Cycle Two: Challenges and Opportunities in Building Classroom Communities

I’m currently working on an inquiry project about building classroom communities, because I noticed a correlation between positive classroom communities and student achievement in my classes last year. With that in mind, I found this week’s content particularly interesting and enlightening. In my interviews with students for my inquiry project, several of them told me that in a class with a really good atmosphere, there was a lot of time spent in groups, doing both content-based work, and just spending some time getting to know each other (and often a combination of the two.) Several of the students described their “good” example of a class as one in which the students had fun learning together.

My school has been doing walk-throughs to analyze how student time is spent, and repeatedly finding that the majority of class time is spent on whole-group instruction or individual, quiet work on worksheets, etc. Because of the talk about those findings in our staff meetings and PLC’s, I had already been trying to focus on how to incorporate more group work in my instruction (generally easy since my main goal in instruction is communication), but after hearing what my students had to say about how they perceived classes with lots of group work, I determined to make this even more of a priority in my planning for next year.

The Tomlinson & McTighe (2006) chapter on differentiating instruction was possibly the single most useful piece I’ve read in a teacher education course. I’ve always grappled with the idea of differentiated instruction, knowing it would benefit my students, but always got stuck somewhere around varying my instructional techniques but not actually individualizing anything- because I didn’t really know how and didn’t have the time to figure it out. This chapter lays out the basics and gives enough concrete examples that any teacher could start implementing them with a little extra careful planning.

At first when I read the analogy about universal design- the idea that it’s easier to plan something like a ramp for a sidewalk rather than try to add the ramp later, and also the idea that, while designed for people in wheelchairs, the ramp is useful for mothers with strollers, etc (95).-I only thought about the time this extra step in lesson design would require. I do differentiate instruction on some level regularly, but last year there was only one time that I was really proud of my efforts. I was teaching the difference between the preterit and imperfect tenses in Spanish (two past tenses), a major grammar point for Spanish learners. A certain portion of my class had just barely scraped by Spanish 1, could hardly conjugate a present tense verb, and so were lost at sea when it came to contrasting two different past tenses, while others in the class could conjugate in their sleep and had memorized the rules for when to use which tense on the first day I introduced it. To accommodate for those differences, I made a preliminary assessment to determine groups, along with three different sets of activities for the day- ranging from basic conjugation to more abstract uses of the verb tenses, according to what the students needed practice with. The lesson went great, and I was able to spend some time with the struggling students who really needed a little one-on-one, but it took me three times as long to plan, since I had to come up with essentially three lessons, as well as figure out how to make them all work simultaneously.

A later analogy in the chapter really resonated with me- comparing starting to incorporate differentiated instruction with starting an exercise habit or a healthier eating plan (106). I’m a runner, I enjoy cooking, and I’m somewhat self-conscious, so the struggles of starting and sticking with a regime is something I can really relate to. I can also relate to the success side of it- since it’s become a habit for me, I no longer buy it when friends say they’re too busy for exercise. I think- if I have time for it you could definitely find the time! As Tomlinson & McTighe put it, “the changes are awkward at first,” but “many illustrate the benefits to their lives” (106). As Cheryl Caggiano, a teacher who works hard to differentiate instruction puts it, “It’s crazy, insane, and I don’t get paid enough,” but she does it anyway- because she can see how beneficial it is for her students (Schumer, 2003). I can find the time to make little changes to all of my units, even if I have to start small- it’s worth it.

The other chapter I gained a lot from this week was the Johnson & Johnson (1986) chapter on grouping. I was particularly glad to find this chapter so useful because, before reading it, I had chosen this book for my final project, thinking it might tie in well with my inquiry project. Groups make differentiating instruction easy because they can be working on different tasks, with varying levels of difficulty, and at varying paces, and, as I found in my student interviews, they help “build relationships among the students” (171).  This also meets my school’s goal of having less full group instruction or students working alone. Using the tips given in this chapter, even full group instruction via lecture can become a cooperative effort by breaking up sections of lecture with discussion tasks to be performed in small groups.

I’m excited to try new things with grouping in the coming school year- not just ability-based grouping, which often pushes some students to the top, while leaving others to languish in the dust, but base groups that stay together throughout the year, informal groups for small tasks, groups based on interests, etc., and I’m hoping that the implementation of those grouping strategies with both contribute to a more positive classroom environment (which I believe will positively affect achievement), and offer opportunities for differentiated instruction (also shown to positively affect achievement.)


References:

Johnson, D. & Johnson, R. (1986). Learning together and learning alone: Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Schumer, F. (2003, November 9). One classroom, many minds: A paddle for the mainstream. The New York Times. 

Tomlinson, C.A. & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction and understanding by design: Connecting content and kids. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cycle One: Interpretations of the Meaning and Causes of Failure

This week’s readings really challenged my beliefs about the question posed, “What does it mean to fail?” My original response would have been something like the quote on this poster, “When your best just isn’t good enough,” you fail, and that’s it. You didn’t achieve what you set out to do and you probably never will. Looking at failure as a means to achieve growth, however was a new idea for me. Paul Tough expands on this idea in his article, “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?” in which he describes the work of Dominic Randolph, headmaster of Riverdale school in New York City in teaching character to his students. Randolph describes his most valuable experiences as originating in “years of trial and error, of taking chances without a safety net,” an experience most of the students at his school never have (Tough, 2011). Their well-intentioned parents want the best for them, and so they do everything they can to prevent their children from failing in any way, and are quick to pick up the pieces if they should by some fluke still manage to fail. Randolph believes (and I agree) that these students are missing the valuable learning experience that comes with failure.

Gee, in his article, “Good Video Games and Good Learning,” also points out the necessity of failure in learning to be successful. “The player uses initial failures as ways to find the boss’s pattern and to gain feedback about the progress being made” (Gee, 2005). If video games teach students that it’s okay to fail as long as they take what they’ve learned in the process to do better next time, why can’t schools? Likewise, successful teachers need to be willing to take risks, trying new techniques and methods, testing theories, to find what works for their ever changing groups of students.

Something that greatly hinders that willingness to take risks is fear. In video games, the student can save the game before trying something difficult, and go back to that same place if they fail, so they haven’t really lost anything. In a classroom full of judgmental adolescents it’s not so easy to learn from the failure and move on as if nothing had happened.

Parker Palmer, in his chapter “A Culture of Fear” discusses fear from the perspective of both the student and the teacher. He references the silence when the teacher asks a question, and the students are afraid to take a risk and fail in front of their peers. He also mentions his personal fear as a teacher, being “fearful that I am not just a bad teacher but a bad person, so closely is my sense of self tied to the work I do” (Palmer, 1998, p. 36). Those are both fears I can relate to. I remember many instances of knowing the right answer but not saying anything for fear of making a mistake, as well as some instances where I was relieved I hadn’t said anything because it would have been wrong, or mortified that I raised my hand and said the wrong thing. And as a teacher who pours myself into what I do, I, like Palmer worry that if I fail it will be far more than just failing professionally, it will be complete personal failure.

I like Palmer’s way of connecting student and teacher success. Teachers reap the benefits from successful students (a better future society, personal fulfillment in their career) just as students reap the benefits from successful teachers (preparation for the future). I think this connectedness is key in overcoming fear of failure. I teach Spanish, and a student who is afraid of making a mistake is never going to learn anything in my class. I have to create a class atmosphere in which students are comfortable enough with me and with each other to open their mouths and try, not worrying if what comes out is perfect the first time or not. Relationship building fosters that form of connectedness. Teachers who spend time getting to know their students find out what students are interested in, which will inspire them to get involved in the class much more than any textbook activity is likely to do. Students are also more likely to take risks when they have a relationship with the teacher because they can trust the teacher to handle their perspective failure in a way that won’t humiliate them. 

References

Gee, Paul James. (2005). Good Video Games and Good Learning. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85 (2),   33-37.

Palmer, Parker J. (1998). A Culture of Fear: Education and Disconnected Life. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life (pp. 35-60). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Tough, Paul. (2011, September 14.) What if the Secret to Success is Failure? The New York Times Magazine.

TE 823- Getting to Know Lisa

After graduating from MSU with a Bachelor's in Spanish (with a minor in English) and completing my year-long student teaching internship at Everett High School in Lansing, MI, I followed my heart to Madrid Spain. I spent three wonderful years teaching English both to children in a private academy and to adults through in-company classes. I also took advantage of living in Europe to travel as much as possible, and was able to check quite a few things off of my "must do" list.  As much as I loved living in Spain, my husband wasn't willing to commit to being a full-time madrileño, so we compromised by moving somewhere warmer than Michigan, but closer to home than Europe: North Carolina. For the past year I taught Spanish I & II to 9-12 graders in the Charlotte area. Despite being much better prepared than most beginning teachers, I still found it a challenging, time-consuming job. I enjoyed it nonetheless and am looking forward to another year at the same school. I am keeping busy this summer by coaching cheerleading, taking online Master's classes, planning a trip to visit friends and family in Spain and Germany, running, cooking, and doing all the other things I didn't have time to do during the school year!

3/19

I still have so many questions, but I think it's important that I learned how to answer my own questions and also that I can deal with issues as they come. The main thing I'm still wondering: is the education program at MSU preparing teachers to meet individual needs to the best of their ability? I know not everyone is as interested in this subject as I am, but I'm wondering if most people feel adequately prepared based on our 12 hr. special ed cram session? I'm curious what interns or recent grads would say. I feel like this is a really important topic and it's doing us a disservice to have such minimal exposure to and instruction about the topic. (Although the instructors did the best they could given the circumstances.) I'm wondering also if there will be a sudden demand for bilingual para-pros and special ed teachers, or if students will be expected to take language classes without any of the additional resources they might need? I think it will be very interesting to see how things will change in the next few years as the new graduation requirements come into play. Although I didn't fulfill my goal of researching every single type of disability that requires an IEP, I feel that I answered my initial questions and learned where to look for the answers so that I can grapple with this issue as I continue in my career.

Here is the link to my final PowerPoint: http://richa521.googlepages.com/ip

3/18 Wrapping things up

I just want to use this entry to wrap up the project and make sure I'm (explicitly) meeting all the requirements. First, a summary of the new resources I played with while making this blog. (Actually blogging is a new resource for me on its own, along with making web pages!) A) I learned to use an RSS feed to discover new resources. I set my RSS feed to alert me to resources having to do with Special Ed, which is where I actually found a few of my other resources. I didn't like the RSS feed because I'm not devoted enough to check it daily, so I have hundreds of hits waiting for me to go through them. It was nice, on the other hand, to have a list of entries that were already filtered into what I was looking for that I would have available to me at any time. (You can't save a typical search that easily.) B) I had also never used any form of podcasting, so it was new for me to learn the websites to look for, and the whole experience was new. I wrote already that I didn't like this very much because I get too distracted, but it's nice that I could download that to my ipod and listen to it while I'm doing anything throughout the day. C) A professional discussion board/ forum is also new to me. (The only discussion board I've ever really read is movie or food reviews.) I enjoyed witnessing the interactions between teachers from all over, especially when they disagreed or debated something. I'm glad I learned these new things, I think I'm skeptical because I'm not entirely sure how to work them yet but they'll probably grow on me. Collaboration: A) The first time I collaborated was when I looked at Jessica's project, where she gave me the idea to check out AZ teacher forums. I'm really glad I found this because it ended up being my favorite part of the project! B) Then we created our group blog, and although we never really used it until the end, I added all the links to each of our inquiry projects so it was easier to navigate. It ended up being useful to have the group blog so we could share our final project with each other. C) Although they aren't my classmates, I was able to collaborate with other teachers using the AZ teacher forum. I didn't get much response to my inquiry, but that's understandable since it wasn't really a discourse. I was excited to get one response though, and enjoyed reading other threads. D) Again I collaborated with Jessica, she posted on my blog and I responded, and I also read her blog and posted a comment. It was interesting to see what other people in the class are doing, but our group was kind of a stretch as far as fitting together, so I wish there had been a closer tie-in. E) One of the organizers from the LD podcast commented on my entry about the podcast I listened to. It's always exciting to have a new opinion, and also to see how cool technology is! (I'm really impressed that someone from outside of our class read my blog!) Hopefully I will be able to figure out how to post my PowerPoint here, or at least a link to it, since it will go into more detail about what I got out of this project than I'm going to go into here. Overall, although I didn't end up doing everything I had planned, I think I answered the questions I wanted to answer. I still think it would be helpful to go over all of the different disabilities in the "alphabet soup" just for a starting reference point, but from what I looked at, it seemed that I really could generalize a lot of the accommodations. The line about anything that helps a special ed student will probably help most students, that our teachers kept drilling really is true. So I feel that I've learned where I can look when I have specific questions and I've learned a few more general things too...I count this as a success.

3/2

Today I listened to an episode of the LD podcast, a podcast put out by parents of LD kids for parents of LD kids. This one was an interview with an administrator, Courtney Rau, the special education department chair at a Massachusetts school district. The parents seemed really excited to get an administrator's perspective. They discussed inclusion, and I was surprised that the mom was skeptical of inclusion programs. I would have thought that the parents were more supportive of it, but in some cases the school is just trying to cut back on faculty by throwing kids who need more attention into an inclusion class. They also discussed ASD quite a bit, which I of course found interesting since I've been looking into that. They talked about some programs that weren't balancing working on social and academics skills and the negative outcomes of that for ASD students. They also talked about some terms like "least restrictive environment" and "LD," questioning such blanket statements that are expected to cover all situations. What do these things mean? I was surprised when they were talking about "residential setting" schooling. At first I just thought this meant pull out classes or a separate building for special ed. But as I listened, I realized they were talking about boarding schools for special ed students. I didn't really think this kind of thing existed, it doesn't seem like that great of a solution to me, so I 'd like to learn a little more about this. (Maybe I misunderstood?) The main point the administrator reiterated is that teachers want to teach all of their students the best they can, and I hope that is a statement that is actually true! (I know some lazy teachers...) The website for this podcast is : http://ldpodcast.com/images/show20.mp3. This is probably a better resource for parents looking for support, it was long and I didn't feel like the information was very rich for my purpose. I'm not sure how I feel about podcasts either, I get too distracted to sit and listen to it!

3/1/07

I have been looking at an article and online discussion about academic waivers for LD students. I have been using the site's RSS feed to follow the discussion. Here's the link to the site: http://www.ldresources.org/p=929. This was dealing with foreign language requirements in college, but since the requirements at the high school level are changing I thought it would be relevant. Some of the discussion was based on these questions:
-If you can waive a requirement for any reason, does your degree mean as much?
-Is it your responsibility to know what the college/university policy is on waivers before you enroll?
Things again got a little heated, as one side said students should look for a more accommodating school and the other said the system should change. They referenced legal issues BU was involved in, contemplating if it is right to receive a degree with a certain school's prestige backing it up if you didn't complete all of the school's requirements. I'm getting a little far from the high school setting with that, so let me get back on track. One post was by a foreign language professor. She talked about how students with disabilities in language areas can focus on cultural and historical aspects of the language/class, they might be more successful in sign language, and they will just have to realize they'll have to work harder at this than at other subjects. This combined with a teacher who is trying to make accommodations and help this student should make the goal of learning another language attainable. One thing I had a problem with on the discussion board is that one person kept saying, "what about people who cannot learn a language or do the math?" (They paralleled math to foreign language often.) I don't think it's acceptable to say that someone "cannot" do it; that's completely giving up on it and I'm not sure it's ever safe to give up like that.