How People Learn

Okay so I have a few comments and questions on parts of the readings. It's all over the place, but here I go!

Pg. 4 I read that, "...all learning takes place in settings that have particular sets of cultural and social norms..." A few years ago, my boss told me that studies have shown that having females and males separated helps them concentrate better in class. What is interesting is that this trimester, my B block has mostly all boys and they definitely do concentrate better. I have had no issues with this class, and they participate all the time. What do you guys think?

On page 8, the article mentions how students have limited opportunity to understand because many curricula emphasizes on memory rather than understanding. I definitely agree with this because I have taught like this for many years..boo. I taught this way because in high school and my early years of college this is the way I "learned" the material. Memorizing was the way to go!!! I didn't care about understanding all I cared about was my grade. So of course, I transferred this way of thinking to my students during my early years of teaching. Now it's definitely different though (thanks Victoria), I try to teach for understanding and fall back on memorizing if nothing else works (I'm just being honest).

I also think it's cool to teach using pre-exisiting knowledge (pg. 10), but we definitely do need to be aware of any misconceptions our students have. I've had many instances where my students swore they knew the material and they really didn't. And if Chris L. is correct it takes six weeks to undo this...correct?

Pre-assessment, "How People Learn"

Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives...most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity...[and] when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life. (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention)This quote came from a Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist who coined the term "flow," which he described as the optimal learning state: “… flow – the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” (Csikzentmihalyi, 1991) When and where in your life have you experienced learning experiences or activities like this, where you were so absorbed in what you were doing, you needed no extrinsic motivation to continue? When do you feel the most alive and interested in what you are doing?

This quote brings back memories from the age of four. I loved building play houses out of blankets (kind of like tents but better). Since I was so small and didn't have all my motor skills in place, so my brother would do most of the labor and I would tell him where and how I wanted my bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, etc.. As I got older I created 2-dimensional houses/layouts using my Jenga blocks, and then my miniature Muppet Babies would move in. In elementary school, I used to get excited when we had projects that had to do with building models. I remember having to build a model of the Gold Rush, so my mom and I collected a lot of dirt, rocks, etc.. and it came out amazing. Another project I remember was creating my ideal room using a shoebox. It had a bean bag, a bed, and a jacuzzi tub. Around this time my brother was learning about the California Missions and built a clay replica of one of them. When he brought it home I couldn't stop admiring it's beauty. The architecture was spectacular and I loved seeing the details of the plants, dirt, walkways, etc.. Of course I couldn't touch it or he'd kill me, but he would let me stare as long as I wanted. It was part of my daily routine, waking up in the morning and running to his room to see the Mission. It stayed with us through many moves, but it eventually fell apart and I had to part ways with it...boo!

In college, I took a speech communications class, and this too was exciting for me. Every Monday and Wednesday, I would count down the minutes till it was time for class. I was always the first one there, and I ALWAYS sat in the front. We learned many things like verbal , non-verbal , one-way, and two-way communication. I definitely attended this class for fun even though it was a requirement. Staying with the subject of communication, I also got into learning sign language. I took many classes in college, and again I couldn't wait for class to start. Every homework assignment was not work, it was FUN!!!

Writing to Learn

Q1)Read the two chapters from Cris Tovani's "Do I really have to teach reading?", post a QQC on your blog for each chapter.
Q2) Respond to the following questions on your blog: In what ways do you currently use writing-to-learn strategies in your class? In what ways could you expand your use of these strategies? How can writing strategies help students "hold their thinking?"

A1)The readings were a little hard to read because some sentences were cut off, but one of the main ideas that stood was how to help students "link reading and purpose. I couldn't help but wonder if I could somehow get my students excited towards finding a purpose when reading a math textbook. I understand that having a purpose will help retain more of what is read, but I'm not quite sure on how to go about it. In Chapter 5 page 57 there was a worksheet used for math but I'm still a little confused on what information to include.....what's important and what can be put on hold.

A2) A few times I have asked students to write self-reflections on what they've learned, and what they need to work on, but that's about it. I want to get my students used to explain why they take the steps they do when working out a problem....to explain their thinking.

Older Readers, Vocabulary

Q: What specific words in the next unit do you foresee students having difficulty with? How did you go about choosing these words?



A: The next unit I teach will have words such as difference, quotient, dividend, double, sum, product, expression, equation, inequality, etc...These vocabulary words need to be taught or else students will have a difficult time solving the problems. Therefore, I don't really chose what words I teach, the only decision I make is how I teach them and in what order I introduce them.

Older Readers, Vocabulary

All in all, I really liked this reading because it gave various examples/worksheets on how to introduce new vocabulary to our students. My friend, who teaches ESL has been asking of ways to incorporate other school subjects into her curriculum, and the worksheet on page 51 would work great!!! In one class, not only can English be covered but also PE, Math, Science, etc. How exciting! Also the chart on page 49 is something I'd like to use in my class. It could help me and my students keep track of their progress. It can be used as a before and after...what a great confidence booster.
As far as using a dictionary is concerned, I for the most part didn't learn from them. This reading brought back memories to when I didn't know how to spell a word, and my teacher would tell me to look it up in the dictionary. It didn't make sense to me. How was I supposed to look up a word if I didn't know how to spell it???

Older Readers, Vocabulary

I can't help but wonder how students make it to Jr. High without knowing how to read. I would say my reading basic reading skills were built from 1st grade to the third grade, and from there I was able to survive. Yes it was a little late than most people, but my elementary teachers made sure I had the basics down.
So my question is how can I help? Out of the nine instructional elements, I feel that I can easily implement #3 (if I had more guidance in how to approach it). I know there is more to it than just breaking students into groups. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Strategies that Work/ Possible Unit Texts

Well...so much for highlighting! I had to go back and make side notes in order to make sure I understood everything! Lol... Seriously though, these chapters had A LOT of good information, and I'll probably have to read it again in order to soak it all in. The one topic I didn't quite understand was using anchors. How would I use this when teaching math?

Questions:

Q: What are the possible texts you will be using in your literacy unit?
A: The only text I can think of using is the Algebra 1 textbook. I'm also thinking of asking Javier for economic topics and seeing if I can create a lesson on translating economic issues into math equations.

Q: What challenges do you see these texts posing to your students in terms of comprehension?
A: The first thing that comes to my mind is students not understanding the meaning of the words they read. If I don't teach them such words as dividend, quotient, product, sum, etc..then we won't be able to move forward. Also, my Precalculus students of three years ago couldn't figure out how to draw or solve a given word problem because they didn't know what a buoy was.
Q: Looking at the lists of strategies that good readers use, which strategies do you think would prove most useful to your students in their comprehension of the text you give them?
A: Drawing pictures, making a list of what they do understand and what confuses them, pair share,...there's so many

Literacy Pre-Assessment

Q: What was your own early experience as a reader? When did you learn to read? What do you remember about it?
A: When it was time for me to attend Kindergarten, I was still vacationing in Mexico, so when I entered school, I was far behind. I still remember my teacher asking me to find my name on one of the desks, and when I told her that I didn't know how to spell my name she was shocked.
It wasn't until the first grade that I remember learning how to read. Since I was an English Language Learner, my teacher used to teach me how to read words such as: because, together, and black.

Q: As you grew older, what was your experience with reading in school? What (if anything) did you like to read? Pay particular attention to your reading experience at the age of the students you teach now. What was reading like for you at that age?
A: During class, I loved being called on to read aloud. I had no fears of reading, but definitely loved being read to. My favorite books to read were the mystery books that gave you an opportunity to chose your own destiny/journey.

Q: Answer the same question with regards to writing.
A: In high school I didn't have a fear of writing and I think this is because my English teacher was not demanding at all. She gave us credit for effort and never made us write essays.

Q: Thinking about your own classroom right now, what role does literacy play in your class? What do you want to learn how to do better in your classroom to support your students in subject-specific literacy?
A: Though I'm teaching math, literacy plays a big role in my class. If my students don't know how to read, then they may not be able to understand the directions of the given problems. Also, many students fear word problems because they don't understand the directions. Thus I would like to learn how to teach my students how to break down sentences/ideas of sentences.

Understanding Math

Q:How do you know students understand key points of your content?
A:Instead of only asking them skill based questions, I ask them to explain the meaning of what we are doing? Why do we do what we do? How were these rules invented?

Q: What skills/understandings do students need to know about learning your specific subject?
A: I want students to know that math didn't come out of thin air. It is a language that was created for explaining things that happen all around us. Therefore, if they can really learn the basics of this language then they can build off of that.

Q: How are you teaching this in your class right now?
A: Well I verbalize a lot of what I wrote, and when I teach new ideas/concepts I try to explain where it comes from (relating it to prior knowledge).

Content Standards for UbD unit

I'm going to focus on the standards that have to do with graphing linear equations. My initial thoughts were to drop this topic and first focus on solving linear equations with one variable. I thought, if my students can't solve linear equations with one variable, then how could they be taught to solve an equation with many variables (which is what is needed to graph linear equations).
So now I'm thinking of maybe combining the two if possible.

Planning: The Real Story

Question: How are you really doing your planning right now?
Answer: Well thanks to the summer retreat, I had the main ideas of my first topic ready to go. As far as planning what I'm going to teach...hmm well...it's definitely on a day to day basis. As soon as I get home from work, I start planning for the next day. This usually takes me two to six hours. I don't know what I'm going to do now because it feels like I have no time to plan for future topics and I'm afraid that I'll go back to my old ways...

Question: How do you determine what to include in your lessons/unit plans?
Answer: I think about what is important to learn and what flows. I think about what my students already know (or should know) and how I can use their current knowledge to learn new material.

Question: How do you figure out how you're going to teach the lesson?
Answer: For the most part I teach the same (which may not be a good thing). On occasion I'll throw in some play-doh/hands-on activities. I do try to switch up the last minutes of class. After the lesson, I either have the students work on the white boards, work in their seats, work in groups, teach each other, etc...
Oh and sometimes we practice math skills in the park.

Assignment 2, 106

The two articles I read were, "The Power of Our Words" by Paula Denton, and "If They'd Only do Their Work" by Linda Darling-Hammond and Olivia Ifill-Lynch. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed when I read these articles because I'm trying my best to be a great teacher and there's just so much to do/fix. For example, in the article "The Power of Our Words", I read that my sarcasm can be harmful at times, but I can't restrain myself from using it. Also, I'm aware of the "knowing when to be silent" strategy but it's so hard to break my habit of asking a question and letting anyone answer it. I don't even have a firm policy on hand-raising because...well...I don't know why.
The article, "If They'd Only Do Their Work" talked about making homework "doable". Most of the suggestions they gave, I've somewhat incorporated in my class. Most of the time I give students a chance to work on problems similar to their homework while I walk around the class giving immediate feedback. The following day, I ask if anyone has hw questions, but nobody asks (maybe their too embarrassed). This topic also made me think about students that do understand the hw, but try finishing the assignment 5 minutes before it's to be turned in?

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

The article "Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites" listed many great ideas and below are the ideas I thought would be useful.
For attention getting behavior: 1. "Use humor when talking to them about their misbehavior. (p.17) 2. "...give them the attention when they are doing what is expected of them."(p.18) 3. Compliment them in front of their peers..."(p. 18)
For students who seek control: 1. "Put these students into positions of responsibility" (p. 18) Usually if I have papers to hand out, I ask students to help so they can get up and walk around.
For students who are bored: 1. I will create more activities that allows students to "move and meet with a discussion partner. 2. Once I have taught more vocabulary words, I would like to play "math hangman".
For students who feel inadequate: 1. I'm thinking of pointing out how far they have come along and point out the math they do know.


After reading "The Warm Demander" I found that it listed a few things I am attempting in my class. I am at the stage where I am trying to build relationships with my students. I make it a point to "high five them" as often as I remember, I smile, and I try to greet them by also saying their names, but I'm not sure where I stand as far as becoming a warm demander. I'm not sure if I'm clear and consistent with my expectations because I'm not even sure what they are. The paragraph that talks about providing learning supports mentioned that, "Students preferred teacher who explained material thoroughly and in multiple ways..." and I find that my class is split in half when it comes to this. Last week I introduced the class to the "plus delta" table and found that some students loved how thorough I am with the material and others wanted me to speed up. This is a huge dilemma because if I keep teaching "slowly" a few students will be bored, and if I speed up I'll lose other students thus leading them to feel inadequate.

First Few Weeks

Hello everyone, well my first few weeks felt like a roller coaster ride. I had some highs and lows. The very first day of class I had the class try the "Who am I?" name tag ice-breaker we did during the summer retreat, and whoa did it go bad. I can laugh about it now, but I freaked out then because almost all the students looked at me as if I was crazy. About four out of twenty students gave it a try which was awkward (hahaha never doing that again). Soon after that I introduced myself, told them my life story of how I struggled in math and that's why I became a math teacher. I think this is what put them at ease and since then we have been growing closer as a family, sharing our views on math, etc...
One of the things I think is going well is that I can get the class to settle down if it gets too loud. If I'm speaking and students talk over me, I can give them a certain look and they'll know to stop. On occasion I have to verbalize it, and that works just fine too. Also, if students are using their cell phones during class, I ask them to hand over their phones and I haven't yet had a problem receiving them. At the end of class, I have them sign a contract which states that next time I'll keep their cell phone for the entire school day, and so far students have not refused to sign.
I have many concerns for areas of growth in classroom management, but the one thing that sticks out in my mind right now is how to get my students to WAKEUP. If my students fall asleep during class, I think right away that I'm doing something wrong...I'm boring! I hate being boring and I don't know how to get my students excited and enthused. Sometimes my personality alone can get them going, but that can only take me so far. I've taken the class to the park a few times for a change of scenery, and I've already had people suggest hands-on activities(which is a great idea), but besides that what else can I do?

This article mentions that this teacher, "...thought deeply about how to stretch her students, whose ceilings of possibility often go unexplored in heterogeneous classrooms. She was a good teacher in that setting."(p. 1) I was extremely impressed by her strengths and accomplishments, but it also made me wonder what her weaknesses were.
This article made me self-reflect and think about my strengths and weaknesses. I also realized that I don't differentiate much in my classrooms because I don't know how. I'd have to sit in someone's classroom to learn this, because reading a book about differentiation will not compare.

This stage was the easiest for me to understand. Though I have many things to learn about teaching, the ideas covered in this stage were simple to understand (compared to the other stage of course). I can't wait to take this knowledge and see how it works in a real classroom setting!

Lectures, Lectures, Lectures

"An understanding can never be 'covered' if it is to be understood" (pg. 229). This statement caught my attention because I've heard many teachers complain (including myself) about how the class is "not getting it" even though they have covered the material for over a week. This chapter goes on and talks about how teachers sometimes need to stop lecturing and let students unravel some important concepts and that "timing is everything".
On page 246 the question, "When should I state the purpose of the lecture and when should I let it be inferred?" gave me a few ideas as to how I will present fractions to my class. Instead of explaining the importance of knowing fractions, I will give them an assignment that will hopefully help them see it for themselves.

WHERETO

I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with the many high demands of being a teacher. There are thousands of issues teachers have to deal/think about on a daily basis; it's never ending. I want to be a perfect teacher (though I don't think it's possible for anyone to ever accomplish this), and after reading this chapter I realized that I have a LONG way of getting there. For example, if my lessons were tested using the "WHERETO elements in instructional planning", I would probably do poorly because I have yet to learn engaging activities for my students. I know I'm here to learn and grow, but I can't help but feel frustrated that some of my lessons may not "hook" my students.

Assessments

Wow, this stage has definitely changed my way of thinking. To me, assessing students used to mean giving a test after every chapter of the book. Assessments don't have to be an hour long, some are short like the "fist of five" for example.
I also realized that I do have different strategies of assessing, I just didn't know I was doing it. However, the nontraditional assessments I would conduct had many loop holes to them. As my students would exit class, I would ask every student to tell me where the numerator and denominator were located. "The numerator is on the top, and denominator is on the bottom", my students would answer, but I never thought of asking them questions such as, "What does a denominator/numerator/fraction represent?"

The Golden Ticket

My self-test went better than I thought. I didn't mark the "very unlikely" boxes, but I did have a few "somewhat likely" boxes marked. I had an assessment where I ask each student the same question as they exit the classroom (this is their ticket to leave), but the problem with this is they can repeat/"parrot" exactly what the student in front of them says. This is one of my favorite quick assessments, but I will have to alter it. I'm now thinking of creating about five questions and randomly choosing one for each student.

This chapter had a section that talked about self-tests to see if my assessments are "appropriate". To check whether my criteria and rubrics are appropriate I'm to consider the following questions: "Could the proposed criteria be met but the performer still not demonstrate deep understanding? Could the proposed criteria not be met but the performer nonetheless still show understanding?" (p. 188) If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then my criteria of not good enough yet.
So my question is what if I created an assessment where the answer would be yes for some students and no for others? What I'm trying to say is, what if my criteria worked for most of my students, but not all? What if I come across a student that wants to memorize the procedures and refuses to "think"?

I don't know if I made myself clear, but I'm just writing all these questions that come to mind :)

Test Anxiety

There were many questions in this chapter that I've asked myself many times and I still don't know how to answer them like: 1. "What should we look for, to determine the extent of student understanding?" 2. ..."what would count as evidence of successful learning?" (p. 146)
Throughout my teaching career, some of my students had a deep understanding of the material I taught, but they would do poorly during test time. My best friend (and math study buddy) had the same problem with math. When working on our assignments, she would explain to me the "why we do what we do" and how it relates to the "big idea". She was awesome, but would get anxiety attacks right before the test and almost fail. With this in mind, I've always tried to be aware of students who suffer from test anxieties, but I haven't yet found a way to assess students other than giving a traditional test.

Stage 1

Yay I'm done with stage 1!!! This was a long, frustrating, yet eye opening process. It was difficult for me to think of essential questions and come up with enduring understandings. I would write something like, "Students will understand that they need common denominators to add/subtract fractions", which I thought was specific enough. When I was asked by my coach (hello) to dig deeper, I didn't know what else she wanted, but a few emails later I started getting the hang of it.
Though this process was frustrating, it was definitely insightful.

It's True!

"Many of the things we say we know as facts have never been personally verified. We accept them as given, even when we do not fully understand them. Worse, many big ideas we have to teach may have been taught to us as if they were facts for later recall" (p. 136).
This is an issue I've been struggling with since I started tutoring. I showed students how to solve problems using theorems and formulas as if they were facts. It wasn't until my junior year of college that I was able to learn about tools to help me prove theorems I took for granted.

"Some teachers have argued that essential questions may work fine in certain subjects like history, English, or philosophy but not in skill-focused areas such as mathematics, chemistry, reading, physical education, and world languages". (p. 112) At first I agreed 99% with this statement. After speaking with my coach I realized the questions are there, but it requires a copious amount of thinking. Also, coming up with essential questions is difficult because in elementary and junior high school, I have been taught math skills by following rules and not by thinking.

Mastery

This was a fun book to read because I was able to relate to many things George Loeonard wrote. One part that stood out was when he advised, "When it's your turn to teach or supervise or give advice, you might try the following approach: 'Here's what I like about what you're doing, and here's how you might improve it'". (p 125) This reminded me of a GREAT English professor I had; when he would go over my papers, he always pointed out all the positives and then told me what I needed to work on. I appreciated him for not putting me down and just focusing on the negatives.
I also enjoyed reading Chapter 5 under "The Best of Instructors, the worst of Instructors". George had four students, two bright and two not so bright. It was interesting to read how he taught them differently and didn't pay much attention to the "slow" students. This is why I always wanted to become a teacher, to help the slow students catch up. Till this day, I'm still a slow learner (nothing wrong with that), and if it wasn't for the patience of my teachers I wouldn't have made it this far. I want to make what seems impossible for my students to learn possible. The problem with this though is I hope I don't ignore my talented students. I think I found a way, but we'll see if it works.

All in all, this book made me want to pump some iron! I always make excuses as to why I can't try new sports or hit the weights, so we'll see what happens :)

Six Facets of Understanding

There were many big ideas in this chapter; I took note of all of them, but it did get a little fuzzy at times. For example, I always thought that in order to empathize with someone (Facet:5) you would have had to experience similar situations. The Oxford American Dictionary states that empathy is, "The power of identifying oneself mentally with(and so fully comprehending with) a person or object of contemplation". In UbD says something similar to the definition, but adds that, "Empathy requires respect for people different from ourselves. Our respect for them causes us to be open-minded, to carefully consider their views when those views are different from ours. (p. 99).
I think I understand what is being said, but it empathy the best word to describe this idea? I'm not sure they go hand-in-hand, and if so, can someone explain this to me?

Decisions, Decisions

I decided to chose the 1-Page Template for the unit I will be designing because I like things to be short and simple, yet functional. The other templates overwhelmed me; there was too much information squeezed in there(it was too wordy), and that will make me go crazy. I did however like part of the unit cover page for the 6-Page Template because it allowed space for titles, grade levels, key words, etc. I also liked the calendar, but again I'd feel too overwhelmed trying to create one (at this point in my career).

Gaing Clarity on Our Goals?

This was an interesting chapter, a little overwhelming, but insightful. There was a lot of information to take in and I feel like I'm all over the place. Out of all the information given, this advice stood out the most, "The challenge then is to identify a few big ideas and carefully design around them, resisting the temptation to teach everything of possible value for each topic". (pg.66)
This is a major problem that I face. When given a topic to teach, I want to teach mostly everything because it all seems important. In reality there is not enough time and like the book said we have to, "...chose what to teach and what not to teach". (pg. 66)

Understanding

This chapter reminded me of a conversation I had with one of my college professors. I was feeling terrible because I was not able to grasp the math concepts he was teaching me. He then said to me that he didn't expect me to understand, he added that most students start understanding the math material of their previous class when they move on to higher classes (i.e. you don't start understanding Algebra I until you take Algebra II).
I used to think that understanding the material meant you can get the right answer on a test. I realized that I used to memorize how to work a problem out without understanding it's use. It wasn't until I started teaching math that I started understanding it more in depth.

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.