Week+6+Journal

__Week 6 Journal__
I have begun a new rotation with my second team of teachers this week. I'm a little concerned that time is going to be a problem with this rotation. We have had a lot of interruptions in our schedule this week. Next week doesn't look much better because of the approaching holiday. At any rate, our 6th graders are working on fractions in math, and just beginning an exciting journey into the world of poetry in E.L.A..

I'm struggling a little bit with the integration of technology in the math classroom. The group of students that I work with seem to have a very wide range of math skills. It is an inclusion classroom, and at times there could be up to 4 adults in the room at once! While I realize this is really a good thing for these kids, it seems a bit chaotic at times. One thing I have noticed about the teacher, is her ability to guide the kids through the thought process behind the actual math. For the kids paying attention, this is HUGE! I am excited when the students have the chance to explain how they worked a problem, and to be able to compare how others approached the same problem. I have seen some interesting approaches! It has also highlighted for me the importance of the kids being able to explain what they did, and why.

In the E.L.A. classroom this week, the teacher and students worked through a rubric that will be used to grade a "project" that the students will create. The teacher has given the students creative license to make a final poetry project of their own design! If this isn't constructivism, I don't know what is! Today they reviewed "I can" statements, and correlated them to the rubric that will be used for grading. This will probably need to be done again at least a couple more times, but hopefully, the kids will make connections between what will be used as evidence to demonstrate that learning has occurred. I am very excited about this new undertaking, and I think the kids will be too! These teachers are amazing me!

In doing the reading for this week, I have found myself shaking my head "yes" many times. I agree with the ideas behind PBL, but when I finished the reading. I always ask myself, "How can I use this in my class?" I can see how this could be used easily in science, which, I don't get to teach this year...:( I can even think of ways to incorporate it into social studies, and language arts. Math is where I struggle. I think it is because I see so many students who do not have a good basic knowledge of math procedures, and problem solving skills. I find it difficult to imagine a project that wouldn't need a pretty good basic understanding of basic math. Also, when talking about this with other teachers (not on the grant team), I am constantly reminded that "this isn't possible, given the barriers that are in place at our school." Our administration wants all core content area teachers to follow the same calendar, use the same assessments, and collect the same data in every class. But, ALL CLASSS ARE DIFFERENT! This is where I get frustrated...Also, we have to focus our attention on certain indicators for each standard. Once we get everything all figured out...the standards change, or a new textbook is adopted, or our curricultum councils decide to shift the focus in our grade level.

Right now, the teachers in my district are worried about "walk throughs" to collect data, that we aren't really sure how it's going to be used. Also, there is a big push to incorporate formative assessment into our classes. Adding the extra work for the people on the grant team has been a huge burden. I'm just not sure how we are going to accomplish all of this!

Along with the weekly readings this week, I have been trying to get into two books that I have carried with me everywhere I go (just in case I have a few spare moments). The first book is one I have had for a while called __[|Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age],__ by Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss. I picked this up back in September after our initial grant team meeting in Columbus. It is interesting reading, and has an appendix that focuses on "Essential Learning with Digital Tools, the Internet, and Web 2.0." I like the book because it also talks about bringing "rigor" back into our classrooms! I want my students to be engaged when they are in my class, and I think one way to do that is to keep them busy, and give them opportunities to guide what they will learn. I have actually found that my inclusion classes do better than my non-inclusion classes in terms of being open to decide what they want to focus their learning on. The second book I carry with me is __[|Teaching Beyond the Test: Differentiating Project-Based Learning in a Standards-Based Age]__, by Phil and Dori Schlemmer. I mentioned this book last week in my reflection, and unfortunately, I haven't been able to get very far into it yet! It looks like an interesting book as well. This book goes along well with a JAVITS course I am taking on differentiation and teaching gifted kids in the regular classroom.

With that said, I feel a bit overwhelmed this week. I'm hoping for a little less stress with the upcoming week!

Fritzi, I went into my "computer room" to see what I could find on formative assessment related to fractions. I then discovered that the one copy I had is up at Miami University. I'm going there on Wednesday -- maybe I'll find something. I'll let you know if I do. KR