Reflections

This has been an enlightening semester for me. Through the development of the New Teacher Curriculum, we had to brainstorm what new teachers need in order to develop. However, in doing this, I was able to see not only what new teachers need to be successful, but what all teachers need. My Ubd group focused primarily on self-reflection and how it can be utilized to enhance professional growth. After reflecting on my personal experiences, I realized that new teachers are not the only ones who should be refining this skill. Even master teachers should engage in self-reflection to improve their practice. Self-reflection is something that I know I do unconsciously. This is something I need to continue to develop more openly to improve in my career.

This project has given me some insight as to what is important for all teachers to know, understand, and be able to do. This information is valuable for me as an administrator. It was great to have the opportunity to discuss and learn from other educators, and also reflect on my own practices. As I stated in the beginning of this course, my mission is to help my students to become life-long learners. I wish they could have seen what I have learned this semester, but then again they will see it in action next year!

NJCCCS Handout

Critique of the New Jersey Language Arts Literacy Core Curriculum Content Standards

Overview
• To prepare students of all grade levels to effectively use the different branches of language in the educational process and everyday life.

• The Language Arts Literacy Standards are broken into five strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Viewing and Media Literacy

• The student’s ability to show understanding in each of the branches is essential to the completion of each grade.

• Students are expected to demonstrate understanding through a number of different activities and procedures.

• Students use critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity to grow intellectually, emotionally, and socially

• The five strands to build upon each other and supplement each other’s purpose

• Language Arts Literacy Standards are used as a guide for teachers to prepare students for a lifetime of effective and successful communication with others.

Skills, Knowledge, and Dispositions
• Critical thinking
• Problem solving
• Creativity
• Five Strands – Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Viewing and Media Literacy
• Comprehension

Assessments
• Portfolios
• Rubrics/criteria
• Presentations
• Written forms (eg. Research paper)
• Questions and answers

***While the New Jersey Language Arts Literacy Core Curriculum Content Standards gives various assessments, they do not provide sample rubrics, presentations, or writing topics.

STRENGTHS
• Guideline of what to teach- outlines the important ideas
• Makes sure that school systems across the state are learning the same important ideas
• Gives specific learning expectation
• Easy format to follow
• Includes updated standards (complies with current technology)
• Standards are revisited and revised every four years with input from Language Arts Literacy Teachers.
• Clearly focused on 5 areas that make up the heart of what Language Arts Literacy teachers teach: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Viewing.
• Poses Essential Questions that teachers can utilize to address the five strands
• The cumulative progress indicators show when and how students need to be able to move forward in accomplishing new levels of each standard

WEAKNESSES
• Limited explanation of assessments
• Uses vague words (e.g. creativity)
• Doesn’t explain or define key skills (e.g. critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity)
• Although it represents key content to be taught, it does not allow teachers to think outside of the box and it limits the way the material is presented
• Requires a range of skills (five strands) that must be taught simultaneously
• Very lengthy (teachers do not have the time to read all aspects of the standards)
• Students across the state are not held uniformly accountable for achieving the standards
• Standardized tests are not as rigorous as the standards, and therefore do not accurately measure student achievement in Language Arts Literacy
• Teachers are able to over emphasize or under emphasize elements in the standards.

REFERENCES

Splitter, Laurance J. (1991) Critical thinking: What, why, when and how. Educational Philosophy and Theory 23.1. 89-109.

Adams, Dennis M. and Mary E. Hamm. Cooperative Learning: Critical Thinking and Collaboration Across the Curriculum Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, 1990.

Paul, Richard & Elder, Linda (1999). Critical Thinking: Teaching Students to Seek the Logic of Things. Journal of Developmental Education, 23(1) pp. 34

href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&an=8525674&site=ehost-live">Taking Language Arts to the Community.

href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&an=8524879&site=ehost-live">What Schools Should Teach in the English Language Arts.

ALSO: For a list of essential questions for all content areas: http://www.state.nj.us/education/aps/njscp/

Grades and Learning

Through this curriculum course I have been made more aware of my purpose as an educator. I suppose I am lucky to have had some time off, away from the classroom, to ponder and self-reflect on my teaching and the learning of students. I wonder, if it weren't for these graduate classes and having the time to reflect, would I still be teaching the same way? As an undergraduate I was taught all of the key characteristics to good teaching. For example, have a hook or anticipatory set, segue to the "lecturette", individual practice, cooperative learning or pair and share activity, and finally closure.

Having all of these technical aspects to a lesson is important. However, the proper assessments is more valuable. Actually being able to determine what the students are learning, if they are learning at all, is much more effective than making sure we check some technicalities off of a list. In the beginning of this semester I said to myself, "yes it makes sense. But as a math teacher, with so little time, do I have the time to do it?" Then I realized this is my job! Just take away some of the meaningless assessments (like the 500 quizzes I give in a semester) and replace them with the time to observe and monitor student progress.

I suppose we all get bogged down with the paperwork- but truly what is our purpose as educators? Grades? They are definitely important to the students, parents, and administrators. And it is what teachers use to gauge progress of students. But what is a grade if it doesn't measure what the students have learned? It becomes a pointless number- a meaningless way to measure success.

I have had numerous cases in school where a student that is driven to do well, gets the A, regardless of what information that student has been able to conceptualize and apply for deeper understanding of the content. I have also had students who were able to conceptualize and apply the information but did not do their homework and did not test well, so they did not do well in the course. As an educator, I want the best of both worlds: a student who is dedicated to do well and works hard in addition to having the capability to acquire that deeper understanding.

But how can we get around using these numbers? Our society is number driven: tests scores, social security numbers, license plate numbers, etc. While I do not think we will ever get away from using numbers or grades, just being more aware of of this may help to improve our practice. As educators, we must develop ways to ensure student understanding and student learning and do our best to match the student's abilities to a number grade.

One way I plan on observing learning in action is through higher order questioning and essential questions. I just read May's Mathematics Teaching in the Middle Grades, an article titled "The Importance of Equal Sign Understanding." One essential question I could use for my course in sixth grade is "What does it mean to be equal?" Just as so many words in the English Language can be spelled the same but mean different things, so do many symbols in mathematics. This article really showed the (mis)conceptions students have about the equal sign as well as the relationship between their understanding and how they solve algebraic equations. As a sixth grade teacher, I would always assume that the students knew what the equal sign meant, but after this article it is apparent that some may not have a full understanding of what this important symbol stands for. I truly have a new way of looking at my teaching and student understanding after this course!

The NT Curriculum Development Project

I was utterly confused at the beginning of this project. Ubd explains how to work backwards, thinking about the desired results first and the learning tasks last. This was awkward at first, but it makes complete sense. It is funny how as a teacher I always looked at the assessments last. First I would fill out my plan book with what my goal was for the day (Students will be able to.....). I then would think about what I would do to cover the material. Then I would plan what activity (group work, game, individual work, etc.) I would choose to go along and reinforce the lesson. Finally I would think about assessment (a mini quiz, question and answer session, etc.). Now I am able to realize the importance of working backwards, by determining the desired results ahead of time and choosing effective ways to assess those results first, and by making the activities engaging and meaningful (not simply because it has something to do with the topic, such as the apple orchard scenario in Ubd).

As I reflect on this curriculum planning process, I must admit I was a bit skeptical in the beginning. While I understand the importance of working with others in groups to complete a task, and I do understand the whole two heads are better than one and three heads are better than two philosophy, I always felt group work difficult. Someone doesn't do their part, or someone goofs off when the group is supposed to be working. I was always in a group where I did the majority of the work and the rest of the group received the credit. I must say that while this project seemed stressful at times, my group members did the work they were supposed to complete. This made for a positive experience in planning new curriculum.

In addition to my group working well to accomplish this task, I felt engaged in the process. It was a topic I know about and have experienced first hand. New teachers will always be in my building, whether I am a teacher, administrator, or supervisor. By reflecting back on my past experiences and creating curriculum to support new teachers, I feel reconnected with this topic. While I am quite sure I will never forget my first year of teaching, it helps to take a trip down memory lane and remember just how lonely I felt. If districts begin to adopt the types of professional development that our class created, perhaps we will see more new teachers staying in the profession and truly making a difference.

Quote to live by:

"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank...but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child." -- Forest Witchcraft

The Implementation Gap

After reading March's Educational Leadership: Closing the Implementation Gap, I began to look at my own school's goals in a new light. Last semester, I had to decipher the culture of my school based on interviews and surveys that I had given the teachers. What was so surprising is that the teachers had a very different opinion about the school than the administrators. I wonder if this is often the case. The administrators are seen as the visionaries and change agents and the teachers resist the change and make decisions from day to day. Does the difficulty in our schools lie in miscommunication between teachers and administrators or teachers and students? Are we all really working toward the same goal?

I tried to look a little deeper at this situation. As a teacher, I set goals for my students every day, week, and month. I look for assessments that match my goals, and these assessments are usually attainable (as are the goals). When you take this to the school level, principals set goals for the year. Should administrators start to focus on short term goals? This article discusses strategies that can be used to "bring implementation closer to reality."
The first strategy is to create "short-term wins". In other words, create a plan that can be completed in the first few weeks of school. The second suggestion is to "recognize effective practices simply and clearly throughout the year." The final two strategies include "emphasizing effectiveness, not popularity" and "appeal to the values" of teachers. As I read this, I started to realize that this is more like the way teachers plan lessons or units of study.

Teachers create situations that enable "short-term wins". For example, I will give students an easier problem to start with before trying the more challenging ones. I want them to feel what success is before they give up completely. Teachers also recognize "effective practices" within the classroom. I have often heard myself saying "I like the way you are showing your work Bobby," or "That work looks great, Sue." As a teacher I will even "emphasize effectiveness", emphasizing what makes the classroom run in the most efficient manner. This is sometimes different than what students are used to in a traditional classroom, and can cause some resistance. And I always try to "appeal to the values" of the students in my class. If they feel a connection with the material they are vested in learning more. This article really reflects what teachers do everyday, at least what I do every day in the classroom. I think sometimes administrators lose sight of what it was like as a teacher. But the really great administrators never forget.

Critical Thinking in the Math Classroom

In another course I am currently taking Action Research, I am working with two other teachers to discover the meaning behind critical thinking in the math classroom. As a math teacher, I have noticed that one of the main issues that I face every year involves the lack of understanding when it comes to problem solving. Every year, without delay, I have at least (and trust me it's more) one student that refuses to even try word problems. The students leave them blank on homework, classwork, even tests! It has been a goal of mine to try to help students to become more comfortable with solving word problems and to replace negative feelings with positive ones. This is not an easy task. In the classroom I would present multiple problems and go through the steps to solve them, with the class as a whole. The results are always the same. The students who understood the problems did them, those that refused to try didn't complete them, and others tried and gave up half way through.

It was only through collecting data for my research project was I able to see the relevance between critical thinking and problems solving. According to some of my colleagues, critical thinking is being able to see various viewpoints of a problem. In fact, it is the responsibility of the teacher to look at the students answers and the process they took to get the answers and share the various ways with the whole class. The teacher must be willing themselves to accept various viewpoints to a solution, even when the solution is not conventional. After all, mathematicians used various methods to obtain answers and various methods to prove their answers. To quote one of my colleagues "if I leave a trail of cheese for the mice to follow, they will follow the path and will be successful, but if I take the cheese away I doubt they will follow the trail laid out for them."

This really hit home fr me as a teacher. If I stick to the traditional way of teaching mathematics I am simply creating robots or mice. If I continue to give my students the answers and show them MY way of answering a problem, I am not encouraging them to think through the problem themselves. It is up to me to give them those essential questions to muddle through to find their own answers. While my way is correct and may be easy, I cannot continue to lure them with cheese. Ultimately, it is up to the students to find the right path and hopefully get to the end of the maze. By researching the questions of critical thinking in the math classroom and curriculum development I know what I have to do in my teaching to make mathematics more meaningful to my students. As a bonus, I will be finally matching my philosophy with the reality in my classroom.

Thinking Like an Assessor, Criteria and Validity, and Homework or No Homework?

In this week's chapters from Ubd, I can understand the importance of determining the types of assessment before designing lesson plans. I agree with Wiggins and McTighe, this is an unnatural process for teachers. Teachers are always creating lessons that engage students, spark their interests, and make it "fun". Then, when we have completed a section, chapter, or unit we give quizzes, tests, and sometimes a project (where fluff seems more valuable than the knowledge presented). Now the connection seems so obvious. We create the assessments first, to ensure understanding and transferability is met. Otherwise we are in the situation with the apple orchard, bobbing for apples, and making applesauce as was discussed in the beginning of this book. However, if the assessments are expressly stated in the curriculum, teachers do not have the liberty to choose their own assessments (that is, if the teacher were following the curriculum correctly). On the other hand, by doing this curriculum makers ensure that understanding and transfer are achieved and that teachers are correctly assessing the learning of their students. Is it possible to give specific assessments and also allow teachers the opportunity to choose which method they prefer?

As a math teacher, I am always finding myself looking for new methods of evaluating my students. After all, math seems to be so cut and dry, either they have the right answer or they don't, right? WRONG! While the answer is usually right or wrong, the methods students use to get the answer differ greatly. Some students use pictures, some use words, and some use formulas to answer a problem. I have even had some students try to use logical reasoning to determine the answer to a problem. I have attended several workshops on differentiated instruction, authentic assessment, and cooperative learning to develop new ways of "teaching" math. But as my Ubd group discussed, there was no time given to make the transfer of this knew knowledge. The only way the transfer could take place is if I spent time after the session to develop plans incorporating the new knowledge. It made me realize that I too have to allow my students time in class to take new skills explained and apply them appropriately.

"Criteria and Validity" in Ubd, sparked my memory about a workshop I attended on authentic assessments. In the workshop we discussed how to create rubrics. Since math is my passion, I need numbers to help me in assessing students grades. It is difficult for me to look at a project and say, "Well that looks like a B+ to me." I always felt that I needed to follow something, some criteria, in order to be fair to my students. I think that rubrics are a good way to grade objectively with assessments that are subjective in nature. This chapter brings up a valid point pertaining to "correctness". "We typically pay too much attention to correctness and too little attention to the degree of understanding." In math, this scenario is all too familiar. I am becoming increasingly educated in assessing student learning in real and authentic ways. As a result of this, I am more aware of the degree of understanding, and not merely whether the answer is right or wrong. Learning is a process, so the way we assess needs to look at the whole process, not just one outcome.

After reading chapter eight of Ubd, I thought about the ways I assess my students. One of the criteria we are expected to use in our grading is homework. In fact it is written in our grading policy, homework is to count for at least 20% of a student's grade. While I do not believe in loading students up on homework, some teachers do not share my philosophy. It can become burdensome for students and families when the student is expected to complete hours of homework after school. With the limited time parents have to spend with their children, who wants to be sitting at a table doing homework or yelling at a child to make sure the homework is completed? From a teacher's perspective, however, I feel that homework is a useful tool for educators in assessing student learning. It is another way we can look at a student's work and determine whether the transfer has taken place. However, this is not the only source of data for teachers, and I do not feel it should ever be the only source.

On a related note, March's issue of Educational Leadership has an article about homework (this was where I made my connection). The article explains how research has indicated the effectiveness of homework. Despite the research, the argument against homework is becoming more and more popular among parents and students. I often wonder if that is because students are expected to learn more at younger ages and parents are unable to assist their children, or are students over involved in activities outside of school and have difficulty finding the balance? The article also makes one point clear on both sides, "only assign homework that is beneficial to student learning instead of assigning homework as a matter of policy." This definitely goes against my district's policy for homework. However, I will stand my ground and assign only homework that makes sense for my class, not unnecessary busy work, policy or no policy!