Chapter 3 and 4

I will start with what I liked from chapter 3. I enjoyed reading both of these chapters. This textbook is great! It is not like the other text books I have for other classes where the author makes it hard to understand anything. I liked in the book where it said, "The very least we ought to expect of ourselves is that we figure out what we hope for in this life and to make sure we live in our hopes." This can be so hard to remember in the day to day life. It is hard to remember what impression we want to leave on ours and especially as teachers what impression we want to leave on our students. I believe that a person that lives in their hopes is someone that is successful and content with who they are.
I also loved the short statement from the principle about how her faculty is so great because they live what they believe! So many people are scared to do this. I am scared to do this sometimes. It can be so easy to follow what others are doing instead of coming up with ideas and doing things the way you think they should be done. I want to be the kind of teacher that teaches the way she believes. That lives the way she believes. I don't want to be a repeat of other teachers and the methods they use. Though alot of them are good it is always great to be open minded!
After reading this chapter I came really liked the idea "Take the time to look into your students rather then past them! I want to make sure the children in my classroom feel like they are of great worth and accepted socially. I believe that this makes such a difference throughout a persons whole life. They are so many discouraging things that happen that I think it is never bad to give a child too much praise.
In chapter 4 I liked how it discussed how important your classroom environment is. I am excited to make my classroom fit my personality and also the needs and interests of my students. I liked the idea of making your classroom so students can 'see themselves' in the room. I also liked how important it is to use humor in your classroom. Anything can be turned into a good time and create smiles. I also like all of the examples the book gave on using group work, class routines, having responsibility, etc. It gave so many great ideas. It made me realize this is a worthwhile book to have and to keep to refer to later. I liked the celebrate success section that talked about ideas to help a child gain confidence and feel successful. Some of the ideas I liked were writing an email to the parent, calling the parent, or giving the child something that represented their success.
These two chapters were helpful to read. They covered many different points and ideas that can help morning meeting and the classroom be successful. I liked reading the examples from different teachers because you can choose which idea would work for you.
I am feeling very confident that morning meeting will be a wonderful thing for me to incorporate in my classroom. I'm glad we get to learn so much about it!

Learning about assessments!

I loved the worksheets available in our book. This would be very helpful to use in getting to know my students personalities, interests, and talents. This would help me in differentiating because I would know how to connect with each student. I would be able to take an interest in their interests. I thought these inventory worksheets were very positive as well. The student gets to put the goods things about them. This helps the teacher see all that is good in their student. I think teachers have a hard time differentiating because sometimes they only see what their student is lacking. What their student still has to learn. These inventories help the teacher see the student in a positive light. I would want to take these inventories the first two or three weeks of school to help me know how to connect to my students and find something wonderful to appreciate in each one of them.
After looking through what was posted on blackboard I think I could use some of those in my student teaching. I few of the assessments I saw I have actuaAlly used in my field work. Such as the inventory about how the student feels about reading. Thank you for all of these great assessment ideas! I think if I showed a few to my cooperating teacher beforehand she would definitely let me do some in the classroom. These assessments all look like quick ways to get a picture of where that student is at and how they are feeling. In my student teaching these assessments would help me get to know each student better. Their personal struggles and their successes. Thank you for putting this on blackboard for us!

fullfilling the purpose- Chapters 1 and 2

After reading the first two chapters of this book I decided it is a keeper! It has things that I will want to remind myself of as a teacher. In chapter one I liked how the book said, "what we bring to school as learners matters in how we learn." This is so true for children but also for adults. I know that who I am and what I 'bring' with me to school affects how I will learn. As I teacher it will be so important for me to look at students as everything they are. Talents they have not only inside of school but outside. Problems that are seen at school but also may be at home. I will want to take what students bring to school and build on it. Build on their interests, likes, dislikes, etc.
I also like the quote, "take into account who you are teaching not only what you are teaching." I feel like so many teachers get carried away with lesson plans, curriculum, tests, etc that they forget the children right in front of them. They forget that those children have emotional needs that have to be met not only educational needs. After reading these chapters I realize that it is so important to meet emotional and social needs even before meeting educational needs. The child needs to feel like they are recognized and appreciated in the classroom.
Another point that goes along with this is,"Instruction and curriculum are the vehicle that help student and teacher get where they want to go." It helps them get where they want to go but students and teachers need to be able to enjoy the ride as well. They need to be able to have a positive communication and understanding between each other.
From reading chapter two I learned how important it is to help students understand the purpose to what they are learning. I have had many teachers that teach me things I did not try to understand because I thought there was no purpose. Teachers need to convey an excitement and interest in the things they are teaching to their students. I know that if someone tells me to do something I do it much more eagerly if I understand why I need to do it and if I respect and love that person.
After reading these chapters I can also understand that their will always be more to improve on as a teacher. There will always be ways to do things better and to meet the needs of individual students. For me it will be learning to work on one thing at a time, so I will not be overwhelmed and not try at all.

Differentiation/morning meetings

From reading the textbook, "differentiation in PRACTICE" I was able to make some connections to my own life. The main connection I made was with the quote from the book, "The teacher must balance two factors, the needs of her students and the requirements of a curriculum." This statement made me think of my own elementary school days. I definitely had some teachers who tried to do this and some who did not care at all. I have also seen many examples of a good teacher in my own home. I grew up with eight brothers and sisters and my mom did a good job of treating us all according to our different talents, capabilities, and needs. She gave each child what they needed. Growing up I often felt like one of my brothers got much more attention then me. I know realize that he needed that extra attention, where I did not need so much to feel loved and confident. This helps me realize that as a teacher I need to be able to really understand and empathize with my students while still being able to expect alot from them. This can be a hard balance to find! I have been in many classrooms where the teacher is too much of a friend to her students and not enough of a teacher, and I have seen others who are too much of a teacher and not enough of a friend. It will be hard to get a good balance.

I liked reading about all of the different components that make up a good classroom. As a teacher it would be a good list to keep to go over and make sure your classroom is well balanced. It would be hard not to focus on just one thing at a time but try to incorporate everything! I believe that there is so much more to students then teachers allow themselves to see. So many different factors good and bad make up a person.

I was excited that in this class we are doing morning meetings! I love morning meetings! I first saw them in a field experience that I had and was really impressed by the unity they seemed to create in the classroom. I think it is a great way to start the day. It is fun, positive, and interactive. I think it gets students off to a good start for the rest of the school day. I think the four components sharing, greeting, game, and news and announcements are very important. All four of these give the morning meeting a certain tone. It can be fun, serious, inspiring, accepting, and funny. I think this is a great way to create a routine in the classroom where students have a chance to express themselves and get to know their peers. As it talked about in the article it is also a good way for students to take on responsibility and be in charge. It is a good time for them to have the spotlight and a time for them to be the teacher for a little while.
I really think I will use morning meetings in my classroom! I know that I have enjoyed doing it in our class this semester. It is fun and I am able to get to know my classmates better. I am seeing the positive results of having morning meetings in our own class. It creates a caring community in the classroom which will contribute to my students learning as well. I am excited to continue getting ideas for this throughout the semester!