February 5, 2013

I went back to School B to do make-up testing. My impressions of the two new students' abilities were confirmed. The first grader has so little schooling and English language background that he may choose not to respond; repeat a phrase in English as a stock answer; or attempt to demonstrate comprehension in his L1, which is Spanish. The third grader can read fluently, has decoding ability, and can write simple personal narratives. However, he doesn't respond appropriately to critical thinking questions, not giving more than a surface answer when a comparison or a main idea is being requested.

February 4, 2013

It is preferable to get up in the morning feeling motivated and refreshed with new insights (as opposed to bullied by the alarm clock). I would like to keep motivating my students who are demonstrating comprehension...reward them with process work that they are ready for and can handle. I need to take this "promoting autonomy" that an educator does, seriously. Especially in a small pullout format with various needs and abilities, this is possible. I will ensure that I have the differentiated piece and the learning modalities piece more explicit in the next observation lesson.

February 2-3, 2013

I have still been avoiding journalist about my last observation. It was devastating. Maybe I will just talk about it in bits and pieces because I really am affected by the post-obs emotionally, although I know that I need to implement changes ASAP.

Theme for improvement, with which to infuse my teaching practice. Students need to be engaged and involved for longer periods of time: capitalize in their concrete-operational stage. Visuals are not merely ancillary for first graders, but help them process information simultaneously with text clues.

February 1, 2013

Seek clarification. One of the buzz words of administrators. I have to try it myself as I improve my ability to be compliant in accommodation forms, progress reports, and filing. This is the key to effective collaboration.

January 31, 2013

Last night's NDM class was more like a seminar, and on a subject that I try to stretch my horizons in...math! The professor said that the topics in the PreCalculus book would be the upper limits for an elementary school teacher as well as a possible topic for advanced middle schoolers.
Well, I definitely did not feel like one of the smarter students in the room ;). The majority of these math-oriented teachers already took the "teaching math" course together that immediately precedes this one in the sequence.

I ordered the book immediately when I got home, so it will arrive as early as the Friday. I still need to get onto the new Blackboard platform known as Joule. And, check out the suggested math problems from the handout the teacher gave us in class.

What makes this class seminar-style, at least in my mind, is the ongoing fostered discussion that checks if we are getting it (an informal formative assessment) and the way that the topics (which seemed more like brain-teasers today, as we discussed qualitative graphs) were springboards for abstraction. However, I must always keep in mind--how would I present these topics to middle schoolers? (Title of NDM course, Middle School Mathematics-Algebra)

January 30, 2013

There are children who enjoy taking tests. No, I am totally against tests that students are not realistically prepared for. But tests are nonetheless occasions for learners to test their abilities and to celebrate what they know and/or gained. Valid tests measure a learner's progress and indicate what the purpose and standards are. At the elementary level, it is refreshing for students to embrace reading as an adventure and challenge in and of itself, and a gateway for future learning.

January 29, 2013

I'm back @School A for standardized testing. There was an issue regarding snack time and bathroom breaks and too much time taken to settle the first graders down...so I decided to postpone the reading section of the test. Evidently, not a good idea: I was slammed by a host of administrators.