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.