Boys and Girls Learn Differently

I really liked the activity that we had to do at the beginning of the book talk presentation. While you did this as a example of finding if more guys and one girl, or more girls and one guy, and all girls working together to see how it worked, I would personally use it as a team building activity in my classroom. Sometimes, as it was shown in class it doesn't work out as expected. However, with this activity you could use it to see who the leaders are in your classroom, and who are okay with listening to others. The little quiz thing that we did after the activity was pretty cool, but I wasn't really sure exactly how it tied into everything. Kyle and Sarah, I really liked your topics about the sports and the counseling. I really agree with the new types of counselings, and they make complete sense with the way that boys and girls personalities are. The segregation in the classroom piece was definitely interesting to think about. However, I do not like the idea of segregated schools. I think that after all that this country has worked for with equality in every aspect, many people could see this as a step backwards. The idea of school uniforms also seems rather old school. I can see how it could be convenient for some who have an issue of getting ready in the morning. This book seems like it has a lot of radical ideas in it, that might be hard to imply at this time in the schools.

Chapter 15: Parents as Partners in Twenty-First-Century Learning

This chapter focuses on having effective communication with parents. Be it about how their child is doing in the classroom, or just what that night’s homework is. I like the different resources that he gives with ways to post homework online. When I was in school, we had the homework hotline. This was convenient for the time, however, now that most families have internet at home now putting it online is even easier. Also, if the family doesn’t have internet at home, most parents work somewhere where they will have access to the internet. However, Wormeli doesn’t just stick to doing everything electronically, he also has newsletters, and surveys sent home as well. I especially liked his idea with the postcards, that when he and his collegues are in a meeting, and when they think that a parent deserves the recognition, they will send a postcard home, saying how great their student has been doing in school lately. The index card inquiries is another thing that I might actually apply in the classroom. Because, what better person to ask about your future students than the parents who have raised their child, and know how they tick. All in all, I really liked this chapter on how to keep in touch with parents and have them be involved a lot better than the TP2000 chapter.

Chapter 9: Involving Parents and Communities

This chapter focused on the involvement of parents with the schools, and the community support for the schools. I found this chapter to come at a perfect time for what my school district back home has been experiencing lately. The superintendent has started a four year process to combine the two districts that have been told to consolidate into a union. From an outsider perspective this is really great. It’s what we have been talking about, with saving money and cutting costs on things. Politically and economically he has the right idea, however, he is getting no support from the parents or the community at all. So, while this chapter focuses on how great it is to have parent involvement, I would like to know what can you do when the parent’s involvement actually doesn’t help the situation, but actually hinders it. Turning points writes “Parents on school-wide governance committees who work effectively and cooperatively with school staff become models of such behavior for their young adolescents and other students” (p 208). What if they are doing the exact opposite? That is completely ineffective for the district, teachers, and students. I guess right now, in my pessimistic view of parents and the community, their involvement can only really end up being a pain. Especially in a rural town in Maine.

Chapter 8: A Safe and Healthy School Environment

This chapter focuses on creating a safe and healthy environment in your school. One important thing that the chapter talked about was that by having good school/classroom rules. While we always think of rules as a way to make our lives easier, they also act as a way to make students feel safe and secure in the classroom. I had never thought of it that way before. The chapter continues to talk about how creating a safe environment in the classroom is by making students of other races feel comfortable. It talks about the issue that we only teach about other races once a month, or when there is a holiday. As a future social studies educator, I am going to make sure that other races are talked about, and that they are not made as a special case. That it is just part of the history, especially since they are a very special part of history. Health and physical education is talked about in this chapter as well. Having gym in schools has proven to show that students do better academically. They also are more apt to stay away from drugs and alcohol when they know how it affects their bodies. All in all promoting a safe and healthy environment in the school is a very important thing that needs to be done more often.

Chapter 4: Designing Instruction to Improve Teaching and Learing

This chapter really focused on differentiated instruction in the classroom. It talked about the WHERE (WHERETOS in Practicum). One thing that I really pulled from this chapter however, was when it talked about tracking in the schools. In our education classes we have been talking about tracking and discussing why it is not a good thing to have in the classroom anymore. However, this chapter was the first time I have seen in writing about why it is not a good concept to have in the schools anymore. The line “schools are not factories” is so true. When we do tracking in the schools chances are social status is going to determine where you are placed in class level. While tracking may be easy for the teachers, it is not beneficial to the students. When you have students of all levels in the same class, then those who are advanced will become better students, and those who are lower levels will be able to improve as students and not be stuck at the lower level they would have been forever had there been tracking. The rest of the chapter continues to talk about how to teach to the whole classroom, a lot of which we have heard about during practicum. However, it was nice review to have.

Becoming a Wiz at Brain-Based Teaching

This was a really great presentation. I like how you guys had the classroom set up like a casino with the lights, music, tablecloths, lounge area, and food. This definitely changed the mood of the room, and really got you to want to know what this book was all about. Eric, your section at the lounge was really cool. I liked doing the quote part, and talking about the arrangement and moods of rooms. Something that we talk about in class a lot, but it was cool to see it actually put to good use. Susanna, your game was awesome, (even though Dr. Grace beat me), I liked getting the horseshoes and reading all of those facts about the brain. A lot of these things really related to the part of my book that I read. Josh, thanks for teaching me how to play blackjack! I like how you related three different assessment levels to the blackjack game. It really gave us a visual to link this to. Lyzz, that big game of memory with the facts was really cool. If we hadn't run out of time, I'm sure we would have been able to tell in our group who had a good spatial memory. All in all this presentation was awesome, and I really liked how you guys made the feel of the book really come alive.

Chapter 8: Effective Assessment

This chapter is about effective assessment in the classroom. “Jay McTighe says that assessment should promote learning, not just measure it” (p 89). The chapter then proceeds to talk about different ways to assess students effectively. One of the things that Wormeli talks about is making your goals for the unit clear. He talks about how he sometimes gives his students the test to the unit before beginning the unit. Therefore they know what they’re going to be getting at the end of the unit, and there will be no surprises for them. Making sure that the assessments that the students receive are rigorous and motivating is another key part of effective assessments. However, this type of assessment shouldn’t be tied down to just tests. This is where other forms of activities and assessments come into play. Group projects, or individual projects are a good ways to effectively assess students, without giving tests. Overall this chapter has really good ideas on how to properly assess students without always giving them tests.