Backwards Design

Using Backwards Design was a new way of planning for me.  This year, we have a new math curriculum and I feel that I have not been able to fully grasp each unit as much as this one.  Before teaching this unit, I spent a lot of time planning and thinking about the end in mind.  Thinking about the end result helped me to teach with intention.  Before teaching the unit each day, I looked at the enduring understandings and essential questions that I wrote.  I had the essential questions posted and referred to them before each lesson.  Using the essential questions helped students make connections and have meaningful discussions.  Planning the assessments prior to teaching the unit was very beneficial.  It was a way for me to see what I wanted students to truly understand at the end of the unit.  This helped me to see what I really needed to teach for understanding and not just for exposure.  Prior to planning with Backwards Design, I did not think as much about the end in mind.  This way of planning helped me to teach with intention.   Backwards Design was a positive experience for me because it gave me a new perspective on planning and teaching.  This way of planning was positive for my students because it helped create meaningful connections.

Best Practices in Reading

Book Talks

I would like to give my students time after read to self for them to talk about the books they have read.  This can be done in a whole group, small groups, or with partners.  I believe that by giving students time to talk about the books they are reading, other students may become excited to read that specific book.  This will also help to build comprehension as students are asking questions and sharing about their books.

Read Alouds

Next year, I want to make sure to read aloud to my students daily from a chapter book.  I want to choose books that will lead to class discussions.  I know how important it is to read aloud to students daily so I want to make sure that I am intentional about the books I am choosing.

Model Reading

I model to my students what a good reader does, but next year I would like to work on using more “think-alouds.”  I want to make sure that I stop during read alouds to share what I am thinking.  This will allow students to hear what I am thinking and demonstrate the process of what readers do when they read.

Time to Write

Next year, I would like to incorporate more write to self time.  This is something that I do in my class about 3-4 times a week, but next year I would like to incorporate this daily into my classroom.  Along with giving students time to write to self, I would also like to include time for students to share their writing with their peers.

Time to Read and Choice

Although this is something I do this year, I want to make sure that I am giving my students enough time to just read.  Not only do I want to make sure that I am giving students enough time to read to self, but I also want to incorporate more time for reading to someone.  I also want to offer more of a choice to my students about the books they want to read.  Currently, I tell my students their reading level and offer choices from that level.  Maybe next year, I can find a way to offer more of a choice from a variety of levels.

5+1=New Instructional Strategy

This week, the new instructional strategy I tried was the Five Plus One (5+1).  With this instructional strategy, the teacher talks for five minutes and the students share/reflect for one minute until the end of the lesson.  I tried this strategy during my science lesson on weather.  During this time, I talked/read for about five minutes.  The students paired up and shared/reflected on a question I gave them related to the lesson.  I believe this strategy was effective because the students were engaged and excited to share their responses.  With this strategy, I wasn’t doing all the talking and students were able to make connections to the lesson with their partner.  This instructional strategy is one that I would use again.

Exit Tickets

This week, I decided to try using exit slips in math.  At the end of math lessons, we usually discuss and recall what we learned verbally.  This week at the end of my math lessons, I gave my students a question or problem to solve that related to what we learned.  Students had to write a response or solve a problem on paper.  I believe this instructional strategy was very effective.  This method gave me a very good idea of students that truly understood the lesson and the students who needed extra support.

Choice Boards

This week I used a Choice Board in my classroom.  I have used some of the components of Daily 5 in my classroom throughout the year, but I have never given students the choice of what activity they wanted to do at a given time.  This week, I put up a board with the 5 choices.  Students were able to come to the board and mark off their choice and then complete that activity.  The students enjoyed making their own choices and completing the activities.  I was a little nervous at first, but I found that the students really worked hard.  I believe this strategy is very effective because during this time I am able to work with students in small groups or individually.  This time also allows students to be in charge of their own learning.  I am going to continue to use the Daily 5 choice board in my classroom for the rest of the school year and hopefully next year.  This summer, I hope to learn more about the components of Daily 5 since I have not fully used this program in the past.

Instructional Strategies

This week with my students, I tried a variety of instructional strategies to meet the needs of my students.  One of the strategies I used was compare and contrast.  We looked at geometric shapes and compared and constrated them using a Venn diagram.  We sorted the shapes by stacking, rolling, and sliding.  This strategy was effective for students when compared with Marzano’s essential strategies because we compared the similarities and differences between geometric shapes.  I believe it was effective because students were able to successfully complete their own Venn diagram and explain why they put shapes in certain categories.

Another strategies I used this week was think, pair, share.  We used this strategy daily during our morning meeting.  I gave the students a question related to what we would be doing for the day.  Student thought, paired up, and shared their thoughts.  This strategy was effective because students shared what they already knew about a topic that we would be learning about before the lesson.  I believe it was beneficial because students were able to make connections and use their prior knowledge.

A third strategy I used this week was journal writing.  Students wrote in their journals daily this week about what they wanted.  This strategy does not fit in Marzano’s essential strategies, but I feel that it was effective in my classroom.  Students were able to express themselves through their writing and share their writing with their peers.  I believe it was beneficial because students were excited about writing.