STCBlogPosts

  Maus Lesson Plan Subject: English/Language Arts Grade: 7 Lesson Plan Day 1: Introduction to Maus and the Holocaust Purpose: Elicit prior knowledge in order to identify student understanding; Provide context as to why the content is important and in what ways it is relevant Anticipated Outcome:   Able to identify students’ knowledge of the topic Students have begun to make connections between literature and history Students are primed to identify rhetorical devices and think critically about the text Students are primed to think about the author as a character and narrator Hook: Immediately utilize prior knowledge and student participation through discussion Typing students responses out on slide so they can see and consider their responses Googling facts and allowing students to see on screen research being done Discussion Question: What do we already know or what have we already learned about the Holocaust? High Leverage Practices: Modeling Research Leading Discussio...

I chose my own lesson plan (it is only 1 day long)  that I wrote for Dr. Shaver’s class. I am still not sure I am meeting these standards for gifted and talented students, however I do know that I am asking a lot of seventh graders to ponder the questions I am posing. However, I do think that, with G&T students, I might be able to skip my front-loading activity in which I ask students about definitions like prologue and foreshadowing. I am worried that learning definitions might be tedious to them, but I might simply be able to go over it quicker than planned and, instead of having working definitions for the class, I can simply just identify them for my students. Even though I identify three different standards this lesson plan usually addresses, I would like to focus mainly on the first and last of the three. One component I like about my lesson plan that the previous one I chose to analyze is that I think my own plan has more diversity, which I firmly believe is the stepping...

  Lesson: Utopia and the American Dream (Notes) Lesson 1 Questions could probably be a little more open-ended for a gifted group (example: In what ways do you believe Winthrop’s ideas are manifested in society today? How are they not? Lesson 2 I like the focus on contradicting ideas of the American dream Comparative texts Lesson 3 I think the questions could, again, be a little more open-ended; Linking Kennedy and Winthrop is smart and makes sense in terms of front-loading information, but probably should have been done on day 2 Should have asked questions like: How has the American Dream evolved over time? Lesson 4 (1.2) (1.3) I don’t think we needed to refer to another president. This lesson plan appears to lack diversity. Why not hear a story from a regular, everyday person? Lesson 5 Questions seem too leading (except the first one asked in both images. That one is perfect) I like the choice of using pictures like this and drawing parallels again Lesson...

“Differentiation” “When you hear that word in a teaching context, what does that mean to you?” Differentiation makes me think of Montessori classroom and the integration of multiple outlets and mediums to accomplish a particular task. I think of differentiated instruction and think of what I could do or use to help students better understand the context of what I’m trying to teach/accomplish. To be frank, I could be way off base with what this means and could really be thinking of something else. But, to me, differentiated instruction means to connect diverging paths. Hopefully, it also is a means to help students understand a topic better than using my traditional teaching style.  Universal Design for Learning

Classroom management was a bit of an issue this week. Classroom management is always somewhat tricky, particularly on white days, and with certain students in particular. These are actually the same students I mentioned in a previous IFO that keep each other in check. However, this week, they seem to be becoming restless and have become more instigating than mediating. On purple days, classroom management was still a moderate issue but not as much as during white days. I might attribute this to the semester quickly coming to a close. Students also started a movie this week; a movie that, admittedly, is old by students standards and boring and difficult to understand because it’s Shakespeare. Some students were understandably annoyed with the movie, but others were utilizing the movie to complete the packet they had been working on for the unit, and were becoming frustrated with their classmates. I used this opportunity to test out different methods of classroom management. At first, I ...

For this week, students were starting a movie after my previous lesson, so there wasn’t too much evaluation in terms of assessment. However, students had been filling out a packet while reading Hamlet, as a method of both formative and summative assessment. Students were able to fill out the packet at their own pace and to go back and make corrections. Students are also expected to turn the packet in once the unit is over. In this way, the packet is a form of assessment as learning, giving students an outline of what they are expected to learn while reading the text, as well as facilitating their knowledge and giving them the opportunity to take agency over their own learning. This was also a form of assessment of learning because their teacher is able to grade it at the end of the unit and assess what they have learned or to what extent they were willing to learn. The packet was also an assessment for learning because the teacher (my mentor teacher as well as myself) could use this as...

I think I’m feeling better than I was the first week. I am still rather anxious about what my mentor teachers will be expecting of me once I am in a classroom. I am also worried about the state of my mental health, as my bipolar disorder is on the upswing and I have been having issues filtering myself despite taking many precautions to avoid this. I am worried about how I will be able to react to students because of this. Even though I pride myself on my transparency, I am worried about how I will approach this issue in class. I am also worried about the structure of this course. I am having difficulty following along in class and understanding assignments thoroughly. Much of our instruction seems vague and confusing at times and I find myself frequently asking my peers for help identifying tasks only to find that they are having trouble as well.

So far, I am terrified. I took EDJH a year and a half ago I think? COVID was still a very large concern, we wore masks to all the classes, were only able to attend/conduct class for two to three days a week instead of five, and we weren’t able to go into schools. I don’t know what I thought this class was going to be, but I wish I had either taken it at a different time or hadn’t had to have had so much time spread out between this course and that one. I am terrified of going into schools for practicum and, to be honest, I have no idea what to expect because I don’t have any previous experience. I suppose that’s all I have to say/think about for now.

 29 August 2022 Initial Impression/Opinions of UDL and how do you see it impacting your future practice To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how to feel about it. It makes sense, but I certainly have questions. It is meant to be about accessibility, and yet only really talks about technology, which not everyone has access to. Not only that, but not everyone works well with technology. I know there are ways I can utilize technology and not use it for other students simultaneously, but I really wish that were addressed in the powerpoint and class discussion. I understand that technology has been making things easier and more instantaneous, but I fear that something is being lost behind it all. I suppose I’m not quite sure what that thing is, so, until I figure it out, I might as well continue to use UDL in the ways I’ve already been taught.

 19 October 2022 "Drawing on Rimm-Kaufman, Tomlinson asserts that “Establishing routines, processes, and mechanics is about making learning more effective and efficient as well as creating a caring classroom culture.” What is your current position on this as it relates to your future practice/classroom?" To be perfectly honest, the idea of trying to navigate a differentiated or even simply a learner-centered classroom scares me. It sounds like a lot of hard work that I am not yet prepared for. However, I do agree with this statement, and I think that routines are important in helping facilitate learning, and understanding the processes of students and their use of mechanics furthers that. Additionally, none of this can be done without a caring, safe, and/or comfortable classroom culture. Still, while I agree with these things, I believe that the reality of the classroom is that this cannot always be possible. Even when trust is established, there will be days where it is not ...

30 August 2022 "As you think about planning and implementing instruction during your field experiences (which occur within educational environments very much focused on standardized test scores),  where might you see the possibilities of incorporating a student-centered approach?" This isn’t an idea that has occurred to me until very recently, but I do like the idea of giving students more of a choice. Not necessarily to take a test or not, but to take a test more geared towards certain things. I hope to eventually generate three different types of tests with various approaches to test-taking. Maybe some with more multiple choice, some with more matching, and some with more short answers. Obviously, each of these will have components of the others, but will still be heavy on others. At certain points, I will not allow students to make this choice, or I will make them pick an option that they don’t normally pick (I will keep this in mind while grading).  Additionally, as an En...

18 November 2022 I have not seen much problem based learning implementation in the classroom on the part of my mentor teacher. It appears that she generally teaches content just for the sake of teaching content, without typically using real-world applications. That isn’t to say that she doesn’t address issues in learning, but it, again, does not appear typical of her.  Rather, I have been attempting to implement problem-based learning into my own lessons that I have been presenting to the class. I have tried to introduce real-world applications and ways that Shakespeare still maintains relevancy in the modern world. I have been doing this by introducing modern-day sayings that have their origins in Shakespeare. Additionally, I have been trying to help students understand that I am trying to teach them how to implement independent thought processes, particularly while attempting to help them understand that myself or their teacher(s) will not be around forever to help them, and I am...

 13 November 2022 It has been difficult for me to directly observe data-driven decision making in my classroom. I don’t really see my mentor teacher doing much of any of it. I was able to do it myself during my own lesson that I presented. This was my second lesson and I decided to use the data from my previous assessment to inform my decision making in the second one. I had been asking students to be subjective about learning, rather than looking for the “correct” or objective answer. I then wanted them to justify why they came to the conclusion they did so that they might be able to demonstrate their learning. Many of the students did what I asked them to do, but a lot of them gave answers without giving a reason. I suppose I just wanted them to “show their work,” and that was kind of lost on them. So I did a little exercise/activity during my following lesson. I informed students about divergent vs. convergent thinking, and how I wanted them to think more divergently. To do this...

4 November 2022 I am having a hard time responding to the prompt for this week because I did not see a whole lot of differentiation, if any, that I can identify here. There are a handful of students in my class(es) who are either ELL students or have 504s… However, I have not really seen my mentor teacher differentiate instruction, and maybe only make accommodations, but this hasn’t occurred in any way I can actually identify this week. I gave my first official lesson this week, and I feel as if I differentiated instruction more than my mentor teacher did. I had students respond to a prompt, and they could choose to respond in whatever medium made the most sense or was the most functional for them. Honestly, I did this before I was informed of students who were ELL or had 504s. I did also give special assistance to my ELL students and simply rephrase the question and guide them to have a better understanding of what I meant. I did this by helping them break down the structure of the se...

21 September 2022 In both my classes (on white and purple days), technology seems to play an integral role in the classroom. Students start every day with their “bell work,” in which they respond to a prompt given by the teacher and post their responses in Schoology where the teacher is able to view them. Each student is expected to do this. All the information the students need about assignments and what will be happening in class is on Schoology. These prompts are also given to students via a projection of a word doc that is being displayed on Mrs. Kendall’s desktop. It has been somewhat difficult to make observations about technology in the classroom because both classes are working on the same project. Therefore, there hasn’t yet been a structure to how the classroom typically runs in order for me to see any changes in daily usage of technology and electronics. For the most part, students sit with their laptops open for the duration of the class period, some working on their projec...

13 September 2022 For my classroom observations, I am there on two different days (white and purple days). Both classes on purple and white days are senior literature classes. Both classes are fairly quiet and mild-mannered, but the class on white days is significantly quieter even still. For the purposes of this observation, I was only observing the white day class. The far side of the classroom by the entrance almost never talks, not even amongst each other. Two girls in the middle of the classroom really only interact with each other and the teacher (Mrs. Kendall). There are three kids that sit around me in the classroom that only talk to Mrs. Kendall and sometimes to each other. One of these students has had this teacher for several classes so they know each other quite well. This same student is also very good friends with the boy that sits directly behind her. There is a boy who sits at the very back of the class that isn’t surrounded by anyone, but he is very friendly and intell...

26 September 2022 I was excited to get to this weeks’ prompt because I actually have something to talk about for this. Technically speaking, I don’t have any students in either of my classes who have disabilities that need to be taken into account or even students that are more proficient in certain areas. There is, however, a student from West Africa that does not speak English in one of these classes. Even my mentor teacher, Mrs. Kendall did not know what to do with this poor girl, because no one even told Mrs. Kendall what language she speaks. I offered up the idea of using a translator app that most phones have. However, this app would not work until we knew what language the student spoke. My mentor teacher and I spent nearly an entire class period trying to find out what her native language was, until she thought of one of her coworkers she could ask, so we finally found out that this student spoke French. So, since this happened about a week to a week and a half ago, Mrs. Kendal...

7 September 2022 Because both the classes I sit in are during senior classes, my mentor teacher does not have to worry about much in terms of classroom management. Most, if not all, the students self-regulate fairly well and, while they can often be disruptive, never escalate. Most students’ behaviors are managed by their own peers, classmates, and friends, who tell a student when they need to calm down and the student often listens. A perfect example of this happened today, actually. It was my first instance of teaching a lesson in this classroom. I could tell one of the students was in a bad mood for reasons I didn’t understand and that I didn’t ask about because it seemed like trying to talk about it would just set him off. Before I presented my lesson, he asked me if he could do his math homework while I taught. This made it seem like he was trying to get a rise out of me, because he could have just done it and not said anything. I told him that I couldn’t do anything about it if h...

  This prompt actually reminds me of a bit that was done by a standup comedian about how he didn’t know his daughter was in the “stupid class” → Bert Kreischer While I do agree that this is commonly what happens, I do believe that this is not what should happen. Because of this grouping, kids are suddenly made aware of the fact that they are not as “smart” as their peers. However, I don’t necessarily think limits are being placed on student learning, or that they at least shouldn’t be. With that being said, I think that students often place internal limits on themselves with this new knowledge about their intelligence, and teachers and administration do not recognize this or help foster improvement. The mental health of students is not recognized as affecting their test scores. What we see of students is their concrete test scores, however, we do not know what lies within the contents of their mind, and how grouping affects them. I believe that students place limits on themselves b...

  Special Ed KWL Know: Understanding of ABA learning/teaching strategies How to apply different learning techniques to yield the best outcomes Communicating with nonverbal students or selective mutism What signs to look for to begin to diagnose students if needed Gifted is on the same spectrum as special needs Want to Know: How what I learned in Wisconsin is different than Indiana (BIP vs IEP) How to properly read a BIP or an IEP or a 504 and apply it How do we deal with developing special needs or new diagnoses?  What communication styles apply best across different groups How to create a lesson plan with special needs students in mind How to communicate needs with parents and special ed teachers (case conferences) How to recognize a gifted student among others when they don’t react in a stereotypical manner Learned: