Naomi Teaches

Students love to ask the age-old question: when will I use this knowledge? With that in mind, for my short story writing unit, I would like to enlist a representative from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards to speak to my class about their mission, the awards, and more. 

If I were to use the community connection, I may not be able to get a representative to visit my class or send a video. Or if I do, but the speaker is not good at engaging their audience, students may lose the idea and not be motivated. 

However, this lesson would be much different if I had not included a community connection. If it had only been me telling the students about the awards, they may have not been as engaged. Perhaps students would listen better, and write better if there were a guest speaker or incentive.

This lesson perfectly fits Maine’s Common Core Teaching Standard 5: “The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical/creative thinking and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.” I have connected concepts from my classroom to the real world by bringing in a representative from a major writing award, and used this to engage my students in the lesson.

In chapter 2, “Ditch That Lecture,” Matt Miller and Alice Keeler discuss alternatives to lecturing as a method of teaching. “To stop relying on homework, we must change how our classrooms function day to day - from the moment the kids walk through the door” (p. 18). One major point made in the chapter is that lesson information should be accessible to all students at all times. This way, the teacher can spend more time working one-on-one with students, and less time reiterating information to the class. A tool like Google Classroom is perfect for this because it also ensures student accountability. I plan on using this in my classroom in the future because of this. 

Another major point made in chapter 2 was giving students the ability to choose how they demonstrate their learning. Offering students choice is very important because it not only helps them feel like they own their work, and feel more confident in their knowledge as well as the work they create, but it also ensures student accountability! I want to offer as many choices as possible in my future lessons. Also, offering choices helps students with their decision making skills from this grade until after school. 

In chapter 8, “Ditch That Red Pen,” Matt Miller and Alice Keeler discuss the impact of feedback. As a student, I have always benefitted most from timely feedback. This is helpful for both the student and teacher as the assignment is fresh in both minds. What does not help as a student is receiving a paper back covered in feedback. This is discouraging and overwhelming, even if there are a few compliments thrown in, no student wants to see their paper covered in the dreaded red ink, or comments online. As a student, you want to receive meaningful, personalized feedback. As a teacher, you want to make this simple for everybody, so the author suggests combining all of the suggestions into one key point that the student should take away. I love this idea because it forces everybody to think critically and is less overwhelming for both the teacher and student. I plan on doing this, or something similar as a teacher because it is so beneficial for both parties. As a teacher, I also plan on giving feedback one at a time so I do not become burnt out by the workload, and still give quality, timely feedback. 

In chapter one, “Ditch That Textbook,” the authors present many alternative options to a traditional classroom textbook. First, there are ten worksheet alternatives presented including one of my favorites, drawing pictures. Making visual connections to concepts taught can be powerful while learning. “The brain doesn’t work in words; it translates them into pictures when we think” (p. 3). Seeing an idea is more helpful, and simpler than envisioning an idea. I also like the idea of having students create questions to answer. In my practicum placement, my mentor and I had our seventh-grade students create questions around a chapter of a book we read. While we did not follow the steps given by The Right Question Institute, this certainly helped our students comprehend the reading, and learn to form intriguing questions. Finally, I would like to explore EdPuzzle at some point because it may be a great way to give formative assessments, since it automatically pauses a video the class is watching to ask the students questions. I would love to use all of these in my own classroom! 

The authors also offer seven ideas to ditch research reports, including Google Drawings interactive posters, which I had not heard of before. Keeler and Miller suggest that the tool can be used to “present visuals in a digital poster format that includes links to Google Docs or other resources to provide more information about their topic.” This is a great way to creatively show what a student has learned. In a high school English class, my final was to create a playlist which represented a character in Shakespeare, and write a paragraph explaining why I included each song. This is another great alternative to research reports, similar to the YouTube playlist suggestion in the book. I want to use all of these in my own classroom, because they spark much more creativity than a traditional research paper. 

I recently finished reading Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam. The book was incredibly thought provoking and offered many different ways to use formative assessment in the classroom. 

The first two chapters of this book were very statistic oriented. They were, however, interesting because of the facts presented. For instance, on page 7, Dylan Wiliam points out how necessary higher education is becoming in our society, especially in manufacturing jobs: “Almost half of the manufacturing jobs that did not require a high school diploma in 2000 were gone by 2015, while the number of manufacturing jobs that required at least a master’s degree rose by 32 percent” (p 7). Wiliam also suggests that the quality of the teacher in a classroom impacts a student’s success far more than the class size, and how students are grouped (p 16). A study referenced in chapter 2 notes that using assessments as a tool for growth is possible, but that it requires five elements: providing effective feedback, involving students in their own learning, adjusting our teaching according to the assessment results, recognizing the influence assessment can have on students, and needing students to be able to self-assess and improve (p 41). These five elements are the base for the rest of the book. The first two chapters absolutely had me intrigued and wanting to learn more about how to use formative assessment effectively in my own future classroom. 

Chapter 3 focuses on rubrics, making the argument for and against them. More importantly, it explained why and how teachers need to be sharing their “learning intentions and success criteria with their students” (p 57). There were three main points made about rubrics: they rely on description of quality, which means they are up to interpretation; they focus more on the grade than improving; and because only specific aspects of the quality of work are identified, other important aspects are overlooked. Something I will definitely use in my classroom is strength and weakness discussions along with model papers, in which the whole class looks over pieces from past classes (unnamed, of course), and discuss the strengths and weaknesses in them. For students like myself, seeing examples is very helpful. I also really enjoy the “WALT (We are learning to), WILF (What I’m looking for), and TIB (This is because)” acronyms (p 80). I want to use this in my classroom because it is straightforward and shows your students exactly why and how they are doing the task.

Chapter 4 is about ways to pretest students, and assess where they are before you begin. “The most important factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows, and that the teacher’s job is to ascertain this and to teach accordingly” (p 122). I like the idea of Plickers and other all-student response systems. Something like Plickers, when used properly, can help the teacher decide what to teach next and how. It is a very quick system as well and only requires some printable paper cards and a smartphone. The responses from these polls can be anonymous to the class, but the teacher can still see who answered with what, making it a great tool for differentiated instruction if necessary.

Chapter 5 is all about the quality of feedback that teachers give and the impact that good and bad feedback can have on our students. The chapter raised several interesting points about feedback that I had not thought of, such as timing. Another major idea in this chapter is about point-based or grade-oriented feedback. If the teacher hands back a paper with just comments, students will be motivated to improve based on those comments. There are two concepts that I would love to apply in my own future classroom. Busywork such as asking a student to copy a table when they say they cannot do any of the work, according to Wiliam, provides “time for the student to make sense of the task herself” (p 128). Another big idea was Minus, Equals, Plus. In addition to comments on the work, the educator will add “a symbol of -, =, or +, depending on whether the work submitted was not as good as, about the same as, or better than his or her last work on the topic” (p 143). I like this idea because it ensures that students cannot compare their grades to one another, and encourages improvement. 

Chapter 6 is about peer assessment, and how beneficial it can be to students when executed correctly. Four factors were introduced to explain how peer assessment can be used effectively: motivation, social cohesion, personalization, and cognitive elaboration. One strategy I would like to use in my own classroom from this chapter is “peer improvement of homework” (p 160). By keeping students unaware of whether or how the homework would be checked and graded, more students started doing the homework, the work was neater, and the quality was higher. The teacher will either grade the work themself, pass out rubrics to self-evaluate, or have everyone swap with a neighbor. I also really like the idea of a homework help board where students post questions they had about the homework, and other students would seek out the person who asked the question, and try to help. However, I would rather have the student post the question to the board with sticky notes, or do this online so the teacher has a record and can address misconceptions.

Chapter 7 discusses the pros and cons of using various forms of student self-assessment. Getting students involved in their learning improves achievement across the board. One main idea that really attracted my attention was self-regulated learning in which metacognition and motivation are both crucial skills. The one idea I really enjoyed and would consider using in my own classroom is a learning portfolio. This is different than a performance portfolio because it highlights the entire learning process rather than just the summative assessment. This is also beneficial because students can see what has improved, and will know what to do to continue improving. I also really like the idea of learning logs where a student records what they may have learned that day, how they felt about the class, and more. Again, this gives students ownership of their own work, which is very powerful. 

I recommend that all educators read this book because it provides excellent resources and strategies for the classroom. If you are a teacher who is wondering whether formative assessment is worth their time, this book is for you!

Source:

As a part of this project, I got to invest four to six hours of research in the resources my old teachers provided for me. Below are my biggest takeaways from these readings. 

Help For Billy This book faces a harsh truth: a majority of our students have faced trauma of some sort, and we must be prepared to help every student be successful regardless of background. Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Heather Forbes has studied trauma her whole life and wrote this book based on her knowledge of behaviors and emotions in children. One of my favorite strategies in this book which I want to use in my own classroom, is the Four L’s she speaks about toward the end of the book. Language, logic, learning, and listening are all so important in education. As an educator, I need to be careful and logical about my language, and even my tone when speaking to students and my colleagues. By doing this, I set an example for my students and continue to provide a safe place. I need to understand that by listening, I am showing a level of care that the student may not often receive, and by listening, hopefully the student will begin to learn more.

Mosaic of Thought This book offers plenty of insight for English teachers especially. The book focuses on finding strategies to help enhance students’ reading comprehension. One of the big ideas in this book is simply to model for your students. When you have a class read silently, you should be doing this too. Students should feel encouraged to ask questions that pop up during their reading because this is how we comprehend our texts. To model this, the teacher should also ask any questions they think of while reading. Either write them on the board, or ask them out loud. It is so important to model the behavior we seek for our students. By thinking out loud, and asking questions, we show our students that it is okay to do this as well. Asking questions is how we learn, and therefore how we begin to comprehend our reading.

Turnaround for Children This organization promotes “healthy student development and academic achievement.” In high-risk areas such as those with many low-income families, Turnaround for Children offers assistance to educators. The organization works closely with the school to identify issues and problem-solve, encouraging healthy relationships inside the school and community. Turnaround also offers monthly training sessions for school leaders so they may diagnose their school’s issues on their own, and develop support systems in their own school. A resource like this is important to hang onto, especially in rural Maine where many schools are under served. 

Sources:

Cantor, Pamela. “Turnaround for Children.” Turnaround for Children, Turnaround for Children, 2019, https://www.turnaroundusa.org/.

Forbes, Heather T. Help for Billy: a Beyond Consequences Approach to Helping Children in the Classroom. BookBaby, 2013.

This past week I was able to attend and present at the Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine conference. I am halfway through developing an English unit integrating three pieces of technology. While this unit is still being developed, it will inevitably teach late middle school students to write short stories. At the conference, I was given the opportunity to present these three technologies.

I used Padlet and explained that I will use this to spark discussions in the classroom. Some students, including myself, may not always feel comfortable speaking up in class, so a website like Padlet would help these students participate without anxiety. As a teacher, I might post a discussion question here and have students respond. My second technology piece is Canva which I would use for storyboard creating, really showing students the importance of having a beginning, middle, and end. Last, I use Medium as a publishing platform for students. This was a big hit at the conference for its lack of distractions. By writing a story on Medium, students do not have the option to spend hours playing with fonts or making things pretty. On Medium, the focus is purely on the content itself.

By introducing a technology like Medium at the conference, I was able to connect with teachers and administrators from around the state, and teach them about something they did not know about previously, therefore growing my own network. Likewise, I was able to learn from many knowledgable educators in their own presentations. One of my favorite things to learn about was Actively Learn, a website in which teachers can take a text and add their own notes and questions for students, among many other features. I would love to implement Actively Learn in my own classroom because of how flexible it can be. It does cost money for some of the features, but I really do think it would be an investment. I learned a lot from the conference, and plan on using a lot of the tools I learned about, such as Actively Learn, and Peardeck. 

If I were to change anything about my presentation for the conference, or if I were to present this again, I might not use Padlet for the same reasons. I think I might have found another, more clean platform with fewer distractions the way Medium is built. However, I would absolutely keep Medium and Canva because these are both fun additions to the unit as well as constructive ones. If I were to attend ACTEM again in the future, I would want to pay more attention to the networking opportunities available and try to catch more names. I feel as though I met many people who could be great assets to me in my career, but did not catch names, and receive or give contact information.

The Three Wise Teachers Project has given me the opportunity to think back on all of the ways that various types of teachers have impacted my life. I chose to contact three of my teachers who I have stayed in touch with on Facebook since I graduated in 2016.

First, I messaged my senior seminar teacher, and UMF alum Emily Stacy. I told her that I always admired how she carried herself both in and out of the classroom with her students, parents, and colleagues. Mrs. Stacy was always smiling and was known for being such a kind woman. She was friendly and made strong connections with everyone she came into contact with. She seemed very happy to hear from me saying, “Your message meant so much to me and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your kind words!” Mrs. Stacy then provided me with two strong resources: Fostering Resilient Learners by Kristin Souers and Pete Hall as well as the name of an organization called Turnaround for Children.

The next teacher I contacted was my ninth grade English teacher who had left to teach in another district in my sophomore year. If I had to choose one teacher who I thought really exemplified what a good teacher was, it would be Ms. Jean Bragan. Ms. Bragan responded almost immediately with a thank you and several questions about myself, my concentration, and practically offering me her job since she plans to retire in the next year. She explained that she would get back to me with resources, really wanting to think it through, and she did. She offered me Caring Schools by Nell Noddings, The Passionate Teacher, Teach Like a Champion, Write to Learn by Donald Murray, Deeper Compassion by Kelly Gallagher, and Mosaic of Thought. I will have a lot of research to do in the coming months!