7B and 7C

7B 

The first thing while flipping through before I was reading was standardized test. I believe that those are crap. I am an untraditional college student who is still trying to pass my ACT's. which is crap, because i have already received my associates degree. so i believe that those tests do not track or show progress at all, and they should be thrown out the window. for someone who has very high test anxiety, i understand how students feel. they need a safe, quiet, non stress environment while taking tests. even doing an nontraditional test, maybe just having a conversation with the student about the information that was on the test. there are different ways to test children with high anxiety. while in my field experience, i saw that when the second graders took tests, certain students had to move and they also had blockers, however, blockers might be silly for middle school i think allowing only a certain amount of children in an area while testing and also different versions of tests. in my classroom, i will have different versions of the tests so every other person had a different test. with this you can easily tell who is still cheating by the answers are wrong with the people who sit next to each other. 

7C pages 

Now the different types of test, i think that true or false statements are ridiculous. they can be so tricky that it could be either or. and lets be honest students have a 50/50 chance on getting it correct by guessing. i think that an essay form is better way because they take the knowledge that they learned and explain certain topics with their own feelings. as a teacher i would want to know how my students feel and react to a certain topic. and also i like the matching assessment. i think it is a great way to test and quiz on vocabulary and certain terms. but all other types are useless, in my opinion. in my future classroom i will mainly use matching and essay.

6c and 7A

6C pages 

While going throughout this section of the book, i felt like it was describing how to put together a great lesson plan. Recently, while in 215 i actually wrote and created a great lesson plan. normally i would just throw them together, which is bad to say but its true. it wasn't until i had to create a thematic unit with a partner where my lesson plans were in-depth. it was great practice and to this day i try to create my lesson plans to the best of my ability. i have learned that a student teacher could actually teach from a lesson plan if the lesson plans where in depth. as we learned, lesson plans could be required to be sent to authority above us, so when i become a teacher i am going to make sure that my lesson plans are in detail to the best of my ability. because it just doesn't help out a student teacher, it also will help me as the teacher teaching the lesson. 

7A pages 

I think that assessment and and student portfolios tracking their progress is great. I think that each teacher in one form or another should do this for their students. it is important because if something is not clicking you can go back and maybe see how they did previously and then re teach them a different way. or you will be able to have their progress tracked incase a parent wanted to see or a supervisor. it also tracks the teacher to see how well the students are grasping the information. when i have my classroom, depending on what grade i teach will depend on how i assess my students. but i defiantly will have an on going portfolio to track. i remember when i was in middle school, i always enjoyed seeing how i progressed throughout out the school year.  i feel like its great feed back to the students because they get to see where they started and see where they are now. i think that i will pass my student portfolios onto higher grades if teachers wanted to do an ongoing assessment. i think that would be a great thing to do with in a school, to be able to keep a track on students from start to finish. 

6B

6B

When going through this part of the chapter it went side by side with the chapter that my partner and I taught. I think that each part of making a thematic Unit is very important. and also being able to develop a thematic unit is important. Having 2 Thematic Units under my belt, i feel comfortable with completing one within the classroom. When teaching, I will have to remember to each of these steps, and also that time is money. that each lesson can not take to much time, and each unit can only be so long. i remember when i was in school and the teachers had month units planned and about after the second week we were all pretty much tapped out. Have to remember to make activities fun but also educational, but something that gives the mind a rest at the deep thinking.

Chapters 5B and 5C

5B 

When I started this part of the chapter it reminded me of Freedom Writers.  I say this because when the new teacher started she was boggled that the librarian would not allow her to check out real novels for her students to read, remind you they did not have regular text books either. So she set out and was determined to get donations of books for her students. I feel like if I was put in a situation like this, I would try my best to be able to provide for my students learning. I am actually starting to collect books now to display and use in my classroom. Reading and other outside sources are a great learning tool. Like the book said there more information out there then the text book. When I was reading the three organizational requirements i was thinking that this is an outside for a great lesson plan. In my opinion I think it is important to be organized and have a well thought out approach. As teachers, we need to be well read and kept in the loop on current events and current arising issues. by doing this I think i could see myself keeping up with my education and also attending classes and meetings to be a life long leaner. 

5C pages 202-220

While reading this section, I was remembering back to my 215 class where we learned more in depth about blooms taxonomy. I believe that it is very crucial to remember these steps and use them in our teaching career. I feel that if we use these in our classrooms, we are setting us as teachers as well as the students up for success instead of failure. As i continued to the reading to the Integrated curriculum, it gave me some anxiety. I know that as teachers we will have to do this a lot, as a new teacher i would hope that teachers with more experience would help me with this. Give me pointers and the ins and outs. I had no idea there were 5 levels of the curriculum integration. and personally I think the Team levels are the best. IT is always nice and a good idea to get feed back and other ideas on how to teach a lesson. Maybe a different teacher or colleague has a great point or a previous experience that helped teach a certain subject or content area lesson. 

Chapters 4C and 5a

4C

When I started reading this part of the chapter one of the teacher caused student misbehaviors caught my attention. It as the Embarrassment. When I was in my field experince last semester, my coopoerating teacher would always make this mistake. there where a chosen few who where always in trouble or in trouble according to her standards, which in my opinion way to high for 2nd grade. So when these few students where in trouble and she had enough of them she would have them sit on a square tile in back of her desk, and then proceed to call home/caregiver. While this is going on, I always thought to myself, I never want to be that person. Why would she think that this action is okay. I felt horrible for the students. While continuing on in the chapter I thought that it was interesting when I got to the part about pacing teacher talk and learning activities too fast. I don't remember ever being told, that while writing a lesson plan to write in transitions and transition times. In my opinion, this is a great idea. As teachers we liked to get carried away and forget that it is easier for one person to change tasks, but not all the students in the class. We have to allot time in the schedule for taking time and switching subjects and or materials before starting something new. As a new teacher, I hope to not be that teacher that no one likes or wants. I want a smooth run classroom, where there is fun and downtown. And also I would like be able to sit down and talk to my students about the rules and policies on the first day. and come up with reprocautions as a class for their misbehaviors. 

5A

While reading through this chapter I liked how it said that us as teachers should not be planning alone. That we should be collaborating with other teachers in the same age group/ concentration and developing a curricula. I think that is a great advantage of teaching middle school. That each teacher is able to help each colleague. The greatest advantage is being able to apply your input and also learn how other teacher think and teach. Now I personally want to teacher peek-1st, so I would wonder if collaborating planning is the same in that age group. I believe that this is the most beneficial thing a teacher can do, is collaboration. while we are in school we are taught to collaborate and then it just disappears, so its nice to know that we are encouraged to do so while teaching. 

Chapter 4A and 4B

4A

As I was reading throughout Chapter 4A, I really thought that classroom management is a very important characteristic of a teacher. As you run a classroom, you need complete control over what is going on. I personally have been in classrooms observing where the teacher had no control and the students did what ever when ever they wanted. in that kind of environment, no one learns anything. Each teacher has there own style of controlling the classroom, and normally stick to what works. Which in this case probably works best, since control over the classroom should be key when entering a school. 

4B

When starting a new school year it is important to have certain rules and standards for your classroom set in stone. And on the first day of class teachers should go over what they expect from the students. After going over the rules and expectations students should have to sign a piece of paper stating that they understand the consequences and rules of this classroom. When an issue arises, teachers who have set those rules in place should follow through with the consequences so students know it is not a joke. When students exceed the teachers expectations or follow the rules they should be receiving positive reinforcement. Following the guidelines and rules goes back to classroom management because if you have a good handle on your students and know what is going on and the students understand what is expected of them, the class should run smoothly and hopefully no issues arise. 

chapters 2a,2b,3

2A

When I was reading thought the first part of chapter 2 I came across somethings that I thought would be really helpful for when I get into my profession. Such as while we are teaching and also before we teach a lesson. We as teachers have so many decisions to make that will impact our students learning. Sometimes we also have to make quick decisions while actually teaching a lesson. Also as I was reading, I learned that the students have rights in the school. This was new information that i have not heard of before. I think that students should be more informed of these rights, because as i look back at being in middle school, I do not remember my teacher or principal describing these to use. I thought it was interesting that they had to put into the book the safety of the students. I would hope that our main concern while being a teacher is the students. They are the reason we are there, they should be our number one priority. But I have heard horror stories of this not being the case, so as some of us think that this would be common sense. Others may not think that way.

2B

First of all, when I started this section of the chapter I must say i was very overwhelmed. 22 competencies i was going to have to learn and remember as i am becoming a teacher. while going through the competencies, i was like this is what it is to be a teacher. I knew what these characteristic where all a long just didn't know the name. Continuing through section B of this chapter, it is explaining and describing the atmosphere of a classroom. and the characteristics of a teacher. The one thing that stuck out to me in this chapter was that most teachers use lecture style teaching. and going back to middle school and even high school, that was the only type of teaching style teachers were comfortable using. Lecture teaching is not fun for neither the teacher and the students. it wasn't until college that professors used think, pair, share or student based learning. I must say that is why when students enter college they are unaware of the change, but if teachers in middle school and high school changed their style of teaching students would be prepared and probably learn more. 

3

Chapter 3 is explaining and describing the way of thinking in the classroom. How different ways of thinking and questioning can open up your horizon to a whole new level of learning.  I learned that there is more then one way to question your thinking. As I went through the list I believe there was only one or two that i knew before. Having all these different types of questioning is a great way to make your brain think harder then it already is. I wish that when i was in middle school my teachers taught us these strategies. I think these are a great way to understand something that you don't understand by just questioning the material. I am making a mental note for myself in the future to use these when i am stuck on something. It is great to use a different style of learning for students. this helps them to not get comfortable with what they already know and do. 

Chapter 1

While reading through chapter 1 I came across the block scheduling and how that worked though out a middle school, and the perks of having this type of scheduling instead of a traditional one. I remember from when I did my shadowing for 227, I thought that the classroom scheduling was ran like a traditional schedule, but as I kept reading it seemed to have characteristics of both. There where 7 or 8 class periods in the day for at least 45 minutes long. But what reminded me of a nontraditional scheduling was, that when the bell rang the kids where not free to rome the hallways. They were to leave the classroom and go straight to the next classroom and get into a single file line. If i am remembering correctly they where supposed to be quiet. I think schools should have traditional scheduling because middle school children's brains need a break, and over powering them with information will just turn their learning abilities off, and they are not learning anything at all. As it said in the book about 30 minute class periods in between the 74 minute classes is not enough time to let your brain relax, which in all heinz sight can't anyways because that 30 minute period is also a class for learning. So I think doing it non traditionally is a lose lose for both the teachers and the students.