JenE

FLS Jigsaw: Response to Intervention Hi. I'm Jen E. I have 11 years of teaching experience with first and second graders. I'm a mom of two awesome kids (ages 6 and 2)
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 * Introduction and Reflection #1****

I completely agree with this view of our curriculum. I have struggled more with this fact this year than any other year of my teaching career. The reason is that I have a child in the grade that I teach. It is extremely eye opening. Never before, have I examined so closely what we are asking the 6-7 year olds to do. Of course I knew what I was teaching, but I didn’t have a clear view of how the average child was really feeling. Most first graders aim to please, so much so, that they mask when they are having trouble. They also become very adept at finding ways to get answers without having to understand how they got them. The very specific assessments (especially for math) are so limiting in showing what kids know about the content. It is not enough to be able to count money. No, they must read a problem, decipher all the “lingo”, find what the problem is asking, and then do the math. It is extremely overloading to a young child. By the time they get to “the math” they are so confused by the words that they have lost what to do. They also do not know where to write the answers. I spend so much time with them navigating the test that they often make small, but crucial computation errors once they get down to the business of solving the problems. I have absolutely no problem with high expectations, but I think that we need to slim the number of concepts taught at each grade level and really get in there and learn them inside and out. We are skimming the surface of too much and nobody is getting good at anything. We also need to reexamine the way we are assessing kids. First graders should not already have test anxiety. It’s not fair to them and frankly it is setting them up for further failure.

Jigsaw Assignment
Windows to the Universe ([|www.windows2universe.org]) This is a website devoted to Earth Sciences that is supported by the National Earth Science Teachers Association.

It is available in English and Spanish with three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

There is a "kid space" where kids can play games, work on activities, and set up their own journal.

It also includes a teacher page which offers activities, lessons, and tools.

The topics are listed in organized tabs and include: Sun Earth Solar System **Menu Activity** (my images won't come up but I emailed them to you Heather)

**Appetizer #7** Collect 5 photos, images, or clippings


 * || This image illustrates how teachers work with so many different types of children and are charged to meet their differing needs. ||
 * || This next image illustrates how different a product can look depending on what student has created it. Both are correct in their own way. ||
 * || I love how the students in this image are using tools specific to their own needs. ||
 * || The things that we put into place for our special needs kids can actually help everyone. ||
 * || No matter what the barrier, this man will find a way over the wall, just as we need to find a way to reach all our students. ||

**Main Entrée: #1 Visit “Check it out” page on class Wiki**

I visited a website created by Dave L. Edyburn called “A Primer on Universal Design in Education”. Edyburn says that a good place to start when beginning to use Universal Design in your teaching is to think of students/learners on a continuum. The curriculum should be flexible to address differences proactively. This is against what many educators/curriculums actually do. A one size fits all curriculum is destined to fail. One of the fundamental principles of UD is anticipating differences and then creating/designing the curriculum. I am stuck with my curriculum but I can proactively design my lessons to meet the needs of my learners. One tip that I really loved was the idea to create a “Tic Tac Toe” board with a variety of activities on it designed to support the objective of a particular lesson. Students should choose 3 activities from the board in order to complete the objective. Choice is the key. Students don’t want to feel bound to one way of doing things. They can demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways.

**Dessert: Matt Bergman’s Blog Site**

I chose to visit Principle 1: Multiple Means of Representation. I found some great tools to use with my kids to present information in new and exciting ways. One site was called “Superlame”. The site allows you to upload pictures and add speech bubbles comic book-style. You can also add sound effects including voice. Many of my students would love to see pictures of them presenting the information rather than me always doing it. It would also be funny to upload pictures of animals and have them talking to the kids. They would be so engaged! Another site that Bergman recommended was “Voki” which offers free text to speech. You can create customized avatars and add a voice. Students would love this! The blog has so many great ideas.

**Reflection # 4** There are so many barriers that traditional assessments create. When thinking about the tests that my first graders take, I believe the form of the test itself is a barrier. There are too many words, the questions are not presented in a visually simple way, and there are too many different types of questions. As soon as my kids get used to multiple choice, then there will be a short answer problem. Navigating the test is so complicated. Also, you would not believe how much time I spend making sure that everyone is on the right page. The tests are usually copied front to back so sometimes the kids have to turn the page and other times they have to flip the test booklet over. Also word problems could be written using grade level words, but they are not. They are way too hard for the kids to read, so they spend too much time decoding and then forget what the problem is actually asking them to do. Worst of all, some questions start on one page and continue to another so kids have to go back and forth. It's crazy! I agree that there are many challenges when we think of offering other options for assessment. For one, what type of assessments to choose for what child? There would have to be a lot of formative assessing going on. Also the assessments have to be comparable. They each have to accurately measure the objective. I can also see some parents having trouble digesting that their child will be taking a different assessment than their neighbor's child.

I do not think it is okay for teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technology into their classrooms. The goal of teaching is to reach all learners and our learners are technologically inclined and thus technologically motivated. Motivation is one of the key principles to promote authentic learning. However, I think it is going to be extremely difficult to get some teachers on board and trained appropriately. We all know teachers who feel like the "old" way of teaching works just fine and why reinvent the wheel. If it is mandated then the training must be provided. The problem is that every year there is always something new that comes down the pike and we are told that this is the way we will do things from now on. Then the next year, that initiative seems to be forgotten and then there is something else that we have to learn and implement. I know many teachers who take everything during the training and then file it right in the trash afterwards because they know it will soon be gone anyway. What teachers need to realize is that technology is only going to grow exponentially and it is not going away. Each year our students will become more and more tech savvy earlier and earlier in their lives.
 * Reflection#5 **

1. A Digital Native is defined as a native speaker of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet. The children in K-College now are considered Digital Natives.
 * Reading #1:**

2. A Digital Immigrant is someone who is learning the new language of technology. They retain their "accent" from their life before technology. Often they will not turn to technological sources first, as if from habit.

3. Digital natives do not have patience for lectures or step by step logic because they have grown up with the instantaneity of technology like cell phones, lap tops, instant messaging, and downloaded music. Lectures are not instantanious and their brains are not step by step logical.

4. Educators need to move faster and with more access than before. We should adapt materials to better meet the needs of our learners.

5. Learning preference: Digital learners process pictures, sounds, color, and video before text. I totally agree with this. My young students love when I show the text on our Promethean board with animations before they read the text alone or with a buddy. It helps them with the vocabulary and comprehension. Learning preference: Digital immigrants (many educators) prefer slow and controlled release of information from limited sources. I agree with this as well. I think that some educators think that if they don't go slow many students will get lost. They also choolse a few resources because that is what they are useful.

This article made it very clear that our digital advancements are positively effecting how we give and receive information to and from our students. Tablets make note-taking, research, and publishing easier. Projectors save time and make content easy to distribute/view. When we have online classrooms work can be revised and republished quickly and easily. Each one of these points focused on how technology can make teaching and learning easier if it is embraced.
 * Reading #2 **

I really liked the graphic. I kept thinking of my grandmother. She is on Facebook and is always calling on the phone asking how to do this and that. Recently she asked me, “What is this twitter and how do I do it?” This chart would be very helpful for someone like her. She can see what it is and how to do it. I have a lot of trouble walking her through things on the phone. I think the layout of the graphic is easy to follow even for an 83 year old!
 * Reading # 3 **


 * Reading #4 **

I feel our county would benefit from Gaggle because it seems like a safe and professional way to share information. The students will like it because it is right up their alley being a form of social media. It would help eliminate some of the attendance issues because teachers can post assignments and students can submit work without having to be at school. I liked how it was censored for curse words and other inappropriate activities that would distract students from what the purpose of the network is. Our county seems so behind right now because our access to the internet is so limited. Hopefully social networks will be utilized to motivate students and prepare them for their future out in the working world where they are going to have to use social media in a responsible way.

Space Science Culture People Games

Each tab seems to have endless subsections as well!


 * Weekend 2: **

Educator membership is 20 dollars a year. A school membership is 2, 200 dollars per year