July 1 Reflection: EDAT 6115

Description:

          This week we read chapter 11: Effective Learning Environments (Slavin, 2015). The chapter explains the why and the how of classroom management. It opens with, There is no magic or charisma to make you an effective classroom manager (Slavin, 2015, pg. 272). This struck me to the point that I wrote it down. I think this is an important point. There is no magic formula and while the bones may stay the same, the teacher has to be willing to be flexible and adapt each year based on the group of students for that year.

          The chapter also addressed why classroom management is important, other than keeping our sanity! Keeping students engaged most of the day because we have a precious few hours with them each year. If there are students openly disrupting or just talking to a neighbor, they are not engaged. When they are not engaged, they are not learning. Our entire job is to teach our students each year.

Analyze:

          “Students learn an average of 60% of allocated class time” according to a study done by Karweit and Slavin in 1981 (Slavin, 2015, pg. 274). This is a terrible percentage! We spend about 6 hours a day instructing students. 60% is 3.6 hours. While we do not need to make sure the students are 100% engaged 100% of the time, we do need to maximize out time with them. Ways that were discussed were avoiding interruptions such as people coming in, sending notes to the office, etc… Another huge time waster is procedures. Teachers should practice routines until students understand that routines such as transitioning from point A to point B or lining up for lunch should take seconds not minutes (Slavin, 2015, pg. 275).

          The most common theme throughout was creating a clear expectations. Before the year even starts, teachers need to have clear and specific plans as to how they expect students to act/perform in various situations. Once you know what you expect, you need to spend as much time as necessary practicing these rules. In the upper elementary setting this can take several days. Once you have the basics down, how to line up, how to walk in the hall, behave in the bathroom, etc… you can move forward to more focused inside the classroom procedures. These could be anything, such as how to behave in a group, how to transition from group to group, etc… At this point, you are following your kids around and watching their every move. You should not be doing other things at this time. Your focus is on them learning the right way to behave in your classroom. This can take 1-2 weeks. Once routines are clearly established, you can move onto your real, yearlong teaching (Slavin, 2015).

          While you are focused on routines, students should still be working. They should not be given busy work, but they should be given simple, enjoyable activities (Slavin, 2015). This too is a way to practice routine.

          Another way to increase student engagement is to teach highly engaging lessons. When students see you excited to teach, they are generally excited to learn. While every lesson cannot always be a three ring circus there are ways to engage students. The text discussed a teacher trying to get her students to mimic Hemingway’s writing style. She could have just told them to do it. She could have laid out guidelines and let them go. Instead, she pulled them in and hooked them by telling them that they were going to steal Hemmingway’s style, not mimic (Slavin, 2015, pg. 271).

Reflection:

          This chapter brought back so many thoughts of my first year. I struggled so much with what to do and how to do it! I am thankful I was hired in December and only had to make it 6 months! Undergrad did not prepare me for managing a classroom of 24 little people! Now, my classroom management is MUCH better and I do nearly all of the things mentioned in the chapter. I think the one area I still struggle is arranging my classroom. I love having the kids in groups, but groups invite talking. I find myself rearranging the classroom at least monthly which is funny because my house has not been rearranged in 15 years! Over the years I have just begun to accept that 8-9 year olds are never going to be quiet all the time. This may be a cop out, but I have not found a solution that works 100% of the time. My way of dealing with it is that I do not mind as long as they are not talking while I am talking or during other predetermined times. This works pretty well although, there may be others that disagree.

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (12th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson

June 24: Reflection EDAT 6115

Description

This week we read Chapter 9: Grouping, Differentiation, and Technology (Slavin, 2015).  It was interesting to learn about different ways to group my students and to differentiate within that grouping. Teaching in the co-taught environment reaching different levels of learners. I have a mixture of students from up to three years below grade level to one to two years above. Groups are my best friend.

One of the issues I deal with is differentiating for my lower learners while still exposing them to the current material, when they are not developmentally ready to grasp all of the requirements.

Analyze

The first thing that struck me was page 214 (Slavin, 2015) where Carroll’s Model of School learning is discussed. Just like I said last week, many of my students come to me with gaps. Some are several years’ worth and some are just here or there. The “A” in the QAIT Model stands for “Appropriate levels of instruction”. This means that the teacher makes sure that the student has the necessary skills and knowledge to learn the new material he/she is presenting. This is where problems arise. When I teach multiplication, I need students that have a firm grasp on addition. When I teach adjectives, students must be able to confidently identify nouns.

Page 220 discusses in class grouping (Slavin, 2015). This works extremely well. I love using groups within my class. Teacher led, it allows me to reach my students on their level and meet their individual needs. Peer led, it allows the students to drive their own instruction. They can peer teach such as in math. They can research in science and social studies, they can explore science and discuss their findings. In reading they can co-read (Slavin, 2015, pg. 221-223). My students love to take control of their own learning. They often work even harder than I expect them to.

Any child can succeed in school. Any child can fail (Slavin, 2015, pg. 225) Students need a helping hand, especially if they are struggling. Being part of a Title One school, I found this section especially interesting. We do all of the things discussed; compensatory education, early intervention programs, and special education (Slavin, 2015, pgs. 225-227). We use title one funds to pay a few title one teachers. This reduces class size and allows for pull out services. Additionally, we use funds to pay for our Intervention Specialist who meets with students, administrators, teachers, and parents to help struggling students close gaps or receive testing for special education placement. We also used our funds last year to roll out a new reading program. This year we will use funds to fully implement it in our school. I am extremely grateful for the additional funds to help my babies reach success.

Reflection

Understanding that students are not cut from the same cloth. They all are weak and strong in different areas. If you are challenging your students, even your strongest student will struggle and need a helping hand at some point. Identifying this and not just passing it off as a fluke is where the true teaching starts for this student.

It is also important to remember that even though administrators and school boards are all about the data, it is important to make sure that the students have the time, materials, and help to fully grasp the material before they are assessed. Pacing helps with this, but knowing your audience when creating lessons are equally important. I teach in a high-poverty, rural school and in a co-taught classroom. My students are generally struggling more than others. I think it is important that when teaching I am bringing in lessons that reach different learning styles and allow for differentiation where the students are exposed to the grade level standards, but they are working at a level that enables them to be successful at the end of the day.

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (12th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson

June 17 Reflection: EDAT6115

Description:

This week we read about student-centered instruction in Chapter 8: Student-Centered and Constructivist Approaches to Instruction (Slavin, 2015). The text looked at various methods and discussed ways to implement them in your classroom as well as the pitfalls of the method. This led to our group discussion where we discussed the challenges of using student-centered instruction in the classroom for the teacher and the students. We also offered suggestions on how to overcome these challenges.

Analysis:

Student learning is based on Constructivist Theory. Constructivist believe that students should be encouraged to use active methods (experiments, real-world problem solving, group discussions, etc..) to generate more understanding and to then reflect on, talk about, and share their understanding of what they are doing (Slavin, 2015, pg. 188). This is a great way to help students become more responsible for their own learning and to prepare them for adulthood where everything is not spoon-fed to them, nor is it back and white. They are going to have to puzzle out a solution to a multitude of issues as they grow and into adulthood.

As discussed last week, classroom management is a key component to the success of this teaching/learning method. While the learning is student-centered and the teacher is taking a backseat, they are the facilitators and responsible for keeping the students on task and engaged. One method discussed and that I found particularly fascinating was the STAD method. In this method, students are grouped with varying abilities and gender. They work together to teach each other the material and when the group is individually tested over their mastery, they can earn points for their team (Slavin, 2015, pg. 198-199). Last week we discussed buy-in and “if students want to know something, they will be motivated to exert the effort necessary to learn it” (Slavin, 215, pg. 216). This is completely true. Students want to know why they are learning something and feel that this is an important reason. In younger grades, competitions can be a great “reason why”. They have not reached the level that they understand that the reason is a life skill and they need the information for future success.

A balance must be reached by the teacher in which he/she creates an environment that forces the students to problem solve and think on their own without making them so frustrated that they shut down and cannot learn. This can be accomplished by grouping students by mixed ability, providing those weaker in the subject area to be supported by those that are stronger (Slavin, 2015, pg. 198).

Reflection:

Student led learning is a terrific way to encourage students to take ownership of their own learning. It is a great way to prepare them to be independent problem solvers. By presenting students with a solvable situations/problems. There are potential problems that can arise. Classroom management has to be taught and consistent. Students have to be taught expectations and held accountable for failing to meet those expectations.

When I was a first year teacher, I worked for a school that required me to have small group reading groups every day. At the time, it was my worst nightmare, but it made me work through independent group work issues quickly. While I was meeting with a group, I had five other groups working independently around the room. The first year was terrible! I struggled so much and it made me so mad at myself for not being successful. I spent every weekend researching and coming up with ideas. I would try ideas, some would work, and some would not. One thing I was aware of; it was my issue, not my students. It wasn’t until year two that things began to run better. I believe the biggest part of that is I began with expectations day one. We practiced those way before we actually began working independently. Even while working with my group, I was constantly watching the other groups and redirecting immediately. After practice and a few weeks, things began to run smoothly.

I believe that even younger students can be held to high expectations. We as teachers should also hold ourselves to those same high expectations. It is okay not to be perfect at something, but it does your students a disservice when we never look in for the problem and we are always working out. We learn our entire lives and just because we have the label “Teacher”, it doesn’t mean that we have nothing new to learn.

Slavin, R. E. (2015).  Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (12th ed.).  Boston, MA: Pearson

June 10 Reflection: EDAT 6115

Description

This week we read Chapter 7: The Effective Lesson (Slavin, 2015).  It was interesting to read about teaching an effective lesson. I believe this always a place that a teacher can grow. We stand in front of tiny beings and try to keep them engaged so that we can impart great wisdom. Slavin says, “At times, the most effective and efficient way to teach students is to present information, skills, or concepts in a direct fashion” (2015). This is true. We try to make every lesson exciting, hands on, group work, but in reality sometimes it is just us up there teaching. We have to be good at it, because it is the least favorite part of a young child’s school day!

Analyze

Page 160 talks about direct instruction. He talks about the need for direct instruction and gives the example of third grade students conducting science experiments. Those that received direct instruction first performed better than the students that were left to figure out how to set up and complete the experiment on their own (Slavin, 2015).

Lessons should be well organized and laid out. Students should know what is being discussed and in what order. Students should be told when you are discussing a particularly important portion. Being clear and staying on topic is equally important as it keeps the student’s minds focused on the topic at hand (Slavin, 2015, pgs. 166-167).

Another great point, is the importance of worked examples. Students benefit from seeing something worked out and hearing your thinking as you work it out. Hearing you formulate your answers will help them later when they are on their own and working independently. This quote spoke to me, “It is clear that direct instruction methods can improve the teaching of certain basic skills, but it is equally clear that much is yet to be learned about how and when they should be used.” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 176). I think that a lot of teachers, especially those that are new to the profession struggle with classroom management. Some view keeping students in their seats and quiet as a well-managed classrooms and they only teach through direct instruction. Yet, this method of teaching has limited use. Students need multiple ways to learn. They need to understand the concept and be able to apply it in a variety of ways (Slavin, 2015, pg. 177).

Reflection

I teach very little through whole group, direct instruction. I feel the atmosphere change in the room almost the second I move to the front of the room. No matter how fun I try to make the lesson at least some of my kid’s eyes begin to glaze over after a few minutes. I feel that part of the problem is kids are used to everything being presented to them in a fast paced, flashy way of video games, internet, and television. The other issue is that not all children learn well through hearing the material. That being said, the only way to teach subtraction with regrouping is through direct instruction and repeated worked examples.

However, I am constantly looking for ways to make my direct instruction lessons more meaningful and engaging. Through reading the chapter and what I see year after year in my classroom, I see the benefit of using them to teach particular skills.

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (12th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson

June 3 Reflection: EDAT 6115

Description

I enjoyed this week’s reading assignment. I teach in a co-taught classroom and it was interesting to read about memory in Chapter 6: Cognitive Theories of Learning (Slavin, 2015).  Several of my students struggle with long term memory and there were numerous helpful components. In the text, he discusses the importance of the different types of memory (Slavin, 2015).  I teach in a high stakes grade and it is imperative that my students convert what they are learning into long term memories. Having strategies can help me become a more effective teacher. 

One huge hurdle I face every year is gaps from the year before. Is it the teacher, there are no high stakes test prior to the students coming to me, or is it the student? In order for them to be successful, I need to be able to build on a strong foundation. This week’s reading has been insightful in this area.

Analyze

There are times that the material is not interesting to a third grader. Honestly, at 8-9 years old do you really care what a plural possessive noun is?   It is frustrating, because I feel that a lot of information is not stored long term, just short term. The text states,” It has long been known that practice is more likely to lead to long-term retention when students create something using the new information, rather than merely rehearsing the existing information” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 141). I strongly believe this as it uses several learning styles at once and gives the students a chance to be more a part of their learning versus me just standing up and lecturing. I also feel that by hearing, seeing doing, the student is more likely to convert the material to long term memory stores.

On pages 149-150 Slavin discusses activating prior knowledge. This is another area that my underprivileged students struggle. They lack the life experience. This too is a gap I try to fill. When I take trips, I take pictures and fill books with them so the kids can see through my eyes. For example, when teaching government, I pull out all my pictures of Washington, D.C. and we look at the buildings and monuments we are discussing. Additionally, I share my thoughts of what it was like to see it in person. I also try to do virtual field trips. Being able to expose students to the background knowledge they lack is a yearly struggle and it really does affect them. We just had high stakes testing scores come back. I teach in a very rural title one school. There is another school in our county in an upscale urban area that outperformed everyone. They do not have better teachers, their students are just exposed more to the world.

Reflection

There are always ways I can improve as a teacher. Slavin describes long-term memory as having three parts or pieces, “episodic memory, which stores our memories of personal experiences; semantic memory, which stores facts and generalized knowledge in the form of schemata; and procedural memory, which stores knowledge of how to do things” (2015, pg. 154). I will continue to help my students build their semantic memories through fieldtrips and shared experiences and I will use groups, hands on materials, and practice to build procedural memory. Furthermore, I will work to help my students, especially those with long-term memory disabilities build their episodic memory using technology and research tools to gain a deeper understanding of the material. Because of these varying types of long term memory, I feel that it is important to understand learning styles and present teaching and learning in a variety of formats, as we discussed this week in our discussion groups.

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice (12th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson