DI+UbD+Chapter+4+Block+2

[|Synthesis - UbD/DI C4 B2]

The next chapter of the book goes into what is that we need to put students into a successful position. The fist part we see addressed is the fact that we need a compelling curriculum that is clear yes, but we also need to remember that we teach humans and instruction is equal as important because we must be clear about what we need students to learn while being able to get the information to the students in an accessible way. The next part of this chapter goes into the essential attitudes and skills of differentiated instruction giving a definition of it and then giving an example. Their list is establishing clarity about curricular essentials, accepting responsibility for learner success, developing communities of respect, building awareness of what works for each student, developing classroom management routines, helping students become effective partners in their own success, developing flexible classroom teaching routines, expanding a repertoire of instructional strategies, reflect on individual progress with an eye toward curricular goals and person growth. || I think this chapter laid out some very valuable principals that I will take forward with me. The big one I connect with were accepting responsibility for learners success because it is my job as a teacher to get every the knowledge and I think way too often we just look at grades and we forget school isn’t about getting grades it’s about learning and that is what need to take place. Also expanding my repertoire of instruction strategies because I really need to work on presetting the same information in the same way. I also believe having a flexible classroom is an important element because everyone is different and everyone likes to be taught different so it’s my job to change things up when material isn’t getting through to students at the rate it should be. Finally awareness of what work for each students strikes me as an important element because it gives students more access to success and this creates an avenue for self advocacy and this becomes and important skills in the real world. || This chapter shows that curriculum is not the only thing that matters in the classroom. It is important to have an effective curriculum in order to engage learners in the classroom. However, just curriculum without taking into account who you are teaching is pointless. Curriculum alone is almost the same as having no teacher at all. A teacher must be there to guide each individual student through the material to fully give them a learning experience. Reaching each student, and the curriculum go hand in hand in the learning process. One cannot work without the other. Without curriculum, students have nothing to learn. Without adapting to each student, students will miss what the curriculum is built to teach. This chapter touches on teachers being able to reach every kind of learner in many different ways. It is the teacher’s responsibility to put the student in the driver’s seat of their own learning. This chapter also says that it is important to look at the progression of each student. Reflection (could not get text to go in other box) This chapter put many questions into my head. One question is: Is Differentiated Instruction totally realistic in the classroom? DI makes so much sense, but in some ways it seems unrealistic to teach in so many different ways. After designing a curriculum, the teacher must focus on how to relate it to each student. If I am teaching a history time period and have 80 minutes a class to teach it, will differentiated instruction for every student in many ways harm the class as a whole more than help them? I’m not saying that it’s not something worth working for. I guess I’m just wondering where one draws the line, and decides to teach in a more general way in the classroom. I think that looking at the progress of students is a good idea, because it allows you, as a teacher, to properly assess yourself. This will help you make decisions on what you need to change in your teaching style and curriculum.
 * **Names** || **Abstract** || **Reflection** ||
 * Barnes Mckell || Chapter four was talked in essence about teaching different ways to get students to be the most successful. It really touched base on differentiated instruction. Another aspect of teaching this chapter touched upon was establishing curricular essentials. Try to shy away from covering a lot of content with no depth. This chapter embedded the idea of breaking down the curriculum into the main ideas and then teaching those main ideas with great depth. According to this chapter this style of teaching will keep kids more engaged in the classroom. This chapter also talked up developing communities respect. Teachers need to provide an atmosphere that is comfortable to students. A way to do this is showing respect for different opinions of diverse students. Most importantly, it is essential to teach to all types of learning || I really enjoyed how the chapter summarized what teachers need to do at the end of each section. I think the chapter provided concrete information about why it is important to teach to all types of learning. I also think the scenarios the book provided gave great examples of how to demonstrate the ideas the book was talking about. I also liked the concept of building awareness of what works for each student. I think it is important to recognize what works and what doesn’t work for your students. That way you can adapt to their learning styles which will lead to more successful students. ||
 * Brennick Christopher ||
 * Columbia Laura || In chapter four of //Integrating//, entitled "What Really Matters in Planning for Students Success" discusses the importance of curriculum. The better the curriculum there are more possibilities for learning and involvement. Another important point made was that teachers cannot teach everything, and students cannot learn everything. Therefore, it is important to focus on the essentials of a topic, and not every single detail. In addition, if the curriculum is focused more on the understandings than just memorizing facts, there is more room for creativity. Other issues that were discussed are respectful classrooms, understanding each students needs, helping them succeed and developing routines. || This chapter was full of a lot helpful information. However, at times it was overwhelming. The part about curriculum was very helpful. Sometimes I am caught up in the details so it was good to remember that it is more important to learn for understanding than memorizing little details. Another area that I felt was very important was making clear what your expectations are before you start teaching. You will be able to help your students learn more if you have a good understanding of what you want to accomplish and how it will be assessed. All of this information helped me understand what it means to be a teacher and the work that is needed to be put in. ||
 * Coombs Kayla || Chapter four addresses effective differentiation in the classroom, which is done by one being able to teach content in a way that works for every learner. Teachers should have the following skills and outlooks to be able to teach every type of learner: they can clearly establish the essentials of the curriculum, they accept the responsibility of success of the learners, their classroom is a community of respect, they are aware of what works or every student, they effectively use classroom management, and they are flexible in their teaching routines. Those that practice responsive teaching should get to know each student to the extent of knowing how to effectively teach them content, and be able to find alternate ways of teaching and ways of learning to ensure steady growth of each learner. Teachers that practice using effective differentiation in their classrooms should ensure that each student is treated with respect, all are cooperating and interacting with each other, each student is called upon to participate, so all feel equal and important, and that all cultures, languages and perspectives are represented in some form in the classroom. || This chapter has a lot of important things to note about effective differentiation. One must make sure every student feels equal and important in the classroom. When I am a teacher I will do my best to make certain that every student feels they have a significant place in my classroom, and that I will do my best to teach them effectively. I realize that it will be my job to find out how to reach each learner and suit their learning needs while still having a quality, well-established curriculum. I want to make sure to call on each student consistently, and make certain that all are getting along and respectfully cooperating with each other. It will be important to incorporate every student’s individual culture in a way that all feel welcome and proud of whom they are. ||
 * Cummons Michael ||  ||


 * Damboise Kelley || Chapter four hits hard into the essential attitudes and skills of differentiated instruction; there are nine major components that are covered they include: the teachers ability to “establish clarity and curricular essentials, accept responsibility for learner success, develop communities of respect, build awareness of what works for students, develop classroom management routines, help students become effective partners in their own success, develop flexible classroom teaching routines, expand a repertoire of instructional strategies, reflect on individual progress with an eye toward curricular goals and personal growth”. (Armstrong, 40) If curricular essential outcomes are not clear teachers tend to fall into the give the more advanced students more of the same material they have already achieved and give less material to the students who do still not understand the general concept of the curriculum. As teacher it is important to take on responsibility for the way their students are learning. It doesn’t matter how creative the lesson is and how well it is delivered; in the end what matters is that learning occurred with the students. Developing respect for one another in the classroom will help students feel safe and want to participate in their own learning. Building awareness towards each student and their learning habits will help the teacher develop meaningful lessons that focus of student’s interest and needs. Classroom management techniques allow for a class to run smoothly which in turn allow for more learning to take place. The more flexible the teachers teaching routines are the better it is for the student to learn and understand the material because teachers are able to present the material in different ways. Making sure that students goal are aligned with the curriculum goals helps the teacher and students move in the same direction towards a common goal. || No matter how hard teachers try to plan a creative and fun lesson the most important part is trying to remain flexible when it comes to delivering the information for different students. Accepting responsibility for each student’s learning is an important aspect that new teacher must take into consideration every day. Before, teachers use to deliver one lesson and hope that most students understood what was being taught. Now it can’t be done this way, teacher understand that students learn in different ways and to stick to one generic way of delivering the material is not taking responsibility for students learning. The more instructional strategies teachers can bring to the classroom the better the chance are that students are going to learn the material. ||
 * Kelley Kathleen || Chapter four in //Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design// spent a significant amount of time discussing how the quality of your curriculum/planning can really affect the success of your students. This kind of quality is usually achieved when using responsive teaching. There are certain characteristics that teachers must master in order to help students reach their full potential. The nine skills are as follows: to be clear about the set curriculum, to be responsible for the success of your students, to help students be the reason for their success, to have many different teaching strategies, to be flexible about routines, to be aware of each students abilities, to have a respectful learning environment, to have management routines for the classroom that promote success such as high expectations, routines, participation, and rules. The final point is the ability of the teacher to keep an eye on a students individual progress, their personal growth by having them set goals for themselves, and by keeping track of their success. || As far as the nine skills go, only one of them stood out to me. One of the nine characteristics had to do with making your student realize that they are the reasons for their own success. I think that this is one of the most important aspects of being a good teacher. Despite all of the work that we may do as educators, it is the student who has taken this advice and used it to their full advantage. As students excel, I want them to realize that they are where they are because of their hard work and dedication. Other than that point, the characteristics listed are traits that I would expect a great teacher to have. In the future, I hope to have mastered all of these traits so that I can be the most helpful teacher possible. ||
 * Knowles Christina || Chapter four begins with the explanation of how important a proper curriculum is. Teachers need to choose what units in the subjects are more important than others in relation to the big picture. We have to make this decision because there is no possible way we can include everything we would like to into a school year. We also have to be very flexible when assigning work to students because students learn differently and start from different points on some subjects. The chapter also focuses on getting to know each student as an individual in the ways they learn, connecting with their lives and also seeing where each student is starting on certain topics. || I really liked this chapter because of its focus on getting to know each student. I feel this is the only way a good student-teacher relationship can be created. I also liked that this chapter says that curriculum needs to be thought out and that not everything can be taught because there is so much to cover in each subject. ||
 * Mourkas Margaret || This chapter was all about how to have an effective curriculum for your students. But it also explained how each student is different so there is going to be differentiating ideas. This chapter also explains that yes, curriculum is important, but if you don’t teach to your students you are not really teaching them at all. Some of the students may learn but not all of them will succeed. Another big point within the chapter was that some teachers tend to overwhelm themselves trying to teach everything. A teacher cannot teach everything there is to know within in their concentration area. Respect was another issue that was discussed in this chapter. || Out of all the chapters that we have read so far, this was I think the most confusing. It took me out of my comfort zone when talking about curriculum. I have very little knowledge about how curriculum works or how to set it up. It was nice to see in writing though that it is okay to stray from the set curriculum a little because you are going to have different types of learners in your classroom and you are also going to have different levels of knowledge as well. I do like it though when the chapter provide scenarios because it allows me to visualize what the chapter is trying to say. ||
 * O'Neil Christopher || Chapter four discusses the different learning styles that teachers need to be aware of in the classroom. It also discusses how important the curriculum is in the classroom. Teachers need to be aware that there are going to be a variety of students with different learning styles. Some of these students may learn slower than others. It is imperative that teachers do not single out a single student. They need to make sure to give work to the students evenly. For example, give homework that is slightly challenging for the more advanced students in the class one night and give homework that is slightly easier the next night for students that are not as advanced. Teachers need to make sure they mix up their teaching styles. Students will learn much better if a teacher uses different styles of teaching in their curriculum. ||

I really enjoyed this chapter because I agreed with everything that was discussed. I firmly believe that a teacher needs to have a variety of teaching styles in their classroom. From my experiences with teachers, I found that I learned a lot more from the teachers that mixed up the different teaching styles versus the teachers that taught the same way day after day. By having many different teaching styles, you keep all of the students interested in the topics being discussed. Also, I noticed that teachers that single out certain types of students tend to lose respect from their other students. Teachers need to make sure that they need to treat all of their students the same and not single any of them out. In chapter four of DI UbD, Tomlinson and McTighe stress the importance of clarity in the classroom. Clarity, especially in regards to curriculum, is essential to student learning. They also explain that to differentiate instruction does not mean to give struggling students less work and excelling students more. A teacher needs to alter his/her curriculum to accommodate the learning abilities of struggling and excelling students. Tomlinson and McTighe also mention the importance of “accepting responsibility for learner success,” and not make excuses for students being unsuccessful (pg. 44). Tomlinson and McTighe give examples of how teachers can create stimulating environments for their students by developing communities of respect, building awareness of what words for each student, developing classroom management routines, developing flexible teaching routines, expanding a repertoire of instructional strategies, and reflecting on individual progress. “The goal is not perfection but persistence in the pursuit of understanding important things.” (pg. 56) I picked these two quotes out of this chapter because I feel like they work to confirm one another. It is important or us to remember that we are teaching human beings, young human beings, and perfection is something that we will probably never achieve. They are still learning, not only what we’re teaching them in the classroom, but about themselves as people and how they function in the world. It’s not our job as teachers to be perfect just as much as it’s not the job of our students to be perfect, and I feel like it is easy for teachers to get caught up in the desire to have a perfect classroom. Our job is to do our very best and simply be persistent in providing the best education we can. ||
 * Richardson Cassandra || This chapter focused on the idea that the teacher needs to be aware of the different learning styles in the students they are teaching in order to create an effective curriculum. Having an effective curriculum is a precise science, so to speak, due to the importance of having enough flexibility built in to appeal to the different learning styles present in the classroom, but still must act as a guide for the learning the teacher intended. One of the things this chapter touched on to help make curriculum worthwhile in the differentiated classroom was asking students’ opinions on lessons and units, and taking their advice into consideration for the next try. || This chapter called into question the idea of differentiated learning and its effectiveness in the ‘real world.’ If teaching to different learning styles is something to strive towards and has been proven to be more effective than teaching one way, how come we didn’t come into contact with teachers who did this as much as we apparently should have? Some teachers that I had, now assessing their strategies in my head, seem to have at least been updated to at least try to incorporate differentiated teaching into their curriculum, but did not necessarily make it their number one priority. On the other hand, because it is the ideal that teachers should be striving towards, I liked the suggestions that accompanied the real-life scenarios, more specifically keeping a notebook of post-its on interaction and learning progress with each student. This strategy seems like it would enhance student-teacher relationships, which would in turn enhance learning in the classroom. ||
 * Trundy Monique ||  ||
 * “We are also teachers of human beings.” (pg 39)
 * Webb Christopher || Chapter four discusses many different ways a teacher needs to help their students, but also incorporates many ways students can help themselves. It begins by talking about developing a quality curriculum and states that this is not important but not everything, an excellent curriculum can still fail in the hands of an unskilled teacher, you need to be able to teach it to everyone. It defines nine attitudes an effective teacher who helps all learners will have. The first is one who clearly establishes what is essential to the curriculum, thus avoiding content overload as stated in the last chapter. It states that teachers and students must both accept some of the responsibility for the success of each individual; everyone is working together toward a common goal. It then discusses how a classroom should interact; it compares it to a small community. Next it says how a teacher should be aware of what learning style works best for each individual student so you can gear instruction towards everyone in an effective manner. Students should also have responsibilities in managing the classroom because this will give them responsibilities and will alleviate some of the pressure from you to control the entire class. || This chapter covered so much and had so many great ideas about a wide range of topics. It clearly explained each big point and broke it down as well as gave an example scenario for each one to clearly illustrate how to implement it. This chapter definitely outlined many good qualities a teacher needs to have but it seemed like the author didn’t take his own advice about content overload because it was a little overwhelming. As I was reading this chapter the task of creating a class like this just seemed impossible to me, but I suppose the idea is to take these as they are and incorporate as many as possible. I definitely will take into account the section about giving students responsibility for classroom management and developing their own success because I think the more involved in class they are the more attentive they will be and less likely to not pay attention. ||
 * West Simon || This chapter begins with how most teachers feel that they should enter the classroom knowing that there could be a variance in student learning, but states that most teachers even in belief of that do not put it into practice in their classroom. Later it begins to state how to effectively work in classrooms that have differential learning styles. One of the key points brought up is how many teachers will deal with advanced and struggling students by decreasing the workload on a struggler and increasing the work load on someone who is advanced in the subject, the chapter states how that is not really accomplishing what the teacher should be doing to help each of these students. The chapter also goes on to speak of how a differential classroom should work, and that not all the children need to become best friends, but that they need to at least treat each other with respect. The chapter tells us that it is very important that the teacher takes close observation of students in individual, group, and total class work so that they can see who is advanced or struggling in what areas, and to also keep an open communication with students to get their input on how they feel the lessons are going. The chapter states that teachers should act as hunter gatherers of information on what bests suits the students in their class. || This chapter is very powerful and dynamic in how it covers a lot of issues that involve the same topic, this one being how to create an effective differential learning environment. I liked how the chapter explained to in different fabricated scenarios, certain effective ways to keep tabs on student progress, so that we know who needs attention in certain areas. The different examples of how to create an effective learning environment for children of differential learning abilities, or progress were also helpful in creating ideas of how to do it in our own classrooms. I was also struck by the statement in this chapter that students need to be held partially accountable for their own learning progress. As a high school student I was always told that was my responsibility to learn the material, and since coming to Farmington I’ve been told it is my job to ensure the student learns the material, I am pleased to have finally read an option that offers a happy medium. ||