I just spent the 2 longest hours of my life in my field placement. As soon as I got some place where I could sit down and reflect this is what I came up with. Please read and respond with your thoughts....
Dealing with the unmotivated, unchallenged student in your classroom…
An underlying lack of motivation may explain why many students are disengaged from classroom activities and fail to participate with their peers. Motivation is the presence of a personal drive that pushes us, as human beings, towards a goal. When school becomes an insignificant goal to a student there is a lack of motivation. Teachers can impact a student’s level of motivation by finding out the student’s interests and framing at least on aspect of a lesson plan around what the student likes. But what happens when the lesson plan that you based upon that student interests fails to appeal to them still?
I’m talking about the unchallenged student. The student in your classroom who has the potential to complete more challenging tasks, but chooses not to. Every once in a while, he/she “slips” and says something profound or does something that you can’t believe. But the other 99% of the time, this student sits in his/her chair and stares off into space, is completely oblivious to the fact that you just assigned something, sits in the math circle and looks straight through you. This student doesn’t care that you call on him/her to answer because they’ve already made up their mind that they’re not giving an answer. And don’t try to bribe him/her because he/she is one step ahead of you. This student is so smart that it frustrates you to no end that they won’t just participate and do the work that you assign.
Even though you hate the way it sounds, you admit that most of the time you let this student get away with being disengaged, reminding yourself of the other 26 students in your class and the education they deserve. You try and try and get nothing back in response. Wouldn’t it just be easier to give up? runs through your mind constantly, but you fight it because this is one of your kids, one of your students, and you just can’t give up. You feel like you’re running out of options.
You’re so sick of hearing “differentiated lessons” from people who have never worked with this particular student. You differentiate all of your lesson plans and you’re doing a great job with the other students in your classroom. It’s just this one kid…And you’re class isn’t the only classroom he/she acts this way. You hear the same thing from the drama teacher, the music teacher, the gym teacher, and even the lunch lady has concerns.
The month of February is coming to an end and you’re at a loss. What are you going to do?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Portfolio
You've read many cases, watched video, and discussed problems and solution strategies about the base ten system. For your writing prompt:
1) What ideas about numbers and the base ten system have ben highlighted fotr you by these readings, videos, discussions, and activities?
2) What questions do you have?
We've spent a lot of time talking about teaching students the base ten system of numbers and one thing still perplexes me--I never learned about it in elementary school!
It was not until I was taking TE 201 at MSU my Freshman year that I even heard of the term "base ten system" and learned how systems would be different if the base number was different, two or five for example.
So, when we're teaching our students about the system of numbers we just teach them how to count and manipulate number to perform the tasks we are given--but we never really say "This is the base ten system". Or should we? I guess this is a question that I still have, even though I have a gut instict about the answer.
And that is simple--if we try and teach our students so much and expect them to remember all kinds of unrelated things, they will develop a negative attitude of learning as it becomes a difficult task for them. When we make things too complex we are really making them even more abstract for our students and eventually we may burn them out. So, having said that, I feel that if we are going to introduce our students, explicitly, to systems, such as the base ten system, we must make it relevant to them.
In fact, all teaching should be relevant to our students and we need to be tuned into their interests so we can make learning exciting and valuable for them. This is not a theory only to be applied to math; instead, it is simply effective teaching.
1) What ideas about numbers and the base ten system have ben highlighted fotr you by these readings, videos, discussions, and activities?
2) What questions do you have?
We've spent a lot of time talking about teaching students the base ten system of numbers and one thing still perplexes me--I never learned about it in elementary school!
It was not until I was taking TE 201 at MSU my Freshman year that I even heard of the term "base ten system" and learned how systems would be different if the base number was different, two or five for example.
So, when we're teaching our students about the system of numbers we just teach them how to count and manipulate number to perform the tasks we are given--but we never really say "This is the base ten system". Or should we? I guess this is a question that I still have, even though I have a gut instict about the answer.
And that is simple--if we try and teach our students so much and expect them to remember all kinds of unrelated things, they will develop a negative attitude of learning as it becomes a difficult task for them. When we make things too complex we are really making them even more abstract for our students and eventually we may burn them out. So, having said that, I feel that if we are going to introduce our students, explicitly, to systems, such as the base ten system, we must make it relevant to them.
In fact, all teaching should be relevant to our students and we need to be tuned into their interests so we can make learning exciting and valuable for them. This is not a theory only to be applied to math; instead, it is simply effective teaching.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Interview Plan
After watching the video of the six year old boy being interviewed, I decided to duplicate the structure that the interviewer uses.
1. I want you to start counting and keep going until I say stop.
Doesthe student count smoothly?
Is there an obvious pattern to the students counting?
Does the student slow down and speed up at all?
2. What is the largest number you know?
3. Can you write that number for me?
Can the student write the largest number he/she knows?
4. I’m going to start counting and when I stop, I want you to keep counting from where I leave off
7, 8, 9, ___
27, 28, 29, ______ (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, _____)
42, 43, 44, 45, _____ (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, ______)
86, 87, 88, ____ (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, ______)
95, 96, 97, 98, 99, ______
5. When I was counting aloud, what were you thinking about?
6. I want you to pick up one of the markers and write down the number that I say aloud.
9
14
27
58
63
100
113
Monday, February 11, 2008
E-Notebook Submission
Free Write
More on differentiated lesson planning...
The text How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (Tomlinson) was recommended to me a few weeks ago. I have to say, as a full-time college student, mentor, employee, and fiancé who is ecstatically planning a wedding, I don’t have a lot of extra time for reading. But something stuck out about this text…and I ordered it.
After reading two chapters I’ve been recommending this book to every teacher/teacher candidate I know. It’s a great tool to have.
I believe that too often, we hear differentiated lesson planning and get this image in our minds of one teacher and 25 different students, each requiring a different method of teaching and the overwhelming impossibilities that are in our minds are burned there are they just get worse and worse over time.
The bottom line is that every student is different; each individual in your classroom will take in the information you give in a different way. This is inevitable. So where do you start?
According to Tomlinson, the very first thing you have to do is identify the needs of the below average student as well as the above average student. This is your range. Identifying this range can come from assessments, but also from observations, looking at a student’s previous work, talking wit the student, etc… By knowing this range and understand it, you will be less likely to teach above or below your student’s level. If you have a gifted learner and their mind is never challenged, what happens to their potential? If you have a student who struggles and you are constantly reminding that student that he/she is struggling, how will they ever succeed?
When you’re teaching a lesson, you focus should be ‘how can I connect what this student already knows with the new information?’
You have to know your students; they don’t come with manuals. You have to be aware when Jaime can’t understand you because school is the only place that he hears English, or how confused Erik is because he only understands the story if someone else is reading it, or how peaceful school is for Sarah because it’s the only setting that allows her to escape the abuse at home.
If you don’t know your students, how will you reach them? If you can’t reach them, how will you engage them? If their brain is not engaged in learning, how will learning take place?
More on differentiated lesson planning...
The text How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (Tomlinson) was recommended to me a few weeks ago. I have to say, as a full-time college student, mentor, employee, and fiancé who is ecstatically planning a wedding, I don’t have a lot of extra time for reading. But something stuck out about this text…and I ordered it.
After reading two chapters I’ve been recommending this book to every teacher/teacher candidate I know. It’s a great tool to have.
I believe that too often, we hear differentiated lesson planning and get this image in our minds of one teacher and 25 different students, each requiring a different method of teaching and the overwhelming impossibilities that are in our minds are burned there are they just get worse and worse over time.
The bottom line is that every student is different; each individual in your classroom will take in the information you give in a different way. This is inevitable. So where do you start?
According to Tomlinson, the very first thing you have to do is identify the needs of the below average student as well as the above average student. This is your range. Identifying this range can come from assessments, but also from observations, looking at a student’s previous work, talking wit the student, etc… By knowing this range and understand it, you will be less likely to teach above or below your student’s level. If you have a gifted learner and their mind is never challenged, what happens to their potential? If you have a student who struggles and you are constantly reminding that student that he/she is struggling, how will they ever succeed?
When you’re teaching a lesson, you focus should be ‘how can I connect what this student already knows with the new information?’
You have to know your students; they don’t come with manuals. You have to be aware when Jaime can’t understand you because school is the only place that he hears English, or how confused Erik is because he only understands the story if someone else is reading it, or how peaceful school is for Sarah because it’s the only setting that allows her to escape the abuse at home.
If you don’t know your students, how will you reach them? If you can’t reach them, how will you engage them? If their brain is not engaged in learning, how will learning take place?
Monday, February 4, 2008
E-Notebook Submission
Take a digital natives quiz and read information from the website (http://coe.sdsu/eet/articles/digitalnatives/index.htm). Write about the following: Are you a digital native or immigrant? To what extent does the term "emergent" apply to your own digial literacy?
I was able to identify with 4 out of the 6 terms (blogs, massive multiple player online games, instant messaging, wiki's) on the digital natives quiz.
In terms of the digital world and new technologies, I'm not a native. I grew up on a farm where we literally rode on the backs of pigs for fun instead of instant messaging our friends or posting online journals. My family didn't even own a computer until I was in Jr. high. We had no need for one; I used the computers at school whenever I needed to type something and to this day my parents rarely have any interactions between a keyboard and their fingertips.
I was introduced to technology via school, not home. This is a major difference between myself and the students that I work with in my field placement and I believe it is something to capitalize on. If the attraction of multi-media arouses my students then why wouldn't I want to use it?
Too many "experienced" teachers steer away from utilizing technology in their classrooms because they themselves are intimidated by the endless capabilities that are available to them. They don't want to learn new things to teach with; they have their lesson plans that they developed 25 years ago when they first started teaching and other than a few changes in benchmarks and/or district curriculum, those lessons haven't changed.
So I ask myself, am I native or an immigrant? It's clear to me that I moved into the digital world before I entered high school, and because I wasn't born into it, I'm not a native. But the term immigrant doesn't fit me either.
When I think of an immigrant, I think of someone who left where they once were to reach a better place, a place with more options and resources. There was a purpose for their departure fom wherever they were before to where they are now. However, technology was something that I believe just came to me; I didn't necessarily find it. School introduced us, but like a child acquring language, my knowledge of how to operate the digital world soared. I didn't go looking for technology, instead, it was something that emerged.
Since taking CEP 416, Teaching with Technology, here at MSU, my digital literacy has been jumpstarted. I am more eager than ever before to learn about the new technologies that are available for me to utilize. With no previous knowledge of online works, such as blogs, I stepped into the first day of class knowing that "blogging" was the dumbest word I'd ever heard. But really, I had no idea what it was. It was foriegn to me and I wasn't ready, quite yet, to give it a try.
However, after learning that my instructor had his entire class outlined online (via a blog), which made it so much more assessible to me than a paper copy that I may lose, I was ready to learn more.
Now I have experience with podcasting, making webpages, using Skype, creating wiki's, and all other sorts of new technologies that I can't wait to try and bring into my classroom.
One thing that has always been in the back of my mind, and was reiterated to me in the Tompkins chapter is that you have to reach students at their level. Whether you're working with preschoolers or college students, you, as the teacher, have to meet them at their level-and if multimedia stimulates their learning, why not use it?
I was able to identify with 4 out of the 6 terms (blogs, massive multiple player online games, instant messaging, wiki's) on the digital natives quiz.
In terms of the digital world and new technologies, I'm not a native. I grew up on a farm where we literally rode on the backs of pigs for fun instead of instant messaging our friends or posting online journals. My family didn't even own a computer until I was in Jr. high. We had no need for one; I used the computers at school whenever I needed to type something and to this day my parents rarely have any interactions between a keyboard and their fingertips.
I was introduced to technology via school, not home. This is a major difference between myself and the students that I work with in my field placement and I believe it is something to capitalize on. If the attraction of multi-media arouses my students then why wouldn't I want to use it?
Too many "experienced" teachers steer away from utilizing technology in their classrooms because they themselves are intimidated by the endless capabilities that are available to them. They don't want to learn new things to teach with; they have their lesson plans that they developed 25 years ago when they first started teaching and other than a few changes in benchmarks and/or district curriculum, those lessons haven't changed.
So I ask myself, am I native or an immigrant? It's clear to me that I moved into the digital world before I entered high school, and because I wasn't born into it, I'm not a native. But the term immigrant doesn't fit me either.
When I think of an immigrant, I think of someone who left where they once were to reach a better place, a place with more options and resources. There was a purpose for their departure fom wherever they were before to where they are now. However, technology was something that I believe just came to me; I didn't necessarily find it. School introduced us, but like a child acquring language, my knowledge of how to operate the digital world soared. I didn't go looking for technology, instead, it was something that emerged.
Since taking CEP 416, Teaching with Technology, here at MSU, my digital literacy has been jumpstarted. I am more eager than ever before to learn about the new technologies that are available for me to utilize. With no previous knowledge of online works, such as blogs, I stepped into the first day of class knowing that "blogging" was the dumbest word I'd ever heard. But really, I had no idea what it was. It was foriegn to me and I wasn't ready, quite yet, to give it a try.
However, after learning that my instructor had his entire class outlined online (via a blog), which made it so much more assessible to me than a paper copy that I may lose, I was ready to learn more.
Now I have experience with podcasting, making webpages, using Skype, creating wiki's, and all other sorts of new technologies that I can't wait to try and bring into my classroom.
One thing that has always been in the back of my mind, and was reiterated to me in the Tompkins chapter is that you have to reach students at their level. Whether you're working with preschoolers or college students, you, as the teacher, have to meet them at their level-and if multimedia stimulates their learning, why not use it?
Portfolio: Base Ten
What ideas about numbers and the base ten system have been highlighted for you by these readings, videos, discussions, and activities? What questions do you have?
My field placement has proved to be a challenge for me, personally, as a teacher candidate with hopes of teaching in an upper elementary setting. Working with Kindergartners who are learning how to count, how to spell, how to read, and other how to’s has forced me to step back and examine the reasons why I am pulled to upper elementary students. One advantage, that I see with working with older students, is that they already have a foundation of knowledge that supports the new material that they are introduced to; Kindergartners do not. Something as simple as using scissors varies depending on these settings—Kindergartners have to be taught how to hold the scissors and how to move their hands to make the scissors function where as fourth graders can be taught how to manipulate paper so that they can construct a woven project or create something that is more complex than learning how to use the scissors. Science, literacy, math are impacted in the same way.
The Kindergartners that I work with at Pleasant View are not comfortable yet with identifying numbers greater than 12 or 15. Almost every student in the class can count to 12 and there are a few who can count to 100 on their own. However, after watching the video in class today I feel like I have a much better understanding of why some kinds can say numbers aloud but not be able to recognize them on paper or write them. There are gaps in their knowledge and schematic composition of the base ten system.
The case studies that we have examined in class thus far help to give a more realistic view of classroom settings and what students may do. To complement the learning that I am gaining via the case studies, the Van de Walle text is right there to present the bigger picture of how the development of learning mathematics occurs within the minds of young children.
After being in my field placement and reading the different case studies, I’m wondering if some of the students who typically seem “distracted” are really just lost when my CT is talking. Each day the class begins with a counting of the number of days of school that have past. My CT uses a place value chart and straws. Each day a new straw is added to the ones pocket and if the ones pocket has 10 straws then they are bundled together and moved to the tens pocket. On days when a bundle is added to the tens pocket my CT guides a counting exercise that consists of counting from 1 to whatever number they are at (with the bundles of sticks). Some students gradually start to get quieter and quieter until there are only a few voices really sticking out as they approach 70, 71, 72, 73, etc…
I’m curious to interview a few of the students who I believe may be lost during this activity to gain better incite about their knowledge.
My field placement has proved to be a challenge for me, personally, as a teacher candidate with hopes of teaching in an upper elementary setting. Working with Kindergartners who are learning how to count, how to spell, how to read, and other how to’s has forced me to step back and examine the reasons why I am pulled to upper elementary students. One advantage, that I see with working with older students, is that they already have a foundation of knowledge that supports the new material that they are introduced to; Kindergartners do not. Something as simple as using scissors varies depending on these settings—Kindergartners have to be taught how to hold the scissors and how to move their hands to make the scissors function where as fourth graders can be taught how to manipulate paper so that they can construct a woven project or create something that is more complex than learning how to use the scissors. Science, literacy, math are impacted in the same way.
The Kindergartners that I work with at Pleasant View are not comfortable yet with identifying numbers greater than 12 or 15. Almost every student in the class can count to 12 and there are a few who can count to 100 on their own. However, after watching the video in class today I feel like I have a much better understanding of why some kinds can say numbers aloud but not be able to recognize them on paper or write them. There are gaps in their knowledge and schematic composition of the base ten system.
The case studies that we have examined in class thus far help to give a more realistic view of classroom settings and what students may do. To complement the learning that I am gaining via the case studies, the Van de Walle text is right there to present the bigger picture of how the development of learning mathematics occurs within the minds of young children.
After being in my field placement and reading the different case studies, I’m wondering if some of the students who typically seem “distracted” are really just lost when my CT is talking. Each day the class begins with a counting of the number of days of school that have past. My CT uses a place value chart and straws. Each day a new straw is added to the ones pocket and if the ones pocket has 10 straws then they are bundled together and moved to the tens pocket. On days when a bundle is added to the tens pocket my CT guides a counting exercise that consists of counting from 1 to whatever number they are at (with the bundles of sticks). Some students gradually start to get quieter and quieter until there are only a few voices really sticking out as they approach 70, 71, 72, 73, etc…
I’m curious to interview a few of the students who I believe may be lost during this activity to gain better incite about their knowledge.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Re: E-Notebook Submission
As of today, my plan is to focus my literacy lesson around the US Postal Service.
I want to incorporate the text The Jolly Postman and utilize what the students have been learning about writing letters. I hope to have the students write letters to each other during class and learn about address labels, return labels, and stamps to send the letters that they have written to each others houses.
There will also be a wrap-up discussion for this lesson once the students have received a letter from a peer at their home address.
Obviously, it's still a plan in progress; but it's more than I had the other day :)
I want to incorporate the text The Jolly Postman and utilize what the students have been learning about writing letters. I hope to have the students write letters to each other during class and learn about address labels, return labels, and stamps to send the letters that they have written to each others houses.
There will also be a wrap-up discussion for this lesson once the students have received a letter from a peer at their home address.
Obviously, it's still a plan in progress; but it's more than I had the other day :)
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