B2+UbD+Chapter+4

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Emily H.
This chapter focuses on the attitudes and skills that teachers should have to help all types of learners in a differentiated classroom. The one that jumped out to me was “they develop flexible classroom environment.” I feel that this would be something I might struggle with as a teacher since I am not a flexible person when it comes to planning and coming up with ideas for my students that give them variety in lessons. This is something I will have to develop so that I can provide this environment to those students who need it. One of the tips to create this environment is to rearrange the room so that it is possible to __#|work__ in small groups, a class as a whole or provide a space for an individual. This movement of environment is something that I would do in my classroom. I like the idea of having different learning spaces for different activities. This will suit the needs of a lot of students because they can be in the learning environment that suits them. As a teacher I’d have my students choose what they wanted to do for a certain projects. If they wanted to __#|work__ in small groups it would be possible to arrange that. If some students wanted to __#|work__ alone they would have that option. It is all about making the classroom a place where anyone can be in the environment that helps them learn and it’s our jobs as teacher to produce this

Cameron B.
Teachers will have students with various strengths and weaknesses in the class. What some teachers do for students can actually do more harm than good. For instance if students struggle in some areas like reading or writing, it is not helping the student by giving them less work in these areas. On the contrary it does not help a student who understands the information well and is given more homework than the rest of the class that does not allow for growth intellectually. An important part of teaching is being comfortable with the content that I am teaching. If I am comfortable with my materials than I am more likely to help students by providing more ways for them to be successful. So for me I need to make sure I know the content well and being able to answer students questions will be important. A quality teacher does not focus on what he or she did well. If they feel as if they delivered a great lesson in class and feels like the students should understand it. But some students missed a key concept. A good teacher will take the time to clear up fog that may be blocking the students from understanding. Teachers need to remember that the students come first. I know that I don’t want students to feel left behind. The reason why I am there teacher is to put them first. Teachers need to realize that they cannot manage a classroom by themselves. The students will contribute in management simply because they can be independent and know what they should be doing. But it is good to have an ideal image of how teachers want their classroom to look like when everything is going smoothly. I plan on asking students what would make the classroom more productive for them and could then make changes to accommodate their needs.

Ali P
__Chapter 4__

This chapter explained that the more powerful a curriculum is, the more possibilities it will provide to its students. Many teachers teach content and forget to teach how to learn. It is up to the teacher to engage the students and help them to absorb information the best that they can. The chapter also mentioned how important it is for a teacher to create comfort in the class. A class with a sense of comfort creates motivation for its students and the teacher. A suggestion for creating comfort was to give the students a choice in assignments. Giving the students this choice not only gives them freedom but enables them to pick which intelligence style they would like to use. Using an intelligence style that works best for a student gives them comfort and understanding of the project.

When I become a teacher I would like to make my lessons as interesting as possible. That may sound silly, but when I think back to high school the lessons that I remember best are the ones that interested me most. I am constantly surprised that so many teachers do not realize how boring their lessons are. I feel that a more interesting lesson will not only inspire students but the teachers as well. I hope to find creativity in my lessons and have fun teaching them. I would like to give my students a lot of choice in my class. Choice of what to study, how to study it, and how to prove to me that they have learned it.

Brittany R.
In this chapter, I felt like I learned more about adjusting to students needs and gaining their respect. I enjoyed reading the paragraph that talked about the “more” or “less” approach because that is something I want to push for in my classrooms. I agree with making sure that all students are succeeding and growing no matter what level they are at but as far as the work goes, all students should have the same amount of work unless a student still may not be grasping the idea after his or her work is completed. Therefor it makes sense for the teacher to assign another worksheet or paper to reinforce the lesson. It frustrated me when my high school teachers or even professors I have had in the past feel that once they have taught their lesson they are done. I don’t believe this is the case. This subject was brought up in the chapter as well. In my classroom, I want to be able to present the same material in a number of different ways so I am able to reach all of my students. There are too many people in the world to assume that we are wired the same exact way. We are different people who’s minds work different so presenting material in a different manner that is equally pleasing for all students is only natural. A quote I enjoyed from the chapter was “the essence of our job is making sure that the curriculum serves as a catalyst for powerful learning for students who, with our guidance and support, become skilled in and committed to the process of learning” (pg. 39). I agree with this 100%. I want students to be able to think for themselves and learn from their own thoughts and ideas. = =

Phillip C.
Chapter four began where chapter three left off. It is important to make a strong curriculum, but it can’t be so important that the teacher forgets about the student. It is also true in reverse as was discussed in earlier chapters. I enjoyed this chapter because it defined characteristics of teachers who are able to help all learners. It made me think about whether or not I will be like this when I am in a classroom. There were nine skills specified that each teacher should display. A few of these stuck out to me more than others. The biggest one had to be clarity about curricular essentials. It becomes impossible to plan lessons or differentiate ones teaching style if the goals of the unit aren’t clear. That is why of the nine attitudes and skills I would mark this one as the most important for myself to bring to my classroom. It is also important for me in particular because I can have problems staying organized. I also thought that “Accepting Responsibility for Learner Success,” was huge. I agreed with this a lot. I like how it put responsibility on the teacher for failures instead of blaming a student who could very well just learn differently than the lessons were taught. The idea also stated that even if a child is getting straight A’s, if they’re not learning it is a failure on the teacher’s part. I think this is true as well. A lot of the time in school I found myself bored with easy material and likely would have benefited more from challenging alternate assignments. I hope that in the future I will be able to provide alternate assignment to challenge advanced students while simultaneously being sure the essential knowledge is grasped by all.

Nicole C.
This chapter taught me that it is important to keep a steady balance of quality curriculum and quality instruction. After all, only about half of our job as teachers is to effectively teach content – the other half is to foster student learning and growth as human beings. The key points that stood out to me were the statements that said all students should have access to quality instruction, all students should have attainable goals that they meet by the end of the year, and all teachers should provide flexible areas so that every single student can have all of these things. I will definitely do my best to provide variety in teaching, get to know what works best for each of my students, and work with them on a concept until it finally clicks for them – no matter how many different methods have to be employed to get to that point. A quote in this section that really impacted me and will certainly impact my role as a future educator said, “If a student has not yet learned a thing of importance, the teacher has not yet taught it well enough” (Tomlinson and McTighe 44). All too often I see teachers who claim they are teaching perfectly, and it is the student’s fault for not getting the message. While I understand that it can sometimes be frustrating to come up with an entirely new way to present a subject, sometimes that is just what you have to do to reach a particular student. It is worth it, which is why I will do my best to keep that quote in mind in the future. I will always have a backup plan for my lessons, and a backup //backup// plan following. The more instructional tools and methods I have at my disposal, the better teacher I will be.

Tyler R.
This chapter highlighted a subject that I’m not very sure about. I think that students must learn all of a certain subject, not just the highlighted or key events. I do understand that time is limited and that forces teachers to really have to focus on the key events of a certain subject, but I think that small details are important too in order to completely understand the entire concept. If someone was to only focus on the key events of World War II, they may learn about key leaders, battles, and other events, but they would miss the brutality, heroism, and could miss the reasons behind why certain things played out how they did. This is only one example for one field of study. I’m sure that this could be applied to many other different fields of study. I believe students deserve the entire story in order to fully understand what is trying to be taught. Another concept that was touched on in the chapter was the one about teachers taking responsibility for their students’ successes and their students’ failures. Although I never found this to be untrue, I had friends and heard plenty of my classmates complain that it was the teacher’s fault for their failure to understand what was being taught. Furthermore, they would say that their teacher told them that it was the student’s fault for this. I believe that this can go either way. There is a range of possibilities that could lead to blame the teacher for students’ failures, but there are also many possibilities for students to be the one to blame. No matter how hard a teacher may try, not matter what a teacher may say or do, sometimes they just simply cannot convince a student to want to succeed. If this is the case and the student simply doesn’t care, then the teacher should not have to take responsibility to an extent.

**Jackson F.**
Teaching predominately by curriculums we forget half of what our professional role is. Besides teaching the content that needs to be taught it is also necessary to realize we are teaching human beings. This is one reason why teachers need to be responsive in the classroom. As in previous chapters every student is unique in their own way and may need to be accommodated. In the chapter it list that there are 9 essential attitudes and skills in order to take a more differentiated approach to teaching. Some of the skills include helping students realize their true potential within their class, developing classroom management to contribute to success and develop respectful communities in the classroom. Some attitudes needed to be effective are accepting the responsibility of learner success, develop flexible classroom teaching, and reflect on individual progress. The commonality of all nine of these attributes is that they can all be differentiated to ensure that all students can be accommodated. After learning about the nine attributes I feel like I have a better insight on what my role as a teacher is. I realize that being able to implement all nine would be really difficult but could make for a real effective classroom and learning environment. What I hope to be able implement all nine attributes within my classroom. I consider myself good with people and I hope that attribute follows me into the classroom. My goal as a teacher is to create a friendly learning environment while supporting the needs of all my students to learn the essential material being presented to them. By following the nine attributes it will take me a step closer to achieving my goal as a teacher.

Meng H.
Chapter 4 is about nine essential attitudes and skills of the teacher who implements differentiated teaching. To sum them up, the teacher should be able to Under each of the nine attitudes and skills there are still more detailed guidelines a responsive teacher should do. I would love to use those guidelines to help me working towards becoming a teacher who strives to understand and meet students’ needs and ensure a responsive learning community for their academic and personal success in school. In my classroom, every student will be treated with respect. Students’ inputs about classroom management routines, reflections on instructions, group work and assignments are taken into consideration for the future. For mathematics, a pre-assessment and questionnaire would be very helpful to determine students’ precursor skills, interests, backgrounds, MI, and learning styles. With the essential goal in mind, I can implement teaching and assessment means that are best suited for students.
 * have a clear picture of the learning outcomes that focus on knowledge, understandings, skills
 * share responsibilities for leaner success with students
 * have a learning environment built upon respect
 * understand each student’s needs, and teach him/her more effectively
 * let students take on responsibilities for their own success and contribute to classroom management
 * recognize and facilitate support for students’ strengths and weaknesses, and promote student’s self-reliance in learning
 * understand students benefit from various ways of teaching and commit to provide diverse means of instruction
 * develop a range of instruction strategies
 * keep track of student’s improvement against established goals and personal growth

Joe S.
This chapter emphasizes the importance of a balance between quality instruction and strength of curriculum. It accentuates the point that the individuals being taught are in fact human beings and not simply vessels for knowledge to be stored in, taken a step further to mean that a teacher can create the most challenging, stimulating curriculum possible, but still miss the mark if the instruction does not match the enthusiasm of the curriculum. Likewise for the opposite, an enthusiastic teacher may also fall short of their goal without worthwhile curriculum.

The author cites the previous chapter in opting for an “enduring understandings” curriculum over a linear, fact-based one, as it allows the teacher to vary their lessons and allow for instruction that will connect with students’ lives and interests. Doing so makes enables the students to take charge of their education and accept responsibility for learning the material. A lot of the focus here is on being flexible to meet the needs of one’s students.

The last part of the passage meant a lot to me, and is something I want to be sure to implement in my classroom, and that is reflecting on how students react and respond to certain lessons, as well as tracking their progress throughout the year and through a unit. Doing this will allow me to determine which parts of my curriculum are most beneficial to my students, and which should be left behind, because a classroom is dynamic and constantly needs to be assessed. = =

Jackie B.
I really like the quote “There are many ways I can help my students learn. My Job is to find enough ways to teach and enough ways to support learning so that what I teach works for each person who needs to learn the essential content.” (p 39) I feel like this really captures what our class is and what we’ve been reading about for the last two weeks. All students are different, and even if they were all similar it’s the teacher’s job to best try and teach the material in different ways to help each of her students. The Nine attitudes and skills seem like a recipe for success in the classroom. I’m just not sure I could accomplish all of these things. I lack the confidence that I think is required to be able to achieve these nine skills/attitudes and in result my students will fail on my account which would be absolutely horrible. I’m definitely going to try my best though to incorporate the nine attitudes/skills to the best of my ability. It’s really helpful to know that I will be able to differentiate lessons to fit my needs and the needs of my students. In the book they talk about the teacher being “foggy” on the material as well as the students having various needs such as advanced learners needing new things to learn and the slower learners needing help grasping what I’m teaching. The point seems to be that communication is key. How I can communicate the information or knowledge that I’m suppose to give to the students in an effective and productive manner. The teachers almost have to be crafty in their thinking and figure out how to overcome the obstacle of having such a diverse classroom.

Clayton P.
This chapter stresses the importance of content clarity, meaning simply to clarify what areas of content are going to be deemed essential. Teaching essential content means that students will have more time to absorb the content and thus understand the content. It is only when students can understand the content that they can effectively learn. However, the authors again stress the importance of not only providing understandable content, but to present that content in a way that the students can best understand it. This again brings up the concept of DI, as students will understand the content in different ways.

The authors present nine essential attitudes and skills that all teachers should follow in order to provide content in the most understandable way. They stress that deficits in any one of the nine areas would result in learning deficits for at least some of the students. The authors then reaffirm the fact that curriculum needs to be focused on students’ knowledge, understanding and skill. This is important because, as we have discussed before, content overload is a serious problem, and it is the essential content that needs to be known and understood by the students. The authors continue, saying that it is the essential content that is the most likely to engage the students’ interest. They also say that creating a curriculum where students can best understand the content is much more flexible than other, more provincial methods. Furthermore, when a teacher knows that the students understand the content, the teacher becomes more comfortable teaching it. Again, this was a very important chapter. It solves the other half of the content overload dilemma.

Andrew C
This chapter showed me that having an understanding of the essential questions for a subject matter and specific units helps everyone. It helps the teachers because they understand the goal of the unit better and are then able to help the different level of students. As the chapter pointed out it can be easy just to give students who are having trouble with a subject something easier to do or give students who are excelling some busybody work to slow them down. But this is not an effective way of teaching. As teachers we need to make sure that all students are getting the higher level of learning that comes from having essential questions and goals. The chapter also pointed out that with these essential goals all that is important is the outcome. It doesn’t matter if one student has to do a project a little different then another because that just means they learn differently. I will definitely take this knowledge into my classroom because I think that some teachers get way too caught up on directions the way everything HAS to go. All that really matters is that all of the students are receiving the same over all knowledge and are doing it at a high learning level. One thing that I really took from this chapter was that as teachers we need to get to know our students in and outside the classroom in order to affective teachers. I liked how the teacher from the example of a 3rd grade class asked all of the students to write down stories that has the same theme as the unit. She was then able to use these stories and connect them back into the unit which is a good way of keeping all the students active throughout the lessons.