3rd Post on Inquiry Plan

Well, all was well with my inquiry plan. I enjoyed it and the students seemed to also. I watched the entire video and also showed it to my students. I allowed my students to watch it to show them what time on task really looked like. The day I video taped happed to be a day where the students were very successful at showing me the time on task and attention that I desired in the classroom. I showed them the entire lesson video so they could see that this was how I would like them to be all or most of the time. The stduents really enjoyed watching themselves on teh video and be complemented on their behavior an work. I am now editing the video. I am working with the technology people at our school to edit my lesson video down to a 5 to 8 minutes video and after we complete that this week I will post it on blackboard. I really enjoyed taping the class and being able to watch them and myself, it was very helpful. I look forward to watching all of my groups videos and seeing how everyones inquiry plans worked out. Have a great night, Heidi Lindsay

2nd Post about Inquiry Plan

My inquiry plan is going well. I have realized that my kids do work harder and show more time on task when I use a reward or positive reinforcement. I video taped my lesson and it went very well. My students showed me in the lesson and in the video that have really improved their time on taska nd also showed me that using a system in the classroom such asa reward system really helped them to do so. I video taped an entire lesson in my class for the purpose of playing it back to my students so they could see how their time on task has improved, and the video showed what i expected of them. I told them that what they were watching was what I expected to see everyday to achieve their success. Now I will take the video and work with the tech people at my school to turn the video into a clip that is about 6 or 7 minutes long, to use for this class. I really feel that my inquiry plan is going well and feel that continuing to do this well help improve my students success and how my classroom is run. I think that for the last bit of time that I am workng on my plan I will really see even rgeater results. I plan to continue with this system in my classroom throughout the entire school year and I wil also work to come up with reward options that the students enjoy working towards.

I hope everyone elses plans are going well also and I cant wait to watch the videos. Have a great weekend. Heidi Lindsay

Inquiry Plan Discussion

Hello,
I am about mid way through my inquiry plan. I have gathered some data that I collected on my students. I kept track of my students time on task without using any type of reinforcement. This week I have continued to monitor their time on task but they are now aware that I am doing it. They are also working towards a reward. I worked with each of them to come up with something they wanted to work towards, an item, candy, snack and so on. I developed a plan with them. I now keep a tally sheet of their time on task and they can earn their reward. The kids really seem to be improving with their time on task and working towards a positive reward. I hope to see continued progress. I really think that the kids are motivated by positive reinforcement wether it is just a positive comment or a tangible item. I will keep you all posted. I hope to be able to video tape next week. I am video taping the entire lesson for these stduents, so about a 50 minute lesson. I am going to let the students watch the entire video to show them what their positive behavior looks like. I am then going to edit the the video to put up for the class.
Hope everyones plans are going well and I am so interested to hear more about the results and watch the video clips.
Have a great night, Heidi Lindsay

Mod. 3 - Task 5

Hello, hope you are all doing well.
I really enjoyed focusing more on one domain. It helped to focus on a specific topic of my classroom. I searched mainly about strategies on motivating my students. There is so much information out there and I guess it is really just about finding what works and how it works for each individual student. I read an article about “Teaching Strategies For Motivating Students” and looking at motivational issues differently. A big thing I learned from the article was not to issue threats at the beginning of the school year. I do not feel that I threaten the students but I do try to start off letting them know that the rules and expectations are a serious matter in my room and I expect them to be followed. To work to there best potential I think students need to be encouraged and that is what is stated in the article. I think that a good balance of classroom control and positive teaching and encouragement is what everyone classroom needs.
Many classroom and students need individualized motivation and encouragement, especially in a special education classroom. All for my students are motivated differently and I have to make sure that I am encourages and motivating each of them in the way the desire and which makes them put forth the effort I need form them. Another article I read called “Real World Issues Motivate Students”, which focused on relating content and motivation to real world issues. Students seem to benefit and enjoy working on something that connects to their lives and real world issues. I really liked this article because I really try to do this because I have found that the students really enjoy the content as it relates more to their lives. Almost all content can somehow relate to something in a students life, and it just takes the effort of the teacher to try to implement this. Both of the articles are things I really try to implement in my classroom and enjoyed reading on more ways to implement these strategies.
My domain really focuses on management of the classroom and student motivation and the articles I read really helped me to understand more about that. In my inquiry plan I plan to work on student homework completion and ways to improve it, or motivate students in general with positive reinforcement. If I can find ways to motivate my students into getting their homework done or just in the classroom in general. I think I will see an increase in student’s homework completion. I know there any many different reasons for why student do not get their homework completed, especially in my classroom. Students often do not have the at home motivation needed to get the homework done. They also may feel that a homework grade is not necessary if they just do well on tests, for others it is just lack of organization and not remembering to do the homework. I have so many students that do not turn in homework and I would like to develop a plan for them. For my inquiry plan I will work either on homework completion or classroom positive reinforcement or behavior modification. Both a kind of related but are something that needs to be addressed to see my students achieve their best.
I look forward to working more in our domains to see what I can do to work on my inquiry plan and improve student motivation wither in homework or in class in general.

Mod. 3 - Task 4

Hello everyone, hope you are all enjoying all of the snow!

I have chosen Domain 2 to closest resemble my teaching and my classroom. Domain 2 is about The Classroom Enviroment. Some of the components of domain 2 are creating an enviroment, establishing a culture for learning, managing classroom procedures, managing student behavior, and organizing physical space. I think the main reason I choose this domain was due to the fact that it did not resemble a particluar way to teach or style of content but the "stage for all learning". I think this is very important in my classroom due to the fact that i teach special education. I think the enviroment the tsduent learns in is just as important as the contect they are learning.
For me specifically I feel that to be able to teach an engagng lesson or contect that is specific to our school and modified for my students, I feel that I have to first make sure that my classroom has a engaging enviroment. I work very hard to make sure my students know and understand the rules of the room and are ready to learn when it is time. I have specific schoola nd classroom procedures that are postedon teh wall in my room and that are reviewed with my stduents weekly to ensure their understanding and that they are followed daily. I make sure that my room is inviting and shows that it is a good culture for learning. The kids feel confortable and want to learn at the same time. I feel that I create an atmosphere that is exciting and helps the students to want to learn. In my room I have the rules posted, along with many posters of information to help the kids retain inforamtion. I also hang good work that my students have done so that they see I am proud of them. We also have students of the of the at school and I hang their picture along with the description of how they won in the room. I think that putting this kind of stuff in your room shows your students you redognize them and support them.
As stated in the book, in Domain 2, we as teachers recognize our roles as the adult/techer and don't try to be friends with the students. I have a very good rapport with each of my stduents, I use the very first days of school to gain this rapport and keep it the entire school year. Students need this to feel safe and trust me as the teahcer. My job is to be their teacher, and make sure they are gaining the knowledge they need in order to be successful in school and their lives. I use a lot of activities to build trust and rapport with the students throughout teh school year, such as games, one on one interviews and many unplanned things just to show them I care.
I think domain 2 very closer resembles how I feel as a teacher, and I continue to ensure that I am maintaing the physical space of the room and keeping up the positive classroom climate but also ensuring that I teach the contect and help my stduents to achieve. My only question is actually one onmanaging student behavior. I have worked in an alternative schoolw here I worked with all behavior students and now in a "regualr" high school where I have minimal behavior problems. An issue that deal with often if stduents that do not compelte homework. I know this is alwasy a classroom problem and no matter what I try it seems that they still do not care about homework, but I was wondering if anyone has tried anything specific that works with high school stduents and handing in their homework. Any suggestions would be wodnerful. :)
I look forward t work in groups based on domains and stay afe in the snow everyone. Happy Wednesday! :)

Mod. 2 - Task 2

Hello. Hope everyone is enjoying the snowy weekend!

The purpose of curriculum from what I have read and from what I have learned in my career is that it is a tool that helps us to organize our ideas as teachers and to organize student learning. In any school, student learning is most important and curriculum is something that helps us to stay on track with student learning and make sure it is done at the correct time and place. I feel that in any classroom and any set of curriculum, I feel that we need to be aware of what our students know and where they are headed. If know have an idea of where the student is suppose to be and where we need to get them in the classroom, then we are able to work better with the student. Every year I use assessments that are based on the curriculum. My tests and quizzes focus on having the students comprehend the knowledge that is required of them. Although since I am a special education teacher I use many different strategies and ways of teaching the lesson to help them understand the material in the assessments. So all in all, I can always change how I teach the material and still help them to retain the information in the curriculum.

In most schools curriculum is something that is designed by the school or state and given to the teachers to use. It is something that most teachers do not have a say in, and we are expected to follow it for the school year. I am sure in many schools there is teacher input or a time when teachers are allowed to voice there concerns of the curriculum but usually it is designed and final decisions are made by the administration in the school. In the readings for this week it states that curriculum is usually designed to be engaging for all students. I think it is our job as teachers to follow the curriculum but to make the content interesting and engaging for all students. I feel that most teachers including myself would like some type of interaction or input into the design of the schools curriculum. If a teacher had this input I think they would feel that they would be able to present the information to their students that they feel strongly about. I agree in that the state; administrators and teachers should all have an input in the curriculum sot o provide the best for all students.

I teach special education, so in my classroom I am working the schools curriculum but for many different subjects and grade levels. I do not have any input in the curriculum in my school but this year I have joined in some meetings to voice my opinions. I feel that the content teachers at our school do have some input on the curriculum for their grade level and subject matter and I usually just follow that due to being a special education teacher and not certified in any particular in a certain subject area. It is a good feeling that I am beginning to be included in our the content meeting that review curriculum and I think as a school our teachers feel very strongly and positively about our content and what is being taught due to having their own input.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and Happy Blogging! :)

Mod. 2 - Task 1

I think when most teachers think about curriculum and why we need to consider it, the answer “it is what our school requires” that comes to mind. I think we all would like to have our own input into what curriculum is and what needs to be taught but it usually happens that curriculum is something that is given to us by the school, state, or someone above, and we work with it. This is part of being a teacher, we can work with what we are given and I feel that it at least gives us a direction in which we need to go. I am a special education teacher so I do not have a specific area of content that I went to college to teacher nor do I teach a specific content, I teach a little of everything. Through my 4 years of teaching experience I have learned that curriculum is what keeps us on track and allows us to teach the specific content in a specific alignment. I have learned that curriculum is not only what the state or the school requires of teachers but it is what keeps us as teachers on track. This is also what I learned in the articles we read. We have a framework that keeps us accountable for our own actions and for our student’s actions. Considering curriculum allows us to be sure we are giving each of our students what they need in order to learn the material that is necessary that grade level. As a teacher of a particular grade or subject we are responsible to make sure that students learn the material they need to move on to the next grade level. We teach the curriculum and help each student get to the point that they can move on to a new teacher or grade and they can pick up where we left of, and the student continues in the learning process.
I would say subject centered curriculum is what we most closely follow. We focus on core content and are sure to teach each of the specific goals and content areas that are aligned with our grade and subject. Due to being a special education teacher, I teach multiple subject areas. I meet with all grade level teams and all subject teams to ensure that I have all of the information on all of the grades and subjects that I teach. We closely follow the core content standards and I think this is a great way to ensure we cover the correct material at each grade level. We are able to align the curriculum and content and be sure to set goals and standards to meet each area required.
I think modern curriculum seems as it would benefit students that need closer attention to specific areas or students that are struggling in areas. This would benefit teachers that teach children who may need some special attention or a closer look at specific lessons, teaching methods or subject matter. As a special education teacher some of this curriculum seems that it would benefit my class, students and teaching methods due to the areas that my students may struggle with.
I think that overall curriculum is very beneficial. It is a great way to hold all students, teachers and schools accountable for the subject matter that needs to be taught. As a teacher, I would love to be able to have more input on the curriculum but do understand that there is a reason for the methods used and as a school we do benefit from all following the curriculum and ensuring that our student receive the best education they can.