Book Talks

Student Oriented Curriculum
I really enjoyed the way that this book was taught to our class. The form of splitting up into groups and being taught different sections of the book was cool. Being able to have small discussions with two or three other people was a great way to work. This way you are able to really get everything in that you want to say. I like how from the book we were told about the new way of doing an assessment. Because using portfolios and having student led conferences were a very good idea. All in all the presentation for this book was done very well. I really like the idea that this book presents, and I would really like to see it done in the real classroom. Witnessing it would be very cool. I hope to sometime I could work in a school that is in the advancement away from the old school way of teaching.

Chapter 13: Outdoor Adventures

This chapter talked about the benefits to taking an outdoor camping trip. The idea that whenever you have an outdoor experience, you are always going to learn something new. There are three things that Wormeli points out that people experience when they going on camping trips. They are, focusing on our physical, emotional, and intellectual selves, personal autonomy, and gender equity. Another thing that he mentioned was that boys learn how to become nurturers. The rest of the chapter focuses on certain ways in which you can incorporate learning and lesson into a camping trip with your classroom. The ideas for lessons ranged in all subjects. The ones that particularly stood out to me were the freedom trail hikes, and the civil war reenactment. These are two things that I could do with my students on a weekend camping trip. However, the idea of weekend camping trip with your students is somewhat daunting to think about. Maybe with time and experience as a teacher, I will become more accepting of this idea.

Chapter 4: Active Learning

This chapter focuses on the idea of active learning. To begin the chapter Wormeli talks about the benefit of physical movement for the brain. Saying that the brain functions best on high levels of oxygen, and that if we get middle school students up and moving throughout our lesson, chances are they will be more interested, focused, and engaged. One thing I found particularly (and it made sense), was that young adolescent students are constantly uncomfortable because they are growing so much. A simple task, such as sitting at a desk, can be painful for them. That is why it is our jobs as their teachers to provide them with as much opportunities as possible to get them up and moving around. I enjoyed his story about teaching ratios to his class, and how he actually brought them outside to visualize and walk around the school grounds and use ratios to find the heights of the trees. That brings the real world into the classroom, or in other words, outside of the classroom. The list that is presented in the end of the chapter with other ideas on how to get the students up and moving around will be a really good source for when I have a classroom of my own.

Waiting for Superman

The documentary film Waiting for Superman takes on a difficult role. To show the people just what is wrong with public education. The scary thing is, there isn't just one thing wrong with public education, there are many things. All affecting the other. There were two key things that I really took from this film. The first was that the education unions, and tenure are two really bogus things that are, believe it or not, holding back public education. Because the two things allow the teachers to kind of just lay back, and not teach, the kids are no longer being educated fully. A second thing that I liked how the film portrayed it was by showing how tracking is ineffective in this current time. I agree with them on this. When it was first created it was a really good idea, but students definitely should all be allowed to have equal opportunity to go to college. Taking away the tracking aspect of it will let this happen. Overall I really enjoyed this film, and I hope that it starts a trend for other research and action for the education system, where students will leave school a very good learner.

TP2000 Chapter 3 Abstract and Synthesis

Abstract:
This chapter in the Turning points was very focused on how Standards, The Backwards Design Model, and Assessment are all linked together. The standards are put into place to be able to provide the ability for teachers to see excellence and equity among all of their students. The chapter continues to talk about how it’s hard as teachers to manage meeting the standards in the classroom. The backwards design model fits in with the standards, because you can take the standard and then build the lesson or unit around that standard. Assessment ties into the other two, because, if you are educating correctly, you should be able to tie your assessment right into the standards through the backwards design model. The major focus of this chapter is the use of backwards design, standards, and assessment, and how the three can be linked to be an effective way to educate.
Synthesis:
In this chapter, as a class we all seemed to talk about three things: Standards, The Backwards Design Model, and Assessments. We all seemed to be aware, and concerned about, the use of effective assessments. Many of us saw the use in The Backwards Design Model, especially in the middle school aspect. Because we’re aware of just how many levels of learning there are in the middle school. With backwards design all of the students can learn in a variety of ways, and still succeed, which is something that students in middle school need.

Chapter 3 Curriculum and Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning

This chapter mainly focuses on standards and applying them to the backward design plan. They talk about how the standards provide the ability for excellence and equity for the students. Standards can be very overwhelming for teachers, however, this book talks about how teachers should “uncover” the standards and create ways in which you can use the standards to have informative and interesting lessons for your students. Since standards can be so daunting and overwhelming for teachers, sometimes we get caught up in the “treadmill effect” by going quicker through material, and end up leaving students behind in their crazy chase to reach all of the standards in the school year. So, hopefully focusing on the big ideas, and just creating life long learners can avoid the “treadmill effect”. Another thing that was talked about in this chapter was assessment and how it should tie directly to the curriculum based on standards, and putting their skills to practice. Backwards design is a great way to figure out in which way the standards will be taught, and just which standards will be taught.

Chapter 9: Planning for Block Scheduling

This chapter focuses on block scheduling, and just how beneficial it is to the teachers, and the students. Block scheduling gives longer class periods. So, instead of having every subject everyday for 55 minutes, the students will alternate which classes they have each day with 80 minute periods. I have been in both positions. When I was in middle school we had every class everyday for 55 minutes, and then when I went to high school we had a block schedule. I don’t know if it was maybe because I was older, but having the block scheduling was much more beneficial for me, rather than having every class everyday. Last semester, when I was in practicum, at Phillips middle, they had blue and gold days, but they still had every class everyday for 55 minutes. Some days they would have a “double period”, which wasn’t really a double period at all, because it wasn’t back to back. So, when it came time for me to do my formal lesson, planning for an effective 55 minute lesson was very difficult. I faced the problem that this teacher did in the beginning of this chapter. Having 80 minute periods are so much more helpful, for the teacher, and also for the students learning. I enjoyed how this book showed us how to plan a lesson for the 80 minute periods, however it is exactly what we learned in practicum. Yet, the list of 10 important points for planning for extended periods is nice to see. One thing that I really pulled from this chapter was that with the extended periods, as teachers we will be able to not just “cover” the material, we will be able to teach the material to the students so that they carry it with them for years. Not only will we be able to do that, we also will be able to take all of the grouping methods, and fantastic teaching techniques from practicum and apply them into our own classroom.