Fires Ch. 11, 12, 13, 14

Chapters 11, 12, 13, and 14 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discuss how teachers need to take differentiated grading further than just assessment on an individual assignment, and instead extend it all the way to report cards and course grades. There are many complicated issues at stake when it comes to grading, and keeping with the themes addressed thus far, the chapters aimed to instruct teachers on how to make sure that all grades are indicators of content mastery. When it comes to matters of assigning zeros for missing work, grading gifted and special education students, and weighting grades for example, it is most important that grades give accurate representation of a student’s individual progress and find ways to exclude extraneous factors that can negatively skew a grade. To this affect, Wormeli suggests using the less-common 4.0 scale because it gives more room for personalization of a student’s specific content achievement. He also contends that grade books should be heavily revised, replacing what he sees as arbitrary A’s, B’s, and C’s with indicators of whether a student has reached particular benchmarks and standards. This can be done by listing grades according to topics of understanding and goals that a teacher wants their students to accomplish during a particular unit. Because it can be difficult to make both students and parents aware of important information about what goes into tabulating this kind of adjusting grading, Wormeli suggests including extra comments and asterisks on a traditional report card and finding ways to incorporate a grade for individual student progress throughout the course of the year.

A lot of what we have read about this semester is very different from the kind of education I was raised on, and that made it difficult for me to see the practical applications of all of it and made me skeptical of how effective it could really be. But now that I’ve been in the field, I can see how everything becomes real when it is applied to a high school classroom. Meeting standards and personal progress really do matter more than A’s and B’s, and those letters and numbers do very little to give accurate feedback on how are students learning. When I become a teacher, I want to be one who is able to really help them learn things, and a big part of that is giving accurate grades that can move the learning process forward instead of stunt it, which is what happens when students put in hard work but are rewarding with only mediocre grades. The current grading system really is convoluted and inaccurate, and it is up to modern teachers to change it for the better. As a teacher, I will try my best to put into place systems that reward adequate content mastery and put emphasis on understanding tangible, practical concepts. Improving the way grades are reported also helps get parents more involved in education by giving them access to feedback that they can understand, and parental participation does wonders for a child’s achievement.

FIAE Chapters 7-10

Chapters 7, 8, 9, and 10 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talked about the ways that we need to change our grading tactics in order to match up with differentiated instruction. The key point was that all grades in their various forms need to be measurements of mastery, and the ways that teachers grade currently are not often accurate representations of this. Grades also need to provide teachers with specific, informative feedback about how much content their students are learning. The book says that things like effort, homework, and participation are factored into finals grades in ways that do not benefit students. There is a fine line between rewarding students for trying hard and allowing them to have a good grade without knowing the material well enough. The author says that all three should be considered as steps in the process of mastery, and that we should not penalize students for the time it takes them to master the content because the learning process is just as important as the material. The job of a teacher is to guide students through these steps, not punish them if they don’t understand everything right away. The book says a lot about grading homework, and how this impedes the learning process because low grades do more to discourage students than empower them, and a grade earned at the point when a student has not had adequate time to master the material should not be factored into their overall score. The same goes with giving students the opportunity to redo work for full credit. If the student doesn’t fully master the material on their first try, it does them a disservice to not let them have another chance to learn it and prove that they know it.

I went to schools that always took a very traditional approach to grading, so that’s all I know. A lot of the things these chapters had to say about grades seemed foreign to me, and because I enjoyed my school experiences so much, it’s tempting to say that the author might be stretching things a little bit. But the more I think about it, the more I see that grading has to be differentiated just like instruction does. Grades are a huge factor in students’ lives. They have the ability to cause so much anxiety and stress, as well as low self-esteem or an overdeveloped sense of self. Grades determined what college a student will attend and even if they will graduate or not. Because of these things, grades are not to be taken lightly. Even though it would be easier for me to stick with what I have always known when I am a teacher, I’m going to try really hard to think about what is best for the students instead of what is easiest for me as the teacher. I think teachers need to stop thinking about grades as the end portion of a lesson and instead see them as another stepping stone, as a way to modify and personalize their teaching in a way that best suits their students. 

UbD Chapter 8 and MI Chapters 8, 11, 12

Chapters 8, 11, and 12 of Multiple Intelligences and Chapter 8 of Understanding by Design focus on taking multiple intelligence theory and differentiated instruction beyond just lesson plans. A lot of emphasis is placed on using the multiple intelligences as forms of new and more effective communication. UbD says that grading – report cards, project scoring, other forms of assessment – must be about communicating constructive feedback to students and parents, as opposed to assigning an arbitrary and competitive number to a student’s work. Grading must be specific, evidence-based, and focus on positive reinforcement. Emphasis is also placed on grades reflecting students’ work habits and progress towards achievement, which connects to what multiple intelligence theory has to say about assessment measuring all different kinds of success. MI theory can also extend to classroom management as well, which connects back to ideas about communication. The book says that good classroom management is about finding ways to relate to each student’s individual intelligence strengths and understand how to best translate what is going on in their heads to what is happening in the classroom. The use of multiple intelligences can also help teachers better communicate with students with special needs. Armstrong says that an appreciation of different intelligence strengths can be a gateway to more acceptance of students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom. Finally, MI theory can also be used to help teachers better understand the cognitive processes of their students and to encourage deep, introspective thinking that breaks free of traditional educational boundaries and embraces the different intelligences.

Something that I believe very strongly in is teachers no longer viewing their students with disabilities as obstacles to their teacher strategies. We need to learn to be welcoming of the different perspectives and learning styles that all students bring to the table, including and most especially students who have been categorized as having a disability. Embracing multiple intelligence theory goes hand-in-hand with accepting the diversity that students with disabilities bring into the classroom, and I think that kind of interchangeability is a huge step in the right direction for education. The books had a lot to say about how to incorporate multiple intelligence acceptance in grading, which is something that I will need to think a lot about when I am teaching. It makes a lot of sense that we should be assessing students with the same differentiated methods that we use to teach them, but I understand why that is hard for teachers to do. Assessments have always been logical and numerical, and those traditional methods can be comforting to teachers when they are in the midst of working experimental methods into their curriculum. And as far as grading goes, a lot of that is left up to the discretion of people higher up the teaching hierarchy, so teachers may feel helpless to affect change to go along with their differentiated instruction. All of these challenges just mean that I will have to work even harder as a teacher, and I will try really hard to find ways to embrace the different multiple intelligences in all aspects of my classroom. 

MI Chapters 7, 9, 13, 14

Chapters 7, 9, 13, and 14 of Multiple Intelligences focus on showing teachers how to create a classroom environment that is flexible and accepting to all learning styles. They expresses how important it is for educators to have extensive knowledge of the eight different intelligences and to make their students aware of them too. The best way to do this is to incorporate knowledge of different learning styles into the curriculum. Teachers need to be aware of how many different learning styles their lessons can accommodate, and make changes to their methods where necessary. Embracing multiple intelligences in the classroom is all about adaptability, and teachers need to be open to things like activity centers and student choice as ways to encourage learning. The topic of MI schools was also addressed, with the goal being total immersion in multiple intelligence-supporting curriculum and methods. Schools with this very targeted approach place a lot of emphasis on students being able to experience each of the different intelligences every day, and that they have the right as students to do so. The book also addresses practical applications of MI theory, such as with career choice and technology usage. The element of universality in multiple intelligence learning is also discussed, with the point being that everyone has different strengths and skills that are an asset to life outside of the classroom. Chapter 14 talks about Howard Gardner’s proposed ninth intelligence and raises questions about how to adapt potentially controversial material into content that is acceptable for everyone.

Learning about the different ways to apply multiple intelligence theory in the classroom is very useful to me as a future teacher. The thought of finding ways to incorporate each of the eight intelligences into my curriculum is a very daunting task, and there is a lot of pressure because messing up results in wasting precious time to educate a student. But the tenets of multiple intelligence theory – flexibility, adaptability, hands-on learning – are all traits that teachers should strive for anyway. As a teacher I will try to be all of these things, because accommodating for different learning styles is of the utmost importance. Something the author said in Chapter 9 really stood out to me; on page 129, the author says that we have to be careful not to create an education system where we exploit students’ strongest intelligences to pigeonhole them into the sector of society that we see fit. Multiple intelligence theory is all about equality and acceptance, and creating a ranking system of different intelligences is not something that would accomplish these goals. As a teacher I want to strive to have a classroom where there is no longer a boundary between the “smart” kids and the “dumb” kids. Teachers need to learn to appreciate the different strengths of their students, and so do the students themselves. The best way for this to happen is for teachers to integrate acceptance of multiple intelligences into their curriculum, and that is something that I am determined to do as an educator.

MI Ch. 5&6/UbD Ch. 6&7

All four chapters discuss ways to adapt teaching styles to suit the very diverse needs of students and to integrate Multiple Intelligence theory and differentiated instruction into the classroom. They give an optimistic picture of how multiple intelligences are being incorporated into modern classrooms, saying that much of the strategies we can use to embrace multiple intelligences in the classroom are already being done by good teachers. Good teachers know how to organically adapt their methods to suit the needs of their students and how to go beyond lectures and quantitative tests. Multiple Intelligence theory talks about taking this further and translating the same material into practical, hands-on methods that allow for engaged and meaningful learning for all students regardless of what their learning style might be. MI theory and differentiated instruction are about communication between the student and the teacher, as well as between the student and the classroom content. When one method of communication does not adequately reach the student, another method must be used to ensure that all students understand the fundamentals and essential questions of the curriculum. The books specify that MI theory and differentiated instruction are about substituting ineffective methods for more beneficial ones, instead of adding on unnecessary pedagogy that does not have practical purposes. As a whole, MI theory and differentiated instruction are about teachers being flexible with their methods and being open to adapting their instruction to allow students with many different learning styles the opportunity to learn from the same curriculum.

The information in these four chapters is all very relevant to my future as a teacher. I think one of my biggest challenges as a teacher will be adapting my instruction to suit the needs of all my students, because I have a tendency to stick with methods that are comfortable to me. I also get frustrated when those methods don’t work, and blame myself and think that I failed. But because I have a natural inclination towards orderly, linear lessons that are based in language and writing skills, I will need to work hard to make things that are just the opposite sometimes. English in particular is a subject that is easy to use the same static methods for, but that is even more reason for teachers to come up with new ways of teaching it. I like what the MI book had to say about teachers inherently doing a lot of the adapting necessary to make that theory work. That makes me feel like I really do have what it takes to be an effective teacher for different learning styles, and I think that kind of optimism is exactly what the education system needs. One of the books said that, in order for MI theory and differentiated instruction to work, teachers have to see themselves as capable of adapting and modifying their lessons, and having confidence in both their abilities as teachers and the capability of their students to perform to high standards. This positive approach to diversity in the classroom is exactly what needs to happen in order for education to progress.

MI Chapter 10

I really liked everything the chapter had to say about measuring students’ process against their own achievement, as opposed to measuring them only against each other or against a standard that someone else has set for them. Improvement and progress are definitely very important in the classroom, but if a student is improving compared to their own performance, isn’t that all that matters? Understandably, there is a level of proficiency that we want all students to reach, and it’s not to say that we shouldn’t still be aiming high for our students. However, I think it is reasonable that if a student continues to progress further and further based on their own achievement, we can assume that the curriculum and instruction has been a success and, barring a change in significant factors, the student will continue to improve. I think a major idea that both this book and Fair Isn’t Always Equal are trying to emphasize is that assessment should have a positive foundation. It should encourage progress and personal accomplishment instead of just numbers and scores. The chapter is right that we can’t differentiate instruction but not assessment; the personalized learning approach has to be carried through in all levels of learning. What I learned from this chapter is that assessment can be adapted to suit all levels of learning and forms of intelligence, and as teachers it is our duty to find ways to design tests and projects around the needs of our students so that we can get an accurate picture of their success in school. 

FIAE Chapter 6

This chapter had a lot of very practical and specific advice for how to plan good assessments, and that is the kind of stuff that I will definitely remember when I am a teacher. I didn’t realize that so much thought was put into the kinds of questions that teachers ask on tests, but it was really informative to see how detailed and intricate they actually are. Paying attention to the way test questions are formatted is a great way to differentiate instruction too. I really liked the part of the chapter where the author said that the only way tests can give us an accurate picture of student achievement is to make questions that they actually have a good chance of answering. The test is meant to measure students’ knowledge of the content, not their ability to play word games. From my time in high school, I remember that nothing was more frustrating than feeling as though the teacher was trying to trick us with test questions. It distracts you from remembering what you are being tested on and it adds pressure and anxiety that can impede test taking. I thought the paragraph showing what goes through a student’s mind when they are stressed about a poorly-worded question was really eye-opening, and when I am a teacher I will definitely remember how I felt taking tests as a student. I’ve learned a lot more now about the different types of test questions, and I can see how important it is to differentiate not just instruction, but assessment too. 

FIAE Chapter 5

The whole concept of tiering is a little bit confusing to me, and I think I would need to learn more about it in order to figure out how to implement it in my classroom. But the chapter did have a lot of good ideas about how to give students choices for how they want to be assessed, and how to also appeal to the many different learning styles in a differentiated classroom. I think the idea of a learning contract between a student and their teacher could be a good thing, because it keeps the student personally accountable for their work and gives them the needed autonomy. But I can also see how such a long list of rules and requirements could be overwhelming and off-putting to a student, so I think that kind of rubric should be used sparingly and only when the teacher knows that it will be very beneficial to the particular student. The ‘change the verb’ form of tiering is something that I would definitely use in my future classroom. I had never realize before how much impact the wording of a question or assignment could have on the way a student perceives it, but it really does make a big difference. Being as specific as possible really helps students get the most out of the assessment, and it encourages direct, purpose-driven thinking. Any project or assessment based off of a question or prompt should be active thought-provoking, because an assessment that is designed in a way that does not actively engage student thinking does not showcase their best work. 

FIAE Chapter 4

On page 48, the author mentions how students often aim for the second or third level of achievement when given a ranked rubric, either because they do not think they are capable of reaching the highest level or because they do not want to put in the extra work required to get there. I think this says a lot about assessment, and its implications for how we grade our students are things that I will take into the classroom with me. It is absolutely necessary for teachers to make their students feel confident that they can perform at a high level, and they must also push they to go beyond what is just good enough for a decent grade. I think rubrics can be helpful for that by giving students clear, specific instructions on how to reach a high level of achievement on a particular assignment, but I think holistic rubrics can be useful too because they put the attention on the learning process behind the project as opposed to just the end result grade. The student self-assessment section was really informative too. As an English teacher, a lot of the work I do with my students will center around writing assignments and personal responses to reading, and I think there is a place for self-assessment in both of those situations. I really like the idea of having students keep a reading journal to help them keep track of how they felt about the text, because it would get them into the habit of evaluating their own thoughts about the class material and could even lead into a cumulative assignment at the end of the unit. 

FIAE Chapter 3

This chapter had a lot of information about assessment to take in. I think the most important thing I learned from it was that there are countless different kinds of assessments meant to serve many different purposes. The three basic types of assessments (pre-, formative, and summative) were really helpful to learn about. I didn’t realize that assessment was something that necessarily took place in the midst of a lesson, but now that I have learned about it it makes a lot of sense. I think using tests results to determine what direction the content should go in is a really good idea, because it keeps the end goal in mind and makes sure that everything is driven towards a purpose. It is really easy to think of assessments as being the end of a teacher’s work for a particular unit, but the work never really ends, and tests and projects are meant to be another step along the way towards successful content mastery. Learning is a constantly evolving process and assessments need to work cooperatively with instruction to achieve that. I think it is also really important to make sure that assessments have real-world applications. One of the most irritating things about high school was when the material we were being tested on didn’t seem to have any real purpose. It made it seem like our time was being wasted, and that is something I really want to look out for when I am a teacher. The chapter’s guidelines for avoiding “fluff” assignments were really helpful for that. In order to keep content goal-oriented, it is important to always remember the end result envisioned by each particular assignment, and the same thing with assessments. Tests and other evalulative projects need to have just as much purpose as the work leading up to them. 

FIAE Chapter 2

Learning about the different levels of understanding that students need to achieve in the classroom is very useful to a teacher. It is easy to think that showing they can perform a certain skill is all the knowledge necessary for them to really understand a topic, but it does go a lot deeper. I didn’t realize until reading this chapter just how complicated it is to determine whether or not a student has mastered the content, but understanding that it takes more than just one or two exercises to have proof of it is something I will definitely take into the classroom with me. This chapter taught me a lot about the many different ways that it is necessary for students to be able to apply what they have learned. Most modern teachers know that rote memorization and useless busy work doesn’t promote the kind of active learning that we should be striving for, but it was helpful to learn that even hands-on, active assignments and activities aren’t always enough to judge how well a student has mastered the content. This chapter enforces the idea that assessment must be an ongoing process that measures all stages of learning and all aspects of it. Knowledge and content mastery are not one-dimensional things, and this chapter taught me a lot about appreciating the different ways of applying that mastery. When I am teaching a class, I will try to remember that what matters most is not my students simply regurgitating the information I teach them, but their ability to express that knowledge when I am not around to lead them through it. 

FIAE Chapter 1

I found the debate over whether differentiated instruction could actually be doing students a disservice by making things too easy for them an interesting one. In the face of mounting pressure for traditional academic success and exceptance to top colleges, a lot of emphasis is placed on independence and personal achievement. While these are undoubtably positive elements of education, they can sometimes make learning an isolating experience for students and unintentially do away with some of the collabortive and creative elements of education. Differentiated instruction brings these factors back and shows how teacher involvement and diverse instruction can bring about those desired results while allowing students to become well-rounded learners capable of adapting to varied learning situations. Paying close attention the ways that differentiated instruction affects students both in and outside of the classroom is a skill that I will bring into the classroom with me. Everything teachers do has the ability to have long-term effects on a student, and this is something that it is extremely important to remember. I also learned a lot about how differentiated instruction really is necessary for a successful classroom. Up until now, I think we were sort of given the impression that it was only used from time to time, or pulled out of the teacher tool box during difficult situations. But so much of what teachers do on a daily basis is differentiated by nature, without having to attach a label to it. Effective teaching requires instructors to constantly evolve and adapt their methods, often right in the moment and without time for extensive preparation. These intrinsic skills are a big portion of what differentiated instruction is all about, and that makes the whole thing seem a lot less intimidating.

UbD Chapter 5

I didn’t realize that assessment was such a layered, involved process, but I think it is extremely important to tailor assessment to our students’ individual needs the same way we do with instruction. It makes sense that the only way to get a full picture of their achievement is through several different methods, and this is a model I will take into the classroom with me in the future. The three different types of educational goals listed on page 64 were very helpful in explaining the way that different types of assessments should be specifically related to the kind of learning they are measuring. Assessment really isn’t a one size fits all component of teaching (not that any of them really are), so it was useful to see how we can put things into categories and organize them effectively. I really liked the ‘tic-tac-toe’ chart and method of allowing students to choose how they want their achievement to be measured. I always enjoyed it when teachers did this when I was in high school, and it is practice that I would like to implement in my future classroom too. I think it really gives students a chance to showcase their talents and makes something as stressful as assessment a little bit more easygoing. Even though tests and grades are essential to learning and should be handled as such, sometimes too much focus on numbers and rankings can detract from the actual knowledge and experience of creating a project or assignment for a class. Giving students more room for freedom and personal preferences in project-based assessment can allow them to get more out of the material itself, instead of forcing them to focus solely on what their grade will be. 

MI Chapter 4

This chapter about the various practical ways that a teacher can explain multiple intelligences to their students was very helpful and informative. I think makng students aware of their different intelligences can have an extremely positive benefit in the classroom, because it encourages kids to focus on their strenghts instead of their weaknesses. The quote on page 45 that says, “What did we do in the intervening years to convince children that they’re not intelligent?” really had an impact on me, and the meaning behind that is something I want to keep in mind when I am teaching. Based on numerous factors – peer pressure, society and the media, personal difficulties – by the time kids reach high school, a good portion of them have a relatively low opinion of themselves. This can affect their education by giving them less motivation to work through adademic challenges and by making them less likely to appreciate their own success. As teachers, we need to try to reverse those notions and teach students to value their own differences and talents, and teaching them about multiple intelligences is a good way to start doing that. I learned a lot about the different ways that teachers can adapt their lessons to the different intelligences of their students. In some ways, it can be as simple as planning a variety of activities for them as opposed to doing the same thing over and over again. I also learned that students are a lot more aware of their own academic strengths and weaknesses than we might think, especially younger students. Teachers need to remember that students are the best experts on themselves, so we need to start trusting their instincts about what they need to learn effectively.

MI Chapter 3

I think the chapter’s suggestions on how to identify students’ intelligence strengths is something that is extremely useful and important in the classroom. Kids aren’t going to come right out and tell you what the need in order to learn effectively, mostly because they themselves do not know for sure. But as teachers, one of our most important jobs is to figure out ways to communicate with our students when they can’t or won’t be direct with us. Understanding nonverbal actions, uncovering the reason behind poor behavior, and picking up on social cues are all essential to both effective classroom management and successful instruction. Those are all things that I will try to do once I’m with my students. I think paying attention to mulitple intelligences is a good way to be an involved and considerate teacher, too. Getting to know your students that well can only benefit them, because not only are you aware of their specific learning strengths and weaknesses, but they also know that their teacher really cares about them succeeding, and research has shown that this does very positive things for classroom performance. Learning so much about multiple intelligences has taught me a lot about myself too, and being self-aware will help me become a better teacher. Im learning to be more patient with myself and to focus on the things that I am good at instead of getting caught up in the things I naturally struggle with. Being a good teacher means modeling self-respect to your students, and appreciating my own strengths while developing my weaknesses in a healthy way will encourage confidence in my students. 

UbD Chapter 4

I really liked the part of the chapter where the authors reminded us that we are teaching people, not just empty heads waiting for content. I think teachers sometimes forget to think of their pupils as kids instead of just students; we need to remember that they have problems, goals, and challenges just like we do, and all of those things affect their education. The curriculum should serve the students, not the other way around. Knowing myself like I do, I think I could end up having the tendency to focus a little bit more on the instruction portion of teaching, because I really want to connect with my students and make their classroom a safe, happy environment. But now that I know that there must be a perfect balance between the two, I can prepare myself to make the content the foundation of my safe and happy classroom. I also think that what the chapter says about embracing the different learning styles and levels of students is definitely something that I want to make a part of my classroom. In order to effectively teach our students, we need to stop thinking of their differences as something to be bothered by. Even students who have some form of disability are not lacking as learners; they simply bring a different kind of intelligence into the classroom, and instead of bemoaning the difficulties that this can sometimes bring to teachers, we should be celebrating the way we and our students can learn from each other’s differences. 

UbD Chapter 3

Having only learned a basic overview of backward design in Chapter 9, reading a whole chapter about it was very informative. I learned a lot about the very intricate specifics that go into planning a lesson, and I think backward design is something that would be very useful in my future classroom, because it puts the focus on what the student needs to learn instead of what the teacher wants to get accomplished. Hearing about the problems that teachers encounter when they are trying to cover all of the required content was a little daunting. I know that as a student, I have a tendency to get too in depth with a certain topic and miss out on other important topics because my mind is so focused on what interests me. Now that I know that I will likely have trouble fitting everything I need to teach into the curriculum as it is, I will have to be aware of my tendency to skip some things in favor of others and adjust my curriculum planning accordingly. I liked the part of the chapter where the author said that backward design allows for different methods of assessment to be used to measure the same results. This takes into account the varied learning styles of students and prevents students from doing poorly on assessments just because they are not particularly strong in a certain intelligence. This is something I definitely want to bring into my classroom someday; I want my students to be assessed fairly, and I want to find ways to measure success that are based on a student’s strengths, not their weaknesses.  

MI Chapter 2

I was unaware that Multiple Intelligences could be affected by so many external factors; I thought they were simply something that was hardwired into a person’s brain throughout their whole life. It is sad to think that a child’s potential for knowledge could be halted by something completely out of their control, such as socioeconomic factors or the influence of parents, but those are just challenges that a teacher must overcome. I think that one of the most important jobs of a teacher is to draw out knowledge in the face of various forms of resistance. The chapter’s ideas for how teachers can make up for lacking in a particular intelligence were very interesting too. I would really like to have the opportunity to team teach at some point in my career, so keeping in mind the different intelligences and learning styles when doing so will be very helpful. It was valuable to learn about the different ways that teachers can collaborate with their minds and different strengths, and that idea is definitely something I will take into the classroom with me. I also like how the author suggested having students use their own intelligence strengths to help out a teacher when their strengths don’t match up. This would create a very collaborative, inventive classroom environment that would allow students a chance to take on leadership positions in the classroom and to explore their individual talents in a way that benefits the classroom as a whole. These are all important things to remember once I am a teacher.

MI Chapter 1

I barely knew anything about multiple intelligences before talking about it in class, and reading this first chapter helped me learn a lot more. It is very fascinating to learn about the ways that different intelligences affect the way a student learns, and in turn the way a classroom runs. The fact that people can innately lack in a certain intelligence tells me a lot about my future students. If a child is struggling with a particular task or concept, it could be because their mind simply doesn’t have as much strength in one area of intelligence as they do in another. It is never about them being stupid or unmotivated, teachers just need to realize that every student’s brain is structured differently. This is why it is important for teachers to be willing to try different methods of teaching, so that they can accommodate for the different styles of learning that are born into a student’s physiology and therefore should never be changed or stifled. It was also helpful to learn that most people are on the same level with being strong in some intelligences but lacking in others. I think the whole idea of Multiple Intelligences is a big step in the right direction in the field of education. It encourages creative, independent thought and denounces the notion that all students must learn the same way. In order to successfully reach our students, we need to start thinking about how they learn instead of how someone else says they should learn.

UbD Chapter 2

The accounts of the four students who faced difficulties in the classroom were really eye-opening for me. It was inspiring to read about the ways in which their teachers were able to successfully adapt their curriculum structure or instruction methods to suit the needs of their student. It really is sad when a student’s ability to learn is compromised by the rigid structures imposed by the traditional classroom setting, and I think the job of a teacher is to find ways to draw out that ability when something is blocking it. Elise’s story in particular made an impact on me because I know what it feels like to have family problems affect your schoolwork. Knowing how that experience feels is something I will definitely take into the classroom with me. I learned a lot from the section on responsive teaching, too. Everything the authors said about teachers developing relationships with their students goes along with how I plan to operate when I’m a teacher. I think one of the most valuable things a teacher can do for a student’s education is to allow them to walk into the classroom every day knowing that their teacher cares about them and is willing to do what needs to be done in order to help them succeed. Something else that really stuck out to me was the quote, “learning happens within students, not to them” (22). Teaching and learning are active processes with both parties being involved at the same level, as opposed to the teacher simply handing over knowledge to their students. This quote also reminds us that students are always active participants in their education, and as such they deserve to be taken into account when it comes to planning instruction, which goes back to responsive teaching.

UbD Chapter 1

I was not very familiar with the concept of Understanding by Design, so I learned a lot about it from the first chapter. Listing off the four “who, where, what, how” elements of teaching was a really good way to put in simple terms what the important parts of teaching are. It was interesting to learn about how the two ways of thinking are both dependant on and strengthened by each other; that interchangability is essential to teaching as a whole, and it was really valuable to learn about how those two major concepts come together to create an ideal framework for instruction. I really liked the part where the authors specified that differentiated instruction is not a formula or magic solution where you simply plug your students and content area into place and everything works well. I think it can be easy to want to use educational methods in this way, but as the authors stated, differentiated instruction is meant to guide teachers through their own methods of instruction and give them a foundation for how they should seek to educated fairly and effectively. Understanding by Design and differentiated instruction are both things that will definitely impact my future classroom. A ‘one size fits all’ method of instruction has no place in modern teaching, and it is essential that, when I am a teacher, I find ways to embrace my students’ differences and adapt my instruction to best fit their varied needs. I also think that the idea of formulating a curriculum around the needs of my students is very important to ensuring that they are successful, and I will definitely keep in mind the ways that appreciating the differences in their learning levels and styles can have a positive impact on our classroom.