How People Learn

How do you teach students to be life long learners?  I find myself often wondering how many of my students have hidden talents.  I know that the "traditional" classroom and learning environment isn't the best fit for most of the students we serve.  That's why we have been innovative in creating outdoor education opportunities, service-learning and committing to the arts.  I think about Bill Gates who didn't finish school yet went on to become a major success.  I wonder how many times we stress doing well academically in school, when in the end, it may be a limiting factor in how to measure our students knowledge, success and ideas.

I was a little surprised that the data showed that students only spend 14% of their time in school.  I would've said they spent 1/2 their time in school and the other half at home.  I believe in community building and look to finding more ways to connect the two.  Then I wonder how much of what the students learn at school, really gets taken home, applied or shared with their families and communities because of what is really going on at home.  There are so many other things students are surrounded by when the leave school.  What then becomes important and how do you bridge that gap?

How People Learn

When and where 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 most alive and interested in what you are doing?

There are a few different things that I can think of that I do and feel most alive.  I feel most alive when I am working on arts and crafts, trying to find a new discovery or playing sports.  Something all these activities have in common is that they are very active and physical.  For arts and crafts, I could be working on a project for hours or days and not want to stop.  I enjoy cutting, pasting, coloring, drawing, painting and being creative.  I enjoy building things and seeing the finished product.  For new discoveries, I enjoy looking things up on the internet to find out new information.  I am naturally curious about things and find it fascinating to learn how things are made or why things are the way they are.  I have been known from my friend to have random facts of knowledge which they call my "Phung-isms".  I can research something that triggers my curiosity for hours and hours.  The other thing that makes me feel most alive is when I am playing sports, especially volleyball.  I am entirely engaged and also take on a whole new level of energy and interest.  I'm like that kid who forgets to eat because they so much want to go outside and play.

Writing to Learn

Currently, I am doing a literacy unit and I am having the students learn how to ask questions in their reading.  As for writing-to-learn strategies, I have not used any formal strategies.  I have used a worksheet that helps students brainstorm ideas, write topic sentences and supporting sentences.

Writing strategies can help students hold their thinking because they can reinforce ideas.  Writing gives students opportunities to hear, see and read what they're thinking.

Older Readers, Vocabulary

"After Third Grade"

After surveying the students in my class, about 90% of them don't like to read or don't find reading important.  However, when I probed a little deeper, some students do enjoy reading magazines, sports pages or comics.  I agree that offering independent reading where they can choose what they like to read is a good way to encourage more reading and begin to introduce reading strategies, however, I would like to know if it would be appropriate to do this with their independent reading choice.  On some days, I have given students time for independent reading (where they can read what they want either from home or from a selection of books in the class), however not done a specific lesson plan with it.  Is this an opportunity to teach or should I keep it as a time to allow students to just read?

"Alternatives to "Look it up in the dictionary!"

Haha.  I was always taught to look up words in the dictionary and I thought that was a strategy for vocabulary development.  However, I ended up experiencing exactly what was in the text.  Students wanted to write down the shortest definition or didn't know which one was appropriate to the reading or assignment.  Then students looked up words that defined it such as the act of that word.  So that wasn't helpful at all.  I get a little nervous teaching vocabulary because I am unsure myself what roots, suffixes, affixes, prefixes mean.  I know it could be a way to learn together, but at that point, who is supposed to teach us the correct answer?  Also, how do you brainstorm meanings of words when my students are already limited in their English?

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

For now, I'm not sure what words I will be selecting for vocabulary development with my students.  Prior to this, we were doing a mini projects with revolutionary 

Strategies That Work/Possible Unit Texts

For my ELD class, I have used various short stories for reading with my students.  These short stories were examples of memoirs, autobiographies and biographies.  There are many challenges that are posed to my students when using these readings.  Many of them have a difficult time with vocabulary, others cannot summarize a reading in their own words and most do not engage with the text.  With some students, it is hard to determine because although their English is limited, their primary language skills aren't, so it is possible they can comprehend the text if it were in their primary language.  I will notice some students decoding words that may sound or look like words they've heard before.  A strategy I think would prove most useful to my students is to self monitor and engage.  That means ask questions as they read, take notes and be active with the text.  

Literacy Pre-Assessment

My early experience as a reader was very positive.  I honestly cannot remember how old I was when I started to read.  I know that I was the only one in my preschool class who was able to recite my ABC's and count to 100.  I know that I really liked school when I was younger and couldn't wait to board the big yellow bus to go to preschool.  I remember when one of my parent's first purchases in the US was a set of Encyclopedias at the GoodWill.  I know that my parents felt it was important to have books in the house, so I always had bookshelves full of books at home.  The very first book I ever remember trying to read was "A Duck is a Duck."  It was this yellow cover with ducks on it and it was for ESL students.  "See duck run.  Run, duck, run."  I clearly remember the pictures and phrases from this book.

As I got older, I remember being rewarded for reading.  In the second grade, I remember reading as part of a Pizza Hut reading program where you would get a free personal pizza after you read so many books.  You would have to fill out this form on what book you read and have your parent sign off on it, then the teacher tracks your progress on this big poster board in class.  After so many books, you would get a coupon for a free pizza at Pizza Hut.  I also remember getting coupons for a free meal at Sizzler.  I remember reading, writing and drawing on these recycled brownish paper with big dotted lines on them for writing.  Then there was blank space at the top of the paper for a drawing.  In the 3rd grade, I remember the RIF (Reading is Fun) program where every year, you would go to the library and there were tables full of books and each student could pick a book to keep.  It was always special for me to be able to get a free book.  I also remember that my mom used to bring home Highlights magazine from her job.  They were my FAVORITE!  I remember doing crossword puzzles, hidden picture, mazes, coloring and comparing pictures to see what was missing.  I remember up until middle school, ordering books from Scholastic.  I used to save my money just to order books and bookmarkers in the Scholastic magazines.  I know at one point, I was into detective solving mysteries and Encyclopedia Brown was my one of my favorite books to read.  I also read and owned all the Babysitter's Club and Box Car Children books.  I also remember every morning I would spend at least 30 minutes in bed reading--just because I wanted to challenge myself to read as much as I could.  My first long novel I ever finished was Little House on the Prairie and it was over 200 pages long.  I remember how proud I was of myself.  I remember over the breaks, I would just find a book in the house and make it a point to finish reading it.  Another book I remember reading was The Color Purple.  It wasn't until my senior year in high school that I remember having to read Nicholas Nickleby over the Christmas Holiday break and I HATED it.  It was about 500 pages.  For some reason, that memory triggers my first real feelings of dreading to have to read.  In high school, I remember reading ALL the time.  I remember reading History Textbooks, and tons of novels and epic stories in my English class.  I remember reading Shakespeare, Hamlet, The Odyssey, The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, The Scarlet Letter--books that I feel any student in any high school across the nation would read.  At that time, I felt they were "classics" and that EVERYONE who went through high school read these.  There were books all 9th graders would read, then the same for 10th, 11th and 12th.  It was a standard book list that we all read certain books in certain grades.

As for writing, I began to LOVE writing at an early age.  I remember my FIRST diary.  It was a birthday present from my sister.  I think I was 6 or 7 years old.  It had a lock on it.  It was white with different color ballon0s all over it.  It had a gold lock on it with a tiny key.  It was a prized possession of mine.  I felt that because it locked, I could write freely whatever I wanted and no one would ever be able to see it.  I wrote religiously, EVERYDAY.  I remember just a few years ago stumbling across some diaries from when I was young.  No matter what kind of day I had, "It was a good day" and that was all I wrote, I wrote EVERYDAY.  In 6th grade, I loved writing love poems.  I used to make cards with poems on them.  I don't know when all that stopped.  I want to say I stopped writing when I got to college.  Time, or lack of maybe.  Or maybe I thought having a diary was silly.  But years later, I began keeping a journal.  I started journaling again consistently for awhile but it's stopped again.  However, when I wrote, nothing could stop me.  I used to tell stories so that you could recreate the experience whenever you read my journal entry.  I used to write about my day, my feelings or just about anything that was on my mind.  It was very therapeutic for me and I used it as a way to reflect and grow.

Today in my classroom, I see literacy as a huge struggle for my students.  I know that the majority of my students don't like to read.  I know because I asked them.  They don't think it's important or they don't think it matters.  I think that's a serious problem and it worries me.  I want to teach my students how to be good, confident readers, but most of all, I want them to love to read.  For this last unit for Trimester 1, I will be focusing on Literacy.  I want to learn how to teach my kids how to read.  I want to teach them how to pronounce words, how to understand what they are reading and that reading is FUN!

Content Standards for UbD Unit

I definitely want to emphasize literacy in my next unit.  There are so many standards to pick from, I get lost trying to figure out what's most important because they all seem important.  However, for now, I've decided to select:

Apply knowledge of word relationship, such as roots and affixes, to derive meaning from literature and texts in content areas.

Read aloud with appropriate pacing, intonation and expression increasingly complex narrative and expository texts.

Use expanded vocabulary and some descriptive words in oral responses to familiar literature.

I begin with these standards because I want my students to become great readers.  I realize that anyone can read words, but not everyone understands or breaks down what they are reading.  I want my students to be able to independently think for themselves and be able to try and understand what they are reading by guessing the meaning of words based on the context in which it's used, what is sounds like or what it looks like to them.  Some students have turned in work using words that they copied and not really knowing what they mean.  I also have some students who I want to build confidence in their reading skills.  Some are shy or are still learning English, so they still have a lot of difficulty in reading.  I also want students to be able to summarize what we read in class.  I want my students to know that their voice and opinion matters and that they can bring text alive, so it is important for my students to be able to articulate themselves using with an expanded vocabulary.

I'm not sure if these are the best standards to choose for what I want to teach, but these are my initial thoughts.  I know I have to decide what it is I want to accomplish with my students by the end of the trimester and stick to it.  I'm having a hard time grasping that I can't teach my students "everything" in 12 weeks and I just have to choose a few things.

Planning: The Real Story

Right now, I am not doing well in my planning.  I have gone from planning for the week to planning for the next couple of days and now, planning for the next day.  I struggle everyday with content and wonder if my lessons are rigorous enough.  I constantly look for ideas on curriculum and try to figure out how to differentiate my teaching.  I'm not sure if what I'm covering is the "right" thing or "right" amount or "right" area.  I mainly wonder if my students are being challenged.  I know that I feel this way because I haven't spent the amount of time I'd like to on planning my lessons and because I don't feel like I have any guidance in teaching ELD.  For example, I was given a Side by Side book to use as a possible curriculum.  After finally deciding to use it, I realized part way into it that it was Book 2 of 2.  I realized that may have been why it was a little confusing for me.  I'm not sure since I don't have Book 1.

When I am planning my lessons, I determine what to include based on where I've assessed my students.  I have students who range from 1s and 2s to 3s and 4s in the English Language Learner level.  I try to stick to a routine everyday that consists of some writing, grammar and a larger project.  I've also mixed in there some reading, vocabulary and short stories.  Right now, there isn't too much of differentiation for each part so I know the grammar I teach in class is basic and may be just right for my low level English speakers while the larger unit project may be very difficult for them to write a 1-3 page essay.  I also look at my objective and outcomes that I want.

I figure out how I'm going to teach my students based on how the day went before.  I also realized that I teach based on the conveniences available to me.  For example, I know I should have more graphic organizers and visual aides, but haven't used them because I haven't set it up or learned how to incorporate it into my teaching, so I lecture a lot.  I have tons of ideas on what I want to use, but haven't carried them out.  I also try to teach based on what may build more classroom community.  I know I've tried group students to work together based on skill level, seating chart based on who talks the most and least, and also because students are ansy.  I noticed the boys like the more active assignments (i.e. go to the board).  I also try and go over how I'm going to teach a lesson my head and sometimes that doesn't play out quite like I imagined.  Mostly, everything is based on my creativity, confidence and prayers.  I pray that I will make it through another day.

If Only They'd do Their Work

Why don't students do their work?  Many people are quick to jump to the conclusion that it's because they don't know how or they're lazy.  But sometimes, students just don't have the time, space or motivation to do it.  I work with students who work at night or have care taking responsibilities for either a baby or another adult.  So, sometimes, they just don't have time.

However, this doesn't mean it's excusable, but it helps when trying to create a successful plan for students.

The Power of Our Words

Use language to open opportunities, empower and engage.  I was always told that words are very powerful, so if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.  And because someone's words can can leave an imprint in someone's heart, always let someone know how you feel.  However, the power of our words can be positive or negative, meaningful or detrimental.  It can help or hurt, so be mindful of what you say.

Being a teacher requires so many different qualities.  Not only do you have to be a good planner, be able to present in front of a large group of people (in my case, hormonal high school students), but you have to know how to talk, when to talk, what to say and how long you have to say it.  Many people forget that there is a huge responsibility in working with youth how how important your role is in someone's life.  The five guiding principles in this article are very helpful in establishing clear roles and expectations.  I believe that if these are practiced in every relationship, they would be much more healthy.  Everyone should read this article and practice these principles for positive language.

The Teacher as Warm Demander

I believe it is important to be authoritative and not an authoritarian.  I enjoyed this article because I find myself practicing and believing in dealing with students in ways presented in this reading.  I know that the first battle with teaching students in high-poverty schools is consistency.  So it will take at least 1 week for a student to believe that you will be there in the morning, that you will smile when you see them, that you will be a consistent part of their life.  Then, the next step is to trust that you care.  Trust that you care about their well being, their success; trust that you will listen to them and trust that you believe in them.  This is where a teacher who practices patience, tolerance, understanding, communication will build trust with their students so that they trust that the relationship you have with them is to help them be better.  This is when a positive and healthy teaching and learning relationship begins.

A question I have is where to draw the line between being the teacher as warm demander versus being a passive teacher?  How do you come across demanding and warm, and not as "nice one minute" and "mean the next"?

Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites

My plan for meeting the needs of the four types of misbehavior in my classroom:

1.  ATTENTION--Encourage positive behavior through rewarding the good behaving students with my time or "commendable behavior" reports (certificate like acknowledgements implemented through the school).  Talk to students who constantly act out negatively for my attention to ask them why they are acting they way they are and how to create a more positive relationship.  Explain to them what negative contributions versus positive contributions look like and how they affect me, other students and themselves.  Emphasize and give compliments for positive behavior.

2.  CONTROL--Seek out and assign responsibilities to students where they can demonstrate leadership skills.  If you are in a conflict of control, never engage and alway diffuse.  I usually ask if the student is finished (yelling, venting) or gently let them know that I want to talk to them but only when they are calm, then give them options to cool down.  Explain to the student that my goal is to help them be successful in the classroom so any expectation I have of them is because I know they are capable of doing it, not because I want to tell them what to do.

3.  BOREDOM--Differentiate learning with a variety of activities.  Ask students what they would want to do in the classroom to make it "fun."  Find opportunities to connect the classroom to the community (i.e. museum, library, park).

4.  INADEQUACY--Continue to assess student's progress.  Differentiate learning and create assignments based on student's needs.  Assess and commend students on an individual level and point out progress of each student from where they each started, not at where they all have to be.

REACH 106--Assignment #1

1.  How have your first couple of weeks of teaching been going?

My first couple of weeks have had its fair shares of feeling extremely hopeful to "I quit."  I know, I know...so I'm a little dramatic.  : )  The first few days of school, went OK but there were some memorable moments.  One I wished I capitalized on as a teachable moment and another that makes me laugh.  On the first day of school, I went over school core values and classroom expectations.  I did this activity and had students go around to each core value and write what they thought it meant.  Under "dress and speak professionally," one student wrote, "acting white."  The students were shy and although I thought that was an opportunity to bring about a good conversation, I didn't really know how.  I thought about it over the next couple of days but have yet to bring it up again.  As the first day seemed to be filled with teachable moments, I thought class was over at 10:15 so I started rushing through my final activity.  Thinking, "Whew...1 day down," and saying goodbye to my students, the other English teacher who I share my room with said to me, "Umm...class ends at 10:20."  I tell my students, "Whoops!  Just kidding" as I try to get them back in class.  Then I was called out at the staff meeting for being the teacher who let their students out a bit too early on the first day of school.  Way to start strong.  : )  Another low I'm having is really a problem I think most teachers wished they had.  I'm having a really hard time getting my students to talk.  I was going over topic sentences in class and I can't remember the question I asked, but I remember staring at the wall for 10 minutes in silence as all my students stared at me.  No one had anything to say, no one had any comments or anything to respond to.  I could ask them a simple question like introduce yourself and tell us your name and they would just sit there and stare.  My most memorable moment had to be during the first week when I took my students out to the park to do the human knot activity.  As I explaining to them the game and said that they needed to put one hand in towards the center of the circle and grab another person's hand across the way, they all looked at me in shock as if to say, "What!  I have to hold someone else's hand."  When it was their turn, they put their hands in and just stared at each other again.  I literally had to grab their hands and force them into other people's hands.  The guys especially felt very uncomfortable in this activity.  At the end of it, though, they were laughing and I really enjoyed watching some of them open up.  Even if it was a short activity, I felt it was very meaningful, especially because none of them had ever done it before.  I still remember the smile and sense of accomplishment everyone had on their face at the end of it.  This felt great because when we first started, they all looked at me like I was crazy for getting them in a jumbled mess that they didn't quite understand to begin with.

2.  What are two things you feel you are doing well up to now as far as managing your classroom goes?

I have been coming to school at least an hour early every day to prepare.  Getting up early is a HUGE challenge for me, but I think my nerves have not settled yet, so I've been getting up extremely early to prepare for the day.  It helps me get focused and ready to greet the students in the morning.  I've made it a point to greet everyone as they come in, even pausing during class to acknowledge the students who come in late.  I also make it a point to stand by the door at the end of class and say bye to each of them as they leave.  Another thing I have pushed myself to do is differentiate learning with my students.  I really have students on both ends of the learning curve and I have tried small groups based on skill level, pair and shares and personal one on ones.  I have made time during class to walk around and talk with each student on their work and needs.

3.  What is your main area for growth in classroom management?  What questions do you have about this area?

I need to integrate routines into my schedule.  I know consistency is important in teaching and I feel like I am struggling with setting up a routine.  I feel I have so much more to learn both in content and structure.  I'm still hung up with the minutes and time and not genuinely feeling like I'm capturing the learning moments.  I'm also struggling with giving clear directions and instructions.

UbD Chapter 1

Reach Classroom Practices

I like the break down of the Observation Form: classroom, outcomes, instruction, learner and differentiation.  However, The Reach Observation Form feels more like a checklist to me.  I would like to see more space for comments and feedback.  I hope to have dialogue with the coaches on what seems to be working vs. what can be changed.

Another question I have, is how often will this happen?  Sometimes a snapshot observation is not accurate because teachers have "bad days" and what may happen on one day may be an exception and not a reflection of what regularly happens.  Or a certain lesson may not have worked out as planned.

Daily Classroom Practices

Daily Classroom "Must Haves"

Student Sign In (still thinking about whether or not this is effective).  My thoughts are if a student comes into class and I expect them to sign in and mark if they are on-time or T, then it might teach them habit and accountability if I tie to some reward system???

Designated spaces for reading, group work, writing, etc

Clearly written lesson plans and layout of the day (so students may move on if they are done)

Non verbal signal (maybe a bell) to get students attention

Designated wall space to put up student work, assignments, rules, information

Daily Classroom Practices

Although I have not decided exactly what I will use, my list of "Must Haves":

Clock

Morning Greeting

Do Now assignment on the Board

Schedule for the day listing: Date, times and assignments, objectives and goals

Cabinet with classroom materials

Place to keep student work, ie filing cabinet

Rules posted

Word wall with useful words

Clean Up Time/Routine

TPE Summary

The thought of standing in front of a classroom and teaching is a frightening one for me.  So when I think about the TPEs, I wonder, "What am I signing up for?"  I hope I will remember to address all the TPEs equally and incorporate them into my teaching.  

TPE D (Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for Students) which covers TPE 8 and 9 seems the most personal and interesting to me. I look forward to creating curriculum that is designed to make school meaningful and academically enriching for my students.  I hope they will become life long learners which to me begins with the love for learning. 

TPE B (Assessing Student Learning) which covers TPE 2 and 3 is something that will be challenging for me.  I believe assessments are important and want to be intentional about measuring student achievement.  I am most interested in learning what to do with an assessment after it's been given.  I want to be able to address student's needs individually and learn strategies for improving student skills and be able to show growth/data.

TPE F

First off, this article was not what I thought it was (see blog entry in TPE Intro).  As a matter of fact, I was way off and completely wrong. : )

This article felt very much administrator vs teacher.  I've been able to play the role of both, so I was left with lots of questions.  What is my accountability as a teacher to my students vs what is my accountability as a teacher to the school?  How do I decide to move on in my curriculum to cover standards and possibly leave students behind or do I take my time to ensure all my students understand before moving on?  Will focusing on overall school results compromise individual learning plans?  Will my knowledge on both sides help me become a "better" teacher or will it create more conflicts within myself?  I was the one handing state standards to teachers last year who were semi-resistant.  Will I be resistant, too?

TPE E

This article was helpful and clear in mapping out ways to build strong teacher-student relationships.  Many times I hear that teachers want to relate so much to their students that they want to be their "friends."  However many times I hear students say they want a firm yet gentle hand--a teacher who acts as the adult, authoritative figure.  I think there is an important line to uphold when it comes to this and in the end, students value and respect the latter.

In the section, "Establish Clear Expectations and Consequences," and example of an effective strategy is "cuing the class about expected behaviors through prearranged signals, such as raising a hand to indicate that all students should take their seats."  I think this may work with younger students, but what about the high school aged students.  I cannot imagine doing something like that in my classroom and having students respond.  Are there any books that suggest ideas for high schoolers?  I would love to learn techniques to use with the student population I'll be teaching.

TPE D

More than being excited about teaching, I am excited about learning from my students.  Oakland is so rich in culture and history.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to serve the students who live here and learn about how their families came here.  I want to take advantage of this teachable moment and create lessons that will be relevant to my students' lives.  Home visits are also a way to connect to the students and learn about who they are.

After reading this article, I came up with some writing topics that I want to further develop to use with my ELD students.  I think this would be a way to get to know them and it would relate to their lives.  Topics include their reaction/opinions to I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Raids), no documents = no college, impact of ethnic enclaves or write about family history and why they are here.

This article also reminded me of a cultural sensitivity training I went to years ago.  I think when you work in a place that includes families from so many different cultures, it is important to practice humility and understanding.  Although you want to treat everyone equally and respectfully, I learned that how you talk to one parent may differ from how you talk to another set of parents.

TPE C-ELL

I will be teaching an ELD class next year and I know the biggest challenge will be the range of ELLs I will have.  Some students speak little English while others were overlooked as ELLs last year because they seemed to speak English "enough to get by".  I have heard before that a student's ability to learn English well is reflected in their own native language proficiency, therefore teachers, "need to know who the students are and what their prior education experiences were like."  I'd like to know if this is as informal as asking them or if there is a more formal assessment.  I also am worried I might create curriculum that is too basic or elementary for high school students, so am interested in learning more about how to ensure that I am teaching them content standards.

The CAHSEE exam is the one exam that has made me want to commit to the ELL students.  I have seen how challenging and difficult the ELA test is for them.  There were 4 ELL students who did not receive their diplomas last year only because they did not pass the CAHSEE exam.  I want to know what we can do to help them pass this test.

TPE C-neuroscience

This article reminded me of how important it is to know your students outside of the classroom.  Are there issues at home?  Are they worried about getting a job to support their family?  Are they fighting with their best friend?  When students are disengaged or distracted in class, teachers often forget to be empathetic or understanding to what might be going on in their lives.  Instead, they might label them a "bad student" or a "problem child" and are quick to take disciplinary actions.  When in fact, if a teacher took time to understand the student and show them they care, that student may become more open to what you are trying to do in the classroom.  We can't control what happens in a student's life outside of the classroom, but we can begin to build trust with a student that the classroom is a healthy place for them to be. 

It is important to build a safe, positive and comfortable learning environment.  A student who feels safe in the classroom will learn more.  A student who is surrounded by positivity will thrive more.  A student who feels comfortable will express themselves more.  It is important to teach students in a way that make them want to learn, love to learn and become excited about learning. 

TPE B

Having worked for many years with teachers and administrators, the word "assessment" is not a very popular topic of discussion.  Many times, assessments are used to evaluate in a negative and/or punitive way.  For example, the STAR tests are an assessment of what students "should know" and are used as a way to evaluate 1) student achievement and 2)teacher accountability in what is being taught in the classroom.  Because of the weight STAR tests have on schools, a low STAR test scores could be used to say that students aren't learning or question what is being taught in the classroom. In this case, it is a familiar way in which assessments are usually used and viewed.

However, there are multiple kinds of assessments that can be used in many beneficial and positive ways.  It was powerful to hear that "the greatest power of assessment information lies in its capacity to help me see how to be a better teacher."  Assessments can be used as a communication tool between teacher and student/teaching and learning.  It can show, "Yes, I understand what you're showing me, or "I don't understand what you're saying, so please try a different way."  It reveals the ways different students learn and addresses the importance of using different teaching techniques.

As a teacher, I will constantly ask myself, "How do I know my student is learning?" and more importantly, "How will my student know s/he is learning?"  Using assessments as a way to become a more mindful teacher as well as a way to help students track their progress is a great way to "learn how to love assessments."

TPE A

This article helped me question how I will/can be more thoughtful when I teach.  I believe we need to push our students to think for themselves, think outside of themselves and build their confidence to apply themselves.  This article showed that there are ways teachers can communicate to students that will guide them to "think outside the box" and "think big."

It is said that "skillful thinking must be cultivated...skillful thinking is hard work."  A student learning to think is like an athlete trying to perfect his/her jumpshot.  It requires practice and coaching.  I wonder how challenging it might be to implement some of the practices with high school aged students who come with "previous training" that led to bad habits or little confidence in school.  How do you engage students who come in feeling disconnected or apathetic towards school?  Will these themes work then?  Should there be a sixth theme in which a thought-filled curriculum involves creating curriculum that is relevant to students' lives? 

TPE Introduction

I believe the most important TPE is TPE 2 - Monitoring Student Learning During Instruction.  I believe that if you are tracking a student's progress, then many of the other TPE's would come into play such as teaching practices and student learning.  If a student is not progressing, then I would wonder if there is engagement going on or if a unit is designed to provide developmentally appropriate educational experiences.  If a student is progressing, then I would think it was appropriately addressing the TPE and being practiced in the classroom.

I think all the TPEs are relevant, but there was one that intrigued me which was TPE 12.  I may have chosen this because I am familiar with some of the legalities in working with students and if this does deal with that, I am curious to find out how relevant it is.  More times than none, I have found certain legal paperwork to be limiting in building those meaningful relationships with students that educators are encouraged to do in order to show the students we are.  I definitely know they are absolutely important, but when you look into professional, legal and ethical obligations, it can create a lot of bureaucracy, fears and yellow tape around a simple project like walking down the street to the park, or if a student doesn't have a stable adult at home who can sign off on permission slips.  I know there are many stories out there that make this topic important and I do believe we should all know our obligations and take them seriously as well. 

I would want more clarification on TPE 1 because it is nearly impossible to teach all the state standards in a given course.  How do you know which standards to pick and which are most important?  I would also like to learn how to plan and demonstrate the ability to teach to the standards without feeling like I am compromising my "teaching to the tests." 

Mastery

I am a big fan of so called "self-help" books and this would fall into that category.  It brought a lot of insight to me.  There were so many great stories told and lessons learned.  I really enjoyed this book, especially because I am always open to learning and growing.  I have to admit, it has become my bedside table book.  I can absolutely relate to this book.  When it comes to developing myself and becoming more positive, I jump at the opportunity.  All the steps sound so familiar to me and just when I thought I was progressing, I hit the "backslide."  But maybe I'm jumping too quickly, or too high that I think I can jump over all the steps in between.  Just like we all have to crawl before we walk, there are steps to take in order to master an art or skill.  Patience, discipline and practice are some elements to success.

My favorite section was Part Two: The Five Master Keys.  For now, I have found 5 things to practice in life.  There are so many quotes/lessons that I will take with me.  Not only do I plan to use them in the classroom but many of them I will use in my own life and personal growth.  For instance, "There is a brand of teacher...who is famous for giving an absolute minimum of praise..."  Believe it or not, I am not used to being praised and therefore, have found it hard to give praise.  I knew this a long time ago, but just realized how important a word of encouragement can mean to someone--how something that doesn't cost anything can mean so much.  I know this will be important in the lives of our young people and I want to practice this more in the classroom (and with others).  With learning, I know repetition and practice is important.  Leonard states, "The essence of boredom is to be found in the obsessive search for novelty.  Satisfaction lies in mindful repetition, the discovery of endless richness in subtle variations on familiar themes."  I used to always say that I get bored easily.  But I think there's something more behind that statement.  I know I need to "stop and smell the roses" because more times than none will I say, "Oh, I didn't notice that the first time."  Maybe there's more to that painting than a big red dot?  In any case, I don't think I will say "I'm bored" as often anymore.  Surrendering hit home for me because I usually like to ask why or try and find logical, rational answers before trying something new, especially if I think I'll look silly doing it.  If a teacher asked me to put my finger on my nose and stand on one foot, I'd probably wonder why first.  I just need to "give it a try" and stop asking why so much because "learning almost any significant skill involves certain indignities."  To accept and be okay with this brings me to the realizations that I may have been able to accomplish much more in my life.