Kim+C

April 12, 2011 I have always understood that assessment of students was always important but over the years the reasons behind assessing students has changed. I used to assess students solely for a report card mark. It was also a discussion item with parents but the mark never really told parents what a students' strengths or weaknesses were. Parents seemed to understand what 85% meant but it was difficult to explain the difference of 85% in one class and 75% in another class for the same type of work. And let's face it, some students are simply "good students". A few years ago I began giving my students pre-assessments. The reasons were for me to see the growth of my students from the beginning of a unit of study to the end - to see how well I did my job as a teacher.? Now I see where I need to go with assessments and I see a long journey ahead but at least I see a road, just not what is specifically around the corner.

January 25, 2011 We spent the day discussing flexible groupings as they relate to DI. I feel comfortable with grouping my students although I know I need to group my students with more purpose and thought behind my decisions. I usually group my students according to readiness levels. I tend not to group my students according to interest for the simple reason being that my students who share interests often spend a significant amount of time together and when students choose their own partners, these students gravitate towards each other. It is interesting to me that another grouping technique is using learning preferences as I had a discussion with my class last week about how students feel they learn best. I suggested ways of learning motion as related to our unit of study as being reading to learn about something, listening to someone explain something, watching someone do something or doing something yourself. I then asked students to think about how they learn best and many students asked if they could learn best in more than one way. As I keep trudging through the challenge of planning using UbD, I will need to keep these flexible groupings in the back of my mind and work these groupings into my plans as well.



November 2, 2010 Today is the first day of our new year of the DI Committee. I am excited to get started again with the group and hear of the successes and challenges the groups members have been experiencing. As for my own classroom, I am feeling an overwhelming sense of a lack of accomplishment. I have tried some new things in my classroom this year, so I think it is most important to stay positive and focus on what has been working for my students and I. On the first day of school my students were able to choose where they wanted to sit. I kept three spare desks and I arranged the desks in pods of four with one desk alone. The students were told they could move to a new place when they felt they needed a change as long as it was at an appropriate time (such as recess). This seems to be working well as students learn who they work with best and the qualities they appreciate in fellow learners. There has been one group I needed to split due to continuous, disruptive conflicts. This particular group was responsive to my discussion with them and agreed it would be best for the class and for them to split up. I tried grouping students in small reading groups for some guided reading with myself and EAs but this was a bust and I need to revisit this. I have begun the Daily Five and we have worked extensively in Read to Self. My students have enjoyed book shopping for Good Fit Books on a weekly basis. The longest amount of time my students have read silently has been 12 minutes. Question: Why is DI worth putting all the effort into it? I think DI is worth the effort because it helps to engage kids in their own learning, it helps teachers become conscious of the importance of developing respectful tasks (what that means vs. busy work), and it helps me become conscious of the importance of creating a supportive learning environment in my classroom. DI is a lot of work but rather than busy work, it is rigourous, relevant and rooted in deep understanding which is what we ask of ourselves for our students.

Questions: What do you think your students think or feel about DI in the classroom? In terms of a Supportive Learning Environment I feel like my students feel comfortable, safe and valued in our classroom. My students are encouraged to ask questions and to make comments. My students are encouraged to help each other, teach each other and learn from each other. I think this makes them feel like they are important when they are in the "teacher" role and when their peers explain things to them in their own language, I think this often fosters a better understanding. In terms of Quality Curriculum, I feel like I am better able to guide my students through specific outcomes. Because of this, I think my expectations are clearer and my students have a better understanding of what is expected of them. By using Continuous Assessment I know where my students are at before we begin a unit and I have not taught concepts which the students demonstrated mastery. My students enjoy the individual attention they receive when I assess on an individual basis.

What is your understanding of the three non-negotiables? Quality Curriculum - assists the child in truly learning and understanding concepts and mastering skills according to specific outcomes presented by the teacher, deep learning and critical and creative thinking skills are fostered to help develop independent learners who are resilient and able to work cooperatively with others Supportive Learning Environment - allows students to learn freely by providing an environment where routines are established, students have true choice, a place where learning is celebrated, the teacher believes in the students, the physical environment is conducive to learning and strong relationships are built and fostered Continuous Assessment - using various assessment techniques to guage student learning and understanding on a continuous basis in a variety of ways - pre-assessments indicate to the teacher what a student already knows, summative assessment tracks a students' progress and formative assessment indicates what a student has mastered according to any given subject; students are assessed according to specific outcomes which are non-negotiable but how these assessments are delivered may vary according to student strengths, interests and learning styles

How comfortable are you with the theory and the practical? I am comfortable with the theory of DI and I believe in the importance of using DI in my classroom. However, practically, I do struggle to relinquish control to my students and I struggle with many other areas of DI. I just haven't figured out how to make it work smoothly in my classroom yet. There are many snags which I look forward to overcoming in the upcoming years.



May 11, 2010 Questions: Where are you in your DI mindset right now? I am feeling very frustrated right now because I have been so excited to follow a new path in my teaching but I have encountered many barriers along the way. These challenges are wearing me down instead of firing me up. I feel like I am so behind, I feel incompetent, I feel like I am swirling around in outer space without a tether to my spaceship. But, I can see Earth and I know that with determination and a focus on changing my mindset that I can get back on a better path but I'm not sure this will happen this school year. It is difficult to begin new initiatives at this time of year as routines are disrupted with sports day, field trips, year end celebrations, competing required assessments and checking off all expectations on my year end duties list.

What has changed in your teaching? I have become more aware of meeting my students' needs on a more individual basis rather than a blanket approach. I certainly don't meet their needs in a more successful manner but I am more aware of moving in that direction. I feel like I know a lot about my students in terms of their families and where they live but I don't really know a lot about how they learn or at times what they like to learn. Sometimes my students have a difficult time understanding how they learn.

I take risks continually and I am not afraid to fail because I know that mistakes create learning but at some point I am eager to experience some success too!

I have used assessments differently this year. I respond to the assessments rather than marking students, entering grades, accumulating the grades to calculate a mark for term end. When I see an area where a student in not understanding something, I take more time and group students flexibly on a day to day basis determined on the results from the previous day's work.

What has brought about this change? More awareness has brought about the changes in my teaching. I have enjoyed our meeting times, I have done some reading in the area although my time is limited to dedicate to more reconnaissance and I do like to try new things in my classroom whether it is trying a new teaching strategy or assessment strategy.

May 10, 2010 I have delved into a couple of areas we have been asked to take a look at for our meeting tomorrow. In terms of planning, I have attempted to deconstruct an outcome (with little success) and I have used pre-assessments with my students.

The question I asked myself was "does deconstructing an outcome make it clear to me what I need to teach my students?" I chose to attempt this while planning using the UbD model. The mistake I made was planning a unit of study which was familiar to me and which I have used for many years, modifying each year. I didn't think changing my planning method would be so difficult but I was really tied to the unit of study and the "old' way of planning. I noticed midway through my planning that I was reverting back to finding how the outcomes could fit to a book I wanted to use rather than finding a book to fit the outcome. What I liked about deconstructing the outcome was that it forced me to focus on the outcome - what do my students need to know and from there I could plan modifications for those students who needed more enrichment as well as for those who needed more support. It really forced me to consider what I would need to assess and how I could assess my students. During the assessment, I was relieved of mulit-tasking; I did not need to assess this, that and the other thing - I was only assessing THE outcome. This relieved a lot of pressure from myself because I realized that in the past as I assessed student work, I would lose focus of the outcome and in a way "trick" my students to "challenge" them to get everything right and yet they were only providing what I needed to assess at that moment. So, to answer my question, yes, deconstructing the outcome does make it clear to me what I need to teach my students. It also makes it clear to me what I need to assess and how to differentiate my instruction to meet the needs of my students. The drawback is ageless - time. It took time for me to wrap my head around a different way of planning. Regardless of the benefits, I did not have time to plan the entire unit as I would have wished but I gave it a serious go and I am confident I will plan by deconstructing the outcomes in the future.

I have used pre-tests and post-tests with my students for a few years, mostly in math. The purpose of a pre-test for me was to see the students' growth at the end of the term rather than for planning purposes. The difficulty I find in pre and post testing my students is the time it takes to test students individually (I find the results more accurate and I can stop and question further when the student may misunderstand an instruction or direction) and what do I do with the 22 others in the meantime? In Math, my first class of each unit is center based - the students have an opportunity to explore the manipulatives that will be presented throughout the unit of study and I have a chance to meet with students on an individual basis. As I previously mentioned, I have used pre-tests in the past to measure against the post-tests to note each student's growth. I recently gave students a pre-test on measurement and all of the students in my class knew what the term length meant so I skipped over teaching that lesson and this gave me more time to focus on capacity and mass. I also used the daily work to determine working groups the next day - books were placed in two piles - those students who understood and those who needed more instruction. I provided some time to present more challenging scaffolds to those who understood while those who did not were retaught the most recent concepts. On paper this sounds like a great plan but I have to admit that I did run out of time to make those groups on some days and at some times we simply had to move the group along. I'm still on the quest for time and patience. Something new I have tried with spelling is pre-tests. I used to give the students a pre-test on Thursday with the words they were to practice at home. For those students who got all of their words correct, I gave them a bonus and word and bonus sentence to practice. Those who did not get all of their words correct were able to see the words they needed to practice. Spelling, writing and reading are new skills for grade one and I felt my students needed this opportunity to learn and study at home. After Easter, I thought the students were ready to use some of the skills and strategies to have a pre-test on Monday. Those students who get all of their words correct get a different set of words from a grade two list. The environment is one of challenge, one open to making mistakes, one accepting of trying your best even though it may be difficult and I truly feel like my students are benefitting from this new format. I still give the students a bonus sentence on the Friday test but most words are previously taught words and are located on our word wall which I feel encourages students to continue to use the proper spelling of words and if need be, using the word wall for its intended purpose - a classroom dictionary.

April 30, 2010 What is going on? I haven't had much of a chance this week to practice DI in my classroom this week. I feel more like a circus ringmaster running a three ring circus rather than a teacher inspiring and engaging young minds. I haven't felt inspirational at all. In fact, I hate to admit it but I probably turned off some students from learning. After this week, assigning students desk work where they sit quietly and work on drill and practice sheets all day long doesn't seem like such a bad idea. It would certainly prevent the excessive noise, the constant fights, the phrase "I'm telling on you!" all day long! I have spent the week managing kids and providing counselling services for kids. All of this takes away from the classroom and the curriculum I'm required to teach and the assessments I'm supposed to find time to do individually while the rest of the class creates mayhem. The plan for the weekend is to take some time to enjoy my family, get my house cleaned, practice my long run and clean out my classroom. I also need to make time to plan the month of May. I think I may need a weekend to recover from my weekend, but what else is new?

April 27, 2010 Reflections: Wow! This is the first chance I've had in two weeks to sit down and write my thoughts about the past two weeks although I have been mulling these thoughts over in my mind. The week after the Easter break was weird - I'm not sure if it was the cold, rainy, snowy weather, the fact that there was a full moon, the fact that we had come off a week break or I was simply in a bad mood, but I felt like the most incompetent teacher on the planet. My class seemed out of sorts, I felt out of sorts, I desperately wanted silence. The classroom was noisy and disruptive - it didn't feel like working noise. I felt like yelling out - "Just let me teach!" There were so many interruptions and stories and tattling and and and... that I couldn't teach the lessons I spent time planning. As I assessed my students I realized they didn't understand what I was teaching - my teaching was not effective. My desire was to find a warehouse of manequins to stage in the desks in my classroom and teach in peace. The manequins wouldn't retain anything - no more or less than my students seemed to be learning that week after Easter.

The second week after Easter break was not quite as harsh but I still didn't feel very effective as a teacher. I felt frustrated because I had been learning about these exciting initiatives and ideas and methods and strategies and I just couldn't find the time to fit it all in. My house was a disaster, my classroom a cluttered mess (more than usual), my mind was swimming with ideas, my body was trying to prepare for lengthy runs, my own children were running everywhere at full tilt with me chasing after them, and time during the day was slipping through my fingers as quickly as water. My mood improved but my teaching was no more effective and my lessons were lackluster. I attended a parenting meeting put on in our school one evening for parents of children in Pre-K to grade 2. The clear message I got was the importance of making and maintaining relationships with the children and people in your life.

Since the parenting reminder I have tried to be more patient with my students, my own children and myself. I went grocery shopping last night. The cashier had to wait for a price check and instead of huffing and puffing and throwing my groceries back in the basket and finding another till, I took the time to breath, read some ridiculous magazines and relax. I drove home feeling relaxed, made supper for my family (which included all four food groups), and I washed the dished with my seven year old elbows deep in bubbles. I feel in a much better frame of mind this week and yet I still have many questions and concerns. How can I meet the individual needs of every student in my class when as a parent of two children I often struggle to meet the needs of two children whom I know well and love deeply? How can I take the pressure off of myself to take on every task and expect 100% satisfaction and performance from everything I do?

March 30, 2010

"I Believe:.. in response to Kindergarten student, [|Tarak McLain], I believe that kids are amazing. "I Believe" re: DI...is overwhelming to learn as an experienced teacher but I do believe that with time and patience DI will be an integral part of my practice.

Pre-Assessment Links:[|How to Create and Use Pre-Assessments PDF] [|Sample Grade 1 Math Assessment]I like the idea of having all of the Math outcomes on one test. I'm not sure that I would provide all questions in a multiple choice format. The two units of time and money are no longer in the Sask. Grade One Math Curriculum.

March 27, 2010 I have been using Anchor Activities unsuccessfully. I'm still struggling to find those activities that engage, are quick to pick up and put away, are meaningful to everyone in their own way...This seems to be a bit more than I/we can handle. In each folder I gave the students a blank notebook. Some students have come to me and said they are done with the book. When I look in it, each page has one scribble across it. Meaningless to me but does that mean the same to them? I also provided each student with options such as coloring pages (which were a hit much to my shagrin), mad minutes from Math (some kids absolutely love these), some various activity pages related to our current thematic units and they also keep one library book which is exchanged every couple of days. It has been handy to say "Take out your work folders when you finish..." and I then have the time to visit each student about the work they have just completed and critique and correct nearly instantly. In this sense I have appreciated the concept but I still keep thinking that I am missing something and there should be more to it than that. The students seem to enjoy the folders. So should this be "good enough"? I don't think I'm okay with "good enough", I want more so I guess I'll keep looking for more, something deeper.

January 26, 2010 Reflection Questions: One thing I want to tell others about Supportive Learning Environment is... The focus of my Action Research Project is Anchor Activities. I have realized through this process the importance of teaching my students structures and routines and taking the time to ensure the students understand the expectations and I follow through in teaching the expectations. For instance, my students read from their leveled book bags daily. I have not taken the time to teach and remind my students how to read silently and with a partner. I have expected they could figure it out and learn from the students who have figured it out. I need to go back to my students, tell them strategies to read a book, allow them to read for three minutes, stop students and take some time to review and question the strategies and techniques they have been using, continue to read for three more minutes and repeat. Along with these Anchor Activities I think I have realized that I also need to teach my students the routines, structures and routines to ensure these Anchor Activities work successfully with my students.Other grade one teachers have shared a strategy they used in their classrooms which was having their students sign in everyday. One teacher found this helped to center and calm the students to prepare them for the day. Another teacher found more management issues arose - fighting over markers for example.

What has changed in my mindset this year? I was excited to learn more about DI, which was my reason behind joining this committee. During my initial readings I felt encouraged that I do many of the DI strategies in my classroom. However, I have realized a misconception as I delve into assessment. Every child must be accountable to the outcomes, teachers must be accountable to teaching the outcomes; outcomes are non-negotiable. How the teacher presents material and teaches must be differentiated for each child. How indicators are achieved are negotiable.

Action Research Project:

January, 2010 media type="custom" key="5227963" On January 19th and 20th I attended a conference in Saskatoon. The presenter was [|Rick Wormeli], from Virginia, who has written the book [|Fair Isn't Always Equal]. The conference was two days in length and I wanted more. Mr. Wormeli focused on assessment within a differentiated classroom. He made a lot of sense to me on topics of which I have never fully understood. For me, marks were a means to an end. Yes, I realized the importance of Report Cards as an opportunity to communicate with parents. I now question the authenticity of the marks I shared with parents.

As a grade one teacher, I have never felt that my students did anything in school for marks because they didn't understand the significance - and why should they? I have encouraged this aspect and therefore I have often strayed from sharing marks with my students rather than using marking as an opportunity to teach and improve upon a child's knowledge or skill base. Assessment should be used in my classroom to teach me more about my students and to help me determine the focus of my lessons depending on what the children understand and what they need to understand.

The other nugget of information I finally understood (at this moment I understand), is that attendance, behavior, effort and attitiude have nothing to do with what a child understands or what a child can do. Assessments should be outcome based, based upon what the child knows or what the child can do. The child needs to be given many opportunities to practice, learn from mistakes and grow without being marked or graded on his Report Card. Rather, these marks are recorded as formative evaluations. Summative evaluations determine how the child performs or understands each outcome. The summative mark, in order to be authentic, needs to be challenged in a variety of ways; hence indicators.

I have a lot more to learn and a lot more to practice. I am eager to delve more deeply into assessment in the differentiated classroom. However, at this time I am struggling to find time to devote to this. I will need to focus more attention on assessment and perhaps this will need to become an integral part of my Action Research Project.

November 16, 2009 media type="custom" key="4821579" width="209" height="171" align="center"

2:00 PM: What kind of a learner am I? I am a combination of learners. However, I am mostly introverted and intrapersonal in terms of multiple intelligences. I am an auditory and visual learner as well as a practical and creative learner. Hmmm.....

We read an article about Dr. William Glasser's Choice Theory. I met with another committee member to discuss the article and I realize that I don't give my students a lot of choice. I plan the activities, I prepare the lessons, the curriculum determines what I need to teach the students in my class and I do so to the best of my ability. I do not provide my students with a lot of choice and yet, when I reflect upon times that I have provided choice, I have been surprised with the choices my students have made. I need to provide more choices for my students in my classroom.

12:30 PM: We looked at two models of collecting and using information from learner profiles for students. I had experience using a recipe card:

Auditory, Visual, Analytical, Creative, Kinesthetic Practical (Modality) (Sternberg)

Student’s Interests

Multiple Intelligence Interaction Style Preferences (Array Inventory) (Gardner) Other committee members used the [|learner profile document] which included these items: learning preferences, multiple intelligences, executive skill strengths, behavioral mindset, universal screens, interventions, characteristics of the learner and learner interests. After becoming familiar with both inventory collections, I think I prefer the profile document. I would use something similar with each of my students because I can see the value of this as a source of information of each student which could be shared with parents, student services teachers, the next year's teachers. This would be especially useful for students with intensive needs, ROAs or PPPs.

9:30 AM: I have felt a bit disconnected from my students this past month as I have had an intern and she has been teaching full-time for the past month. I haven't had an opportunity to experiment with my class. As I read our text book, __Differentiated Instructional Strategies__ by Gayle Gregory and Carolyn Chapman, I began to ponder a few thoughts. I read through the various learner profiles and I could not pinpoint my personality or learning style into one profile. How can I pinpoint my students into one style? Are my grade one students even aware that they have a learning style? I was discussing my experiences with a committee member and I began to think that maybe I don't give my students enough credit. She teaches grade two and after math classes, she uses the barometer reading to gain an understanding about how her students understand the concepts and skills taught in her math lessons. She told a story of a little boy who came up to her after class and showed her with his barometer that he did not understand the concepts of that day. We also discussed the importance of movement in the classroom and allowing students breaks while learning to stretch and move around. I often have my students move around the classroom as animals, with various dance movements or other ways to travel to their desks during transitions. My concern is that my students will become accustomed to this movement and may not be allowed such movement when they move on to a new class in the next year. Am I doing a dis-service to my students? I want to provide my students with an educational in all curricular areas but at the same time prepare them for the next grade. I also wonder what this means for yearly planning? Why should I spend the time each summer to plan the year when I don't yet know my students and their abilities and learning styles?

October 19, 2009 Today is my first day with a wonderful group of teachers who are on a quest to learn about DI (Differentiated Instruction). We spent the morning learning about DI and what I understand is that DI is a philosophy of teaching wherein the teacher attempts to identify and meet the individual needs of all of the students in the classroom. I am excited to try new strategies in my classroom but I wonder how to fit it all in. How do find the time to continuously assess my students? How do I effectively manage my classroom so that all students are engaged and learning within flexible groupings? I am eager to work towards the challenges of implementing this new philosophy in my classroom.

I always like to find resource people close to home. This site explains Differentiation and provides resources. Verna Eaton is a Special Education teacher in Saskatchewan. [|Verna Eaton - Sask Valley School Division]

"Education is the kindling of a flame not the filling of a vessel." -Socrates media type="youtube" key="W0fJKvdjQgs" height="344" width="425"