Differentiation Reading pp. 120-162

I was able to read/review a lot of the tools that are found in "Fulfilling the Promise." It took me quite a few times of reviewing to understand what the different tools/assignments have to offer my students and how they are able to differentiate to achieve the each students success level. I'll probably have to review the tools again when I have my own students which will be good that I will have this book as my own tool to be a good differentiating teacher.

There were two activities that I really liked. One was the "Interactive Notes" on page 122. I like this one because this assignment would be a good assignment for me because it scaffolds for each student as they read or when watch a video of information. I always needed help to remember what I was looking for while reading any type of text or watching a video.

Another activty that I like is the "Novel Think-Tac-Toe." I like the whole idea of the think tac toe because if you give the students the choice on what they want to work on I think they will have more drive and dedication to do a good job on their work. With think tac toe you're not giving the students complete control you're just leading them to do what they want to do.

Chapter 7

First things first I would like to disagree with the title of chapter 7, "The Simple, Hard Truth About Teaching." The reason I disagree with the title is because ever since I started reading "Fulfilling the Promise." I was stressed and overwhelmed on how I could do everything that was talked in the book but yet still be sane. After reading chapter 7 I was able to calm down and have a lot less anxiety about how I cna be a good teacher.

A few points that were mentioned in the chapter by Stronge mentioned:

• Effective teachers spend a great deal of time working and interacting directly with the students.
• Teachers' enthusiasm for learning and for thier subjecvt matter is an important factor in student motivation that, in turn, is closely linked with student achievement.
• Effective teachers set high expectations for themselves and thier students with an orientation toward growth and improvement evident in the classroom.
• Teachers in schools with high achievement rates pre-assess in order to do targeted teaching.
• Effective teachers know and understand thier students in terms of abilities, achievement, learning preferences, and needs.

The reason I wanted to point out the ideas of what makes an effective teacher is because in my experience I have been able to see the benefit and the truth of them and even the harm that is done when a teacher doesn't follow them. I also wanted to mentioned them because I feel like that these points and the other points that I was able to read would work for every student.

The idea and quote I got from the book is on the end of page 91 that I will like to have for my motto as a teacher. It states, "If we allow ourselves to fall in love with what we do, we will be reborn countless times, almost always in a form stronger and more fully human than the one that preceded it." I like this quote because as a teacher and in order to be a good teacher I need to change atleast every year for each classroom and for each student because that is what a good differentiating teacher would be.

Chapters 5 and 6

I was able to learn a lot about how I can be a good teacher for differentiation in my classroom. I have to describe a brief history of where I come from in the education world. For the past four years I have been in a junior high classroom working with the resource students and I have also been working with an adult with low functioning autism.
Even though I feel like I have been a big help to those with special needs that I have come in contact with I haven't been the best teacher to them. In chapter 5 the part that hit me the best was the "Curriculum and Instruction that are Demanding." I never thought that the people that I have worked with could do instruction that was demanding on them. It states in the book, "Students not only have more respect for classes that are demanding, but they also have more respect for themselves when they are in those classes." This means to be that I know that each one of my students can handle demanding instruction as long as I make sure I differentiate my instruction for all my students to make sure that they are all feeling that it is demanding for them but yet not too demanding so they can feel like they understand and can achieve what is being taught. It also talks about says that the tecaher should not exclude any students from complex thinking. Thats is what I would have done as a teacher before I read chapter 5.

I decided to specify my findings on chapter 6 on "Use of a Variety of rubrics to Guide Quality."
The reason why I wanted to specify about rubrics is because I hated them when I first came into the program because I couldn't understand them as well as I know other students understood them. However, now I like them because I do understand them and they help remember the guidelines that are required for a specific assignment. The book says that rubrics, "provide students with elements of successful work and descriptors of how those elements might look as they escalate from minimally acceptable to expert-like." I feel that rubrics are another way we as teachers can scaffold for our students so they can achieve "expert-like" status on assignments.

Dear Jaremy,

I am so sorry for the way you are feelin9g right. Since I heard how you're doing in your classroom I've become very overwhelmed knowing that I may not be able to have an influence on the students I teach. Lets be honest I was feeling overwhelmed before I read your blog. I felt like I'm being taught in all my classes how to be a good teacher and then I was thinking to myself that it was impossible for me to be the kind of teacher that I have been taught by my professors. It has been a while since I have been able to relax but I can now say I feel more at peace with teaching or to be more descriptive I feel more about at peace about my abilities of being a good teacher.

I was able to read out of one my text books (Fulfilling the Promise) about how I can be a good teacher. I was able to read something that helped me tons and I think will help you tons about not giving up. In the book it talked about all the different kinds of responses a teacher can have. The "response" that affected me was The Response of Persistence. It talked about how we need to help the children be persistent within their works and being inside your classroom. I'm going to tell you the list of little helpful hints that you can share with your students. I will also add an extra advice that might help you and make sure you share with your students. The personal advice for you and I (need to share with our students) will be in parenthesis and the advice that comes from the book will be the first part of the bullet.

• You're growing, but you're not finished growing. (I am still growing and I'm not done growing so I need your help to grow)
• When one route doesn't work, there are others we can find. (Will you help me find the route that you and I can follow)
• Let's figure oue what works best. (Not only for you but also for me)
• There are no excuses here, but there is support. (I also need you support)
• There is no finish line in learning. (Help me continue to learn)

Another part in the that I thought could help you would be. "Help Students Know About One Another. Some teachers use interest groups, shared-interest reading , or both as a way for students to find peers who enjoy similar topics or approaches to learning." Knowing this I was able to imagine that if I got my students to respect each other through their similar interests they will respect you and I as their teachers.

The last thing I would have to say Jaremy is good luck and know that you are influncing atleast one of your students' lives.