DI/ UbD Ch 8

Abstract:
The primary goal of grading is to communicate feedback that supports and encourages learner success. Student variability should be viewed as a natural and positive aspect of working with youth; teachers should notice these variances and grade accordingly. A grade should represent a definable degree of proficiency using valid evidence. For this reason, grades and assessments are not the same, since assessments focus on gathering information about students to guide instruction. What a student learns is more important than when he or she learned it. Final grades should give a clear measure of achievement, with other factors measured separately so that a student knows how they meet actual learning goals and standards.

Reflection:
It is valuable for students to get grades that are determined rather than calculated. If our judgments are validly guided by the goals stated in our backwards plan, then they can be defended as fair. We want our students to achieve at the highest standards, forming a J-shaped curve vs. a bell shaped curve. Since schools are so competitive, we want our grades to truly reflect our students.

MI 11

Abstract:Chapter 11 deals with MI and its use in special education. One of the major focuses of the chapter was the focus on the need to get away from focusing on the students deficiencies and to look at what they can do well. Different approaches may yield better results when helping students that struggle with items. When using alternate symbols systems researchers found that when appealing to different MIs students were usually able to excel at the task. The chapter also discusses the use of MI for IEPs. Like special ed IEPs focus on deficiencies in students and not on the strengths that they have. To better reach the struggling student it is important teach using their strong MIs. The chapter also discussed that with the use of MI there was a decrease in special ed referrals and it offers and increased understanding and appreciation of students.

Reflection:When the chapter was discussing the need to focus on strengths instead of weaknesses it also talked about the need to not label students by their deficiencies. There is a good point to that however when talking to another colleague about the student and using the “label”, an understanding of the students situation is instantly known. The “labeling” of the student increases communication between professionals. Yes students should not be called their “label” and you could explain in detail the student’s deficiencies but miscommunication can happen here and the wrong picture can be painted. All students deserve an education regardless of the extra help that they need.

Assess Chapter 8

Abstract: Chapter 8 focused on why we grade and how to incorporate effort, attendance and behavior. Most teachers say that the reason why they grade is because they are required to do so and that it is policy. However, grading strategies need to be considered. For example, low grades make students less likely to try harder because of lack of motivation. Teachers need to be careful of using factors such as participation, attendance and behavior in grading, because these indicators may not be true evaluations of learning.

Reflection: This chapter is very important for any teacher to read because the grading system is something that is generally misunderstood. Many grades that are given out in schools do not seem to be true assessments of what was learned; sometimes the student already knew everything that was taught in the course and still walks out with an A even though they may not have learned anything at all. On the other hand, just because students are misbehaved does not mean they are not learning.

MI 6

Abstract:
This chapter explained 40 instructional strategy examples for
incorporating the multiple intelligences in our classrooms. The author
tried to avoid the obvious examples and gave us five intriguing suggestions
for all 8 intelligences. All eight intelligences were equally represented,
offering good suggestions relatable to everyone’s weak areas.

Reflection:
While reading this we talked about our favorite examples, and chose one from all 8
to try implementing in our lessons. Some categories we had more than one. We all said which one was our hardest intelligence to incorporate and how each chart helped us. Lora also liked the idea of body answers, if students understand they touch their head, if they don’t understand they scratch their head, this can be done anonymously and could get a quick
judgment if there was clear in an explanation with out embarrassing students
who need us to repeat it.

MI 14

This whole chapter deals with the possibility of a ninth intelligence, an existential intelligence. This intelligence is not wholly about religion or spirituality, but focuses more on the great questions of humanity, such as; “Why are we here?” and “From where did we come?”. This intelligence does not perfectly fit all of Gardner’s criteria for an intelligence, but it does raise questions about how as teachers who are confined with laws governing the separation of church and state we could integrate the existential intelligence into our classrooms. Different examples are given in different areas, suggesting that math could be taught from the angle of mystics like Pythagoras, or English could be taught focusing on the Bible or the works of Dante.

We felt that this should indeed be considered an intelligence. The only issue that it brings up is how to bring it into the classroom without preaching and without breaking laws of church and state separation. A Catholic family will not be thrilled if their child brings home an assignment asking, “Why are we here?” because to Catholics, this is written clearly in the Bible and is not to be questioned. We feel that this intelligence is not as valuable in the classroom as the other eight. Adam thinks that it would violate consciences.

DI/UbD Chapter 10

Abstract: This chapter reviewed a lot of the book with a few concluding words. As teachers, we have a foundation to build our teaching strategies on.This chapter summarized the main points of the different chapters, such as "stick to the big ideas" and the various concepts that are the groundwork behind assessing.

Reflection: By learning the basics of differentiated instruction and using the multiple intelligence theory, the students will learn better. This is an important message to be able to pass on to other teachers.

Assess Ch. 6

Abstract:
“Every test question should be important enough to ask and clear enough to answer.” Teachers should create a variety or questions ranging from multiple choice and fill in the blank, to analogies and open-ended questions; mixing these ‘forced-choice’ questions with ‘constructive response’ questions is beneficial for seeing the big picture of students’ concept mastery. We are not designing the questions as trick questions; we want them to be clear and concise since we are checking for understanding and mastery, not clerical duties. Questions should not be designed for grading ease either, since students can pick up on patterns. Our questions needed to be directed for assessing what we want to assess.

Reflection:
We got some great tips from this chapter about making test questions. We’ve had experiences where we knew the answer to the question, but answered incorrectly due to tricky wording, and it can be frustrating. This chapter stresses how to make test questions, right to the point, fun, varied, and positive. Test taking is stressful enough, we don’t need to make it harder on our students by giving them boring, misleading questions that don’t prove any comprehension. We agreed with having easier questions in the front of the test and working towards the harder questions builds students’ confidence. Nothing is worse than getting stumped on the first question on the test.

MI Chapt 8

Chapter 8 looks at MI and classroom management. One of the methods suggested for getting students attention is to use a different type of cue instead of trying to scream or yell to the students. Some of the examples were to use pictures, taped animal noises or to make certain gestures, or play a type of music. There alternate cues can also be used for transition times in the classroom. When managing behavior there is no one it all method. Teaching each student is different in this area and the teacher need to try different things from different MI;s until an effective method is found.
For the most part at the higher level students don't want to have a teacher focus on them in a negative way. If this occurs they want the attention off of them so they go back to work in hopes that the teacher will go away. When the time comes to take the next step we hadn't thought of doing it in a way that included different MI's. Instead of focusing on the negative the MI methods focus on channeling the energy so that the student can see what they are doing wrong and fix their behavior themselves.

MI Chapt 13

This chapter takes a look at 3 different applications of MI theory. They are computer technology, cultural diversity and career counseling. Computer technology talks about using the computer for all types of MI’s and it gives a good list of them all. Cultural diversity talks about using different MI’s for different backgrounds. Each culture uses their MI’s in different ways and it gives examples for each. Career counseling takes the MI’s that students are good at and introduce an array of jobs that apply to each.
We decided that all of these would work, but don’t necessarily like career counseling. We thought that students should find out what they want to do themselves. We also don’t think that because you like to read you should be put on track to become a librarian or a writer. Students should make their own decisions.

MI 12

Abstract: Chapter twelve looks at how MI can be used to increase memory capacity and association. By associating information with the child’s favorite MI they will be more likely to remember it and reinforce it later on. This chapter also looks at the varying strategies to use to help students with problem solving. It is important to take students out of their comfort zone and to challenge them and this can be easily done using different MI techniques. By taking the students out of their comfort zone it forces them to grow and expand their knowledge of the topic at hand. The chapter also looks at the inclusion of Bloom’s Taxonomy which provides a type of quality control to see how deeply students understand.

Reflection: This chapter was interesting to look at when trying to get students to remember things that have been taught in the classroom. It only makes sense to use something that they enjoy or relate to and to help them understand material. Many students fail to remember dates, formulas or historical figures but they can remember certain sports player’s stats and the dates that they achieved the stats. It is not that the student has does not have the capacity to remember information it is just that the information is not presented in an appealing way to them.

UbD/DI Chapter 10

Abstract:

This chapter was a summary of the book including when to try to use DI/UbD. There is no single best way to do it; perhaps the best way is to try different things and see what works best. It reminds teachers that there will be a learning curve and to not be afraid of it. The chapter focuses a lot on how to best integrate your style of teaching into your school. There are many texts and workshops that can be used to help aid continued learning on the topic and subject. Teachers should introduce the idea of UbD/DI to other teachers if they don't know about it.

Reflection:

It was nice to get ideas of incorporation. The most important part of this chapter was perhaps the idea that every should be tried three times. Sometimes teachers give up on something before they have tried it enough times. The best way to try to incorporate it is to try different ways and to see what works best.