For my spring field experience I have been assigned to a kindergarten classroom. I was delighted to read Unit 1: All about the ABC’s and had an eye opening experience as to how to handle differentiation in a kindergarten classroom. However, since I am going to be interning in the fall in a classroom most likely not kindergarten, my present focus has shifted away from kindergarten to addressing the lower primary grades in general. Therefore, I also read Unit 2: What Plants Need. I answered the questions based on the plant unit.
1. The thing that most impressed me about the unit was it completeness. The unit had clear and descriptive directions that I could visualize. I liked how the unit was set up with an overview, lessons with directions, and finally additional materials. I was impressed with the “fast finishers” that were included in the unit as well. I felt there was enough information I could reproduce the unit in my own classroom and the students could feel successful.
2. From this unit I learned there are many places to differentiate instruction based upon different needs the teacher is trying to meet. In most cases, it didn’t look like it took a lot of extra preparation, just knowledge to know when, why, and what to differentiate.
3. I thought the unit was very understandable. While reading, I created a visual in my mind of how I believed it would look like in the classroom. The lessons were described in a manner in which I could understand; and there were examples of the types of graphic organizers that could be reproduced to help students in recording information. At first, I was a bit confused about the plant “web” activity, but after further reading, I believe I understood what was supposed to happen.
4. Thinking of the second grade curriculum, I felt that the unit on plants was appropriate content for the age group. A few modifications I would include would be modifying the lesson to meet specific students’ needs (although I do not know what they might be), integrating mathematics into the lesson, and also including teacher read alouds. In addition, I would like the students to each have the opportunity to grow a plant from seeds and feel successful in growing and taking care of a plant.
5 and 6. I would make modifications for specific students’ needs to help each student receive what is necessary to succeed. I would integrate mathematics into the lesson because I believe this unit would be perfect for math as well. Charts and graphs of plant growth could be made by the students. I would also make a modification of including teacher read alouds because I believe students enjoy as well as benefit from listening and then discussing children’s literature. In my science methods class I had the opportunity to grow plants from seeds and as ridiculous as it may sound, I felt a great deal of responsibility as well as success in helping my plants to grow. I would like my students to experience those same feelings.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Week Seven
I really loved the tiered “Singing a Song” lesson that was taught in our differentiation class on Thursday. When we got back into the class after working with our individual groups and I saw how it all came together, I was amazed. I had thought that each group was given a CD and a player just like our group, so I was completely surprised to learn we were the only group with those things. During our class discussion, I realized what Professor Peterson had done and I was completely impressed! She was so cleaver to think of such an engaging tiered lesson to demonstrate what she had been trying to get us to understand. I was truly amazed that the lesson seemed so perfect for the occasion. Now, the question is, “What do I, individually, need to know and understand in order to tier a lesson of my own." The answer is, from the class lesson I understand what I need to do, but what I need to understand is how do I differentiate in a kindergarten classroom.
I have observed a lot of kindergarten classrooms and it seems as though the teacher prepares centers for the students to move through each day. I imagine in order to differentiate in kindergarten, I would need to prepare different tasks at the different centers to meet the needs of the students. Maybe, I would differentiate one center and remain at that center to provide the differentiated lesson at that center. I’m not really sure how it would all come together. With such little students I wonder if a teacher, aide, or parent helper needs to direct their tasks? I’m not at all sure about this, maybe, I am taking too big of chunk here to think about, but I always try to think it out in my mind of how it works in my dream classroom. I need more information on how and what a kindergarten teacher should or could differentiate. In the mean time, I do know from participating in our class “Singing a Song” lesson, I could take a specific lesson and differentiate the content based on my students' readiness.
I have observed a lot of kindergarten classrooms and it seems as though the teacher prepares centers for the students to move through each day. I imagine in order to differentiate in kindergarten, I would need to prepare different tasks at the different centers to meet the needs of the students. Maybe, I would differentiate one center and remain at that center to provide the differentiated lesson at that center. I’m not really sure how it would all come together. With such little students I wonder if a teacher, aide, or parent helper needs to direct their tasks? I’m not at all sure about this, maybe, I am taking too big of chunk here to think about, but I always try to think it out in my mind of how it works in my dream classroom. I need more information on how and what a kindergarten teacher should or could differentiate. In the mean time, I do know from participating in our class “Singing a Song” lesson, I could take a specific lesson and differentiate the content based on my students' readiness.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Week Six
Response #1 – From chapter seven of Fulfilling the Promise by Carol Ann Tomlinson I have identified four beliefs I will incorporate into my future classroom. First, “Students consistently want teachers who respect them, listen to them, show empathy toward them, help them work out their problems, and become human by sharing their own lives and ideas with their students.” I can’t imagine how any child could thrive let alone learn in an environment in which the teacher did not care for them in the ways listed in the quote. There is a saying that I do not know the author but it states, “Teacher, I won’t care how much you know, until I know how much you care.” I need to respect my students, listen to them, show empathy toward them and understand and help them with their problems in order for them to begin to want to learn. All the great knowledge I have to share with them is not going to be important until they know they are important to me.
Second, “Effective teachers clearly identify learning goals and link them with activities designed to ensure student mastery of the goals.” I learned in Dr. Ramirez’s social studies methods class how important this belief is. Using backward design, we have been taught to identify the “big idea” that needs to be taught and then work towards teaching it in a worthwhile authentic manner. We were warned from just finding a cute activity to have our student do, to really think of how we were going to teach important concepts.
Third, “Effective teachers emphasize hands-on learning, conceptual understanding, and links with the world beyond the classroom.” During my first field experience, I watched a fantastic teacher use hands-on activities to allow her students to develop conceptual understanding. I was amazed at how she moved the students along to the knowledge she wanted them to know. On another occasion while I was substitute teaching, a discouraged student wanted to know what the purpose of reading and writing poetry was – what did it matter to him? I responded by asking him if he liked to listen to music and if he ever thought of it as poetry. Although he did not jump up and down for joy over the assignment, he did seem to make a connection to the music he listened to. I want to allow my students the opportunity to build their knowledge using hands-on activities when I know it will enhance their learning. At the same time, I want to help my students understand how what is taught in school is important and connects to their lives in meaningful ways.
Finally, “Effective teachers know and understand their students in terms of abilities, achievement, learning preferences, and needs.” This is where I think differentiation comes in to play in the classroom. In order for me to be an effective teacher, not only do I need to understand my students, I need to provide activities to meet their needs, give adequate scaffolding, and use different teaching methods to incorporate all learning styles. Now, I am a little bit shaky on what differentiation is right now, but I trust that I will develop an understanding of it and what it means to me as a teacher and how I will be able to implement it.
Response #2 – I could relate well to the metaphors at the end of chapter seven and while reading I pondered how I could respond to each one. However, it wasn’t until I read the metaphor about learning to ride a bike that I really knew I had made a strong connection. I can vividly remember when I learned to ride a bike. My dad had taken the training wheels off my pink banana seat bike. He thought I was steady enough to make it without that extra support. During several attempts at a solo ride, my dad ran alongside holding onto the back seat handle. When he would let go, I would lose my balance and eventually crash. Dad was right there, cheering me on, telling me how much farther I had made it giving me confidence I could succeed. Finally after a great deal of practice, I could control the bike without falling – I was still somewhat wobbly, but I was making progress. Now, of course I can ride a bike and I love it.
So how does this connect to being a teacher? Well, with the hope of eventually becoming a teacher tucked deep within my heart, I have been making close observations of my own children’s teachers for years. I have been making note of the things I thought were great and the things I thought were not so great. While at the University for the past three years I have been learning from coursework, observing in classrooms, and teaching during field all to learn how to be a great teacher. Now the time is quickly approaching to put all this study and observation into practice – I am going to have to get on the “bicycle” and try it for myself. Inevitably, I will hit a rough patch in the road or a bump in the sidewalk and I will fall off the bike. But, I am determined to get up, brush myself off, and keep trying as I work towards becoming a great teacher.
Second, “Effective teachers clearly identify learning goals and link them with activities designed to ensure student mastery of the goals.” I learned in Dr. Ramirez’s social studies methods class how important this belief is. Using backward design, we have been taught to identify the “big idea” that needs to be taught and then work towards teaching it in a worthwhile authentic manner. We were warned from just finding a cute activity to have our student do, to really think of how we were going to teach important concepts.
Third, “Effective teachers emphasize hands-on learning, conceptual understanding, and links with the world beyond the classroom.” During my first field experience, I watched a fantastic teacher use hands-on activities to allow her students to develop conceptual understanding. I was amazed at how she moved the students along to the knowledge she wanted them to know. On another occasion while I was substitute teaching, a discouraged student wanted to know what the purpose of reading and writing poetry was – what did it matter to him? I responded by asking him if he liked to listen to music and if he ever thought of it as poetry. Although he did not jump up and down for joy over the assignment, he did seem to make a connection to the music he listened to. I want to allow my students the opportunity to build their knowledge using hands-on activities when I know it will enhance their learning. At the same time, I want to help my students understand how what is taught in school is important and connects to their lives in meaningful ways.
Finally, “Effective teachers know and understand their students in terms of abilities, achievement, learning preferences, and needs.” This is where I think differentiation comes in to play in the classroom. In order for me to be an effective teacher, not only do I need to understand my students, I need to provide activities to meet their needs, give adequate scaffolding, and use different teaching methods to incorporate all learning styles. Now, I am a little bit shaky on what differentiation is right now, but I trust that I will develop an understanding of it and what it means to me as a teacher and how I will be able to implement it.
Response #2 – I could relate well to the metaphors at the end of chapter seven and while reading I pondered how I could respond to each one. However, it wasn’t until I read the metaphor about learning to ride a bike that I really knew I had made a strong connection. I can vividly remember when I learned to ride a bike. My dad had taken the training wheels off my pink banana seat bike. He thought I was steady enough to make it without that extra support. During several attempts at a solo ride, my dad ran alongside holding onto the back seat handle. When he would let go, I would lose my balance and eventually crash. Dad was right there, cheering me on, telling me how much farther I had made it giving me confidence I could succeed. Finally after a great deal of practice, I could control the bike without falling – I was still somewhat wobbly, but I was making progress. Now, of course I can ride a bike and I love it.
So how does this connect to being a teacher? Well, with the hope of eventually becoming a teacher tucked deep within my heart, I have been making close observations of my own children’s teachers for years. I have been making note of the things I thought were great and the things I thought were not so great. While at the University for the past three years I have been learning from coursework, observing in classrooms, and teaching during field all to learn how to be a great teacher. Now the time is quickly approaching to put all this study and observation into practice – I am going to have to get on the “bicycle” and try it for myself. Inevitably, I will hit a rough patch in the road or a bump in the sidewalk and I will fall off the bike. But, I am determined to get up, brush myself off, and keep trying as I work towards becoming a great teacher.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Week Five
Question #1: One thing I liked in the section titled teaching curriculum that is important is the idea that “the brain is inefficient at rote memorization and seeks instead to make meaning of information.” I know personally from my own quest for knowledge that I have to understand a concept before I can ever begin to remember it. Once I am able to understand a concept, then I can remember it and use it in the future. Unfortunately, I am stumped if I can’t understand it. Rote memorization would never help. I greatly appreciate the professors who are willing to be patient with all my questions as I build an understanding of a new concept that I will be able to build upon once I “get” it. As a teacher, I realize I will need to be patient with my students and help them discover the meaning of information, not have them memorize random bits of information. Then they will be the “owner” of the information and will be able to use it to build upon in the future.
A second thing I liked in the section titled teaching curriculum that is important is the idea that “teachers need to help students master and retain essential information, organized knowledge around essential concepts, develop essential understandings, and competently utilize essential skills.” This is extremely significant to me and I thought of the rope spider web climbing thing at the Hogle Zoo. As an adult, I have tried to climb on that thing and I found it nearly impossible. This was very frustrating. At the time, I was thinking that if the ropes were just a little bit closer, I might be more successful. This climbing thing was riddled with holes which was a real problem because my feet kept falling through. As a teacher, I do not want my students to give up over a frustrating spider web of loosely woven information. I need to teach the essential curriculum in a way that connects to students’ prior knowledge and to other curriculum so that it weaves a well connected “fabric” to support the footing for the students.
Question #2: I found two quotes in the sixth chapter of Fulfilling the Promise by Carol Ann Tomlinson which were meaningful to me. The first quote was found on page 73 and it is “Take time to be human with your students and give them time to do likewise.” Tomlinson used this quote in suggesting that it is okay for teachers to share their experiences, the things they love, the places they visit, and the things that helped them succeed. I think this is very important as I believe it would be difficult to build a community of learners when the students knew very little about their teacher. I believe students would be excited to know their teacher leads a different life outside of school. A second way to think about this quote is to realize that as a teacher and as a person, I am not super human and I will make mistakes, and it is okay. In addition, students should realize that they too will make mistakes, and that is okay for them as well.
The second quote I found on page 81 and it is “It is likely that we underestimate what any student can accomplish, often establishing as performance ceilings goals that ought to be planks in the floor.” This reminds me of something my mother always said to me while growing up. “If you reach for the stars you might drag your feet in the treetops; but if you reach for the treetops you might drag your feet in the mud.” My mother instilled in me the desire to always reach high when setting my goals. She let me know that there was no reason to fear if I didn’t accomplish a lofty goal as long as I tried my best. Amazingly, when you set high goals and someone has confidence in your abilities, you are able to accomplish them a lot of the time. I believe that encouraging students to set high goals for themselves will help them see we have confidence in their abilities and they will be able to meet the mark. The opposite of this thought has damaging consequences. I think students would feel very badly about themselves if teachers set expectations low and didn’t have any confidence in their ability to succeed. So as a teacher, I will encourage my students to reach for the “stars” and I will provide the scaffolding they need in order to reach their dreams.
A second thing I liked in the section titled teaching curriculum that is important is the idea that “teachers need to help students master and retain essential information, organized knowledge around essential concepts, develop essential understandings, and competently utilize essential skills.” This is extremely significant to me and I thought of the rope spider web climbing thing at the Hogle Zoo. As an adult, I have tried to climb on that thing and I found it nearly impossible. This was very frustrating. At the time, I was thinking that if the ropes were just a little bit closer, I might be more successful. This climbing thing was riddled with holes which was a real problem because my feet kept falling through. As a teacher, I do not want my students to give up over a frustrating spider web of loosely woven information. I need to teach the essential curriculum in a way that connects to students’ prior knowledge and to other curriculum so that it weaves a well connected “fabric” to support the footing for the students.
Question #2: I found two quotes in the sixth chapter of Fulfilling the Promise by Carol Ann Tomlinson which were meaningful to me. The first quote was found on page 73 and it is “Take time to be human with your students and give them time to do likewise.” Tomlinson used this quote in suggesting that it is okay for teachers to share their experiences, the things they love, the places they visit, and the things that helped them succeed. I think this is very important as I believe it would be difficult to build a community of learners when the students knew very little about their teacher. I believe students would be excited to know their teacher leads a different life outside of school. A second way to think about this quote is to realize that as a teacher and as a person, I am not super human and I will make mistakes, and it is okay. In addition, students should realize that they too will make mistakes, and that is okay for them as well.
The second quote I found on page 81 and it is “It is likely that we underestimate what any student can accomplish, often establishing as performance ceilings goals that ought to be planks in the floor.” This reminds me of something my mother always said to me while growing up. “If you reach for the stars you might drag your feet in the treetops; but if you reach for the treetops you might drag your feet in the mud.” My mother instilled in me the desire to always reach high when setting my goals. She let me know that there was no reason to fear if I didn’t accomplish a lofty goal as long as I tried my best. Amazingly, when you set high goals and someone has confidence in your abilities, you are able to accomplish them a lot of the time. I believe that encouraging students to set high goals for themselves will help them see we have confidence in their abilities and they will be able to meet the mark. The opposite of this thought has damaging consequences. I think students would feel very badly about themselves if teachers set expectations low and didn’t have any confidence in their ability to succeed. So as a teacher, I will encourage my students to reach for the “stars” and I will provide the scaffolding they need in order to reach their dreams.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Week Four
While reading chapters 3 and 4 of Fulfilling the Promise of the differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson I found three quotes which were very meaningful to me and I would like to explain why they mattered to me. The first was a quote by Barbara Kingsolver, she states “the very least we ought to expect of ourselves is that we figure out what we hope for in this life. The most we can do, she continues, is to make sure we live inside our hopes, rather than admiring them for a distance.” This quote is very significant in my life as I have had the dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher since the day I walked my oldest child into her kindergarten class on the first day of school. Standing in the brightly decorated classroom I felt I had just entered a magical place; I knew this was the place I wanted to be. At the time, which was over sixteen years ago, I didn’t realize one day I would be on the verge of making my dream of becoming a teacher come true. Now that I stand on the edge, it is a bit scary as I realize I am about to live my dream instead of admiring great teachers from a distance. It is my greatest hope that I will be able to make my classroom a magical place that welcomes all that enter.
The second quote that I connected to was “To learn to see the world through your eyes clarifies my own vision.” It has been a long time since I was a child, yet it is always refreshing to get a child’s perspective on something that seems ordinary. One example of this occurred while on a family vacation; our Suburban broke down and required repair. The only car available for rent was a compact budget car. Once we were on our way down the road in the rental, we rolled down our windows to let in the beautiful fall weather. My youngest daughter was all excited to return to grandma’s house to tell her the exciting news of getting to roll the window down with a neat “twirly thing.” The handle to roll down a window was something that I had taken for granted, while my child had found it completely entertaining and amazing – a wonder she wanted to share with others. This experience helped me to see the world through her eyes of wonder. Children have a different perspective and when I have taken the time to see through their eyes, it always brings a smile to my soul.
The final quote I found is “learners watch to see if we will try to build ties with them, if we are willing to invest in them, if we are able to affirm them. They want to know if we’ll help them build a place where there contributions are significant, achieve a sense of power in a very large world, realized a purpose in their school lives and stretch them so they move toward their dreams.” This quote sums up what I believe are my responsibilities as a teacher. It is a huge responsibility. Many times I have contemplated the commitment I am going to need to make in order to meet the needs of my students. This thought process can sometimes be overwhelming; however, I realize that I have the ability to lift, motivate, and launch children on their path to success – I just need to take one day at a time.
The second quote that I connected to was “To learn to see the world through your eyes clarifies my own vision.” It has been a long time since I was a child, yet it is always refreshing to get a child’s perspective on something that seems ordinary. One example of this occurred while on a family vacation; our Suburban broke down and required repair. The only car available for rent was a compact budget car. Once we were on our way down the road in the rental, we rolled down our windows to let in the beautiful fall weather. My youngest daughter was all excited to return to grandma’s house to tell her the exciting news of getting to roll the window down with a neat “twirly thing.” The handle to roll down a window was something that I had taken for granted, while my child had found it completely entertaining and amazing – a wonder she wanted to share with others. This experience helped me to see the world through her eyes of wonder. Children have a different perspective and when I have taken the time to see through their eyes, it always brings a smile to my soul.
The final quote I found is “learners watch to see if we will try to build ties with them, if we are willing to invest in them, if we are able to affirm them. They want to know if we’ll help them build a place where there contributions are significant, achieve a sense of power in a very large world, realized a purpose in their school lives and stretch them so they move toward their dreams.” This quote sums up what I believe are my responsibilities as a teacher. It is a huge responsibility. Many times I have contemplated the commitment I am going to need to make in order to meet the needs of my students. This thought process can sometimes be overwhelming; however, I realize that I have the ability to lift, motivate, and launch children on their path to success – I just need to take one day at a time.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Week Three
Hallmark #1 in differentiation is creating a strong link between assessment and instruction. As a teacher, I need to preassess my students in order to understand their needs, base my lessons on the information I gather from the preassessment, and then continually assess their learning in a variety of ways to determine their progress.
Student profile and interest surveys as shown in the text Fulfilling the Promise will provide me with vital information to use when designing appropriate lessons to meet the needs of my new students. Important information about individual students can be gathered from these student surveys. Reading a student profile and interest survey is like reading the informational label attached to a new plant at the garden store. These labels help the gardener decide the type of soil, water conditions, and sun exposure necessary to keep the plant thriving. Strengths and weaknesses are noted and fertilizing instructions are included. Without reading the label for hydrangeas, a person would never know how very amazing that plant can be. By changing the ph level of the soil, the hydrangea can produce blooms in a variety of colors - both pink as well as blue. Students are like this, if the teacher never learns a student is passionate about a certain topic, that passion can never be used to engage the learner in a meaningful way. A hidden talent of a student might remain “undiscovered” by the teacher. Keeping the students’ “informational label” handy and referring to it often will enable the teacher to tap into the students’ hidden beauty.
As I am very interested in teaching kindergarten, I believe it would be necessary to modify the “student Profile Survey” to include simpler words and illustrations as well as provide a smile, frown, or neutral face for the students to indicate their preferences. For the “Student Interest Survey” I would make it a take-home family project which would include a space for an adult helper to write the words along with a space for the student to make small illustrations. For kindergarten, I would alter the text to ask questions concerning preschool experiences they may have had. I would use these inventories to begin to develop my understanding of each student and include interesting topics and engaging teaching methods to meet the needs of my students. Like a gardener, I would have an idea about what would help my students to flourish in the classroom.
Looking through the “File of Inventories/Pre-assessments” included on blackboard, I noticed a large variety of assessments tools that can be used to assess general as well as specific areas of content. I noticed there were options for students to check boxes, respond with short answers, draw pictures, or give longer explanations. Some of the ideas were designed to help me as a teacher, bringing to mind some of the many criteria I should be looking for as I assess the abilities of my students in different content areas. Some of the ideas were designed for me to record my own observations. Some of the ideas were actual assessments that I could use as-is, or modify to assess my own students. From looking through this file of inventories/pre-assessments, it is very clear there is a strong link between assessment and instruction. If I am to be successful like a gardener in a beautiful garden, I must learn all I can about my students, use my knowledge about them to design instruction that will be beneficial for them, and then assess to see if they gained that knowledge. The overall theme of differentiation is getting to know my students, where they are, how they got there, and then using that knowledge to help get them to move higher in their understanding.
Student profile and interest surveys as shown in the text Fulfilling the Promise will provide me with vital information to use when designing appropriate lessons to meet the needs of my new students. Important information about individual students can be gathered from these student surveys. Reading a student profile and interest survey is like reading the informational label attached to a new plant at the garden store. These labels help the gardener decide the type of soil, water conditions, and sun exposure necessary to keep the plant thriving. Strengths and weaknesses are noted and fertilizing instructions are included. Without reading the label for hydrangeas, a person would never know how very amazing that plant can be. By changing the ph level of the soil, the hydrangea can produce blooms in a variety of colors - both pink as well as blue. Students are like this, if the teacher never learns a student is passionate about a certain topic, that passion can never be used to engage the learner in a meaningful way. A hidden talent of a student might remain “undiscovered” by the teacher. Keeping the students’ “informational label” handy and referring to it often will enable the teacher to tap into the students’ hidden beauty.
As I am very interested in teaching kindergarten, I believe it would be necessary to modify the “student Profile Survey” to include simpler words and illustrations as well as provide a smile, frown, or neutral face for the students to indicate their preferences. For the “Student Interest Survey” I would make it a take-home family project which would include a space for an adult helper to write the words along with a space for the student to make small illustrations. For kindergarten, I would alter the text to ask questions concerning preschool experiences they may have had. I would use these inventories to begin to develop my understanding of each student and include interesting topics and engaging teaching methods to meet the needs of my students. Like a gardener, I would have an idea about what would help my students to flourish in the classroom.
Looking through the “File of Inventories/Pre-assessments” included on blackboard, I noticed a large variety of assessments tools that can be used to assess general as well as specific areas of content. I noticed there were options for students to check boxes, respond with short answers, draw pictures, or give longer explanations. Some of the ideas were designed to help me as a teacher, bringing to mind some of the many criteria I should be looking for as I assess the abilities of my students in different content areas. Some of the ideas were designed for me to record my own observations. Some of the ideas were actual assessments that I could use as-is, or modify to assess my own students. From looking through this file of inventories/pre-assessments, it is very clear there is a strong link between assessment and instruction. If I am to be successful like a gardener in a beautiful garden, I must learn all I can about my students, use my knowledge about them to design instruction that will be beneficial for them, and then assess to see if they gained that knowledge. The overall theme of differentiation is getting to know my students, where they are, how they got there, and then using that knowledge to help get them to move higher in their understanding.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Week Two
Question #1: What is differentiation? To me, differentiation means a teacher needs to get to know and understand each individual student in the classroom. Students come into a classroom with varying abilities, interests, personalities, and weaknesses. It is important for a teacher to understand where each student is and where they have come from in order to know how to design lesson plans that will meet their needs. With this information a teacher needs to make the necessary accommodations in what they teach and how they teach it in order to maximize the learning that takes place for each and every one of the students. Teachers need to be comfortable with the core curriculum they are required to teach so that they can be flexible in the manner in which they present this information to the students. In a nutshell, differentiation means becoming aware of the needs of individual students and presenting lessons and information in a variety of ways in order to help each student reach their fullest potential.
Question 2a: I will relate my current understanding of differentiation to my flower garden. My garden began as an idea sketched on a piece of graph paper. Hours and hours were spent tilling, raking, and removing the rocks that infested the soil. A sprinkling system was meticulously added to provide my garden with the necessary water. Foundational items such as walkways, curbing, and rocks were added and finally, I searched out and found wondrous varies of species to go in my garden. My budget could only afford the smallest size of these plants, so it was necessary to allow adequate space between each plant for room to grow. Although the plants, trees, and flowers are all very different from one another, they come together to make a beautiful garden.
Gardens require a lot of work – weeding, pruning, fertilizing, and tilling. Some of my plants require stabilization from the wild Spanish Fork winds. Some plants have had to be carefully transplanted as I reconfigured my plans. Some plants need a lot of water, while others require very little. Daylilies love sun, while bleeding-hearts wilt under its scorching heat. Care needs to be taken as I place each plant; I do not what the tall plants blocking the shorter one. Each plant needs to be placed strategically to show off its best features. They need to get along well with their neighbors. If gardening is so much work, why do I do it? I do it because I like hard work and I like seeing the end result of a beauty garden.
As much as I love gardening, I am still only an amateur, continually working to improve my abilities to care for my garden and help it reach its beautiful potential. After each cold and dormant winter, hope always pushes its way out of the ground as my bulbs begin to emerge with the heat of the spring sun.
This metaphor makes sense to me because I love both children and flower gardens. The individual plants, trees, and flowers in my garden are like the individual students I will have in my future classroom.
My future classroom began sixteen years ago as a faraway and possibly unreachable dream, but a dream none the less. While my children were young, I would volunteer in their classrooms. I would watch and gather ideas from excellent teachers that I hope to one day incorporate into my own classroom. Just like a gardener, I would weed and prune out the ideas and examples which I found to be contrary to the ideal I had envisioned in my mind of what a great teacher would be. For the past several years, I have been building a foundation on which to build my classroom through gaining a bachelors degree in elementary education. Soon, I will be blessed with a room full of eager children who are waiting for me, the teacher, to give them what they need to flourish. Each student will be as different and varied as each plant I have placed in my garden. They will all have different needs which I will need to be aware of and keep in mind as I help each student reach their maximum potential.
As I prepare to become a teacher, I know that I am an amateur. I will need to continually seek learning and guidance as I strive to meet the needs of the students I will have the privilege to teach. Teaching will require a lot of hard work, but I am sure if I put forth the necessary effort required to meet the needs of each of my students to help them “blossom” it will all be worth it. As I stand back and take a look at how far each of my students has come during the school year, I know the hard work will definitely pay off.
Question 2a: I will relate my current understanding of differentiation to my flower garden. My garden began as an idea sketched on a piece of graph paper. Hours and hours were spent tilling, raking, and removing the rocks that infested the soil. A sprinkling system was meticulously added to provide my garden with the necessary water. Foundational items such as walkways, curbing, and rocks were added and finally, I searched out and found wondrous varies of species to go in my garden. My budget could only afford the smallest size of these plants, so it was necessary to allow adequate space between each plant for room to grow. Although the plants, trees, and flowers are all very different from one another, they come together to make a beautiful garden.
Gardens require a lot of work – weeding, pruning, fertilizing, and tilling. Some of my plants require stabilization from the wild Spanish Fork winds. Some plants have had to be carefully transplanted as I reconfigured my plans. Some plants need a lot of water, while others require very little. Daylilies love sun, while bleeding-hearts wilt under its scorching heat. Care needs to be taken as I place each plant; I do not what the tall plants blocking the shorter one. Each plant needs to be placed strategically to show off its best features. They need to get along well with their neighbors. If gardening is so much work, why do I do it? I do it because I like hard work and I like seeing the end result of a beauty garden.
As much as I love gardening, I am still only an amateur, continually working to improve my abilities to care for my garden and help it reach its beautiful potential. After each cold and dormant winter, hope always pushes its way out of the ground as my bulbs begin to emerge with the heat of the spring sun.
This metaphor makes sense to me because I love both children and flower gardens. The individual plants, trees, and flowers in my garden are like the individual students I will have in my future classroom.
My future classroom began sixteen years ago as a faraway and possibly unreachable dream, but a dream none the less. While my children were young, I would volunteer in their classrooms. I would watch and gather ideas from excellent teachers that I hope to one day incorporate into my own classroom. Just like a gardener, I would weed and prune out the ideas and examples which I found to be contrary to the ideal I had envisioned in my mind of what a great teacher would be. For the past several years, I have been building a foundation on which to build my classroom through gaining a bachelors degree in elementary education. Soon, I will be blessed with a room full of eager children who are waiting for me, the teacher, to give them what they need to flourish. Each student will be as different and varied as each plant I have placed in my garden. They will all have different needs which I will need to be aware of and keep in mind as I help each student reach their maximum potential.
As I prepare to become a teacher, I know that I am an amateur. I will need to continually seek learning and guidance as I strive to meet the needs of the students I will have the privilege to teach. Teaching will require a lot of hard work, but I am sure if I put forth the necessary effort required to meet the needs of each of my students to help them “blossom” it will all be worth it. As I stand back and take a look at how far each of my students has come during the school year, I know the hard work will definitely pay off.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Week One
Hi, I am a senior in the elementary education program at UVU. I am married with four children. I enjoy being outdoors, spending time with my family, reading good books, and riding bikes. My favorite food is homemade macaroni and cheese and I like all the colors of the rainbow. Here are some other interesting things about me.
1. I have a lot of favorite children’s books. So many in fact, it depends on the time of day which book I would say is my favorite. At this very moment, one of my all time favorites is Owen by Kevin Henkes. This story tells the story of a little mouse named Owen who has a favorite blanket he takes everywhere and a nosey neighbor who sticks her nose in Owen’s business. It tells of the lengths the parents go to get Owen to stop carrying his blanket with him. When it is time for Owen to go to school his mother comes up with a perfectly satisfactory way for everyone to be happy about the blanket. I love this book because Henkes makes the reader understand how important the blanket is to Owen and how his concerned mother makes everything all right in the end. It is heart warming. I highly recommend it.
2. As strange as it may seem, my favorite T.V. shows include Masterpiece Theater, 60 minutes, and the evening news on channel 5. I probably could be considered a news addict because if it is at all possible, I like to make dinner each evening between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. so that I can watch the local and national news while I make dinner. I love Masterpiece Theater and am looking forward to this Sunday as the second season of Cranford is beginning. Tune in if you want to see excellent entertainment!
3. I collect Children’s books and have done so since practically the beginning of time. My main collection is paperback scholastic books, but I do have some hard cover books and am now working on my big book collection. I have more books than I should ever admit and I categorize them by type. For example, I organize books by themes such as apples, weather, etc. I keep my favorite authors altogether such as Henkes and DePaulo. I keep series of books together like Clifford, Froggy, and Authur. My newest addition to the collection is the hardback copies of the Caldecott Medal winning books. My oldest daughter has been giving me a new Caldecott Medal book complete with gold sticker on special occasions.
4. I keep writer’s notebooks to remind me of things I find interesting. One day, I might like to try and write children’s books and I plan on using the things that I record in my many notebooks as ideas in my books. In addition to my writer’s notebooks, I try to write in a personal journal so that there will be a story of who I am for future generations.
5. If I had to be a sponsor of an after-school group my first choice would be ecology, my second choice would be art or music appreciation, and my third choice would be a book club.
6. Besides a pottery class I took during summer in grade school, the only art lessons I have had were tole painting classes I took while I lived in Idaho. I would never consider myself an artist but I feel confident in my ability to create different types of art. I am pretty crafty and enjoy creating things with paper, scissors, and glue. I think this is partly why I think being a teacher will be so much fun.
7. As a little girl I took private piano lessons for about three or four years. When my younger sister drove my mother batty about not wanting to practice anymore, she let us quit. At the time, I was happy to be finished with all the practicing; however, now I regret that I did not continue with lessons or at least practice occasionally. I am only able to play very easy piano pieces after a great deal of practice.
8. As a little girl, I took classical ballet lessons. I had dreamed of being a dancer in the Nutcracker. My favorite part of dance was wearing pink tights, a pink leotard, and tiny pink ballet shoes. I can remember standing at the bar in front of a big mirror doing warm ups to live piano music. After my family moved, my parents were not able to drive me to the dance studio anymore and the dance studios near our new home were not the same. I missed my friends and my teachers and I lost interest in dancing.
9. As a child, I considered myself extremely shy and I would never have considered drama classes or performing in theater productions. I would never have wanted to draw attention to myself. However, I love Broadway type shows and have attended them with my parents since I was a little girl. This past summer I had a fantastic adventure with my sister and my three daughters. We traveled to New York to see Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, and Mary Poppins. I love watching a good musical!
10. In addition to all this, I like to work in my flower garden and dream of having a garden nice enough to be featured in Better Homes and Gardens.
1. I have a lot of favorite children’s books. So many in fact, it depends on the time of day which book I would say is my favorite. At this very moment, one of my all time favorites is Owen by Kevin Henkes. This story tells the story of a little mouse named Owen who has a favorite blanket he takes everywhere and a nosey neighbor who sticks her nose in Owen’s business. It tells of the lengths the parents go to get Owen to stop carrying his blanket with him. When it is time for Owen to go to school his mother comes up with a perfectly satisfactory way for everyone to be happy about the blanket. I love this book because Henkes makes the reader understand how important the blanket is to Owen and how his concerned mother makes everything all right in the end. It is heart warming. I highly recommend it.
2. As strange as it may seem, my favorite T.V. shows include Masterpiece Theater, 60 minutes, and the evening news on channel 5. I probably could be considered a news addict because if it is at all possible, I like to make dinner each evening between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. so that I can watch the local and national news while I make dinner. I love Masterpiece Theater and am looking forward to this Sunday as the second season of Cranford is beginning. Tune in if you want to see excellent entertainment!
3. I collect Children’s books and have done so since practically the beginning of time. My main collection is paperback scholastic books, but I do have some hard cover books and am now working on my big book collection. I have more books than I should ever admit and I categorize them by type. For example, I organize books by themes such as apples, weather, etc. I keep my favorite authors altogether such as Henkes and DePaulo. I keep series of books together like Clifford, Froggy, and Authur. My newest addition to the collection is the hardback copies of the Caldecott Medal winning books. My oldest daughter has been giving me a new Caldecott Medal book complete with gold sticker on special occasions.
4. I keep writer’s notebooks to remind me of things I find interesting. One day, I might like to try and write children’s books and I plan on using the things that I record in my many notebooks as ideas in my books. In addition to my writer’s notebooks, I try to write in a personal journal so that there will be a story of who I am for future generations.
5. If I had to be a sponsor of an after-school group my first choice would be ecology, my second choice would be art or music appreciation, and my third choice would be a book club.
6. Besides a pottery class I took during summer in grade school, the only art lessons I have had were tole painting classes I took while I lived in Idaho. I would never consider myself an artist but I feel confident in my ability to create different types of art. I am pretty crafty and enjoy creating things with paper, scissors, and glue. I think this is partly why I think being a teacher will be so much fun.
7. As a little girl I took private piano lessons for about three or four years. When my younger sister drove my mother batty about not wanting to practice anymore, she let us quit. At the time, I was happy to be finished with all the practicing; however, now I regret that I did not continue with lessons or at least practice occasionally. I am only able to play very easy piano pieces after a great deal of practice.
8. As a little girl, I took classical ballet lessons. I had dreamed of being a dancer in the Nutcracker. My favorite part of dance was wearing pink tights, a pink leotard, and tiny pink ballet shoes. I can remember standing at the bar in front of a big mirror doing warm ups to live piano music. After my family moved, my parents were not able to drive me to the dance studio anymore and the dance studios near our new home were not the same. I missed my friends and my teachers and I lost interest in dancing.
9. As a child, I considered myself extremely shy and I would never have considered drama classes or performing in theater productions. I would never have wanted to draw attention to myself. However, I love Broadway type shows and have attended them with my parents since I was a little girl. This past summer I had a fantastic adventure with my sister and my three daughters. We traveled to New York to see Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, and Mary Poppins. I love watching a good musical!
10. In addition to all this, I like to work in my flower garden and dream of having a garden nice enough to be featured in Better Homes and Gardens.
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