Thursday, March 29, 2012

EDSS 531: Educational Philosophy/Model Integration

           Comparing both the models we have studied in class and my educational philosophy, it was difficult for me to think of two models that represent my educational philosophy well. I feel as though scientific inquiry was the best example of what my philosophy would be. However, for my second choice of models closely aligned to my philosophy I would have to choose memorization.
            My educational philosophy, in summary, stems from experimentalism, also known as pragmatism, in the belief that essence of education is growth. This leads to the notion that the learner is an experiencing organism who needs to have his/her interest sparked through motivation by a teacher’s guidance in order to become actively involved in his or her own learning process.
In relation to the models, scientific inquiry is about experimentation and constructing knowledge from experimentation. Allowing students to work with mathematical problems that are unfamiliar to them and then having the students come up with how solve problems. Having students come up with their own hypothesis and then going back and revising it will make the content accessible and memorable to all students.
            Although my educational philosophy does not match up with memorization perfectly, I feel I will use the technique of memorization throughout my teaching. Participating in the memorization presentation in class reassured me that using the techniques of memorization are important in mathematics. Although I believe mathematics should not be solely based upon memorizing certain formulas and processes, there are instances where it is most definitely needed. Also, I would like to make mathematics fun and a bit silly sometimes which is what memorization is all about. I want to make mathematics memorable for my students using the different techniques like songs and acronyms.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Full Speed Ahead Into CPII

         As Clinical Practice II is begins tomorrow, I wanted to take a step back and reflect on my experience from clinical practice I as well as conjure up some thoughts about the next 10 weeks.
         Last semester I was placed at Rancho Buena Vista High School, in Vista, CA. Looking back, I truly believe I could not have a better first experience as a teacher in the classroom. My cooperating teacher and students welcomed me into the classroom and were all very kind. I began to learn a lot about the different styles of teaching from observing my cooperative teacher as well as other teachers throughout the campus. At first it was difficult for me to be myself, possibly because I was simply nervous about formally teaching for the very first time. Although, as the semester went on I found it extremely easy to feel comfortable as the teacher in the classroom. Another difficult part about being a teacher, that I learned very quickly, is the amount the different things there is to be done before, during, and after class to be entirely successful and the best teacher possibly for your students. For instance, when I first began full time CPI, I found that I was running (figuratively, although it felt as though I was literally running) around the class to accomplish every single thing. I was focusing too much energy on my teacherly duties rather than my students and what the students were thinking and learning. I was informed this was completely normal for a beginning teacher, but I tried my hardest to learn how I could be more effective. As CP I went on, I definitely learned a lot from these difficulties and more. I was able to plan lessons, test out some instructional strategies I learned from class at Cal State San Marcos, and reflect upon what worked well and improvements I could make to both the content of the lesson and how I implemented it. There were many highlights throughout the semester, but one the most exciting points for me was end of the semester when my cooperating teacher and students surprised me with a booklet of amazing messages from them. It was really touching to read all of their awesome messages to me!
          As I head into CP II, my main goal for this semester is to be the best I can be in order to obtain a job after this semester. For Clinical Practice II, I am at Escondido High School, my alma mater! I am very excited to be at EHS. I am going to aim to piece everything I have learned together. I hope to effectively plan and collaborate with the cooperating teacher for all of my lessons. I want to focus more than ever on my students needs concerning the content as well as personal needs, rather than the instruction. I hope to be ever so involved in my school, mostly because I care more about this school and community because it is my home. Again, I am extremely excited about this semester!! I hope all goes well.

ELLs and Groupwork


          After reading WestEd chapters four and five, I reflected upon the similarities between strategies for ELL and groupwork, considering rich tasks, the LES teaching strategy, planning a problem-based or project based unit? And also, where are there differences or distinctions? That is, what particularly distinguishes strategies for "making mathematics accessible to English Learners"?
          Both group work and strategies for ELLs require creating a task that requires students to be challenged in higher-level thinking. Also, in both cases the goal for literacy in mathematics is emphasized. In groupwork, students are strongly encouraged and facilitating the use mathematical language and further improve vocabulary, just as ELs need as well. I also enjoyed the point the reading made about the teacher ignoring small grammatical errors and focusing on what the student understands. I could see this also relating to groupwork in that it would be important to emphasize what the student understands and the discussion he or she participates in rather than one correct answer. However, this could also be a distinction in that ELs will have the tendency to make more grammatical errors than non-English learning students. In addition, the goal of ELs is to assist them into becoming proficient in English as well as mathematical language.
My interpretation of the word scaffold used in chapter 5 was just as the quote by Pauline Gibbons explained in the first part of the chapter: “[Scaffolding is] temporary assistance by which the teacher helps the learner know how to do something, so the learner will be able to complete a similar task alone.” The chapter explains the concept of fading support over time. Scaffolding techniques include visuals (like graphic organizers), cues, think-alouds, and reciprocal teaching just to name a few. I see scaffolding within this chapter as a tool to assist English learners, or other students with similar needs, in organizing, understanding, and building upon information they are learning. The teacher may create resources to help better understand a concept where further within the class the student may be less dependent on teacher resources and become more independent in the future. I have mostly heard this term being used as a general word for strategies to help students who have difficulties understanding what is being asked of them, vocabulary within the activity, or need a reference to previous information in able to understand the current activity.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Ipads in the Classroom


          When I first heard about the use of Ipads in the classroom to improve student engagement and thinking, I was a little bit skeptic as I suppose most are. I was interested in how they were using it to support the classroom and do the benefits out weigh the negatives of student Ipad use. However, throughout the experience, I made sure to keep an open mind about how I would be able to utilize technology, such as Ipads, in my future classroom.

          I had the opportunity to visit two classrooms at El Camino High School in Oceanside, CA, both of which were math classes. My first assumption was that students will be playing with the Ipads to do other activities other than the ones asked of them by the teacher. As the classes began, this is was immediately proven very wrong (Although, I was very tempted to explore and play with the Ipad!). All of the students were working on their assignment and never appeared to go off task.

          My second curiosity was exactly how the Ipads promoted student learning in the classroom. It was difficult to observe how they were being used because the lessons we observed involved the students doing a worksheet, on the Ipad, to study for the CAHSEE or a test. Discussing techniques with my colleagues, exploring on the Ipad myself, and the debrief with the teacher at the end of the day did, however, help me visualize the benefits in the classroom.

          The classrooms greatly benefitted from the Ipads through assessments. All types of assessments could be given to the students on their Ipad. The El Camino teachers also used Moodle to administer the tests in which students could use the internet and/or Evernote (where students save their notes they take in class) on the tests. This method of assessment, in math, possibly may assess students on conceptual understanding versus memorization. Moodle was also a great tool to the teachers for assessments. Moodle analyzed every assessment, student, question, and could give you more data then you could ever need, all done for you! I actually thought that this sole product of the Ipads (and Moodle) was a reason for getting Ipads in the classroom. I did agreed with how the assessments were being implemented, although I would most definitely want to do more research about a demonstration true student achievement on such assessments.

          Other neat characteristics I observed about the Ipads were the applications and how the Ipads could be used in classroom discussions. I am a huge fan of Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP), and of course I was impressed with the FREE application all of the Ipads had. For those of you who do not know about GSP, it is an interactive mathematical program in which the user can construct shapes, graphs, lines, etc. and also move these sketches around to see characteristics or how objects are independent/dependent on other things. In my future classroom (filled with Ipads for students), I would use this tool to have the students explore the mathematics and concepts behind certain content. Students would be able to have the tool in their own hands. In addition, hearing about the ‘Apple TV’s’ allowed me to picture how student work could be placed on the projector for students to explain or ask questions to the class. This could be done in confidentiality or not, possibly promoting more student involvement in class discussions.

          Overall, I thought this experience was very informational and beneficial to the future of education. We all know technology is taking/has taken over society and, I believe, education of young adults should also involve technology in order to prepare them for this new world. I learned a lot about how Ipads are beneficial and I do agree they would be. Although it may be more difficult to immediately get them into my classroom, I am willing to further discuss how we can do this. Thank you to El Camino High School for a great observation and beginning to conquer the world of technology in the classroom. 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

EDSS 541: Reading Reflections #24-30


 Reading Response #24 
**For Persuasive letter, see ITU on Website.

Reading Response #25 
IDENTIFY key information for Leanna that will inform educational goals and supports for her IEP.

She is good at oral reading
Little communication about Leanna’s instructional program
Leanna has low expectations of herself and the work she
She can maintain a conversation with people she is familiar with, but is short with people she is not familiar with
She is a hard worker
She is shy with other students and staff
Comprehension is low
Vocabulary is low in writing
Organizational skills in writing are low
Her Spelling is a strength.
Difficulty in math, but can perform basic math skills.
Test Results
She is weak at tasks requiring her to remember numbers and letters presented orally
Current academic skills are in the 6th percentile
Does not make generalizations or inferences accurately
She does well with writing when given models to follow


Reading Response #26
DESCRIBE 3 differentiation strategies (content, process & product) you would use to support Leanna in your class.

Content - I will use hands-on materials to help her see concepts and understand them. I will plan activities to work on her weak vocabulary and writing abilities.
Process – After I give directions to the rest of the class during the activity, I I may need to talk to Leanna again and further explain to her what my expectations of her are and what she needs to get done. This will also give her a chance to ask questions to clarify any kind of confusion she has on the assignment.
Product - Since Leanna enjoys being on the computer, she will have the option of using the computer to do her assignments. I give her opportunities to work using different graphic organizers so that she may learn how to organize information in different ways.


Reading Response #27
IDENTIFY key information for Mwajabu that will inform educational goals and supports for her IEP.

Has hearing loss
Uses pictures to communicate with others
Didn't attend school for 1st 18-months in U.S.
Low vocabulary
Visual/Kinesthetic learner
Best academic subject is math
Likes to read picture books
Has to start and finish a task, uninterrupted
Can be impatient with others, and becomes frustrated and may act physical to get what she wants.
Known to isolate herself at home.


Reading Response #28
DESCRIBE 3 differentiation strategies (content, process & product) you would use to support Mwajabu in your class.

Content - Since she is struggles with vocabulary, I will front load vocabulary and give her an extra sheet that contains all of the vocabulary for the unit/lesson on it.
Product – I will have activities where she can use her ability to draw.
Process - Use visuals/drawings to explain to Mwajabu. I will provide activities that I am sure Mwajabu is able to finish during class time.


Reading Response #29
LIST 10 best practices for preparing for an IEP Meeting.

- Informally visit all persons involved to share your concerns and perspective as well as listening to others’ concerns and perspectives
- Send out formal invitation, informing participants of the when and where the meeting will be, as well as an agenda.
- Make sure each annual goal reflects a measureable feature behavior.
- Prioritize the goals for each area
- Consult with parents about goals before finalizing them
- Discuss with parents and all persons involved how the goals will be achieved
- Consult with parents/ guardians before drafting goal statements and regularly consult them during the progress.
- Review student’s present educational levels
- Have data ready for the meeting, like observational data and testing data
Ensure that goals will help students achieve max independence
- Make sure everyone at the meeting knows their goal


Reading Response #30
LIST 10 best practices for conducting an IEP Meeting.

- Be organized and timely so everything is discussed
- Make sure to take good notes
- Assure that all participants are introduced
- Stick to your role in the meeting
- Allow the parent and student to have full input regarding their thoughts and desires
- Talk in terms that the family and student understand
- Include the student in the discussion
- Make sure the student feels comfortable and not like they are in trouble
- Be sure to address only the aspects of the student's academic and behavioral responses related to the disability. 
- Be sure everyone knows who is responsible for what before ending the meeting. 

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Disrupting Class


Disrupting  Class: How Disruptive Innovation will chance the way the world learns
By Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn, and Curtis Johnson


 Chapter 1: Why Schools Struggle to Teach Differently when each Student Learns Differently

1. Explain the difference between interdependence and modularity.  How is education currently organized?

         All products and services are created in a way in which they have a particular design and architecture to them. The design that a product has determines all of the parts needed in the product and in which way they must interact with one another. This is interaction and where parts fit together is called interface. Products can be designed in two ways: interdependent and with modularity.  When a product is made and the design is interdependent then one part relies and depends on how another part is made and designed. In other words, the components of this product are dependent on each other. Therefore, these parts must be designed together to make the final product or the product will not function properly. On the other hand, modularity within a product refers to the components ability to not depend on each other and, therefore, can be designed separately. With a modularity design, the parts have flexibility and will still fit together even though they may be designed by different makers. This flexibility makes it possible for the product to either be made with interdependent parts or by different organizations.
           Education also has an interface that determines how its different parts work together to create the whole, because it is considered a service. Today, education is designed through this notion of interdependency. Education is dependent on other components in four main ways, as the author mentions: temporal (material instructed in high school is dependent on material instructed in junior high), lateral (changing how Spanish grammar is taught is dependent on the strategies English grammar is taught), physical (certain ways school buildings and classrooms are laid out prevent project-based learning even though this strategy is known to be highly effective), and hierarchical (different educational laws at different levels ranging from local all the way up to federal).


Chapter 2: Making the Shift:  Schools meet Society’s need

2. Explain the disruptive innovation theory.  What does this have to do with schools?

           “The disruptive innovation theory explains why organizations struggle with certain kinds of innovation and how organizations can predictably succeed in innovation.” Innovation is an essential part of a business model. Innovation allows companies and organizations to improve their products for their customer, for example, making them more effective or easier to use. There are two contrasting innovations: sustaining and disruptive. Sustaining innovation refers to ones used by organizations to increase customer performance by increasing their own performance. Whereas, Disruptive innovations decrease performance for the customer as well as the organization.
           In general, schools have shown an increase in performance. They have shown improvement within the aspect of sustaining innovations. The authors of the book present this argument that the emerging use of technology and schools could very be a disruption in the system. As this could be an innovation of the system that results in servicing more struggling student and non-consumers.


Chapter 3: Crammed Classroom Computers

3.  Why doesn’t cramming computers in schools work?  Explain this in terms of the lessons from Rachmaninoff (what does it mean to compete against non-consumption?)

           President Clinton attempted to make computers an integral part of education, making them as intriguing as video games, and having teachers use computers and technology to teach in the classroom. However, this idea of cramming computers into schools has not been completely successful because educational software has not become an essential part of the curriculum yet. The goals President Clinton set out are still not accomplished after so many years. Schools continue to use technology to only supplement the traditional ways of teaching continuing schools on the path of sustaining innovations rather than disruptive.
           In terms of the change from sustaining innovations and disrupting in the Rachmaninoff experience, customers struggled to see Rachmaninoff in concert, and Edison’s phonograph was not up to the quality of music for customers at the time. The recordings could be played anywhere, but without the quality customers chose not to buy the phonographs. After these sustaining innovations, RCA Victor had to bring the same quality to the phonograph to that of hearing Rachmaninoff in person. This ultimate change opened the doors for customers who were not yet consuming, to consume, creating a disruptive innovation.
           This new disruptive innovation, therefore, competes against non-consumption. The competition lies within consumers who possibly cannot afford and/or do not consume a product because of its low quality, therefore, halting a disruptive innovation. Now, computers are competing with people, teachers, or others in education who will not consume and accept this new innovation. Computers will not become a disruptive innovation within education until it wins over these “non-consumers.”


Chapter 4: Disruptively Deploying Computers

4. Explain the pattern of disruption.

           Disruptions continue to share the same pattern over and over, depicted in an S-curve. Non-consumption is the first obstacle for these disruptions. In terms of technology, time allows for improvements and cost decreases. The pattern continues as the disruption replaces the old model and then gradually turns into a sustaining innovation as it is used more and more. Then the growth made by the innovation plateaus as it reaches it maximum potential within the organization.

5. Explain the trap of monolithic instruction.  How does student-centric learning help this problem?

           The trap of monolithic instruction is, much like how a factory is run with groups of product, to keep teaching students in large groups in the same manner. This may work for some students, however, it has the tendency to leave other students behind. In terms of assessments, monolithic instruction does not accomplish the goals of why assessments are put into place in the beginning. Checking for understanding in order to move forward and also comparing students is lost with monolithic instruction. The teacher may see the class is moving forward to the next topic, but the teacher may be unaware if all of the students, individually, are keeping up.
           When compared to student-centric learning, monolithic instruction does not hold up. Student-centric learning refers to focusing on teaching the individual where learning is centered around the student. Centering learning around the student brings attention to the pace the student is learning the material, assessing the particular student’s understanding, and then determining whether the individual student should move forward. Although it seems the student-centered approach is better than monolithic, monolithic instruction wins out because of the difficulty in creating student-centric learning. The authors of the book make the argument that this is where computers come into play. Computers can help teachers customize learning to each student, thus improving each individual students success.


Chapter 5: The System for Student-Centric Learning

6. Explain public education’s commercial system.  What does it mean to say it is a value-chain business?  How does this affect student-centric learning?

           Today, public education runs on what they call a value-adding process or VAP.  The VAP brings in raw materials, transforms them by adding value to them, and then ships them out as a higher value product. In education this refers to students being brought into classrooms, adding value to them by way of the curriculum, and then shipping them out of schools with a higher value. This higher value resulting in more knowledgeable, educated citizens into the society. Education uses this value-chain business to produce something that is more valuable than it was initially.
           In terms of student-centric learning, this concept of education using this value-chain business model can be used with technology. Computers and educational software can be used to add value to students, however, there is also a negative aspect of this. Computers and software in this VAP system will be very expensive for schools to implement. Until this disruptive innovation becomes more prevalent to lower the cost, computers and software will remain too expensive. The only way to complete this disruptive innovation is to spend the time and money to eventually have computers and educational software and integral part of learning, which will eventually increase the ability for student-centric learning.

Monday, March 5, 2012

What would happen if we took grades out of the equation?


What would happen if we took grades out of the equation? Would kids learn more or less than they do now?
         This is most definitely an intriguing question. I believe if we were to do a full 180 degree flip, with no grades, learning was the goal, and thus emphasizing learning will help you be the most successful one could be, then kids may learn more than they do now. Kids would know if they did not learn the content then they would be less successful in life, then they would hopefully be more motivated to want to learn. However, I feel as though that would be the perfect example and not at all close to reality. I do feel if we were to get rid of grades right now students would learn less. There may not be anything important that would push them to better themselves through learning. Young students who do feel that push or can see the importance may push on easily, but there may also be young children who would choose not to learn for their future’s sake. This is a tough question and answer for me. I am not completely sure what would happen! I would want to learn more, personally, but I am not sure about everyone else. Also, I would love to teach a class in which learning was valued over grades. All students would then want and strive to learn all they can rather than wanting the best grade. That is a great scenario! 

Sunday, March 4, 2012

EDSS 541: Reading Reflections #16 - 21

Reading Reflection #16
           There are 5 different components of Cooperative Learning: Positive interdependence, Individual and group accountability, Group processing, Social skills, Face-to-face interactions. Positive interdependence refers to students having the responsibilities of learning the content and ensuring that all group members learn the content. Interdependence comes when each student is able to see that the group cannot succeed without all of it’s members. Individual and group accountability is just as it sounds. Individuals must have accountability for learning and possible tasks, while group accountability as a whole is also needed. The group processing of cooperative learning involves students having conversation about how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships. Social skills are always important when being involved in relationships with others. Students need to be able to have leadership, need to have good decision making skills, trusting, and be able to manage conflicts when being social with others. Lastly, face-to-face interactions help promote cooperative learning by students being about to check for understanding with one another, orally explain how to solve problems, and to discuss concepts being learned.

Reading Reflection #17
              Throughout our entire ITU, there are multiple opportunities for group work in which students are able to cooperatively learn. Throughout our ITU we have multiple opportunities for students to exhibit cooperative learning. Below I mention a few of the components and how they will be used:
             Individual & Group Accountability will be incorporated into the final project students create. There will be individual roles put out for each student as well as an entire group product they will create. Social Skills will be used throughout the unit when students are asked to work in groups. Students will need to be able show leadership skills at different moments and be able to manage conflicts that arise within the group. Face to Face Interactions are used for majority of the group work in the unit. For the final project students will work face to face to create a project about diversity whether it includes an artistic or technological component.

Reading Reflection #18
*See final ITU product

Reading Reflection #19
         There are many differentiation strategies a teacher can use for assessments. Teachers can use visual or auditory cues for students, he or she can group students in a way to benefit others (heterogeneously), and/or the teacher can provide the class with many different types of assessments. For example, the teacher could assess students in a discussion, on a group or individual project, on a rubric.

             Reading Reflection #20
         Discussion is a key assessment strategy used in our unit because our unit theme, diversity, is a very subjective topic. Therefore, it is important for students to openly discuss their view points and understandings about diversity. By using technology in our unit, we can assess students on the content through technology. Students learn about analyzing data and they will be able to make spreadsheets to evaluate their own data after I have shown them different techniques. Also, students will be working with Mr. Payad on commenting on a blog or using twitter to answer various questions. Lastly, we also use group assessments often within our unit. Because our unit theme is diversity, I feel cooperative learning is very important for our students. Students will be assessed on cooperative learning skills as well as the content being learned or produced while in groups.

             Reading Reflection #21
         Using all of the assessment strategies in these readings will be beneficial in the TPA tasks. For English language learners, providing may different language cues throughout the implementation of the assessment will be beneficial for them to understand what is expected of them. Also, creating a rubric for the scoring criteria for the assessment will be beneficial to having an equitable grading system as well as, handing out the rubric before the assessment, will make the expectations clear.