Last blog graded?

I didn't have a commetn from my last blog on sept. 23 so I just wanted to make sure you saw it and that I will be graded. Thanks

Fullfilling the Promise chapter 5 & 6

I thought it was interesting to hear about the two teachers and how she said one taught algebra, the other taught me German. The algebra teacher was doing the opposite of what he/she should have been doing. The teacher was terrifying the students and making them feel like they had nothing of worth to share. She actually was overcome and deconsructed rather than instructed. Something that before, she felt confident about, and now was totally defeated when it came to math. That is so sad to me. It is such a shame that some teachers feel they need to run a "tight ship" in order to teach and have classroom management, when the best way to teach is by finding out what the students know and what their interests are to teach to them in a way that they would understand. I also feel that is the way to have classroom management. When the students all know that their teacher really cares about them as an individual, they will try to please you and not have as many management issues. We shouldn't scare our students into learning, they will not learn. We need to be kind, and affirm that they are important to you and society in order for them to let themselves learn. I just wanted to say to you Nancy, that I have had teachers here at UVU, that I am so intimidated by when I am presenting or just talking in front of the class. I just am so scared to do anything wrong because of the way they look at me when I am talking. I almost feel that they think what I am saying is not importnant. I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate how you respond when I am saying something or presenting something to the class. I have noticed that you are always smiling while I am talking and you nod your head in agreement. I honestly feel so much more confident in what I am saying and feel like what I am saying is important. So i thought you should know. It really makes a difference to me. It is like the teacher who taught German. She affirmed her students with eye contact and smiles. I can really see how this is so beneficial to students.

The lesson on buoyancy was really great. It had so many levels of learning. It challenged the students but he was right there to scaffold them. I think that aiming high is an important element. if we aim low, students are only goin to get to what you expected.. Low.. If you aim high, and ensure their success in a difficult task, the students will know that they can do it and they will try their best to reach your aim and will end up going so much further than they would have with low expectations.

Fullfilling the Promise chapters 3 and 4

I loved the quote at the beginning of chapter 3. I love that is says to give unblinking attention, respect and even awe. I love how it says with awe, like we should admire our students. I love the idea. Children are in awe of adults often, but for an adult, even a teacher, to admire a students achievements would just make them light up so much. The student would feel so proud, and I love that.

I like how the book talks about making the children each your partner in creating a classroom that mirrors the world you both want to live in. It sounds so great to be able to create an environment that you all can enjoy together and individually. I also like that it says teachers must help each child discover ways that they are unique and valuable, as well as finding the unique and valuable things about the other students in the class. So the child is not only finding out that they have talents, but that every child in their classroom has talents. "The classroom must be our, not mine. The rules for living in the classroom must be our rules. The solutions to problems must be our solutions. the procedures we follow must come from a shared logic about how things need to work here for each of us to succeed." I absolutely love everything about this quote because it is the definition of a classroom community to me. Everyone is involved and agrees with the rules, we find solutions to problems in schoolwork and other problems not relating to schoolwork, by coming together and solving it as a classroom community.

I absolutely loved what the first year teacher did every morning when the children got to school. First she makes sure to greet every child, so they feel they are all important to the teacher. Then she collect "troubles" so the children can leave their worries at the door. I love that. I think it is so great for the students to try to forget about their worries while at school so they feel safe in their environment. Also, the teacher gets to see how the child may be feeling that day to just be aware of it for the day.

"To establish ties with a student, we must come to see how each student is unlike every other- and to see that, we must form ties with that student" it definitely goes both ways. we cannot see how a child is unique if we do not have ties with that student, and we need to have ties with a student to see how they are unique.

I love reading this book because as I read it, I am constantly thinking, "oh I want to do that" or "I want to be like that" or "that is a great idea." It makes the reading enjoyable.

Fulfilling the Promise/ pre-assesments

Fulfilling the Promise- We would could get a lot of information about our students from these surveys. I want to teach first grade and some of the questions in the student profile survey seem like they would be difficult for a first grader to answer. I don't' think as a first grader I would have known whether I was logical, creative, good or not so good at planing, whether I like to know the big picture or not... I would want to think I was all of these things but whether it was true, i don't know. I think it is important to learn these thing about our students, but maybe by having them doing selected activities, you could learn these things about your students. Maybe put them in situations to where we can see if they are a leader or more of a follower and when doing an art project, you could see if a child is creative or not. It would be nice if first graders could tell us the best way they learn so we can start from the beginning teaching them like that, but I don't know if they would know themselves. Older grades would be able to answer more questions honestly, so I would definitely try to do it in the older grades. I think I would add more interests like I like football, I like Dance, I like to read.. etc. I think by knowing these things, we find out a lot about how they learn. A child who is bug into sports and is physical, may learn best with hands on activities. I think the student interest survey would work better for a first grade because it ask more about interests and first graders know what they like. I think that also, this survey could be something that is taken home to the parents and they could give their input because they may know more about how their child learns.

I would use this inventory to find out the interest in my classroom. If there is a certain thing that stands out in the students likes, I could definitely incorporate it more in class with finding stories in that interest etc. Also, if I know what my students are struggling with I can try to be more prepared for it. Even with the things they are good at, I could find a student who is good in one subject help another who may be struggling. It is so important to know our students so any information we can get about their interests or how we learn will be very beneficial to us as teachers.

Pre-Assessments- I really like the first page about attitudes and interest of reading. It has pictures and I think that first graders would be able to relate better when they see the smiley and frowny faces. I definitely feel this one would have potential because I would be learning about their interests as well by finding out what they like to read about and whether they like to read or not. If children like reading about animals, that is probably a general interest of theirs. Some of the other sheets were similar or seemed for older grades, sO mostly I am thinking I would use the first few sheets.

Fulfilling the Promise of the Differenciated Classroom 1-2

I like how the book says that teachers need to take into account WHO they are teaching as well as WHAT they are teaching.

Readiness is influenced by a student's prior learning and life experiences, attitudes about school and the habits of mind. I guess I didn't think of all that is involved I was thinking readiness would just be a student's knowledge, but it is much more than that. When we attend to the student's interests, we must realize that school offers the opportunity for students to realize new interests. We must attend to to the developing interest as well as the undiscovered interests.

While reading the text, it lists ways to ensure that all students can gain access to the essentials. It has great ideas. most I have actually seen in my education classes at UVU. Visuals and graphic organizers and manipulatives or role playing. It basically is saying that try to teach in all the learning styles -kinesthetic, visual and auditory. It is interesting to me that, besides the education classes, most college teachers insist on lecturing without any hands on activities. Adults learn better when taught in differnt learning styles too.

It is interesting that they say that the learning environment is the "weather". I never thought of it that way but it makes sense. I am greatly affected by the weather, it changes my whole mood. A classroom environment is just the same. It can change your mood or attitude for the good or bad. I thought it was interesting when I went to the first day of school in the first grade, my teacher turned out half of the lights for when the students came back into the school after lunch. She says that the students get to excited from playing outside that she hs the class not as bright to calm the students down. It seems like a great idea.

Differentiation and Morning Meetings

Differentiation is just approaching the way we teach differently with each child. Every child is different from another in some way. I totally can relate to the parenting example because in my family, I am the most odd one. Growing up I was very independent and did my homework all on my own. My mom didn't need to tell me to do my homework or need to help me a lot. My Sister, on the other hand was very different. My mom always had to remind her to do her homework and was always constantly working with her helping her through it. When I was young, I got jealous that my younger sister got so much attention. I now see that my mom was just differentiating her parenting. It didn't seem equal but we need to strive for equity rather than equality. Not every student is going to need the same thing.

Responsive teaching is WHO we teach, WHAT we teach, WHERE we teach and HOW we teach. I need to take into consideration all of these elements and try to balance our students need and the requirements of a teacher.

There are so many factor that make children different from one another. They are gender, culture, personal interests, ability, experience, and intelligence preference. With all of these factors, no two children in my class will be the exact same. They will all have similarities with other children in the class, but not the same in every aspect.

The curriculum is more of a blueprint to plan units and lessons, but in some cases, backtracking in reading, writing, math, and science may be necessary to be sure the students pick up key pieces. I like the idea of finding space in the curriculum to extend lessons that have the students interest.

I love all the ways that the teacher puts her students into groups. I usually see a leveled grouping, which can be important at times, but there are other ways to group students like similar interest or mixed interest and students learning profiles.


I love the idea of Morning Meetings! After reading about them, it makes so much sense how they would benefit a classroom. The students will feel safe in their learning environment with the classroom community that morning meetings create. Students productivity and engagement are effected by a classroom environment. It definitely improves emotional intelligence and I believe that emotional intelligence is so important. Students with a high emotional intelligence are more likely to excel in life. We haven't gotten to talk much about morning meetings in class, but after reading about them, I know it is something I will do in my classroom and it is something I am very excited about.