Step by Step, Day by Day

This week I have been trying not to get so overwhelmed by all of the work and requirements that are due for my education classes. I have been communicating with my Clinical Educator and she has been very helpful and understanding throughout it all. Each week I try to go to my school and stay at least one full day and then work around my classes for the rest of the time. This helps with getting some of my assignments done and transitioning into the classroom world. 

I got to observe something very different this week. I was given the chance to sit in on a TRC mClass Reading 3D test. Basically it's a reading, comprehension and site word test. Each of these components are included in the test. This test is given three times in one school year; September (beginning of school year) , January and May/June (end of the year). This test is calculated by scoring students on a letter level. The scale goes from A (being the lowest) to Z (being the highest). For example, the first graders should be at a reading level D or above to be considered a good reader. Before the students were tested my CE, she collected the students scores from the year before (Kindergarten) to know where to start testing each student. She begin testing each student on the level that they finished on front he previous year to see if they were going to be able to move up, move down or stay on the same level. She told me, "Most students tend to move down because they just forget what they learned the previous year over the summer. However, this is common and not something to worry about. Once students refresh their memories they will be fine and will move up levels for the second test." The way the test is scored is based on how many sight words the student gets, how well they read a small book (with little to no mistakes) and comprehension questions at the end. If the student doesn't do well on the reading section and has a score of 90% or below, then they have to read the book for the level down and so on until they pass with a 90% or above. This same process works for someone who moves up levels. They have to keep passing each level with a 90% or above until they can't anymore. I found this very interesting and helpful to watch. This is something that will have a huge impact on me next semester while I am student teaching... which is a lot of pressure.

For my research this week I found an article, Interactive Notebooks: No Special Hardware Required. In this article, Christina Gil gives tips on how she makes a interactive notebook efficient win her classroom. She has a spiral notebook for each student in her class. This his how her system works!

"1. The notebook setup is fairly quick and very important. And it's worth it to make sure that we are all (literally) on the same page.

• Students make a cover page with their name and class period.
• The table of contents lists any handouts or information that they might need later on.
• We number every page, and then we make sure that we all have the same right and left.

And that's it.

2. I encourage more than one learning style. When I use interactive notebooks, I have a daily reminder to diversify my lesson plans and focus on more than one learning style.

The left side is always something creative. Most often, it's writing -- five-minute freewrites to start or end the class. Sometimes it's for charts, drawings, or notes on a group activity.

The right side is for objective material. This is where they'll put any notes from the class discussion or (extremely rare) lecture. It's also where they'll put questions that they complete in groups, with partners, or on their own. If there's going to be a test on the material, they only need to to study the right-hand pages.

3. I have a few tricks for managing the day-to-day process. For example, I keep a running list of page numbers and assignments visible in the classroom so that students don't have to ask me 20 times a day, "What page is that on?" (Not that it completely stops them.)

Another one of my key tools is a stamp. Whenever work is due, I go around the room and take a quick look at all of the students' notebooks, maybe reading one or two answers just as a spot check. If the work is finished on time, they get a stamp. Then, when I grade the notebooks, I simply count the stamps. If they have them all, then they get 100 points on their homework grade.

4. Grading the notebooks is fairly painless. It's actually quite fun at times. I first make a quick pass to check for missing or unfinished work. Fifty percent of the notebook grade is an overall grade, and I take off points for missing or incomplete pages.

Then comes the fun part. The other 50 percent of their notebook grade is based on just four pages. Students choose three for me to grade, and I choose one of those. They get to show me their best work, I get to learn what they like and what they're proud of, and it feels like a conversation with each individual student. I'm not grading the same page over and over, and ultimately, I find that students often do their best work in their notebook where there is little pressure. (Why they freeze when they read the word "essay" is a whole other topic.)"

Christina does a great job explaining how this material works and is beneficial in her classroom. This example relates very well with the North Carolina Teaching Standard number 4, Teachers Facilitate Learning for their students. This is very true in Christina's case! She does a great job planning instruction for her students and giving them each a way to learn in a way that is best for them.