Chapter 6 Notes

Chapter 6 opens up by telling us that an effective teacher is one that is always reflects
and evaluates their attitudes, practices, effectiveness and accomplishments even when the lesson went well. The chapter calls this “reflective teaching”.

Difference between an “expert” teacher and a “novice” teacher:
Experts teachers:  “read” the classroom, they show a great ability to gather information in a short time for multiple purposes, focused on learning what students already knew about the subject matter to be learned, they demonstrate skill in planning and classifying problems and formulating solutions.
Novice teachers:  describe the surface characteristics of the classroom, plans to ask students where they left off in their books and then present a review of important concepts.

To be effective decision makers, elementary and secondary teachers need to have attitudes, knowledge and skills that are necessary to be able to teach effectively.
There are five areas of competence that are essential for a teacher
1. Attitudes that foster learning and genuine human relationships: there are four major categories of attitudes affect teaching behavior 1) the teachers attitude toward self 2) the teachers attitude toward children and the relationship between self and others 3) the teachers attitudes toward peers and pupils and parents 4) the teachers attitude toward the subject matter.
2. Knowledge of the subject matter to be taught: whatever subject you teach you should show enthusiasm for it. Enthusiasm is the key to teaching success.
3.Theoretical knowledge about learning and human behavior:
4. Personal practical knowledge: is the set of understanding teachers have of the practical circumstances in which they work. Personal practical knowledge includes the beliefs, insights and habits that allow teaches to do their jobs in schools.
5. skills of teaching that promote student learning: simply knowing something does not guarantee the ability to act on that knowledge. There is profound difference in knowing and doing. All prospective teaches need to develop a repertoire of teaching skills to use as they see fit in varying classroom situations.
Using a variety of approaches is essential to meet the many different needs of students.

Classroom management skills: Actions taken to create and maintain a learning environment conductive to successful instruction. Developing a teacher-student relationship, arranging the physical environment, establishing rules and classroom policies are examples of classroom management.

Academic engaged time: is the time a student spends being successfully engaged with the academically relevant activities or materials. Classes that are poorly managed usually have little academic learning time. a teachers major task is to keep the students engaged. 30 minuetes of lesson engage time is the average time a student should be productively engaged. Effective teachers are those who can manage their classes to that the students are academically and productively engaged.

Kounin’s Research: Identified concepts to describe teachers classrooms management behavior that were useful. Withitness: teachers who are “with it’ are those who communicate to pupils and appear to know what is going on. Smoothness: involves the absence of behaviors initiated by teachers that interfere with the flow of academic events. Momemtum: the absences of teacher behaviours that slow down the pace of the lesson.

Questioning Skills: it is the central feature of most classrooms. It’s not only to monitor student comprehension but to stimulate students to engage with the content, relate it to their knowledge and to think about it’s applications.

Wait - Time: Teachers should give students adequate time to respond to a question. Waiting 3 to 5 seconds before calling on a different student or giving the answer themselves. Questions require students to process and generate what is being asked, therefore they need more time  to think about their answers.

Planning Skills:  Effective teachers base their planning on a rich store of perceptions of classroom events and of their students progress toward educational objectives and content standards. Teachers do four basic types of planning: yearly, unit, weekly and daily. Planning should include consideration of how to involve students.

Chapter 6 Reflection

The single most important characteristic a teacher should have in my opinion would have to enthusiasm. Effective teachers should always exhibit enthusiasm for the subject they are teaching.
Showing enthusiasm allows students to become interested in what is being taught. They will be interested in the discussion and will prompted to become involved in the classroom activities. Teachers should try to develope a good attituded for a subject that they find to be boring. Exhibiting a boring attitude will only turn students attention away from the lesson. Showing enthusiasm will help students retain larger amounts of information. Which will benefit them in the end.

We want to engage students in the discussion. Questioning them and showing enthusiasm about their responses will not only allow the students to dig deeper into their thinking but will give them the chance to show their enthusiasm for the topic as well. Enthusiasm is not to entertain the students but to motivate them. This is not to say that you can’t have fun teaching the subject but motivating students to learn and to want to learn is what is important.

Other ways of showing enthusiasm about what you are teaching is simple but effective: arm movements and constantly walking around the classroom is a good way to keep the students interested in the discussion. Also, making eye contact. In my opinion a teacher who teacher who sits behind her desk is a boring teacher. Students are more prone to doodle and work on other subjects because they don’t find any interest in what is being taught and there is not  much hope that the students will learn. Showing enthusiasm for the subject helps students to retain more of what you want or need for them to learn not just for that moment but past the next lesson being taught.
Being enthusiastic about what you are teaching in my opinion is the most important characteristic that makes a teacher effective in his/her filed. We need to motivate students to learn so that they can be more proficient and prepared for the future. Students need to ‘hear’ our words not just the sounds of our voices and being enthusiastic about what we are teaching will accomplish that.

Chapter 5 Notes

There are several types of curricula: Formal, Extra and Hidden curricula
Formal curricula include: language arts, mathematics, science and other subject areas available to students.
Extra curricula: included activities such as athletics, band, etc.
Today this distinction is no longer true seeing that learning clearly occurs outside the classroom.
Hidden Curricula:  are the teaching of values for getting along in school and in society. It also works against diversity, equity and social justice.

Subject Matter curriculum-concentrates on traditional subject matter. The strongest influence on subject matter curriculum has been the Standard-based Reform Movement. It is designed to promote academic excellence and equity.
Content Standards: are statements of subject specific knowledge and skills that schools are expected to teach and that students are expected to learn
What is presently taught in U.S. schools are organized into subject matter areas which include math, language, science, social studies, foreign language arts, physical education, health and electives

Language Arts: seeks to develop in students the skills of reading, writing, speaking an listening, as well as the culture represented. There are disagreements in the reading field. The issue of which approach to use “whole language” approach or Phonics instruction approach which teaches a student to decode words by sounding out the letters.

Mathematics: which is the mastery of basic computational skills.
Math at the elementary level uses manipulative's to aide the student in learning about patterns in math.
Now with technology on the rise, math programs have been moving away from the traditional compartmentalization of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, etc. but are now emphasizing probability, statistics and computer science.

Science:  In elemectary focuses on plants, seasons, color, light, sound and animals
in middle schools it is expanded to weather and climate. In secondary levels, it is centered on biology, chemistry, and physics.

Social Studies: history has been the leading discipline at both the elementary and secondary levels
Government is also a staple of the social studies curriculum. In elementary though social studies has been neglected in favor of meeting the reading and mathematics testing requirements.

Foreign Language: Spanish and French are the most popular languages taken in high school. More elementary schools are offering foreign language programs.
Arts: Include visual arts, music, dance and theater. Arts and music in elementary schools are ordinarily taught by the regular classroom teacher. High school offers students: drama orchestra, bands and dance groups.

Physical Education: education by and through human movement contributes to physical fitness, skill and knowledge development and social and psychological development.

Health: address topics and injury prevention and safety prevention and control disease. Health education strives to change students attitudes and behaviors to get them to take fewer risks and to use more preventative measures.

Elective courses:  are geared to prepare the student for college and career ambitions

Vocational education/ Career and Technical Education: provides a foundation of skills that allow high school students to be gainfully employed after graduation. Business, trade and industrial education, health occupation, agriculture, family and consumer science, marketing and technology are among those that are offered.

Interdisciplinary Curriculum:  a curriculum that cuts across subject matter lines to focus on comprehensive life problems or broad based areas of study that bring together the various segments of the curriculum in meaningful association.

Cooperative Learning:  students working in small groups or teams to help one another learn academic materails. They are organized, highly structured methods usually involving formal presentation of information. Three important characteristics are: 1) group goals 2) individual accountability 3) equal opportunites for success.

Critical Thinking: it is intended to help evaluate the worth of ideas, opinions or evidence before making a decision or judgment.
Problem solving: Refers to the process of either presenting students with a problem or helping them identify the a problem and them observing and helping them become aware of the conditions, procedures or steps needed to solve it.

Differentiated Instruction: tries to respond to student variance rather than adopting a standardized approach to teaching that assumes all learners in a class are essentially alike It is a teaching philosophy based on the premise that teachers should adapt instruction to student differences in reading readiness, learning preferences and interests.

Core curriculum: course of study students are required to take
cultural literacy/ core Knowledge: being aware of the central ideas, stories, scientific knowledge, events and personalities of a culture.

Tracking: the homogeneous grouping of students for learning tasks on the basis of some measure of their abilities.

Chapter 5 Reflection

In reading chapter 5 I do not recall ever having a differentiated instruction such as “stations”. But I do feel that “stations are beneficial to our students and teachers. It helps students learn through self discovery, it provides reinforcements of basic skills, and to work together with their peers while giving the teacher timetowork with others.

Through work stations students learn through self discovery in that they are encouraged to experiment, ask questions and make connections to facts that they have learned. A child becomes more curious about what he or she is learning they want to know more about the subject therefore promoting self discovery. When A child learns to teach himself, he is able to retain that information longer. Works stations also helps to reinforce basic skills that students are already learning in the classroom. such as math skills,  reading, vocabulary and so forth. It can also be used to challenge students in those areas as well as others. Each station has a variety of levels to improve and expand the students knowledge of that specific subject as they go at their own pace. 


Works stations or learning centers also promotes creativity and imagination as well. Work Stations also help students to work together with others in a positive manner. They learn how to problem solve as a group while learning appropriate social skills.

One other benefit of work stations is that it gives the teacher time to pull a one on one with students who need extra assistance or to have small group instruction with students who are more advanced or below level. Work stations benefit both the student and the teacher alike. Teachers are able to focus on the diverse needs of their students while the students learn to work independently, at their own pace. They learn the importance of positive social skills while expanding their knowledge of a specific subject.

Chapter 4 Notes

Chapter four begins by telling us that even though we are surounded by many different types of diversities in schools, social problems to include, drug use, violence and teenage pregnancies are usually already rooted in the lives of elementary school students. Teachers need to be alert alert to these sort of problems.

At risk students: are those students who are judged to be in serious jeopardy for not completeing school or not succeeding in school. The factors of “at risk students are” The child is not living with both parents, head of household is a high school drop out, family income is below poverty line,  the child is living with parent or parents who do not have a steady or full time job, receiving health care benefits or child does not have health care benefits. Also social problems do not usually occur in isolation but in clusters
Family composition: More and more children are being raised by single parents. High rate of divorce has also has influenced the composition of families. Ninety five percent of children living with a single mother live in poverty compared to married couple households. single familes are called the “new poor” this is not to say that a single parent does not do a great job but overall the hardships are considerable. it is not just the loss of a parent but the loss of a two incomes. Divorce is another result of family composition.
Socioeconomic Status: A term used to classify economic conditions of people using a family’s occupational status, income, and educational attainment as measures of status. Individuals with a high income are considered to be high in socioeconomis. Where as individuals with low incomes are considered low in socioeconomics
Poverty,17.4 % of children live in poverty. A full time job at minimum wage is not enough to support a family above the poverty line. Families who are close to poverty, homelessness is a big threat. Obstacles that homeless children face are 1) being uprooted from their homes and moved into shelters that may be distant from their schools. 2) Parents may not be able to afford the transportation to school 3) The child may miss a great deal of school in which falling behind academically can prove to be big problem.  , Homelessness is a result of poverty and has a significant outcome on a child’s education. Older children may runaway due to abuse may even suffer from poor nutrition, drug abuse and alcohol abuse poor health care, exposure to elements. One other issue is that schools were not meant to support poverty stricken student. Schools were meant to “support” middle class students.
Generational Poverty:  being in poverty for two generations or longer
Sex Education goals:  Preventing teenage pregnancies is a major goal for sex education programs. to reduce sexually transmitted diseases, and to help teenagers become sexually healthy adults
Abused and neglected Children: Child abuse can take forms in different ways: physical, mental, sexual, neglect and maltreatment. Abused children suffer from stress as well due to the feelings of helplessness. their self esteem is low and they may be more likely to abuse other children in the future. Teachers must be aware of the signs of abuse and know the school policy on such matter.
Suicide: Risk factors include: family violence or disruption, mental illness, unemployment, history of substance abuse, bullying, stresses in school or social life or cluster syndrome (a wave of suicides in peers).
School violence: Gangs: children and teenagers join gang for different reasons: excitement, peer pressure, physical protection, attention, financial gain, and a sense of belonging or ignored by parents. teachers and administrators can help reduce violence in schools by: 1) establish and enforce clear codes of school conduct that stress the unacceptability of gang behavior and the prohibition of weapons. 2) establish programs that stress positive youth involvement and alternatives to gang memberships 3) assimilate gang oriented students into the mainstream- academically, socially and through extra curricular activities 4) create school programs that focus on non-violent conflict resolution and gang prevention. 5) take quick decisive actions when instances of gang activity occur on school grounds 6). prohibit gang colors insignia and other gang membership.
Cyberbulling: Refers to bullying through communications technologies through the use of mobile phone text messages, email messages, Internet chat rooms and social networks such as facebook, myspace and BEPO.
Zero Tolerance Policy: School policy calling for automatic suspension or expulsion of students who bring forbidden items, such as drugs or weapons to school.
Steps that Principal's can take to help prevent violence: establish common goals for the schools and elicit commitment to these goals from teachers, students and parents, establish firm, fair and consistent system of running a school, establish high expectations for behavior and performance of students and teachers, create curriculum that supports the values of honesty, integrity,kindness and respect for others, establish the school as neutral territory for students, control rumors, squelch loitering and tardiness, create alternative schools for serious offenders, provide teachers and students with training with effective communication steps for principals to take to help prevent violence
Steps for teachers and staff to take to help prevent violence: Teachers: establish a classroom environment centered on respect and kindness where put downs and ridicule and sarcasm are not tolerated, learn how to diffuse conflict in ways that save face for both students and teachers, develop intensive skills in classroom management,  use peer counseling or peer meditation to train students to handle problems before they become serious, involve students in decision making in areas such as finding

Chapter Four Reflection

School violence is a major issue for many teachers and there are ways a teacher can address its effects in their classrooms.

Hold an ‘open discussion” with the class to address some of their issues and concern will give the students the opportunity to share with  peers their fears and concerns on the matter.many times talking about major issues is helpful to the students. Some of them actually benefit from this time given. It also helps others to acknowledge what the other person thinks of the issue of violence in their schools. Keeping the lines of communication open with your students is a crucial way to prevent violence in schools.

Talk about the warning signs with the classroom. And talk about what students need to do if they see another students with weapons or anything else that might be of contraband or is planning  a violent act against the school. Most  students will not come forward due to fear of being known as a “snitch” . but the teacher should express that in not doing so can lead to individuals becoming victims of school violence. 

Don’t allow prejudice or stereotyping in the classroom. the students should understand that they each need to respect each other and their school. Make sure that the students understand that you will not tolerate such things in your classroom. 

Teachers should also be standing outside their classroom doors to monitor the hall ways. Teachers need to enforce school policy in the classroom as well as in the hallways. It is amazing what happens in between classes with students. It helps the teacher learn more about their students as well as other students in the school. Doing this simple act will help reduce violence among students. It will show the students that the teachers are being vigilant.

Keeping communication with students a parents is also a way to address the effects of violence in schools. The more contact they have the eaier it will be to speak with the parents if an incident does occur.

Violence in schools can be prevented but it takes the involvement of everyone to include parents. It takes recognizing the signs, enforcing school policy and classroom amendments.Also,keeping the lines of communications open with students will help them feel more at ease to speak to the teacher if they have any concerns.

Chapter 3 Notes

Chapter 3 lists the different types of diversity that educators come across. Language other than English, racial and ethnic diversity, academic, cultural and others.One of the challenges teachers face is to provide differently types of experience and learning.Teachers also will encounter students who first language is not English as well as whose ethnicity and culture are Hispanic or Asian. But not matter what diverse backgrounds students have, they still deserve the best educational experience they can get.

Assimilation: the process of incorporating immigrant group in a mainstream culture. Back in the days when the U.S. was called the “melting pot: immigrants were “assimilated” in the dominant culture.

Cultural pluralism: understanding of and appreciation of cultural differences and languages it rejects assimilation and separatism and suggests that each cultural group maintain it’s own “identity” without trying to fit in to the overall American culture the goal for cultural pluralism is that no particular culture is excluded from activities that schools value.

Multicultural Education: It recognizes cultural diversity and fosters cultural enrichment There are five different approaches to multicultural education: 1) teaching the exceptional and culturally different. Which helps students achieve academically and socially. 2) Human Relations: attempts to build positive relations among different social groups. 3) Single Group Studies: focuses on programs that examine particular groups. 4)Multicultural approaches: which promote multicultural pluralism. 5) Multicultural Social Justice: teaches students to study inequality and oppression.

Culturally Responsive Teaching: Is a preferred method that teachers use to accommodate and acknowledge cultural diversity in the classroom.

English language Learners: Unfortunately the students whose English is not their native language fail the educational system. the government has set aside funds for special bilingual programs for the students. some students whose native language is not English usually have two goals, learning English and mastering comprehension. Bilingual programs help them reach their goals.

four basic learning styles are: visual, to see it being demonstrated, Auditory” to hear it, kinesthetic: moving and Tactile: touching. teachers need to accommodate for each learning styles in the classroom to “reach” all students.

Disabilities is another diversity that students will display. Special Education is a term used for services designed for students with disabilities. the PL94-142 gives students with disabilities the right to free public education. it states that each student must be provided with an individualized educational program outlining both long and short term goals. IDEA ensures the right of individuals with disabilities to nondiscriminatory treatment. educational goals are appropriate of each individuals needs.

Mainstreaming is the practice of placing special education students in regular classrooms for part of the day.

inclusion or full inclusion is a commitment to keeping the students with disabilities in regular classroom. with inclusion the support is brought to them in the regular classroom.

Gifted and Talented: Is one of the most challenging types of students. They are extremely bright and quickly grasp what is being taught. they are often over looked by educators.

According to Glaser's choice theory we all have basic survival needs which are: Power,Love, Belonging, Freedom and Fun. Our actions and behaviors are to satisfy those needs and if we understand those needs we can make conscious choices to meet them.

Chapter 3 Reflection

In Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence the area that I feel is my area of strength is Intrapersonal Intelligence. which is to have an understanding of yourself, your capabilities, preferences and deficiencies. I have a good understanding of myself, especially what my capabilities and preferences are.

Many times though I tend to distrust my capabilities and focus more on my deficiencies. An example would be when I was a substitute teacher in Naples, Italy.  I loved the job, I knew that I could preform it well, and that I was capable of doing it. There were some teachers that I preferred to work for  and others not (especially one in particular).due to their disorganization in the classroom. This is  not to say that this teacher was not a good teacher, he was, I felt, in understanding myself that I could not feel capable of doing a good job in th classroom. I felt that if they were organized then I was capable of preforming the job that was set out for me to. My deficiencies were that a disorganized teacher would lead me (as much as I tried not to) to a not well preformed. Now, I am not saying that it was the lack of the teachers disorganization that was at fault but it did contribute to my deficiencies. In this case I had an understanding of my capabilities and what my deficiencies were.

Also, being asked to substitute half a semester for Spanish, give instruction and grading final exams I had the understanding of myself that I knew that I was capable to doing the job. I knew what my preferences were and I used those strengths  to teach my students.