With this being my second year of teaching now I have been able to learn from so many mistakes and make myself a better classroom teacher.  I feel that through self evaluation and mostly collaborating with other teachers I have given myself the ammunition needed to be successful and reach out to my students in the most effective way.  I know that there is still much for me to learn but I feel that I have become more prepared and effeicient in my teaching methods.

Getting Them to Fall in Love With You

In the Love and Logic text there is this little insert of pg. 311 that talks about the relationships that a teacher from the inner city of Los Angeles formed that made her a one of the most successful teachers in this area.  So I took this insert and applied it to my classroom.  I have found that through building my relationships with my students I have been able to take them to new heights that they once thought where not possible.  I believe the greatest satisfaction comes from seeing students work problems and communicate problem solving methods that they never thought possible.  I know that through my relationships my students would do anything for me and I believe that through their leaps I have been able to take to new heights they never thought possible. 

In the readings for Love and Logic this week I ran across a useful hint that struck me as something I already do in class and how it can be effective.  This concept is that of negative assertion with my students.  I do believe that sometimes by not playing their game so to speak you let your words and actions be the discipline for the student.  I have found this true when moving students to different seating locations and also recieving zeros on days for participation grades for not participating.  Students seem to think it is fair and want to argue and I just point out that they earn what they got and nobody is to blame but themselves.  This has been a very effective strategy for my discipline throughout the school year.

How to reach those kids that just say I can't?

Is there really a true answer to this question and I believe that answer to be a no.  I think though that each teacher has in them the capabilities to reach these troubled students.  I have found ways through my readings of the text and my experiences to reach these types of students in my classroom.  I have developed relationships with these students where they trust me and I have familiarized myself with their likes and dislikes.  When they seem disgusted and frustrated I make a point to try to provide real life examples to them that are connected to things that they like and are interested in.  I think that through this development of a relationship I have put myself in a position where I have become an effective teacher to all types of learners.

In my readings in the text I really became engaged in the concept of giving students choices.  I think that this avenue not only leads to more power sharing but in all more responsibility on the part of the students.  I think that the more we are able to let hte students choose different items the more positive reinforcement we are providing them.  In my own classroom I sometimes make assignments that allows the students to know to choose which assignment they complete and ones that may spark more interest for the students.  I believe that the more choices you are able to provide to the students the more involved and interested they become in the subject and the class.

Reading in the Love and Logic text I really became interested in the different intervention strategies to deal with the disruptive student in class.  I really thought some of the interventions where simple but really effective and I have found that I use them in class on a regular basis.  The biggest component of these interventions that stood out to me was the fact of how they are delivered to the students.  How teachers need to be moving throughout the room when delivering these interventions and how they must be delivered with genuine compassion.  I believe the latter to be the most important aspect as students want to feel that you do have their best interest at heart. 

I have really been examining discipline within my classroom and ways that I can improve.  I found something really interesting to me in the Love and Logic text.  I think that there idea of core beliefs is essential within the classroom to promote positive behavior.  I think that by the class helping develop beliefs that are core to their positive behavior and posting them that students will hold themselves more accountable.  I think that this is an approach that I will try at the beginning of next year and see how it works.

Do Kids Have Rights

I found that this small segment in Love and Logic was very truen and influential in the classroom.  Not only do I believe that each and every student has rights but that they also tend to misbehave when they feel that those rights have been violated.  In my classroom I am very considerate of the rights that the students have and let them be heard so as to create a positive learning environment.  I think that it is very important to remember this because students are more willing to listen and participate in class when they feel as if they are being respected and looked at as an uniques individual with rights.

The conference that I attended last week for the Kentucky Math Council was awesome.  I came away with some really great ideas that I am going to start implementing into my classroom.  I think that the biggest idea that I came away was the idea of teaching to mastery.  The speaker done a really good idea of demonstrating the ideas that he used in the classroom.  I am going to start doing formal assessments on or around an average of every fifteen minutes.  This will give me the ability to evaluate my students mastery of the concept in a more proficient manner. Also students will now have a card on their desk that will be red on one side and green on the other.  Students will simply flip the card to the red side when they are getting confused or lost on the topic and intervention will be provided quickly.

Tomorrow I will be attending The KCM Math Teachers conference in Lexington.  I am really excited about the opportunity to listen to and learn from different educators with various levels of backgrounds.  The main focus of the conference will be centered on the implementation of the core standards for mathematics.  I think that this training will be very beneficial for me as I draw nearer to my participation in the task force in charge of deconstructing the new standards.  There are going to be various seminars that look at the vocabulary and the depth of knowledge contained within the standards.  I think that this training will help me serve as a better member to the task force as I will have some background on the structure and breakdown of the new standards.

9:00

I gave the pre test today for teaching my unit and was able to look at the results and really excited about the opportunity to teach this lesson.  It will be very interesting and I think motivating to the students for them to see how they improve from one point to the finished result.  The students really put forth their best effort and I know that this will be able to help me improve my effectiveness as an instuctor.  The test lets me know the areas that are of major concern for me to help strengthen the skills necessary for them to complete the objectives and the tasks contained within the unit.

2/14/11 9:30

Just finished Task F and I am really excited about the opportunity that I have before me this summer to take part of the Math Task Force for the district.  This task force made up of five math teachers throughout the county will deconstruct the new standards and update the current curriculum documents.  This gives me a great opportunity to be a leader and take a leap toward my ultimate goal of administration.  After training on how to deconstruct standards and updating the curriculum documents we will spend several days presenting and explaining how the new curriculum documents were formed and the objectives contained within them to help guide our instruction.

2/8/11  11:15

Wanted to write about the professional development vertical team meeting that we had yesterday after school.  Today is another snow day for us here in Laurel county.  Yesterday during the meeting we discussed the new requirement of an end of class exam in Algebra II.  I had the opportunity to discuss my views on how we can help prepare our students for this exam.  With the MAP testing that we are participating in we have the opportunity to track our students and place them in the appropriate areas for improvement.  I had the idea of creating an Algebra 1A and Algebra 1B for those low achieving students.  These classes would be year long classes that would result in just one math credit when completed and an elective for the other.  This would allow us to help prepare these students that need this remediation to become more prepared to take these exams when they are more mature and knowledgable to do so.

2/2/11  6:00

Just returned home from a professional development on incorporating writing assessments into the curriculum for our students using writing.  The emphasis was on writing to learn and how we can use this to help our students retain more information.  We sat in groups within our content area and was able to complete tasks together that helps give ideas and also the ways that we are already using writing to learn in our classrooms.  I think with this training I will be able to use this more even in my math class to help students learn using writing.   

2/1/11  1:50

Today had a conversation with one of my students who is getting ready to turn sixteen and he says that he is dropping out of school as soon as that happens.  I tried my best to motivate and look for ways to help him see the significance that an education will have in his life.  In these conversations from the past I have found the best way to strike a conversation about the interest that the student has.  Then look for some way to gather some information for him or her that connects education to that specific area of interest.  I have found that through doing this that the students eyes raise as to the fact that to be the best at what I want to do I may need this.   Hopefully through this intervention I may have an impact on a student staying in school to receive his or her education and graduate.

1/27/11 2:40

Well what do you know another snow day.  I have spent the day here at school working on completing my Task G.  Through completing this task I ran across a document that really sparked my interest and that being the crosswalk document that is published through the Kentucky Department of Education.  This document was not only beneficial in completing this task but I think will be very beneficial to me while serving on the task force for deconstructing the math standards for the next school year.  I found it very interesting in how it linked the new standards to the old standards but also told on a scale of 1-3 how they thought that the document closely matched the two standards.  I found it very interesting to look at how the language has changed but some of the underlying meaning is still there.  Like I stated I think that this document will be very beneficial in my service on this task force.

1/26/11 10:20

Well sorry that it has been a while but we have been so busy with meetings about the new standards and our scheduling for next year and wouldn‘t you know we have another snow day. .  Our district also didn’t meet AYP in some areas this year so some interventions have been put in place and one of those is monthly meetings with the district staff.  Yesterday morning during a PLC we discussed the needs for some different class offerings.  The state is now requiring end of class exit exams for Algebra II so we are looking at what ways we can intervene before that test occurs.  We are thinking about offering an Algebra IA and IB where IB would provide some introduction into the Algebra II material and jump start the kids.  It looks as if my schedule next year will consist of two collaboration classes of Algebra II and two Algebra IB’s so I am looking forward to the challenges that lay in front of me.

1/21/11  2:00

Well what do you know we have another snow day and we have now been to school a total of 7 days in January.  I had just got the kids back in the grooves of their everyday activities and we get another day off.  I have noticed from this layoff that it is tough to get the students back in their everyday routine.  I have really found motivating the students to be the biggest challenge when returning.  I think that this is especially true with being in the high school as the students want to socialize and there are so many distractions for them.  This is where good classroom management comes into play and I think that my strategies have been really effective in controlling the learning climate in the classroom.

1/19/11   1:15

Today my students are completing their second round of the MAP testing.  This set of test is giving me comparative data to look at how they have improved or not from the first administration of the test.  I am able to see what areas are of weak skill sets and focus on those skills to help strengthen their overall math skills.  I have had the opportunity to compare the first three blocks data and I am very pleased but there are areas that we still need to improve in.  I think this data is going to be very valuable tools for me to know what needs are specific to each individual student and plan accordingly to help improve those skills.  This is the type of data that will be very beneficial in looking at Task A1 and GAP groups within my classes.

1/18/11  3:45

Currently tutoring is going on and I am spending time one on one instructing students from Algebra 1 and Geometry.  I have found that through this GPS (Guided Practice and Strategies) program that it is an effective time to try different teaching strategies to reach all styles of learners. This is the first day back since January 6^th and it was the last day of the first semester as I had two blocks yet to take the final exam.  Also found out that my schedule will be changing for the second semester as I will be trading one of my Algebra 1 classes for a Geometry class because of a teacher leaving us here at Christmas.  I spent some of the day reiterating the classroom procedures to the students as they have a tendency to forget after long breaks.  I am looking through the Geometry Unit Map to begin to plan my lessons and familiarize myself with the text. 

11/14/11    11:00

Well it has been a snow week and we are out Monday for MLK day so this has been a long week in the house and starting to get cabin fever.  I was reading on discipline in the Love and Logic text and examining my discipline skills in the classroom.  I think one of the most important things that have helped me be successful is the fact of not always disciplining as soon as negative behavior occurs.  I have found it very effective to sometimes talk with these students individually following class or at another time to let them know that I was aware of the behavior.  Also you may become aware of extenuating circumstances that could have led to the behave occurring in the classroom.  This individual time may also give that students the opportunity to share their concerns and lets me foster those positive relationships with my students. 

Well it looks as if we will have another whole week off with snow.  We still have one day of finals to complete when we return before we move into the second semester.  With having all of this time I have really became hooked into the Love and Logic text.  I wish that I would have had this text before my first day of school as it is as equally intriguing as Harry Wong.  It has provided me the opportunity to reflect upon my teaching methods and examine myself in the classroom.  One of my targets before school began was to foster positive relationships with my students.  With having this time to sit here I have had the opportunity to look back and these relationships and how much I have learnt about my kids.  What is amazing is that I truly miss spending time with them and getting to know them better and have those positive interactions.  I have had the luxury of developing and fostering so many great relationships with my students and I know that this has helped me to control my classroom as they strive to reach my achievement bar that I have set for them.

11/10/11  10:55

SNOW DAY!!!  Looks like it might be a whole week at home which is not so bad getting to play with my little girl all day.  Spent the morning reading in the Love and Logic text about the different types of teachers in the classroom.  The three mentioned styles within the book are helicopter, drill sergeant, and consultant.    I found it very interesting to look at the different teaching styles and then look at my teaching methods and analyzing them to fit myself into one of these categories.  After analyzing I think that I fit mainly into the consultant category as I strive to give my students self worth and strength through being able to make the choices that will influence their lives.

Journal Entry

1/6/11 4:15

Today I administered the second round of diagnostic assessment for the EKU automaticity program to the classes not taking their final exams.  I completed some statistical data on the time and number of problems missed and seen significant gains in both areas since the first administration of the diagnostic.   This has given me the statistical evidence that I needed to support my everyday bell ringer with each student working at their own pace to master operations for single digits.  I am ecstatic with the results and the method I use to help enhance these skills is being videotaped and displayed to other teachers within the department. 

Journal Entry

1/5/11     3:35

This is final exam week for the first semester since we missed so much snow before Christmas.  With that being said we are in review mode with finals being assessed the next two days.  I have found ways to assess the student’s knowledge retention in many different through the review.  We have done individual activities, class activities, and some cooperative learning to refresh them.   Technology has really enabled me to move back and forth during these activities.  The use of the air slate has been really helpful as I begin to become more experienced with it since just receiving it a couple of weeks ago.  It really enables me to move more about the room and create that room coverage that I desire.