Journet- Week 6

Wow! I cannot believe this is our final week.  I really enjoyed learning about teaching in middle School.  I wasn't sure what to expect in this class and I was a bit nervous because it is an online class.  I wasn't sure how well I would learn or how well I would keep up given that I was enrolled in another class with additional homework, being a single parent of 3 teens and a also working fulltime as a paraprofessional. 

I really enjoyed the book AMLE.  I feel that this book is a must for parents and educators of adolescents.  It begins with teaching us or reminding us of all the changes that are going on in this middle school years.  How their bodies go through the most physical growth in this point of their development beside their infant stage.  However, they are aware of these physical and emotional changes. This period of time between the ages of 10 and 15 years old can be tough time and even though adolescents may seem independent, they really need their parents to be supportive and they need trusted adults like teachers and coaches in their life.  We may think they are independent they don't need us as much but in fact they need us (supportive adults) more than ever.

We read early on in this course that  adolescents begin to think a bit more mature but still require a parent or guardians support and guidance.  They also begin to feel insecure about their appearance like their weight or acne.  They care what others think about them.  Around this time students may begin experimenting with alcohol, drugs, smoking and sex.  These behaviors do not come without consequences.  Around this age it is important that these young adolescents have a trusted adult.  If they don't have a trusted adult, they may be trusting their peers that may have wrong advice but because of their need to fit in they will sometimes trust the peers more than an adult.   

We later read in AMLE about the 4 essential attributes that must be present when educating, guiding and supporting young adolescents which are the following: Developmentally Responsive,Challenging and Empowering.

Within these 4 essential attributes we learned about the 16 characteristics that must be present when educating, guiding and supporting young adolescents. This is why i said that the book " This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents is a must read for parents and or educators of adolescents.  I will not talk about all of them as I have already talked about some of them in my previous blog posts.  Here is an Image with an overview of the 4 attributes and the 16 Characteristics.

I feel that ALL 16 characteristics are very important to have when educating adolescents.  However, I also believe that the 6 characteristics that fall under CULTURE & COMMUNITY are very important to lay the foundation in educating students in middle school.  If we can become fluent in these characteristics as parents, educators, a school or community the academics and organization will flow together because we have created a warm and welcoming place for our middle school students to thrive.  We will be courage educators and build schools with vision that all stakeholders believe in, especially our students.

Coincidentally I was learning about differentiating in my other class at the same time that we read article about teaching diverse learners.  The biggest take away for me in this area was that creating a classroom that incorporates lessons in a Universal Design for Learning will benefit all students.  Differentiating is mainly done as needed per classroom.  If I teach incorporating UDL, I will have differentiated prior to the need.  The big difference being that in DI, the teacher makes changes according to need.  In UDL, the teacher implements the changes prior to the need so that all students have access.   

Overall, I really enjoyed the readings, the blog posts, my classmates blog post.  The assignments were really engaging in this class which really motivated me to do my best as a student and apply what I learned in my home with my own teens and in my future middle school classroom.  I will be buying this AMLE book to refer to.  Here is a link to the AMLE website if you would like to refer to it as well.

http://www.amle.org/AboutAMLE/ThisWeBelieve/tabid/121/Default.aspx

Journet- Week 5

                                              Culture and Community Characteristics

I can relate personally to much of this weeks readings.  In every school we know that curriculum, instruction, assessments, school leadership and organization is very important.  However, being culturally responsive and creating a welcoming community within the school is just as important as the academics.  Making sure that students feel welcomed and part of the school community is key in keeping the students engaged and excited about learning.

The characteristic, the school environment is inviting, safe, inclusive, and supportive of all, is what I would hope all students have access to.  As a parent, I would hope that my middles schoolers do feel invited, safe, included and supported.  If my child is culturally different, has an IEP, a 504 plan, is LGBT, has a different home language, is gifted, is low income, high income etc... I would hope that my child feels welcome in their classroom, school and community.  I would never want them to feel bullied by peers or unsupported by teachers.

As a future teacher, this is the same environment I will create in my classroom.  I would never single out a student for being different but celebrate their differences.  I will not tolerate any negativity from students or adults towards others.  In AMLE it states " The essence of a happy, healthy school is reflected in the talk one hears." (pg 33)  This so true what conversations do you hear students having?  Are they positive or negative?  What kind of conversations go on in the staff cafeteria?  Are teachers gossiping about each other or their students?

The other characteristic that I really liked was every students academic and personal development is guided by an adult advocate.  In the adolescent years students may not trust adults because sometimes adults may be to critical of teens.  They have forgotten what it was to be a teen.  Teens may not be able to talk to their parents because they feel they might be judged or reprimanded.  Being an Middle school teacher we should strive to be trusted adults and advocates for our students.  We have to create an environment where our students feel safe to speak to us.  We use these opportunities to guide them in their academic and personal growth.  I know as a parent my teens may not always feel like they can come and talk to me.  Actually, I have worked hard in not being judgmental or critical of them.  For the most part I can hear them out without turning a conversation into a lecture.  I do have deep conversations with them where I guide them and give them advice.  I know that there will be times that  they will not be able to speak to me and it is in those times that I hope they have a trusted adult at school that can guide them or reinforce my adult rational.  I hope that my teens have advocate at school where I don't always know whats going on.  Vice Versa, I hope to be that advocate for students who may not feel heard in my classroom or school.

Thinking back to my middle school and high school years, I remember not being able to speak to my mom about things for what ever the reason.  I do remember pivotal conversations with certain adults in my life and still to this day I member how they have encouraged me.  I remember many of them being teachers and knowing my home life and how they knew what to say.  I have carried their words with me through tough times.  I have gone out of my way to let them know how much of an impact they have made in my life.  Now working in a school for almost 10 years, I have seen many middles schoolers graduate and occasionally some will come back and visit.  What is very rewarding to me is when one says " Ms. Journet, I remember how you were so encouraging.  I thank you for all your help and support."  Sometimes as an adult I may not remember a specific conversation that they may be referring to but because I try to always be positive, it warms my heart to know that I made an impact and left an impression on a student.

Journet- Week 4

I really enjoyed this weeks readings.  The topic of differentiation is dear to my heart.  I have worked in special education as a para for over 10 years and have seen the best strategies and the worst strategies when it comes to differentiation.  The first reading really breaks it down in defining what DI is not.  It does seem overwhelming to think that teachers must differentiate according to all of their students needs.  The first point iit makes is that DI is not individualized instruction for all students.  We do recognize that in DI, teachers do work in whole groups, small groups and sometimes with individual students.  The second point that this article makes is that DI is not chaotic.  Instead of visualizing many things happening at once within the classroom, picture the teacher as a facilitator like a conductor in the opera.  the teacher guides and facilitates all of the students.  There is a lot going on but if it is well structured it will be what the text called "Orderly Flexibility."  I like that DI is not homogeneous grouping and the students can benefit from each others strengths.  Di is not a tailoring of the same suit of clothes.  DI gives students of expressing themselves according to their own skill sets and talents.  DI benefits all students not just the outliers.

The Edutopia article was very informative.  It talked about the 3 ways to differentiate.  I am very familiar with the common one, which is differentiating the product.  As I read about the the other 2 ways of differentiating I was quickly reminded of the Undiversal Design for Learning.  It is very similar.  

1. Differentiating the content includes various delivery formats such as video, readings, lectures and audio.  
2. Differentiating the process is about how the students reflect on what is being taught.  This includes strategies like think/pair/share, journaling and literature circles.
3. Differentiating the product allows the students to show what they learned through a format that is preferred by the student.

In Universal Design for Learning (UDL) there are also 3 similar points which are:

1. Multiple means of representation (how students acquire information).
2. Multiple means of expression ( product).
3. Multiple means of engagement (interest, challenge and motivation).

The big difference being that in DI, the teacher makes changes according to need.  In UDL, the teacher implements the changes prior to the need so that all students have access.  This cartoon explains this a bit further.