The following quotes from chapter 9 really shed some light on when things go wrong.
"[Teachers who lose the cooperation of the class] can try their best to get the respect of their class again. They can try things they didn't do before, things they know the students like" (P. 170 stated by Veronica).
As a substitute teacher this practice can really help when teaching a subject that is not in your own field. Having an activity ready for the when students finish their work is a good idea to prevent the class from getting out of control or disruptive to the students that are still working on the day's assignments. Asking the students what they like about the subject that you know best is a good initiation activity to the game you have planned. I haven't tried this yet, but I find it the most helpful way to keep the students learning and busy rather than out of control and disruptive. After I finished substitute teaching for the school year a professor recommended for me to create a game or an activity that has to do with my content area and engage the students in the activity. For the classes I was substituting for were not in my content area and the students finished their work almost an hour ahead of schedule. Students seem to react to teachers that care about what they are teaching and all students hate doing "busy work"--work that teachers give students just because a substitute is taking the place of the regular teacher for the day. It is up to us as teachers to be prepared for what ever situation might arise.
"Relax and take your mind off school for a while. Think about the kids: We need you, we want to get out of school and become someone. [Try to stay organized but relaxed]" (P. 171 stated by Montoya).
As a person who loves learning and thinking I am always coming across new material that I think would be helpful to a literature class when I am "relaxing" and then I try to find a way to incorporate the material I just found. Therefore I found the advice of this student most helpful in that I need to be reminded to just relax. Leave what happened at school at school and when I come home I just need to relax. I have a very thick skin when it comes to insults and failure as a teacher, but when I get home I let that all rise to the surface and I do take it personally. I don't let the supervisors or students know that I take it personally because I hide what I think and feel. I have to keep reminding myself to just relax when I get home and that the next day is a brand new day where I can start over and that yesterday's events are in the past.
The following quotes from chapter 10 helped me see that students want to be engaged in learning and it isn't always a fight to get students to learn on their own.
"For our final exam in English and world history we had a mock trial with a real judge and court typist. They separated us into defense and prosecution, with four lawyers on each side, and they set up a mock scene from Animal Farm in which a character Boxer supposedly dies. The defense was defending the guy who supposedly killed him. We had to dress up and go down to City Center for three or four hours. It was pretty fun. We learned more about the book, but we also learned how to follow court procedures, write direct testimony, and do cross-examination" (P. 177 stated by Andres).
As a teacher I know how important it is for students to go on field trips and engage in learning through real life experiences in a safe environment. Before I read this quote I didn't know what sort of outside experience I can bring to my student's learning of literature. I found this quote most helpful in finding an alternative way to engage students in the literature as well as exposing them to legal proceedings and procedures. The quote definitely supports critical thinking skills in a way I never would have thought to expose students.
"I watch poetry readings, go to Barnes and Noble. Reading about new things interests me whenever I have spare time. I like knowing things or interesting facts that others don't know. I once taught myself sign language" (P. 180 stated by Alexis).
I found this quote most helpful because teachers usually assume that students don't want to be in their class and they are only there because they have to be. Students that want to learn and are eager about information and do research on their own become an asset to the classroom environment. As students tend to accept information more readily from their peers and classmates than from a teacher, adult, or authoritarian. Therefore encouraging students to find information on their own not only benefits the individual student but also the collective. However not all students that do find information on their own are eager to share their knowledge. I am such a student and always have been. I enjoy finding information out on my own, but I rarely share what I know, most people aren't interested. As a teacher I get to share my knowledge and incorporate the different areas and subjects that I explore and correlate them to literature.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Hard Work What does it Mean?
As a college student I define hard work as living up to my potential. On every assignment I attempt to give 110% effort and time to any task that I am asked to do; whether it is research, a project, or a task I assign myself, a teacher assigns, or in any and all sorts of relationships (relationships have many meanings not just romantic involvements) that I am expected to preform I preform them to the very best of my abilities. Being in top form all the time is very time consuming and tiring, but it pays off for me and I am happy with my efforts and the rewards it brings me in all aspects of my life. If I do not live up to my potential I am extremely hard on myself and feel horrible. Even if I get an A, if I feel I didn't earn that grade, I will do the task over again until I am satisfied that it is my very best work that I have turned in. Alternatively, I have at times turned in what I believe to be my very best work and have only received a C for my efforts. To me a C has always been like an F, just being average is not in my blood or personality. I place a lot of pressure on myself to succeed. Hence I stress myself out all the time and suffer from self induced panic attacks, nothing severe, just pretty much driving myself crazy with my own requirements for reaching my highest level of achievement in my tasks.
However I believe that my future students will not have the same perspective as I do when it comes to the meaning of hard work. I'm sure that some of my students will believe that hard work is defined by their potential, but not all. I call the people that live up to their potential "over achievers". Now, that might seem negative, but I was taught by the Chinese Philosophy to turn every negative into a positive. Being an over achiever is not a bad thing, it is not being a suck up or a teacher's pet, it is simply living up to one's potential. How will anyone succeed in their lives and fulfill their dreams if they do not do their very best? Therefore, I expect that all of my students will do their very best in every task I assign them. If their very best is a C than that is fine, at least they tried their hardest and lived up to their potential. It is my job as a teacher to expand their potential to higher and higher levels; to push them beyond the limits of their own imaginations and ideas of what their potential really is.
The following is my grading criteria:
A= The over achievers. Students that turn in all assignments on time, real thinking and hard work that went into the assignment, pushing themselves to do their very best in every assignment, students that struggle to understand that which they do not. Students that persevere through their difficulties and want to know more about their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Students that push themselves to the outer limits and beyond.
B= Students that try as hard as they might to reach their highest potential but keep falling just short of that mark. Students that almost do their very best in every assignment. Students that almost turn in every assignment and want to be the A students but haven't recognized their full potential yet to getting there. Students that just focus on their strengths or their weaknesses and not both.
C= Students that try as hard as they might and give up when they face a struggle or obstacle that gets in their way. Students that barely turn in their assignments and are fine with just getting by in any class. Students that refuse to live up to their potential and just skate by in life. I would call these students the con-artists, the students that try to pass off what they think is good or great work when it is just average.
D= Students that are really struggling with the assignments and don't know where they are going wrong. Students that try to reach the high levels and truly don't understand the material but don't know how to ask a question to clarify where they are misunderstanding what is expected of them. Students that are too confused to know how to ask for help.
However I believe that my future students will not have the same perspective as I do when it comes to the meaning of hard work. I'm sure that some of my students will believe that hard work is defined by their potential, but not all. I call the people that live up to their potential "over achievers". Now, that might seem negative, but I was taught by the Chinese Philosophy to turn every negative into a positive. Being an over achiever is not a bad thing, it is not being a suck up or a teacher's pet, it is simply living up to one's potential. How will anyone succeed in their lives and fulfill their dreams if they do not do their very best? Therefore, I expect that all of my students will do their very best in every task I assign them. If their very best is a C than that is fine, at least they tried their hardest and lived up to their potential. It is my job as a teacher to expand their potential to higher and higher levels; to push them beyond the limits of their own imaginations and ideas of what their potential really is.
The following is my grading criteria:
A= The over achievers. Students that turn in all assignments on time, real thinking and hard work that went into the assignment, pushing themselves to do their very best in every assignment, students that struggle to understand that which they do not. Students that persevere through their difficulties and want to know more about their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Students that push themselves to the outer limits and beyond.
B= Students that try as hard as they might to reach their highest potential but keep falling just short of that mark. Students that almost do their very best in every assignment. Students that almost turn in every assignment and want to be the A students but haven't recognized their full potential yet to getting there. Students that just focus on their strengths or their weaknesses and not both.
C= Students that try as hard as they might and give up when they face a struggle or obstacle that gets in their way. Students that barely turn in their assignments and are fine with just getting by in any class. Students that refuse to live up to their potential and just skate by in life. I would call these students the con-artists, the students that try to pass off what they think is good or great work when it is just average.
D= Students that are really struggling with the assignments and don't know where they are going wrong. Students that try to reach the high levels and truly don't understand the material but don't know how to ask a question to clarify where they are misunderstanding what is expected of them. Students that are too confused to know how to ask for help.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Using Socratic Questioning Skills in Accordance with Chapter 6
One key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is so that they are not misrepresented in a classroom setting. Every person has a voice and needs a chance to develop and use that voice which is unique to that person. Socrates believed that asking the right questions would allow anyone to learn. In this instance Socrates would say that the right questions being asked would allow a person's voice to come to the surface and voice their own opinions and insights about the topic being discussed.
A second key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is to see other people's points of view. Everyone generally analyzes information based on their own experiences and knowledge. Knowledge branches from all sorts of different places other than experiences. For example some information is innate and some information is learned by reading about other people's experiences and life. Students see the benefits of learning about other people's ideas, opinions, and points of view and wish to continue growing and learning about new ideas about perceiving information. Socrates traveled all around Greece in order to find different points of view and had a group of students follow him so that they could also learn from the various points of views that Socrates would encounter.
The third key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is to learn information so that they are not ignorant, even if the information doesn't seem useful at the moment the information is learned. All knowledge is worth knowing. Even if a person cannot apply the knowledge, it doesn't mean that the knowledge is worthless. I know the inner workings of a car and how to fix most everything that goes wrong in a car, it doesn't mean that I am willing to or capable of fixing anything that goes wrong in a car. Knowledge is power, since I know the inner workings of a car, when something does go wrong I know how to relay the problem to the mechanics so that they can fix the problem and not go poking around doing more work than need be. Socrates traveled all around Greece in order to find all that he could possibly know, because all knowledge is worth having. The students that recognize this reason are knowledge seekers, they want to know more and more information. Students of this thinking level would benefit mostly by being given work to do on their own but also in their own way. If students are knowledge seekers then allow them to do research assignments so that they can find what they are looking for, answers to their own questions.
If students are given real life scenarios in which the information is connected the topic for one would be more interesting. As a teacher I want to teach students life lessons, that is one of my main goals as an English teacher. Literature is not just stories or useless information recorded over centuries of time. Literature is full of life lessons and characters that represent real life situations. If students can understand the situations being addressed and brought up in literature than they can apply them to their own lives. Furthermore students need to see how the information could benefit them in their own lives. If a student cannot apply the knowledge being learned than what good is the information that is being gained? My honors biology teacher taught life lessons when ever he taught us about a topic. He made biology fun for me and showed me how the information he was teaching could pertain to me. Students need that sort of connection, they benefit from the lessons more if they see how they can apply the information to their own lives. Some students don't want to make the effort and see the connection but then it is up to the teacher to have to bridge the gap for the student and show them the connection and how they will benefit. Socrates always taught students to apply information to their own life. There isn't anything Socrates taught children that he didn't incorporate into his own life.
Although learning seems to be an individual process every person needs to interact with others as well. Sometimes people learn more from their peers than they do an authoritarian. When I was in high school we only had lecture classes, I never had a discussion in a class until I went to college. I saw the benefits of learning from more than just the teacher. Everyone has their own experiences and filter system that knowledge gets funneled down to. Hearing other people's perspectives and experiences are important to any learning experience. Another student might have an answer to a question where as I may not have an answer. I would create an atmosphere where students would feel comfortable and free to talk so that as many experiences as possible would be shared in order to connect to the literature. I would have discussion classes so that students can share their ideas, knowledge, and perspectives with the class. I believe that creating a contact zone is important for students to get the most out of the information being learned. Questioning not only the characters and the author, but also questioning where the ideas from the author is coming from. Therefore, my "social thing" in a classroom would be classroom discussions where everyone would be free to voice their opinions and ideas about the information. Students need to be comfortable with one another in order to have a successful discussion. I would make the atmosphere a "safe house" for students, and I would make that clear in my set up of the classroom rules on the first day of class.
The alternative to making a "social thing" in the classroom would be having lectures. Always being the authoritarian and not allowing any other perspective to enter into the information being taught. Now how boring and closed minded is that? Very. I do believe that a lecture at the beginning of a topic is needed, but again not all the time. Sometimes opening the topic out with a discussion class is a good idea and definitely a good way to eliminate perceived notions about the topic. However comparing literary themes in British literature to literary themes in American literature would probably need a lecture so that the students would understand the time periods, names, and key themes associated with each country.
Everybody benefits from a job well done, but students need the extra encouragement. Most students don't know what they are capable of doing until they are pushed to those very limits. I know that I push myself beyond my own limits, but occasionally it is nice to have a professor push me beyond even the limits I cannot see are in front of me. Students see the amount of work a teacher expects out of them, and they panic. Students don't necessarily need hand holding, but they do need encouragement and coaxing in order to achieve their highest goals in a learning environment.
Student motivation can come in many forms. For one, if students are given a choice as to which books they get to read for the semester they might be inclined to read as opposed to having a book forced upon them. Many students claim that they want to make some choices as to what they get to learn in a classroom. Learning does come easier if a student is interested in a particular topic or book as opposed to being forced to learn something that they really are not interested in. This is also why connecting the information to the student's personal life is important, if a student sees how the information impacts their own life than they will want to know more about the topic or situation. The goal as a teacher is to motivate students to want to know about a topic or situation. In gaining the interest of the students the teacher's job is made a little easier and then needs to find numerous ways of getting the information across to the students to keep them interested in the topic. Some students are self motivated and have their own interests that they would like to bring into class and bridge a connection from what the student's interest is to the situation being discussed in the classroom. Thus as I stated, motivation comes in many forms. However students need to be motivated in order to learn anything.
A second key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is to see other people's points of view. Everyone generally analyzes information based on their own experiences and knowledge. Knowledge branches from all sorts of different places other than experiences. For example some information is innate and some information is learned by reading about other people's experiences and life. Students see the benefits of learning about other people's ideas, opinions, and points of view and wish to continue growing and learning about new ideas about perceiving information. Socrates traveled all around Greece in order to find different points of view and had a group of students follow him so that they could also learn from the various points of views that Socrates would encounter.
The third key reason as to why students claim that they go to school is to learn information so that they are not ignorant, even if the information doesn't seem useful at the moment the information is learned. All knowledge is worth knowing. Even if a person cannot apply the knowledge, it doesn't mean that the knowledge is worthless. I know the inner workings of a car and how to fix most everything that goes wrong in a car, it doesn't mean that I am willing to or capable of fixing anything that goes wrong in a car. Knowledge is power, since I know the inner workings of a car, when something does go wrong I know how to relay the problem to the mechanics so that they can fix the problem and not go poking around doing more work than need be. Socrates traveled all around Greece in order to find all that he could possibly know, because all knowledge is worth having. The students that recognize this reason are knowledge seekers, they want to know more and more information. Students of this thinking level would benefit mostly by being given work to do on their own but also in their own way. If students are knowledge seekers then allow them to do research assignments so that they can find what they are looking for, answers to their own questions.
If students are given real life scenarios in which the information is connected the topic for one would be more interesting. As a teacher I want to teach students life lessons, that is one of my main goals as an English teacher. Literature is not just stories or useless information recorded over centuries of time. Literature is full of life lessons and characters that represent real life situations. If students can understand the situations being addressed and brought up in literature than they can apply them to their own lives. Furthermore students need to see how the information could benefit them in their own lives. If a student cannot apply the knowledge being learned than what good is the information that is being gained? My honors biology teacher taught life lessons when ever he taught us about a topic. He made biology fun for me and showed me how the information he was teaching could pertain to me. Students need that sort of connection, they benefit from the lessons more if they see how they can apply the information to their own lives. Some students don't want to make the effort and see the connection but then it is up to the teacher to have to bridge the gap for the student and show them the connection and how they will benefit. Socrates always taught students to apply information to their own life. There isn't anything Socrates taught children that he didn't incorporate into his own life.
Although learning seems to be an individual process every person needs to interact with others as well. Sometimes people learn more from their peers than they do an authoritarian. When I was in high school we only had lecture classes, I never had a discussion in a class until I went to college. I saw the benefits of learning from more than just the teacher. Everyone has their own experiences and filter system that knowledge gets funneled down to. Hearing other people's perspectives and experiences are important to any learning experience. Another student might have an answer to a question where as I may not have an answer. I would create an atmosphere where students would feel comfortable and free to talk so that as many experiences as possible would be shared in order to connect to the literature. I would have discussion classes so that students can share their ideas, knowledge, and perspectives with the class. I believe that creating a contact zone is important for students to get the most out of the information being learned. Questioning not only the characters and the author, but also questioning where the ideas from the author is coming from. Therefore, my "social thing" in a classroom would be classroom discussions where everyone would be free to voice their opinions and ideas about the information. Students need to be comfortable with one another in order to have a successful discussion. I would make the atmosphere a "safe house" for students, and I would make that clear in my set up of the classroom rules on the first day of class.
The alternative to making a "social thing" in the classroom would be having lectures. Always being the authoritarian and not allowing any other perspective to enter into the information being taught. Now how boring and closed minded is that? Very. I do believe that a lecture at the beginning of a topic is needed, but again not all the time. Sometimes opening the topic out with a discussion class is a good idea and definitely a good way to eliminate perceived notions about the topic. However comparing literary themes in British literature to literary themes in American literature would probably need a lecture so that the students would understand the time periods, names, and key themes associated with each country.
Everybody benefits from a job well done, but students need the extra encouragement. Most students don't know what they are capable of doing until they are pushed to those very limits. I know that I push myself beyond my own limits, but occasionally it is nice to have a professor push me beyond even the limits I cannot see are in front of me. Students see the amount of work a teacher expects out of them, and they panic. Students don't necessarily need hand holding, but they do need encouragement and coaxing in order to achieve their highest goals in a learning environment.
Student motivation can come in many forms. For one, if students are given a choice as to which books they get to read for the semester they might be inclined to read as opposed to having a book forced upon them. Many students claim that they want to make some choices as to what they get to learn in a classroom. Learning does come easier if a student is interested in a particular topic or book as opposed to being forced to learn something that they really are not interested in. This is also why connecting the information to the student's personal life is important, if a student sees how the information impacts their own life than they will want to know more about the topic or situation. The goal as a teacher is to motivate students to want to know about a topic or situation. In gaining the interest of the students the teacher's job is made a little easier and then needs to find numerous ways of getting the information across to the students to keep them interested in the topic. Some students are self motivated and have their own interests that they would like to bring into class and bridge a connection from what the student's interest is to the situation being discussed in the classroom. Thus as I stated, motivation comes in many forms. However students need to be motivated in order to learn anything.
Monday, July 2, 2007
How do I intend to create a "culture of success" with my furture students? Refer to 2 or more examples from the text that I found useful (or not).
I intend to create a "culture of success" in my classroom by encouraging my students to do their very best work. I was always encouraged by my parents to do my best. If my best was only a C than at least I know I worked as hard as I could and that was the final result. There is always room for improvement even for students that get straight A's. Everyone would benefit from revising, rethinking, and rewriting assignments, papers, and theories. I want my students to believe that they can do the work that I assign. I have been told by supervising teachers that the students I tutor rise to my academic standards that I set for them, and I set very high goals for all students on all grade levels.
I'll be the first to admit that I am a tough teacher and I expect a lot from the students I will teach. I also do not want to see any student "fall through the cracks" of the education system and feel lost in my classroom. I would offer as much support as needed to prevent students from feeling overwhelmed by my expectations. I would stay after school as late as I would need to for any student that needed my help. I would go to school early if students could not meet with me in the afternoon. I would supply any additional information that they would need to complete assignments. I would encourage them and show them that they could do the work by engaging them in the assignment in a different way than I did in class. Everyone has different learning levels and rewording an explanation can sometimes be the most helpful of all.
Pressure is one of the major issues that students are attempting to cope with today. Therefore I would further make them feel as comfortable as I possibly could that they could come to me with any academic problems they are having. I know what it is like to suffer from panic attacks due to stress. Most often it is the stress that students place on themselves that causes such attacks. I can relate, I do the same thing all the time. Students have outside pressures as well, pressures from other teachers, friends, parents, guardians, and after school activities. Pressure is a main factor of academic success, the point is for a teacher not to add to the already existing pressures that students feel.
A teacher should not compare classes. Students already feel as if they have to compete with other classmates or even their own siblings when it comes to learning. "The worst thing a teacher can do is to compare a class to another class, and put them down" (P. 67 Fires in the Bathroom). Therefore a teacher should not pin students against each other by posting their grades for everyone to see, or try encouraging a student by saying "Look at how dilegantly Melaine is working". Encourage students on their own levels not another student's level.
A few times when I was substituting in a classroom I encouraged students to think. One example was when: the students had to watch a film and answer the questions as the film was being played. All of the students waited until the film was finished before attacking the questions. I walked around and saw one student copying all of the answers from a student that had all of the questions completed. I asked the student what he learned from the film. He told me that he knew everything that there was to know. I told him if that were true than he could answer the questions on his own. I took the paper he was copying and turned it upside down returning it to the owner. I thanked her for her efforts to help but that he wouldn't learn anything from just copying the answers. I then sat with the student and asked him the questions in a different way then they were being asked and he was able to answer the questions on his own. He thanked me for caring and taking the time to help him. He realized that copying the answers got him no where. He found satisfaction in a job well done and my praise for him doing the work on his own.
The text claims not to favor the best students, yet I was faced with a situation when I was tutoring 4th graders on reading and writing. These students were failing their classes and I worked with them to improve their learning levels. One boy that I was tutoring was very bright. He would correct the other students if he thought they mispronounced a word, he read exceptionally well and wrote profound stories. I couldn't figure out why he was in the program, but when his mother asked me what should she be working on with him at home, I realized he needed constant verification that he was on the right path doing well, he needed encouragment and a lot of "hand holding", not literally. He needed to be walked through his assignments. I had 7 students and he was just one out of the 7 that I was responsible for tutoring. I had other students that I needed to diverge my attention to, and I found that I would pay more attention to the students that needed more help than he did. I felt like I was ignoring him. In my mind I was allowing him the time to work on his own because he was capable of doing the work on his own. He might not have seen that he was capable of doing the work. I kept taking the time to explain to him that he was ahead of the other students and I needed to help them with their work. Every time I directed my attention to another student, he would tap me on the shoulder and ask me to check his work, to pay attention to him and what he was working on. Academically speaking I don't think he needed as much help as he claimed he did, he just liked the attention. There seems to be a lot to say about not favoring the best students. I did help all of the students rise in their levels of learning and it was extremely satisfying to see that I made a difference in their lives and they recognized it too and thanked me for my efforts.
I'll be the first to admit that I am a tough teacher and I expect a lot from the students I will teach. I also do not want to see any student "fall through the cracks" of the education system and feel lost in my classroom. I would offer as much support as needed to prevent students from feeling overwhelmed by my expectations. I would stay after school as late as I would need to for any student that needed my help. I would go to school early if students could not meet with me in the afternoon. I would supply any additional information that they would need to complete assignments. I would encourage them and show them that they could do the work by engaging them in the assignment in a different way than I did in class. Everyone has different learning levels and rewording an explanation can sometimes be the most helpful of all.
Pressure is one of the major issues that students are attempting to cope with today. Therefore I would further make them feel as comfortable as I possibly could that they could come to me with any academic problems they are having. I know what it is like to suffer from panic attacks due to stress. Most often it is the stress that students place on themselves that causes such attacks. I can relate, I do the same thing all the time. Students have outside pressures as well, pressures from other teachers, friends, parents, guardians, and after school activities. Pressure is a main factor of academic success, the point is for a teacher not to add to the already existing pressures that students feel.
A teacher should not compare classes. Students already feel as if they have to compete with other classmates or even their own siblings when it comes to learning. "The worst thing a teacher can do is to compare a class to another class, and put them down" (P. 67 Fires in the Bathroom). Therefore a teacher should not pin students against each other by posting their grades for everyone to see, or try encouraging a student by saying "Look at how dilegantly Melaine is working". Encourage students on their own levels not another student's level.
A few times when I was substituting in a classroom I encouraged students to think. One example was when: the students had to watch a film and answer the questions as the film was being played. All of the students waited until the film was finished before attacking the questions. I walked around and saw one student copying all of the answers from a student that had all of the questions completed. I asked the student what he learned from the film. He told me that he knew everything that there was to know. I told him if that were true than he could answer the questions on his own. I took the paper he was copying and turned it upside down returning it to the owner. I thanked her for her efforts to help but that he wouldn't learn anything from just copying the answers. I then sat with the student and asked him the questions in a different way then they were being asked and he was able to answer the questions on his own. He thanked me for caring and taking the time to help him. He realized that copying the answers got him no where. He found satisfaction in a job well done and my praise for him doing the work on his own.
The text claims not to favor the best students, yet I was faced with a situation when I was tutoring 4th graders on reading and writing. These students were failing their classes and I worked with them to improve their learning levels. One boy that I was tutoring was very bright. He would correct the other students if he thought they mispronounced a word, he read exceptionally well and wrote profound stories. I couldn't figure out why he was in the program, but when his mother asked me what should she be working on with him at home, I realized he needed constant verification that he was on the right path doing well, he needed encouragment and a lot of "hand holding", not literally. He needed to be walked through his assignments. I had 7 students and he was just one out of the 7 that I was responsible for tutoring. I had other students that I needed to diverge my attention to, and I found that I would pay more attention to the students that needed more help than he did. I felt like I was ignoring him. In my mind I was allowing him the time to work on his own because he was capable of doing the work on his own. He might not have seen that he was capable of doing the work. I kept taking the time to explain to him that he was ahead of the other students and I needed to help them with their work. Every time I directed my attention to another student, he would tap me on the shoulder and ask me to check his work, to pay attention to him and what he was working on. Academically speaking I don't think he needed as much help as he claimed he did, he just liked the attention. There seems to be a lot to say about not favoring the best students. I did help all of the students rise in their levels of learning and it was extremely satisfying to see that I made a difference in their lives and they recognized it too and thanked me for my efforts.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Illustrate 5 reasons Bloom's Taxonomy could be useful to the preparation of Literature learning objectives, activities, and planned assessments
Bloom's taxonomy consists of six different levels involved in the thinking process. They are: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. Bloom further breaks these categories down into Reproductive Skills and Productive Skills with the first three levels listed under the Reproductive Skills and the last three under the Productive Skills. (This information was found under the heading Corrosion Doctors, Bloom's Taxonomy at the following site: http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Training/Bloom-taxonomy.htm).
Bloom's cognitive category helps me put my learning objectives in better perspective. I want to raise the bar of my students. If I just teach them mediocre literature, than all they will learn is mediocre literature. If I teach students higher level literature, possibly even college level literature, than I know my students will have obtained a higher reading, comprehension, and the analyzing level of literature and information. However, if I choose literature that is too high for the students that I am teaching, than the students will get frustrated for attempting to read the difficult material, especially if they do not comprehend what it is they are reading. If students cannot understand what they are reading, than I cannot expect them to analyze the information, evaluate the information, or even apply the information to either their own life or even on a test or paper that I would assign.
Bloom's taxonomy has inspired me to create a memory game for my future students. Literature is so diverse and a lot of complicated themes as well as information are carried throughout a storyline. Just utilizing the first cognitive learning level, which is knowledge, I could create a game that will require students to recall and reflect on a particular story that we would just have finished reading. I would call this game "Flip-a-chip". I once had a teacher do something similar, however she used it as her reward system. I would use her method as a way to engage the students in the game. I would use poker chips, each chip is a different color, each color would represent the number of points earned. I would ask the class a question that I would devise causing them to recall specific information from the text without looking and then answer the question with as much detail as possible. I would then toss the correct colored chip to the student that answered the question and go on to the next question. At the end of the game I would count up the points earned by each student and record them as points earned toward their final grade. This game is the easiest and most interactive way for students to recall and share information with fellow students. Everyone wants the points added to their grade and everyone wants to participate in such a fun activity.
Another technique I would use when teaching "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" would be to divide the class into 2 groups. One group would be the Capulet's and the other group the Montague's. I would designate these groups at the start of teaching this play and the students would remain in these two separate groups until the end of the play. This method of teaching would allow the students to better connect to the play as well as see the overall picture that violence, hatred, and war leads to nowhere but death and to fight and pit people against each other, ostracising one another would only cause resentment and more battles to be fought. I suppose that this technique would fall under Bloom's Application section of the the cognitive taxonomy. Further this teaching technique falls under Bloom's Analyzing section as well as the Synthesis section of the cognitive taxonomy. Students would be able to use the knowledge and lessons learned from this technique for every day knowledge and current situations (not only because our country is at war, but also because students themselves form cliques and ostracise one another especially in a high school setting).
I know that I usually learn using flash cards. They always seemed the most helpful to me in my English classes. Knowing this technique works for myself, I would create flash cards for my students with vocabulary words on them, the definition on the back and a color key to distinguish between adjectives, verbs, and nouns. I did this for myself throughout my school years and it helped me learn every time I took the time to create them. I would test the knowledge of my students by using the flash cards. I would read them the vocabulary word and ask them to define it and then tell me what category does it fall into. If they don't know I would refer them to the color, if they remember what my color key is that would help them. Then I would probe further and ask the student that answered the question why is that word a noun, adjective, adverb, or verb. Hoping that the definition would help, if not I would give an example. This technique will help the students to study, study as a class, and overall help them with their critical thinking skills.
My assessments of the students would be mostly open ended question exams. I want my students to think and tell me their opinion and their own interpretation of the information gathered from the story. Everyone has their own experiences, writing open ended questions allow me to get to know the student's lives better, as well as get to know their experiences and where they draw their knowledge from. Open ended questions also allow students to improve their writing skills; which is extremely important to an English teacher. Assessments where students are required to write their own ideas, experiences, and interpretation of the text is another form of using Bloom's taxonomy in that is fulfills all of the cognitive taxonomy requirements. Knowledge, comprehension, application, analyzing, synthesis, and evaluation.
Most of Bloom's taxonomy I knew already with the exception of synthesis. I just never knew that they were "Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Intelligence". I have many ideas on how I want to teach and the activities and ways I would present each text that I will be teaching as an English teacher. I just never had the opportunity to write down my ideas. Only when I think about a particular text do I think, how will I teach this to students, and then I get flooded with ideas. I am a very versatile person, I think on my feet and if the wind changes, I follow the wind of change. I'm the type of person that walks around a classroom drawing information from students asking them to think and not just copy an answer from a neighbor or the text. I want them to think about the quotes they use and tell me why are they important to the story, why are they important to their own personal stories.
The following are the sites that I kept looking back and forth at to help answer the 5 reasons Bloom's taxonomy could be helpful to my teaching practices:
http://www.officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html
http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Training/Bloom-taxonomy.htm
Bloom's cognitive category helps me put my learning objectives in better perspective. I want to raise the bar of my students. If I just teach them mediocre literature, than all they will learn is mediocre literature. If I teach students higher level literature, possibly even college level literature, than I know my students will have obtained a higher reading, comprehension, and the analyzing level of literature and information. However, if I choose literature that is too high for the students that I am teaching, than the students will get frustrated for attempting to read the difficult material, especially if they do not comprehend what it is they are reading. If students cannot understand what they are reading, than I cannot expect them to analyze the information, evaluate the information, or even apply the information to either their own life or even on a test or paper that I would assign.
Bloom's taxonomy has inspired me to create a memory game for my future students. Literature is so diverse and a lot of complicated themes as well as information are carried throughout a storyline. Just utilizing the first cognitive learning level, which is knowledge, I could create a game that will require students to recall and reflect on a particular story that we would just have finished reading. I would call this game "Flip-a-chip". I once had a teacher do something similar, however she used it as her reward system. I would use her method as a way to engage the students in the game. I would use poker chips, each chip is a different color, each color would represent the number of points earned. I would ask the class a question that I would devise causing them to recall specific information from the text without looking and then answer the question with as much detail as possible. I would then toss the correct colored chip to the student that answered the question and go on to the next question. At the end of the game I would count up the points earned by each student and record them as points earned toward their final grade. This game is the easiest and most interactive way for students to recall and share information with fellow students. Everyone wants the points added to their grade and everyone wants to participate in such a fun activity.
Another technique I would use when teaching "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" would be to divide the class into 2 groups. One group would be the Capulet's and the other group the Montague's. I would designate these groups at the start of teaching this play and the students would remain in these two separate groups until the end of the play. This method of teaching would allow the students to better connect to the play as well as see the overall picture that violence, hatred, and war leads to nowhere but death and to fight and pit people against each other, ostracising one another would only cause resentment and more battles to be fought. I suppose that this technique would fall under Bloom's Application section of the the cognitive taxonomy. Further this teaching technique falls under Bloom's Analyzing section as well as the Synthesis section of the cognitive taxonomy. Students would be able to use the knowledge and lessons learned from this technique for every day knowledge and current situations (not only because our country is at war, but also because students themselves form cliques and ostracise one another especially in a high school setting).
I know that I usually learn using flash cards. They always seemed the most helpful to me in my English classes. Knowing this technique works for myself, I would create flash cards for my students with vocabulary words on them, the definition on the back and a color key to distinguish between adjectives, verbs, and nouns. I did this for myself throughout my school years and it helped me learn every time I took the time to create them. I would test the knowledge of my students by using the flash cards. I would read them the vocabulary word and ask them to define it and then tell me what category does it fall into. If they don't know I would refer them to the color, if they remember what my color key is that would help them. Then I would probe further and ask the student that answered the question why is that word a noun, adjective, adverb, or verb. Hoping that the definition would help, if not I would give an example. This technique will help the students to study, study as a class, and overall help them with their critical thinking skills.
My assessments of the students would be mostly open ended question exams. I want my students to think and tell me their opinion and their own interpretation of the information gathered from the story. Everyone has their own experiences, writing open ended questions allow me to get to know the student's lives better, as well as get to know their experiences and where they draw their knowledge from. Open ended questions also allow students to improve their writing skills; which is extremely important to an English teacher. Assessments where students are required to write their own ideas, experiences, and interpretation of the text is another form of using Bloom's taxonomy in that is fulfills all of the cognitive taxonomy requirements. Knowledge, comprehension, application, analyzing, synthesis, and evaluation.
Most of Bloom's taxonomy I knew already with the exception of synthesis. I just never knew that they were "Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Intelligence". I have many ideas on how I want to teach and the activities and ways I would present each text that I will be teaching as an English teacher. I just never had the opportunity to write down my ideas. Only when I think about a particular text do I think, how will I teach this to students, and then I get flooded with ideas. I am a very versatile person, I think on my feet and if the wind changes, I follow the wind of change. I'm the type of person that walks around a classroom drawing information from students asking them to think and not just copy an answer from a neighbor or the text. I want them to think about the quotes they use and tell me why are they important to the story, why are they important to their own personal stories.
The following are the sites that I kept looking back and forth at to help answer the 5 reasons Bloom's taxonomy could be helpful to my teaching practices:
http://www.officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html
http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Training/Bloom-taxonomy.htm
Learning Objectives continued from class worksheet
On further introspection as to why it is important for me to give students the opportunity to find hidden talents in my classroom I came up with the following reasons:
1. It is imperitive for students to find out that they have a talent. Everyone needs to know that they are good at something. Students need the confidence, self-esteem boost, and recoginition of their talents for them to develope their own identity.
2. Students need to be given the opportunity to develope their talents and identity. The students need to know that there are some things that they are just naturally better at than other students. This helps students see that they have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning; which leads to having goals, developing dreams, and looking to make future plans.
If I can give students the opportunity to grow as individuals and allow them to find their strengths, I can then help them develope those strengths so that they can utilize them within the classroom and then even later in life.
1. It is imperitive for students to find out that they have a talent. Everyone needs to know that they are good at something. Students need the confidence, self-esteem boost, and recoginition of their talents for them to develope their own identity.
2. Students need to be given the opportunity to develope their talents and identity. The students need to know that there are some things that they are just naturally better at than other students. This helps students see that they have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning; which leads to having goals, developing dreams, and looking to make future plans.
If I can give students the opportunity to grow as individuals and allow them to find their strengths, I can then help them develope those strengths so that they can utilize them within the classroom and then even later in life.
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