Final Thoughts

Due: June 14, 2012 (Class 11)

"It is not what a teacher does when he or she has time.  It is a way of thinking about teaching and learning.  It is a philosophy.  At such it is a set of beliefs:

-Students who are the same age differ in their readiness to learn, their interests, their styles of learning, their experiences, and their life circumstances."

     I chose this quote from Carol Ann Tomlinson's article, "Reconcilable Differences? Standards-based Teaching and Differentiation"from Class 10 because I feel that it relates to every aspect of this curriculum course in someway.  This piece from the article spoke to me the most while reading the articles for this class and I feel that it reflects my beliefs as a future teacher.  

    Looking at the different aspects of curriculum through instruction, assessment, and implementation I feel that it is important for teachers to keep in mind that they must know each student individually and their capabilities.  It is important for us as teachers to realize that students in the same grade and age will all be learning and excelling at different rates.  I feel like I can relate to this aspect of the quote from my internship.  I was in a multiage one and two classroom which consisted of children from ages six to eight.  Although the students were varied through their ages all students were at different learning stages and everything seemed to be openended in that type of classroom setting.  I liked this because it taught me to look at the children as individuals not just grade ones or grade twos, they were all considered equals however the learning styles varied and the curriculum was adjusted to their particular needs.  No child is the same and your instruction and implementation of the curriculum must relate to your students interests and the ways they learn.  This also goes along with how you assess your students.  I believe that when assessing the child it is important to make the process as comfortable and stress free as possible.  Making the students a part of the process and getting them become involved can help them want to learn more when they know how they will be graded.  This process can help you adapt to students needs and the styles of learning that they have in your classroom.
     This course has given us the opportunity to learn about all aspects of curriculum and beyond.  It has opened my eyes to much more then just the actual documents that are required by all teachers to teach.  It takes a lot more to implement curriculum effectively.  I feel that from the second part of this course I will take many strategies and beliefs away from the readings and instruction.

Quotable Quotes

Due: June 5, 2012 (Class 9)

For each of the assigned readings, select three quotes.  For each quote, write a brief rationale for why you chose it--- why you feel it is important.

1. "Assessment FOR Learning, the Achievement Gap, and Truly Effective Schools" by Rick Stiggins

(a) "...each standard must be deconstructed in the scaffolding students will climb on their learning to get there...over time they progress through ascending levels of proficiency until they reach the standard.  It is the levels of the ascent that classroom assessment must reflect."  (Page 3)

In this quote Stiggins is saying that before we can assess students we must look at the process students take individually and look at their own progress over time, then we can reflect and assess through what they have accomplished.  I really like this quote from the text because I believe that assessment should not be of where everyone should be by the end of the year, however an assessment of how much they've progressed from day one.

(b) "..help students learn to self assess by comparing their work to that standard of excellence so as to see the differences, and help students learn how to close the gap between the two" (Page 4)

I chose this quote because I believe that as a teacher when you assess it is important that the students know where they are in terms of their achievements and goals.  Having them assess themselves can help them self reflect and see where they can improve and where they are excelling.  Self-assessment is a great way for students to understand more about the assessment process and feel like they have an actual say in their final mark.

(c) "..the student's emotional response to assessment results in any context will determine what that student does about those results.  We must remember who is in charge of the learning, and it is not the teacher." (Page 5)

I like this quote especially the last part where it states that the students are in charge of the learning.  The point is that the way in which students are assessed and the route in which the teacher choses to do so influences the type of attitude and behaviour the student will have over what he/she learns.  It is important to use positive assessment strategies and including them in the assessment process, students will feel more confident when they feel that they are striving towards an achievable goal which will help them feel more obligated to learn rather then inhibited.