Benchmark 4
July 9 Chapters 7 & 8
FOUR QUESTIONS:
- What was new for you in these chapters?
- What did you read that you know is true and can relate to based upon what you have seen in your experience as an educator?
- Did something interest you that you would like to research further to obtain more information?
- How will this change what you do daily or how can you implement what you learned from these chapters?
Chapter 7
ReplyDelete1. Before you read this chapter, skim the subheads to see what instructional strategies will be discussed (e.g., stations, agendas, complex instruction). Then choose one strategy to read and think about in more depth.
Stations: A great way to tailor learning to students' needs. Stations, unlike centers, they work in concert to reinforce concepts, extend and differentiate content and the process of learning. They can be used in all subjects and having a teacher station in every series is a great way to interact with every student. One thing that was interesting to me, and mentioned on pg. 108, is that to have student go through their pace at every station. From experience, we usually provide the kids with a 20-25 min at each station. I'll try to see how it works the other way. My concern is that how do we structure chatty students that require longer times at the stations because they're sparking up a conversation with a partner that is unrelated to their work. Some kids ask, "how long do we have?" and pace themselves accordingly. So, I would have to experiment with untimed stations.
DeleteI liked the strategy of using agendas for differentiation. It sounds like they’d provide for a lot more flexibility than traditional station work. I love the feature of having students set goals each day for what they plan to accomplish. Agendas incorporate the opportunity for students to practice self-pacing, planning and personal accountability in their work. They offer flexibility for modifications based on student readiness, interest and learning profiles. I can see how a lot of thought and planning would be required for the teacher to design personal agendas to match each student's needs, but once they are in place, agendas would rock!
DeleteOrbital studies really struck a chord with me since I had never heard it called that before, but some of my most effective learning took place during orbital studies. I would love to learn more about that strategy especially as it relates to library skills. I think there are numerous ways that orbitals could take place in cooperation with content areas especially at ms/hs.
DeleteKaren H. I really want to look into two areas - agendas and complex instruction. I had to think about my pgp group of kids and what would make a difference. Even though they will only be in first and second grade - every student is unique. I think to use agendas with these students would provide for their needs. Complex Instruction would allow the students to dive in deeper where they want as well. For the student population in general - I think stations will help them learn what the need about the library....that would be great follow up to the lessons in the library.
DeleteI would like to look more into agendas because it seems like a simple solution for communication between parents, teachers, and students about learning...especially middle schoolers!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHaving often used the terms “stations” and “centers” synonymously in the past, I chose to read about stations in an effort to learn the difference between the two. There were three components I took away from the section about stations. First, when implementing stations in the classroom, not all students have to work on the same task. Second, students do not have to go to all the stations during each designated amount of time. Students will, however, rotate through each station at some point (this is in direct contrast to centers whereby the content and knowledge learned in centers does not build upon each other and does not require students to complete all rotations in order to gain a full understanding.) Third, students can spend differing amounts of time at each station. Stations truly do allow the teacher to modify parts of the curriculum in a way that meets the varying academic needs of all students. I love that stations take away “specific, ability-based …groups” (Tomlinson 109).
DeleteI think using the agenda method with different classes would be a great way to work into any given unit of study in many subjects a trip or two to the library. For example, one of the agenda activities of say a poetry unit in an ELA class might be to come to the library and locate a book of poems to check out or with in a science class perhaps visit a particular website to work through a given problem. It would create a more cohesive use of the library within the subject areas instead of EVERYBODY going to the library to do "X" all on the same day.
DeleteI read about both Stations and Agendas from Chapter 7. I would like to incorporate more accountability in the library for learning, trying, and creating in different areas (or stations). I liked that the stations were mostly heterogeneous groups, since that is what occurs most often during the day in my library as teachers send students in small groups. I liked that the agenda was personal to each child and allowed them to use their strengths and interests to help them stay motivated. I think I might use a combination of these strategies to help me better manage my library this year. Students already understand the various areas of the library and the activities that are available to them. I would like them to make a personal monthly agenda by setting goals and selecting activities in the library to help them meet those goals. This accountability piece would help me know which students to challenge or push into a new area that I think they would like, and which students might need help making better selections and use of their time.
DeleteLiked focusing on Orbital studies & Stations as I feel these two lend themselves more to what I "can" do in the Library to integrate these ideas. I'm thinking about the stations. Would like to incorporate that into a Literacy lesson as we are focusing on it these days. I've done some genre lessons where the students had to go to different stations (each station being a stack of books) the students had to determine some similarities in these books - location ; genre ; etc. So, I think I can build on that some & make my lesson on genre a bit more exciting .. not to mention adding a dimension of finding the books in the Library - location.
DeleteLiked Natalie's summing up of difference between centers & stations. I always did use stations, but centers are a bit less familiar. Her definitions/examples were easy to understand.
DeleteChapter 8
ReplyDelete1. How could you find more information about this strategy?
2. Which unit or lesson would be the best fit for this strategy? What factors are important?
I think the Entry Point strategy outlined in Chapter 8 could be applied to a book club or literature circle activity based in the library. It would be interesting to solicit feedback on the book from the student members’ multiple points of view. It would make the discussion and understanding of the target book so much richer by tapping into the members’ multiple intelligences.
DeleteJust a simple Google search on Tri-mind revealed numerous activities, guidelines, and documents from schools, districts, and educators. I think that more information can also come from various colleagues and connections anywhere (Twitter, blogs, etc.). Finding out what others have done previously helps spur ideas for me. I think that a lesson/activity on citations could be used to help students see the relationships between in-text citations, the works cited page, and the resources themselves. It would be interesting to see if kids "got it" a bit more when approaching citations from a more creative or analytical approach that allowed them to see how everything connects or how the "system" works.
DeleteKaren H. - I did a quick google search on Tiered activities and found more information, more samples, and lots of "worksheets" or check lists to use as you create lessons. Teach Hub (a fun website) had some very simple ways to put Tiered activities into action. There are many resources available to help you put together outstanding lessons.
DeleteI did a Google search on learning contracts and found an article from Worcester Polytechnic Institute that gives a well-researched article with five benefits of how this helps in the classroom. This interests me because I did learning contracts in a different way in my classroom through a Flip Flippen strategy, but really they are very similar. A lesson about digital citizenship would work well for the learning contracts!
DeleteI think centers and stations would work well in my library. Having both learning and interest stations makes sense in the library. Here is a post from The Elementary Librarian about using stations in the library: https://elementarylibrarian.com/how-i-use-library-stations/ I also feel contracts would be a good way to have students feel independent yet gives them some accountability. These might actually be a better fit than centers and agendas for general library activities.
Delete1-Gosh I think the Internet is full of information on centers/stations. Especially, some Librarian sites (ALA, list servs etc).
DeleteAlso, there are some teachers at my school who work with them so could go have a look. Not to mention, visit some of my Librarian friends who I know use them - especially in Ele. see what they do & how I can elaborate on it in middle school.
2- I like the poetry contracts. Maybe I could integrate that into a center .. would love to give my poetry collection a bit of a boost in usage.
1. A lot of the strategies were not new to me, however, I have enjoyed learning about Orbital Studies. It's such a great way to connect with students over projects that have a different structure than the normal daily routine. The students feel a sense of ownership when working on their orbital studies and they get to see their coaches not just as their teachers but a person who has other interests and is talented in other areas than the subjects they teach.
ReplyDelete2. When a teacher chooses a differentiation strategy whether it's stations or agendas, it makes the process of differentiation more manageable . To know that there are 30 min of class time where students will be working on activities that are tailored to their individual needs, alleviates the pressure of having to differentiate throughout the day, especially for teachers who are just starting their careers.
3. I would like to experiment using varied differentiation strategies for the same subject at different times. It was mentioned somewhere in Chapter 7, that only certain strategies work at certain times to progress learning. Typically, we do stations at our school, especially in math. It would be interesting to evaluate different strategies, such as contracts or agendas, and seeing how that might enhance the individual learning process.
4. The strategies and tools provided in these two chapters will be a great reference for me in the future.
Mona,
DeleteI also found the Orbital Studies strategy to be intriguing. I can see the value in allowing students to choose a topic of personal interest and devise their own plan for learning more about the curriculum-based component of their topic. The learning outcome is always deeper and longer lasting when the student has that vested interest in the project’s creation. I’m curious about how to create an orbital studies website referenced by the author in her case study. That was a key resource for both the students and their parents for laying the foundation of how orbital studies would work. I wonder if there is a generic website available that anyone could tap into so we wouldn’t have to keep “reinventing the wheel”.
That would, indeed, be very helpful to know if there is a standard website for orbital studies. If not, then setting it up for the first time might be time consuming but well worth it throughout the following years.
Delete1. I had always used the terms “centers” and “stations” interchangeably and was not familiar with the distinction between the two as outlined by the author. I understand now that activities at various stations are linked and all students need to pass through all the stations to become competent on the highlighted concept. Whereas activities at centers are distinct and operate independently of each other to help students achieve proficiency at various tasks/concepts.
ReplyDelete2. I am familiar with Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and can see how the strategy of “Entry Points” described in Chapter 8 would be an engaging way to tap into students’ individual learning styles and personal interests. In my experience, when students are given choice in how they complete a project, they will have more internal motivation to complete the assignment successfully. The teacher may still need to modify the resource materials to accommodate a range of reading levels, but in the end, each student will develop a lasting understanding of the common learning goal.
3. I would like to learn more information about how to successfully use the Complex Instruction strategy. Our schools are classic examples of classrooms with academically, culturally, and linguistically diverse make-up. It has always been my goal to establish equity in learning opportunity for all students and to celebrate the contributions of each individual student. However, when I’ve tried setting up heterogeneous groups to work on a project, inevitably the “high-achieving” students take over the work and those with low level abilities, or those who lack the motivation to contribute, have little input into the final product. I’d love to see a successful Complex Instruction project in action in a real classroom to figure out what I’m doing wrong!
4. I would like to incorporate some type of learning centers or work stations into the library setting. I can envision opportunities to tap into students’ multiple intelligences to engage them in various literacy-based activities. My challenge will be to create centers that can be completed independently with little adult supervision as my time is occupied with classes coming in for lessons and checkouts (I have no library assistant or regular volunteers who could help run the centers). Any suggestions??
Millie, I agree with you about #1. I didn't know the difference! For #4 I would suggest something easy or tactile to start with in your library and close to you so that you can monitor. I have a ton of Legos that people donated and I don't care how old you are, Legos are always cool. I would be happy to share some with you so that you could get that going!
DeleteI agree with your comment about heterogeneous groups not always working successfully. I have found the same to be true in my experiences. When referring to cooperative groups, it was stated that “those who are good are given responsibility for successful completion of group tasks…those who are not good at school relinquish responsibility” (Tomlinson 114). I feel this statement sums up my past experiences with cooperative grouping best. Complex instruction, on the other hand, provides students with tasks that meet their individual abilities, needs, and interests.
DeleteBrandee,
DeleteThanks for your offer to donate some legos to my library. I'd love to take you up on that. Maybe we could connect at our first librarians' meeting in August. I'd also be interested in any guidelines or activities you share with your students when they work with legos in your library. Thanks again!
That would be great! :) I will be happy to share and chat!
DeleteI utilized centers for my PK-1 lessons last year. It was definitely interesting to try and I enjoyed my first attempt. For example, on Fiction vs. Nonfiction, I had a center where students identified Fiction and Nonfiction facts; a center with a book sort; a center with independent reading (fiction/nonfiction paired books); a center where students identified text features for fiction/nonfiction; and a center where they wrote two sentences (or a short story - depending upon ability) on the same topic (one fiction and one nonfiction).
ReplyDeleteI also used as a whole group activities a fiction/nonfiction song I found online along with several sorting activities on the ActivBoard. We would revisit the sorts and the song throughout the year to review elements of fiction/nonfiction. It was fun to plan and the kinder/first grade teachers really appreciated the reinforcement of skills, especially since we were able to help the kids expand their reading into nonfiction more easily. They loved being able to check out nonfiction books after these centers!
Oh, I also have several resources I used to help prep centers if you would like more information!
In these chapters, there were several types of differentiation that I had not known before (at least with this type of terminology). Tri-mind, orbital studies, and stations were new to me as terms. I have seen these types of lessons and differentiation, but under different names. It was definitely interesting to read about the specific lessons for each strategy as it made the reading seem more applicable and I could picture different lessons and activities working for various strategies.
ReplyDeleteOne thing the author mentioned that I know is true is that “teaching up” is by far more likely to help students to grow and learn the content more effectively than teaching to the “middle” or to the “lower” level. Students will rise to the occasion and feel challenged if you ask them to step up. Obviously support will need to be in place for certain students, but if you work from the opposite (teaching down – modifying up) then you will potentially lose the opportunity to provide the most meaningful learning experiences for the students.
I would definitely like to look at and research ideas for library lessons that I could use tri-mind, orbital studies, and entry points. I think that these strategies will need to be used in coordination with content research and studies, so finding ways to include them in my instruction is something I’d like to research more.
Too often, I think we present library skills/lessons as whole group due to time constraints, limited knowledge of the students, etc. I think that this year, I’d like to focus and be more intentional about creating lessons that utilize some of these strategies - for example using tiered activities for basic research or citation lessons. I would also like to help teachers to utilize these strategies in their classroom lessons as I work with them on project planning and hear about their lessons.
I agree that teaching up is much more effective than teaching to the middle. When I taught English, many students were placed in my IB class simply because there was nowhere else to put them. I found that teaching up with lots of support cause theses students to grow so much by the end of the year.
DeleteI agree - there were tons of new ideas here for me. I thought I knew a great deal about differentiation, but I had no idea there were so many facets to the term or the philosophy/application.
DeleteI love the chapters that are specific examples of things you can actually use. A few of the strategies in Chapters 7 and 8 were new to me, or this version was new to me.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 7 I was particularly interested in Complex Instruction. Figure 7.2 shares the task sheet for the example lesson. I liked that while the assignment(s) was mapped out, it was still open ended. As in all collaborative work, I think it would be a challenge to make sure each student was doing their job and pulling their weight, which is mentioned in the book. This would be counteracted with clear expectations and follow-up and would get easier with each Complex Instruction task. I could see using this in research projects and will keep this in my bank for library instruction.
In chapter 8 Tri-mind was really interesting. It reminded me of menus, but tri-mind labels the options with the intelligence (or whatever you are differentiating for). This strategy allows the student to learn the same information using a method that works best for them. I’ve used basic menus before, but I’d like to refine them to this specific strategy.
For both of these strategies I did a little search and found many studies about and examples of how to implement these strategies. These ideas help me see how I can implement these strategies in different units.
For all the strategies, one thing that was common and that I’ve found to be true is the more work you (the teacher) put into it before it starts, the more the students will get out of it.
Karen H. I agree with the definitions of centers and stations. I had always thought they were "the same." This is the first time I saw them as two separate strategies.
ReplyDeleteMy big aha from these two chapters was the difference between centers and stations. I had always thought they were the same.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts after reading these chapters - first, I've enjoyed detailed descriptions of learning strategies followed by examples of how to put them into place. Many times you read a professional book, nod to the ideas, but you really have no thoughts in how to put them into practice. Love seeing the examples following each strategy. What I know is true is that you need to provide for different levels, even in homogeneously group classroom, there are differences. I also know that you want to engage and motivate students and that occurs when students are interested and rise to the bar.
I want to spend some time looking into to agendas, complex instruction and tiered activities. All of these strategies may be the answer to my frustration with my pgp students. By implementing these strategies I should be able to meet the needs of ALL of the students - not just touching on the edges of their needs. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I need to go back to the PGP curriculum to check it against these strategies. Are we providing enriching content in a relevant way to engage the learners? What will I do with this, look at the curriculum and adjust it as necessary to truly differentiate for the PGP students. What I will also do is look at placing stations and centers in the library to extend the library lessons. I guess I'm looking at the Makerspaces being more as centers, and the stations will be follow up to lessons in the library - connecting them to classroom curriculum. (Can't wait to have some space!)
Centers and Stations, who knew! Makerspace would work as centers, with each center a different sort of activity and stations would be a great way to follow up with the library lessons.
DeleteI am there with both of you - who knew stations and centers were two different things! Both important ways to differentiate. Wish I would have happened upon this earlier in my career - it would have helped me be more purposeful in my teaching.
Delete1. What was new? What was new for me in these chapters was how the teacher on page 110 used the agendas. I have seen agendas used in many ways, goals set, work in progress folders, notebooks, etc. but this was the most concrete idea I have seen of a teacher and student monitoring learning side by side. I love the agenda idea. And really it would help so much for kids to understand what is expected of them and parents too!
ReplyDelete2. What is true? It's true that students need variety. The opening quote of chapter 8 said it best. I definitely don't want the library or our classrooms to be peanut-butter-for-lunch-every-day classrooms. I want us to have variety with lots of ideas and different strategies, modes of learning and environments. I think it is essential that we learn different strategies to keep ourselves as educators engaged as well.
3. Did something interest me? This goes back to #1. I am so interested in having clear expectations for students. Looking back over my own education, I got so frustrated when I did not know what was expected of me. In college, if I did not get a syllabus with information, I felt like I was in the dark. The same goes for our students. If we don't tell them what their goal is and why, they will be in the dark. Our job is to help them connect and I think the agenda is an amazing way to do that.
4. How will this change me? This will change me to make sure I let students know why they are in the library for the day. Often a teacher would bring students without advance planning. There is nothing that says I cannot get up, do a quick intro lesson or at least tell them what I am reading before they go and find books to check out for reading. :)
I loved the peanut butter analogy!
DeleteBrandee:
DeleteIt seems that two of the main points of the book are about knowing our students and knowing what exactly we want them to learn. It sounds so simple, yet as teachers we seem to get caught up in the static around us and time and intent slips away. Once we know our students abilities, interests and learning styles we can create these clear expectations and decide what and how we want to teach. I like your idea that we can always have a quick lesson ready for any of our classes. This will not only serve the students well, but we will also model what we want on our campuses.
1. What’s new:
ReplyDeleteFor me, seeing descriptions of all the different strategies side by side was revealing. I, too, have used the terms centers and stations interchangeably and was surprised to learn the difference. Stevenson’s orbital studies and Gardener’s entry points were a review, but the information provided was filtered by my shift from the classroom to the library.
2. What I know is true and can relate:
All of these strategies depend on the teacher knowing their students and being familiar with formal and informal assessments. Each chapter we have read reinforces this. Once a teacher has become comfortable with the specifics of each of their students, these chapters help with focusing the use of that information.
3. Something that interests me:
I really latched on to the agendas. They seem to be something that can work with our PGP students and get us working across all of the curriculum.
4. How can you implement this interest:
Going forward, I will take a look at the students for next year and focus on spending part of the year with the agenda. I think it will incorporate nicely with the curriculum we have been using. It will also allow them to have time to work on PGP even when I am not available. They may be able to work on their PGP activities in their homeroom.
I love your idea for using agendas with our PGP students. I think agendas would be a great way for them to take ownership of their projects and also for us to differentiate assignments among the PGP students in our groups. As we've said before, there are even differences in learning readiness among gifted children.
Delete1. Several of the instructional strategies mentioned in chapters seven and eight were new to me. Of particular interest to me were agendas. Although the concept of an agenda was not new, the concept of integrating one into the classroom was an entirely new concept for me to grasp. I love them! I feel they can be a truly powerful tool when modified to meet the individual abilities, needs, and interests of each student in the classroom. The idea of implementing agendas as a homework assignment also seems like a great way to make homework meaningful all the while keeping parents informed and involved in their child’s education.
ReplyDelete2. When reading about stations, it was mentioned that students do not have to go to all the stations during each designated class time. Some students may want/need to spend more time at particular stations while others may finish quickly and be ready to move to the next activity. Tomlinson continues by stating that the “length of attention span is not always a function of competency” (105). In my past experiences, I have found this to be true. Students with short attention spans may have readily grasped the material. They may, however, need more engaging activities and they may need to rotate to different activities more quickly than their peers.
3. I would like to have more practice and exposure creating tiered lessons. The idea of charting the complexity of my lessons would serve as a great reminder of the many varying needs of students. It would help me self-reflect which group of students (below level, on level, above level) my lesson best fit the needs of.
4. I will begin brainstorming ways that the aforementioned instructional strategies can be implemented in the library setting. Like many others have already said, I think library stations would be a great addition to the students’ weekly library time. As the new school year begins and lesson plans are being generated, I will begin brainstorming effective stations to implement the library lessons.
1. What was new for you in these chapters?
ReplyDeleteLike many people, I’ve always used stations and centers as synonyms, but I can see from the descriptions in chapters 7 and 8 what the differences are. It makes sense that stations are all linked to a similar task and centers are spread between different subjects.
2. What did you read that you know is true and can relate to based upon what you have seen in your experience as an educator?
A lot of these strategies hand over responsibility for learning over to the student. Some students are better at this than others and it is a great way to teach the students about time management and organization. Students who are already good at this will get even better.
3. Did something interest you that you would like to research further to obtain more information?
I liked the Orbital Studies strategy, it seems like a great way to meld the students’ interests with the curriculum. The teacher guides the student and makes sure they know what they need to keep track of and is there to help in any way. The student is in charge of their own learning and what they will gain from their studies. They become an expert about something, sort of like Genius Hour, but with more of a connection to the curriculum.
4. How will this change what you do daily or how can you implement what you learned from these chapters?
I used stations during April for poetry month, but I would like to try centers more throughout the school year. I think that would be a good way to cover some of the information we want the students to have or a way to review with the older ones.
***Sorry for the late post, sister got married last week and we were super busy!
I agree with the idea of giving students more ownership of their learning, but as a teacher I know this becomes frustrating. Probably what is lacking is a scaffolding of support when letting students be the ones in charge. Most students are used to the teacher being the one who teaches, so they don't know how to let go and follow their own curiosity. Some modeling might be needed to show students how we find out things we are interested in as learners as well. I also liked how several examples partnered students so they weren't left to their own devices! This might be a good bridge to the true autonomy of exploration and learning we want to see happening!
DeleteChapters 7 & 8
ReplyDelete1. There were a number of strategies covered in chapters 7 & 8 that were new to me. The ones that were the most new were Entry Points and Tiered Activities. Of the two, the Entry Points strategy seemed to be the most interesting to me allowing for students different “avenues” of learning that each student has inherent within themselves. As a learner myself, I would appreciate this type of differentiating.
2. Overall, the thing that rang true for me as to what I’ve seen in my teaching career is many of these instructional strategies work and make the curriculum and learning more relevant to students which will increase retention and mastery. If teachers are doing at least some of this then the students feel less like they are receiving peanut butter every day for lunch like the quote at the beginning of chapter 8 mentioned.
3. I would like to explore creating a contract for teachers to use with daily silent reading which most do in their classrooms each day. There doesn’t seem to be any journaling about what is read or discussion about what is read which can be fine however in my discussions with students about books they are returning to the library it seems like consistently over half of the students aren’t really reading the book. In order to improve in their silent reading skills, the students need to be engaged in the book and if they aren’t engaged for whatever the reason, they need another book.
4. These chapters will remind me to look at the lessons which I teach in the library and recreate them to allow for different strategies for differentiation – like choice for students in their learning styles, knowledge of topic or interests.
1. Never heard of "orbital studies" however, it is similar to something we used to do a long time ago with some science curriculum ideas I worked on. I like the idea of allowing students to choose a topic they are interested in that relates to the curriculum. I just see some problems keeping the kids interested & making sure students are keeping up with expectations like keeping a log of their time. Middle school kids seem to lose things & get side-tracked. I could see doing this maybe for a shorter period of time say 2-3 weeks. You would really need to keep on top of it & have family support/participation.
ReplyDelete2. The agenda idea struck a bell as we used to do a lot of "journals" when I taught science. It was a similar concept. I liked it because it put a lot of the learning ownership onto the students & allowed me to be monitor not the always the one at the front of the room so to speak.
3. I would like to think about applying the orbital study practice to some existing research projects that we do. I see that these two things could have a similarity & the ideas/philosophies of the orbital study could be applied to long research projects that are always given to students & of which I become involved in. It is one area where I see I could have some influence as the teacher creates their ideas for research projects.
4. This chapter sort of brings me back to some instructional strategies I used as a teacher, but have sort of lost track of as a Librarian. I hope to work closely with a few of my teachers & integrate some of these strategies into our idea/brainstorming before we work together.
Many of these strategies: centers, stations, contracts, jigsaw, and literacy circles I had heard of and used in my classroom before. However, the description and use of these strategies for differentiation was a different frame of thought for me. One new strategy that interests me, especially in use with PGP students, is Orbital Studies. Since our first and second graders are so varied in skills and interest, I feel this would be a great way to spend some of our time together. “An orbital study focuses on a topic of student interested related to some facet of the curriculum.” (p.117) I think the key will be finding a “clear question for study” related to something both grades are studying to keep the kids from wandering from one thing to another.
ReplyDeleteOne of the strategies that I loved using as a social studies teacher was jigsaw. It is a great way to give students a role in teaching one another as they become “experts” in an area of a topic being studied in class. It is also a great way to cover a lengthy topic in a compacted way. Most of the time when I used this technique, we would be in our topic groups on the first day and then our “home base” groups teaching on the second day. Students were usually given a graphic organizer so they could take notes about important learning on each section. It helped students learn how to determine important information and summarize their learning.
Some strategies I plan on finding out more about how to successfully implement in the library are: centers, stations, and learning contracts. Centers are going to be places for students to practice something I have taught in the library. Stations will be used mostly for Maker Space activities. Learning contracts will be used for my second and third graders that come for longer times during work stations. This will allow me to give students choices while tracking what activities (coding, typing, creating book trailers, etc.) they are working on. I will also be able to send their contract to teachers and parents in order to share what “working in the library” means.
Hello, friend... I'm SO glad I'm not the only one who's catching up with posting! I enjoyed reading your thoughts!
DeleteAgain, please forgive the tardiness... I got behind and am just now catching up. Many apologies.
ReplyDeleteChapters 7-8
1. What was new for me? I loved the information about the different types of differentiation. I have thought many times, when designing lessons, about how to use centers and stations, but the other ideas really got me thinking about how to utilize more differentiated tactics in the Library!
2. What I read that I know to be true: I found the figures on p. 126-7 so fun to look at. In 2nd grade, we do a lot of research. These ideas about how to differentiate information/research expectations are perfect. I can't wait to share them with my teachers and modify them for our non-fiction research use!
3. What I'd like to research further: I would like to look more at the techniques I wasn't familiar with. For example, Orbital Studies were foreign to me, and I'd like to further examine how they can benefit my library program and what I can do with teachers and students.
4. How will this change what I do daily: Several years ago, I had some centers and stations in the library. When we moved to the temporary campus and back to the new building, I didn't implement those. It's definitely time to get the centers and stations out again and really take a look at how I can organize those to benefit all of my learners!