Implementation of UbD Lesson

I like the idea of teaching with the end in mind. Keeping this in mind
during my lessons on telling time is always helpful. This concept is
very abstract and hard for young children to master. The lesson went
well, however my students are going to continue to need a great deal of
re-inforcement. I haven't ever seen all second graders become whizzes
at telling time by November of the school year. Some still aren't in
June. UbD gives us a good framework to follow in order to keep the goals we are striving for clear to us.

Review of "Standards" Website

It is always interesting to visit this website. I especially like the
quote at the beginning of the site which states that "A high level of
shared education is essential to a free, democratic society and to the
fostering of a common culture." There are so many good things about
this website and then there are a number of areas that leave room for
improvement. I think that it is nice that members of the community can
get on this website to actually see what is expected for their children
to master. So often I hear comments like "I never had to do this kind
of thing in second grade." It is nice that parents and other family
members can visit the site and see that we aren't really crazy and that
students really do need to know this stuff.

I do wish that the site offered more suggestions as to how some of these skills can be taught to better achieve success. I always like to look in idea books and visit websites that offer some new ways to teach skills. It would be nice if this website
also offered some of these ideas to teachers. I think that is is good
that NJ has a set of standards that teachers are expected to follow. It
gives us a good framework. I only wish for a little more support
sometimes from those outside of the schools that are in positions of
influence.

An interesting site...

I have always found the Enchanted Learning website to be a helpful site to visit. There is a small membership fee that is available but there are many things that can be printed out for free. I have found mini books, craft ideas, worksheets and information about different science and social studies topics on this site. It is very good for elementary teachers, but upper grade teachers might find it interesting also.

Here it is:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html/

What I have learned from this class...

I have learned a lot as a result of this class. There have been many
areas that we have discussed and researched that I have found
interesting. I am not sure if the opportunity to work in a supervisory
role will present itself to me in the future, but whatever the case may
be, I am leaving this class knowing more than I started out with and
that is the most important goal.

One of the areas that standsout in my mind comes from the reading that we did from Thomas Friedman’s, The World is Flat. I thought that there were many good ideas in this reading that I would like to apply in my classroom. I especially liked the ideas that had to do with good teachers being those who made learning fun and who instilled a feeling of being valued in their students. He describes it as teaching others to “learn how to learn.” I liked the ideas of G. Wayne Clough , president of Georgia Tech, who put an emphasis on not only intelligence, but also on individuals who brought other interests along with them noting them as more adaptable individuals. It makes a lot of sense that students should be exposed to all different types of learning experiences in order to bring some of these experiences into the rest of their lives.

In addition to these ideas, I also enjoyed reading Daniel Pink’s writings about “Symphony.” I am finding that as time is passing by in my life, I am becoming more methodical in the way that I approach things, just because it is what I am used to. The idea of continuing to develop the creative right hemisphere of my brain and to see things “out of the box” is something that is interesting to me as well as something that I think would be of value to my students.

The different ways that we used technology in this classroom is another area that I found very valuable. I was forced to do things on the computer that I had never done before and may not have motivated myself to do without this experience. I have more desire to research ways to incorporate technology into my classroom and I see the value in making it a priority to a district. This was especially interesting to me.

I have enjoyed being a part of this class and I really do feel like it
will benefit me in my own classroom. I am happy that I have continued
on with my education, if for nothing else than the value of learning
some new things to help me to grow as a teacher.

Orange Middle School

I found the article on Orange Middle School to be very interesting mostly because I often wonder what is done in poor, urban schools where passing state tests is a challenge. The ideas that they have come up with to help bring about greater achievement among students are good.

I especially like the idea of creating small learning communities within the school. This allows for more active learning and interaction among peers within each group. In addition, this allows for teachers to know students better and to provide more support. This kind of involvement is especially important in these lower socioeconomic areas such as Orange, where there is not much support from home many times and where students need the active guidance of positive adults in their lives.

The idea of students wearing uniforms to school, although a bold decision, is one that I think is beneficial. So much of students’ identity comes from what the up to date styles are and many times to keep up with this costs a great deal, monetarily and emotionally. Asking all students to wear a common uniform is an idea that removes this stress from the lives of especially middle school students who are very vulnerable when it comes to keeping up with the latest trends, many of which may be out of the reach of families living in poorer areas.

My recommendations to add to what is already being done, first would include some type of peer leadership program for older students to interact with younger students in positive ways. Students who are identified as positive examples, could in some way be involved with those other students in a leadership capacity. This could be done within the middle school itself, but could also involve students going to local elementary schools on occasion, to lead activities dealing with peer pressure, etc... In addition, I would recommend group/ individual counseling situations with trained guidance counselors in addition to the small group meetings that are already in place. These meetings could be with select students who may need even more support from the school. In this way, students would be allowed to discuss emotional issues that they may carry with them from their homes. So often, students who are carrying baggage from family situations, cannot focus their attention on academic tasks until they figure out ways to cope with these emotional issues. This is probably one of the reasons why poor, urban schools have so much difficulty passing state tests and producing high achieving students.

I give Orange Middle School a lot of credit for all of the efforts being made to create a better place for students. I hope that they find a lot of success in these changes and that students benefit from these attempts.

Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum mapping is a process which involves collecting and recording curriculum related data that identifies elements of instruction such as core skills, content taught, delivery of instruction and assessments used in specific subject areas and grade levels. Once a curriculum map is developed, it is then used as a tool that helps teachers keep track of and plan for instruction. Curriculum maps are a good way to hold teachers accountable for skills that should be taught and what actually takes place in the classroom.

The district in which I currently teach does not use curriculum mapping. I really do like this idea, however, and I think that my district could benefit from something like this. I understand that there would be a tremendous amount of work involved if we were to implement this idea correctly but I think it would be worth it. The district is very large and often times I feel an inequality among schools from one side of town to the other. Class sizes are much smaller in schools on one side as in comparison to the other. It also appears that resources differ as well. Some schools are strongly encouraged to use items such as the adopted reading series, and others do not follow it at all. To have some type of standard guidelines which all were following as well as to be provided equally with the resources to do so would be very beneficial. In addition to this benefit, it would also provide some guidelines for special teachers such as resource room and ESL teachers. It would be a way to keep everyone on the same page. I think the reason that we do not use curriculum mapping is because of the size of the district and the many other initiatives that seem to come up. Curriculum mapping seems to be one that would be worth spending some time on.

Curriculum mapping would definitely help move along the process of changing curriculum. So often we are provided with curriculum guides that only specify the goals needed to be reached instead of going into detail about how to reach those goals. It seems as if something like curriculum mapping might be able to provide the specifics for changing curriculum as well as ensuring that all teachers are kept on task for common goals.

Reflection on On-Line Learning

I have to be honest, on-line courses are a challenge for me. I did not have to do any of this kind of thing until I began my program in supervision last fall. I hate to say it, but as an undergraduate we stood “on-line” ( I mean a real line...) just to register for classes. Not even that was computerized yet. As a graduate student we had progressed to the telephone line for class registration. So, needless to say, when I began my courses for a supervisor’s certificate I was slightly lost when it came to using Blackboard, Blogs, etc...

In addition to this, I am not using the most advanced technology at home. Again, I would not want to shout this from the rooftops, but I am still using dial up internet. As a result of all of this, I have had to jump through some hoops to complete parts of the on-line work. Now, as I look back on what I have learned I can say that I really learned a lot from the challenge of this. If you asked me this on Columbus Day when I spent my day off bouncing back and forth from the town library computers and bugging my family and friends about a movie I had to make, you may have received a different answer. I realize how important it is to keep up with technology. I would really enjoy being able to incorporate more of it into my classroom. This has given me a bit more confidence to do so.

For the future, it might be a good idea to do some quick mini training sessions in class on the skills that are needed for the on-line classes. This would be helpful to those students who are technically challenged, such as myself :)