When viewing the class progress report sent out on via e-mail October 28th, I noted that my class participation grade was a B+. From that day forward I made it a point to participate more in class, as well as, through the online discussions. While I believe that I participated when relevant or when I was able to meaningfully contribute to the discussion, no one wants to respond to a topic when unsure. The great thing about graduate school is being surrounded among individuals from various backgrounds and disciplines so that one may be able to compare and contrast the various needs among our students. When looking at the class participation rubric, I believe I have earned an A-/18 points. Although I demonstrated a strong time commitment to the course, I believe I functioned more as a “listener” than as a “leader.” Every assignment was completed on time and while creating and sustaining a blog page was a new concept for me, there was great satisfaction in constructing the posts. With this said, I believe I met the criteria indicated to receive a grade of an indicated.
Because I obtained a significant amount of knowledge within this class, it would be difficult to describe what I learned in one short paragraph. For me, Understanding by Design and recognizing the value of integrating technology into my lessons were the most beneficial. I’ve applied this in helping me construct my lesson/unit plans and have even shared the benefits of this design with my department chairperson, as well as, my peers. Another constructive aspect of this class was the methods of assessments. Supplying my students with rubrics for assessment was a concept that was not only an advantage to me as an instructor but to my students as well. With this, my students no longer assumed what was expected from me in terms of various lessons. This knowledge has helped me to not only understand the importance of assessment but the various types as well.
Above all, whether I aspire to become an administrator or not, my sole concern is the education of my students. Overall, the class has assisted me in becoming a better instructor, keeping in mind the reason why I chose this profession. Every assignment in class was useful and allowed me to transfer my newly acquired information to my students. Creating a mash up movie, as well as, a blog page are experiences I’ll never forget. These activities alone are skills that I am anxious to incorporate into future lessons. Since this class seemed to center around the 21st century learner, online classes opposed to in-person ones conveyed a better understanding of what this “type of learner” should entail. In terms of participation by the use of on-line discussions, I prefer being assigned groups to respond to topics opposed to responding randomly to selected classmates. The methods of assessments and feedback are also techniques that were presented to our class but also could and should be incorporated into our classrooms. Generally, the class as a whole was one of the best, as well as, challenging class I’ve had while in graduate school. Keep up the good work.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Curriculum Change Bibliography
Bibliography
Czikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row.
Friedman, Thomas. (2007). The World is Flat. New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Results Now
#1- “Reading, writing and discussion—these three –are the foundation for a well-equipped mind: the key to equity, access, and economic opportunity” (72). Assuming the role the Principal of an inner-city high school, this quote would be fundamental to not only the level of instruction but also the direction that the curriculum itself will take. Reading, writing and discussing is not only the job of the English department but every department within the school. Recognizing that each discipline has its own language/terms and structure, all should be reinforced on a daily basis.
Lab reports, literary essays, research based reports incorporating MLA and APA format, along with required rubrics, are all crucial to the student reaching his or her comfort level in terms of building the above mentioned foundation.
In an effort to develop cross-content literacy effort and incorporate “higher order literacy demands,” thematic writing will be introduced and mandated within our haven of learning. This will include a specific theme for every month throughout the school. Responses can be conveyed through open-ended responses, response to pieces of literature (article, short story, etc…) as well as a discussion to follow: “…face to face dialogue(Lasch, 1995, p. 172). During this time, each discipline will have an assigned day of the week to write and discuss about the indicated theme. Across the curriculum, reading, writing and discussion will flourish. For instance, if the theme for the month of December is “poverty” every class should be able to touch on this topic in some shape, form or fashion. On Mondays: English, Tuesdays: Science, Wednesdays: Math, Thursdays: Health and Fridays: History. Every month a new theme will begin.
In addition, every class will keep a journal. Students must write for a substantiated amount of time whether it be on the lesson from the previous class, a posted quote, or even the student’s overall feeling about a topic occurring within society. Students must be able to express themselves, in a written context, as well as, discuss and debate their views with their peers.
The implementation of argumentative literacy will also be crucial. This will “nourish the critical capacities as it gives kids a chance to try on test their ideas and viewpoints. And it is fun” (67). Written and oral discussions incorporating facts and opinions, addressing controversial issues that require students to take stands on PROS or CONS, will support students not only on state-mandated tests but on standardized tests such as SAT’S that require students to compose an essay arguing a debatable subject. Once again, this will be a school-wide practice and a cross content literacy effort. History, science, math, health and English will incorporate this practice immediately.
To ensure that this school-wide practice is occurring there will be announced and unannounced walk-through, pre-evaluation and post-evaluation conferences and indicated within their teacher-evaluations, documented proof via data, sample essays and sample journals. Within weekly Professional Learning Communities, discussion of success/improvements and failures will be discussed and compared. PLC’s will be attended by an administrator (principal, vice-principal or department chairperson) to assess the progress of this newly implemented mandate.
The results will be positive. Students will begin to gain an level of comfort and fluency within their writing that will not only be the sole responsibility of the English teacher. With this, the foundation of a well equipped mind will emerge into society.
#2- “Instruction improves when teachers in teams, teach each other the practice of teaching …. Teachers learn best not from outsiders but from one another” (118). As a new teacher returning to teach in the high school that I graduated from, I was surprised to see some of my former teachers still thriving and continuing to flourish their love for education on countless numbers of students. However, I must say that the most jubilant experience came when one of the most highly regarded English teachers, as well as, my former teacher, came to ask my opinion and ideas in terms of teaching a specific novel. Although a bit reluctant at first because of my lack of experience, I began to share with Mrs. S. my views, thoughts and approaches in terms of instruction. She listened attentively, even taking notes a times. From that day forth we now plan our lessons, develop unit plans, exams and many more student centered activities together. That was three years ago. Now to my surprise, I am regarded with as much respect as Mrs. S. Among other academic achievements, students are successfully passing state-mandated exams, writing has improved significantly, and AYP has been met. What contributed to this sudden rise? Collaboration. Team work. With this said, as a department chairperson/ supervisor, this practice will be suggested among instructors to ensure positive results we are striving for. The department and ultimately, the school will be reorient themselves to the school improvement toward “internal expertise.” Although this will not be required, adhering to this practice will indicate a level of professionalism that will reflect in teacher evaluations, as well as, academic achievement amongst students. “ At some point, teamwork should be established as the new norm, just as it is in other professions” (Peters, 1987; Wagner, 2004; Wise, 2004).
#3- “Isolation ensures that highly unprofessional practices are tolerated and thus proliferate in the name of…professionalism” (24). As a principal of a secondary school, practices that facilitate teacher learning, which will ultimately lead to student achievement, will be put into place. Since isolation can be regarded as an unprofessional practice, measures will be taken to reduce and ultimately eliminate this act. A major way to reduce isolation and gain interaction between peers, will motivate the initiation of Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s). PLC’s will be staff directed learning efforts towards improving student education that will meet once a week for 30 minutes. These meetings will count as professional development and will be mandated within teacher’s contracts. It is through PLC’S that teacher isolation will begin to be indirectly addressed. The ultimate goal is to identify and solve problems as they arise and create places of action, test ideas that seem to have potential for improving student achievement. For instance, if an identified problem is student writing then a goal of the PLC would be improve student writing across all disciplines. Teachers would then brainstorm ways in which to combat this problem and apply them within their classrooms. As indicated within the text, if “one teacher taught 28 times as much…as a teacher down the hall, and no one in the school knew this until the researchers went in…” (37), this indicates an “overwhelming evidence of inconsistency.” These ideas should be shared and implemented within classrooms with the outcome discussed within these meetings.
Lab reports, literary essays, research based reports incorporating MLA and APA format, along with required rubrics, are all crucial to the student reaching his or her comfort level in terms of building the above mentioned foundation.
In an effort to develop cross-content literacy effort and incorporate “higher order literacy demands,” thematic writing will be introduced and mandated within our haven of learning. This will include a specific theme for every month throughout the school. Responses can be conveyed through open-ended responses, response to pieces of literature (article, short story, etc…) as well as a discussion to follow: “…face to face dialogue(Lasch, 1995, p. 172). During this time, each discipline will have an assigned day of the week to write and discuss about the indicated theme. Across the curriculum, reading, writing and discussion will flourish. For instance, if the theme for the month of December is “poverty” every class should be able to touch on this topic in some shape, form or fashion. On Mondays: English, Tuesdays: Science, Wednesdays: Math, Thursdays: Health and Fridays: History. Every month a new theme will begin.
In addition, every class will keep a journal. Students must write for a substantiated amount of time whether it be on the lesson from the previous class, a posted quote, or even the student’s overall feeling about a topic occurring within society. Students must be able to express themselves, in a written context, as well as, discuss and debate their views with their peers.
The implementation of argumentative literacy will also be crucial. This will “nourish the critical capacities as it gives kids a chance to try on test their ideas and viewpoints. And it is fun” (67). Written and oral discussions incorporating facts and opinions, addressing controversial issues that require students to take stands on PROS or CONS, will support students not only on state-mandated tests but on standardized tests such as SAT’S that require students to compose an essay arguing a debatable subject. Once again, this will be a school-wide practice and a cross content literacy effort. History, science, math, health and English will incorporate this practice immediately.
To ensure that this school-wide practice is occurring there will be announced and unannounced walk-through, pre-evaluation and post-evaluation conferences and indicated within their teacher-evaluations, documented proof via data, sample essays and sample journals. Within weekly Professional Learning Communities, discussion of success/improvements and failures will be discussed and compared. PLC’s will be attended by an administrator (principal, vice-principal or department chairperson) to assess the progress of this newly implemented mandate.
The results will be positive. Students will begin to gain an level of comfort and fluency within their writing that will not only be the sole responsibility of the English teacher. With this, the foundation of a well equipped mind will emerge into society.
#2- “Instruction improves when teachers in teams, teach each other the practice of teaching …. Teachers learn best not from outsiders but from one another” (118). As a new teacher returning to teach in the high school that I graduated from, I was surprised to see some of my former teachers still thriving and continuing to flourish their love for education on countless numbers of students. However, I must say that the most jubilant experience came when one of the most highly regarded English teachers, as well as, my former teacher, came to ask my opinion and ideas in terms of teaching a specific novel. Although a bit reluctant at first because of my lack of experience, I began to share with Mrs. S. my views, thoughts and approaches in terms of instruction. She listened attentively, even taking notes a times. From that day forth we now plan our lessons, develop unit plans, exams and many more student centered activities together. That was three years ago. Now to my surprise, I am regarded with as much respect as Mrs. S. Among other academic achievements, students are successfully passing state-mandated exams, writing has improved significantly, and AYP has been met. What contributed to this sudden rise? Collaboration. Team work. With this said, as a department chairperson/ supervisor, this practice will be suggested among instructors to ensure positive results we are striving for. The department and ultimately, the school will be reorient themselves to the school improvement toward “internal expertise.” Although this will not be required, adhering to this practice will indicate a level of professionalism that will reflect in teacher evaluations, as well as, academic achievement amongst students. “ At some point, teamwork should be established as the new norm, just as it is in other professions” (Peters, 1987; Wagner, 2004; Wise, 2004).
#3- “Isolation ensures that highly unprofessional practices are tolerated and thus proliferate in the name of…professionalism” (24). As a principal of a secondary school, practices that facilitate teacher learning, which will ultimately lead to student achievement, will be put into place. Since isolation can be regarded as an unprofessional practice, measures will be taken to reduce and ultimately eliminate this act. A major way to reduce isolation and gain interaction between peers, will motivate the initiation of Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s). PLC’s will be staff directed learning efforts towards improving student education that will meet once a week for 30 minutes. These meetings will count as professional development and will be mandated within teacher’s contracts. It is through PLC’S that teacher isolation will begin to be indirectly addressed. The ultimate goal is to identify and solve problems as they arise and create places of action, test ideas that seem to have potential for improving student achievement. For instance, if an identified problem is student writing then a goal of the PLC would be improve student writing across all disciplines. Teachers would then brainstorm ways in which to combat this problem and apply them within their classrooms. As indicated within the text, if “one teacher taught 28 times as much…as a teacher down the hall, and no one in the school knew this until the researchers went in…” (37), this indicates an “overwhelming evidence of inconsistency.” These ideas should be shared and implemented within classrooms with the outcome discussed within these meetings.
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