Susan+N

Line of learning--How have my understanding and application of the CEI influenced my thinking and instruction.
Now my thinking may be centered on why I am teaching the lessons I am and how do I present the material effectively. Every lesson needs to hit upon the ICC/start. I think in the past many aspects CEI have been part of my teaching, but now I need to purposefully focus on addressing all characteristic in my planning and teaching. Some of the cute and fun activities may need to give way to more important lessons. These can also be fun for the students.

August 3, 2010  How has my understanding of the Characteristics of Effective Instruchtion influenced my thinking?

 I feel using Write to Learn in my classroom will be easy and quick to do. The examples we used yesterday and today can be added with ease. Planning these activities will be important and necessary. Writing is a way students can organize their thoughts and learning. It also is an ongoing part of their learning.

 Formative assessment: I really like the example that assessment is an ongoing movie instead of a "snapshot". I think this would be an excellent thought for parents to have about "assessment". Assessment For Learning will enable all students to achieve and succeed.

 August 4, 2010

 Students need to have some input in their learning. They have questions and ideas that the teacher can take and use to plan instruction. Students are more intune and involved when they have their own questions to answer. They can find the answers with some guidance from the instructors. We can let a child's natural curiosity lead to higher leveled thinking (rigor and revelance). We need to help students think about what and how they are thinking. We can have one goal: understanding, and allow all students to reach this goal by differentiated learning in classrooms that are set up for all students to learn in.

 August 5th, 2010

 My understanding of the Characteristics of Effective Instruction is more clear. After this week I can see that some things already are present in my classroom and now I need to make instructional time even more meaningful for my students by purposeful planning and use of assessment. Reaching the goal of understanding for each student can be achieved by using writing prompts effectively and as an ongoing part of instruction. Helping students make connections for themselves as they learn new information and make it revelant to the real world seems exciting. I'm ready to try some new things! Teaching students "how" to learn and not just giving them lots of "stuff" to know will not be as difficult as it may have seemed earlier when the ICC was first brought to our attention. We need to deepen our curriculum not just widened it or keep it shallow.