The school based educator unit went ok. It was really hard at first for me to feel comfortable enough reaching out to someone at another school in the community. Because of this, I got a late start on the assignment.
Once we finally got started planning out the unit, it was just fine. I felt very confident in my suggestions and in the help that I was able to provide. I have never worked with high school and it was very interesting to see what my future students will have to accomplish once they get to Richmond Senior High School.
After the initial face-to-face meeting, we just relied on facebook, e-mail, and texting to plan the rest of the unit. It was very simple and we worked well together. This made me so much more comfortable with the idea of working with other teachers in content areas other than what I am used to teaching.
The unit itself is very well planned, I believe. I'm still waiting on one final piece from my colleague, but it will be completed and wonderful tomorrow evening.
I think that next time I go to plan a unit, I will start earlier. I will show up with ideas and not let my nerves get the best of me. I will contribute confidently and not worry so much about making suggestions.
Showing posts with label LIB5070. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LIB5070. Show all posts
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Blog Reflection on Blogging and Class Assignments ;)
In all honesty, between extensive assignments for multiple classes, creating impressive lesson plans for work, raising a 2 year old on my own, and life, itself, I have been slacking on writing my blog. Yes, this is all my fault and, yes, this is sad. However, after this entry, I will be completely caught up.
Blogging is an effective way to reflect on your work and your readings. I thoroughly enjoy being allowed openly express my thoughts and opinions on the material that we are reading/working on that week in class. It is just hard to remember to complete. You'd think that I would be better at this, considering the fact that I am quite the opinionated writer. Oh well, I have them all completed now and, personally, I think that my opinions adequately reflect on the topics assigned each week.
As far as what we have been working on in class lately, well, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this assignment. We have been working on an Instructional Unit with Classmates. It was not an easy assignment. I wrote most of the materials, lessons, and did the APA citations on the original submission and then contributed to the reflection piece. When the assignment was sent back to the group, I took a few days and edited the assignment to address the concerns of the professor. I then e-mailed the edited assignment back to the group. Then, the group met and changed the entire format of the unit and submitted it. My e-mail was rebelling against me being a great member of the group and I truly got to feel like what it must be like to be the media coordinator who is not 100% involved in the final creation of a unit/lesson that directly involves the use of my materials, resources, etc. While I got to go back in and approve of the final submission, there were times that I was completely left out of the planning portion. I addressed my concern via e-mail with my group and was able to work again with the group, but it was really difficult to plan with multiple people who are on very different schedules.
More now than ever, I want to be a librarian. I have personally felt what it is like to collaboratively plan with others who are on such different schedules and I know that I have the patience and ability to work around the schedule of others, even when mine is hectic. I feel like my personality helps me to have the skill set needed to work with others and make suggestions/revisions to work without being "pushy" or "overstepping my boundaries" in one way or another.
I did not realize how difficult the job was going to be, though. If I'm going to be honest, I went into this program under the assumption that the media coordinator's job was a lot easier than that of a classroom teacher. What I am learning is that the media coordinator's job is just as difficult and just as complicated. Sometimes, it might even be more complicated because of the expectation to work with the entire school - all grade levels and all content areas, including encore classes like music and art. While this is frustrating, it is also inspiring. I have so many great ideas as to what I will want to do once I have my own media center. I am incredibly excited with the possibilities that this class has made me realize I can do once I get in there and work in a library that is all my own. I am also very lucky that my own media coordinator has allowed me so much freedom in running the library so far. She has been very receptive to my ideas and has allowed me to do so much more than I imagined I would be doing at this point in my program.
--Andi
Blogging is an effective way to reflect on your work and your readings. I thoroughly enjoy being allowed openly express my thoughts and opinions on the material that we are reading/working on that week in class. It is just hard to remember to complete. You'd think that I would be better at this, considering the fact that I am quite the opinionated writer. Oh well, I have them all completed now and, personally, I think that my opinions adequately reflect on the topics assigned each week.
As far as what we have been working on in class lately, well, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this assignment. We have been working on an Instructional Unit with Classmates. It was not an easy assignment. I wrote most of the materials, lessons, and did the APA citations on the original submission and then contributed to the reflection piece. When the assignment was sent back to the group, I took a few days and edited the assignment to address the concerns of the professor. I then e-mailed the edited assignment back to the group. Then, the group met and changed the entire format of the unit and submitted it. My e-mail was rebelling against me being a great member of the group and I truly got to feel like what it must be like to be the media coordinator who is not 100% involved in the final creation of a unit/lesson that directly involves the use of my materials, resources, etc. While I got to go back in and approve of the final submission, there were times that I was completely left out of the planning portion. I addressed my concern via e-mail with my group and was able to work again with the group, but it was really difficult to plan with multiple people who are on very different schedules.
More now than ever, I want to be a librarian. I have personally felt what it is like to collaboratively plan with others who are on such different schedules and I know that I have the patience and ability to work around the schedule of others, even when mine is hectic. I feel like my personality helps me to have the skill set needed to work with others and make suggestions/revisions to work without being "pushy" or "overstepping my boundaries" in one way or another.
I did not realize how difficult the job was going to be, though. If I'm going to be honest, I went into this program under the assumption that the media coordinator's job was a lot easier than that of a classroom teacher. What I am learning is that the media coordinator's job is just as difficult and just as complicated. Sometimes, it might even be more complicated because of the expectation to work with the entire school - all grade levels and all content areas, including encore classes like music and art. While this is frustrating, it is also inspiring. I have so many great ideas as to what I will want to do once I have my own media center. I am incredibly excited with the possibilities that this class has made me realize I can do once I get in there and work in a library that is all my own. I am also very lucky that my own media coordinator has allowed me so much freedom in running the library so far. She has been very receptive to my ideas and has allowed me to do so much more than I imagined I would be doing at this point in my program.
--Andi
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Teacher Observation and Interview
This week, we were asked to explain how the topics in this week's readings relate to the teacher observation and interview that we were asked to complete.
I observed an 8th grade ELA teacher at my school. She is an incredible teacher who was working hard to review difficult concepts with a smaller group of students during an intervention/enrichment period and then trying to inspire her full class to work hard and complete difficult assignments on time.
During the intervention/enrichment period, she clearly set a purpose for the review/readings that the students were doing: They were reading for information (discussed in chapter 9 of Donham). Students were reading articles that were related to astronomy and taking the information gained from the articles to answer questions. Students would read, look for a particular piece of textual evidence, and then use that evidence to support an answer choice.
During the regular class period, the teacher first gave a small speech about responsibility, effort, and completing assignments. She then assigned a difficult fiction piece for the students to read and complete an assignment on point of view. When we discussed why she chose that particular piece for the students to read, she told me that she had looked at various measures of complexity before deciding to use this specific play.. She said that while the lexile level of the play was easier than the suggested lexile level for 8th grade, the qualitative dimensions of the text made it more complex and therefore, made it appropriate for her students. This was also discussed in chapter 9 of Donham.
The teacher that I interviewed admitted to not working collaboratively with the media coordinator. I wonder if, had the media coordinator gone to her planning meetings and made suggestions to the teacher, she would have been more receptive to working together. Collaboration wasn't the particular focus of this week's reading assignment, but it has been the focus in the past. This is not just common for this particular teacher. There is a lack of collaborative planning with the teacher and the media coordinator in a lot of the schools that I have worked in previously.
--Andi
I observed an 8th grade ELA teacher at my school. She is an incredible teacher who was working hard to review difficult concepts with a smaller group of students during an intervention/enrichment period and then trying to inspire her full class to work hard and complete difficult assignments on time.
During the intervention/enrichment period, she clearly set a purpose for the review/readings that the students were doing: They were reading for information (discussed in chapter 9 of Donham). Students were reading articles that were related to astronomy and taking the information gained from the articles to answer questions. Students would read, look for a particular piece of textual evidence, and then use that evidence to support an answer choice.
During the regular class period, the teacher first gave a small speech about responsibility, effort, and completing assignments. She then assigned a difficult fiction piece for the students to read and complete an assignment on point of view. When we discussed why she chose that particular piece for the students to read, she told me that she had looked at various measures of complexity before deciding to use this specific play.. She said that while the lexile level of the play was easier than the suggested lexile level for 8th grade, the qualitative dimensions of the text made it more complex and therefore, made it appropriate for her students. This was also discussed in chapter 9 of Donham.
The teacher that I interviewed admitted to not working collaboratively with the media coordinator. I wonder if, had the media coordinator gone to her planning meetings and made suggestions to the teacher, she would have been more receptive to working together. Collaboration wasn't the particular focus of this week's reading assignment, but it has been the focus in the past. This is not just common for this particular teacher. There is a lack of collaborative planning with the teacher and the media coordinator in a lot of the schools that I have worked in previously.
--Andi
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Most Heartening Piece This Week
I'm a little unclear on how any of the assigned readings this week were "heartening." I didn't find anything that we read specifically cheerful or encouraging. If anything, it made me more nervous. A lot of the pieces we read this week were about planning collaboratively. Teachers and media coordinators working together to create materials, lessons, units, etc. together.
The article that I liked the best was "Understanding How Teachers Plan: Strategies for Successful Instructional Partnerships." I feel like this article gave the most helpful hints as to how to work together. For example, media coordinators should "be open to new ways of looking at teaching and help teachers to do likewise." I think that media coordinators should be the more open-minded of the two who are planning together and should be responsible for suggesting "out of the box" ways to address the same standards that the classroom teacher is looking to address in a particular lesson or unit.
I really appreciated that the collaborative reflection and planning is supposed to reflect the teacher's teaching and planning style. The fact that this article encouraged media coordinators to truly help the classroom teacher was great. When teachers and media coordinators talk about their planning and about their work, it will eventually become obvious that the teacher's style and desires will drive the instruction. When the media coordinator can add to that without being hostile or overly demanding, the planning will go a lot more smoothly.
My favorite part of this article was where the author said, "Don't wait to be asked; assume partnerships and look for opportunities to plan with teachers." In my district, at least, I do not ever see teachers go out of their way to plan with the media coordinator. However, if the media coordinator were to come to our common planning with some ideas ready to be contributed, we would not turn him or her away. We are very receptive to new ideas but do not have a lot of time during the school day to seek out the help.
--Andi
The article that I liked the best was "Understanding How Teachers Plan: Strategies for Successful Instructional Partnerships." I feel like this article gave the most helpful hints as to how to work together. For example, media coordinators should "be open to new ways of looking at teaching and help teachers to do likewise." I think that media coordinators should be the more open-minded of the two who are planning together and should be responsible for suggesting "out of the box" ways to address the same standards that the classroom teacher is looking to address in a particular lesson or unit.
I really appreciated that the collaborative reflection and planning is supposed to reflect the teacher's teaching and planning style. The fact that this article encouraged media coordinators to truly help the classroom teacher was great. When teachers and media coordinators talk about their planning and about their work, it will eventually become obvious that the teacher's style and desires will drive the instruction. When the media coordinator can add to that without being hostile or overly demanding, the planning will go a lot more smoothly.
My favorite part of this article was where the author said, "Don't wait to be asked; assume partnerships and look for opportunities to plan with teachers." In my district, at least, I do not ever see teachers go out of their way to plan with the media coordinator. However, if the media coordinator were to come to our common planning with some ideas ready to be contributed, we would not turn him or her away. We are very receptive to new ideas but do not have a lot of time during the school day to seek out the help.
--Andi
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Differentiation
According to Gail Bush in School Library Monthly (2006), "Differentiated instruction is a learner-centered instructional design model that acknowledges that students have individual learning styles, motivation, abilities, and, therefore, readiness to learn."
I know that differentiation is critical to effective teaching. However, I know that it is incredibly difficult to effectively differentiate in a classroom. I teach 4 classes every day. Each class has approximately 25 students who all have different learning styles.
One way that I have differentiated instruction in the past is to create MENU assessments. Here is an example of a MENU assessment that I have used in the past:
The Outsiders MENU assessment:
I know that differentiation is critical to effective teaching. However, I know that it is incredibly difficult to effectively differentiate in a classroom. I teach 4 classes every day. Each class has approximately 25 students who all have different learning styles.
One way that I have differentiated instruction in the past is to create MENU assessments. Here is an example of a MENU assessment that I have used in the past:
The Outsiders MENU assessment:
|
1 Point
·
Timeline of major events in novel
·
Create a 6 panel comic strip of the major
events of the novel.
·
Describe each of the major characters using
figurative language.
·
Create a movie poster that illustrates the
three most important scenes in the novel.
|
2 Points
·
You know Johnny’s family. Write them a
sympathy note expressing how you feel about what happened to Johnny.
·
Create a Facebook profile for one of the
characters in The Outsiders. In
addition to the profile, create a wall conversation with at least 10 comments
that demonstrates your understanding of the character.
|
|
3 Points
·
You are Ponyboy and you are now a grandfather.
Tell your story to your three grandchildren about what happened at the
church.
·
In the novel, Soda is heartbroken when Sandy
does not respond to his love letter (pg. 174). Imagine that you are either
Soda or Sandy. Make an inference about their situation by either writing the
letter from Soda’s point of view or responding to the letter from Sandy’s
point of view.
|
4 Points
·
Graduation speech from Ponyboy’s perspective.
·
Advice column.
|
|
5 Points
·
The two opposing groups in The Outsiders are the Socials and the
Greasers. Think of two opposing social groups today. Describe in a narrative
one possible confrontation that may occur between the two groups. Be sure to
include dialogue, descriptive details, and a well-structured sequence of
events.
·
Write and perform a slam poem that raises
awareness of gang violence in our society.
|
|
**Total points must add up to 20 in order to receive credit for
this assignment.
This was a fun way to assess whether or not students understood the novel. Looking back, I wish I could have integrated the media center in this assignment. Students were able to write, create poetry, artwork, etc. There is a huge opportunity for them to use technology as well. Next year, maybe I will coordinate with the MC in order to effectively hit all learning styles and differentiate successfully.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Taxonomy Reflection
This week in LIB 5070, we were asked to reflect on how our practice fits within a specific taxonomy that was discussed in our weekly reading.
The specific question that was asked of classroom teachers was: Where are you as a teacher and how could you take your resource-based teaching a step further?
First, I'd like to discuss what taxonomy #2 is, specifically. This is a "Teacher's Taxonomy of Resource-Based Teaching." It explains the different methods that teachers might use in their classroom to incorporate use of collection/resources. It gives information about self-contained teaching, private collection, borrowed collection, media staff, media resources, and curriculum development.
Currently, as a classroom teacher, I am somewhere between #4 and 5 in the taxonomy. There have been many instances where I have just used my media specialist as someone to bounce ideas off of, and there are other times where I have used Mrs. Brewer and the resources provided in the media center to better a specific lesson or unit.
For example, Mrs. Brewer and I will frequently discuss how I can use technology and specific books in my unit. I am currently teaching a unit on WW2 fiction and nonfiction, focusing on the techniques unique to each genre. We are then comparing print to video/audio. I have gotten resources from her that I can use with my students. I wouldn't have thought about using these materials without planning with her.
My next step as a teacher would be to try harder to use my media specialist as more of a partner. I would love to sit down with Mrs. Brewer and analyze what my students need, develop objectives together, and figure out ways to present and evaluate curriculum together. I think this will be very neat to try during our "spiral review" at the end of the year where we begin to review all of the standards in the CCSS.
--Andi
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Pooh-character Attributes & Teaching
This week in class, we did a personality assessment.
I learned that I was both a Pooh and a Rabbit.
Here are some attributes of a Pooh (Harmony):
- Caring
- Sensitive
- Nurturing
- Harmonizing
- Feeling-oriented
Here are some attributes of a Rabbit (Production):
- Logical
- Structured
- Organized
- Systematic
- Thinking-oriented
I find that it's very interesting that I am both a Pooh and a Rabbit. This means that I somehow find the balance between thinking with my head and thinking with my heart.
We were asked to reflect on how we see our Pooh-character attributes come through in our teaching. In my classroom, my students are fully aware that I am very easily attached to them. Even if students are behavior-issues, chaotic, and restless, I am almost another mother-figure for them. I love all of my students. I want them to feel like my classroom is a safe-haven for them. I celebrate their accomplishments with them and I grieve their disappointments as if they were my own.
However, I am DEFINITELY a Rabbit as well. I am organized to the point of insanity. I have to have my classroom completely structured at all times. Free time drives me insane. I do not like it when students are unorganized and chaotic. It causes me to even lose my focus at times, which then upsets me, which keeps me off balanced...it's a vicious cycle. I have systems in place for everything from turning in homework to lining up and walking down the hallway. When students do not follow these structures, I can get very cranky, to say the least.
I think that my two characters come together in the perfect way, though. Because I care deeply about my students, I work even harder to create lessons that my students will truly enjoy and learn from. Because I am an organized, structured teacher, students gain self-discipline and have an awareness of exactly what they can expect from my class each day. This helps them to become more organized themselves.
I can also see where my two characters can cause issues. Primarily, I have an issue with classroom management. This has improved over the last few years, but I care too much about "upsetting" my students or "hurting their feelings." I also can get more angry and upset than I should. I'm also a logical and rational person, though, and can quickly remind myself of the task that I have to accomplish. This helps me to go back to my lesson plan and begin again.
Overall, I am shocked at how accurate this test was. I can see why most teachers identify with Pooh, but I think being equally a Rabbit works to my advantage!
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Learning Theories --> Behaviorism
This week, my group and I were asked to research behaviorism. I already had a pretty good idea what behaviorism was thanks to my college psychology classes as well as my education classes (love my Tar Heel education)! This assignment really focused in on what behaviorism is and how can I apply it to my work as a media specialist.
1. What have I learned about behaviorism?
--Throughout this process, I was reminded that behaviorism is essentially conditioning. While there are two types of conditioning - operant and classical - I believe that the one that is easiest to apply in a teaching/learning environment is operant conditioning, in which you use reinforcement to encourage or deter behavior. When there is a desired behavior, you use positive reinforcement to encourage the behavior to continue. When an undesirable behavior is displayed, you use negative reinforcement to stop the behavior from occurring again.
2. What does this mean to me?
--As a middle school teacher, I see that consequences and rewards do work with my students. My kids will do just about anything for a reward (especially if that reward is candy). When they exhibit behaviors that are less than desirable, there is a system of consequences (negative reinforcement) that is meant to teach them not to behave in that manner.
3. How might I use this information for work as a school librarian?
--Behaviorism is very simple to use in a school library. This could be used to teach students the norms for behavior within the library. Without these rules and norms in place, students can cause a lot of damage in a place like a library (especially my students). Using positive reinforcement for a successful trip to the library and negative reinforcement for students who behave inappropriately will ensure that the library is respected and enjoyed by both students and teachers.
1. What have I learned about behaviorism?
--Throughout this process, I was reminded that behaviorism is essentially conditioning. While there are two types of conditioning - operant and classical - I believe that the one that is easiest to apply in a teaching/learning environment is operant conditioning, in which you use reinforcement to encourage or deter behavior. When there is a desired behavior, you use positive reinforcement to encourage the behavior to continue. When an undesirable behavior is displayed, you use negative reinforcement to stop the behavior from occurring again.
2. What does this mean to me?
--As a middle school teacher, I see that consequences and rewards do work with my students. My kids will do just about anything for a reward (especially if that reward is candy). When they exhibit behaviors that are less than desirable, there is a system of consequences (negative reinforcement) that is meant to teach them not to behave in that manner.
3. How might I use this information for work as a school librarian?
--Behaviorism is very simple to use in a school library. This could be used to teach students the norms for behavior within the library. Without these rules and norms in place, students can cause a lot of damage in a place like a library (especially my students). Using positive reinforcement for a successful trip to the library and negative reinforcement for students who behave inappropriately will ensure that the library is respected and enjoyed by both students and teachers.
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