Group items tagged

(Week 8: Jennifer and Ashleigh) This article is accessible through the link above using the UMUC library database. This article analyzes data from an early childhood survey to determine how various instructional strategies in math impact students of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, and varying readiness levels. The results of the study indicate differing exposure to instructional strategies to support students in math. For example, the study shows that students with high socioeconomic status and higher readiness levels have more exposure to the use of manipulatives, while students with lower socioeconomic statuses and lower readiness level have more exposure to music and movement to learn math. Additionally, the study found that only some instructional strategies have an impact on student achievement in math. This study is beneficial for teachers as they reflect on their current instructional practices in relation to student achievement. The results of the study express the need for differentiated math instruction for various communities of learners within the classroom. This is useful as we examine Ashleigh's Data Action Plan and how the use of manipulatives for measurement may or may not support achievement for all students. As strategies are implemented, Ashleigh can take note of which strategies are most beneficial for different subgroups within her classroom. References Bottia, M. C., Moller, S., Mickelson, R. A., & Stearns, E. (2014). Foundations of mathematics achievement: instructional practices and diverse kindergarten students. The Elementary School Journal, 115(1), 124-150.

(Week 8: Javon and Kim) I found this article on UMUC in the online Library. Traditionally, classrooms are not assessment-centered focus. Most often students take an assessment after learning specific content, but in an assessment-centered learning environment, the teacher and students have a road map for learning and is more positive. Author and Professor, Steven L. Turner, PhD., raises an article on creating an assessment-centered learning classroom. He does this by presenting PILOT -an acronym for an assessment strategy. PILOT Assessment Strategy P- Preassessment The purpose of Preassessment is to evaluate a student's knowledge about a particular subject that will be taught. Turner suggesting asking a series of questions to gain this information (i.e. "What is the student's current knowledge about this unit", "What students are interested in this topic?" etc.). Preassessment surfaces student thinking and information that helpful for teachers and those designing curriculum and assessments. I-Identify student strengths and areas of need (readiness) Identifying the areas where students are strong enables them to be more engaged in the topic. Students are also able to self-assess to identify where they presently are, become aware of their challenged areas, and what it will take for their progress. L-link differentiated classroom learning experiences to district standards and learning goals Linking the classroom learning experience to standards and benchmark testing have proven to be successful. Curriculum that links with the Common Core Standards - what students in K-12 should learn in language arts and math, strengthens foundational knowledge for students. O-offer multiple in-class assessment opportunities Offering multiple assessment methods allows the student to take control of their learning while putting them in the "driver's seat." Although this step could be time consuming it shows the student that the instructor cares and is conc

This site provides courses for parents to prepare their children for school. There are lessons on content areas as well as to prepare for independent activities with independence time.

The website helps guide teachers as well as parents to focus on the building blocks of reading and writing. This Pre-K guide is designed to walk teachers through several important building blocks, including sounds, print awareness, letters and more. Within each section, you'll find easy to read and use resources for learning more, and for trying some activities within your setting. Short videos bring concepts to life, booklists provide ideas for extension, and we provide guidance about when to have concerns about a child's development.

This article takes about the importance of Career and Technical classes in the schools. It also takes about students should be expose to both college and career ready education and not have to choose.

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?

The achievement gap can be lowered if children are engaged in high quality play and learning before beginning kindergarten.

Caryn, I really enjoyed this article. It thoughtfully portrayed the fact that the achievement gap often starts long before students ever have their first day of kindergarten. For students who are not read to as young children, or engaged in meaningful play and projects, the first few school years are dramatically more difficult. Victoria

This blog post was very eye opening and had me reflecting on my own classroom and teaching style throughout. Jennifer Gonzalez is a middle school teacher who recently read a book called "Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain" by Zaretta Hammond. Upon reading this book Jennifer talks about her experience with teaching students whose cultures, race, language, etc. did not match what schools teach and value. Additionally, she felt that she could have done a better job at teaching and reaching these students, who are typically labeled "at risk." Something I often feel. In feeling this way, in what she hopes will help her close the gap, Jennifer talks about the brain-based approach she read about. She touches on the Ready for Rigor Framework and the four separate practices that can help improve teaching. This blog post touched home for me as I taught a handful of ELL students this year and for some I felt like I did not do my best and I could have done better.

Week 8: Partner: Cecile Droz This article discusses a new way to give student's warm-up exercises. Instead of having them complete them at the beginning of class, the students will complete the warm ups up to 3 days before they are due. The warm-ups will prepare the students for the upcoming week of assignments. The best type of warm-up assignments give the students a scenario that they are familiar with. It is important for the educator to determine if there are any misconceptions by looking at the warm-ups to determine what concepts need to be addressed again.

Although not everything described in this article applies necessarily to all subjects, the idea that teachers need to be more aware of the prior knowledge students have before they present new materials is very interesting. In second language, for example teachers use students' oral and written productions to assess their command of grammar but before any cultural or historical unit, it would make sense to address prior knowledge and rectify what needs to be rectified before introducing new ideas/material.

The use of warm-ups as a combination of extension, priming, and pre-assessment is novel. This gives students time and mental space to make a prediction and then bring it to class, prepared and ready to learn. I will definitely be employing this in a class I am designing next year.

This article, by the Access Center, discusses how to implement differentiation effectively in the classroom. The method put forward states that one must access student readiness, determine student interest and identify learning styles to successfully differentiation. Multiple strategies are also presented for implementation in a math classroom setting.

In this video it shows how to segment words. It mentions a "tap out method". Some of my students are ready to start segmenting words. It also has an "articulatory gesture chart" this chart shows a picture of a person's mouth and the sound it make underneath it. I think this would be beneficial for my students because even though they watch me it something hard for them to make the sound. This would help support my SMART goal.

Students, by the time they are in high school, should hopefully be able to motivate themselves and be ready to take higher math classes like algebra, geometry and statistics. Unfortunately, in our American society many people have a fear of math and numbers, suffer from a lack of motivation and rarely have a strong foundation to stand on for the math skills required by high school courses.