Advisory

A good advisory program most importantly starts with relationships. The teacher must create a safe space for students. A great advisory creates an environment where students get to know each other and the teacher. It creates a community where students feel comfortable getting help from. This could be as simple as help with a homework problem or as complicated as help with a fight with a friend. Students should feel comfortable with those around them.

A great advisory gives every student an adult advocate. Advisory and adult advocacy go hand in hand. They work so well together. An advisory teacher is given a number of students they can look out for and support. A good advisory will give students the guidance they need. The teacher will look out for the student academically and developmentally. He or She will be there as a problem solver and helper. A good advisory teacher communicates with other teachers to better understand each student academically and has constant conversations with students. Most importantly a great advisory teacher creates a bridge between students and the rest of the school. They are someone who can connect students and support them academically and developmentally.

Teaming

I think the biggest thing I have been wondering about as I have read about teams is how a large team works. I would think that more voices and opinions would make it very difficult to get anything done. Many of the articles suggested solving this problem by making sure there is a set agenda at every meeting, and holding everyone at the meeting accountable. I think this is important. The only way teachers are truly going to collaborate and create a curriculum students will enjoy is if team time is used properly and effectively. Another thing I thought about is how much involvement from the administration is appropriate and sufficient. When I was a middle school student I remember my teacher often complaining about our administrators. I was wondering if there is such a thing as too much involvement? I believe it is really important for administrators to be present at team meetings and provide teams with the tools to become even better teams. So I believe that administrators should be very involved in the process, but I'm not a teacher yet, so I was wondering if team teachers believe there is too much involvement at these team meetings, or maybe even not enough?

I had many ah-ha moments as I was reading the Clark & Clark article on teaming. This article was more geared towards school leaders and how they can make teaming more effective. Ioved the article, because I hope to be a school leader myself one day. The article had many valuable strategies, including common planning time, collaboration, holding team members accountable, and communication to better the team. With each of these strategies it offered ways for administrators and leaders to foster these strategies in their schools. This article made me realize strong and involved leadership is a very important part to implementing successful teams in middle schools.

El Deafo

The El deafo event that I attended was called “Exploring Identity”. This event was put together by a grad class and consisted of numerous activities. The first activity was a giant game of telephone. This showed us how messages can get jumbled, which is especially important when considering people with a hearing impairment. I enjoyed the new way to look at this game. I remember always playing it in elementary and middle school as a lesson for how rumors can easily change and messages can be mixed up. This however was focusing on how messages can change for those with a hearing impairment because it can be harder to focus on what is being said. I appreciated this new take of the classic game. After this we were broken up into three different groups for three other activities. My group started in the discussion activity. In this activity we talked a lot about our community along with empathy. I had a local high school student who practices the islamic faith. Her insights around community were amazing for me. She talked a lot about how her sense of community changes depending on where she is. When she is with her muslim friends she feels as though she can completely be herself, but at school she is sometimes afraid to share her religion and her full self, because she is afraid of how those around her will treat her. As someone who has been a part of the majority this really gave me a new way to look at how a community could make someone who belongs to the minority feel. This also helped me think about Cece and how she was only comfortable with people who accepted her and did not make a big deal of her hearing impairment.

Performance Criterion 3.2 states that Candidates design learning environments that support collaborative learning marked by positive social interaction. I believe this event shows this, because the event has future educators think about how we will create a positive and tolerable environment for all people. The community activity showed that it is important to create an environment that all students feel comfortable in. This will mean creating an environment that encourages students to talks about differences in a positive way. This is something that I hope I am able to do when I am a future teacher. I definitely plan in building a community in my classroom that celebrates difference instead of hide from them.

This event made me think of the importance of creating a community amongst my students. The community activity really stuck with me. I want to create an environment where all my students feel comfortable to be themselves. I don’t want my students to feel like they have to hide who they are. I want to create this community by making my classroom a safe space for student, and make it clear that hurtful language and intolerance will not be welcomed in my classroom. I will also create this environment by being kind to my students and celebrating all of my students’ differences. If I lead by example I will be able to encourage my students to do the same.

Vocabulary Lesson

Lesson plan

I was asked to make a 20 minute lesson plan that focused on vocabulary for our unit. The above plan shows a lesson on the word Reflection and what the word means in mathematics. This includes an activity to better understand the vocabulary term that was selected. I did choose to focus on only one vocabulary term. I did.

Performance Criterion 4.1 states Candidates accurately communicate central concepts of the discipline.This means that I can correctly explain the important concepts of mathematics, and in this case I can explain important concepts of transformations. This lesson focused on the definition of a transformation in mathematics. I believe my lesson shows this criteria, because it shows that I understand the importance of foundational  language in order to discuss the mathematical concept in a deeper manner. I even say in my lesson that we are learning the definition, because it will help students better understand the rules of reflection in a later class. I must have a deep understanding of the central concepts of mathematics in order to convey the bigger picture to my students. This lesson is meant to convey to students that understanding mathematical language will help them understand deeper aspects of the content. This is a very important part of mathematics. Mathematical language is  definitely a key concept when learning mathematics. I believe an emphasis on the language lets students know that language is important when learning math.

One thing I learned about myself as a teacher is... I learned that teaching vocabulary in my content area is incredibly important. Mathematics heavily relies on the language it uses. If students do not understand the language, they will not be able to understand complex higher mathematics. Complex problems will sound like foreign languages to students who do not understand the words being used and only confuse them more. I will continue working on putting an emphasis on language in my future mathematics lessons, because I feel language is a major part of understanding mathematics. I will want my students to be able to properly use and comprehend mathematical vocabulary, because this will help them become better mathematicians.

Mini Lessons

Link: Mini Lesson Folder

This google folder contains lesson plans, feedback, and assessments for back-to-back mini lessons I was asked to create and conduct. These lessons were supposed to be apart of the unit I am creating for the end of the semester. They were twenty minutes each. Thursday's lesson was edited to fit the needs that were addressed during Tuesday's lesson.

Performance Criterion 7.1 states that candidates plan instruction by drawing upon knowledge of content areas to meet rigorous learning goals. This means that I am using my knowledge of middle school Geometry to create lessons that are appropriately challenging for my students. I started Tuesday's lesson with a review of what happened in previous lessons, so student's felt comfortable with the new material. I then focused on a piece CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.A.3 describe the effect of dilations, translations, rotations, and reflections on two-dimensional figures using coordinates. Mostly focusing on rotations and reflections. My powerpoint for the lesson showed that I have thorough knowledge of the material. I have in-depth notes about each of my transformations for my students to use as a reference. In order to make those notes, though, I need a very good understanding of the content to teach the lesson.

Performance Criterion 7.2 states that Candidates plan instruction by drawing upon knowledge of learners to meet rigorous learning goals. This means that I am using knowledge of my students needs to create lessons that are appropriately challenging them. I showed this Thursday by changing my lesson plan. On Tuesday I realized that I had planned too much material for my students to learn in one twenty minute lesson. On Thursday I corrected my mistake, by taking the material from Tuesday and moving at a much slower pace. This allowed my students more time with the material, and become more comfortable with it. I believe changing my lesson plan shows that I am meeting the criteria, because I am listening to my students' needs and changing my plans to best support them. This shows that I am using knowledge about my students to create an environment that allows them to reach the required learning. 

The most important thing I learned about these mini lessons is the importance of time. I put too much material into my first lesson, and it was noticeable in Tuesday's exit slip. Most of the students misinterpreted the material, and many of the answers on the exit slip were incorrect. This was another reason I knew I needed to slow down. Thursday, I spent the majority of the lesson focusing on one transformation, rotations, and walking students through the rules as a class. This allowed me to address misconceptions, and focus on only one aspect of the material. By doing this, Thursday's assessments showed a big improvement compared to Tuesday. I now know I really need to focus on how much time I have in the future, and try not to put too much information in one lesson

Resource Evaluation

Link: Resource Evaluation

In the resource evaluation I was asked to evaluate a resource I may use for my Unit that I am building this semester. This evaluation had many questions regarding the accessibility of the text for a variety of learners. This required me to look at the organization, language, and clarity, purpose of the text along with many more aspects they may effect the readability of a text for students.

Performance Criterion 8.1 states that candidates use a variety of instructional strategies to make the discipline accessible for diverse learners. This means that I must be able to use multiple strategies to make sure that all of my students are able to obtain the information I am giving them. I believe this resource evaluation reflects that I am doing this, because I am reflecting on the given resource to make sure all of my students will be able to read this text. I also reflect on challenges students may have when I look at the resource and how I may got about handling these challenges. An example of this is my resource evaluation has me think about prior knowledge a student may need in order to fully comprehend this text. As I thought about the different background knowledge required I also thought about ways I may overcome obstacles if a student does not have background knowledge. One example is ELL students may have been taught different notations, and may find the notation in my resource difficult. I believe a situation like this would be a great learning experience for all of my students. Every student in the classroom can learn a new notation that is different from the one they are comfortable with, while also making ELL students comfortable with our notation. 

I believe one of the most important aspects for evaluating a text for a math lesson is the focus of background knowledge. Many math texts assume a student has a certain amount of knowledge around a given topic, and for many that may not be the case. When I evaluate a text that I want to assign to my class I need to think about how much background knowledge they have before they read the text. If I feel my students do not have the background knowledge to read the text I either need to pick a different text, or give supplemental information. Also, If I know how much background knowledge the text requires, I will have a better understanding of what may be an obstacle when my students are struggling.

The biggest thing I have learned about supporting all students is making sure the text is accessible to all students. This may mean extra resources that will help students better understand the text. This may also mean creating pre- during- and post- reading assignments that will scaffold the text enough for students to find the most important material. This will allow students to understand what the most important information is, and help them focus on particular pieces of the reading.

Tech Contract and Letter Home

Winooski Innovation School: Digital Citizenship Contract

Throughout the course of the year, students will have the opportunity to work with technology and become responsible digital citizens. This is an exciting time as students will be able to engage in the digital world, and it is essential that students are able to utilize essential 21st century skills with integrated technology.

• I will communicate online cordially and with respect (as if I were talking to my teacher or grandparents/guardians).
• I will only use appropriate and positive language when communicating with others online.
• I will use technology as a way to empower myself and others.
• I will respect others works (always citing and providing credit).
• I will remember that not everyone has the same access to technology as I do, and I will treat them respectfully.
• I will help my parents understand how to have fun and learn things online and teach them things about the internet.
• I will respect my privacy by not giving out my personal information, and I will respect others privacy by keeping anonymity and/or using pseudonyms (consent).
• I will maintain a positive digital footprint.
• I will actively be responsible, and maintain the well being of any device that I may use.

Signature: ______________________________ Date: __________

Parent Signature: ______________________________ Date: __________

Winooski Innovation School: 9th Grade iPads Initiative (Letter Home)

Dear Parents & Guardians,

As we continue our recent iPad initiative at the Winooski Innovation School, every 9th grade student this year will be receiving an iPad during the first week of school. We acknowledge that this is both an exciting time for students who will be provided with great learning opportunities through tech. integration, as well as the genuine concerns parents might have in regards to the implementation of personal, technological devices.

In order for students and parents to better understand the purpose of having a 1:1 initiative at the Winooski Innovation School, we have set aside times throughout the semester in which students can have a seminar on learning how to use the iPad properly, as well as being responsible digital citizens. In addition, we will provide times throughout the semester after schools for parents, guardians, students, and the community to learn how to utilize iPads in an effective manner.

Some of the integral learning skills that students can attain through tech integration, include metacognition and self assessment, which there are various apps that guide and facilitate students reflection on their own work intuitively. In addition, students with disabilities and English Language Learners (ELL’s) will be able to communicate and participate in an integrated classroom much more effectively, which is essential to our commitment of inclusive classrooms.

         Our initiative is an exciting opportunity for our school and an amazing privilege for our students and teachers. With privilege comes responsibility, and students are expected to take care of their devices, both hardware and software. Students will only download approved programs. Students will recognize that not everybody has the same access to technology and will be respectful of those who do not have iPads.

As we begin this initiative this year we are sending each student home with a Digital Citizenship Tech contract. This contract explains our expectations regarding the student’s use of their iPads inside and outside the classroom. We ask that parents and their students thoroughly read this contract together, in hopes of building an understanding of our expectations, together. If parents or students have any questions about the tech contract, after reading it together feel free to contact Winooski Innovation School.

Enclosed with this letter is contact information of two IT Specialists. Please contact any of them if problems arise when your child is using his or her iPad.

______________________________________________________________________________

Rebecca Wigglesworth: Winooski IT Specialist

Phone Number: (802)-685-6178

Email: Beckwiggs@mail.wis.edu

______________________________________________________________________________

Jay Allen: Winooski IT Specialist

Phone Number: (802)-543-7642

Email: Jallen@mail.wis.edu

______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for time and your consideration,

Principal Jeffko

The first piece of evidence is a Tech Contract. We were asked, in groups, to create a fair use/ digital citizenship tech contract for a 1:1 tech initiative at a middle/ high school. Within the contract we were supposed to think of different expectations that we think would be important in a 1:1 initiative. This may include rule’s around student safety, cyber security, cyber bullying and the safety of the device.

The second piece of evidence is a letter home to parents regarding the tech contract. This letter needed to include a description of our tech initiative while also explaining why it is important for our school community, and introduce our tech contract. This letter is meant to help parents feel more comfortable with the initiative, instead of worrying about the initiative. It was important for our group to keep a professional and respectful tone as we wrote our letter.

This blog focuses performance criteria 10.1: Candidates are prepared to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure student learning. This means that I am showing my ability to work with members of the community I am working with, including parents and students. A tech initiative is a great time to connect with the rest of the community. When there is a tech initiative kickoff in a school there are often many apprehensive parents. It is our jobs as educators to create open communication with parents to ease their fears. I believe this contract and letter home to parents begins to show my ability to successfully communicate with parents and students, because it is respectful, and allowing an open dialogue amongst the school and the greater community. This gives the opportunity for collaboration to make the initiative the best it can be for the school environment.

As I  think about our educational world moving towards a digital one, I am a little apprehensive. My biggest fear about tech being used in classrooms is it will become a distraction, and will be used too often. Students often use tech frequently at home, and if they use it frequently at school they will be constantly surrounded by tech. As I get ready for my professional life around tech I will definitely be thinking about balance and managing distractions in my classroom. One way I will do this, is use tech strategies that are useful, and not just for the sake of using tech. I will also implement strategies that will require students to close tech when we are not using it, and create a classroom norm of putting tech away when it is not being used.

Along with making sure that tech is used appropriately in my classroom, I will want to be prepared around the best ways to use it. This may include professional development that is devoted to learning how to use different apps in the classroom. If my school has an apple TV, a chromecast, or another system like these two it will be important to have professional development days devoted to properly using this equipment, and practicing using it, so that as a teacher I will be more comfortable with the specific tech in my classroom.