Boys and Girls Learn Differently

This was an interesting presentation.  In other classes I've taken, I've learned about the differences between boys and girls, but it was interesting to see that put into a purely educational light.  Boys and girls are definitely not the same, and I think it might be beneficial for schools to explore things like making classes same-gender.  I would like to see some more research on whether or not that actually works, but I think it might be beneficial to students to at least try it out and see what happens.  I think more and more research is coming out on this subject all the time, and it would be nice to find out more about it!

Becoming a "Wiz" at Brain-Based Learning

I thought this presentation was so much fun!  I really liked how they went really far in creating a nice environment for us to learn in.  That really helped.  I loved the matching game.  It was a lot of fun, and it really got me thinking about how I could use a matching game in a History class.  But each of the stations was really helpful, and I learned a lot from the presentation!

TP2000 Chapter 9

This chapter was about involving parents in education.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog posting, I think this is a great idea.  Parents can really help their children learn material while they're at home, and they can help in the classroom too.  I think this chapter was really similar to the one in Meet Me in the Middle, though.  Both covered similar topics. 

TP2000 Chapter 8

This chapter was about creating a healthy school, both in terms of emotional health and physical health.  I loved the section on promoting emotional health in middle schools, and creating healthy learning environments.  Making schools emotionally healthy is something that every teacher and educator should strive for.  The middle school years can be very tough for kids, and making students feel safe at school is very important to their emotional health.  As far as making middle schools a physically healthy place, I also think this is a good idea.  I think health and gym classes are very important to education.  And as for lunches, too often schools serve unhealthy food, just because it is cheaper.  I think if schools served foods, such as fruits, it would go a long way to making students happier.

TP2000 Chapter 4

This chapter was about instruction in middle schools.  The three most important aspects of instruction, according to the book, are: curriculum, assessments, and students.  Reading this chapter, however, I felt like I've already learned a lot of things covered in the chapter through other education classes.  The chapter talked about Differentiated Instruction, WHERETO, and the six facets of understanding, which are all things that I have already learned about.  I think that this was a good chapter, but I think that it was kind of redundant, because I know a lot of what was covered.

Turning Points 2000 Chapter 6

This chapter was about building relationships with students.  I loved it.  When I was in middle school, I didn't really have a teacher that I had a great relationship with.  Well, when I was in 8th grade, I had a pretty good relationship with my Social Studies teacher.  And I really liked that class as a result.  But he was really the only one.  And I think I suffered because of it, because I kind of became shy and scared socially as a result.  But I think if I had more teachers that really tried to get to know me, I would have been happier.  So in my classroom, I'd try to get to know each and every one of my students.  But this chapter itself focused on teams in middle schools.  I personally did not go to a middle school with teams, so I don't know what it would be like to have them.  But through this class, and learning more about the concept, I think that it's a really great concept, and I would like to try it!

MMM Chapter 15

This chapter was about getting parents involved in the classroom.  This, I think, is one of the most difficult parts about being a teacher.  One, because you have parents who will not care about their child's performance in the classroom.  And two, because you will have parents that have extremely different opinions on what their child should or should not learn in school, and will fight with you.  Wormeli gives several ways you can get parents involved with their children's education.  For the most part, I thought these examples were good, but I think that I would be uncomfortable visiting the home of a student.  I feel like as a teacher, that is a place where I should not go, because I feel like that crosses a line of professionalism.  But that's my own opinion.  As a teacher, I would love to get parents involved, because I think that opens a whole world of possibilities in the classroom!

MMM Chapter 8

This chapter was about effective assessment.  The chapter opened with a story about a student of Wormeli's that wasn't very good at writing, so he let the student write a song about The Outsiders instead of writing an essay.  I love this.  But for me, I would rather give students a choice on every project.  In my opinion, I would rather let students have a choice for every project they do in school.  I think students are definitely creative enough to come up with ways to show what they know, instead having a teacher tell them what to do in order to show what they know.  This chapter kind of goes along with the Differentiated Instruction chapter, I think.  Both have to do with tailoring a lesson or project to the particular student you are teaching.  Both, I think, are very helpful to students, and both are things I really like!

MMM Chapter 7

This chapter was about Differentiated Instruction.  I have learned about Differentiated Instruction in a lot of my education classes here at UMF.  It's something that I really support, and I think teachers should utilize it a lot more in classes.  Not every student learns the same or wants to learn the same, and teachers continue to teach the same.  I think teachers need to be more aware of that, and they should use it more often.

MMM Chapter 6

This chapter was about Accountability.  One part of the chapter that I really liked was this quote, "Instead of letting students complete additional projects to raise their grades, ask them to revise their additional work based on the standards outlined in your rubric or the comments written in the margins of their papers."  In my opinion, as a teacher, there is a reason why you assign certain assignments.  That reason is that you want students to learn what the assignment is on.  If you let students get a bad grade, and then you let a student do a different assignment later in the year, then they won't learn what you originally wanted them to.  Why not let a student revise their work?  In classes such as English and History classes, we let students revise papers, so why not let them revise other work too?  If we let students revise work, then they will learn the material a lot better.  And that's the final goal right?  To get students to learn the material?  I'm all for creative ways to get students to learn material.  The most common way to hold students accountable for learning material is tests.  And I think that's boring.  We need more creative ways to get students to learn!