HELP MY 5TH GRADERS!

In August, I am going to be teaching for my first year.

I will have 35 sweet 5th graders to teach every day.

These sweet kids live in a high poverty area;

therefore, I want to help make school wonderful for them.

I have created a project using donors' choose to help get supplies

to start using interactive notebooks with my sweet students.

For the next 6 days, donors' choose has given me a promo code.

They will match any donation dollar-for-dollar.

So, if you donate $10. They'll donate $10 too.

Any little bit can help, so if you'd like to be a part of helping these students

then click the link below. Donate however much you'd like. & be sure to
include the promo code 100WOMEN, so they'll match your donation.

CLICK HERE TO GET TO MY PROJECT PAGE!

I can't thank you enough for your support!

:)

One united differentiated classroom.

With all the things that we have been learning,

it may become hard to visualize how the classroom will run properly.

All this differentiation.

Different levels. groups. readings. assignments. assessments.

A lot of individualized planning for individual students or groups,

while trying to incorporate it all into one classroom can be hard.

However, I found a quote that I just adore and helps put it into perspective.

Yes, there is going to be a lot of different things going on.

However, students are going to be understanding the same standards and
reaching goals that are similar just varied to different levels.

Yet, most importantly; this is still ONE classroom!

All these different students form a community bond.

It should never begin to feel separated because of differentiated instruction.

The goal of differentiation is to help all students succeed,

which in turn should strengthen the classroom bond.

You should be able to walk into a classroom that's differentiated and have no idea.

You don't see separations between students because of the differentiation.

You see a united class, because all the students are understanding the content.

I feel that this is so important to remember.

Don't let differentiation break your classroom into sections,

because the real purpose is to bring it all together perfectly.

- Mallory

Fair isn't what you think.

In class, a quote was mentioned that I have been thinking about a lot.

I don't remember the exact wording; however, it was something along the lines of

"Fair doesn't mean everyone gets the same thing."

As we have been reading about curriculum/instruction and learning about tiering,

it has become more evident to me that this quote is so true and something I have been thinking about a lot.

We have discussed student's needs prior in the semester,
and we talked about how these needs should form our instruction.

No two children have the same needs;

therefore, it's just reiterating once again that their learning won't be the same either.

I guess the whole "fair isn't equal" is a hard concept that I am finally feeling more comfortable with.

With my siblings, for example, I give them the same amount of gifts on Christmas.
Give them the same amount of cookies when I make them. Yada yada.
Now it is all seeming kind of silly that I have done this for so long.

My brother is fourteen. My sister is three.

They don't need the same things. 

My sister wouldn't even know the difference.

Even if she would, though, it doesn't matter. 

Fair wouldn't be even in this situation.

I think the realization of this has helped me with the concept in the classroom.

Obviously, it is my instinct to provide whatever help necessary for someone to succeed.

However, no matter how much more I help, I won't think it's fair.

Part of me will have always felt guilty in a way for not giving the same time/resources to others.

Yet, I can finally say that it is clicking.

As long as I am helping EVERY child to reach their own level of success, then that is fair.

I don't have to give the same amount of time, same resources, same guidance to every student
in order for it to be fair, though. Because every child will require something different.

The "fair" part is that I am doing all I can to help every child succeed.

The outcome is what matters.

If every child succeeds, then it doesn't matter how much more or little effort it took for some students.

Hopefully that makes sense.

It is such an A-HA! moment for me today.

Yet it not always easy to articulate thoughts;

therefore, I hope it didn't seem rambling.

Just remember, fair isn't giving equally to all.

It's doing what you have to do with each individual student to ensure success.

The graphic below was perfect, or so I thought.

- Mallory

The next cog: Curriculum and instruction

It has been a bit since we have talked about the cogs,

but no fear - we have another cog to make our classroom work.

Curriculum and Instruction.

What a hefty cog!

 I mean, isn't that the whole purpose of schools?

To teach the children the curriculum.

Isn't that the whole purpose of differentiation?

To alter our instruction to ensure every student is understanding the curriculum.

Brace yourself, because this is a cog you need to understand.

There is so much information that we, as teachers, must teach to our students in a year.

The curriculum information expands with each passing year.

Therefore, as teachers, we are always racing to get through the information.

However, that is not beneficial for students.

Being forced to retain information so you can move to the next topic is not effective learning.

Therefore, this chapter in the book helps us understand what to do and focus on in curriculum.

As always, there's a few elements that tie in with this cog.

Important. Focused. Engaging. Demanding. Scaffolded.

We have to ensure that the information we are studying is going to provide a roadmap towards
expertise in a topic and help to build student understanding.It has to be important information
that will help to further the children's knowledge and give them a foundation to build upon.

Everything that we do has to be designed in a way to get us where we need to go. Both the
teacher and students must know how parts of their work contribute to a bigger picture of knowledge,
understanding, and skills. Therefore, the information has to be focused on on specifics.

We all know that our instruction must be engaging in order to keep the students attention on the
curriculum. Students have to find their work intriguing, so that they are absorbed into it and value it.

It also has to be demanding. We know that students have to be challenged in order to grow.
Standards for work and behavior must be set high, and there isn't "loose" time while in class.

Lastly, the instruction must be scaffolded. The teacher teaches for success. Therefore,
criteria for success is clear to students, then the teacher must provide a variety of supports to
ensure that the students are being guided to reach the criteria.

It is often overwhelming to me as I think of all the things that are required to be taught to the students.
The tests that students must pass. The topics they must be knowledgable on. The weight I have on
my shoulders to ensure that the students get all of the curriculum throughout the year. However,
this chapter really helped me to feel more comfortable about the issue. There is A LOT to teach.
Yet, if we follow these elements in our instruction then it is possible for the students to understand.
They will be able to get the most of the instruction and really internalize the curriculum.

I guess the important part is becoming comfortable implementing these elements into curriculum,
and ensuring that we are differentiating to allow every student to truly grasp the content in the curriculum.

May the odds be ever in our favor,

Mallory

Tiers to avoid tears.

We have dove down to learn more about differentiation in class.

I could not be more excited to get more in depth into it!

In class today, we talked all about tiering.

Get a mental image of something that's tiered..

source

Okay, maybe that helped give you a "tiered" idea.

(p.s: i wouldn't hate it if someone made me a cake like this.)

Back to tiering in the educational sense, though.

Tiering has to do with having a tiered (or layered) curriculum to help differentiate in lessons/activties.

We know that if you teach a lesson one way, it isn't going to reach all students.

It may be too low for them, too high for them, not connecting to them, too boring for them.

We need the perfect fit for every student to be able to succeed.

This is where the tiered planning comes into play.

We know that there are different ways to differentiate;
therefore, the tiers can be altered based off different things.

However, we did learn that tiering is only necessary and used for
differentiating readiness.

When tiering there are many things that you can adjust, though, such as:

- level of complexity

- amount of structures

- materials

- time/pace

-number of steps

- form of expression

- level of dependence

The last thing you want in your classroom is for students to break down in tears

(hence the title of the post) over being overwhelmed by a lesson/activity.

Nothing will be learned if they are not in their zone of proximal development.

Therefore, it is so important to plan out this differentiation for the students.

One content area can be covered in different tiers to reach all students accurately.

There was a graphic I found that I really thought showed how to plan a tiered activity well.

source

I feel that the flow chart above just gave me that much more support to understanding tiers.

Hopefully it is beneficial to you too in understanding how to plan tiered activities.

Tiering is essential, it really really is.

You have to make fair lessons/activities that all students will benefit from,

and tiering enables you to lay it all out and differentiate easily.

Get familiar with it, because it must be used in the class to be successful!

- Mallory

You need support too.

The last reading and post had me thinking a lot about support systems.

The support system that we are to the students is essential;

however, teachers need support systems too in order to succeed.

My best friend, Laurel (like Carl), posted a pretty great post about her support system.
Go ahead, check out her blog, but don't start liking her more or anything. ;)

Anyways, if you aren't going to go over to her blog, 

I guess I can tell you about her post.

Her blog post was from her heart.

A part all of us future teachers need to get in tune with.

She talked about how when we gain that connection with the parents and students,

we will be able to gain support systems through them too.

I think that's such a huge part for us to remember.

Parents know their children better than teachers will ever know them.

Therefore, to have the support of parents is going to be HUGE.

They can help us to help their children in the best possible ways!

Another thing Carl talked about was the support her family provides her.

As I said, after reading the text about support systems for students and then her blog post.
I couldn't help but think of the support system that I will have when I am teaching.

People have provided me with immense support my entire life;
however, my family has provided me with the very most.

I do not have any family here in Utah, except for my mom, little brother, and little sister.
My dad and both his side and my mom's side of the family live in Alabama still.
However, regardless of where I live, they will be a support to me as I am teaching.

On days that things are overwhelming, I can always pick up the phone and call my family.
They will be that support to encourage me to not give up even on the hardest days.
They will help encourage me to do all I can to help each and every student.
They will provide me with guidance on situations that I will not know how to handle.
They will be my rock, as they always have been.

You can't do stuff on your own.
It will drive you mad.
Lucky for me, I have a lot of family to make sure I never have to do it alone.

Another support system that I have found to love are my old teachers.
I LOVED my teachers growing up.
 I mean, I can only count on one hand the ones I didn't in 12 years of schooling.
I have continued to keep in contact with about ten of them over Facebook.
They have been a support system to me as I have gone through the program,
and I know that they will be such a resourceful support tool as I begin to teach.

Other supporters that I will have as I teach will be within the school;
take advantage of other teachers with years more of experience.
Take all the help you can get. It won't ever hurt to get help.
In the end, it will only help you and the students that you teach to get the most from every day.

Find your support system and use them.

- Mallory

Be a supporter.

As a teacher, when you get your class roster at the beginning of the year,
you are about to not only become an educator to each of the children on that list,

but you are also about to get the job to be a support system for every child. 

Whether it is academically or emotionally.

I feel that both of those apply to differentiation.

We do not know what will happen in a child's life when they are in our classroom.
In my scenario, my young step dad passed away suddenly of heart failure.
That knocks a child's work completely out of whack, and school often becomes hard.
Therefore, a student going through a traumatic time is going to require differentiation
in a lot of aspects of their education during that time frame.

There are many of my elementary school teachers that I hold dear to my heart for this reason.

They were a support to me when things were falling apart in my life.

However, they did not just support me with my emotional well being during these traumatic times.

They also supported me and helped me to continually to grow academically at the same time.

They adjusted assignments to not be overwhelming for my already fragile mind.

They provided me with assistance on days that emotions were high.

They gave me tools to catch up/stay on top of information when I missed on days I was upset.

They provided me support in a variety of different ways.

They NEVER gave up on me or let me fall, which resulted in my success.

A main way that the text talks about being a support is obviously through academics.

We know that students learn and grow when they tackle work that
is a bit beyond their capacity to complete independently. 

Therefore, in order for them to become successful, they need support.

Simple enough, right? That's your job as a teacher.

However, I can imagine that providing support to 30 students can become a challenge.

Yet, a verbal guide is not always the type of support a student needs.

The text gives some great tools to help support the students with their work, though.

Provide:

- A variety of materials can help support learning on a certain topic.

- Graphic organizers to help structure and extend thinking.

- Survival packets that distill key information, ideas, vocabulary in a unit to help students master material.

Provide anything that you feel will be a support to the students.

You know each student individually; therefore, you know the differentiated support that can help them.

I cannot stress enough that we must be prepared to be that support system for them.
We don't realize how big of an impact we are in their lives and how much of a difference we can make.
You don't want to be the teacher that students look back on and say only made the situation worse.

- Mallory