Learning is Hard Work too!

Teachers do all the work! No, I don't really believe that.  Learning is hard work too, and people learn better in a loving, caring environment where they feel supported. We also honor our students by not only caring for them, but also by expecting more from them.  We can't teach out of the same cookie cutter mold.  Everyone learns differently, and that is why differentiation is so important.  Effective teaching is responsive teaching.  We need to pay attention to what each student needs, and try our very best to be able to provide that for them.  Bottom Line.... We need to care for our students, ALL of them.  If we can accomplish that, then they will be better learners, and we will be better teachers.  That's easy to do right? Not all the time! It's really easy to care for the sweet little one that does exactly what they are supposed to do all the time, but what about the one that just won't calm down? The one that won't listen and always blurts out? We need to care for them too. We can build relationships with these students too, and get to know them the best we can. Their learning is just as important in my classroom, and their learning is probably the hardest for them. Be willing to care for all students, and in turn you will touch lives. FOREVER!

Success is the Result of Effort

I feel like this is something that a lot of people say, and I 'm not sure if they actually believe it or not.  I know that I even hear it in college, and even sometimes it is directed towards me (gasp!).  "They got a good grade because the teacher likes them more!" "They are just lucky!" NOPE! You accomplish things in life by working hard and getting things done! It is critical to students success that they realize how important it is for them to make the effort.  In order for this to happen, teachers have to be on their toes, all the time, making sure that they are helping ALL students be successful.  We need to be giving them goals just outside their reach, and support them in reaching these goals.  This will challenge us just as much as we are challenging our students! It's work for sure!

NO EXCUSES!!

I love, love, LOVED this section of chapter 6!!!!!!! It definitely has my way of thinking all over it!
As teachers we need to make sure that our students are aware that we will not accept anything but their best work, and we will absolutely not accept them not doing their work at all. I understand that there will always be extenuating circumstance in home lives of children and what not, but I also understand that the work that I will ask my students to do is important.  I want my students to know that i will never give them "busy work" and that their school work will always be important. I love how the chapter says that as teachers we will be "part Mother Superior, and part Marine Drill Sergeant." HAHAHAHAHA!!! LOVE IT! I will provide an opportunity for all of my student s to be successful, and I will make sure that they get it done. My Mantra in life has recently, with in the last 3 years, become "I CAN do HARD things!" So, when I read that in this chapter, I knew that this would be something for me to instill in my students as well. I repeat that mantra to myself multiple times daily, and it has helped me so much with so many things! I will just change it to: "We CAN do HARD things" for my classroom.

Fresh Ways to Present and Exlplore Ideas

Direct instruction is the only way to teach, right? WRONG!
There are so many different ways to present new information and ideas, and when you present information in fun and exciting ways, you are differentiating! Make it memorable! Ask students to role play, pantomime, or even present monologues.  Use children's books in all grades to make certain subjects more approachable. Find photographs, artifacts, art, music, and poetry to present new ideas. "Not only do such fresh and surprising approaches enliven a class, but they also inevitably spark students not reached by more traditional instructional avenues."  Thus.... DIFFERENTIATION!

Curriculum and Instruction in the Face of Student Diversity

I loved this section of our text book! It tugged at my heart strings a little bit.  They say that the best way to teach a child is to care for them. I agree, and I love this next direct quote from the text. "You can care only when you understand-what it is like to be a part of that child's culture, what it is like to be unable to speak the language of the classroom, what it is like to go "home" to a shelter every night, what it is like to wonder about things no one else in the classroom seems to ponder, what it is like to think steady thoughts only to have them sabotaged by print that scrambles on the page."  

This is one of my biggest fears as a new teacher. I worry that I won't be able to reach all of my students. I agree with what the text says. You do need to understand a child before you can truly differentiate for their learning. I believe that. I know that I will do my very best to make links with my students talents, interests, and dreams.  I want to know hat my students care about, and what they want out of life. I think that there are a lot of important things we will do and talk about at school, but that getting to REALLY KNOW your students is the most important.

Curriculum And Instruction That Are Scaffolded

If you want to be a great teacher, you need to scaffold learning for your students! Place work a bit out of reach for a learner, and then ensure that they reach and succeed at that new level. This is a higher quality of teaching! A lot of teachers think that they are scaffolding, simply by providing the help their students need at the time of the lesson... not true. In order to truly scaffold, you need to be thinking about the needs of each individual student, and what they need in order to challenge their learning. This is why scaffolding and differentiation go hand in hand.  By scaffolding, you are already thinking about differentiation, you just may not know it yet.  "If you are doing your job for every student, then every student will find you indispensable." Love that quote from our text book. I want all of my students to need me!

Engaging Curriculum

When a lesson is engaging, that is where the magic happens for our students.  We need to deliver our curriculum instruction in ways that are irresistible to young minds. Learner engagement occurs when the teachers sees what is essential in topic, and merges that with their own talents and passion.  It also happens when you create a place of learning where there are enough materials, avenues, and inquiries that make it so every single one of your students are engaged.  EVERY LESSON SHOULD BE MOTIVATIONAL. When lessons are engaging and motivational to students, then they are able to see the meaning in the lesson.  They are are also able to see value in their work, and the work of others.  I like this.  I don;'t think that it really takes all that much more effort to see that your lessons are engaging and fun. This sounds especially easy to me with differentiation.  I know that I am more motivated to do assignments that I am able to do, and that I know I will be successful at.  Kids are no different.