Blog Post #3
11-17-2021
This week the students have been working on landform presentations. Each group of 2 put together a powerpoint of a chosen landform and would present it later in the week. It was very interesting to watch the students put together a google slide presentation and work with a partner. The presentations were awesome to watch, this is the first presentation they have done and presented in front of the class. A lot of the students were very nervous because they have never had to do this, but they all did great and gave very good information of their landform. I noticed that when Brayden was presenting his project that he has blamed his partner 3 times for information that he thought would be incorrect.. Brayden struggles with being wrong and wants conformation from his teachers often. I have been working with him on asking 3 students before the teacher (this will allow him to get conformation), but he is still struggling with realizing that it is okay to be wrong.
CEC Teacher Preparation standard 6.4 says that beginning special education professionals understand the significance of lifelong
learning and participate in professional activities and learning communities. In my classroom they have their desks in "pods" and this allows them to work in groups (learning communities). When they have question they ask someone in their pod and this allows the students to be a part of a positive working community with their peers. The 4th grade teachers model this to the students of how you will have to work with peers frequently. I see Mr. Fitz, Mrs. Gosselin and the aid working very closely together and they communicate about how they can adjust things as a grade level and work together to help provide the students with a positive learning environment.
Learning barriers that I noticed was "fear of failure" a lot of the students were afraid to present and if their powerpoint had all the information that needed to be included. I think that a paper checklist should have been given to each student on what is needed in the powerpoint so that they are able to check off when finished with the task. I feel like the instructions were not clearly laid out for them. I also feel that they should have been taught how to use google slides (before the project) because a lot of students struggled and would delete slide, I believe this would have cleared up a lot of confusion.
A UDL strategy that the students would greatly benefit from would be UDL 6.3 (student to do lists) I feel like expectations are sometimes not clear or the students forget. This would allow them to have clear instructions that they will be able to refer back to when they are unsure what to do next.
Another UDL strategy that students would benefit from is UDL 6.1 (rubrics) This will allow student to clearly see what they will be graded on and how to properly complete each assignment so that there is no confusion.
Hi Gabby! I really think that the landform presentations are very neat! I also like how the presentation has the students working with a partner, as students learn more from one another when collaborating. I have a student like yours in my class as well, and he always has to be right regardless of if we show him he is wrong. He will argue with his teacher or with other students until he gets what he wants. This then turns into a meltdown, and it disrupts the whole class. He /even does this when he is in the general education classroom, and teachers will send him back to the special education room because of it. We have been working with him on other strategies that do not involve arguing. He still struggles with it some, but the more work we do with him on it, the better he gets. I also really like your UDL ideas, I feel as if all of them would be a beneficial addition to the classroom!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabby! It is very exciting that you got to watch a group of students present to their peers for the first time. I know if I was able to observe this, this would help me calm the nerve of my future students and some ideas on what to do with them prior. There are many students, like Brayden, that always want to be right and never accept failure. Once I get my future classroom, I know I am strongly addressing this academic issue and that we learn more from our so called "failures" rather than always being right. We should always be learning and not "losing" or "failing".
ReplyDeleteKids get nervous when they have had negative experiences when incorrect. This can look like shame or automatically moving on to a lore knowledgeable peer for an answer rather than providing think time and lifelines. You are all well aware of the need to create a safe space for learning, including making mistakes. It has been so cool for me to watch you grow over the course of the semester.
ReplyDelete