Journal Entry #6, Chapter 9

           This journal entry is in response to chapter nine, which discusses grouping, differentiation, and technology in the classroom. First, the chapter explains Carroll’s model of school learning and the QAIT model (quality of instruction, appropriate levels, incentive, and time). Then, various methods and strategies for grouping students and differentiating instruction to accommodate their different levels of achievement are explained. Next, a description of educational programs for students placed at risk is provided. Finally, the many ways to integrate technology into the classroom are defined and explained, along with the challenges involved with those methods.

            There were multiple topics within this chapter that confirmed what I already know. For example, I was previously aware of the compensatory education programs such as the Head Start program and Title 1. I have been involved in many IEP meetings and those students typically participated in the Head Start program, or something similar. My sister and mother both teach in Title 1 schools and I have heard their opinions in favor of and against that program. My knowledge of early intervention programs was also confirmed, along with the Success for All comprehensive school reform program. Finally, my understanding of differentiation and the various methods for meeting students’ needs was confirmed. My experience with co-taught classrooms has provided me with tons of practice with implementing different strategies and modifying activities/assessments.

            I was also familiar with the between-class ability grouping that is typically used in high schools and some middle schools. There were a few negative aspects that I was previously aware of, such as the lack of positive role models for classes with entirely low-achieving students and the embarrassment students can feel due to this type of tracking, which can lead to unmotivated students that are often absent and are more likely to drop out. There were some aspects of this method that I was not aware of before reading this chapter. I learned that research only shows a benefit for gifted kids with this type of tracking and a loss for low-achieving students. I also learned that studies have shown lower-quality instruction in these lower classes and that the content is typically more fact-based compared to higher-level classes. Finally, I learned that instruction in mixed level classes is similar to that of mid- and high-level classes.

            I enjoyed reading and learning about the QAIT model of effective instruction. While I was aware of the importance of these factors separately, I had never considered the necessity for all four in order to provide effective instruction. Keeping this model in mind while I plan lessons and provide instruction will help me become a better teacher. I think time will always be my biggest issue, both in the amount that I have to teach and the amount it requires for the students to learn the material. I have always worked with special education students, either in small group or co-taught classes, so I understand the varied lengths of time students need to learn new concepts and work hard to manage that effectively. The other difficult aspect of the QAIT model is maintaining an appropriate level of instruction for all students. Typically, I teach a whole group lesson and then either assign seatwork or group work. I want to keep this aspect in mind as I work towards effectively extending the lesson for my higher students.

            I really enjoyed the section on integrating technology in the classroom. I currently use an interactive whiteboard, document camera, laptops, iPads, desktop computers and iRespond student clickers in various ways throughout the year. The section explaining the technology and its benefits in education was very significant to my classroom. I am one of the few teachers on my grade level that enjoys learning new ways to use technology in the classroom, so I share those methods with my colleagues whenever I can. My students are very engaged by technology, and enjoy creating products independently and in small groups while using the laptops and iPads. I think this creates an authentic audience for them and greatly helps me address all the different learning styles in my classroom. 

Journal Entry #5, chapter 8

          This journal entry is in response to chapter 8, which covers student-centered and constructivist approaches to instruction. The chapter begins with an explanation of the constructivist theory, its roots, and strategies for the classroom. Next, constructivist methods in the content areas and uses for cooperative learning in instruction are described. Finally, the chapter includes ways to teach problem-solving and critical thinking skills. I liked reading this chapter, and felt that it held many ideas that could easily be transferred to my classroom. It is enjoyable to read about topics that have a real-world application and can genuinely be used rather than sounding great in an ideal, unrealistic world.

This chapter contained elements that I was familiar with, including the benefits of cooperative learning and the methods for teaching critical thinking skills. For the past few years, my administration has pushed for higher order thinking skills and exercises that promote critical thinking and problem solving. I frequently tell my students to visualize draw the problem either with pictures, graph, or anything that helps them organize the problem and determine what steps need to be taken. By fifth grade, most students know to delete extraneous information, but I also review that as needed, along with stressing the importance of thinking through approaches before jumping in and solving the problem. I have used the jigsaw method frequently during social studies to engage students rather than simply reading out of the book. I have found that it creates a more meaningful connection to the text because they understand their responsibility to teach the other students. I was not familiar with the other methods, including STAD and CIRC, but they are very interesting and may be useful in the future to foster team work and motivation towards learning.

            Another thing I learned from this chapter was the top-down approach, in which students start with a complex problem and work through it to discover the subsets of skills required. This is very different from the way I currently teach, and I think it would be difficult to switch to this method. It would require strong behavior management skills and clear expectations set before the activity so students remain focused and reach the goal you set for them. I am more familiar and comfortable with cooperative and discovery learning. I enjoy used a balance of those types of instruction and direct instruction so all learning styles are addressed.

            Finally, I enjoyed reading about the constructivist methods application in the various content areas. The only method mentioned that I have used in previous years were the hands-on, investigative activities in science and use of the scientific method to experiment and correct misconceptions. I learned about reciprocal teaching and questioning the author in reading, and using peer-response teams in writing to publish team books. I think it would be beneficial to implement those strategies in the future to help students connect to their reading and writing, and further promote team work and cooperative learning skills. 

Journal Entry #4, ch. 7

This response is about chapter seven, which focuses on effective lessons. The majority of the chapter discusses direct instruction, and the elements involved with each part of a lesson. The chapter also discusses how students learn to transfer concepts and the role discussions can play in the classroom. Overall, I was comfortable with all the material presented and enjoyed confirming that my lesson planning methods and strategies were supported by research.

As explained in the chapter, an effective direct instruction lesson includes seven steps: state the standard and spark the students’ interest, review prerequisite skills, present the new material, perform learning probes, allow independent practice, assess and provide feedback, and then practice regularly. I currently use direction instruction frequently in my classroom, and a majority of this chapter confirmed my previous understanding of the concept. I also assign homework in most subjects, and use that to review the previous day’s lesson before starting the new lesson. As explained in the chapter, I try to keep each subject’s homework to about ten minutes of practice.

One thing I learned from this chapter was the effectiveness of embedding videos into lessons. I have done this occasionally to hook the students into a new topic, but did not realize that was so effective in helping the students understand and retain concepts. I thought it was interesting that research indicated that most teachers could increase their rate of content coverage. I typically feel like I’m out of time to teach topics and rushing through them as the year progresses. The information about seat-work was also interesting. I try not do include a lot of seat-work because I think you can lose student interest pretty quickly if I’m not careful. I want to use the ratio of instruction to seat-work described in the textbook next year as I plan independent practice, especially in math, grammar, and reading.

        The main thing I took away from this chapter and want to apply to my teaching in the future is practicing and explicitly teaching students to transfer information. It was a little depressing reading about students who have excellent grammar skills in isolated practice, but don’t apply them to their writing. I really hope my students leave my classroom knowing how to apply their knowledge in various situations, but I want to be sure of that with my next class. I learned about the third grade classroom that explicitly taught students how to transfer information and look for similarities in problems, which I want to do next year. The goal of teaching is to prepare them to be successful in the real world, and using varied contexts in my examples will be essential.

        The final section of the chapter discussed the varied methods for class discussions, which I typically use in social studies and reading. I enjoy grouping students and having them discuss certain topics while I listen. It gives me a pretty clear picture of each student’s level of comprehension while giving them a break from listening to me. I use whole group discussions to cover complex topics and try to include a student from each learning level, as described in the textbook. 

Journal Entry #3, chapter 6

Chapter six covers information processing and cognitive theories of learning. The information-processing theory "describes the processing, storage, and retrieval of knowledge in the mind" and is a "dominant theory of learning and memory" (Slavin, 2011, p. 144). The levels of processing theory and dual code theory were also explained. The chapter describes short-term and long term memory, the latest research on the brain, the implications and applications that research has in education, the factors involved in forgetting and remembering, and how to help students learn using the information we have about working and long-term memory. 

This chapter was very interesting, and reminded me of a psychology class I took during my undergraduate studies. I really enjoy learning information about the brain, our schemata, and strategies for making our mind more efficient. Some parts of this chapter confirmed what I already know, such as having students generate something based on the new information or by applying the information to a new situation is an incredibly effective and aids in retention. It also confirmed what I know about activating prior knowledge to help students organize the new information into a preexisting schema and provide context for what they’re learning. The chapter also discussed the effectiveness of advanced organizers, which I use often during social studies and science lessons to help students visualize the outline of what we're learning and activate prior knowledge they have on the topic. 

This chapter also included some new information that I found really intriguing. Prior to reading this, I did not know that the working memory can only focus on 5 to 9 things at a time, but if we organize that information we can focus on much more. The example about organizing the grocery list into three categories was really interesting and made me think about how I present information to the students. I also learned that I won’t live long enough to fill up my long-term memory, and as I gain more knowledge my brain becomes more efficient. The explanation about an emergent reader’s brain versus a skilled reader’s brain was also very intriguing. It really helped me understand what is going on in struggling student's mind, and explains why they struggle more with comprehension compared to students who decode with automaticity.

I really appreciated the content in this chapter and took away multiple pieces of information that I would like to implement in my classroom next year. The chapter reviewed many different strategies to help students remember and review what I’m teaching. I currently use the initial-letter strategies frequently in my classroom, and I would like to mix in the Loci and Pegword methods to help students that struggle with memorizing information in a certain order. I also want to do a better job of helping students apply information/skills while problem solving by connecting it to real-world situations so they know how and when to use their knowledge.

I was familiar with most of the study strategies in the chapter (underlining, summarizing, note-taking, etc.) but hadn't heard of the PQ4R (preview, question, read, reflect, recite and review) strategy before. I would like to keep that in mind as I plan lessons and provide opportunities for the students to rehearse new information. The final thing I want to use next year to help improve my teaching is to use the questioning techniques more often. Currently, I have students answer certain questions while reading to help them comprehend, but I would like to consistent with those and implement the strategy into creative writing.

Journal Entry #2 - Chapter 5

This journal entry is in response to chapter five, which covers behavioral theories of learning. The chapter reviews Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning, Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, and Bandura’s theory of modeling and observational learning. The chapter ends with a discussion of Meichenbaum’s model of self-regulated learning. A majority of this chapter covers various kinds of reinforcements and punishments, and how they affect a child’s behavior.

Pavlov’s theories were based around the combination of an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus to create a conditioned stimulus. His experiments show how learning can impact what was previously thought of as involuntary. On the other hand, Skinner’s work was centered around the impact consequences, positive and negative, have on our behavior and the ways consequences can be utilized to change behavior. There are multiple types of reinforcers and punishers, and each creates different changes in a student’s behavior. There are also many factors that affect the impact of reinforcers and punishers, such as immediacy, frequency and predictability. After behavior has been positively reinforced in one area, those skills can be generalized and transferred to other aspects of a student’s day.

Bandura’s theory of modeling and observational theory is built around the importance of modeling and vicarious learning. According to Bandura, observational learning goes through four phases: attentional, retention, reproduction, and motivational. Vicarious learning involves learning through observing other people’s reinforcements and punishments for various behaviors. Bandura also noted the importance of self-regulated learning, in which people internally judge themselves and reinforce or punish themselves accordingly. This skill can be taught to children as they learn to set goals for themselves, assess their progress and take responsibility for their achievements. Meichenbaum’s model of self-regulated learning gives an excellent example of self-instruction, which encourages the students to think about their actions and reduce disruptive behavior. In addition to self-regulation, self-reinforcement is powerful tool used to help students recognize and regulate their own behavior. “The belief that one’s own efforts (rather than luck or other people or other external or uncontrollable factors) determine one’s success or failure,” is a very powerful skill that develops through self-reinforcement and motivation (Slavin, 2012, p. 137).

There was a lot of information in this chapter, which consequently left me with a lot think about as I related the topics to my own classroom and experiences. I have always believed in positive reinforcement, and continue to remind myself to praise desired behaviors rather than call out disruptive ones. The use of positive and negative reinforcements clearly has a huge impact on my students’ behavior, and I find myself using the Premack principle often when faced with unmotivated or inappropriate students. I enjoyed learning about the sit-and-watch theory. I find it interesting that watching others participate as you sit it is more effective in reducing behaviors than simply removing the student from the environment. Currently, I have students complete missing homework assignments during recess while others play, so it is nice to know that there is scientific evidence to back up my practices.

I want to use the self-regulation theory in my classroom to help improve my students’ ability to monitor and take responsibility for their own actions. This will also help internally motivate them to be more successful in and out of class. It was very interesting to read about the students who got together and created goals for improving work completion and tardiness to class. I have a feeling this would be very effective for some of my fifth grade students as they learn to become more independent with their organization and time management.

As I read through the chapter, different discipline situations came to mind from my past five years in the classroom. I was reminded of a few instances where I gave attention to the disruptive student, rather than praising those on task, and the total lack of impact this made with the disruptive student’s behavior. Reading about the direct impact positive reinforcement can have on the student being praised, and those around him/her, made me realize the error of my ways. I was better about this last year, but know that I still need to work on it. This chapter reinforced my goal of utilizing praise more frequently and avoiding the urge to call out the student seeking attention inappropriately.