Online+Class+-+Sat.+April+27,+2013

4/27/13 Online Class
 * This week's class consists of 2 "new" items:**

1. **Check in** - Click on the "Discussion" link in the menu at the far left of the page. Check in with us! How are you doing? What did you think about the Anti-Racist, Anti-Bias conference last weekend?

2. **Text Discussion - Chapter 2, 3, 4 of the Wormeli Text (see below)** Add your responses to the following questions from each chapter. Please respond to your classmates' responses later in the week, but before Friday May 3 at 12:00 midnight. Thanks. Make sure you add your name to your responses. PLEASE SAVE OFTEN SO YOU DON't LOSE YOUR OR YOUR CLASSMATES' COMMENTS!!!

3. Continue writing your chapter 3 of your action reserach. You should be at least 1/2 writing the first draft by now. Your final "draft" is due 5/25 - less than a month away. This "draft" will include the ENTIRE paper - chapt 1-3.

__Discussion of Fair Isn't Always Equal Text__

__Chapter 2 -__


 * A. (p. 12) Which of the Mctighe, Wiggins' 6 facets do you feel would be hardest to develop in students in mastery of some content/topic? Describe why you think this is so.**

I would say SELF-KNOWLEDGE the reason that I would pick this one is because a lot of children have a lot of trouble applying thing to themselves. They do not know how to relate it to things in there life. ~Tiaa

I would say either explanation or application. My mind automatically goes to math word problems!!! At least for first graders explaining their thinking is EXTREMELY challenging. I go back to when I interviewed my students earlier this year for a word problem and I was blown away by how hard it was for them to explain how they solved the problem using words. A lot of them just wanted to say that’s just what my brain did. I really had to prompt them through their thinking and even then it was still difficult for them. Not sure if it’s because they don’t have the vocabulary or just experience talking about their thinking. It was definitely an interesting activity to do with them. Christen

I would say Perspective, which I feel includes the ability to interpet and explanation. It is hard to get the students to evaluate or critic their work, explan their planning or thought process. You have to set up a situation where as they share along the process. Now I have seen this happen in my 1st grade science sessions MPS had kits with about 5 projects for exploration on one topic "Pullies". I introduced the activities and material and the job descriptions then let the students form groups and select which project activity they wanted to work on and with each activity the students were assigned jobs this caused every one to work and talk out their part or action. There was more sharing in this type of assignment than I could allow them time. They worked cooperatively, gave suggestions and made their project function. No group failed to complete with all parties participating. I liked it because it brought out the skills of several students that were not the cream of the crop and they were well recieved for their thoughts and abilities. This gave them a new status in class with the other students. I think this is when differentialtion works and I loved the job of observation. A great assessment tool. Denise

In my opinion, I feel that having my students APPLY what they have learned is the most difficult. When teaching new skills, students come across as if they understand the concepts being tuaght. But if you give them a different scenerio in which they are to apply what they have learned, they seem to not remember and will use any strategy that they know and that strategy most of the time does not apply. That's when I have to go back and reteach, as well as, give specific scenerios or problems that certain skills that apply. A perfect example is when students are doing story problems where they are told that "John has 53 cents and Jimmy has 42 cents. How much more cents does John have than Jimmy?" The majority of my students will wnat to add the two amounts and not realize that this is a problem that is asking for the difference- which they need to subtract ocompare amounts by pairing up the amounts to find what's left over. ~Caryn =Mastery is...=
 * B. Finish this statement using your OWN understanding and knowledge and experience with Mastery:**

MASTERY is........knowing some well enough to recite it or do it without looking. Basically being able to do something with the knowledge of perfection~Tiaa

Mastery is the ability to apply what you have learned in another situation. Alverno states "validation" able to use the skill in a life instance; for example using vocabulary words in your general conversation or using counting skills to make change. Denise

Denise i agree with you. I think that what you said is what I was trying to say. I really couldn't get it out the same way though. I think that when you master something you are able to use something that you have learned in a different situation. Such as cpr skills when you have to really put them to use.~Tiaa

I would say that you have mastered something when you can apply it to a real life situation with no prompts or assistance. When you can apply it cross-categorically as well and integrate your knowledge of that topic or skill into other areas. Mastery is also when you can break it down and teach it to anothe person. That's where that "explanation" comes in. ~Christen

MASTERY means knowing a skill or concept so well that you can apply it to certain situations which makes solving problems easier. MASTERY is also knowing which concept or skill to use that fits best for a specific problem.~Caryn

Tia-Good example with the CPR. Using a skill when it really matters! Definately!

I think we have mastered the termit's the ability to apply what you have learned actively in another situation. Denise


 * c. What do you personally have mastery of in your own life (based on your definition from above)**

I would say that I have personally learned how to master how to cook certain food dishes. I am now able to make things like dressing without having to look at a recipe and do not have to measure the ingredients anymore~Tiaa

I have mastery of money management, I shop clerance, off season and on bonus or with coupons, I pay bills prior to the date to avoid finance charges. I charge what I can pay off in 2 payments, this to maintain credit usage and show good faith of payments. I have been a shop alholic, so now I use what I have on hand. I only purchase what is needed at present. I save much more and am savy when I make a purchase. Denise In a classroom I have mastered bringing the lessons to the students level and finding manipulatives to match the skill to be taught, even if I have to develop an activity. I have made assessments, activities and games. Most recently I made flip flash cards for the word families.

Go ahead Densie. I would say that I am working on how to master my money management. I do shop on the clearance and my husband laughs at me but I am saving my money while he is buying high price jeans ,lol. I would say as far as my classroom I have learned to master how to get the children to learn how to count to 100 and say all of the letters of the alphabet.~Tiaa

I have mastered water skiing. I learned how when I was in 3rd grade but I have continually gotten better and can now even teach others how to do it. I can problem solve when I am doing it and can do it with ease now! ~Christen

When it comes to my classroom, I feel I have mastered creating a system for teaching my students their sight words. ~Christen

I like that you are so active in sports, water sking is something I want to do. Jamaica I agree we need to acknowledge the successes we see in our class. Great job ladies! Denise

I would say that I have mastered setting up my classroom so that students feel comfortable in their stations and as well as when they are working independently. I have stations that are quartered off by book shelves, carpets and signs so that my students know where they shoul be at what time during stations. I also have a rotation schedule that students read so that they know what station they should be in at what time. (Some students still have trouble figuring out where they should be, Oh well! Maybe I haven't mastered that. Personally, I feel like I haven't mastered much of anything. Maybe I have, but I don't feel that way. ~Caryn

__Chapter 3__ **-** I think some of the lesson practices, chapter reviews and unit reviews are coaching, nuturing tools since usuallly they are asking you to apply what you have just covered in a form of ssummary or applying in some form of application of the knowledge to have been recieved formthe material covered. Denise An example of this is I was working on Genre- Advertisements- my directive for the students was to make a poster selling a product of their choice and I referred them to the 5 bullet points of what is part of an advertisement. Therefore the students were to include these 5 points in their creative way. ( name, cost, company, specific details of the product for convience, availability or place of purchase)
 * A. The author states that assessment is "a coaching, nurturing tool." Describe a specific assessment in your own teaching/classroom that proves this. Please provide details.**

One of the assessments that i use in my classroom is the assessment of number order. The children have to be able to put the numbers one to ten in the correct order. by doing this assessment i am able to see who knows how to identify the numbers and who can put them in the right order. by using this assessment i am able to help the children who are not able to put the numbers in the correct order. ~Tiaa

I feel like this assessment needs to be "open-ended" not final. Keeping a students growth in mind. I would say an on-demand writing sample given at the beginning of a unit would be very good coaching and nurturing tool because it would allow you to see where the student is or their prior knowledge. You can then set individual goals for them it would allow you to nurture their specific needs throughout the unit.If an assessment is going to be used as a coaching tool or to nurture it really should not be an assessment given at the end of a unit. It should be on-going and formative rather than summative.~Christen

I like the idea of an active assessment Tia, I have worked with my K5 student on alphabets like upper case, lower case, matching, penmanship, sounds and order. They were given the curriculum post test and It appears I havve done nothing. I think it is the formate, and that they need to be tested individuallly where as they would have focused better. I was beside myself. so on tha MAPS and the next test I am doing 1-2 at a time so they will focus and I can watch. ChristienI think in theis groups case nuturing is vital and formative is at their best interest. Denise

In my opinion, writing assignments really lend themselves to be coaching and nurturing tools. Not only do my students receive feedback from me on punctuation, captiol letters, and spelling, they also discuss with me how to make their writing piece more interesting. There is also peer coaching that happens during writer's workshop. I feel that students learn a great deal from each other. Before students conference with me, they must conference with a friend at their table. Writing can show growth in spelling, using words correctly in context, and their understanding of when to use punctuation correctly.~Caryn

I think that remembering to do formative assessments along the way is difficult sometimes. There is just so much to do and to get through sometimes I feel like it's easier to just pummel through to the end, without thinking about how you are getting there and who is getting left behind until it's too late. That's why it is so important to really not only play day to day, but plan out a unit and look at where you want to be in the end and plan how you are going to get them there keeping these "stopping pionts" in place to check for understanding before it's too late! ~Christen
 * B. Based on the content from chapter 3, what do you feel is/would be the hardest thing to implement related to assessment in a differentinated classroom setting?**

After reviewing the chapter it makes since to plan a unit to get the max for the minumim, the lessons are layed out for a length of time but in actualality we don't get that type of time for a lesson or unit because of the school events and routines. Therefore we are subjected to grasp the quick teach it fast and hope they stay on the train as it's moving; but the goal is to reach each one as you travel through the lessons and unit. The assessment is to ensure in a valadiatable way others can see that the students have grasp the information. (government funding, evaluations) Over my years as a classroom teacher it has been hard to teach in curriculums that require alot of prep and set up with manipulatives and resource books using several manuals these type of kits, because you start out ok but as time moves throughout the semester you aren't as effective as you started out. My challenge was sharing manuals one is not available when you need it or the material was not purchased and you have to figure out how to suppliment it, making diagrams and copies. You tire of the battle. Loosisng sight of the goal the child is important rather than staff and deadlines. I will admit I was creative but if the curriculum requird you to fill out students report on bench marks as the curriculum designated I was off track. I covered it but not as they desired. I like the formative method it's stregthed out over time and slower workers get to finally bloom. Denise

The hardest thing to implement in my opinion is to create, or tweek already made assessments to use with students who are learning at different levels. The easy way is to give all of my students the same assessment, but I know that really is not fair to the student who is working below level or to the student that is working above level. How does a teacher keep track of assessments at different levels but yet and still assess the same skill for every student. ~Caryn

__Chapter 4__ -
 * A. Which of the three "important types of assessment" do you feel most comfortable using in your teaching/classroom? Why?**

I would say I am most comfortable with rubrics. We use rubrics for our grades at my school and so I have had a lot of practice using them. It's nice because expectations are clearly stated and leave little room for argument when your expectations are objective. They can be a little crazy when your expectations are subjective and leave room for interpretation. This is most difficult in writing and reading comprehension. Otherwise, I really enjoy using rubrics to assess. They also allow for growth and look for what has been learned rather than penalize for the journey of learning to get where they need to be. ~Christen
 * I think out of the three "important types of assessment" i feel the most comfortable using the** //student self-assessment.// **The reason why i choose this one is because i feel that i do a lot of different self assessments and not all of them are are purposely done. I do self assessments when i plan them and also when i just walk around the room to see if the students get what they are suppose to be doing. We have student check off list of what they should have learned in the unit. I go around and check off the students as i see them complete the task or tasks. ~Tiaa**

I like the Student Self Assessment,because I always try to teach the students it's what YOU know that counts. I liked the ideal of holding them responsible for their learning once they see it's up to them they try harder, sork to learn more are more attentive and affected by what they do on assignments, participation and test. I feel that the school I taught at with the Target teach program required the studetns to understand what they were being evaluated on by what rubric and standards. the teachers were required to have conferences woththe students and review their work for the scoring. i found that they took more interest in their responces. They were critical of others meeting the mark and assisted peers because they wanted all the class to do well. The more skillls gained it made the lessons easier and more exciting. We could up the anty- increase the skill level. Denise

I like to use the Student Self Assessment, and I would like to include peer coaching assessment as well. When students have a rubric or list of things that should be incorporated in their assignments, they take responsibility for their work. It's not a guessing game as to what their work should look like or include. Students are able to go down a list/rubric to see what they,ve done well and what needs to be changed. When a friend looks over their work, students do not seem as threatened as when a teacher looks over it. I know that peer assessment cannot be used with all assessments, but it works very well with some. Self Assessments gives students power and a feel of accomplishment of what skills and concepts they can do idependently of my teaching.~Caryn

I am least comfortable using student-self assessment. Mostly because until this year, I had never really tried it. I see the value in using it and it gives you a lot of insight. I just have not used it but plan on using this more next year. ~Christen
 * B. Which of the three "important types of assessment" do you feel the least comfortable using in your teaching/with your student? Why?**
 * I think out of the three "important types of assessment" i feel the least comfortable using the //rubric// in my teaching/ with my students. The reason for this is because I do not really understand how to create one that would fit for my k4 students. I would think that it would need to be so basic that it would be pointless. I think grading the assignments would be more effective and understanding for the students in k4.~Tiaa**

The rubric it was more subjective to me as I used it and I felt I was very rigid for the first 15- students and gave more leaway after the initial ones. I felt inconsistency- In our target teach program we had to have writting samples and it was a challenge being equal to all. We later did not score our owm class then i felt more rigid wipping the children out via the rubic. I really did not like it, I felt like a meany. Denise

The type of assessment that I feel the least comfortable with using are Portfolios. I would love to use porfolios with my students and I have tried to use them, but it seemed as though I had any and every piece of work I could get in those portfolios. Porfolios are supposed to show growth and are not folders where you place all a child's work in. Maybe if I create a list of what should go into portfolios would make them more powerful and really show the growth of child through first grade. I'm thinking maybe one piece of work from each core curriculum for each trimster of the school year. ~Caryn