Planning Assessments

The use of these assessments are for the learning objective of my writing lesson plan for Spanish second grade.

I use formative assessments because it helps evaluate directly at the student level measuring how a particular student is progressing or where he needs support; you get immediate feedback on the progress of each one. Sometimes it helps me to identify if they are having difficulty with my planned activities.

The most common procedures of formative assessment I use in my class include the following.

Observation

I observe and record a student's level of engagement, and academic behavior, especially if it is a special learner. I develop a plan of action to support that student; implements the plan; and continues to record observations to determine its effectiveness.

Rationale

I use classroom observation as another form of ongoing assessment. A lot of times I can "read" my students; observing when they are bored, frustrated, excited, motivated, etc. I pick up these cues, so I can adjust my instruction more accordingly. The notes I take serve to document and describe student learning relative to concept development, reading, social interaction, communication skills, etc.   

Drawing

Drawing what the student understands. Drawing a picture or diagram provides students an alternative to writing, especially in KG 5, and 1st grade, sometimes in 2ndd grade.

Rationale

A lot of times it is easier to show ideas or characters in a picture than in writing, when writing is in the first stages. Some students are more motivated to demonstrate their knowledge or understanding through drawings than writing.

Portfolios.

I have a portfolio for each student that its used to create a record of student growth in their writing skills. I like to revise the progress of a student at the end of each grading period to assess the improvement in structure and vocabulary.

Rationale

In this assessment I like the student involvement because is very important in the portfolio process. Portfolios show the cumulative efforts and learning of a particular student over time. They offer important data about student improvement and skills. 

Understanding and Applying Standards

 Understanding and Applying Standards

A standard is a clear and public criteria for judging whether a student, an institution or the education system as a whole, comply with common quality expectations; expresses a desired situation regarding what is expected for all students to learn in each of the areas along its way through the Basic and Secondary Education.

I understood that the standards in Spanish are grouped into four areas that are equally important in the four stages key:

1. Reading

2. Writing

3. Speaking and listening

4. Knowledge of Language and Communication

I chose the Writing Standard for Second grade for the assignment because it is important to encourage writing as a means of communication and as a tool to organize thinking, and the sooner the student gets acquainted with the process the better writer he will be in the future. Even though the standard I chose was for a Second grade I put a lot of dedication in designing the best lessons and activities for the students that will help them, as they grow, in becoming good writers.

I also worked in understanding standards, how to interpret them to be able to implement in the design better lesson plans.

The assignment in unpacking standards was about looking backwards to see if the lessons, objectives, and assessments met the final criteria of the product.  It actually help me to have the  opportunity to compare how I usually plan lessons focused in the goal, while unpacking the standard is focusing in the objective of the lesson.

In the SMART objectives assignment I was able to try to work on more clear objectives to stay focused in an effective learning process, keeping in mind Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Targeted to develop better lesson plans.

I think that keeping in mind what we did in the three assignments can make teaching easier. Preparing good lesson plans aligned with the standards will help me attain the goal of being a better teacher who is able to teach effectively and efficiently.

Standards and Backwards Mapping

Standards and Backwards Mapping

I am using the standards and benchmarks of ACS Calvert in La Paz, Bolivia; which are posted in Rubicon Atlas.

I have chosen the writing 1 standard for 2nd grade.

Writing goal

Standard 1: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process.

Assessment for the activity:

Students will produce a story in a chronological sequence using connectors.

Learning plan:

Teacher will read story about a fiction character for the appropriate age. The will be a prior explanation of sequence in a story, and connectors that link ideas.

Students will use prewriting strategies to plan written work such as brainstorming to gather main ideas.

Students will use strategies to write a draft paper and revise written work. In this stage students will compare a critic paper among them.

Students will use a variety of strategies to edit and publish work. They will reread or read out loud to a partner to get an opinion.

Students will use strategies to organize written work. Once I revise the editing, I review it to give them more ideas on how to improve their paper or just to help them with spelling.

Finally students will publish their work. A booklet is produced by everyone of them. The cover of the story is going to have nice illustrations with colorful drawings. I like to post the booklets on a huge board I have right out of my class.

Objectives for chapter 4:

The students will be able to use the general skills and strategies of the writing process. Students will use strategies to draft and revise written work. They will use a variety of strategies to edit and publish work. Student will also use prewriting strategies to plan written work. Students will be able to use strategies to organize written work and publish the final work.

Reflection:

I was able to revise the process more carefully to be able to get to the objective without the pressure and the rush that is starting from an objective to get to the goal.

We have been practicing the writing process since first grade. The students are familiar with some of the procedures. Now the students know what is expected from them when I plan to have a writing sample from them.

It is a joy to work with primary students. They are like an empty vase. Everything is new and exciting for them. I make the effort to make it interesting and important.

Recognize and acknowledge adherence and lack of adherence to classroom rules and procedures

It is important that students are respectful towards teachers and classmates, and that their behaviors do not interfere with nor disrupt class activities. 

A well managed classroom does not appear out of nowhere, it takes a good deal of effort to create a good environment for the students; and the person who is most responsible for creating it is the teacher.

Rules should be short and clear and they should go with rewards or consequences. 

Adherence to rules and procedures:

• Teacher smiles, nod head, thumbs up, high five. While walking around the class teacher must have nonverbal signs to let students know how well they are following the class rules.
•  Teacher gives a verbal cue like thanks for the class to see the positive reinforcement when following the rules.
•   Describes the well behavior to the class when certain student followed certain rule.
• Teacher let parents know the good behavior. It is really nice for the parents to receive a call from teacher to hear how well behaved their child it’s been.
• Teacher uses tangible recognition like certificate, tokens,etc. There are several ways to recognize well behavior using nice pencils, certificates, tokens, a drink or some candy. 
•  Always work on a good relationship with students. A nurturing teacher can get an advantage being sweet with children especially in elementary school. Students are more prompt to please a teacher they like.

Lack of adherence to classroom rules and procedures

• Teachers should a nice look for a good behavior, but also a serious eye contact when a student is not following a rule properly. 
•  A teacher nodding for an infraction is a good way tol et a student know that his behavior is not appropiate (Shaking head).
•  While walking around the class teacher may tap on desk which is a good signal for a student to improve behavior.
• Verbal signal that a rule is being in violation, in other words, the mean eye.

·         Teacher tells student about the misbehavior, maybe a verbal reminder to the class about the class rules.

·         Writing the name of the student breaking a rule is a good warning that in the next future might be a consequence.

·         Teacher contacts the home to get support from family. Calling home for help after trying different strategies, might let the student know that everybody is aware of what’s going on.

·         Teacher occupies the whole classroom. This strategy is great because students know that the teacher is interested in everybody’s work.

In my class I try to use positive reinforcement most of the time.

I usually hug students when they first enter the class. A warm welcome makes them feel that I care about their feelings.

I use the high five sign for excellent work.

I give away candy for team work. The team that does the best, first o best effort gets candy, great incentive.

A big smile never fails. Students who are good helpers or follow the rule of raising hands get a big smile or a wink.

Since I work in a small community I like to thank parents for having such wonderful children. I think they appreciate the gesture a lot.

Sometimes I throw a party for classes that work hard or just for excellent behavior while participating in events.

If the class is able to finish what was planned for the week sooner than expected, the class gets a Fun Friday, which is competitions or games on Friday.

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Creating High Performance Learning Environments - 3 videos

Creating High Performance Learning Environments

Roller coaster physics Academic expectations This is Project based learning video. It was probably prepared, rehearsed and planned in advance. It is the culmination of a project. All students are focused. The academic expectations are high because of the time and planning for the project to be successful.

PBL let students connect with the content with the topic being learned. They use problem solving skills. This type of projects can be found in BrainPop with instructions and lesson plans.

Behavior expectations, since this project has being prepared in advanced the students are very excited to see the outcome of the preparation. They are on task, everyone has a role, nobody can be distracted because of the team spirit.

Norms and Procedures, I am not sure if the norms and procedures relate to the class rules or just for the Project. They seemed to be clear and concise during the project.

3rd grade Chinese--math class.avi In this video students learn from repetition. Teacher explains new concepts, and uses exercises in different level of difficulty. The teacher’s expectations are that students stay focused an on task. She probably has a good lesson plan for children that age. Students are very young because in China they start leaning math at a very early age. Teachers are not very good at doing crossed curriculum teaching.

The behavior expectations of the students are high. The good behavior and respect in oriental people is cultural. The parental and teacher’s expectations are high. There are no discipline problems. Routine and repetition practice is the best way to learn for Chinese standards.

Norms and procedures are implied. Teachers are specialized in the subject. Students are expected to behave respectfully.

Whole brain teaching Academic expectations in this video are obviously very high. There has been a lot of preparation for this outcome. There has been a very good explanation on the topics until the students understand what’s being taught. There has been rehearsal to find good transitions and coordination in the classroom. WBT uses a lot of drills and repetitions.

The behavior of the students is very good. It seems that there is good class management. Everyone is on task, and concentrated in the exercise.

Since there has been a lot of planning, norms and procedures might have been very well expressed and established before the videotaping session.

Setting high standards for students. Project based learning is a great idea for crossed curricular activities. In World Languages is possible to do it with geography, history, Social Studies, Art, Music, etc.

When teaching another language is not just about the vocabulary, it is about the origins, the people, and the culture in general. In that context the students enjoy immensely the journey of learning a new culture. When students feel motivated about what they learn their own expectations rise high. They feel challenged, and motivated to see more and learn more.

 Setting high expectations for the students in a World Language class is very important. A good way to approach high standards is by using differentiated learning where all the students are learning the same topic but in a different level. It is a lot of work for the teacher but in the long run the students feel successful without feeling low performers or learning disabled. At the end learning and using a second language is a very challenging task. There are students that might enjoy so much the classes, but very few of them are going to continue learning or practicing the second language.

Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate

Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate

Creating a safe climate environment is empowering a child to be the best he can be. Teachers need to promote appreciation for diversity. It is fundamental that teachers understand the relationship between the student’s home culture and school learning. Creating a positive climate in the classroom increases students engagement, improves learning, and behavior.

A basic principle in early childhood work is that when educators treat children as if they are strong, intelligent, and kind, children are far more likely to behave in strong, intelligent, kind ways. They are more likely to learn and thrive and succeed.

It should be guaranteed the right for all children to develop their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to the maximum extent possible, in the same condition as any other student, therefore his nationality, traditions, religion and language should be respected.

These are some ideas that can help improve a positive climate for teaching and learning.

• ·         Get to know names quickly. Students feel more comfortable if you remember their names

• ·         Use a sense of humor. Starting the class with a joke or with a song relaxes students and put them in the mood.

• ·         Talking about differences in cultural practices it is a good way to learn about diversity. Learning a few polite expressions in another person's language; and showing appreciation for the food and music of another culture can have especially positive effects.

• ·         Seating arrangements in a way that everybody is in the first row. The seating arrangement chosen should allow students to work in groups or partners.

• ·         Students next to each other that makes collaborative work easy. It is a wonderful way for diverse students to interact improving their social skills.
• ·         A good idea would be to have displays of some kind of all the nationalities of the students attending.

 Global learning. Thanks to technology geographic boundaries can be knock down. Students should be able to communicate with students from somewhere else in the planet, and learn about their cultures.

 Inclusive teaching, teaching strategies that address the different student’s backgrounds, learning styles, and abilities.

Differentiated teaching strategies to be able to reach different students learning styles.

Be aware of potential bullying that students might be afraid to report.

Teachers having a good rapport with the students can only be beneficial creating a climate of care and structure. When a students feels safe, included, and protected the academic achievement increases creating a positive climate where everybody feels appreciated and welcome.

I recommend a little extra tip; love those children because, especially for the little ones, you are the model they want to follow in school.

Mobile Learning

Teach-Now

Module 3/unit 5/activity1

Ximena Rojas Armstrong

Mobile Learning

Content Social Studies-Spanish

Objective

Children will learn to use the Compass Rose to indicate directions. Students will demonstrate how to use a map legend.

Learners

3^rd grade, ages 8-9 years old.

Materials

Internet conection

Projector

Youtube video about the Cardinal Points

https://youtu.be/eEOiz57n8C8

Compasses

Some history on the Compasses

https://youtu.be/37ikJfT2ARA

Adventure map

Instructional sequence

Show video about the Cardinal points. There is this little girl who shows children how to find the Cardinal points by using her arms. This is a very entertaining video very appropriate for the students age.

Students will stand up in the middle of the class to represent how to find the Cardinal points just like the girl in the video did.

The video about the history of the compass is also a children’s video that show a little history of the compasses in China. The background in the video is very interesting because it is about a video game well known by the students.

After watching the video about Compasses, children will split in four groups.

Each group will get and adventure map. 

They will write down in a piece of paper, what are the obstacles to get to the North, South, East, and West. After they pass the obstacles they will have to get to the treasure.

The group that was able to identify all Cardinal points and get to the treasure will win.

Assessment

Each group will explain to the class what they understood about the lesson taught.

Each group will show in the adventure map how get, first one to the North, second one to the South, third one to the East, and the last one will show how to get to the West.

This activity is meant for the students to have a flipped classroom experience. Even though they are very young to understand the concept, they enjoy being them who take control of the computer, game, and the summarizing of the lesson.

This activity creates a different learning experience where the teacher is a moderator that could not have happened if technology wasn’t available in the class.

For this type of activity the classroom needs to be rearranged in a way that there are no desks in the middle of the class. The ideal set up would be to have a big rug in the middle of the classroom where they can seat to watch the videos, and later go to a corner to work on the adventure map.

At the end of the class it would be good to get a feedback from the children to see how they liked the experience. To figure out if the objective of the class was reached.

Planning for English Language Learners

This is a reading class that I am going to be teaching next semester for 4^th grade that has four second language different stage students. It could be used for teaching any second language

The objective of the class will be:

Build Vocabulary 

Build comprehension strategies.

Use technology effectively for learning purposes

Read for enjoyment. 

My classes usually start with a catching song in the language being taught. It is a greeting song that has easy words that everyone can remember after singing it for about a week. Some of them might not know all the meaning of the words but they like and it helps students to get in the mood to use the second language.

Since the books are stories for children the warm up question will be

Do you know where wolves come from?

The materials needed: Projector, books, scissors, glue, worksheets, candy

I will be showing some images related to the vocabulary words in a projector.

I will distribute books to the class. In this activity students will be paired in couples. This always encourage kids to enjoy more the activities.

The lowest group-Early production stage

Students will have books with larger font and colored images. They will need scissors and glue.  In the back of the book will also have pictures that they can cut.

After reading to each other the very short story, which it will help with pronunciation, vocabulary, they will ask each other the names of some objects. They will clip pictures to try to match with words. They will glue pictures next to words.

The second group-Speech emergence stage

Students will also read to each other. The books will still be the same as the first group. They will ask each other simple questions about where, who, when. They will try to find in the text the vocabulary words shown in the beginning of the activity. They will draw in a drawing paper the main characters in the story.

The third group-Intermediate fluency stage

Students will have higher leveled books. Children also will read to each other. They will have worksheets where they will choose answers about questions in the book. They will describe in a few words the characters.

The advanced group-Advanced Fluency stage

These students have a higher of vocabulary and understanding of the second language. They read for enjoyment. They are able to skim, scan, predict, and read for detailed comprehension. They will read just half of the story. They will be asking each other questions about how they can solve the problems in the story or if they would be one of the characters, what they would have done.

Once the activity is finished children will gather around the whiteboard for a game. There will be a competition on the vocabulary words of the stories. There will be prices (candy) for all.

We will review the name of characters of the stories and vocabulary words before dismissing the class.

Early education makes learning fun for indigenous children

UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund

Early education makes learning fun for indigenous children

The Association of Promoters of Bilingual Mayan-Ixil Education (APEDIBIMI), a non-governmental organization in Guatemala promote bilingual, Ixil-Spanish  education to encourage children to attend a happy and welcoming school.

Parents and teacher state that children are eager to go to school and participate in activities in their mother tongue instead of having to learn only in Spanish. Parents help at home to reinforce what children have learned at school.

The APEDIBIMI doesn’t train only young children. With UNICEF and  the Guatemalan Ministry of Education help, workshops for parents, teachers are organized to learn more in early bilingual education.

http://www.unicef.org/education/guatemala_41038.html

Why is it Important to Maintain the Native Language?

IDRA Intercultural Development Research Association

Why is it Important to Maintain the Native Language? 

Children have the same abilities whether their language is English or any other language.

It is important to maintain their mother tongue because children might lose their first language.

• Children’s first language it is part of their identity, culture and heritage.
• The family’s and community links might be broken if a child loses his first language.
• Students intellectual development might be affected when student is not fluent in the language learning is delivered.
• Higher achievement might take place in the later years when student continue to develop his first language.
• Better job opportunities for graduates who speak two or more languages.

Ref.:http://www.idra.org/IDRA_Newsletter/January_2000_Bilingual_Education/Why_is_it_Important_to_Maintain_the_Native_Language?/

GPE Global Partnership for Education

Children Learn Better in Their Mother Tongue

Parents might be reluctant to enroll children in school because of a fear of failure. Some children might drop out from school when instruction wasn’t delivered in their mother tongue in the early grades.

UNESCO advises since 1953 for the early years to be taught in children’s first language.

 It is important to get family, community, multilingual teachers, policy makers and schools involved to achieve better education for all.

Ref.: http://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/children-learn-better-their-mother-tongue

Mother Tongue Matters: Mother Tongue Matters: Local Language as a Key to Effective Learning

 UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization

Mother Tongue Matters: Mother Tongue Matters: Local Language as a Key to Effective Learning

Research from UNESCO (2003) advises that the way to achieve quality education is by using the mother tongue.

The overall achievement of students taught in a bilingual system is superior.

The second language acquisition is almost at the same level of students in a one language system

The acquisition of linguistic competencies in their first language is a plus.

Children enjoy participating actively in the learning process.

Ref.: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001611/161121e.pdf

Bilingual Education

The need of families for better economic opportunities and better education for their children cause the mobility of population. Sometimes it is from one country to another. Other times it is from rural areas to urban ones. The migration of population brings challenges to large communities. One of them is in the educational system.

Children enter schools where they are taught in a different language than their mother tongue language. There are two alternatives for these children. One is a bilingual education which is very expensive but has the advantage of a child speaking and writing in two languages since childhood. The other one is full immersion which might bring a delay in the learning process of the child.