Reflection #12

This week’s class was online instead of an actual meeting, and the topic was performance-based assessments.  This is when the teacher plans for an assessment based on how he or she believes the student best is able to learn.  This week’s online designation was so useful because I was able to meet with my group and work on our Unit Planner.  We did our unit planner on slavery, and we refreshed our memory with many new interesting facts that we had forgotten about.  Our group worked well together, and I enjoyed the activity.  I believe that this class has been very helpful because it has forced me to think outside of the box and the normal scope of teaching.  I enjoyed learning about talents, and I plan to use them in my future career as an educator.  In regards to the class, I really enjoyed the hybrid model.  It provided an opportunity for self-study and a break from physical meetings.  I would like to see this incorporated more into the other classes here at the university.  I think this class had many great points of discussion such as the charter school Socratic circle. I plan to use the Socratic circle idea with my own class.

Reflection 11

Today was a very interesting day in class because we were introduced to different colored hats. There were six different hats and each person chose which hat they were. Each hat was based on a different personality trait.I thought that this hat lesson was very creative, and I think that it is easily implemented in the everyday classroom setting. Teachers must search deep within themselves and be creative in order to maintain the attention of their students. I love the fact that the hats were original and very creative. They definitely got my attention- mainly because the hats were covered with glittery sequence. Kids would love this type of appearance too because it is attractive and very playful looking. I think this would also be a good activity for students because it would help students discover who they are. Finding yourself is something that a lot of students truly have a difficult time doing, and I definitely think that this hat activity can help ease the pain of discovering. I have learned so much from this class, and I hope I can remember it all so that I can implement it all in the future. I want to be a competent teacher who is able to reach students in a way that goes beyond the general level of education. The skills that I have learned in this class will definitely help me achieve this goal.

Reflection 8

This week was another very interesting week in class because we went further in detail about Talents. I think that talents are going to be very beneficial in my career as a special education teacher. I really like the idea of teaching students to think critically and analyze information in a deeper way than what they have done previously. The five talents are productive thinking, communication, forecasting, planning, and decision making. I think these talents definitely belong in a good lesson plan. We also made drawings today out of lines. I was not very good with mine, but I really enjoyed looking at some of the creations from my classmates. I didn't think people could be that creative, but they truly are creative. My classmates really thought critically about what they could make out of the line, and they worked hard to achieve a good creation. I really liked the line lesson, and I do think that it would be a great lesson to incorporate later with my students. I think that students would be able to create even more creative things than we did. I really enjoy being creative, but I am not an artists of any kind. I am much better at being creative with thoughts and ideas versus drawings. This was defintely an eye opener lesson.

Reflection #6

This week was an online class, and I found the material very interesting. This weeks topic was using technology to teach differentiated instruction. Virtual field trips were a major topic this week as well as teacher tube, Google docs, and Google wiki. I really think these resources are great because they are free. Teachers have limited funds from their school districts to buy supplies, so taking advantage of free resources is an amazing task. I also really like Virtual field trips because they can be rewarding for students when they are physically unable to go somewhere because of a physical disability. All student, regardless of disability status, should have an excellent quality of life. This quality of life entails being active in school field trips and experiencing hands-on educational activities such as field trips. I really believe that the stigma for students with disabilities is that they are incapable of understanding, but research has shown that this is not the case, especially in regards to Autism. I believe in giving every student the opportunity to enrich their lives with countless opportunities. I think that teachers should set and maintain high standards for all of their students. This includes including students with disabilities on field trips even if virtual field trips are the only reasonable method.

Talents Reflection

Academic Content:
I introduced the topic of slavery to a small group of students, and I feel that I did an excellent job. My students were interactive because I had them list the advantages of slavery for the south and the disadvantages of slavery for the north. We discussed all the items they listed and it turned out to be a highly effective group lesson. I believe I scored a 5/5 in this area.

Thinking Process Warm-Up:
I asked the small group of students what they already knew about slavery, and I asked them to briefly discuss this with the class. I believe the students were knowledgeable about slavery enough to form a good group discussion, and the discussion worked out well. I believe I was highly effective in this area. 5/5.

Teacher Talk:
During the teacher talk I discussed the idea that we must learn from the past so that we do not repeat it in any capacity. I discussed the decision making is a critical component of life, and all decisions must be taken seriously. I asked the students to reflect on why they believe Americans made the decision to enslave African-Americans while using the decision making matrix to discuss who benefited from their enslavement. I also asked the students to think about the long-term benefit of slavery. The students took turns sharing their thoughts with other group members, and they all had very great points regarding slavery. I found this to be highly effective as well. 5/5

Student Response:
The students responded in a great way because they all participated and were actively involved in a positive way. I was very pleased with the level of student interest in the topic as well. The students responded in two ways: writing and speaking. Their critical thinking skills were greatly enhanced. This area was highly effective as well. 5/5.

Reinforcement:
We began to discuss Frederick Douglass and his narrative Up From Slavery. I discussed his significance to slavery, and assigned this narrative as a required text. 5/5

Reflection #9

Argument against Charter Schools

Douglas Taylor

I have a much better understanding of Charter schools, and I would like to share them with you and the class at our next meeting. In researching charter schools, I have found that the disadvantages far out weight the advantages. A charter school is exempt from all state mandates, so the school itself does not have to abide by any state rules or regulations. This means that the teachers are NOT required to be certified or highly qualified in any subject that they teach. The school also does not have to participate in state standardized testing. From my research I have also found that charter schools have VERY high turnover rates among their teaching staff, and this is mainly due to the lack of work unions and protections for teachers under the law. Teachers often have longer work days and heavily increased responsibilities. This causes them to flee to more traditional schools or leave the teaching profession altogether. Furthermore, leadership is often hard to find for charter schools because the principal is often the sole leader in the school without any support. It is safe to say that no real progress may be accomplished because the charter school is continually changing staff every year.

Next, there is the issue of funding. Charter schools do not receive money for startup costs from the state government, so the buildings are often old and worn; there are in terrible conditions. Thus, classrooms are often equipped with fewer resources. So, the utopian tale that all charter schools are well-equipped with all the resources that are needed is simply not true. The charter school is funded over time, so students do not receive any real additional benefit unless the charter is funded by wealthy business and families. Furthermore, charter schools have a lack of standards which means that they are not required to follow the state course of study. This could be a positive attribute except for the fact that they could theoretically teach a course of study less than what is appropriate or fulfills the appropriate standards as suggested by the state board of education.

Another argument against charter schools is the fact that they pick and choose whom to accept into their programs. In a normal public school all students are accepted regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. In a charter school this is definitely not the case. They would be allowed to discriminate on any basis because they do not receive federal funds or state funds. They are completely independent as long as they maintain their charter from the state. This is definitely a negative attribute because all students should be guaranteed a free education. This does include ALL students, and this would include students in special education. In a charter school special education students would likely not be welcomed because they would bring down the charter with low scores because they are clearly not performing on academic grade level, or else they would not be in special education. So, it is highly unlikely that a charter school would admit a student in special education, not to mention having to pay an extra teacher for special education. Where will this money come from? Funds are extremely limited!

This is not to say that all charter schools operate in this way, but I am speaking from a general perspective. It cannot be simulated that by allowing a school to come to the state of Alabama that does not have to meet state standards, teacher certification and licensing, discrimination policies, state testing and accountability, teacher unions, and many other standards will likely “progress” the state of Alabama in a positive way, especially considering that people feel that our schools are already in poor condition. If our current standards are not good enough for Alabama, then how can arguably lower standards be good enough—charter schools could teach less? In my opinion, it would open the door to the abolishment of teacher unions and public schools because more schools will become private. If schools are private and not public then how can we mandate what is taught in the minimum state curriculum and standards? I do not believe that this would be beneficial enough to our state to invest the time and energy into this, not to mention the students who would become segregated in schools among the most “elite”. If you think about a charter school, it must do something to KEEP its charter. This means that it will be held on some sort of accountability measure by the state board of education. So my question is, what would a school be willing to do in order to keep its charter- discriminate against different groups of people? Perhaps they would be willing to remove the lower performing people from the program, and if they do this are the students really receiving this world class education that the public school so miserably failed? Maybe a charter school would be willing to fudge accountability measures to show that they are maintaining a standard when in fact they may not be, or perhaps a charter school could become a group of racist people who hate the opposite race—it’s just an idea but a possible idea.

I enjoyed the talent board assignment because I rarely get a chance to be creative with my learning. I enjoy the Spider Man theme because I always enjoyed Spider Man as a child. I really have enjoyed learning about talents as well, and I do think that I will be able to incorporate it my future classroom. My talent board is made up of birthday party assortments. Each talent is a plate, and the webbing hand is the academics. The idea is that Spider Man webs the talents into his hand. I thought that it would appeal to younger children and immediately capture their attention. I plan to keep this board for future reference. I think it will be helpful to get children to think critically about their lives and the decisions that they make when they are young. I really enjoy making children think about their actions, even if it means embarrassing them in front of the class. In my experience this has been a good method of changing the behavior of a child. I think that the thinking skills model could prevent alot of children from making illegal mistakes, and could therefore prevent them from living a life of crime if implemented correctly.

Discussion #5

Talents Unlimited is a fantastic resource for teachers to use because it has been backed with much research that supports its use in the classroom There are five talents: productive thinking, communication, forecasting, planning, and decision making. Theoretically, every student fits into one of these categories. The idea is to enhance a student’s ability and talent through planning a lesson plan on talents. I think incorporating talents into my classroom will be most beneficial because I enjoy enhancing others and pushing others to reach their full potential. I believe that children are very creative and they achieve high levels of success, but they often need direction. I can provide the direction that they need. I think the number one skill a student needs is decision making, All students need to be able to make wise decisions based on thought and a sound mind. So often students make poor decisions, which why our crime rate is as high as it is. I want my students to become exposed to talents because it can do nothing but enhance their life in ways they never dreamed of. It will force them to think critically about their behavior and make good decisions if implemented correctly.

Schlichter, C., & Palmer, W. (n.d.). Introduction. In (pp. 3-7).

Reflection #8

This week was an online class, and I learned about more talents. I also learned how to incorporate this into my lesson plans as a teacher. I believe that the information provided about talents is important, and I believe it is useful. I think talents are going to be excellent for my students enrolled in special education because it will encourage them to think critically about the decisions they make. I believe this will be an excellent first step to developing responsibility and a level of independent behavior. Decision making, planning, forecasting, productive thinking, and communication are considered to be the five talents. I think they all play an equal role in someone life because it is almost like you need all five talents in order to be successful in life. I do find decision making to be the most important because if a person makes terrible decisions then nothing else will matter. I also like the Matrix's that are used with each talent because it gives the student a visual of how to demonstrate the mastery of each talent.

Reflection #5

This week’s class meeting was interesting because we went over the Talent’s lesson in class. I enjoyed learning about the talents because I think there are many things that I will use for my own class. Five different talents were covered in class: productive thinking, communication, forecasting, planning, and decision making. I think these talents are good descriptors of most people. I personally enjoy planning and communicating. I am also excited about the lesson plans that I will be making because I plan to use all of them in my classes that I teach. I really enjoyed the line game in class because it was so interesting to see what everyone made it into. I really liked how Kendall made hers into a watch. I thought that everyone was extremely creative with the exercise. I never realized how something as simple as a line can be made into so many different things. I would like to use this exercise with students who have disabilities because I would like my students to begin thinking critically. I firmly believe that if students do not challenge themselves and think critically then they will never reach the maximum potential in life. It is my goal as a teacher to ensure that every student strive for the very best!

Discussion #4

This week’s topic was mainly about integrating technology into the classroom, and I was extremely excited about it. Personally, I find technology very exciting and very useful, and I enjoy using it. I would say that I spend at least 3 hours on the computer each and every day. The biggest concept that I learned this week is that technology does not have to be complex or difficult. I learned to start smart, and then gradually work towards bigger and better pieces of technology. I would like to contribute a twitter account with the class because I find it beneficial. I think even in my teaching career I can use twitter. I think it would be great for students to post questions that they have regarding lessons taught, and other students and myself could help to answer them. It would form team work and collaboration among the whole class. I plan to integrate technology by using something called an Elmo. The Elmo is so unique because it allows an instructor to draw digitally and access the computer without actually being at the computer. I find it very interesting.

Reflection #4

I really enjoyed learning about how to get students to think critically this week because it is often so difficult to do! I love the concept of wait time because I believe in giving students the opportunity to think for themselves and think critically! I think that when a teacher gives a student the opportunity to think for themselves it teaches them self-discipline and responsibility. I am excited to incorporate my new findings into future lesson plans. I love the idea of teaching students transitional skills, and this is an example of transitional skills in my opinion. As previously mentioned, students learn responsibility when they are made to think for themselves, and this is so important for the development of productive citizens! I think that this weeks lesson was very helpful. I am certain that I will encounter so many challenges as an educator, and I am looking forward to dealing with them and working hard to be the best that I can be! I also feel that the practice that we are receiving with lesson planning is going to be so beneficial because I plan to save the lesson plans that we are making and use them at a later date! I think it will only put my students at an advantage!

Discussion #3

Part 1-

"The Irish Cinderlad!"

Three Questions-

1. Compare and contrast "The Irish Cinderlad" with the original Cinderella story.

2. What role did Becan play in the story?

3. What events may have happened if the story had continued?

Part 2-

In collaboration with several other group members, I will be creating a lesson that compares the rights of individuals in the past with individuals of the present. I am very excited about this project because I LOVE history and all its concepts. As far as the Bloom's taxonomy we are covering factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and conceptual knowledge. The factual knowledge will be covered by teaching students past events such as WWI and WWII, the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War. I believe these are all important because American's would not have the rights that we have today without them! Next, procedural knowledge will be taught by studying government and economics. These two subjects teach students about cause and effect. For example, "If I run a red light, then I will get a ticket!" This teaches students about the procedure of an action. Finally, the conceptual knowledge will be covered by reminding students just how far we have come since the past. I think this will be a wonderful assignment that I will enjoy completing! I will actually use these lessons in my own classroom because I think they will be very beneficial. Often I find that students are not motivated about learning history or even why history is important. It is my mission to change that!

Discussion #2

As an aspiring educator I plan to use differentiated instruction as much as possible to meet the needs of myvery diverse learners. My ideal position would be at the middle school level as a special education teacher in a resource setting. I think the easiest way to differentiated instruction is to first observe your students because this will allow you to determine weak areas.
Once you have determined which areas your students need more instruction in, then you can design a differentiated instruction plan just for a group of students based on their needs as a whole. I read an article by Carol Tomlinson titled, “Defining How Differentiated Instruction Looks in Today’s Classroom.” The article reveals many inaccurate views of what most teachers think differentiated instruction is. The article states that educators believe that differentiated instruction is tailoring instruction to the individual needs of each student, but this is simply not true. The true definition of differentiated instruction is reflected in my goals in teaching because differentiated instruction involves teaching differentially to a group of students instead of each student on an individual level. Another inaccurate view that I found appealing was that educators think that differentiated instruction will solve all educational issues; this is simply preposterous. I would like to know how to create differentiated instructional strategies to
meet the needs of all students? Where do I start?

Reference:

Tomlinson, C. (2011).
Defining how differentiation looks in toda'ys classroom. In Integrating
Differentiated Instruction & Understanding by Design: Connecting Content and
Kids (pp. 8-10). Alexandria, VA:

Reflection #3

I believe that the game Chess can be related to a metaphor regarding differentiated
instruction because the teacher is the Chess “master” or “overseer.” The master or overseer is said to be the professional teacher with a deep understanding of the abilities of their
students because they have worked with their students for many weeks; they are
very familiar. Chess masters are said to have over 50,000 chess patterns, and they plan and anticipate these moves all throughout the game in order to beat their opponent. Teachers do the same thing with differentiated instruction because they use countless instructional strategies to help their students combat their learning or intellectual disabilities. Sometimes, they use instructional strategies simply to help a student gain a concept much better. Differentiated instruction relies heavily on adherence to the basic principles of teaching. Chess is the same because it relies heavily on the principals of the game and the ability to plan and understand the other opponent’s deficiency. The other difference is a teacher understands their student’s deficiency and uses this understanding to help the student. Teachers can be amazing differentiated instructors, but providing effective instruction to all on the same level should always be performed first! I believe if that does not work, then try to differentiated methods.

Reflection 2

This week I found our topic of “teaching to the test” extremely interesting. From my experience as a student, I see that teachers constantly teach to the test because they want their students to succeed and have the skill set to be competitive in today’s job market. I think that teaching in this manner has its advantages and disadvantages. To begin, the tests are important because they contain information that students need to know; this is determined by the state board of education. These types of tests standardize education across the board, which is good because it provides an overview of how schools are doing across the board. There are disadvantages as well because this type of teaching does not encourage critical thinking skills; it encourages the memorization of facts or knowledge. According to the passage from Martin, "all learners, at all ages need and benefit from active involvement with the explicit application of higher level cognitive strategies" (Martin 211). The quote is so important because it reveals the truth- all students will benefit from being taught to think critically. I believe that if more students thought critically then education could become much more interesting for students. I truly hope that solely “teaching for the test” can be expanded to include critical thinking skills.

Reference-

Martin, D. (n.d.). Thinking and the special-needs learner. In Developing Minds: A Reasoning Book for Teaching Thinking (pp. 211-215).