Do all students have a capacity to learn?
I believe that all students have the capacity to learn. I don't think any of us could be teachers if we didn't believe that. As teachers, we all know that every child isn't going to learn at the same time or way as another, but nevertheless, they can learn.
What shapes this capacity?
There are many different factors that shape this capacity. The child's view on school, maturity, their home life, any disability they may have, etc. I have a student who is very low for 3rd grade. He was in the FMD room in K and 1st but moved back into the regular classroom since then. He is a student that struggled at the beginning of the year to read CVC words to me and would not write anything! Today, he has already may such progress. He will answer questions in class, write down everything he is to do, and is completing his work sooner than some of my average students. I am already so proud of him.
How much influence do you have upon this capacity?
As a teacher, I have about half of the influence. The students feed off of my attitude and thoughts about the subject. Of course, the other half comes from home and the community. There are many students at my school who feel they can't learn or don't like school. Most of the time, those opinions have come not from experience, but from things they hear at home. As teachers, we just have to work hard to make more of an influence than what they hear at home and make them understand they can learn and it can be fun.
How do these assumptions about learning shape our instruction?
My instruction is based on many different things. I differentiate my instruction depending on the students. Some of my students get harder work that I know they are capable of completing and it gives them a challenge. My average students have average work that isn't too easy or too hard for them to complete. My low students have easier work to complete. It is easier in the fact that if an average or higher student would complete it, it would take them a second. But for the lower students, it makes them think about the content and show me that they understand it without feeling the work is too difficult. It makes them feel successful and like they can learn. I also like to use the different learning styles to assign work. We have a test that the students can take and it will tell you if they are a mastery, interpersonal, understanding, or self-expressive learner. Based on that information, I know if the student likes to do work that is listed straight from the book, based on feelings, comparing it to other things they know, or doing something artistic.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Curriculum Design-Task 2
What is the purpose of curriculum and what role do we have as teachers in this purpose?
The purpose of curriculum is to make sure that all students are learning what they need to. Curriculum gives us an outline of what we as teachers need to complete and teach before the end of the school year. As teachers we have the role to take the curriculum and come up with some good activities and lessons to go along with the content. We have to make sure that we come up with lessons and activities that will help embed the content into the students brains. You need to make sure to have things that connect to real life and the students understand why they need to learn it.
How much control do we have in the designing of curriculum? How much should we have?
I think the teachers should have some control in the designing of the curriculum. Of course, we don't have any control on the core content is that we have to teach but we can have a say in how it is designed. I have the opportunity to this over the summer. Our district wasn't happy with our writing curriculum. The decided to work this summer to come up with a new curriculum. I along with others, spent at least 6 days working on forming this. It is still a working document and we will look at it again this coming summer. The committee has at least one member per grade for elementary grades, and a few people from the middle school and high school. I think allowing the teachers some control, it makes it more useful for us and we know more about how we want things taught.
How does curriculum that you have look like in your classrooms in a day to day environment?
The curriculum in my classroom has a bit of each article in it. I spend a lot of time trying to integrate as much as possible. I think it is the best way to help with making real life connections...and it makes you sane not trying to cram in all the content for each specific subject. I also use the backwards design. My school had 2 days of PD this summer on assessment. It was really focused on self-assessment and using the backward design. It is most beneficial if you come up with your final assessment first. This way, you make sure all the content will be covered in the assessment. You can then take the assessment and break it down into many different lessons. This makes sure you are covering all content.
The purpose of curriculum is to make sure that all students are learning what they need to. Curriculum gives us an outline of what we as teachers need to complete and teach before the end of the school year. As teachers we have the role to take the curriculum and come up with some good activities and lessons to go along with the content. We have to make sure that we come up with lessons and activities that will help embed the content into the students brains. You need to make sure to have things that connect to real life and the students understand why they need to learn it.
How much control do we have in the designing of curriculum? How much should we have?
I think the teachers should have some control in the designing of the curriculum. Of course, we don't have any control on the core content is that we have to teach but we can have a say in how it is designed. I have the opportunity to this over the summer. Our district wasn't happy with our writing curriculum. The decided to work this summer to come up with a new curriculum. I along with others, spent at least 6 days working on forming this. It is still a working document and we will look at it again this coming summer. The committee has at least one member per grade for elementary grades, and a few people from the middle school and high school. I think allowing the teachers some control, it makes it more useful for us and we know more about how we want things taught.
How does curriculum that you have look like in your classrooms in a day to day environment?
The curriculum in my classroom has a bit of each article in it. I spend a lot of time trying to integrate as much as possible. I think it is the best way to help with making real life connections...and it makes you sane not trying to cram in all the content for each specific subject. I also use the backwards design. My school had 2 days of PD this summer on assessment. It was really focused on self-assessment and using the backward design. It is most beneficial if you come up with your final assessment first. This way, you make sure all the content will be covered in the assessment. You can then take the assessment and break it down into many different lessons. This makes sure you are covering all content.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Curriculum Design-Task 1
After reading the articles, I am torn between which curriculum idea is the best. I think you have to combine all of the ideas to make the best curriculum.
Wiggins talked about making students responsible and doing a lot of questioning to get them thinking. Questioning is something that my school does a lot of. We spent all our PD last summer learning about questioning and how to make it effective. Making students responsible is something that I think all schools struggle with.
Wraga talked about having common goals for each subject. This is something that has really taken place in my school this year. The district decided they didn't like the way that Writing was being taught in the school. Therefore, this summer the writing group, which included me, spent 6 days working on coming up with a new curriculum. We decided that we needed to put more focus on integrating the writing into all the subject areas. That way, you don't get what Wraga was talking about at the beginning of his article...something along the lines of students don't think that they should get point marked off for writing mistakes when they are doing some writing for social studies. I find this very common in my class. They know how to write when we are working on it, but when they have to write something for another subject, they forget all the rules for writing. We are hoping with our more integrated writing, we will see it carry over to anytime they have to write something. We also integrate our science or social studies material into our reading. This helps you get all your content in without screaming trying to fit it in by only doing it during its specific content area.
Applebee talked about a conversational, connected core curriculum. Again this is something that is somewhat used at my school but it is definitely something that needs worked on. Applebee wants the students to be able to connect the content to real life and have a meaningful conversation about it with their peers. This is something that I try in my classroom, but it isn't to the level that Applebee is wanting. I would like to hear some ideas if any of you are successful with this.
In conclusion, I thought all 3 of these authors brought great ideas to the table on curriculum. I know that in my classroom, I use a little bit of all of them to get the content covered and I think that is the best way it can be done.
Wiggins talked about making students responsible and doing a lot of questioning to get them thinking. Questioning is something that my school does a lot of. We spent all our PD last summer learning about questioning and how to make it effective. Making students responsible is something that I think all schools struggle with.
Wraga talked about having common goals for each subject. This is something that has really taken place in my school this year. The district decided they didn't like the way that Writing was being taught in the school. Therefore, this summer the writing group, which included me, spent 6 days working on coming up with a new curriculum. We decided that we needed to put more focus on integrating the writing into all the subject areas. That way, you don't get what Wraga was talking about at the beginning of his article...something along the lines of students don't think that they should get point marked off for writing mistakes when they are doing some writing for social studies. I find this very common in my class. They know how to write when we are working on it, but when they have to write something for another subject, they forget all the rules for writing. We are hoping with our more integrated writing, we will see it carry over to anytime they have to write something. We also integrate our science or social studies material into our reading. This helps you get all your content in without screaming trying to fit it in by only doing it during its specific content area.
Applebee talked about a conversational, connected core curriculum. Again this is something that is somewhat used at my school but it is definitely something that needs worked on. Applebee wants the students to be able to connect the content to real life and have a meaningful conversation about it with their peers. This is something that I try in my classroom, but it isn't to the level that Applebee is wanting. I would like to hear some ideas if any of you are successful with this.
In conclusion, I thought all 3 of these authors brought great ideas to the table on curriculum. I know that in my classroom, I use a little bit of all of them to get the content covered and I think that is the best way it can be done.
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