B1+UbD+Chapter+2

Leigh Welch (Abstract and Synthesis)
The key concepts of chapter two in Understanding by Design were focused on the student. Nearly on our class had the same general ideas about what the important parts of this chapter were. One very popular one was the fact that teachers need to be ready for anything when in their classroom, may it be different learning styles, changes in behavior, students struggling, or anything else that can come in and upset the flow of the class. Another aspect that the members of this block seemed to agree upon were that teachers //need// to get to know their students in order to be able to effectively teach and learn from them. Some general ideas derived the class were mentioned in this chapter. Many of the other members of this block mentioned using the “exit cards” idea, where students answer questions on cards and hand them in at the end of class. These are not graded, just collected and read, to let the teacher know where the students stand when it comes to the subject and the material that is being covered. Another general consensus among the class was that one of the better aspects of this chapter was in the beginning where the authors gave examples of different situations where outside problems, learning disabilities and other factors played such a heavy part in the students life that it effected their schoolwork. Nearly all of the members of this block mentioned in their personal entry that the wanted to be able to detect when this was happening in their classroom, and they would do this by knowing each of their students on an individual level.

An aspect that many members of the class had in common was the new-found knowledge about connecting with a variety of students in a variety of ways. Many members of the class connected this knowledge to the activities that we all participated in on the first day of classes. This also ties into a chapter in one of the books talking about how important it is to “[|set the stage]” on the first day. Bringing in what Dr. Grace said, “it is important to never teach content on the first day”. A number of people also mentioned in their responses that students are going to come form [|different backgrounds] and that that was going to play a part in what was happening to the students and what you could do, as a teacher, to connect with them better, knowing that information. Also, some people talked about reaching out to the abilities of all the students and how important that really is, not only to the student individually, but also to the class as a whole. Many of members of the class were excited about and also nervous about trying to reach out to students in a personal and also professional way. Most of us agree, that this chapter helped to widen the knowledge on how to do just that. A majority of the class members talked about trying to be more aware as a teacher. This is very important because it is going to help students down the road, and help teachers be more aware of the students, and connect with them better.

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Carinne Haigis
Like the first chapter of this book, the second chapter focuses on the differences amongst students and how important it is for a teacher to know his or her students and to try his or her hardest to ensure the success of all individuals in the class. This chapter took a look at four students (Elise, Yana, Jason, and Noah) who were all struggling in a particular area of school. After introducing each student’s situation, the authors write, “Their teachers invested time, care, and mental energy in crafting curricula that complemented their belief in the possibilities of each student and the role of knowledge in helping students achieve their potential” (Tomlinson, McTighe 15). Each one of these examples illustrates a time when a student was struggling and the teacher went out of his or her way to understand exactly why. Sometimes, the reasons are outside of the teachers control (family matters, for instance), but even still, it is important for the teacher to find a way to reach the student and help them to learn to the best of his or her ability regardless of what may be happening outside of the classroom. This chapter also focuses on how important it is for the teacher to adapt to meet the needs of the students. On this subject, the authors write, “When a student need took center stage, it became necessary for the teacher to adapt the ‘script’ to account for that need” (Tomlinson, McTighe 15). This shows that because of the variability of students in a classroom, a teacher has to constantly be prepared to adjust his or her plans and techniques in order to better suit the students.

Chris Whitney

 * Chapter Two** focused on the most important part of teaching, the students. The book put emphasis on the fact that the students, more than the content they are learning, is the most important factor when being a teacher. From this chapter I learned a lot about different factors that can contribute to student learning. For instance, behavior that may seem disruptive or rude could be a better way for the student to learn or a student showing they are having a tough time in their life. If a teacher can see these signs and help the students move past that issue or encourage their learning style, then more students will be effective. A quote that really stood out to me in this chapter was on page 18 that said “Even the best curriculum delivered in a take it or leave it fashion will be taken by a few and left by many.” This goes along with one of the main themes of diversity. The more diversity a teacher has in the classroom, the more successful they will be as a teacher and the more successful the students will be as learners. I also learned different ways to mix up learning styles in the classroom. Alternating between working alone and in groups helps students to developed components of multiple intelligences. Or that the use of small groups is a great way for teachers to focus in on certain students while also having all the students learning at the same time.

Paul Santamore
Chapter Two: This chapter was fairly straightforward with its message; Students should be the central concern of all teachers and these students will come in a variety of different styles. They will learn, read, write, look, act, and question in different ways, which may sound quite difficult to deal with from a new teacher’s perspective. The book goes on to explain throughout the rest of the chapter that it is difficult, but of course, this is not a one step process and there are no exact guidelines to pleasing each and every student. What it comes down to is that the teacher has to make adjustments and changes feasible by “implementing patterns of instruction likely to serve multiple needs” (19). Chapter two has provided me with a lot of knowledge, but also a variety of solutions and examples to help me connect with a variety of students in the classroom. Directly from the start I thought back to our activities in class referencing MI and learning styles and decided that the activities in which we participated yesterday will be put into my initial teacher plans when I enter the classroom. Another point of interest from this chapter for me was when the authors talked about ways to better familiarize yourself with your students. I personally thought that the dialogue journals were a great idea and I will strongly consider using them in my classroom. Getting to know people in general is always a worry of mine so this chapter certainly provides me with ways to do that easier.

Leigh W.
The second chapter of this book was mostly about how teachers have to be responsive as well as flexible. At the beginning of the chapter the author talks about a few different students that are having a hard time with different aspects of school. The chapter then goes on to talk about why being a responsive teacher is an essential part of being a teacher and helping your learners to succeed. In this chapter I really liked the ten approaches to responsive teaching. I feel like I understood the main ideas of most of them before I had read the chapter, but after getting more in depth with these ideas I really like most of them and can see how I would incorporate some of them into my classroom. We focused highly in our first class on the people in the class, not the content of the class, and I see that coming through in a lot of the readings. I like the idea of standing at the door and greeting each student as they come in, not only is it a better way to get to remember names, but it is also a great way to make yourself approachable for your students. In the area of content I liked the “exit cards” idea, where you give the students cards, which they use to answer essential question relating to the content. You then collect these cards at the end of the class to see where different students stand with the content. These cards aren’t graded, but they are beneficial to you, the teacher, because they show you where everyone is in terms of understanding your lessons.

**Kellie S.**
The “big idea” of this chapter was quite apparent: in order for a teacher to be effective, they must first get to know their students. This chapter reminded me a lot of the movies I have watched about teachers such as “Stand and Deliver” and “Freedom Writers”, where the teachers make a difference in the students’ lives because of the way they got to know them personally. While movies such as these often seem cliché and exaggerated, I think that they are also quite accurate in that idea. Looking back on the teachers who have come through my life, the most effective were usually the ones who took the time to get to know me, not only in my learning style, but in my personality and background. The suggestions for getting to know students which were given in this chapter were similar to the ones that I have seen before in movies and in real life, and I think that, when implemented properly, they really have worked. One particular idea that stuck out to me was using dialogue journals to have conversations with students because I think that that would be an excellent way to get to know my students’ backgrounds, especially if there is a crunch for classroom time. By understanding my students’ backgrounds, I will be able to incorporate things that they enjoy or can relate to into the curriculum. The other idea that I would love to try is using informal assessments (like the index card quiz idea) to monitor understanding. This seems like an excellent way to keep track of who needs extra practice or additional instruction and also who I might need to provide extra challenges for.

Bianca Stoutamyer
Like the title of the chapter states the thing that really matters in teaching is the students. Teachers have to be able to adapt a lesson plan in order to successfully teach the material to all of the students in the classroom. I particularly liked the sentence on page 13 paragraph 2, “Each year, students reinforce for those teachers that the journey is a shared endeavor and that the best-laid plans of the best teachers are just that--- plans, subject to change.” This quote really jumped out at me because it is so important to my future as a teacher. I could develop a lesson plan that I think is the best thing in the world but I have to be open minded and conscious of the fact that even if it is perfect for one of my classes the lesson may have to be completely changed in order to meet the needs of the class the next year or even the following period. Having all of the students learning the correct information at the right difficulty will be a huge challenge for me in the classroom especially if as a teacher I also must teach the students a specific set of information in order for them to pass a test. I liked the list on pages 18 and 19 of “Why it Matters to Teach Responsively.” These lists give me a general idea of what I should accomplish in the classroom sometimes sacrificing one in order to help a student achieve to the best of their ability.

Ashton Carmichael
Plans are subject to change. This is very important to think about when designing a lesson. I have been in classrooms where the teacher is very set in their way the plan is going to be carried out. The plan failed because it could have been tweaked in some minor way, but the teacher would not cave to the new idea. A lot of times, teachers come into the school year and try to teach each lesson the exact same way as the previous year. I don’t think this is a positive way to present the material because each student and group of students will have new ideas and ways to think about the information. If we, as teachers, assign projects year after year, then we should make them vague and allow room for creativity (ie: give multiple options that are appealing to a wide variety of students). The text addresses the fact that some students will come into the classroom with personal issues. As teachers we need to recognize students who are struggling and if we can figure out the cause, it will make our jobs easier because we can accurately discern if the issue is academic or personal. With this information, we can better help the student. The example the author gives about Yana is a great example of how teachers are flexible and willing to help students who are struggling. The teacher noticed a way to help the student express ideas. I want to be able to notice these clues and hints.

Allison Reynolds
I was glad that this chapter was one of the first ones that I read for the class. One aspect of teaching I truly want to bring to the classroom is reaching students on a personal and professional level. I worry about not knowing what is affecting the student’s learning and not being able to reach a student. Just by reading certain situations that may lead to a student shutting down, I feel a bit more confident on how to address a student or how to identify if something is wrong. I really liked reading through the bullet points sense some of them were reminders and some were new ideas. I found the idea of having key questions answered a note card at the end of class a really cool idea not only for me but also for the students. As a student, I may want to start asking myself what I should have learned from that lesson. Something that I thought about as I read this though was why a teacher wouldn’t do these things for a student. All of these ideas, topics, and tips are something I feel every teacher should want to do for their student. These pullet points helped inspire me to think of ideas of implementing how to bring them to a classroom, but there may be teachers who just don’t think of these things. That upsets me that students are stuck with a teacher who doesn’t want to connect. I really want to not be that teacher. I want my students to be as much a part of this as the lesson I am teaching them.

Kaite Bukauskas
On the surface, the requirements for an effective teacher appear to lay primarily with his or her knowledge of the content area being taught along with his or her ability to teach. However we learn in this chapter that it is important to realize that every individual is complex and that while students do share many common grounds between one another they also vary greatly in many ways. These personal differences between students can come in many forms from personal life to learning abilities. An aspect of a student’s life may interfere with his or her ability to learn and succeed in the classroom, therefore it is important for teachers to be insightful and attentive to the needs of their students to help address these issues. There are many things about a student that may hinder his or her ability to learn that would not be noticeable simply by looking at the student. This could include family issues the student is having at home, personal issues with confidence or identity, learning disabilities, or a learning style that is not being met in the classroom. To identify and combat these issues, one can work towards responsive teaching. This involves establishing a positive relationship with each learner individually and working towards discovering and understanding each learner’s preferred learning style. By learning about the students at a personal level, taking their differences into consideration while preparing the curriculum, and teaching in multiple ways a teacher can work towards providing an education to everyone in the classroom.

Mel Christensen
Learning to be perceptive to the needs of my students and their learning needs and challenges is something I am anticipating needing to spend a lot of time and energy on. I aspire to be an understanding teacher who really knows what is going on with my students and what I can do to help them learn. That being said, I know my observation skills always seem to fail me when dealing with people. I know I need to make a concentrated effort to get to know my students and learn to pick up on cues that they might be missing something or need help. Chapter 2 provided me with many good examples of ways to work with students that can facilitate getting to know them and how they are progressing in class. Meeting with small groups of students to check in on work or go over certain skills would be a good way for me to focus more attention of individual students. I also liked the idea of having students answer several questions to demonstrate their level of understanding and collecting them at the end of class to see which students are on track and which may need more practice or help with a concept. The case studies of several students at the beginning of the chapter provided interesting insight into how to work through what could be effecting students’ learning. It seems like frequent communication with students and experimentation with different instruction methods are effective and positive ways to work through issues students might be having in school.

Megan Hoffman
Where Chapter 1 focused primarily on the teacher’s role in this concept, Chapter 2 focuses on the other end of the spectrum- the students. It addressed prevention of learning based on the student’s personal life and experiences. It also introduced the idea of responsive teaching, which according to the book is “teaching that is attuned to students’ varied learning needs as to the requirements of a thoughtful and well-articulated curriculum” (Tomlinson & McTighe, page 18). This chapter was interesting to me because many people will blame the failure of learning on the teacher and that isn’t always the case. The author explains that the personal lives of the students can affect their learning in a very powerful way, sometimes positive and sometimes negative. An example that I see every day through my job are kids that come from broken homes that place learning at a low on their priority list. They view themselves as stupid simply because their home life is distracting their learning. I as a teacher can only do so much to assist their learning, but their personal lives can have such an impact on them that it places a barrier up that sometimes not even the best teacher can dissolve.

Jason B
Teachers need to be prepared for the unexpected. For example, sometimes a student can go from the student who shows the most potential to the student who shows the least. It is up to the teacher to find out why the sudden change in the student’s performance. Teachers need to be able to adjust their plans to students who need help. However, this would be nearly impossible to do for each individual student. This is why the teacher should develop a universal curriculum that can be adjusted as needed. In my classroom, I will be sure to create a universal class plan that covers the advanced students and the struggling students. I will also be prepared for any behavior that is out of the ordinary for particular students. When I notice this behavior, I will work with the student so that we can work around the problem. The goal of working around the problem is to keep the student learning. This is also a good example of why it is important to learn about your students. The more you know about your students, the more able you will be to recognize when a particular behavior does not fit a particular student. One way to learn about your students is to observe the students while they are discussing or working and take notes. Also, teaching in multiple ways can help reach out to those students who learn differently than other students.