Part 3/18 - Let's Be Morning People

My dad is a morning person. Every morning he gets up, gets ready and either whistles or sings throughout the whole house waking up the whole family. As each of us walk into the living room like zombies, he greets us, "Good morning, Tia!" From all five of the rest of the members of my family he typically receives a grunt, moan or a bleak, "hi." My dad then proceeds to read to us from the book we read every morning. He asks us questions as we read, we hardly ever answer coherently. Afterward, he leaves to work, kissing us each on the forward or patting our backs and wishing each of us a fabulous day!! I have always envied my father in this regard. My new goal is to be my dad in my morning classroom. My extension of this goal is for my students to also become my dad in our classroom. With his morning attitude in all 30ish of us we can conquer the world! 

Sylvia Allan is a gem. She came to our Differentiation class at school and presented her classroom Morning Meeting components. She has one of those attitudes like my dad.

Her Morning Meeting agenda is:

*Class Creed

*Greeting (Monday Only)

*Pledge

*Memorization

*Class Business

-Vegetables

-Dessert

-Medicine

*News 

*Share 

*Class Cheer

There are two critical rules: 

1. NEVER sit at your desk during Morning Meeting (This is NOT planning time!)

2. It is not a therapy session for us or the students.

First, those who sit at their desks during morning meeting are idiots. How could they miss that? Sylvia Allan discussed how she has had students tell her vitally life changing important things thanks to morning meeting that they have never told anyone. I want to be the kind of teacher that a student can go to if they help with anything. Second, I love what she said about Morning Meeting not being a therapy session for the teacher or the students, they are merely sharing info and facts, having discussion and learning about each other. 

Sylvia Allan uses proximity as a reward for good students. I love this! Give the attention to students who are behaving properly as motivation for the other students. 

During Morning Meeting, make sure students understand everything they are saying in both their class creed, memorization, Pledge, news, cheer, everything. Take it slowly one at a time and not all in one day, but make sure they know what they are saying. You probably wondering specifically what Dessert, Vegetables, and Medicine are. I shall explain: Vegetables are things that are good for us, things we are going to do that day or that need to be fixed from the day before. Dessert are the specific things that they did well the day before. And Medicine is used when there is a problem that can't be fixed any other way. It is nasty, but cures the ailment. (They also have a Literary Term and Quote everyday.) 

My favorite thing to hear about in Sylvia Allan's lesson is how the students bonded with each other and with her. I loved hearing how they all became friends, even the ones who were quiet or a little bit odd. Their friendship carried into the next year and included all of their new classes. Morning Meeting helped students in her class to find who they were and how they learn, if that's not a perfect example of a Differentiated classroom, I don't know what is. :)

Morning Meetings brings people together. Let's all be Morning People!!

Part 2/18 - Hallmarks of a Differentiated Classroom

http://pdsupport.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/file/view/Wordle_-_Differentiation.jpg/143564969/662x297/Wordle_-_Differentiation.jpg

There are 9 Hallmarks (or key components) of a Differentiated Classroom. These characteristics are principles that need to be present in order for a properly differentiated class to exist. They all need to be present during all hours of the class, in order to be fully effective. These 9 features are not easy to accomplish all at once, but I know it is important to have all of them in action if you are truly going to meet your students' individual needs. Let's discuss each one:

1. A strong link between assessment and instruction. 

WE  CAN'T ASSESS THINGS WE AREN'T TEACHING. We must assess students knowledge continually, formative is an ongoing, hourly assessment. Summative is important too, it just doesn't happen as constantly as formative does. We must adjust our instruction based on those assessments.

2. Absolute clarity about what the teacher wants the students to know, understand, and be able to do - about what is truly important to learn in this unit. 

If you are clear in what you need from the class, then you can begin to focus on their understanding and their needs to make goals. 

3. Shared responsibility for the classroom is between teacher and students, in the goal of making it work for everyone. 

We aren't teaching rocks. These are people, small people, but people none-the-less. They have opinions and interests and they want to have a good day just as much as you do. Let them have a say, let them contribute. Let the classroom be a place were they feel comfortable and safe. They can make mistakes and learn. Additionally, the teacher needs to be ready to learn from students as well. 

4. Individual growth is emphasized as central to classroom success.

Progress is key. We are here to improve and help each other improve! We want to be challenged, but not excessively, just enough to push us. We don't compare or compete, unless it's with ourselves and our own personal growth!

5. A "way up," usually through multiple and varied pathways, and never a "way out."

This one is my favorite, I briefly discussed a similar concept in my last post. Our classroom helps students to stretch and grow in their knowledge. We, as teachers, must teach up to them, not down. We must scaffold and support them. 

6. "Respectful" and engaging work for all students.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference." ~Robert Frost. Many students need to take different pathways. We can't all take the same path or even go the same pace. Work must be high quality, inviting, important, and involve our highest level of thinking. However, in the end we all have the same objective to reach, we just have to get there different ways. 

7. Proactive thinking and planning for different pathways.

Plan in advance for lots of pathways! Be ready to adjust or open a new pathway based on needs that students are expressing. 

8. Flexible grouping.

There are many ways to group and all will be needed at some points in time. You group based off of similar interest, close level, far-apart level (for assistance), mixed group for showing each other new ways of thinking. Using different groups helps set up a balance in the classroom. 

9. Flexible use of time, space, and materials. 

Have a classroom set up in such a way that you can do a variety of different activities. Be ready to get all sorts of materials for different reasons for the students. If someone needs more time or less, be flexible. Make it all work for everyone.

That is a lot of information to take in and observe, then to apply!! Honestly, I am terrified of not being able to do all of this because I want to do all of this so bad. I want to help my students help themselves to find their own pathways and I want to give them the tools to progress down that pathway whatever it may be so that we can all meet our goals. I am already excited to feel their excitement when they make a connection or finally get something. There is nothing that can stop me from doing everything I can to feel that feeling. I want it more than anything and I know differentiating my classroom will give me and them the greatest opportunity to feel that excitement of learning. Each student deserves to have fun in the process of understanding. 

Let's go Differentiate!! :)

Post 1/18 - Classroom Differentiation

Hiya, folks!! 

This is Tia Janette Smallcomb. I am studying at Utah Valley University to be a Elementary School teacher and it is my goal to be a good one. A key component of being a good teacher is differentiating your instruction. This means you have to know your students and you have to teach them where they're at as individuals and as a whole. You have to teach in different ways and at different levels.  You have to keep in mind a lot of things to make sure each student is learning to their fullest potential. 

In the book Differentiation in Practice by Carol Ann Tomlinson, I learned some beneficial things:

Quote: "Teachers proactively engage learners where they are, recognizing that an elementary classroom is a mixed bag of readiness levels, interest, and learning preference."

I love this quote! This is something for teachers to embrace with their whole being! While we are teaching we need to remember that elementary school impacts kids view of school, learning process, and themselves as learners.We must be proactive, differentiating instructing isn't something you do once and move on, it's ongoing and it is a mixture of a great many things. We must make learning a fun, good, and beneficial experience for each child, so that they will find learning fun and continue doing it.

 Differentiated teaching is responsive teaching: 

• Who she teaches
• Where she teaches
• What she teaches
• How she teaches

Some ways that I read (and liked) about how to differentiate and how to help you figure what to be differentiating include: Pre-assessment and continual assessment, giving more than one way to show understanding, having clear and flexible groups (similar skills/interests vs mixture or both), flexible in all things, involve students in understanding the nature of the classroom and in making it work for all, help students understand importance of competing with oneself to achieve one's "personal best." My favorite thing about differentiation is that we must use it to give children a "way up" not a "way out." They deserve that push in the right direction, a challenge, not the easy way out. 

Student Characteristics:

• Readiness - Scaffold! The best tasks are slightly too hard for the student they need a small amount of help to figure it out.
• Interest - For my Exceptional Students class I worked with a resource teacher that helped kids with reading by choosing passages that the children were interested in. For one boy, it was driving, another was horses. 
• Learning profile - This is the learners preferred mode of learning-the way a learner learns best.  

The curricular elements that can be differentiated are content, process, and products. You adapt these based on student characteristics in need of differentiation. I am excited as a future teacher to engage in differentiating my instruction! It is going to be a hard and arduous task, but it is going to be completely worth it! I want to help each child in the best way possible for them!! :)

Instructions for Reference

Final Engaged Learning Project
Reading Reflection Blog
"Create a blog on which you discuss differentiation - what you read and learn about it, in personal reflection, and offering ideas for other beginning teachers who would like to differentiate. This should be a new log dedicated to this purpose, and you are responsible for sending the URL to your instructor, and making sure she has access to reading and commenting on your postings. You will need to include at least weekly blog postings, but a total of 18 postings throughout the semester. ASAP: you must send your blog address through Canvas email.
Assessment: 5 pts possible for each post
1 pt - submitting a blog entry on time (at whatever regularity you establish - at least weekly)
2 pts - thoroughly addressing major points of differentiation according to the text readings/class discussions
2 pts - reflective depth, as judged by instructor
10 pts (bonus? to Slytherin?) - will be awarded for your 'voice' and personality coming across in your blog

Dr. Peterson's Blog
http://inspiretoteach.blogspot.com/