Chapter 3- Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten-Building a Profile for Your Learners- Blog 3
Chapters 4 - Teaching and Learning in the Kindergarten year-Developing Key Cognitive Skills- Blog 3
Please respond to these readings in blog 3. Content criteria can be found in module 3
Jessica, I really like that you pointed out that we need to listen to our five to seven year old students because they really are thinking. It's so true that most people just brush off the words of a five year old because they think they don't know what they are talking about; but because of all the learning they are doing in the world today, they know more than they ever did before. I also like the idea of thinking about thinking. It is a great idea for a teacher to think aloud for a child of any age because it models your thought process. I know that when I learn a process, it is best for me to repeat the steps in my head or out loud to myself.
ReplyDeleteK Today-This chapter was about how to take families into consideration in our teaching. This is very important to me because the way a parent feels about education is the way the child is going to feel about their education. I found is very interesting that some children were read to more than three times a week by an adult but were still watching an average of fourteen hours of television. That is too much time watching a television for any person. I want to make sure to encourage my students to read and play more than watch television. The second part of the reading that I found to be interesting was that of the children who lagged behind in physical health, cognitive development, and emotional development at the end of kindergarten, 55% of those families lived at or below the poverty level, 33% were living with a single parent, and 63% of the parents had a high school diploma or less. This means so much in our society today because this is what teachers are dealing with every day. These students who have to worry about where their next meal is coming from is not worried about learning their letters and their sounds. The last part of this chapter that I found very important was that a teacher needs to know about each child's family's living situations. If a teacher knows this information, they can better serve their students and their parents. I want to be able to know the parents of my students and be able to be there for them and child.
ReplyDeleteDifferentiating Instruction-This chapter explains more of how to differentiate your instruction and how to set the stage for the students to be ready to learn on their own or to move onto their own activities. The first thing that I really noticed in chapter was the charts about the students. I really like the idea that the teacher sent home a note to find out more about her students and then turned it into a learning activity that the children could take part in. When I have my own classroom, this is something that I would like to do because it involves the children and it interests them to learn information about their friends. The second part of the reading that I like is that it tell you that is takes practice, routine, and monitoring to teach in a differentiated classroom. Children need to have established procedures so that they know what to do next if they finish early. This allows for the teacher to spend time working with other students and it allows the students who finish early to work on something that they can learn from. These procedures are something that I would set up early in the year so that by the middle of the year the students are working on their own. The third item that I found to be interesting were the sponge activities and how they are explained. Sponge activities have a purpose for the student and they are not just fillers. In the classrooms that I work in today, the teachers have sponge activities. They are just small things for the students to do but learning still takes place. I want to be able to incorporate these into my classroom so that my students can take advantage of finishing early and work on something that they enjoy and that they learn from.
Brandy,
DeleteI agree that children are watching, on average, much too much television. This time could be replaced with activities that stimulate learning; like reading, playing outside, and being social with friends and family. This seems to be a common trend in households, when your child is bored, instead of spending time and entertaining them, you set them in front of the television. Parents need to become more educated on the learning process and how much of an affect they have on their child’s development.
There is WAY too much television watching, and Wii, PlayStation, computer, and whatever other technology playing going on. There are probably 7-year-olds that would know how to run my laptop better than I do, simply because that is all that they do! Goodness gracious, it is no wonder there is a problem with childhood obesity in this country. Kids do not know how to go outside and PLAY! Technology is a wonderful thing, but there are certain things that it simply cannot replace. The bonds that are formed through friendships, the lessons that kids learn from cause-and-effect while jumping in mud puddles outside, and person-to-person interaction in the family and other settings are absolutely irreplaceable. A parent can provide many positive experiences for their children if they just take the time to spend some time with them, or do something fun with them. Parents today and in the future need to become better at this, because when they don't, their children suffer.
DeleteChapter 4 -Teaching and Learning in the Kindergarten Year. This chapter talks about cognitive skills and how a child uses these skills to gain greater knowledge. In the book it says that, “ reflecting, observing, applying strategies for comprehending, problem solving, imagining, problem posing, visualizing, evaluating-all of these terms describe cognitive skills”. Cognitive skills are always being used, at school, home, with play and with friends. Cognitive skills are a crucial part of every subject and action a student performs or learns. There is a difference between academic skills and cognitive skills. The basic cognitive skills appear in all humans whether they have been in school or not. But going to school does broaden the skills and change the thinking skills of students. We gain many new skills for problem solving, communication, and social interactions. We read that as young children, we have a difficulty connecting ideas to reason. They gave a great example of a child drawing a human; they have most of the features, but have a hard time distinguishing the head from the body. “They have a difficulty integrating all the parts into the whole, is characteristic of young children’s thinking”. Although by Kindergarten, children are able to combine concepts and see event sequence clearer. Kindergarteners differ from preschoolers because they move away from an ego-centered point of view and start to understand how someone else might feel or think in a situation. This will be very important to remember teaching in a classroom. You need to help guide and model for the students how to be thoughtful of others feelings and to view the situation from a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteChapter 3- in Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten. This chapter was how to build a profile for each individual student. These profiles are information the teacher collects over the year to help understand how the child learns and how they are progressing to help plan instruction. This shows the students strengths, interest, skills and needs. I found it really interesting that in this profile you have not only observations about skills while the child is working and playing, but parent input. This makes sense, since the child is with his or her parent for a great amount of time and they know their child the best. Also included in the profile is feedback form other adults in the child’s live often, like teachers, daycare providers, nurse, music teacher. Also included is a formal assessment and samples of work the student ahs completed. This profile is every changing and never fully completed, teachers need to be always observing and recording changes in the student. I really enjoyed the modalities of learning checklist. I did the checklist for myself and I was heavily favoring the visual learner, with some checks in the kinesthetic learner. I will definitely use this checklist to get to know my students better. I like to read specific characteristics about each different learner.
I think the most important statement made in the reading this week was, “achievement must be monitored in a variety of ways that gauge each child’s individual growth, and they plan instruction that will best support the child as he or she takes the next step in learning.” This is so important because as we all know, every child learns differently. We have learned that they need different learning opportunities to support their different or preferred modalities of learning and intelligences, so it just makes sense that their assessment needs to be individually varied as well, if that is possible. For this to take place, I think that the portfolio assessments are wonderful tools to use. I remember several of my elementary teachers doing this with me and I loved it. I got to see throughout the year different things that I had improved on and I remember how smart it made me feel! I also love that the portfolio assessment is only comparing the individual work of the student. It is one area where they do not feel like they are constantly competing with the other students in their class. Assessments such as these can serve both the student and the teacher of the improvements that he/she has made throughout the school year. While I realize that it is important to implement other types of assessment into the classroom throughout the year, the portfolio assessment is definitely something that I would plan to use in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteAnother important point that was made in the reading was, “when a teacher spends energy learning all he or she can about each child, each will show growth and experience success.” I believe this is something that all teachers need to be conscious of throughout their careers. The more that is known about a child, the more a teacher can understand what makes that child “tick” which will only benefit them in knowing what type of strategies to implement with that child and how to differentiate instruction to help them learn best and achieve their potential. In turn, children will feel like they matter to somebody, which is something that everyone desires. When a child feels like what they feel, think, need, etc. matters to someone, it makes them have a sense of self-worth and gives them a reason to enjoy their school experience. I try to learn as much personal information as I can about the students that I work with so that they know that I care about them first and foremost. Then, it becomes easier to learn things about them regarding their modalities of learning, intelligence, etc. Those things can often be learned without asking because a connection has been made with that child and it becomes obvious. I will continue getting to know students in this way in my future classroom.
In the K Today text, “The 5- to 7-year Shift” really interested me. Since I have worked with preschool age children with their ages ranging from 2 ½- 5-years-old for the last three years, I have observed first-hand the drastic changes that occur regarding a child’s cognitive skills. The thoughts of the 6 and 7-year-olds that are in the classroom that I am interning in this semester almost blew my mind the other day because of the increased level of sophistication versus the pre-school aged children that I have grown accustomed to. To facilitate and encourage the development of cognitive skills I would implement higher-level thinking questions and scenarios into discussions in the classroom.
I totally agree with on your feeling of most important statement: “achievement must be monitored in a variety of ways that gauge each child’s individual growth, and they plan instruction that will best support the child as he or she takes the next step in learning.” One way of testing alone doesn’t come close to the information you can learn about a child and what they know and where they are at. Your right, we can’t just teach them differentially we also need to assess them in different ways. I love that your teachers showed you your progress throughout the year. I never had that and wish that I had. It comes down to knowing your students. That is awesome that you were able to intern in a grade so close to be able to see such differences in age. How fun and interesting it will be to make all those comparisons and be blown away.
DeleteErin Fla
ReplyDeleteChapter 4 in the K Today text was very interesting. Here are a few things that caught my attention. On page 38 it gives examples of how children use their cognitive skills. I learn so much more from examples than just explaining something so this was very helpful. As teachers we assume they are using their cognitive skills during academic instruction but it can be easy to forget that they can use it anywhere. But it is up to us to provide opportunities for it. I would do this in my classroom by asking open ended questions that make them think about how or why something is happening, or to use their memory. I would also make sure there are a lot of activities that require cognitive thought. Another interesting thought on that same page was how cognitive skills and academic skills are not the same thing. That we have cognitive skills without having ever had academic training, but rather through life experiences. A young child who has been bitten several times by their dog when he pulls their tail, will probably use cognitive thought to realize what is happening and that he shouldn’t pull the dog’s tail. This can happen without academic training. But school does broaden and enhance our thinking skills. “School influences both what children know and how they think.” The last point from the book I wanted to share was on page 40. It made me reminisce about my days of teaching preschool. The book talked about how preschoolers will draw pictures with limited objects. The objects are not cohesive but rather just stuck “free floating in space.” Some children we had for two years and it was interesting to see the progression of their drawings. We had some students who turned five who would include the house and trees and people facing each other or actually doing something. But the three and most four year olds had trouble with this. To help with this I would elaborate on what I wanted. I could ask them questions before they drew like “if you were in the park what would you see?” This way they could bring up the point that there should be grass and trees and we should be smiling, etc.
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I also really enjoy seeing something rather than just reading the explanation of it. I have a hard time visualizing those things sometimes, so it helps when I can refer back to a picture. I also liked your idea of asking open ended questions. When I worked at a preschool, the director always said ask as many open ended questions as you can! There is so much you can learn from a child by simply asking them what they think about something or how they would do something.
DeleteI agree that the use of open -ended questions is a great way to promote cognotive skills. It is something that I really need to be better about doing.I found the strategies for building cognitive skills to be very helpful.It is amazing what you can really find out from a student by asking them open-ended questons, and I think it is also benficial to other students in the classroom as well.
DeleteErin Fla Cont...
ReplyDeleteChapter 3 in the Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten text was full of amazing resources and information about building a profile for our students. Visually seeing the examples of forms and checklists used was very helpful. As was reading the scenes and scenarios of a Kindergarten class. I liked how they stated on page 28 “a learner’s profile is never really finished.” When I worked with Head Start we had portfolios on each child. We would put work samples in it throughout the year as well as assessments and parent teacher conference notes. Then a week or two before the end of the year we would put the last little bits in it and get it ready for the kindergarten teacher next year. But there were times that we had to pull the portfolio off the shelf again at a later date because something new came up that we felt should be put in it. Children never stop growing and we should never stop recording the process. I will have a scheduled time that I will add to each portfolio. On a side note: The lead teacher would always feel frustrated that we did all of that work on the portfolio when, according to her, most kindergarten teachers don’t even look at it. I just feel that this is wrong. How can you turn away such valuable information on your incoming kindergarteners? Just thought I would share that. This brings me to my next comment. On page 41 in one of the scenarios it says “Rereading the questionnaire allows Ms. K to see Jared through the eyes of the people who love him most.” Not only is it important to read the portfolio from preschool teachers but it is more important to get information from parents. First of all they know more about their child that anyone else. Second, it’s easy for us to get frustrated with children and start to see only the bad. It is imperative that we fight that urge and one way to do that is to remind ourselves how much their parents love them and how they see their child. We can get a new perspective on things and start seeing the child in a different light. I will try to have frequent reminders of each child’s strengths and constantly look for new ones. My last comment is on page 43. The quote is “Kindergarten children are very aware of what they haven’t learned and can’t do; they should be reminded regularly of what they have now learned and can now do.” I was actually shocked at that statement. I think of my three year old daughter and many of my past preschool children. Most of the time they didn’t notice when they wrote their name wrong or counted wrong. They don’t realize they said something hurtful or sometimes even disrupted the class. Even when they do most students don’t worry about it or let it define them. They are still very arrogant. But in Kindergarten they are now aware of it and they focus on it letting it bring their spirits down. We must do all we can to prevent that. I will say at least two positive comments for every corrective comment.
It seems insane to me that the teachers would pull the portfolios off the shelf. Our kids LOVED looking at those throughout the year. They even tried bettering themselves after seeing their work from August or September. I have no idea how many times I heard kids say "Teacher! Look, I wrote my whole name. Look at my name, teacher!"
DeleteErin, I like your point that you made about the learning profiles. When you said the learners profile is never really finished really made a great point. Although, the students progress is recorded and they may meet some expectations or improve on something that they didn't used to be as good at; To me, there is always room for improvement. In some area the student can always get better whether it is physically or academically. If we don't continue to challenge the children then they won't want to learn.
DeleteBoth of these chapters had so much information in them! I really enjoyed how Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten went through the formal and informal assessments. I liked how it told me how to assess children and what types of assessments work best in the classroom. One thing I will definitely use in my classroom is the questionnaire for parents. I am all for open communication with parents, but never thought about a questionnaire! I also liked how it gave the suggestion to give parents a call or e-mail at the beginning of the year to check in with kids to see how they like school. This would help parents feel more comfortable talking to the teacher, knowing she/he cares, and it makes the teacher aware of any problems the student may be having. The last thing I liked from this text were the examples of notes, assessments, teacher journals, etc. It's so helpful to see what their talking about in the text. In Teaching and Learning in the Kindergarten Year it was very informative to see the leaps and bounds a child's brain is making in that year between preschool and kindergarten. So many things are happening and changing. I really enjoyed the section titled "Promoting kindergartners' cognitive skills". I would love to print this section out and keep it somewhere so I can use it. It gives good questions to ask students to help develop different areas such as comparing, sequencing, predicting, etc.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the assessment information also. Informal assessments are great ways to get an ideas of how children are learning in a non-threatening way. I liked how they gave ideas for recording the assessments as well. The questionnaires were great to, something that can be easily incorporated into a classroom.
DeleteAs I was reading this week’s chapters, a few things really stood out to me that I wanted to blog about. First, in Middendorf’s text, she talks about learning profiles which made me think of a great story! When I was working in the 4-5 year old preschool, we created a “learning journal”. We had each student cut out something that was red (or whatever that month’s color was), we had them write the letters and numbers of the month as well as their name at the top of the page, we had them color a small picture and glue it onto their paper, and finally we had them draw their families every month. We started this in August and by May it was so amazing to see just how much progress they had made. Their cuts were less jagged, the handwriting had improved, they were practically coloring within a boundary, and the pictures that they drew were so much more detailed. Most kids were even adding clothes to their people. I just thought the progress was truly magnificent!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, in Gullo’s text she talked about how children grow cognitively so much just between 4 and 6. The text stated that “for example… she begins to recognize that what her father would like for a present is not what she would like for a present” (40). This made me think of yet another story from preschool. I was the lead teacher for the two and a half year old program and was para in the 4 to 5 year old program at our private preschool. At Christmas time, one of my three year olds talked about getting their dad an iron man watch. The child’s father had given him a watch that was similar to that for his birthday, so I think the child felt like they were both interested in action hero watches. So, when we talked about gifts in the 5 year old class most of the children had planned to get their dads tools or whatever they generally saw their dads working with or using frequently at home. I thought it was interesting then, but now, I know why.
Another quote that really stood out to me in the text was when Gullo stated that “children need to be able to make choices, [because] choices empower children to become active thinkers who challenge themselves” (46). I think it is important to allow children to make choices for themselves, even if it is picking out silly watches for the dads. As a future behavior analyst, I will be teaching my kids to make choices and to trust the choices that I make for them. Choices allow children to understand benefits and consequences. Even at the preschool level, I had parents come in saying that their children were naughty at home and could not believe that their children were angels at preschool. At that point, I have a window of opportunity to discuss reinforcements and unintentional reinforcing negative behavior. This issue is a very fine line to ride. Teachers have to be careful to not ever belittle the parenting. Rather, we could offer suggestions as to what we do and what works at school.
The learning profiles also stood out to me. The learning journal you described is similar to what we would do with out preschool students. We would also have cutting projects once a week that would relate to the letter of the week. These projects required the children to color in a picture of a face, and then cut out and paste the face on to the letter. When we would go over all the letters that the children had done, it was amazing to see how even the younger preschool children had improved!
DeleteWhat a great idea to track progress! We do something similar with our portfolios and journals, but we don't have them in a book format. I think that's a really neat way for children to see their progress and for their parents to see it too! I think we may start something similar. :)
DeleteReading about the learning profiles in the Differentiating Instruction book gave me a better understanding about the types of documentation used in Kindergarten. I think that it is important that teachers understand how to gather all of the components needed to make up a learning profile. The information that is gathered will not only help teachers understand what each individual child needs, but also the class as a whole. I would make sure to keep as much documentation about each child in my class as possible. To make it easier, I would use check lists for each of the goals the students need to hit.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the Differentiating Instruction book that stood out to me was the home to school notes between the teacher and parents. I think that it is so important for teachers and parents to be on the same page when educating children. It is vital to understand what the parent would like for their child. The idea of having a sheet with the date and a written comment, question or concern to be kept in the child's folder is great. It makes it easy for the parent to read what the teacher has written and vice versa.
In the K-Today book, the changes in the brain section caught my attention. The research can now tell us that there is rapid brain growth during the early childhood years and that pruning begins. Pruning is when brain and nerve cells combine so that the cells not being used are redirected to the areas where learning is occurring. I think that it is important for teachers to understand this period of rapid learning because the active portions of the brain are more powerful during this time.
Sharn, I also enjoyed reading about the changes in the brain. The kindergarten age is such an important part of brain growth in children. As teachers, it is important that we remember this and use this time wisely to provide the students with a great education. Also, I found the learning profiles chapter to be interesting. I really liked the checklists for each goal and would also use them in my classroom.
DeleteSharn, like you I thought that the documentation section was interesting. I have never really thought about having to documented things that happen in the classroom. I loved how the book gave so many suggestions on how to document and when.
ReplyDeleteThe notes home section was also interesting It is a great way to stay connected with the families and help them understand what kindergarten is about.
In the Differentiating instruction book the part about Leaning Profiles stood out to me. I always thought that it is a a great idea to know each child and to teach to the child's level but I never thought about keeping track of it. There is so much going on in a class room that it is impossible to remember where each child is and what gains they are making. I can use this idea in my class room to help make sure my students are meeting their goals and have a document to show their parents.
ReplyDeleteI found the section about sending notes home regularly also interesting. I work in a special ed Pre-K and we do not send notes home because the teacher thinks it will take away her time with the kids. After reading this section I think that it is important to send notes home and to keep the communication between home and school open. I don't know if I will send notes home everyday but I will make an effort to send them home at least once a week and to have lots of positive things to say.
IN the K-Today book developing cognitive skills really stood out to me. It is easy as adults to want to control all situations and to not allow children to think through different situations. The more a child is allowed to think and learn the more likely they will be successful in school. Like the book said it is the teachers responsibility to make sure that the students are understanding what is being taught.
I agree with sending notes home. I think it is so important and a great way to keep the lines of communication open with families. Everyday may be a bit of stretch, but your goal of once a week sounds doable to me! I liked the template the book has for sending the notes back and forth.
DeleteDifferentiated Instruction- This chapter gave me a better insight into learning profiles. I knew about them but this really helped to solidify my understanding of learning profiles. I liked the Kindergarten Questionnaire on page 35. Parent input is so important and this would be a great handout for parents at the beginning of the year in my future kindergarten classroom. This will help to build background on the child's strengths and weaknesses according to the parent. I also liked the section on portfolios. This is a place to showcase the students work throughout the year. It is important for the child to choose some work throughout the year that they felt they did a good job on. This will also help to motivate the students to work hard. I will use portfolios in my future classroom as a way to collect and showcase the childs best work throughout the year. I also felt that the End-of-year checklists were an interesting part of the learning profile. It is a good way to show what they’ve learned throughout the year. I will use this in my kindergarten classroom in their learning profiles.
ReplyDeleteK Today- This chapter was over developing key cognitive skills. The section on kindergarten thinking was interesting to me. On page 40, the text states that by the age of 6 or 7 children’s though becomes more systematic and organized within each of the four domains. This is seen through the way they play and explore new situations, respond to direction and through everyday activities. This information will be useful to remember when I am teaching in a future kindergarten classroom. It is important to remember that the brain is always growing and changing and this time in their life is so important for developing cognitive skills. I liked the promoting kindergarteners’ cognitive skills on page 42. It gave good examples of questions to encourage making connections between people, places, things, and events. This will be very useful in my future classroom as we are working throughout the year. On page 44 the text states “When teachers offer inviting well-organized classrooms and establish warm and trusting relationships with children, they create the conditions for fostering children’s thinking abilities.” This is so important to remember while teaching young children. In my future classroom I will be well organized and provide a warm learning environment for my students. It is important to create a trusting relationship with each and every student.
Wow, where to start? These two chapters were so full of useful and interesting information that I don’t know which to talk about! The first thing that comes to mind is the IFAN. Having a system in place to jot down those quick notes about what you are seeing is so important. If we don’t write it down immediately, we forget the details. I really like the idea of putting the index cards on a ring – I think I will give this a try. I’m currently a sticky note fan but I find that sometimes I lose those notes when the “sticky” wears off or the wind blows too strongly – a common problem in Kansas. Anyway, anecdotal notes are key when assessing young children and noticing growth and development over time.
ReplyDeleteAlong the line of assessment, I found the section on portfolio assessment fantastic. I love the idea of having children assess their own work for portfolio “worthiness.” In our pre-k room we let children look at their portfolios and include some of the pieces they want us to, but we always attach the portfolio sheet with our explanation. I think we can involve this age group in the “why” as well. How exciting for children to see their own growth and choose their best work. I also really like the poster titled, “How Do I Feel About How I Did?” This is another way for children to assess their own work. Portfolios can be such a personal creation in Kindergarten and even younger. I think I will involve our pre-k students more in their portfolio development now.
At the end of the chapter in the K-Today text was a box entitled “Promoting children’s planning and reflection.” I was really intrigued by these ideas and honestly I would have liked a bit more information. Maybe some concrete examples or a case study? Open ended questions and building on their gestures and verbalizations are things I am already comfortable with working with young children. But we certainly haven’t built planning and reflection into the day – at least not formally. I would like to know more about this so that I can effectively include this time. If children this young could learn to plan and then reflect on that plan, they would have a valuable skill that several adults I know don’t have…
Elizabeth, I also liked the suggestion of the IFAN. It will make the task of doing informal observations a breeze. You won't have to disrupt the class time to go write a little note about a certain child because it will be right at your fingertips. I also liked the idea of color-coding the cards so you know exactly what card to go to for each child.
DeleteOne very informational section that I found in the K: Today text was the suggestions that they provided on page 42 to help promote kindergartners’ cognitive skills. It first provided questions to encourage making connections between people, places, things and events. The first question that they suggested to ask the child to open up thinking was to compare things. To compare things kindergarteners should find the similarities and differences between items. Another question that they had was to have the children find the patterns of certain items to promote a sense of sequence. In this section, they provided ideas for activities for describing the past, remembering the past, and planning and predicting the future.
ReplyDeleteAnother important fact that the K: Today text included was that “children need to be able to make choices.” I really believe this is something that all teachers should keep in mind when working with their students. The book explains that “Teachers who offer children choices don not give up control. Nor are they passive. Rather, teachers must constantly look for ways to be active participants in children’s learning processes while ensuring that the children are also active and engaged.”
The last main point of the chapters that I thought stuck out to me the most was the idea of the kindergarten questionnaire that the “Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten” text provided. I think that sending a letter home to the parents at the beginning of the year to have them fill out provide a little bit of information about their children is a wonderful idea. It will help save some time at the beginning of the year when teachers have to try and figure everything about each one of their students. The letter that the students will return back to school will give them a head-start on that whole process.
These chapters from both texts this week were filled with very useful information that will benefit all of us in our future classrooms. I especially think that having ideas about activities to do with your students to develop their cognitive skills will be a great resource to look back on, along with the questionnaire, which can be copied right out of the book to send home.
In chapter 3 of K Today I found the following items to be important:
ReplyDelete1. Chapter 3 discusses the importance of doing informal assessments on your students on a regular basis. This is important because these assessments will help you in differentiating your teaching for your students and give them the help they need. It does feel overwhelming to think about having to take so many notes on your students, but with the right system put in the place it can be done. The author offers some advice to help with this by creating your own informal assessment notepad, or I-FAN, where you can keep all of your information you have observed in one place and it is easy to access. Other ideas to use where putting index cards on a key ring with the students names on it, using a folder and post-it notes, or even using a small voice recorder.
2. Another topic that was brought up in Chapter 3 was that of the importance e of the student being able to self –assess and the author offered several ways in which you as a teacher can help teach your students to assess their own work. By using the student portfolio the student is able to help pick the work that goes into and evaluate their work so they can see the progress they have made throughout the year.
3. Chapter 4 in K Today discusses developing cognitive skills in your students. This chapter reinforced the importance of providing a learning environment that is safe, structured, supportive and that encourages, as well as, promotes student thinking and learning. On pages 42 and 43 the author lists out questions and activities that help to promote cognitive skills, which I found to be very beneficial, and something I will definitely refer to.
I found both of the chapters to be very interesting and full of very useful information that I will use with my future students. I plan on definitely using some sort of system to use in the classroom to take observation notes on my students. I relay liked the idea of using different colored index cards on a key ring to keep track of my notes. I will also refer back to the strategies discussed on how to teach students to self assess, because I do feel that it is very beneficial for students to be able to assess their own work. I will also use the strategies I discussed earlier on how to help promote cognitive skills in my classroom.
The first point that interested me was in Chapter 4 of the K-Today text. The phrase, "our understanding comes from our ability to think about what we experience." This statement seems so obvious but really makes one think. In order to think about processes or how different things work the child must first have the experience to be able to have an image in their mind. In my classroom I will apply this by allowing my students to apply their thinking skills to everything that we do in the classroom. Seeing, hearing, and feeling are all different senses that can be used.
ReplyDeleteThe second point was in the K-Today text as well. When they discussed the changes in the brain and the cause of these changes in children's thinking. Some argued that changes in the thinking patterns resulted from different societal expectations for children as they move from home to the larger social world. New studies shows that the neurological system grows dramatically during these years. This fact will be useful for me to remember that this is one of the biggest learning opportunities for my children. I will introduce new experiences to them and allow them to make different connections.
In the Middendorf text, I really enjoyed reading about what a learning profile is. Although I have heard this mentioned, I never was able to read this amount of information about it. It basically is information collected of the student that will help me as a teacher understand and evaluate the students progress and also will help me plan for instruction that will be most effective. The profile not only points out the students strengths, but what they need to work on as well. I did have a chance to informally observe students in other classrooms that I have helped in, but I never really understood why. In my classroom this will be helpful to learn the "ins and outs" of the learning profile. This will be beneficial to the student in the long run knowing that teachers are recording their progress and know what they need to work on.
1. The first thing that I found interesting was in Differentiating Instruction Chapter 3. I thought the information on informal assessments was great. Younger children especially are better assessed in this way. Watching what your students are doing, listening to their conversations, and paying attention to their play can give you an insight as to where they are learning and where they may need extra help. I also liked how the book gave great ideas on how to make it doable for a teacher. Ideas such as note cards or a hand held tape recorder can help teachers take notes easily. I will definitely use informal assessments in my classroom. Taking notes and compiling them into student portfolios will help me see progress in my students and know their learning patterns.
ReplyDelete2. In Chapter 4 of Teaching and Learning in the Kindergarten Year, I liked the boxes that gave ideas for helping kinders develop cognitive skills. The chapter talks about the amazing growth that happens between 5 and 7. It is great to have some ideas in helping students develop these skills. These boxes had some great questions such as "Can you show me another way to make.....?" These are questions that I will incorporate in my teaching.
3. The final point I found interesting was in Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten. I enjoyed the section on parent input. I think it is important as a teacher to help parents understand the important role they play in their child's education. As a teacher it is important to remember parent's usually know their child better than anybody. This can help to glean information that can be useful in helping a student succeed. In my classroom I hope to make it clear that education is a partnership that includes home and school.