1) The use of authentic assessment represents an effort to change assessment from a negative event, in which knowledge and people are measured, to a positive process, by which knowledge is applied and people are valued.
2) Effective educational practices do not begin with assessment. Instead, they begin with instructional commitment to student learning. Authentic assessment has a lot of real world connections and are viewed in more of a observable presentation.
3) In an authentic assessment the classroom conversations must center around student work and to assess what has actually been learned. There has to be a variety of levels they must communicate between and they include: public, parents, other educators, teachers, and the students.
1) I think oral presentations of mastery are a great idea to implement in the classroom. Not only are they able to demonstrate what they've learned, but they are also learning other skills like crowd engagement, proper etiquette, speaking skills, body language, etc. This goes back to kind of authentic assessment, it's not just about the content.
2) The code sheet seems like an interesting thing to possibly try in order to save time on grading papers, that way you can spend more time planning. I would have to do some test runs before I became a believer but I do like the concept enough to want to try it.
1) Is there any particular type of assessment we should focus on more than another? I know they are all important but are there any that stand out amongst the rest that are most effective and show the most growth, etc.?
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Chapter 9 Review
1) Two strategies that help guide students in mentally sorting what is important and needed from what is background are coding text and underlining or highlighting. Text coding helps the student become more involved in their reading, make decisions as they read, and clarify their understanding.
2) The book gave an idea of when students can't write or underline in a text book to use a separate sheet of paper in order to use the coding symbols found on pg. 173. Some teachers use stick notes in order to mark the passages in the text.
3) The purpose of study strategies is to help foster independent learning. Content teachers have the academic knowledge to identify important concepts that need to be learned and they help develop the background information needed to show students the connection between things.
1) Transparencies are a great way to allow students to reinforce the activities of highlighting and underlining. It allows the students to practice without writing in their books since most can't anyway. The activity can be both an individual or cooperative lesson. The students can even turn this into a presentation format to present to the class if they were assigned a particular chapter or something.
2) I would like to implement student-generated elaborations. These allow the students to create the study materials and they are more engaged with the process and the material they are trying to learn. The students need the engagement in order to comprehend and remember the information they are trying to learn. There are a variety of forms that can be used.
1) Study strategies are very important to possess. Many times we go through school without any and become more focused on how to study rather than what to study. What are some ways we can get middle school students more prepared for high school or high school students more readily prepared for college? How can we implement this in our schools?
2) The book gave an idea of when students can't write or underline in a text book to use a separate sheet of paper in order to use the coding symbols found on pg. 173. Some teachers use stick notes in order to mark the passages in the text.
3) The purpose of study strategies is to help foster independent learning. Content teachers have the academic knowledge to identify important concepts that need to be learned and they help develop the background information needed to show students the connection between things.
1) Transparencies are a great way to allow students to reinforce the activities of highlighting and underlining. It allows the students to practice without writing in their books since most can't anyway. The activity can be both an individual or cooperative lesson. The students can even turn this into a presentation format to present to the class if they were assigned a particular chapter or something.
2) I would like to implement student-generated elaborations. These allow the students to create the study materials and they are more engaged with the process and the material they are trying to learn. The students need the engagement in order to comprehend and remember the information they are trying to learn. There are a variety of forms that can be used.
1) Study strategies are very important to possess. Many times we go through school without any and become more focused on how to study rather than what to study. What are some ways we can get middle school students more prepared for high school or high school students more readily prepared for college? How can we implement this in our schools?
Chapter 8 review
1) Reciprocal teaching is a strategy for building reading comprehension that capitalizes on a reading apprenticeship model for learning. Teachers and students take turns talking to one another about the meaning of the text. It allows the teacher to model.
2) They believe we should focus on the process of comprehension and move toward independent learning. The goal should be that we improve the students' abilities to comprehend the text without the teacher's assistance. We should want them to use strategies on their own without being told.
3) Teachers can help improve the chances that students will increase their comprehension during silent reading by providing materials that are optimally difficult and opportunities for choice of materials and time for students to share their responses to reading with friends and adults. (150)
1) Questioning the author seems like a great strategy to implement because it helps students cope with challenging content materials. They have to think about what the author is saying rather than the text. Many times the student looks at textbooks like they have been anonymously written rather than being the work of authors. I think this strategy helps students look at the information in a different way.
2) Another idea I would like to implement is the textbook activity guide. This will help involve the student in a cooperative way. It is an activity that requires just a short amount of time and just helps the students become involved in the text they are reading. The students get to help monitor their own comprehension and the teachers role is to just help the students become independent learners.
1) What are some ways we can help students remember the strategies to use when reading the text? With the exception of a bookmark?
2) They believe we should focus on the process of comprehension and move toward independent learning. The goal should be that we improve the students' abilities to comprehend the text without the teacher's assistance. We should want them to use strategies on their own without being told.
3) Teachers can help improve the chances that students will increase their comprehension during silent reading by providing materials that are optimally difficult and opportunities for choice of materials and time for students to share their responses to reading with friends and adults. (150)
1) Questioning the author seems like a great strategy to implement because it helps students cope with challenging content materials. They have to think about what the author is saying rather than the text. Many times the student looks at textbooks like they have been anonymously written rather than being the work of authors. I think this strategy helps students look at the information in a different way.
2) Another idea I would like to implement is the textbook activity guide. This will help involve the student in a cooperative way. It is an activity that requires just a short amount of time and just helps the students become involved in the text they are reading. The students get to help monitor their own comprehension and the teachers role is to just help the students become independent learners.
1) What are some ways we can help students remember the strategies to use when reading the text? With the exception of a bookmark?
Chapter 7 Review
1) Pre reading strategies are actually very beneficial to students when they are going to be learning a large amount of information like from science or social studies. The pre reading strategies help students to organize the information before beginning what they are studying. There are a variety of pre-reading graphic organizers.
2) Researchers who investigate effective strategies to help correct misconceptions have generally concluded that teacher-mediated discussions work the best.
3) 3 ways schema can be modified- 1. add new information without really changing their ideas about anything 2. readers "tune" their previous understandings by altering what they formerly believed so that it is now consistent with their new learning 3. readers might restructure their beliefs totally and replace their existing ideas with new schema.
1) Visual Prediction Guide- One of the strategies I would like to implement would be a visual prediction guide. Many learners are now visual learners and it is in large part due to technology. We constantly need to accommodate to those in our classroom. Visual Predication Guides can be modified to fit the individual students needs.
2) Anticipation Guides are also very helpful when trying to get students to build a connection. Anticipation guides highlight mismatches between what students may know and believe and what is presented in the text. Anticipation guides can be used in any content area and help the reader become more successful.
1) What are some extra strategies that can be used in order to get students prior knowledge started up so that the lesson can be taught more efficiently?
Chapter 6 Review
1) Vocabulary that students need for reading receives the most attention, people actually possess four vocabularies: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The listening vocabulary is the earliest to develop and the largest.
2) Paribakht and Wesche proposed a five-point scale of word knowledge: 1) Never saw the word 2) heard it, but do not know what it means 3) recognize it in context as having something to do with….4)know it well 5) can use this word appropriately
3) Morphology involves gaining information about the meaning, pronunciation, and part of speech of new words from their prefixes, roots, and suffixes. It is clear that when students learn to chunk letters in a long word into meaningful morphemes this helps process new words.
1) Word Family trees would be a great tool to implement for vocabulary lessons. It is a lot better than making students just write down definitions. It helps the students actually learn the words and serves as a visual for students who are visual learners.
2) Concept maps are something I would implement when teaching new content in the science class. It gives the opportunity for you to make connections with words as well with definitions. It gives the students a chance to connect things to examples as well
1) Learning words and extending a students vocabulary can become very boring for the student. What re some activities to promote a fun and productive vocabulary experience?
Chapter 5 Review
1) Teaching students to use headings, titles, subheadings, graphic clues, and signal words when previewing text helps students to use text features to comprehend text.
2) One way to help students to understand the structure of a story is to provide students with a story grammar before the reading. They have been developed to help students facilitate the identification of the predictable aspects of a story.
3) Signal words is one way proficient readers use to understand text structure. These words signal relationships between words and ideas.
4) 60-80 percent of the items on state tests are informational so it is best that we teach them.
1) Story Frames- I would implement story frames within the curriculum since they help so much with cause and effect. The students could learn a lot of information just from filling out a story frame. They help with cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast, sequence order, and description patterns.
2) Another graphic organizer I would use is a Problem and Solution that can be found on Pg. 82. The problem and solution map is a great strategy that not only can be used for reading problem or content areas within the classroom, but it can also be used with real life issues one may encounter.
1) Teachers are responsible for evaluating and choosing textbooks that are the best for their students. What resources are available to help teachers more effectively choose textbooks that facilitate rather than impede student learning?
Chapter 4 Review
1) Despite an increase focus on early literacy programs in the past 10 years 38 percent of America's fourth graders and 29 percent of America's 8th graders were still reading below the basic level on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational progress tests.
2) According to the U.S. Department of Education, roughly 80 percent of high school dropouts are poor readers
3) If reading strategies are implemented with content areas 90 percent of struggling readers can be helped significantly. We recognize the behaviors but with the age they are at we sometimes let them slide under the radar.
1) Implementing Interactive Reading Guides. This is an effective strategy that will help students learn information from the text at an independent reading level.
2) Making sure all reading lesson plans have before, during, and after activities. This will help with schemata and review to make sure the student understands the content. The during activities will be helping the student retain more information.
1) What can we do for those students who come from a minority/low income family overcome the barriers that are placed in front of them when it comes to literacy?
Chapter 2 Review
1) Ping Pong reading is probably the most frequently observed ineffective learning behavior in a middle school classroom. We have all done this at one point of our life. I know I am guilty of it and you don't really realize how ineffective it is until you go to take the test and realize you know really nothing about the material to answer any deeper level thinking questions. It is however efficient is it is only used to answer questions on a factual-based information. pg. 19
2) World Brain vs. School Brain- It is so funny to think this actually has a subtopic for itself because it is deserving. I learned that there is truth behind this and I am not crazy. Everyday during the school year I would have a young man tell me facts we have all heard yet have been proven wrong but his dad said it was right, so the teacher who even looked it up is wrong. I have others who will say oh okay and see that the answer is indeed not the one the parent said yet that one child stood strong behind his dad because that was all he knew. He came from a home-school setting so he is getting a lot of world brain answers vs. school brain answers. I really tried hard to show him resources that were reliable in order to look up answers to questions he may not have been too sure about. We just have to help build a better connection.
3) Metacognition vs cognition - I see these terms used interchangeably so it was nice to see them broken down because they are not the same thing. Metacognition-persons' awareness and understanding of that knowledge. Cognition- using the knowledge possessed.
1) Building more of the schema before the lesson is critical. I think using interesting hooks to grab the student's attention can start the schema effect up. It is best to have lessons planned so that we can implement the fun hook that jump starts the lesson.
2) Build on middle school students' interest in order for them to transition into expository text. So select books to the student interest so that they have a positive experience.
1) What other ways can we implement writing that is creative for the students in such a fast paced content-driven environment?
2) World Brain vs. School Brain- It is so funny to think this actually has a subtopic for itself because it is deserving. I learned that there is truth behind this and I am not crazy. Everyday during the school year I would have a young man tell me facts we have all heard yet have been proven wrong but his dad said it was right, so the teacher who even looked it up is wrong. I have others who will say oh okay and see that the answer is indeed not the one the parent said yet that one child stood strong behind his dad because that was all he knew. He came from a home-school setting so he is getting a lot of world brain answers vs. school brain answers. I really tried hard to show him resources that were reliable in order to look up answers to questions he may not have been too sure about. We just have to help build a better connection.
3) Metacognition vs cognition - I see these terms used interchangeably so it was nice to see them broken down because they are not the same thing. Metacognition-persons' awareness and understanding of that knowledge. Cognition- using the knowledge possessed.
1) Building more of the schema before the lesson is critical. I think using interesting hooks to grab the student's attention can start the schema effect up. It is best to have lessons planned so that we can implement the fun hook that jump starts the lesson.
2) Build on middle school students' interest in order for them to transition into expository text. So select books to the student interest so that they have a positive experience.
1) What other ways can we implement writing that is creative for the students in such a fast paced content-driven environment?
Chapter 1 Review
1.) Three essential components for struggling readers can be represented using a barstool. 1) Developmental Reading Instruction 2) Study Support/ Tutoring 3) Classroom Learning Strategies If any of these were missing the stool (reading program) would fail.
2.) There have been many national efforts in the last decade that have focused on the literacy and learning needs of adolescents, Including: The Striving Readers program and Standards for literacy coaches. There is a larger focus on teacher development rather than the focus on students. (pg. 8)
3.) Two integral aspects of the Striving Readers Program is that it include school-level strategies that increase reading achievement of all students and provide professional development in literacy for teachers across the curriculum and interventions targeted for those who struggle the most in reading. (pg.8)
1.) One way to implement content from this chapter is to develop a plan with your principal to continue to enroll in professional development opportunities so that we can keep up to date with all new information whether we use it or not. It is always best to know what is out there and what the possibilities are.
2.) Another way to implement this is in the class is to get things that motivate the students to read. It would be best to do it through book selection within your own classroom library. We know that reading is a life long process thanks to the book, now we need to get our readers to become life long readers and that starts with building positive connections with reading.
1.) What are some ways that we can approach our principals about wanting to implement more strategies rather just content readings? I know it will be rough especially with testing subject years but it needs to be done in order to continue to achieve.
2.) There have been many national efforts in the last decade that have focused on the literacy and learning needs of adolescents, Including: The Striving Readers program and Standards for literacy coaches. There is a larger focus on teacher development rather than the focus on students. (pg. 8)
3.) Two integral aspects of the Striving Readers Program is that it include school-level strategies that increase reading achievement of all students and provide professional development in literacy for teachers across the curriculum and interventions targeted for those who struggle the most in reading. (pg.8)
1.) One way to implement content from this chapter is to develop a plan with your principal to continue to enroll in professional development opportunities so that we can keep up to date with all new information whether we use it or not. It is always best to know what is out there and what the possibilities are.
2.) Another way to implement this is in the class is to get things that motivate the students to read. It would be best to do it through book selection within your own classroom library. We know that reading is a life long process thanks to the book, now we need to get our readers to become life long readers and that starts with building positive connections with reading.
1.) What are some ways that we can approach our principals about wanting to implement more strategies rather just content readings? I know it will be rough especially with testing subject years but it needs to be done in order to continue to achieve.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Tutoring Reflection 10
Ahhhh what a sad day. It was truly bittersweet with the work being done, but I was sad to lose a student just like the end of a school year. I seriously thought to myself this year, how can I go through this depressing day for the rest of my life. I then have to remember that I get new ones and I just hope that my old ones received a big enough impact from me that they will remember me forever. I can't wait until the day when I have a student specifically come to a school just to see me and tell me how they've been and that they miss me. I can't wait for someone to have the same feelings the little boy in the teacher movie had for his teacher. I think that will eventually make up for all the sad days of last day of school.
I let Reggie go to nba.com and show me some cool articles he says he gets on and reads sometimes when he's bored and theres some great stuff. Of course he was checking out all the draft information they had posted but hey, it was reading. I assessed him in BEARS and the Schnoll's and he had a little rise in his scores. I didn't expect a huge jump in ten days, but I did get something better. I witnessed him making his own wordle for basketball, interest in taking up his blog again, and exploring of websites for articles to read that he enjoys. My main goal was to get him engaged in reading and writing, to not look at it in such a negative way. I did a lot of digging around to get the books that I did get for him to try and build a better connection and I can honestly say I think I achieved my goal.
The parents were glad to see the interest he had taken in for articles online and typing a blog. They said they were going to order the Sports Illustrated Magazine for both adult and kids. I think this will be great so that he can continue to have a positive experience with reading. It has been a great month and it flew by so fast. I have learned so much these past couple weeks that I hope he has learned half of what I have from him. I couldn't have had a better tutee and I am so glad I was able to have this experience.
I let Reggie go to nba.com and show me some cool articles he says he gets on and reads sometimes when he's bored and theres some great stuff. Of course he was checking out all the draft information they had posted but hey, it was reading. I assessed him in BEARS and the Schnoll's and he had a little rise in his scores. I didn't expect a huge jump in ten days, but I did get something better. I witnessed him making his own wordle for basketball, interest in taking up his blog again, and exploring of websites for articles to read that he enjoys. My main goal was to get him engaged in reading and writing, to not look at it in such a negative way. I did a lot of digging around to get the books that I did get for him to try and build a better connection and I can honestly say I think I achieved my goal.
The parents were glad to see the interest he had taken in for articles online and typing a blog. They said they were going to order the Sports Illustrated Magazine for both adult and kids. I think this will be great so that he can continue to have a positive experience with reading. It has been a great month and it flew by so fast. I have learned so much these past couple weeks that I hope he has learned half of what I have from him. I couldn't have had a better tutee and I am so glad I was able to have this experience.
Tutoring Reflection 9
Well we are almost to the end. Today we kind of did a mini review of everything and I explained what we would be doing in the last tutoring session. We went over a site that Reggie enjoyed at the beginning which was freerice.com. He loves that site because he is constantly trying to see how many he can get right before he messes up. I love watching him do educational things and enjoying it. There were even two words that had been a part of our vocabulary that had happened to pop up and he got them right! I was so excited!
I listened to his preferences and went back to an online article from Sports Illustrated for Kids. It was over John Wall and had a different format to it. I was anxious to see how he would comprehend a report like article that also included Q & A's. After we completed reading the article we went back over a few things and he then answered some Bloom's questions. He did a phenomenal job comprehending the passage and didn't seem to have any issue with the Q & A comprehension part. He likes to see what him and some of the pro basketball players may have in common because sometimes those guys don't seem human.
Reggie has been a solid sport throughout the entire time and I am sad to think I only have one more time with him. I really hope he continues to read this summer and grow because he has done such a good job with the word play games, writing, and reading activities. I can see how he has grown and this is a good feeling but you almost want to just spend the entire summer doing this. Today Reggie completed everything in his story and published it for the world to see. It was a great sight to see him get so concerned with how it looked before he published because he was aware that parent's and some of my friends would be able to see his finished product.
Today I learned that no matter how much we have on our plate or how stressed we are, we have to step back and take a deep breath to look at the product we have created or helped create. I think this is what Reggie went through with his storybird as well as I in this class because it was overwhelming but so rewarding once you step away from the work. Tomorrow I will make sure I have his assessments ready to go and the heart to say see ya later:)
I listened to his preferences and went back to an online article from Sports Illustrated for Kids. It was over John Wall and had a different format to it. I was anxious to see how he would comprehend a report like article that also included Q & A's. After we completed reading the article we went back over a few things and he then answered some Bloom's questions. He did a phenomenal job comprehending the passage and didn't seem to have any issue with the Q & A comprehension part. He likes to see what him and some of the pro basketball players may have in common because sometimes those guys don't seem human.
Reggie has been a solid sport throughout the entire time and I am sad to think I only have one more time with him. I really hope he continues to read this summer and grow because he has done such a good job with the word play games, writing, and reading activities. I can see how he has grown and this is a good feeling but you almost want to just spend the entire summer doing this. Today Reggie completed everything in his story and published it for the world to see. It was a great sight to see him get so concerned with how it looked before he published because he was aware that parent's and some of my friends would be able to see his finished product.
Today I learned that no matter how much we have on our plate or how stressed we are, we have to step back and take a deep breath to look at the product we have created or helped create. I think this is what Reggie went through with his storybird as well as I in this class because it was overwhelming but so rewarding once you step away from the work. Tomorrow I will make sure I have his assessments ready to go and the heart to say see ya later:)
Tutoring Reflection 8
I was so excited for this day because we were able to learn about someone so close to home. We focused on Jim Thorpe today who is a Native American Oklahoma hero. It was funny to see how close a like Reggie looked to Jim Thorpe. They had a lot of similar features so it engaged the student even more. I think the student is really beginning to enjoy the sessions and I think it is in large part due to the types of materials we are reading. He is loving learning little things because he loves being able to drop facts to friends about random things.
I enjoy watching him create his story as well. He really does have a creative mind and getting to see him lay things out is great. He has really put thought into the storyline and has went in a variety of directions with it but has officially selected the way he'd like it to go and has already begun inputting it into the computer. He likes writing on his blog too so technology is vital but I don't think he expresses himself as freely online. He said he actually tried blogging before on his own but it just ended up being a bunch of song lyrics. I tried to encourage him that, that's great and he should pick it back up. He is a popular young boy and I think it would be great if he could pick it back up and get some friends to pick one up to so that they stay interactive with one another.
Reggie was able to explore a site that offered a biography, stats, pictures, etc. of Jim Thorpe. He seemed to enjoy that because he mentioned he would rather read things online rather than in a real book. Weird? I always enjoyed real books better. I do have a NOOK and love it but the computer screen bothers me when I try to read unless it's short and sweet. Reggie was able to continue with the sticky note activity, which he loves and is practically a pro at now. :) I am for sure going to mention this to the parent's so that they may be able to implement it during the school year.
I learned today how old I am getting with the whole book vs. computer reading. Reggie spends a lot of time online and I can see why he has more of a preference of it, but it still catches me off guard because it's not something that would be appealing to me. He mentioned it was because websites usually have more pictures and things to do than a book does, which is usually true so I can see this. I just realize how much work it will take in order to keep up with everything that will come out due to our technology advancements.
It is getting towards the end but I would like to look into finding more online readings for him since this is a preference I am now aware of. I didn't think to ask him about this preference because I automatically assume he would like real books better. Little did I know :)
I enjoy watching him create his story as well. He really does have a creative mind and getting to see him lay things out is great. He has really put thought into the storyline and has went in a variety of directions with it but has officially selected the way he'd like it to go and has already begun inputting it into the computer. He likes writing on his blog too so technology is vital but I don't think he expresses himself as freely online. He said he actually tried blogging before on his own but it just ended up being a bunch of song lyrics. I tried to encourage him that, that's great and he should pick it back up. He is a popular young boy and I think it would be great if he could pick it back up and get some friends to pick one up to so that they stay interactive with one another.
Reggie was able to explore a site that offered a biography, stats, pictures, etc. of Jim Thorpe. He seemed to enjoy that because he mentioned he would rather read things online rather than in a real book. Weird? I always enjoyed real books better. I do have a NOOK and love it but the computer screen bothers me when I try to read unless it's short and sweet. Reggie was able to continue with the sticky note activity, which he loves and is practically a pro at now. :) I am for sure going to mention this to the parent's so that they may be able to implement it during the school year.
I learned today how old I am getting with the whole book vs. computer reading. Reggie spends a lot of time online and I can see why he has more of a preference of it, but it still catches me off guard because it's not something that would be appealing to me. He mentioned it was because websites usually have more pictures and things to do than a book does, which is usually true so I can see this. I just realize how much work it will take in order to keep up with everything that will come out due to our technology advancements.
It is getting towards the end but I would like to look into finding more online readings for him since this is a preference I am now aware of. I didn't think to ask him about this preference because I automatically assume he would like real books better. Little did I know :)
Tutoring Reflection 7
Today was a pretty good day. I actually learned quite a bit from the book we read about the invention of basketball. This was a very high interest book for my tutee as he loves basketball. I can't believe how much has changed since the time it was first invented. It was a fun experience talking with him about differences and what we would have kept the same or what we are glad they changed. He was able to explore on a website over the guy who actually created it, Edwin Wyckoff. That was fun trying to figure out how to say between the two of us. :) We contined to add pages to his picture dictionary that he has been working on. He really enjoys doing those because he is able to draw it out, which helps him remember. This just hit me...duhhh because he is so visual. Sometimes I think my brain is lacking oxygen. haha. We took one of the vocab words and created a wordle. I let him select the word and he chose philosophy. I have placed it here so that you may be able to see. He had a pretty good time with it and actually made one for basketball but didn't save it :( I am glad he actually went on his own and created one, it was pretty awesome and I wish I would have been able to show you that one.
Once again we focused on the sticky notes. We worked on summarizing what we just read and how to take better notes on the sticky pads. He was a lot more active in the process today and we came up with a lot of the same main points, so we are either right or wrong together :). I was surprised on how well he answered the Bloom's questions because these were a little more difficult and the book wasn't exactly short but he did a great job answering them. I could tell he really enjoyed deciding what rules he would keep from back then and which ones he would keep out. He had a reason to back up every single one that dealt with him personally. The student continued to work on their story and it is really shaping into quite the masterpiece. It involves a prince and a dentist. I will let your imagination run wild.
I learned that although you may have setup procedures for the student like a routine, they still need guidance at times in order to stay on track. It is best to focus on two specific objectives rather than a cloud of topics that can sometimes confuse the student. It is easy to get side tracked but when specific goals are set it helps keep things in order. This is also what I'd like to work on for the next lesson. I just need to be a little more organized with the goal I am trying to get the student to meet. I just find myself finding all these teaching moments, when I could actual focus on what I was suppose to. I am not saying I won't take advantage of the teaching moments but I think I could work on limiting how many times I get side tracked from something else.
Once again we focused on the sticky notes. We worked on summarizing what we just read and how to take better notes on the sticky pads. He was a lot more active in the process today and we came up with a lot of the same main points, so we are either right or wrong together :). I was surprised on how well he answered the Bloom's questions because these were a little more difficult and the book wasn't exactly short but he did a great job answering them. I could tell he really enjoyed deciding what rules he would keep from back then and which ones he would keep out. He had a reason to back up every single one that dealt with him personally. The student continued to work on their story and it is really shaping into quite the masterpiece. It involves a prince and a dentist. I will let your imagination run wild.
I learned that although you may have setup procedures for the student like a routine, they still need guidance at times in order to stay on track. It is best to focus on two specific objectives rather than a cloud of topics that can sometimes confuse the student. It is easy to get side tracked but when specific goals are set it helps keep things in order. This is also what I'd like to work on for the next lesson. I just need to be a little more organized with the goal I am trying to get the student to meet. I just find myself finding all these teaching moments, when I could actual focus on what I was suppose to. I am not saying I won't take advantage of the teaching moments but I think I could work on limiting how many times I get side tracked from something else.
Tutoring Reflection 6
Today was an awesome day of tutoring due to being able to make such a personal experience for my tutee. Reggie showed an interest in the Eiffel Tower on his interest surveys. I thought we could do a virtual field trip and visit the Eiffel Tower. I found an amazing site that let you decorate the Eiffel Tower at night( which is when he wanted to visit). He was able to pick the color of fireworks, lights, etc. then light it up. It great watching him put so much thought in how he wanted it to look and he didn't act too cool, which kids his age can sometimes do. I noticed it doesn't happen as much one-on-one so I am totally enjoying this experience. They are as eager as a first grader trying to read!
Today we worked with sticky notes in order to check comprehension and to learn how to take proper notes. It is a progress in work but he really enjoyed working with the sticky notes. I think it was just being able to do something different rather than writing it on a separate sheet of paper. It will also help since the kids aren't really able to highlight the book or underline, like we sometimes do when we try to study. Reggie is a visual student and I think the sticky notes help him to keep visually aware of the book. Once asked a question he knew exactly what note in the book to go to. This strategy helped him become more aware of the content in the book and the books itself.
Reggie did a great job answering the Bloom's questions but I think it was because in large part the sticky notes because it was a longer book and I think the sticky notes helped him more aware and helped him build more of a connection to the text. Reggie matched up a few captions for his storyboard that he created for his storybird story. He has put some thought into the story which is so funny because it is a little random (I love random, another similarity) but it was what he wanted to write about so I think it is great.
I think for the next session we should probably continue working on his comprehension of the text by implementing more sticky notes as well as working on his note taking on the notes. It would probably be best to go through and walk through a few pages and compare to see if we come up with some of the same notes to see if what we feel what is important is the same.
Today we worked with sticky notes in order to check comprehension and to learn how to take proper notes. It is a progress in work but he really enjoyed working with the sticky notes. I think it was just being able to do something different rather than writing it on a separate sheet of paper. It will also help since the kids aren't really able to highlight the book or underline, like we sometimes do when we try to study. Reggie is a visual student and I think the sticky notes help him to keep visually aware of the book. Once asked a question he knew exactly what note in the book to go to. This strategy helped him become more aware of the content in the book and the books itself.
Reggie did a great job answering the Bloom's questions but I think it was because in large part the sticky notes because it was a longer book and I think the sticky notes helped him more aware and helped him build more of a connection to the text. Reggie matched up a few captions for his storyboard that he created for his storybird story. He has put some thought into the story which is so funny because it is a little random (I love random, another similarity) but it was what he wanted to write about so I think it is great.
I think for the next session we should probably continue working on his comprehension of the text by implementing more sticky notes as well as working on his note taking on the notes. It would probably be best to go through and walk through a few pages and compare to see if we come up with some of the same notes to see if what we feel what is important is the same.
Tutoring Reflection 5
I absolutely loved today because I learned so much. Today we did a diverse lesson but funny thing was I didn't know we were suppose to until after I picked the book for the day and it ended up being perfect. Today we actually focused on Asian-American athletes. We looked at a powerpoint and was shocked to see how many athletes actually have a variety of cultures with them. The tutee comes from the same family as me and we are biracial so it was nice seeing Reggie being able to relate to a lot to the athletes and what they had to say. It was a great experience and very inspiring in most cases.
We focused our attention on Hines Ward who is actually half Asian and half African American. The tutee is half Caucasian and half Native American the biracial situation kicked in. Hines talked about how difficult it was to fit in at times because he had trouble figuring out who he was and Reggie shared that this is sometimes how he feels. It was so rewarding to see such a great ending for him and to see how it impacted Reggie. Reggie mentioned it was his favorite story we had read so far. Reggie comprehended this story very well and I think it had a lot to do with the similarities they have and how he can relate them to his life. Reggie needs application in order to feel it is relevant enough to read so I feel he really connected to the text because of the relation.
Today we worked on the Cornell notes and he seemed to really enjoy this strategy and he mentioned he would like to keep using it for when he studies. It will also be mentioned to the parents as a reminder because it truly is a great strategy to have in your back pocket. I actually hadn't even heard of it until this class.I wish I would have had someone to tell me some of the things I am able to share with my tutee. I just hope he feels it's important enough to keep and use.
Today I learned how much of an impact one short book can have on someone. We always hear of inspirational stories on TV but to actually see the connection the child make with a book can be breath taking. I actually went home and had a little happy tear party (I happen to do this at times when I am super proud of a kid or the class). It is such a rewarding experience to be a teacher and I am so thankful I was put in the position I am. I love what I do and I love this experience.
Next lesson I would like to work on applying more of the content to his life because he really likes the connections. It will happen more in an informal setting but it does need to happen especially since he depends on it so much in order to get motivated to read.
We focused our attention on Hines Ward who is actually half Asian and half African American. The tutee is half Caucasian and half Native American the biracial situation kicked in. Hines talked about how difficult it was to fit in at times because he had trouble figuring out who he was and Reggie shared that this is sometimes how he feels. It was so rewarding to see such a great ending for him and to see how it impacted Reggie. Reggie mentioned it was his favorite story we had read so far. Reggie comprehended this story very well and I think it had a lot to do with the similarities they have and how he can relate them to his life. Reggie needs application in order to feel it is relevant enough to read so I feel he really connected to the text because of the relation.
Today we worked on the Cornell notes and he seemed to really enjoy this strategy and he mentioned he would like to keep using it for when he studies. It will also be mentioned to the parents as a reminder because it truly is a great strategy to have in your back pocket. I actually hadn't even heard of it until this class.I wish I would have had someone to tell me some of the things I am able to share with my tutee. I just hope he feels it's important enough to keep and use.
Today I learned how much of an impact one short book can have on someone. We always hear of inspirational stories on TV but to actually see the connection the child make with a book can be breath taking. I actually went home and had a little happy tear party (I happen to do this at times when I am super proud of a kid or the class). It is such a rewarding experience to be a teacher and I am so thankful I was put in the position I am. I love what I do and I love this experience.
Next lesson I would like to work on applying more of the content to his life because he really likes the connections. It will happen more in an informal setting but it does need to happen especially since he depends on it so much in order to get motivated to read.
Tutoring Reflection 4
Today's lesson was fun for me because we were able to go to spellingcity.com and I love this site. I have had such a positive response from both students and parents from it. Reggie took well to the site and really enjoyed playing some of the games. He was able to play the hangmouse game which helped him wrk on guessing the words using particular letters. Reggie of course got really competitive but it was expected and used as a motivator. I can tell we are making progress through each lesson and it is a great experience to see him learn right in front of you. It is so rare we get to work with students one-on-one especially at the age these kids are at and they really need the attention. I am just happy I was given the opportunity to do such a thing.
We read a book over John Elway which was a great story. I am glad Reggie and I share an interest in sports because it might be difficult to read and listen to expository text that I am not interested in. It just shows you how much of an attitude issue it can be when making someone read non-fiction about something they don't care for, it's rough and a struggle. Reggie answered his Bloom's questions accurately and did some deeper level thinking while completing the questions. It was like I could see his brain turning looking for an answer.
We really picked up the planning and brainstorming stage for our storybird story and it seemed like he had a real struggle with this. Reggie was considered to be creative on the learning styles, but I think with lack of organization he can't keep his ideas under control. This is definitely something that needs to be worked on, his organization of his ideas.
Next tutoring session I would like to focus on keeping Reggie's ideas more organized so that he may be able to focus on expanding his ideas rather than sitting and not being able to think about anything to do because he is a very creative young man and I would hate to see that his ideas not make it down on paper because they come up with some great stuff at their age.
I always look forward to the next time, I don't say this because it's what we are suppose to feel but I am genuinely happy to be doing this because these kids this age need us and the attention we have to give, no matter how busy or how much attention they don't want, or get from sports, etc. They love it!
We read a book over John Elway which was a great story. I am glad Reggie and I share an interest in sports because it might be difficult to read and listen to expository text that I am not interested in. It just shows you how much of an attitude issue it can be when making someone read non-fiction about something they don't care for, it's rough and a struggle. Reggie answered his Bloom's questions accurately and did some deeper level thinking while completing the questions. It was like I could see his brain turning looking for an answer.
We really picked up the planning and brainstorming stage for our storybird story and it seemed like he had a real struggle with this. Reggie was considered to be creative on the learning styles, but I think with lack of organization he can't keep his ideas under control. This is definitely something that needs to be worked on, his organization of his ideas.
Next tutoring session I would like to focus on keeping Reggie's ideas more organized so that he may be able to focus on expanding his ideas rather than sitting and not being able to think about anything to do because he is a very creative young man and I would hate to see that his ideas not make it down on paper because they come up with some great stuff at their age.
I always look forward to the next time, I don't say this because it's what we are suppose to feel but I am genuinely happy to be doing this because these kids this age need us and the attention we have to give, no matter how busy or how much attention they don't want, or get from sports, etc. They love it!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Tutoring Reflection 3
Today we began the day playing guess the word through a powerpoint. The tutee did a great job with the words and only had real difficulty with one specific word. All of the words related to a book that we read about Michael Jordan so he was very engaged and had plenty of background information. Reggie was asked the predict what would happen throughout the story. I could tell he wasn't into the whole stopping and asking questions about what he thought would happen next but he participated and always gave pretty accurate answers.
When it came to the Bloom's questions Reggie answered them with short answers. He really didn't elaborate on any of the answers but he did answer them correctly. I think just getting him comfortable after a while will help on his lack of detailed responses and after awhile he will give more detailed responses. The environment is pretty comfortable but I think he is just trying to get the feel of things because he was very interested in what type of things we were going to be doing. It was rewarding to know that he was interested in the activities and wasn't just bummed out that we would be tutoring.
We actually began our brainstorming for our digital story we will be completing for the writing section. I can tell this is an area Reggie needs to work on because he had a difficult time trying to come up with ideas. I coached him through the exercise and we came up with some ideas by working together. We did a small web in order to try to come up with ideas and I helped him summarize his thoughts so that he didn't have to write down a very long idea for a story.
Today's experience was a good one and I hope this continues. You feel really good when you know you are helping them and it is very rewarding to hear them tell you thank you. I didn't realize how much a of a struggle it would be for him to brainstorm. I tried not to put him on the spot because we do tend to freeze up so I gradually went into it but he still struggled quite a bit. It makes me think that he was uncomfortable, yet never admitted to being in that situation. I just know that next time I may take a more guided approach and help him even more.
I love middle school aged children and they are my favorite ages to teach. Most of the time they are focused on how cool they look in front of everyone else. This is really the first experience I've had where I was outside of a school setting and away from everyone else. You really get to see the child without the entire act. It is a refreshing change because you can see that these kids need our help so much and they often get lost in the social aspect of everything. I remember it being like that when I was in school. I have the opportunity to help this student academically where he struggles within the privacy of his own secure location. I think it will be very beneficial to him and myself because this is a rare experience I get to have.
When it came to the Bloom's questions Reggie answered them with short answers. He really didn't elaborate on any of the answers but he did answer them correctly. I think just getting him comfortable after a while will help on his lack of detailed responses and after awhile he will give more detailed responses. The environment is pretty comfortable but I think he is just trying to get the feel of things because he was very interested in what type of things we were going to be doing. It was rewarding to know that he was interested in the activities and wasn't just bummed out that we would be tutoring.
We actually began our brainstorming for our digital story we will be completing for the writing section. I can tell this is an area Reggie needs to work on because he had a difficult time trying to come up with ideas. I coached him through the exercise and we came up with some ideas by working together. We did a small web in order to try to come up with ideas and I helped him summarize his thoughts so that he didn't have to write down a very long idea for a story.
Today's experience was a good one and I hope this continues. You feel really good when you know you are helping them and it is very rewarding to hear them tell you thank you. I didn't realize how much a of a struggle it would be for him to brainstorm. I tried not to put him on the spot because we do tend to freeze up so I gradually went into it but he still struggled quite a bit. It makes me think that he was uncomfortable, yet never admitted to being in that situation. I just know that next time I may take a more guided approach and help him even more.
I love middle school aged children and they are my favorite ages to teach. Most of the time they are focused on how cool they look in front of everyone else. This is really the first experience I've had where I was outside of a school setting and away from everyone else. You really get to see the child without the entire act. It is a refreshing change because you can see that these kids need our help so much and they often get lost in the social aspect of everything. I remember it being like that when I was in school. I have the opportunity to help this student academically where he struggles within the privacy of his own secure location. I think it will be very beneficial to him and myself because this is a rare experience I get to have.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Tutoring Reflection 2
Today we started out with the freerice.com site. My tutee really enjoyed this site because he started looking at in a competitive light. Due to him being involved in basketball, he has a natural competition drive. We began reading "Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive" by: Carole Boston Weatherford. He seemed highly interested in the book but it was one that he actually selected.
The tutee completed a BEAR spelling assessment today which ended up being pretty helpful. The tutee was with-in word pattern-middle and could use some strengthening in spelling skills. We conducted an attitude survey that allowed up to see how he felt about reading. Reggie doesn't like books or reading much at all, yet doesn't think less of anyone who may enjoy reading. Reggie felt like it was only good for him to read in order to broaden his interest. Reggie doesn't like going to libraries nor does he go on his own time to purchase or check out books from any type of book store. Reggie falls under that external motivation type of attitude and only wants to read to get a reward out of it from an external source. We need to try to direct him to a more internal type of motivation.
Reggie took a reading inventory that let me know what he thought a good reader was. Reggie let me know that a good reader has a larger vocabulary and does not read slow. Reggie actually says he is a good reader and would actually like to just work on comprehending what he reads better. When Reggie reads out loud he reads way too fast, which could be effecting his comprehension. When Reggie encounters a word he doesn't know, he usually skips it or sounds it out.
The last assessment we did was the discovery wheel. We found out that a few of his strengths were money, health, and memory. A couple of his weaknesses were planning and reading. The tutee then finished up the lesson by reading an article about the NBA finals from the Sports Illustrated page, which I can tell her really enjoyed.
I learned that it will be difficult to come up with ways to get Reggie to be interested in reading. He is already about to be n the eight grade and so far he has had a bad experience with reading. I know I must try to help him go in the right direction. I also was able to learn more about my tutee in the areas that need improvements.
Next lesson I teach I plan on trying to continue to build a better relationship with him and reading. This is something that really needs to be focused on because he could acquire so much information if he began enjoying what he was reading. I think he has just a bad taste in his mouth from AR because his school really stresses the program all the way up until high school. I will be trying to get books that meet his interest as well as meet the needs the lesson requires me to teach for the day.
The tutee completed a BEAR spelling assessment today which ended up being pretty helpful. The tutee was with-in word pattern-middle and could use some strengthening in spelling skills. We conducted an attitude survey that allowed up to see how he felt about reading. Reggie doesn't like books or reading much at all, yet doesn't think less of anyone who may enjoy reading. Reggie felt like it was only good for him to read in order to broaden his interest. Reggie doesn't like going to libraries nor does he go on his own time to purchase or check out books from any type of book store. Reggie falls under that external motivation type of attitude and only wants to read to get a reward out of it from an external source. We need to try to direct him to a more internal type of motivation.
Reggie took a reading inventory that let me know what he thought a good reader was. Reggie let me know that a good reader has a larger vocabulary and does not read slow. Reggie actually says he is a good reader and would actually like to just work on comprehending what he reads better. When Reggie reads out loud he reads way too fast, which could be effecting his comprehension. When Reggie encounters a word he doesn't know, he usually skips it or sounds it out.
The last assessment we did was the discovery wheel. We found out that a few of his strengths were money, health, and memory. A couple of his weaknesses were planning and reading. The tutee then finished up the lesson by reading an article about the NBA finals from the Sports Illustrated page, which I can tell her really enjoyed.
I learned that it will be difficult to come up with ways to get Reggie to be interested in reading. He is already about to be n the eight grade and so far he has had a bad experience with reading. I know I must try to help him go in the right direction. I also was able to learn more about my tutee in the areas that need improvements.
Next lesson I teach I plan on trying to continue to build a better relationship with him and reading. This is something that really needs to be focused on because he could acquire so much information if he began enjoying what he was reading. I think he has just a bad taste in his mouth from AR because his school really stresses the program all the way up until high school. I will be trying to get books that meet his interest as well as meet the needs the lesson requires me to teach for the day.
Tutoring Reflection 1
I began my tutoring experience by getting to know the tutee even more. We did a venn diagram in order to get to know one another. We had some similarities like music, sports, and food. We did have some big differences though, he hates reading and I love reading. When I saw this I got so sad and made it a goal to try to get him to enjoy reading.
During the assessment time I could tell my tutee was getting a little restless so we took breaks to accommodate. "Reggie" made his Voki and recited his Biopoem he created. Reggie also had his first experience with a picture dictionary by using words from "A Modern Fairytale" By: Andrea Delbanco with TIME reporting by Eben Harrell. He really enjoyed drawing the pictures for the dictionary.
Reggie took a couple of learning styles assessments and learned that he was visual, applied, verbal, social, and creative. Reggie was on the extreme end with visual and applied, which let's me know I need to base activities off of visuals and giving him way he can apply what I'm teaching him. We completed the session with him selecting his own books from the Okmulgee Public Library.
It surprised me how much interest the tutee had about what we were doing because for once he didn't act like he was too cool. I learned a lot about my tutee even though I thought I already knew about him. The tutee was very much into the session and asked numerous questions pertaining to what things are going to be like. I did learn that all not people like to read which is hard for me to believe since I love reading so much. I do have the difficult task of trying to get him to become a life-long reader who enjoys it.
I can use the learning style quiz in my class in order to help make myself more aware of the variety of students I have in my class. The Venn Diagram icebreaker was a lot of fun and allowed you to see things down on paper for visual people. It was great activity for people who even know each other already, yet it still helped you learn more about that person.
Next tutor session I will turn my focus on presenting books that he may enjoy with his love of sports so that we may build a positive experience with reading. I would like to leave you with Reggie's Voki.
During the assessment time I could tell my tutee was getting a little restless so we took breaks to accommodate. "Reggie" made his Voki and recited his Biopoem he created. Reggie also had his first experience with a picture dictionary by using words from "A Modern Fairytale" By: Andrea Delbanco with TIME reporting by Eben Harrell. He really enjoyed drawing the pictures for the dictionary.
Reggie took a couple of learning styles assessments and learned that he was visual, applied, verbal, social, and creative. Reggie was on the extreme end with visual and applied, which let's me know I need to base activities off of visuals and giving him way he can apply what I'm teaching him. We completed the session with him selecting his own books from the Okmulgee Public Library.
It surprised me how much interest the tutee had about what we were doing because for once he didn't act like he was too cool. I learned a lot about my tutee even though I thought I already knew about him. The tutee was very much into the session and asked numerous questions pertaining to what things are going to be like. I did learn that all not people like to read which is hard for me to believe since I love reading so much. I do have the difficult task of trying to get him to become a life-long reader who enjoys it.
I can use the learning style quiz in my class in order to help make myself more aware of the variety of students I have in my class. The Venn Diagram icebreaker was a lot of fun and allowed you to see things down on paper for visual people. It was great activity for people who even know each other already, yet it still helped you learn more about that person.
Next tutor session I will turn my focus on presenting books that he may enjoy with his love of sports so that we may build a positive experience with reading. I would like to leave you with Reggie's Voki.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Exceptional Resource!
The resource I would like to mention to you is called http://www.spellingcity.com/ . The site allows you to input words at any number so that you can quiz students with games and even practice by taking spelling test. Most of the services are free and you can create an account so that it will keep your words for you so that you don't have to continue to retype them. The students can even register to save their words. I use this during the school year for my spelling lists. I had three spelling groups and it will even allow you to accommodate to those needs as well by letting you create multiple lists. They recently just added the vocabulary portion but I began utilizing this at the end of the school year but it seems like it is great as well. It really is a great site and the kids love seeing their words in different ways. I especially like the test yourself spelling test because you could even have a print out of the results. My parents loved having the site too because they were able to re-print their spelling words as needed due to them being lost, etc. The words were always available Sunday at 5:00 if they wanted to go ahead and get a jump start on them for the week. There are extended features for those who purchase a membership but there are plenty of things to do for free. The games are all interactive so it would be perfect to pull up on a SMARTboard. I hope you enjoy!
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