Curriculum mapping is a great idea. It is a way of making sure that all children learn the same material. Having students learn the same information is very beneficial. It is also a good way of holding teachers accountable for their classrooms, teaching, and children. When everyone is on the same page we can all benefit from it. It also allows new teachers entering the district to do so with ease. They can hop on board with their partners and teach what needs to be taught with very little confusion.
My district does not use curriculum mapping. I wish we did it makes a lot of sense too. Yes, it would be a lot of hard time consuming work, but in the end we would have a product that would be very helpful to many people. I am not exactly sure why we don't use it, but I feel the administration and the fact that we are a large district has a lot to do with it. Our administration seems to change hands quite often. With this in mind I feel that they don't realize how different one school is to the next. My district has eight elementary schools that all go up to sixth grade. Yes, some schools are bigger than others, but the majority of them have at least two sections per grade. It is hard to even sit down and have a town wide grade level meeting, how would a task like this ever get accomplished? I know in my school alone some classrooms in one grade do things quite differently from another classroom and for this reason I think having a plan all mapped out would be wonderful. I wonder how many schools in this area use curriculum mapping? I also wonder how much better or not those children who are exposed to mapping perform compared to those who aren't exposed to it?
I think that curriculum mapping does relate to the broader concept of curriculum change somewhat. I feel that with curriculum mapping the curriculum is being covered just in a different way. Each teacher is teaching the same thing with the same emphasis put on each topic. The teachers aren't deciding what is important or how important it is anymore. I feel this is a good thing. The curriculum is longer left up to the teachers opinion of what should take more time on or not. Every child needs to learn the same material so that all children are ready for the next year. One child doesn't have an advantage over another because of who their teacher was. All teachers are held accountable, therefore all children would have been exposed to the same material. We need to prepare our children for the future and taking a look at what needs to be taught is a start in the right direction.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Online Experience
I have had some classes during my undergraduate work that were completely online, therefore, I was familiar with how online classes work. I really enjoy online classes. I am the type of person who learns and comprehends information better by doing it for myself and that is what the online classes allowed me to do. I do not benefit from sitting and listening to a professor speak. I like to be given a list of work to do and a deadline. I do my best work at my own pace by myself in front of my laptop in the comfort of my own home. I am relaxed during this time. I don't feel rushed because I have a chance to get my thoughts together unlike the days when I have to attend class. Those days consist of me rushing from one place to another - work, home, and then school. Everybody is different, but in my opinion I prefer the online class more.
Overall, I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot about technology. Some of the skills learned I will definitely keep on using because I really enjoyed doing it. For example blogging. I have never done until this class, but now I think it is an interesting way to keep in contact with people, share thoughts, and see what others are thinking. Another reason why I liked blogging was because I am a quiet person. I tend to not like to speak my opinion in front of others, but blogging allows me to state what I feel with little to no anxiety. As we have all stated during this class technology is here and it is here to stay so we better get real comfortable using it.
Overall, I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot about technology. Some of the skills learned I will definitely keep on using because I really enjoyed doing it. For example blogging. I have never done until this class, but now I think it is an interesting way to keep in contact with people, share thoughts, and see what others are thinking. Another reason why I liked blogging was because I am a quiet person. I tend to not like to speak my opinion in front of others, but blogging allows me to state what I feel with little to no anxiety. As we have all stated during this class technology is here and it is here to stay so we better get real comfortable using it.
Implementation of Lesson
I have 19 children in my classroom. I have an even mixture of boys and girls. I have three of them that attend the resource program and seven of them that attend the math basic skills program. My group overall can be considered on the lower side. With this in mind I have to make sure that I can grab my students attention and keep them focused for the task at hand. I feel I was able to accomplish this with the lesson.
I began the lesson by talking about fall, something that they can relate too. Right off the bat I got their attention and I was able to keep it. The children had many activities to do. This allowed the children never to get bored with one aspect of the lesson. I do have to say though that this lesson took a little bit longer than I thought it would. Some of the children really couldn't understand why we use variables. They also had some difficulty when asked to write their own problem, but once they got started they were on a roll. Overall, I was pleased with how my math lesson for today went.
I began the lesson by talking about fall, something that they can relate too. Right off the bat I got their attention and I was able to keep it. The children had many activities to do. This allowed the children never to get bored with one aspect of the lesson. I do have to say though that this lesson took a little bit longer than I thought it would. Some of the children really couldn't understand why we use variables. They also had some difficulty when asked to write their own problem, but once they got started they were on a roll. Overall, I was pleased with how my math lesson for today went.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Math Not Just Numbers - Learning and Understanding the Importance of Variables
Stage 1: Desired Results
Established Goals:
4.1.A.4: Number Sense - Understand the various use of numbers
4.1.B.1: Numerical Operations - Develop the meaning of the four basic arithmetic operations
4.3.C.2: Patterns and Algebra - construct and solve simple open sentence involving any one operation
Enduring Understanding: Students will understand that...
*variables are letters used to represent unknown numbers in expressions
*there are relationships between variables and numbers
*word problems can be solved using variables
Essential Questions:
*What is variable?
*How are variables used in expressions?
*Why is it important to use a variable?
*Can you think of a time when you might need to use a variable in your everyday life? Why would you use? How would you use it?
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
Performance Task:
*Students will work with a partner to write expressions with variables for word problems given by me. They will also have to tell me what the variable stands for.
*Students will then have a chance to write their own word problem. They will then give their problem to classmate and see if their classmate can write an expression using a variable and they must also state what the variable stands for.
(Example of word problems: Jane went apple picking. Jane picked 15 apples and then gave some to her friend when she got home.)
*Students will then be giving an expression where the variable has a given amount. The students will have to solve the expression.
(Example of problem: 4+x, if x=8)
*Variable Game
Other Evidence:
*Class participation
*Observations
*Examples of word problems that were given
*Homework (practice page in workbook)
Stage 3: Learning Plan
I will introduce the lesson by telling them that fall is one of my favorite seasons and how much fun it is to go to the wonderful farms that are located in NJ. I will tell them about two signs I saw at one of the farms. These signs will be on an overhead transparency. The transparency will have the signs. The signs will have two pictures on them. One picture will have 2 pumpkins and a price tag of $4. The other picture will have a picture of a pumpkin and an apple and a price tag of $3. I will then ask the children if we can figure out how much each item costs. By doing this the children will be able to tell me that each pumpkin is $2. Then, I will show them that by knowing what the price of the pumpkin is we can figure out the price of the apple (2+x). Next, I will introduce the vocabulary word variable and tell them that x is a variable. I will then let the children give me their definition of the word variable before I give them the definition. After that, I will give the children word problems that contain variables and let the work together to write an expression and what the variable stands for. Finally, I will tell them that sometimes you are given the value for the variable. I will explain to them that in that case they must just "plug it in" when they see this. Once again I will give the children the opportunity to solve some problems and then come up with some on their own. To follow up with lesson I will allow the children to play a matching game. They will be give two sets of different colored cards. One set will have an expression and the other set will have a word problem. The children must match the word problems with the expressions.
Established Goals:
4.1.A.4: Number Sense - Understand the various use of numbers
4.1.B.1: Numerical Operations - Develop the meaning of the four basic arithmetic operations
4.3.C.2: Patterns and Algebra - construct and solve simple open sentence involving any one operation
Enduring Understanding: Students will understand that...
*variables are letters used to represent unknown numbers in expressions
*there are relationships between variables and numbers
*word problems can be solved using variables
Essential Questions:
*What is variable?
*How are variables used in expressions?
*Why is it important to use a variable?
*Can you think of a time when you might need to use a variable in your everyday life? Why would you use? How would you use it?
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
Performance Task:
*Students will work with a partner to write expressions with variables for word problems given by me. They will also have to tell me what the variable stands for.
*Students will then have a chance to write their own word problem. They will then give their problem to classmate and see if their classmate can write an expression using a variable and they must also state what the variable stands for.
(Example of word problems: Jane went apple picking. Jane picked 15 apples and then gave some to her friend when she got home.)
*Students will then be giving an expression where the variable has a given amount. The students will have to solve the expression.
(Example of problem: 4+x, if x=8)
*Variable Game
Other Evidence:
*Class participation
*Observations
*Examples of word problems that were given
*Homework (practice page in workbook)
Stage 3: Learning Plan
I will introduce the lesson by telling them that fall is one of my favorite seasons and how much fun it is to go to the wonderful farms that are located in NJ. I will tell them about two signs I saw at one of the farms. These signs will be on an overhead transparency. The transparency will have the signs. The signs will have two pictures on them. One picture will have 2 pumpkins and a price tag of $4. The other picture will have a picture of a pumpkin and an apple and a price tag of $3. I will then ask the children if we can figure out how much each item costs. By doing this the children will be able to tell me that each pumpkin is $2. Then, I will show them that by knowing what the price of the pumpkin is we can figure out the price of the apple (2+x). Next, I will introduce the vocabulary word variable and tell them that x is a variable. I will then let the children give me their definition of the word variable before I give them the definition. After that, I will give the children word problems that contain variables and let the work together to write an expression and what the variable stands for. Finally, I will tell them that sometimes you are given the value for the variable. I will explain to them that in that case they must just "plug it in" when they see this. Once again I will give the children the opportunity to solve some problems and then come up with some on their own. To follow up with lesson I will allow the children to play a matching game. They will be give two sets of different colored cards. One set will have an expression and the other set will have a word problem. The children must match the word problems with the expressions.
Thoughts About UBD
I am required to turn in my plan book every Thursday afternoon and I do. I use that plan book everyday. I am a very organized person that needs to have an agenda in order to get through the day. I do have to say though at this point that my plans are very basic. They consist of the the lesson's objective and the CCCS. I have been teaching the same grade now for four years, so I have gathered many materials needed to teach an effective lesson. I am also very aware of the material that needs to be taught. Therefore, the whole process of sitting down and writing out a detailed lesson plan took some time to accomplish. The UBD process is a very time consuming process. I really enjoyed it. I think thinking about the end result is a great idea, but doing it for about 8 lesson a day is too much for me to handle. Even though a school day is from 8:30 to 3:30 I put in many more hours of work, so my lessons do have of many different components to them, but in my opinion I would rather gather materials need to teach an effective lesson then sit down and write the lesson plan out. I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing that I think this way, but it is how I feel. Knowing how to get the most out of the lesson is important and the UBD process does really make you think and reflect on your lessons. They are also a great guide for others if they want to use your ideas. I do wonder though how many teachers especially elementary teachers use the UBD process?
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Results Now
I am pretty new to the education world. I have only been teaching for four years. In those four years I have grown so much as a teacher. I take a look back to when I just started out and I can't believe how far I have come in those four short years. Schmoker stated that teachers need to collaborate and I completely agree with him on that point. I am blessed to have a great partner to work with. When I just started out I needed to work with her to learn the ropes, but now I work with her and collaborate with her because I want to and really enjoy it. I look forward to coming to work and talking about what the day is about to bring. I also enjoy sharing lessons, ideas, and even having someone to complain to about different issues. Working with others can really make a huge difference in a teachers life. You can learn so much from one another.
I do have to say that if I read this article four years ago I would have been very discouraged. I am a hard working teacher and so are many of my colleagues. This article I feel doesn't give teachers the credit we deserve. I feel that this article doesn't talk about the majority of schools or teachers out there. Teachers are a special kind of person. We have our children's best interest at heart and we want to see our children succeed. Teachers don't wake up in the morning and think about how boring can I make my students day. There is so much work that needs to be accomplished that not every lesson is bells and whistles, but I tend to feel that the majority of teachers' lessons especially where I work make a lasting impression on our students. I do have to say it would be interesting to see how a teacher's lesson or day would change if we narrowed the curriculum.
In conclusion, I feel that in my school and like many other schools teachers for the most part do collaborate with one another and do benefit from it. I also feel that administrators do need to work closely with the teachers to make sure that valuable instruction is going on and that our collaboration isn't being wasted. Helpful feedback is welcomed.
I do have to say that if I read this article four years ago I would have been very discouraged. I am a hard working teacher and so are many of my colleagues. This article I feel doesn't give teachers the credit we deserve. I feel that this article doesn't talk about the majority of schools or teachers out there. Teachers are a special kind of person. We have our children's best interest at heart and we want to see our children succeed. Teachers don't wake up in the morning and think about how boring can I make my students day. There is so much work that needs to be accomplished that not every lesson is bells and whistles, but I tend to feel that the majority of teachers' lessons especially where I work make a lasting impression on our students. I do have to say it would be interesting to see how a teacher's lesson or day would change if we narrowed the curriculum.
In conclusion, I feel that in my school and like many other schools teachers for the most part do collaborate with one another and do benefit from it. I also feel that administrators do need to work closely with the teachers to make sure that valuable instruction is going on and that our collaboration isn't being wasted. Helpful feedback is welcomed.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
"Did You Know"
Actually I didn't know. After I watched that video I was really surprised about some things. I realize that technology is important and that there is always something new happening , but I didn't think that in the near future there would be a computer that would surpass the human brain and possibly the human race. To me that is a scary thought. How do we prepare ourselves or others for that?
There is a great big world out there and we here in the US play a small part in that world. As an educator though I feel I have a bigger part than some others. I feel this way because it is my responsibility to prepare my children in my classroom for the future. Those children are our future. This task is not an easy one considering the fact that I am preparing them for things I don't even know about yet or preparing them for things that don't even exist yet. Our society changes so fast it is hard to keep up so I think as educators it is our job to teach our children the skills needed in order to succeed in this world. Once they have the skills and know how to use them hopefully our children will be able to fit them into their world as they see fit. We need to give our children the confidence to change those skills as they feel is necessary. It is important for our children to become hard-working, strong, and determined individuals.
This responsibility doesn't only lie in the educators hands. The BOEs need to step up also. If technology is so important then why do I have only one computer in my classroom that works and has very, very, limited internet access and why am I using a textbooks that were published in the 70s? Most of information in our social studies books are inaccurate and then as an educator you try to look up accurate information and you realize that the website is denied for who knows what reason. Stuff like this makes our jobs so hard.
The BOE aren't the only ones that need to step up. Parents need to help the schools out. There have been years when I never met a child's parents at all. If the parents don't make any effort toward their child's education then no wonder the children make no effort either.
I think we need to work as one big team; teachers, BOEs, and parents. We need to make sure that our children are prepared for whats to come. Educators and parents need to have basic technology skills in order to help our children. Technology isn't going away and it is time to stop being afraid of it and face the facts, we need it to survive in today's society.
There is a great big world out there and we here in the US play a small part in that world. As an educator though I feel I have a bigger part than some others. I feel this way because it is my responsibility to prepare my children in my classroom for the future. Those children are our future. This task is not an easy one considering the fact that I am preparing them for things I don't even know about yet or preparing them for things that don't even exist yet. Our society changes so fast it is hard to keep up so I think as educators it is our job to teach our children the skills needed in order to succeed in this world. Once they have the skills and know how to use them hopefully our children will be able to fit them into their world as they see fit. We need to give our children the confidence to change those skills as they feel is necessary. It is important for our children to become hard-working, strong, and determined individuals.
This responsibility doesn't only lie in the educators hands. The BOEs need to step up also. If technology is so important then why do I have only one computer in my classroom that works and has very, very, limited internet access and why am I using a textbooks that were published in the 70s? Most of information in our social studies books are inaccurate and then as an educator you try to look up accurate information and you realize that the website is denied for who knows what reason. Stuff like this makes our jobs so hard.
The BOE aren't the only ones that need to step up. Parents need to help the schools out. There have been years when I never met a child's parents at all. If the parents don't make any effort toward their child's education then no wonder the children make no effort either.
I think we need to work as one big team; teachers, BOEs, and parents. We need to make sure that our children are prepared for whats to come. Educators and parents need to have basic technology skills in order to help our children. Technology isn't going away and it is time to stop being afraid of it and face the facts, we need it to survive in today's society.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
"Reading Don't Fix Chevys"
Csikszentmihalyi began his book with a quote that I really liked. He said that, "more than anything else, men and women seek happiness. Everything else we strive for money, health, prestige, everything is only valued because we expect that it will bring us happiness." I think that this is so true we work so hard to make money and become successful, but at times these things can make us miserable. If men and women seek happiness then so do boys and girls. Sometimes I think some of us forget this because boys and girls are just little kids. If children seek happiness as much as adults then as educators we should try to make school a happy place filled with meaningful learning.
Most educators try so hard to incorporate differentiated instruction into their lessons. We try to make sure we touch each type of learner, the ESL child, the special needs child, the academically talented child etc, but what about the differences between boys and girls? You don't hear many educators say that this lesson is geared towards the boys or the girls. Since we don't do that many of our lessons are lost on the children that have no interest in that area. According to the article young men who were passionate about the activity experienced flow and those who weren't didn't experience flow, especially in the content area of literacy. Knowing this why not allow boys to read about topics that interest them. In a way let them make up their own reading curriculum with guidance from the teacher. In my opinion if a child is reading then who cares if it is a classic novel. I would rather have them read something than nothing at all.
I personally love when flow happens throughout the day. It makes the day that much better. I want to share this enjoyment with my class so I try to make it happen for my students. I want my students to walk away from a lesson with understanding. If I need to find out what makes my students tick then that's what I will do. Educators put in a lot of extra hours why not make them count.
Most educators try so hard to incorporate differentiated instruction into their lessons. We try to make sure we touch each type of learner, the ESL child, the special needs child, the academically talented child etc, but what about the differences between boys and girls? You don't hear many educators say that this lesson is geared towards the boys or the girls. Since we don't do that many of our lessons are lost on the children that have no interest in that area. According to the article young men who were passionate about the activity experienced flow and those who weren't didn't experience flow, especially in the content area of literacy. Knowing this why not allow boys to read about topics that interest them. In a way let them make up their own reading curriculum with guidance from the teacher. In my opinion if a child is reading then who cares if it is a classic novel. I would rather have them read something than nothing at all.
I personally love when flow happens throughout the day. It makes the day that much better. I want to share this enjoyment with my class so I try to make it happen for my students. I want my students to walk away from a lesson with understanding. If I need to find out what makes my students tick then that's what I will do. Educators put in a lot of extra hours why not make them count.
No Child Left Behind
Dear Congressman Pascrell,
School is a very important part of a child's life. They are in school for at least 13 years. Since school is such an important factor I feel that the learning experience should be an enjoyable one. A child should be able to walk into a classroom and learn as much as they can without evening knowing it.
I am writing to you because I know that No Child Left Behind is up for reauthorization. NCLB effects me directly. I am not only a resident, but I am also a fourth grade teacher. I know first hand what effects NCLB can have.
NCLB has had some positive effects on our schools, but it has also had some negative effects too. To start, NCLB has help parents out. It has made information more readily available to them. This is important because the more parents get involved the better a school runs. It has also increased the number of highly qualified teachers in our schools. These two things are a major plus.
On the other hand, NCLB does have some negative effects. I am a teacher in a testing grade. I know first hand what the standardized test are like. This test is a very stressful test for the students and teachers. There is so much information on the test that the children need to know by March that educators wind up teaching to the test. This is not what teaching should be about. Children are not getting what they should be getting out of their education. Five days of stressful testing is not an effective way to assess our children. There are many other forms of assessment that can be done. These test do not represent the population of our schools. Our schools have such a diverse population. Each child learns differently so why test them all the same. NCLB doesn't benefit all.
The requirements for NCLB need to be edited. With certain changes made NCLB can be a very beneficial thing. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Kristin Robinson
School is a very important part of a child's life. They are in school for at least 13 years. Since school is such an important factor I feel that the learning experience should be an enjoyable one. A child should be able to walk into a classroom and learn as much as they can without evening knowing it.
I am writing to you because I know that No Child Left Behind is up for reauthorization. NCLB effects me directly. I am not only a resident, but I am also a fourth grade teacher. I know first hand what effects NCLB can have.
NCLB has had some positive effects on our schools, but it has also had some negative effects too. To start, NCLB has help parents out. It has made information more readily available to them. This is important because the more parents get involved the better a school runs. It has also increased the number of highly qualified teachers in our schools. These two things are a major plus.
On the other hand, NCLB does have some negative effects. I am a teacher in a testing grade. I know first hand what the standardized test are like. This test is a very stressful test for the students and teachers. There is so much information on the test that the children need to know by March that educators wind up teaching to the test. This is not what teaching should be about. Children are not getting what they should be getting out of their education. Five days of stressful testing is not an effective way to assess our children. There are many other forms of assessment that can be done. These test do not represent the population of our schools. Our schools have such a diverse population. Each child learns differently so why test them all the same. NCLB doesn't benefit all.
The requirements for NCLB need to be edited. With certain changes made NCLB can be a very beneficial thing. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Kristin Robinson
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