Final Reflection June 10, 2010

I am just completing my last few weeks here at Eckstein Middle School.  I believe the fact that the internship was a full year was a great asset to my development as a teacher.  Ms. Anex moved rooms before the year started so I got to help with that and do a lot of the set up and decoration of the room.  I got to greet the parents on parent night before school started, and I got to greet the students on the first day of school.  I feel this helped me establish some credibility with the students, as opposed to other programs where student teachers just show up as a new face later in the year and are expected to take over a new group of students.  I was able to ease into the role of teacher through a smooth transition.  The yearlong internship also allowed me to see the students develop over the course of the year.  Middle school is a time of big changes for many students. For many students there has been a visible difference in growth.  More importantly are the changes in personality over the course of the year.  It has been great to see students who started the year a little unruly mature and settle down a bit.  On the flip side there have been students who have developed the “I’m an adult and I know what is best” attitude; or those who have fallen into the wrong crowds and have tuned out.  I worry for these students and hope they can see their way back on track come high school.  I had only ever worked with children as a ski instructor so I was nervous to see the students and to work with them.  I think like most student teachers, my biggest concern in the beginning was classroom management and dealing with problem students.  When teaching ski lessons if a student didn’t want to do something or was having trouble concentrating, then they didn’t have to participate and the only loss was their parent’s money.  In the school setting, we are responsible for each student’s learning and we see them day after day.

I myself have had ups and downs through the internship.  I have gotten to experience what it feels like to give a lesson that just clicks and many of the students get it.  When exploring the interior of the Earth, the lesson involved the use of online simulations for students to see and think about followed by students acting out the properties of earthquake waves.  The students then were able to connect what they saw in their modeling to what they saw on the simulation video.  That lesson in particular is one that I recall hearing quite a few “oh’s” as what they saw clicked.  On the flip side there were times that my lessons just didn’t have the punch I would like.  I realize that 1^st year teachers don’t come in with a whole years worth of amazing lessons.  It takes years of trial and error to start to build your arsenal.  I still felt bad on the day where the main focus was a lecture/power point presentation with notes.  I tried to make them as entertaining as possible, and some students enjoy those lessons, but they tend to invite restlessness and loss of attention as the lesson goes on.  There were a couple of lessons that I just didn’t prepare enough for.  Timing and pacing are two skills that I need practice with.  There have been lessons I thought would only last 20 minutes that have taken whole periods, and there have been lessons that I thought would take the entire period that were over in half the time, leaving me scrambling for things to do.  I know I need to work on my planning.  It is always good to have too much planned and not get to it rather than too little planned and be left twiddling your thumbs for the last 15 minutes of class (not that the students mind).

In addition to my time in the classroom with the students I participated in professional development activities with the science department.  I collaborated with the other 8^th grade science teachers to come up with some common formative assessments for various units.  These meetings were good in that they were a chance for me to get to see how the other teachers taught some of the lessons.  If the students of one of the other teachers did well on the common assessment while mine struggled a little, it was to my benefit to see how that teacher conducted the lessons and how I can change mine to better help the students.

The SPU portion of the internship was a challenging one for me.  I had been out of school for 12 years before going back.  Needless to say my study habits were nonexistent.  Some of the classes were beneficial.  I feel like the classroom management class was helpful in that he gave us actual classroom examples and his take on those situations.   The teaching methods classes were OK.  We did some lesson planning and also a mini lesson.  I think it would have been more beneficial to have had more practice planning and teaching of mini lessons followed by critiques and ideas from the class.  I thought the feedback I got from the one mini lesson was helpful, but I didn’t get to turn around and try to apply it to another lesson.  The technology class was a broad overview of some of the technologies available free online.  The big project was to create a blog about one or more of the technologies for other teachers.  I feel like we would have been better served practicing creating a site for students to be used in a classroom.  I could see how some of the applications could be used in the classroom.  One tool called “etherpad” seemed like it had lots of potential for use in group projects in the classroom.

In the end the internship has been an interesting and fun experience.  Lots of people say that you are born to teach and you hear the calling to teach.  I was convinced by my girlfriend to give it a try.  Without that I doubt I would ever have thought about teaching.  I am glad I did decide to give it a try.  Will I be a good teacher? We’ll see.  I can see the potential in myself.  If I can keep my motivation up during the hard times I think I will be able to do it.  I am still nervous about the prospect of having my own classroom and being completely responsible for my students.  I think the year long internship will help me in my first year teaching.  Many new teachers have only had 2 or 3 months in the classroom.  Everyone says the first year is the hardest and if I can make it through it only gets better with time.  I have some time this summer to find a job and prepare myself to set out on my own.

Teaching ELL chapter 10 June 3, 2010

Teaching ELL and students from different cultures always seems that much more daunting after reading books such as these.  They usually make me feel like I am failing my ELL students.  We as teachers have a lot of responsibilities to our students.  On top of these everyday responsibilities we have the obligation to take the extra steps to help our ELL students succeed.  Of the responsibilities we have to our ELL students, the most difficult for me to consider is the involvement of the families.  One part of the chapter that interested me was the table outlining some of the cultural differences between families born in the US and those of ELL students.  The first difference, competitive for US born vs. cooperative for foreign born, was an interesting one.  I think we are a competitive culture here in the US.  My students always compare grades when we pass back assignments.  We have been doing a lot of cooperative work in our classroom over the course of the year.  I am not sure how effective it has been for our ELL students.  I’m not sure those new to the language have been able to get the most out of the group and pair interactions.  They are not always able to understand their fellow students and the non-ELL students don’t always know what to do or say when the ELL students can’t understand them.  I think the interaction is good for them, though.  It may not seem like it sometimes but the ELL students are listening and picking up little bits here and there. I will continue to use group work in my classes.  Not matter the level of language proficiency, the ability to work with others is a vital skill for all students and hearing other students speak the language is great practice for learning.

Another point I found interesting was the possible reluctance of ELL families to interact with teachers and school.  This can be due to perceptions that schools do not want the parents interactions or by a lack of trust of figures of authority.  No matter the reasons families are reluctant to contact school, I should work towards creating a comfortable  and welcoming environment where the parents of ELL students can feel free to communicate with me.  I think the idea of being proactive in communication with home instead of reactive is a great one.  It is also one of those things that has been difficult for me during my internship and will probably be difficult during my first year teaching as I try to get settled into my role as a teacher and getting my act together.  Giving positive feedback is something I want to do more of as my career matures.  While they may not act like it, students and parents appreciate hearing positive feedback.

OEL lesson planning May 15, 2010

This past week I participated in an OEL lesson planning session.  OEL stands for Observation of Evidence of Learning.  For this activity the science department from our school and science teachers from other schools who choose to participate come together to plan a chosen lesson.  After the planning a teacher will deliver the lesson(s) while the other teachers observe the class.    The lesson chosen for this OEL was a 7th grade science class looking at lung capacity.  Observing and identifying the different kinds of lung capacity we use.

These OEL sessions are a great opportunity for everyone involved.  Those teachers teaching the same grade or curriculum get a chance to collaboratively develop a lesson they can not only use but get to observe it being taught .  For those who are not using that curriculum the OEL is a great opportunity to collaborate with other science teachers and hear ideas about how they might approach a particular concept.  I feel we have a great range of teachers at the school I work at.  Some are great a making up work sheets while others are great at using movement in lessons.  The lesson we developed was a good mix of teaching strategies.  On day one the students were asked to make observations about how they were breathing as they sat there in their seats.  the teacher then led them as they did some jumping jacks.  The students then made observations about how they were breathing after the jumping jacks.  They then compared the similarities and differences as a class.  There was then a discussion about what might affect the way your lungs work, activity, lifestyle, disease, etc; followed by the writing of a hypothesis about the lung capacity of a normal seventh grade student.  Day one ended with the building of simple lung capacity measuring devices and measuring the different capacities of the class.

Day 2 began with students analyzing the data they had collected the day before.  They made comparisons of the data on the graphs and wrote about the findings they saw.  Day 2 ended with an activity modeling the residual lung capacity using a sponge and some water.

After the lessons were taught the teachers got together again to talk about how the lessons went and what could be improved.  It was good to hear what everyone had to say about the lessons.  There were questions about how structured the students writing prompts were, yet most agreed that the prompts helped focus the students thoughts.  The 8th grade teachers were in agreement about the need for students to be able to represent and interpret data in different forms of graphs.  Another thing we wanted to see was students able to make conclusions using the data they have and not making conclusions that can’t be supported by data.

I enjoy activities such as these in that it is a chance to observe many different teachers and see their thoughts on a particular problem.  All teachers have different styles and as a students teacher I try to absorb as many different of those styles as I can and add them to my tool box for future use.

Model Students May 8, 2010

Throughout the year we have had our students use modeling to help see and learn various concepts.  During the Earthquake unit the students used their bodies to model the movement of P and S waves as they moved through the Earth.  Currently in our space unit the students have had the opportunity to do quite a bit of modeling.  The planets and stars are fascinating topics, but we can’t bring them into our classrooms and we can’t see them moving enough in one day to for it to be effective for a lesson.  We can, however, model the movements of the planets and stars.  That is what we have been working on for the past few lessons.  After a brief intro reviewing the movements of the Earth and moon through space we gave the students these two task cards: task card 1 and task card 2.  The students then worked in their groups to come up with a way to model the answers to the task card questions.  Each groups needed to model the answer for me in order to get credit for the activity.  I know I enjoyed the activity and I believe the students enjoyed it also.  The modeling required students to apply higher level learning in understanding, applying, and then creating the modeling scenario.  Students had some props to work with but I highly encouraged them to get out of their seats and use their bodies as the models.  Several groups took me up on that offer.  The questions on the task cards required some deeper thought than just how the moon and Earth move in relation to each other.  Especially task card one which asked if the same side of the moon always face the Earth, does the moon rotate on it’s axis.  Towards the end of class I asked each student to write and draw what they learned that day during the modeling activity on a sheet of paper and turn it in for me to look at.  I believe a lesson like this is so much better than a simple lecture or video.  This got the students up and moving.  It got them working on answering questions rather than simply listening and taking notes.

Long Term Projects May 2, 2010

Our science students were assigned long term science experiments around mid February. This year the projects had to be science experiments, not just science projects as in the past.  This was decided due to the requirements of students to know and identify experimental components on the MSP.

This week has been presentations of those experiments.   Those who were on top of things and prepared volunteered to present early in the week.  Those less prepared tried to put their presentations off till later in the week.  This has led to a distinct downward trend in presentation quality.  We have had several well done projects including a home made calorimeter and the effectiveness of different types of detergents on stains.

Many students are learning that theses were more than just assignments that were due in 2 months.  After the presentations are finished this week I think it will be a god opportunity to look back on their progress reports and allow the students to evaluate how honest they were on the progress reports.  In addition I think it will be a good opportunity to reinforce the idea that the projects are not only about science but about personal responsibility and accountability.  In most cases the quality of the experiments were directly proportional to the amount of effort put into them.  As these eighth graders go to high school next year they should be held to higher and higher standards in regards to quality of work and responsibility.  For many it could be a rude awakening.  I have seen some of the students change and mature over the course of the year while others have changed little.  It makes me feel good to see those who have matured while I worry a little for those who have made little progress in their maturity and responsibility.

Power of the Poster April 19, 2010

Never underestimate the power of a poster.  I have come to be a fan of the constructivist method of instruction.  I like the idea of students doing activities that allow them to discover the learning objectives on their own.  With science, like many other subjects, there are times when students simply need to memorize.  Parts of the cell in biology, important dates in history, and in my case features of volcanoes.  In this case we decided to have the students make posters  of volcanoes with a given list of vocabulary words.  We gave the students free reign of any materials in the classroom from which to get their information and set them free.  The students were free to design and draw the poster however they wanted as long as they had the required information.  It was great to see and hear the amount of work and discussion the groups engaged in.  I don’t think the students would have been that engaged and active had the material been delivered through lecture or readings.  Giving the students the control of how to gather and display their information I think gave them more of a stake in their work and learning.

Teaching ELL: Teaching Strategies April 15, 2010

Chapters 4, 5, and 6 in the Curtin book dealt with teaching strategies for ELL students.  An important aspect of the strategies covered is that the variety of strategies suggested are no different than those recommended in well run classrooms without ELL students.  Visual aids, demonstrations, graphic organizers, interactive and cooperative learning, are all strategies and tools that should be present in every successful classroom.  I have been trying to integrate as many of these strategies and tools into my classroom as possible.  In both science and math the students spend a majority of their time engaged in cooperative group work.  I feel like it has been successful for the most part.  With the exception of a couple of students, the levels of student discussion on topic has been good.  A recent activity had the students acting out the motions of the Earth-moon-Sun system with certain questions in mind.  It was great to hear students planning their demonstrations and to hear some “ohhhs”  when someone saw something they didn’t before.

The reading provided some useful resources that I think could help me in the future.  The planning chart on pages 74-75 (Curtin 2009) provides a good outline to think about.  Often time my plans are simply written out in a way that I think may work.  The book says I should expect to plan 2-3 times the amount of time the lesson will take. (Curtin 2009)  this is a daunting task.  In this case I am glad to be a middle school teacher with only 2 subjects to plan for.  I know I need to work on my planning.  I have learned that just understanding the content I am trying to teach doesn’t automatically allow me to make my students understand it.  I am really trying to work on guiding the students to understanding rather than simply telling them the information, which is not learning at all.

I think the concept of learning English by learning subject content is an excellent one.  For myself, and perhaps anyone who has tried to learn some of a language for a foreign trip, sitting at home and trying to memorize vocabulary and random sentences doesn’t really work.  The words and phrases that are learned without context have only so much use. ELL students learning the language in pull out classes don’t develop the scientific or mathematical vocabulary needed to be successful in normal classrooms.  So even when they reach a point where their language skills are good, they are starting for behind other students in scientific or mathematical knowledge and skills.

As for my teaching, I am luck to have an ELL co-teacher in my math class for support.  We try to use several of the strategies covered in the the Curtin book.  Lots of group work with think-pair-shares and mini jig-sawing.  We have gotten them up on several occasions to act out graphs or geometric shapes.  I try to read directions or introductions aloud as students follow along and I try to keep the word wall up to date.  Even with our efforts, some of the ELL students are having trouble keeping up.  We have to keep the pace of the class up because we have many high level students also.  This is an issue in many classes and not just with ELL students and one I have a lot more to learn about.

Curtin, Ellen M.  (2009) Practical Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners.  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

EDU 6139 Teaching ELL April 7, 2010

The first three chapters of the Curtin book dealt with the history of ELL and stages of english language acquisition and initial teacher considerations when dealing with ELL students.  There are lots of topics included in these chapters.  The hot topic in chapter one is No Child Let Behind.  We’ve all have our own opinions and have heard the opinions of others about NCLB.  From what I have heard, I have few good thoughts about NCLB.  One of the few good things I have heard of is the disaggregation of student data making schools accountable for all students not just certain groups.  There seem to be more downsides than up.  The expectation of 100% success, while naively noble, is impossible, and to hold a teacher up to that standard is ridiculous.   Standards are left up to states and can vary from state to state.  My understanding of the Washington standards is that they are ceiling instead of minimum requirements.  Instead of expecting students to reach a minimum level of proficiency we are expecting students to reach nearly honors level in their grade to be deemed successful.  The last thing of NCLB is the tenets.  The consequences listed in Tenet one seem to have some problems.  Holding teachers accountable is good.  It doesn’t seem to hold the students or the parents accountable.  It seems that a great teacher at a poor performing school is at a distinct disadvantage.  The tenet states that teachers “contributing” to student failure are to be replaced.  (Curtin 2009)  What incentive do teachers have to take jobs at poor performing schools when they can be fired for not bringing students thatthey, or perhaps no one, could bring up to standard.

I have been experiencing ELL first hand.  The eighth grade math class I am teaching is an ELL inclusion class.  We have 6 ELL students (which I know isn’t a lot in some schools).  I have seen the challenge of trying to teach these students.  The greatest challenge to me seems to be the expectation that they be taught at grade level.  The students are placed based on their age but only one is within one year grade performance wise.  I know two of the students read at a 1st grade level.  On page 41 the Curtin text states that the reading level of classroom texts may need to be adjusted, but content must be similar.  (Curtin 2009)  Perhaps this is referring to language arts classes because I am curious where I am going to find an 8th grade level math book written for 1st, 4th, or even 6th grade readers.  I am lucky, in that the class is designated as an inclusion class so it is co taught with an ELL specialist teacher.  I think the curriculum we use is tougher for ELL students.  we are teaching the Connected Math curriculum which focuses a lot on student led activities, group work, and reflections.  A math teacher I know of has experienced success with her ELL students by going back to older text books and learning with numbers, formulas, equations, and repetition.  It may not be the “new way” of doing things but often ELL students can do 2x=10 but may not understand “Mark has 10 Widgets and wants to give them as presents to 2 buddies, how many widgets does Mark need to put in each gift box?”

I am grateful for the ELL teacher in the class.  I have a hard time seeing how we could get anything done with the ELL students without her.  We do a lot of group work and the groups are expected to help each other.  Many of the students do a good job with this but there is only so much they can be expected to do.  There are deadlines for assignments that they have to meet also and we can’t expect them to miss a deadline and a possible learning opportunity while trying to help another student.   One of us can spend the entire class helping a few of the ELL students while the other splits time with ELL and other groups questions.  A great concern is pacing of the class.  I know we are going too fast for the ELL students.  The ELL teacher even takes extra time with them during other periods of the day to work on their math, but they are often behind and missing work is a big problem.  I feel we have to be fair to the other students also.  We are already a couple of weeks behind other 8th grade classes.  Slowing the pace down to accommodate the ELL students penalizes the non-ELL students.  We make accommodations on exams and give them as much help as we can during class.  It is a topic that I feel I definitely struggle with.

Philosophy of Learners March 19, 2010

Educational Philosophy

Erik Sanders

25 February 2010

EDU 6132

Students as Learners

The job of a teacher is a pretty unique one.  Parents and guardians send their children off to school 180 days a year for 12 or more years with the assumption their children are coming home everyday smarter and wiser.  At the same time teachers are asked to take dozens of individual students and lead them all towards meeting the state or local learning goals.  In order to accomplish this we need to first understand how students learn.

The book “How People Learn” gives three principles for understanding how people learn.

Principle 1. Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works.  If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom. Learners need to connect what they know with what they need to learn

Principle 2.  To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.  Students need to learn facts and ideas and need to be able to relate and organize them conceptually.

Principle 3.  A metacognitive approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.  Learners benefit from reflecting on their learning goals and progress. (Donovan, Bransford, & Pellegrino, 1999)

These are powerful guidelines for teachers of all age groups and subject areas to keep in mind when dealing with their students.

In addition to understanding how students learn there needs to be understanding of the students themselves.  As a current middle school teacher, I am experiencing students at an interesting time in their lives.  Many middle school students are just entering or are well into puberty.  Puberty is a volatile time in children’s lives.  Hormonal changes are causing physical maturation.  These physical developments can be a great distraction in school, particularly for boys who often have much more interesting things to pay attention to than the lab or worksheet in front of them.  In addition to the physical changes are the psychological changes that are often associated with puberty.  Charles Nelson, director of the Center for Neural development at the university of Minnesota stated during an interview on “Frontline” (2005) explains the brain changes in the frontal cortex appear to increases dramatically during puberty.  The frontal cortex is associated with emotions giving rise to the possible source of adolescents having erratic mood swings and out bursts and trouble focusing.  Another source states …despite cognitive improvements, adolescents appear to be more prone to erratic and emotionally influenced behavior which can lead to periodic disregard for the risks and consequences. (Dahl, 2004)  During this time of brain development and emotional roller coasters students are trying to establish and maintain social and self images.  It is pretty easy to see how mixing lowered emotional self control and potentially fragile self images can lead to plenty of social and psychological stress.  With this in mind it is a good time to mention safety.

Students need a safe place to learn.  Bullying can be a problem in schools.  A student is being bullied or victimized when he/she is exposed repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students. (Olweus, 1993)  How can we expect students come into class ready to engage and learn when they are dreading the upcoming lunch, recess, or class break?  At the same time the changing of the adolescent brains can make them especially susceptible to psychological bullying which can be devastating to students with emerging or fragile self images.

Students have different cultural and socio-economical backgrounds that I need to be aware of.  Different cultures have different family values and can place different values on education.  At the same time not all students have access to resources.  Although home internet connections are common these days, they aren’t free.  Families who struggle to make ends meet are not going to be able to provide their children with luxuries such as internet or maybe even basic school supplies.  I need to make sure my lessons are accessible to everyone no matter their social or economic standing.

In addition to cultural and socioeconomic differences students have learning differences.  Not all students learn the same way.  This is great for the school culture and life in general.  What would the world be like if everyone was the same?  On the flip side, it makes things more difficult for me the teacher.  How much easier would teaching be if all the students were at the same level, learned the same way, and behaved to same?  Alas, they don’t.  Some students are more advanced than others.  Some students learn well by reading others by listening, others by hand on activities.  We as teachers have to try to find ways of reaching all of these students.  Through differentiation I can try to use strategies that will allow my students of all levels reach the learning goals.  Carolan and Guinn offer 4 strategies for differentiation in the classroom:

Offering personalized scaffolding.

Using flexible means to reach defined ends.

Mining subject-area expertise.

Creating a caring classroom in which differences are seen as assets. (Carolan & Guinn, 2004)

These are just four strategies available to me as a teacher for the differentiation of my classroom.  The type of strategy used will, of course, depend on the demographics of the class.

It is my responsibility to help student meet state learning goals. Often students ask why they are learning something.  “Why do I need to know about plate tectonics?  When am I ever going use balancing chemical equations?  How is the history of Europe going to help me in the future?”  At its most basic level their argument is probably correct.  What do we really need to know in life?  Most people get by just fine in life simply knowing how to read, write and do simple math.  The goal of the state and us as teachers is develop students capable of achieving beyond minimum skills.  We seek to develop students with skills that will allow them to take any path they choose once we are finished with them.

I believe students benefit from a reflective teacher.  As teachers we have quite a bit of freedom in our jobs.  The state mandates what is to be taught in schools but we, as teachers, are left to ourselves on how to teach the material.  As a future first year teacher I know I am going to make mistakes.  The school I end up teaching in will be different from my student teaching school.  The staff will be different, the resources will be different, and most importantly the student population will be different.  What works this year may not work so well in the next school I am in.  “Reflection serves as a foundation for continuous learning…It is a complex process that requires high levels of conscious thought and commitments to change practice based on new understandings (York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere, & Montie, 2006).   By being a reflective teacher I will know when a given lesson is a success or needs improvement.  Through this process I should be able to improve my lessons and teaching style as my career progresses thus improving students’ school and class experiences.

Students benefit from an organized and well managed classroom.  The first days of school are very important for setting the tone for an entire school year. (Emmer, Evertson, & Anderson, 1980)  The first few days should be spent setting classroom norms and procedures that will be held for the entire year.  Student discipline problems were reported as the most stressful factors of the school environment by 63% of over 5000 teachers from Canada and America. (Brouwers & Tomic, 2000)  I have stressed over classroom management myself.  I am at a higher performing school now but I worry about my first year teaching and what kind of school I might end up at. I don’t want to be a statistic on a study like to one cited above.

In the end I have to remember that students are individuals.  They each come with their own strengths, weaknesses, personalities, interests, histories, and problems.  It is amazing sometimes to think about the mechanics of teaching.  We are put in charge of classes of 25-30 something students and expected to look after them, control them, and teach them all at the same time.  My goal is to do my best with what I know and what I have and hopefully by the end of the year the students will have learned something and I will still be sane.

References

Brouwers, A., & Tomic, W. (2000). A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and perceived self-efficacy in classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education , 239-253.

Carolan, J., & Guinn, A. (2004, February). Differentiation: Lessons from a Master Teacher. Educational Leadership , pp. 44-47.

Dahl, R. E. (2004). Adolescent Brain Development: a Period of Vulnerabilities and Opportunities. Annals New York Academy of Science, (p. 3). New York.

Donovan, S. M., Bransford, J. D., & Pellegrino, J. W. (1999). How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice. Washington D.C.: NAtional Academy Press.

Emmer, E. T., Evertson, C. M., & Anderson, L. M. (1980). Effective Classroom Management at the Beginning of the School Year. Elemetary School Journal , 219-231.

Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at School What we know and what we can do. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.

York-Barr, J., Sommers, W. A., Ghere, G. S., & Montie, J. (2006). Reflective Practice to Improve Schools. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Standard V Project EDU 6613 March 15, 2010

Project Overview

This is the Standard V project for the Standards Based Assessment class at Seattle Pacific University.  For this assignment I was to take one assessment my students had completed and have a group of students reflect on it using some provided reflection prompts.  I was then to determined what strategies would help my students improve their performance on a 2^nd assessment of the same concept as the first assessment.  The students would then reflect on their performance on the second assessment using the same reflection prompts as the first reflections.

I conducted the assessments in one of my 8^th grade science classes. The subject of the unit was rocks and minerals.  The goals of the lessons were for the students to know the types of rock that comprise the Earth’s crust and how they are formed and how they can change from one type to another through the rock cycle.  In addition we looked at what minerals were and how to identify some of the common minerals.  This unit took about 2 weeks, however, my assessments dealt with only the rock portion of the unit which took just over a week.

Follow this link for a Google docs version of the Project.