Finishing up my lesson plans on a literature unit over the book The Maze Runner...this is exactly how I feel about the deadlines, finals and work I still have left. Will I make it out on time?
I have learned so much in this semester as a mom, student, and teacher. Between all the observation hours, a new job as a paraprofessional, the new strategies, British Literature, Demographics, test scores, MoPTA 1.1.1 and 1.1.2, my son leaving for boot camp...stay tuned to see how this semester ends.
Update - Final paper on Defoe's Roxana - A!!
Update (1-1-16) A in all three classes.
We are all familiar with the scene, right? This is what Buehl referred to as the Mentor-Apprentice Model.
Daniel is tested in several areas, he just wants to learn to fight. Mr. Miagi has the awesome responsibility to teach Daniel discipline. That is what teaching reading in the content area means to me. No matter what subject is your core subject - we are connecting students to deeper knowledge. We are teaching them to wax the car, paint the fence, sand the floor, catch the fly, paint the house. We are giving them the tools to use no matter what class they are in, all the strategies are the disciplines.
There will be students who feel they don't need it, I hear at least once a day - Man, this is stupid, when will I ever use this...in Daniel's case - he felt he was Miagi's personal slave until it was time to put all that practice to work.This is when Daniel learned the value of all those lessons. This is when Daniel calmed down. This is when he began to focus. Mr. Miagi even says - Focus Daniel Son. THEN the value was added, eventually all those strategies led him to the ultimate victory. What does advanced look like? How will you scaffold to get every student there? Readers are leaders and Writers are Igniters --- so inspire, teach, mentor, lead....you are changing the world one student at a time.
I, Stacy Waldmann, do solemnly swear to teach reading and writing in my Special Education classroom now and my classroom in the future. I hope to inspire, I hope to find the hook that tethers those "at-risk" students so that I can be like Mr. Miagi in the end, smile and know that I played a significant role in the life of a struggling student.
Although I am still looking down the barrel of assignments, finals, papers and lesson plans I did complete my observation hours yesterday - all 60 of them! I collected all my paperwork too. It was a nice little birthday present.
I have been a paraprofessional since the beginning of this semester. I have learned so much in seven weeks time. I have learned that teaching is like one big blended family. We all have responsibility to educate, train and mentor each other's students. Some of us have more "custody" than others. Some of us are authoritarian, while others are authoritative.
Chapter 9 - Controversial
Chapter 9 is chock full of assessments, test, and all sorts of definitions you should know or do know when teaching. That last two weeks have been assessment upon assessment in our blended family. STAR math, STAR reading, EOC's and so forth. I will be rereading this chapter again. In the class I am in, there is three classes happening at the same time. I even said to one teacher, that we are one big blended family. She chuckled and agreed with me.
Chapter 10 - The Kiss of Death
Today, one of my students, who chapter 10 would label "at-risk" asked me to listen to music. The other -teacher asked - "What did Mrs. E-- tell you?" to which he replied, "she said I couldn't listen to music." It was in that moment that the term of endearment took on a broader meaning. My student, her student, our student...did what many a kiddo does, - ask mom, ask dad...keep asking until you get a favorable answer.
I told him that doesn't work in my home or my classroom. He got back to work and got back to work. This brings me to the "kiss of death". One pages 403-405 of our text it talks about adolescents. The text says, I don't have to love my students, I just need to like them. I see this in reverse. I have to love them, because sometimes I will not like their behaviors. It gives three clear factors for what is needed in the classroom. 1. clear expectations 2. consistency 3. short term memory loss
I think short-term memory loss was my favorite to read about. This in my classroom is a must. It may be hour to hour or minute to minute.
The kiss of death happens when you are inconsistent. [top of page 404] Isn't this one of the number one heart aches in parenting, whether you are a blended family or not? What your two year does today, may make you laugh but the same behavior at 8 may not be as funny. Be fair, be consistent and be constant.
I believe that adolescents are begging for boundaries. A lot of them don't have any. Like the student I was referring to earlier...he said in effect, I have no boundaries. I do what I want. In our classroom, structure if vital. It is also safe. This brings me full circle to expectations. They need to be clear, they need to stay the same and every one needs to know them and agree to them.
This is done through social contracts at the beginning of the year. They go back to these every week.
Figure 10.1 on page 375 will be a quick go to guide for me in the coming days and weeks.
The four D's - Defect - Deficit - Disruption - Difference.
Stacy
Compassionate, encouraging, faithful, determined
Wife to Chris, mother to five, grammy to Arielle and mentor to many
Who loves God, family and harmony
Who enjoys teaching, loves to read and write
Who fears missing opportunities, living a mundane life, and not making a difference
Who was the first to earn a college degree in my family, who traveled to Haiti and Mexico on missions, and who has poetry published
Who wants to write children's books, and who hopes to teach abroad
Born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma and lives in Rolla, Missouri
Waldmann
This is how I think I am taking it all in, very delicately. Little sips of great knowledge, wonderful strategies
BUT this is my reality...
Does anyone else feel like picture number 2, besides me?? HAha!
There are only very small windows in which to pause and reflect in 8 week courses. I have learned so much and hope I retain at least half of it. Dr. Steffes does a great job teaching and coaching.
Veering for a moment - Balance, time management and breaks...
I am struggling with balance and time management - full-time job, family (at the holidays), my son leaving for boot camp, British Literature (6 more discussions, 4 more papers and a final), FE class hours, FE observation logs & reflections, 9 more lesson plans and 10 more Blooms questions. When the water gets turned off and I awake---my son won't be here during my break. We are doing his Christmas Friday.
This is part of teaching and I am learning a lot!
Back to takeaways - my favorite two strategies tonight were WebQuest and Anticipation Guides.
Kaci and Katie did a phenomenal job on presenting their lesson plans. I liked Kaci's bug unit and Katie's conjunction, interjection lesson - I like that she had the students moving.
Here is to trying to manage time well and getting it all done!
Forest of the Heart
the gleam of dying embers
markings of love lost
a dream that seemed eternal
dashed under foot, ask and soot
A form of poetry called a Tanka. A 31 syllable poem divided into five syllabic units 5-7-5-7-7, all five lines should flow into one thought. I wrote this several years ago.
Here is one I wrote
Offense
Gossip like waves
billowing
found shore
the ropes between us
frayed
clutching another
we tire
and
shell
Free verse, Poetry in Motion (2006) [You only have so many tiles to use, it has to flow in to a complete thought, no meter, no rhymes, just write]
I decided for part of my ten lesson plans to dive a bit into poetry. After many hours of observation and conversations with my awesome cooperative teacher I leaned this direction. They are reading "Tears of a Tiger"(ToT) and started their research on Perseverance, historical figures who exhibit this trait. In the book ToT, there is a section of poems written by the students. I suggested doing a lesson on poems, poetry, or some form of MLA for research. Then she suggested poetry versus prose or mixing the research and poetry with a bio poem. Since our lessons have to be developed around strategies, I dug a little deeper in to those strategies from our first text. [I find I spend a great deal of time reading, researching strategies and asking questions]
It took me two day to write one lesson plan. I used a template from out text KQR (KWL strategy) and after reading about it again decided to extend this lesson over a period of two days. I also used a Bio Poem template from Teachers Pay Teachers. My cooperating teacher(CT) gave me one from Read, Write, Think, both of them were very similar.
I taught my lesson today for observation.
Here are my takeaways - Since I work there I decided to make my copies for the instructors critique this morning. What I did not take into consideration - a lot of teachers print in the morning, the printer may be out of paper, your lessons may end up lost. (All three happened to me) I loaded the printer and prayed as I walked to the classroom that the CT still had my lesson plan I gave her to look over the day prior. She did. Game back on.
Now in the classroom, teacher lets students know I will be teaching and turns the room over to me. I give an appealing opening, draw students in, even get a few laughs. I hand out KQR form and look down to see that my Bio form was not cut in half. I look at the CT and ask, before finishing she gets her scissors and cuts them for me. [kids have no idea, instructor has no idea - I am eternally grateful for her help]
I hand out the Bio poem forms and begin to walk them through it, suddenly realizing my personal bio poem is on my laptop in the room I am a para in...so I use the one on the first form the teacher gave me a week ago on Rosa Parks.
Today, the strategy was solid. The students had a working knowledge of poetry. They gave basic "Rules" that they knew. Mixing a biography and a poetry style that doesn't rhyme added to their working definition of poetry. Building and connecting their fiction and nonfiction work was bonus.
Today, I realized that even the best laid plans fail some times, I could have floundered, stopped teaching, made excuses, or a number of things but I kept teaching. I kept engaging and I taught the lesson. The instructor who has observed me before said she could see growth.
Here is my instructors email to me this evening - "You did a great job and will be a wonderful teacher. Students will be lucky to have you. I meant to tell you that "Mrs. Teacher" walked me to the room. She told me what a great job you were doing and how much everyone liked having you there."
Email from my cooperating teacher - "You did a great job today."
http://membean.com/wrotds/port-carry
http://www.morewords.com/contains/port/ - 407 words with the root PORT - whoa!
Every time I say - CSSR (I hear the Beatles singing, USSR) but I digress. CSSR - context, structure, sound, reference. I really enjoy acronyms that carry significance. It is a strategy that helps me remember the gist of the lesson. Now if I could also put it to a song - BONUS!
I gravitate to this strategy because I feel that as Dr. Steffes stated it is so very important. Words - are so important. I could go into a 10 point mini sermon but I will save that for another day.
Step 1 - context, read the sentence or paragraph can you guess? No? [For me the beauty of words and how we use them, changes things] Not only does it help us become better readers, but also writers.
Step 2 - structure, not to geek out on you but I am THAT student who likes, enjoys, relishes in breaking down words and diagramming sentences. What is the origin? Greek? Latin? Pre- Af- Suf..fixed on the root, rooted grounded, what is it surrounded by? Surrounded??
http://1aiway.com/nlp4net/services/enparser/
I could do this for days...
Step 3 - sound, this step helps me some, EXCEPT when I was 12 reading Matthew chapter 1. Those names were so hard to pronounce. (Still are but now I can have it read to me) Our school uses the Wilson Reading Program and I immediately thought of that when reading this section. It helps students break down words using the blends, open and closed. I hear this recited 3x a day.
Step 4 - reference. this is always my go to strategy. I make a list of words I don't know, or understand in context, especially if I do not have the time to look it up immediately.
This is the nugget of CSSR on pages 161-162 of our textbook.
I wish I would have read about CSSR prior to teaching a lesson on prefix/affix and root words last semester.
One of the history teachers use Cloze quite often with notes history directly taken from the text. Students seem to be able to read and find the missing words but I am now interested to see if the words would come to them by reading the surrounding text before reading from the actual text book.
This week in British Literature I read and analyzed sixteen poems. The common theme - Carpe Diem.
I love movies that show teachers teaching with passion. This one and the movies, "Freedom Writers", "Akeelah and the Bee", "Stand and Deliver", "Lean on Me", and "The Great Debaters" are all great movies. I do caution that some have language and tough issues but don't we face that every day in school. I think I say this at least 5 times a day to various students - "Is that language school appropriate?"
This clip and the Carpe Diem clip speak volumes to me. Why do we do what we do? Why do you? Surely it wasn't the lie that is spewed - those that can't teach. That is NOT why I do what I do. I still have a deep belief that I can change the world one student at a time. That I can teach more than academics and that I can love and help the most needy of students. Some say it is a lost cause and they teach...makes my heart sad. But maybe, I can be the spark that sets fire to the dying embers that lay deep inside them, that reignites the why behind what/why they teach.
One thing that I do know through observing, assisting and education classes...we don't just teach math, science, English and social studies. I also know some days are glorious while others are tough. When we are deep in the trenches with a student that has given up hope or doesn't see the value of education; we dig a little deeper in ourselves and love them through it.
The one thing that speaks volumes to me is the idea of students "thinking" for themselves. Isn't that what guided questions are meant to do? Meta-cognitive conversations?
The bigger concept is his passion. He got quieter when he really wanted them to lean in. I LOVE THIS CONCEPT. I do this a lot. It may look weird but it does cause them to lean in to what you are trying to convey. (I do this on Sundays as well when teaching students.)
Huddle up -
I honestly hope that our passion never dies, our love for students(even the difficult ones) never dies and that we seize the day - every day we are afforded the opportunity to make an impact, ignite a spark or encourage someone (student, staff, admin, peers) to press on.
Hey - those rose colored glasses look good on you!
Seize the day and remember you are making a difference one student at a time.
"I would not be just a nuffin' My head all full of stuffin' My heart all full of pain I would dance and be merry Life would be a ding-a-derry If I only had a brain" - Scarecrow (If I Only had a Brain lyrics) In Education 198, I am currently reading a book that keeps inspiring me, more like affirming me and my belief system regarding education and students. The book is small and well worth the read. In his book, "Teaching with Poverty in Mind" Eric Jensen shares insight, research and HOPE on the effects of low SES (socioeconomic status). I am a product of the action steps taken by teachers who believed that I could overcome my very small world. They called out and pulled out the positives in my life that were stuffed deep inside me. I am 40+ and there are still people in my life that speak life and call out things that are in me that the world needs. My biggest takeaway from this weeks chapter (chapter 3) is that Brains are designed to change. "Neuroplasticity is the quality that allows region-specific changes to occur in the brain as a result of experience." He shares how grasping this concept could be a catalyst in the lives of our students. The case studies are intriguing and I look forward to sharing the rest of the "In school, embody the change you want to see in students." (p. 65) We can and should help students rise above the labels and stereotypes that have been placed on them by society. Things we must STOP doing in order to start doing:
Using low IQ as an excuse for giving up on students
Complaining in the staff lounge about little "Suzy" or "Johnny"
Doing what you have always done
Things we must START doing in order to see change:
Provide positive, enriching experiences
Believing that change is possible
Value students over processes
What does the Wizard of Oz give the scarecrow at the end of the film? - a diploma
- encouragement
The prefix en- means to within, in
So, what was he showing the scarecrow? - that he had it in him all along, he pulled out what was ALWAYS inside the scarecrow. The scarecrow was quite intelligent. He needed those around him, Dorothy, the wizard, the tinman to help him see what he couldn't see own his own. We have the awesome privilege of pulling out and showing students what is on the inside of them. If we must use labels use positive ones. MODEL the change you hope to see. They have brains, their brains can change and we have an awesome responsibility.
Leveling lexical or linguistic lenses lends to limpid learning and literacy. Say that 3x fast...go!
My biggest takeaway from last nights class was: Perspective! Once we realized through what lens we were viewing the activity on the shrubbery house on the corner lot, we had a-ha moments.
We could all use a good dose of this from time to time.
I heard this phrase about six years ago and it has had a lasting effect: "Everyone's behavior makes sense if you have enough information" We all come with our own view of the world from the context of our beliefs, prior knowledge and life experiences. How do we know what we don't know? We build relationship.
Because we want the best for every student and every student is unique, we must build relationship with our students. They all come from various home situations, socioeconomic statuses, ethnicity, they all have differing learning styles, natural gifts, interest...the list could go on but I think you get what I am trying to say. Differentiating instruction looks a lot like the equity side of this picture. We scaffold for various students, for various reasons and I think by doing so, it helps level the field for each one of them. It gives each one of our students a better view of the educational landscape.
"The assumption is not the product of wishful thinking or unrealistic ideals...[but] from a new focus on the special literacy needs of adolescent students;" (p 12 Ruddell)
Dead cats and curiosity
Inquiry and attention to detail can derail me as a student from time to time. I could not let the "inferring" activity go. I read a rather large article and came up with another use for our "Curiosity killed these cats" cartoon. When standing at the door of new knowledge, hard math problems, science theories...don't be afraid to ask questions. Learning won't kill you. Curiosity can compel competence. It might be hard, you might need to take notes, but it will not kill you.
Wizard of Oz St. Louis Muny Shows to be presented in 2016 are:
“The Wizard of Oz” June 13 – 22 “42nd Street” June 24 – 30 “The Music Man” July 5 – 11 “Young Frankenstein” July 13 – 19 “Mamma Mia” July 21 – 28 “Fiddler on the Roof” July 30 – August 5 “Aida” August 8 – 14.
Trying to develop a unit and my lens is always literature. I would love to venture out of my comfort zone on this but not real sure where to start. I am currently a para in a SPED classroom of 6-8th graders. I am personally responsible for three eighth graders and one sixth grader, then there are several that float in and out. I teach them science, history and they float out for math/reading. We are currently learning mass, periodic table(8th) and motion(6th). We are learning about Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea on different levels for all students.
The seventh graders that I am observing just started a "perseverance" unit with nonfiction text. I love the idea of literature circles.
I would like to keep whatever I choose for later use.
If I was to use the frontloading strategy for this blog, I might ask "What do you think this blog will be about using only the title and the video??
You might say, Wizard of Oz because we talked about it during our class. You might say, I think you have it wrong, because it was a lion not a horse and it was a tiger NOT a cow. You might also say, I don't know. Hopefully I have you thinking...do I? As a teacher, we want our students to inquire, research, infer...we want to get them thinking for themselves.
One of my favorite scenes from The Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy, Scarecrow and The Tin Man go through the dark forest and meet the Cowardly Lion for the first time.
Here is what I don't want to happen in my future classroom -
1. I don't want students to lose heart. (I want them to excel and take heart, I am for them!)
2. I don't want students to be afraid of asking questions, of failing, of ANYTHING! (They can becourageous)
3. I don't want my students to never THINK for themselves. (They have brains, gifts, talents and abilities)
4. I don't want them to always wish they were somewhere else. I want them to enjoy the journey of learning.
Mrs. Waldmann, so what does horses and cows have to do with students??
I am glad you asked.
I don't want my students to become so reliant on me for all the answers. I don't want, as page 22 calls me, to be their intermediary. I want them to be independent readers. Sure I will have to scaffold and fill in gaps. But I don't want them to only have what I have "chewed" on and regurgitated for their learning. I want them to investigate for themselves, prove things for themselves. Cows have a four compartment stomach...they chew, swallow and regurgitate. I want my students to "chew" on the text for themselves.
Embedding strategies in the Classroom
1. Frontloading learning
2. Guiding Comprehension
3. Consolidation Understanding
"The classroom strategies in this book do not lead magically or inevitably to success." (Buehl, pg 49)
"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink...unless you salt its oats." (Old Pentecostal Preacher, 1992)
Metacognitive Conversations helps us (teachers) salt the oats. We are the additive. The purpose of this last strategy is to hopefully make students privy of the insider thinking that happens when reading. Eventually they will no longer depend on us to tell them everything.
Dear Future Students-
To my future tin man, don't lose heart - you have so much in you (gifts, talents and abilities) and the world needs to see it!
To my future scarecrow, stop saying you don't know, you are dumb, stupid, you have no brains or that your brain doesn't work - instead let me help you explore strategies that cooperate with your learning style.
To my future cowardly lion, you are a leader - don't be afraid to fail, that is how we learn. All the greats learned by failing first. Fail Forward!
To my future Dorthy - enjoy the journey! Readers are leaders, leaders are readers. Keep asking questions!
Now that I have you singing that song, I will try to move on down the road. We are well on our way to discovery and learning in Education 338. We've got much to cover in a short period of time.
My biggest takeaway was on the idea of front loading and text frames. The author of Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, Doug Buehl could have used front loading by giving us the CB terminology for trucker talk before the scrambled sentence on page 13 of the text. It would have helped us comprehend what he was saying. It didn't because he was making a case for the idea of front loading. If my father had read this years ago, (he passed 3 years ago) he would have answered it back. He was an over the road truck driver. He would have brought his personal experience to the table and understood perfectly. This has me thinking about how no two people bring the same experience to the reading table.
Here is some vocab we talked about: front loading, lexile score/
lexile levels, cold reads, close reading, qualitative factors, quantitative
factors and reader/task considerations, fact pyramids and essential questions.
My favorite quotes:
“And no two people
will have exactly the same comprehension of a text because no two people will
be reading a text under exactly the same conditions.” Pg. 6
We all bring different backgrounds, attitudes, experiences
to our reading situation. I like the story that Dr. Steffes told about her
mother and the idea of Pluto being a planet in our solar system.
“Having knowledge is one thing; using it another.” Page 13
How can we get our students to extrapolate meaning of words
in text? We get them connecting what they know about the text (theme) and build
from that point. (KWL and various strategies)
Alluring alliteration...Whit and whimsy
Welcome to the blog that I started as a journal for Education 338. I look forward to blogging again about my educational adventures, takeaway's and play on words.
