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One of the biggest pushes in education today is letting students take control of tracking their own data and setting their own goals. To many teachers this task may be overwhelming and leave you trying to figure out the easiest way to implement this in your classroom.

(Week 9: Sarah, Mary and Jessica) This article is accessible through the link provided above. The main focus of this article is the importance of setting goals in the classroom. The teacher who wrote this article wanted to take her students' portfolios and turn them into a student data folder. Within the data folder there are "long term goals (the entire school year), short term goals (monthly, quarterly, weekly), goal reflections, and tracking charts (bar graphs, tables, charts, etc.)" (Harpole, 2013-2015). According to Harpole (2013-2015), "Each assessment would be based on the text we were reading that week in class. It contained four multiple choice questions with an answer justification required and a constructed response question. Students would take their weekly assessments on Friday. During the first ten minutes of class on Mondays, we would pass out data folders and students would record their scores." This allows students to set goals based on their score. Her research did show that the students were focused more on the number grade than any other grade. In turn, "My students set goals during Quarter Four that did not contain letter grades or words like "basic" and "unsatisfactory"( Harpole, 2013-2015). This implementation was very successful in her classroom. The article shows the process that Harpole took to improve her student's data folder. It took her a lot of time to perfect it in order to be able to share with other teachers. This article is a great lesson for all teachers. Every teacher wants to show data in their own way. Sometimes it's hard for teachers in different grade levels to show the data. This teacher came up with a packet that other teachers can use as a guide to help their fellow educators. I know that I would use this data folder for my students and just revamp it so that it's age appropriate for my students. The teachers in my group can use this article as a guide to help their students set goals. At the end, of t

This article is a great way to showcase the student's classroom goals and track student data. It gives the students the responsibility to track their own work and it would be a great tool to send home for their parents to view. The students have ownership of their work and their grade. Having weekly assessments on the content presented allows the students to see what they need to study and to ask the teacher for any help. I personally would keep the student's progress monitoring sheet in their own personal notebooks where they will have a copy of their progress monitoring sheet for them to fill out daily or weekly and their goals taped to the inside of their binder. This way the students can see if they have mastered their goals.

An ASCD article that describes in detail the topic "learning target", which is a main focus for Data Meeting 3. It delves into what a learning target is and how to develop criteria for success in the classroom. Overall, this resource speaks volumes and, as an added bonus, it lists in its reference section two books (only a few captures available) that I recommend browsing through as well.

In my data meeting, I learned that I needed to focus on what this article is calling a "learning target" for my student. Great article.

Sacha Richards Great article, i loved how it focused on knowing your learning target which is the students.

Week 8- Fifteen years later, this article investigates recommendations provided by the National Research Council's seminal report:Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. The article discusses which of these recommendations have been implemented in U.S classrooms over the past 15 years and which strategies have been avoided. The authors then share more recent research studies sharing strategies that may help teachers improve primary-grade reading. Authors: Nell K. Duke and Meghan K. Block

The article provides valuable insight into the impact that vocabulary instruction can have on reading comprehension. It is also noted that because reading instructional has changed over the years this too has contributed to comprehension and vocabulary development. It appears that the approach to reading instruction needs to be revisited to determine which strategies works the most effectively.

I loved this article. My school is currently focusing on Academic Language in our School Improvement Plan, we are also an IB school where students are to use Academic Language more often. I'm glad to see that many of our commonly used words are included in this list. I also love how they go through the examples of how to teach a new word. In middle school I feel these higher level vocabulary words are used more often than in primary ages.

(Week 9: Shawntel & Maia) This journal article can be accessed through UMUC's library. The focus of the article was to investigate the impact of linguistics in the process of solving math word problems. The article describes as study analysis of the influence of the number of steps and operations as variables that need to be utilized by learners when solving math word problems. The study used a combination of math word problems where some had consistent language and some had inconsistent language. Both focus groups were given the same questions; however, one group the instructor focused on metacognitive strategies to assist with reading comprehension. The group who were taught metacognitive strategies highly outscored the other group. The study showed that effective teaching strategies require the inclusion of metacognitive and self-regulating processes. The article strongly argues that conceptual understanding in mathematics is highly interrelated with reading comprehension. The article discusses three main components of learning, which are cognition, metacognition, and motivation. In other words, reading comprehension equips students with the confident ability to connect previous concepts to current processes the resolve issues on their own. Our group focused on the understood definition of reading comprehension as obtaining the meaning of what has been read based on readers' previous knowledge or background information in order to continue. Therefore, reading comprehension is the most important factor to improving student success when developing strategies to solving math word problems. This article was used to support teacher strategies when facilitating group work. The students were placed in small, mixed groups to discuss the videos to solve a math word problems as suggested in the article. During their collaborative work, the teacher developed more specific metacognitive questions to focus on reading comprehension and not the math technique.

This is a great read for our SMART goal. An assessment is a great way to figure out what the students know, what they want to know, and what interests them the most so we are able to improve and adjust our teaching.

Week 9 Melissa and Claire: This article is accessible using the link above though Diigo Well crafted formative and performance assessments which include setting meaningful goals, and giving students ownership over the process can powerfully and positively affect teaching and learning. The key to good instruction is assessments. Assessments show what students know, what they want to know, it allows us to adjust our instruction to cater to each student. There are 5 keys to an effective assessment: Meaningful unit goals and questions, summative assessment through writing, performance assessment through presentation and portfolio, formative assessment and feedback along the way, and student ownership of assessment process. These methods of assessments are to be done with the students putting a focus on the student and their learning. Resource: The 5 Keys to Successful Comprehensive Assessment in Action By: Andrew Miller

("Week 8" Group Members: Beth and Ruchel) The article explores a study conducted to see the patterns of within-group variability in the emergent literacy skills of preschoolers who are at risk for academic difficulties. The study can be used as a helpful resource to determine the relationships between early patterns of literacy performance and later reading achievement.

In this article, the Florida department of education provides useful strategies, graphic organizers, and ideas for teachers to use when they teach word problems in the classroom setting. This resource is organized by four main ideas including understanding the problem, devising a plan to understand the problem, implementing a solution, and reflecting on the problem. Within each of these larger topics, the resource provides multiple strategies and resources that can be immediately incorporated into the classroom. The resource also contains an appendix that provides blank copies of many of the resources discussed.

This website offers fun, interactive, online games for students to play over the summer to assist in closing their learning gap. This would be a great resource for teachers to give to their students at the end of the school year, or even over long breaks, for them to practice skills they are lacking.

The main takeaway from this resource for me was where the onus falls for the learning gap. Unlike the instruction gap, the learning gap seems more focused on the student needing to bring up their learning to ensure that they maintain over the summer, or reach new levels. The common denominator is that these all seem to take place outside of the classroom. However, I could see a teacher recommend these resources to different groups or having centers set up to ensure that students are working in areas that they need to improve to close their learning gaps during class time.

Resources and exposure to programs like this are imperative for underprivileged students who's family's do not have an understanding of how to maintain and increase their child's educational progress during the summer.