Reflective Journal #8

“Why are formative assessments so important for the teacher and student?” Post your initial response by Day 3 (Wednesday) at 11:59 PM EST.

Describe:

“A formative evaluation is designed to tell teachers whether additional instruction is needed and to tell students whether additional learning is needed”.  (Slavin, 410).  These are assessments that are used every day and constantly throughout instruction.  Teachers can use these assessments Slavin describes these assessments as ways to “discover strengths and weaknesses in learning”. (Slavin, 410).  When teachers notice these types of characteristics in learning during instruction they can re-teach or help those students who are not understanding or grasping the content. 

Formative assessments can take several different types of formats.  Formative assessments can be as simple as questioning students through discussion formats.  They can also take the form of short written assessments, quizzes, and more.  They do not have to be formal and are sometimes done without even being realized by the students.  Students input can give teachers insight to how well they understand what the teacher is trying to help them learn. 

Analyze:

In my experience formative assessments are very useful.  There are many times that I have restructured my week’s plans because of results from formative assessments.  Sometimes students may appear to understand what you are teaching through questioning and discussion, but when given short quizzes to check their understanding the results may show differently.  During these times, formative assessments can serve as detours to what the teacher’s plans originally were.  Although these may seem as a negative thing, they are actually positive because they are catching potential problems in the future. 

Reflect:

This concept has very important meaning to me.  I use it every day during my instruction periods to gauge whether the students understand what I am teaching.  I have taught many lessons before thinking that my students were following what I was teaching, when in fact; there were several students that were struggling. I had asked questions during the instructional period, but apparently had only asked a few students.  It is important that every student is involved in the formative assessment. 

I think that this concept is very significant to any classroom.  Teachers must use formative assessment in teaching so that they can re-teach, re-word, or re-structure their lessons.  By doing this, it will keep the course of study on track as teachers are able to find the holes in student’s learning before it is too late. 

I will use what I learned from this chapter in my classroom to help guide my lessons and to make sure that my students needs are met.  I will use them daily during instruction and will vary the types of formative assessments used so that students do not get bogged down with multiple quizzes or other assessments. 

Chapter 11 Blog Post/Reflective Journal

Describe:

This chapter was a big help for me as a newer teacher trying to figure out what classroom management strategies work best for me and my classroom.  One important aspect of classroom management is “Starting Out the Year Right”.  Slavin states, “They found that the first days of school are critical in establishing classroom order”.  (Slavin, page 316).  This is something I have heard several times throughout undergraduate school and from my peer teachers.  After two years of teaching, I can truly say that this is so right. My first year I came in teaching late in the year after a teacher had resigned.  They had been used to a strict middle aged male teacher, and I was a young excited new teacher.  I made some mistakes of not being as strict as I should, but because he had set that foundation I was able to stick to his rules and classroom management style.  My second year was a little different; this was my first year as a teacher from the beginning of the year to the end.  I thought I was starting off rather strict, but realized later that I had not been strict enough and that the students had learned who the “fun” teachers were and who the “strict” teachers were.  I was in the “fun” category. 

Another strategy that the chapter describes is “Setting Class Rules”.  Slavin states that three things should be present in this process. “First, class rules should be few in number”.  (Slavin, page 317). This means that students should not be bombarded with a class rule list with thirty rules on it.  This can be overwhelming and tedious.  “Second, they should make sense and be seen as fair by students”. (Slavin, 317).  One way to ensure that they make sense and seem fair is to include students in the rule making process. They then can take ownership and clearly understand them.  “Third, they should be clearly explained and deliberately taught to students”.  This means that teachers should take time to explain them and practice them every day. 

There are also strategies to help misbehavior that already is taking place during class. “The Principle of Least Intervention” is a strategy that Slavin explains.  This means using the “simplest intervention that will work”.  (Slavin, 329).  This means not to make the redirection or punishment a big extravagant event, but instead make it something more direct and to the point.  This will help it from being a distraction to the rest of the class. 

“Prevention” is another strategy that Slavin lists as a way to handle misbehavior.  If the misbehavior never takes place, then there is no problem or behavior to fix.  Ways to prevent misbehavior are, “presenting interesting and lively lessons, making class rules and procedures clear, keeping students busy on meaningful tasks, and using other effective techniques of basic classroom management”.  This can be done by mixing up what type of teaching techniques you use or having the students up and moving around in your lesson. 

Analyze:

The strategies listed above are all excellent ways to help with classroom management strategies in the classroom.  By setting the pace at the beginning of the year for how strict a teacher is going to be is essential in establishing appropriate behavior from students throughout the entire year.  You can always let up as the year goes on if necessary, but it is impossible to go back and try to be stricter once the students have already seen you act otherwise. 

Also, prevention is a great strategy for preventing those behaviors from occurring that are undesirable.  This will work for most students in most situations.  However, in my experience there are always those students who are going to find ways to misbehave. These students have other issues and are acting out for your attention and the attention of their peers.  Many other strategies may help alleviate some of the issues, but some of these students are going to act out no matter what.  We just have to keep finding different strategies to try until they respond.

Reflect:

Being a new teacher, I have had several learning experiences already in how I can do better in managing the classroom in the future. My very first year teaching, believe it or not I did not have any major issues. When the children would talk too much or too loudly I could easily get them back on task and they would continue to work quietly for the remainder of the period. However, this past school year, the amount of talking and the frequency of it was a big problem in my classroom as well as on the rest of my team. Our students were very talkative, and when reminded that they should be working instead of talking, they would be quiet for a few minutes, and then begin their own personal conversations again. Even when doing group work, the level of noise in the classroom would get entirely too loud and even off task. I tried several strategies from after school detentions, lunch detentions, etc. None of these seemed to work for a majority of the students. Even the "good" students were participating too much in the chatter.

After reading this chapter, I learned several techniques I can use this upcoming school year. First, instead of having students read through the rules on my syllabus and never seeing them again, I am going to make posted rules in the classroom and go over them frequently. The rules may not be specific but they will cover a variety of issues. One rule the author of the book gives as an example is "Respect others' property". As Slavin states, "this simple rule can be invoked to cover such obvious misbehaviors as stealing or destroying materials, but also gives a reason for putting materials away, cleaning up litter, and refraining from marking in textbooks". (Slavin, page 317).

Another technique I learned from the chapter and have read a lot about this semester is using positive reinforcement instead of negative punishments. I was using detentions and write ups before, but now I am going to implement praising good behaviors, and giving incentives. This will encourage students to do better, and it is preventing the behavior from happening in the first place.

Blog #6

Describe:

At-risk learners and learners with special needs are students that can definitely benefit greatly from a great relationship with their teacher. At risk learners may vary, ""students who come from impoverished or single-parent homes, those who have marked developmental delays, or those who exhibit aggressive or withdrawn behavior are more likely to experience problems in school than are other students". (Slavin, page 263) Many at-risk learners are also at-risk because they do not have the parental involvement at home to motivate them or to teach them the importance of education. With children like this the first thing I would do to develop a rapport is just to show them I care about them individually. I could show interest in something that they are interested in, make eye contact throughout the class, and speak to them in and outside of class (in the hallways, lunchroom, etc.) This will let the student know that I care and that I want him/her to do well in and outside of the classroom.

As we mentioned above a reason a child may be at risk is because of poverty. If the child is hungry or barely making ends meet at home, they are likely to care very little about what goes on in the classroom. One place to start is to make sure the child is on free/reduced lunch. You would be surprised how much better child does when they are properly fed. Keeping small snacks in the room may also benefit some children who do not eat much at home.

Another way a teacher can help their students is by assigning a peer tutor or a cross-age tutor to help the at-risk student.  A peer tutor is a student in the classroom that knows the material well and has leadership skills necessary for helping others.  A cross-age tutor can sometimes be more beneficial because they are older.  The student can look up to them and the cross-age tutor may know content more in depth than a same age peer-tutor. 

Title-I" is federal services to schools with a large number of low-income students. This program is set up so that schools cannot abuse the privilege or use it to increase teacher salaries. The program is set up so that the funds used go directly to benefit the students. For instance, Title I money can be used to fund a summer school program or an after school program.  This helps at-risk learners because they have somewhere safe to be after school, where they also can receive extra assistance on schoolwork, and be around positive role models.  “Head start” preschool programs are for students from low-income families to help prepare them for school."   (Slavin, 2012)

Analyze: 

In my opinion the schools that receive Title I program can be very effective.  Schools that have after-school programs not only give a student a place to receive extra tutoring in subjects that they struggle in, but it also gives them a chance to be in a safe environment, probably have a snack that they may not get at home, and most importantly be around positive role models that can mean a lot to them.  The money that the government provides for these programs helps many students out that may otherwise be at home in bad situations with no one to count on.  Also, it gives students whose parents work late a chance to get some homework done with qualified professionals.  I think the after-school programs are a positive impact on at-risk learners. 

Another strategy for at-risk learners that is simple, yet profound is the cross-age tutors.  Some students need an older child to look up to who cares about school and is smart. Sometimes all it takes is an older child showing them how much they like school and learning, to encourage the at-risk learner to try harder.  These relationships can build up the child’s self-esteem as well as their grades.

Reflect: 

I have a special place in my heart for at-risk learners if you could not already tell by my “analyze” section.  These children come into the world just like the rest of us do, they are babies.  They do not choose the situation they grow up in or the parents that may or may not even care about their education or even them at all.  These students so desperately need positive role models and for someone to be their advocate.  Some people think that it is the teachers number one job to teach the students content, but there are so many other aspects of teaching that are just as if not more important. 

This chapter has re-motivated to work harder with these at-risk learners. Sometimes, we get new students in our class and we also get with them their reputation.  We do not give them the fresh start they deserve and skip the whole relationship building stage.  I will definitely approach these situations differently.  I will take time to build a foundation with the student so that they respect me and know that I respect them.  This will let the child know I care, and they too may care more about their grades.

I feel these techniques are very important to learn and to stress to educators because we often get bombarded with teaching standards and preparing for standardized tests.  We have to remember that these students come first, as well as their individual needs. 

Reflective Journal #5

DESCRIBE:

        In chapter eight of the textbook, the author discusses the "Constructivist View" of learning. This is the type of learning where students have an active role in what they are learning. "The essence of constructivist theory is the idea that learners must individually discover and transform complex information if they are going to make it their own.” (Slavin, page 218). This means that the students are going to need to be active learners in the education process.

        The constructivist approach to education is not something new to education; it has in fact been studied and used throughout the history of education.  Piaget and Vygostky both researched and theorized constructivism.  The both emphasized, “cognitive change takes place only when previous conceptions go through a process of disequilibrium in light of new information”. (Slavin 2012, page 219) Another aspect of Piaget and Vygostky’s work is that they, “stressed the social nature of learning, and both suggested the use of mixed-ability learning groups to promote conceptual change”. ( Slavin 2012, page 219). This is interesting that the practices we are using today have been discussed and theorized for several decades.  The author of the text also stresses the importance of ability groupings in student based learning. 

         The author also describes several learning strategies that go along with the constructivist approach. First, “top down processing” which is a process where students start out with larger more in depth concepts and work to learn the “basic skills” needed to solve them.  “Cooperative learning” is where students work together in groups or pairs to figure out a concept.  “Discovery learning” is where “students are encouraged to learn largely on their own through active involvement with concepts and principles, and teachers encourage students to have experiences and conduct experiments that permit them to discover principles for themselves”. (Slavin 2012, page 222).  “Self-regulated learning” is just what it says. It is where students learn to self-regulate their tasks in order to complete a larger task, project, etc. “Scaffolding” is where students are guided into a project by help from the teacher in the beginning, and slowly letting go and allowing the students to take over. 

ANALYZE:

       One challenge that teachers face in incorporating student centered learning approaches is that students themselves are so different. Teachers must come up with ways for students to learn that all students can benefit from. Whether they are linguistic, visual, kinesthetic, etc. It is important that all students’ needs are met to ensure learning takes place.

        Another problem that teacher's face is that students must be "self-regulated learners". This means that students have "knowledge of effective learning strategies and how and when to use them". (Slavin, page 222). If students cannot self-regulate it is hard to complete the learning tasks ahead of them. These strategies can be knowing when to research, knowing when to read, knowing when to skim, etc. Managing time effectively and managing tasks efficiently are very important in student centered learning.

         One way to solve the problem of self-regulation is to use "scaffolding" in the classroom. This means that students will build up to their independent working time with the teacher's help. For example, "scaffolding might include giving students more structure at the beginning of a set of lessons and gradually turning responsibility over to them to operate on their own". (Slavin, page 223)

Reflect: 

         This chapter’s readings have reinforced to me the importance of hands on learning and group learning.  These two strategies are strategies that I always start out using in my class, and by the middle of the year I begin to feel rushed with the pressures of the CRCT looming over my head.  After reading this, I plan to use the strategies throughout the entire year, even when feeling rushed.  The truth is, students learn in a deeper understanding this way.  It is better for them to learn deeper about the concepts I am trying to teach, rather than me lecturing or giving notes to speed up the process. This does nothing for them in the long run. 

        The positives of this concept are many; increased student participation, enhanced and deeper learning of the material, learning of new skills and independent learning, and the list goes on and on.  The negatives to this concept are few.  First, the time and effort it takes in planning for these types of activities is pretty detailed.  Teachers should plan the lesson, strategically pick the groups, and teach the students the content before starting a project.  Also, the teachers have to be active in each group and each learner’s learning experience to achieve the highest learning results. 

         I feel that this concept is something that will benefit my students and me as a teacher. There is nothing more rewarding for a teacher than knowing that you have taught your students something that they actually retained and really learned.  This is the type of learning that makes all of the planning worth-while.  I feel that using these strategies will enhance student learning in my classroom and also in the end, increase the classroom test scores as well. 

This concept and these strategies learned in this chapter re-confirmed my belief that students need to be engaged in order to fully learn.  I went into teaching because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others, especially those who are less fortunate.  This concept shows me that with ability grouping and hands on learning, all kids can learn in the classroom and also all students can experience success.  

Slavin, R. (2012). Student-centered and constructivist approaches to instruction. Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th Ed.)(pp.216-247). Boston, MA: Pearson

Reflective Journal #4

Describe:

                Whole Class Discussions:

                No matter what type of lesson plan you are preparing, you must be fully prepared and make sure the ample time has been spent in preparation.  For whole class discussion, “the teacher plays a less dominant role”.  (Slavin, page 209).  Although the role of the teacher in this type of discussion is considered less dominant, they are probably the most active participant. The teacher must know the content and make sure the students are well prepared in the knowledge of the content.  The teacher must ask the questions to get the conversation started, monitor the conversation so that it does not veer away from the topic, and make sure all students are participating.  Like the example the book offers, the teacher does not look for specific answers but tries to get the students to use what they learned and apply it to something else or talk about it in general. 

                The author states, “Before beginning a discussion, you must ensure that students have an adequate knowledge base”. (Slavin, page 210). This is the most important part of the preparation part for teachers in whole class discussions.  The teacher must make sure the students know the information well enough to engage in conversation with each other.  Otherwise the conversation will be dry and will end very quickly.  The author does however point out, that “Teachers can sometimes use a discussion before instruction as a means of generating interest to a topic”. (Slavin, page 210).  This is another way of using whole class discussion. 

                Small-Group Discussions:

                In my experience, small group discussions take an ample amount of planning as well.  This type of conversation is where students work in groups from four to six people. Within these groups, the students are to have meaningful conversation over a topic determined by the teacher.  The teacher’s join in this type of discussion is to make sure the students are well prepared in the content before the conversation/discussion begins.  After preparing their content, the teacher should assign their groups according to their needs.  The teacher also must walk around from group to group putting in their input and listening to make sure the students are on task.  Another aspect the teacher must do is gauge how much the students know by listening to their conversations.  The teacher can do this by monitoring constantly and noting what they do know and what still needs work. 

                When preparing groups the teacher also should consider strategically grouping the students.  Each group needs to have a group leader.  This group leader should be a student that shows ability to lead others in conversation and knows the content.  Slavin states that, “Leaders should be responsible, well-organized students but not necessarily the highest-achieving students.” (Slavin, page 210). This leader’s responsibility is “to make sure that the group stays on the topic and questions assigned to it and ensure that all group members participate”. (Slavin, page 211).  This can be a job that requires a lot of responsibility that is why strategically picking these students is necessary. 

                Each group also is not limited to discussing the same topic.  With multiple groups, multiple topics can be discussed.  For example; one group can discuss “Women in the Civil War” and another group can discuss “Slaves in the Civil War”.  Then, both groups can come together to discuss these two topics.  These are considered “subtopics” that go with what the whole class is discussing.

                Although these types of discussions require a lot of preparation, they can be very rewarding to the classroom learning experience.  The research shows that students can learn from small group discussions because “small-group discussions have greater effects on student achievement if students are encouraged to engage in controversy”.  (Slavin, page 211). 

Analyze:

                In whole class discussions I agree with the author that the teacher and students must be well prepared in content.  This is very true because we have all been in the classroom where we think that the students “know” what we are about to discuss, but once the discussion begins, we quickly realize the students need more time to learn the content.  Although the author says the teacher plays a “less dominant” role in this type of conversation, I have to slightly disagree.  This is because the teacher plays a large role through the whole process.  First, the teacher teaches the content to the students, next the teacher opens up discussion.  Throughout the discussion the teacher is listening, quite possibly the only one listening to everything.  The teacher is noting who is participating, who is not, who knows the content, and who does not.  The teacher is at the same time asking questions, giving praise when needed, and guiding the overall discussion.  This takes a lot of preparation and a lot of work during the actual discussion. 

                I agree with the author of the textbook that the small group discussion takes a great amount of preparation and work as well.  Some teachers think, by assigning group work that their job is made easier for the day.  This is actually the opposite.  Teachers play a huge role in small group discussion.  First, the teacher’s group assignments are vital.  The author does a good job pointing out what makes a good group leader.  I agree with their description of a good group leader as being “responsible” and “well-organized”.  Many times students want to pick their own groups, and while this may give them extra responsibility and freedom, strategic grouping picked by the teacher works better for these circumstances.  I also agree with the author that the teacher has to walk around and monitor the students to monitor discussions.  If the teacher does not do this, this sets up the students to get off topic and off task. 

Reflect:

                In my experience, I have found that I am better at administering whole-class discussion than small-group discussions.  I know that the small-group discussions are very important and that students benefit from them.  As a new teacher, I am still learning my classroom management style.  I really enjoy when my students work in groups and hearing their conversations. However, I am a lot more stressed when I administer these types of discussions.  I think by better picking the groups as the author suggests this might ease some of the stress and make things run more smoothly. This reading has changed my belief about small group discussions that they can in fact be very beneficial when used properly. 

                The chapter has helped me become a better teacher because I am now willing to use both whole class discussion and small group discussion more often.  I usually use it as an opening or closing activity.  However, after reading the chapter I can see how it can benefit as more of a large part of the class.  I really like the idea of small group discussions with “sub-topics”.  This would mean I could give my students several different topics, and then we could discuss them all as a class.  This would actually be using both types of discussion in the same lesson.