Chapter 8- Synthesis and Reflection

Synthesis-Marcy

Teachers are busy people, not only do we have to design what we want to teach, teach it, but we also have to assess the learning of the students. That said this chapter addresses three important areas that teachers have and have not included in the grading of students. These are behavior, participation, (including attendance) and effort. The simplest way to end this hotly debated issue is to define what a grade means. This book defines a grade as an indication of mastery of the content material. So the chapter makes an argument that none of those characteristics should be included in the grade. School is a place to learn the important life lessons such as acceptable behavior, the imperativeness of attendance, and the expectation of effort. That is all well and good but if those are included in the students’ grades, does the grade reflect the students’ mastery of the content or can this just be an indication of whether Johnny could sit still in his seat? The purpose of grades is to report to the students’ parents and to the students the level of mastery accomplished by the student. If the grade does not do this then there is no purpose to have grades. It is important to give the students feedback on how they are doing, not just academically. The chapter suggests reporting this in a column separate from the grade.

Reflection-Marcy

As a whole the class did not agree on anything. Some agreed with everything the book said, others only bits and pieces, and one person did not agree with anything the book said about grading effort, participation, and behavior. The argument made for grading participation is to coerce students to be involved in discussions. Discussion is an integral part of some classes so in order to motivate students to speak, participation in class will be graded. The argument against grading participation is that some students are naturally shy or are unsure of the answer and so do not speak out in class. Grading participation does not accurately show the mastery of these students and punishes students for being shy. According to some teachers, forcing students to step outside their comfort zone is good for them. Everyone in the class except one person believes that grading behavior should be avoided. The arguments range from students that have disorders and can’t behave should not be punished. Also, students have a life outside of school and that can affect how students behave in school. The one person that believes in grading behavior stated that students need to learn acceptable behavior and should be held to that standard of professionalism. The class definitely thinks that attendance is important. It is debated whether points should be taken off or the grade affected due to absence. The consensus is that excessive absences affect a student’s ability to properly learn the material. This raises the question though, if a student is absent for reasons beyond control, such as family matters or sickness, and makes up all the work, should all that work not count? If attendance is graded then the student would have to repeat the class whether or not all the work was completed and completed correctly. The last category is effort. I honestly do not know how something so ambiguous could possibly be graded in the first place, but not only do current teachers believe they can do this, but our fellow classmates have this amazing power. The argument is that teachers know their students well enough make an accurate assessment. Effort is important to provide feedback for, but the majority of the class believes that it should not be included in the grade. The example used as a reason is the real world application; the fact that it does not matter how much effort is exerted; all that matters is the final product. This chapter is a controversial chapter, in the real world of education, and in our own classroom.

Chapter 14: Responsive Report Card Formats

This chapter talks about report card formats and what to do when you have differentiated instruction and the student has shown mastery but has not mastered all of the material. The grade to report is the one that shows that the student mastered what was asked of them to master, the adjusted curriculum grade. That does not compare to the other students in the class who have mastered the whole curriculum. This creates a problem because those grades do not mean the same thing even thought they are the same letter. The solution is to make a note on the report card to let parents and other teachers know that the curriculum was adjusted. This can be done with an asterisk and a note put in the student’s file. A way to show regular curriculum students’ personal growth and achievement would be to put both a letter and a number in the report card column. The A would show mastery of the material but an accompanying number such as a 3 would show an extensive amount of personal growth in the student’s knowledge. This documents exactly the achievement of the student throughout the course of the year. This affects me as a teacher by giving me the idea of a number and a letter grade. I remember earning A’s in classes when I know I did not grow. The A was easy and I was bored. This system will help me find that problem with students I will have in the future. This affects my students because I will not only know the level of their mastery but also how much their knowledge is growing.

Chapter 13: Gradebook Formats for the Differentiated Classroom

This chapter mentioned a couple different formats for grade book setup in a differentiated classroom. In essence, the idea is to be flexible and one size does not fit all for students. The label at the top that indicates what the grade represents should be the essential understanding identified at the beginning of the unit. It does not matter how the student arrived or how the student performed the mastery, all that matters is that the student mastered it, and that is what should be recorded. Also putting several grades at the top of a single assignment if the assignment fits under more than one standard helps build a more complete picture of the student’s mastery. In the end the grade book format must give an accurate and clear picture of the students’ mastery, show if there was a change in a student’s plan of learning due to differentiation, keep track of essential understandings, and be easy to use. This affects me as a teacher by simplifying how to report different methods students show their mastery. The trick is I do not have to, as long as the student mastered it, that’s all that maters. This affects my students by allowing their hard work to count for more if it covers more than the single performance task. One thing I hate as a student is busy work and if I have already shown that I have mastered the skill then I do not want to do that work over again. This will help my students avoid that extra, unnecessary work.

Chapter 12: Grading Scales

This chapter talks about the two most common grading scales, the 4-point and the 100-point scales. The chapter argued in favor of the 4-point scale over the 100-point scale because it is more subjective and a smaller scale did not allow for distortion as easily. Also on a 4-point scale it is easier to compare across classes because the 4-point scales is graded by criteria instead of which questions a student got right on a test. There is also no real reason to argue over whether a B is a high B or a low B. In the end, it really does not matter, except when it comes time to calculate GPA for the valedictorian, but the book gets on that soap box for a while. If the purpose of grades is to indicate mastery, then by assessing a problem by each of the different criteria needed, a student can get partial credit for a wrong answer. This is helpful because it shows the student exactly what he or she knows. This is the last reason mentioned in the chapter and that is it provides better feedback to both the student and the teacher. This affects me as a teacher by showing me the importance of rubrics and giving partial credit for problems is not cheating. This will help my students by showing them exactly where they are strong and which sections of their thinking they can improve.

FIAE Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Issues

This chapter talks about six issues with grading that a lot of teachers have major concern with and they are: whether to record a zero or a sixty, how to grade gifted students, weighing grades, automaticity versus concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students in inclusion classes. First off, recording a zero for late work gives an inaccurate picture of the student’s mastery of the content. The book suggests recording a sixty instead, it is still failing, but on a hundred point scale it brings down the average a lot less. When it comes to grading gifted students in a regular class, the teacher has to make a choice whether to grade the student according to the standards that his or her peers have or to make higher standards and hold the student to that. Either way the expectations and standards should be made clear to the student and to the parents that way everyone knows what the grades mean. This brings up the idea of weighing certain grades more heavily than others to make the fact that the student had to work harder for a grade count. The book suggests the rule, “credit proportional to achievement.” The idea of whether to count automaticity level of learning or concept attainment level depends on how long students have had to develop their understanding of the topic. A test should measure whichever the teacher believes is important to measure. If this is the first time students have been exposed to this concept then automaticity comprehension of learning is not a fair expectation for students. When it comes to grading late work, the book suggests mercy as a good rule of thumb for students who pass in late work occasionally. For the students who chronically turn in late work other adjustments should be made. Taking off a few points, will help them understand the importance of deadlines. Lastly, the chapter makes one big point about grading special needs student, communication. Communication between the special education teacher, who knows the student’s IEP and what is developmentally appropriate for the student, and the regular education teacher, who is an expert in the curriculum, is important to set standards by which the student will be assessed. Solutions to this obstacle will come through communication and reevaluating the progress of the student. This affects me as a teacher by understanding the most common areas outside of the mainstream students. What I took out of this chapter is to set standards and stick to them. From there if changes need to be made for special circumstances I know where I am starting from and I can catch myself if I stray too far. This affects my students by helping them always know what is expected of them. If also helps them realize that I will not punish them for late work if it is on occasion.

FIAE Chapter 10: Conditions for Redoing Work for Full Credit

This chapter states at the beginning that all work a student does should be allowed to be redone. However, as with any privilege it can be abused and for a teacher’s sanity the chapter gives some tips as to avoid that. One suggestion was that the parents and the students sign a contract that gives the teacher the right to withhold the privilege if abuse is suspected. After all students are growing and for the sake of integrity it may be a lesson the student needs to learn. As adults we know that sometimes life gets in way even of our best intentions and mercy is well deserved. As teachers we should not feel the need to withhold that mercy from our students, if they need a due date to be extended. To keep the communication lines open, some teachers have the parents sign the original task in order for the student to redo the assignment. Sometimes the original assignment was a huge project that was tedious and took a lot of time. It might be easier to test the student’s mastery of the material by some other form, such as an oral test. This is okay as long as the teacher communicates the change to the student well in advance. If however, part of the mastery is embedded in the process of making the project, sitting down with the student to work out a plan of attack, or how the student plans on completing the assignment on time while keeping up with current work is a good idea. When a student retakes a test, it should not be averaged with the first score. In real life that is not the case, it should not be the case in the classroom. The student knows the material now, why punish them for not knowing it before. This affects me as a teacher to know the importance of allowing students to redo work. I especially like the idea of students writing not only the correct answer when the assignment is redone but also what was the mistake they made and how they would do it differently next time. This affects my students by allowing them the opportunity to show their true level of mastery and give them the encouragement to keep trying to learn even if they do not understand the first time around.

FIAE Chapter 9: Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading

This chapter lists and explains ten things to avoid when grading. Grades should not be diluted by including other factors such as behavior, attendance, or participation. Students all learn at different paces, so when a student does not do well on a test over the unit but two weeks later the student shows all the criteria of mastery for the unit, the student’s grade should be changed to reflect that mastery. Grades reflect mastery; it does not matter when that mastery occurred. Homework is practice to better understand the material. It should not be given if the students do not fully understand the lesson and it should not be graded. It is not fair to take away a percentage of a team’s points during a basketball game because the referee watched the practice the day before and the team missed the basket during practice but made it in the game. It does not even make sense. Also teachers should help students learn the material no matter where they start from in their learning. That said assessing those same students in ways that distract them from accurately portraying their mastery of the content is unfair. Getting the students so caught up in the process of making or doing the assignment and that they lose sight of the material is the last thing a teacher wants. Extra credit and bonus points serve no purpose other than to incorrectly inflate the grade. If the question has nothing to do with the topic, there is no reason to make it worth any points. If the question is pertinent to the topic it should be included in the regular test questions. Collaborative groups is a great learning tool, however team projects are shaky ground. Giving a group of students the same grade is not usually an accurate indication of each student’s mastery. All grades should be given against clear criteria and standards. This automatically rules out bell curve grading and deciding whether a student’s work is average or above average. Students should never be forced to compete against each other. These two systems are flawed in that they communicate to the students that not everyone can achieve the best and that is not the case. The last point the chapter makes is that giving zeros for missing work distorts the grade so that it does not reflect a student’s mastery. This affects me as a teacher by showing me how grades can be affected by so many different factors that have nothing to do with the student’s mastery of the content. I will try to keep my grades from being affected by those other things. This affects my students by helping them show their mastery of the content through their grade and it gives them more accurate feedback of how the student is learning in the class.

FIAE Chapter 8: Why Do We Grade, and What About Effort, Attendance, and Behavior?

This chapter focuses on what grades should be and what the purpose of grades should not be. Grades should represent the students’ mastery of the material and the purpose is to communicate that mastery to the students and their parents and for instructional changes for the teacher. Grading should not include participation. Participation is the route that leads to mastery and if mastery is what counts, it does not matter how the student arrived there. Feedback should be given for participation, but it will distort the grade if it is included and the grade will be an inaccurate account of the students’ mastery. Also including behavior or effort in the grade will distort the grade. Students’ behavior and effort are important, after all school is the place where students grow and find themselves, and teaching those skills is necessary. However, they should not be included in the grade. Those factors contribute to what grade the student earns but they should be recorded in a column separate from the grade. This will affect me as a teacher by convincing me not to grade participation. I have had a lot of teachers grade participation and it motivated me to speak during class. But a lot of the time I spent the entire class thinking of something to say so I could get my points and as soon as I said my piece, I did not bother to pay attention anymore. This affects my students by allowing them the free will to speak. It will not punish any students’ grade if they have a bad week and are just generally unpleasant and misbehave.

FIAE Chapter 7: The Relative Nature of Grades and Their Definitions

This chapter talked about the ambiguity of grades; what they represent or what they mean. Unfortunately, grades do not mean the same for everyone. An ‘A’ in one class could be a B or even a C. And if we tried to extend the comparison across schools, the variation would be enormous. There are two types of teachers, ones that hold the curriculum truths to be self evident and unyielding, and the teachers who believe that we serve the students first and then the curriculum so a little mercy is in order on the behalf of the student. This is where differentiation comes in; after all isn’t the point to have the students learn the material. However, if the student’s work isn’t to par with what is an A, but the student works really hard, does that change the grade? Grades should represent mastery of the material. They should be given against clear standards and criteria so students know what constitutes an A. This chapter also talks about what a D or an F means. It makes the suggestion that A, B, C and I, for incomplete, should be the grades given. The last few points are that students should never be compared to each other to determine grades, feedback should be constructive (what’s the point of a frowning face?), and telling students they have an A in the class as long as they do not mess up is a lot of pressure. This affects me as a teacher by exploring questions and thought about grading that I had never had to consider. I am so used to the A, B, C, D, F standard that I did not think that there could be anything else. I like the idea of incomplete or not done yet approach, because that really puts the focus of school as the student’s mastery of the content. This will affect my student by not letting them squeeze out of my class with a D so they can just move on to the next class. That is actually doing the student a disservice because if the student did not have the skills to perform in my class, how will they succeed in the next level.

Chapte 12: MI and Cognitive Skills

This chapter reminds us how much research has gone into the cognitive capabilities of children and how they think. Three areas this research can improve students’ performance in schools are memory, problem solving, and christopherian encounters. Some student seem like they can not remember all the information teachers feel they should be able to. The problem lies in the children having weak memories in the logical or linguistic areas. With this knowledge we can help students tap into their good memories in their other intelligences. Problem solving at first appears to be a logical intelligence and that only. However, upon review and after taking a look at how other famous problem solvers in history thought about their solutions that is not the case. Mozart said he heard the whole composition at as a whole piece and Lyndon Johnson would problem solve using intrapersonal tactics. Teacher should promote christopherian encounters; in other words, encourage students to think beyond what exists in to what could possibly be. People thought the world was flat, but Christopher Columbus dared to sail over the edge of the earth. This higher order to of thinking is described in Bloom’s taxonomy. MI development in all of the stages of the taxonomy is perfectly possible and should be reached for. This affects me as a teacher by showing me how the MI theory can help me help my students think in the many different intelligences deeply. This affects my students by helping them develop those other levels of cognition in different areas of intelligences.

Chapter 11: MI and Special Education

The main point of this chapter is to make sure that teachers focus on what a student can do as opposed to what they have difficulties with. The “Pygmalion effect” is the idea that a teacher’s outlook of a student’s future inherently effects the investment the teacher makes in the student and the student’s effort. If a student struggles with reading then putting that student in a separate room, with a separate teacher, and drilling him or her in linguistic worksheets and papers is just going to discourage the student. The chapter suggests allowing the student to stay in the regular classroom and learn the material through other means, such as an audio recording, and participate in class activities and discussions. The student can work on reading separately while also participating in the class. The ideas of this chapter could revolutionize the normal course of an IEP. This affects me as a classroom teacher if I implement more of the multiple intelligences in my classroom there will be fewer referrals to special education. This affects the students by allowing them to stay with their peers and avoid the isolation that is too often times a part of special education. This will also change the role of a special education teacher. That special education teacher will become a partner to the classroom teacher and will only help the student improve his or her weak areas while having the student learn the content in the student’s strong intelligences.

Chapter 8: MI and Classroom Management

This chapter discussed ways of getting and maintaining classroom control. It suggested using the multiple intelligences to get student attention instead of just standing at the front of the class, screaming for quiet. Also an idea that was suggested was familiarizing students with some type of cue for a class transition. Communicating class rules using the multiple intelligences and assigning groups at the beginning of the year will help cut down on confusion and save time. The chapter also broke down individual strategies to use with a particular student for each MI. This affects me as a teacher by offering other ways to manage a classroom. I particularly like the idea of the transition cue. That way the students automatically know what to do and where to go. This affects my students by communicating what is expected through the avenue which they learn best.

Chapter 8: Grading and Reporting Achievement

Most teachers can see the need for differentiated instruction but when it comes time to dole out grades, questions arise. The biggest question is, “How does a single letter describe what the student has mastered or even the progress the student has made?” The answer is that it does not. This chapter answers the next question which is, “well, what do we do about that fact?” To understand how to move forward is also to understand that grades and assessment are not the same thing. Assessment is gathering information about what the students have mastered and using that information to improve the students’ learning. A grade is an end judgment of achievement. The purpose of grades is to effectively communicate a student’s achievement, growth, and mastery. Students’ achievement should be based on the specified, clearly outlined, and criterion based standards, that measure what we want it to measure. It should not matter when the student master the material. Penalizing a student for not learning the material in the time frame that we designate as appropriate does not help anyone. With that in mind, how functional is a zero in the grade book? The only thing it proves is that the student did not turn the work in on time or did not understand the material in time for the test. When the student eventually learns the material, the zero should change to reflect the mastery, too often it does not. A student’s work habits are important, but they should be reported separate from the achievement grade. If a student knows the material, but just has a hard time turning in papers on time, it should not affect the grade. The main point of this chapter is that grades should be reported in three segments, one to show the achievement or mastery of the material, another to show a student’s progress toward the goal, and the last to show a student’s work habits. Too often these are combined together in one grade and can lower a grade, which is an unfair representation of the student’s knowledge. This affects me as a teacher by making clear the problem with the current grade system. In the future, I plan to submit the single grade that the administration expects but also to include an attachment that elaborates on the student’s progress and work habits. This affects my students by their grades more accurately reflecting their mastery, progress, and work habits.

Chapter 9: Bringing it all Together: Curriculum and Instruction through the Lens of UBD and DI

This chapter re-outlined the goals of understanding by design and differentiated instruction at the beginning. It then gave an example of a lesson plan using the backwards design model to show what instructional planning might look like. This type of planning focuses on goal clarity and flexibility of the methods used to arrive at that goal. After, it described about how to differentiate to fit the instruction to the learners. It stated that differentiate instruction is more fluid, I guess that fits with the need to be flexible. While teaching a differentiated lesson it is important to work in the reverse way than the backwards design model. Where as you would start at the goals and work to the activities in UbD, while teaching a teacher has to consider where the students are already and work towards the goal. It then gave several examples of differentiated parts of a lesson. The chapter closed with a list of indicators that would show in a classroom that uses these two methods. This affects me as a teacher by reiterating and showing in a concise list all the things I have read about in the book. The main points that I took from this is always keep the goal in mind and in the minds of the students and be flexible. This affects my students by being in an environment with a curriculum and a teacher that all promote learning.

Chapter 14: MI and Existential Intelligence

This chapter discusses the possible new intelligence that Howard Gardiner is considering adding to the intelligences. It is important to take this in consideration because a student in my class might exhibit these characteristics. This last intelligence is called existential intelligence and it is concerned with the deep philosophical questions. Teachers might be afraid to address this kind of thinking because it could step over into the religious realm and cause controversy in the community. However, students should have opportunities to think about what they believe and science is a good opportunity to introduce those kinds of ideas. This affects me as a teacher by giving my students the opportunity to think about controversial issues. This will help my students formulate their own opinions about matters that in the future they will have to decide on.

Chapter 13: Other Applications of MI Theory

There are other applications of the MI theory other than its use in the classroom. Those are computer technology, cultural diversity, and career counseling. Computer technology can use the MI theory because different software and the internet can target all of the intelligences. It is not limited to the mathematical-logical intelligences. To be honest this book was written a while ago if it feels it needs to make that point. Different cultures add to the classroom not only the content of what is taught but also the process of how they think. When different cultures are taught in the classroom it is important to talk about what they think, but also how they think and which intelligences that culture values. However, stereotyping such as Asians are mathematical-logical should be avoided. Career counseling can use the multiple intelligences by helping students select jobs that use their strongest intelligence. It is just another way to help students choose a career they will enjoy and have the skills for. This affects me as a teacher by keeping in mind how useful technology is to reach each of the intelligences. This affects my students by helping them in their future career choice.

Chapter 7: MI and the Classroom Environment

As a teacher, being aware of what is going on in the classroom is imperative. This chapter is about checking classroom ecology or the environment using the multiple intelligences. In other words, making sure the classroom is friendly to all of the multiple intelligences, so each can learn. This chapter gives questions, categorized by each intelligence, to consider about the classroom. It also suggests activity centers that focus on different intelligences. This affects me as a teacher by stressing the importance of maintaining a classroom environment that is conducive to learning by all students. This affects my students by making learning easier for them.

Chapter 10: Abstract and Reflection

Abstract
The theory of multiple intelligences is a great way to teach material to students. However using the theory in assessing students is also the best way to capture their understanding of the material. Unfortunately, education for the most part, is still stuck in the rut of standardized testing. The two best ways to assess students is through direct observation and documentation. There are a few communities, schools, or organizations that have attempted to change over. Some examples at different levels in the educational journey are Project Spectrum, for preschoolers, PIFS programs, for middle school, and the Arts PROPEL in high school. The Key Learning Community is a kindergarten through graduation school district that documents students’ progressive learning through video tapes. Along with video tapes, the chapter also suggests several other ways best suited to document student learning. Those ways would be through the use of student self assessment, rubrics, and portfolios. A method of grading portfolios is by the Five C’s of Portfolio Development: celebration, cognition, communication, cooperation, and competency. All of these methods allow for the assessment of the two most important types of learning, competency and ipsative. Competency measures how much the student learned and ipsative compares the student’s learning or progression of learning against the student’s own work. These are the most effective forms of assessment using the MI theory according to this chapter.

Reflection
As a class we found the Huck Finn examples especially relevant and helpful. The difference between the standardized test way of assessing the students’ knowledge of Huck Finn and the MI way of assessing is so stark that the reader draws conclusions about the usefulness of MI assessments almost instantly. The need to assess students through the MI theory was agreed upon by everyone in the class. However, standardized tests are still a reality and informally administering parts of standardized tests can help students get over test anxiety.

As a class we had a lot to say about how MI assessment will affect us as teachers and how it will affect our students. In general this changed the way we previously thought about assessment and how we plan on assessing in the future. Apparently this chapter laid out quite a persuasive argument because it convinced the whole class. A main component to this persuasion was the fact that assessing this way is so much fairer to students. We all can remember the teacher that gave the test which covered material we had never seen before and we can all remember how that felt. The concept of assessing how the information was taught seems to be obvious but so many teachers do not do that. This theory also gives the students the opportunity to choose how they want to be assessed. By giving the students choices on how they want to show their mastery of the material, this involves them in their own education. This can either allow the students’ to practice more than one of their intelligences or allow them to use their strongest intelligence. This makes the assessment more about what the students’ know and understand than whether the student can figure out what the teacher wanted. The class found that the MI portfolio idea is worth lifting from this book. This portfolio is helpful not only to show the students what they learned but also to teachers the students will have in the future. Lastly, a consensus was reached that the MI theory will help students think more deeply and more creatively than by using standard assessment practices.

Chapter 6: MI and Teaching Strategies

This chapter was about different teaching styles keeping the theory of multiple intelligences in mind. The chapter listed each theory and then categorized teaching strategies under which intelligence it would most likely target. A few examples of each will be listed. Linguistics: storytelling, tape recording, and journal writing. Logical- Mathematical: calculations, categorizing, and science thinking. Spatial: visualization, picture metaphors, and graphics. Bodily-Kinesthetic: reenactments, hands-on thinking, and charades. Musical: raps, chants, actual songs, and mood music. Interpersonal: peer sharing, collaborative groups, and simulations. Intrapersonal: personal connections, goal setting sessions, and reflections. Naturalistic: nature walks, plants as props, and pets in the classroom. This impacts my classroom by giving me specific examples of different ways I can teach to reach the multiple intelligences in my classroom. This affects my students because I will help them learn more effectively and by offering variety, will keep class interesting.

Chapter 5: MI and Curriculum Development

This chapter is about designing a curriculum to teach to all of the multiple intelligences. The idea is that any lesson can be taught eight different ways. A teacher does not have to teach a whole lesson 8 different times. The point is that the teacher should take a topic and brain storm how each intelligence would learn best about that topic. Then figure out how to incorporate a piece of each intelligence into one lesson. Try to keep the order of a normal lesson plan while incorporating the different intelligences. The last thought of this chapter is to include real life examples or applications. This affects me as a teacher when I build my lessons. If I brain stormed about how to teach the lesson to all the different intelligences before I created the lesson, I would have much more success in keeping my students engaged. This affects my students by creating more meaning for them in the content. The students will understand the importance of material more if they can connect it to real life or their own lives.

Chapter 7: Teaching for Understanding in Academically Diverse Classrooms

The idea of teaching in general is not to simply get through a textbook in a given year, just to say that the students finished it. In real teaching the idea is for students to discover the important truths hidden in the material. That takes time. Using the essential questions from a unit plan to probe students’ minds to start thinking on their own is a good way to introduce a new topic. Open ended questions, with which students can make up their own opinions and draw their own conclusions, helps jump start students’ thinking. By the end of the unit, the students’ understanding and “answer” to the essential questions should have evolved much deeper than the first time the question was posed. The six facets of thinking can tie in here and help deepen students’ understanding. Students do not always need to master the basic skills of a subject before they start theorizing or become involved in higher order thinking. This all affects me as a teacher because I have to plan how all of this will fit into a unit plan. There is a solution to this problem in the WHERETO model. Each letter stands for one step to remember while designing how to teach the students. This will impact my students because they will be forced not only to “cover” the material in the subject but “uncover” the deeper meanings and understandings within the information. Higher level thinking and understanding of the important meanings will help them in their future.

Chapter 6: Responsive Teaching with UBD in Academically Diverse Classrooms

This chapter was about how to teach to a group of academically diverse students. All students need practice thinking at high levels and real life applications. A lot of the time, teachers are caught up teaching the basic skills and never allow the students to use those skills in a real life situation. A way to help implement this idea is to share the goal of the unit with your students. Classroom elements such as time, space, resources, student groupings, and others when used in a flexible way will help your quest as a teacher to differentiate. Another suggestion to ease the differentiating process in your classroom is to group the needs of different learners in to categories to be addressed more efficiently. Also stable classroom management is key to differentiated learning, as the teacher will be spending more time with individuals and small groups. The end note of this chapter was that today is the day to start differentiating in the classroom. This impacts me as a teacher to model the different functions of being a teacher, direct instructor, facilitator, and coach. I will start teaching in a differentiated style that way I will not have to change over later in my career. This will impact my student by increasing the depth of their learning and will have a positive impact on their success later in life.

Growing Up Poor

The condition of poverty in rural areas is not well known or well studied. Most of the studies on poverty are conducted in urban areas. This presentation was about poverty in rural western Maine and how it can affect the academic performance of adolescents. Knowing this information as a future teacher is important because roughly 36% of my future students will live in this economic condition. Humans develop physically, cognitively, and emotionally or socially during adolescence and poverty can affect that development in a variety of ways. A few ways that were mentioned are late onset of puberty, sex at a younger age, increased or more likely abuse of alcohol and drugs, poor school performance, cognitive delays, delays in brain development, aggression, depression, anxiety, loneliness, and parent and adolescent conflicts. Three theories of development that were covered were nature vs nurture, family stress model, and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model. The nature vs nurture argument stresses that a student's genes predispose that person to developing certain characteristics. The nurture or environment is an activator to whether or not those genes are expressed. The family stress model states three things happen in a chain reaction to one another, financial strain= disrupted parenting= negative outcomes. Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model basically says that everything in a student's life interacts and affects the other ones. The student has separate environments such as home, after school programs, school, or work and what happens in one effects how the student acts in the others. Along with this a student's personal history affects their present but also their future. This is a lot to understand about just one of my future students. Also with so many things affecting a student, how can a teacher impact positive change when school is only one environment a student occupies? The teacher just has to try to make an impact in another environment in a student's life. Another idea to consider is Phenomenology, which is ones own reality. What may seem to be a small problem to me, an outsider, could be the biggest deal for a student. As a teacher, I have to be sensitive to that.

The main things I learned from this presentation was to consider the whole student when I look at any issue, even if it seems to be strictly school related. Like a student who did not do his or her homework. The presenter gave an example of a student who did not do it because he did not have a pen at his house and had no way of going out and getting one. Another thing I learned is to look for other environments in a student's life that I can positively effect. Lastly, I should always ask myself, what is a student's reality? If I know where a student is coming from and how they perceive things I can better understand him or her.

Chapter 10: MI and Assessment

The MI theory suggests a fundamentally new way for teachers to teach the students but that theory would be useless if teachers continued to assess students with the same methods that have always been used. Again observation and documentation of a student’s work will show true understanding. A few schools or programs that have implemented a system using the MI theory are project spectrum, the Key learning community, and Arts PROPEL. The chapter also suggests the idea that the way the student learned the material should be taken into consideration when assessing the student’s understanding. If the student learned the material by graphs and pictures and the test had neither of those, only a written explanation of what the graphs would show, the student would not do as well. The chapter ends reiterating the importance of portfolios to document students’ progress of learning. Assessing portfolios should assess two types of learning; competency, how much the student learned, and ipsative, comparing a student’s learning against his or her own work. This affects me as a teacher by affecting the way I assess. It offers many ways in which I can assess my students’ learning. Besides if a student can use multiple intelligences to communicate their understanding of a subject then that really shows that the students has learned the material. This effects my students by helping them demonstrate their learning in the way it was learned. It will also help them learn the material better if they learn it in different ways and then are assessed in those different ways as well.

Chapter 6: Creating Good Test Questions

This chapter explained how to create tests worth giving. First it is important to have questions and the test format to be clear and not confusing. Next a variety of questions and multiple assessments are needed to give a clear picture of the students’ understanding. Feedback should be specific and instantaneous or within a few days of taking the test otherwise it is useless. Keep tests short to avoid student test fatigue and save yourself time grading them. Add questions that include common mistakes that students make while learning the content. This clears up whether the student really knows or just memorized the material. Have fun making the test and be a little creative. Use students’ names and popular figures in their culture. This makes test drudgery a little less painful. The tests should have no surprises; ask questions in the same way you taught them. Changing it confuses students and will skew the results. Lastly, it is suggested to scatter the tough questions throughout the test instead of saving them for the end. This affects me as a teacher because the last thing I want to do is make a test that a student who knows the material will do poorly on. This is counterproductive. I learned that I need to be straightforward, clear, and avoid surprises on the test. This impacts my students by helping them succeed in every way I can. Students already have test anxiety and other obstacles in their lives, a test that is easy to understand, do, and is not surprising will help them show me what they really know. I mean I do not expect a hallelujah chorus or a round of applause but the students will appreciate it.

Chapter 5:Tiering Assessments

This chapter makes an argument for the need to tier assessments. If a teacher tiers his or her teaching and they do not tier the assessment is the assessment an accurate picture of all the students’ grasp of the content? Tiering is adjusting the level of challenge to each student’s ability to be challenged but without overwhelming him or her. The best way to begin tiering is to start at what is expected at grade level. Then list all the skills needed to perform the particular task. Then pick one task or concept and tier that both for a lower and an upper level. The goal of tiering is to not tier at all by the end of the unit. Start the unit at each student’s level then gradually increase the challenge to the students. Another way to do this is to set up a learning contract. The student will still learn all of the tasks and concepts but at a different pace. This impacts me as a teacher by re-emphasizing how important it is that students learn and almost by whatever fair means necessary. It also helps to be a little creative and keep it interesting. This impacts my students by offering them choices and changing the pace to help them learn more effectively. Rushing through material will do nothing but offer students who learn at a slower pace the opportunity to check out. By adjusting and providing opportunities to maximize the learning environment will maximize learning.

Chapter 4: Three Important Types of Assessment

This chapter explains the three best ways to assess in a differentiated classroom. The first way is through a portfolio. As with the other readings we have had, this book states that a portfolio is one of the best ways because it can show a student’s growth over time. The second way is through a rubric. One tip the book gave was to only show the students the above and beyond criteria so they only have that to shoot for and they do not settle for a lower category that requires less effort. A rubric should have the objectives clearly stated. When designing a rubric keeping in mind the goal of the task is critical in order to figure out what is evidence that the student knows the subject. A rubric can have more important sections weighed differently and be more technical in nature or it can be more holistic. The holistic version is more objective because details have to be interpreted. The last kind of assessment is student self assessment. This is especially important in a differentiated classroom because each student can set individual goals and see his or her own progression toward those goals. This can be done in journals or learning logs. The student could also grade his or her own project with the rubric to self evaluate. The knowledge in this chapter impacts me as a teacher because I will have to design a rubric and assess my students. The idea about students helping design the rubric is really insightful because then I will know what the students think is the most important aspects of the assignment. If they are way off then I could address the real goals of the assignment before they start. This will impact my students because they will know what is expected of them. They will also be able to set their own goals and see their progress which will encourage them.

Chapter 3: Principles of Successful Assessment in the differentiated Classroom

The point this chapter made was that the word assessment means to sit beside, or in other words to coach. We as teachers have a goal in mind, the standards, and assessing students is a way for us to know where they are. This book also talks about assessing students at the beginning, middle, and end of a unit. This impacts me as a teacher because if I assess my students, notice that there is a problem, and then do not doing anything about it, it would have been better to not have wasted the time assessing them. The point of assessing students is to help the teacher modify the lesson to meet the students’ needs. I should also break down the standards to decide what is essential, what is highly desirable, and what is desirable. Having priorities of what to teach keeps the teacher focused on the goals and less time is wasted on arbitrary lessons. A good assessment will accurately show what the students’ know and are able to do. This helps my students because if I give them feedback that they can understand and the feed back comes before the next assessment, the students have time to fix their mistakes and perform better on the next assessment. The students will also be helped by the fact that they always know what the goal is and there are no surprises.

Chapter 2: Mastery

This chapter was about how to measure the students’ mastery of the material. The two suggestions were to have multiple assessments and to track a couple of big projects over time. The best way to know what the students should master is to check the standards of the state. Also consulting colleagues, list-serves, curriculum guides, and the textbook are a few suggestions. This impacts me as a teacher by setting the goals of the lesson by the standards and developing a way to assess the students’ mastery of the material. This impacts my students by making them more prepared to meet the standard if I have taught them with the standard in mind.

Chapter 1: The Differentiated Instruction Mind-set: Rationale and Definition

Modern research about the brain has uncovered information not available to teachers of the past. The idea of using this information to make more effective teachers is to teach in the way the brain normally learns. Differentiated teaching is highly effective teaching. The end result is better through this method and that is what teachers are held accountable for. The government does not care about how you taught the students, it cares about how much the students learned. This affects me as a teacher because differentiating my teaching will help my students so much. They will appreciate the challenges that are appropriate for them and so are motivated to achieve because they are held accountable.

Chapter 5: Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

In this chapter about assessment I learned three important principles to remember. The first is to take more than one measure of a student’s knowledge about a certain subject and if time does not allow for multiple assessments then vary the assessment format. The second principle is to match the format of the assessment to the goal you want to achieve. There are three types of knowledge, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and dispositions and each can be measured by a different kind of assessment. So it makes sense to assess the students with the format that will most easily show the kind of knowledge you wanted them to know. The last principle is to know the purpose of assessing students. There are three types of assessment and they each serve a different purpose. Summative assessments are the end result, or the measurement of what the student learned, this is what goes on the report card. Diagnostic assessments or pre-assessments are given before the start of a unit to find out how much the students already know. Formative assessment or feed back are given throughout a unit to offer encouragement and to fix any problems or gaps in learning. This impacts me as a teacher because it offers a lot of advice about how to assess. One idea was to offer students choices of how they want to be assessed as long the rubric is generic enough to grade all the different choices the same. This will impact my students to help them learn better by me offering feedback that is clear, understandable, and timely.

Chapter 4: Teaching Students About MI Theory

This chapter explains how a teacher would teach the MI theory to young children. The value of this is that students learn better when they understand how they, themselves learn. The two big tips the section gave to help during teaching the lesson were to keep it simple and make connections to the students. Show the students what lessons looks like when targeted to different learning styles. This affects me as a teacher by giving me another option of how to become acquainted with my students' intelligences. For my students, this gives them an opportunity to be a part of that discovery. Not only I, as the teacher, can become aware of the students' intelligences, but they can too.

Chapter 3: Describing Intelligences in Students

This chapter simply stated that formatted tests were only a starting point to find out how students learn. The best way is to watch the students, especially the way they misbehave. The book suggested creating a portfolio of information about the student. By not only looking at what the students does during class or structured free time, but also the students' past records, asking the parents, other teachers, and especially the students themselves. Creating special activities to "test" which students prefer using different intelligences is also an option. This chapter affected me by giving a lot of different ways and examples of how to discover my students' intelligences and their learning styles. This will help my students because the more aware I am of their needs the more effectively I can meet them.

Chapter 4: What Really Matters in Planning Student Success?

This chapter made the importance of being teachers of both curriculum and students unmistakably clear. Neither of these two important elements can be less important than the other. Both are needed for students' success. We need to know our students, their lives, learning styles, and interests, and how to make the major point of the curriculum reach them where they are. Keeping all this in mind on a daily basis is what will make me a better teacher. This affects me as a teacher by letting me know that perfection is not what is required because that is impossible. Persistence and perseverance to make today better than yesterday is the goal. This will affect my students in a positive way because they will notice that I am trying to meet their individual needs and that I care enough about them to go the extra mile. I hope that gives them the motivation to learn for themselves.

Chapter 3: What Really Matters in Learning? (Content)

This chapter introduced the 3 step backwards design to plan units of a curriculum. By following this model the focus of the planning is to meet the standards set up by the local government. In this state those standards are the Maine Learning Results. This graphic form of designing a lesson affects me as a teacher because it will keep me focused on the big ideas I want my students to learn instead of what activities we are going to do or how we are going to finish covering the book. This will help my students because my lessons will not be arbitrary. Using this model the lessons will keep in mind the main focus of the unit. The student will not be subject to random assessments but each assessment will check for understanding the main ideas presented. It will also help students who are not understanding get help sooner because the instructor will know what is supposed to be learned.

Chapter 2: MI and Personal Development

Standard question tests, such as the MI Inventory, do not fully show all of the intelligences a person may have. It is only a guide. Multiple tests and task orientated tests would provide a better base and is a more accurate picture of an individual's intelligences. The intelligences an individual has are strong because those intelligences have been practiced. The "weaker" intelligences just haven't been given a chance to develop. This chapter impacts me as a teacher by suggesting multiple ways in which I can develop my weaker intelligences. Partnering with a colleague that is strong in those intelligences can help, asking a student to demonstrate a way they like to learn, and using the schools resources are all ways to help develop weak intelligences. This impacts my students by me making adjustments to help them develop their weak intelligences. Their strong intelligences have been 'crystallized' by activators or experiences that allowed them to practice. The weak intelligences have been 'paralyzed' by certain experiences that turned the student off to that way of thinking. Also understanding why students' intelligences have been shut down will help them. The chapter gave biological, cultural, and personal history as possible reasons.

Chapter 1:The Foundations of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardiner was dissatisfied with the idea that the intelligence of a person could be summed up in a single number, the IQ score. He came up with the theory of multiple intelligences, eight of them originally, with one that has since been added and another one still being considered. This is a cognitive model that focuses on the content of the world and how people use their intelligences to solve problems and build products. The types are: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. The qualifications for an intelligence are the following: the ability to exist without one or more of the others due to brain damage, the existence of intense specialization in one intelligence leaving the others underdeveloped, also known as a prodigy or a savant, the ability to test a single intelligence, a clear evolutionary path that has been traced, the existence of an exceptional piece of work using that intelligence in history, and a set time in a human's life that the development, peak, and decline of the intelligence exists. This information affects me as a future teacher by simply knowing that these intelligences exist. My students will use their different cognitive abilities to understand my lesson. Even though a few students might share dominant intelligences, the way the intelligences interact and express themselves is completely different. However if I don't try to teach to the different intelligences I will inevitably leave some students behind or struggling. For example, if I never use anything that has to do with nature in my lessons, the naturalist in my class won't ever get a chance to use his natural or most dominant intelligence in my class. This will make the lesson harder to learn because the student will have to use a secondary intelligence. This affects my students because even though I will try to appeal to all intelligences, all of them have all of the intelligences, and they could, with extra work, develop their less dominant intelligences. I might even try to help my students develop other intelligences.

Chapter 2: What Really Matters in Teaching? (The Students)

The concept that is taken for granted when the public sees a teacher is that the teacher knows his or her content area and it is for that reason that I believe this chapter of the book spends one paragraph devoted to that subject. The rest of the chapter is concerned with knowing our students in aspects such as: family life, identity (race, religion, and parents' income), learning disabilities, and learning styles; all of which affect a student's ability to learn. All students expect and desire the same things from their teacher. They want a competent adult that provides a stable, caring, accepting environment in which they can find themselves in school individually, socially, and academically. Even though students all want the same thing, they will take different paths and need help in different ways to get there. One size does not fit all when it comes to teaching students. This affects me as a future teacher because I must learn right from the start to be a responsive teacher. This means I can and will adapt and craft curriculum, circumstance, and the environment to enable my students to have success. I need to take a proactive approach to making changes and not just let it shake out with whoever achieves success as long as someone does. The information in this chapter will affect my students by motivating them to learn. If students perceive that the teacher cares enough to show interest in their lives, to adjust the curriculum to fit their learning needs, and to help them find a personal connection to the information; they will be motivated to learn because they believe the teacher believes in them.

Chapter 1: UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership

Understanding by design and differential instruction must be intertwined within a teaching method. In order to be successful incorporating one method into the classroom, it is imperative to implement the other. UbD is a "curriculum design model" and DI is a "instructional design model," and in this way the two systems compliment each other. This impacts me as a future teacher because these two systems address important questions such as: how, what, whom, and where we teach. A few ways this chapter suggests addressing these questions is by pre-assessment, teaching to the students' needs, and using the backwards model to present the important ideas. This impacts my future students by, hopefully, more appropriately meeting their learning style needs more effectively. Ways that the chapter suggests to incorporate Ubd and DI to help my students is by the following: create a supportive, encouraging, goal oriented, but challenging environment in which the students' needs are met, impart on them the understanding of not only the big picture, but also how it applies to them, and help them gain the tools and skills they need to continue their discovery on their own.