How do you address the bumps in the road?

Reflection Poem: Something to think about…

The most valuable time spent teaching…
Is not spent teaching.
How can that be?

The most valuable time teaching,
Is the time spent reflecting?
Thinking.
Questioning you.

What went well?
What flopped?
What has promise?
What caught the interest of the learner?
What lost the interest of the learner?
Who needs my attention the most?
Why can’t I get Robert engaged?
Why does Kim seem to fade into the woodwork?
How can I break through Michael’s anger?
Who seems interested enough to explore on their own?

It’s strange,
Almost eerie,
How, in reflection,
The day becomes clearer than the reality
On which it was based.

The following are some reflection questions for you. 

 

What have you done when a carefully thought-out lesson didn’t go as planned? When an experiment/ activity  didn’t work as you expected? When you felt certain your students understood a concept, but a formative assessment showed they didn’t?

 

How did you address this “bump in the road”? What did you do to ensure your students learned what they needed to learn? What do you plan to do differently the next time? If you were new to teaching when it happened, to whom or what did you turn for help? Did this unexpected result also have any benefits/positive consequences to it?

 

 

 You do not need to comment on every question but share what you have done to overcome bumps or challenges.

#8 Embracing the Mind Set of Change

Blog Entry #8

Does the "enrichment mind-set" prevail at your school? Is every staff member united in the belief that every kid can succeed?



 Think of some specific strategies and activities you can use to strengthen the processes in your students' academic operating systems.

#7 How Poverty Affects Behavior and Academic Performance

 Blog Entry #7  

In chapter 2 we will discuss the effects of poverty on behavior and academic performance in the classroom. 

 In chapter 1 Jensen describes four primary risk factors caused by poverty (emotional and social challenges, acute and chronic stressors, cognitive lags, and health and safety issues)  that we should understand.   

Comment on the following:  
In what ways are the emotional lives of low-SES kids different from those of kids who come from middle- or upper-income families? What behavioral manifestations of these differences do you observe in school? How will you (or your colleagues) need to change your own behavior to succeed with these students?

#6 Teaching with Poverty in Mind, Jensen

Blog Entry 6

 "Teaching with poverty in mind: 

What being poor does to kids brains and what schools can do about it"

 

 

We are starting to discuss the book,  "Teaching with Poverty in Mind:  What being poor  does to kid's brains and what schools can do about it" for our Social Justice application in this course.   In Chapter1, Understanding the Nature of Poverty,  Jensen gives us a definition of poverty.  Which of the six types of poverty (situational, generational, absolute, relative, urban, and rural) are most prevalent at your school?
 


How might the book's definitions of these types of poverty change the way you think about or approach poverty at your school?