Yesterday you had explored your math and ELL teaching needs...with with the assistance of your ThinkingPartner and concluded developing a needs statement for your ThinkingPartner.

Today we began by first working with your ThinkingPartner, to clarify each other's needs statement. We played Yes-But, Yes-And and used that mindset to envision solutions to your partner's needs.

Ron's led his two sessions with Nicola acting as his ThinkingPartner in the morning, and Shawn his ThinkingPartner in the afternoon.

Please post:

1. The drafted prototype you developed for your ThinkingPartner, making sure to include the Needs Statement. Give some more thought to that prototype you shared with your ThinkingPartner...how could you refine it? 

Then come tomorrow prepared to design and develop that prototype, in form of a plan (you'll develop the plan tomorrow in class).

2. Read through your Daily Formative Self-Assessment you have completed until now (4 in total) for the Summer Institute. Describe the kinds of things you have been writing about. What patterns do you notice in your thinking as evidenced in your postings?

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1.    The need statement that I made up for Mitzy was changed a little bit after we discussed her more specific needs and we went with, " Mitzy needs to find a way to organize the information on her ELL's in a convenient way that is easily accessible and beneficial." I then wrote down ideas for ways that she could keep her information organized, such as using a binder. Not only that, but what kinds of tabs she can put in her binders such as Access scores, strategies, and needs. Also she could have  a folder with worksheets and activities that have helped her in the past.

2. I notice a lot of writing about new concepts, and I think this is because I have always struggled with math and learning new concepts that I can actually understand is a really cool thing. I see a lot of writing about specific things we have learned and the specific tasks that go along with that, because I don't want to forget how to use them meaningfully in my future. 

1. Luke's need statement was, " Luke needs a way for his students to recognize that he is open to their individual needs."  I just brainstormed on a few ideas that might help Like achieve this goal.  They include: creating a safe, positive classroom community, speaking to students in a respectful manner, creating open communication and dialogue in the classroom, sharing his individual experiences with the class, ice breakers (posters, bring special item from home etc.), differentiated teaching methods, remain positive, take interest in student's lives, skittles activity, one on one times with students (have lunch with them), work on presentation/communication skills, make sure that students recognize that what is fair in the classroom does not mean that everyone gets the same but rather everyone gets what they need, and include family into the classroom.

2. One pattern that I have noticed through my postings has been the fact that we need to understand what a child is capable of doing before deciding what teaching strategies to try.  Also, we need to use this prior knowledge in helping the student to discover ne knowledge.

Hi Ashanti,

It is important for us to always reflect on our own skills in order to improve our teaching.  By recognizing that your observation skills are not where you would like them to be you will gain valuable understanding about your own learning.  It is also good for us as teachers to struggle at times with learning; it helps us to empathize with our students when they struggle.
 
Ashanti Edwards said:

1. The drafted prototype you developed for your ThinkingPartner, making sure to include the Needs Statement. Give some more thought to that prototype you shared with your ThinkingPartner...how could you refine it? 


Shaisha needs a way to give assessments by not making her students feel as though they are being assessed. She needs a way to differentiate instruction and create as many lessons as she can.

I could refine it by giving her concrete examples by showing her what that would actually look like in the classroom. That goes for the lesson planning as well.

2. Read through your Daily Formative Self-Assessment you have completed until now (4 in total) for the Summer Institute. Describe the kinds of things you have been writing about. What patterns do you notice in your thinking as evidenced in your postings?

I noticed that I have been trying to get a deeper understanding by putting what I have learned into my own words. I notice that my observation skills are not where I would like it to be and it leaves me to sort of struggle when I have to answer questions. 

Hi Donna,

I too recognized that we need to make sure to assess our students to ensure what level they are at before we can help them to progress to higher levels.  I appreciating how Ron explained that we need to bring in what the students already knows to help get to the next level.


 
Donna Butler said:

1. The drafted prototype you developed for your ThinkingPartner, making sure to include the Needs Statement. Give some more thought to that prototype you shared with your ThinkingPartner...how could you refine it? 

Then come tomorrow prepared to design and develop that prototype, in form of a plan (you'll develop the plan tomorrow in class).

I offered several thoughts for Maggie on assessing basic needs of her students.  One of the other things that she expressed and was in her needs statement, was teaching math as a third language with SLA.  I think she should create a checklist with the language objectives as well as the math language from the WIDA standards.  Having this checklist will ensure that she covers the standards of WIDA for her students as well as the basic needs for her students.

2. Read through your Daily Formative Self-Assessment you have completed until now (4 in total) for the Summer Institute. Describe the kinds of things you have been writing about. What patterns do you notice in your thinking as evidenced in your postings?

I reflect on my own misconceptions of my previous students and reflect on ways I can make changes to my current practice.  My underlying statement has been that I need to assess my students to find out where they truly are and  meet them there. 

 

1. The drafted prototype you developed for your ThinkingPartner, making sure to include the Needs Statement. Give some more thought to that prototype you shared with your ThinkingPartner...how could you refine it?

I’m paraphrasing my updated thinking statement for my partner since I gave it to him yesterday: for Adam I wrote that “Adam needs a way to use the resources we have been given such as the math developmental stages to plan and work with his students so that the he knows where he is, what his goal is and how he will reach that goal for each student not only in math but in all his subjects”.

The idea I came up with was something I took from Debra’s mapping exercise of ELL students; he could have a master folder with these sequences, stages, and the activities games/assessments that allow students to learn and grow to the next stages with sections for each of his subjects (math, writing, etc.). Alongside these resources and information he can make some type of charts with moveable parts like felt and map each of his students’ progress so that he can see at a glance on each subject where students are individually and as a class. That way he can always see the big picture and have this information in a central place instead of spending time hunting down a different folder for each student (if he has too many students this might be broken into two big folders or something, this is still easier to go to for quick reorienting that piles of paper here there and everywhere).

2. Read through your Daily Formative Self-Assessment you have completed until now (4 in total) for the Summer Institute. Describe the kinds of things you have been writing about. What patterns do you notice in your thinking as evidenced in your postings?

I notice that I have been trying to take in everything we have learned that day and translate it into words, big ideas, patterns that I will remember when SI is over. And I also noticed that I try to do this in a way to prepare me mentally for my future classroom (I have not put a lot of solid absolute things I will or won’t do, instead I have given myself ways of seeing and reasoning that will hopefully help me to develop as a teacher). That way I have not set myself up for failure with the things I don’t know that I don’t know yet, but will have a mindset of flexibility to work with, and around what arises to be as close to the principles I’m learning here as I can. 

Ashanti I like how you mention putting things in our own words, we really do need to do this to help us remember and connect to what we are learning and i feel your frustration about observation. I think this class is good in showing us how to be good observers, but i also think there is a lot to take in and even in our classrooms we cannot be everywhere at once and will not see everything. We just need to be mindful of correctly interpreting and understanding what we do see, and perhaps periodically check ourselves with input from others because to me the best observations came when we as a group built upon what others saw that i didn't notice. Which goes back to the need for peer interaction and feedback in schools as well. 

Ashanti Edwards said:

1. The drafted prototype you developed for your ThinkingPartner, making sure to include the Needs Statement. Give some more thought to that prototype you shared with your ThinkingPartner...how could you refine it? 


Shaisha needs a way to give assessments by not making her students feel as though they are being assessed. She needs a way to differentiate instruction and create as many lessons as she can.

I could refine it by giving her concrete examples by showing her what that would actually look like in the classroom. That goes for the lesson planning as well.

2. Read through your Daily Formative Self-Assessment you have completed until now (4 in total) for the Summer Institute. Describe the kinds of things you have been writing about. What patterns do you notice in your thinking as evidenced in your postings?

I noticed that I have been trying to get a deeper understanding by putting what I have learned into my own words. I notice that my observation skills are not where I would like it to be and it leaves me to sort of struggle when I have to answer questions. 

Lisa, I love your idea of questioning techniques research and posting questions in the class to create an environment of questioning to build our kids reasoning. I think that this is also great because it will also build the kind of of curiosity and lack of fear to ask questions in kids so that even shy, or quiet kids will speak up and learn to take ownership of their learning. I know from personal experience i didn't reach a point where I questioned anything i was learning very deeply until college, i was a quiet kid and i just did what i was told, even if i didn't understand, or thought i had a better way to do something. 

Lisa Hogbin said:

1.  Joe's need statement is "Joe needs to implement a variety of questioning techniques to probe his students thinking in math reasoning and all content areas."  

Today as I thought about a prototype related to Joe's need statement there were several things that came to mind.  I think it would be good for him to seek out research and resources on questioning techniques that are effective  with young learners, as well as observe other teachers and watch the questioning techniques they use with their students.  I think Joe has to be purposeful about questioning in his instructional planning and think ahead of time what it is he wants to find out about his students.  Preparing questions before the lesson will help him acquire the knowledge he wants from his students during the actual lesson or activity.  Joe's classroom environment should be one of mutual respect and trust where the learner's know that questions help them think about their learning as they explain their reasoning to the teacher or others.  Anchor charts and visuals of questions posted around the classroom would suggest to Joe's students that in Mr. Kim's classroom, we talk about our thinking.  Most of all, I think Joe's questioning techniques will be effective if he is reflective about the questions he asks his students each day.  Did his questions help him probe and get the information he wanted to find out about his students?  He then can build on or change his questions as needed.

 

2.  My noticings seem to largely consist of the statements or information that either Debra or Ron have shared that I feel has a direct impact on my thinking about my own teaching.   Many of my noticings are reminders to take the time to truly get to know my students as people and learners.  This includes observations, questioning, and using their background information and previous test scores as tools in planning the best instruction I can for each and every one of them.   These noticings also include the importance of asking questions and having my learners explain their thinking.   Recognizing and providing the supports my ELL students need to help them  learn has also been a key point for me.   The concept of number information has been a real eye-opener for me.  I realize that in the past I taught many math skills and just assumed students had it.  My math instruction will be very different from now on.  

1.  Need Statement: Lisa needs to develop effective ways to differentiate instruction for her students that combines what the CCSS require and what her students actually need according to their ACCESS scores and background knowledge by learning to use activities and change it according to students’ various abilities.

  • The first draft of this needs statement excluded the underlined portion.  After discussing with Lisa, I realized that by adding this last portion it helped laser in on a specific way in which she can accomplish this.  As we kept drafting together, I realized that there are ways in which she can accomplish this need as well.  Through collaboration and communication I believe that this need can be accomplished.  How might this collaboration look like?  Possibly by having a open dialogue with students' home room teachers and constantly keeping in check the progress of the students that they are both working with.  

2. While I was reading back on all of the Daily Formative Self-Assessments, a common thread throughout all of them was that focus of everything we do as teachers should be our students.  Although this sounds like an obvious concept for teachers to understand, I realized that it really is not.  Teachers are constantly dealing with the pressures from the state, their schools, parents, and other external pressures that often times affect the way teachers plan their instruction.  It is much easier to abide by the rules and "do what is expected" as teachers than to create and plan instruction based on what students' actual needs are.  

Cecilia,

I really like the fact that you use the word, "flexibility".  I believe that it is so key as teachers to learn to be "flexible" and as Dr. Tzur demonstrated, not be afraid to use "adaptive teaching" in accordance to our students' needs.  I believe that by constantly reflecting and being asked to summarize each session, we are really forced to reflect and think about the big ideas that struck each of us as individuals. Like you said, hopefully as time goes on we can continue to reflect on this week and stick to the principles we are learning as close as we can. 


Cecilia Perry said:

1. The drafted prototype you developed for your ThinkingPartner, making sure to include the Needs Statement. Give some more thought to that prototype you shared with your ThinkingPartner...how could you refine it?

I’m paraphrasing my updated thinking statement for my partner since I gave it to him yesterday: for Adam I wrote that “Adam needs a way to use the resources we have been given such as the math developmental stages to plan and work with his students so that the he knows where he is, what his goal is and how he will reach that goal for each student not only in math but in all his subjects”.

The idea I came up with was something I took from Debra’s mapping exercise of ELL students; he could have a master folder with these sequences, stages, and the activities games/assessments that allow students to learn and grow to the next stages with sections for each of his subjects (math, writing, etc.). Alongside these resources and information he can make some type of charts with moveable parts like felt and map each of his students’ progress so that he can see at a glance on each subject where students are individually and as a class. That way he can always see the big picture and have this information in a central place instead of spending time hunting down a different folder for each student (if he has too many students this might be broken into two big folders or something, this is still easier to go to for quick reorienting that piles of paper here there and everywhere).

2. Read through your Daily Formative Self-Assessment you have completed until now (4 in total) for the Summer Institute. Describe the kinds of things you have been writing about. What patterns do you notice in your thinking as evidenced in your postings?

I notice that I have been trying to take in everything we have learned that day and translate it into words, big ideas, patterns that I will remember when SI is over. And I also noticed that I try to do this in a way to prepare me mentally for my future classroom (I have not put a lot of solid absolute things I will or won’t do, instead I have given myself ways of seeing and reasoning that will hopefully help me to develop as a teacher). That way I have not set myself up for failure with the things I don’t know that I don’t know yet, but will have a mindset of flexibility to work with, and around what arises to be as close to the principles I’m learning here as I can. 

Leanne,

I believe that what you said about putting students' need first is so crucial.  I am similar to you in that this institute has really made me realize that as teachers, we must learn to be analytical and critical of the activities and things that we do in the classroom.. It's not enough to simply pull out an activity and hope that they will get the concept.  We must analyze those activities and question ourselves, "does this really address what needs to be addressed?"  and "how is this activity going about teaching those concepts".  I believe that as we continue to learn how to better discern quality from the "crap", we can provide students with a better learning experience.  


Leanne O'Callaghan said:

1. Luke's need statement was, " Luke needs a way for his students to recognize that he is open to their individual needs."  I just brainstormed on a few ideas that might help Like achieve this goal.  They include: creating a safe, positive classroom community, speaking to students in a respectful manner, creating open communication and dialogue in the classroom, sharing his individual experiences with the class, ice breakers (posters, bring special item from home etc.), differentiated teaching methods, remain positive, take interest in student's lives, skittles activity, one on one times with students (have lunch with them), work on presentation/communication skills, make sure that students recognize that what is fair in the classroom does not mean that everyone gets the same but rather everyone gets what they need, and include family into the classroom.

2. One pattern that I have noticed through my postings has been the fact that we need to understand what a child is capable of doing before deciding what teaching strategies to try.  Also, we need to use this prior knowledge in helping the student to discover ne knowledge.

Needs statement:

Old: Ashanti need ways to create the assesment before hand in order to have good ideas before hand .

Revised: Ashanti need ways to create relivant assesments before she enters the classroom using best pratices

-create a list of the thing she want assess

-research best pratices

- focus her ideas and create each assessment one by one 

2. The bigest them though out this is the idea of being aware. Aware in a sense the all student come into the classroom with their own circumstances and it will effect them in the classroom.

1.

Cara and I initially wrote

Ellis needs a way to practically and realistically implement these strategies into a real classroom as a new teacher.

Ralph, on Ning, asked what was meant by "practically and realistically implement"

and to tell the truth, practicality and realism are really just buzzwords for "What do I do now that Summer Institute is over?"

but here also is my revised Needs Statement

Ellis needs resources & refreshers that practically and realistically teach and explore these strategies we've learned after and outside this workshop.

 2.

Going over the week I really see a lot of questions (to myself, my colleagues, and Prof. Song and company) how to really extend what we are learning. I'm a little anxious because I won't be doing my Practicum I this fall and I really want to not lose momentum. A lot of what we've talked about this week has to do with the mindset you come into the situation. I don't want to do forget the terms and enthusiasm.
On the flip side, and at least at the moment, I'd like to think that the above fear is really a reaction to my current commitment to the program and to my future students (whenever I do eventually work with them).
So my imagined plan for the moment is to make sure I keep in touch with Prog. Song and Company and especially my peers as they start their Practicums.

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