Chapters 3 & 4

1a. How is “living what [you] believe” both difficult and easy for teachers? Often times as teachers we have the ambition to go out and change the world. We see things that need to change and set off do to so. This can be difficult for teachers as they realize that there is only so much they can do. Because there are so many people we have to report to our beliefs may take a while to be realized. However, as we live what we believe in our own classrooms, we can make a world of difference in the lives of those students. Teachers who live what they believe find it easier to meet the needs of the students because they truly are teaching students and wanting to make a difference.

 1b. How can (might, should) differentiation affect “living what you believe”? Differentiation can affect living what you believe by making a difference in the lives of the individuals whom you are teaching. Differentiation is all about teaching to the specific needs of the students and doing all you can to ensure that each child is learning. As the book stated, many teachers go into teaching because of a sense of enormous possibilities of limitless possibilities of learning. This belief can be made possible by differentiating in the classroom and helping each student find a way to reach that limitless possibility of learning.


1c. From chapter 4, explain what Tomlinson meant when she suggests that a teacher, early and often, should say to students, “Let’s figure this out together. Let’s make this our class.” I love that she explains that the teacher is the professional and responsible for what happens in the classroom, but a wise teacher, "understands that virtually everything in the classroom will work better if it 'velongs to us' rather than 'belonging to me.'" As a teacher allows students to share responsibility to students need (affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge) are all met. The teacher is responding to those needs in a very good, positive way. When a classroom becomes "our class" in becomes a better place to foster learning.

Creating Community

I absolutely loved Sylvia Allen's class about morning meetings.  It made me so excited to start my own classroom where I can implement this.  The idea of having morning meetings is such a great way to build community in the classroom. Having a sense of community can do wonders for students.  It creates a safe environment where students have a sense of belonging and confidence.  If the students feel safe then their learning will improve.  If  a child feels threatened then their desire to learn shuts off.  Not only will the students feel safe with their teachers, they will feel comfortable and safe with their peers.  I have a feeling that morning meeting will be something that will make my classroom a fabulous place to foster learning and create community.  I can't wait to be a teacher!

Chapter 2 - What the Student Needs

One quote from this week's reading really stood out to me. The author shared some research that says, "If a child feels unsafe, threatened, or insecure, the brain blocks off the pathways to learning and attends to the more basic human needs instead." This struck me because how often our the students we teach completely tuned out because they don't feel the support of their teacher. Part of being an effective teacher is creating an environment where students feel safe, comfortable, validated, and loved. It is only in this type of environment that students will thrive. Further on in the chapter it talks about what the student seeks and how the teacher can meet these needs and help the students' brains open pathways to learning.

Chapter One Reflection

1b. On page 10 of this reading assignment, Tomlinson says, “… we teach responsively when we understand the need to teach the human beings before us as well as to teach the content with which we are charged. … [It] is important to begin with the conviction that we are no longer teaching if what we teach is more important than who we teach or how we teach.” What does this mean to you?

I really liked this comment from the book. One of the most important things to remember and really understand about being a teacher is that we are teaching students! So often teachers get caught up in teaching content that students get left behind or simply don't get much out of school. My goal as a future educator is to teach to the students. While it is important to teach content, obviously, it should never overshadow who I am teaching. I love the reminder the author gives that we are no longer teaching if we forget WHO we are teaching.

I am looking forward to learning all there is about differentiation and how I can teach to all different kinds of students in an effective manner.

Return of the blogging...

Well...my blog is going to be put to use this semester again. I will be making reflections and what not about my differentiation class. I'm super excited to take this class and hope to learn a lot from it. I am starting my senior year, which means my this time next year I will be a FOR REAL TEACHER! Woohoo!! Exciting stuff! If I can just survive this one last semester I think I'll be good. So here it goes... :)

Reflection: Dr. Anderson posted a picture of wild flowers and asked how this could compare to a classroom.  At first class into a classroom, you may think that each student looks a like and thinks alike. However, as we examine each student more closely, we notice that there are many difference to each one. Each child is it's own unique character who needs things catered specifically to them. Each student is not on the same learning level, nor do they learn the same way. It is our job as educators to look more closely at each child and determine where they are at academically and determine what we need to do to help them be successful in their education. A field of wild flowers may appear to be beautiful and functional at a glance, but one must investigate further to see what each flower needs, the same goes for the classroom full of students.

Blog #6: So Long, Farewell!

Fall field is over and it's now time to go back to big kid school. What a great experience it has been to work at Valley View Elementary with my fourth grade class. I learned a lot about how important it is to keep the students engaged in their learning. It requires a lot of planning and practice to get to a point where teaching is easy, but I'm patient.

One thing that really became apparent is how important art is in the curriculum. The teacher I was working with didn't incorporate much art, or anything fun really, into her lessons. There were so many times the students would be bored and I would think about better ways to teach the lessons that would allow the students to get up and moving. In my classroom management class we learn that students need to do three things every day: 1.) talk, 2.) laugh, and 3.) move. Art, drama, music, etc. are great ways to allow the students to do this.

As much as I sometimes dreaded all the work required for my art class it really has taught me a lot about things I can do to make my own classroom more enjoyable for the students I teach.

If I were an Indian

So for my field experience I got to teach my fourth grade class about the prehistoric indian tribes in Utah. It was a lot harder to plan lessons than I thought it would be. Debbie and I spent 4 hours last week planning three lessons. Blah! But it was fun to see the kids react to our teaching. They enjoyed all the fun activities we planned for them. We also taught them a song that my mom wrote about Indians and they LOVE it! Ms. Ellsworth really likes it too. She wants to perform it at their end of year presentation. It's amazing what music can do to help kids learn. It's been fun to see them learn and get enganged in the classroom.