My name

I just wanted to let you guy know for future reference that I spell my name Alix.  My full name is Alexandra but I change it in my nickname.  My mother did it so I have always liked it.  Thank you!

Chapters 5&8

     Before I get to what I want to say, because we are doing the textbook analysis right now, I want to talk about how it was cool to see the different strategies that the authors used to make the book easier to read.  For example the bold stars that they use in chapter 5 to emphasize the strategy they are focusing on.

I found this on Facebook a long time
ago I'm not sure who's photo this is.

     Okay, so I really appreciate the tools that are starting to fill my tool box with these chapters.  Having a tool box of different activity ideas will help to start our classes with valuable activities.  In math I think that it will be especially important to have prereading activities because of the complex vocabulary that can be involved.  It also helps, because math builds upon itself, to review and check the understanding of the known concepts that are needed for the material.

    I think that it would be really cool to use the dramatic role-play activity.  This activity would get the students moving around and it would get the students to think of different ways of visualizing the material.  At times math can be really dependent on the 2D, paper visual, but to bring math off the paper and to have them express this in a brand new way, I think would help the students to see that there are actual connection in the world to math.  It would also be an activity to help them to learn how to be social with one another while getting them up an out of their seats.

The Amazing Chapters 6&7

     So I really liked these chapters!  First of all I really appreciated that the first chapter acknowledged that math, in particular, seems to get a lot of hate dished out towards it.  Second, I really liked the concept of the Guide-O-Rama and the word sorts.  The Guide-O-Rama seems like it will be a great way to get the students to focus on what they need to pick up from each section.  It also shows the students that you have actually read through the section and that there is a purpose for them to read the section.  The word sorts seems like a great way to introduce the terms to them and to get them thinking about what they are about to read.  Before they even have to touch the book, they have already become invented in and curious about the assignment.
    My favorite part of this reading was chapter 7.  I got so excited when I read about the 11% score gain that correlated with the education of social skills!  As we were exploring last class, learning through social interactions can be a valuable method.  I have also learned, from my involvement with The Student Leadership Training Program (http://www.sltp.info/) ," of the quote by Theodore Roosevelt "Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."  I feel that this is explained and demonstrated in this chapter.  I believe that the explanation expresses why all of the concepts that we have read about in the previous chapters is so important.  The concepts demonstrate intentionality which lets the students know that you put time into what you prepared for them and it shows them that you care.  Therefore, the students will be more receptive to what you are teaching them.  I appreciate all of the suggestions for making the class as a community and I can't wait to try them out.

Strong Chapter 6

Photo from moviepilot.com

     I really enjoyed the visual of Darth Vader in the beginning of this reading.  It provided a great mental image.  We don't want to let Darth Vader win in his campaign to ruin the student's educational experiences.  Like the other methods that we have learned about in the readings, this one requires preparation.  These writing assignments that are created in the RAFT format are tasks that will take the students extended time to complete because of the creative nature of the tasks.
     I have never been a fan of busy work.  As a student, to receive busy work I used to think that the teacher was not competent.  I felt disrespected and that would, in my eyes, ruin the relationship with the teacher. I was never disrespectful to the teacher, but I cannot say the same for my classmates.  I don't remember where I saw this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlDt0PX4rVg but it is a video that I believe expresses how the students who receive busy work feel.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the student was very respectful in this video, but I understand how he felt.  To avoid these feelings we need to make sure that the students understand that we respect them, and we should respect them.  They are not all going to be perfect students, but neither were we when we were growing up.  Using the RAFT format for framing an assignment can insure that we express that respect to the students.
    Then to use the RAFT to assess textbooks sounds like it would help to focus the evaluation.  With such a large text that the textbooks tend to be, anything to help narrow the search is appreciated.  It also makes sure that it covers the things that we might not intentionally think of when reading the text, so why would we rate the text based on that.  RAFT makes you think of the bias that everyone has and doesn't mean to express.

Chapters 3&4

  image from: www.dreamstime.com


       The concept that I enjoyed the most in these chapters was "mirrors and windows."   The fact that students should be able to see themselves represented throughout the classroom.  The students must know that everything about them is an important part of the classroom community, so even though the book stresses that a students heritage must be represented, I also say that should see different genders, sexuality, socioeconomic statuses, ages, etc.  As far as the "window" part of this concept goes, I think that it is necessary for everyone to see different people in the society being represented.  This helps to create acceptance between different people in the community.  By demonstrating how important the different types of people are to the society.  This will help to work towards a world without racism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination.  There are many things that we can include in our classrooms to show them that everyone is a valuable member in the community. Again this is will take time, but I truly believe that it will be worth the time.
        As we keep reading these chapters the thing that always seem to be the overall concept is being intentional, and within that, each chapter discusses different things that we need to be intentional.  Teaching is not something that you can thrown together if you want to make sure that you teach the lessons that you intend to teach.  It can't be thrown if you want to do it correctly, and if you aren't going to do it correctly, what is the point in doing it?

UBD Reading

     I am excited for backwards design.  I think this style of teaching really fosters intentionality, and as you know from my previous posts, I love intentionality.  This style of teaching demands thoughtful preparation.  It incorporates what we have read in the book so far because it requires us to not follow the textbook's structure, but to go along the path that you find to be best, and to use the textbook only as a support.  In my experience, the students can tell when a teacher is teaching to the textbook, and they get frustrated by that.  It is nice for the students to see a teacher who takes their own path.  The students can feel that there is preparation behind what they are being taught, and they appreciate the lesson more.

     Not only with the benefits that it brings to the students, it helps the teacher to be prepared.  When you have put as much thought behind the lesson as it takes for backward design demands, there is nothing to worry about.  You don't have to worry about fears of not being familiar enough with the material because you had to get familiar with it to plan out the unit successfully.  You also have all the activities planned out for the unit and the materials have been gathered for your lessons.  When you teach in a way that makes the lessons personal and intentional, a lot of the stress can be eliminated because of how much thought has been put into what is being taught.  Therefore, this style of teaching is a win for both the teacher and the students.


image from: www.mycutegraphics.com

Chapters 1 & 2

     When I was reading this, I had a lot of different emotions.  At first I was really excited because it was awesome to see students getting passionate about what they are being taught.  Then I got nervous about how to be able to incorporate this.  I grew up in the Coventry school system (www.coventryschools.net) and the only time I can really think of the teachers working together was in middle school.  Even then, it was rare to have projects that were connected between classes.  And the way that my high school was set up, would make this really difficult.  We were all separated by our level and any student could have any combination of classes and teachers, so in order for the students to be able to have multidisciplinary projects would be for the whole school to coordinate together.  Which I also tough because it is a huge school.
     I agree that this type of focused reading is much better for keeping the students captivated than the textbooks.  When I was in high school I was told to read the textbook in my math classes but I never did.  Math is not a passion for me, it is something that comes easily to me and it is a skill that I chose to teach through.  I believe that the textbooks should be there to provide extra support if needed, but it should not be relied on to teach the subject.  It will take some out of the box thinking to find students things to read that will keep them interested, but I know I can figure it out.