Final Noteblog Action Plan

What are at least three steps you will take in the fall to get to know your students as learners and as people?

1. I will play a get to know you game with the students, such as trapped on a stranded island. 2. I’ll give a mini survey (orally) to the students to find out what kind of learner they are. 3. In the letter I plan to write to the students parents, I’ll include a little notecard that I’ll ask them to fill out with their child (in my class) three facts about their child (they can be unique factors, hobbies, likes etc.)

What are at least three steps you will take in the fall to learn about your school and its surrounding community?

1. I will drive around to get to know the environment. 2. I will find the local library, and community center to see activities I can get involved in. 3. I will talk to my mentor teacher to find out what she does to stay connected to the school’s surrounding community.

What are at least three steps you will take in the fall to learn about your literacy curriculum?

1. I will print out the common core standards for my grade level. 2. I will ask my MT about the steps she takes. 3. I will ask the students what kinds of things they learned in their previous grade level to get a feel for their attitudes, and motivation towards literacy.

If you were writing a letter to introduce yourself to your students' parents and families (which you should all do), what are three things you would want them to know about you as a person and/or a teacher?

1.  I love working with kids and teaching. 2. I’m extremely active and love to get my students up and moving away from their seats. 3. I also love nature and plan to take advantage of nice days to incorporate parts of the student’s learning outside.

Once you get to know your students as people and as learners, what are three concrete strategies you will use to differentiate instruction?

1. I will use centers to group like learners and create different activities based on the learners needs. 2.  I will be sure to arrange the students’ seats in a way that allows them to be the most comfortable and have the most success while learning. 3. I will use less harsh colors on worksheets and projections to be more accommodating to the students needs.

Revisit your work in this class (blogs, logs, New Literacies, etc.) and the topics covered in this class (leading discussions, comprehension, writing, emergent literacy, and so on).  What is the one area that we have talked about this semester that you feel you need to grow in the most?  What are three specific steps you will take to foster that growth?

Topic: Discussion Lessons 1. Being more explicit to the students about me staying out of the group discussion. 2. Give the students roles in the discussion so they will already be aware of the part they need to contribute to and not feel unprepared or put on the spot. 3. Giving more wait time to be sure I’m not passing any students that need more time to think about a question.

Reflect on your learning in the course.  What are three pieces of knowledge, insights or beliefs that you have gained from this course specifically that you would want to pass on to future TE 402 students?

1. The gradual release of responsibility is a pivotal aspect to teaching. 2.  Don’t ever underestimate your students, they can understand and respond thoughtfully to controversial topics during group discussions and in books. 3. Literacy centers are a great way to include differentiation, as well as have a chance to work with students individually.