In it for the outcome

Hey! 
Hey!
In Fulfilling the Promise, I read something that loved. It read, "The teacher's role bears some  of the hallmarks of the counselor, parent, coach, social worker, and so on, those are not the teacher's central role. It is the mandate of the teacher to teach. Thus teachers shape lives, not by providing a sturdier network of social services, not by helping the child explore the psyche, not by standing on the sidelines and providing strategies designed to capture the game point, BUT by equipping students with the intellectual wherewithal necessary to make their way in a world that increasingly demands academic preparation for full societal participation."

I just loved that because it really helped put into perspective what a teacher's central role is. I feel that sometimes we think we need to do it all...but ideally, that isn't what OUR role is. I came across this shirt on the internet and I think I need to buy it. Teachers teach for the outcome of the student. Nothing else. However, this ins't the case with all teachers. I remember having a few teacher who I knew did it for the paycheck...they came, they "taught" they went home.

Did I like them?? NO!

Did I learn anything from them?? NO!

I hope to be the complete opposite of these teachers and really know what I'm teaching and teach with confidence. Also, be able to really connect with my students and do whatever it takes so they "get it." They will know I care and I will know they get it....get the material and get that I care.

I can only hope!

"As adults responsible for the growth of the next generation, we should know that we are not doing our jobs unless we provide youth with the opportunities to live right-that is, with chances to do their best. A just society is one in which men and women, rich and poor, the gifted and the handicapped, have an equal opportunity to use and to increase all their abilities, each according to her or his talents" (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993, p. 260).

Just a reminder on what COGS I've already talked about. First there was THE STUDENT SEEKS, second there was THE TEACHER RESPONDS.

Now, I'm going to focus on how CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION ARE THE VEHICLE which is the last COG.

There are a few elements of curriculum and instruction that I would like to discuss.

IMPORTANT:

• What we study is essential to the structure of the discipline.
• What we study provides a road map towards expertise.
• What we study is essential to building student understanding.
• What we study balances knowledge, understanding and skill.

FOCUSED:

• Whatever we do is designed to get us where we need to go.
• Both teacher and students know why we're doing what we're doing.
• Both teacher and students know how their work contributes to the bigger picture.

ENGAGING:

• Students find meaning in their work.
• Students find themselves absorbed by the work.
• Students see themselves in the work.

DEMANDING:

• Student growth is nonnegotiable.
• Standards for work and behavior are high.
• There is no "loose" time.

SCAFFOLDED:

• The teacher teaches for success.
• Varied materials support growth of a range of learners.
• Varied avenues to learning support a variety of learners.
• The teacher uses modeling, organizers, and other strategies to point out success.

The importance of curriculum lies in helping students master and retain important information, organize knowledge about different concepts, and develop understandings. Important curriculum is necessarily focused on higher level thinking...basically you wants students to be able to make meaning, apply and extend knowledge, and understand skills.

After reading about scaffolding, I was reminded of the Hallmark that I was assigned in class, this it what I learned by really "digging" into it and trying to dissect it.

A “way up,” usually through multiple and varied pathways, and never a “way out.”

Differentiated tasks cause each learner to stretch, through a support system that helps the learner “navigate” the unknown portions of the work. This requires the teacher to “teach up” to a child rather than teaching down, and to include opportunities for scaffolding in ways that help each child “up”. This usually implies that the teacher is providing at least two different learning options or pathways that may occur simultaneously in the classroom. This is also something that prevents “drill & practice” remediation. It requires knowing each student, as well as applying strategic thinking and actions.

This hallmark should affect all good instruction by a teacher needing to know each student and being able to apply strategic thinking and scaffolding for each student. A differentiating teacher sees the need to scaffold using alternative pathways so students aren’t so much as “different” as they are “differently scaffolded.” –considering the goal of a teacher so to have all students succeed in learning.

Scaffolding takes work and many teachers do not feel they don’t have the time. However they’ll wish they took the time to scaffold when they have to reteach the material. I feel scaffolding a student should happen throughout the day every-day, however I don’t think it is happening in every single subject throughout the day every-day. I think there are crucial times of the day when this hallmark should be happening more than other times of the day. Scaffolding could relate to a map of roads that lead to a desired destination because a teacher leads students using different directions that all lead to the desired destination.

<<<<UNTIL NEXT TIME!>>>>

Guidelines-Routines-Support-Responsibility

Great classrooms can come from 4 general rules: 

1. We will show respect for people, their ideas, and their property.
2. We will work hard to ensure our own growth and to assist the growth of others.
3. We will persist, even when things are difficult and uncertain.
4. We will accept responsibility for the quality of our work and for our behaviors and actions.

Strategies to Enhance Classroom Guidelines:

• Time is Valuable
• Fair is Ensuring All Learners Get What They Need to Succeed
• Teach Up, Work Up

I know when I think of "Routine" I think of this...

Wake up, exercise, shower, eat and brush teeth. This is MY daily routine. In a classroom there should be a daily routine also. Routines are great for students and NEEDED! I think the teacher needs a routine also just to stay sane...and on top of things. 

Additional Classroom Routines That Support Flexible Teaching:

• Use Visual Cues
• Pre-establish Groups
• Use Goal Cards Regularly
• Teach for Smooth Transitions

In "Fulfilling the Promise" it said, "There are an infinite number of supports that teachers use to bridge the gap between the learner and the unfamiliar. They exist to help students think more efficiently about their work, to teach, to model, and to encourage. Absent such support systems, students muddle in uncertainty. Clarity of understanding is hard to come by. Discouragement prevails."

Careful observation-kid watching-is important in providing appropriate scaffolding for students!!!

Additional Support for Learners Success:

• Vary Materials
• Use Graphic Organizers to Help Structure and Extend Thinking
• Provide Survival Packets
• Use Participation Prompts
• Build Language Bridges

Remember to work together as a class so there is shared responsibility. Students need to know the classroom is not "yours" it is "ours."

Additional Examples of Shared Responsibility:

• Use Evaluation Checklists
• Involve Students in Scheduling Decisions
• Engage Students in Assessing Their Own Progress
• Help Students Learn to Set Their Own Academic Goals

Communication

So, teachers can build positive and productive classroom communication patterns with a few different approaches. I'm going to talk about some of those now using scenarios again...

Scenario 1: A teacher makes a point to teach metacognitively (explaining to his students his thinking behind his decisions). This teacher finds that metacognitive teaching helps students understand that he (the teacher) invests time and energy in making the class effective. It also allows him to model for his students the kind of thinking he wants them to do about their own work.

Scenario 2: A teacher builds communication throughout the year to help her students understand similarities and differences and guiding them in a sense of community (Morning Meeting *cough-cough*). She has students create personal profiles that help her see their strengths. She guides her students into thinking about what kind of classroom they'd need to help everyone build strengths and support weaker areas in effective ways. 

Scenario 3: A teacher and her class develop a phrase for striving for one's best work. Phrases can become part of the classroom identity. 

Scenario 4: A teacher and students develop a communication "shorthand," and "windshield checks." These reminded me of the "Storms" that we talked about in class.

Scenario 5: A teacher teaches the definitions of the words, "diversify, verify and amplify" to his students. Diversify means to provide more that one perspective. Verify means to offer proof or evidence and amplify means to elaborate on an idea. He uses these works to challenge students in assignments and discussions but students are also expected to use them to measure their own thinking.

Scenario 6: A teacher allows students into their room at lunch. Energy levels are high and conversation is strong. There is a sense of community among teacher and students.

Additional Strategies For Positive Communication:

• Hold Goal-Setting Conferences
• Use Dialogue Journals
• Incorporate Teacher Talk Groups in Lesson Plans

cLaSsRoOm EnViRoNmEnT mAtTeRs

If you were a teacher would you rather teach in this environment?

OR

This environment?

Now what if you were a student? Where would you rather sit and try to stay focused and learn?.....The messy one right?! haha I doubt any of you chose that one. I'm assuming EVERYONE would love to be in the organized and clean classroom whether you are a teacher or a student. It is the most appealing, hands down! 

In chapter 4 of Fulfilling The Promise, Tomlinson states that a classroom environment will most often be the first "messenger" on how learning will take place. Walls, bulletin boards, artifacts, furniture arrangement, materials and exhibits are all factors when considering the environment of your classroom. The classroom environment communicates loudly about personal affirmations and potential for individual contribution and power derived from knowledge. 

A couple of scenarios were shared in the book that I would like to share with you on ways to help create a good classroom environment:

Scenario 1: An elementary school teacher has 3 important goals she considers when planning her classroom environment:

1. She wants students to see themselves in the room. She does this by incorporating different student cultures in the room. She also has a "kids corner" where she has artifacts that would interest kids. Students can bring artifacts as well that reflect their own interests. 
2. She wants the room to convey a message of flexibility. She does this by using different kinds of furniture that are different shapes.
3. She wants students to understand that the work they do is important and interesting. She does this by having a bulletin board with adult professionals work and leads discussions about how their work is just as important as the professionals. 

Scenario 2: A high school teacher is sure to be at the classroom door as students are entering and leaving the classroom. This is one way to make personal contact with each and every student. He makes sure he is equal and calls on both male and female students frequently. He wants students to know what he expects of each of them no matter what their level. He also uses a system called "one-on-one" to hear and attend to student opinions and feelings. Finally he holds in class discussions to hear their perspectives.

Scenario 3: A middle school teacher understands that both teacher and student talk greatly affect the tone of the classroom. She teaches her students to listen respectfully to the ideas of peers and how to make suggestions positively. She is always modeling these attributes as well. She shares her own imperfections with her students and she finds positive humor that can lighten situations with out hurt. 

What teachers can do to help create a positive classroom environment: 

• Study Students' Cultures
• Convey Status
• Comment Creativity
• Make Room For All Kinds of Learners
• Celebrate Success
• Help Students Know About One Another (Morning Meetings *cough-cough*)

Great Teachers

Oh Hi! 
I want you to stop and think for a second. 
Answer these questions...
Are there any teachers that you remember loving for one reason or another? Why?

Do you want to be just like them? 

Why not be the teacher that every student loves and remembers, not because you are the "fun" teacher, but because you are the teacher who cares! 

Straight from the book "Fulfilling the Promise,"

"Charlie," he said, ""do you know why I gave you all that extra work?"
I shook my head no. That look on his face. It made me quiet.
"Charlie, do you know how smart you are?"
I just shook my head no again...

"Charlie, you're one of the most gifted people I've ever know. And I don't mean in terms of my other students. I mean in terms of anyone I've ever met. That's why I gave you the extra work...I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. I just want you to know you're very special...and the only reason I'm telling you this is that I don't know if anyone else ever has...So when the school year ends, and I'm not your teacher any more, I want you to know that if you ever need anything, or want to know more about books, or want to show me anything you write, you can always come to me as a friend. I do consider you a friend, Charlie."

I didn't say anything for a while because I didn't know what to say. So finally I just said, "You're the best teacher I've ever had" (Chbosky, 1999, pp. 181-182).

This got my brain spinning remembering all my teachers that I had throughout my school days that I loved! I had lots of great teachers who really did make a difference in my life and made me feel special. 

-My Kindergarten teacher, I loved her. She would randomly send me letters...even into my high school days just to see how I was doing. She EVEN came to my wedding reception! Truly the sweetest teacher ever. 

-5th grade. He was AWESOME...period. Everyone who had him, loved him. I just remember loving 5th grade because of him and what we did in the class...oh and because that is when boys started to be "cute!"

-My 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English teachers! -- ALL of them are the reason I went to college majoring in English. I wanted to become an English teacher and be just like them. Each of them taught me how to write and how to put voice in my writing and how writing can be enjoyable, They joked with me, believed in me and loved me! 

one last teacher that really impacted my life was,

-My 10th grade Government student teacher---He always made me feel important. Like he cared about what I was doing and If I understood. He was always willing to help me. He truly cared and I knew he did. 

He actually works at the High School now as a teacher and I go there often because my mom works there and he'll pass me in the hall and he still....to this day....knows my name! and that right there is saying something. I mean, I have college professors right now that still don't know my name.....just saying. :)

This guy is important also because he was my student teacher....As I think about heading into my student teaching, I hope to be able to change someone's live and help someone know that they are important and let them know that I truly do care about them.

Great Teachers

• Great teachers let students know that they are unique and valued as an individual. 

• Great teachers let students know that they are here to help them find and develop abilities as a individual and class. 

• Great teachers have a goal of helping students in the class become as capable as possible. 

• Great teachers have routines.

• Great teachers teach students how to work together to solve problems. 

• Great teachers determine guidelines so goals can be reached. 

• Great teachers invest time in their students and are persistent. 

-Warning-
This
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:)

So the other day I was reading in Fulfilling the Promise and I came across some excuses that may come to mind when thinking about having to get-to-know a student and actually use differentiation. I'd like to list those here. After reading them, think about them for a second...

• There are too many students.
• The time is too short.
• This is only one level of textbook in the class and one level of standards for all.
• The room is too small.
• The materials are lacking.
• Kids don't come to us knowing how to be independent learners.
• We were not trained or hired to be social workers or psychologists.
• We don't know how to think about cultures different from our own.
• We are already consumed by the job.

I don't know why, but I'm a little annoyed after reading those excuses. The last 4 did it for me! 

Isn't the #1 thing we want for our students is for them to become life-long learners? 

We can do that by getting to know them and shaping their lives for the better. We can do that by creating confidence and hope for them in the years to come. Students are important!  Teachers are important in helping students know that. Yes.....some might say it is the parents job. and it is. BUT, I honestly think that teachers as very nurturing just like a parent. I'm not saying you need to nurture your students blah, blah, blah. BUT...getting to know your students, letting your students know you care, creating a community where they feel safe, those are all ways that students will learn for themselves that they are important and they do matter to someone! 

rant over. 

moving on. 

The rest of this post will be dedicated to the 5 parts of the COG that we learned about in a previous post. I'll be focusing on the teacher response side of it. All the lovely quotes I'm going to type came from the wonderful book Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom so I might forget to use my quotations here and there, not on purpose I swear, but at least you know exactly where I'm getting my information from. 

In the chapter 3 of the book it mentioned The Response of Invitations and that a teachers demeanor, words and actions need to communicate the following to the students:

-I respect who you are as well as who you can become.

-I want to know you.

-You are unique and valuable.

-I believe in you.

-I have time for you.

-I learn when I listen to you.

-This place is yours too.

-We need you here.

Remember that the students are not just learning from you, but you are learning from them. Also, the classroom needs to be everyone's, not just the teachers. The students help make the rules. By letting students be part of the rule making it will help hold them accountable because they chose that rule.

The Response of Opportunity Providing opportunity for students is providing materials, tasks, applications, and problems that are rich with meaning, perfect for learning. Giving students an opportunity for ANYTHING really is a great learning tool.

The Response of Investment. For a teacher to communicate to a students that they are individually important makes it clear by doing this:

-I work hard to make this place work for you.

-I work to make this place reflect you.

-I enjoy thinking about what we do here.

-I love to find new paths to success.

-It is my job to help you succeed.

-I am your partner in growth.

-I will do what it takes to ensure you growth.

"Invested teachers have clear personal goals toward which they work steadily. Teachers who are invested in what they teach, who they teach, and where they teach, and the ideals for which they stand. Their messages come not simply from slogans on their classroom walls, but from living out their beliefs."

The Response of Persistence. The teacher needs to help students understand that the classroom is a place where persistence is a hallmark. To do that, a teacher must communicate the following to students:

-You're growing, but you're not finished growing. 

-When one route doesn't work, there are others we can find.

-Let's figure out what works best.

-There are no excuses here, but there is support.

-There is no finished line in learning.

"A teacher who genuinely believes in the possibilities of each individual is not easily discouraged. The persistent teacher doesn't not assume the student cannot learn, but rather assumes the student is not learning in the way he is currently being taught." 

"The Response of Reflection is important because effective teaching defies any set of 'rules of practice.' There is no formula for success." In the book it said that there will always be a problem and the teacher who believes in the dignity and worth of an individual will echo, "Failure is not an option." This is so true. Don't let your students fail. It should never be an option for them! 

A reflective teacher communicates the following:

-I watch you and listen to you carefully and systematically.

-I make sure to use what I learn to help you learn better.

-I try to see things through your eyes.

-I continually ask, "How is this partnership working?"

-I continually ask, "How can I make this better?"

One last thing that I read in this chapter and loved was this,        "Different is not a synonym for deficient!"

*If you have read this far, good for you! And it is your lucky day because I'm done! I'm off to bed. BYE!*