Group items tagged

Check out this inspirational speech about the importance of failure. The video is especially valuable for educators, although I would also use it in an honors class or with any group of students exhibiting fear of risk.

This article addresses the impact of praise on students. It is most often considered motivational and effective, but depending on its use, can do more harm than good. Willingham writes of several stipulations for effective praise. It should be sincere and spontaneous, earned, and focus on process, not ability. Several studies are described to demonstrate a link between praise and motivation. It can produce greater interest in an activity, which may be quickly lost if praise is no longer present. As students mature, they are more likely to consider the implications of praise. If it is given for a menial task, or a task in which the student has not done quality work, they tend to feel that the teacher requires or expects less of them, which speaks to their perception of potential personal success. Willingham writes, "by not criticizing substandard work, the teacher implicitly says, "i believe that you are not capable of anything better". The effects of praise are also affected by student resilience. If a student believes that his current ability can not be improved, then a failure to solicit praise is corroboration of his lack of intelligence. A student who believes abilities can be strengthened, may see it as a sign that he should keep working. In considering how motivation impacts assessment grades, we must keep in mind that it is possible for motivation to transcend the activity itself. Praise and other teacher interactions can play an important role in shaping the learning attitudes of students as well.

This is an AWESOME article for our group! Motivation is a key element in our exploratory question and praise can play an important role. What I found interesting is that praise can be good or bad for student motivation purely based on how and when it is used. Some of the situations were fairly obvious, such as being sincere with the praise especially with the older kids. I know my students know when they put forth effort so it would be damaging to praise them when they have not. The element that I found to be surprising was the suggestion to complement the "process, not ability." I have been guilty of praising finished products rather than how the work was done.

(Week 8: Amber, Angela, and Kenneth) The journal article is accessible through the link given above by accessing the UMUC Library. The journal article discusses the draw on the accumulated research to provide a framework for differentiating instruction. REACH is used a mnemonic device and is the type of framework that two teachers have developed which includes a comprehensive inventory and several practical strategies for using it. Teacher can use differentiating instruction to fundamentally find different ways to teach students with diverse and behavioral needs. REACH is an acronym for a charted course of action for developing the use of differentiated instruction. It means and highlights each as follows: "(a) reflect on will and skill, (b) evaluate the curriculum, (c) analyze the learners, (d) craft research based lessons, and (e) hone in on the data." (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, & Gable, 2008). It literally gives you "a step by step approach to introducing strategies and procedures for student with disabilities or general student the cognitive access to achieve their educational outcomes." (Rock et al, 2008). Both participating teachers have various needs and both need different strategies to differentiate their lessons. References Rock, M. L., Gregg, M., Ellis, E., & Gable, R. A. (2008). REACH: A Framework for Differentiating Classroom Instruction. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 52(2), 31-47. doi:10.3200/psfl.52.2.31-47 Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=0161de11-17f9-4ba4-86d0-eff88604e5e5%40sessionmgr4009

(Week 8: Tolulope Oladipo and Michelle Bear) This is a journal article available in UMUC library. The link to the article is also provided below: REACH: A Framework for Differentiating: Classroom Instruction. Retrieved from https://www.dentonisd.org/cms/lib/tx21000245/centricity/Domain/900/diffedframeworkreach.pdf This article explores how educators can improve their teaching methods to achieve individualized instructions, educational standards, outcomes and academic achievement. The article discusses strategies for not just meeting the diverse needs of all students but for ensuring standard educational outcomes. The author examines the plight of two teachers: one general and one special education-the authors offer a rationale for differentiating instruction. They went further to conduct literature review of differentiated instruction, highlighting the myths, models, and evidence to support it. They employ the acronyms / mnemonic called REACH to develop a framework that includes a comprehensive inventory and several practical strategies for using it. This article is useful to my team to enable us determine how we can teach application software such as excel, PowerPoint, access, word using differentiated instructions. Through this article, we will come across those strategies that can be used to address our SMART Targeted Learning Goals, Instructional gaps and Learning gaps. The article swill equips us with skills needed to provide individualized instructions to students regardless of their needs, learning styles, learning pattern. The principles presented provide us with skills of becoming effective teacher, accommodating both special and general education students. References Racia, M.L., Gregg, M., Ellis, E., & Gable, R.A. (2008). REACH: A Framework for Differentiating: Classroom Instruction. Preventing School Failure. Winter2008, Vol. 52 Issue 2.

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?