HELPFUL!

These tools are so helpful and I feel like I can use a lot of them in my own classroom. I want to point out a couple of them that really stood out to me and how I could use them in my own classroom.

1. The Conversation Roundtable P. 121

This organizer really makes the focus clear about what is going on. For example, it says in the middle question "What kind of people are these characters?" Then it lists 4 characters that go around the circle. This could be easily adapted for differentiation because you could have different pages for different students such as the 4 as it suggests in the book or you could add or reduce the number of characters you have students study.

2. Developing Clarity About Learning Goals P. 124-126

I think that this is such a great idea to have students map out what they are to know, understand and be able to do. What a genius idea to have students have a copy with your lesson plan of what you are trying to convey to students and have them on the same page. I like this for a participatory teaching method as well to make up a unit with your class. I like that this example had several examples and I like how it breaks down into a tree like form. I'll say one of the branches of the tree. Know-sonnets, Understand-Periods of rebirth or renaissance may occur more than once, Do-Write and present documented research in a variety of formats.

I think that this is very helpful as a pre-service teacher to have this tree organizer with the know, understand and be able to do to plan a unit. There are several different branches in a unit and it would be great to have a short description of what is going on all on one page like this. Also, with a differentiation view, the number of branches could change due to the different tasks students do in the unit.

3. RAFT P.135

Role

Audience

Format

Topic

I like this activity for students to get an organizer for their writing. It is often hard for students to keep in mind who they are writing to or their target audience. I like the examples it gives in the book like, R- A natural resource, A- Our class, F- A speech, T- What people need to know about using this well and why that matters anyhow.

Lastly, I found that the rubrics were very helpful in setting up my own idea of a rubric for my future class, even my student teaching. The pages are 144-148 and they give good examples of explicitly stating what is expected, which is helpful to me when thinking of getting a rubric or directions together. I like that they give different examples and it really shows the versatility with using the exemplary, developed, emerging, and undeveloped grouping. That was clear to me and I could see myself using that in a class.

I think I may be a little crazy for saying this, but I like that there aren't black lines for these organizers. I like that I could make different pages for different needs of my future students such as adding more or reducing the task at hand. I like that these ideas are all clear and they have been shown by example in the tool box pages 120- 162. I can see myself using some part or the whole idea of a lot of these strategies and I am glad that I can have this as a resource in my future teaching career.