I would use the information from the student profile surveys and the student interest survey in the book fullfilling the promise in differenting in many ways. First of all, I like that it is an opportunity to gain information about your students by those who know them best - themselves. I feel that a student would feel that you really care about them and trust them by asking them questions like these in addition to going to their parents. Their parents don't always know everything about them, and I know we can gain a little insight into their learning style from questions like these. I could use the information on these sheets for grouping students together for them to get exposure to other ways of learning, but also to be able to be paired up with those that are similar to them. Keeping Hallmark #1 in mind, it seems that you would know a fitting assessment for someone knowing what they enjoy, or what their strengths and weaknesses are. For example, someone who is very creative could do some form of art as an assessment of what they learned from a science unit about rocks. They could draw, or make rock art or something based on what they objectives of the lesson/unit.
I liked all the ideas from these sheets, but one thing I think could be good to ask the students would be to ask them what type of classroom environment do they feel most comfortable in/least comfortable in.
What are some relationships you see between this variety of inventory types, and what we are beginning to learn about differentiating content, or process, or product for readiness, or learning profile, or interest?
Obviously there are a variety of ways that we can assess a student's understanding. Most of these inventories seem to be a guide for students and teachers alike. They have guides for teachers in the form of anecdotal record helps, but they also have guides for students as they learn how they can help demonstrate not only their understanding, but their interest and their learning profile for when it comes to reading, writing, and other subjects.
I like that these inventories also have a step-by-step process for students who may have a hard time knowing exactly what to do, or what to check for in finished work. They had a checklist for stories that students can check off to make sure that the story has a beginning and an end as well as it has been checked for punctuation and etc. The student can also learn from forms like these as they check for different parts of a story, as these parts are explained in detail on the checklist sheet.
Overall these ideas were great for me to look at and things that I would definitely want to use as a teacher.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Blog Post #2
1) After reading the text, the definition of differentiation that makes the most sense to me starts on page 2 and ends on page 3. It speaks of differentiated instruction as "responsive" instruction. It also states that this happens as teachers become increasingly proficient in understanding their students as individuals, increasingly comfortable with the meaning and structure of the disciplines they teach, and increasingly expert at teaching flexibly in order to match instruction to student need with the goal of maximizing the potential of each learner in a given area.
I like how this definition uses the word flexible. I think that for a teacher to be able to have differentiated instruction, she needs to be extremely flexible as to accomodate all the differences that exist among his/her students.
2b) An insight that came from the reading this week has to do mainly with the students trait of accent within a classroom. I think this particularly struck a chord with me because I was one of those students that didn't really know where my place was in school, or in the classroom. Under this category it said that a teacher in a differentiated classroom attends to student emotions or feelings as well as to student cognition. In fact, the two are inextricably bound. I totally believe this to be true and often overlooked. A student, or really any person in any type of social setting, will not be successful in their endeavors until they "feel good about themselves, their work, and the classroom" (or society as a whole). This statement confirmed the importance of morning meetings in the classroom as it is an opportunity to build community within a class, but also for each individual to feel loved, and accepted as part of a group.
I like how this definition uses the word flexible. I think that for a teacher to be able to have differentiated instruction, she needs to be extremely flexible as to accomodate all the differences that exist among his/her students.
2b) An insight that came from the reading this week has to do mainly with the students trait of accent within a classroom. I think this particularly struck a chord with me because I was one of those students that didn't really know where my place was in school, or in the classroom. Under this category it said that a teacher in a differentiated classroom attends to student emotions or feelings as well as to student cognition. In fact, the two are inextricably bound. I totally believe this to be true and often overlooked. A student, or really any person in any type of social setting, will not be successful in their endeavors until they "feel good about themselves, their work, and the classroom" (or society as a whole). This statement confirmed the importance of morning meetings in the classroom as it is an opportunity to build community within a class, but also for each individual to feel loved, and accepted as part of a group.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Blog post 1
1) My favorite children's book is Seven Daughters and Seven Sons. I think it is more of a juvenile fiction book, but we read it in our Children's literature class. this is a book that I felt that I was able to identify with. I have always had a desire to go out and earn a living to help my parents and siblings. It worked well in the book, but I don't know how realistic it would be in real life.
2)Well, I don't really watch T.V. all that much. I do watch the office occasionally and find them humorous, but I am not obsessed like the rest of the world. The only show that I have recently watched religiously is the Suze Orman show, but it has gotten to the point where she says the same things over, and over, so I am getting bored with it. I guess the third would be HGTV Design Star. My husband and I used to watch it, but I don't even know when it is on anymore.
3) I don't really collect anything, but I love cooking and so I probably will eventually have a collection of cookbooks.
4) I don't keep a journal or a blog. I kept a journal religiously on my mission, but since I have been home, I haven't written in it once. It has almost been two years since I returned home.
5)career opportunities & choices
art or music appreciation
sports
6) Never taken art classes. I am not very good at art. I once had a boyfriend tell me that his 9 year old brother could draw better than I could. I don't have much of a knack for drawing. I may be better at other mediums.
7) I took piano lessons for many years, and had a wonderful teacher who also taught me how to teach music. I now teach piano to 21 students. I love teaching piano, and I love playing, but I am actually not that great at playing. I feel confidant in my teaching abilities, and my accompanying abilites if I am given the music a few days beforehand.
8)I took dance lessons when I was younger, and was actually pretty good in my class, but I am not as good at dancing as some of my sisters were, and that deterred me from continuing. I liked to be the best, and if I was not, I would quit.
9)Never done the drama thing. I probably am worse at drama than art. I don't like being in front of people.
10)I guess just that I love to take care of people. Children and adult alike. I like to find ways to make people happy, and make sure their needs are met.
2)Well, I don't really watch T.V. all that much. I do watch the office occasionally and find them humorous, but I am not obsessed like the rest of the world. The only show that I have recently watched religiously is the Suze Orman show, but it has gotten to the point where she says the same things over, and over, so I am getting bored with it. I guess the third would be HGTV Design Star. My husband and I used to watch it, but I don't even know when it is on anymore.
3) I don't really collect anything, but I love cooking and so I probably will eventually have a collection of cookbooks.
4) I don't keep a journal or a blog. I kept a journal religiously on my mission, but since I have been home, I haven't written in it once. It has almost been two years since I returned home.
5)career opportunities & choices
art or music appreciation
sports
6) Never taken art classes. I am not very good at art. I once had a boyfriend tell me that his 9 year old brother could draw better than I could. I don't have much of a knack for drawing. I may be better at other mediums.
7) I took piano lessons for many years, and had a wonderful teacher who also taught me how to teach music. I now teach piano to 21 students. I love teaching piano, and I love playing, but I am actually not that great at playing. I feel confidant in my teaching abilities, and my accompanying abilites if I am given the music a few days beforehand.
8)I took dance lessons when I was younger, and was actually pretty good in my class, but I am not as good at dancing as some of my sisters were, and that deterred me from continuing. I liked to be the best, and if I was not, I would quit.
9)Never done the drama thing. I probably am worse at drama than art. I don't like being in front of people.
10)I guess just that I love to take care of people. Children and adult alike. I like to find ways to make people happy, and make sure their needs are met.
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