Chapter 10 Conditions for Redoing Work for Full Credit

It is important that a teacher gives a student the opportunity to redo work that has not reached expectations, however, there are some guidelines that should be followed. A student may abuse the redo policy if it is handled correctly. The redo option should be done at the discretion of the teacher and it should be clear how the work is to be made up. The tip given by this chapter that was most useful to me was the idea of giving the student dates that things needed to be made up on. If the assignment has a lot of parts that need to be redone, the student needs to be given specific times that the parts need to be completed in so that the teacher can ensure the student is staying on task and completing the work. I will use this advice with my students to keep them accountable and also to make sure that I know where they are at with the assignment.

Chapter 9 Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading

Chapter 9 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal focuses on ten ways that assessing and grading are done which should be avoided. These techniques are all common practices that are not effective in determining a student’s mastery. A point that was made which I had never heard was the idea that homework should not be graded. The chapter claims that homework is given for practice and refinement of skills and that it is not a representation of full knowledge. Homework should not be given to a student until he or she has a grasp on the topic and is only to be used to practice his or her skills. As a teacher I hope that I am able to make sure the homework I give out is effective and that I do not penalize my students who are still learning.

Chapter 8 Why Do We Grade, and What About Effort, Attendance, and Behavoir?

This chapter focuses on one intrinsic and two extrinsic qualities of students that should not be graded. The author does not believe attendance, effort, or behavior should be graded because they are not objective and they do not indicate mastery. One of the points that was made that I found useful was the idea that students should be given the tools needed to meet the expectations teachers set for them. The chapter emphasizes that just clearly presenting what is required of students will be of no benefit to them if they don’t have the appropriate processing time and are not given effective feedback. As a teacher, it will be important for me to make sure that I am regularly checking up on my students and ensuring they understand what I am teaching them.

Chapter 7 The Relative Nature of Grades and Thier Definitions

This chapter focuses on the sticky and inconsistent issue of grading. There is no clear-cut easy solution to grading and the grades are fairly subjective most of the time. Because there are so many layers and things that are considered by a teacher when grading it is hard to determine what really is meant by a grade that is given. The one point that was made in this chapter that really stood out to me was the idea of basing grades on what I intend for my students to achieve. I need to be clear to my students what my expectations are and the criteria should always be what my grading is based on. It doesn’t do my students any good if I grade on someone else’s view of evaluation or if I don’t hold them up to high standards for learning. Students need to know that their grades mean something, and it needs to be clear to them what they are working towards.

Chapter 12 MI Theory and Cognitive Skills

Teachers need to be aware of how students think about the topics they are being presented with in order to help them retain the information. Multiple Intelligence theory provides teachers with ways that he or she can present information so that students will store it in their memory and use it in the world. This chapter encourages teachers to focus on helping students use the information they are being presented with so that he or she has a working knowledge to work from. I was surprised that so many students are only being taught at a surface level and are never encouraged to go beyond the basic knowledge to be able to use the information. When I teach, I need to ensure that I require my students to think beyond what I am teaching them and use their intelligences to use the information in the world.

Chapter 11 MI Theory and Special Education

Teachers who want their students to succeed will capitalize on his or her strengths and will not be as focused on their weaknesses. Multiple intelligences theory recognizes that students have strengths even when they are labeled as having special needs. It is critical that when I teach I seek to find the strengths that my students have and use them to help him or her grow in understanding. By focusing on what a student can do and not on what he or she can’t do I will give my student the tools to succeed both in school and in the world. When I am teaching I hope that I will be able to diversify my instruction enough so that every student will be able to grasp something and that they will understand what techniques help them learn best.

Chapter 8 MI Theory and Classroom Management

Multiple Intelligences leaks into every aspect of teaching and classroom management is no exception. Throughout this chapter various ways that multiple intelligences can be used to establish order in a classroom are given. I particularly liked the ideas given for conveying the rules to students of different intelligences. Giving students different ways of remembering the rules that are given in a classroom or by the school is a helpful way of ensuring they will take some ownership of them. I could see splitting my students up into groups based on their intelligences and allowing them to learn these rules in the way that has most meaning to them. I could also see these ideas being helpful for helping students to know what is expected in a class either using the syllabus or some kind of schedule going over the topics that will be covered in a unit.

Chapter 8 Grading and Reporting Achievement

This chapter of Understanding by Design focuses on the various factors that go into grading and what a teacher needs to be focusing on when grading a student. It seems apparent that grading is a necessary evil for most teacher and that it is very difficult to put a letter or number on a students learning throughout a time period. One point that was made which really stood out to me was that of not incorporating everything into the grading process. Students should not feel that everything they do in class is going to be judged, and they need to be comfortable exploring within the learning process to determine how things work. I hope that as a teacher I will do a lot of assessing of students before grading the work they do.

Abstract and Synthesis of Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 4

Abstract

Assessment is an important aspect of teaching and not only needs to be done, but is helpful for ensuring student success. There are many tools that can be used by a teacher to assess a students’ progress and to guide them in the right direction when misconceptions arise. Teachers need to be aware of the tools they can use and how and when to use them.

Synthesis

The fourth chapter of Fair Isn’t Always Equal is all about different forms of assessment. It focuses on three assessment tools and the advantages to each. A portfolio is the first assessment tool that is address and it allows teachers to see the progress of a student over time. Artifacts are collected throughout a unit, a year, or a students’ career to display works that have been accomplished and provide examples of growth. Students can reflect upon their work throughout the unit and improve in future assignments. Teachers can also use portfolios to compare among students and determine if they are at an appropriate level throughout the unit. Another assessment tool that is addressed in this chapter is the use of rubrics. Rubrics are tools used by teachers to guide the assessment of student work, and to ensure the student is aware of what is required of them. Students are able to use a rubric to focus and guide their work and know what quality of work will get what grade. Teachers can use the tool to determine how well the students follow the directions, as well as to fairly evaluate the work. The last tool that was presented in this chapter was the use of self-assessment. Self-assessment is used by a student to evaluate himself or herself, and to reflect on what they are learning. Students can also think about their own progress. It is important that students are comfortable analyzing their successes and their failures in order to improve upon their work. All of these tools are useful and should be used in various ways to help students succeed.

Chapter 14 MI Theory and Existential Intelligence

This chapter focuses on what may be a ninth intelligence called existential intelligence. Students with this intelligence are those that have a keen sense of life and of the issues surrounding it, as well as an understanding of themselves within the context of the universe. The author of this book makes the point that this intelligence should not be addressed in a separate way like the other intelligences are, but that it should be incorporated into the instruction. As a teacher, I would encourage my students to think about the meaning of life issues in relation to the topics I address in class. Occasionally, this would lend itself to an assignment or some kind of exercise that promoted students to think beyond the topic and into its significance in the world.

Chapter 6 MI Theory and Teaching Strategies

This chapter gave teachers multiple ideas that could be used in a multiple intelligence setting in order to fully engage all students in the learning process. Each of the intelligences was focused on individually with ideas for implementing instruction to match them. The strategies that had the most impact on me were the ones for spatial intelligence. I have a hard time relating to spatial intelligence, and am not geared to think in this way. However, I recognize the need to focus more on this intelligence and to be able to use it in the classroom for students who have it. The strategy that was presented that I thought would be the most difficult for me to relate to, but that might have an impact on some of my students was the idea sketch. For some students to be able to visualize ideas and put them down on paper may be a useful tool.

Chapter 5 MI Theory and Curriculum Development

The theory of multiple intelligences will have no impact if it never goes beyond ideas to implementation in the classroom. The focus of this chapter is on methods teachers can use to apply multiple intelligences into their instruction. It struck me how much this theory becomes a part of everything a teacher that believes in it does. Teachers have to constantly be thinking of ways they can implement multiple intelligences into their lessons and make everything they do multidimensional. Students will learn most when they are being given multiple ways to grasp the material, and when they are inspired beyond the classroom with what is being taught. As I look at my future lessons I need to keep the ideas behind multiple intelligence in mind throughout all parts of development.

Chapter 7 Teaching for Understanding in Academically Diverse Classrooms

One of the roles of teachers is to get his or her students involved in the learning and intrigued by the content. The students themselves have to want to learn the material as well as to have a desire to search out new information. The focus of this chapter was on getting students engaged in the learning process. The idea that I found most interesting was the misconception that students need to learn the basics in order to participate in abstract learning. It is pointed out that people do not learn in a straight line and that holding a person at lower levels of understanding before giving them experience with higher level thinking only hinders the individual. I have seen this concept first hand in the classroom where my mentor teacher keeps the students doing worksheets that do not pique their interest and keep them from being able to reach abstract thinking. As a future teacher, I hope that I will be able to challenge my students to reach higher levels of understanding and encourage them to grow in their ability.

Chapter 6 Responsive Teaching with UbD in Academically Diverse Classrooms

The focus of this chapter was on techniques teachers can do to incorporate differentiation into the classroom. One of the ideas that stood out to me was the concept of expecting certain types of support to be needed and planning for it. It was pointed out that every class will have students at various levels and needs as far as instruction is concerned. As a result, teachers are advised to look ahead to addressing certain patterns of students before working on a lesson. Even those students who don’t need this extra instruction or support will likely benefit from its use. When I am teaching it will be important for me to expect the support that will be needed by some students and plan ahead to incorporate it into my instruction.

Chapter 6 Creating Good Test Questions

Tests can be an important assessment tool, but they must be produced well in order to effectively evaluate student understanding. This chapter focused on test producing techniques, and gave examples of good and bad questions. What stood out to me was the necessity to make tests clear, and to give the students all the tools they need to succeed in them. It is important that students know what to expect in their exams and not to be confused by the way the questions are presented. As a teacher, I want to know what my students understood and what they need to improve on. If I make complicated exams, the results will not provide me with the information I need. It is critical that the wording in tests and the material covered is not confusing to the students.

Chapter 5 Tiering Assessments

This chapter addresses the issue of tiering instruction to ensure that students gain the most understanding of the subject. An idea that was presented was that of learning contracts to individualize a students learning, while still accomplishing the given goal. I had never heard of this idea before, but thought it would be a useful tool for some students. Some students need the structure of a set of rules and requirements as well as a given schedule to accomplish tasks. As a teacher, I would look for opportunities to give my students options like the contract that allow some flexibility, but also set specific guidelines to their work. The only thing that could be a problem with this concept is that students cannot be singled out in a direct way or other students will notice and may treat them differently.

Chapter 4 Three Important Types of Assessment

It is important that a teacher become acquainted with various tools that can be used to assess student learning. This chapter focuses on three methods a teacher can use to evaluate a student’s retention of material. The method of evaluation that I found most interesting was the portfolio. This tool allows teachers to assess students’ progress throughout their learning as well as to keep a record of what is accomplished. I think that as a teacher I would like to use this method sometimes in order to determine a student’s growth in knowledge and to be able to keep track of where he or she is. It would also allow students to see their own progress, which would encourage them to continue in the work.

Chapter 10 MI Theory and Assessment

The focus of this chapter is on the various techniques that can be used to assess learning in a multiple intelligence classroom. There are many ways that students can be evaluated based on the intelligence being appraised. The key point that stuck out to me was to make sure that my assessment method is in context with what is being assessed. If the tool that is used to evaluate a student’s success is not representative of the method that was used to teach the material than it is not a fair representation of what was learned. As a teacher, it will be my responsibility to determine the best approach to take in assessing student learning based on how I have presented the information to them.

Chapter 3 Principles of Successful Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom

The focus of this chapter was on developing and utilizing assessment in the classroom. I learned that assessment is meant to be a tool to guide a student to higher learning. While reading this chapter I realized how important and helpful it is to give regular assessments so as to evaluate student progress. When I am teaching a class I think it will be a good thing for me to utilize the different methods of assessment that were suggested in this book. If I start the semester off with some form of assessment to determine where the students are when they begin, and then regularly evaluate throughout the learning process leading up to the final assessment than progress is ensured. The students will also be able to see their progress and be given the tools they need to succeed.

Chapter 2 Mastery

The focus of this chapter was on how to determine if a student has really grasped the material that has been presented. As a result of reading the material that was presented, I learned that determining if a student has mastered a subject is not an easy task. Even if a student knows the answer to a problem or to multiple problems, it does not mean that the student has really learned the material. In order to more accurately determine if the subject matter has been grasped, it is important that multiple modes of assessment be used and that their be monitoring of progress over time. As a teacher I am going to have to utilize this information when developing units for my class. The students will most benefit when they can understand and use the information that is given them in multiple ways and at different complexities.

Chapter 1 The Differentiated Instruction Mind-set: Rationale and Definition

Differentiated teaching is all about giving students the tools they need to learn effectively. What stood out to me in this chapter was the way of thinking that it is what the students learn that matters and not what or how we teach. I understand this approach, but I am going to have to change my mindset in order to use it. As a teacher, I am going to need to look for ways to lead my students that they may become competent in their understanding of the subject matter. When I use this method my students should be more equipped to handle both differentiated and non-differentiated instruction, because they will be given the tools to learn.

Chapter 5 Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

One key aspect of Understanding by Design is that the teacher needs to plan their assessment in order to determine how he or she is going to approach the lessons and activities for a unit. A teacher that uses this method is able to ensure that the assessment that is used fits for the concepts that he or she wants his or her students to understand. I learned how important it is that a teacher keeps the goals in mind when determining how he or she is going to evaluate student progress. It will be hard at times for me to keep the big picture in mind when focusing on the parts of unit development. However, I do believe that this approach will be most effective for my students, and that they will learn the most when there is clear objectives that everything they do is leading to.