Carlyn+Kriegel

Carlyn Kriegel

Jodie DeGruy-Fowler

 * Reflective Practice Assignment**


 * 1) **What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?**

My original intent for this lesson was to get my students excited about mythology and literature using the literature circles as our in class assignment. I introduced my literature circles on Monday and because the students had not participated in literature circles before I wanted to give them enough time for explanations and questions, which in sixth grade is a daily occurrence. As I began to introduce the literature circles I received many odd looks and groans. At first I thought I may lose the exact interest I was trying to create so I changed my strategy, I decided to focus on the jobs part of the circle and giving each student a chance to pick the job they wanted to research. This worked out perfectly and with only a few students who still had a few issues, the overall class was a success. Giving the students a choice to select the job allowed them to get more involved in the story and want to learn about mythology.


 * 1) **Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?**

I was successful in reaching my goal because I changed the strategy. Instead of starting first with the information I wanted them to learn about the literature circle discussion, I gave my students a chance to involve themselves because they were able to choose the jobs and research something they had an interest in.


 * 1) **What specifically went well with your lesson?**

Allowing the students to choose their jobs gave them more incentive to do the research and find out the information I needed them to understand for understanding. Initially, when I gave them the information they had no interest in doing any type of research, but when I changed the way I approached the lesson, involved them and gave them a purpose they really gained an interest for what they needed to discover. They did the research and came prepared for the discussion with questions to share with their groups. Giving them the choice of jobs made the difference in how much they wanted to become involved.


 * 1) **What did not go well with your lesson? Why?**

Some students still did not want to do the research even when they chose the literature circle job. These students were not very involved with the lesson and in some ways it could have hindered the group. When the students first entered the class I gave them a minute to get seated and then I did a full homework check. Once I realized some students did not complete the literature circle jobs I moved them to the back of the classroom so they had a chance to complete the lesson, if they did finish then they could join their group, two did, but one didn’t he sat at the back of the class without the chance to participate. If he would have done his job I really believed he would have enjoyed the lesson.


 * 1) **What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?**

In the next class I gave the students a few minutes to look over their jobs before the literature circle discussion started. This allowed those who did not complete the assignment a chance to finish and then join the group. This worked out better because everyone could participate in the discussion. I would also give more directions and what is expected of each job they selected. The direction shows each student exactly what to do to prevent those who didn’t o understand a chance to complete the lesson.


 * 1) **How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?**

Literature circles are a great discussion tool to involve the students in their own learning; they can take responsibility for what they are learning and actually learn more. I love literature circles I integrated them into my unit with both my chosen text as well as my Shakespeare lesson. Literature circles move the students toward the information they are learning because they are in control of what they discover, it gives them a foundation to continue onto the next lesson with more knowledge. Mythology was the unit where I taught two stories, I used literature circles with both stories and the students were move involved and learned more the second time we used the literature circle discussion.


 * 1) **What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?**

I mainly focused on how I could get my students focused on the lesson. I began to wonder what would make them interested in learning about mythology. I needed a “hook”, so when I changed the way I wanted the students to approach the learning and the research they became more involved. Having the students understand the benefits of what they are learning by making it more interesting to them is why the lesson was successful.


 * 1) **Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?**

I will definitely use this lesson over and over again. Literature circles are one of my favorite lessons to teach because of the involvement I receive from the students. Literature circles give the teacher and the student’s different ways to approach a lesson so everyone gets the most out of what they are learning.

Toss Lesson Reflection
On this day, I was continuing my lesson on adverbs. The previous day I had introduced them to what adverbs modify, what questions they answer, and where to find them in a sentence. At the end of the day, the students looked stunned. I assessed their comprehension of the day’s lesson by beginning the day’s homework out loud and as a class. The students were definitely struggling with identifying adverbs. I felt discouraged. I was worried that my lesson did not get through to them, and that my teaching methods for that day were all for naught. This stressed me some when I realized I had planned on giving them a quiz the next day on adverbs. I questioned whether they were prepared or not. So, for this lesson plan (the following day) my goal was for the students to fully grasp the meaning and purpose of adverbs. I also had to move on with the lesson on adverbs, so my other goal was for them to understand comparisons.
 * 1) What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?

I can strongly say yes to this. Everything in the lesson went so smoothly that at the end of the lesson I did stick by my original plan and gave them a pop quiz on adverbs. All of the students passed and 65% of the class made a 100%. The understanding they displayed on the quiz proved to me that the students did grasp the meaning of adverbs.
 * 1) **Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?**

After failing in the previous day’s lesson, I tried to find a different approach for the students. Originally, I had written all the rules and definitions on the board, and then immediately asked the students to respond verbally with example adverbs and sentences. I was expecting too much from them and putting too much pressure on their abilities to quickly and creatively come up with answers to what they had just learned. So, in this lesson I applied a teaching method that I had seen them respond to positively before. This time I gave them a giant list of adverbs and then allowed them, on their own time, to come to the board and choose the correct category (How?; When?; Where?; and To What Extent?) to write the adverb under. This went extremely well! The students responded much faster than they did the day before. I was still engaging the students in the same amount of content and they were still reaching the goal I had in mind. Instead of having to come up with adverbs (which they were never familiar with before) on their own, I gave them a list of adverbs to play with and to begin applying what they had learned. The pressure was lost and the learning was showing. As they walked out of the classroom that day, the students, whom I had once worried about before, were now coming to me and telling me “that pop quiz was easy! Thanks, Ms. Cook!” I was overjoyed and very satisfied with the day’s lesson.
 * 1) **What specifically went well with your lesson?**

If there was one thing about this day’s lesson that I would change it would be the way I presented the rest of the notes on comparisons. I felt like it went on for too long and that I was doing too much talking. This part of the lesson, once again, reflected the teaching method I had used the day before. I had written all of the definitions and rules about comparisons on the board, walked through it with the students and left it at that. I feel that when it comes to grammar and parts of speech the lessons are always going to have a portion where it is merely going to be memorizing the rules. Often times this results in just writing down the facts and no interaction or creativity occurs. This bothers me. I never know if my students are really getting it when there’s no genuine display of understanding.
 * 1) **What did not go well with your lesson? Why?**

Originally I had planned on just reviewing the notes from the day before all over again. I was going to write them on the board and have the students read them off and respond in that way. However, I decided to start off the lesson more like a conversation. I walked around the room and faced the students as I asked questions about adverbs. They would answer my questions, this refreshing their minds with what they had already written in their notes. If I had continued the same process from the day before, the students would have just tuned me out again. I also wanted to go over the comparison notes before I did the activity on the board, but I quickly changed that while standing in the front of the classroom. I did not want them to disengage so I moved on to the activity to keep them on their toes. This turned out well in the full outcome of the day’s lesson.
 * 1) **What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?**

This lesson fits into the entire unit on parts of speech. The next lesson/step in the unit is conjunctions, which wrap up the unit and make way for the final POS exam. When I thought about assessing my students with a pop quiz I referred back to my //English Teacher’s Companion//, by Burke. In this guide he spends a whole chapter discussing assessments. One assessment strategy which stuck out to me was “Begin With The End In Mind” (Convey 1989). Burke says that “whether this means a list of skills, a specific idea, or a concrete product, be clear about your intended outcome. Then, working backward, figure out the necessary steps to get there and how these can best be assessed” (Burke 285). This strategy helped me think clearly when I created the pop quiz. I knew that at the end of the day all I wanted for my students to understand was the role of the adverb. So, with that goal in mind, I created the pop quiz and all the procedures in my lesson leading up to that point. I believe my central focus on the primary outcome created an assessment that was meaningful, engaging, and specific to their learning.
 * 1) **How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?**
 * 1) **What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?**

Yes, I would use it again because of the more hands on portion with adverbs. The second half of the lesson, containing the notes given on the board, I would render. I would make it a little more applicable for students, perhaps using the same method I used in the earlier portion of the lesson.
 * 1) **Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?**

Sydney Robinson Toss Reflection:

My two weeks of teaching started at the beginning of a verb unit. The lesson I’m going to focus on is a vocabulary lesson that took place towards the end of my two weeks and before their big verb test. For this particular lesson I listed the terms on a pink sheet of paper, I listed the definitions on a yellow sheet of paper, and I listed sentences that contained the parts of speech on a blue piece of paper. The students were expected to cut each term, definition, and sentence out and match them on a piece of construction paper. My original goal for this assignment was that the students would become more comfortable with the terms and have more practice identifying them in a sentence. I felt I was successful in reaching my goals in that the students did become more comfortable with the terms that I had been teaching them. They also had more practice with identifying the parts of speech from sentences. The students also enjoyed completing this activity. They also worked with a partner for this activity allowing them to interact with each other. One thing that went really well was the students matching the terms and the definitions. They also really enjoyed this activity so they really put forth the effort in this activity. The sentences the students were supposed to match with the term and definition was confusing to them. Because all of the sentences had verbs in them, it was difficult for the students to match the correct sentence with the term and definition. The students were also very immature with the scissors and glue. I guess sixth graders need specific guidelines for what they are supposed to glue and cut.
 * 1) What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?
 * 1) Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?
 * 1) What specifically went well with your lesson?
 * 1) What did not go well with your lesson? Why?

One adjustment I will make for this lesson is more specific sentences. I will also explain to the students that more than one sentence match certain terms. I will also explain to them that they need to match the terms before they glue them. Another thing I will adjust for this lesson is that I will give my students very detailed instructions for using the glue and scissors and I will pair the students myself instead of allowing them to pair themselves.
 * 1) What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?

This lesson fit into the unit plan on verbs because I had already introduced the terms to the students, but this activity gave them extra practice with the terms in order for them to become more comfortable with them. Their test was two days later so they needed the extra practice with them. The lesson served the purpose of giving the students extra practice with their vocabulary words in order for them to do succeed on their test. Throughout my educational experience, I have learned the importance of students learning vocabulary and not just memorizing terms for a test. I felt this activity gave the students the opportunity to actually learn these terms in a fun way instead of just memorizing them for the test. I will use this lesson again because the students not only enjoyed it, but I felt the students really benefited from completing this activity. In order for this activity to go smoother, I will make the adjustments I mentioned above when I use this lesson again.
 * 1) How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?
 * 1) What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?
 * 1) Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?

Sydney Robinson-
The students have just returned from their specials, and seventh period is beginning. The students are working quietly on their daily grammar lesson. My collaborative teacher and I are sitting at her desk grading papers while the co-teacher is helping another student with her assignment. Ten minutes into our class, an unnamed teacher and a student from my CT’s homeroom and seventh period class walk in abruptly. The unnamed teacher is very upset.


 * Unnamed Teacher**: Mrs. CT, I want you to know that Student (student with him) was acting up in line on his way back from my class.
 * Mrs. CT**: What happened? What was he doing?
 * Unnamed Teacher**: Well, first of all, he and another student were pinching each other’s cheeks while standing in line. I started to get on to him and he smirked.
 * Student:** But, I wasn’t touching…
 * Unnamed Teacher**: WHAT? Are you making me out to be a liar? I know what I saw.


 * Now all of our class has turned their attention from their work to this teacher screaming at the student. My CT and I are literarily sitting there stunned that this is actually taking place. The student is now crying.


 * Unnamed Teacher**: Well Mrs. CT, I took three of his conduct cards. I think this calls for a write-up to the principal.


 * According to the school’s rules, a teacher is not supposed to take three conduct cards from a student for the same offence. This teacher was so mad that he did it anyways.


 * Student**: Crying. But I really wasn’t touching anyone. He was pinching my cheeks.
 * Unnamed Teacher**: Don’t even go there! You know what you were doing and then you smirked when I was getting on to you! I am NO liar!
 * Mrs. CT**: Ok, I will take care of this.
 * Unnamed Teacher**: I hope you do. I think he needs to go to the principal for this type of behavior. (The teacher is saying this very very loudly as he walks out the door.)

The entire class is staring at this student. The class is silent expect for the student’s sobs. My CT and her co-teacher are completely shocked. My CT and the student go out to the hall to talk. The student is so upset that he can barely get anything out. He is finally able to get out that he was not touching anyone, but rather the other boy was pinching him. The two boys are friends, so neither boy was doing this to be mean. The student was so upset that he could not come back into class. He ended up missing the entire class period because I had to take him for a walk to try to calm him down. He was humiliated and scared.

All of you should know that this student has always been an excellent student. He makes good grades and always has good behavior during classes, lunch, and recess. He has never been in trouble.

If you were in my CT’s place, how would you have handled this situation? Would you back the other teacher or would you back your student? Do you think the other teacher was out of line?

**Robyn-Lee Liversage**

 * 1) What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?
 * The lesson I gave was revising wordy sentences, and combining sentences by inserting words. I gave this lesson with the intent of furthering students understanding of the importance of writing with specific details and examples within a limited time and or word count. This activity was building on expanding sentences by adding specific details, and I wanted to be sure that the students understood the difference between adding important details, and adding fluff material. **


 * 1) Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?
 * I think that I was successful in reaching my goal. At first the students thought that the exercise was silly and unnecessary. But after we went over some of the examples, and compared them to their own sentences they saw that they did indeed need the refresher. They added “fluff” to their sentences without realizing, and after the lesson I do feel that they were more conscious to be specific and add details with a purpose. **


 * 1) What specifically went well with your lesson?
 * Well the students all seemed to be participating and paying attention. There were no disruptions so I was able to execute the lesson plan without any flaws. The material was basic enough to where the students understood it the first time (we covered expanding sentences by adding specific details for a whole week when it was supposed to take a day or two at most). **


 * 1) What did not go well with your lesson? Why?
 * The lesson went a little too fast. I had to slow it down near the end that way I didn’t finish early and have nothing for the students to do for the remainder of class. Normally my kids worked much slower than anticipated so we never finished what I had planned for any given day. And then the one day that I don’t prepare back up/time filler activities just in case is the day that we fly through the material and finish early. **


 * 1) What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?
 * Well my first period is my guiney pig period. After I ran through the lesson once I realized that I had time to go over more examples and hear from more students. So during second period I made the necessary adjustments to my lesson plan to allow it to fill the entire class period. **


 * 1) How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?
 * Well the lesson found its way into my unit by my CT giving me the grammar book and saying “here… find something to teach about revising sentences.” I paged through the book and found some activities that I thought would be useful and relevant to the unit I was teaching. I then “stole” the activities and examples and made them my own. I thought that explaining how to revise wordy sentences and combine sentences would be perfect to polish off their writing, especially since we had just worked on expanding sentences. It helped me to drive home the point of expanding sentences with RELEVANT AND SPECIFIC DETAILS, not just any old fillers or fluff. **


 * 1) What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?
 * I don’t fully understand what this question is asking… I was teaching my CT’s writing unit where a huge amount of emphasis was placed on the upcoming 8th grade writing test. Everything I taught, from sentences to paragraphs, was intended to prepare them for their expository/persuasive essay they would be writing at the end of the year. **

=**Alicia Lockhart**=
 * 1) Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?
 * Actually I do plan on using this again. I will revise it so that it is not intended to take up and entire class period, but rather assist another lesson. I liked everything about the lesson, from the directions to examples, to the actual sentences the students were revising. I thought that the students were able to easily see and understand the relevance of the activity, and appreciate the benefits of reviewing this material.**
 * Reflective Practice Assignment**


 * 1) What was your original intent or goal for this lesson? I did a lesson on ideas in which I was trying to help students learn how to be more specific with their ideas. In a previous lesson, I tried to show students models of paragraphs with lots of specific details and examples, but they did not receive that lesson well. They still did not understand how to elaborate ideas. So, I decided to do something basic; just so they could get the idea (no pun intended). In this lesson, students had to sort words or phrases into three categories: main idea (blue), supporting detail (red), or further explanation (GREEN). For example, take the words: story, short story, and //A Retrieved Reformation//. Story would be the main idea because it is relatively general. Then, short story would be a supporting detail because it adds a little bit more detail about the initial main idea word, story. Then, of course, //A Retrieved Reformation// would go in the further explanation category because it is most specific. It further explains a little bit about the short story by giving the actual name of the short story.


 * 1) Were you successful in reaching that goal? How? No, not at first because students made the activity a lot harder than what it was. However, after some heavy re-explaining and guiding students finally came to an understanding. Eventually, they received the lesson well and ended up sorting the words in almost all the right categories.


 * 1) What specifically went well with your lesson? The students actually working together and trying to distinguish the main ideas from the supporting details and vice versa with the further explanations. Students were really engaged and challenged. They were excited to highlight those words with the correct color.


 * 1) What did not go well with your lesson? Why? My first pitch of the lesson did not go well; I guess I was not clear enough or it just took a little time for the simplicity of the assignment to kick in to them. At any rate, I had to re-explain several times.


 * 1) What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson? I just explained at a slower pace and did a few “sortings” together as a class the next time I taught this lesson.


 * 1) How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson? This lesson was sort of a remediation. I was trying to give students a basic understanding of “Ideas” so that when they actually started writing paragraphs they would understand how to go about writing a good body paragraph. They needed to thoroughly understand main ideas, supporting details, and specific details and examples before they could incorporate them effectively in their paragraphs.


 * 1) What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework? I did not tie a theoretical principle or project to this lesson. if I did, I cannot think of it right now.


 * 1) Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not? Yes, of course! Not only did it help students understand the concept of Ideas better, but it was also fun and a great way to get students engaged in team work.

Amanda Pruitt
 * Reflective Practice Assignment**


 * 1) What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?

For this lesson, the students learned the five parts of a friendly letter. My goal was for each student to be able to write a friendly letter using the five parts, Greeting, Heading, Body, Signature, and Closing. The students will be able to write a friendly letter including all parts.

2. Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?

Yes, I was very successful in teaching this lesson. Every student wrote a friendly letter using all five parts. The students showed great interest in this lesson. Every student chose who they would like to send a letter to and then wrote their letters using the five parts.

3.What specifically went well with your lesson?

The part that went specifically well in the lesson was the interaction with the students. The students asked great questions and showed interest in the lesson. I did not have to beg for participation, the students offered their opinions and worked well with the lesson.

4.What did not go well with your lesson? Why?

The part that did not go very well was the time given for the lesson. I felt that the lesson on the five parts of a friendly letter should have had more time, so that each student could focus on each step at a time instead of it being rushed through. I would have liked the students to spend a couple of days on the letter.

5. What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?

One thing that I changed throughout the day was how the letter was explained. Each class period is different and needs different instructions to understand the lesson. I would go slower with some students and quicker with others depending on their personal understanding and learning abilities.

6. How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?

We had just finished up the verb unit, so it fit well with writing letters because the students had a chance to use their grammar skills within their letters. We had already discussed several parts of speech and the students were able to use that knowledge in their letters. The following lesson was adjectives and how they are important in writing.

7. What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?

Each student had written a letter to mail. Their project was their final draft of their letters. We used several of our notes from the parts of speech to help build strong sentences in their letters.

8. Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?

Yes, I would use this lesson again because it teaches writing skills as well as social skills. Also the students really enjoyed writing the letters because they got to chose who the letter was going to. The positive feedback that I received from the students made it an enjoyable assignment.


 * ROBYN-LEE LIVERSAGE**

1) A brief, thoughtful write-up that describes the classroom and school context and a description of the issue or problematic situation:


 * I am currently teaching 8th grade Language Arts at a middle school in a very nice area in north fulton county. My students preferred university is Georgia Tech., if that gives you any idea of the S.E.S. of the students I am teaching. My classrooms are not very diverse, and are on level. I have been teaching 1st and 2nd period, which are fairly smaller in size compared to my CT's afternoon classes. The students seem to be half asleep in the morning, and are not very excited about Language Arts. I am having trouble getting them to participate in class discussions and activities as well as completing in-class and homework assignments.**


 * I am teaching my CT's writing unit, and we started the unit by having the students work on expanding their simple sentences. They were supposed to include as much detail as possible in formulating new and interesting sentences. They were supposed to answer the questions Who? What? When? Where? and Why? They were also supposed to incorporate Names, Numbers, Examples, etc... The end result should have been extremely detailed and descriptive compound-complex sentences. The assignment was pretty basic, and was supposed to be a refresher activity to allow me to gage their level of creativity. Notice how I keep using the word "supposed", what I expected from them, and what I received from them were completely different. The work that was handed in to me was absolute gargbage. It was extremely below level, if it was even completed.**


 * After reviewing their incomplete work I handed it back to them with a detailed explanation of why they were getting it back, and explained that they were going to have to redo the assignment. I made sure to go over the directions in detail and explain to the class why they had to rework the assignment. The next day the students handed in the assignment, and literally one person out of both periods followed directions. Every single student, with one exception, did not even try to revise their worksheet. I was appauled. Literally they did nothing. I completely do not understand how I can assign a worksheet, and have both classes just refuse to complete it. They had time in class to complete the assignment, as well as two nights for homework, and they all knew it was being collected for a grade, but non of them cared.**

2) One or more artifacts that illustrate the topic or problematic situation (e.g., an assignment, an example of student work, a rubric, dialogue from a specific conversation):


 * Below are a couple of examples of the worksheets the students were expected to complete. I gave detailed examples and specif directions in class, in addition to the directions on the worksheets.**

3) Guiding/framing questions (i.e., questions to spark the group's discussion, ones that will lead them to consider possible solutions to the topic or problematic situation you describe):


 * - I realize that I cannot force students to write...any ideas on how I can get them to //want// to write?**
 * - My students will be writing a paragraph that is due this Friday (I am teaching all this week b/c my school was testing last week), any ideas on how I could possibly get them to take this assignment more seriously than their sentences worksheets?**
 * - Please take a look at the worksheets embedded above. I basically slightly revised the worksheets that my CT already planned on using for this unit. Is there maybe something wrong with the worksheet?**

Unfortunately this is a common problem with on level classes. Most students who are more motivated seem to have been placed in advanced classes and that leaves all the less motivated students in regular classes.

Can they be motivated to complete their work correctly? Sometimes. I suggest that after revising the work sheets and having students rework them in class, you follow up with a handout that describes the assignment and due date in detail and have each student get a parent signature (with phone number of parent signing, so students won't be tempted to sign them themselves) and then discuss the disappointment you felt as you as you reviewed the papers of each student and ask members of the class why have not completed their assignments.

That being said, it will be a difficult to get all the signed the handouts back, and it will be more work for you to do so as you will have to track down the missing ones and then decide whether to call the parents, talk to the students or move on.

You might ask your CT for suggestions because she knows the classes better than you do and she might know what motivates them better than I do. (CK)

I have been teaching 8th grade on-level Language Arts and just recently we started a new writing unit. Last Friday, I taught an introductory lesson on effective writing strategies focusing only on Ideas. My CT felt that we should target "Ideas" first since students seemed to have the most problems in that area. Also, Ideas are the most important element on the writing assessment they are going to be taking come January. Anyway, I start the lesson and students appear to be getting the lesson and I’m thinking everything is going well. Well, half way through the lesson students take a turn. Now, it appears that they do not understand what it means to further explain the main idea of a paragraph using specific details and examples. So, I keep going through the lesson explaining and showing them models of paragraphs that includes lots of major details and further explanations. After the additional explaining, students seem to be back on board; so I decide to do three little quick activities. The activities require students to turn general details into specific details and further explain a main idea and its supporting details. We get through the activities and more than half the class seem to understand how to express their ideas in the body paragraphs. I constantly ask my students if they understand (for reassurance) and of course they all say, “Yes.” I go ahead and assign an exit ticket and announce that if anyone needs extra help to raise their hand and I will come help them. Of course, no one really raises their hand---except for those same students that already gave perfect examples throughout the lesson. I walk around, monitoring, and everyone is busy writing. I collect the papers and decide to look over them during planning; I cannot believe how bad the papers are. Most of the students’ ideas have no supporting details or specific details and explanations. In fact, many of their ideas are underdeveloped and not focused. One student even drew a picture on his paper about his topic. Really? What happened? Examples below:
 * Alicia Lockhart**



Questions: 1) I know that this was only an introductory lesson and therefore, it may take some time for my students to get it. However, do you see where I possibly went wrong? What should I do next? 2) What are some effective activities for teaching students how to add specific details and examples to further explain their ideas? 3) What are some of your thoughts about teaching students how to write?

If you read Kelli's comments about teaching grammar (verbs) and the understanding that she thought her students had and then her reaction to the student writing samples, you will see a similar concern. I have found a serious disconnect between making the assignment and students completing the assignment correctly, be it a writing assignment or another type of assignment. Writing assignments seem to create the most serious disconnect, and I recognize that I learned more about how to write when I taught it than when it was taught to me. I made many attempts to correct the disconnect, but I found that advanced, on level or remedial classes had the same disconnect, and after teaching and reteaching specific details, and making my own worksheets where students had to distinguish between specific and non specific details, and having students create outlines using details, there was still a disconnect in about 1/3 of students, and this was after I made students write and rewrite outlines, spent over a week showing students how to write about one subject with supporting details; I still had one third of class who had not "gotten" it. My only advice would be to explain, reexplain and then explain again the assignment, and then give student a written version of the assignment, breaking the assignment down into smaller steps. (CK)

1. During the first week that I took over the classroom, my CT asked me to teach Transitive and Intransitive Verbs and Direct and Indirect Objects. I have always loved grammar, so I was excited to devote a whole week to these elements. All three of my classes are gifted, and they did very well with identifying each grammatical element on handouts and classroom activities. My CT and I decided to finish the week by assigning a handwritten paper in which the students would mark Direct Objects, Indirect Objects, and Intransitive Verbs. The papers were //terrible//. After attempting to grade about ten of them, I was completely disheartened, and I felt as though the students had forgotten everything they had learned. My CT and I agreed not to grade them, since there were so many aspects of the papers that were incorrect.
 * Kelli Moss**

I have attached a few examples of their papers. To enlarge the size of the papers (so you can actually read them), click edit on the wiki, click on the picture you want to read, and click the plus sign to enlarge the picture. 2.

3. I do not think that my CT's and my decision is entirely fair for the students who took the assignment seriously, but I also don't want to be known as the student teacher who stepped in and made the majority of the class fail. I also did not know when to stop grading - should I have graded for grammar and spelling as well, or should I have only counted points off for the grammatical elements that were missed or wrongly identified? In addition to these problems, some of the students identified Predicate Nominatives and Predicate Adjectives as Direct Objects. Obviously, these answers are incorrect, but I don't want to confuse them by attempting to explain it, and I also don't want to simply mark answers wrong without justification. How can I explain grammar elements that they have not yet learned?

Even after I enlarged papers, they were unreadable because of the contrast---they were too dark to decipher, so I cannot really evaluate the student samples. I cannot tell if you assigned the the students to write their own sentences, but if this is the problem, you have discovered the ultimate LA problem---how do we translate the teaching of grammar to the improvement of writing, and more basically, "Why can't (or won't) students follow simple directions for writing assignment?" This problem has frustrated me during all the years I have taught, and I have tried many different solutions, but the problem still exists. I do not know your directions to students, but one choice to consider is to circle all the errors, reexplain the assignment and give them a timeline in which to redo it. But don't expect miracles. Maybe 1/3 of students will "get" the assignment even on the second go round. (CK)


 * Kelli Moss**
 * Reflective Practice Assignment**


 * 1) **What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?**

I wanted to introduce Direct Objects in a fun and interesting way so that students would pay attention to the lesson.


 * 1) **Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?**

I feel that I achieved my goal, since the students quietly listened to my presentation, interacted promptly when asked, and asked questions that let me know they were paying attention.


 * 1) **What specifically went well with your lesson?**

The students responded well to the presentation that I created, and they showed enjoyment when they completed the handout, since they were able to create their own sentences with Direct Objects.


 * 1) **What did not go well with your lesson? Why?**

I will not claim that my lesson was perfect, but I did not have any problems specifically with the lesson.


 * 1) **What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?**

Originally, I was allowing the students to simply shout out the answers to the questions on the Prezi, but it became much too loud and unorganized. I also found that it was easier to gauge students’ understanding of the material when they were asked to raise their hands.


 * 1) **How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?**

This lesson was mirrored two days later by a lesson on Indirect Objects. When I taught the lesson on Direct Objects, I told the students that it was imperative that they ask me any questions on the topic to clarify their thinking, since it was a building block for the rest of the week. I used identical procedures to teach Indirect Objects so the students would not feel overwhelmed.
 * 1) **What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?**

I used the information that I have been taught on differentiated instruction to make this lesson accessible to most/all of my students. By including a presentation, verbal interaction, and an individual handout, each student was able to connect with at least one aspect of the lesson.
 * 1) **Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?**

I would definitely use this lesson again, but I would change the sentences on the handout for an older class so that the assignment would be more challenging for my students.


 * Amanda Pruitt**

1. At the beginning of my TOSS internship, my CT and I discussed what material would be covered during my time in the classroom. One of those assignments was a friendly letter. We both thought that this would be a fun activity and the students can learn the five parts of a letter and write to someone they chose. When I assigned the letter, the students were excited and ready to begin their letter. The problem showed up when we began writing our letters in writer's workshop. It amazed me and my CT that many of the students had no comprehension of how to write a letter. The students are so used to e-mail and texting, that actually writing a letter was truly challenging to the students.

2. After assigning the letter, the students had a chance to begin their letters in class. This is when the problems arose. Students began raising their hands to ask questions on how to write a letter. Some of the questions included: What does a letter look like? What am I suppose to say? Where do I write my name? Do I write their name on it? How will they get the letter? Can I just e-mail them, its free? What are stamps and envelopes for? After hearing all of these questions, I realized that I am dealing with a generation that was born into technology and writing a letter on paper and mailing it to someone was Greek to them.

3. My question that came out of this situation is do we as teachers continue to teach material like writing a letter to a generation of students that are so technology bound? Are we wasting our teaching time going over this assignment when the students will just e-mail or text their friends and family? Should we continue to teach this material knowing that 95% of the students will never write another letter? Is this skill important enough to spend class time teaching it?

I have questions about friendly letters too, but if the syllabus includes them and the CRCT are testing for them, you may be have to teach the subject, no matter how antiquated you feel it is, and I do not know whether friendly letters are in fact required in the syllabus. Many times as teachers we cannot decide what we will not and not teach. If teaching a friendly letter is not a required part of the syllabus, you will have some discretion in your choice to teach it or not. If it is, you have to follow the syllabus. (CK)

1. The TI I have chose to focus on is a situation that has progressively grown more pressing as my TOSS internship has progressed. In the beginning full week I was in the class room (6th grade advanced language arts) the students would talk amongst themselves as any normal sixth grade students have the tendency to do. But, I have now been able to figure out how to minimize and manage the talking, plus that is not the problematic situation; however, I do believe its fine to talk with students about who you are (of course within limits) but how am I to juggle this in with everything that they need to accomplish within the limited amount of time I have with them each day?
 * Andrea Kuhn**

2. Typically the students have just wanted to know more about my education, i.e. “What school do you go to?” “What grade do you want to teach?” etc. I don’t want to shut them down and say, “We only need to be focusing on language arts at this time,” because the positive social interaction with an adult figure is important for their social skills. However, I know that we need to focus on language arts and I feel like it might not be a good idea to answer their questions at all.

3. Therefore, my questions are:
 * Should it be a necessity for me to find time to answer questions from students about me and to ask them questions about themselves?
 * How best to skirt questions that are inappropriate from students and redirect them to more appropriate questions?

This has been a concern that many teachers have had, and my suggestion has always been to tell students that you will answer these questions the last day you are with the class. Very few students will ask their teachers what school they attended or if they are married or have children, so you should feel no feel no need to answer these questions when you have your own class, but as you are teaching, you can certainly use personal references to illustrate points when appropriate. (CK

Jodie DeGruy-Fowler

My TOSS classroom is a Language Arts and Social Studies class. My collaborative teacher has created different sections around the room to display the students work. She has a very interactive classroom which includes a word wall, where students are required to write words in relation to the lesson and subject matter. The students get really involved in putting words on the wall and correcting any misspelled words they may find on the boards. I will definitely use this word wall in my future classroom because it allows the students to interact with the words and gain a deeper understanding and what they mean to the lesson. Throughout my TOSS teaching experience classroom management has not been a major concern for me. My CT runs a tight ship and when I first introduced myself, I made it clear discipline procedures would remain the same during two weeks teaching the class. As my teaching progressed I noticed Mary* starting to disrupt the class, nothing major, but I could tell she was used of getting her way. The problematic situation occurs when other students are speaking and Mary* needs to exert her presence and wants attention. What transpires is another student is answering a question or speaking about the lesson; everyone else is listening and waiting for their turn to speak. Mary* is shaking her hand furiously in the air to answer the question. Once she is acknowledged for her to answer she claims she doesn’t have a question and when I press her further for something relating to the lesson she still says nothing or I don’t remember. Mary* exhibited this type of behavior once before, but I just blew it off as a legitimate reason, sometimes sixth graders forget their questions. The behavior has now increased to a level where it happens more than twice during each lesson. Once it reached its peak, I asked Mary* to step outside.

Conversation: Ms. Fowler—“Mary* I have noticed that every lesson you are raising your hand to ask a question, but when I call on you don’t seem to have a question. Why is this occurring? It’s becoming quite disruptive during class.” Mary*-- “I’m not; I really did have a question.” Ms. Fowler – “If that’s the case then why didn’t you ask your question?” Mary* -- “I forgot my question.” Ms. Fowler—“So you’re telling me every time I have asked you what your question was, you have forgotten it?” Mary*-- “Well Uh, No, but….. Ms. Fowler—Mary* you are well aware of the rules of the classroom and by raising your hand signals you have a question or comment. If you have a question or comment it will be answered, however constantly raising your hand with no question or comment is no longer acceptable. Mary*-- “Well I really did have a question.” Ms. Fowler—“Mary this is not up for discussion, you know the rules and you will abide by them or face the consequences. She reluctantly agrees and heads to her next class.

Questions: Was taking her outside to discuss the situation a good idea? Should I have just ignored her? How can we get students to participate in the lesson legitimately without always becoming disruptive? Since the behavior was increasing, should I have just taken her outside to discuss and also make a call/email home to her parents?

We discussed that situation today, and some students, for many different reasons, seek attention in class, but in inappropriate ways and some just want to get "under the teacher's skin." There is no "silver bullet" to solve these situations. Some students are better ignored and some students need positive reinforcement and some are just annoying. My first reaction to this type of student is to ignore, but when he/she (usually she) gets to me, I call the student outside of the class and ask student if he/she knows when it is appropriate or inappropriate to speak in class, and if he/she needs some lessons (after school) to reinforce the behavior. If student does not stop behavior, I first have him/her come in after school and write and sign a statement describing the unacceptable behavior. If this does not work, then I call the parents and involve then in their child's behavior. (CK)

= = =ARIEL T COOK= =Oct. 28th 2011=

I teach first period On Level Language Arts, and currently we are just going over the parts of speech. The classroom consists of 21 students total, two of which are inclusion special education students. The classroom environment is fairly calmed and relaxed a majority of the time. These students are deemed the “shy ones” by the team of four middle school teachers that interact with them on a daily basis. Rarely ever will a student speak up out of turn or inappropriately. The class consistently is too timid to even join in on class discussion time. This is a good and a bad thing. It’s good when you are teaching because there are no interruptions or disturbances. However, just because the students are quietly listening doesn’t mean they are actually getting it. They will not ask questions and engage when they are having trouble. Instead, they shutdown. This has been my mission lately; too liven up the classroom and have my students participate more in the class discussion of new concepts. This way, I can assess my students and see/hear their levels of comprehension.

As I finished up my last day of teaching today I felt confident and content with the level of engagement I have seen recently from my students. I was asking direct questions to my students and receiving lively feedback from most. I was able to practice methods that I reflected from my CT in order to have more students speaking during the teaching process. However, while seeing this change in my students I uncovered a more worrisome problem involving one student specifically. Out of all the students who were responding orally to my questions one student was having a more difficult time. This student (whose identity and gender I will keep completely anonymous) struggles with a speech impediment. This student is also one of the inclusions students.

The problem came to me during a lesson on verbs. I was asking for students to raise their hands and read to me the answers that they found written on the board. I was selecting students in a random order, preferably selecting the ones who were not speaking up as often. As I was doing this I noticed that this student was continually avoiding my eyes, not wanting to be called on; not once had this student raised his/her hand. Of course, the moment I saw a slight budge in the hand of the student I eagerly called out his/her name. I badly wanted to include this student in the day’s activity, so as to not leave anyone out. However, as soon as I did call out the name of the student, the student backed down and shook his/her head frantically and quietly. I had just realized that I embarrassed the student by putting his/her disability on the spot. This discouraged me. It looked to me as if the student did know the answer, but was too afraid to speak in front of me and his other classmates.

After class that day, I thought over and over again of how I could include the student in the class discussion without bringing his/her disability to the forefront and causing embarrassment. I have always been a visual and oral learner. So, thinking of learning methods that do not include speech require more thought from me. Today, I chose a different style of teaching which allowed for the students to come to the board and write the answers. This time the student was not shy at all about raising his/her hand and coming to the front of the classroom. So there is one way of engaging this student, yet I don’t believe it will work out every time. This student, just like the others in the classroom, needs a chance to have variety in his/her learning experience. Often while giving the class notes I question the students directly. This tells me that they are listening and focusing on the information I am giving them. This is when I notice the most that I am leaving this student out.
 * - How can I do the same for a student with a speech impediment without calling too much attention to their disorder and harming the esteem of the student?**
 * - Even more so, how can I recognize communication disorders, like speech impediments, earlier so that I can eliminate problems, like my recent one, ahead of time?**
 * - Have you had any recent encounters with students and communication disorders? If so, how has your CT handled them in the classroom?**


 * Great choice to have students write on the board so that your non verbal student could also participate. That really helped student to feel part of class.**


 * Your concern about learning students' limitations is a good one, and frequently the teacher network will alert you about different students' weaknesses---be they physical or emotional---and strengths. However, when as a new teacher, you get your class lists, you can check students' records and/or talk to the counselor. Sometimes you will get information before you begin teaching the class either from the parents or administration. I agree that you should have information about problems students may have before you teach them.**


 * Having students write correct answers on the board is a good exercise for both you non and verbal students as they like to move around and write on board. Another suggestion for non verbal student is to teach students to use prompt cards that you make up for a lesson. If you are distinguishing between transitive and intransitive verbs, for instance, you can make up enough of each (T, i) for each student to have one of each, and then have students hold up the correct card (without talking---which is a good self discipline for all students) for each type of verb. (ck)**