Chapter 7 was very easy to read and hit really close to home. It’s all about finding ways to get students motivated about learning; making them want to learn. As a student myself, I too can relate to a few instances in the classroom where the teacher was successful and unsuccessful in making learning interesting. I have had classes where the teacher lectures and/or reads from a power-point, and my reaction to that would be: about to fall asleep, watching the clock, or doing something else. I have also had teachers who are spontaneous and find ways to relate the content to something simple as a belt buckle, and my reaction would then be: engaged in the lesson, on-task, etc.
The point that chapter 7 was trying to make is that teachers must do whatever it takes to increase motivation and activate prior knowledge. There should be a balance, along with high expectations, supportive environment, demonstration of how to learn and feedback.
I liked the quote on page 206. “Though adolescents can see roles as adults just over the horizon, it can be difficult for them to connect what they are doing in the here and now with possible selves. Help students think about the long-term.” We, as educators, want students to look beyond the classroom. The classroom is merely as stepping stool to help them progress to the next level of their long-term goal. Our job is to help encourage them to reach their highest potential until eventually the little light bulbs in their heads go off where they start to make connections. It takes some longer than others. However, caring and passionate teachers are great at communicating with students about their past experiences and personal identities no matter how long it may take.
Tuesday
Expository Text Lesson Plan
Hello everyone,
Here is my example of a lesson plan that I designed from Conley's template.
Curriculum Competency Standard: LIFE SCIENCE
3. Develop an understanding of the characteristics, structures, life cycles, interactions, and environments of organisms.
Objectives:
a. Classify animals and plants by observable features (e.g., size, appearance, color, motion, habitat). (DOK 2)
b. Communicate the importance of food and explain how the body utilizes food. (DOK 2)
c. Identify the basic needs of plants and animals and recognize that plants and animals both need to take in water, animals need food, and plants need light. (DOK 1)
Big Idea:
Learning about how animals thrive from day to day promotes sensitivity and awareness.
Preparation:
1. Read aloud “Amazing Snakes”, by Sarah L. Thomson
2. Discuss in a whole group setting open-ended questions about the book.
a. What did you notice about the book?
b. What did you enjoy learning about the most? Why or why not?
3. Discuss more specific teacher-led questions to engage directly with the standards.
4. What kind of Snakes can we find in Mississippi?
5. Which snakes are venomous? Non-venomous?
6. What kinds of places do snakes live?
7. How do snakes help the environment?
8. What/How do they eat?
9. Write a simple paragraph about what you learned about the book.
10. Using the information from the paragraph, create a bubble map of the facts and main points of the reptile.
11. You may color the map and attach it to the bottom half page of the persuasive paragraph.
12. Keep this information is your notebook for a reference, as we explore other animals throughout the unit.
Guidance:
1.Students think-pair-share and recall ideas and facts about the book.
2. Teacher facilitates discussion-based learning by asking both open-ended questions.
3. Teacher walks around during pair work providing guidance and feedback.
4. Teacher provides clear instructions and rubrics to students.
Application:
1. Introduce other animals throughout the week to create a portfolio of the unit.
2. Students will reflect on other stories by writing paragraphs and using bubble maps to organize the information that they have learned.
Assessment:
I would assess students by portfolio. Since this assignment is worth only a fraction of the points, the students will culminate all other animals that they learn about and combine them all together using a rubric, to assess their content, that I will provide for them to ensure that they understand what is expected.
Here is my example of a lesson plan that I designed from Conley's template.
Curriculum Competency Standard: LIFE SCIENCE
3. Develop an understanding of the characteristics, structures, life cycles, interactions, and environments of organisms.
Objectives:
a. Classify animals and plants by observable features (e.g., size, appearance, color, motion, habitat). (DOK 2)
b. Communicate the importance of food and explain how the body utilizes food. (DOK 2)
c. Identify the basic needs of plants and animals and recognize that plants and animals both need to take in water, animals need food, and plants need light. (DOK 1)
Big Idea:
Learning about how animals thrive from day to day promotes sensitivity and awareness.
Preparation:
1. Read aloud “Amazing Snakes”, by Sarah L. Thomson
2. Discuss in a whole group setting open-ended questions about the book.
a. What did you notice about the book?
b. What did you enjoy learning about the most? Why or why not?
3. Discuss more specific teacher-led questions to engage directly with the standards.
4. What kind of Snakes can we find in Mississippi?
5. Which snakes are venomous? Non-venomous?
6. What kinds of places do snakes live?
7. How do snakes help the environment?
8. What/How do they eat?
9. Write a simple paragraph about what you learned about the book.
10. Using the information from the paragraph, create a bubble map of the facts and main points of the reptile.
11. You may color the map and attach it to the bottom half page of the persuasive paragraph.
12. Keep this information is your notebook for a reference, as we explore other animals throughout the unit.
Guidance:
1.Students think-pair-share and recall ideas and facts about the book.
2. Teacher facilitates discussion-based learning by asking both open-ended questions.
3. Teacher walks around during pair work providing guidance and feedback.
4. Teacher provides clear instructions and rubrics to students.
Application:
1. Introduce other animals throughout the week to create a portfolio of the unit.
2. Students will reflect on other stories by writing paragraphs and using bubble maps to organize the information that they have learned.
Assessment:
I would assess students by portfolio. Since this assignment is worth only a fraction of the points, the students will culminate all other animals that they learn about and combine them all together using a rubric, to assess their content, that I will provide for them to ensure that they understand what is expected.
Teacher Blog
I found this site to be useful. Teachers are able to discuss day-to-day issues and receive feedback from other teachers. Some went as far as to talk about an outbreak of ants. I guess after a while it's nice to communicate with an actual adult. Others mentioned Twitter and even created avatars of themselves. It was actually interesting to look at and quite funny I must say.
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
Chapter 5 Understanding and Using Texts
Chapter 5 explains the knowledge of text, the experiences, as well as the challenges that students face. It could derive from a multitude of texts, but English Literature is the most prominent one. Reading this chapter made me think of when I was a student. In middle school, my teacher was very good at engaging us into the text. It was almost like we didn’t need our books. We would act out plays to help with comprehension, and write short stories to help with grammar and punctuation. When we reached more challenging texts, she would introduce it to us in a unit. We would group up and learn small parts and come together as a whole to discuss and present what we learned.
In the text, I liked the parts about informational texts, narrative texts, and digital texts because I felt that I could relate due to experiences I’ve had and observations that I’ve made as a student. In the Hub, there are signs posted everywhere that catches my attention but sometimes they can be overwhelming and frustrating. There is simply too much information. I think that everything should be organized into one place. Instead of wasting paper and time they should create a website for advertising.
In this class, we are currently using digital texts. This website is an example of digital and narrative texts because we compose blogs and respond to readings thru use of technology. I appreciate technology because of its convenience and agree with the quote on page 134 that says “Compared with merely turning a page, some digital texts represent labyrinths of information.” Just think about our web site. Our home page is full of valuable information for students and faculty. Everything is so user-friendly that we rarely have to do anything in person anymore. Even new students will feel relieved because everything that they need to know about this university is conveniently located on the website.
In the text, I liked the parts about informational texts, narrative texts, and digital texts because I felt that I could relate due to experiences I’ve had and observations that I’ve made as a student. In the Hub, there are signs posted everywhere that catches my attention but sometimes they can be overwhelming and frustrating. There is simply too much information. I think that everything should be organized into one place. Instead of wasting paper and time they should create a website for advertising.
In this class, we are currently using digital texts. This website is an example of digital and narrative texts because we compose blogs and respond to readings thru use of technology. I appreciate technology because of its convenience and agree with the quote on page 134 that says “Compared with merely turning a page, some digital texts represent labyrinths of information.” Just think about our web site. Our home page is full of valuable information for students and faculty. Everything is so user-friendly that we rarely have to do anything in person anymore. Even new students will feel relieved because everything that they need to know about this university is conveniently located on the website.
Monday
Chapter 4 On-going Assessment
While pondering thru pages of the endless possible ways to assess a student, I began to think back when I was in grade school. The teacher would of course introduce new materials to the class, attempt to gain our understanding and evaluate our performance after she models instruction. Some of us would get it, some wouldn’t, it depended upon what the subject was about. In one particular class, science, we were able to explore and discover things. We became detectives and investigated the way things worked and why. We were clearly interested in the subject matter and our teacher made our learning experience meaningful; which made us love going to science class. On the other hand, in math, the teacher lectured the whole class and told us what to do. Half of us were asleep and lost; and our grades reflected it. As a result, we hated math because it was always the same routine. The point is, in order to assess a student there must be something there to assess. This is where teachers make learning meaningful and engaging in order for students to be involved and actively participating. We all know that everyone learns differently so it is important to differentiate instruction in order to target all learning styles, thus making assessment results successful.
In the text, on page 89, I liked the phrase “Knowing more about students as individuals will help with teaching and learning.” The more we know our students the better. Teaching students is all about building a community within the classroom. It is a safe place and we want students to feel safe and comfortable in knowing that. They spend majority of their time there so it should feel almost like a home away from home. We want to encourage them to bring their backgrounds and prior knowledge into classroom lessons to help them make connections between their lives at school and their lives at home.
We also want to provide interesting materials for students to read. When having a conversation with the class, the teacher should mention some of these things for students to build upon. We can ask them about things they like, give them a survey; have them create a portfolio, etc. Students will more than likely be excited to share their thoughts and interests with others. As a student once before, we used journals to articulate our feelings and interests. Even today, assessments are still on-going. (This blog is an example of my feelings of Chapter 4) I liked to personally do survey tests because if you complete one at the beginning and end it’s almost like you are assessing yourself and your scores are being compared with others.
In the text, on page 89, I liked the phrase “Knowing more about students as individuals will help with teaching and learning.” The more we know our students the better. Teaching students is all about building a community within the classroom. It is a safe place and we want students to feel safe and comfortable in knowing that. They spend majority of their time there so it should feel almost like a home away from home. We want to encourage them to bring their backgrounds and prior knowledge into classroom lessons to help them make connections between their lives at school and their lives at home.
We also want to provide interesting materials for students to read. When having a conversation with the class, the teacher should mention some of these things for students to build upon. We can ask them about things they like, give them a survey; have them create a portfolio, etc. Students will more than likely be excited to share their thoughts and interests with others. As a student once before, we used journals to articulate our feelings and interests. Even today, assessments are still on-going. (This blog is an example of my feelings of Chapter 4) I liked to personally do survey tests because if you complete one at the beginning and end it’s almost like you are assessing yourself and your scores are being compared with others.
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