Kim

=**YEAR # 2 (09 / 10):**=

May 4, 2010 Reflection # 1 Refleting on the past two years and my journey towards DI, I have to say what impacted me the most was the change in my students. The discussions, reading materials and learning has, of course, allowed me to change my mind-set and challenge myself in the classroom. But, the motivator is of course my students. The common language around them is "higher level of thinking" and they understand what that means and the various ways they can demonstrate their learning and understanding. The students are engaged in the activities, are growing more responsible in their learning and are excited to try something new. Most importantly they are showing each other support and more tolerance. They are even noticing that the atmosphere in the morning is more positive. I make sure I am in the classroom before the first student arrives, and I greet every student as they come in. The students are noticing this and are more open to sharing stories with me and each other. I see the difference in how I plan, what and how I teach and am always questioning how I can enhance the students' learning and connect it to real-life. I know I have grown in the past two years and I am confident I will continue in my growth in DI.

My plan for continuing my growth and improvement is doing more planning with UbD. I understand it and have worked with another teacher through a unit, but I would like to do more on my own and really, truly understand how to do one, and incorporate more respectful tasks into the units. I am excited to venture into this and feel the support from the DI group has prepared me to accomplish this goal.

Reflection # 2 - Non-negotiables: Supportive Learning Environment - In this area, I have made a greater effort in greeting my students in the morning, being available during the recess times, and am connecting with the students more. Students are more comfortable sharing their stories with me and are coming to class and are ready to participate more. The students are more accepting of each other and are more willing to listen respectfully to their peers. The atmosphere has changed with this class in the past year. There are still some of the issues that go along with this grade and age, but for the most part I feel the students are more supportive of each other and each others' abilities.

Quality Curriculum - I look at the outcomes of the curriculum and build my units and lessons around the outcomes. I am exploring more and more with UbD and know this is an area I will spend more time on. I am past the idea of doing "fun" activities without really understanding why I am doing the activity. I look at what I want the students to learn, what it should look like when they learn it, and finding ways for students to learn that are comfortable and interesting to them. Students are made aware of what their goal is for the lesson and are presented big ideas / questions to shape their learning. We return to the big ideas / questions to have the students see where their learning has taken them and where they still need to go. I am still learning along with them.

Continuous Assessment - I am experimenting with pre-assessment more often now, as well as conferencing with my students in flexible groupings. Students are more comfortable with the process of pre-assessing prior to a unit of study and are more comfortable with expressing their readiness for something. I use various assessment strategies to monitor students' learning, but know that this is still an area that I will need to continue working in.

My selection is to experiment with Choice
 * To narrow down Choice within my classroom I am selecting to use Cubing in my current math unit on Fractions.
 * I have selected this unit because of the varied levels of readiness in my Grade 8 math class and this unit allows me to vary the level of questioning.
 * Cubing and Dot Activities will be used at different intervals throughout the unit to ensure understanding of the concepts we have just learned and have students explore / explain the math to me and their classmates. (I am currently creating the Cubes and Dots for the concepts we will be working on in the month of October – samples will be brought to the next meeting)

Tuesday, April 12/10

I am constantly looking at the lessons and units I have prepared and find ways to enhance student learning. Whether it is through tiering, flexible grouping, or providing choices, I am conscious of students' needs and levels and abilities. I am more aware of my students' learning preferences and styles and am using this knowledge to assist them in their learning. I believe that this cannot be accomplished without understanding the student as an individual and knowing their abilities. =**YEAR # 1 (08 / 09):**=

09/10/08 Differentiation Instruction (from what I understand right now) is finding new ways to present classroom lessons and units to include all students with all abilities and connecting the material to the students' interests, learning styles and abilities. Lessons can be presented in a variety of methods to accommodate the needs of each student and to have them experience greater success every day.

Definition: Differentiated instruction is an approach to planning so that one lesson is taught to the entire class while meeting the individual needs of each child.


 * K** - knowledge of the material (eg: provinces & capital cities)


 * U** - understanding


 * D** - skills needed to do

Reflection - what stands out to me and what is happening in my classroom?

I am thankful I received an article on assessment. Not that the other articles were less important, I still struggle with assessment and using it as a tool to better understand my students and meeting their needs. I am a believer in 'do-overs' and was thankful for seeing that as one of the assessment suggestions, however, like anything, the road to greater assessment tools is long and bumpy. I appreciated the flexible grouping articles as well, because again, how many teachers create group activities without thinking of the purpose of the groups. I try to most of the times and am working towards always selecting the groups with greater understanding of the students and the purpose of the group.

NEXT MEETING: Nov. 17 Read Chapters 1-3 Gut Analysis of 5 students (quick write) Significant Reflections - bring a quote or something significant from the book, could also bring questions or aha moments from the classroom. (Bring 1-3)

__**Day 2:**__ Thus far, what we have been looking at in the area of DI I am somewhat familiar with. I was a part of the AISI group in my school division in AB and DI was really big. Some of the practices/suggestions are familiar to me, but it is still very interesting and very practical and somewhat easy to incorporate into my classroom. I just remind myself, small steps are at least steps in the right direction.

__Assessment for Learning__ - this is the coaching part of learning. The teacher coaches, provides support, and guides the student on his/her learning. Assessment is more of a conversation between the teacher and the student on the progress (success or struggles) the student is experiencing. __Assessment as Learning__ - this is student directed and is the student's role to reflect on their learning and to set the goals of where he/she is going and where he/she is at the time in his/her learning. Student is the facilitator and the teacher is there for support during the process. __Assessment for Learning__ - this is the summative assessment. The teacher directs the formal assessment (coaching is over and the referee's decision is made).
 * My Definition / Understanding of:**

Continuum: I am currently between a 2 and a 3. I am a 3 in areas of differentiating content and grading on student ability. I am a 2 because I use rubrics for grading for each student without matching it to their ability (ie: 6 Traits writing rubrics).

Essential Question: Is it a buzz word? I believe it is not. It is something that has been happening in AB and is catching on in SK and I am very excited about it. I think the problem will be getting the experienced teachers on board. It may be a challenge because really how many changes have they seen in their careers already? I find the book, activities, discussions and reflections helpful with my learning and planning for my classroom.

Day 3 Learner Profiles - I am comfortable with using this tool and can see its validity in better understanding the students' needs and abilities. I begin each year with using various MI tools to assist in better understanding how students learn, and the learner profile we have been looking at offers different ways of looking at the students. I feel my school is beginning to look towards using learner profiles but is not there yet. I think the language and attitude needs to be developed and all staff need to be on board with the purpose and see the significance of profiling. Until this happens the support from other staff members may feel like it is lacking.

Day 5 Anchor Activities []

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1) Tension between out-of-the-classroom vs collaborating with peers: I am sitting on the fence for this. I really do miss being in the classroom and I have several students who do not react well to change, so it is a stressful day for some of my students when I am away. The amount of work to prepare for the meetings as well prepare for the substitute (ensuring I plan purposeful tasks!) is also difficult. However, I do see this process as valuable and is essential, otherwise, I am only creating an island for myself. Is this what we want because we are worried about how often we are out of the classroom? Something has to give .... we either grow professionally, together..........or we enjoy our island and suffer along with the students because we did not grow. (A little too deep just before the Easter break!!)

2) Reflection of the joys/frustrations in doing this: The most frustrating part was the technology. The computers were really slow (no fault of anyone, just the joys of technology!!). Another frustration would be keeping my head around all the information that this topic brings. It was familiar terminology and ideas, however, there was also the new information that I found to be somewhat overwhelming at times. In comparison, some of these meetings were as exhausting as a full-day in the classroom.

I enjoyed the discussion, even though I am not a verbal person, I really enjoyed listening to others share their frustrations, beliefs, ideas and joys. It was an enjoyable learning process and I valued its purpose.