Chapter 14

At times I wish we could completely throw out grades!  I don't think grades always communicate what we want to students and parents.  Grades can be positive when they motivate a student to work harder, encourage him/her to grow, or give constructive feedback.  Grades can be negative when they make a student feel like a failure, or when an exceptional student makes high grades but is never challenged. Later those students may not know how to cope with challenges they face. In order to change the traditional system we first must make students and parents aware that students will be graded on progress towards individual goals.  

Chapter 13

Looking at figure 13.1 I would need to modify to fit my grade level by doing much of the planning together.  I loved the example from the K classroom on neighborhoods and communities, and how the students did both self selected and teacher selected tasks.  In the beginning you would need to provide your struggling students with more scaffolding and break the assignment into smaller parts. 

Chapter 12

An activity is something the student does or makes to understand and learn new ideas.  A sense-making activity uses higher level thinking to actually analyze and apply the information and make it their own.   It is important to differentiate a sense-making activity because they help students own and process information to make it more meaningful. These activities can be differentiated in response to student's readiness levels, interests and learning profiles.

Chapter 11

I like the idea of using reading partners with audio/video recorders to enhance learning for gifted learners.  This could be used across several grade levels, or even within the specific grade level you teach.  This can be used not only specifically for students who need assistance for reading texts, but also for giving reports or information on certain topics the gifted student is an "expert" in.  I also am interested in using peer and adult mentors in certain content areas such as science.

Chapter 10

In figure 10.5 the learning profile questionnaire would be very useful. It could help you gain insight to your students and how they feel they best learn, especially when used at the first of the school year.  I think this would be best for older students, but an adapted form could even be used for younger elementary aged students.  

I do like having a choice of assignments, just as many of our students would! :)

Chapter 9

Literature circles and interest groups both work well in the primary classroom.  Students can work with their classmates to explore, read about, and report on things that interest them.  The students will be more engaged because they are already curious about the topic they are exploring.  This method can also encourage students to develop and expand their interests in other areas.

Chapter 8

It is important to make sure tasks are suited to the student's level.  When a  task is not appropriate for a student's readiness level they don't see value in doing the task and become bored.  This can lead to all sorts of discipline problems as well as the mindset that school isn't important.  Over time this could lead to a student becoming lazy and only doing just enough to get by.

In looking at the equalizer tool I thought about the concrete to abstract; making sure the student is familiar with key knowledge and information before moving on to more abstract. An example would be making certain the student really is able to understand addition and subtraction using many types of models, before moving on to more complex multi-step problems.