Curriculum Instruction Assesment

UbD DI chapter 8 is about grading and reporting on student success within the curriculum. It breaks down views on grading into different principals. The students should know what standards they are working towards, there should be a valid evidence for grading, there should be set criteria, not everything should be graded, teachers should not grade with averages, and grading should be achievement focused. I think that the 6th principal is one I will focus on in my classroom. I want learning and grading to be centered around student growth. Teachers should strive to make students engaged and interested in their own learning and promote lifelong learning. Lifelong learners are people who, even once they graduate, will still seek out new information and want to grow their knowledge.       Chapter 8 in Multiple Intelligences talks about classroom management tactics. It lists off ways to get students attention. I like how there are different ways to gain attention fo...

Chapter 7 in Multiple Intelligences  talks about the environmental factors that go into learning. The chapter also give examples of guiding questions for the teacher to ask in terms of assessing how each intelligence is being met through the environment. I like how these guiding questions push a teacher to really think about how their students will learn. Looking at the intelligences I have, Musical and Logical, I think that the questions are spot on as a musically intelligent person I love to have music on when I am working. As a logically intelligent person I appreciate consistency and rhythm. I do not like unorganized teachers. Chapter 9 talks about the premise of Multiple Intelligence schools. They create a learning environment that promotes the growth of all intelligences. In schooling certain intelligences were not considered important; they were not encouraged to grow. I do not think I will work in a Multiple intelligences school but this information will be helpful to me o...

Chapters six and seven in Understanding by Design talk about student understanding. Chapter 6 talks about responsive teaching and answers questions that teachers may have about responsive teaching practices. I like how the book went into detail about different types of learners a teacher might encounter and how those learners may be problematic toward the general lesson plan. Students may be struggling with learning material at the pace he class is going or they could be going too fast for the class schedule. As teachers we should strive for student understanding and understanding where students fall in the spectrum of learning rate. By breaking down in lessons plans and in your mind it should help teachers to understand the different teaching strategies they need to use. Chapter seven is similar because it talks about how we, as educators, can help students gain deeper understanding of topics. I think that when we have these tools to help students it allows teachers to experiment with...

Chapter 6 explains the most effective ways for teachers to form questions that will show student mastery. Using several different question asking methods can assure that the subject area is really covered. Using different methods and prompts can play to all students abilities. Some students may be really good at multiple choice but horrible at short answer so this will give teachers knowledge of what the student really knows. If the student was given all short answer questions than they would not show what they actually know. I also think it is important for teachers to tell students what is expected of them when they are being assessed. In an AP class that I took we were given step by step instructions on how we should approach each type of question. This takes the stress off of how to answer the question and focuses on what students are going to put in the answer. I also think it is important to stress clear concise questions because if the student is confused about what is being ...

In chapter 5 the author describes the process and effect of tiering. Up until I read this chapter I had not heard of this idea. I now think of tiering as a sort of scaffolding. Students are given appropriate material and each class the old material is used to build upon new material. This is where pre assessments would be useful. You do not want to start a student on material that is too difficult because they will constantly be behind. You also do not want to start to easy because students will become bored with the material. I read in a different article about different ways that teachers can check in with students to make sure that they are not falling behind and one thing that I would like to implement in my classroom is colored sticky notes that students have on their desks all the time. If the student is confused they put a yellow note on top and if they are completely lost. This gives the teacher instant feedback while they are teaching as to what students are not understanding...

In chapter 4 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about the creation and usage of self-assessments, rubrics, and portfolios. As a student I love rubrics. I need to be told the expectations of a project and report. I like the structure around a rubric and I find that I do better if I know exactly what expected of me. For my students I aim to be open to project ideas but giving rubrics to students may ease some anxiety students have about creating projects. I liked how the author showed examples of the different forms of rubrics that can be used. In two of my science classes teachers made students create something very similar to a portfolio. It was an interactive notebook that notes, labs, and general observations about the class. This was beneficial to the student because it would force even unorganized students to begin to be organized. It would also keep all the information needed in one easy place for students to access. The author talks about sending portfolios to parents but I do ...

Teachers have to be good at juggling, not in the typical sense, but they have to juggle all the responsibilities they have thrown at them. Teachers have to manage curriculum, student progress, planning to help students succeed, maintaining a safe learning environment, and all the while they have to stay calm and collected while trying to give every student what they need. Most of the time teachers can not manage all of that and they drop one or more responsibilities. It is not that the teacher is bad at teaching or does not want to see students succeed; they just were not given the proper tools to help them succeed. They might not be up to date on modern teaching practiced or with the MI theory. I think this chapter does well in giving brief descriptions about little things a teacher can do in order to help them balance all the responsibilities. It is important for teachers to have a plan that is open to change. The plan needs to be a balancing act between curriculum and student involv...

Chapter 3 talks about the process of building a lesson using backward design. It gives examples of lesson plans and explains the most common confusions people have about backward design. The chapter also outlines the steps to take when using backward design and explains the purpose of each step. There is a shift happening in education right now and I think this chapter does well on summing it up. Teachers are used to driving curriculum into the students without worry if they actually understand it. While curriculum is important, I believe that schools should be places to also work on personal growth and understanding. Students should be able to learn more than just the basic curriculum but with the amount of information that students need to retain it is difficult to think about personal growth in students. I think that  backward design makes teachers more aware of the outcome they want and makes them think about how to reach that outcome. Step 2 of the backward design process ma...

Chapter 2: What Really Matters in Teaching? (The Students)     The title of this chapter basically sums up what all teaching should be. It should be student focused. There was an analogy made that teachers are the employee and students are the customers. According to Tony Wagner, a published educator, students are born with curiosity, and creativity. I believe that it is a teacher's job to prolong this curiosity. By working with students teachers will hopefully allow students to explore their own thoughts about subjects, to be willing to share, and to explore more on their own.     I think that the author explained why we need DI and UbD in our classrooms in a clear way. Using examples of students gave me a better understanding of how much it matters for teachers to know their students so that they can understand what is happening in their lives and plan accordingly for any issues.     I think that the author makes it very clear that p...

Chapter 1: UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership     The first chapter explains what Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction is. Both are designed to include all students in the learning process and make sure that the classroom environment allows them to succeed. The main premise is the teachers and students having a shared goal. What it takes to get to that goal is a balancing act between what makes one student successful and what makes the whole class successful.  I would like to have more of an explanation of what each one is separately. The author does a good job of explaining them as they relate to each other but it is hard to understand their differences. I think that using this method of teaching allows the student to feel more involved in their own learning. When a student feels like they have autonomy, I believe, that they are more likely to want to participate in activities and learn. Also, when using Understanding by Design and Differe...

Chapter 4 focuses on how students can learn about their intelligences and why it is important for students to know. The Multiple Intelligence Theory can be taught using short activities that gets students thinking about how they think. This metacognition allows students to understand how they need to approach a subject in order to succeed. The student understanding can also allow students to have a voice in their learning process. If some strategy of teaching is not working for a student they have the tools needed to go up to the teacher and say which type of intelligence they are. Once students understand their intelligence the teacher should attempt to bring that into the class. Hopefully this will make all students feel like they are smart even in a subject that might be a struggle for them. The methods that the author gives for teaching the MI Theory can be done in small doses that do not take away much time from the curriculum. I think that before  students do any sort of r...

Children's intelligence is very fluid and each child is born with the capability to possess all of the intelligences. The chapter went into depth about how to better understand the students intelligences and how to identify them. I think the checklist is a good way for teachers to identify which students have which preferred intelligence style. Another way to identify learning styles is to have students complete an activity like we did in class or to learn about the MI theory. As a CA we are required to keep a sociogram. It is a notebook filled with everything we know about our residents. The author says that one way to try and identify intelligences is to keep a journal like a sociogram. I think it would be effective in monitoring student intelligence and also monitoring behaviors. In my sociogram I write down the residents likes, dislikes, who they are dating, how often I see them and what their personality is like. This allows me to recognize changes in residents and respond...

Chapter 2: MI Theory and Personal Development     Chapter 2 builds on the explanation of the Multiple Intelligences theory which was introduced in the first chapter. This section goes on to explain the importance of balancing intelligences within a person so that no intelligence greatly outweighs another. It is important for teacher to be able to have small bits of each intelligence as to better understand and tech students of all intelligences. Personally I have a strong aptitude toward logical and musical intelligences but I severely lack in all other categories. I would have to use separate resource, such as other teachers, to begin engaging students with varying intelligences. For some intelligences I have already began to think of ways to engage them. The students with  kinesthetic and visual intelligences would be engaged using manipulatives and allowing students to work alone or with partners will hopefully allow the intrapersonal and interpersonal students...

Chapter 1: The Foundations of MI Theory     The first chapter explained the Multiple Intelligence theory and how the  Multiple Intelligence theory came to be. I found it interesting how the idea of modern intelligence has been around since the early 1900s but as far as I have seen the knowledge of how we think has not been effectively worked into the school system. I think that Gardner was correct when he wrote that, “our culture had defined intelligence too narrowly” (Armstrong 2009). As a culture we still tend to define intelligence through who can excel in the schooling system we have in place. In my experience with public schooling there was very little emphasis on developing other intelligences. Logical reasoning was valued and other intelligences were pushed to conform to the ideal student. With the  Multiple Intelligence theory being around for almost 20 years, one would think that inclusive education would be more prominent and I was surprised that th...

Chapter 10 in Multiple Intelligences talks about various testing and assessment strategies that can be used in the classroom. For assessments it is especially important to understand your students learning styles and intelligences. Once you know the students multiple intelligences you can form assessments around the learner. This can allow for students to become more interested in the subject and turn in better quality work. I liked the wording the author used when he said, “ The most important prerequisite to authentic assessment is observation” (131). A teacher has to know their student before they can fully tend to their learning and assessing need in a way that will benefit the student. I spoke before in one of my reviews about Add to dictionary and their importance for understanding students social and logical mind. I think it is an acceptable way of measuring student understanding. In my high school one teacher did a sign up sheet type project. The teacher told us the books we...

Chapter 3 in Fair Isn’t Always Equal focuses on assessment formats and differentiated assessments. As a teacher it is important to understand that not all students will be able to succeed with what is first given to them. It is up to the teacher to change and adapt the learning to fit all students, this includes the assessment format. I liked the idea of having students know what is on the exam before the unit begins. This can ease some of the stress that students feel. One downfall of this is that some students who are in a class solely to graduate will use this information as a hint as to what they can forget and remember. Students may study to the test and not study for knowledge and growth. I think that an adjustment I would make to this would be to give an outline of the unit and have important topics that might be on the test underlined. That way students understand that a topic is on an assessment but they do not know which part or what questions will be asked. This can prompt...

Mastery seems like an impossible task to accomplish and measure. I think the author is entirely correct when he says that mastery goes past just;  knowing and relaying facts, manipulating knowledge, and applying information. Mastery is fluid thing because you can never know every little detail about a topic. The closest we can come to true mastery is understanding. Understanding is talked about in “Understanding by Design” and is explained using the six facets; explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge. The use of these six facets is to help educators have a basis for knowing when students have shown proficiency and understanding of a subject. Once the students are capable of all these things they are considered to have shown mastery in the topic even if they do not know every little fact. I liked reading through the questions about what type of assessment would be considered most appropriate for looking at mastery. I think that most of t...

The first chapter explained the book’s namesake that “Fair Isn't Always Equal.”  Before I read this chapter I did have a basic understanding of how some students would need more help or might need larger font or some other assistance but beginning this book I am beginning to understand just how different differentiation can be. The author talked about cognitive principles and their effectiveness in helping to differentiate a classroom. It is evident that teachers are meant to provide scaffolding to various topics but some students will need more assistance and more resources to use as scaffolding. Differentiation is working all students to a common goal while giving everyone as little or as much scaffolding as they need to succeed. I visualize this by thinking of a tower. Some students will be able to walk up the stairs all the way to the top. Some students will need to take a water break and others may need to take an elevator halfway and then walk the rest of the way. The top ...

One of the characteristics of a professional is to be able to reflect upon things. Not to just say what went well and what failed but also to reflect and seek improvement. I think that in chapter 5 the main point was to push the idea of reflection on the readers. If an assessment style does not seem to show accurate knowledge of the student the teacher has to ask why and try to correct it.     I think the author did well at staying objective when talking about assessment strategies. Teachers should understand that there are pros and cons to each way of assessing and we have to find a testing strategy that shows accurate growth and understanding of a topic within the student. This is where reflection comes in. Teachers should be able to see their students improve from the start of the unit to the assessment. I liked what the author talked about on the topic of pretesting before a unit to gauge student growth. The pretest can be a good way to understand how much students...