Abstract:
Tracking was the most talked about thing in chapter 4. The chapter said that it was negative, and a few agreed that maybe they or their peers were shortchanged. However, most of the class felt that tracking was a good idea as long as it is used correctly. Every teacher need to make sure to use fun learning activities. Also, teachers need to make sure to vary the type and amount of work based on the level of the students in their classes. The other really big thing in this chapter is the WHERE (Where, Hook, Explore, Rethink, Evaluate) model for backwards design. This is a helpful tool to use to make sure that every student is included in each lesson. There is also a little focus on technology in this chapter. It needs to be used effectively, but if it is then it is a great way to get the students to get into higher order thinking.
Reflection:
Most of the class was shocked by the number of students that are still going through the school systems and not knowing how to read and write. Or if they do know how their level is way behind where it should be. This made a lot of the class think that reading and writing should be incorporated into every class. It also was a little bit repetitive from Content lit. Reading is a skill that every student will need in order to be successful, I know that the other subject areas are important too, but reading is necessary in order to function independently in the world.
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13 comments:
I really liked your links I especially liked the two about tracking students and the different studies done about the effects of tracking. I myself had a bad experience with tracking in schools so the link that provided alternatives was especially interesting to me. The link to the article about literacy is cool (old people word)I liked the information it gave about the "reading wars" it lets teachers know what is out there and what is being taught to students
The links that you posted are very interesting, I have mixed emotions about tracking. I see it mostly as a negative thing, because it takes away the want to learn of students in the lower classes. There is a great deal of resources involved in this. I really liked the site that gave alternative examples to tracking
Your links are very informational. I knew that tracking wasn't good for kids, but I didn't know exactly how much it actually affects the students. The links for literacy are also a lot of fun!
The last website was my favorite, it had a lot of good ideas about ways to add literacy into all content areas. Sometimes it's especially hard to do this in math, so it's great when you find good resources. Good job!
I liked all of your links, however, I really enjoyed your last link. I tagged it because it has stuff for all grade levels. It is chock full of information and resources. I liked that it had games. Games are a great tool to motivate students. Great job!
I liked all four of the articles, but the first two stuck out to me more then the others. I found it odd that even in 1994 they realized how bad tracking was, and there still are some schools who do it. I'm glad some schools have changed, but its frustrating that after that long some are still doing it. I liked the second article as well because of the negatives it gives of tracking and alternatives to avoid it.
I thought your link on tracking was interesting. First of all, it's from Stanford, so you know a ton of work has been put in to it. Second, it was really interesting that minority students were the most mis-tracked group. This is important, because mis-tracking sets students up for a life of failure and limits their opportunities later in life. While schools were trying to make life easier for these kids, it in fact made everything much worse.
The literacy website for grades 7-8 was an awesome website. It has great resources for incorporating literacy into lessons which is something that I have a hard time with. I believe that literacy is a very important part of education but it is hard to put into my math class lesson plans. This link seems to have some information/ activities that I may be able to use.
I really loved the literacy activities link in the blog. Since students today are lacking in literacy skills, I think that the site and links within it could be extremely helpful if students in your classroom are struggling. Even though it was dense, I think that the tracking link was helpful because it had a lot of scientific and quantitative information that could help us as teachers explain to others why tracking is bad.
I think the literacy links are interesting. It helps to reinforce the idea that all content teachers need to be reinforcing literacy. (Not just the English teachers.) I also like the links about tracking. It is good to read about the negative reports about tracking, because it reinforces, for me, that tracking really isn't a good idea. Although I'm still kind of unsure about it. (I just wish that teachers spent more time trying to help out the "lower level" students the same way they try and educate the "upper level" students.
I really liked your second link about tracking and grouping. It says that heterogeneous classrooms need a combination of challenging content and a variety of learning strategies, so that diverse groups of students will be able to understand the content. One learning strategies is project-based-learning which will help motivate students to become active participants in their learning. Great links.
The literacy pieces are important -literacy encompasses all subjects, not just reading and writing. If someone is literate in reading, it helps them become literate in social studies, science, etc..., so I feel that literacy needs to be pushed throughout school.
The tracking link caught my eye because I am against tracking myself. I think everyone should have the same opportunity to take whatever class they would like and as teachers we cannot give up on students. I enjoyed the other links as well.
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