Group items tagged

A useful module that explains how tiering can provide help learners learn better and has videos of examples. This can help improve Smart Goals for improvement in assessments, and homework and classroom performance.

I enjoyed the video on Tiering. Our teams' SMART goal is, "Students will be able to solve an on grade level math task, that will require them to respond and defend their work to explain their reasoning 3 out of 5 times by the end of the 1st marking period." I think an important concept to note, is that this activity has a high Impact on Learning because it differentiates for the particular needs of each student. This process also encourages Student Engagement, which allows for the students to work comfortably in a peer environment. By having more time to plan differentiated work to meet simultaneous goals between students, the teacher is also scaffolding. The teacher is giving support to students who need it and to also challenge those students to maintain interest or to continue the work of those who have mastered a specific skill but may need more advanced strategies to continue the upward curve of learning. EDTC 615 Fall2018

With the video, the topic of towering the lesson is shown. With my SMART goal focusing on the 11th graders in my health education classes, it I'm important for me to address all the educational needs of my students. Currently, I use DI in my classes and I found a piece of information from the video that can I can begin to implement. The teacher had her students raise their hand with chosen number of fingers in the air. The number represents the level that each student feels they are on in regards to understanding the topic. While the exact way this strategy is used is not something I think will be effective with my high school students, the number system is. I can have my students write and post their perceived number and explain why they chose that number. Then, I can see the comfortability each student has with the topic. THey would have to apply extended reasoning which is a respresentation of depth of knowledge from the planning protocol rubric. EDTC Fall2018 EL

(Week 9: Adiatu, Julie, and Heather) This journal article was found in the UMUC Library by Julie, and is accessible through the link given above. The article was written by Daniel Willingham, a cognitive psychologist. Mr. Willingham believes that comprehension strategies, such as questioning and monitoring, are effective in improving reading comprehension and should be taught to students. The article raises the question of how much the strategies should be taught. Mr. Willingham determined that two weeks of strategy instruction is sufficient because students learn everything they need within this duration. The article is useful to teachers because it discusses the benefits of various reading comprehension strategies at a variety of grade levels, and points out the most powerful and weakest strategies. This journal article is useful to our group because the teachers' artifacts are based on the reading comprehension and vocabulary gaps of their students, and the authors stress that teachers should strictly monitor the oral reading skills of students that are having reading comprehension difficulties. Reference Willingham D. T. (2007). Ask the cognitive scientist: The usefulness of brief instruction in reading comprehension strategies. American Educator, 30(4), 39-45, 50.

This article explains different types of reading strategies that are best to use when teaching comprehension across all grade levels. This article is very useful to my group because we are all focusing on reading skills/comprehension and determining learning gaps in each grade level when it comes to this topic. The author describes which type of strategy works best for which grade level and everyone in my group teaches a different grade.

This article explains different types of reading strategies that are best to use when teaching comprehension across all grade levels. This article is very useful to my group because we are all focusing on reading skills/comprehension and determining learning gaps in each grade level when it comes to this topic. The author describes which type of strategy works best for which grade level and everyone in my group teaches a different grade.

Week 8: Group 2- James Sweigert, Sabrina Carey, Jennifer Freburger

This is a journal article accessible via the UMUC Library. The focus of this article is on a three-year study in which a focus group consisting of middle-schoolers were targeted. More specifically, this target group consisted of 123 students, all with disabilities from 12 different schools in the mid-west. The focus of this study was to compare these students willingness to show empathy, caring, and a willingness to intervene to help a victim of bullying with their academic test scores and report cards grades. This target group was compared to schools without the intervention plan. In the 12 target schools, the selected students participated in intervention lessons through the program "Second Step-Student Success Through Prevention". Our group, Group Two felt strongly connected to this article as two of us teach students with disabilities while all three of us are employed in the public school system where character traits such as empathy, caring, and a willingness to intervene to help a victim of bullying are taught through advisory lessons to ALL students. However, within our schools and counties there are no programs tracking data on the effectiveness of such lessons. This article is highly useful to our team because our Smart Target Goals all relate to increasing specific scores or improving behavior types. We will be using information discussed in this article within our current implementation period. For example, by applying an emphasis on This is a journal article accessible via the UMUC Library. The focus of this article is on a three-year study in which a focus group consisting of middle-schoolers were targeted. More specifically, this target group consisted of 123 students, all with disabilities from 12 different schools in the midwest. The focus of this study was to compare these students willingness to show empathy, caring, and a willingness to intervene to help a victim of bullying with their academic test scores and re

WEEK 8 - (Chris Baugher, Patricia Bankis and A. Burns) Assessment is the key to good instruction. It shows us what students know and allows us to adjust our instruction. Assessment is tied to learning goals and standards, but students must own the assessment process as well, as they must be able to articulate what and how they are being assessed -- and its value.

This article provides five useful strategies to help students improve and to improve assessments. There are two key factors in this article which ring true for me. The first is "formative assessment and feedback along the way" (Miller 2015) where students are given specific feedback on their assessment on how to improve and continue forward (Miller 2015). "Formative assessment allowed students to experiment and, yes, sometimes fail. However, they were given the tools, both through feedback and instruction, to improve and move forward to success." (Miller 2015). What this entails if differentiated instruction; something my district and school are pushing for. The second is "student ownership of assessment process" (Miller 2015). Giving students choice, options, and freedom allows students to take ownership and responsibility for doing something all while doing their best on it. In addition, students will know more about what is being asked of them or what they're supposed to do in order to earn a higher grade or preform the task more effectively. "These methods mean that assessment is no longer done to students, but with them, putting the focus on the student and learning" (Miller 2015). Hopefully with these implementations and integration, students can feel the focus from assessment scores to learning content and gaining understanding.

This article is useful when considering big picture assessment objectives. In my own experiences, I have touched upon each of these strategies when conducting an assessment, but I've never built each of them into one assessment. The (5) strategies mentioned in this article include: Aligning Essential questions at the beginning of a unit to standars, building in written assessment components for students to describe/explain in writing, creating performance and project-based assessments to demonstrate understanding and application of concepts taught, regular and on-going formative assessments and feeback to help teachers to better tailor instruction to meet each learner's needs, and involving students in the decision-making process when choosing activities and when determining diagnostic measurement tools. As a World Language teacher, I think that these tasks which are challenging in themselves to build into curriculum, become extremely difficult in the L2 setting. I'm wondering how L2 instructors find themselves doing each of these things on a regular basis. Do they conduct all of it in L2, as it is suggested that L2 teachers do, or does some of this end up being done in English?

My SMART Goal: "By the end of the numbers unit, 60% of students in the Special Education program in MS Spanish 1A - Period 2 will achieve 80% or higher on each formative assessment including listening, speaking and writing assessments." - This resource video on adapting curriculum to learners' needs could assist in differentiation the strategies and activities done in class for students with varying special needs to close their achievement gap since they are not currently receiving many of their needed accommodations.

This video had some great ideas especially about differentiation that could be used for me to achieve my SMART goal of 100% pass rate for standardized English Language tests amount a targeted group. The teacher's method of pre-arranged assignments to prevent students from feeling singled out is very clever, and especially important for students in that age group. I could see myself adapting these strategies for use in many different classes. From the dimension of 'teacher friendliness' I do think these tactics are not necessarily teacher friendly, but they sure seem to be worth it if it means positive student outcomes.

EDTC615 Fall2018 Group 6 Dimension: Teacher Friendliness My SMART target goal is the percentage of students who will score 90% will increase by 80%. This means that 80% of the students will score 90%. The instructional tactic I will use from this video is teacher friendliness. In the video, the teacher displays high level of support, and maintenance with the students. She showed how she provided materials to the students and go over the materials in the class. She also does some great prep work as well. She was seen going around the students table to provide supported as needed. This is very relevant tactic that can be used by my team. The data we both presented covers teaching Microsoft suite-excel, access, word and powerpoint. The instructional style boarders greatly on simulation training, grader activities, grader projects and hands-on practice. In this regard, it is important for the instructor to provide high maintenance and support the students as needed. For instance, during simulation training, the instructor needs to go around the class to assist individual student as needed. The instructor should also provide students will relevant materials and resources to help them achieve success. For instance, in meeting this goal, during our review, we realized that we should teach the topics using 2016 applications as against 2013 applications. This guide of quest was born out of our desire to promote students friendly learning environment. EDTC615 Fall2018

In order to increase the achievement levels of minorities and low income students, there are three components that are the focus: high standards, a rigorous curriculum, and effective educators.

This post hits home, as I see it at my Title I school. Students struggle but even the students passing AP classes and Honors courses, yet when they see the SAT's or the ACT's. Last year, my school's valedictorian only got a 1000 on the SAT and did not get to attend her first choice. We, as a school, and larger, we as educators need to ensure that we are doing everything we can to get these students to get past whatever challenges exist outside of the school and have strict standards that need to be met.

This a great resource for every teacher.

This article by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey gives suggestions for meaningful vocabulary instruction. In order for this to occur students need to have opportunities to interact with the words, to make personal connections to the vocabulary and to consolidate their knowledge. Because all teachers, no matter their content area, have to teach vocabulary this article has value for all teachers looking to improve the way they approach vocabulary instruction. (Week 8)

This series of videos from Expeditionary Learning shows students using protocols and engagement learning strategies. Teachers at all levels and in all content areas can use at least one of these strategies and protocols with their students to improve student learning, encourage peer and self-directed learning and differentiate learning.

This article appeared in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education so at first I was worried that it would not be applicable; however, I quickly found that it is a fantastic resource for teachers of all ages. My goal is to learn more instructional strategies to facilitate an increase in the frequency of higher-level questioning that I use in the classroom to support the learning gaps that I have identified with my students. This article highlights very important concepts related to my search. I have learned that questioning strategies and using various levels should be done with appropriate timing, as it relates to the depth of instruction, to avoid confusion or discouraging students. It was also emphasized that all levels of questioning should be incorporated into learning situations, but suggested questioning methods to ensure that all levels are utilized. The article provides great detail about facilitating the Socratic method, Question Circles, and Student-generated questions. All of these methods will produce higher-level questioning opportunities to increase student exposure to critical thinking tasks. I would highly recommend this article for review for all levels of educators. I am now hoping to learn more about the Socratic method to incorporate this into my own classroom.

This paper discusses the importance of vocabulary instruction and instructional strategies in order to support vocabulary learning across all grade levels and content areas. Using direct and intentional vocabulary development in the educational setting provides students with the tools and language skills necessary to progress and thrive. This focus is instrumental in narrowing achievement gaps between students, and is particularly beneficial for ESOL students. As a language teacher, it was an excellent reminder of the need to continue vocabulary focus across all skill levels. The lower levels are very vocabulary-centric, but the higher levels become less vocabulary-focused and more communicative in nature. However, there are always more words to know and as concepts and themes of study become more sophisticated, so too becomes the language and word level. Various strategies must be employed, both emanating from the teacher's intentional instruction and students' independent work. This paper has concrete and specific instructional strategies that teachers of all content areas and across all age levels can employ.

I found this paper particularly interesting because it highlighted that when teachers explicitly teach vocabulary to students, it results in not only the increased retention of words learned, but of increased comprehension skills as well.

With all the areas that children are taught in school, the author feels that while trying work at the achievement gap we should look at the engagement gap. The eagerness that children have a young age needs to be maintained. Hands-on learning should be implemented into the lesson.

This is a great article focusing on engagement in the classroom! It discusses the necessity of hands on learning to maintain students interest. This is important for students of all academic levels. Hands on learning not only engages students because they are "doing", they also are developing critical thinking skills. As a special education teacher, I know that in order to assist my students in learning, I need to keep their attention and provide them with interesting, hands on learning.

I love this article! I have always been a strong believer in hands on learning and I love that they call it an engagement gap! Students get bored when a teacher gets up and lectures them all day. They need to be engaged! The activities need to be purposeful and have a specific meaning but a teacher can make just about any topic engaging just by getting the kids moving and interacting. I 100% agree that students retain information longer when they are engaged and enjoying what they are learning.

Why reinvent the wheel when making PowerPoint presentations? This online tool is used to upload and download PowerPoint presentations and visuals on all sorts of topics. Users may search for an already created PowerPoint on a subject they may teach and download it for their own teaching purposes. Although this online source is open to anyone, it can be used in any classroom content or subject area under discussion; however, a teacher may need to customize sample PowerPoint presentations to fit their classroom needs. For example, if a language arts teacher needed to give notes on grammar and parts of speech, they may search for a PowerPoint already made including that information. This tool saves teacher time and helps spark ideas!

The tool I posted is Slideshare, a presentation platform where users can post PowerPoint presentations they have created for their classrooms or even businesses. I have used this tool in the past in order to find ready made notes presentations I could present to my 6th grade language arts students. The great thing about about Slideshare is that I can use already created PPTs and customize them to fit my students needs. I definitely recommend this site for the teacher who just doesn't seem to have extra time to create all new notes presentations. Don't reinvent the wheel!

Samantha- Are the PPTs all Creative Commons then? You are free to use, and alter?

this is a "protocol students can use to share and gain knowledge in preparation for an assessment."

I would rate the Go Go Mo protocol a 4 in the Rigor and Relevance dimension. While using this protocol, students are not only thinking (when they are giving) but also working. Students are actively moving around the classroom seeking out others from whom they can get new information. The teacher also suggested that they take their readings with them, which may hint at the fact that may still need to actively search for information. My group's SMART goal is that students will be able to analyze word problems to identify mathematical components needed to solve complex word problems and apply them to real-life problems and scenarios. This method could be effective (may be used on a smaller scale with 2-3 people for word problems) in that all students will have to identify information that they deem important and share with their classmates. From here, they can begin to decide what information is actually most important to solving the problem that is proposed and work together to solve the problem.

This activity will help close the learning gap by enabling collaboration and information sharing between students prior to exams.

The 5 check for understanding strategies in this video really support our goal of : By the end of the month, give practice tests the day before exams with at least 75% scoring at least 75%.Checking for understanding is an important step in the teaching and learning process. The background knowledge that students bring into the classroom influences how they understand the material you share and the lessons or learning opportunities you provide. Unless you check for understanding, it is difficult to know exactly what students are getting out of the lesson. In the Planning protocol rubric, student engagement is high for most students. This goes far beyond just asking your students "do you get it?" and I really like the ones that involve movement! Being crammed in a desk all day is no fun at all.

My SMART goal is to achieve a 100% passing rate amount my target group of students for all county and state standardized English Language exams. This video does have techniques I can use to achieve this goal. I think the focus and techniques using for 'checking of understanding' can help achieve the protocols of 'rigor and relevance' as well as 'depth of knowledge.' I love the idea of debriefs, and 'catch-and-release' at the end of classes and would like to keep myself more honest at doing this, and tightening up my lessons to allow time at the end of my classes for debriefing and to avoid running lessons right up into the bell.

From the planning protocol rubric the other area I would relate this style of teaching to besides the ones listed above would be "impact on learning"- In which there would be a very high impact on learning. The strategies used in this video focus on student rigor. The principle breaks their instructional tactics into 5 different areas. The SMART target learning goal that these strategies could be used for would be one of my group members "After three weeks of targeted instruction, students will increase their pre-assessment scores by 3 or more points, or 75 percent or higher on the post-assessment" Looking at this learning goal you can see where the following strategies would be very helpful. As well as how we can use them to address the above SMART learning goal in our group. 1. Constantly checking the learning target. (are the students constantly working toward building their skills using PARCC like questions). 2. Guided practice ( The teacher will help lead students in instruction that will help mimic items that might be seen on the PARCC test. 3. Catch and release (The teacher will frequently bring everyone back to a large group to discuss trends or similarities he or she is seeing as students work independently) 4. Cold Calling ( making sure that each student is contributing and assessing that each student understands what is being taught) 5. Derbies ( doing things like exit tickets in the form of a PARCC question as the students leave as well as discussions to see where students are at.) All of these steps could be used for as an instructional tactic for the SMART learning goal in our group as mentioned in examples in the parentheses above. Great video and clearly a very high impact on student learning.

"A word wall in the classroom is a powerful instructional tool to strengthen content vocabulary or concepts. A word wall can be an organized collection of words (and sometimes phrases) displayed on a wall or other space in the classroom."

Watching this video gave me a great idea for one of my group members Spencer who teaches ESOL students who struggle with verbal/conversational skills and written/language skills. Spencer's SMART Goal is 75% of the 24 students with a C or lower to have a B (80%) or higher in my class, by the end of the 1st quarter. With this strategy students can build vocabulary skills by word connections and possible interactions with one another to help strengthen each others vocabulary skills often times with the teacher being the facilitator of instruction not the lead in the instruction.

Watching this video gave me ideas on supporting my students. Word Walls are important supports for students in the classroom. They help students solidify their thinking process and content knowledge. Students in this video did the thinking required. This is also important as students tend to rely on teacher lead information. Our SMART goal is that 75% of students will increase their informational text reading comprehension by one grade level. The word wall in this video is a great strategy to make connections with my students.

(Week 7: Dave and Kristina) This journal article is accessible through the link given above by accessing the UMUC library. This journal article discusses the challenges that nearly all teachers face in classes where there they encounter students of mixed abilities. The article provides solutions such as 'provided specific activities for varying students', and notes that teachers with a 'positive attitude toward mixed abilities' correlate to more positive outcomes within their classrooms (Al-Subaiei, 2017). Teachers in our team can use this information because the problem of having students of mixed abilities is a ubiquitous one. It enlightens the reader that many teachers have not received adequate training regarding differentiation to provide effective lessons to classes that contain learners of mixed abilities. While Al-Subaiei (2017) doesn't offer solutions specific to any particular subject area, it certainly does shine a light and help teachers reflect on an issue that we all face to varying degrees. References Al-Subaiei, M. S. (2017). Challenges in Mixed Ability Classes and Strategies Utilized by ELI Teachers to Cope with Them. English Language Teaching, 10(6), 182-189. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1143456&site=eds-live&scope=site

This article gives proactive teaching strategies to use for all ELL learners regardless of their proficiency level. It even provides a checklist that ELL students can use independently.

"Reading Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners," by Colorin Colorado. Type of post: Strategies (in a sort of blog)…. This is a very good read for ESOL/ELL instructors. For one thing, it discusses some of the reading comprehension skills that can be taught and applied on a daily basis. Among them: * Summarizing * Sequencing * Inferencing * Comparing and contrasting * Drawing conclusions * Self-questioning * Problem-solving * Relating background knowledge * Distinguishing between fact and opinion * Finding the main idea, important facts, and supporting details Further, the article talks about why reading comprehension skills are particularly important for ELLs: "English language learners (ELLs) often have problems mastering science, math, or social studies concepts because they cannot comprehend the (language in) textbooks for these subjects. ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy, will benefit from explicit instruction of comprehension skills along with other skills." As an ESOL teacher (and support co-teacher), I can definitely relate to this notion. The article also discusses "Classroom strategies: Steps for explicitly teaching comprehension skills." Most ESOL teachers know that a lot of work on comprehension strategies; identifying important vocabulary; effective "partnering"; and other crucial steps mean the difference between having their ESOL students comprehend an important or main idea, versus having them suffer through difficult texts. (Even many so-called "native speakers" are often not good readers, and stand to gain a lot from instructional strategies outlined in this article. [If you took so-called "reading/literacy courses" to receive your teaching certification in any particular state, this will be clear to you.])

"Reading Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners," by Colorin Colorado. Type of post: Strategies (in a sort of blog)…. This is a very good read for ESOL/ELL instructors. For one thing, it discusses some of the reading comprehension skills that can be taught and applied on a daily basis. Among them: * Summarizing * Sequencing * Inferencing * Comparing and contrasting * Drawing conclusions * Self-questioning * Problem-solving * Relating background knowledge * Distinguishing between fact and opinion * Finding the main idea, important facts, and supporting details Further, the article talks about why reading comprehension skills are particularly important for ELLs: "English language learners (ELLs) often have problems mastering science, math, or social studies concepts because they cannot comprehend the (language in) textbooks for these subjects. ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy, will benefit from explicit instruction of comprehension skills along with other skills." As an ESOL teacher (and support co-teacher), I can definitely relate to this notion. The article also discusses "Classroom strategies: Steps for explicitly teaching comprehension skills." Most ESOL teachers know that a lot of work on comprehension strategies; identifying important vocabulary; effective "partnering"; and other crucial steps mean the difference between having their ESOL students comprehend an important or main idea, versus having them suffer through difficult texts. (Even many so-called "native speakers" are often not good readers, and stand to gain a lot from instructional strategies outlined in this article. [If you took so-called "reading/literacy courses" to receive your teaching certification in any particular state, this will be clear to you.]) Colorado, C. Reading Comprehension Strategies for English ... - LD OnLine. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://www.ldonline.org/article/14342/ L

"Teachers must find creative ways to have the students answer the essential question at the end of the lesson. A student's ability to answer the essential question at this point is a way for the teacher to assess the student's learning. In most instances, this is the point when a teacher can determine whether she needs to go back and reteach or needs to accelerate student learning."

A website that exercises strategies for teachers to interact with students. Content includes a video and interactive non-negotiables steps that all teacher can take to the classroom in order to engage all students.

This KQED blog post provides information on current and past research that indicates how important movement and the use of our bodies are to learning. This research is called "embodied learning". The discussion on highly decorated classrooms is worth further exploration. This would be another great article for a text-based discussion in a PLC. The math and physics examples can be adapted for other content areas for use as instructional strategies.

(Week 9: Benjamin, Cheney, and Gretchen) This article is accessible through the link provided above. The main focus of this article is to inform educators of the positive effects movement can have on student learning. This article provides a series of studies where students were presented with different problems, mostly math, and encouraged to represent the problems with movement. Students who used physical movement to represent and solve mathematical problems demonstrated higher levels of success than their age-related peers who simply solved by reading a problem to themselves or aloud. This article is useful for all members of my team as it suggests methods for adapting physical movement to all content areas. Within this article it is suggested ""When students use their bodies in the learning process, it can have a big effect, even if it seems silly or unconnected to the learning goal at hand" (Schwartz, 2015). I think most teachers can find reassurance from this research-based article knowing that the implementation of movement doesn't have to fit directly with curriculum unit. The teachers within my specific team can use the practice of movement as an alternative method for instructing desired skills such as decoding strategies for reading or identifying/constructing numbers in base ten. Reference Schwartz, K. (2015, March 26). Why kids need to move, touch, and experience to learn. Retrieved from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/39684/why-kids-need-to-move-touch-and-experience-to-learn

a posted visible support for just-in-time learning that includes only the essential information about strategies, procedures, and concepts that students can access at any time.

Anchor charts are always helpful to students throughout the day that helps them visualize their learning throughout the unit. Because of this, I believe this can be helpful in guiding our students to be successful in our SMART goal. The goal in our group is students will be able to not only answer a real-life mathematics question, but they will also be able to defend their thinking/reasoning accurately and precisely 75% of the time. They way that we can use the anchor chart is to show students how to create an appropriate response, and what makes an appropriate response.

EDTC615 FALL2018 (Week 8 Ericka, Michele, Spencer) The article and video is via diigo library SMART GOAL: By the end of 1st quarter 75% of the LSN Government students will be able to analyze political cartoons and historical content with 75% accuracy for historical content and meaning for the LSN FAST I test. The video states it is for grades 3 - 8 but I find that it can be appropriate for high school students also. Anchor charts can be used for any subject matter, really any grade level for many different purposes as a visual aid for individual learning and for groups activities. Anchor charts can be used as warm up activities, classroom assessments, exit tickets, and classroom activities. Anchor reports can be used within the members of our group to make key vocabulary points especially for ESOL students. They are used to access what the students have learned on an independent level. These anchor chart can be used to fortify information needed in small groups for the overall whole class. The use of color, large fonts, and well organized and easy to read anchor chart are much more viable for students. Anchor chart when used with practice the students can use them to guide their own learning. These are important for all students because at some point we want the students to take charge of their own learning and be self-sufficient within the classroom setting. There is some prep work completed by the teacher and the teacher facilitates the learning but the overall learning is done by the students. For my students I would like to use anchor charts as a class survey, assessing the knowledge learned by a particular lesson or as an exit ticket forum.