Weekly Blog #3

A definite highlight from last week was starting the chemistry unit. The end of our last on biomes and ecosystems didn’t involve a lot of lab work which the students really enjoy. This whole week has been conducting an experiment on finding the “mystery mixture” with deductive reasoning and observations of 9 known substances. It was a lot of fun to let the students’ use the process of elimination and to try new tests that might reveal to them what the mystery mixture was. Each day we would progressively move closer to what the substance was and that kept students very engaged. It was a good lab to break into our chemistry unit as well because it reminded and taught them their lab procedures that I know I never received in middle school.

Something that made me think a little differently about kids was a girl who finally made it back into class after missing 10 days. She missed 10 days not because she was sick but because her parents took her to California without picking up any of her work. I was actually stressing out for her when she got back because knowing myself I would’ve been out of my mind thinking I could never get back on track. She on the other hand apologized for being absent, asked for her work, and got right back into the swing of things. I was amazed by her composure in that moment but then I was also amazed with her willingness to come forward and ask for help. I guess her predicament would’ve been way out of my comfort zone at her age and I realized I should expect a lot from my students because they can rise to the occasion. 

I will definitely add in the practice of assigning tasks to students who either need to get up and move around or finish their work early and become a distraction to other students.  One boy just cannot sit still in his seat for an extended period of time and instead of punishing him for his behavior and not making any permanent corrections my teacher allows him to pass out papers or hand out red pencils for self-assessing math assignments. He takes his role seriously and it becomes a win for everybody. The only issue I can ever see with this is if a student is not comfortable with another classmate seeing their score. For this class though she must have asked everyone at the start of the year if it was okay because it’s never been questioned before.

I had a management issue for the last 5 minutes of the period (felt like 30 minutes). The students had conducted an experiment on their nine substances to determine seven pairs that reacted together. They were in lab groups of 3-4 and so some of the results varied to a degree as I was walking around. I wanted to bring them back together as a class and go over their results and summarized them on the document camera.  Unfortunately, I received very little feedback and most students had already put their data sheet in their binders. They basically had shut down and I had to be stern with them to get their data sheet back out but they were still reluctant to give their feedback. I think I should’ve given them warning at the start that we were going to summarize and the benefit of comparing data. I think they just thought it was repetitive and pointless even though I knew they had discrepancies in their data.

Assessment Strategies Article Response

Review and response to: Formative assessment and the contemporary classroom: Synergies and tensions between research and practice

The study conducted was constructed by way of interviews of a mixture of primary and secondary teachers in southern Ontario, Canada. The goal of the interviews was to find out the balance of using summative and formative assessment. Formative assessment was narrowed into the techniques of questioning, feedback without grades, self-assessment, formative use of summative assessment, and professional development. This study was a direct result of the hopeful shift away from “teach, test, and hope for the best” model that was the mainstay.

The promotion of formative assessment instead of relying on summative assessment was evident.  Too often there has been a heavy reliance on summative assessment as a way to measure a student’s placement but that only provides a snapshot in time. A multi-synergistic approach was recommended with heavy emphasis on formative assessment that has been evidenced to vastly increase the speed of learning. I find that there should be an emphasis on formative assessment as there is the ability to see gains in progress daily and weekly. The conflict arises when teachers have to match their formative assessment techniques with high stakes testing where a number score is the only validating measure. Teachers can neglect formative assessment strategies to teach to the test.

Questioning was a popular formative technique and when used properly was cited as a way to reduce stress levels. It was noted that a great way to use questioning is through Bloom’s taxonomy where a teacher should start at the bottom and work their way up into higher level thinking. I use questioning a lot in my classroom both in large group settings and individually. What I don’t think about all the time is incorporating Bloom’s taxonomy to build into higher level thinking throughout a lesson. That’s kind of ridiculous seeing that I base by objective around a measurable verb from Bloom’s taxonomy. I think it’s something that I need to consciously think and write out before a lesson in a pyramid fashion.

Feedback without grades was of high value of the teachers interviewed but it has to done correctly and consistently. One teacher promoted the practice of giving 7 submissions of an assignment with feedback before it is due and in that way the teacher knows that learning was occurring. Another point was that the feedback must have significance to the student otherwise it just becomes marks on an essay. The end goal though is to place more significance on the process than the graded assignment. I find that in order for feedback to be effective a student must make improvements either on that assignment or the next assignment otherwise it’s a waste of time. I like the idea of providing multiple submissions with feedback before the due date but I would be concerned on the work load that it could place on me. 

Self and Peer assessment were two forms of formative assessment that the teachers interviewed felt most uneasy about. They understand that they are both great tools but are sometimes unsure about how to employ them with success. It is difficult for some teachers to give up some of their authority and allow students to be in charge of their own learning. It is equally difficult to measure peer assessment with confidence as there are relationships that get in the way and students’ lack of the content knowledge. I find uneasiness in how to approach these two strategies as well. I can remember “editing” papers in high school and not wanting to offend my classmates. I think it’s important as a teacher to provide rubrics and to give clear examples of what is expected. A way that self-assessment is used with some success in my classroom is students correcting their own math assignment in red pencil. It still gives my cooperating teacher a chance to see mistakes when they turn it in but it provides students another opportunity to see exactly where they could improve.

Weekly Blog #2

A highlight for me last week was working with a student with an IEP during his science test. Last week, students took a multiple choice with a few fill-in-the blank test that took up the entire period. With a quiet room I took advantage and helped this student understand the concepts which he had been defiant to learn about. His reading level is at the second grade level and so initially I was just going to help with the reading comprehension. When I realized he was going to allow me to explain the concepts to him, I did just that. I was first unsure about how my teacher would respond to me doing this as it was a test but she was excited that I understood that understanding content comes first. He and I built a form of trust that day.

These last couple weeks I started going to observe some mornings along with my usual afternoons. The first morning in I was baffled by how quiet the students were. I’m accustomed to the afternoon periods where kids are rearing to go and will always ask for help. That has not been the case with the first three periods. I’m having to learn how be better about initiating conversation to review their work but also to just allow them to be independent. So far, they seem to be getting their work done quicker as well and I’m wondering if there will be opportunities to give them additional materials to go above and beyond. I’ve noticed that instead of getting additional instruction some students take the initiative to hand back work and help with preparing labs. This is definitely a contrast from the afternoons!

One approach I will definitely adopt in my own teaching is reading to students. We were finishing a unit on biomes and the materials that we were using didn’t cover the poles for some reason. Instead of leaving that out my cooperating teacher pulls out a Dr. Seuss book called “Ice is Nice”. I thought there was no way students would take this serious especially with a few that think they’re even too cool for a Bill Nye video. As soon as she started to read the room went silent and every kid was totally immersed into the story. After she finished reading every class clapped! It made me realize that we all love to be read to and it can work at every level not just the primary ages.

A conflicting situation occurred this week when one of our IEP students did not take his ADHD medicine for two days. Before my observations began last quarter I was on the fence concerning medication and if it was necessary or effective. Well, after being around this student for some time now, it’s night and day. Each day without his medication he becomes increasingly unmotivated, is unable to concentrate at all, and lashes out with some interesting comments that interrupt instruction and other students. Yesterday, they took a test and my cooperating teacher left me in charge as she had to sit with him the entire time. It’s really unfortunate when this happens as he normally tries very hard and has made steady gains especially in math.

Classroom Management Article Response

Secondary Classroom Management:

Review and Response to: The carrot, the stick, or the relationship: what are the effective disciplinary strategies?

                The study conducted was in response to two previous studies that looked at the disciplinary styles that either took after punishment or were more relationship based. The consensus from the previous studies was that relationship based style was preferred due to less disruption and student’s take on more self-responsibility. 

The current study included 8 low SES secondary schools in Melbourne, Australia with 2 questionnaires for close to 2,000 students. The main goal was to measure recognition and rewarding, connection to the school and teachers, responsibility, punishing, involvement in decision making, discussion, hinting, and aggression. A spread in responses was made by involving many grade levels and including varying subject matter. 

Results of the study pointed towards using a combination of the techniques: discussion, hinting, involvement, and recognition and rewards. The goal is to reduce the use of reactive discipline and to progressively move students to become responsible for their own behavior and also from a community sense as well. On the side of techniques to not use would be teacher aggression as it was correlated to distraction and irritability of students. Also, aggression would indicate more loss of control and student misbehavior would be likened to be increased. Punishment was received at a neutral stance as it is necessary to make sure safety and opportunities to learn are addressed but it does need the combination of techniques mentioned above.

Hinting, which referred to giving a student a notice of their misbehavior, allows a student to feel like they are responsible for their behavior. It doesn’t call the student out which really makes them feel more connected to the teacher and not create a confrontational atmosphere. I find in my classroom that students usually only need a glance of an eye or a quick couple words of guidance to correct their own behavior. They know what they are doing is wrong and just need a quick reminder. 

Discussion as a technique was found to foster a positive relationship between students and teachers that carried over to students interacting well with one another. It was interesting however that discussion to not necessarily reduce misbehavior on its own. With that said, without a good relationship it becomes impossible to address misbehavior without then resorting to aggressive discipline tactics. I find that a great time to employ discussion is during lab activities when they’re might be a spare minute to address an issue and to receive the student’s viewpoint and what they value in what constitutes responsible and good behavior. Many students that come in after school to pick up missed work present a great time for discussion with no distractions at that time.

Involvement was listed above as a technique to be included but it did not do well in the realm of setting rules. The study cited that students might feel like the rules have already been set and they’re only there to go through the motions. It made me realize that I need to find a way to make setting rules real and genuine. It might come down to taking a couple of periods out at the start of the year to allow for discussion and democratic voting. Every classroom is going to be unique so if classroom management is to work then I would think the rules should be unique as well.

Overall, I believe that these techniques provide a good foundation but they’re their greatest effectiveness will come from a school-wide commitment. If one teacher is still indignant in using punishment discipline as a means to curb misbehavior then it will cause disconnectedness of the students towards staff. Students need consistency among teachers first before they can build their own community of responsibility with each other. A phrase that I’ve been using with students that fits well with communal responsibility is, “Don’t be that guy”. It simply means that we all know what is expected of us and it’s up to each of us to remind one another of those expectations.

Weekly Blog 1

1. Highlight of the past week:

                The major highlight of the week would definitely be the Growing Alligator Lab that we’re conducting over the next 10 days. Groups of three grow a small rubber alligator in water and record the length, mass, and calculate the percent change. We do this the last 5 minutes of the period and the students love it. It gives them an opportunity to be in control of their learning and to be responsible for how they conduct their experiment. 

2. Something that happened that made you think a little differently about school, or kids, or teachers, or yourself:

                This week I had a behavior issue in which I was coming up from behind to help a pair on their worksheet when one student was using some four letter expletives to explain his story. The other student tried to get his friend to stop but it was too late. I didn’t come down hard on the student and simply told him that he was better than that and that he got one warning. He knew what he had done and said that it wouldn’t happen again.

The rest of the afternoon my mind kept going back to the situation because from my observations he’s a really great kid and wasn’t expecting that. I brought it up with my cooperating teacher after class and she mentioned that it had been a tough year for him. His dad and uncle had both been deployed overseas and he was left to live with his aunt. It made me re-think about the home-life baggage that students bring to school every day and how they have no control over that. It made me glad that I didn’t overreact and gave the student a second chance.

3. One practice or approach or interaction that you will or not adopt for your own teaching repertoire:

                I will definitely use the practice of a daily entry task. From the previous day’s material there is a question that is presented on the document cam. Students are given about 2-5 minutes to write down their answer in their journal and then students are called on for their response. This is a great opportunity to make sure students understood the objective from the previous day and to clear up any misconceptions. If it seems like students aren’t competent in the material then we will put the current lesson on hold. The entry task also gives students a routine that gets them focused and really decreases transition behavior issues.

4. Any perplexing or conflicting situations you experienced during the week related to student learning and/or management:

                During the Alligator Lab the groups of 3-4 were all doing well except for one. This group had a student who refused to follow directions and was not allowing the others to make measurements. He was also going over to other groups and interrupting them. This student has never had an issue before and his outbursts that day really made me scratch my head as well as my cooperating teacher. I was in charge that period and I felt that he should be removed from the situation but I didn’t because I never really got the green light from my cooperating teacher to take that kind of action. Instead I hovered over that group and acted as mediator as the other group members were becoming upset. I felt lost at that moment as the student had zero focus and it made me wonder if he had not taken his medicine (I have no idea if he is on medication). It was a reminder that at the middle school age that major changes are occurring and the consistency of a student’s behavior can change sometimes daily.

               

Context for Learning Assignment

I conducted an interview with my cooperating teacher.

I’m assigned at a middle school and the school is described as between a suburban and rural setting.

The school does not partake in any special programs like AVID or honor courses although they do provide elective courses for those students that are not in band or choir. My cooperating teacher will be teaching a hands-on medical elective class this coming fall.

There is a scope and sequence program that is used across all grades to understand what standards have been met and what academic language should be known. This scope and sequence then dictates the curriculum map which is outlined at the start of the year. A curriculum map plans out units and daily lessons.

-Discuss the classroom:

            I am observing a 7^th-grade math class that has emphasis on proportional reasoning and geometry at this time. I’m also observing two periods of 7^th-grade Life Science with the last trimester focusing on chemistry. Each course extends the length of the school year and each period is 50 minutes in length.

            Each class has a wide range of abilities and full inclusion is always the goal. It affects the class in how groups are made for lab projects and how seating arrangements are made. IEP and students with 504 plans receive preferential seating which is usually near the front of the class. Other students are very accommodating.

            The textbook that I use in the Life Science courses are a collection of Prentice Hall-Science Explorer books. The textbooks are incorporated with guided note-taking when introducing a new topic.

            The classroom contains a smart board, document cam, and a laptop in the front which are frequently used in entry tasks and in demonstrations. The document cam has surprising clarity when demonstrating a dissection. There is no other technology present in the classroom besides calculators that are always provided. Seven lab stations are set up on the perimeter of the class.

-Discuss the students in the classroom:

            The estimated percentage of students eligible for free/reduced lunch is 37%. The class is composed of all seventh-grade in which there are 24 students with 16 males and 8 females. There are not any English Language Learners or Gifted students. There are 3 IEPs and 3 readers that are at or below a second-grade reading level.

            Accommodations and modifications for students receiving special education or 504 services is really student dependent. For the students receiving special education the class I’m observing will give a copy of the guided notes especially to our low readers. Also, oral responses are taken for a couple of students who struggle with writing but understand the math and science content. Test and assignment accommodations include a shortened test/assignment that focuses entirely on the main concepts and they are read to the students as well. Heterogeneous grouping is used as other students can help teach material from a new angle. Group placement is very important with placing motivated students with special education students as it keeps them on task. As mentioned before preferential seating is required for students with 504 services.