Chapter 1

"We must be able to state with clarity what the student should understand and be able to do as a result of any plan..."(pg. 14)
This quote stood out to me because there is a big difference between "understanding" and being able "to do". In a perfect world I'd love for my students to be able to do both, and I hope that after reading UbD I'll get closer to knowing how to make this possible.
This reminds me of the vignette (#1 page 1) where the high school teacher memorized very easily and became valedictorian. In reality he understood much less than what people thought.

Reach Observation Form

After reading the form I noticed that is was very detailed (in a good way of course). The things Reach had that I didn't include were:
1. Classroom rules posted
2.Daily schedule posted
3.Goal tracking displayed
4.Models of quality work posted
5.Scoring rubrics displayed/provided

I would add #2 to my list. #4 I'd like to add but would need some ideas. #1 I don't like posting rules because students have told me that I'm too strict and posting rules would probably over-do it. Maybe I'd consider posting things like homework procedures. #'s 3 and 5 I have absolutely no experience with, so I wouldn't include these on my list.

I wouldn't add anything to this form. Teaching is an overwhelming job as it is, and having an infinite list of expectations will burn both the teacher and observer out.

Daily List Must-Haves

1. Filing Cabinet: as students enter class they should take their folders out
(another filing cabinet for missed assignments)
2.Do Now: to start the day
3. Radio: music for when I'm not teaching a lesson
4. Calendar: to keep class updated with upcoming events
5. Portable filing folder: so I'm always ready to pass back work
6.Homework Tray:
7. Tray for hallway passes
8. Container for pencils
9. Computer with Internet
10. Area for paper, staplers, hole puncher, etc
11. Pre-Assesments
12. Textbooks
13. Homework coupons

Summary

Most of the topics in the TPEs have crossed my mind at one time or another, but I never knew they were TPEs. After reading the articles I understood them better but maybe not completely. The real life examples were right on, but I would still like to discuss these expectations a little deeper at a later time. The expectations are clear to me, but I may be wrong and that's why having a discussion would be nice.
The most natural TPE for me would probably be TPE 11. Though I'm a math teacher, it's not only about teaching math, I also strive to build positive learning environments where everybody works as a family and respects one another.
The most difficult TPE is TPE 7. This is a topic that I haven't really focused on because I figured since I speak Spanish it wouldn't be a problem. Yes I know I was wrong to think this way, and now I'm aware that ELLs represent more than just Spanish speaking students.

Ensuring That Students Learn

It was interesting reading the fifth paragraph under Big Idea #1: Ensuring That Students Learn. These thoughts have crossed my mind many times. What shall I do with my struggling students? Should they move to a lower class, should I continue with the next lesson so the whole class doesn't fall behind, etc? The list goes on and on. Eventually what I end up doing is speaking with the student and "invite" them to meet with me for tutoring. What ends up happening is--nothing.
I like how Adlai Stevenson High School requires students to attend tutoring sessions. It would be nice to have those kinds of resources.

Please Don't Pick on Me.

I loved this article. It answered many questions I had. There have been times when I have had students that misbehaved, and talking to them just wasn't cutting it. I needed more suggestions and I found a few here (i.e. contracts).
The only thing I somewhat disagree with is calling on students. Since I was slow in math, I hated it when my teacher would call on me. I'd blank out and turn red because everybody was waiting for an answer, and this is why I try not to call on students. I used to talk to my teachers afterschool and ask them not to pick on me. This is why try to only ask questions to the class and whoever wants to answer will answer (and there has been times when the "shy" students participate).
I've heard of a strategy where you can call on a student and they can pass if they feel uncomfortable, but as a student I would still feel embarrassed because it'll be obvious I don't know the answer to the question.

Knowing Our Students

This section of the article really caught my attention, "...teachers need to know something about their students' family makeup, immigration history, favorite activities, concerns, and strengths. Teachers should also be aware of their students' perceptions of the value of school knowledge, their experiences with different subject matters in everyday settings..."
The reason why this is so interesting is because last semester I thought I knew my students' backgrounds and thoughts. Wow, was I wrong. Our school offers a poetry class, and when I attended a few sessions I was blown away. I learned things about my students that would have definitely helped me when teaching them. It answered many questions as to why they couldn't make it to class on time, why they would fall asleep in class, why school was not important to them, etc. It was towards the end of the trimester when I learned all this, but I hope my schedule for next year will allow me to allocate some time for this.

Though this topic hits home, it's somewhat unclear to me how to teach ELLs because I've never been taught. Last trimester I had a student who mainly spoke Spanish. I paired him up with a bilingual student because he was too shy to ask me questions during the lesson (which is understandable). During the last 20 minutes of class I would have the students break into groups and practice math. Though I went around the classroom to help everyone, this was the time when I would occasionally sit with him and teach him math (translating from English to Spanish). I wanted to help him more, so I asked him to see me after school for additional tutoring, but he was not interested.
Now I'm wondering what I would do if a student speaks another language other than Spanish?

???

I love how this article kept emphasizing that students learn and are engaged in low stress environments. This is exactly what I strive for in my classrooms (I don't know if I'm successful, but I sure do try).
What bothered me though was when I read that, "...research suggests that superior learning takes place when classroom experiences are enjoyable and relevant to students' lives, interests, and experiences". This reminded me of what I would love to do, but how am I supposed to make math 100% relevant to students' lives? Yes some math can be related to everyday life, but there are other topics I'm supposed to teach that won't make any sense until you get into higher math levels.
Most of the algebra and geometry I learned in high school was just to help me build skills for higher math. This is when I really put my all my years of knowledge to work. So what if my students are not going to pursue a career in math? What am I supposed to tell them, you need to know this for the CAHSEE?
One of my college professors confessed--most of the math we learn will not be used by us unless we are math teachers. She continued to say that math is really for becoming great critical thinkers and problem solvers. So again I ask myself, how am I supposed to make certain math topics fun and exciting when I can't relate them to student lives'?

Assesments

In this article under "Understanding 1", Carol Tomlinson writes that she had students in her class who failed tests but showed other evidence of learning. My question is, how would a teacher go about grading these students?
I had a student once who showed up late to class, didn't do his homework, but when I would give class work at the end of class he would learn the material quickly and help others with the assignment. It was obvious to me that math was not hard for him to learn, he just needed to practice it for a few minutes. However, he was not able to retain the material long enough for the test day. On test days he had forgotten the material and would do poorly. If he would have done his homework and studied a little, he could have passed with flying colors. How do you asses a student like him?

Thinking? That's hard!

What an interesting article. Here I go with my math examples...when I was in high school I thought that learning math meant being able to memorize the steps. If my teacher wanted me to solve for x, I knew how to find it (after many hours of tutoring of course). But if my teacher would have asked me to explain why x= 5 I would've froze (good thing she didn't). This example of memorizing without knowing the "why" is what I like to call the "Robot". I do what I'm asked because that's how I was programed. I never cared to ask why the steps were what they were.

As I started taking upper division math classes in college I was scared to tackle certain problems because the formulas were too long to memorize. My professors then told me that it wasn't about memorizing but rather about understanding these formulas. If I could understand why they exist and what they are used for, then using them to solve problems will be easier. "Ugh! You mean I have to think? That's hard and takes up too much energy!", I said. It took me a while to grasp this concept of thinking, but once I got the hang of it felt my neuron connections getting stronger...just kidding.

Also the article mentioned mind mapping. This is something that I would like to teach my students one day (as soon as I learn how to manage my time better). I actually took a class that focused on mind mapping at it definitely cleared things up for me. I was able to see connections between the topics I was learning rather than see them as separate topics.

Thoughts on TPEs

Most of the TPEs appeared equally important, but TPE 1B I thought was slightly more important than the others. It mentions that teachers need to demonstrate the ability to teach the academic standards, and I agree. Throughout my schooling, I have met many people that are great in math and can solve many difficult problems. However, when it came to teaching the subject it was extremely difficult for them to break down the ideas in a simple form for student learning. In a nutshell, there is a huge difference between knowing a subject matter and being able to teach it.
There were no TPEs that seemed irrelvant. There were many expectations that I put on myself and it was interesting to seem them listed. The only TPE that was unclear was TPE 6: Developmentally Appropritate Teacing Practices. I didn't understand what they meant by "Appropriate". It seemed vague.