UbDDI+B1+Chapter+2



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﻿Lily- Abstract

 * We must remember that we are teaching a room full of students and they are not all going to be the same. Two major things that all teachers must practice are Flexibility and attending to students’ different learning. The lesson plans that were made might not be working and on the fly we need to be able to assess the knowledge that is being gain and be able to modify anything that is not working. As teachers we do not have to teach individually to each and every student but it is important to build relationships with all students so that we are able to help them grow to be the best student they can. Students are a like in many ways but very different and it is our job to make sure that the common ideas and goals that we want to have understood are met and that the students feel they are on the same page as the teacher. Flexibility is huge, and changing things up like working with groups or working alone, presentations or essays, there are so many things that we as teachers can practice and we must use them all in order to see how different students do with the different techniques. **

Synthesis Reflection-
All students are going to be different and as the teacher we must be able to be [|flexible] enough to change our lesson in the middle of class if it is not working. The only thing that matters is what the students learn and the knowledge that they gain, not how we teach it to them. It is scary to think that all students are different but we do not have to teach every student individually we can have different groups working on different things and using [|differentiated instruction]. Getting to know all the students personally will help us in understanding their learning styles and we could partner them with other students that learn that way. One thing that we must always keep in mind is all students come from different backgrounds and homes that may interrupt their learning and we need to know what is going on in order to help the student overcome what is going on and become stronger in school.

**Jasmyn** Students are much alike- and very different In this section the author explains the similarities between most students. High-school students strive hard to be great in relationships, social events and sports, activities that help them in their quest to find themselves. They are less interested in being great at the subject and making teachers happy. These children are on an identity hunt and want to be adults.

Seth
For every person I’ve told that I want to teach high school students, the vast majority has thought I was crazy. Middle and high school students are emotional time bombs just waiting to go off and it doesn’t help that many of them are in the mid-stages of puberty. Students are looking for adults who accept them, value them, guide them and represent for them what it means to be a competent and caring adult (16). Although high school was four years ago for me, I still remember how hard it was trying to fit in and find my place in a school full of people I wanted to hit in the face, but I pulled through with few repercussions. There is so much more to say about this chapter, but I’m unsure of how to put it in my own words. It’s true that when an assignment/task is a //little// too hard for us our learning expands when a support system helps us through the difficulty (19), and that it is overwhelming and nearly impossible for a teacher to understand and succumb to //every// student’s needs (19), but to be successful you have to understand this and take it on with a smile on your face. The more interesting a subject for a student, the more s/he is willing to learn about it. Math was never interesting for me, therefore I didn’t pay much attention in the class and I struggled but I learned that I want to make history as interesting for every student as it was for me. And, as the book suggests, I had already planned on standing at the door of my class as my students walked in and addressing them because that is what a number of my teachers did and it made me feel… respected. The questions at the end of the chapter **really** get you thinking about your future in the classroom and provide very insightful thought for the reader. “Excellent teaching is of immense importance” (22).

Jen
One of the most significant elements of Chapter two that struck me as most important was the ability to have flexibility in your classroom and in your lessons. Students will gain more knowledge and understanding if they do not feel rushed through the material, but rather can absorb it in various ways that fit their specific learning styles. This chapter also provided me with insight that every teacher should know and that will definitely shape how I teach and that is the students are the most important elements of the classroom, not the teacher. This right here brought me back to the heart of why I have such a strong passion for teaching; it is about helping shape students and play a role in their academic experience that will hopefully impact them in positive ways. With the understanding of flexibility in mind, I feel that will help me become a better teacher in the future and make my classroom a “safe” environment where learning can be more then simple how much my students were able to accomplish. This chapter definitely encouraged me as a future teacher to make my classroom about interacting with my students as individuals and allowing them to learn more then just what’s written in the books we read, but to be able to connect with the material. That was a powerful tactic that I feel definitely will allow me to encourage students.

Leighlan
This chapter emphasized the individual needs of students and showed examples of how a change as simple and easy as letting a student pace can drastically improve their performance. It also changed my perspective a little. I use to not really think about the amount of individuals in a typical class, around 30, and realize that that is 30 different people in one room that I am going to have to know what works and does not work for them. Thankfully the chapter also said that all I have to do at first is use a pattern that works for most students, stay observant, and adjust my patter as my observations indicate. It is looking at the all people are different fact and transferring the context of my understanding of it from my angsty young adult take me as I am way of thinking into my budding teacher mentality. It helped me apply an old concept in a new way that is going to prove invaluable.

Brody
The second chapter of Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design emphasized the student in accordance with approaching instruction. This chapter shows that students are not identical sponges that respond to one teaching approach. However, educators often expect this by labeling students who fit into teacher’s structures as successful and those that don’t as unsuccessful. I confess that as a young student, I used to think there was one way of teaching and that those that didn’t understand were less intelligent. In hindsight, I see that this example was more of a case of the teacher failing to expect change in her instructions due to placing content on a higher pedestal than observing and understanding how her students learn that content. One way of understanding students that I plan to implement in my classroom is taking observational notes when students are working. The signs of how a student comprehends material are there right in front of a teacher’s face. It’s up to them whether or not they’ll take advantage of this information to the benefit of their students.

Kim
This chapter taught me that the student is what really matters in teaching. A lot of people would say that that’s something obvious and that everyone should know that, but I think that some teachers forget that they need to focus on the student and get caught up in just teaching what they’re supposed to without making sure that the students are benefitting from it. I liked the ideas and suggestions this chapter provided on how to teach responsively, meaning that you teach to all learners and you adapt your teaching to suit each learner. The suggestions helped make it seem a little less daunting I think, but I’m still not sure quite how I would apply that to my classroom. I think that might be something I will think about when I am in the classroom this semester, not only looking at how my mentor teacher teaches responsively, but also how she can alter her teaching methods so that she is including more responsive teaching. When I am working on my unit and lessons this is something that I will be keeping in mind because I think that it is an important way to teach students and you are better ensuring that each student is learning because you are constantly assessing each student’s performance so that you can better respond to them.

Casey Mull
This chapter focused on how all students learn in different ways. Along with that, it presented the idea that there are situations that get in the way of a student learning, such as their home life. It then made the good point of how students need to feel comfortable, and welcome to become better learners. I think this is extremely important to know as a teacher because we need to remember to pay close attention to all students, and what they come from and how they want to be treated.

Lillian Barry
This chapter is an introduction to different “axiom” and “corollaries”, using six different scenarios to explain and also show the effectiveness of a teacher’s flexibility. This chapter describes Understanding by Design -emphasizes how we teach, particularly ways of teaching for student understanding…model addresses the need to teach so that students succeed “what and how” and Differentiated Instruction -focuses on whom we teach, where we teach and how we teach. Primary goal is ensuring that teachers focus on processes and procedures that are effective for varied individuals. This impacts both me and my classroom because as a future teacher it is vital to make the classroom learning environment for ALL students and it will be my job to make sure I am able to teach for different types of learning.

Maxwell Haney
This chapter really helped with some other strategies to better understand student’s minds from a teaching point of view. It is good to know lesson plans are okay to change based on different needs of the students. It would be pretty scary if one of your lesson plans went really bad in a hurry and you had to keep dragging it on. I really liked the point that students go to school to “find themselves.” When I am teaching, I really want to always keep a good relationship with my kids so they can have a positive role model they care close with.

Brittany Rea
How many people in today’s world would believe that flexibility is a requirement for being a teacher? There may be some people out there who would not be surprised at that, but it is relatively safe to assume that just about everyone can remember a teacher or two who simply refused to change what they were going to do once they made up their mind. The truth is that everyday a teacher walks into a classroom they are faced with about 20 or more students who all have different personalities, home lives, experiences, learning styles, thoughts, etc. On top of all of that, one or more of the aspects that make each student unique can change who they are at the drop of a hat and as a result spoil a teacher’s best made plans. This is where flexibility comes in. Perhaps a teacher will not need to change everything about a particular lesson but having the ability to change a stationary activity to a more active one may just come in handy given the right situation.

Mike LaFreniere
I learned that in order to become a great teacher you need to have an understanding of what you want your students to learn, and how to get your message across through teaching. I also learned that it is important to be mindful of what you are teaching. If students are able to learn what you are teaching in class then your lesson is a success. Finally, you need to teach responsibly because you are dealing with a variety of learners which examples of being responsible could be checking in with your student. If you have a healthy teacher-student relationship and make appropriate teaching adjustments to guarantee student academic growth then you will be all set. In the future, I will make sure to understand that my students are understanding my curriculum through check-ins with each student.

Kaitlyn Bartlett
In chapter two of DI and UbD the statement that immediately caught my attention was, “the best-laid plans of the best teaches are just that- plans, subject to change.” It immediately made me think to teachers that I have had in the past and the only teacher that stuck out was Dr. Theresa. Out of all of my teacher that I have had, none have done well with deviating from the lesson plan. They have always seemed to get upset with themselves because they “lost time.” The way I have perceived that Dr. Theresa thinks about it is that, if it took up extra time or the plans changed, then it was worth learning about. All of the other teachers I have had have viewed it as more of a negative, rather than a positive. I had never really thought about it, but I really hope to be able to take the “Dr. Theresa outlook” on plans changing within my classroom. I will try to let the “extra” learning occur as much as possible within reason to provide the best opportunity for learning.