Weekly Assignment #1 TOPIC

- be able to manage behavior, groups, paperwork, etc. - establish routines that will enable students to feel comfortable - self reflection - constantly asking questions, and trying to improve lesson

- has the ability to be an excellent manager THE PURPOSEFUL TEACHER

-has the ability to question themselves before, during, and after a lesson

- has the ability to establish a relationship with the student

- clarity and focus throughout the lesson

- teachers can be one the most influential people

- knowing interests of students

- use clear directions and state objectives at the beginning

- able to present lessons on the students level

Jordan Johnson

Weekly Assignment #2 Language Arts Standards: 2nd Grade 35.) Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. [L.2.1] a. Use collective nouns (e.g., group). [L.2.1a] b. Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish). [L.2.1b] c. Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves). [L.2.1c] d. Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told). [L.2.1d] e. Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified. [L.2.1e] f. Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy). [L.2.1f]

38.) Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on Grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies. [L.2.4] a. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. [L.2.4a] b. Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell). [L.2.4b] c. Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional). [L.2.4c] d. Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark). [L.2.4d] e. Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases. [L.2.4e]

Math Standards: Kindergarten

3.) Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects). [K-CC3] 19.) Identify shapes as two-dimensional (lying in a plane, "flat") or three-dimensional ("solid"). [K-G3]

Do you think that it is important for teachers to know and teach according to state and national standards for the grade level that they teach? Why or why not? Yes, I do think that it is very important for teachers to know and teach according to the state and national standards for their specific grade level, for several reasons. One reason is because just like everything we do in life, we need standards to be met. Standards are put in place for a reason and that is to keep everyone on track. Without standards the teachers would be teaching different things at different times and it would affect the whole flow of school. We need standards to keep us, the teachers, and the students on the same page and to keep the transition from grade to grade easy for the students.

Jordan Johnson

Weekly Assignment #3 1. Throughout my school experience I remember in elementary school having a lot more formative assessments. Where we didnt have a lot of tests, but we had a lot of group work, reports, and projects. However, as I got older I remember having a lot more summative assessments, where our only grades in the class were tests and quizzes. In college, up until I got into my education courses, all of my grades solely were dependent on tests and quizzes, no homework grades or busy work grades factored in to our overall grade. 2. Yes, I think that in order to have a complete assessment of your students you need to combine both types of assessments into the curriculum. I dont think you can just base how well a child understands the content by just testing them. I think that group projects, reports, and presentations can be more beneficial for students especially if they are hearing opinions and point of views from their peers and not just their teachers. 3. A learning target is the precise chunk of the content that the students need to focus on (or master as the article states). It should describe exactly how well the teacher expects them to learn it and how the teacher will ask them to demonstrate there learning. When giving a learning target the teacher is leaving nothing up to chance or guessing as to what the students need to learn and take away from the content. 4. It is vital for both the student and teacher to know the learning target in the classroom because that is how we know that they are both on the same page, if only the teacher knows and understands the learning target that does the student no good, because they do not know exactly what is important within the content. This can cause a lot of confusion in the classroom and is not beneficial to the students learning at all. That is why it is very important that the teacher conveys the learning target very clearly and precisely.
Jordan Johnson

Weekly Assignment #4 1. Yes, I have seen my teacher model both types of instruction. She more often then not is modeling direct instruction, where she has the students sit on the rug in the front of the class and she sits in front of them and they go over the lesson for the day. She then normally does a few practice problems with them. While dong the practice problems, she is constantly asking questions to them to make sure that they are grasping the concepts she is teaching. The times she has modeled indirect instruction has been when she previously taught a lesson, either the day before or anytime earlier in the week and she has another lesson that coincides with what they have already learned. 2. Questioning is such an important skill for teachers to engage their students in the lesson. My teacher is constantly asking her students questions throughout the lesson, she asks them not only for answers, but she also asks them questions to connect the lesson to personal experiences. This makes the students apply their knowledge of the subject/lesson to their own life, which makes it a lot easier for the students to grasp the concepts. Some examples of questions she asks are, How did you find your answer?, What strategy did you use to get your answer?, W hat ways can we connect this information to what we have already learned?. The questions she asks are well though out and purposeful to the lesson.

Weekly Assignment #5

Design for Learning

Standards Connection: - In this section you will write the Alabama state standard, you do NOT have to write the corresponding national standard. Learning Objective(s): - The objective will describe what students will do, what they will learn, and how I will know that they have learned it. Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language: - This is where you state the learning objective in language that can be easily understood by the students---I did not realize you had to write down the kid-friendly version as well. Evaluation of Learning Objective(s): - In this section you will have to think of ways to assess students that do not include a worksheetyou have to describe what type of instrument you will use to measure the objective and how it will be scored or graded. Engagement: - During this time it is very important for the teacher to tell the students what they will be learningyou can not leave it up to them guessing. (KWL charts are useful for this section) Learning Design:
I. Teaching: This is where you model, explain, elaborate, use examples, demonstrate, or present what you are teaching your class. II. Opportunity for Practice: This is a failure free zone where the students are able to practice without getting graded. III. Assessment: Where you administer your assessment that you stated in the evaluation section---you should include any scripted questions and specific directions on how to complete the assignment. IV. Closure: The lesson needs a definite endinga review, exit card, song, KWL, book, or any fun activity/craft.

Materials and Resources: - Write down all materials needed to effectively teach the lesson (I had no idea you had to write this all down)

Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners): - This ensures that all students in your class have access to the content being taught and that everyone has a way to demonstrate learning that matches their strengths and/or needs. (high level learners vs. low level learners) Data Analysis: - This is like another form of an evaluation/assessment. You are able to compile data on how the lesson went and how the information was learned.

Reflection: - The reflection process is how teachers can look back and see how their lesson went, whether they need to improve things for next time and what not. This is where the teacher decides the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson and is able to learn from it.

Samford University Design for Learning

Jordan Johnson

Weekly Assignment #6 What I learned from the Reading 1. I learned the 3 different ways to differentiate are by content, process and products. 2. The importance of getting to know your students background in order to effectively teach them. 3. Teachers can no longer teach to the middle, meaning tha t you must embrace all students needs. Differentiation Observed in the Classroom 1. The students in my classroom have leveled reading material, where they do not all read the same books. They are grouped together by reading levels and they have certain books that they can read on their level. 2. My teacher allows students to work on their own time; she does not rush them to finish their work. If a student is not finished with his/her work, she allows them to turn it in to the incomplete folder, however th ey do not get punished for not finishing it, they just must find time later in the day to complete the assignment. A way that I have tried to differentiate instruction is when I am working with my Action Research group, I know that the two students I have are both on different reading levels, so I have to accommodate and allow them to read at their own level as opposed to making them read at the same level, which would not be beneficial to either of them.

Weekly Assignment #7 In this article, we read about the "seven keys to effective feedback". Feedback is the information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal. Research shows that formative assessment that consists of feedback and opportunity to use the feedback enhances performance and achievement. With that being said, the seven feedback essentials include, (1)making sure the feedback is goal-referenced, this means that a person has a goal, takes action to achieve the goal, and then receives goal-related information about his or her actions. This information allows the person to know whether he/she is on track or needs to change course. (2) Make sure the feedback is tangible and transparent, this means that there are tangible results related to the goal. It is said that "the best feedback is so tangible that anyone who has a goal can learn from it". (3) Feedback must be actionable, it must be concrete, specific, and useful. Actionable feedback must be accepted by the performer in order to reach goals. (4) The feedback has to be user-friendly, feedback does no good if the user/person cannot understand, highly-technical feedback can be confusing which does not allow the user to reach his/her goal. (5) One of the most important keys is that feedback must be timely. You do not want to have to wait for hours or days to find out whether you did good or bad, that is why the sooner the feedback, the better. (6) A long with being timely, feedback must be ongoing. A person must have the opportunity to use the feedback given, therefore the more feedback received in real time, the better the performance will be. (7) Finally, the feedback must be consistent. This means that teachers must be on the same page, they must formalize their judgment in descriptive rubrics, that tell students exactly what they need to do. The best way to help students with feedback is to gear the feedback to long-term goals, so that you can see progress.

Weekly Assignment #8 1. How data can impact student student achievement Data can impact student achievement because teachers use the data that they collect to determine their instructional strategies. It helps to keep a record on students and allows teachers to know whether or not students are growing or struggling to learn material. With this data, teachers and staff can better help their students succeed, which will impact student achievement. So, data allows for teachers to improve their own instruction to better their students. 2. How data can inform your teaching Data can inform your teaching because it provides you with a better understanding of what level your students are at. It allows for teachers to develop leveled questions for assessments, group students according to the skills they need to develop, and determine the degree of scaffolding/extra support each student needs. 3. How you have seen data used or how you have used data In my classrooms I have seen data used when placing students in smal groups, at Cherokee Bend when I observed last semester, the students were assessed at the beginnign of the year and place in Tiers according to their levels for math and reading. The Tiers would meet in small groups at the beginning of class, for small group work, and the Tiers would alternate days so each student got the chance to have more individualized attention from the instructor. I thought this was very beneficial for the students because if they were having trouble grasping a concept they got more help. This semester in our Cub Club groups we got to assess the students on what they thought about reading, and the data that we collected is going into binders to be reviewed.

Weekly Assignment #9 McREL strategies are research-based instructional strategies that can help student achievement across all content areas and grade levels. They are strategies that are simple and self-explanatory, however, they make a lot of sense as to how they are able to improve student achievement. Strategy number one; is identifying similarities and differences. This strategy is great for students because it allows them to come up with their own variations and broadens their understanding of the content area. Using visual aids also helps the students, such as making Venn diagrams or graphs and charts to categorize items.

Strategy number two; summarizing and note taking. This strategy can help students achievement by promoting greater comprehension for the student. Summarizing can helps the students with putting things into their own words which makes them have to think of the basic outline of the information. Strategy three and seven, go hand-in-hand because they bring up the point about how important it is to reinforce effort and give the students proper recognition, as well as setting objectives so that they know exactly what you are looking for and providing them the proper feedback. The other strategies include; establishing homework and practice in a consistent schedule, nonlinguistic representation, cooperative learning, generating and testing hypotheses, and cues, questions, and advance organizers. All of these strategies require higher-level thinking of the students which in turn increases student achievement.

Weekly Assignment #10 So many of these strategies could enhance my lesson plans. I love learning about all of these strategies because I have found in the past few lesson plans that I have written, a lot of the activities that I do, and I the things that I say are redundant and boring. There are so many more activities that you can do that I really don't realize because I am so focused on the same exact things. For example, sometimes you don't notice how often you use common words, in my lesson plans, I know I tend to say the same things and use the same temporal words throughout the whole thing. One suggestion on the video was to start using higher level thinking words, like instead of saying, "stop talking", you can say, "stop socializing". This can set an example to the students of using bigger words to say the same things. I have also learned to incorporate games into my lesson plans, I think I get in the mindset of lessons being more serious. But really, kids learn a lot better when they are having fun and there are so many educational games that you can use in your lesson plans that students will benefit from. I have also learned that it is okay to get ideas from other teachers, it is okay to help one another out, if you have a great lesson you should share it with your co-workers because it is the students whoare going to be benefiting from it which is the most important part!

Weekly Assignment #11 Using the book Ruby's Wish 1. What color did Ruby wear everyday? 2. Describe why Ruby wrote her poem.

3. Identify the country where her Grandfather made his fortune. 4. How would you feel if you were told you weren't allowed at school? 5. How would you handle going to school and doing housework? 6. Comapre Ruby's family to your own. 7. Summarize what happened after Ruby's grandfather read her poem. 8. Do you think the grandfaher in this story is a god grandfather? Give 3 reasons why. 9. Judge Ruby's decision to go to the University. 10. Imagine what would've happened if Rudy had not written the poem.