Writing

The past few weeks in class we have been looking at reading strategies and exploring how we can incorporate them into our different content areas. This week we bagan looking at writing strategies. In math, we probably won't do a lot of "essay writing," but I do like the idea of having students write out explanations when they are solving problems. By doing this, I of course am implementing that literacy component, but it also shows me that my students understand what they are doing. If they can  explain to me how they got the answer, then I know they understand the concept and they will most likely be able to do it in the future.

In middle school, math class starts to pick up speed. Students are expected to build on their basic math skills, memorize formulas, and learn step procedures for solving problems. Flow charts are commonly used as a pre-writing strategy, but they can also be great in math when learning step procedures. For example, see the picture below of a flow chart used to guide a student through factoring quadratic equations.

You're asking me?

Do you ever look around for an adult and then realize you are the adult? Yeah, that's happening to me a lot lately. Pretty soon we will not only be adults, but also teachers. Talk about responsibility overload. In each of our EDUC classes, we are being prepared to teach the little minds that will one day be in our classroom, but until this week I had not thought about the possibility of teaching "bigger minds." There may be an opportunity when we are asked to lead a faculty meeting, or to share a strategy that we use in our classroom (which, by the way, is something we should strive for because it probably means you're doing something right).
This week we had the chance to practice this. We were able to collaborate with each other and pull together reading strategies that could be used across multiple disciplines. Then, we presented our work to our "colleague(s)." In doing this we practiced multiple teacher standards by: demonstrating leadership in the school and in the teaching profession (NCPTS 1), working collaboratively with other teachers in the lives of our students (NCPTS 2), recognizing the interconnectedness of content areas (NCPTS 3), and taking steps towards professional growth (NCPTS 5).

On a side note, the semester is on that downhill plunge towards summer!

How Do You Read?

"How do you read?" is a hard question to answer. At this point in our lives reading is not something we think about. We just do it. So as (probable) future middle and high school teachers, we expect our students to "just read" something we hand them. Unfortunately, it is not always that simple. It is a scary fact that 19% of high school graduates cannot read (according to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2014). It is quite a possibility that a student will enter your classroom and not be able to read, or read below their grade level. So how do you tend to those students?

After today's guest speaker in (EDUC 316) class, I thought on this question. I did a little bit of research, and found a few ideas to ponder and attapt to fit my future classroom:

• Amend your materials to talking and listening activities
• Design assessments as oral (either for the whole class or just the student who can't read).
• *****Remember! Just because they can't read, doesn't mean they can't learn.
• Get parents involved. Encourage parents to read to their children, starting at infancy.
• If you do organize an activity around reading a text, either plan to devote yourself to helping the illiterate student through the activity, or assign the student a "work buddy." The work buddy should be someone who possesses patience and enjoys helping their peers. 
• You may have to spend extra time with this student, in class and after class. Don't be to busy for your students!
• Find resources for the student that can help them gain the literacy skills they need. 
• Be the teacher that goes above and beyond!

I am also taking ESOL 335 this semester and as I was researching ideas for differentiating for illiterate students, I realized I could also use these ideas to differentiate for ELLs (English Language Learners). ELLs are not necessarily "illiterate" but they too can struggle when it comes to reading academic texts. 

As teachers there will be times when a student enters our classroom and we have no idea how to teach them. That doesn't mean we should give up on that student and allow them to get left behind. Don't be afraid to research new methods. Get creative. Reach out to other teachers. There are umlimited resources out there for you to use. Some of the biggest parts of being a teacher are creating a classroom that is built for the learning of all diverse students (NCPTS 2), facilitating learning for all students (NCPTS 4), and reflecting on what can be done to improve academic achievement for all students (NCPTS 5).  

What Am I Doing?

 This week in class we took a look at rubrics. I received a few rubrics in high school but I honestly didn't use them much. In high school I found them as more of a nuisance. Looking back, I don't think I fully understood how to use them. Throughout my college career I have fallen in love with rubrics! If I don't have one I feel like I'm driving blind, especially on big assignments. Rubrics tell students exactly what the teacher/professor expects. It gives you a target to aim for and tells you exactly what you need to do to hit that target.

I don't know how frequently I will give my students rubrics in my math classroom. I could see creating one for a project, but I am also toying with the idea of giving students a rubric for the entire year. This rubric would tell students what I am expecting from them every day. It would include ideas like participation, completed homework, critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, respect towards teacher and peers, cooperation during group projects... They may or may not receive an official grade at the end of the year on some of these, but it would give students a sense of direction in my class as well as tell them what I expect of them as learners.

Rubrics allow the teacher to demonstrate leadership (NCPTS 1) as well as reflect on their practice (NCPTS 5). A teacher's expectations may sometimes be to high for the students. A rubric would allow the teacher to see how many students are reaching or exceeding her expectations and can make changes accordingly.

Love to Assess

On Valentines Day we discussed different types of assessments, which is a teachers favorite thing to do right? It may or may not be, however it is extremely important in the classroom.

There are 2 types of assessment that we, as teachers, are expected to utilize: formative and summative (or informal and formal in EdTPA terminology). The main goal of formative assessment is to allow the teacher to monitor student learning during the lesson, while providing feedback to the student. These assessments are not usually given a grade. Summative assessments tend to have higher stakes. They are given a specific grade and are used to measure the students' mastery of the learning standards. They are usually given at the end of a unit or chapter and at the end of the term/semester.

We also talked about "Assessent of-for-as Learning." Assessment of learning is a summative assessment where a grade is applied. It is given at the end of learning. Assessment for learning is a formative assessment which is on going during the lesson. Examples of these are tickets out the door, quizzes, homework.... Assessment as learning is where the student self assesses, or where peers provide feedback to one another. It is also on going during the lesson. Some examples of these are rubrics, peer feedback groups...

It is super important for a teacher to assess her (or his) students. A teacher always needs to know where their students are performing. If I had to pick one, I would say that formative assessment is more important. It allows the teacher to monitor student learning everyday. They are able to make sure that each student understands a concept before moving on. This helps every child to succeed. It also allows for a teacher to reflect on their practice (NCPTS 5) by helping them discover gaps in the students' learning. They are then able to adapt their teaching methods to better suit the class.

Research Overload

This week has brought the normal load of homework along with 2 tests, 3 papers to write, 5 articles to read, and a whole lot of research in not just one, but several of my classes. Overloaded only begins to describe my stress levels. I can't tell you how many times I have thought "I'll just do it later" or "what's it matter if I do this?" Of course, after a little bit of procrastination, I completed the work that needed to be done. I know that the assignments I'm doing in my EDUC and MATH classes are only meant to benefit me as a future teacher, even if they seem rigorous and annoying at the moment. There will come a day when those 2 tests turn into 2x10 (or more) tests to grade, those papers turn into lesson plans to write, and all that research becomes a search for a new method to teach a concept that my students didn't get the first time around. 

Luckily we are getting a head start on some of that research. This week in our EDUC 316 class we began looking at our BPH (Best Practices Handbook) assignment. Specifically, we are unpacking standards from the Common Core Literacy Anchor Standards and applying research based instructional strategies to teach those standards. Each person in the class is assigned a couple of different standards. However, the exciting part is that by the end of the semester we will have a collaborative piece of work that unpacks the Anchor Standards, and provides us with strategies to teach those standards! This is a great resource that we can take with us throughout the rest of our college career and into our future classrooms. 

I can apply several of the NC Professional Teacher Standards here. The first standard addresses teachers as a leader, which includes working collaboratively with other teachers. We can also look at the third standard which states that teachers know the content they teach. This includes that teachers should align their instruction with the North Carolina Course of Study, along with making the information relevant to the students. Thirdly, we can see standards 4 here, which instructs teachers to facilitate learning for their students. To accomplish this, teachers must always be utilizing and researching a variety of instructional methods. 

You Know?

I have heard "unpack your standards" a hundred times in all of my EDUC classes. However, I was never given much explanation on what that means and how to do it myself. In math I am able to go to www.dpi.state.nc.us, click on K-12 curriculum - Mathematics - Standard Course of Study, then I click on the appropriate grade level and the standards are already unpacked for me. This is the resource I have always used for lesson planning, so I was a little confused when I heard that we were going to learn how to unpack the standards.

This week we dove into unpacking our first standard. We did this using a KUD chart - Know, Understand, Do.

Know: What are the facts? The vocab? What are all the little pieces that the students need to know?

Understand: What are the concepts? How do all those little pieces come together to make a whole?

Do: What are the skills needed for the student to demonstrate understanding? What is a tangible piece of evidence that shows mastery?

I know more than I did in regards to unpacking standards, but I will admit I am still confused. I am sure with more practice and class discussion the light bulb will flicker. As a teacher it's important that I become competent in this area. Standard 3a of the NCTCS says "Teachers align their instruction with the NC Standard Course of Study. I can't do that if I don't have the skills to take a standard apart and apply it to my lesson appropriately.