Since classroom mangement has such a profound impact on student achievement, it is necessary to take a look at how teachers can create excellent management and avoid chaos. It is by no accident that this was the longest article of them all. This involves creating and supporting a high quality relationship between students and their teacher. The article defines the characteristics of effective teacher-student relationships as including appropriate levels of dominance, appropriate levels of cooperation, and awareness of high needs students.
Let us explore the first behavior which is exhibiting appropriate levels of dominance. Wubbels, Brekelmans, van Tartwijk, and Admiral define dominance as not forceful control, but as, "the teacher's ability to provide clear purpose and strong guidance regarding both academics and student behavior." Studies show that students want strong teacher guidance. This reminds me of the saying that kids want structure, and they want those boundries and limits. As a parent, I know this is true. The article goes on to provide the tools necessary to achieve this which are as follows: establishing clear behavior expectations, learning goals, and exhibiting assertive behavior. It is a system of clear rules and consequences. A teacher must reinforce acceptable behavior and providing negative consequences for undesired, unacceptable behavior. How might a teacher employ this? The article suggests that he or she may use verbal and physical reactions to behavior, prearranged signals, providing tangible recognition like tokens, or "buddy bucks", constructing group policies and those practices that would involve rewards and consequences at home. Next, a teacher must establish clear learning goals. Teachers can communicate these goals at the commecement of a unit, provide feedback, revisit the goals frequently, and again provide more feedback. Here the use of a rubric can be implemented to achieve this goal. I have used rubrics before, and the are a very helpful tool. The last point made about establishing dominance is exhibiting assertive behavior. Teachers demonstrate assertive behaviors when they use assertive body language, use appropriate tone of voice, and persist until appropriate behavior is attained.
Next, appropriate levels of cooperations are crucial to fostering effective student-teacher relationships. This simply means that students and the teacher co-exist as a team. The article lists several strategies to implement like providing flexible learning goals, taking a personal interest in students, and using equitable and positive classroom behaviors. I have used KWL charts before to help me provide this. I am open and eager to discovering about other successful ways. In terms of taking personal interest in students, I feel this is an area where I am very strong. Last year at Rocketship, I used my intervention block time of 4 hours ( I was lucky I had that much out of classroom time) to make personal contact with my students even if it was only 5 or 10 minutes with a child. I also enjoyed going over during their lunch time and helping open lunches because it provided me with the opportunity to make that extra contact. Sometimes I would go seek them out at recess to see what they were doing, and every morning I encouraged students to help me before the morning assembly started. I cannot think of functioning as a good teacher without doing this. Throughout the strategies presented in this article there are some that I have practiced and have become part of my management style; on the other hand, others I have heard of or seen other teachers do, but I need to polish them more.
Third the awareness of high needs students is critical. It was helpful to identify these students and categorize them into these groups according to unique behaviors. As a teacher, I know every single classroom has and will have these unique teaching challenges. I began associating names of children from last year and years past with the specific groups of high needs students. I will definately go back and refer to these categories, definitions, characteristics, and suggestions and infinite number of times. A common message that popped out at me during this section of the reading was, rewards rewards, rewards when these students exhibit successes.
In conclusion, this entire reading selection made me stop and think about how I can impove in my management skills. Under effective management, the classroom operates more smoothly, more effectively, and those important relationships between me and my students will blossom.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
TPE-D The Culturally Responsive Teacher
This reading penetrated down to my core. I began thinking about all of those students I have had over the years who come into my classroom with unique and sadly sometimes horrible homelife experiences. The demographics continue to change and this reality forces us to let go of old practices that do not work. There are six qualities and shared ideas of culturally responsive teaching. Let me begin with the first one which is the use of prior knowledge. Teachers must tap into a student's prior knowledge because in this way he or she is able to make sense of new concepts at school. It boils down to making it personal for the students. This was demonstrated in the example given where Belki would be able to learn more on a unit about immigration if her teacher uses her very own personal experiences of coming to the US from the Dominican Republic. Other ideas mentioned would be to invite immigrant parents to talk to the class.
Second, teachers must learn about their students' lives. Learning about their family history, immigration history, strengths, and concerns . A useful strategy would be the implementation of home visits. I have made many home visits over the years; however, this was not for every single student. These were the ones that I had to reach on a deeper level. For a short time in the summer of 2004, I did work for Head Start, and home visits were mandatory. They took a lot of time and energy, but the results they yielded were precious. The most solid bonds that I made with my students and their families have been the ones where home visits and steady contact was made. I definately agree that this is critical for the culturally responsive teacher to apply.
Third, one's worldview is influenced by personal experiences. This suggests that teachers who rely on their own personal experiences to make sense of their students' lives will end up in misinterpretations and miscommunication (p3). I am thinking about the example, and let me know if this fits here of the differences in how to show respect in the Mexican culture vs. the Anglo culture. A Mexican child is brought up to show respect by not looking directly into the eyes of an adult when a reprimand is being given. On the other hand, how many times are children in this culture told, "look at me when I am talking to you." A teacher with no cultural sensitivity would perceive this Mexican child to be disrespectful and lacking proper upbring. You cannot impose your own worldview and beliefs on everyone.
Fourth, holding affirming views about diversity is another key element to the socially responsive teacher. Teachers should not fall in the trap of associating a student's socioeconomic status for example with either low or high achievement. Here I am reminded of the excellent film "Stand and Deliver" in which a group of East Los Angeles barrio kids were labeled as low performing simply because of who they were and where they lived.
The fifth piece is the implementation of appropriate instructional strategies. Several strategies were given to help guide the teacher. One of the strategies mentioned was providing additional reading in their native language for the the students who demonstrate literacy in their native language to help build background knowledge. It also provided the idea of using bilingual dictionaries. Another was using examples from their student's lives like hip-hop recordings to make sense of rhythm in poetry.
Finally, the sixth piece for a culturally responsive teacher is the idea that a teacher must be an advocate for all students. They key word here is all. I agree with the argument that teachers have an ethical obligation to help all students learn.
Second, teachers must learn about their students' lives. Learning about their family history, immigration history, strengths, and concerns . A useful strategy would be the implementation of home visits. I have made many home visits over the years; however, this was not for every single student. These were the ones that I had to reach on a deeper level. For a short time in the summer of 2004, I did work for Head Start, and home visits were mandatory. They took a lot of time and energy, but the results they yielded were precious. The most solid bonds that I made with my students and their families have been the ones where home visits and steady contact was made. I definately agree that this is critical for the culturally responsive teacher to apply.
Third, one's worldview is influenced by personal experiences. This suggests that teachers who rely on their own personal experiences to make sense of their students' lives will end up in misinterpretations and miscommunication (p3). I am thinking about the example, and let me know if this fits here of the differences in how to show respect in the Mexican culture vs. the Anglo culture. A Mexican child is brought up to show respect by not looking directly into the eyes of an adult when a reprimand is being given. On the other hand, how many times are children in this culture told, "look at me when I am talking to you." A teacher with no cultural sensitivity would perceive this Mexican child to be disrespectful and lacking proper upbring. You cannot impose your own worldview and beliefs on everyone.
Fourth, holding affirming views about diversity is another key element to the socially responsive teacher. Teachers should not fall in the trap of associating a student's socioeconomic status for example with either low or high achievement. Here I am reminded of the excellent film "Stand and Deliver" in which a group of East Los Angeles barrio kids were labeled as low performing simply because of who they were and where they lived.
The fifth piece is the implementation of appropriate instructional strategies. Several strategies were given to help guide the teacher. One of the strategies mentioned was providing additional reading in their native language for the the students who demonstrate literacy in their native language to help build background knowledge. It also provided the idea of using bilingual dictionaries. Another was using examples from their student's lives like hip-hop recordings to make sense of rhythm in poetry.
Finally, the sixth piece for a culturally responsive teacher is the idea that a teacher must be an advocate for all students. They key word here is all. I agree with the argument that teachers have an ethical obligation to help all students learn.
TPE-C- ELL
Due to the constant change in demographics, learning to effectively service ELLs will be a constant challenge for me. I have always worked in districts with a high percentage of ELLs. I feel blessed that I am bilingual; however, this does not entirely address the issue facing me as it relates to my ELL students. Even though the majority of the ELLs I have worked with are of Mexican origin, I know that within even this group, there is so much diversity. Students from the city vs. students from the rancho (country) and even those students who were born and raised here but who still primarily speak Spanish at home. I have had some Spanish speaking Mexican students who have never been to Mexico. I need not forget about my Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Philipino, or Central American and South American students that have been in my classrooms too.
The three student examples given in the article all describe students that I have had. The range of their backgrounds and experiences are mind boggling. I do not think I have ever fallen in the trap of believing that all students who speak Spanish are Mexican. I make it a point of asking information about where their parents are from. I am usually able to distinguish that by the Spanish dialect that they speak or by other pieces of information like knowing if they eat pupusas, they are from El Salvador. All of this makes me remember that period when I worked as a teacher is San Jose Unified. The principal at the time and one of the resource teachers would get together and go through grouping cards and new enrollments from the enrollment center and make various changes to the class lists before school started in the fall. I cannot count how many times Philipino students were placed into bilingual classrooms by mistake because I guess they were only paying attention to the surnames. These two created problems assuming that students with a Spanish last name were probably Mexican and needed to be placed into the ALA Program. They even made assumptions that a Mexican family would want their child placed automatically in the bilingual program. There were many Spanish speaking families who did not want their child places in the bilingual program. Did the administrator and the resource teacher assume that all were the same? Yes. I think so in many cases. This really bothered me as a teacher, and it bothered me as a parent as well because my daughter has a Spanish last name, and I would not want her placed in a bilingual program solely because of her last name. "Few states require teachers to have training in second language acquisition, ESL, or cross cultural communication." (p. 2) It seems that this would have to be reformed across the 50 states to require this especially for those states like California that are so culturally and linguistically diverse. The reality is that more and more ELL students are filling our classrooms, and it seems highly irresponsible to not address this in terms of adequate teaching training.
Finally, this article gave five strategies to assist teachers in the area of academic literacy as it relates to English language learners. These appear to be very practical strategies.
The three student examples given in the article all describe students that I have had. The range of their backgrounds and experiences are mind boggling. I do not think I have ever fallen in the trap of believing that all students who speak Spanish are Mexican. I make it a point of asking information about where their parents are from. I am usually able to distinguish that by the Spanish dialect that they speak or by other pieces of information like knowing if they eat pupusas, they are from El Salvador. All of this makes me remember that period when I worked as a teacher is San Jose Unified. The principal at the time and one of the resource teachers would get together and go through grouping cards and new enrollments from the enrollment center and make various changes to the class lists before school started in the fall. I cannot count how many times Philipino students were placed into bilingual classrooms by mistake because I guess they were only paying attention to the surnames. These two created problems assuming that students with a Spanish last name were probably Mexican and needed to be placed into the ALA Program. They even made assumptions that a Mexican family would want their child placed automatically in the bilingual program. There were many Spanish speaking families who did not want their child places in the bilingual program. Did the administrator and the resource teacher assume that all were the same? Yes. I think so in many cases. This really bothered me as a teacher, and it bothered me as a parent as well because my daughter has a Spanish last name, and I would not want her placed in a bilingual program solely because of her last name. "Few states require teachers to have training in second language acquisition, ESL, or cross cultural communication." (p. 2) It seems that this would have to be reformed across the 50 states to require this especially for those states like California that are so culturally and linguistically diverse. The reality is that more and more ELL students are filling our classrooms, and it seems highly irresponsible to not address this in terms of adequate teaching training.
Finally, this article gave five strategies to assist teachers in the area of academic literacy as it relates to English language learners. These appear to be very practical strategies.
TPE-C Neuroscience
The message here is that classroom environments must be fun. Unfortunately, the current focus in most schools across the country is standardized testing, and that has placed a damper on excitement. I tend to look at it like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I have questioned myself before about the lack of excitment. The last thing I want is a classroom that is boring, stressful, and monotonous. Have I sometimes been worried when it looks like there is too much fun going on during a lesson? What will the principal say? Will I get in trouble, and do not even mention those times when someone from the district, county or state comes in. You do not dare look like you are having a good time. Am I overexaggerating? Probably, just a bit. However, I have felt that many times there is no room or tolerance for fun and excitement. How do I create that in a way that does not produce complete chaos? This article gave me some suggestions. I want to build a classroom environment that makes my students feel comfortable and welcome. I want an environment that will allow them to take risks. I want them eager to come into my class wondering what exciting and thrilling adventure we might discover together. According to the article, students will, "retain what they learn when the learning is associated with strong positive emotion." (p.2) In other words, if the environment is stressful, learning stops. It is amazing how all of these chemical reactions in the brain work to either facilitate learning or stop it cold in its tracks. There is real science to support this. I was reminded of the many times I probably have put stress on my students for their making certain errors in judgement and poor choices like not doing homework or for certain other behavioral infractions. I want to create a plan with structure and consequences that is aligned with the Rocketship core values; however, I have to find a healthy and supportive balance that does not create the type of stress that will slow the currents of learning if not to stop them entirely. One of the solutions to the complex problem is found on page three "make the lesson more personally interesting and motivating." Constantly asking the questions, "why are we learning this and why is this important" should become part of the classroom culture. Presenting information at a level that they are able to connect with and understand is huge. Some of the ideas given were using the names of the students or celebrities, and items they are familiar with help provide that bridge. How many times have I created word problems, situations, or stories centered around students or their interests to instruct a lesson? Too many to count. I have been on the right track. They key is to make the information practical and comprehensible to them. When working in Alum Rock as a long term sub the past 4 years, I liked to use experiences about stores, restaurants, food, music, cultural connections, toys, movies, and anything that they were familiar with in their neighborhoods to get across information, so they could more easily apply it and made connections to what were were doing in class. It is showing children how knowledge is applied in the real world. I liked the idea about giving the students a three minute break. Each math class with be approximately 100 minutes long, so this may be a wise strategy to implement this year. I also paid careful attention to the suggestion about calling on students who have not raised their hands. I know from first hand experience how stressful that is! My classroom should be a safe haven. I need to develop ways to create nothing less than that.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Throughout this entire article, I made one connection after another to my personal experiences in education. Fortunately, I did not struggle as much with this article as I did with the previous one. Immediately after reading the first two paragraphs, I could empathize with what this author was communicating. I had no formal educational training as a teacher either when I was first hired by San Jose Unified in 1997. I too when through the process of doing exactly what I was expected to do except for thinking outside of the box. I fell into the trap of viewing assessments as just "tests." They were confined to paper tests that were assigned a grade for which I therefore transferred over to the report card. I failed back then to take in all the considerations of different types of assessment that this article discussed. Assessments are not to be confined to the end of the chapter or unit tests. Assessments have a range of components that a teacher must pull together to create the whole picture. I am understanding that now; unfortunately, I did not see it back then. I had become programmed that first year to give tests without full understanding of their true purpose. How does that make me feel now? I feel relieved that I have grown and expanded my understanding of the concept of assessments, and I am farther along on the path than I was over eleven years ago.
Assessments go beyond the paper test. Assessments include the observations by the teacher on a daily basis. A student will demonstrate in many different ways his or her understanding of a particular subject area. As a teacher I have to open my eyes to that. The author makes the point that a teacher has to find a match between the student and his or her appropriate method of assessment. For some of my students this is not necessarily the paper test. It might be showing understanding through other means like notetaking, questions and comments in class discussions, or other practical measures. As an example, the unit on money was very difficult for the majority of my first graders to grasp. After giving the assessment provided in Hartcourt Brace, I knew that my assessment could not start and end here. The pictures of the coins provided on the test confused them. I then decided that I needed to go beyond just the paper test and utilize my intervention block to pull students as necessary to demonstrate with coins money amounts that I had given them. I asked them to show me as many ways as they could to make the same amount but using different coin combinations. This yielded much more valid results than the plain paper test. Periodically, I decided to retest this unit by pulling them individually during the course of the school year. Assessments are always being given in different ways on a daily basis; I just need to fine tune that skill and use those observations in calculating results.
I liked the idea about carrying around a clipboard to take notes on students because all students work and interactions qualify as worthy assessments. Indeed a teacher's ability to connect a students personal struggles with his or her performance gives great insight into the student's overall performance. Fortunately, I believe this is one area where I have some awareness, and I take it into consideration when determining the overall picture. Each year in every classroom there are always students who are encountering events like divorces, poverty, single parent households; the list goes on. I think we would all agree that these situations definately have an impact on the child in school. This is another piece of the assessment puzzle. Another useful piece of this article is that the author describes assessments as tools to make sure students at different levels are working at their level. In my two classes from last year I had a whole range of levels. In designing assessments and evaluating all available observed information, I see that I have the power to give them options to demonstrate what they know and how to express that knowledge. Finally, this awesome article concluded with the idea that assessment is not just confined to me as the teacher. It involves my working with my students as my partners.
Assessments go beyond the paper test. Assessments include the observations by the teacher on a daily basis. A student will demonstrate in many different ways his or her understanding of a particular subject area. As a teacher I have to open my eyes to that. The author makes the point that a teacher has to find a match between the student and his or her appropriate method of assessment. For some of my students this is not necessarily the paper test. It might be showing understanding through other means like notetaking, questions and comments in class discussions, or other practical measures. As an example, the unit on money was very difficult for the majority of my first graders to grasp. After giving the assessment provided in Hartcourt Brace, I knew that my assessment could not start and end here. The pictures of the coins provided on the test confused them. I then decided that I needed to go beyond just the paper test and utilize my intervention block to pull students as necessary to demonstrate with coins money amounts that I had given them. I asked them to show me as many ways as they could to make the same amount but using different coin combinations. This yielded much more valid results than the plain paper test. Periodically, I decided to retest this unit by pulling them individually during the course of the school year. Assessments are always being given in different ways on a daily basis; I just need to fine tune that skill and use those observations in calculating results.
I liked the idea about carrying around a clipboard to take notes on students because all students work and interactions qualify as worthy assessments. Indeed a teacher's ability to connect a students personal struggles with his or her performance gives great insight into the student's overall performance. Fortunately, I believe this is one area where I have some awareness, and I take it into consideration when determining the overall picture. Each year in every classroom there are always students who are encountering events like divorces, poverty, single parent households; the list goes on. I think we would all agree that these situations definately have an impact on the child in school. This is another piece of the assessment puzzle. Another useful piece of this article is that the author describes assessments as tools to make sure students at different levels are working at their level. In my two classes from last year I had a whole range of levels. In designing assessments and evaluating all available observed information, I see that I have the power to give them options to demonstrate what they know and how to express that knowledge. Finally, this awesome article concluded with the idea that assessment is not just confined to me as the teacher. It involves my working with my students as my partners.
alicia serrano
Wow! This is another filling feast for me to digest! First, I would like to communicate that these are hard concepts for me to wrap my brain around. I am processing the information and attempting to make connections with my own experiences as they apply to addressing the questions for this assignment. The beginning of this article was basically asking the question how classroom teachers around the world know when their students need help learning how to think. The answers that were listed in the article are the very ones that I myself have witnessed from my students over the years. The list included the following: blurting out answers, relying on me to answer, giving up easily, inability to work in groups, inability to apply knowledge, and fear of taking risks. When I read about being afraid to take risks, it immediately reminded me of the the book Mastery, as this book is still fresh in my mind, and learning to surrender and take risks to stay on the path. Teaching students to surrender and take risks is a monumental challenge. I just wanted to include this connection here because I think it is an important one.
The five themes to shape curriculum that were presented in this article are excellent guides. The quotes that were given in each of the themes were very powerful for me personally because they initiated deep thinking about that particular point. The quotes also made it easier for me to understand the article. Let me begin with the first quote which was given under learning to think. "Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold water becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." - Leonardo da Vinci. After pausing a few minutes, I thought of the quote in George Leonard's book in which he said that human beings might become worn out from a lack of use. Clearly, my students have the capacity to think; however, the key is to get them to think as Costa states on p. 2 "critically, skillfully, and creatively." Furthermore, it is not enough to have this only confined to the walls of my classroom. I want my first graders to apply this skill independently outside the walls of my classroom.
The second quote that produced a valuable connection for me was, "friendship is one mind in two bodies." This concept of learning being a reciprocal process had me thinking about implementing more instructional strategies centered around more group activities. Last year, I did not take advantage of opportunites to implement lessons structured around more group activities. I would like to be able to structure and put into place more math lessons where my students could engage in different ways they found to view and solve a math problem and share those with one another. I was fortunate enough to witness in an intervention a stronger student whom I decided to utilize as a tool to help me teach the concept of counting money to one of my struggling students whom Leonard identifies as "slowest on the mat." He had a different process for counting the different combinations of coins that made sense to the other student. There is definately power in understanding that children (learners/students of any age too) do learn from each other. Doors open into different levels of thinking.
Next, in terms of metacognition, I am inspired to ask the following: how will I get my first graders to develop the skill of metacognition as it applies to first grade math? The author of this article suggests that there are important self-reflective questions that can help pave the way. He states that through verbalizing plans and sharing their thinking students can get on the path to developing metacognition. I would like to explore this further and find practical ways to make this age level appropriate.
The last piece that spawned a response from me was the idea of thinking big. This part of the article brought me back full circle to the reason why I am in education in the first place...to inspire effective change in the world. I have an undeniable role to play in encouraging my students to think big and ultimately change the future. Can the seeds be planted at such a young age? Yes, I think so.
The five themes to shape curriculum that were presented in this article are excellent guides. The quotes that were given in each of the themes were very powerful for me personally because they initiated deep thinking about that particular point. The quotes also made it easier for me to understand the article. Let me begin with the first quote which was given under learning to think. "Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold water becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." - Leonardo da Vinci. After pausing a few minutes, I thought of the quote in George Leonard's book in which he said that human beings might become worn out from a lack of use. Clearly, my students have the capacity to think; however, the key is to get them to think as Costa states on p. 2 "critically, skillfully, and creatively." Furthermore, it is not enough to have this only confined to the walls of my classroom. I want my first graders to apply this skill independently outside the walls of my classroom.
The second quote that produced a valuable connection for me was, "friendship is one mind in two bodies." This concept of learning being a reciprocal process had me thinking about implementing more instructional strategies centered around more group activities. Last year, I did not take advantage of opportunites to implement lessons structured around more group activities. I would like to be able to structure and put into place more math lessons where my students could engage in different ways they found to view and solve a math problem and share those with one another. I was fortunate enough to witness in an intervention a stronger student whom I decided to utilize as a tool to help me teach the concept of counting money to one of my struggling students whom Leonard identifies as "slowest on the mat." He had a different process for counting the different combinations of coins that made sense to the other student. There is definately power in understanding that children (learners/students of any age too) do learn from each other. Doors open into different levels of thinking.
Next, in terms of metacognition, I am inspired to ask the following: how will I get my first graders to develop the skill of metacognition as it applies to first grade math? The author of this article suggests that there are important self-reflective questions that can help pave the way. He states that through verbalizing plans and sharing their thinking students can get on the path to developing metacognition. I would like to explore this further and find practical ways to make this age level appropriate.
The last piece that spawned a response from me was the idea of thinking big. This part of the article brought me back full circle to the reason why I am in education in the first place...to inspire effective change in the world. I have an undeniable role to play in encouraging my students to think big and ultimately change the future. Can the seeds be planted at such a young age? Yes, I think so.
alicia serrano
This is the very first time I have ever read the California Teaching Performance Expectations. I was overwhelmed! I printed out a copy and must have spent 45 minutes reading this multiple times trying to digest it all, so it would make sense to me. I carefully went back to the initial questions for this specific assignment each time I analized each TPE. These standards seem to be very complete; however, I would think that a teacher would need to be reminded of these standards on a daily basis to properly and effectively run a classroom. Would it be wise to post these in my own classroom in the same way a grade level's standards are posted? I am thinking about including a copy inside of lesson plan books because each piece seems critical. It seems that everything that seems essential and logical for a teacher, students, and academic content to flow positively has been included. Academic planning, assessments, monitoring student learning, making content accessible, student engagement, developmentally appropriate teaching practices, teaching English learners (with constant changing demographics this piece seems essential), learning about students, instructional time, social environment, professional l, legal, and ethical obligations, and professional growth combined make a very powerful package. I do not see how one piece of these standards could be labeled as irrelevant in my opinion. They all come together as puzzle pieces to complete the picture. To delete one would make an incomplete picture. Could we debate eliminating some parts of the academic standards that we are held accountable for teaching our students? Is one standard irrelevant or more important than the others? This is a critical question that I have.
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