+Elements+of+Differentiated+Instruction This week I gained a lot of new insight on my project and what others were thinking. It was helpful to have other people give me feedback and their view of my assessments. Heather gave me some really good tips and clarified what criterion-referenced actually meant. I didn’t realize I wasn’t understanding it correctly so it was nice to hear what it actually means in terms of my assessments.
I found it also helpful to read other’s blogs because they had some good ideas for assessments that I would love to do in the future. As for my contributions this week, I feel like I put a lot of effort into my own assignment and didn't get much time to give back to others. The assessments I give for this unit will range from standard exams to authentic and performance assessments. My goal is to stray away from a criterion-referenced test and move towards a level of performance (James, 2014).
I will begin the unit with a pre-assessment on the computer. My intention is to use this to get a very basic idea of where students are at with money. Can they recognize any coins? Are they confused between coins or symbols? The pre-test, which offers an audio output, will be used to assess these questions. Students are very familiar with this format and are used to taking math tests this way. I am aware that, “traditional exams also give limited opportunities to demonstrate what can be produced with access to appropriate resources, such as reference material (Burns, 2015).” But for pre-assessment purposes, I find this method quick and efficient. The formative assessments I will do will be design tasks. I plan to give my students a variety of real life scenarios where they have to identify the coins, add, and subtract. I will expect a short writing assessment from this activity as well so that students can explain their understandin. For the summative assessment of money, I will do a performance task. Students will create their own project or videotape themselves going to the store and purchasing an item, giving the correct change, and then counting the change they got back. As quoted in Wheatley's journal, "creativity, often cited as the most important student outcome in the 21st century economy and world, has been declining since the beginning of the standards movement, with the sharpest declines in the elementary years (Wheatley, 2015)." My goal is that this unit will stray far from standard testing and allow students to have a meaningful assessment. Performance testing can hardly be testing or rather a pathway for students to see how their learning is relevant and meaningful. Burns, V. (2015). 53 Interesting Ways to Assess Your Students. [N.p.]: Frontinus Ltd. James Popham, W. p. (2014). Criterion-Referenced Measurement: Half a Century Wasted?. Educational Leadership, 71(6), 62-68. Retrieved from: Egan Library http://egandb.uas.alaska.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=94925708&login.asp&site=ehost-live Wheatley, K. F. (2015). Factors that Perpetuate Test-Driven, Factory-Style Schooling: Implications for Policy and Practice. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 10(2). Retrieved from: http://ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter/article/viewFile/261/pdf A significant part of my teaching pedagogy is focused on brain-based learning. The funny thing I realized after looking through various readings and sources, blogs, and watching videos, is that I have a great deal to learn about how to implement this in my teaching practices.
One of the takeaways that I am going to really strive to perfect after Spring break is the idea that we need to set our students up for learning. We ultimately create the environment that our students learn in and it is our job to read our students and prepare the environment according to their needs and the lesson. For example, if I want my students to do math centers for 30 minutes where I expect them to move around, but also be engaged, I need to create the atmosphere to support this. What I would do with my 2nd graders is have them stand up and do some yoga stretches. I would get their bodies moving a little bit-- but in a relaxing way. I may get their brain ready by doing a few math review problems (ones that I know they will all be able to get) and then send them on their way to do more complicated math. I often do this with my students who need a lot of social-emotional support. In the morning when they come in I talk with them and figure out what state they are in. From there, that talk determines how I structure my lessons during the day. I learned a great deal from other people's blogs, such as Mariah who talked about settling time for the brain after a lesson. I read about this, but after reading it again in Mariah's blog I want to also look into ways to incorporate this in my classroom. Chelsea talked about exuberant discovery in her blog and how this is the core of learning. Students really retain and stay engaged during lessons when they find interest in it. Both Chelsea and I agree that this is an incredibly important part of teaching-- but also equally challenging. Getting to know your students and their interests is the best way to give students interesting/engaging lessons. Shauna was encouraging and appreciated my views on SEL and the brain. I hope that I can help inspire her and others to continue learning about mindfulness and the brain. She also shared similar views on the readings and found them incredibly helpful, but also a lot at once. It is interesting to see that as we are learning about brains and how it can get information overload, both her and I experienced this with the readings. Nothing like experiencing what you are learning to really absorb it! :) Overall, I am excited to continue learning about brain-based learning and figure out how I can make this a natural part of my teaching. I will continue to go back to these readings and chunk it up to really familiarize myself with the research. There are some fantastic strategies out there that I want to learn, and I hope to learn more each time I reread this week's chapters. In my opinion, brain-based learning shouldn’t be a means of just “informing” differentiation, but rather it should guide all of our teaching. If we aren’t teaching to our students neurobiological needs, then how are we reaching them at all? We know that students carry in to school their happiness, uneasiness, stress, and trauma to school every day (Desautels, 2016). “Over 29 percent of youth ages 9-18 are affected by depression and anxiety disorders (Child Welfare, 2001).” This was a study done over 16 years ago, so I can only imagine the percent today with our increase of social media and technology. Teaching to the whole student means understanding and recognizing trauma in a student. Even a less severe case can cause students to go in to survival mode and constantly question, am I safe or not? Our ability to see students in this chemically-wired state will help us meet their education and emotional needs (Desautels, 2016). How do we exactly look at the brain and use it to teach our curriculum? Edutopia suggests three daily practices- movement, practice focused attention (breathing), and teach our students (any age) about the brain (Wilson, 2015). The latter seems especially important but the most forgotten. Brain Connection posted an article on brain-based learning and said, “teaching without an awareness of how the brain learns is like designing a glove with no sense of what a hand looks like–its shape, how it moves. Hart pushes this analogy even further in order to drive home his primary point: if classrooms are to be places of learning, then “the organ of learning,” the brain, must be understood and accommodate (Hart, 1983).” We practice perfecting teaching, but I have seen within myself and many educators that we blindly ignore the chemical disposition of the brain. My most frustrating experience with seeing other educators completely dismiss the brain’s wiring in a trauma student is punishing or threatening them when they get in trouble causing their survival mode to heighten. Differentiation through brain-based learning implies we think, act, and teach to respond to our student’s brains. In How Poverty Affects Behavior and Academic Performance, it illustrates our role as educators. Though we can’t change a student’s home life, we can influence positive interactions during the school hours. A few examples were teaching students how to interact with people- speak clearly, look in the eye, be kind and respectful. We can also role-model for students what healthy communication looks like by saying things like, “I would like you to have a seat at your desk, please.” Instead of, “go back to your seat.” Keeping a clear, direct, and calm tone with students can greatly shape the way they understand how people interact. We can also help their meta-cognitive skills by teaching them how to know their self, know their partners, know the difference, and revisit. (Jensen, 2009 )”. References: Brain Connection. Brain Based Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2004/03/26/what-is-brain-based-learning/ Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2001).Retrieved from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/earlybrain.pdf Degen, R. J. (2014). Brain-Based Learning: The Neurological Findings About the Human Brain that Every Teacher should Know to be Effective. Amity Global Business Review, 915-23. Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It. Alexandria, Va: ASCD. Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, Va: Assoc. for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Wilson, Donna. (2015) Strategies for Strengthening the Brain's Executive Functions. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/strategies-strengthening-brains-executive-functions-donna-wilson-marcus-conyers With this week being so involved in a project I am doing with my students I felt the learning happened incredibly naturally and willingly. It was nice to get a head start on the ideas I had for my student's projects by actually walking through the QR code process.
With my busy schedule I probably would not have done this part of the troubleshooting until a day before I had my students do it. Now, I have an even clearer idea of how to create and develop the QR codes in an efficient manner. I want my students to be accountable for all their work so working through the kinks of creating a QR code linked to an audio MP3 file makes that goal more realistic. I also learned a lot more about Google Spreadsheets and how convenient it can be to compile student's data/projects/links in one place. The next step I will take is creating a Google Classroom where all my students can access this one destination and put their audios into the Google Spreadsheet themselves. |
Author2nd Grade teacher at Keet Gooshi Heen in Sitka, Alaska Archives
April 2017
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