Instructional Planning Paragraph

The best way to teach students to write is by teaching writing as a process. Since there are many ways to perform each step, writing as a process fits well into lesson planning around the individual needs of students. In addition, the writing process is a skill that can be learned, and I believe that it demystifies writing as an art requiring talent on the part of the writer. Teachers should assist all students, regardless of ability. It is the teacher's job to encourage the best possible performance from students. Writing portfolios can help with differentiated instruction in the Language Arts classroom. Writing portfolios show the progress or regress of a student's work over time. Student teacher meetings to discuss the work in the portfolio can address the different needs of individual students, and support the student as she becomes a better writer. Writing about the content of the portfolio helps students reflect on their work and learning. Students who reflect on their learning progress become more active learners, retain more, and take more responsibility for their learning.

You Take a Position p. 437

As a person who loves books and reading, I tend to have a knee-jerk reaction to anything that smacks of censorship. It goes against my mental programing to think that reading is harmful. Further, I think that people have a fundamental right to express themselves. In general, I think that the internet is a fabulous tool for finding information and giving the average Joe a soapbox from which to shout. Restricting access to such a useful and empowering tool is also contrary to why I want to be a teacher.

However, as a parent, I realize there is a need to protect young people from lots of the scary stuff that goes on in the internet. There is no educational value to porn, children do not need to be indoctrinated by the KKK, and I know several students who do not need any more pointers in lock picking. I personally have no issue with this type of information being on the web, but professionally, schools have a responsibility to the community to protect students from harm, both physically and intellectually.

Now, I do take issue with the filtering system my district uses. Last year, we adopted a new filter. All I can say is that the new filter blocks EVERYTHING! As a future Language Arts teacher, I think Blogger would be a great tool to use as a reading or writing journal. In my district, however, it is blocked. The James Randi Educational Foundation has been blocked because it was deemed "occult." I e-mailed Randi about this, he thinks it is funny. Another teacher in the school told me about an book that I might want to use with my students, and when I checked Amazon for it during my plan time, Amazon was blocked!

Our district will "unblock" sites for teachers after the teacher has vetted the site. However, since the block exist, it is clear that a teacher needs to search at home, test at school, and plan accordingly. I think it adds an additional burden on the teacher, but that is what has to be done at the moment. The sad part, the students know how to get around the filter. So, I often wonder who the filter is protecting?

Paragraph on what motivates students

While I would prefer that my students are self motivated learners who view failure as a lack of effort on their part, I have never been fortunate enough to work with such students. Realistically, grades, parents, and fear of looking dumb are the actual motivations of most students. As a teacher, I need to realize that the best students may be more motivated by the final grade and a fear of their parents rather than a love of learning. In addition, the "lazy" student may actually be afraid of appearing dumb to his peers. Secondary students, in particular, are profoundly motivated by what their peers may think about them. Language arts teachers have a few tools to help their students become more self motivated and active in learning. For example, the use of writing portfolios and multiple revisions can be an effective tool to help students view failure as a result of their own efforts. In the writing process, failure is only and opportunity to revise and improve writing. Collecting work in a portfolio helps students to see how they have improved with time and effort. However, I will not discount the affect of my attitude as a teacher on my students. I believe good writing is a skill, not a talent. Further, I feel all students can improve their writing ability through learning and using the writing process. Students' motivation may be driven by a fear about their own ability, effort is a state that he teacher can help modify by understanding the motivations of her students.

Take a Position pg. 406 -- Teacer v. Learner Centered Instsruction

I love this post. It is a real no brainer for me.

I am decidedly in favor of Learner Centered instruction. I have not really ever done anything else. I believe the reason for this is that I have never worked with average students. The article points out that "a learner-centered teaching style is particularly effective with low-ability students" (406). I started my career in education as a tutor, progressed to a para professional working with students who had profound disabilities, and finally working with at risk students.

I was a writing center tutor for three years while an undergraduate. Tutoring is clearly a learner centered format. In addition, we were trained to keep the focus of all tutoring sessions on the student. For example, tutors were not supposed to hold a student's paper, and writing on it was almost considered a sin. We were to identify a problem, show the student how to correct the problem, and then let the student correct the problem on their own.

When I started working as an adjunct, I really didn't see myself as an "instructor;" rather, I was still just a tutor. In addition, I taught "beginning writing." My students needed to take my class in order to prepare for freshman comp. I taught the class in a very learner center fashion. It was common for me to have the student work on some seemingly nutty group work. It was always hands on, often involving crayons or glue. The last 20 minutes or so of class was spent discussing what we did, what we learned, and how to apply the activity to writing. The class met for 5 hours a week for 16 weeks, and I think I lectured all of 2 or 3 hours of that time.

I have also worked as a paraprofessional in a classroom for students with the most profound disabilities. Every student had an IEP, and every student had vastly different goals. We did tons of individual, one-on-one instruction. Activities were based on the needs and goals of the students, and we frequently had to change the plan of the day because of circumstances beyond our control. The trick was to figure out how to use whatever was going on to still teach the students what they needed for the goals they had.

Now that I am doing remediation, I am still doing learner centered instruction. I draw a lot on my time as a tutor while working at BMS. It is not uncommon to come into my classroom and find each student working on a different assignment or activity. It is also not at all uncommon for one of my students to come into class and tell me that they don't get their homework for science class, so even though I am supposed to help them with language arts that day, I will drop everything and work on science. I really like that the needs of the students directs what that student does in my class.

In all the settings I have worked in, my classes have never been places where students sit quietly and listen to me talk. While my reading comprehension students sit quietly, it is because they are reading (and often, they are all reading something different). I prefer students to be doing group activities and working together. The best part of my day is when a student "gets it," and her face lights up because she got it, she knows she got, and she can't BELIEVE she got it. Those "light bulb moments" don't happen during lectures.

Take a Position pg. 361 -- Assertive Discipline

I have seen, and used, some form of assertive discipline in many of my past experiences in a public school setting. Generally speaking, it does work in helping to maintain order in the classroom. In a classroom full of students with moderate mental handicaps, an assertive plan can be a great tool for helping students take responsibility for their own actions. The plan is easy to understand with clear consequences. While I suppose it would be nice to discover the reasons why a student may be misbehaving, there is expediency to assertive discipline. I don't believe a teacher has the responsibility, time, or need to fully investigate every discipline problem.

In my experience, assertive discipline works well at the fist step. In many cases, students may be so caught up in the moment, that they are unaware they are being disruptive. The quick reminder, and writing the name on the board, assists students to be responsible for their behavior. I have seen this method work very well with students who have cognitive disabilities. It is often very difficult for these students to know when they are acting in appropriately, and repeated reminders (for multiple students) can take a lot of time.

I have seen it work well for students who act out as a means of getting attention (I personally have a lot of students like this). Once the rules are explained, that the consequences understood, it is possible to discipline a disruptive student without giving attention to the student. In my own situation, I am able to save verbal attention for when the student is acting appropriately. I like positive reinforcement of good behavior, and prefer it when the student chooses his/her actions knowing what the result will be.

I have also seen students who learn exactly how far they need to go to get kicked out of class. These students have learned to manipulate the class rules in order to get out of class. Some students' goal is being sent to ISS. In addition, there are some students who do have real needs that assertive discipline does not address. There are situations where the teacher needs to step out of an assertive plan and get personal with a student who repeatedly violates the rules, or a student who suddenly becomes a discipline problem.

I think it is a good idea for teachers to make notes of who had problems during class. Good note taking will help a teacher see which students need a new discipline plan. Obviously, a student who wants to get sent to ISS, needs a new plan. In addition, by keeping records, a teacher may find that a student only has issues on when another student is in class (which can be handled with a seat change). Perhaps, the student only has issues on Mondays, which could be a sign that something is happening on the weekends to upset the child. A good log can be an important resource for the teacher when assertive discipline doesn't work.

"Take a Position" pg. 203

Considering the current atmosphere of standardized, high stakes testing, and state standards, whether or not I agree with essential knowledge/skills standards in education is a moot point. It is the system under which I will labor. My personal belief as I was raising my own children was that children/people should know essential facts; however, I am also a trivia junkie. While I consider my ability to pull random facts out of my brain a personal strength, my husband has affectionately referred to me as a storehouse of useless information. Professionally, I have to live with state standards, personally, I love knowing lots of “stuff.” The application in my classroom, however, has morphed some of my personal beliefs towards my professional life. For me, the saddest part of my job doing ISTEP remediation is working with “normal” kids who struggle with applying all the essential knowledge and skills they are supposed to know on a test.

Everyday at work I have to balance the fact that certain skills are going to be “on the test” with the fact that all of my students lack several basic skills. It is pointless for me to try and help sixth grade students with algebraic equations when they can’t multiply. However, if I spend too much time building weak skills in basic math, I will not have time to address the more complex skills that are on the test. It is painful to me to teach them what they need to know, while at the same time knowing that they will fail the test for another year. Many of my students are metaphorically trying to dig themselves out of sand. The more they dig, the faster they are buried.

I really wonder if the skill set that each standard represents is a median standard or if the standards are too tough for the “average” student. In addition, while my professional concerns are, right now, the low achievers, basic standards do little to challenge the more able learner. While my students are focused on basic math concepts, other students may find the “standard” math for their grade too easy. Standards simply do not address the needs of all students. Further, the reality of standardized testing doesn’t encourage schools to challenge the more able student, and the student with greater needs can be viewed as a liability.

While I still generally believe that there is an idea of “core knowledge,” I am greatly concerned about the need for remediation for some students. I also worry about challenging more able learners. Finally, there is the reality of NCLB. So, it is difficult for me to “take a position” on this issue that is reflective of my own beliefs. As a general rule, I believe that there are some things students should know as well as skills students should know how to do.

Having declared my position, I also believe that remediation and enrichment programs are an essential (and often over looked) part of education. I have always worked with low achieving and at risk students. Even when I was an adjunct at PNC, I taught basic writing classes to prepare students for freshman comp. It was my job to teach students core knowledge and skills that they lacked. At Boston Middle School, if I have to teach 4^th grade math, I teach 4^th grade math. However, I am frustrated at BMS because I also feel that I am not given enough time to build all the skills that my students lack. I think in a few cases, I am pushing more sand into the hole.

I have been thinking about my position on this issue for two years. It isn’t an easy question to answer. On the one hand, I personally believe in “knowing stuff.” However, I have seen how it strangles the learning process when students believe they are dumb because of a standard. I also see (from a distance) how some students become lazy students because the standards are too easy for them. The reality is standards based education. While I can personally live with it, I am not to sure my students can.

Exercise 2.1A -- Ice-Breaker Activity

I have an "Ice-breaker" activity that I have used for years in all kinds of settings with various modifications. Depending on the modifications used, the activity can address all the different learning modalities: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile. The real strength, however, is that it helps build a community very quickly.

The basic concept of the activity is the general "round-robin" type of introductions we are all familiar with (in fact, we have done at least 3 of these for T2T). I do have a twist that makes the "round-robin" intro more interesting (I don't remember where I learned the twist). There is the added bonus that I guarantee that EVERYBODY will know everyone's name, and something about that person. I have, over the years, added further twist that make the activity more kinesthetic and tactile as needed.

The basic set up is that I tell everyone to introduce themselves and tell one interesting/unusual/funny fact about themselves. So far, what everyone is used to. The twist is that the next person has to introduce themselves AND repeat the name and fact of ALL the people who have already introduced themselves. Oh, and just so 20 people do not all try and be first, the first person has to repeat what ALL the others have said (which, in a teaching situation, I like to be me anyway).

I have used this activity in nearly every section of freshman comp I have taught. I works great, and is very important for my class because I do TONS of small group activities (three or four a week). I have adapted this for other groups as well, and those adaptations have added tactile and kinesthetic modalities.

I have led several Girl Scout and Boy Scout meetings when my children were small. I change up the activity to make it more active for an outdoor setting. In the Girl Scouts, I had box with various musical instruments. Rather than give an interesting fact, they choose an instrument to play. In that case, everyone wanted to go last because they got to play all the drums and cymbals. I think we did go around the circle twice so everyone could play with all the instruments.

For the Boy Scouts, I had them act out their favorite Boy Scout activity (camping, Pinewood Derby, ect). 11 very active 10 year old boys need LOTS of space to do this, by the way. It was really fun and silly.

I have also done this activity with a very large group of adult volunteers (about 50). In that case, I was put in charge of the "open ceremonies" for a weekend retreat. Introductions had always been a part of the ceremony, and the year before they had built a "web" to show how we were all connected to each other. They wanted me to include the web. So, rather than passing the ball of yarn around and making an introduction, I used the "say your name and a funny fact" activity, and then the person threw the ball of yarn to the other side of the circle so the next person could continue the introductions. It was hysterical, especially when the very quiet, 50 year old secretary was knocking people down to catch the yarn! While I haven't been a part of that group for a few years, it is my understanding that they still use that activity. I am trying to work out a less active version of the web to use when I am a full teacher.

I have never had it happen that people didn't learn everybody's name quickly. In addition, it has always helped to build the community atmosphere I try to cultivate when I teach (or lead any kind of group). People are encouraged/gently forced to listen to all the introductions, and will spontaneously help each other when someone is "stuck." In the end, classroom introductions are about creating a community within the larger community. I think that forging bonds and making connections early builds the best foundation.