FIAE 11, 12, 13, 14

Chapter 11 discussed some major grade issue that every teacher faces. It talked about giving a student a sixty versus giving them a zero because even though they’re both failings grades, but a zero is going to have the bigger impact on their overall grade. It also discussed grading for honors students, weight grades, late work, and students with special needs. These are a wide spectrum of concerns, but depending on how you choose to treat them can impact the accuracy of your grading. If you give a student with special needs an F because he did not exactly meet the standard for his grade level, that is not accurate. Giving a student at F makes it seem as though they made no progress at well when most likely that isn’t true. At this moment I’m leaning toward using a 4-point grading scale because there is less damage to the overall grade to give a student a lower grade using this scale.

Chapter 12 discussed grading scales, and it mostly focused on 100-point scales and 4-point scales. The good thing about 4-point scales is that they tend to be more consistent among multiple graders because they make “individual distortions less likely.” A couple of things that I really liked that were mentioned in this chapter were the “Logic Rule,” and the idea of not using the minus version of letter grades. I think that if you have seen a student get 4’s and 5’s consistently throughout the semester that it only makes sense to give that student an A. They clearly have done some outstanding work, and I think it makes more sense to look at the mode rather than the mean. I liked the idea of not using the minus version of letter grades because I think the author is right when he says that it’s not a motivator in anyway. Even if it’s an A- you know a kid is looking at that like they were not that far away from a B, and that is what they probably deserved. I will definitely try to look at the overall picture when deciding final grades instead of just taking the average.

Chapter 13 and 14 focused on gradebook formats, which I never saw as a huge concern until now. From chapter 13 I liked the idea of matching up the grades to the standard that students are trying to reach. If you do it this way you know exactly what students achieved and what they struggled with. From chapter 14 I was able to see the importance of letting the parents know what standards their children are trying to meet, and if their progressing as they should. Again, this is something I never thought about as a major concern, but I can definitely see how it is of importance. I think it is good that I was able to get some ideas of how I might set up my own gradebook someday.

FIAE 7, 8, 9, 10

    Chapter 7 of FIAE discusses the nature of grading and how to define it. In this chapter I agreed with the statement that teachers today are placing too much emphasis on grades today. So much so that students see getting a good grade as their only motivation to complete their school work. I also agreed that when it comes to grading each teacher brings their own life experiences into how they grade. One thing that I connected with in this chapter was when it talked about how in some classrooms meeting the standard is an A, but in others an A would be exceeding the standards. This is something that had really bugged me in school. I feel as though if a student knows the information, and shows that they know and understand it they should get an A. I will definitely encourage all my students to exceed the standards, but I’m not going to lower their grade if they don’t. 
    Chapter 8 of FIAE essentially questioned whether or not we should include criteria other than mastery in grading. The other criteria that was considered was behavior, effort, and attendances, and the general consensus was that it should not be included in grading, only in some circumstances. These circumstances only include when the said criteria applies to the standard that students are trying to achieve. In general, I really like this idea of only grading students based on mastery. I feel that it not only has opened up my imagination when it comes to grading and evaluation, but I feel that it will also make students feel incredibly comfortable in the classroom. 
    Chapter 9 of FIAE focused on things to avoid when differentiating assessment and grading. I have to admit that I find this book quite funny and amusing at times. Under the first two approaches it says teachers who deny their students the opportunity to redo or revise assignments should, essentially, reevaluate their purpose in the classroom. I think this is great, I don’t know why, but I feel that teachers often lose themselves, and their reasons for being a teacher after years of teaching. I also appreciated the statement made about feedback saying that if we want students to take our feedback seriously they need to know that they will actually have the opportunity to do something with it. How is that feedback useful to them if they can’t even do anything with it?
    Chapter 10 of FIAE talked about how you should handle letting students redo or revise work. I agreed with a lot of the idea in this chapter, but especially the idea that as long as students don’t make asking for extensions a habit, it should be an option. I also liked the idea of sitting down with a student to create a plan when they do ask for an extension, or a redo. I think it is important to develop those planning, and time management skills in students.

UbD 8, MI 8, 11, 12

Chapter 8 of UbD discussed grading and reporting achievement through the lense of backward design and differentiated instruction. This chapter presented this with six basic principles, which included: grades should be based on specified learning goals, evidence used for grading should be valid, grading should not be based on norms, not everything should be graded, avoid using mean as an overall grade, and report some factors separately. I really like the idea of the reporting and grading system that supports standards and differentiation. I think it is incredibly important to grade students on what is important, and not based on if they remembered to put their name at the top of the paper. Most importantly it is important to grade them on the progress they have made because that is truly what the learning process is about.

Chapter 8 of MI covered several ways that a teacher can use MI Theory for classroom management. The point to this is that if you communicate with your students using their multiple intelligence they will be more likely to receive it better. I feel that many of these strategies are meant for a younger age group, but I would still use some of them. I would definitely use the different ways to gain students’ attention. I feel that gaining students’ attention is something that all teacher struggle with, and I think that these strategies will be very helpful to me in my future classroom.

Chapter 11 focused on MI and its potential application in special education. I agreed with the generalization made in this chapter which suggests that we think about students with special needs in terms of deficit, disorder, and disease. However, what this chapter suggests is that using MI Theory we can focus less on these students’ weaknesses, and begin to build up their strengths. This concept almost seems like a “no duh” thing to me because if a student is dyslexic and struggles with reading, putting that him/her in a series of reading workshops is mostly likely not going to help them. This is definitely something that I would use in my classroom to help a student with special needs. It just makes sense that if I am already doing this for my other students that I would also use MI Theory and differentiation for every student.

Chapter 12 talks about using MI Theory to help students’ thought process. Essentially, if you get students to work with information using different multiple intelligences they will have an easier time recalling it later. The same goes to problem solving, if you get students to using different multiple intelligences to solve a problem it may come easier to them. I really liked the idea of the “Christopherian encounters” as well. As teachers we don’t just want our students to memorize the information, we want them to dig deep, apply it, and most of all go beyond it. As a teacher I know that I will be encouraging my students to dig deeper.

MI Chapter 7, 9, 13, 14

Chapter seven of MI discussed MI Theory and its role in the classroom environment. In this chapter I learned that MI doesn’t just play a role in how you teach your students, but that it also plays a role in your classroom environment. As a teacher it matters how you speak to your students in the classroom (linguistic), how you structure your time (logical), how you arrange your furniture (spatial), the activities and materials you have in the classroom (kinesthetic), how you use noise or music in the classroom (musical), how you allow your students to interact (interpersonal), how you allow your students to reflect (intrapersonal), and how you allow students to enjoy nature (naturalist). All of these factors are important because they can change your classroom atmosphere from a comfortable and engaging one, to a uncomfortable, unaccepting, and unengaging one.

Chapter nine of MI discussed the creation of MI schools. I think it was awesome that they had a actual real world example of one of these schools. I think it’s a great idea, I like that students would have more choice in their school, which I feel will already make school more engaging for most students. One idea that both liked and saw a flaw in was the idea of having the students pick their own “pods”. I think that it is a great idea to give students that choice, however I feel that student would pick their “pods” based on where all their friends were going to be, and not based on their intelligence. Although this type of school is only present in one school in one state at the moment, I think it will probably something that I have to look out for. Maybe at some point in my teaching career I will get a chance to work in one of these schools, or even get to help create one.

Chapter 13 discussed other applications of MI Theory that haven’t already been discussed. This chapter covered computer technology, cultural diversity, and career counseling applications. It is important to use a variety of computer programs that are effective to each intelligence. It is also important to be aware of intelligences that are important to some students’ culture, be able to help them strengthen them, and then show them how their intelligences could then translate to a career.

Chapter 14 discussed Garner’s possible ninth intelligence, the existential intelligence. I can honestly say I’m not sure that I understand how this could be an intelligence. I feel that the others can be applied so easily to the everyday classroom, and it doesn’t feel that way with existential intelligence. However, I do agree what they said about this intelligence in the context of history. There are some subject in history where you just can’t get away with not getting to students to think about human existence. I think that this will get brought up in my classroom, but I don’t see it playing a huge role.

MI 5,6, and UbD 6,7

     Chapter six of UbD discussed responsive teaching in a differentiated classroom. I learned that students should all learn the same curriculum, they should learn that curriculum in meaningful ways, they should create meaning behind that curriculum with their teachers guidance, and they should be aware of the the learning goals. I also learned that as a teacher is is better to plan ahead and anticipate approaches that I may need to use based on student readiness. This will affect me as a teacher because it will be my job to make sure that all of my students are learning the same curriculum, all while making sure that it means something to them, and that they are aware of big picture. It will also help me tremendously if I anticipate approaches that may be needed instead of adding them in later.

     Chapter seven of UbD talks about teaching for understanding in a differentiated classroom, and ways of introducing or presenting your information. The examples included the essential questions model, and the WHERETO model. I really like the idea of the essential questions model because it sounds like it really gets your students to start “uncovering” the information themselves. You’re not just sitting up their reciting the information to you, they are actually telling you what they know about the subject already. One thing that this chapter stressed a lot that affects me as a teacher is that it is about your students, and you need to figure out how you can best get them to truly understand the information.

     MI chapter five discussed how a teacher could integrate MI Theory into their curriculum. Essentially, a teacher who integrates MI Theory into their classroom uses multiple ways of presenting information, and testing their students’ knowledge. They may shift their method for each different activity, every day, or just every lesson. The point is they are not like the traditional teacher who lectures in the front of the room. This affects me as a teacher because I need to learn to integrate MI Theory into my teaching in some way because if I don’t I am going to end up with a lot of unengaged students, who will not take in what I am teaching.

     Lastly, MI chapter 6 discussed multiple different teaching strategies for each multiple intelligence. I enjoyed many of these ideas, but two of them in particular jumped out at me, journal writing and publishing. I have repeatedly brought this up in my reflections, but for some reason the idea of having students keep journals appeals to me. I like the idea that I could not only ask them questions about what they’re learning, but also about what I could do to help them learn better. Publishing jump out at me because I thought if I used this in my classroom it would really give my students a real world context to put that information toward, which is something we’ve been talking a lot about in class lately.

FIAE Chapter 6

This chapter discussed writing good test questions for assessments. I think one of the most important points that this chapter made was that test questions are not meant to trick students. You’re not trying to see if they can pick out that small detail you messed with, you’re suppose to be checking to see if they have mastered the subject. As this chapter essentially says, you should make your assessments short, clear, and concise. Another thing that stuck out to me was the timed tests section. Assessment expert, Ken O’ Connor, says himself that “timed tests are great underminers...no one professionally would ever try to collapse their knowledge into one hour of intense performance.” I was never one to be great at timed tests, so this really hit home for me. I definitely think that it’s a good skill to be able to complete something in a timely manner, but I think timed tests take too much priority in schools. One other thing that found interesting is when the author said, “we may want to consider how we sequence test items. Some of us prefer to start with relatively easy questions early in the testing sequence.” I think that sequencing your questions is definitely important, your sequence should be clear. However, I also think that students are going to the question in whatever order they want regardless of the way you sequence it. Overall, I found this chapter very informative. I know that I will have to keep my assessments short, clear, and concise, and that I should not put too much pressure on time. The way I see it if a student needs to come back after school, or during an empty block to finish up, that’s fine with me.

FIAE Chapter 5

This chapter talked about tiering according to students’ readiness. Tiering seems very straight forward and very complex all at the same time. This concept worries me a little because I am worried about having to juggle multiple different students’ assignments at one time. I also worry about using this concept discreetly, how do you give students differing assignments without singling them out? I’m also not quite sure I understand the difference between tiering and differentiation. They seem very similar when reading about them, and I wonder what the difference between them is. Although tiering seems complex I’m sure that just like differentiated instruction, tiering sounds a lot harder in writing than it is when you’re actually doing it. I really enjoyed the different ideas that allowed students to choose their assignments. I specifically like the idea of the RAFTS and the Learning Menus. I feel that this would be a much simpler way of tiering, because the students could choose the assignment that they feel they could do the best on.  On top of that it would give students a choice in their school work, which will make them more likely to be interested in it and do well on it. As a teacher I now know that I need to tier my assignments according to my students’ readiness levels. I can do this in many ways, I could simply reword a question to be more complex, or I could provide my students with learning menus that allow them to choose a task that they feel is appropriate for them.

FIAE Chapter 4

This chapter was about three different types of assessment that we haven’t read a lot about before, the included: portfolios, rubrics, and self-assessments. I learned that portfolios are great in creating a big picture of a student’s work and understanding of a subject, however it seems to me that it is a little difficult to give a score. Rubrics outline criteria that students must meet with their final product. The rubric is not only for teachers to grade the students, but also for the students to self-evaluate themselves before they had the product in. This chapter went through the steps of how to create a rubric, which I found confusing at times so the visuals of the rubrics were helpful. The last form of assessment was student self assessments such as, checklists, rubrics, reflections, or journals. These kinds of assessments allow the students to look at current or previous work and assess themselves. I really like the idea of having my students keep a journal so I can read their thoughts on their progress and their thoughts on the class in general. I found this chapter to be very informative, I learned a lot about rubrics specifically. As a teacher I now know that I have these options for assessing my students. I really like the idea of portfolios and journals as forms of assessment in my classroom, and I will definitely use rubrics. I just need to be careful when creating rubrics because they can be complicated, and I need to make sure that the criteria is clear for students.

MI Chapter 10

This chapter discussed how to integrate MI Theory into your assessments. This chapter made a good point by saying if we are going to teach using the MI Theory we can’t just drop it when it comes to test time, we must integrate it here as well. The MI Theory argues that assessments must be authentic, meaning that students should be able to apply the information in a real world context. I totally agree that authenticity is a necessity, not just when assessing using MI Theory, but with any assessment in general. What I learned from this chapter is that observing my students can be the easiest and most effective way to assess them. Through observation I can see my students working with the information in their natural environment, and in real-world contexts. Another big thing that I learned from this chapter is that if you teach using MI Theory using the eight different intelligences, you can also assess that way. You can format your questions to fit each of the eight intelligences and students can choose how they would like to respond. I like this idea, however I feel that it would be very complicated because you have have to grade each one differently. What this chapter has taught me as a teacher is that if I am going to teach using MI Theory that I must assess using MI Theory as well. If I don’t assess that way, but teach that way, it will be confusing to my students and I won’t get accurate results on assessments. As a teacher I will also have to make sure that my assessments are authentic, and include questions that appeal to all intelligences.

FIAE Chapter 3

This chapter was much like chapter 5 in UbD because it talked entirely about assessment. This chapter also made a priority to point out the difference between a student understanding a subject, and being able to do it. Just like making the distinction between mastery, and knowledge, I also found this to be incredibly important to be aware of. I learned that it can be helpful to look at your standards and label them as essential, high desirable, and desirable. This is important for me to know because I will only have so much time to teach so I need to decide what is absolutely essential. I also learned more about the different types of assessment, and the purpose that they each serve. One quote that jumped out at me was, “Pre-testing students without taking action with the result isn’t assessment.” I feel that this is so crucial to understand as a teacher. I know that I have definitely had teachers give out a test just to give a test, but then they did nothing with the information. When I am a teacher I will know that the tests I give out are just as much for my benefit as for the students’. Another thing I found in this chapter that is also stressed in others is that you need to have clear objectives, and that it is not just for your sake, but also for the students’. What this chapter taught me is that as a teacher I need to have clear objectives, and I need to be able to narrow down the objectives I want to focus on. I will also need various types of assessment, and use that assessment to help students make improvement in their learning.

FIAE Chapter 2

This chapter talks about mastery, deciding what objectives are important, and also deciding appropriate evaluations of mastery. I thought that it was great that this chapter started right off with a definition of mastery. One definition of mastery that really stood out to me was from McTighe and Wiggins, and they said, “True understanding manifests itself by spontaneous applications.” I took this as if a student has a true understanding of a subject they will use the information without even thinking about it. I think it’s important as teachers that we know the difference between mastery, and being able to recall or recite information. We will want our students be able to think critically about the information we give them, and be able to apply it. However, as teachers it is also our job to pick out what is important for students to know because we can’t teach everything. This chapter was very helpful in providing many sources that teachers have when it comes to having to make these decisions. It will be important for me as a teacher to keep in mind the difference between my students being able to recite information, and actually being able to apply it. This means I will need to present them with appropriate opportunities to show their mastery. I will also need to have clear objectives that my students are able to understand, and using the many resources available to me I will be able to make the decision of what is need and what isn’t.

FIAE Chapter 1

This chapter was essentially about arguing for differentiation in the classroom. I learned that there has been many speculations about it because many people believe that it will cause students to become depended on others to make things easier for them. However, that is not what differentiation is about at all. I learned that differentiation can actually promote independent students if executed the right way. As a result of differentiated learning done the right way, students should know themselves as learners, and be able to advocate for themselves in the future. I particularly liked the example of the student with the glasses, and how it questioned if his work would reflect his true mastery of a subject without glasses. I think this example shows that differentiation isn’t making something easier, but it is bringing students to the same level so that they can learn the same material. The main goal of differentiation is that students learn what they need know, and it doesn’t really matter exactly how they learned it, as long as they are ready for the next level class. As a teacher this is incredibly important to me because I need to make sure that I am appropriately using differentiation in the classroom. I will not necessarily be giving out alternate assignments, but offering students the appropriate tools and skills they need to do certain assignments they struggle with. By executing differentiation appropriately I will have students who are engaged and who feel appropriately challenged. Lastly, one quote from this chapter that I think really captures the meaning behind differentiation is, “our goal as teachers is to be fair and developmentally appropriate, not one-size-fits-all equal.”

UbD Chapter 5

For the most part, this chapter went over a lot of the same information that chapter 3 did in FIAE. I really liked the snapshot versus photo album example because it’s a great visual. Clearly a whole photo album is going to tell more about a family trip than a single photo. Just like a series of well develop assessments is going to tell you more about a student’s progress than a single cumulative test. This chapter taught me a lot more about technical terms for certain goals such as, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and dispositions. There was also a quote that really stood out to me that said, “we often observe teachers making assessments based on what is easiest to give and grade.” I honestly could not agree with this more. I have even known some teachers to cut corners like this with their in class presentations. In my opinion they are totally cheating their students out of a quality education that they are perfectly able to deliver if they just dedicated more time to it. Overall, this chapter really emphasizes authentic assessment that allows your students to really explain and apply the information. As a teacher I will need to make sure that I have clear objectives, and know what I expect my students to be able to do with information. I also need to make it a point to dedicate time to my assessments and make sure that they are authentic and effective forms of assessment that will benefit me and my students. The way I see it is if I give an ineffective and unauthentic assessment that has no benefit, I might as well not give it at all.

UbD Chapter 4

     This chapter was a bit longer than the others, but it had so much important and helpful information. I think one of the biggest things that is covered in this chapter is that as teachers we are not only teachers of curriculum, but “we are also teachers of human beings.” In other words, we are also teachers of basic skills that our students will need as learners and as human beings in the real world. What I learned from this chapter is that students should be aware of the essential questions and standards of the curriculum. They should also be aware of their own needs as well as their peers’ needs. As for teachers, they should be aware and provide for all of their students’ needs, be flexible in with their curriculum, take responsibility if their students should fail, and manage the classroom effectively. One concern I have as a teacher is providing for all of my students’ needs. More specifically when it comes to having students who are at different levels of mastery. How do you give certain students separate assignments without singling them out? In the classroom I will need to do all of the things listed above, but also make sure that my students are leaving my classroom with all of the content knowledge, and basic skills they need. Like I talked about above, being a teacher isn’t all about delivering content, it’s about shaping the minds of the individuals who will one day be taking care of us. If I don’t do my role as a teacher I’ll have students who are not only unengaged and not learning in the classroom, but also uninvolved in the real world or in further education.

UbD Chapter 3

Planning and fitting so much content into a short period is something that I am definitely nervous about when it comes to teaching. However, this chapter provided a lot of insight on planning, and delivering instruction. I gained a better understanding of what backwards design is, and how to incorporate differentiated instruction into that. I learned that there are certain areas within your design that are okay to differentiate, but the standards should stay the same for all students. This is important to understand because to have a separate standard for each student would be completely overwhelming and impossible. Another thing I found to be particularly helpful was the way that the text explained how to go about reading certain standards. For example, it was stated in the text that “the nouns point to ‘big ideas’ and companion questions, whereas the verbs are suggestive of the assessments.” This is helpful because the standards are often hard to decipher, especially since some of them can be so vague. This will all clearly have a huge impact on my classroom. I need to be able to create my lessons or units according to certain standards that need to met, while also catering to my students’ needs. If I am unable to do so effectively then I will have students who are confused and bored. I will also have lessons that are out of focus, and I will most likely not finish all that I need to cover in the amount of time I have.

MI Chapter 4

In this chapter I learned how to introduce multiple intelligences to my students, but also how to use it in lessons. One thing I found to be very powerful in this chapter is a quote from NYU professor, Neil Postman, where he said, “children go into school as question marks and leave school as periods.” I feel that this should prove that some schools are doing something wrong, because they are letting students leave school feeling that they are only intelligent in certain ways, or feeling that they’re not intelligent at all. Isn’t the purpose of school to do the opposite? The aspect that I really liked about this chapter is that it talked about this problem, but also provided ways to fix it. I really enjoyed all the ideas that it provided, and how they all seemed aimed at building all of the intelligences in all students. It wasn’t just aimed at picking out a single intelligence in each student, and making students believe that they can only be intelligent in that way. I specifically enjoyed the idea of incorporating intelligences with career day, because I think it’s important for students to think about their intelligences according to careers that might interest them. In my classroom this could definitely be something I can introduce, and I could possibly even incorporate the lesson with my content. Multiple intelligences will be something that I will want to be very cautious about, because I definitely do not want to be one of those teachers that tears my students down. I want to help them build on their existing intelligences, and also build new ones.

MI Chapter 3

In this chapter I learned a lot about how you can determine a student's intelligence without actually delivering a multiple intelligence test. I learned that there are many ways in which you can do this including: collecting documents, looking a school records, talking to the students, and even talking to parents. However, the easiest way of doing this would be to just observe your students in the classroom. The authors suggest that by watching the way your students misbehave in class you can learn about their intelligences. One quote that really stuck out to me in that particular section said, “These students are metaphorically saying through their misbehaviors: ‘This is how I learn, teacher, and if you don’t teach me in the way that I most naturally learn, guess what? I’m going to do it anyway!’”. This just struck me to be an incredibly powerful statement because it is absolutely true. We have all either watched a student or peer do this, or we were that student. If a teacher does not tender to your learning needs you are going to do anything you can to get through that class, even though you may not learn much at all. Overall, I found this chapter very helpful, and I know that this will definitely be useful in my classroom. I know now that I don’t necessarily need to test all of my students for their multiple intelligences, but rather I have many other resources available to me. I also know now that if I am not proactive about observing my students and using my resources to learn more about them, they will not learn the information I’m trying to teach.

Essential Belief Statement

I am one of those people that has known that I have wanted to be a teacher from a very young age. However, I believe that this has been encouraged by a couple of people and experiences. For all of my life my father has been an educator, and a football coach. Although I know that my dad is a great educator, I believe that it has been watching him as a coach that has really inspired me to work with kids. His passion for his players, and seeing the impact he leaves on them makes me want to do the same with my students someday. Another person that was very influential to me was my high school U.S. History teacher. I loved everything about his class, from his teaching style to how he seemed to care so much about each and every one of his students. In fact, I loved his class so much that I went back to the same exact one, and had the opportunity to do an independent study with him. This involved observing his and his student teachers’ teaching styles, and even getting to present to the class a couple of times. Overall, I believe it was a good learning experience for me because I learned that being a teacher was a lot harder than it looked.

I believe that the reason I chose my grade level and content area comes back to the same reason I want to be a teacher in the first place. My father works with high school students, and he always comes home with some great stories. Some stories are funny and some are not so funny, but most often, some that are pretty inspirational. Most recently, my father was given an award from a student because he was the teacher that influenced him most in his high school experience. After hearing stories like that, I know that I want to be that teacher for my students one day. My U.S. History teacher that I mentioned above, was that teacher for me. History and social sciences in general is something I have always been interested in, but after his class I knew that was what I wanted to teach.

Personally, I need to be in a comfortable and accepting environment for me to able to learn. I am the type of student that shuts down permanently for the rest of the day if I get shot down in class early on, whether from a student or teacher. However, I am also the kind of learner that needs structure, and needs a teacher to tell me, “No, you’re going about that wrong, try this.” I am also the kind of learner who cannot spend too long on one task before I get bored or frustrated. I feel that for my students, I am going to create a comfortable environment, but I’m also going to be very detailed with what I expect from them in the classroom and with classwork. I am going to try to incorporate many different ways of delivering information, and have appropriate changes of pace when needed.

My biggest fears when it comes to teaching include: not being able to keep students engaged, not knowing a certain topic well enough to be helpful to my students, and juggling so many different needs at one time. I consider myself to be a shy person when I first meet people, especially in large group settings, and I fear getting overwhelmed with having to make sure that every students’ needs are met. My expectations are that I will eventually overcome my fears when it comes to teaching. I hope to create some great bonds with students as my dad has with his students.

I hope that I will come out of practicum knowing how to be a better manager of my time. I hope to come out of this course ready for whatever the teaching world has to throw at me. I hope that I will overcome my fears that I have, and that I’ll hopefully know my strengths as a teacher. I hope to learn how to meet all of my students’ needs without it seeming so overwhelming.

MI Chapter 2

In chapter two I learned a lot about my intelligences and where they probably came from. I also learned what resources are available to me as an educator who is very interpersonal, but not very spatial. I found out through the Multiple Intelligences test that we took in class that I am very interpersonal and musical. According to this chapter there are many activators and deactivators of intelligences, and after reading this I was able to see when my intelligences developed. All my life I’ve been around people, because we were always at family gatherings, or other gathers. Also, my very first job was as a sales associate, which required me to interact with people on a daily basis. I believe my musical intelligence came from growing up around music, and from performing. As I mentioned above I am not very spatial, I can not draw for the life of me, but this chapter taught me about resources that are available to me as an educator. This chapter put in perspective how my intelligences and strengths will affect my classroom. As an educator it will be up to me to be aware of my intelligences and strengths, and how they might play out in the way I teach. I will have to be careful of that and make sure that I’m not only catering to my intelligences, but also my students’ intelligences. Lastly, it is important that I seek out help and other resources if there is a particular intelligence that I do not know how to develop or use in my classroom.

MI Chapter 1

I learned a lot about the basis for Multiple Intelligences and how it came to be in this chapter. I found it interesting to look at how people first determined and defined intelligence, and then how Gardner was able to widen that horizon. Also, I have to say that I completely agree with Gardner in his thinking. I am a person who does terribly when it comes to timed tests, because I am taken out of my natural element, not because I am not an intelligent person. Another thing I gained from this chapter is a reassurance. One of my fears about teaching is that I’m not going to be able to cater to all the intelligences of my students at one time. However, this chapter suggests that intelligences do work together, and to do any task, even a simple task such as cooking, takes multiple intelligences. That being said, multiple intelligences will clearly affect my classroom in many ways. It will be my job as a teacher to be aware of the different intelligences that are in my classroom. It will also be my job to not only cater to them while I’m teaching, but also to build upon them. I can do this, for example, by giving multiple options for how a project can be executed. A student who is musical may decide they want to create a song on the subject, or on the other hand, a student who is linguistic may choose to do a traditional essay. I feel that this way of assessing their knowledge will show a higher mastery, because they were able to use and build upon their intelligence.

UbD/UI Chapter 2

This chapter was all about the student, which was pretty interesting. I appreciated that it went through many scenarios that could be a barrier to student learning. I think we have all known at least one peer or student to go downhill like the students from the book, but it was good to see inside the possibilities of why. Looking at it from a teacher perspective, it's going to be super important to not only know your student as a learner, but also as a person. I had another quote stand out to me in this chapter and it said, “Differentiation does not advocate ‘individualization.’ It is overwhelming to think that it might be the teacher’s job to understand full the needs of every single student..”. I will admit that I breathed a little sigh of relief here. As I mentioned in my response for chapter one, Differentiated Instruction sounds very overwhelming in writing, but it’s essentially about using a variety of models that will hopefully connect with multiple students in your classroom. Without students, teachers would not have a job, and it is a teachers job to plan their lessons around their students. For that reason alone, the question of how this will impact my classroom is a no brainer. The students are my main focus, and it is my job that I deliver curriculum in a way that is effective and interesting to them. However, I need to know when a change in the curriculum is necessary and carry it out appropriately. It is also my job to understand what is going on in their lives so that if there is something, it can quickly be resolved so that learning can become their main focus.

UbD/UI Chapter 1

Before reading this chapter it was unclear to me what Understanding by Design was, and how it is used in a classroom. This chapter went even further and showed me how Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction should interact in a classroom. It is my understanding now that Understanding by Design is how you teach curriculum, whereas Differentiated Instruction is more focused on who you are teaching. I really enjoyed all the ideas in this chapter, and I can now see why these two models have to be used together. One particular quote really stood out to me, it said, “Few teachers find their work effective or satisfying when they simply ‘serve up’ a curriculum-even an elegant one-to their students with no regard for their varied learning needs.” I know that we have all had those teachers who really did nothing but hand out worksheets and assignments, and now I look back at those teachers and wonder how they could feel satisfied with their work. Overall, I felt this quote was super powerful because I feel that as future teachers we should all be striving to be effective and satisfying. Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction will effect my classroom because I will need to plan lessons, but also be flexible in how I deliver said lesson, based on who my students are. I will also need to be prepared to try different methods and be able to make corrections or changes as needed. Planning and having to make sure that each student is getting what they need from me to learn seems very overwhelming in writing. I’m hoping that when enacting it, it will become much more natural.