Winnie+R

Hi! I am Winnie Richardson from Highland County, Virginia. I am the Special Education Teacher at Highland High School in Monterey.



Well Folks, I looked at everyone's brochures (WOW!) and realized I did a simple flyer visual flyer for kids to know that learning is not just worksheets and text books. I did some research and am organizing it to put on the back of the image. More by Easter.

Here is the improved version that is a fold over thing for kids to take home and encourage parent questions. WR4-9

Meanwhile I have created my presentation and would like feedback. Hopefully I will attach it correctly



Reflection M2 – this module has helped me think about using Standards, Curriculum Framing Questions or Formative Assessments in the following ways: As I think about standards, they are just that, standards. They are guidelines that state what a student must learn. They are not the end all be all of education and teaching. When the students learning the facts about standards we are not ensured he/she has the skills to apply the material and make the connection to life. Students must be able to apply, connect, simulate and communicate information, ideas and facts across the curriculum. As a high school SPED teacher, I work with students in all levels of all curriculums. I am astounded that the science and history teachers don’t know that their colleagues are teaching the same curriculum, even when it occurs concurrently. The relationship between the two classes is seldom acknowledged by teachers or students. A similar situation is when students rely on the shortcuts on the calculator without learning the processes and reasons why it works first. Students simply memorize the process by rote, but if the question is formulated in a different manner, they freak. Enough of my soap box! Simply put, standards are a guideline by which teachers must plan instruction. Curriculum framing questions are pointed questions that students think about and improve student skills at applying knowledge and Metacognition. Formative assessments assess the process, the collaboration, the use of creativity, participation and how well a student follows directions, not just the facts. These skills are called 21st century skills, but this idea of teaching with pointed questions goes back to Socrates in Ancient Greece. Curriculum framing questions should inspire students to develop and use higher thinking skills. Students must be allowed time to think and answer questions without fear of being right or wrong. Projects with the formative assessments must provide students the opportunity to be creative with their knowledge and apply it in a variety of ways. Gauging student needs and knowledge before proceeding with a unit allows teachers to plan for the individual needs of students and meet those needs with differentiation. I think using the standards as guidelines to prepare curriculum framing questions that provoke self direction is essential in modern education. These CFQs help teachers work with students to learn to be creative in their thinking, share information as well as build upon the ideas shared by others. The CFQs also help teachers develop formative assessments that monitor student progress and the comprehension of material. Simply put, standards are a guideline by which teachers must plan instruction. Curriculum framing questions are pointed questions that students think about and improve student skills at applying knowledge and Metacognition. Formative assessments assess the process, the collaboration, the use of creativity, participation and how well a student follows directions, not just the facts. These skills are called 21st century skills, but this idea of teaching with questioning goes back to Socrates in Ancient Greece. Winnie Richardson 4-7-09

3.04 Response – // Where in your unit do students need to conduct research // ?  -  students conduct research after they have transferred their graphs to the SmartBoard. They will research real life use of slope of a line. // When could student’s learning be enhanced by communicating with others? //  -  student learning is enhanced by communicating with others several places in my unit when they collaborate on the Unit Questions, decide which models to transfer to the SmartBoard, locate real life examples of slope on the internet, and develop their formula. // Where would collaborating be beneficial? //  -  collaboration may beneficial on unit questions and developing a formula for slope // How to ensure students are using problem solving strategies throughout? // providing students with activities that require them to think and use problem solving skills. 4.04 Response // How we can help all students successfully complete project tasks with the ability to: //  -  // Set manageable goals // – start with teachers setting manageable goals for the students. If work is chucked, scaffolded, and presented in small tasks with manageable timelines students will be learn to establish their own manageable goals  -  // Manage timelines and adjust as necessary // – monitoring to keep kids on task is vital, reminding them of timelines, and modeling how you monitor yours as well is a good tool.  -  // Generate and investigate questions about their work // – start by asking them to make up quiz questions that you use, then give them time to think and answer your questions. If they are given think time they often come up with questions – journals can be helpful here as well.  -  // Work productively with others // – I think the best way to teach kids to work with others is to model it. Working in a true collaborative teaching classroom the past two years has been great. The students respect both of us and question the content and make connections to question as well.  -  // Work and plan productively with others – // again, I think modeling works wonders with students. If cooperative teaching is not possible, maybe a teacher could work with one student and model for the class how to work and plan with others. Using timelines, check lists and rubrics helps keep students and teachers on track.

4.04 use questions from 4.03 Retake What 21st century skills does the student sample demonstrate?  -    being open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives  -    understanding the interconnections among systems – from a simple graph to real life pictures  -    Assuming shared responsibility for collaborative work – in the lessons students will work together to find and compare images  -    Accessing information efficiently and effectively  -    Going beyond basic mastery of skills and/or curriculum to explore and expand one’s own learning and opportunities to gain expertise How does the student sample help answer the Curriculum-Framing Questions?  -    It directly answers all three questions  -    <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">How does algebra apply to real life? <span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> -    <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">How does graphing a line apply to real life? <span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> -    How might a graph of a line be used to build roads, buildings and other structures? How does the chosen technology tool enable students to enhance their learning, increase productivity and promote creativity? <span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> -    the graph and images using the SmartBoard and real life photographs shows a direct correlation between math and real life <span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> -    the image is something they will be able to refer back to throughout their algebra studies <span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"> -    working to think in terms of real life uses will enhance learning

Here is my student sample - it is an actual student sample by my one SPED student I teach Algebra 1, Part 1. The work was done today 4-20-09 - the images were ones I down loaded into microsoft images from the internet, she sifted through several to find some that worked and we discovered the SmartBoard "move to back" was a great way to compare after locking the diagrams. I exported as one PDF - 2 pages I tried to upload 2 jpeg images but they imported as a whole image not something to click on. Will try them later WR I wanted to add the light-bulb moment of the student seeing how the base of the photo and the roofline where the fireman was climbing matched her slope was worth the entire four weeks!



If my connection lasts I am inserting several reflections below - they are Q&D - quick and dirty but, like all I am fighting time and do like the reflections and learning from others. WR

Module 3 Activity 6 This module has helped me think about the impact of the internet on my students’ learning in the following ways. The internet is a wonderful resource that can be daunting at times for adults and experienced users, let alone students. When using the internet for students, it is vital that teachers do the research first and establish web quests or search guidelines. The use of a web page that allows a teacher to include several usable sites along with a couple non-viable sites, gives students the experience of making correct choices of resources and rejecting others. Of course before using the internet teachers need to model incorporate making those choices for students.

4.01 – How the internet is used in my project. The students will search [] for images they think will match their models of slope. Suggested searches include mountains, hills, stairs, steps, roofs, etc. They will download the images to the Microsoft clip art downloads section of Office. The SmartBoard Notebook software will allow the images to be inserted into the page of the file and the students will compare.

Module 4 Activity 5 Reflection How can technology be used most effectively to support and assess student learning? Technology is the thing! Kids live it and love using it. They are more engaged when using technology; therefore if the use of technology supports learning when students use it on content. Answering questions from a simple guided research, creating a web on inspiration, or using a math facts review website; any of these will get students engaged and result in greater learning of content. The use of technology for assessment is not limited to those sites that allow practice SOL type questions. The actual use of technology is an assessment in itself, how the student conducts him/herself, the proper use of it, the discrimination of relevant information, the practice of math facts, the proper use of a graphing calculator and on task behaviors are all simple means to assess student learning.