Reflective Narrative Book Club

INTASC Principle 9: Professional Growth/Reflection The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.

NAEYC Standards: 5. Becoming a professional

The Book Club artifact is an important tool for professional development. This resource was created by the collaboration of education major peers. The Book Club integrates best practices and strategies to guide our professional development.

Book Club was a time designated each week for discussions on becoming a reflective practitioner and collaborating with peers to grow professionally. The open forum was designed to share best practices and discuss the book, Differentiate Instructional Strategies, One Size Doesn't Fit All. This experience was a great instrument in incorporating new strategies and ideas to improve teacher development.

This artifact represents INTASC principle 9 and NAEYC standard 5 because this lesson has helped me grow as a professional teacher. I was able to consult with other professionals on professional development. The process of reflection strengthens teaching skills.

The Book Club benefitted me to become a more reflective practitioner and realizing that one of my most important resources to become a more effective teacher is other reflective professionals. I learned that I am not alone in my desire to become a stronger, successful teacher. I was able to different perspectives and best teaching practices from a wealth of diverse resources. The book that was discussed was an informative text that provides insight to becoming a reflective practitioner and professional growth.

The students will be affected by being provided a teacher that will continuously work to become a more efficient teacher. They will have the opportunity to learn in a learning environment that considers the whole child and all their needs.

Denyse Fiero ECED 342 Book Club

Chapter 1: One Size doesn't Fit All

Differentiation Philosophy: All students have areas of strength Have areas that need to be strengthened Each student's brain's is as unique as a fingerprint It's never too late to learn Differentiate Content Assessment tools Performance tasks Instructional strategies Planning to implement in the classroom: I will plan on using differentiating assessment tools.

Chapter 2: Creating a Climate for Learning

Theory of motivation: Need to survive & reproduce Need to belong and love need to have some power Need to have freedom Need to have fun Emotional Intelligence Self-awareness Managing emotions Self-motivation Empathy Social Skills Planning to implement in the classroom: I will foster each student's emotional intelligence to help them use their emotions intelligently. I will do this by helping students discuss their feelings, use teachable moments to help manage emotions, help them to not give up, think about another's pain and teach social skills.

Chapter 3: Knowing the Learner

Learning Styles:

Knowing how one learns is necessary information to help learn throughout life. Learning Styles: Auditory learners visual learners tactile kinesthetic tactile We Learn 10% what we read 20% what we hear 30% of what we see 70% what is discussed with others 80% we experience personally 95% what we teach to someone else Planning to implement in the classroom: I will adjust my teaching strategies to include more discussion, authentic learning and provide a way to have students teach each other to retain knowledge. Chapter 4: Assessing the Learner Purpose of pre-assessment-assessing student knowledge prior to learning helps to find out... students already know Standards, objectives, concepts, and skills the individual student understands further instruction and opportunities for mastery are needed requires re-teaching or enhancement areas of interest set up flexible groups *Purposes of Pre-assessment What the student already knows about unit being planned What standards, objectives, concepts, and skills the individual student understands What further instruction and opportunities for mastery are needed What requires re-teaching or enhancement What areas of interests and feeling are in the different areas of the study How to set up flexible groups (total, alone, partner, small group, etc) Pre-test, informal pre-assessment, rank scores (page 48-49) Emotions and feeling plays a BIG role in this! Boxing/give cards to students to show what they know about the topic (pinch cards, etc) (page 49-51 have different methods you can assess your learners) Can use survey questions, examples provided on page 54-57 Many tools are provided in the book to help you for future references on page 58-63

Assessments can be before, ongoing, and after lesson. It is continuous throughout the year. Portfolios used to help assess or show improvement Grading is solely used for evaluation a chance for teacher to give feedback through the unit Assessment can be in portfolio Final grades- be specific when grading i.e. Love the picture, but can you explain more in writing? Differentiate learning tasks and assessment so learners can show what they know in comfortable setting

Squaring off-pre-assessment tool divide room up into 4 quadrants (rarely ever, sometimes, often, I have it. Let the students preassess themselves to see their thought on their learning status. Discuss why they chose their placement. Planning to implement in the classroom: I will plan to pre-assess by using the squaring of assessment tool to help guide instructions and have the students get a chance to self-evaluate.

Chapter 5 -Adjusting, Compacting, Grouping Adjustable assignments- allow teacher to help students focus on essential skills and understand key concepts, recognizing that students may be at different levels. o The assignment is adjusted for different groups of learners; the standards, concepts and content have the same focus o Students explore ideas at their levels while building on prior knowledge and experiencing incremental growth o Students learn at their level o Allows for reinforcement or extension of concepts based on student readiness, learning styles, multiple intelligence o More successful because success in obtainable Curriculum compacting- A way to maximize instruction for advanced learners o Enrich curricula o Enhance & stretch thinking o Develop students into more self-directed learners o Used with high-end or advanced learners o Example of compacting-French student skipping 1st year of French because she is already fluent. Collaborative Planning Models o Multiple teacher group students by the results of pre-assessments

o Teachers share resources, ideas & strategies o Teachers can plan lessons together In-class Compacting/Enrichment-class dived up into grouping according to level of mastery Practice skill development at a challenging but not overwhelming level. Agendas-Students keep track of time and tasks. Students fill in a log to keep track of time & tasks. They fill in the date and agenda for the class. After task is completed, they write about progress and write a reflection in the next column The teacher & student have a conference & sign off. Double duty log- Monitor steps and record reflection. Ongoing assessment helps the teacher & student clearly see the successes, progress & needs throughout assignment. Planning to implement in the classroom: I will plan to implement the double duty log which monitor steps and record reflection. Ongoing assessment helps the teacher & student clearly see the successes, progress & needs throughout assignment. Chapter 6: Instructional Strategies for Student Success Brain process: 5 senses to capture attention Sensory input is either dumped out or passed on to short term if the individual's attention is captured rehearsal-processing working memory practice, drill, rhymes, centers and projects, using multiple intelligences Use strategies for focusing sponge activities Graphic Organizers Planning to implement in the classroom: I will plan on using sponge activities when a student finishes work early. I can use a sponge activity to enhance learning and help students become for self-directed learners. Chapter 7: Curriculum Approaches for Differentiated Classrooms Curriculum approaches Assess while in centers Choice-types of centers, theme based like sport, etc. Free inventing Computer center Menus, pamplets Art center

How do you assess students in centers? Clip board cruise-tell student expectations. Planning to implement in the classroom: I will plan to implement centers to enhance and assess learning. I will set expectation for students so they can be responsible for their own learning. Once students are learning independently I can walk around and assess learning.

Book Club - Chapter 8: Putting it all together in your differentiated classroom To find the best fit for our students, we need to recognize that change is a process and its a continuous journey; its not a one-time event. We dont have a one-size-fits-all classroom which is what has been done in the past; every student is different and needs to be treated as an individual. Great quote; begin with the end in mind. This means that some teachers are just focused on the standards and curriculum. But now we are starting to readjust/redesign the learning activities to fit all the different learning styles of the students in the classroom because like I previously stated, every student is different and every student learns differently. We also need to consider how the brain operates; using research based best practices when planning instruction is key/essential because the goal is to ensure that the students have the best learning environment possible as well as maximize students learning. Lessons can be differentiated many different ways, for many different age groups; from early childhood all the way up to the high school level. You can do so by differentiating the content, interest readiness and multiple intelligences for the diverse learners in our classrooms. Differentiating doesnt always mean tiering every lesson for three levels of complexity. Several onlookers are under the misconception that you must have three different academic activities for the students during a differentiated lesson plan and thats not the case. It means to find interesting, engaging and appropriate ways of honoring diversity and helping students learn the new concepts and skills they need to acquire. Schools should reach for higher educational purposes that truly are moral in transforming childrens lives and building a better world for the generations of the future. These four stand out more than the rest because they have a special moral value; to love and care, to serve, to empower and to learn. Educators need to focus more on celebrating the accomplishments of their students and dedicate how they are meeting the needs of their students because strategic teaching and learning play a very important role in the classroom. Figure 66 on page 172 - This chart is a template for The Six Step Model for Differentiated Learning. The chart discusses the six steps and gives examples of what each step entails.

Figure 67 on page 173 - this chart is a template for Adjustable-Assignments Grid to Record Data About Student Readiness Levels. The chart discusses the students basic knowledge of the subject, what they know at the beginning of the lesson and what they need to learn next. It also breaks it down by beginning mastery, approaching mastery and high degree of mastery.

Planning to implement in the classroom: I will plan to always think about all the students learning Lessons and differentiate accordingly. I will differentiate the content, interest readiness and multiple intelligences for the diverse learners in my classroom.

Denyse Fiero ECED 342 April 21, 2012 Book Club Differentiated Instructional Strategies Book club was an important tool for professional development and my teaching this semester. I also found our classroom discussions beneficial to collaborate with my peers about similar challenges and helpful strategies to implement. In chapter one, I learned the philosophy of differentiation and specific ways to apply differentiation in the classroom. I have used differentiation in almost every lesson that I taught. Some of the ways that worked in the classroom was to differentiate by ability, content, instructional strategies and interests. I have differentiated instruction and assessment tools this semester. In chapter two, we discussed creating a climate for learning. I took away the need for motivation and the importance to develop a strong emotional intelligence. The skill of using their emotions intelligently is a skill that will help the children in a school environment as well as in other social situations. This semester I have taken advantage of teachable moments when a student either has made a good or poor choice. We talked about what the student did that was role model behavior. If the behavior was not what is expected I talked privately to that student to talk about their feelings, other people's feeling and their actions in the situation. In chapter three, we learned the importance of knowing the learning styles of the learners in your class and preparing instruction accordingly. Another vital study we learned was the percentage of knowledge retention for each learning method. The three ways that helped students learn the information if through discussion, authentic learning and teaching someone else. This information changed my teaching strategies to add more discussion opportunities like turn and talk or open discussion moments. I have tried

to relate teaching to connect with their daily life and when possible to have the students teach each other. One way the students can teach each other is through explanation of exploration or a mastered skill. In chapter four, our book club covered assessing the learner. We discussed the purpose of pre-assessment, during and post assessment. We learned different strategies to assess students to drive instruction. A new way to have students reflect on their learning that I want to use in my future teaching is a wraparound which is to have student form a circle and take turns telling the class information that they learned that they will use or an AHA thought from the learning. Next we learned in chapter five about adjusting, compacting and grouping. Adjustable assignments allow a teacher to help students to concentrate on specific skills at different levels. An adjustable assignment helps students learn at their own level. Another piece of new learning was curriculum compacting which is a method to increase instruction for excelled learners. An example of this is if I see in the pre-assessment that a group of students have already mastered the skill I will move to the next level for them. I also learned about a way make students accountable which is to use agendas to keep track of time, tasks and development. This is a wonderful was to help students become more self-directed and in-charge of their learning. Chapter six was full of useful information about the process of the brain and ways to get capture attention to enter the brain's long term storage. One strategy that I plan to apply to my teaching is the use of sponge activities. I can use a sponge activity to enhance learning and help students become for self-directed learners. We learned about curriculum approaches for differentiated classrooms in chapter seven. We talked about how to set up centers with adjustable assignments. Also, an ideal center idea is a free-inventing center for experimenting, discovering and inventing. I liked these ideas and to set specific objectives so students can work independently while the teacher is free to assess. In chapter eight, we were reminded that one-size doesn't fit all and we

constantly need to assess and differentiate. Students will benefit from differentiated content, interest and multiple intelligences. Chapter eight introduced a template for adjustableassignments to record information about student readiness. The chart talks about the students prior knowledge and where their learning show go. The book club and book, Differentiate Instructional Strategies, One Size Doesn't Fit All was a great instrument in incorporating new strategies and ideas to improve teacher development.