Peace, Love, and Compromise

What does differentiated education mean to me?

To differentiate education I believe the teacher must recognize the differences in her students, and adapt herself to all of them as best she can. She must teach to each of these differences. She must also learn to push herself and her students out of their comfort zones. She must recognize the differences in herself and realize how different and how similar she is to each of her students. These differences can be cultural, learning abilities, social, and/or ethnic.

"You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note." Doug Floyd

I think that this quote applies itself perfectly to the ideas behind differentiated education. I think that the harmony that can exist in a classroom where everyone is excited about learning and feels no pressure to fit into any kind of mold could feel like a choir singing in harmony. There is a moment where everything is so beautiful it almost hurts to listen. I hope that my class can be that different someday. I don't exactly remember specific instances of my teachers teaching in a differentiated way. I do remember that sometimes when I was "learning" things that, I actually felt like I was playing a game. It was a fun thing! It wasn't work, like many students seem to view learning.

"You don't really know something until you teach it." Dr. Scott and others...

I don't know if I had ever heard that quote before, but it is definitly true. I am still unsure of how I will implement all of these things we have learned in my classroom, especially since I am going to be an Art teacher. All I know is that I want my students to love art and realize its importance in the world. I want them to not be nervous every time I introduce them to new materials. I want them to have fun and relish expressing themselves in a variety of ways. If these things happen, learning should come naturally.

I think that learner-centered instruction and standards based instruction can be reconciled. I think that they need to meet somewhere in the middle. There needs to be a commitee of educators, not government officials, that meets to create an instructional system that uses parts of each of the rival methods. The teachers that we read about in the Tomlinson article met and discussed the standards. They found a way to work with the standards, instead of against them. If we could come together and do the same with both of the methods, we could end the wars between educators and administrators.

I think using the strategies are a great place to start with differentiated instruction
Readiness & Ability
Teachers can use a variety of assessments to determine a student's ability or readiness. Also, to learn new concepts students may be generally working below or above grade level or they may simply be missing necessary prerequisite skills.
However, readiness is constantly changing and as readiness changes it is important that students be permitted to move between different groups. Activities for each group are often differentiated by complexity. Students whose understanding is below grade level will work at tasks inherently less complex than those attempted by more advanced students. Those students whose reading level is below grade level will benefit by reading with a buddy or listening to stories/instructions using a tape recorder so that they receive information verbally.
Varying the level of questioning and compacting the curriculum and are useful strategies for accommodating differences in ability or readiness.
Adjusting Questions
During large group discussion activities, teachers direct the higher level questions to the students who can handle them and adjust questions accordingly for student with greater needs. All students are answering important questions that require them to think but the questions are targeted towards the student’s ability or readiness level.
An easy tool for accomplishing this is to put posters on the classroom walls with key words that identify the varying levels of thinking.
With written quizzes the teacher may assign specific questions for each group of students. They all answer the same number of questions but the complexity required varies from group to group. However, the option to go beyond minimal requirements can be available for any or all students who demonstrate that they require an additional challenge for their level.
Compacting Curriculum
Compacting the curriculum means assessing a students knowledge, skills and attitudes and providing alternative activities for the student who has already mastered curriculum content. This can be achieved by pre-testing basic concepts or using performance assessment methods. Students who demonstrate that they do not require instruction move on to tiered problem solving activities while others receive instruction.
Tiered Assignments
Tiered activities are a series of related tasks of varying complexity. All of these activities relate to essential understanding and key skills that students need to acquire. Teachers assign the activities as alternative ways of reaching the same goals taking into account individual student needs.
Acceleration/Deceleration
Accelerating or decelerating the pace that students move through curriculum is another method of differentiating instruction. Students demonstrating a high level of competence can work through the curriculum at a faster pace. Students experiencing difficulties may need adjusted activities that allow for a slower pace in order to experience success.
Flexible Grouping
As student performance will vary it is important to permit movement between groups. Student’s readiness varies depending on personal talents and interests, so we must remain open to the concept that a student may be below grade level in one subject at the same time as being above grade level in another subject.
Flexible grouping allows students to be appropriately challenged and avoids labeling a student's readiness as static. Students should not be be kept in a static group for any particular subjects as their learning will probably accelerate from time to time.
Even highly talented students can benefit from flexible grouping. Often they benefit from work with intellectual peers, while occasionally in another group they can experience being a leader. In either case peer-teaching is a valuable strategy for group-work.
Peer Teaching
Occasionally a student may have personal needs that require one-on-one instruction that go beyond the needs of his or her peers. After receiving this extra instruction the student could be designated as the "resident expert" for that concept or skill and can get valuable practice by being given the opportunity to re-teach the concept to peers. In these circumstances both students benefit.
Learning Profiles & Styles
Another filter for assigning students to tasks is by learning style, such as adjusting preferred environment (quiet, lower lighting, formal/casual seating etc.) or learning modality: auditory (learns best by hearing information) visual (learns best through seeing information in charts or pictures) or kinesthetic preferences (learns best by using concrete examples, or may need to move around while learning) or through personal interests. Since student motivation is also a unique element in learning, understanding individual learning styles and interests will permit teachers to apply appropriate strategies for developing motivational techniques.
Student Interest
Interest surveys are often used for determining student interest. Brainstorming for subtopics within a curriculum concept and using semantic webbing to explore interesting facets of the concept is another effective tool. This is also an effective way of teaching students how to focus on a manageable subtopic.
Reading Buddies
This strategy is particularly useful for younger students and/or students with reading difficulties. Children get additional practice and experience reading away from the teacher as they develop fluency and comprehension. It is important that students read with a specific purpose in mind and then have an opportunity to discuss what was read. It is not necessary for reading buddies to always be at the same reading level. Students with varying word recognition, word analysis and comprehension skills can help each other be more successful. Adjusted follow up tasks are also assigned based on readiness level.
Independent Study Projects
Independent Study is a research project where students learn how to develop the skills for independent learning. The degree of help and structure will vary between students and depend on their ability to manage ideas, time and productivity. A modification of the independent study is the buddy-study.
Learning Centres
Learning Centres have been used by teachers for a long time and may contain both differentiated and compulsory activities. However a learning centre is not necessarily differentiated unless the activities are varied by complexity taking in to account different student ability and readiness. It is important that students understand what is expected of them at the learning centre and are encouraged to manage their use of time. The degree of structure that is provided will vary according to student independent work habits. At the end of each week students should be able to account for their use of time.

Well leave it to me to forget what day it is and that I was supposed to have this done….better late than never I suppose!
When I read the negative cases in the Reconcilable Differences article I was embarrassed for the middle school teachers who organized their students into groups of Definitely, Maybe and No Hope for standards tests, but I felt even worse for their students. There will always be students who do really well in school, some that are mediocre and some that have great difficulty in learning and passing standards based tests. Having an attitude that some of your students have “no hope” is the worst attitude a teacher could have. I’m not saying a teacher should expect all his/her students to be perfect, but I think having the attitude that your students CAN and WILL learn(even a little) if you LEARN to differentiate instruction is a much better attitude. Like Carol Ann Tomlinson said, curriculum only tells us what to teach but differentiation tells us how. I think a big part of the “how” is attitude and willingness to accept that not all students are the same! (and that some are forgetful like me)

(Ir)Reconcilable Differences

Differentiation quotes:

Students will learn best when they can make a connection between the curriculum and their interests and life experiences.

Students will learn best when learning opportunities are natural.

Standard-based teaching quotes:

Are we using standards as a curriculum, or are they reflected in the curriculum?
Does our use of standards remind us that we are teaching human beings, or does it cause us to forget that fact?

Reconciliation:

At this point, I am not convinced that differentiation instruction and standard-based teaching can be reconciled. It was a downer to me when standard-based teaching was introduced in class. Here I was learning all about differentiated learning and I began to process all of the wonderful ways that I could incorporate this information into my classroom and then I was blind-sided with standard-based teaching. To me, as long as we are required to teach based on standards, then our hands are tied in regards to creativity within the classroom.

Tomlinson, when speaking on differentiation, says “Students will learn best when learning opportunities are natural.” Forcing standardization onto the teachers, in turn forces standardization on to the students. This does not seem very natural to me. She also states that “Students will learn best when they can make connection between the curriculum and their interests and life experiences.” To have the time to teach in a way that encompasses a student’s interest and life experience, a teacher would have to be able to spend a large amount of her/his planning time and classroom time implementing differentiated instruction. If this were to happen, where would the standard-based teaching fit?

We do need to look at whether we are using standards as a curriculum or are the standards reflected in the curriculum. This is a point to which Tomlinson also eludes. Maybe it is just up to us to find creative ways to hide standardization within our curriculum instead of making it what our curriculum is all about.

We certainly do not want to forget the fact that we are teaching human beings. By being forced to implement standards-based learning, it feels like we are not only making the students robots but, we are turning our teachers (ourselves) into robots, as well. What next? Will the “powers that be” create standardized lesson plans? If that happens, they will only need robots to teach because all creativity and differentiation will truly be gone.

quotes from Carol

“Differentiation can show us how to teach the same standard to a range of learners by employing a variety of teaching and learning modes.” – Carol Ann Tomlison


“Our first obligation is to ensure that standards-based teaching practice does not conflict with best teaching practice. Once those are aligned, differentiation -- or attention to the diverse needs of learners -- follows naturally.” – Carol Ann Tomlison


These two quotes help summarize the importance of differentiated instruction. Carol Ann Tomlinson helps break down the curricular elements of content, process, and product because the way each student process ideas as they read, think, and conjure ideas with the use of materials is all different. As she says in my second quote once you have the content, process, and product aligned teaching your curriculum should (key word) flow naturally. I don’t feel people give teachers enough credit. In doing my lesson plan I have tried to think of every possible scenario that may arise and how I would handle questions, reactions, failures with just one lesson plan. Teachers teach a whole 8 hour day. I have spent the last week trying to work on one lesson plan using differentiated instruction. Yes, it is very easy to stand up there and give them the content, but whether they understand it and engage in it is what really matters and the use of differentiated instruction is our gateway in doing so. As for my second quote, give us two very special aspects in teaching curricula. We are given the standards which help us and give us a direction and differentiated instruction which gives us the pathway to use our creativity, imagination, and even think like the students for once. What would be fun and what would they enjoy doing. I hated school when it was boring and just had to take notes. As new teachers we are given the opportunity to excel and show our excitement to each student and we might even learn from them. Hopefully my lesson plan will be filled with excitement, engage my students, give them different ways in learning and fun.

Differentiated Instruction in Today's Education

“Differentiation can show us how to teach the same standard to a range of learners by employing a variety of teaching and learning modes.” - - Carol Ann Tomlinson.

This quote and all the chapters we reviewed in class support the importance of differentiated instruction and how through it, learner-centered instruction and standard-based instruction can work together. However, all this knowledge and tools are being introduced to educators and to us, the ones preparing to be in the field. It is our responsibility to use them and continuously prepare, learn and adjust our own style in order to fit the needs of our students.

Tomlinson also says, “Differentiated Instruction shows us how to teach and Standards tell us what to teach.” Understanding each of them and their benefits is essential, not only for the students but to teachers as well. We know children learn in different ways but as educators we can teach in different ways. What a powerful tool to have, be able to reach out to each student.

Differentiated Instruction is an opportunity to accomplish this, but it requires time, planning and good communication with our students and their families. It might sound complicated but it is also a challenge, and worth a try.

I want to finish this week's reflection with a few quotes from an article written by Scott Stephens ( The Plain Dealer, April 1st. 2008), whose views are very interesting and appropriate to our class discussion.
“ With different learning styles, why not different testing styles?” he wrote. Also, “students learn in different ways. So why should everyone be tested the same way?” In the article, Stephens cites State Superintendent Susan Zelman, who says, “There are multiple pathways for students to succeed in school and there are multiple ways to measure that success”

In closing, two thoughts occurred to me while writing this week' assignment, that Differentiated Instruction is critical to our career's as Educators, and that I have much more to learn!

One Size Never Fits All

"Reconcilable Differences? Standards-based Teaching and Differentiation"

One size fits all. Really? Wow what a concept but it doesn't really work, does it? Well it does if you are right in the middle all the time. Sort of like those things they have you wear at the hospital - You know what I am talking about so I will leave you with your mental picture. Not pretty is it? I have never been able to buy gloves that were fashionable or warm. Any watch I have ever purchased has to have the band replaced. Hands to big, wrists to large. How many stores sell men's size 15 dress shoes?

So imagine being the student who is extremely smart or fast to pick up concepts or who has a family where education is extremely important so they are better prepared than students their own age. Now imagine the opposite of all those things or just being a student who is motivated to do the work but things don't come easy. Teachers must teach to the full spectrum of student readiness, interest and learning profile not through "One Size Fits All" methods and without regards to standards-based instruction. The full spectrum is ROYGBIV and is all encompassing not just the visible white light. This is my definition of a diverse classroom and rationale for differentiated instruction. Standards-based instruction approaches need to be assessed in ways that make an impact on the gifted or academically challenged students who are outside the usual norms of achievement.

Primary and secondary teachers complain about teaching to the test. Well there is a reason society created the tests and standards. We discussed a number of these in class. There is a reason colleges and universities only admit students after reviewing ACT and SAT scores. Employers also want to know if the education the prospective employee received has the same quality and measures up to the other prospective job candidates. You hear the horror stories of advance students being idle and how borderline and low motivation students are being moved to Special Education so their scores won't reflect poorly on the teachers, school, administrators, school board and the community. In the Tomlinson article she lists the following bullet points as questions educators need to ask themselves about how they are teaching.

· Do the standards reflect the knowledge, understandings, and skills valued most by experts in the disciplines that they represent?

· Are we using standards as a curriculum, or are they reflected in the curriculum?

· Are we slavishly covering standards at breakneck pace, or have we found ways to organize the standards within our curriculum so that students have time to make sense of ideas and skills?

· Does our current focus on standards enliven classrooms, or does it eliminate joy, creativity, and inquiry?

· Do standards make learning more or less relevant and alluring to students?

· Does our use of standards remind us that we are teaching human beings, or does it cause us to forget that fact?

She goes on to say, that if your "practices yield positive answers", then move forward fast in differentiating your class room with "adaptations that address the needs of academically diverse learners." If your "answers are less than satisfactory" problems need to be addressed. Because "such problems… point to cracks in the foundation of quality teaching and learning, and we diminish our profession by failing to attend to them." This is what I meant earlier when I said, “without regard” it must be done the students are counting on you.

Further into the article, Tomlinson continues that the problem is not a disconnect between standards and instruction. She says, "The problem lies in an ill-conceived interpretation and use of standards" that diminish the real structure of "effective teaching and learning." "The problem is not that we can't attend to the needs of individual learners, but rather that we've lost the essential frameworks of the disciplines in addition to the coherence, understanding, purpose, and joy in learning. Our first obligation is to ensure that standards-based teaching practice does not conflict with best teaching practices. Once those are aligned, differentiation—or attention to the diverse needs of learners—follows naturally."

I think what she is saying is that teachers taught as they were taught so now they are missing a sense of coherence, understanding and purpose. Teaching is as much an art as a science but it also must be a calling. There must be joy freely given and received. But most people get into that rut at work and find a comfort zone that allowed them to feel good about what they have been doing. Now they are being told not just to do it differently, but we decided that you weren't doing it so well after all. What a blow to confidence and self esteem that must have been to the teaching community. She says once you align standards-based teaching with best teaching practice you can move on to what is truly important. And when your heart is pure and mind is clear then attention to the needs of diverse learners will follow.

I really enjoyed reading this piece. I reread it a number of times and just kept finding more and more in it.

quotes

The two quotes that I took from the article were “Do the standards reflect the knowledge understandings and skills valued most by experts in the disciplines that they represent?” and “differentiation can show us how to teach the same standard to a range of learners by employing a variety of teaching and learning modes.” The first quote relates directly to what we were talking about in class. Some teachers feel like the standards that they have to teach limit them as teachers and creative individuals. Many times experts in their fields want to have the freedom to teach thing content that they want to teach. The content standards limit that freedom quite a bit. There can be different ways of teaching science and the students can learn the same skills but everyone might not want to teach the same thing. The quote brings up a good point that a teacher could be very knowledgeable in a branch in the subject that the content standards don’t cover. Should the students not be exposed to a great lesson that the teacher could teach just because it is not in the standards?
The second quote that I picked sort of answers the question from the first quote. Although this quote hits directly to meeting the needs of the learners by differentiation, it can also meet the teacher’s needs. A teacher can still be creative and do things his or her own way through differentiation Although all 10th grade science teachers are expected to teach the same chemistry lessons, the way the teach it can reflect their expertise on the subject area. Some teachers may be more hands on, and some teachers may have strong real life examples to bring to the classroom. Just as the quote directly states, differentiation can reach a variety of students. Teaching content standards just one way in a classroom may not give the positive result that is expected. Not all the students will learn those standards. As we have learned all through this class, people learn different ways, on different levels and with different techniques. Differentiation the lessons with the content standards may give more students an equal opportunity to learn the content that they are expected to be tested on.
Throughout this class I have found differentiated instruction to be confusing and overwhelming. It is something that has to come from experience. I think sometimes without even realizing it teachers naturally are progressing to differentiation instruction. With more and more inclusion in the classrooms, it would almost be impossible to have a classroom without any differentiated instruction. I do believe that it gives more students an equal chance to learn the material in the best way possible. Differentiated instruction is a good idea, and it is extremely necessary as we have learned all throughout this class. It is important to give everyone an equal chance to succeed. With all the different learning styles and various learning disabilities and differences in human beings, differentiated instruction in the classroom gives the best hope for each child in the classroom.

Thinking Outside the Box

"Teaching is hard." "Teaching well is fiercely so." I'm just glad as I've said before that we don't know any different from standards based-differentiated instruction. I'll use the standards as a guideline but I'll also strive to teach "out of the box", to be creative. I'll do everything I can to provide differentiated instruction as often as possible but as Dr. Scott expressed it is not feasible for every lesson for every subject to be differentiated!
Now let me change tracks and pose two questions. My first question is what are our goals as teachers for our students? Are the goals still college (first choice) and technical/skills school (second choice) for our class? If so, what are the long term results of differentiation? Can all students pass a standardized test such as the ACT/SAT? I submit that since differentiation is still a new concept we don't know the answer to this question. OK, second question. Once I become a more experienced teacher will I have more behavior control over SGI which seems to be an integral part of differentiation?
More to come on all that but meanwhile; I will continue to improve my differentiated thinking skills. I will strive to find new and better methods to achieve successful learning skills in all of my students.

Tomlinson Quote

"Our first obligation is to ensure that standards-based teaching practice does not conflict with best teaching practice. Once those are aligned, differentiation—or attention to the diverse needs of learners—follows naturally."

In today's classrooms, it's obviously important to make sure you, as a teacher, meet the standards set by the state. But for many teachers, it's difficult to find the time to meet those standards while meeting your own objectives that you've set yourself. Because of this conundrum, many teachers today set aside their creative lessons and ideas, and instead plan their lessons to only meet the state standards.

This quote puts emphasis on what's important when planning out your lesson plans for the year. I think the article gives a great example of how teachers make sure the standards-based teaching practice doesn't conflict with the best teaching practice - before the school year begins, teachers get together and discuss ways to effectively teach their material. They come up with, what they believe to be the best teaching practices. Once this is established, they go over the standards-based teaching practices and find a way to work them into their "best" practices. This is a great way to come up with ideas on how to meet the state standards while not sacrificing the "best practice."

Don't Get Derailed!

Reconcilable differences indeed! A standard refers to something that is uniform by nature and differentiation refers to something that is diverse. Great, now all we have to do achieve uniform diversity, or is it diverse uniformity? Yeah, and while we're at it, why not just put an end to the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict? Well, fortunately it's not as hopeless as it seems. From our discussions in class, first around Tomlinson's text and later her web article, we seemed to learn that, as teachers, we actually can accommodate both approaches in the same classroom. Even more exciting is the prospect that one can be made to compliment the other! We just need to maintain the proper perspective. We should proceed with the outlook that differentiated instruction is the proper strategy through which the standard content is channeled to our students. We can look at it as though all our students have a common destination. However, we must realize that they all will not be starting from the same origin and furthermore, the paths that they must cross vary greatly in length and topography. But once we gather this information and carefully construct a plan to navigate each terrain, we can achieve our goal. I selected the quote from the article which compared Standards-based instruction to a run-away locomotive- obliterating everything in its path. Well, let's just make sure our tracks are laid with differentiated steel. That way teachers, students, and administrators alike, can all stay on track and safely meet up at our intended junction.

My quote from Tomlinson

“Curriculum tells us what to teach, differentiation tells us how.”

This simple yet to the point quote from Tomlinson’s article stuck out to me because after learning about differentiated instruction throughout this course and knowing how important the focus is on implementing it in today’s classroom, I truly feel that it is a big under taking, but the benefits of it are so great and profound, that they are not even measurable. Research has backed this up and that is why it is being pushed. We all know that it works, but the key is that it has to be effective and being effective at it TAKES PRACTICE! I understand and even feel overwhelmed myself by all of the ways that differentiation can exist in a classroom. Of course as new teachers we are all going to feel overwhelmed. Throughout the course we have learned endless techniques and methods to differentiating our curriculum, but instead of being overwhelmed, we need to take all of these tools, resources and methods with us and slowly start to implement the ones we feel comfortable with. The gift of having our own classroom is that we have the freedom to pick and choose from these differentiation methods and practices! We need to look at this course and what we have learned as beginning introduction that is setting us up for success in being an effective instructor with effective differentiated instruction!

I feel a good starting point in being an effective differentiator is by differentiating our instruction in Tomlinson’s three areas of student readiness, students’ interests and student learning profiles. Some may come easier to us based on preferences and/ or subject matter we are teaching, but being able to identify ways to differentiate in these three areas will cause us to have a good starting point in becoming effective at this skill! Putting the time and energy into thinking about these things now will only make it easier for us later when we get into our classrooms and have other things going on, like getting to know our students!

Differentiating curriculum based on students learning profiles is what stood out to me the most after our class on Monday so I wanted to share my thoughts and ideas on this area of possibility to differentiate in! Below are Tomlinson’s guidelines for learning profile differentiation (p.63)

1) Some (not all) of your students will share your learning preferences.
It is important to recognize your learning preferences. There are tests/ assessments you can take to learn yours! I think we sometimes think we know what we are, but what I didn’t realize is that we all have a little bit of the different styles in us, just the levels of these styles varies depending on the activity!

2) Help your students reflect on their own preferences.
Spend a day assessing and let your students do an exercise/ assessment that will identify these. It would be a fun way to kick start your class and kill two birds with one stone where you are learning more about your students and the students are learning more about each other! You can collect the assessments and be able to refer to them throughout the year when you are differentiating instruction, setting up projects and even your classroom area.

3) Use both teacher-structured and student choice avenues to learning profile differentiation.
Now that we know our students learning preferences, we can guide them and challenge them to use other ways to learn as well.

4) Select a few learning-profile categories for emphasis as you begin.
Back to the overwhelming feeling, choose just a few to focus on to start with. After you collect and learn about your students maybe strategically choose which to focus on from there.

5) Be a student of your students.
Expand our universe. Truly try and understand where all of our students are coming from. Talk to parents. Make every attempt to engage in this. I think when I get into my classroom I will designate 15-20 minutes a week to engaging the class in some kind of activity where I will get to know them better and they will get to know each other better too!

I think Tomlinson’s book is a great resource to keep with us as we continue our courses and start our teaching careers. Make it a goal when you have your own class to try every method once and document how it goes and what the outcome is. Maybe even document your comfort level using the tool and/ or method based on the resources available to you. Of course some methods and tools will be eliminated based on what your subject is or what your resources are etc, but make a true attempt in your first year or two to experiment and learn from these experiments. Eventually we will all crack the puzzle and differentiating our instruction will become second nature to us! We will become so good at it that we won’t even know we are doing it. If you don’t engage in and push yourself to do this when you first start, human nature tells us that it will be harder to get started after the fact because we will probably feel more overwhelmed than we do now. It will never come easy until we practice, practice, practice!

Reflection 10 - What D.I. Means to Me

The quote that I selected to write about is "Students will learn best when they can make a connection between the curriculum and their interests and life experiences." I have to believe that any teacher would create projects and come up with interesting and fun ways to connect the curriculum with their students' interests and life experiences every time if they could. However, it isn't realistic for each teacher to create that type of curriculum every time they try to. I may not be thinking outside the box, but isn't it impossible for a math or science teacher to relate their subject material with their students' interests and life experiences? I can definitely see how an English teacher or Social Studies teacher could create some projects and curriculum that would relate to their students' interests and life experiences. But it just doesn't seem realistic to be able to achieve this type of relation of curriculum in every subject or in every assignment. As a future teacher of special education students, I know that half of the battle will be to keep my students interested and motivated in my class. Differentiating the instruction and making it interesting and relative to them will help win that battle. But what does differentiated instruction mean to me? I feel that differentiating instruction is something you can do when you are in the correct situations. I don't feel it is something that can be forced. Hopefully, I will be teaching classes where it is easier to mix up my curriculum. However, I know that I can't rely on that because I will be teaching different classes each year as an intervention specialist. How is Differentiated Instruction aligned with standards based curriculum? I'm not exactly sure how it is but I know that teachers can differentiate their lessons and they can still relate to the standardized tests that their students will be taking. If it was impossible to align differentiated instruction with standards-based curriculum than we wouldn't be discussing differentiated instruction at all. Carol Ann Tomlinson says that recent demands for more standards-based teaching can feel like a huge impediment to encouraging differentiated instruction, especially for teachers and principals who recognize student variance and want to address it appropriately. A relatively new phenomenon (at least in its current form), standards-based instruction dominates the educational terrain in a time of great academic diversity in contemporary classrooms. In fact, standards-based instruction and the high-stakes testing that drives it can often feel like a locomotive rolling over everything in its path, including individualized learning. When any phenomenon in education suggests that we may have to jettison common sense and good pedagogy, we must first examine it in light of what we know about high-quality instruction. In other words, if we understand how standards-based teaching does or does not align with sound teaching and learning practices, we can then approach what look like barriers to differentiation. In truth, the conflict between focusing on standards and focusing on individual learners' needs exists only if we use standards in ways that cause us to abandon what we know about effective curriculum and instruction. I agree with Carol Ann Tomlinson. It just seems that teachers can become so frustrated because it is as though the teaching is being taken away from them and all they have left to do is to recite and repeat. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, as though teachers are now robots! Differentiated instruction is supposed to give the teaching back to the teachers. I know that good administrators and school districts will allow their teachers to teach, although they are handicapped too because they want to show success through the standardized test scores, but in the end, good school districts and good administrators will support teachers teaching!

I may even be considered intelligent!...who knew?

Intelligence is defined as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations. This definition more or less brings the meaning of intelligence to a more attainable level for more people. I think I may even be considered intelligent, based on the above definition. I always thought intelligent people were just smarter people, but come to find out they are just “normal” people who have the ability to learn and understand and deal with multiple situations. Most days, I can even do that!

Teaching our students to become intelligent individuals seems to be more manageable to me now that I have come to realize the true meaning. Giving students the tools, resources and information they need to learn and to understand material that is covered within the classroom will assist them in their venture to become intelligent individuals. Teaching them, through actions and words, how to deal with new, trying and even at times, uncomfortable situations, will assist them on their trail of becoming intelligent. This includes their learning what is expected of them within the classroom in regards to academics and well as behavior.

Character is defined as one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual. Knowing that character can be good or bad, I would like to think that it is part, hopefully not a huge part, of my responsibility to help my students distinguish themselves as individuals with positive attributes. The best form of instilling character, I would imagine, would be to emanate positive characteristics. Praising students for good behaviors as well as identifying those behaviors that are not ideal within or outside the classroom, will assist the students’ growth in this area.

Treating all of my students with respect, being consistent with swift discipline, being active about preventing misbehavior, encouraging appropriate behavior and making classroom rules known in the beginning and reiterating as needed, will play a big role in my emanating the quote by Gloria Steinem “Intelligence plus character – this is the true goal of education.”

Intelligence without character is a waste!

In class we briefly mentioned teachers as being role models for their students and setting examples for appropriate behavior. While subbing at a high school last week, many of the students in my classes were being called to the office throughout the day because one non-athlete tattled on an athlete for drinking at a party. Managing and controlling the behavior in a classroom is hard enough as a substitute, but when students are being called to the office about a drinking party it is even harder. When the students come back to class they all want to talk about what was said and know if there is any nossip. Being respectful of the students is also difficult when I know that they do not respect me, however I am learning that being stern and unfriendly is a necessity in substitute teaching.
Once all those involved with the drinking party had been called to the office, 25 students, both athletes and non-athletes were disciplined for drinking at the party. Since there was no adult present and no pictures of the students at the party, the school could not prove that the party actually happened, but all of the students received 8 days suspension from sports(even the non-athletes). And since this week was spring break, these days were used as their suspension. To me this does not seem like much of a punishment, especially for the non-athletes that were suspended from sports. I understand that because there was no proof that the party actually occurred, the school couldn’t do a whole lot, but it still seems as if the administration is just reinforcing the student’s behavior in saying that if there isn’t proof- then it didn’t happen.
Many of the students that were suspended from school are intelligent according to other teachers, but the true goal of education is not being met when these intelligent students are getting suspended for using alcohol. Eight out of 10 of the high school coaches teach at the high school or junior high, but on more than one night per week multiple teachers/coaches can be found at the town bar drinking. These teachers are not encouraging appropriate behavior in their students and athletes. (They should at least go to a different town with a population over 1000 if they feel it necessary to get wasted multiple nights a week haha J.K.).
Intelligence without character is like cake without frosting, it’s good but it could be a whole lot better. Cake without frosting is dry and boring, basically a waste, unless of course you are on a diet. Intelligence without character is dull, unexciting and a waste.

Don't Smile 'til Christmas!

I have had teachers tell me that thank goodness, they don't follow the Christmas rule anymore but after some of my substitute days...hmmm....
Seriously though, most of my days are just fine with no problems at all. However; I hope I'm not alone in saying that classroom management is one of my biggest concerns. As a substitue teacher, I have used some of the preventative techniques that are discussed in Chapter 9.
I have:
clear expectations
anticipated negative behavior
approached the classroom in a positive manner
used nonverbal communication such as physical bearing, gestures, physical
proximity and withitness
So, my question is, why do these methods work on some days and not others? Taking into account factors such as age of class and such, I do think the time frame plays a part as well. In the days preceding Spring Break, my classes were unusually restless and even disruptive. I finally attributed it all to the anticipation of the upcoming vacation. I was preoccupied with Spring Break so of course the students were as well.
But looking at this chapter I realize other elements are missing from a substitute's classroom behavior portfolio. As a teacher, not a substitue we will have the additional pieces to the proactive puzzle. These pieces are curriculum, not just a one day assignment, motivation and development of the students for the long term and finally, authority. As a teacher we will have authority of a long term nature; ideally the expert and referent type of authority. As our quote tells us this week, "intelligence plus character that is the true goal of education." (Gloria Steinem) We WILL have the character and the tools needed to achieve appropriate behavior which WILL go hand in hand with our positive classroom community.

There is more to the goal of education than the eye sees.....

After reading chapter 9 and reflecting on our class last week, I came to realize that developing my personal stance on education will help me address everything else pertaining to my classroom and the education I provide to my students in the future. When I decided I wanted to be a teacher, I thought of the obvious as my goal and desire: to be the best possible teacher in teaching students life long skills and subject matter that will beneft them. As this course as unraveled, I have realized that there is much more to this statement than meets the eye. I've noticed that when I tell friends and family that I am going back to school, they look at me with excitement because they think its a great job and good fit for me. What people don't see who aren't in the education systems of our country is that teachers truly are the only profession that have not only the obligation of teaching intelligence, but in my eyes the opportunity to teach character as well. What other proffession can have this impact on our youth? NONE! To some teachers this may be a bigger responsibility than one could possibly imagine, therefore they stick to just the intelligence aspect. These are probably the "good" teachers in our system, but the "great" teachers take the opportunity with open arms to teach intelligence and character as a package deal in their classrooms. Not only do these teachers impact students lives, but they do what most people want to accomplish in their lifetime, leave the world a little bit better than how they found it. As teachers, we truly have the opportunity to perform this wordly task!

The point I am trying to make above is that I don't feel I can lay out my discipline plan right here and now, it is something that is going to grow with me as I continue on in my education and experiences, but I do realize the importance of prepping and thinking about my strategies so I am prepared in my classroom. I woudl like to touch upon a few of the points from our chapter and lecure in the ideas and theories that grabbed my attention as strategies I gravitate towards. I plan on teaching high school students therefore my choices are outlined below and why I would practice them:

Establishing Dignity and Respect
1- Active Listening (I feel this is important for my age group. I want my students to see this about me right away. I want them to feel I'm approachable and that my listening will be consistent at all times.)
2- Model and Teach/ Peer Listening (This will be extremely important in my classroom. High school can be a tough time with students picking on each other etc. I want students to learn the value that each and every student can bring to the table and respect that.)

Responding to Behavior
1- Hints (This will be my way of starting off with slight behavior issues. I feel with direct and confident tones from my voice, students will respond)
2- Strength Refreshers (I really like this tactic. I have never seen it done with older students, but I think it would be beneficial and work well in my classroom. I like that it accentuates positives that the student has done before)

Preventing Behavior
1- Meaningful curriculum (My curriculum will be different than any other class with business type projects. My students are going to have unique projects with freedoms tied to them. They will understand the expectations and if they do misbehave, they won't have the privileges that every other student has)
2- Clear Expectations (This goes hand in hand with the above technique)
3- Positive approach (Praise will be given in my classroom because creativity and freedom will be encouraged in the curriculum)

You can see from above some of my choices that I think I will implement in my classroom. Now, the most important question, how will I view discipline as an opportunity to help students gain character, independence and responsibility? As I have mentioned in previus reflections from my classroom ambience and set up, my classroom will reflect real world business functions and offices! Choices my students make in the classroom through their work and how they move about in the ofifice (classroom), they will see the natural consequences of being in a real world environment. I will build that ambience starting from day one with rules (code of conduct). My students and I will create office (classroom) rules (code of conduct) and a mission statement as well to be displayed at all times. These early acts will set up my opportunities to teach students responsibilit through seeing their actions and how they would play out in the real world. Like the book mentions, my students will see the aftermath of their choices within a safe environment.

As you can see developing my stance and preparing my views for action will allow me to tackle the biggest opporutnity ahead of me as an educator: building intelligence along with character and responsibility in my students!

The holes in the paddle gives extra speed

Topic: "Intelligence plus character is the true goal of education"

The Northwest Ordinance is one of the great documents not just of American history but also of human history. The document took care of some simple housekeeping, like spelling out how land would be surveyed and the minimum and maximum number of states that could be carved out of this Northwest Territory, etc. But the real story is how it prohibited the institution of slavery from the states to be formed but also how and why it spelled out the need for public education. ***Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.*** To me this is a part of a great enlightenment or understanding of where knowledge and experience intersect to become intelligence. It also helped to create the national character for the citizens of a new nation. Character is something, which needs to be honed through mentor/mentee relationships with trusted caring adults providing leadership. Character is taught from the elders and entrusted to the young people. Many traditional cultures pass their shared mores and values though stories with the next generations. Teachers reinforce our societies rules of behavior in children who have been taught them at home. Teachers also have to be the sole/lone supplier of the same to children of people who are unfamiliar with these same values. Character development is part of the implicit curriculum taught in schools

An explicit curriculum "book of expected knowledge' could be produced and teachers could focus on memorization by the students of all these certain facts. At the end of the mandatory education period all students should be able to recite the knowledge. But knowledge is not intelligence; students need to learn the skills that allow them to take the knowledge they have learned and apply it to new situations presented to them. I say regularly joke that the smartest people in the world are reference librarians, they don't know everything they just know how to find the answers. That statement assumes that when presented with the definition of "Pi" they would be able to apply the knowledge for appropriate outcomes. Questioning assumptions is another example of intelligence. If you assume you know everything that you need to know, you cannot be properly prepared for life's obstacles.

Classroom management is indeed part of character development of students. Classroom rules should not be used as a function for coercion. Rebellion is also part of our national character as it is how we define ourselves and our form of government. We rebelled against a distant king and instituted self-rule. Push students to obey for the sake of submission and you may find your students subverting your authority out of spite. Classroom rules and rules of conduct should be used to encourage appropriate behavior. A primary goal of a teachers classroom discipline program should be to model character development by helping students to become considerate citizens who exhibit self-control and take responsibility for their own actions. Treat others as you would like to be treated is the called the Golden Rule. As a substitute teacher, I will give a disruptive student a privilege such as taking the attendance sheet to the office. But in doing so I take a minute and tell them of the responsibility to be sure the task is done completely and timely. I give the student the opportunity to redeem themselves from past misdeeds and get a positive experience. I treat them with dignity and respect and I then am in possession of a trump card to play, privately, if and when I need it. I am convinced that this type of maneuver allows students to see me as a caring adult. They may therefore consider me trustworthy enough to confide in me when they are going through something personal. Understanding what is going on in a students life may allow me to address a discipline problem in a way that may have a positive outcome when it could go down hill fast otherwise.

Many students from lower income homes and at-risk students in general view kindness as weakness and may try to manipulate your kindness if you are unwilling to actively prevent misbehavior. After all, they are children and children learn from an early age; cry and Mom will pick you up, throw a fit in the store and Mom will buy you a lolly to shut you up, when they don't get their way, they blame others or say things like, " you like sister better than me" or they might tell the parent "I hate you." I related this in a previous Reflection, when children respond to me in a manner as I just described, I say to them, "Unfortunately for you, this never works on Mr. Gates because I am not related to you, therefore I don't love you because I have. I love everyone and want what is best for you whether you want it or not." Students K-12 are children; children need to learn appropriate behaviors so they may make good decisions in life. Good decision-making shows forethought. When students use knowledge, experience and the understanding of consequences of bad outcomes to make a decision they are on the road to maturity. Thinking outcomes through before acting or reacting results in good character and shows development.

Accentuate the Positive

"Intelligence plus character-

that is the true goal of education." Gloria Steinem

A person is educated not only when they absorb the knowledge the schools and the people around them have to offer, but also when they know how to exhibit themselves in a respectful manner to the outside world. When children come into our classrooms, we are legally their guardians for those hours of the day. We make the decisions about their behavior, we provide the discipline and encouragement, and we comfort them if they are hurt in any way. We have to provide love as well as correction.

We are there to teach them so many things. This is actually a huge responsibility and it kind of scares me. I am trying to persevere though. I suppose it is one step below having my own children. You are responsible for every little thing in this person's life. What they eat, how they act, what they think... When you are a teacher, you get them after they have had a few years with someone else. You have to learn things about them that their parents may have missed. Perhaps they have had almost no parental involvement whatsoever!

Sometimes I get really frazzled in the classroom. I wonder what their regular teacher does differently that I am missing. I hope that I can learn some better techniques when I do my student teaching. I think that I do a good job most of the time though. I take a lot of notes on the class to give to the regular teacher. I hope that they appreciate it. I know that it is hard for them and for the kids to have to deal with a new person. I think that if I choose to have fun and be excited about the day, that it makes a difference in the way that I treat the students and the way the students treat me. When someone knows that you want to be there and that you want to help them, they will react to you in a positive way.

A positive plus a positive has to equal a positive, right?

Classroom Management

The quote for this week is “Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education.” This quote is very true because it signifies two important traits that are great assets in education. Education is not just about being intelligent, but having good moral character as well. If a Teacher can help their students gain knowledge and help them to understand how important it is to follow the rules and treat others how you want to be treated, these two qualities will help the students not only succeed in school but also in life.

As a teacher I want to manage my classroom the same way I manage my household "without the yelling". I want the enviornment to be one that is most conducive to maximize the students learning, creativity, and experiences. I want to provide a enviornment the produces motivation, pride, and self esteem. I want to have a relaxing atmosphere to help my students be comfortable with very little distractions. There is a substantial amount of research in support of relaxation being an important ingredient in improving and/or accelerating learning. Such research further supports the idea that instrumental music by such composers as Mozart and Bach are calming and actually help to raise student test scores.

Creating an environment conducive to concentration, study, and learning is more than having attractive, stimulating sights, relaxing sounds, and good ventilation. It is creating a place where all feel comfortable and at ease, a place where the surroundings are neat and orderly. It is a place where there is mutual respect in a friendly, non-threatening atmosphere, a place where everyone can bloom and do their best.

No more rulers.

As proven in many surveys, teachers choose classroom discipline and classroom management as one of the most important aspects in teaching. This chapter offers many tools and examples that help us develop our technique for fostering student self control. As Andrea said in class Chapter 9 makes these examples seem “Easier said then done.” and I completely agree.
As teachers I believe we have two goals, one to teach and educate our students and two to help students become “considerate citizens who exhibit self-control and take responsibility for their own actions.” As new teachers I understand this may create a humongous conflict, because of course we are going to want all of our students to like us and be accepted. Because you will respect your students creating a disciplinary plan is very important because it will help them grow toward independence not only academically but CHARACTERISTICLY as well.
As for as my classroom and my rules I would have to keep in mind our quote and our goal as teachers to combine intelligence and character so here is my so called “shopping list” of rules, tools, and laws. I will always treat my students with dignity and respect by active listening, model and teaching, smiling, controlling my emotions (which may be hard to do sometimes) and addressing behavior in the appropriate way. As for misbehavior I feel as the way I would correct a student will be depending on the student and the misbehavior that occurred especially in a special ed. classroom. I will always use positive reinforcement; avoid power struggles, being proactive, and redirection. Always showing I care and respect the students. I feel as if I were to combine bits and pieces of the ways of discipline we learned in class on Monday (from assertive dispicipline, positive discipline, choice theory, congruent communication etc.) and years of experience I believe I will eventually find the way it works. Always remember if I doesn’t work… FIX IT.

classroom management

The quote for this week is “Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education.” This quote embodies two main goals of the education system. Kids go to school to learn, but one of the things that they are learning is social skills and even some morals. Many times experiences in schools are what teach kids values and morals and the correct way to act. A child could learn from school how to be a leader, or a good friend to someone, or even simple ways of how to behave in social settings.
This quote could also be interpreted as the content that kids are learning can teach them character. You can learn how to be a good citizen, leader, or friend from a story that they may read in English class. It may not be the main reason of teaching the lesson but it would be the hidden curriculum. Even learning about history can have a hidden curriculum about character, look at the George Washington and cherry tree example. Children start learning right and wrong at a very early age, especially from lessons in school. Even in gym class, children learn how to play on a team and work together, this all builds character.
I have also seen character directly being expressed to children. I have seen in many middle schools posters that say “character is the way that you act when no one is looking”. In younger classrooms teachers may have conversations about why honesty is so important, or why it is good to always help other people. Although there is no character class, it is definitely an important part of school. We all hope that in schools children learn how to interact with each other and do the right thing. It may be in school where children learn how to stick up for each other and engage in the appropriate behavior. They may soon learn that fighting with someone isn’t something not to do because it will cost you a trip to the principal’s office, but instead because it is not the right thing to do.
This quote can also be applied to the chapter we talked about in class on Monday. Classroom management deals with how you control your classroom. Many times it involves a situation when a child is behaving inappropriately. The way a teacher handles the situation can help guide students in the correct way to acting. We talked about different styles of classroom management, and some common themes were posting the rules, consequences and rewards. These can all set boundaries as to how children can act and they see that they will get rewarded for good behavior. Eventually children will know the norms and know what is expected of them at school. This will hopefully build good character. The children will also be able to tell each other’s character by the way the act in class and in the social situations at school. It is important to have classroom management and a good fair discipline procedure. Without classroom management education would not be possible, the kids would go crazy, but at the same time many harsh rules can inhibit learning also. It is important to find a happy medium. A teacher needs to have classroom management and complete control, but the kids need to feel like they are being treated as equals in a sense and that if they speak out they will get sent to the office.
School accounts for most of the waking hours of a child’s life. They are going to have more social encounters at school than anywhere else on the weekdays. It is important that they learn the content and gain intelligence, but it is also important that they learn how to act. A child who has problems socializing and building character has just as hard of a time at school as the child who has problems learning math. Character is in the hidden curriculum, stated directly and also in the classroom management. The goal in an ideal world would be that every child learned skills to succeed with their education and also gain the skills to become a great person. Teachers have a wonderful role of trying to provide the children with tools needed for both.

Behavior is the Language of the Child

“Intelligence plus character-that is the true goal of education.” (Gloria Steinem) Reading this quote I realized how many concepts were involved in intelligence and character. Through them I am looking not only at the academic concepts but also how character provides an opportunity to apply such concepts learned at school into the students' lives. After all, I will be preparing children to become confident and active members of our community.

An educator once said to me, “ Behavior is the language of the child.” I believe a teacher's responsibility is to listen to the students not only through words but through their actions as well. When teachers demonstrate respect to the students, address their needs and understand them, we then create a foundation for a positive learning environment.

Our textbook mentions, “Classroom discipline is said to be a series of little victories.” (p. 272) I interpret this as taking classroom management as day-by-day. We need to be prepared to use many tools, choose one of the theories that best fit our own personalities, or maybe create new ways to engage the students and to work not only on rules and discipline but also how we can prevent misbehaviors that will interfere in learning. However, we all know that it will take several attempts before we can establish an effective discipline plan.

Good planning, positive attitude, respect and flexibility can guide us to create a classroom environment where students are motivated to learn and feel independent and responsible for their own actions.

"Oh, Behaaaaave!" - Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery

This is a picture of me on my first day of substitute teaching. I couldn't believe how smooth the day ran. I guess clothes really do make the man.

Having the ability to successfully manage the behavior of two dozen or so students for an entire day, five days a week, is in my mind, a very impressive skill. In fact, the strength of this ability must directly correspond to the length and quality of a teacher’s career. It’s that critical. I’m surprised that entire college semesters aren’t devoted to this topic alone, considering today’s classroom student composition in light of the No Child Left Behind Act.
On a more personal note, I need some immediate behavior management support. Right after spring break, a student from another classroom is being transferred to our classroom because of some considerable behavioral issues. The principal and school psychologist believe that part of the problem is that this male student is not responding to the efforts of his female teachers. They are hoping progress may be made with a male influence. Of course, at best, this will be only a small part of the answer. I have found a website that seems to have just the type of guidance I’m on the lookout for. The site’s address is http://www.behavioradvisor.com/. Here’s an extract that is especially appealing to me:
Traits of a Stage 5 Teacher
Stage 5 teachers are able to hold their emotions during a behavior event. Rather than striking out at a youngster who is being “inappropriate”, they are able to observe the aberrant behavior and say to themselves: “Here’s a kid in crisis. What can a caring professional such as I do to help him/her?” They then respond in an assertive, self-confident, and proficient manner.
Stage 5 teachers are able to find something to like in even the “worst” kid. Rather than focus on the student’s shortcomings, they focus on the imbedded positive aspect in the negative behavior (For example, a kid who beats up another for having insulted his little sister is showing family loyalty. Perhaps a replacement behavior for the pummeling of others is needed, but the protection of a younger sibling was admirable.) These teachers focus on the progress, however small, that is being displayed. They cheer for the student when s/he shows an approximation of the appropriate behavior.
Stage 5 teachers use “symptom estrangement” (a term coined by the behavior management pioneer Fritz Redl). They hate the behavior, but work with the pupil to create change. They realize that kids are a reflection of what they’ve experienced with adults before meeting us. Stage 5 teachers don’t blame the victim. They help him/her.
Now obviously I have a lot more to learn about the subject before I can become truly effective at helping these students but I think by keeping the three main thoughts from the passage; 1.) Hold your emotions, 2.) Focus on the imbedded positive in the negative, and 3.) Hate the behavior, not the child; I can maintain the proper outlook during my exchanges with the new student. I’m hoping this will keep things on a manageable level while I continue to further my education and begin to integrate some more specific strategies into my daily encounters.
In regards to the quote, I think that a strong character education program might have a positive effect on overall classroom behavior as well. By modeling positive character traits and embedding examples of the positive impact of good character in the daily curriculum, we can help to develop these qualities in our students. By teaching our students to employ the classical ethical tests of reversibility (Would you want to be treated this way?) and universalizability (Would you want all persons to act this way in a similar situation?) we would be, in effect, positively influencing their behavior in the classroom. This would happen because we would be specifically using these tests to emphasize how the disruptive nature of negative behavior impedes the learning process of fellow classmates.

Reflection 9 Classroom Management/Discipline

“Intelligence plus character-that is the true goal of education.” In my opinion, Gloria Stevinson is saying that the end result of education in any system is producing capable intelligent students as well as respectable law-abiding citizens. One aspect in the process of producing these individuals is discipline. Discipline can come in many forms and it can be handled in many ways. Students as well as teachers can handle discipline positively or negatively. A student knows when they are misbehaving, a teacher won’t just go off on an unsuspecting student who is quietly paying attention or doing their work. A student is usually warned or given prior opportunities to behave better. Once the teacher decides to discipline the student, the student can react positively, and say “yes, I deserve this discipline.” Or the student can react negatively, and deny any wrongdoing. Teachers can be positive in their discipline and not berate or intentionally embarrass the student. But on the other hand, a teacher can be negative in their discipline when they purposefully embarrass a student in order to make themselves look dominant.
It isn’t just the reactions to discipline that are important but also the discipline itself. Detentions are the norm in most high schools across the country, however they are not always the best option when dealing with a difficult student. In my experiences, a student who is frequently purposefully misbehaving is a student who is seeking attention. Sometimes giving the student a detention is exactly what that student wants, and by giving the detention you are just reinforcing his behavior. Perhaps a better option would be to tell the student to sit outside the classroom and therefore, not be able to disrupt the class any longer. A trip down to the principles office is another option that could be applied, however, if the behavior was nothing more than childish misbehavior, I feel that ignoring the student altogether or just sending the student outside the classroom can be beneficial. The misbehaving student is getting much attention all alone.
There are also different programs of discipline, which we were introduced to and discussed in class on Monday night. Assertive discipline, positive discipline, choice theory, and congruent communication are all different programs of discipline and classroom management. If I were to choose one of these programs to implement in my own classroom it would be a mix between assertive discipline and positive discipline. I like the teacher being in control part of assertive discipline but I also know that I will give students chances and conduct myself in a professional manner. I know that I will be tested but I feel that with my personality I will always try to keep the best interest of the student in mind. I would like to be positive and not embarrass students while at the same time providing the discipline and structure that is required.
Intelligence plus character is the combination that will make students successful during and after they finish school, and it is the responsibility of teachers too!

practice makes perfect and you will win the game

I know this reflection is a little late, but after listening to the brain speaker and reading the chapter I realized, Learning by doing is the way most folks ultimately learn anything and everything. If we don’t know something we ask someone to show us a coach, teacher, co-worker, friend, parent etc. If we still do not understand it we watch someone else demonstrate it then we practice. “Practice makes perfect” or in other terms by doing something over and over you will learn it. This is where assessments come into play through education. After all the practicing or for examples worksheets, in class discussion, group presentations, center time there will be a time for the students to prove that with all that “practice” they learned it. By providing ways to prove the students accomplishments we use assessments. Assessments can be in any form, grade, quiz, test, role playing, and answering questions out load with the whole class. Dr. Krommer’s lecture the other day explained this theory in a little more detail on what we keep in our memory and what we retrieve all reflects on what we learned and how we learned it. I love hands on things, maybe that’s why I want to teach science. In science I believe I can use this quote in my everyday teaching science experiments are a great example of learning by doing. You don’t just learn to hypothesis, but you build your poster board, you make your guesses, you present to the class and after it is all over with the knowledge you have gain is a great assessment to let the teacher know you have understood what you learned. Keeping up going ideas and engaging students in interesting activities is one of my main goals for my teaching career. It”s stated in the book that standards set our goals for instruction but they way we teach and the way students grow with knowledge is based on our instructional strategies (back to chapter 6) and assessments. Using assessments is a way to gain knowledge about your students LOP and your craft of teaching. Use it usefully and you will see great results in your students and yourself.

Learning Environment - P.A.R.T.

In one sentence, James MacGregor Burns explains what we will provide to our students as teachers. Reflecting on the topic of Monday night’s discussion and resources we found on the websites, MacGregor Burns quote fits nicely within the P.A.R.T. concept.

The physical aspects of a teaching environment can not only enhance the intellectual aspect of learning, but also the social aspect. For example, arranging the students’ desks in a way that allows them to be socially involved with one another in a controlled setting would be advantageous. Allowing them to partake in group assignments and team discussions will work to their advantage both intellectually and socially.

Activities that students’ participate in typically allow them to grow intellectually. Adding the social aspect within planned activities can only be an added benefit to the students. This could be groups of two or more students…working together…interacting for a common purpose.

Resources that can be used with students to help them grow intellectually while encompassing that social mechanism could include technological resources. Searching the web together to gather information on a specific topic or working with a partner to put together a PowerPoint presentation. Even if a student is working on a project by themselves, requiring them to share information with their classmates, would incorporate the social aspect of learning.

Pacing a lesson devotes just enough time to developing concepts and ideas while ensuring that you are maintaining student interest and attention, minimizing opportunities for misbehavior as well as making efficient use of a time within a crowded classroom schedule. Keeping within a strict and consistent time schedule within the classroom will help the students maintain a comfortable, organized learning environment. The students will embrace this schedule and work together with the teacher to maintain it.

Habitable Atmosphere

Think about the places that you go that are uninviting they have an uninhabitable atmosphere. Uncomfortable settings like a hospital waiting room and the waiting room of the auto repair shop have very little attention spent on them. This proves just one thing to me that those in charge have no interest in providing a habitable atmosphere, a setting that makes people feel at ease (the magazines are the same as last year and for the children the crayons are nubs and the coloring books are full). My school experience was desks in straight rows and columns, seasonal bulletin boards and cursive letter examples above the chalkboard. The uninhabitable settings are rationalized with a statement such as “the students are here to learn.” This is no different than saying the patient or customer is here for us we are not here for them.
If I return to my earlier builder metaphor I expressed that the builder does not build one building out of one building material. The builder blends floor plans and building materials to give the buyer an aesthetically pleasing and as ergonomically soothing building as possible in doing this they are focusing on the end result providing a habitable atmosphere. Car dealers have a bad reputation because they are just interested in making a sale and collecting a commission not on making someone happy. The teacher that puts today’s lesson on the board, takes attendance, monitors silence and collects assignments; gives the school they work in and the other teachers in the building as well as teachers in general, a bad reputation. These teachers are cheating their students out of an education, the taxpayers out money and themselves out of a rewarding experience because their focus in not on the end result.
How you treat others and the examples you put forward as a person is how students, parents, and staff will regard you. Is this your profession or your job? People talk and students know whether you are serious about teaching or just doing it to get a check. Phonies do not fool students. Students know whether they are accepted when in your classroom. They know by your classroom ambiance, by how you manage the physical space, they know that your teacher resources are tattered and dog-eared that you haven't updates in a while, and they know when you are not paying attention to them i.e. how you are using the classroom time.
It is the professional teachers that provide a social and intellectual environment in which students can learn. Students long into their lives remember the teachers that foster a love of learning through their actions.
Doing a Internet search for classroom ambiance, I netted papers with topics such as, the better use of instructional technologies, rethinking evaluation criteria, or the relevancy of specific curriculum. I believe the first benefit of classroom ambiance is the making of a habitable atmosphere by a relationship between the teacher and the students at the interpersonal level. The face-to-face interaction between teachers and students is at the heart of the pedagogical experience, but a lack thereof is readily denied as a cause of the lack of learning by students. True teachers put their students first and the focus of their classroom is to expedite the learning process for all the students even if it results in more work for themselves.

learning enviroment

The quote for this week was “Teachers provide a social and intellectual environment in which students can learn.” I believe that this quote means that not only do teacher provide the actual physical environment that students come to learn, but they also provide a place where social skills are taking place along with education. As we learned about in class there are many aspects to a learning environment. There is classroom ambience, the physical space, time management, and resources. Every teacher may have a different once that they believe is more important. Even if a teacher believes one is more important, I feel like we learned in class that each have a vital part to making a learning environment productive. They also all connect with each other.
In the physical aspect, there are different things to take into account. A clean and organized room is important for things to not get lost and for children to feel good during the school day. The way the desks are arranged could make a world of difference to how your students are going to perform. During class last Monday we found websites that had teacher blogs that talked about the different ways the classroom can be set up and the pros and cons of each. I plan on having a neat and clean classroom, I want to have decorations and I want it to feel “home-like”.
Time management is also very important. It is important to give yourself enough time to cover what you want to cover and also the way you want to cover it. You shouldn’t have to rush through a lesson just because you are a few days behind, if the students are getting something out of whatever took you off track, or if it is taking them longer to grasp the concept then it is perfectly okay to be a few days behind. One website that I found during class on Monday talked about block scheduling and how that can be a life saver in time management. I had block scheduling in high school and I thought it was amazing. The teachers had 90 minutes to do lessons and usually the kids had time to start if not finish all their homework in class with the teacher there to ask questions. Having a organized room and being able to find everything (physical space) can directly effect time management, which proves what I was saying earlier that you need all the aspects of a learning environment.
The resources that a teacher has are what the book defines as all the teaching “stuff”. This could be the Friday folders that are kept in the room for the kids, or the behavior charts, the whiteboards, the student mailboxes, or even the trays full of papers to grade. This is an important part of the learning environment as well. Teachers need to have this “stuff” in order to have a successful classroom. The classroom needs have enough resources that the children feel satisfied. This too, relates directly with organization and time management. You must have time to do things in the day like pass out the Friday folders, or file the papers into the student mailboxes. Your room must also be neat and organized in order to find everything and keep it where the children can find it.
The ambiance of the classroom is another part of the learning environment. I want the ambiance in my classroom to feel homelike. I want my kids to feel comfortable around me and everyone else in the classroom. I want to be able to joke around and have a good time, but still get our work done and follow the rules. In order to have the classroom ambiance that you desire, you must have other things in order, such as, the time management- you can’t be rushing through the day and always be stressed and still keep a comical side. The physical aspect of the classroom plays a part in the ambiance, if a few kids don’t get along, it is important that they aren’t right next to each other bickering all day long. If a teacher doesn’t have resources for the classroom, it could cause stress for the teacher and the students. All of the aspects of the learning environment are tied in.
I hope that I can provide a place where kids can learn and be social and also have a good time and feel safe. I hope that my room is neat and clean and it is welcoming when you walk by. I feel like learning environments really are important to a successful classroom. There is no right or wrong way for a learning environment and I believe every year things could be a little different because every child is different and every teacher is different, but it is important to figure out what works and make that “social and intellectual environment where students can learn”.

My learning environment!

After reviewing the readings and quote, I realized that I will want to emulate my classroom as a learning environment that is related to my subject matter. Becoming a Business Education teacher, I want my classroom to emulate a business type setting similar to that of a real world business setting (board room, conference room, cubicles, offices etc.) I think it will be key to explain this setting to my students so they understand why. My personal stance on education has not been completely set in stone like a mission or vision statement, but I do know that I want my students to experience as close to real life business experiences as possible. This will include many hands on projects with community businesses etc and I want my classroom to be considered my students office by them when they walk in to my classroom. I want them to not think of it as my classroom, but their office where they will come to get work done, think creatively and experience what a business setting looks like. I will use many resources that are similar to what would be in an office. Filing cabinets with everyone having their own folders, a fax machine, computers, telephones for conference calls etc. Below are some examples of what I am thinking in regards to the different social and intellectual aspects that I will try to foster through my classroom setting:

1) Classroom Ambience- I will explain to my students the business world setting with different examples. I will show them pictures of office building with cubes, private offices and conference rooms and more importantly show them how different people come to work everyday at the same place with different functions (HR, Accounting and Marketing to name a few). I will explain how each function has different needs in order to complete their tasks and job and I will also explain to my students the different learning styles people have, this will in turn remind students that we need to be respectful of each other, each other's learning styles and our surroundings. This will set the tone that we are proffessionals working on important projects and tasks to further our company (our classroom). I believe this will set a positive ambience in my classroom and get the students excited about having their own office and co,pany in a sense!

2) Physical Space- Like I mentioned before, I will want to emulate an office setting, so after I present the pictures and options to my students we will decide together how to best set up our surroudnings. I believe this will engage the students and teach them how to compromise (social) with each other and get them excited about having their own "office". One idea I have is to separate the classroom into two areas. The first would be having the desks be in groups of 4 in which they form a square representing a quad cubicle. Students will be allowed to set up their desk how they would like in regards to personal touches just like an office or cube. The second area will be blocked off with a movable wall on wheels in which this will form our conference area. This area will have a large table with chairs around it for teams to conference with each other, conduct conference calls with community business partners and give presentations as well. These are just my intial thoughts. The students will have to reserve the conference area based on their schedules, projects, community partnerships coming in etc. This also emulates an office setting in that people have to reserve board rooms and conference rooms for meetings and presentations etc.

3) Resource Management- As far as managing resources, this would be similar to an office as well. Bookshelves, filing cabinets etc. I am thinking it would be best to have a mini resource center in the classroom where everything would be located in a neat and efficient manner. Chapter 8 mentioned paper flow being a problem for some teachers and I will utilize the filing cabinet system where every student will have their own folder for personal assignments and lesson tasks and team folders as well for projects etc. This will help keep paper flow organized and I can return graded assignments in each students folder and team folders respectively.

4) Maximize learning time- This will be extremely important in my classroom with all the different settings. I feel by explaining the setting first like I mentioned above will allow for students to have an intial understanding of not wasting time and having the students particpate in the set up of the classroom will provide them with ownership of their office space and materials. They will learn to reserve the conference area, post out of the office signs etc to emulate that business setting I keep referring to. With my curriculm, the students will always have opportunities to be working on something else if they finish early. Both individual and group projects.

How does this all pertain to the quote for this past week? I believe my execution in the classroom setup, partnering with my students on having them understand to be respectful of each other's offices will teach them both social and intellectual skills, they will not only learn to respect each other's offices and workspace (social), but the why behind it after learning the different learning styles and how people need to foster their learning through different styles and environment (intellectual).

PART in my classroom

The defination of enviornment is that of any external conditions, resources, stimuli etc. with which an organism interacts. My goal as a teacher is to develope a classroom management plan through routines and organization to help shape the community which my students will be encouraged by positive and productive stimuli. Seems nearly impossible right? If you take each category from our chapter P.A.R.T it helps break it down to very simple ways.
In class I chose to put time as my first priority in developing my eviornment as the most important but after re-reading the chapter and researching the websites I changed my mind. Now I feel the first way to shape your community’s enviornment is by showing this group of children from all different cultures, backgrounds, society, etc… that you care. I will pass on Kohn’s central ideas connectedness, value and respect from the first day of school. It is very important to me as the teacher to show (through actions, tone, and words) that I can recognize their feelings and that I am willing to comminicate and listen to all students. Ambience as said in the book refers to the mood or atmosphere of a classroom. My goal to develop an appropriate sense of ambience is to start off being a good role model, listen and commicate appropriately, convey that school is pleasant, and provide intellectual stimulation. Some things that will help me accomplish this task is putting up some inspirational quotes, playing some soft music during quiet time, knowing each childs name when they walk through the door during week 1, letting the students have a say in what the classroom might look like and providing a safe place where they can come and grow intellectually and socially.
Physical arrangement, time schedule, routines and instructional activites help build and communicate my stance on education and what I want to accomplish. I will be sure to take in concideration my goals and use wall space, windows, ceilings, desk arrangement to my advantage. I will set up my classroom physical appearance with some things to keep on my mind. I will want to be able to monitor the classroom, keep a balance of power, and keep it productive and effective. Allowing children to see other children, keep their attention on me as the teacher, being able to get to a child that needs assistance, and that materials are kept as close as possible to make activities run smoother. In my classroom I will have a place to do seat work and whole class instruction but I also want to encourage my students to explore other interests in the centers I will have in my classroom. For example, an art center or music center where when they are done with their class work they can go quietly without interupting the other students and continue to learn something that interests them on their own.
We have all known some pretty messy teachers in our lives. But I can’t blame them. They have all this “stuff” to keep organized but keeping new ideas and lessons coming as well. Well all that stuff is the resources that I will use in my classroom. Resources range from homework papers, computers, books, and even children. Keeping all of these resources organized is my main goal in my classroom. You can do this by having calendars, folders, computer time, and routine for collecting homework, etc.
Finally, Time “Use your classroom time as gold: wasting a single minute costs everyone in the class, and those costs can never be recouped” Time is golden in a classroom. My main goal in my classroom is to maximize the time with my students and minimize the time they spend in inappropriate ways. The division of time in our books explains it perfectly. Give yourself as the teacher time to study or subject (allocated) but also give time to spend on a specific insturction that will address the specific subject (engaged) and finally give time where the students can engage themselves in mastery of the subject (academic learning.) Poor insturuction is at the very least a waste of time. My goal is to have prepared lessons before hand and to help teach my students the importance of time and time management.
All of these basic ways of building an appropriate enviornment may or may not work, but we have to be on our toes and ready to reconstruct our enviornment to apply it to our always changing society.