Final Reflection II

Personal:

I did not get to do any of my detailed lesson plans because of my personal life. I did not realize how much I got done before I had a baby! It was a fight to stay above water! I did however keep track and leave myself feedback for the assignments we did do and found some real life resources to incorporate into my lessons. This summer I have planned to meet with another teacher in the district to create the detailed lesson plans for next year. We have already begun working and I can’t wait to see what is in store for next year.

Professional:

I was surprised how much I did not accomplish of my goals. I was able to take several technology classes to learn different technologies, which are available to me and the students and further how to teach those technologies to someone who does not have a clue how to use them. I was not able to teach a technology lesson to this point because there were some many other things that had to get done with the sewing projects. I have already begun look

Value:

I teach my students about goal setting the first six weeks. I think it was valuable to set these goals as things I wanted to accomplish but at times felt overwhelmed at what I was trying to do. I had to put some things on the back burner unfortunately, which was very hard because I wanted to accomplish it all. I will have to learn how to better balance my personal life with my professional life!

Final Reflection I

What?

For my favorite strategy, I must pick two. I have chosen setting objectives and cooperative learning. These are the cornerstones of my subject! Students are taught in the first six weeks that they must learn to work together with others even if they do not get along with them. This is real-life! Therefore, many of the projects I have given lately have had cooperative learning as some part. With setting objectives, I have now begun to give an objective to every assignment (which I only did for projects before) which include instructions.

So what?

Cooperative learning has been tough to incorporate. I thought the kids would love working with one another, however it has been the opposite. Some of the students revolted! I had to completely take away all socializing in one of my class periods for them to even attempt working with someone they did not feel they had something in common.

Setting objectives has changed the way the students view the class. They go into the assignments with a purpose. I not only have set objectives but have now made the directions for the assignment part of the objective as well. Through this I have also raised the standard of the assignment. Students who say they are finished early now have a standard. (For example: If the objective says that the assignment has to be done well, I will ask the student if they feel they have met that standard. Generally the students are harder on themselves than I am and always find something on which they can improve.)

Now what?

Next year, I will be incorporating some sort of team building game or challenge at the beginning of each six weeks when I change the seating chart. This way when I have a student say they cannot work with someone, I have proof they already have. Also, I will give the students the option of sitting by themselves at a desk only after they have attempted to work with the people in the group for three weeks. I feel this would be enough time for them to get the point.

The plan for the future is to give students one initial objective that they try to attain every six weeks. Part of that objective will be to create a portfolio that they could present to a teacher at the next level to prove their ability. I also hope to incorporate objectives with every assignment so that students are able to approach the assignment knowing what to do, how well to do the assignment and why the assignment matters.

Cues, Questions, and Advance Questions

What?

I lectured over the difference between classics and fads in regards to clothing. I used the Narrative Advance Organizer and gave the students several scenarios about clothing that I wore when I was in middle school. The students were then asked to apply the information they had learned about classics and fads. The next day I showed a PowerPoint presentation of clothing from history.

So what?

Students did better than last year with this assignment because I gave examples of things that I wore versus what they wear.

Now what?

Next year, I will show the PowerPoint before we do this assignment and have them recognize trends (ie dresses) as well as the change in styles (which would be the fads).

Research and Theory on Generating and Testing Hypotheses

What?

I gave a group of students ingredients to make a cake. They were given a limited amount of each ingredient (ie three eggs max). They were then told to decide how much of each ingredient from a list of measurements goes into the cake and were given a time to cook the cake. Students were shown an example of how the cake should look. Once their cake was done, the students were told to take their cakes apart and were told to come up with a hypothesis for why their cakes came out the way they did (ie they used too much flour). Then the students had to retry the experiment and see if the cake came out any better.

So what?

The students learned how important a recipe is that day! Many of the students got one or two ingredients and the amounts right but none of them got it exactly right.

Now what?

Next year, I think I will use a form to have them theorize on and make it a more formal assessment.

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

What?

An objective was given for students to read clothing care labels and follow them. Students were expected to do one load of laundry.

So what?

When I did the assignment last year, I did not give the students an objective. I received thank you's from parents because their kids were forced to do laundry, but when they asked their students why they were having to do laundry, the students could not give them an answer. This year, I put the objective on the top of the paper and it's amazing how much more successful the students were. The parents were leaving notes on the form about how successful (or not) the students were and because of the point values I gave, they were describing how many points the student should get. Because of the wording of the objective and the primitive rubric, students and parents were able to better understand the purpose of the project.

Now what?

Next year I will build a more specific rubric for the students so that they are able to know exactly how many points are assigned to each area.

Teacher Personal and Professional Goals

Personal:

Goal: Be more organized in the planning and implementing of lessons.

Measurable Steps
1. Create detailed lesson plans.
2. Turn in assignments to volunteers to be copied.
3. Get feedback from students about specific assignments.
4. Create a space to store assignments.
5. Find research based readings for students.
6. Meet with other middle school PFD teachers to plan.

Evaluation:
1. Plan out 6th six weeks lesson plans in detail using created forms.
2. Create feedback pages for current six weeks.
3. Use feedback pages and leave notes for project assignments.


Professional:

Goal: Utilize more technology in the classroom.

Measurable Steps
1. Take technology related classes in order to better learn how to teach technology to students.
2. Plan one technology lesson for the 6th six weeks.
3. Create feedback forms online using googledocs.

Evaluation:
1. Take classes.
2. Teach one technology lesson for the 6th six weeks.
3. Use online feedback forms.

Cooperative Learning

What?
We were learning the needs that housing fulfills: psychological, social, and physical. I split the students into groups and they each read about the need assigned to their group. After the students were finished reading, the students formed a group of three: one person who had read about the psychological needs, one who had read social about the social needs, and one who had read about the physical needs housing fulfills. The groups were given scenarios like "The house has a big kitchen," and they had to determine which need the scenario fulfilled and why.

So what?
The students were excited to work together. They were able to talk and work out the scenarios. The scores were better than the previous year.

Now what?
Next year I will have the students take notes over the needs and teach them to the other students in their group. Then I will give them a few scenarios to work out together and have them figure out which need is fulfilled and why. When finished, we will check their responses. Then when they have worked together on a few problems, I will have them race to see which team can place the scenarios with the correct need giving prizes at the end.

Nonlinguistic Representations

What?
This six weeks, we are learning about Housing. We are doing this through the eyes of an interior designer. In class, we discussed some of the things interior designers had to take into consideration when designing a house. I then had the students create a collage representing these concepts. On the back of the poster, the students used words to finish the statement "Interior design is..." Students then explained their posters to the class. I then taught the students the Elements and Principles of Design which include line, color, texture and emphasis, and had them put pictures representing these concepts on a folder for the interior design portfolio they will complete.

So what?
I was VERY impressed with the posters. Some of the students thought outside of the box! The folders did not turn out as well as I had hoped because the students felt like they had limitations placed on them due to the fact that they had specific things they had to place on their folders. They did not think outside the box as much.

Now what?
I think next year I am going to discuss with my students the job of an interior designer. I am then going to let them create the collage on their portfolio folders. Inside the folders, I am going to have them take notes and tell how they see these concepts represented in the pictures they chose.

Marzano Homework and Practice

What?

Students were given a pre-test, a homework assignment, a review, a test and a post-test over kitchen safety. Students first took the pre-test to get an idea of what the test would look like. Students were then taught basic kitchen safety. The next day, the students had to recognize safety issues in a kitchen setup by me. We then reviewed the information and they were given a homework assignment. Students took the test the next day. They were also given the opportunity to do a retake. Students continually reviewed the information and were force to recognize safety issues in their own kitchens when they did their final cooking assignment.

So what?

Last year, I taught students the information and them the test. They were then able to do a retake if necessary. I had a higher percentage of students this year who passed the test as well as students who were able to recognize the information more Ieasily in their own kitchens. Now they still say "I can't believe my mom did that!"

Now what?

Next year I believe I will have the students make note cards in the computer lab as well as create an interactive powerpoint for them to review the information before they take the test so that they are continually reviewing the information.

Marzano Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition

What?

Students did a project designing china for Mrs. Obama. Students received a prize and got their china hung in the hallway for everyone to see.

So what?

I was surprised how many students did not ask for their prize. I reminded them and they acted as if having their china hung in the hallway for everyone to see was enough. Using this information, I created a "brag" wall in my room and am shocked at how many students are disappointed at not having their names up on the wall. I even had one student say, "Mrs. Weed! I did something nice for Jane. Don't I get my name up on the wall???"

Now what?

This summer I was going to create an example of what I was looking for in every assignment, but instead, I think I will pick the projects that best fit what I was trying to do and use them as examples. I also want to try to find a way for students to have an opportunity to leave a legacy behind for the next students.

Marzano Summarizing and Note Taking

What?

I had students take notes over the Elements and Principles of Design. Students each took a section and followed a prescribed note-taking plan, then the students got in groups and explained their section to everyone in the group. Students then had a booklet in which they had to summarize the notes inside. After using the summarized notes on a test, the students will use the booklet for their final project of the six weeks in order to design a room. They must implement the information and the notes will help them remember what we studied.

So what?

I used this technique with another six weeks and the students were better able to remember the information covered because they had summarized the information themselves. The only difference is that I will wait to hand them back their notes until right before their projects so that they don't lose them.

Now what?

After Spring Break, I am going to try to give students a folder to keep everything they will need for their final project. I am going to try it with a small group of students and if it works, the last six weeks, I will give a folder to every student.

Compare/Contrast

What?
The students were given a grocery list. They were asked to write out the area that the items on the list were located ie aisle 5 or the produce section. This was the first "route" they took through the store. Then the students were asked to group the items on the list based on where the items were located in the store, for example milk is a dairy item and salt is a staple. The students then planned out the another route through the store using the grouped items. Finally, the students were asked to compare the two routes and see which would take the least amount of time.

So what?
Once the students grouped the items and compared the two lists, they realized how much time they wasted when going grocery shopping jumping from aisle to aisle and back again. They realized with a little bit of planning they could really save some time!

Now what?
Initially when I began the assignment, I had no intention of the students comparing and contrasting. By the end of the day, the assignment had evolved into a comparing and contrasting assignment. Had I done the assignment from the beginning this way, I believe the other students would have understood better what I was trying to get across: be organized with your shopping and your grocery list and you will save time and money. Next year I will take a more hands-on approach by labeling different areas of the classroom with aisle numbers and sections of a grocery store. The students will then have to follow both routes and tell me which was the most efficient. This assignment has encouraged me to look at other assignments and see how I could incorporate a compare and contrast component.

Wordles

Check out my wordle for My Beliefs Paper!

Check out my wordle for my Teaching Metaphor!

Check out my wordle for the PFD TEKS!