The classroom climate plays a crucial role in student
success. That being said, I believe that
honouring cultural diversity sets the tone for inclusion in my classroom. As a
teacher, I need to be interested in my students’ lives (learning about their families
and their culture). I need to provide
opportunities for my students to celebrate their diversity, sharing language,
culture, and experience.
I
found a book that celebrates diversity called Anna Hibiscus written by Atinuke which
I am very much looking forward to including in my grade two program next year. It tells the story of a girl named Anna who
lives in a large African city with her African father, Canadian mother, twin
baby brothers, her grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins. (Click here for a summary of the book.) I think this book
would tie in very nicely with the grade 2 social studies curriculum that looks
at communities around the world. For my social studies unit this year I
followed the Hands on Social Studies program, where my class compared our
community in Brantford to those in Nunavut and in Zimbabwe. I think reading
this text aloud would be a great addition to the program, as it would provide
the students with an opportunity to visualize and connect with life in
Africa. For shared reading, I think I would choose passages of the text
that we could study as a class, using various reading strategies and making
connections to the similarities and differences in Anna Hibiscus’ life compared
to our own.
This
comic illustrates the importance of differentiated instruction. It is unfair to expect a classroom full of
students to learn the exact same way. Students
must be accepted and appreciated as individual learners, with their own
interests, abilities, and background knowledge. Differentiated instruction is important to
me as it allows me to engage all of my students, ensuring they are successful
in their learning. A couple of ways that
I differentiate to support comprehension and understanding for my students are:
Think-pair-share: After I have explained something, but
notice that some of my students may not fully get it, I have the students
turn to the person next to them to explain what they understand.
After about 30 seconds of sharing, I have the students share with the
class what they were discussing. This process generally helps the
students fill in the gaps that they are unsure of.
Diagnostic questions and/or assignments: Prior to teaching, I
pose probing warm up questions (or provide little assignments) to
determine what my students know already, what misconceptions they may have
and what their learning needs may be.
Flexible groupings: I use flexible groupings to provide
mini-lessons. This allows me to provide extra support to students as
they require it.
Community is very
important in my classroom. From the
first day of school, the students are taught and practice mutual respect and
attentive listening. Students need a
safe environment where they feel supported and comfortable learning. It is important to create such a climate in
the classroom. For ELL learners, it
takes time, practice, desire, and mistakes to learn a new language. Theses learners need a sense of community
when speaking and reading with their peers in the classroom. They need to know
that they will be accepted not judged when there are errors in their speech or
mispronunciations in their reading.
As the classroom
teacher, I play an important role for my ELL learners; I am their supportive
and intentional coach. I have to make
sure that I am using a variety of resources, instructional strategies, and
assessment accommodations that will help my ELL learners during the reading
process. .
Resources:Meaning is very important to reading. In
order to comprehend a text, you have to be able to understand what is being
read. By providing a variety of
resources (bilingual dictionaries, visual materials or artifacts, culturally
diverse books that have nuances to their culture or home county) ELL learners
are able to draw on previous knowledge and construct new understanding.
Instructional
Strategies:Various instructional
strategies such as visual cues, graphic organizers, scaffolding, previewing
textbooks, pre-teaching vocabulary, and peer tutoring, will help ELL learners
make connections and develop meaning while reading.
Assessment
Accommodations:ELL learners can be successful in their
reading when provided accommodations such as extra time, choice, oral
interviews, simplified language, bilingual support, etc..
After reading the documents Me Read? No Way! and Me Read? And How!, I started
considering the fact that reading programs are sometimes tailored to the girls
in the classroom not the boys. That
being said, I am making a conscious effort in my classroom to ensure this is
not the case as I want to have equitable learning opportunities for everyone. Engagement is the goal of my literacy program. I want my students to be actively involved in
their reading and ultimately their learning.
Here are a couple strategies I have used or would like to use in my
classroom to keep all of my students engaged:
1) Have a wide variety of reading
materials
2) Read across the curriculum (pump up
the volume of reading, not the difficulty)
3) Use the arts to bring literacy to
life
4) Engage the students in accountable talk and critical
thinking
I am
so excited to set up my reading program next year. As this year draws to a close, I find myself
already making tweaks to my current program and plotting changes that I would
like to make. With a main goal of instilling
a love for reading, I look forward to helping my students develop the skills
they need to become life-long readers. I have used the Guide to Effective Instruction
in Reading - Section 8 (found here ) to help me establish current and future learning goals for my
reading program.
These goals are:
·I am learning
to make sense of what I am reading
·I am learning
to think about what I am reading
·I am learning
to ask myself questions about what I am reading
·I am learning
to make connections about what I am reading
·I am learning
to use my prior knowledge to help me when I am reading
·I am learning
to use textual clues to draw conclusions when I am reading
·I am learning
to use fix-up strategies to help me with my reading
Defined as the “gathering of data about student knowledge and/or skills, either informally or formally” (Small, 598), assessment in today’s mathematics classroom must focuses on understanding; taking into account thinking, processes, and strategies. There are a plethora of assessment methods being used in classrooms today. Below is a list that I have compiled to I urge you to consider using these strategies in your very own classrooms.
Titon, Jennifer. (July 11, 2012). Anecdotal Records. Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/cubb296
Anecdotal Notes: Write records to keep track of your students’ progress in the classroom, including mathematical conversations, strategies, strengths, and areas of improvement.
Brainstorm: Put a new concept up on the board. Starting in pairs (or small groups), have your students think of different things that remind them of the new concept. Bring the class back together and your students share their ideas.
Checklist: Monitor your students’ mathematical performances and behaviours to see whether or not they are demonstrating success criteria.
Discussion: Participate in a mathematical discussion with your students, allowing them to share their thinking and strategies. Ask thoughtful questions to assess your students understanding of mathematical concepts.
Exit Tickets: Provide your students with a question at the end of the lesson and have them independently demonstrate what they know.
Games: Observe your students while they are playing mathematical games to assess their mathematical language and their ability to use mathematical strategies.
Gallery Walk: Post 3 to 5 questions about a particular problem on separate sheets of chart paper taped around the room. In small groups, have your students pause at each sheet of paper, discussing the question and writing comments on the page. Ring a bell after a couple of minutes to advise groups that they are to switch to the next chart. Once the groups have contributed to each chart paper, review what was written.
Graffiti Wall: Lay chart paper on several desks and write a single word or topic on each. Divide your students into groups and have each group use words, numbers, and pictures to connect with the topic on their sheet of chart paper. Ring a bell after a couple of minutes to advise groups that they are to switch to the next chart. Once the groups have contributed to each chart paper, review what was written. Please click here for a great example.
Group Work: Provide a problem for your students to solve in small groups. Observe your students as they work together to solve the problem. Note strategies being used and link the strategies to the grade level expectations.
Interview: Prepare a couple of questions and tasks for your students to complete, assessing their understanding and their thinking.
Journals: Have your students use math journals for self-assessment. Your students can reflect on their understanding and learning of mathematical concepts, thinking about their individual performances. Please take a look at the video attached for some great math journal ideas.
KWL: Create a chart with your students on things they know, thing they want to know, and after the lesson, things they have learned.
KWL Snowball Fight: Provide each of your students a piece of white paper and have them write anything they know about a given topic on the paper. Have the students crumpled the paper into a 'snowball'. Give your students the magic words “Snow Ball Fight!” and have them throw their papers around the room. Say “Stop!” and have your students pick up the snowball nearest to them. Choose volunteers to read what is written on their page. Compile a chart of all the ideas shared. Repeat the same process with “what do you want to learn?”. At the end of the unit, have your students repeat the process with what they have learned.
Bromhead, Ginette. (2011)
Learning Goals and Success Criteria: As a class, develop “I can” statements that describe what successful learning looks like, based on the learning goals from the unit that you are working on. Be sure to provide descriptive feedback for your students, recognising their strengths, areas of improvement, and next steps.
Performance Task: Provide your students with a challenging task, giving limited or little instruction, that allows multiple solutions, relates to prior know, and has personal meaning. Assess this task to determine what your students know and are able to do.
Rubrics: Provide your students with rubrics, clearly articulating how their work will be assessed and the standards required to achieve each level. Be sure to provide descriptive feedback for your students, recognising their strengths, areas of improvement, and next steps.
Stars and Wishes: Provide your students with descriptive feedback in the form of stars and wishes. Stars represent your students’ successes and wishes represent areas of improvement or next steps.
Think Sheet: Have your students share their prior knowledge and understanding of a math concept by using pictures, numbers, and words to explain everything they know.
Well, it is official. I just created my first classroom video on L'arbre aux Ballons and I am going to be posting it on our new classroom blog on the Commons website. Who knew that I (not very tech-savvy Sandra) would be creating videos and blog. Thanks Zoe for teaching me how to create videos and writing blogs!!
Yesterday I used my Glog as an accompaniment to my French Unit presentation. It was a great visual that helped illustrate what I was talking about and the embedded hyperlink easily allowed me to show other websites I used.
There are a few things that I will need to explore further and change. First off, when using my interactive poster, I could only display one portion at a time. I am sure there is a way to minimize the screen to see the whole thing. I will have to play around a bit to find out how. As well, with my video clip, next time I create a Glog that will be presented using the projector and a white screen, I will have to enlarge the image
I continue to be amazed at what I am learning in my Technology course and I cannot wait to try some of these tools out in the classroom.
Yesterday I created my first ever Glog (click here to see it). "What is a Glog," you ask. Let me tell you. A Glog is created using a Web 2.0 program called Glogster. It is an interactive poster that has pictures, text, animations, audio clips, hyperlinks, and videos. I love how simple it is to create a Glog and make it look so professional. With a couple clicks of the mouse, you can insert video and sound into your interactive poster. It is extremely easy to make your poster authentic, as there are so many images and animations to use. I had a great time choosing different frames and backgrounds for my Glog.
An interactive poster is a great way to introduce students to an author and his book(s). With my Glog, I included a Wordle, a photograph, and excerpt from an interview to introduce students to the author. If this lesson was being taught to older students, they could use the clues given in the Wordle to guess who the author is. There is a hyperlink attached to the Qui suis-je and the photograph so the students can verify their answer and read up on Roch Carrier, the author of The Hockey Sweater. To help younger students predict what the story is going to be about, I included a sound clip that could be played from the radio and a hockey animation. I have also included a YouTube video of the story, so the students can watch a couple minutes of the video and predict what events may happen next. Another way to use this video, is to turn the sound off and have the students explain what they are seeing in the video what they think is happening in the video.
I see many uses for Glogs in the classroom. As mentioned above, they are a great way to introduce literature in the classroom. Another manner, which I would like to try when on my teaching block, is using a Glog for Social Studies. I know that I will be teaching a unit on "Members of my Community" to my grade one French Immersion class. For one of the students sub-tasks they will have to create "Help Wanted" poster, describing the tasks that a member in the community performs. I think that as long as I model with the students how to use this program, they will be easily capable to create a Glog with text, images, animation, and possibly sound and video.
I have to present my French unit plan on Tuesday and I thought that I would use a Glog to do so. I used Glogster for the first time yesterday and I was so impressed by the ease of the this Web 2.0 tool, that I thought I would try it out for my presentation.
I have learned a great deal through the creation of this Edublog. Although I am not nearly as proficient as I would like to be, I now feel much more comfortable with the blogging experience. I am able to change the background image and fonts of a blog. I know how to link URLs and insert pictures and videos (that are properly cited) into a blog. Throughout this blogging experience, I have also learned how to create short movies with pictures, texts, and sounds using Windows Live Movie Maker.
I see great potential in using classroom blog. A blog helps develop a sense of community. It provides a platform of communication with the teacher, students and parents alike. It encourages dialogue through reflection and connection. I think that a classroom blog is a great way to send reminders to parents and students about upcoming events. It can also serve as a hub for shared documents (i.e. providing a link for Google Doc study notes). As well, posting to a blog provides authentic learning experiences for students, creating their own learning.
Edublogs can be used for all grade levels. As demonstrated on my Edublog, for primary grades, material can be posted to provide review, reminders and information for the parents. Links to games, videos, websites, etc. will promote learning outside of the classroom. For the junior grades, the Edublog would serve a similar purpose; it would also encourage more dialogue amongst the students. In my grade4/5 placement, the students were being introduced to Google Docs and they were co-creating science and social studies notes. I think that a classroom blog would be a great place post links for such things. The students at my placement were also starting to post podcast and once again the classroom blog with be a perfect forum to do so.
I just finished reading Tricks for Tweets from the Professionally Speaking December 2011 article. Click here to read the article.
If you had asked me in September how to incorporate technology in the classroom, I would have shrugged my shoulders and said email and surfing the web. I am now starting to see so many new uses for technology in the classroom. As the article mentioned, and as I learned today in tech class, there are so many Web 2.0 tools that can be used in the classroom. Most of the Web 2.0 tools are extremely interactive and collaborative. I was researching Voicethread today (click here). It is a great tool that allows students to comment on other's peoples work using text, voice, and video. It also provides a forum for a collaborative projects and sharing. It can be used to showcase students' work and present problems and content. Teachers may also use this tool to create virtual field trips.
I just watched an OCT Professional Advisory on Technology in the Classroom and as seen above, I brain stormed the pros and cons presented in the video.
From what I gathered from the video, and from a common sense standpoint, technology in the classroom can be a very effective tool as long as it is used properly. As teachers, when using technology we have to be objective and use professional communication and conduct. If we do not act in a professional manner there could be unintended misuse or even legal implications.
There are a plethora of reasons for technology in the classroom. The students are already using these technologies at home, why not the students them how to use them responsibly, effectively, and safely? Technology can be a source of collaboration, sharing, experimentation, and motivation. It is a way reach students in something they are interested in. As one of the teachers in the video said, "technology is the students' window to the world."
I was just on Twitter and saw this post. I followed the link to a Google Doc and was amazed by the collaboration going on. Within a matter of minutes, there had been 20+ people working on this French rhyming document. I added a couple of words and now I have a bank of rhyming French words, that I may hopefully be able to use when I am at my French Immersion placement in a couple of weeks. The power of Twitter has once again been proven to my once unbelieving eyes!
I am very impressed by Google. Before I started teacher's college, I had no idea of the networking capabilities it had. Now, I use its various tools on a daily basis. I have always consider Google to be a very strong search engine, but now I know Google as so much more. Google allows me to translate, to search, to blog, to communicate. and to share. I love Google Docs! It is such a great way to work on group projects, especially when we do not all live close to the school. I can definitely see an application for Google Docs in the classroom, preparing group study notes and for group jigsaws. I cannot wait to have a classroom of my own to try it out.
I just attended an awesome
storytelling workshop put on by Cathy Miyata.
I did not know exactly what to expect going in, but knowing Cathy I
expected something fun and interactive.
My expectations were met and were surpassed. We spent the bulk of our morning learning various
storytelling techniques by actively retelling a story. At the start of the story, we focused on
remembering key details and points that were necessary for the flow of the story,
while also incorporating our own personal details. We worked on eye contact and audience participation
as a way to keep listeners engaged. As the
story progressed, hand actions, voice, and animation all became important to
our storytelling. As the morning
progress and we became more confident with our abilities and more invested in
the story, we work on our body positioning. Whether sitting down or standing
up, it is important as a storytelling to appear confidant and engaged. I never really realized how much ones posture
could affect storytelling. For the end
of the story, we work in larger groups, taking turns retelling the story. I found it very inspiring to listening to others
speak. It is amazing how much we all grew
as storytellers within the span of a couple of hours.
I just watched a video on problem based
learning (http://tinyurl.com/3fvuzxy) and I could easily relate to the topic
as I just did a presentation for my methods class on Indirect and Experiential
Learning (http://tinyurl.com/73vmjuk).
My specific part was on Indirect Learning and I looked at setting up an
inquiry in the classroom. To model inquiry with my fellow teacher
candidates, I brought in various pieces of fencing equipment (weapons, whites,
wires, masks etc.), coaching equipment, manuals, newspaper articles, comics,
medals etc. I strategically placed the material at each table group, providing
each table with KWS table as well. In
order to model both guided and unguided inquiry I designated two tables as
specific curriculum areas, science and social studies, the other four tables
were able to determine their own interest area.
I gave the table groups time to investigate the material on their desks,
trying to determine what it was and how it may be used. I circled around the class to listen to the
discussion and ask questions to provoke thought. After sufficient time, I had the table groups
complete the W section of their chart with questions that they would like to
research. The two designated groups had
to have either science or social studies based questions. Once they had a couple of questions, they
then had to complete the K section of the table, trying to hypothesize answers
based on the material on their desk. Had we continued with the exercise, the S section
on the chart would have been used to write down sources in which the groups
intended to look at to verify their hypotheses.
This activity worked really well, as it had the entire class involved in
their own learning, investigating questions that they wanted to learn about.
This is my first time blogging and I am not sure how comfortable I feel
about it. I enjoy reading what others have to say, but I never thought that I
would be sharing my thoughts for the world to read. I am sure that the more I
use this technology, the more comfortable I will become, although, at the
moment I am still going through the growing pains of learning something brand
new.
I
found a book that celebrates diversity called Anna Hibiscus written by Atinuke which
I am very much looking forward to including in my grade two program next year. It tells the story of a girl named Anna who
lives in a large African city with her African father, Canadian mother, twin
baby brothers, her grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins. (Click here for a summary of the book.) I think this book
would tie in very nicely with the grade 2 social studies curriculum that looks
at communities around the world. For my social studies unit this year I
followed the Hands on Social Studies program, where my class compared our
community in Brantford to those in Nunavut and in Zimbabwe. I think reading
this text aloud would be a great addition to the program, as it would provide
the students with an opportunity to visualize and connect with life in
Africa. For shared reading, I think I would choose passages of the text
that we could study as a class, using various reading strategies and making
connections to the similarities and differences in Anna Hibiscus’ life compared
to our own.
