p 49 A classroom that uses dynamic ongoing assessment focusing not only on what students can do independently but also on what they can do with the guidance of an expert other... what is the end to this sentence? than a teacher? no way? just a thought? Why are there no periods after each flowered item? I digressed, sorry.
Okay now for the serious side of this.
Vygotsky appears to say,"Take kids where they are at, engage them in interesting activities and keep moving them forward to the ultimate goal." Isn't this why we have our kiddos? Isn't that the purpose of the IEP to state where they are and where we want them in a year. Don't we have progress monitoring to constantly keep us on our toes as to exactly where our students are at. We have to constantly reinforce simple concepts and add one more little trinket to help them move at their rate. Then we make sure we are on the right road with informal assessments before, during and after almost each lesson or each week to know if we are going anywhere? Let's say we are doing letters, so 3-4 times a week we way to go through the letters. I have a big chart and as a child knows the letter we move it to the left. Children love to compete so they keep wanting those letters at the left. Then the ones on the middle, we work activities and relationships to make connectors so they know and keep moving to the left. It is also an assessment. ZPD tells me the starting point. I can go back just a bit to set up confidence and learn learning styles of students and then take mustard steps to learn. This philosophy works with other things too. I like to use charts so students see the line go up. We have a beginning and growth spots. It also is a flag area, no growth, time to reinvent the wheel and go again. I guess we are Vygotshyers.
I agree with Dot. The classroom that uses dynamic ongoing assessment focusing not only on what students can do independently but also on what they can do with the guidance of an expert other. This goes for math and reading. I teach new concepts in math until the students have mastered it, then it goes to the math board for practice. These skills move on the ZPD target from the edge of the ZPD range to ZAD.
I think I somewhat follow the classroom where instruction follows a gradual release of responsibility model. I think as teachers, it is hard to let go. To not be there to help always support the students. I have found over the years our identified students become so dependent upon us for everything they are unable to complete a task without someone with them at all times. It has taken me a long time to learn to back off and use that gradual release of responsibility. When students are working on skills that I know they can do independently I have to make myself get up from the table and walk away.
There is a quote in this chapter that has stuck with me on page 48. "Lyons sums up Vygotsky's sociocultural approach to learning by saying, "Social interactions provide the platform for learning how to learn and for the development of self-reflection, responsibility, cooperation, and effective problem solving, and it is through social interactions that children develop and expand their capacity to learn."
This quote speaks to so much from the need for inclusion to the need for a relationship between a teacher and a student. Our backgrounds and our relationships form how we learn.
Very well put Kim! I too have to get up and move away at times, especially when I feel that do it for them attitude starts to take over. Like your comments on inclusion. It is very clear the need for children to have other children to develop.
Dot I like how you use charts so your kids can see their growth and feel that. In past years my students have not mastered their math facts as well. I have a system in my room that I have been able to really put into play with all my kids this year and I call it Rocket math and my kids have really started competing to see who's rocket can take off first.
Kim I agree with your comment about the quote from Vygotsky. This also stuck with me. I think it describes the student and teaching aspect very well. I also like the idea of your math board. I think this would be an easier way to get review to students. However at the end of the year do you find that the board has to many things on it or do you maybe alternate things on different days?
I think that my classroom does follow a Vygotskian one to an extent. I think as Sped teacher we start teach our students at their ZPD and move them from their to the ZAD. We move our kids as much as we can within the year and go from there. As we teach most of our students are hands-on, visual learners so we include this in our teaching as much as we can to help our students. I think one area of down fall for me is that I maybe don't have my students talk about items we are learning as much as I should. I have learned from my students that sometimes they can teach the others students something they have mastered easier than I can. I think as a classroom teacher we are constantly evaluating our students weather we are using observation or we are using tests.
Dot - I really like your comments on the use of charts in the classroom. Showing students their progress visually really helps build confidence.
Kim - I agree with you 100% that it is difficult, at times, to let kids go and be independent. This is something that I think all teachers and paraeducators have to deal with. When training a new paraeducator I emphasize how important it is to allow students to become successful independent workers.
Tonya - I like your comments on student input. Sometimes we forget to ask a students thoughts on something. I have found that there are times when a students self-evaluation can reveal a lot about why they are struggling with a concept.
In many ways my classroom is Vygotskian. I definately work hard to instruct my students in the ZPD. I think it is hard when we have to prepare them for grade level state assessments and try to stay in that range though. Those 2 things don't seem to go hand in hand yet I find myself trying to do it. One of the points that is more difficult is giving them opportunities to talk things through, like in the third bulleted point. My kids who have inclusive support get that much more than those in my room. For one thing, it's often just 2 or 3 of them and they don't usually have the ideas needed for good communication. The same is true for joint projects and partner work. It's great when you can have a lower student with a higher one but when they are both really low, there doesn't seem to be a lot of shared learning going on without me playing a huge role. If any of you have some good hints for how I can do better at that, I'd be happy to hear them! One of the points that I feel very good about it the gradual release of responsibility. I try very hard to give them the skills they need and then back off when they are ready to be independent with them.
Kim, I am curious about your math board for review. How do you have that set up? I worry that I don't do enough math review after we move to a new concept. I have Study Island and accelerated math, so we review that way but I'd like to know more about your board.
Every classroom should utlize the Vygotskian list. Wow - the list given on page 49 should be given to all teachers as a checklist to remind them of what the dynamics of a well-rounded classroom look like.
My classroom includes all things on the list. However, there are times when I tend to focus more on one that another. For example, I am always sure to instruct children in their ZPD range and assessment is dynamic and ongoing. There are times when providing opportunities for purposeful talk take a back burner because we are trying to get through something and are already limited on time due to some sort of testing going on in the building.
Making all things on the list have equal priority will help to keep any classroom well-rounded. I will say that when I teach SFA the curriculum is set-up so that these principles are all included every single day.
Yes, by the end of the year my board has a lot of stuff on it. This year it hasn't been that big of a deal since we have 1 1/2 hours for math. In years past, I have dropped certain skills that they have consistently mastered, like subtraction with regrouping in isolation. I then move those concepts into my word problems to spot check if the kids are still retaining that material.
I use a chart-type system that is in some different programs. The Spell Read uses a fluency chart to show progress that I add a graph to. Also 5 Minutes to Better Reading also has a graph. Both track fluency for reading phonemes. My kids really compete with themselves a lot, which is good motivation.
I also like the idea of handing out the Vygotsky list. Our school tests for ZPD through AR three times per yearn and I think it can get to be just another acronym.
p 49 A classroom that uses dynamic ongoing assessment focusing not only on what students can do independently but also on what they can do with the guidance of an expert other... what is the end to this sentence? than a teacher? no way? just a thought? Why are there no periods after each flowered item? I digressed, sorry.
ReplyDeleteOkay now for the serious side of this.
Vygotsky appears to say,"Take kids where they are at, engage them in interesting activities and keep moving them forward to the ultimate goal." Isn't this why we have our kiddos? Isn't that the purpose of the IEP to state where they are and where we want them in a year. Don't we have progress monitoring to constantly keep us on our toes as to exactly where our students are at. We have to constantly reinforce simple concepts and add one more little trinket to help them move at their rate. Then we make sure we are on the right road with informal assessments before, during and after almost each lesson or each week to know if we are going anywhere? Let's say we are doing letters, so 3-4 times a week we way to go through the letters. I have a big chart and as a child knows the letter we move it to the left. Children love to compete so they keep wanting those letters at the left. Then the ones on the middle, we work activities and relationships to make connectors so they know and keep moving to the left. It is also an assessment. ZPD tells me the starting point. I can go back just a bit to set up confidence and learn learning styles of students and then take mustard steps to learn. This philosophy works with other things too. I like to use charts so students see the line go up. We have a beginning and growth spots. It also is a flag area, no growth, time to reinvent the wheel and go again. I guess we are Vygotshyers.
I agree with Dot. The classroom that uses dynamic ongoing assessment focusing not only on what students can do independently but also on what they can do with the guidance of an expert other. This goes for math and reading. I teach new concepts in math until the students have mastered it, then it goes to the math board for practice. These skills move on the ZPD target from the edge of the ZPD range to ZAD.
ReplyDeleteI think I somewhat follow the classroom where instruction follows a gradual release of responsibility model. I think as teachers, it is hard to let go. To not be there to help always support the students. I have found over the years our identified students become so dependent upon us for everything they are unable to complete a task without someone with them at all times. It has taken me a long time to learn to back off and use that gradual release of responsibility. When students are working on skills that I know they can do independently I have to make myself get up from the table and walk away.
There is a quote in this chapter that has stuck with me on page 48. "Lyons sums up Vygotsky's sociocultural approach to learning by saying, "Social interactions provide the platform for learning how to learn and for the development of self-reflection, responsibility, cooperation, and effective problem solving, and it is through social interactions that children develop and expand their capacity to learn."
This quote speaks to so much from the need for inclusion to the need for a relationship between a teacher and a student. Our backgrounds and our relationships form how we learn.
Very well put Kim! I too have to get up and move away at times, especially when I feel that do it for them attitude starts to take over.
ReplyDeleteLike your comments on inclusion. It is very clear the need for children to have other children to develop.
Dot I like how you use charts so your kids can see their growth and feel that. In past years my students have not mastered their math facts as well. I have a system in my room that I have been able to really put into play with all my kids this year and I call it Rocket math and my kids have really started competing to see who's rocket can take off first.
ReplyDeleteKim I agree with your comment about the quote from Vygotsky. This also stuck with me. I think it describes the student and teaching aspect very well. I also like the idea of your math board. I think this would be an easier way to get review to students. However at the end of the year do you find that the board has to many things on it or do you maybe alternate things on different days?
I think that my classroom does follow a Vygotskian one to an extent. I think as Sped teacher we start teach our students at their ZPD and move them from their to the ZAD. We move our kids as much as we can within the year and go from there. As we teach most of our students are hands-on, visual learners so we include this in our teaching as much as we can to help our students. I think one area of down fall for me is that I maybe don't have my students talk about items we are learning as much as I should. I have learned from my students that sometimes they can teach the others students something they have mastered easier than I can. I think as a classroom teacher we are constantly evaluating our students weather we are using observation or we are using tests.
Dot - I really like your comments on the use of charts in the classroom. Showing students their progress visually really helps build confidence.
ReplyDeleteKim - I agree with you 100% that it is difficult, at times, to let kids go and be independent. This is something that I think all teachers and paraeducators have to deal with. When training a new paraeducator I emphasize how important it is to allow students to become successful independent workers.
Tonya - I like your comments on student input. Sometimes we forget to ask a students thoughts on something. I have found that there are times when a students self-evaluation can reveal a lot about why they are struggling with a concept.
In many ways my classroom is Vygotskian. I definately work hard to instruct my students in the ZPD. I think it is hard when we have to prepare them for grade level state assessments and try to stay in that range though. Those 2 things don't seem to go hand in hand yet I find myself trying to do it. One of the points that is more difficult is giving them opportunities to talk things through, like in the third bulleted point. My kids who have inclusive support get that much more than those in my room. For one thing, it's often just 2 or 3 of them and they don't usually have the ideas needed for good communication. The same is true for joint projects and partner work. It's great when you can have a lower student with a higher one but when they are both really low, there doesn't seem to be a lot of shared learning going on without me playing a huge role. If any of you have some good hints for how I can do better at that, I'd be happy to hear them! One of the points that I feel very good about it the gradual release of responsibility. I try very hard to give them the skills they need and then back off when they are ready to be independent with them.
ReplyDeleteKim, I am curious about your math board for review. How do you have that set up? I worry that I don't do enough math review after we move to a new concept. I have Study Island and accelerated math, so we review that way but I'd like to know more about your board.
ReplyDeleteEvery classroom should utlize the Vygotskian list. Wow - the list given on page 49 should be given to all teachers as a checklist to remind them of what the dynamics of a well-rounded classroom look like.
ReplyDeleteMy classroom includes all things on the list. However, there are times when I tend to focus more on one that another. For example, I am always sure to instruct children in their ZPD range and assessment is dynamic and ongoing. There are times when providing opportunities for purposeful talk take a back burner because we are trying to get through something and are already limited on time due to some sort of testing going on in the building.
Making all things on the list have equal priority will help to keep any classroom well-rounded. I will say that when I teach SFA the curriculum is set-up so that these principles are all included every single day.
Toni
ReplyDeleteYes, by the end of the year my board has a lot of stuff on it. This year it hasn't been that big of a deal since we have 1 1/2 hours for math. In years past, I have dropped certain skills that they have consistently mastered, like subtraction with regrouping in isolation. I then move those concepts into my word problems to spot check if the kids are still retaining that material.
Kim that is a good idea about the spot checking. I would like to try this in my room next year to see if it will better help my students.
ReplyDeleteTeresa I like your idea of handing out Vygotskian list as a reminder to teachers sometimes I feel that we greatly need a reminder.
I use a chart-type system that is in some different programs. The Spell Read uses a fluency chart to show progress that I add a graph to. Also 5 Minutes to Better Reading also has a graph. Both track fluency for reading phonemes. My kids really compete with themselves a lot, which is good motivation.
ReplyDeleteI also like the idea of handing out the Vygotsky list. Our school tests for ZPD through AR three times per yearn and I think it can get to be just another acronym.
ReplyDelete