Inspiration

From the NEAToday

This is a page from the NEAtoday. The top had to be cut off in order to get close enough to see the text but the top says According to NEA Today Facebook fans, the best part of being an educator is                       . And the following tree was created with all the different posts. I just thought that this would be a nice closing to my MLB. This whole tree are reasons I want to teach, and I am very excited to become a teacher and to experience moments like these. And on days when I feel frustrated and stressed I can come back to this page to remember why I chose this career.

ORF distribution and Progress

One of our assignments for field was to perform an ORF on the student we were tutoring at field. I could not complete this since he was completing tests all morning and I was not allowed to take him out of class. We were told if we could not complete this to write about how we think our student has progressed.
     My student started the year as a shy unmotivated and unfocused student. We did repeated timed readings every week to work on his fluency, and he enjoyed completing these activities "it's like I'm competing against myself" his exact words. The other part of reading that my student struggled with was making inferences and comprehension in general. We worked on multiple strategies for working on comprehension, and he frequently was required to complete these activities at home. At the beginning he did not complete them but once we found out a strategy that would help him remember he started completing them and based on the completed enrichment activities he was grasping the concepts and improving.
     My student also had a lot of trouble with spelling and writing. His writing was clumped together, you could not make out any words and he had a lot of trouble with spelling, and when asked to sound them out he would usually just turn to me and ask again how to spell it. We worked on his sounding out skills, and before he started his journal entries we made goals that had to do with his writing. One of the main goals was for him and his teachers to be able to read his writing. He has made great progress towards this goal and has gotten into the habit of placing spaces between his words. Overall I believe my student made proficient progress in both reading and writing. 

Chapter 16: Professional Roles and Responsibilities

The above image is a mind map created using the site popplet.com.
I wanted to use another tool that does mind mapping because this site has a lot of excellent features for students. It is a collaborative mind map. If I gave the other people viewing this blog permission they could add as well. Unfortunately no one who is viewing this blog has a popplet account yet. Part of a professional teachers job. I believe, is finding new types of technology that will support their students' learning, and this is something I have just displayed.

The above video from youtube is secondary students answering the question: what makes a good teacher? While it is secondary students most of them are putting into words what younger students can't. Hearing these opinions from students is a lot more meaningful than hearing it from a professor (no offense Dr. Mize). In my future classroom I will frequently reflect on my teaching and get input from students is they are old enough to understand what I am asking.

Chapter 6: Instructional Resources

Basal Readers

Basal readers in my opinion are not the best resource to use when teaching literacy. In most of the placements I have been in they have used basal readers. Most of the time when I was to teach a lesson however both cooperating teachers that used it encouraged me to pick a section and make my own lesson based off of the skill, they wanted the students to be introduced to a different routine so it wasn't the same thing. From this experience I can say that the students responded positively, they loved doing something that wasn't in the basal reader. From class discussion I took notes about the advantages and disadvantages of using a basal reader. After completing two field placements with basal readers being used I have observed that teachers would lean more on the negative side of the scale.
     The chapter in the book discusses using online resources for teaching writing and reading skills. I am a huge supporter of this idea! One such online tool that I have used before for teaching literacy are e- books, they are great for students because they are easily accessible and the students can go back to the site anytime to read the book again or a different book if they want. To help students work on writing the teacher could have students create their own blog so that the teacher can interact and provide feedback as well as fellow peers.

Chapter 5: Instructional Environment/ Context

Part of this chapter puts an emphasis on teachers figuring out what their beliefs are when it comes to learning and teaching. To model this I am posting my mission statement for my future classroom that I created my sophmore year in SED272.

Mission Statement

            I believe that the classroom should be a safe and secure environment in which my job is to support the moral, emotional, physical, and intellectual development of each student. To this end I will create opportunities for the students to experience and apply respect, responsibility, and leadership.

During class we brainstormed context/ environment in which we prefered to study and learn. Below is a floorplan of a classroom I created during my sophmore year of college. Using the program skitch.com I added notes about things I would change looking at my design today, and I listed some of the things we brainstormed during class about my personal beliefs about the instructional setting. 

In the future when I am teaching I must remember this list about my learning environment since it will have an influence on my students' learning. 

Election Time!

Retrieved from the Fall edition of NEAtoday magazine.

A simplified version of the two pages from above retrieved from Google images.
It is clear after looking at these two platforms that education has a better future with Obama. As the image above states Obama wants to invest more in education while Romney's plan could end up cutting $2.7 billion from programs for low income students and special education up to $2.2 billion. Romney's plan does not make it necessary for schools to take action when students are struggling. This is important when it comes to what we are studying in this class because Romney's plan doesn't require that students who might be struggling in reading writing or math receive the help they need to catch up and the students will just fall further behind, and their motivation to take part in learning will decrease until they get to high school and decide to drop out. Obama's plan motivates teachers to do the best job they can to give the support to their students when they need it. Another issue that relates to our SED342 class is Mitt Romney's plan for the cutting of funding to special education. This is very concerning because we need that funding to give students all the supports they need to succeed. I was disappointed in most of the debates where both candidates are at fault of skating over our education issue. I at least expected Obama to touch on it. But there was nothing. This makes me feel like they don't care as much about education as everything else. I know that other things are important but if our education system doesn't improve how do they expect our society to improve? I am voting for the candidate I feel will put us on track to a better education system.Who will you vote for?

Chapter 4

Complete this "adventure" for chapter 4:

1. All of the following are guidelines for assessment except:
a. Be systematic
b. Match assessment to purpose and to instruction
c. Assess continuously
d. Involve parents in the grading process

2. One of the main reasons for completing assessments is to:
a. simply get get a grade for a student
b. figure out a student's weaknesses only
c. promote reflection and self assessment
d. figure out where the student should be placed in the classroom

3. How often should assessment occur?
a. once a month
b. it should be ongoing
c. once a week
d. at the end of each unit.

4. All of these might be included in a diagnostic portfolio except:
a. work samples
b. miscue analysis
c. a list of student allergies
d. observations of reading and writing behaviors

5. What is the most effective way a teacher can share a portfolio?
a. give it to the students' parents
b. hold a conference with each student to explain and discuss certain artifacts
c. simply give the portfolio to the student
d. portfolios should not be given to students they are for the teachers use only.

6. When conducting a parent teacher conference the following are guidelines except:
a. meet in a private and confidential setting
b. use jargon
c. Clarify the purpose of the meeting
d. Be tactful

7. What is the most neglected source of information regarding a student's performance?
a. their parents
b. the student
c. specialists that work with the student
d. observations made during class

8. What is a diagnostic portfolio?
a. organized and intentional collections of data
b. it helps diagnose a student with a disability
c. it determines the placement of a student
d. it diagnoses a student with a medical condition

9. What guideline means making sure the assessment is relatable and relevant?
a. assess meaningful activities in appropriate contexts
b. be systematic
c. match assessment to purpose and instruction
d. assess continuously

10. What part of the assessment- instruction process model does this chapter cover?
a. getting started with assessment
b. Reflection, decision making, and planning
c. evaluating the context
d. both a and c

Answer key: 1.d, 2.c, 3. b, 4.c, 5.b, 6.b, 7.b, 8.a, 9.c, 10.d

Some information was taken from the article: Diagnostic- reflective Portfolios by Ann Courtney and Theresa Abodeeb and can be found in the Academic Search premier database.
Pictures retrieved from google image database

I decided to create my own "adventure" for this chapter to show what I learned from the chapter by picking out questions that might be included on an actual "adventure." Since the theme for this chapter was assessment I decided that creating an assessment for this chapter would be the best way to represent it. The reason I am calling this an adventure instead of a quiz is because Professor Wile always told me that students are less likely to panic if the word quiz, assessment, or test are not used. He always labeled his assessments as adventures and from personal experience I can say that this did actually relieve some of the stress. It's amazing what one simple word can do.

Chapter 15 and Math Article

Try to fill out this crossword puzzle based off the article we read for class.

NO CHEATING! DON'T LOOK AT THE ANSWER KEY UNTIL YOU'VE TRIED IT!

Here is the answer key:

The reason i decided to create a crossword puzzle about the article we read was to tie the article and the chapter from the textbook together. Part chapter fifteen discusses studying and study guides. Looking at my personal study preferences I love when teachers create study guides but create study guides that are fun for me to fill out. I am more likely to remember the information if I enjoyed reviewing it. By creating a fun puzzle for studying like the above crossword puzzle, a student will be having fun and studying at the same time.

Chapter 13: Word Recognition, Fluency, and Spelling

Hop on Pop
This was the book that my dad used to teach me to read. We read it every night because I liked the rhyming. Little did I know, my dad was teaching me a skill I would need for my future teaching career. For those unfamiliar with the book I have pasted a video of the book being read below.

During reading if I came to a word I struggled with like mouse but I was fine with house my dad would point out the spelling to me and ask if they looked the same. We would perform the compare and contrast method mentioned from this chapter. Along with improving my word recognition skills this book helped me with my fluency. What my dad and I were performing was repeated readings which gave my confidence a boost. This is a very easy read so it would be better to use this in the early years but as I moved on to harder books my dad could still go back and reference Hop on Pop to scaffold me while reading. I'm not saying that this is the only Dr. Seuss book that is good for this, it's just the one that sticks with me because it was used in my reading instruction, but most of Dr. Seuss's books would work for the strategies listed in this chapter. You could use them for word sorts, for sounds, or families, and his books could inspire integration of other content areas like math and science.

     The way I would extend this as a teacher is to have the students do word ladders. This gives them the opportunity to manipulate the words and play with different spellings but gives them that connection between different words.
Questions that popped up while reading:
The end of the chapter mentions creating spelling lists that are appropriate and that students can read. If a teacher is using multiple Dr. Seuss books for word study could they create a list of spelling words from this theme?
Is there some type of technology that has been developed to support these skills?
How many teachers actually follow the guidelines and strategies described in this chapter?
Do all basal readers support the development of these skills and have ways of adapting for students who are struggling?

Chapter 12: Getting Started in Instruction

Effective Reading Instruction Article
This entry connects ideas from the text and the above article that I found online.
After looking over the chapter before reading it I saw that part of it discusses a KWL chart which gave me the inspiration for part of this entry. I didn't have enough room to explain things in further detail so below you will find an expansion and connection between ideas.
Familiar reading: Confidence builder, warm up for instruction ex) repeated readings- the teacher chooses short text or section of text for student to read over and over
Guided Reading: support student in development of new reading knowledge, as well as support reading comprehension. ex) KWL chart- modeled above- excellent way to activate background knowledge.
Guided Writing:  support student in development of new writing skills and provides opportunities for practice. ex) interactive writing- teacher shares a pen, literally and figuratively, with one or more students as they create a written text collaboratively. Can take any form such as: lists, notes, letter etc. but must have real purpose and audience.
Word Study: Students learn the structure of words and relationships. ex) word sorts- students are given pictures, words, or sounds and they must sort them according to the relationship or structure requested. A great and fun way for students to visually see the relationships.
Sustained Reading and Writing: promote power and fluency. ex) Sustained silent reading- students read independently for a certain amount of time. Dialogue journals- written exchanges between teacher and student just like a conversation, spelling and grammar are not corrected, not graded.
From the article I read the author gave an outline as well: The Six T's.
Time: R&W versus stuff ratio: the exemplary teachers from the article had their students reading for as much as half the school day. In the sustained silent reading section the text emphasizes how important it is for students to receive that independent reading time to extend their reading and practice reading strategies on their own.
Texts: Students need a rich supply of books they can actually read. When students had texts that they could read their motivation to read shot up. This ties in with the section of the chapter talking about the literacy environment and materials. Materials have to be challenging but appropriate, but there also needs to be texts that are easy reads for students to raise their confidence levels and motivate them.
Teaching: In the classrooms the author went into he observed that most of the teachers were not using the scripted manuals a lot of schools require. They were also not using drill and practice worksheets. In the article the author states that this type of instruction is of little benefit to all but the few students who have already mastered the skill. If you give a students a worksheet to fill in the missing vowel, only the children who already know this will be able to fill it in, and the students who don;t know how to fill it in will not learn by filling out the worksheet. The worksheet is an assessment not an instructional tool. This section was very important to me because I feel like most school districts rely too much on drill and practice worksheets, and that is not effective instruction. The author wrote that the teachers he observed were modeling useful strategies such as decoding strategies, composing strategies, and self regulating strategies. This part of the article would tie in perfectly/ be a great way of introducing the lesson framework.
Talk: As stated in earlier chapters the idea of emergent literacy and the importance of the development of language and socialization between students is important for reading proficiency. The author observed the teachers encouraging more talk both student to student, and teacher to student. The type of talk was different as well it wasn't chatter it was problem posing, problem solving talk that was related to the subject material they were learning about.
Tasks: Another aspect of these teachers classrooms that the author observed was they used longer assignments and put less emphasis on filling the days with small short tasks. They worked on writing tasks for ten days or more, they read whole books, and they did individual and small group research projects. All of these activities integrated multiple content areas. Under this section the author introduces the idea of student choice playing a big role in student motivation and engagement. In these classrooms most of the teachers gave the students a choice of what they wanted to do or which book they wanted to read during SSR.
Testing: This is the last T of the section. In the classrooms observed the teachers graded based on effort and improvement rather than on achievement. The author also emphasized that the teachers did not do any test preparation for standardized tests. They believed that good instruction lead to enhanced test performance. They also believed that assessment should be used to evaluate teaching strategies to make sure their instruction is giving the students everything they need.
After reading the chapter from the text and the article they both weave in and out of each other. I will be using both in my future classroom to remember how to create effective instruction.

Week 4

 This week included readings of chapters 7 and 11 and in class we watched a video introducing us to John Sinnett and his kindergarten class. This video connected a lot with chapter 7 and this idea of emergent literacy. There were a few things from this video that I connected with chapter 7.
     The first connection I made was when Mr. Sinnett said "If they are ready to start reading they should be reading." This reminded me of the section in chapter 7 talking about readiness and how instruction in reading would not occur until they believed they were ready to read. These students are in kindergarten and they are already reading. In our class notes we discussed that students actually come in to school knowing things about language, and writing and reading. They know that the words on the page have meaning, and that letters have sounds that coincide with them, and they understand that reading is done left to right across a page. But as teachers we must emphasize these skills.

     Another thing that stuck out in the video was the morning message they
completed. The picture up top is an example of one similar to the one in the video.
He created an interactive morning message that extends the learning, so students aren't just reading anymore, they are using context clues, and different reading strategies to figure out the missing words and letters. Another way to include interaction in the morning message is to include an activity at the end like the second example of a morning message. In one of my field placements my cooperating teacher did this along with the interaction included in the message. The kids enjoyed this very much, they were all involved and loved making the corrections to spelling, grammar, or word order. They all felt very accomplished afterwards. The morning message is also a great opportunity for a teacher to model reading. Mr. Sinnett was doing this in his classroom. He used a pointer as his anchor and showed them direction and reading strategies.

     Something else discussed in the chapter, class, and the video was the idea of temporary spelling. In the early years it is important for teachers to encourage attempted writing. In the video the students were writing in their journals. Using their drawings as their plans they wrote a sentence about the picture they drew. Meanwhile the teacher encouraged them to write down all letters that they knew might be in a word or the letters they hear. He was not looking for correctness he was just looking for the fact that they recognize that each letter has a sound, and that what they are writing means something to them. He states that if after they have written and they can say what the words they wrote mean, he is a happy teacher. It is important for students to understand that there is meaning behind the words they see in a book, and this was a great strategy to use to help them see that. I will definitely be using a lot of the strategies he used in the video, especially the morning message and journals.

Assessment Instruction Process and RTI

Image retrieved from: SED285 notes
The image above is a picture of the Response to Intervention(RTI) model mentioned in chapter three. The model is a three tiered model designed to help instructors identify students with disabilities early. Students begin in tier one, the general education classroom, and receive high quality education, and the teachers monitor the students. If a student is struggling in tier one they move to tier two where they receive smaller group instruction. Tier three is the last tier a student will go to to receive instruction from a special ed teacher or specialist. "The RTI model was designed to test the effectiveness of one or more interventions for individual student's strengths and weaknesses to determine if the observed difficulties can be addressed without the need for special education.

Image retrieved from SED344 text

This image shows the 8 step model for the Assessment- Instruction Process (AIP). This model starts with gathering background information and beginning the assessment process and takes you through the processes of evaluating the context (learning situations, and the environment in which reading/writing are taking place) evaluating the learner, and then evaluating the match between these two components. Once the instructor has completed these evaluations they must reflect, make decisions, and plan instruction that creates this match between the learner and the context using diagnostic teaching. Throughout this process they must continue to adapt their instruction and monitor, and complete the last step which is reporting everything.

The image above compares these two models. The important thing to note about both models is that they both work towards finding the perfect match between the learner and the context in which they are learning. The RTI model is more general than the AIP model it is a guide that instructors can follow to move students into an instructional setting that will give them more support. The AIP model could be implemented in tier one of the RTI model, because in tier one the general education teacher is supposed to monitor and use research based instruction and assessments to keep track of learning which is what the assessment instruction process is all about.

Chapter 2

This image represents the six things needed for a reader to be successful. This picture reflects the "Give Me Five" article that we read for class outlining the five different things that teachers need to use in their reading instruction. The one difference between this model and the give me five article is that this model adds the print concepts to the process of learning how to read. I thought this was a very great picture to illustrate the give me five point of view where all branches lead to a successful reader. I like that they put comprehension last in this picture because I believe that all the other parts of the give me five such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary lead to comprehension. The mind map below illustrates my notes from the chapter which tie into the ideas presented in the "Gimme Five" article.


Create your own mind maps at MindMeister

Chapter 1

This word cloud summarizes important ideas from chapter one a big one being that writing and reading should be taught together to increase the student learning experience. These two processes piggy back off of each other.

This video connects with the word cloud above. This woman talks about using reading to teach writing skills and agrees that it is important to teach these two processes together rather than separately.