Cheryl Reflection 4

Cheryl De Roia

Reading Reflection 6/16

Subjects Matter- Every Teacher’s Guide to Content-Area Reading by Harvey Daniels and Steven Zemelman

Chapter 10-11 (pages 216-)

When skimming the chapter titles I was most excited about chapter 11 because it promised to offer help for struggling students. While all of our conversation this week has been about reading and how there are some kids that are below grade level, for the most part our text book has been about reaching the average kid. Though I am a learning specialist, I can always learn new ways to help struggling students within the general education classroom. This chapter did not offer any new ideas- in fact it said to call on your special education teacher! What?! This text has been full of great ideas but on this topic, it fell flat.

The inquiry model is interesting and something that I guess I have done for years. Maybe because I do work with really low students, I felt that a lot of teacher pre-work and front loading would be necessary to avoid student frustration and teacher stress. I would like to set up an inquiry model in my academics class.

Today we used “written conversation” as our protocol. I enjoyed this process because it was less formal than some other since we were essentially writing notes back and forth to each other. I found it funny that Christine and I had to same comments on our papers without even talking to each other. It was also nice to end this process with a whole group discussion to share what was written and follow up with any additional comments or questions.

As I was reading today I was mostly trying to stay focused. I knew that I was responsible to discussing the text with my group and that forced me to get the reading done. I found myself having a mental conversation about staying on task and finding relevant and important text. As I read I would reflect on things I have done in my classroom and things I have seen other people do. It was good to compare the text with real life.

Subjects Matter - Day 4

Christine Munzer
Subjects Matter
Chapters 10 – 11

This last section of text wasn’t as rich as the rest of the book. I felt that in the rest of the book, Daniels and Zemelman highlighted strategies that were effective and strong and by the end of the book, they referenced just other authors one should read to gain information about specific strategies to use with kids who simply can’t read. After reading the section on struggling readers, all I left with was to ask a SPED teacher for help or go read Kylene Beers’ book. I’ll have to admit that the chapter on inquiry learning (Chapter 10) was pretty good but I feel that at my school we have build a lot of common assessments around inquiry learning. It did provide me with some additional ideas for inquiry learning based projects that I could use in addition to what we already do.

For our last discussion we decided to use an after reading strategy and settled on written discussion. Since this set of text was less engaging then other sections, this was a perfect strategy. I was able to simply read the text using my own personal strategies and prepare for a discussion. However, I felt the pressure to read the text because I knew I would have to actively discuss some unknown topic that my partner decided to write about. This was a good experience because kids think the same way. They really don’t want to look dumb in front of their peers. After our discussion, I had an impression that this would only really be a good strategy for a text that could be used to introduce a topic or arouse an emotional feeling that they could write about. Beyond this, it would be hard to tell if kids were having a deeper level conversation.

Dunnington Reflection 4

Deb Dunnington

Multimodal Learning

Chapters 5 and 6 (pages 93-117)

Reflection #4

Instead of focusing specifically on the content of these chapters, our group discussed and reflected on the book as a whole. Oddly, this technique worked because the chapters mostly recapped what the book was about besides a couple sections on rubrics and design. Since we all enjoyed the 4 As so much yesterday, we decided to use this method again, especially since we were focusing on synthesizing the information presented in the book as a whole. Again, I like this discussion protocol, but couldn’t help but trying to apply it to my classes today while discussing. One thing that I think would need to be explicitly taught before this discussion technique could be successful, especially with younger grades, would be the terms assumption and aspire. Some modeling and practice activities not related to the discussion protocol would be great.

Some of the overall assumptions we discussed that the author holds are that these multimodal ways of learning (technology) are easily accessible and available to everyone, teacher and student alike, and that everyone knows the basics. Although technology is great and we are getting the opportunity to have more and more in some of our schools, not every school or student has access. Plus, some of the technology we had, such as MyAccess, is being eliminated because in the current economy, schools don’t have money to pay for some of these programs. Granted, there is free technology that can be incorporated, but even with the poll website we learned about today, with our class sizes, for it to be effective we need to use the versions that are not free. The second big assumption is that all of our students have mastered and know the basics and are just waiting to have a creative, technological outlet to demonstrate and show their wonderful knowledge. This is not always the case. If the students don’t have the knowledge to begin with, it will be difficult to present it or synthesize it in a “multimodal” way.

After reading the book, what I agree with is that technology is good and can be beneficial in the classroom, but I argue that technology is not always the best way to achieve the outcome. We do live in a world where technology is huge and something new is coming out of our technological advancements everyday, and it is important that we adapt to the changing ways. My aspiration is to definitely try and incorporate more technology into my classroom and lessons. I think that this could create more engagement and motivation, but, at the same time, I still feel there is benefit and good in some of the old ways. Sometimes a good old-fashioned poster on construction paper is just as effective as creating something online. My goal is to try to balance the old with the new to create well-rounded learning experiences.

Reflection #4

Today we used the 4-A protocol again: one assumption, one agreement, one argument, and one aspiration. The author makes a few assumptions. One, he assumes teachers and students have access to a variety of technology. He also assumes students have the basic building blocks to complete multimodal learning. I do agree with Bean about the power of integrating technology and multimodal learning into your classroom. This is one thing I will work on integrating into my classroom. I argue that technology and multimodal learning is the end all, be all. There are still many areas in our life where print and paper is still vital. As teachers we need to balance the traditional with new norm. I agree that technology is the wave of the future and will be a staple in our classrooms. At the same time, we can't jump too far into the future when some of the "old technology" is still relevant today. Bean (2010) writes "...85 percent of new jobs created will involve working with knowledge and problem-solving. During the next seven years, the number of information technology jobs emergining is expected to grow by 24 percent. In the new emerging economy, large hierarchical organizations will be replaced by fluid, small groups of highly educated and creative people who work in a borderless fashion on the Internet" (p. 97). I agree with his statement; however, not every student will be in these small groups (they are called small). Students still need the skills to navigate any type of job. We discussed how some schools today are being too "specific" and not engaging students in all content areas. There has been an influx of speciality schools: arts, technology, health science, etc. Shouldn't we expose students to all these areas, not just one?

I do aspire to intregrate technology into my classroom this year. One way I will is to utilize the Freerice website as a quick open or close of a class period. Students will review vocabulary while contributing to a positive cause. I will continue to explore and increase my knowledge of Google apps, including Google groups, Google sites, and Google Docs. I will also utilize the PollEverywhere site as another way to engage students in the classroom. This is a create formative assessment tool to use.

Overall, this book made me think about many different things: integrating technology, using multiple modalities to introduce information, and it made me think about the future of education. There is so much going on that sometimes I feel overwhelmed. At the same time, Bean made many assumptions about students and teachers that felt unrealistic. He gives many great ideas but he doesn't give the reader the "how to". This is one thing I wish the book had and would have made it a better read.

Amanda Reflection 4: Engaging Readers

Today we finished our book. The last section focused on applying inquiry to content areas. Our group chose the protocol of "Save the Last Word" and all of us selected quotes from the same paragraph. The paragraph focused on how students see themselves. If they see themselves as a mathematician then they believe they can solve math problems. In some ways it is a self-fulfilling prophecy as if students believe they can be successful then they will be. What are we, as teachers, doing to help our students see themselves are practioners in our field? Are we really providing them with the skills to meet "the textual and disciplinary demands they are faced with as they move through school"? (154). For me, sometimes my answers to these questions are "yes" but not always. A goal for me is to be more reflective in my teaching as well as the language/word choice I use.

This section also brought up the need for a common language. Initially I didn't really see how the QAR strategy would apply to math but Wilhelm demonstrated how the questioning strategy does transfer. I hope to really work on establishing a common language with my students this year. Even if it doesn't happen school-wide, I think it can with my integrated partner.

Sage Rebuehr

Reading Reflection #4

Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry by Jeffrey Wilhelm

Chapter 7

Wilhelm concludes his discussion of inquiry units with a discussion of engagement and content areas.  Inquiry lends itself to engagement.  Students become active participants in their own learning.  They are part of a team of a community.  They are making connections to the content.  In short, the learning is meaningful to them.  I liked this statement:  “When all life has been drained from a subject, we’re back to desperately trying to motivate kids with test, grades, stickers, and pizza.”  Inquiry gets to the heart of learning and brings out the natural curiosity of students.   

I was interested in seeing how the strategies presented in the book could be adapted to content areas.  He provides examples of using QAR in a math class as students read a word problem and in a science class where the teacher formats the class discussion of a reading around the 4 levels of QAR.  Such a neat way of using it.  I had used in small groups, but had never thought of using it as a guide for a large group discussion.  Reading more about QAR has also made me think about why and how I use it:  it isn’t just about asking good questions as a reading, it is about moving along a continuum of understanding—from literal to worldly.

For a protocol we used Save the Last Word.  We actually all chose a different sentence from the same paragraph.  Interesting, huh?  As someone who usually doesn’t participate a lot in discussions, it was actually difficult for me NOT to say anything until the end.  I think in part that was because I just read my passage, I wasn’t able to say what I thought.  I know some students who could learn this type of patience J

Final Reflection

Sara Williams
Multimodal Learning for the 21st Century Adolescent

It's funny how much easier it is for me to read this book today than it was the first day. When you really immerse yourself in one text, it's as if you begin to "speak the language" of a particular author and fluency skyrockets. I can also attribute my focus to the context - we've been talking teaching and strategy for four days now, so I'm in the zone with it. I didn't find my mind wandering as much, and I didn't have to work as hard to recall, summarize, and process. This is a great takeaway for teaching. When you plunk kids in the middle of a reading, you shouldn't expect them to digest it perfectly and be able to critique and discuss the reading as thoughtfully as they could. Building context through activating and providing knowledge is the key, as we discussed yesterday.

Today we finished the book up and had a really thoughtful discussion using the 4 A's protocol again. This time, we were supposed to consider the book as a whole. I noted that the author's ASSUMPTION seemed to be that readers need to be convinced of the worth of providing multiple modes of learning and assessment, when he's really preaching to the converted. I would have liked to have seen more concrete examples.

I AGREE with his assertion that "curriculum decisions will start to shift toward an emphasis on problem solving abilities and away from recalling facts for high stakes assessments." As my group member Katie noted, we're headed in that direction, but we're not there yet. What do we do in the meantime? We can build all the creative, multimodal assessments we want into our curriculum, but if ACT, GRE, CSAP, LSAT, PLACE, etc. don't change, are we really preparing students? It seems like the assessments should change now - "backwards planning" and "beginning with the end in mind" and all...

I ARGUE that the few concrete activities and techniques he outlines would elicit the type of learning and engagement he advocates. (Wordle is cool, but I don't think it would create a "classroom so engaging that students experience flow in their work, where time passes unnoticed.") He is spot on with his theory, but his practice seems to be a beat or two behind the times. Another example is how he cites Facebook and YouTube as hot and new tech. These are ubiquitous. My 66-year-old mother is on Facebook. What else do you have, Bean? (As a side note, I don't have the answers either. That's what I was hoping the book would provide.)

I ASPIRE to have the type of ideal classroom Bean describes - where daily work is presented in multiple forms, the focus is on creative problem-solving across content areas, my students are engaged and in the "flow" in both individual and collaborative activities, etc. I'm all in!

My overall takeaway from the book is this: there are 4 learning conditions for creative inquiry and problem solving in a multimodal space that I need to foster as a teacher. One, students need free time to process and inquire. Two, students and teachers need to have a tolerance for ambiguity. This is a biggie. There might not be an answer to the question I'm posing, or there might be multiple answers and no way for us to determine which is "right." Three, content knowledge is still critical, or as Bean states, "the primacy of discipline-based knowledge." I took this to mean that without a solid understanding of the task at hand, all of the cool tech won't mean a thing. (Duh.) And four, an opportunity for multimodal representation to engage all students and their abilities.