Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Session 1- Question 3

Of the four scenarios in Chapter Three, which one have you experienced either as a learner or educator? How could have compacting and differentiation helped that scenario? Explain why and include page numbers from Chapter Three.

17 comments:

  1. Of the four scenarios in Chapter Three, I have experienced Elena’s scenario as an educator on page 56. The Learner Contract allows the GT students to have more choice instead of following a very linear and strict procedure driven ideology. My students still would not be able to use the Contract with Problem-Solving Focus either with the past experience I went through last year. I love how the contract gives students choice with extended options that challenge GT students. How can we incorporate this choice with a “program” that is linear?

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    1. @Annie, why would your students still not be able to use the Contract with PS Focus...just wondering.

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    2. Annie, I think that is interesting that your students last year would not be able to use the Problem Solving Contract on page 57. I picked this as one that I thought would have been helpful for my students I am currently thinking of at least 3 that could have benefited from this and they are coming to 3rd next year. :)But it may be more math focused for Borally.

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  2. I have experienced Julie's scenario as an educator in Chapter 3, page 47. Before we start a new unit or study, students are given a pre-test to see what they already know. Those students that display the "boredom syndromes, " are given a learning contract. Its similar to the one on page 48 but not as detailed and professional. It lists their areas of improvements so when I start the lesson with the skills that are on that list, they would have to participate and learn with the whole class. During the other times, they would work on their skills that they needed.
    I like the "Working Conditions." It would have helped to include something like that for my students so that the behavioral expectations were clearer.

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    1. @Sarah, I agree that the Working Conditions would be helpful to explain and use.

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    2. @Sarah I also liked that the learning contract states the areas of improvement and is geared toward the learner.

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  3. I have experienced Elena's scenario (pg. 56). I used a learner contract in math with students, however, I have not used it with my GT students for LA. I would use the working conditions on pg. 51 presents students with the expectations immediately. The contract could offer more choices using technology instead of just traditional pencil and paper options. I like that the contract gives students choices.

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    1. I agree with Jchoy's comment on June 13. I would use the learning conditions on p. 51 and definitely those on p. 48. Yes we should keep the highly capable challenged. But, we should also the teach them how to monitor themselves and be responsible for their learning as well.

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  4. I agree with JChoy's comment on June 13th about using contracts. It does give students more control and responsibilities for theirs Learnings. The sample on page 51 is a good one to use for math.

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  5. Of the 4 scenarios, I also choose Elena p56, mainly because it deals with math. I haven't had too many gifted writers in 2nd grade that couldn't benefit from our regular writing lessons--they are more open ended. In math, we have extension questions that we can ask. I also find technology is useful for math extensions and is self-checking.
    Our science curriculum all have ways to accelerate/extend for the coming year.

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    1. I agree with Marshall statements regarding extension activities on June 18. I think it is wonderful when do not have to create extension activities because some curriculum's offer them.

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  6. I am going with scenario 4 as well. I find math to be the easiest subject to do different activities with. It is easy to go higher level blooms and to have them explain their thinking/steps. Math in Focus also allows us to send them off and do extra practice and independent work while you pull up small groups. It does a reteach that differentiates levels for the students abilities. As Ms. Marshall mentioned as well there is more technology to support math as well.

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  7. Leandra's scenario on page 57 is the one that I can relate to the most. This past year I had several students who flew through the math curriculum, and as a teacher I was challenged to find them critically thinking math activities to fill their time. MIF did a great job creating highly enriching and challenging questions and activities to go alongside each unit that provided excellent differentiation for these students, and my students also loved them. They were very motivated to be able to come to challenging problems because they enjoyed thinking critically. I do like the contract to go alongside, as that would be great documentation to show differentiation for students.

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  8. As a teacher I think I have experienced all four scenarios in Chapter Three, but I experienced the scenario of Dimitri more. The Contract for Accelerated Learning on page 55 would have been very helpful for me to know exactly what these students had already mastered so I could extend and or accelerate. I have had at least three students that probably could have just spent the year on extension activities and possibly acceleration in some cases. However, without this guide I did not know how to plan for and keep track of this. I also really like the Contract with Problem-Solving Focus on page 57. This is a great tool for extending critical thinking and problem-solving. I think this approach would have been very beneficial for the three students I am thinking of as computation was very quick and easy for them.

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  9. I have encountered all the scenarios. Dimitri is the one I have encountered the most. However, Elena on p. 56 required me to do what is really expected with gifted kids and that is differentiate. Compacting was not an issue as I was already do it. However, finding extension activities that challenged highly capable students either in breadth or depth did. I found myself looking for challenging resources at the next grade level and activities in the summary areas and appendixes of books. Eventually, I realized all I needed to do to differentiate was use Bloom's Taxonomy.

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  10. In this chapter I have experienced the scenario with Julie listed on page 47, where a student familiar with the instructional focus becomes disinterested during whole group lessons. I liked the different examples of learning contracts that were used throughout the chapter, and the question tip technique on page 54. Often when I have split up my class into different groups, I find that one or two of those groups can end up taking my attention, and I can't get around to all of the students that need assistance. With the chip method, students are encouraged to use each other as a resource before coming to the teacher. The learning contract lets the students have more buy in to what they are learning, which I think would help in a situation like Julies.

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