How can curriculum mapping assist you? Do you have one? Does your school/district curriculum map? Where would/will you start in creating a useful curriculum map for your classroom?
I have found that without a detailed curriculum map this (my first real) semester, it was difficult to know what pace to set in the classroom. I think I wound up wasting time in certain areas that I could have sped up, and spending too little time in other areas where my kids needed more help. Of course, this would improve with experience, but definitely having a well defined map of where I want to be at any given time during the semester would be extremely useful. In fact, I have already put forth much more effort and made, at least a tentative, map of where I need to be by certain times.
The school district publishes guidelines as to how many days they expect each unit to take. So, they do have a map somewhat. How closely it reflects the actual amount of time you need, greater or less than, is up for debate.
I have already started making a map for next semester and plan to have one every semester I teach from now on. I started by simply trying to fit in all the required curriculum pieces, including tests and quizzes, just to get a rough estimation of the time frame needed. I will modify it as I go, considering where I and the rest of my department are with the units.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Blog #10 Webinar 11
Do you differentiate instruction? Why? Why not? What is the importance of differentiating instruction? What impact does it have on student learning?
I try to differentiate instruction, but feel like I rarely succeed in doing so. The biggest problem for me is time honestly. I feel like even though some of my students might need differentiation, I just do not have the time to give it to them. Unless, of course, they come in before of after school for individual help, then I will go over topics in as many different ways as possible with them, until they understand it. As far as time limitations go, this semester I was maybe one lecture behind my content leaders, but wound up having to do an entire unit in essentially 1 day (plus a shortened day for review). This goes back to one of my biggest problems in general: when I see the students just not getting it, do I stop progressing and spend the extra time to get it, even though it puts us behind for the rest of the curriculum? On a similar note, when I have some students literally smacking their heads because the material is too easy (it really is), but a good percentage of the class is behind, do you cater to the slower kids or the faster? Its a really really difficult question and one that I have not gotten a perfect answer too (maybe there isn't one).
Clearly, we need to attempt differentiation in order for the greatest percentage of our kids to succeed. I hope and try to encourage kids to come in for tutoring if they are struggling, since that is the best time that I can 1 on 1 differentiate instruction directly aimed to the problem they are having. When kids do come in and get that extra help, especially 1 on 1, you can really see a difference in their understanding. I had a few students this semester, one in particular, that managed to drastically turn their grades around by simply making a commitment to tutoring. This made a huge difference, as I was able to specifically target their needs. Clearly differentiation can have a huge impact the education of students.
I try to differentiate instruction, but feel like I rarely succeed in doing so. The biggest problem for me is time honestly. I feel like even though some of my students might need differentiation, I just do not have the time to give it to them. Unless, of course, they come in before of after school for individual help, then I will go over topics in as many different ways as possible with them, until they understand it. As far as time limitations go, this semester I was maybe one lecture behind my content leaders, but wound up having to do an entire unit in essentially 1 day (plus a shortened day for review). This goes back to one of my biggest problems in general: when I see the students just not getting it, do I stop progressing and spend the extra time to get it, even though it puts us behind for the rest of the curriculum? On a similar note, when I have some students literally smacking their heads because the material is too easy (it really is), but a good percentage of the class is behind, do you cater to the slower kids or the faster? Its a really really difficult question and one that I have not gotten a perfect answer too (maybe there isn't one).
Clearly, we need to attempt differentiation in order for the greatest percentage of our kids to succeed. I hope and try to encourage kids to come in for tutoring if they are struggling, since that is the best time that I can 1 on 1 differentiate instruction directly aimed to the problem they are having. When kids do come in and get that extra help, especially 1 on 1, you can really see a difference in their understanding. I had a few students this semester, one in particular, that managed to drastically turn their grades around by simply making a commitment to tutoring. This made a huge difference, as I was able to specifically target their needs. Clearly differentiation can have a huge impact the education of students.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Blog #9 Webinar 10
Prompt #9
When working with ELD students, what are your challenges? Strengths? What could be done to increase your skills in this area?
The biggest challenge for me when working with ELL students is first and foremost identifying what they need. So many of my kids are from families where English is not necessarily the first language, but it is very difficult for me to distinguish between the kids who genuinely need help and those who do not. The problem I think comes from the difference between conversational skills in language and academic or technical proficiency. I think, with very few obvious exceptions, that all of my kids demonstrate a very high level of conversational English skills. This unfortunately has the tendency to make me feel like they understand everything I say and everything they read academically as well, which is not true a lot of the time. So, yeah, I think identifying what they need is my biggest challenge. My strength is that I am patient and willing to work with a kid as long as it takes once I figure out what the problem is and what they need as a solution. I do try to give multiple viewpoints whenever I am explaining something, I try to relate what I am saying to real world objects or applications, and I try to give feedback as quickly as possible. I encourage them to continue trying and reward and offer positive feedback when they succeed. I think the main thing that will increase my skills in this area is just more experience. The first year or two (or three!) of teaching, we are so swamped with everything it is difficult to see all the little details happening around us. I can only try to be there for my kids as much as possible and try to continue to get better and more comfortable with teaching and hope the rest will come from there.
When working with ELD students, what are your challenges? Strengths? What could be done to increase your skills in this area?
The biggest challenge for me when working with ELL students is first and foremost identifying what they need. So many of my kids are from families where English is not necessarily the first language, but it is very difficult for me to distinguish between the kids who genuinely need help and those who do not. The problem I think comes from the difference between conversational skills in language and academic or technical proficiency. I think, with very few obvious exceptions, that all of my kids demonstrate a very high level of conversational English skills. This unfortunately has the tendency to make me feel like they understand everything I say and everything they read academically as well, which is not true a lot of the time. So, yeah, I think identifying what they need is my biggest challenge. My strength is that I am patient and willing to work with a kid as long as it takes once I figure out what the problem is and what they need as a solution. I do try to give multiple viewpoints whenever I am explaining something, I try to relate what I am saying to real world objects or applications, and I try to give feedback as quickly as possible. I encourage them to continue trying and reward and offer positive feedback when they succeed. I think the main thing that will increase my skills in this area is just more experience. The first year or two (or three!) of teaching, we are so swamped with everything it is difficult to see all the little details happening around us. I can only try to be there for my kids as much as possible and try to continue to get better and more comfortable with teaching and hope the rest will come from there.
Blog #8 Webinar 9
Prompt #8
When using technology with your students, what are your challenges? Strengths? What could be done to increase your usage of technology in the classroom?
Well, in my classroom, we do not really have access to any technology. The only piece of tech that I have been given is the overhead projector, which I do use constantly. I do not even have a document cam (which I really need to try to get!) I would love to incorporate more technology into my math classes. I really want to bring more of my engineering background to play when teaching math. I would like to get into some deeper types of problems that require computer modeling to solve. However, with the materials that I have this is basically impossible. I do not even have a class set of scientific calculators. My challenges with the overhead projector are basically related to engagement. I feel like, when the students are just watching me use it and do problems like filling in the blanks etc. they can get a glassy eyed look to them. It is non-interactive. I do try to incorporate stops where they have to do examples, work with partners, etc. but I am just not sure how effective the overhead projector is overall. I remember when we had to actually take notes, not just fill in the blanks like we do today. This required the student to be focused on what they were writing and what the teacher was saying. There was less time to be bored.
When using technology with your students, what are your challenges? Strengths? What could be done to increase your usage of technology in the classroom?
Well, in my classroom, we do not really have access to any technology. The only piece of tech that I have been given is the overhead projector, which I do use constantly. I do not even have a document cam (which I really need to try to get!) I would love to incorporate more technology into my math classes. I really want to bring more of my engineering background to play when teaching math. I would like to get into some deeper types of problems that require computer modeling to solve. However, with the materials that I have this is basically impossible. I do not even have a class set of scientific calculators. My challenges with the overhead projector are basically related to engagement. I feel like, when the students are just watching me use it and do problems like filling in the blanks etc. they can get a glassy eyed look to them. It is non-interactive. I do try to incorporate stops where they have to do examples, work with partners, etc. but I am just not sure how effective the overhead projector is overall. I remember when we had to actually take notes, not just fill in the blanks like we do today. This required the student to be focused on what they were writing and what the teacher was saying. There was less time to be bored.
Blog #7 Webinar 8
Prompt #7
How prepared do you feel in effectively teaching your students in reading? Is this one of your strengths? A weakness?
Have you started to plan to the Common Core Standards? If you have, how is that going? If you haven't, why not? What support do you need?
I do not feel prepared at all to effectively teach students how to read. I mean, what would possibly have prepared me to do so? I have never taught reading or writing. My background is in math, science, and engineering. I passed the math AEPA, not reading or English. I realize that reading is a fundamental skill, and I will do my best to help kids in whatever way they need, but seriously I have no idea how to teach someone to read. So yeah, I guess its a weakness. I can tell you that I do not walk into my math class planning on how to teach kids how to read. I have to assume a fundamental level of reading, just as I have to assume a fundamental level of math. I simply do not have time! Now, of course, after school or before, if a kid comes to me with reading problems, I will try to help them, but frankly I am not sure how. It has not really come up I guess. Reading is important in a math class obviously. If you cannot read the problems, you are not going to be able to understand them and come up with the right solution. I try to go over the necessary vocabulary, but I can tell the kids have major problems remembering the terms. I want to try to find ways of teaching them to better comprehend the words behind the math, but so far have struggled to do so.
Yes, as a department, we have not only started to plan to the Common Core Standards, but we have also started to implement them in our classrooms. It is going decently so far. I think as teachers we struggle the most with trying to increase the rigor of the problems and presenting the Depth of Knowledge level 4 problems to kids, when we ask them basic questions and they do not seem to have even been in your class since day 1. It is a bit frustrating just given the time constraints that we have. I mean, there is a certain amount of curriculum we are expected to teach over the course of the semester and it feels like we are behind constantly. To ask us to try to implement these higher order problems, when the kids don't get the basic concepts is tough to fit into the time schedule. Of course, hopefully, after a few years the kids coming up will have been exposed to this kind of learning and will, hopefully, be better prepared for it.
How prepared do you feel in effectively teaching your students in reading? Is this one of your strengths? A weakness?
Have you started to plan to the Common Core Standards? If you have, how is that going? If you haven't, why not? What support do you need?
I do not feel prepared at all to effectively teach students how to read. I mean, what would possibly have prepared me to do so? I have never taught reading or writing. My background is in math, science, and engineering. I passed the math AEPA, not reading or English. I realize that reading is a fundamental skill, and I will do my best to help kids in whatever way they need, but seriously I have no idea how to teach someone to read. So yeah, I guess its a weakness. I can tell you that I do not walk into my math class planning on how to teach kids how to read. I have to assume a fundamental level of reading, just as I have to assume a fundamental level of math. I simply do not have time! Now, of course, after school or before, if a kid comes to me with reading problems, I will try to help them, but frankly I am not sure how. It has not really come up I guess. Reading is important in a math class obviously. If you cannot read the problems, you are not going to be able to understand them and come up with the right solution. I try to go over the necessary vocabulary, but I can tell the kids have major problems remembering the terms. I want to try to find ways of teaching them to better comprehend the words behind the math, but so far have struggled to do so.
Yes, as a department, we have not only started to plan to the Common Core Standards, but we have also started to implement them in our classrooms. It is going decently so far. I think as teachers we struggle the most with trying to increase the rigor of the problems and presenting the Depth of Knowledge level 4 problems to kids, when we ask them basic questions and they do not seem to have even been in your class since day 1. It is a bit frustrating just given the time constraints that we have. I mean, there is a certain amount of curriculum we are expected to teach over the course of the semester and it feels like we are behind constantly. To ask us to try to implement these higher order problems, when the kids don't get the basic concepts is tough to fit into the time schedule. Of course, hopefully, after a few years the kids coming up will have been exposed to this kind of learning and will, hopefully, be better prepared for it.
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