Froggy Frenzy Science Lesson

January 8, 2008

This past  week I taught a 2-day lesson called Froggy Frenzy.  It is part of a unit on energy.  The students had been working on some lessons on potential and kinetic energy using marbles and rolling them from different heights.  The students found that when they added height and weight to the marbles that the energy increased and the marble rolled farther.  These are the lessons plans I created for this lesson:
FroggyFrenzyPlans.pdf

Even though I referenced a previously created lesson plan for my own plans I was able to add some of my own ideas to it and thus made it my own.  I also had to work through some struggles in order to understand the lesson and experiment.

  In the Froggy Frenzy lesson the students created origami frogs out of regular paper and oak tag (as seen on the right), then students tested how far each frog jumped. Then students added a small amount of weight to the oak tag frog.  The weight was supposed to increase the distance the frog jumped. 

Mary Cassatt Lesson Plan

January 14 and 15, 2008

As part of our Festival of the Arts unit in social studies, I taught a lesson on the artist Mary Cassatt.  She is the third artist we have studied.  Like our other artist lessons, it lasted two days.  The first day we introduce the artist and his/her work, usually through a read aloud. The second day the students are able to create their own art that mimics the styles of the artist from the day before. Shown here to the right are two samples of students' pastel drawings of themselves.  For Mary Cassatt, instead of reading from the read aloud book, I created a PowerPoint about her and her art. 

A few days before the lesson began I took home the "Mary Cassatt folder" to see what materials and resources were available to me.  I found the book First Impressions: Mary Cassatt by Susan E. Meyer. It was a 100 page book for adults that detailed events from Cassatt's life. I sat down that evening and read all about Cassatt.  It was fascinating to learn all about her life, her art, her family and more. Reading this book helped me tremendously as I created the PowerPoint and as I presented it.  I did not have to rely solely on the brief information provided in the read aloud book, I was able to elaborate and choose what details I wanted to share.

Creating the PowerPoint was a larger undertaking than I initially expected. It took me several evenings to get the entire piece ready to share with the class.  However, it was worth it. It was very engaging for the students. They sat watching and discussing Cassatt's art for nearly an hour!  They pointed out some great features about her art and had some great opinions about it. I was also able to share my own picture and drawing to show the students what they would be doing next. I enjoyed learning how to use the pastels as much as they did! The image shown above is my own pastel creation which I showed to the class after the PowerPoint.

The second day we worked on creating our own pastel drawings of the students' at a different age.  Students brought in a picture of themselves as an infant to model.  If students forgot their picture, I had provided them with a picture of themselves that I had in the classroom.  The students really enjoyed the activity. One student even asked me where she could buy pastels for herself!

One area that I want to work on is the clean up.  I didn't think through it as carefully as I thought I had. Next time I want to make sure I have everyone's attention and give specific directions about how to clean up.  I'd tell students that they will be able to wash their hands when I call their tables after their tables are cleaned.  I would also remind students 15 and 5 minutes before clean up, so that students could get to a good stopping point and prepare themselves for clean up in advance.

This is a link to my lesson plan that I developed for these activities:
Cassattplans.pdf

This is a link to my adviser's observations notes of the second day of my lesson:
Cassattobservation.pdf

Tetromino Math Lesson Plans

December 3, 2008

Tetrominoes: Introduction to Flips, Turns, and Area
Based on Session 1 from:
Clements, D.; Russel, S.; Tierney, C.; Battista, M.; Sarama, J. (1998)  2-D Geometry: Flips, Turns, and Area from Investigations in Number, Data, and Space Curriculum Unit: Grade 3. Dale Seymour Publications: Menlo Park, CA.


Grade Level: 3

Mathematics Goals:
•    For students to find all the possible arrangements of four squares
•    To describe how to move a shape in order to demonstrate its congruence to another shape
•    Finding a pattern to cover a space
•    A working understanding of formal terms for the movement of shapes

Thinking about the Students:* A4 See justification below
    Students have worked with lines of symmetry earlier in the year and so are familiar with the idea of flipping a shape to make a symmetric pattern.  I could see this in the pre-assessment I gave my classroom because all but four of the students were able to recognize that shape A and D were congruent as were C and F.  The four students, who did not identify both, identified one pair.   This shows me that the students are able to find congruent shapes even when they are turned around. Many students used terms like flip and rotate.  Although there is some confusion as to what these words mean.  Some students said flipped when they turned the shape.

More confusion was shown in counting the different shapes. On the pre-assessment I provided eight shapes, but only six different ones. (Shape A, D were the same, and Shape F and C were the same).  Many students told me that there were 8 different shapes in question number one, but in number two most students told me there were some shapes that were the same.  The conflicting answers tell me that they are not sure of what it means for a shape to be different.  It also appeared that four students did not count the congruent shapes at all when counting the different shapes.  They told me there were only 4 different shapes.  Only three students told me confidently that there were six different shapes. Three were unsure, saying, "I think there are six arrangements" or "I think 6 or 8, some being the same." This again reiterates the confusion.
    

Materials and Preparation
•    Each student will need interlocking cubes to build the tetrominoes
•    10x12 rectangle (1 per pair of students) to cover with their tetrominoes
•    Plastic bags

LESSON: (2 Parts)
Before (Part 1):
•    Pass out interlocking cubes to each student
The Task:
Challenge students to find all the possible arrangements of four squares with full sides touching; explain that students will be working individually

Establish Expectations:
Demonstrate expected shapes with two squares
Explain that the cubes must lie down flat--they cannot be 3-D

During (Part 1):
•    Observe students and ask: "Could we give each shape a name? What do they look like to you?
•    Have student invent names for the tetrominoes, like the "L" or the "T" and agree on what the whole class will call each one for the unit.
•    When the students' work has slowed down start a whole class discussion:
o    The shapes you have been making are tetromino shapes.  Do you have them all? How do you know? Are some of these tetrominoes the same? Which ones? How could we prove it?"
•    As students volunteer, I'll ask them to convince one another, they can show on the overhead
•    I will begin using terms, slide, flip, and turn to describe motions as students demonstrate what they are doing.
•    I may introduce the word congruent as a mathematical term for "having the exact size and shape." One student wrote this term on his pre-assessment, so he may bring it up as well.   

Before (Part 2)
•    Hand out the 10-by-12 Rectangle, one to each student, as I hand out I will introduce activity.
The Task:
Pick one tetromino, make a bunch of that shape with your cubes, and fit them together in a design that completely covers this rectangle. 

Establish Expectations:
Explain to students that they are to try to fit as many of their particular tetromino shape as possible inside the rectangle frame, without any cubes hanging over or sticking out the sides.  Also, remember to keep them flat--no cubes sticking up in a second layer.
During (Part 2):
•    Ask the students to think about:
o    How many squares are there on the grid?
o    How many squares did you cover with your design?
How did you figure out how many you covered?
o   
After:
•    Give each student a homework worksheet (Sheet 1), a 10-by-12 rectangle, and a gallon Ziploc bag.
•    "For homework pick your favorite tetromino and make as many copies as you can from this grid paper.  Color one tetromino at a time, then cut it out.  Color and cut as many as you can.  You can throw away any leftover squares. Make all four squares in each tetromino the same color. But if you want each whole tetromino can be a different color."
•    "Count how many you've made, and store them in your bag. Write down how may you have and kept hits number with your tetrominoes." 
•    Computer game tumbling tetrominoes in computer lab

Assessment:
•    As an assessment I will have the students take the pre-test again.  This will help me to see whether or not the students have cleared up the confusions about the similar or different shapes. 
•    As an informal assessment I will be monitoring students work in class I will be watching to see how they move the shapes around.  I will also listen to the language and reasoning that the students use to describe the movements and shapes.
•    I will also check the homework assigned to see how the students understand independently.

A2 Justification: This is evidence of using my knowledge of the students in planning a lesson because I used information I gathered about my students' knowledge as I wrote my lesson plans.  Also as I was teaching I was able to use that knowledge as I taught the lessons.

 

Differentiating Instruction

April 22, 2009

One area that I have been working on throughout the school year is appropriately differentiating instruction to meet the wide variety of needs of my students. There are four boys in our classroom who have difficulties with fine motor skills. To assist them, I have made some accommodation in my lesson plans during reading and writing. For instance, I have printed words out for them to use. I have also provided all my students with lined paper. They also regularly use their AlphaSmarts to help them write more easily.
Here is a sample lesson plan where I note that there are three students who need their AlphaSmart and two students who need regular check-ins to keep them on task.
Ch.6:7Discussionplans.pdf

One are that has been challenging for me is differentiating instruction in math. There is a wide range of abilities in our classroom, like many classrooms, and it is difficult for me to meet all of their needs at once. In math I was having trouble with the high students complaining that the tasks were too easy. They quickly finished most tasks that I gave them. I found that I was spending a large percentage of my time with them explaining their next steps. For the lesson I taught today about sharing items with a calculator, I had prepared an extra sheet on improper fractions for these students to complete after they finished. This sheet kept the students busy and challenged them, allowing me more time to meet with other students to address their needs.
The lessons plans are in this link here:

04.20.09 Sharing Dollars.pdf

A2 Justification: This is evidence that I consider the diverse needs of my students when I plan my lessons. I am learning to plan for accomodations ahead of time, so that I am prepared and ready to meet the different needs that arise during teaching.

Greenwood Furnace: Macroinvertebrate Station Reflection

Greenwood Furnace Reflection
Helene Tack
September 19, 2008

What did students learn at your station? How do you know?

    At our macroinvertebrate station at Greenwood Furnace State Park fifth grade students learned how to test water quality by collecting and analyzing the macroinvertebrates discovered in the stream.  They demonstrated understanding of this concept during the concluding discussion when the analyzed patterns in the data collected to make a claim about the stream's health. In each group students made the claim that since we found so many macroinveretbrates in class 1, we could conclude that the water was healthy.  In one group, we found an equal number of class 1 and class 3 macroinvertebrates. Although at first the students were confused by the high presence of insects that tolerated high pollution, they eventually decided that class 3 macroinvertebrates could also live in clean water. This discussion showed a higher level of thinking about water quality.
  
They also learned about identifying macroinvertebrates. When we showed them our samples some students called on invertebrate a leech, however when they began to identify the invertebrates they changed their thinking and decided it was really a Cranefly larva.  It was exciting to see the students engaged in the project and altering their initial ideas after learning more information.    

What patterns in the thinking of fifth graders did you notice?


Many of the students created names for the macroinvertebrates as they caught them.  The names they created related these new macroinvertebrates to insects with which they were already familiar.  For instance, one student called a mayfly nymph and said to her partner "Look! I caught a water scorpion one!"  Another student identified the Cranefly larva as a leech.  It was fascinating to hear them make connections between their prior knowledge and what they were seeing in front of them.  They were actively engaged in classifying their insects and used many of the skills to name them that we would use later at the picnic tables with the dichotomous key.


What kinds of responses did they provide? What kinds of questions did they ask? How did they behave?

The students were obviously extremely enthusiastic about uncovering the macroinvertebrates.  They quickly took the tools from me and got into the creek.  Sometimes their eagerness lead to impatience and complaints that they had not found anything yet. Their enthusiasm to catch the macroinvertebrates was also apparent when they yelled out "I found something!"
  
However, I was surprised with their response to identifying the macroinvertebrates--the students might have been more excited classifying them than catching them.  There was a sense of ownership of the macroinvertebrates caught, which probably contributed to the students' zeal.  Students referred to the macroinvertebrates as "my" insects. They said things like: "Look at mine," or "Mine is a..."  Students grabbed a magnifying glass and spoon with little or no prompting from us, and went to work observing the invertebrates trying to match them.  It was clear that they were familiar with investigations.  

Most of the questions the students asked were about the macroinvertebrates, what they were, or what they were doing.  These tiny aquatic insects fascinated the student because the students had probably never seen before that station

The students behaved very well for most of the station.  It was challenging to keep their attention when they were in the water learning catching techniques.  Their eagerness to begin shortened their attention span.  Another time that it was difficult to keep their attention was during the discussion that followed the classification.  Perhaps students had over exerted themselves earlier in the lesson, but for whatever the reason students were not involved in the discussion as much as we would have preferred. Their wet shoes, the grass, leaves and friends distracted the fifth graders.  Many times only one or two students offered up an answer to our questions about water quality.  

Were gender differences observed? Describe the differences and provide some evidence and reason that could account for the differences?

There were a few gender differences that I noticed, but they were not across the board.  In every group there was one girl who was hesitant to get in the 55 degree water The temperature deterred them. However, they usually got into the water fine after watching their peers enjoying themselves. However, overall there were not any obvious gender differences.  The students were all excited and able to catch and identify the macroinvertebrates.  For the most part both genders contributed to the conversations in similar ways and amounts.

What aspects of your approach to teaching the station changed during the day and why?

As the day went on I tried to be more and more excited for the students.  I lead the introduction so I quickly found out that my energy and enthusiasm for the station set the tone for the whole group.  During the first group I was so nervous that I did not act as excited as I should have.  The students in the first group took the longest to really begin searching in the water.

I also was able to get a better feel for my pacing as the day progressed.  The first time my introduction was about five minutes long.  I realized that I had a little bit more time than I had anticipated. To allow the students to get a better grasp on the station's purpose, I took more time asking questions and explaining what we expected from the students.  In the first group I forgot to stress why it is important to a fifth grade class that this particular stream is healthy.  When we got to the discussion, the students were the most disinterested group of the day.  They did not know or understand the connection between the stream's health and themselves.  Later in the day I made sure to make a strong point about the beach downstream.  Students agreed that they did not want to swim in an unclean lake and so were more interested in finding out if the stream was healthy or not.

Public Service Announcement: Composting

In Social Studies Ed.  we created public service announcements on a topic of our choice.  I chose the topic of composting because I felt it is  in line with the "going green" trend in our society. I also picked it because the students have a school garden on the playground that has a compost bin to which students can contribute. Students can contribute waste scraps to this garden's composting bin. The close proximity of a compost bin to the students, made the video more meaningful to them.
   
Composting itself is more of a science lesson, but when put in the context of our social movement toward "going green" it is certainly a social studies idea.  Our culture is one that has throughout history exploited the environment. Recently we've been entering a era in which everyone is finding ways to be environmentally friendly.  Composting is a way that we can reduce the amount of waste we send to landfills and replenish our soils for our gardens, yards or communities.  This PSA will show students the importance of composting as well as how to compost.  Therefore it will show the social and environmental implications of composting. 
 
   This PSA relates to students in several ways.  First of all composting is something students can do in their homes and/or schools.  It is a simple process.  Students can save lunch scraps or wastes from the classroom to contribute to a composting bin.  It enables students to feel that they are contributing to the green effort.  It is particularly relevant to my students this year, because they are learning how to compost and w hat it does for the soil.  Our school has a garden in which students tend plants, compost wastes
and learn about nature.  The movie utilizes the garden and canb e used to teach other students in our school about an easy way for them to contribute to our garden. Therefore this PSA could serve as an introduction to composting.

    In my public service announcement, I used as many of my students as possible to serve as narrators, actors, or models.  I want my students to act in the videos and photos of composting.  Additionally, the students contributed ideas about what pictures and information should be included.  It was an exciting project that the students and I created.
 
   In school we can present the PSA as an introduction to a composting lesson.  It could also be used on Earth Day, to introduce to students a way to help the environment that they may never have considered.  My hope is that this PSA will serve as a springboard for more composting projects in schools and at home.
Composting is also an important topic in our world as we become more and more environmentally friendly.  Therefore it was relevant in our classroom and in our world.






A3 Justification: This is evidence that I use relevant school factors in planning. I used this public service announcement as an extension of the student curriculum. The students have a school garden on the playground. Using the resources there, the students and I created a podcast that could be shared with other students in the school to inform them about our school garden and how they can help.

A6 Justification: This is a technology that can be used for instructional purposes.  It was educational for the students as they created it with me.  Also it can be used to educate other students about the benefits of composting.  It is an engaging video that is appropriate for and grade third and up.

  

MESS project Instructional Goals

December 3, 2008
Materials for Extraordinary Social Studies

Appropriate grades: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
1) By completing the activities the student will be able to identify the lasting contributions Clara Barton has made to our country and how it affects us today by drawing the accomplishments of Barton and creating a word web with the picture cards.

2) By completing the activities, the student will be able to compare the experiences of Clara Barton's life to his/her own life by brainstorming how the picture cards might describe Barton's life.

3) By completing the activities, the student will be able to record his/her knowledge of the Clara Barton and the time period drawing things like clothes, technology, and setting in their illustrations.


MESS project description:

I choose Clara Barton for my MESS project because I believe she worked very hard to establish an organization that is still active and very prevalent today.  She braved battlefields, stereotypes and her own fear to found the American Red Cross. Students can stand to learn about fighting for your beliefs and the importance of meeting the needs of others by studying Clara Barton.

To introduce Clara Barton as a mini social studies unit I created a cereal box containing information about Clara Barton.  On the front is a picture of Clara Barton and some personality traits I see in her, like bravery, hard work, concern, etc.  On the side are quotes from Barton and information about the Red Cross today.  On the back are quick facts and a maze.  Inside the cereal box are picture cards.  I will show students these picture cards and have them brainstorm ways they might be related to her life.  We could create a word web with the words.  Then as the unit progresses students can check their predictions.

While I did research about Clara Barton, I found that there were few picture books that could be used for young students about Barton.  This inspired my other project, a picture book.  I wrote the words but left the pages blank.  After reading the book, I will break my class into pairs.  Each pair will illustrate one page using other text resources which I will have available for them.  This way I can assess what students have learned about Clara Barton.
Below is a file attachment for the text for the picture book I wrote.
picturebook



A4 Justification: This is evidence of my ability to write appropriate lesson objectives.  I developed tools and activities to introduce Clara Barton to a class then I recorded what I wanted students to learn from these tools and activities.  I also provided the way I would be able to tell if the objective had been met.

Sharing Brownies: Math Lesson Plan

March 25, 2009
Summary:
Students explore sharing one brownie equally among 2, 4, and 8 people, then 3 and 6 people.
03.25.09 Sharing Brownies.pdf

Student Learning Objectives:
After completing activities, students will be able to recognize that fractional parts are equal.

After completing activities, students will be able to compare and contrast different fractions by size.

After completing activities, students will be able to analyze fractions by breaking it into different parts.

After completing activities, students will be able to group fraction units that have a numerator of one.

Because we have done a few other lessons to prepare the students for fractions, this lesson went very smoothly. Doing the two parts-of-a-set lessons and calendar math have given students some experience with fractions and what they mean. This knowledge allowed many of the students to go in more depth during the brownie lesson. All students were comparing fractions sizes and some were able to tell me that one half of 1/2 was 1/4 or that there were 4/8s in 1/2. It was exciting to see them be excited about their discoveries about fractions.

The next time I teach this lesson, I would actually print out extension questions for the students who finish quickly to complete instead of just asking students questions. I want to be free to move around the room to help the students who really need it. Even though I had extra questions planned, I had to spend time discussing it with the high students. The next time I want to visit more students who are not volunteering and who may need assistance.

This lesson helps students to understand the size difference between fractions. It allows them to divide a piece of paper to see for themselves how the size of the piece shrinks as the number of shares increases.

A4 Justification: This is an example of my ability to create appropriate learning objectives. When I wrote these learning objectives I tried to include different levels of thinking. I included analysis, comprehension, and knowledge of fractions.

Reflecting on Electricity Unit

March 1, 2009

Math Fractions Unit

April 29, 2009

I just finished teaching my first entire math unit. This unit was about fractions as fair shares through the investigations curriculum.  It consisted of 14 lessons and  several formative and summative assessments. Students began the unit by sharing brownies among 2, 4,8 and 3 and 6 people by cutting up a piece of paper into those number of pieces. Throughout the unit students had many opportunities to explore fractions through manipulatives, discussions and activities. The image at left shows the chart the students and I created when we were combining and comparing fractions. We connected fractions to shares, discussed what to do when something can't be shared evenly and saw their fractions as decimals. The assessments from this unit were the best from the entire year. The students really showed us that they have developed a firm understanding of fractions through this unit.



To see all the lesson plans I taught you can click below:


03.25.09 Sharing Brownies.pdf: Students explore sharing one brownie equally among 2, 4, and 8 people, then 3 and 6 people by cutting apart a square piece of paper.

03.26.09 Sharing Brownies Part 2.pdf: Students make fractions cards of 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/3 and 1/6. Students then order fractions in order of size from smallest to largest. Students discuss adding fractions and equivalent fractions.

04.01.09 Math Fair Cookie Shares.pdf: Students work with pattern blocks to determine fractions Students will compare different size fractions and how to make them equal 1/2.

04.02.09 Math Comparing Shares.pdf: Students compare the size of cookie and brownie shares in different situations. After activities, students will be able to compare fractions and mixed fractions to find the larger one.

04.06.09 Fraction Cookie Game.pdf: Students play a game with pattern blocks and a fraction dice that involves adding and subtracting fractions. Students are working on identifying fractions parts, exchanging equivalent fractions, and adding and subtracting fractions.

04.09.09 Backward Sharing.pdf: Students use pattern blocks to find the total number of brownies to problems that tell the size of the share and the number of the people. Students will work on putting pieces together to make a whole and looking for number patterns.

04.13.09 Half Yellow.pdf: Students find ways to make pattern-block designs that are half yellow. After they make a design, they explain how they know it is half yellow.

04.17.09 How can we split balloons?.pdf: Students think about sharing different kinds of items, like those that cannot be split into parts and items (like money) that have a limited number of parts. Students work on relating division and decimals to fractions.

04.20.09 Sharing Dollars.pdf: Students determine how to break apart money. Students continue to relate decimal notation to fractions.

04.27.09 Sharing Many Things.pdf: Students determine how to share 19 pennies equally among their group. They decide what fraction they will get and what number of pennies make up that fraction.

04.29.09 Hershey's Fractions.pdf: This is an extension activity I designed using a read aloud that allowed students to take their understanding of fractions one step further.


A5 Justification: This is evidence that I planned coherent short and long term learning opportunities because I was able to help students continuously build upon their knowledge and understanding of fractions throughout the unit.

Electrical Circuits Lesson 2

February 2, 2009

Non-fiction Guided Reading

April 17, 2009
Lesson plan:
Guided Reading Chimpanzee Packet 01.pdf
To guide my students in a timely manner through the book, The Chimpanzee Family Book By Jane Goodall as part of of Africa Unit, I created a reading packet for the students to use for their before reading, during reading, and after reading activities. The student pictured at the left is working on the packet. Students would work on the packet independently, then as a group we would meet together to discuss things they wrote about in their packets. See a word document form of this packet through this link:
Chimpanzeefamily.doc
A sample of the packet filled out by a student is shown here. Click on it to see a full-size image
View image
As I created this document, I used the State College's LAC book for ideas. With my mentor I knew that one focus of working with non-fiction books is recognizing facts and summarizing. Therefore, I made sure that I included this in the packet. As students found interesting facts, they wrote them down on paper bananas. We added them to a Chimpanzee mobile that I created for the book (pictured below).
As an end of reading project, students picked six keywords from the book and used those keywords in a paragraph summarizing what they learned from the book. The students brainstormed as a group to decide on six key words. These words are written on the chalk board next to the Chimpanzee fact monkey.

A6 Justification: I created a guided reading packet for the students to use as they were reading their book. I used the LAC as a resource for activities, but I put the activities together in one packet. The students were able to use this resource to help them track their reading and ideas. I also created the mobile on which the students displayed their facts.

Personal Journals

February 12, 2009

My mentor teacher and I began to notice some tension building between a few students in our classroom. Through a note we became aware that there were seemed to be more than just a few students involved in teasing. My mentor teacher and I were both surprised at how wide spread the problem was.

We got the school counselor involved. It became apparent that it was a two way street. The students were annoyed and frustrated with one another. They told this to the school counselor and she had them sign a contract. However, my mentor and I felt that that the tension and frustration  could easily return. I suggested the idea of having students keep personal journals to vent some of their frustrations. 

My mentor teacher was very excited about this idea. A few days later I put together a small notebook for each student. On the inside cover I attached some prompt ideas along with a sticky note. The sticky note is for students to use to stick out of their journals when they are ready to be read.

I introduced the journals to the students during writing time. I asked students what they do when they are excited, frustrated or nervous to handle it. One student said he liked to write things down. We talked about the journals for a while. The students seemed very excited to learn more about them, because they asked question after question after question.

The students eagerly wrote their first entry after our discussion. One of our students with a writing disability asked me if he could write more than one journal a day. I was encouraged by his enthusiasm. We keep the journals in a bin on my desk. This allows me to monitor them to make sure students are not taking one another's. However, it also allows the students to reach them when they need them. We decided that students could write in them whenever they like during the week. However if they don't have an entry by Friday, then they complete the journal for morning work.

Although the journals are not the only strategy we are using to help students get along, I am hoping that these journals will help the students get their thoughts out there and off their chest. Hopefully these journals will help students focus by serving as an outlet for their emotions, good and bad. I am also hoping that it will be helpful for me as a teacher to be more aware of social relationships and events in the classroom as well as helping me to get to know the students better.

These are the prompts I attached to each journal. I included some ideas relevant to friendships and some just for fun to mix it up and learn more about the students.

Journal Ideas on Days When You are Stumped.doc



A7 Justification: This is evidence of planning for an inclusive environment, because I am using the journals to help students cope with social issues and teasing in the classroom. This is one of a few strategies that my mentor and I are currently developing.

Fair Shares: Teaching Fractions to Third Graders

April 6, 2009
Lesson Summary:
Students play a fraction game in which students roll the a fraction dice with different fraction amounts on each face. Students add this amount to what they already have shown on their hexagon page (see image). Students will work on skills like trading smaller fractional parts for larger ones and splitting fractions to make one whole before starting the next. When students are ready, a second dice is added. Students combine these two. A third rendition of the game includes a third dice. The students subtract the fraction on the third dice from the whole.

Lesson Plan:
04.06.09 Math Fraction Cookie Game.pdf

This lesson was easy to differentiate instruction because the students who were more advanced received their second dice sooner than the students who were not ready.
The students pictured on the left are playing with three dice while the girls pictured above play with two dice--each according to their needs. As students showed their fluency in thinking and combining another die was added to the mix.

 I was also able to monitor the groups and give more attention to the students who needed it, while the others were working independently. The picture below shows me giving two students a little extra support as they were combining.




This was my first time teaching a math game to the class, I was a little nervous about going over the directions, but it turned out fine. The kids had a great time combining and adding fractions. Changing the number of dice gave new twists to the game to keep it interesting.

A7 Justification: This is evidence of my ability to create an academically challenging environment for all levels of learners through differentiating a game that focused on combining and comparing fractions. Students were able to play different variations of the game that met their individual needs and thus kept them engaged because the task was not too easy or too difficult.

B1 Justification:
This is evidence of my ability to engage all learners through differentiating a game that focused on combining and comparing fractions. Students were able to play different variations of the game that met their individual needs and thus kept them engaged because the task was not too easy or too difficult

Supporting Student Discussion in Guided Reading Groups

January 21, 2008

    There are so many things that I'd love to reflect on and only a limited amount of time and space! I have been learning and experiencing so much these past few weeks that I could write a journal for everyday it seems.  If only I had that much free time!  One area where I have been so impressed with the leaps and bounds the students are making is in my literacy circle.
 
I was disappointed by the discussions, or lack of discussions my students were having about our book A Mouse Called Wolf. I wanted the conversations to center around student questions and concerns.  However many students were not participating, many students were not brainstorming discussion questions.  In a discussion last week, one student did voice his question, we discussed it, then another student raised his hand.  He asked his question, which was almost identical to the last question! I was disappointed that the students were not paying attention and adding to each other's ideas.

Also, some students were hurrying through their work and reading. I give each student a bookmark to fill out as they read. There are four sections. One is "mystery words;" another is "Things I'm confused about;" another is "Things I'm wondering about;" and "Fat questions." I noticed that many students would not write down any words, but when I walked around the room and asked them to whisper read I would find words they did not know.  One student read a paragraph containing the phrase "scaled the piano leg." I asked him when he was done what he thought they meant by that phrase.  He wasn't sure and I suggested he write it down as a mystery word.  This happened a few other times.  I was frustrated that students were not using their tools and self-monitoring themselves.

I was feeling like I was incompetent. I loved reading and discussing books. I almost felt like this was a hindrance as I strove to engage my students in discussion, because I don't understand why they don't enjoy it, or how I can make it more engaging.  I approached my mentor about my concern.  By putting our heads together we came up with some ideas to help scaffold the students more so that we could improve our time in the literacy circle.

The idea we came up with was creating three discussion questions or "fat questions" from the chapters. I reviewed the questions with the students before they read. I also challenged them to design their own discussion question. These questions included: "How did Mrs. Honeybee feel about having a singing mouse in her house? How would you feel? Why?" and "What does Wolf do to cheer up his mother? What do yo u like to do to cheer up yourself or someone else?" and "Who does Mrs. Honeybee remind you of?"  I was attempting to set a purpose. When students were done reading, they were told to write two to three sentences to answer each question. Also, we decided to have the students partner read. This, we hoped would allow the students to monitor each other and to have a more free discussion about the text as they read.  
This improved our discussion so much! I was so impressed when we had our discussion at how prepared the students were! We created a character web of Mrs. Honeybee.  The students were able to give me great evidence to support their traits and the discussion flowed well.  Students were also able to connect ideas.  Students would name a trait and say, "the evidence from this other trait, supports this trait." I was so impressed that they were connecting ideas and building off one another. We also went around the circle and named someone that reminded us of Mrs. Honeybee. Every student was able to name at least one person.

I also challenged students to find my mystery word. It was "rheumatism." I told students that everyone should have at least one mystery word written down.  I told them that I found one and that it started with an "r." I challenged them to find it. The students seemed to pay closer attention to the words in the story.  Students would find a word they weren't sure of and ask me if they found the mystery word. I told them not yet, but that they could write down that word.  It was very motivating for them.

I was so encouraged by their progress and discussions! I feel a renewed sense of my capabilities to lead a successful literacy circle. I'm looking forward to seeing how I can continually challenge them while letting them take more control of the conversations. We will get there!

B1 Justification: This is evidence of actively engaging students, because I noticed a problem or difficulty in getting students to discuss the book they were reading. In order to support their discussions, I created some open-ended questions for the students to think about as they read. I also allowed them to continue to create their own discussion questions.

Ligtning Globe Science Lesson

Summary:
Using a plasma ball or lightning globe, the students will test various objects to see if they attract the electric current to themselves. Students will then explore how the globe excites electrons inside a fluorescent bulb thus making it light.

CMFP Math Lesson Plan

Anchoring to Ten: based on Activity 11.7 from Vandewalle text book

Word document of lesson plan:
Tack.CMFP.part2.doc

Grade Level: third grade

Mathematical Goals:
*to help the student use 10 as a base number when adding numbers close to ten
*to develop an understanding of numbers' relationships to 10

Thinking About the Student:
Student has worked with addition and during the assessment used a near doubles strategy for all problems. He understands tens well because he was able to mentally add 5+4 and 5+6.  However, when he was given questions like 8+4 or 12+6, he reverted to counting when his doubles strategies did not work.

Materials and Preparation
*I will provide the student with two or three math questions, two ten-frames, and 17 counters.
*I will have my computer to record our interview.

Lesson:
Before:
A Reassessment:
*I want to reassess my student to see what he does when I give him the problem 9+4.  I will provide him with counters and I just want to see if he tries the near doubling strategy or if he uses a ten base.  This will help me see if his difficulties with addition are limited only when the adding halves to wholes (12+6) or if it is a general problem.
* I will ask the student how he got his answer and what he was thinking to make sure he understands the problem.
Introduce ten frame
*Show student a ten frame
*Ask student what he notices about the ten frame.
*Set up first question 9+4 Ask student for a way to solve the question
*In order to check for his understanding I will ask for his reasoning

The Task:
Use the ten frame to answer addition problems.

Establish Expectations:
Tell the student that today we are going to use this "ten-frame" to demonstrate a new strategy for addition.  You might find you like to move the counters, or you might find that you don't like to, it doesn't matter, what matters is that you use the ten-frame.

During:
*Pose practice problems for the student to use the ten-frame when adding numbers.
*Ask the student questions to help him test the strategy or find another way to use ten-frame
* I will encourage the student to move the counters
* ask the student what he is thinking as he completes the problem

After:
*Ask the student what he found out about addition today.  "How is this strategy different than another strategy you use?"
*Ask student to record in a sentence or two about the strategy he used today.

B2 Justification: This is an example of using a variety of ways to assess students and using that information in numerous ways because I used informal and formal assessments. As I worked with the student I made informal assessments on his progress. Additionally, at the beginning and ending of the project I conducted formal assessments to check his growth. Finally, I also gave the student a chance to assess his learning and his understanding after each lesson. This allowed me to monitor his progress and also to help him understand his growth.

Related Blogs:
CMFP Pre-assessment Blog containing the results and analysis from the pre-assessment checking basic fact fluency
CMFP Post-assessment and Reflection Blog containing the actual lesson plans I developed and followed during the tetromino lesson

 
 

Explaining Grading

4/16/2009

Today, I was able to hand back the retest we gave students, (see blog: Fair Assessments) with the other assessments from the fraction lesson I had been teaching. My mentor and I were giving them to students so that they would have them for their spring conferences to share with their parents.

When I handed them out, I was also given the opportunity to explain to the students how I scored it. I have been grading many papers in math and recording those grades see the picture at left, but it was my first time explaining the grades to the students. At first I felt nervous about how to explain to students what I did and what I was looking for. However, I was confident in my grading and knew what I was looking for in each score I gave students. Therefore, I was able to tell students that they earned a 4+ if they discussed that the fewer number of shares there were, then the larger those shares were. I was also able to recognize students for the scores they earned because all students earned a proficient score.

Again, at conferences, I was able to report to parents about the students grade and why they earned the grade they did. Because I followed the rubric and clearly understood what I wanted students to demonstrate, I was able to confidently report student grades to parents.

Beyond grades, I could tell parents about the student's performance in class activities because I have been monitoring student progress and work in class. For instance, one student's fall goal was to participate more in class. He said that he thought he had improved on this. I agreed with him and was able to specify that he is constantly volunteering during math and guided reading. I told him that I appreciated his participation and that it showed me how much he understood.

B2 Justification: This is evidence of my ability to monitor and assess students' performance and then to report it to the students and parents. I shared my criteria and reasons for grading students as I did and in this way reported what was expected.

Classroom Transition Strategies

November 8, 2008

This week I had the opportunity to practice a different attention getting technique, which was one of my growth areas with the class.  Although I did not create a new one, I modified one that my mentor teacher uses in her classroom and made it more effective.
My mentor teacher often does the clapping method to get students attention.  She claps the beat from "B-I-NGO" and waits for the students to respond. I had been noticing in October that often times the only people who return the claps are a few other students and myself.  Often times the class as a whole does not turn their heads and stop talking.  It did not really seem that most of the students were giving my mentor teacher one hundred percent of their attention.

  I had begun to experiment with the clap methods a little bit in October.  On October 31, when my mentor was out for the day I used a variation of the clap method in the computer lab.  The students were working on adding a header to their Venn Diagram on Intaglio.  I needed to get their attention to give some more directions.  Instead of doing the usual claps to "B-I-NGO!" tune, I used different patterns.  I did five rapid claps.  The noise decreased and a few students returned.  Then I tried three fast and two slow.  I noticed after this that nearly all the students' eyes were on me and that they returned the clap pattern. I was then able to give directions feeling confident that I had their attention.

  On Thursday this week after we finished the air tunnel experiment, my mentor sent students back to their seats.  She clapped her hands in the usual way She only got a few claps in return, but went on with the directions anyway.  A few seconds into the directions, she looked at me and said, "They're not listening."  I agreed and said, "They seem to respond better when you use different patterns."  She asked me to try it.  Sure enough, I did a different pattern and the noise dropped immediately.  The students dropped their things and turned to look at me.  A few students resisted, so I added a visual component to the claps, I clapped up high and down low between my legs.  The students followed me. A few even stepped away from what they were doing and closer to me.  I also saw a few smiles.  After a few claps, we had their attention, and my mentor could finish giving directions.

    I'm not exactly sure why this technique works so well with this class when the other did not.  It might be because they get so used to hearing the regular clap that it doesn't interest them anymore. By changing the rhythm around it's a way to keep them on their toes.  It is interesting to see how just modifying one technique that is not working as well, can make it new and interesting.  I am feeling excited about trying different techniques to get their attention and help them transition.  I'm wondering if I keep doing this new one over and over again, if it will become exhausted like the other clapping technique.  Just in case, I'd like to have a few back-up techniques to call on when I need them. 


B3 Justification: This is evidence of managing classroom procedures because I was able to experiment with and successfully use different techniques to get students' attention between activities. This allowed me to manage other classroom activities more easily.

Managing Dismissal

Singing through Transitions in Kindergarten

February 7, 2009
 
   The first full day I spent in Kindergarten, I left wit a real headache and a feeling like I don't think I could do this everyday.  However, each week after each day I spend there, I become more comfortable and more confident in my abilities and myself.  This past week I was able to work one on one with students for a math assessment.  I was also able to team-teach with a substitute teacher in the afternoon. The entire experience has left me feeling more competent and confident that I could teach Kindergarten.
 
   The teacher had to leave in the afternoon for a meeting, so I worked with a substitute teacher. It was neat because I was able to try my hand in a more active way in the classroom.  I shocked myself by singing to the students. They were cleaning up from a social studies art activity in which students were drawing and cutting out animals to put in their habitat. There were scraps of paper, crayons, scissors all over the place. I had been monitoring the students during the activity. I noticed that many students were finished creating animals, so I began asking students to be helpers and to pick up scraps of paper on the floor and tables. I asked some students to gather materials. However, it was becoming chaotic as students were finishing their jobs or were getting distracted. There were kids running around and not paying attention to my demands to find their letter on the rug. The substitute teacher was cleaning up a water mess in the back of the classroom. I knew we needed to get the students together on the rug to move on to next activity.

  I had seen the teacher singing songs with the students to get them focused and ready. So I began singing the students number song. "10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100" I didn't know all the words exactly, but the students helped me.  Like magic the students who were preoccupied around the classroom stopped what they were doing and gathered at the carpet. I was so happy that I had successfully rounded up the students without driving myself crazy by running around the room. I was able to get the kids situated on the carpet for a read aloud before the end of the day. 

The song was just amazing and it is something I will always remember as I teach. This is a strategy that would probably be inappropriate to use in third grade, however it worked great in kindergarten. It just reminded me of how differently you have to act as a teacher when you are dealing with different age groups.

B4 Justification: This is an example of managing student behavior and learning, because I was able to get the students back on task for a read aloud after a relatively open activity. The song allowed me to reach all the students in the class quickly and guide them onto the carpet for the next activity.

Teaching Self-Monitoring

April 27, 2009

For my inquiry project I studied how teaching self-monitoring skills to students who have difficulty controlling their behavior helps them to build friendships. At the beginning of the year, I began to notice that the student Aaron (a fictitious name), who displayed some hyperactive and impulsive behaviors like rocking, poking, fidgeting, putting objects in his mouth and making noises, was being isolated by many of his peers at recess and on the rug.

 In January, Aaron gave me a note, which named students who were teasing him and what they were calling him. At a meeting with the school counselor, they signed a contract in which Aaron agreed to stop making noises and the other boys, Micah and Tim (fictitious names) agreed not to call Aaron names any more.  Despite the contract, the other students had expressed in early February  that Aaron's noises had not stopped. This lead me to to wonder if Aaron needed some support controlling this behavior.

On Monday of each week for the entirety of my inquiry project, Aaron and I got a brand new monitoring tally sheet. This tally sheet contains the days of the week in the left column and two columns following for AM and PM. Each time I saw Aaron or he noticed himself making noises we marked a tally on our own sheets. See the image at left. I also gave Aaron pennies to keep in his pocket to keep track when he was away from his desk.  At the end of each day Aaron gave himself a rating based on the number of times he made noises.

On every Friday, we recorded the total for the week. If Aaron accumulated five 5's then he earned a 15-minute trip to the computer lab with three friends. Aaron later requested that it be all fives in one week to earn the reward.

After it appeared that Aaron's averages were next to zero, Aaron and I switched gears and began to monitor in the same way, the number of times Aaron put any object in his mouth. While Aaron stopped formally monitoring noises, I continued to keep track of both.

    We used another monitoring sheet, which involved a checklist to monitor his on task time during independent tasks.
 (see image at right) Every minute for five minutes Aaron would check "yes" if he as writing answers or working, he checked "no" if he was not doing either. At first I tried to use an egg timer, but it ended up being more of a distraction. Instead, as the students worked independently, I walked around the room and tapped Aaron's desk every minute and he would check off whether or not he was on task. This tally motivated Aaron to stay on task and complete assignments. 
 
Later, I was able to use the checklist as warning to tell Aaron he needed to get working. I would say: "Do we need to get out the checklist?" He would shake his head and I would say, "Then show me." This usually motivated him, if not I got out the checklist and he always completed his tasks.

B4 Justification: This is an example of managing student behavior and learning because I worked very closely with Aaron to help him control behavior that was inhibiting his ability to stay on task and make friends.

Teaching (and Learning) about the Beatles

March 23, 2009

As part of our Festival of the Arts unit, we studied many artists, like Mary Cassatt, Van Gogh, and Keith Haring. However, we also were able to study about different musicians. I choose to teach the students about the Beatles. This lesson was exciting because it was something that many of the students' parents knew about. A little over a week before I taught the lesson, I sent home a newsletter telling parents we would be studying the Beatles. When the parents found out, some of them began sharing what they knew about the Beatles with their students. Many of my students came to my lesson filled with interesting facts. One student even brought his iPod filled with Beatles music from his father. Others told me about how they and their parents listened to and learned more about the Beatles after the lesson.

For the lesson, I created a PowerPoint filled with pictures, music and video clips of the Beatles. (See a copy of the PowerPoint here: beatlespresentation.ppt) Students sang along to "Yellow Submarine" and complained about the screaming fans on the video of the "Ed Sullivan Show." After the presentation, there were so many great questions about the Beatles. The PowerPoint and the capabilities it provided were able to bring the Beatles to life for the students.

When my adviser came to observe this lesson her words were: "Your wording, choice of photos, and real book pages added variety to the show. Each slide was a hook for the group!" Here are my adviser's notes about my lesson on the Beatles:
03.23.09observation.pdf

B5 Justification:  This is evidence that I communicate the lesson to students in a variety of ways. I presented the students with a slide show which included pictures, music and videos to enhance the lesson. I also used my own voice to add information and read the slides to the students.

Learning From Other Inquiries

April 27, 2009

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the other intern's inquiry projects. I only wish that I had been able to visit more! Each intern has a valuable experience to share with others. As a fellow intern just learning the art of teaching, I know that I learned a lot from each presentation I visited. One that I have been thinking about as I've been teaching is Monica's and Casey's. They did their inquiry on blurting and how a teacher can prevent their students from blurting when they are not supposed to.

They focused on giving clear directives when asking questions. They found through their observations and data collection that students were less likely to call out when the teacher gave students clear instructions about how to answer before asking the question. So for instance, instead of saying in math "What fraction of the whole would you get?" and just hoping the students will raise their hands. The teacher says "Raise your hands and tell me: What fraction of the whole will you get?" This way the students know exactly what is expected of them.  They also mentioned that the teacher can use signals. For example, if I wanted students to raise their hands, I could raise my hand when I ask the question.

There are also signals to tell the class you want the students to  just yell out the answer, like "Everyone tell me, what fraction of the whole would you get?" or a signal would be to open your arms, palms up to the class.

As I have been teaching recently, I have been thinking about the directives I give students and how I can use them to increase participation. It is still to early to tell, but I am getting much better at catching myself and rephrasing my unclear directives to clear directives so that students know what I am expecting them to do. I am seeing that the students are responding better when I give them clear directions. Thanks Monica and Casey for the information.

B5 Justification: This is an example of communicating clearly because I use my words to clearly explain who I expect the students to respond. I also use signals to demonstrate the response I want. Hopefully, as I get better at this, student participation will increase and there will be less confusion.

Leading a Guided Reading Group

During the week of November 21, 2008, I was able to lead a literacy circle this week.  We were reading the book, The Tongue Cut Sparrow, which is a Japanese folktale. The students and I talked about character traits and onomatopoeia  words.  Students used context clues to determine the meaning of words like "kocho-kocho."  After reading the book and discussing the words.  The students and I made mini-books to illustrate and write about the onomatopoeia.

The picture to the left is a picture of me leading the same literacy circle in a introduction to a new book, A Mouse Called Wolf on December 10, 2008. We were discussing some vocabulary words that my mentor teacher pulled out of the book.  The words were in their sentences and the students were trying to use context clues to figure out the meaning.  Working in book groups has been a very enjoyable experience for me.  The hardest part is the pacing, because the students have so much they want to say and I hate not allowing them the chance to talk.

The attachment is the feedback I received from my PDA (Professional Development Adviser) as she observed my reading groups on the first day and the last day as I lead the Tongue Cut Sparrow group.

11.17.08.HeleneObservation.pdf

11.21.08.HeleneObservation.pdf

Fair Assessments

    If someone told me while I was in high school that I would love teaching fractions to third graders, I probably would have laughed. I did not enjoy fractions when I was in school, but for some reason, perhaps the Investigations curriculum, which focuses on fair shares, I am having a ton of fun teaching math. I have been teaching the entire unit from beginning to end and have been recording and analyzing the homework and mini checkpoints.
  
 When I am in class teaching, I have noticed that there are many students who have a firm understanding of fractions. They raise their hands frequently and usually have the explanation or answer that is correct. I have also noticed a few students struggling with fractions; these students do not raise their hands during discussions and often have difficulty during independent practice time. I have been trying to use the guided independent practice time to find out with what these students are struggling and understanding. Additionally, my mentor pulls them aside during whole group instruction to give them more one on one attention.
 
   During class time, I felt like most students had a pretty good understanding of fractions and comparing fractions to one another. On a day when I was in kindergarten, my mentor administered a checkpoint assessment. It consisted of one question. Students were to write a letter to a second grader explaining to them why 1 and 1/3 is larger than 1 and 1/4.  As I sat down to grade the students' answers, I began to become very concerned. There were only four scores of four. Most of the students scored either a two or three.

As you can see in the student sample to the left, the student created a ruler like system of determining the size. This was not a technique we taught. Instead, we wanted the student to discuss how if you split something into three pieces it is fewer pieces than four and so the pieces will be larger. The student's actual letter to the student was also confusing. The student changed to fifths.


My immediate concern was that I was not being clear enough in my instruction. I was disappointed that I could have thought that most students had a good understanding in class when this assessment showed that there was a large amount of confusion.
 
   While I was grading, I began to wonder if perhaps it might be the question that was throwing students off.  Perhaps the idea of writing a letter to a younger student, which we have never done before as an assessment, was distracting the students from answering the question to the best of their ability. My mentor and I discussed the assessment and decided to conduct a retest with a simplified question.
  
 For the retest, we used the exact same numbers, but we changed the question slightly we took out the letter to a second grader and just asked the students to explain which was larger 1 and 1/3 or 1 and 1/4 using pictures, numbers, and words. This is a familiar format for them. After the retest on Thursday, I found a great improvement in the scores. During the first test, the average score was a 2.88. The average score on the second test was a 3.63. It was good to see that there was not as much of a discrepancy between what I perceived in the classroom to what I saw on the formative assessment.

Here to the right, you can see the same student's answer to the retest, this answer is more conceptual and was what we were hoping students might do. Another students example can be seen by clicking on this link:
View image.
 
   We are nearing the end of the unit and have already started some of the end of the unit assessments. The students, for the most part have done a great job on these as well! I'm am very excited to see the students grow in their understanding of fractions and to see myself growing in teaching and assessing mathematics.













C1 Justification: This is evidence of adjusting assessment strategies, because the data I got from the written formative assessment did not match what I was seeing in the classroom. To be sure that it was not a problem with the question, I created a retest which simplified the task so that students could focus on the math part of the question. The scores improved on the second test, showing me that it was a problem with the question, not the students.

Drag Lesson: Concept Interviews

The lesson I will be teaching in third grade is about drag on an airplane.  It is part of a unit on forces on an airplane.  The students will have already learned about other forces, like lift and thrust before we start the lesson on drag.  However at the time of my quick draw and write and concept interviews we had not started our aviation unit.  The key concepts for which I was looking were that the plane has to slow down and fly down.  I also wanted students to try and explain how a plane does that.

For my Quick draw and write task in which the entire third grade class participated I asked the students to draw two different things. First I wanted the class to draw a plane and label any parts they knew on a plane.  In a second box, I asked the class to draw picture of an airplane landing and to show the changes a plane makes when it lands.  I also provided a writing section at the bottom, where the students were to explain what happens when a plane lands.  

The range of knowledge shown in the quick draw and write was wide. One student said: "...when I was on a plane and I looked out a window[.] I saw the wing have [had] something under it[,] and it moved." (See Appendix F).Also twelve students mentioned the wheels as being a part of a plane landing.  Two students discussed that the plane had to slow down. Five students mentioned that the plane had to fly down diagonally.  One student mentioned both.  Another interesting idea two students had was that the engines have to turn off.  Their inability to explain how a plane does those things showed me that many students in my classroom do not have a strong understanding of forces on an airplane. I choose to interview three students from the average level of understanding--those who talked about the mechanics of a plane because there were so many students who fit into this grouping. 

During my concept interviews, I asked the students to explain verbally how a plane lands.  I wanted to see if they would add anything when they were talking, also I wanted to be able to ask them questions and have them expand on their answers.  Then I asked the students whether a crumpled up piece of paper, a paper folded into quarters, a paper folded in half, or a regular piece of paper would fall the fastest.  After they made their predictions we tested them by having the student drop two pieces of paper.  The student stood up and held two pieces of paper up as high as could and then he/she dropped them at the same time.  The winners of the two drops then "competed" against one another in a third trial.   After the experiment we discussed what they found.   

I also asked each student if a piece of paper held vertically would drop at the same speed as a paper held horizontally.  After the student made a prediction we tested it by dropping the two pieces of paper from the same height.  We made sure we lined up the bottoms of each piece of paper.  Finally to conclude the interview I asked them why they designed their paper airplanes with a point at the front.  With this question I wanted to see what they thought as they were creating their paper air planes for the air plane contest from the day before the interview.  I wanted to see how much they understood of what they were doing.

The first student from the low level of understanding group I interviewed was Gillian, who is a social student.  She has a friendship with two other girls in our classroom.  They are hardly ever seen apart.  Gillian is in our high reading and average math group.  She has contributed some good ideas to our science discussions.  For instance during our identifying compost lesson she took a stance and supported it so well, that everyone in her group changed their theory to agree with her.  I choose to interview her for several reasons, one of which is that she is my case study subject and also because she had a very common answer, about the wheels, but with a strange variation in the engine turning on.  Gillian wrote:  "The engin [engine] comes on and the wheels go out."   (See Appendix A) In her concept interview she told me that the jets go on so the air goes back and the plane can go faster.  This is a common misconception that many students have. Many students believe that if they throw the plane harder (or the jets throw more force) that the plane will go faster, but it will actually cause the plane to create more drag (Sweetland, 2005).  

She also told me that the pilot hits the brakes on the wheels to make it stop.  She predicted that the crumpled up paper would drop the fastest because it is the smallest.  She also told me that a vertical piece of paper would drop faster than a horizontal one because it takes up less room.  She seems to have a basic idea that the surface area makes a difference in how quickly an object drops.  However, she was unable to tell me why it made a difference.

Another student from this level of thinking with whom I interviewed, Corey, wrote:  "when a plane lands the wheels un-fold and the engine stops generating power." His drawings were very detailed and included the engine in the pictures. (See Appendix B) Corey is in our high reading, but average math groups.  He was just recently moved to our high reading group because he is such an avid reader.  He recently moved to State College from Virginia because his mother works at the Dickinson Law School.  I chose to interview him because his answer was the opposite of Gillian's answer.  I wanted to explore both areas of thinking and try to see what caused students to come up with these opposing ideas.  

However, his interview surprised me.  In his interview his displayed level of understanding jumped from average to high.  He told me a jet has to unfold its wheels.  When I asked him why they fold them up, he told me it was to reduce the drag when the plane is flying.  He went on to explain to me that drag is the air that pushes on the plane that slows it down.  This is somewhat consistent with the common misconception students have that air friction causes planes and cars to slow down (Operation Physics, 1998).  However, when he also compared it to a parachute and said a parachute could slow a plane down, it made me think that he might have a better although not completely developed idea of what drag is.

The last student I interviewed from the average level of understanding was Mary.  Mary is in our high math and reading groups. She is a friend of Gillian.  She is relatively quiet, but volunteers frequently in class. I've recorded her volunteering 10 times in a 10-minute lesson on September 18.   In her quick draw and write Mary focused on the pilot doing things to stop the plane.  For instance, she talked about the shifting the gears, putting out the wheels and slowing down. (See Appendix C) In her interview she told me that she thought the crumpled up paper would drop faster because it weighed more.   Students commonly believe that heavier things will fall faster (Missouri, 2005).  It was interesting that she thought that the crunched up ball was heavier because it was the same piece of paper.  She seems to think that density and weight are the same, which is a common misconception among children (Missouri, 2005). She also thought that the air going through the holes of the flat piece of notebook paper lifted the paper up.  Her misconceptions were common and there are probably many other students who share the same ideas.

The student I interviewed from the low level of understanding was Karen.  Karen is an African American student.  She also qualifies for Title I Reading.  During the quick draw and write activity I saw her write her explanation after the student next to her, Alexander, said something to me about the same idea. In her quick draw and write worksheet, Karen wrote that when you pull the steering wheel the plane goes down.  (See Appendix D) However, I wondered how much she knew on her own.  In her interview Karen told me again that the pilot pulls on the steering wheel and then that the plane hits the ground and it tumbles a little and rolls.  She told me she had been on an airplane before.  She also told me that the passengers don't feel it when the plane goes down because it doesn't fly at a slant.   She showed me with her hand how a plane drops vertically straight down while staying parallel to the ground.  This was a curious idea and I wish I had asked her more about it.  It was almost as though she was confusing a helicopter with an airplane.

 Then she predicted the crumpled paper would fall the fastest, but she was unable to tell me why.  After testing her theory, she told me it was because the ball had more pressure from the air. It is a common misconception that air pressure pushes objects down (Air Pressure). However, next she told me that the ball grabs the air to go down and that the flat folded pieces of paper took longer because it couldn't grab the air.  I could not find this misconception anywhere.  I wonder if many other students have similar ideas about how objects fall.

The last student I interviewed, Alexander, was from the high level of understanding group.  Alexander has trouble concentrating in class.  He moves around a lot and often has something like a pencil or his sleeve in his mouth. His mother tells us that it is because he is bored. He is in our average groups for both math and reading.  However, in his quick draw and write, he talked about reducing speed, and flying low to the ground.  (See Appendix E). I choose him because of what he was trying to tell me during the quick draw and write about the steering wheel.  I wanted to dig deeper to see what he knows.  

In his concept interview, when I asked him how a plane slows down he told me it was the opposite of speeding up--that the oil burns from the air.  Although I probed to find out what he meant by oil, he never really answered my question.  He also said the crumpled up ball of paper would be the first to drop because "it has a lot more pressure to push down."  It is common for students to mistake pressure as identical to force (Operation Physics, 1998).  It is also common for students to believe that air pressure pushes down (Air Pressure). He also told me that the triangle shape of the paper airplanes is to push air back across the plane. 

Finally he mentioned that when you pull the steering wheel up the air pushes it up and that the "metal part" is slanted down.  Again, despite my probing this was the best answer I could get from him.  The metal part is very unclear. He could have meant the wings, or the body of the plane.  He did not label his pictures in his quick draw and write, so I am not sure if he knows the names of the parts of the plane.  

From these quick draw and writes and concept interviews, I can tell that many students have not considered forces on the plane, but they have considered gravity and speed. Because only one student mentioned drag and other students confused pressure into the equation, I can tell that the introduction to forces on a plane will need to dispel a variety of misconceptions.  We have a lot of experiments planned that will help students move beyond their ideas about pressure and weight to the facts about the forces on an airplane.  For example, we are planning on conducting an experiment in which students will test different sized parachutes to see what works best.  

Additionally we should go over what happens to a plane when the pilot "shifts gears" to land the plane because the students wrote so much about the pilot doing something to land the plane, like pushing buttons.  I remember in the video we got during unit planning there is a part that shows students what happens to the wings when a pilot turns a plane and lands a plane.  After we learn about drag, this is one way to connect student's prior knowledge with the new knowledge.   It should be interesting to see how the students react to the information and how well I am able to help them understand drag.

 
Bibliography

1)    Air pressure: Chair Lift. Retrieved on October 16, 2008 from: University of Minnesota's website: http://groups.physics.umn.edu/pforce/airpressure.html
2)    Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (2005). Alerts to Student Difficulties and Misconceptions in Science PDF page 7. Retrieved October 16, 2008 from: www.dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/science/SciMisconc11.05.pdf
3)    Operation Physics: Children's Misconceptions about Science. (1998). Retrieved on October 15, 2008 from: Amateur Science's website: http://amasci.com/miscon/opphys.html
4)    Sweetland, R. (2005). Science Misconceptions: Physical Science. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from NASA web site:http://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/science/misconceptions/airAirPress.html

Using a Rubric

As I have been involved and more and more grading in our classroom, I am seeing how important it is to have a good rubric. With the number of open ended and free response questions that our students encounter in all subject areas, having a systematic way to grade student work and analyze it for strengths and weaknesses is obviously important. A rubric provides some guidance as to how answers can be scored. As I have learned, rubrics are not always black and white, but they certainly provide a teacher with the necessary guidance to make fair assessments of student progress and work.

I helped my mentor grade the winter language art assessments. Students had to read 2 poems, answer 10 multiple choice questions and one written response. I used the rubric to score student answers to written responses (pictured above). All of our students scored between a 2 and a 3 out of 3 points. This showed us our class had a good understanding of interpreting poetry. 

However, one student scored a 4/10 on the multiple choice, but a 3/3 on the written response. My mentor and I discussed together and with his parents at conferences that his scores indicate that he did understand the poems.  The open response question should be more difficult than the multiple choice, because students have to construct their own answers. However, this student did much better on the open response question than the multiple choice. This indicates that he probably did not take the time to go back and check for information in the poems as he was reading the poem.  Even though this student scored at a "basic" level on the assessment levels, we recognized that it might have been foolish errors that he made when he rushed through the test. Because of the rubric and our confidence in his response, we were able to tell parents not to be concerned about the score, that he is reading on target in class, but that he just needs to slow down during reading assessments.

I also used a rubric to score science journals. At first I found it difficult to differentiate between a paper that earned a three and a four. As I was able to see more and more examples of responses that earned threes or fours, it was easier for me to grade the papers.

I think grading is not unlike other parts of teaching. Grading takes experience. I have seen that a rubric gives some guidance to grading, but still leaves room for interpretation. As a teacher it is important to remember the lesson objectives and to think about how students show their thinking.  As I continue student teaching and teaching I am sure that I will continue to learn more and more about the art of using a rubric to grade.

C2 Justification: This is evidence of systematically assessing students, because I have practiced using a rubric to systematically analyze student performance. Also, I have used this information to categorize the performance of students on written work.

Science Teaching Analysis: Improvements

December 8, 2008


Watching video of my first teaching experience was an eye opening experience. By being able to take my time and review my lessons in their entirety, I was able to see things that I did not notice when I was in the thick of the lessons.  I saw some parts that I liked and some parts that I did not like so much.  However, the overall experience has helped my teaching tremendously.  I now recognize areas that I need to work on improving and that some areas that I thought went poorly were not as bad as I imagined.

One area that I recognized that I need to improve on is facilitating arguments in the classroom.  When students engage in scientific arguments, they are forced to explain their ideas explicitly and provide good evidence so that they can persuade the other person.  Watching the video, I realized that I should have the students demonstrate what they were saying with a parachute instead of doing it myself. Since this lesson I have experienced some argumentation during book groups.  I have been careful because of this lesson to encourage students to support their ideas with examples and to debate among themselves I try to stay out of it as much as possible.


Another area I want to improve on is making sure that I require students to provide solid evidence from the experiments to support their claims.  I realized that I did not do this as much as I thought, because I had difficulty finding good examples of me asking students to provide evidence.  I asked why, but did not make students be specific about how they knew. For instance, on my fourth day of teaching, students told me that they should create an airplane with a wider surface.  When I asked them why, they told me because it would catch more drag.  However, I wish I had asked them to share more evidence from our experiments and KLEW chart to support their ideas and help them make connections between the activities.

Related Blogs:
Drag Subject Matter Research: Paper written by two other interns and myself summarizing what we learned through our subject matter research about the topic of our lesson: drag.
Concept Interviews: Blog analyzing the results from a quick draw and write and individual interviews with a few students to find out what students already know about drag.
Drag Lesson Plans: Blog with attachments to pdf files of my science lesson plans on drag.
Teaching Analysis: Blog in which I reflect on improvements I want to make in my teaching as I watch video of my first science lessons.


C3 Justification:  This is evidence of C3 because I use my observations from video of my teaching to help me improve.  I am able to identify my strengths and areas for improvement and then can work to build on these areas. Video analysis and reflection are valuable tools for teachers so that they can continue to enhance their teaching.

Analyzing Math Work

April 27, 2009

As I was teaching my final official lesson from the Fair Shares Investigations Unit on fractions, I was sure that there were some students who were right on target. They volunteer frequently and have good responses when I ask them personal questions while they are working. However, today, there was one student who stuck out in my mind because he was not completing the work during class time. After our math lesson, when the students went to library, I flipped through this student's fraction workbook. I noticed many uncompleted pages that I had not even remembered were not complete. Then I began to wonder about other students who may slip under my radar during class lessons.  I make an effort to call on and visit as many different students as possible, but I am not always as successful as I'd like.

I began to flip through five students'  fraction booklets. I noticed a few errors and misconceptions in the books. I noticed that some of these students were confusing the connection between fractions and division. There was a lesson connecting the two in which students mentally figured out the answers and then punched it into a calculator. This lesson had two corresponding pages in the booklet. On the first page the questions were worded: "9 brownies shared among 4 people." The students answered these questions correctly. They pushed 9/4 on the calculator and got 2.25. However, on the next page the questions were worded "4 people shared 9 brownies." This time the students punched in 4/9 and did not get the correct answer.

I had not even thought about the fact that students might have difficulty with the change in order of the numbers in the questions. Thus, I had not discussed with the students why the ordering mattered when they pushed buttons on their calculator. Luckily, now that I know that there is some confusion, I can use my last lesson that I am designing myself to help clarify the connection between division and fractions for these students.  I am incorporating some calculator and division work into my read aloud lesson using The Hershey Chocolate Book of Fractions.

Hopefully, because I am aware of the issue, I will be able to help students clarify their thinking before we end the unit.

C3 justification: This is evidence that I use classroom data to anaylze my own teaching, because after assessing student's independent, written work I noticed that I had not reviewed a concept thoroughly enough. Because of my observations and assessment, I was able to adapt my future teaching to ensure that I clarified this concept for students.  

Expectations and Responsibilities

I remember my interview for the PDS program and they asked me about work ethic and organization. I smiled and showed them my color coded planner. I also explained that I have a habit of taking my work with me and any five or ten minutes of down time I have I spend wisely. The interviewee who called me from the lobby laughed and said "She's not joking I saw her putting away a book when I went to get her."  I have high expecations for myself and I expect myself to always be prepared for each lesson I teach. This year I have used and improved on my organization and time management skills. These skills have allowed me to be prepared for each lesson I teach.

Teaching Feedback

2/20/09

I regularly meet expectations and responsibilities. I come to school on time at 8:00 AM every morning. Some mornings I even arrive earlier if I know I have things I need to prepare for the day. I also have only missed one day of school so far this year (as of May 1, 2009). I come prepared and enthusiastic for the day. However, I did not want this blog to just be me explaining how I meet expectations.  So instead, I will let the comments of my adviser, Cindy and mentor, Julie do the talking for me.

This is a sample of the positive feedback i have received from my adviser in her notes from observing my lessons:

On Feburary 20, 2009, I taught a lesson on light bulbs in which students explored inside a light bulb to see how it is a part of a circuit. Students examined working lights and burnt out lights. The lesson required material management and personell management as there were four adults in the room helping. The lesson was a smashing hit. The parent even commented to me about what a great lesson it was. These are my adviser's comments on the lesson overall:


See the entire observation notes here:
02.20.09.observation.pdf

Sharing Among Teachers

One thing that I love about having a relatively small team of teachers is how the teachers work together. For instance, during the first two weeks of February, the teachers split up designing measurement stations into three sections, capacity, length, and weight. Then each teacher took one section and designed some activities and recording sheets for students to do to gain experience with measurements for PSSA's. The teachers then shared their ideas and materials so that everyone could use them.

Also, during our Festival of the Arts unit, each teacher focuses on one artist and learns a lot about them. Then the students rotate from teacher to teacher each week to learn about that artist. This way each teacher does not have to research each artist in the curriculum.

I've also been privileged to share in this community of teachers. I've used bags filled with materials put together by another teacher to test insulators and conductors. I've also been able to email my lesson plans on task stream to other teachers for them to use in their room. I feel very honored when another teacher asks me for my lesson plans or materials, because that means that they think that it is worthwhile. 

For instance, I shared my Mary Cassatt PowerPoint with other teachers on our team.


 I also shared my science lesson plans with two teachers.  Here is an email showing me emailing the student recording sheet for the Light Bulb Lesson.

Kids Care Fair 2009

January 22, 2009

I had the unique and rewarding experience of volunteering at the Kids Care Fair 2009 which honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy of caring, on January 22, 2009 from 6-8 p.m. This event strives to foster student's desire and dedication to community service by providing students and their families the opportunity to do 17 community service projects. Some of these projects included: making bird feeders, decorating bags for meals on wheels, baking dog treats for PAWS (a local shelter) and writing thank you notes to teachers.

I was pleased to assist my cooperating teacher and another third grade teacher at the "Letters to the Military" station. It was a special station for the other third grade teacher, because her husband is currently serving in Iraq. 

We set up all kinds of stationary, pencils, crayons, and stickers. We also hung posters with ideas of what to write on the wall behind our table. It was a very moving to see students take some time to really think about the people fighting overseas and how to thank them. It was also a lot of fun to talk to the families in a casual setting.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Kids Care Fair. I think community service brings people together. I also believe it is important to model for students how important it is to care for others. I am glad that I was a part of that night.

D2 Justification: This shows that I work to build productive and collaborative relationships with other teachers and families. Having good relationships extends outside of direct instruction and reaches school events like this. By being present I show families and teachers that I are invested in the school community and am willing to commit time outside of the normal school day to build character in students and get to know families and teachers.

Martin Luther King Jr. In-service Day

In the morning of the in-service day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the presentation focused on diversity. There was a white male speaker who shared an interesting video about his ancestor's involvement in the slave trade. I thought it was appropriately geared to our audience which was made up of mostly white teachers.  It addressed diversity and our role in it. There were also performances by the high school choir and an elementary choir. The most fascinating part for me was the African dance team. They performed several rhythmic pieces celebrating diversity.

(The program for the day is pictured here on the right.)

In the afternoon the interns went to the cafeteria in High School South building. Here we set up our MESS projects to share with other teachers in the district. It was especially interesting to me to be able to walk around and observe other interns' projects and see the different ideas that interns developed. There were so many different ideas that were
executed in slightly different ways. Every project had something interesting about it. Some projects used magnets to make them more useful on the chalkboard. Some projects were easily reusable invery clever ways.

It was enjoyable to present my own project to other interns and teachers as well. I thought I developed an interesting idea with my MESS project cereal box, web, and picture book. I got some great positive feedback from other teachers. Teachers like my web idea and the story idea. I also got some great ideas to complement my projects.One teacher suggested that I could also read a read aloud to my students and not show them the illustrations and allow them to create the illustrations.  However she cautioned that I check copyright rules on that.  Overall, it was a very rewarding experience.
Here, I am explaining my Clara Barton picture book to another teacher.

Related blogs: MESS Project Learning Objectives




D2 Justification: This is an example of developing collaborative relationships with other teachers and other interns because I shared my project ideas with other teachers that came to our part of the in-service day. Also, I was able to gather ideas from other interns. 

D3 Justification: This is an example of valuing professional growth because I took part in an in-service day both through sharing and listening.

Sharing my Blog

April 18, 2009

I was honored when Becci Burns and Carla Zembal-Saul asked me to share my blog at the Penn State Teaching with Technology Symposium.  (See a screen shot of the email at the bottom of this entry.) This conference was held at the Penn State Hotel and Conference Center and was held for Penn State Professors across all campuses and colleges. Becci asked me to share how I tag my blogs to help my advisers find the necessary information. I showed the Teacher Education Performance Framework (TEPF) link and explain how tagging entries with "portfolio" allowed me to highlight only the best pieces of evidence. I also showed the professors how we can comment on each other's blogs and how I had numerous comments on my own blog. I explained how comments help us as interns to stay in tune with what others are experiencing.

 My part was short, about five minutes of a 45 minute presentation, but it was an honor to be asked to be a part of an important project like this.  When I gave my presentation my legs were shaking and I felt very nervous, but I was able to share my hard work and success through my blog. It was very exciting to be able to share my progress with others in a formal setting.



D3 Justification: This is evidence of me valuing profession growth because I went with my professors to a conference to share a new technology and tool that I am using. I was able to show what we are learning to do in PDS to help other professors in other colleges use similar technology. Also, I benefited from hearing about the progressions and uses of the blog in the college of education and PDS.

Professionalism

In my evaluations my PDA and mentor teacher have expressed that I treat my position with great care and show great professionalism. 

Student Confidentiality

April 2, 2009

Background: in our classroom we have personal journals in which students can journal about anything that is on their minds, knowing that only myself and my mentor will read them. We encourage our students to be honest with us. These journals are usually completed once a week, or whenever students feel the need to journal.  I read the journals once a week and respond to each entry.

For personal journals in class today, I asked the students to write about whatever they wanted. As I walked around the room I noticed one student was writing about something that had happened at home the night before. I couldn't see what it was exactly, but I moved on because I did not want to make the student uncomfortable while he was writing. When the students left for lunch, I went back and grabbed the journal to see what it said. I was shocked and saddened by what I read. I shared the journal with my mentor who was also concerned. We shared the journal with the school guidance counselor to get her advice. She suggested that we show it to the parents.

After school that day, the parent of this child came to our room and we shared our concern. She was very thankful to receive the news and told us she would not mention that she saw the journal.

A few days later, my PDS adviser mentioned to me that my mentor had asked if I had shared this incident with her. She had told my mentor no that I had not and that it was probably because I thought it was not professional to do so.

In fact, that is why I did not share the incident with my adviser. Although I trust her and know that she would treat the information with all the confidentiality necessary, I just felt like it was not something to share with very many people. It was something personal that should only be revealed to those people who truly needed to know to help the student.

D4: This is an example of demonstrating profession, ethical conduct because I used my own personal judgment to keep that students story among just a few adults involved.