Module 6 - Videos

Why I Flipped My Classroom Video

            I really enjoyed watching this video because our local middle school is a pilot school for the “flipped classrooms”. In fact, one of my team members is currently taking a class on flipping her classroom. I found the research and videos to be very interesting because I oftentimes feel like I am teaching to the middle of class. I do get nervous that students will not watch the videos for homework. However, the teacher said that she allows students to watch videos on the computer during morning or lunch time in order to catch up. I think this is a great idea because we could really use our time wisely to differentiate and meet the needs of all students. I always say that I could teach math centers all day because I need to first model/scaffold my students for a good thirty minutes on a lesson before I have them work individually while I pull small groups and extend or remediate as required. I cannot wait to hear more about my co-worker’s experience or the middle school students’ experiences with the flipped classrooms. I would be interested in the idea of flipping a classroom for all subject areas and how it would work in subjects like reading and/or writing.

Using Assessment to Improve Instruction

            This video was created by an educator who wanted to share his ideas about using assessments to improve instructions and to dispute another educator. I agree that some assessments (i.e., CRCT) can take away from instruction time. A woman name Pat Cross, once called assessment the “zipper between teaching and learning” which makes sense because we teach students then assess their knowledge on that learning. Great assessments really cannot be separated from great instructions. I agree that an assessment is “an act of observing, attempting to understand and provide feedback on the ways the students are grasping, integrating and applying the material/concepts they are learning in the classrooms.” I tend to use students’ work like their journals as a source for assessments because it is authentic. Also, I understand that assessments can take a great deal of time, but it is worthwhile to be able to gauge how much the students grow throughout the school year. I believe that learning does matter!

Module 6 - PowerPoints

Reading Strategies PowerPoint

            This PowerPoint included reading strategies that I will be using from now on! I already utilize a majority of these strategies such as the think alouds during my reading/writing lessons as well as the KWL charts throughout my science and social studies lessons. Additionally, I have my students complete anticipation guides or textbook activity guides during social studies and science lessons. I always want to build on my students’ prior knowledge so they have a strong foundation to support the new knowledge. I use the 3-2-1 strategy in the form of a pyramid or column notes when my students watch an educational video. Although I rarely use RAFTs, I customarily use them during social studies where my students accept a role as a historian or the person we are currently study. I love using graphic organizers, especially spider webs/maps because the majority of my students are visual learners. We often use Kidspiration where the students build their own maps using the computer software. Also, I built my very first word wall this year because of all the readings in this class. This PowerPoint had some great pointers that I will include within my word wall this year and years to follow. I agree that the word wall should be in an obvious spot where the students can easily see it. My students often go up to our word wall throughout the school day. I include vocabulary from all academic areas on this word wall. I make up the word on Microsoft Word and try to include a picture whenever applicable. The only problem I have run into is that I am already running out of room under common letters. I wish I had a much bigger wall! I like the idea of guessing the word which would help build identification of the word and students would also practice the spelling of the words. I think I will use WORDO before the CRCT this year and I will call out the definition instead of the word itself to make it more challenging. Overall, this was a great PowerPoint to refresh my memory about all the wonderful reading strategies that are available. I agree that an effective teacher should teach and model the strategy and then supervise the children so that all students can succeed with the specific strategy.

Differentiated Instruction Goals PowerPoint

            This auditory PowerPoint discussed differentiated instruction goals for a teacher. I agree that differentiated instructions help meet the learning needs of all students. I continuously engage my students in all curriculum areas. I believe it is important for all students to be engaged throughout their school day. I let the students choose their individual reading book because I feel that it is important for the students to be interested in the topic and feel a sense of ownership. I engage my students by designing opportunities that enhance their creativity and challenge their individual needs. I provide appropriate scaffolding throughout my lessons so I can watch my students prosper. I make sure that I provide opportunities for students to work in varied instructional formats. Currently, my students are working on writing a fictional story in my classroom. Yet, in the computer lab, they are currently working on their own podcasts. In conclusion, I agree that one major goal for differentiated instruction is to establish learner-responsive, teacher-facilitated classrooms.

Considerations for Assessment PowerPoint

            This PowerPoint was very helpful because it offered information on assessments that I am not familiar with. I have never been a fan of standardized assessments because I tend to “psyche” myself out and end up making lower test scores than I ever thought possible. I am not familiar with intelligence tests nor have I ever seen the results for anybody’s test. However, I would tend to agree that low test scores cause students to have low expectations. I believe in self-fulfilling prophecies such as where a student believes they are a horrible mathematician and eventually it comes true because that is what they are always thinking about and believing. However, one can have a positive self-fulfilling prophecy (e.g., a student believes that they are the best speller ever and that child will strive to be the best speller he/she can be). I also have never heard of the Wechsler Scales. It seems like poor readers do not score well on the arithmetic, digit span, information, and coding assessments. However, they receive higher scores on non-verbal and visual aspects. I feel that these assessments are used for testing students who are labeled as “struggling students”. Some of these assessments sound similar to the ones that I hear about during my RTI or IEP meetings. I think I would better understand these assessments if I was able to see an example of the questions.

Module 5 - Video & Readings

Rubric Video
       I often use rubrics throughout my entire curriculum. I use a rubric for their interactive journals and the students also grade themselves before turning in their interactive science or social studies notebooks. I feel that it is important that the students understand how I am grading them. Also, I feel rubrics help students see what they need to strive for as well as what they can achieve.  I like that the author used the chocolate chip cookie as an example. I agree that as humans, we are constantly judging events and objects around us.  I never thought of using percentages because as an elementary school teacher, I have always used points since my students do not turn in huge assignments that are weighted differently than other assignments. This school year, my team and I collaborated and developed a rubric for our three topics in writing which was very helpful when I went to grade my students’ narratives last week. I felt like I could use it with every student since they knew the requirements beforehand. This rubric also allowed for teacher comments so I could annotate areas of improvement as well as their major strengths.
 
Chapter 13 - #2 on pg. 335: Some teachers in your school system feel that elementary-grade children are too immature to learn study skill techniques. How would you convince these teachers that this is not so?
       My school is actually going through this scenario currently since we are establishing an after-school enrichment program that focuses on students improving their study skills and organizational skills. We first had to convince the other staff members since there were only 5 teachers (including myself) that felt there was a need for our students to be offered some sort of study skills program. We just held our first study skills workshop where we partnered with Huntington Learning Center. It went well and we had a great turn out. I think teachers are starting to get on board with this program because they are seeing how it is positively impacting their students’ overall grades and confidence levels. However, we are only offering this program to intermediate students (fourth and fifth graders) due to how crucial note-taking is in those two grades. We are taking teacher requests first then parental requests for this program. Our hope is that teachers, parents, and students will see a positive change in their study and organizational skills.

Module 5 PowerPoints

High Frequency Words, and Fluency PowerPoint
      As a fourth grade teacher, I do not teach high frequency words out of context. However, I constantly remind my students when they are reading or when we are completing spelling activities, to remember their vowel sounds (I catch myself saying a short “a” sounds like apple or short “i” sounds like itch). We use “Words Their Way” for our weekly spelling words. They break up the students’ spelling words based on common patterns that we see. This helps the students learn those patterns and experiment which other words that fall into those categories. Once a week they will sort their weekly words just like the PowerPoint suggests, which I believe is a great additional reinforcement. Although I think it is important for students to know the high frequency words by sight, I also like steps 8 and 9 of word building where the students spell and write the words using the specific patterns. I love the idea of including the high frequency words on our word wall. However, I feel like my one word wall would have to turn into several word walls since I already post their curriculum terminology as well as some new vocabulary. I did like the idea of playing “secret word” where the student gets five clues to guess his/her high frequency words. I feel like there are endless games in which we can engage our students that would expand their high frequency words and in turn help their oral fluency.

Vocabulary Development PowerPoint

      I often see students struggle with using context clues to determine a word’s meaning and I focus on this type of strategy a lot. Although intermediate students are able to decode most words, they sometimes come across an unfamiliar word. I have noticed that some students are capable of deciphering the new word’s meaning because of the context clues that the author provides, yet other students cannot determine the meaning and have to refer to a dictionary. I frequently use teacher prompts like, “Does that sound right?” or “Do we know what that word really means?” or even “Do you see parts of this word that you are familiar with from another word?” while my students and I are reading texts. I use these prompts because I am trying to foster strategies based on the semantic, syntactic, and/or phonics of the sentences. I agree that self-correction is proof of reading for meaning but I also believe that some of my higher readers add miscues that enhance and make sense with the text. I never knew that approximately 50% of the words in a text are high frequency words. After viewing this PowerPoint, I am now wondering if using high frequency words with my students who participate in the ESOL program would benefit their fluency and overall comprehension. Those students currently read along with pre-recorded books online with RAZ Kids. My class is paired up with one my best friend’s second grade class, for book buddies. My fourth graders have prospered from these book buddy sessions because they feel that they are setting an example for those second graders. I have seen many of my students’ confidence levels increase. Both classes look forward to their time with their book buddies because they can see the books their partner is currently reading, talk about their books, or alternate reading. One of the last slides really validated my feelings that I have this year with reading, which is “Fluency can be fostered by the amount of reading students do” (slide 22). Several students tell me that they only read at school because they do not have time at home. This saddens me because a lot of my students need that extra practice outside of school with family members or even by themselves. I wish I could impress on parents how important constant reading (at home and school) is and how it can enhance their student’s fluency and comprehension levels.

 Assessing Vocabulary PowerPoint

      I never thought about words being broken into different tiers based on their usage in our language and everyday lives. However, this does make sense to me. I agree that vocabulary is one of the strongest contributors to comprehension because if a human has to stop and think “What does this word mean?” he/she might lose track of the entire picture in order to focus on the unfamiliar words. I have seen students in my class who have a lower vocabulary, struggle with reading comprehension because they are so worried about decoding and making sense of the new words. This is why I implemented read-alouds that use rich language and constantly hold discussions where all students can interact with the texts that we use in mini-lessons. I liked the idea of using the “everyone gets 5” quiz because I can differentiate the vocabulary words for my students and expand their vocabulary based on their individual needs. However, I have difficulty finding these vocabulary words other than in our curriculum. I have used the vocabulary rating scale in social studies, math, and science when I introduce new terminology and this is also helpful when I plan my lessons. I also liked the idea of the “meaningful uses” of vocabulary questions along with the quick vocabulary-checking activities to gauge a student’s overall understanding of new vocabulary.

Module 4 - PowerPoints

Assessment: Formative & Summative PowerPoint

I loved the comic strip that this PowerPoint opened up with because I feel like students should get partial credit if they attempt a problem just like we should get “credit” for facing the world today. I didn’t realize that “assess” was Latin for the verb “assidere” which means “to sit with”. I do not believe that during assessments, we should sit with the learner especially if we want to see the students’ progress and overall growth on a specific topic. I agree more with Harlen, Gipps, Broadfoot, and Nuttal that an assessment is the “process of gathering, interpreting, recording, and using information about pupil’s response to an educational task” (slide 5). I also agree that formative assessments have the greatest impact because it is something teachers can see right then and there. I believe that I formatively assess my students without even thinking about it because I am constantly looking at their work while they are working individually during all subject areas. We, the teachers, can then fix the misconception or confusion quickly or extend the students as needed. I laughed out loud when I saw the comic on slide 11 because I sometimes feel rushed while teaching because there is so much material to cover before we have our summative assessments. I enjoyed reading the “Garden Analogy” about summative versus formative assessments because this created a great visual in my mind about the two assessments and how they differ. I tell my students that they all learn at different levels and speeds because it is more interesting to have different friends and learn from each other. This allows me to put a strong emphasis on the individual student instead of getting caught up in comparing my students which can easily happen. Through formative and summative assessments I am confident that every student will progress at their own individual pace and can improve to become a stronger learner.

Identifying Reading Disabilities PowerPoint

This PowerPoint helped explain and identify reading disabilities. I did not realize that discrepancy actually meant that “students had a learning disability if there was a significant difference between their measured ability and their achievement” (slide 2). However, I was shocked that this approach did not identify students until third grade or later. My school uses the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach which helps students who struggle with various strategies and probes. I am a visual learner and I think the pyramid that was presented to me when I first started teaching is very helpful in understanding the RTI tiers. I have never heard of functional definitions but it is interesting because it provides additional instruction for those students who have the lowest achieving reading scores. I also like that it judges whether or not students’ reading difficulties interfere with life circumstances. I was shocked at the high percentage of fourth graders who are unable to function on a basic level according to NAEP. However, I do notice several fourth graders who do not possess the basic concepts of comprehension, inferring, drawing conclusions, and retelling when entering fourth grade. I was happy to see the scores decrease as the students become older but was dismayed that the percentage did not change between eighth and twelfth grades. I agree that students differ in reading difficulties because they have different schema. I gained knowledge about some basic principles for programs for readers who are low-achieving. I agree that prevention is better than correction and I will continue to build on what the student knows and foster independence. I believe that all students grow when they have personalized instructions that engage them in learning a new topic and continually assess and monitor their progress.

Module 4 - Videos

Running Records Videos

The Running Records video demonstrated how to record Running Records. These videos would be great for a brand new teacher or someone that has never taken Running Records. I take Running Records daily with my students. I use Running Records to determine a student’s reading level and overall fluency level. However, I do not mark my Running Records the same as the teacher demonstrated on these videos. I feel that a lot of teachers find what works best for them on Running Records and stick with those marks. I use similar markings to what the teacher demonstrated. However, I do not use tick marks (checks) above the correctly pronounced words with my fourth graders because there are more words in our passages and sometimes they read faster where I cannot possibly check above each word they read. I tend to use editing marks on my Running Records because they make sense to me. For example, I use a caret and write the word that a child incorrectly inserts above the caret. Also, I circle the word and draw a curly arrow (similar to the proofreaders’ “delete” editing mark) when a student omits a word. I write s/c when a child self-corrects themselves and I do not count those toward their miscues since they were able to self-correct without any teacher prompting. If a child says a different word than what was written, I put one slash mark through the written word and write the word they said above the text. I think Running Records are helpful but every teacher has to find their own writing marks that will work for his/her teaching style and students.

Analysis with Running Records

I enjoyed how the student knew his reading goals and what he is currently working on. Students should always know what they need to work on, especially older students. I also make sure I do this with my students. All students need to learn how to assess their own fluency and comprehension in an effort to become stronger readers.  I also like to show my students where their miscues occur and re-examine their miscues. Students often do not see their miscues while they’re reading, so it is important to draw attention to their miscues so they can work on monitoring their own comprehension and fluency. I often ask my students, “Did that make sense?” This allows them to stop and think about their miscues and self-correct them instead of me saying the correct word. If they are unaware of the new word, I ask if it looks like another word that they already know or if they can they sound it out. My tutee and I are jotting down difficult words on a sticky note and then analyzing what they mean using context clues or the dictionary. This will help build his vocabulary and overall fluency/comprehension levels while reading. Also, I looked around the www.litdiet.org website and really enjoyed the word work video where the teacher played “Wheel of Fortunate” with new vocabulary. The teacher introduced new words for the word wall and math word wall in a “Wheel of Fortunate” and “Hangman” style where the students took educated guesses to find out the new words. I want to try this out in my classroom because I have a word wall that includes all academic words. This would help my tutee and other students since they could refer back to this word wall throughout the school year.