Choose one question to answer from each chapter and respond to at least one other person’s answer.
1. In what ways would your classroom and those of your colleagues be similar to the classrooms described? In what ways would they be different?
2. Based on your ideas and experiences, what would be a logical and feasible next step for you to take in crafting your classroom to be more effective in addressing the needs of academically diverse learners?
Based on your ideas and experiences, what would be a logical and feasible next step for you to take in crafting your classroom to be more effective in addressing the needs of academically diverse learners?
ReplyDeleteOk, so holy cow! Some of those teachers are like the great and all powerful Oz! (This was for you Aleicia!) They certainly have gone above and beyond what many classroom teachers do in their classes every day. So I hope I wasn't the only one who was overwhelmed! So, I must point out that I thought about it and I think that this takes time to build up to what many of them have done in their classrooms. With that in mind, I am not going to punish myself, but rather take baby steps with this. First, because I am getting evaluated and picked this to do in my classroom as a goal, along with the rest of you, I am definitely more aware of the fact that with every lesson, I need to be showing some type of differentiation. It amazes me that the ideas are there, it is just the need to get organized, find the materials that the kids need, and presenting it to them in a way that they understand. I also have begun to chart my students on their Reading Street tests, about 12 that are struggling. I have gone through the entire Reading Street tests and made a chart for each story. After doing two of them, I am thinking why not do the rest? It is all there, I just need to take the time to do it for all instead of just 12. Again, this might be just baby steps, but I already have the wheels turning in my head and feel I am able to have a better conversation about my students needs in reading. Finally, I am beginning to work with my second group of students in more groups as I have Rayna and Megan in there for 30 minutes. I think we can accomplish a great deal together with differentiation for our students. Dennine
I am also charting my at risk students and how they do on their reading tests. Once again I am gathering great data about my students, but I constantly struggle with the activities I should do to meet their weaknesses. I know the data really well, but I still need help with what to do with it. Our district is amazing at gathering data, but not so amazing at helping us with strategies to address weaknesses. Being evaluated is making me really look at differentiation in every lesson, just like Dennine said. It can be overwhelming and it sure is a lot of work. I could be at school till 5 every night and still feel like I am not caught up!
ReplyDeleteWould you be able to use the extra teachers in your classrooms to create flexible groups based on needs determined from your Reading Street tests? For example, one teacher could work with students who need to work on vocabulary, and another one could work on helping students determine cause and effect. I think it is really valuable to graph and break down test results, especially if the students themselves are involved in the process. However, like Michele said, once you have the data it has to be used for the benefit of the students. LeeAnn
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