Formative Assessment

Today's entry, I am going to three formative assessments that I can use for my Unit in Color Theory. The focus in this unit today will be on the objective created from the standard "Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design." NCCAS: Grade 6 Anchor Standard 2. The Objective is that by the end of the unit, students will be able to create the necessary colors to produce the color schemes Monochromatic, Analogous, Triadic, and Split Complementary. 

First Assessment 

The first Formative Assessment, inspired by The Art of Education, is to have the students T.A.G. one another. T.A.G.-ing is a form of peer critique that looks at if the other students can analyze and evaluate if their peer is remembering, understanding, and applying while they create their project.  Sometimes students get wrapped up in their project they might not remember the objective; this activity gives the student a chance to work with a peer to not just get a compliment but constructive criticism to help them reach the goal and fulfill the standard. Students exchange sketchbooks for writing down their T.A.G. Writing it down is good for the student, because then if they need to, they can go back and re-read the T.A.G. T is for Telling the artist something you like about their artwork. A is for Asking a question concerning a choice they made in their artwork. And G is for Giving a suggestion on how to improve the artwork. To make sure students are accurately T.A.G.ing each other, I will put a vocabulary key on the board to help the students carefully critique eachother. This assessment will not only show me if there is something missing in their work, but it will also show the student the areas they should improve on.

Second Assessment

Another form of Formative Assessment I will be using taken from the book, 60 Formative Assessment Strategies by Natalie Regier,  I will have students list 10 Things that they have learned so far. About halfway through the class, I will have students take out their sketchbook and list ten things they have learned during the unit. I will then have the students raise their hands, and we will create a community list on the board. As the list grows, if a student doesn't have a particular thing they have learned on their list, but it is on the board, I will ask them to write the word or term in their sketchbook continuing down. If they list something that shouldn't be there I will have them mark it out, but not erase it, this will give me and them and understanding of where they are, as well as help me identify any gaps in learning they might have. The goal is to make sure that they have a complete understanding, so to help not have any holes in their knowledge while they try to apply what they know. 

Third Assessment 

The final form of Formative Assessment I plan to do is a self-reflection written in their sketchbooks. This assessment, found in the Ultimate Guide to Assessment in the Art Room, is heavily inspired by Blooms Taxonomy. According to The Art of Ed, "Self-assessment is an important growth concept that should take place on a regular basis in the art room." They suggest that "Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) can provide a hierarchy outline of self-reflection prompts for students to use at any time in the art making process."
The student will use the following prompts to write a reflexion in their sketchbook:
Remembering- Here are the steps I took to complete this work. 
Understanding- Did I achieve my goals for this project? 
Applying- Where could I use these art techniques and process again? 
Analyzing- Do I see any patterns in my work habits? 
Evaluating- What are my thoughts on how my artwork turned out? What needs improvement? 
Creating-  What’s my plan for going forward for this piece of artwork as well as new works?

References

Theartofed.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016, from https://www.theartofed.com/content/uploads/2016/03/Ultimate-Assessment-Guide.pdf?mc_cid=0dee7cc64f&mc_eid=8ba8cffc4aMarzano, Robert J. Designing & Teaching Learning Goals & Objectives. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory, 2009. National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (2014) National Core Arts Standards. Rights Administered by the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education. Dover, DE, www.nationalcoreartsstandards.orgRegier, N. 60 Formative Assessments. Retrieved December 14, 2016, from http://www.stma.k12.mn.us/documents/DW/Q_Comp/FormativeAssessStrategies.pdf

Understanding and Applying Standards

As an educator I  need to develop the best lesson for their students; I need to be aware of all the aspects of planning a unit, how the students perceive it. How will students be able to retain the content? Will the lesson be relevant compared to the overall big picture in the curriculum? Teach-Now has been great over the last Unit in preparing me for the future lessons I will teach by helping me understand how to unpack standards, backward planning, and writing objectives.

First thing I learned this week is to figure out what standards I  need to focus. Depending on where you teach standards can change. For the school, I teach at we use the NCCAS standards. Once you have your standard, you choose to focus on you can start your backward planning. Backward planning isn't as strange as it sounds. It makes a lot of sense when it comes planning a lesson or a unit. It's saying to yourself "Once the students have learned essential content, what will they be able to do with it?" To look at what you want the end product to look like and say, "this is where I want my students to be, what path are we going to take to get here?"

Which takes me to objectives, I must say I love using objectives, especially objectives based on smart goals, standards, and with a little blooms taxonomy thrown in there. It's not enough to say "Students will learn" We need to make sure that our students will be able to know what they need to know. And using smart goals to measure out the objectives is just the thing. Smart goals help the student and teacher set goals that are very specific, able to be measured, able to be reached during an allotted amount of time, and re relevant to their future development. It makes me think twice before giving an objective to my student. Will this objective help the student meet the goals outlined in the unit and the standards? No? Then I should probably rewrite the smart goal.

Over the course of this Unit of Standards, I have been challenged to take a second look at the standards in my curriculum. To see if I truly understand the standards and if I am unpacking them in a way where it will benefit the students. My goal is to open up the student's minds to new concepts, new ideas, to help prepare them for the 21st century. And I will use the standards the best that I can to prepare the students for where I want them to be by the end of their time with me.  


Creating. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/

Think Alouds: Unpacking the Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/understanding-the-common-core-standards

McTighe, J. (2012). Common Core Big Idea 4: Map Backward From Intended Results. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-map-backwards-jay-mctighe-grant-wiggins
SWBAT: Communicating Learning Goals. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/making-lesson-objectives-clear

Lesson Planning. (n.d.).

Standards and Backwards Mapping

I am currently teaching a 6th-grade art class at an International School in Hong Kong. The curriculum the school uses is based on the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. These standards are a Nation Wide set of Standards that are used in the United States. The NCCAS focus on four main points that all art subjects use to help guide educators provide unified quality art education for their students. The focus is on creating, performing/presenting/producing, responding, and connecting. The standards are designed to give educators a structure to help scaffold the lessons to build upon each year. They also contain Enduring Understandings as well as Essential Questions. These are helpful to teachers when it comes to backward planning. Backward planning isn't backward at all when you think about it. It focuses on the end goal, what does the educator want the student to accomplish at the end of a unit, what is the objective of the whole unit. Once the instructor has chosen the goals based on the Standard, they can then focus on ways to deliver the content in a way that best suits the student and their needs.

Standard 

The art standard I have chosen to focus on for the Unit is the anchor standard 2:
" Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
The substandard "VA:Cr2.1.6a: Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design."
This standard was chosen for my Introductory Unit in 6th grade, the first unit that they experience as a middle schooler. The goal for the unit is that sets the tone and the standard for the entire Middle School experience. At the school that I teach, the 6th-grade art class is an introductory art course where students are exposed to new ideas and concepts in art. It is also where we set expectations for our students when it comes to the organization and development of these new ideas and approaches. What better standard to focus on than having students focus on the demonstration of openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design. Up until now, students have not been given a chance to branch out to contemporary art or use complicated mediums such as Acrylic. To figure out how to structure the instruction and learning, I first look at the enduring understanding statements and essential questions for the standard. The enduring understanding is Artists and designers balance experimentation and safety, freedom and responsibility while developing and creating artworks. And the Essential Questions are How do artists work? How do artists and designers determine whether a particular direction in their work is effective? How do artists and designers learn from trial and error? This information helps me better plan my lesson. It gives me a "take away" for the unit.

So what are the new ideas, new materials, and methods as well as approaches will I be focusing on for this unit? The new ideas will be based on the color wheel that they had already learned in grade four, only taken to the next level where they will learn aboutAnalogus, Triadic, and Split complimentary color schemes, how to identify the color schemes and why artists decide to use those schemes in their work. The new materials and methods will be acrylic painting, a more difficult medium for students to use, especially when it comes to mixing color. The new approaches will be graffiti art; students have never been taught about modern or contemporary art before 6th grade, and this will be the unit that helps get their toes wet in deeper thinking when it comes to art.

Focus 

I will be focusing on three proficiencies that what students will be able to do once the unit is completed.
1. By the end of the unit, the students will be expected to identify and create Analogous, Triadic, and Split complimentary color schemes.
2. Students will explore and apply a range of acrylic paint techniques and brushwork.
3. Students will have an increased awareness of contemporary art forms such as graffiti and street art.

Instructional Strategies 

Three instructional plans I intend on using to help the students learn the concepts are:
1. To help the students understand the more complex color schemes, I plan on playing a Color Theory Card game. The game requires a deck of color theory cards that contain the colors of a color wheel. Students will be delt a card and then stand in the circle. I will call out different color terminologies starting from the basics such as primary and secondary color to the most challenging concepts such as split complementary. As the students try to pair or trio up, this gives them a chance to make mistakes to help them learn without the fear of failing and without over lecturing.
2. Paint by dice game - To help the students practice their painting techniques in a structured yet fun way the students will be playing a paint by dice game. Each table will have paints, brushes, paper as well as a game sheet. The game sheet is a guide sheet where you can try different techniques based on what number your role; the students also roll the dice to determine the color they will use. The aim of the game is to roll until your page is filled up and all the techniques have been tried. The game creates a broad range of different style paintings, but the end goal is to get the student to attempt to try all the different techniques while having fun.
3. Virtual Field Trip- The school I currently teach at has a one to one program for computers, and thanks to Google Earth and culture I can take the students on guided field trips around the world. To expose the students to a wide range of art, I will select a field trip of an appropriate context for the students to attend. The great part about Google Art and Culture is a lot of specific excursions already exist. The one I will take them on is one around London where a famous graffiti artist uses his name to tag buildings. A guided visual experience helps increase their awareness of different art styles and opens the class up to discussions such as "How do artists and designers determine whether a particular direction in their work is effective?" as well as some other Essential Questions for the standard.

Assessment 

I will be using three ways to assess the students to help me and them know if they are learning the concepts. The assessments are a tool to help me measure if the students are learning and if not, how I can adjust the lesson to help them learn.
1. First assessment the students will be given is a Color Theory Quiz. It is a simple formative quiz that goes over the vocabulary and the color theory to show if a student has absorbed the new information or not. If they did? Celebrations all around! If not? Let's dust us off, and I will find a more suitable way of instructing the content.
2.   Another assessment is the final project. This project is a summative assessment that uses a rubric to give students guidance on the project. The students choose a color scheme that they would like to use based on triadic, split complementary, or analogous. The student then designs their name using graffiti, inspired by their field-trip to England. And finally, the student demonstrates their brush skills that they have been learning in applying the paint that they have mixed from only primary colors into the color scheme they have chosen. This final project shows the teacher and the students what information in the end made it and what didn't. I use the rubric given to them at the beginning of the project to grade them. If they don't do well, I give them feedback and a chance to make adjustments on their project. The object isn't if the student gets it right the first time, it's if the student learns the required content.
3. The third assessment that I will use will be an artist statement. An artist statement is a piece of written work that helps students reflect on the objectives and goals. I give students a flow chart, taken from The Art of Education assessment tools.Students must follow for writing their artist statement at the end of the unit. They start with 1. Describe your artwork. 2. How did you create your art? 3. What is the big idea behind your artwork? 4. What were your goals for this artwork? 5. What are your overall thoughts of your artwork? Each of these questions has some questions to consider to guide the students. This helps the students to become aware of their choices as an artist and communicate their learning process and production of creative works effectively.

Conclusion 

In conclusion my goal was to create a unit that was focused on a standard and used backward planning, to give students an achievable target that students will be able to attain in their pursuit of education.



References:
Creating. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/

Recent Articles - The Art of Ed. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.theartofed.com/recent-articles/page/10/

Sign In - Rubicon International. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://ics-hk.rubiconatlas.org/Atlas/Portal/View/Default
 

Applying Classroom Rules and Procedures

Applying Classroom Rules and Procedures

November 2016

"We don't get to decide whether we have challenging students in our classes, but we can certainly decide how we respond to them." - Carol Ann Tomlinson

Each day I prepare my classroom for students who might or might not be willing to learn, for students who might have a lot going on in their lives, who might be having the best day of their lives or who might not. I don't get to choose my students, but I do choose how I interact with them on a daily basis. And I choose to help facilitate an environment that will help students succeed. Like most teachers, I start the beginning of the year going over our rules and procedures, and I usually remind the students of our rules and procedures both verbally and nonverbally on a regular basis. I do so nonverbally by displaying signs in the class and verbally by just mentioning to the class in a loving way what our expectations for the class are. 

But just like most classes, these classroom procedures may or may not be followed. If they are followed then it's cause for celebration! With either verbal recognition or in our class a semi-tangible recognition. Our favorite in class semi-tangible recognitions "DJ" Fridays, where the students as a whole behaved well all week, they get a chance to choose the music we play in our art class. Another is "free-choice" seating where the students get to choose who they sit next to. These two "carrots" as I call them are great rewards for our class. I found it gives students something to strive for, something they know they might get if the whole class behaves well. 

If my students choose not to follow our rules and procedures, I check myself first to see if I am being lenient. Sometimes it's not the student who is struggling because they want to break the rules, but because they see a lax teacher who doesn't seem to want to enforce the consequences. But if it isn't something that I am doing wrong, and it is a student who is choosing to break the rules and procedures. The first step is to either directly and verbally remind the student or refocus the student. But if that doesn't work the student usually receives a check mark, which if they get three results in a lunch detention. I do this one a little differently than my colleagues because I like to pair it up with a little redemption. If a student shows that they were remorseful, showing that they really didn't mean to break the rule even after a verbal/nonverbal warning then I give them a chance to make it up by demonstrating their desire to change through keeping to the rules the rest of the class period and then doing a small chore to help class community. 

For example, one day little Jimmy was really excited about everything because it was about time to go on fall break. Little Jimmy knew that the rules were still expected to be followed, but in his excitement, he forgot that during work time hew wasn't supposed to talk. I reminded him gently once, but after the first warning, he made the same poor choice once again. By the second time, I asked him to put his name on the board, indicating that he had received a check mark. He was very upset but held it in. It seemed that tears were swelling up in his eyes. He sat quietly at his desk during work time. He raised his hand to ask me to come over. I went over and he asked in a very soft voice if "redemption" was an option, even though it was right before the holiday. And I told him that it was, and I said it was. It seemed that he worked even harder the rest of class and then at the end of class joyfully did his one little chore. I think the chore was much better than having received a check. 

I do agree with how Marzano frames how to manage behavior in the classroom, and I try to follow a similar framework in my class. 

Marzano, R. J. (2007). The Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Carol Ann Tomlinson, "Rising to the Challenge of Challenging Behavior", Educational Leadership, October 2012

Creating High Performance Learning Environments

This week for TeachNow I got the chance to watch three videos that were to show teachers creating a classroom environment that would help students become successful. The three videos were one on Science and STEM, one on Chinese Math, and a final one on the whole-brain child. 

For the Science and Stem class, the students were working to create a roller coaster using pool noodles and marbles. The teacher had very high academic expectations, behavior expectations, and her norms and procedures were well documented as well as followed. The teacher started class with a Chiming exercise where she chose a "chimer" someone who would tell of their trials and tribulations of the day before, making sure they used proper vocabulary to the project, the students would then chime in and work towards understanding and learning together by going over the trials and tribulations together, giving the students an autonomy and freedom where they were not only given the tools they needed to succeed but also put into an environment where they were given the chance to excel. In the whole video, there was no doubt her academic expectations were high, she had a goal the students needed to achieve, which was creating the roller coaster, and she gave students different ways to figure out how to improve by letting them see what they needed to change as they went. For example, the students were given the chance to make a change at a time, as long as they documented the change and explained what they change was supposed to do, or how it might benefit them. This gives them the ability to learn from failing without the fear of failing. Her classroom environment was very well behaved as well. Students, even in a relaxed environment, were not tempted to goof off. They understood what her expectations were of them and they were able to follow suit. She had a board in her classroom with all the norms and procedures down, as well as the goals for the day. Students knew what her norms and procedures were and were able to follow through with them. Overall I believe she did excellent in her method of teaching STEM. 

The second video was a Chinese Math Class. I found this class to be very energetic and fast pace. I feel like I could cheat in watching the video since I can speak Chinese I was able to follow along. I was swiftly taken down memory lane of all the times I had to do my Chinese Math Timetable. I feel she did have high expectations in academics for students, she wanted them to be able to understand directions, respond does directions, and know the Chinese time's table and do simple math in Chinese. I feel that most students understood the instructions, though I would be concerned that since there was a lot of group work and not so much individual work,  that the teacher might not be able to identify using different formative assessment methods to identify who those students who are struggling are. Behavior expectations were mentioned through the video, she would give instructions like one two three eyes on me, and hands behind your back. However, I don't know if it's because her students were excited, young, or eager to answer the questions, some students would speak out of turn. She would say that she didn't call on them and focus on the student she did call on, but once again, I don't know how many of the students really understood the behavior expectations if the teacher had to redirect the students several times because of a student answering out of turn. Considering norms and procedures, I am not so sure on norms and procedures in her class. There were a few things she did that most students followed along with and seemed to understand the norms and procedures, but I feel it would have been nice to have them posted on the board in dual language to help the students remember the norms and procedures. 

Whole brain Teaching video was going through geography and some math using the whole brain. I was very impressed with how she had high academic expectations for the students. The way she commanded the class showed she was not wanting any student to fall behind, her eyes were on the students as she walked around the room. But the techniques she used to give the instructions was very helpful to the students. She infused movement to the vocab to help students retain the difficult vocabulary words. She also used two other methods, one where a student made up their own movement to the vocab words, and the other where each student read the text as fast as they could only reading every other word. She made sure each student was able to follow along with the instructions and learn the content need for the lesson. HI am assuming that her behavior expectations were high because of the level of involvement of each student being on task the whole time. Though some of the student's body language showed that they were more engaged than others, overall the students were engaged in the learning that was taking place in her class. I was very impressed when it came to norms and procedures, she must have had drilled it into them, because she was able to go over classroom rules and norms with the students, once again using hand gestures and movement as well as a passionate tone to help set the tone of the classroom. I feel it's because students had such buy-in with the rules and procedures that she was able to have a class that behaved excellently. 

After watching the three videos of teachers who set high-performance expectations with their students I feel inspire to go back to my 6th-grade art  class and revise how I could better set my expectations with my students. I teach at an international school in Hong Kong where the students are really good at being overachievers, but not necessarily being indipendent thinkers. Out of the three classes I would most like to use some of the strategies I saw in the STEM video. The way she used Chiming to help students give each other a voice and a chance to give critique in a healthy way that promotes growth. I find it very empowering to a student when they work with a peer and develop the concepts of what they need to do to improve on their own. I find that this would work really well in my Art class, to give the students a chance to go over their trials and tribulations in a group setting that would provide them with the support that they need.It also would help them learn to think for themselves and not rely on the teacher the whole time. To teach the students how to think for themselves to give them a voice will give them the buy-in that they can achieve anything as long as they can put their mind to it. I also feel that there are aspects of the whole brain learner that I could use in my class as well, using motion and movement to help solidify ideas. Also, the way she was able to passionately review her norms and procedures is something I would like to look into for my class in the future. I think I would have better classroom management if we could go over the norms and procedures in such a way where students buy into it and remember it with their whole brain. I, however, will most likely not be using any of the Chinese Math teachers strategies other than one two three eyes on me. Not because she taught poorly, but because her style of teaching is so fast pace and I would end up feeling stressed and causing stress to students would then make it harder for them to succeed. 

Our world has gotten so small, smaller than when I was in school. I grew up living in Hong Kong, going to a Chinese speaking school, where I was the only nonAsian in the whole school of 600 students. And living in Hong Kong we know a thing or two about feeling like we live in small spaces, if you don’t, believe me, you can take a ride on our subway during rush hour. Living in such a small space with so many people, with so many cultures, with so many options, has given me a personal insight on what if feels like as a child in a classroom that doesn’t have a kind or caring environment, and because of that I have taken it upon myself to make sure that none of my students will feel the same.

I grew up in a school where I didn’t feel safe, I never felt like my teachers had my back. I was constantly bullied for my appearance paste skin, freckles and red hair. I was laughed at because of what passport I held. Others would mock what my parents would pack in my lunch, and it wasn’t always students who treated me poorly, but the teachers did as well too. As I got older I knew that all children need to feel safe in order to be able to learn. In fact, to quote Marzano “

Arguably the quality of the relationships teachers have with students is the keystone of effective management and perhaps even the entirety of teaching.” Perhaps even the entirety of teaching, I would have to agree with his “perhaps”. Our relationships with our students and the quality of them have a huge effect on the students lives. I never had a teacher when I was in elementary school that sparked my desire to learn. I wanted to learn, I loved learning, but I hated learning at school. All the science I learned in Elementary school were from Magic School Bus and Bill Nye The Science Guy. I never had a relationship with a teacher that attempted to build a relationship with me, to make sure I was alright. I believe that my teachers were in the wrong, students do need a relationship with their teachers, and just like any relationship, it takes effort and time to build on them, while focusing on key areas.

When asking students to explore issues of personal and social identity, teachers must provide safe spaces where students are seen, valued, cared for and respected. It is also important that students have opportunities to learn from one another’s varied experiences and perspectives. To create this learning environment, teachers need to skillfully draw on student experience to enrich the curriculum. ( Teaching Tolerance 2014)

What I found from reading Teaching Tolerance is “Listening. Deeply listening to what others say and to the feelings, experiences, and wisdom behind what they say.” This is what I attempt to do in class. This can be difficult to achieve in subject classes, especially when you are in upper grades. I still try to incorporate it into my class, when we have group discussions, shared experience, I listen with my whole heart to make sure I don’t miss a thing, that way I can ask them about the topic in the future. One time this last month, we had a new student transfer in, he was really struggling and I wanted to strike up a conversation with him, the conversation went quite negatively, he was convinced that he would have a bad time, I tried to encourage him but to no avail. The next time I saw him I asked him how his weekend was, was it really as horrible as he had anticipated, he was taken aback by the question and how I remembered, since then our relationship in class has improved because he now realizes that when he speaks I will listen.

The second point I connected to was humility, “Recognizing that, however passionately we hold ideas and opinions, other people may hold pieces of the puzzle that we don’t.”(Teaching Tolerence, 2014) I try to live this in my class, I also try and teach trust in my class. “Trusting the integrity of others, believing they have the right to their opinions (even when different from your own) and valuing others enough to risk sharing ideas.”  as well as “Building a safe space to explore new ideas and work through conflicts, controversy and painful moments that may arise when talking about issues of injustice and oppression.” The best way I have found to teach this to my students is living by example, to show students what real humility is when I talk to my peers, superiors, or to my students. I try to show my students that they can trust me, modeling what integrity looks like, and valuing the students so that they feel that they are able to try and open up, without the fear of rejection.

Finally, I try to give students a voice in my class. “Speaking the truth as we see it and asking questions about things we don’t know or understand, particularly on topics related to identity, power and justice” (Teaching Tolerance, 2014) One example of this would be something that happened last month. I had to take a day off for a professional development, it just happened that on that day I had a substitute who monitored the class taking a test. During the test two of the students were accused of cheating. When I returned, I returned to one teacher who was adamant that they had cheated, two students who stressed beyond belief about being accused of cheating, the school counselor, and it was about to escalate to the principle. I felt more like a police detective listening to all the different sides of the story. I listened to how the students felt about the whole ordeal. One student tried to explain how they sits and why it might look like they might have cheated, only between sobs of now they felt the whole school would see them only as cheaters. In the end I told the students I wasn’t able to use the test they had taken, because there was a strong accusation that there was cheating involved, however, I knew the girls were not the cheating type, especially since I had noticed that they knew the content and it didn’t make sense for them to cheat. In the end I gave them the option of retaking the test in a different format. They took it sitting in front of me, and they passed with flying colors. When I followed up later with them, and their parents, they were happy that the student had a chance to speak up and stand up for themselves. And that the teacher was willing to hear their side without jumping to conclusions. Even though it was a tricky situation, in the end I felt confident that all the parties, teacher, parents, student, counselor, and principal were happy with the outcome.

In conclusion, I would like to conclude in the same way as in Chapter 8 in The Art and Science of Teaching, “Teachers should now be aware of actions they can take to incorporate two critical components of effective relationships: (1) behaviors that communicate an appropriate level of concern and cooperation and (2) behaviors that communicate an appropriate level of guidance and control.” And I believe that the above Listening, Humility, Respect, Trust, and Voice are crucial to creating a safe space for students because everything will fall easily into place if the teacher is able to live and teach those five skills. I am sure that my personal experience in school would have been much different if my teachers demonstrated just one of those traits.

Mobile Learning

A Case for using mobile devices in the classroom.

Technology has finally reached the point where students can have their own devices. Smartphones can sometimes be as powerful as a simple laptop. The price range for tablets can range from a little over one thousand dollars to several thousand HK dollars. Most students do have the opportunity to come into contact with a device either theirs or a friends throughout the day. So why should we “give in” and use devices in class? Or should we “hold firm” and say no to devices?

Devices can give students access to GPS, Calculators, Cameras, Voice recording, Heart Rate monitors in some of the newer devices, Books, design software, voice recognition software, most can connect to wifi and transmit to devices that could project the screen to the whiteboard. All of this is on one small device, together, in one location, so the question now is… seeing that one device has this many tools and then more why not use it? I can’t think of a reason not to use it, if the lesson fits into it. If I was told to paint a mural, or solve difficult math equations, or grapple down the side of a mountain, I would like to have the right tools for the job. For example if I had to teach a unit where students were expected to develop skills in oral language and all expressive mechanisms ( voice and body expression) as well as meet and interact with students from other schools in the context of social or intellectual activity, having a tool like video camera to record how students communicate, then a screen to watch the video, to then spend hours analysing the voice, giving feedback the next class might be a bit difficult and time consuming, where if we had students team up with each other and use a device to record and analyse their speech while they critique the body language with each other might be a bit easier and more practical. Then students could use the devices to collaborate with other schools with school video conferences instead of getting all the approval letters and forms needed to take students to another school.

When it comes down to it, devices are a tool that have the potential of giving students and teachers a chance to explore the content matter more deeply and meet the objectives in creative methods.

Coming up with a  list of guiding principles

After going over the Mobile Device Lesson this week I have thought long and hard about what I should do before unrolling a new tool for my students. Just because something is cool doesn’t mean it fits.

1. Standards, Benchmarks and Objectives?

This is a question I ask myself no matter what the lesson is...Where do the standards, benchmarks, and objectives fit? Am I creating this lesson for a “just because” reason, or am I doing this so I can teach what the students are expected to learn based on the standards. What is the objective of the lesson? Does the tec fit in with the objectives, standards and benchmarks. Just because I might have found a fun app that does cool things, doesn’t mean it fits in with what the students are expected to learn. And I shouldn’t try to force it through to try and fit the objectives either.

2. Tool or Toy?

Which leads me to the next question to ask yourself before you teach the lesson. Are you using it more as a toy? Or more as a tool? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying it has to be boring, believe me tools can be fun. You can have fun using power tools, but it doesn’t suddenly make them a toy, they have a purpose and a place. That’s why you should ask yourself as you’re designing your lesson is it a tool or is it a toy? For example I have seen a lot of very fun apps out there that I would love to use with students in art class, but it just doesn’t fit into the lesson.

3. Know thy device

Next one seems pretty common knowledge, but know your devices, know your apps you’re trying to use them. Become an “expert” in what you are trying to teach before you actually teach it. I have been in classes where the teacher doesn’t quite know how to use the equipment and nothing makes a teacher look incompetent to the student as a teacher not knowing the material. Just as I would need to know my art before teaching it, I should also know how to access the device, use the device, and then use the technology on the device in order for students to be excited to learn about the technology on the device

4. Keep it Simple

Keep it simple. I am not a fan of huge complex technology that seems to be very over the top with the Wow factor but then hard to use. While I was planning the technology project i was going to teach to my students, this is one thing that I kept on asking myself. Am I keeping it simple enough? I tried one project out that I had originally thought was a good idea, 3D Scanning with a mobile phone, the capturing process wasn’t hard, but then the setting up an account, the processing the image time, and then the transferring of the files took so long and kept hitting road bumps, that I thought that maybe it wasn’t simple enough to teach yet, and that I would introduce it at a different time, when the technology was a little more user friendly.

I think that after using these four guiding principles and knowing that mobile devices are just another tool one can use, I am ready to see what the future holds in my classroom.

Cognitive Flow and Learning

While I was watching Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Ted Talk I was really struck with what he said about  Cognitive flow. While he was talking about cognitive flow and how different people experience it, that the passing of time seems unnoticeable. In my life two things I do let me experience cognitive flow. The first being the creating of art. I could produce art every day of the week for hours on end and not even notice time has passed. I call it my time machine. At the beginning I’m looking at something blank, empty, formless, and the next thing I know I see something creative, developed, formed. It doesn’t matter what medium I choose, metal work, drawing, painting, photography, the absence of time, the joy that it brings, it’s a natural high where after I am done with the project I can’t wait to get my hands on the next project or dream up something new for me to do. I remember one time I was alone in the studio, I had gone in at around 10 am, what felt like 10 minutes later my classmate at the time came in and was asking me how long I’ve been down in the room, I asked her what time it was and she said it was 6pm and wanted to know if I wanted to go to dinner with her. Now the room had no windows, no clocks, and I had been working on a metal jewelry artwork that I had wanted to do, I had no idea that 8 hours had just flown by.

(some of my artwork)

Another way that I have experienced cognitive flow in my life is through a few forms of Physical activities, such as dancing, swimming, and hiking, and in that order too. My whole life I have felt the need to dance, to move in a structured way to music that may be playing out loud or music in my head. I don’t always get a chance to go to events that allow me to dance, as much as I would like but when I do it’s magical. I love the way things around me fade out where all that is left is the action of moving by body to the music that is playing. I can easily dance non stop for hours at a time, unaware of how tired I am getting, if I am getting hungry, or again what the time is. The same goes for swimming and hiking. Though for hiking the weather or monkeys can distract me from the hike, for example if it starts to get too hot or rain, or if monkeys are chasing me by the dozen, we have monkeys in our mountains in Hong Kong.

One of the videos I watched this week was Jim Gee’s Principles on Gaming, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQAgAjTozk, there are a 13 things that help people really connect to learning and aid with cognitive flow. Out of the 13 principles, Empowering learners, identity principle, problem solving, and pleasantly frustrating were 4 aspects that caught my attention. I think to help make time fly, and to help me with cognitive flow these four are the ones that I connect with the most. After listening to Csikszentmihalyi’s Ted Talk and Jim Gee’s Principles on Gaming I realised that 1. I was experiencing cognitive flow when I do either art, dancing, swimming or hiking. And 2 that I found that I enjoyed things because I felt it empowered me, that I had ownership over what I did, that it mattered to me and I was able to create the outcome I wanted. That there is a problem that needs solving, for example with art, turning a blank space to an artwork, to master the footwork, to speed up my lap time. And to be pleasantly frustrating, I never thought about a challenge could be called pleasantly frustrating, to find the right balance in effort level. Only increasing the effort level at the pace of the learner so that they are able to continually excel.

Planning for English Language Learners

Next semester I plan to teach a unit on color theory. I have chosen four different stages of language learners that might be in my class for this coming year. These are speech emergent, beginning fluency, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency.  For the emergent learner the basic vocabulary is already there and that the vocabulary has increased and the times they make mistakes have decreased. But they still need some extra help when it comes to making connections and using the vocabulary. A lot of the students may have some of the basics for the color wheel, but they will go deeper into the concept of what color holds in this world. For this reason I will be having students write down all vocabulary words at the beginning of the lesson, before we get started, that way they will not be shocked when different words come up they will be ready for them. And then I will emphasis the words throughout the instructions, making sure students remember to use them when explaining them.This is one of the first step in the English Language teaching strategies. Keeping the vocabulary where students can see will help students make the vocabulary that will be used common. For the students who are beginning fluency and still have trouble to express himself because of gaps in vocab or appropriate phrases. Even though students may struggle with gaps in their vocab, they still will be expected to communicate with each other during their art critics when it comes to explaining their rough draft, final project, and art critiques. Having sentence stems in their sketchbook to help when giving these talks will help students be able to communicate more fluently without worry. Some of these sentence stems could be, “The reason I chose these colors is________”, “I find that your use of balance is__________”. This is based off of the second strategies for English Language teachers, which is “guided learning”. For the students who are intermediate, they already demonstrate a higher order thinking skill, and therefore can offer an opinion or analyze a problem, using the strategy of authentic assessment we will use a variety mini projects and different ways to assess in the unit. So instead of just having one final project at the end of the unit to assess if they understood the concepts. Instead we will be using a variety of mini projects in the sketchbook like an echo line project that focuses only on tone, value, and tint, a paper cutting project that focuses on the concept of complementary colors, a small color theory quiz, a sketch book assignment that focuses on composition and balance in the artwork. This way we can see if they actually understood all the concepts over time. The final language learner will be the advance fluency where is essentially fluent but with accent. Which doesn't need much additional help, but could use the previous strategies along with meaning based, to have students connect on a deeper level with the content.

Special Education Referral Process

Part of being a good teacher is to make sure each student is learning. But that is easier said than done. As a good teacher one has to be able to observe and identify what a student needs, the best way they learn, and how to implement differentiated instructions and sometimes even know when to refer them to learning support. I had the amazing time interviewing my colleagues , 1 councilor who shall be known as Mr. Y, and 2 teachers Mr. H and Ms. Q. Because not everyone is at summer school, I used a program called "whatsapp", a messaging app very popular over here in Hong Kong, to interview the teachers. I would ask the questions via text and they would use voice to respond back to me with a voice recording. For the interview with the councilor we interviewed in person with a voice recording of the interview. 

Interview with the Councilor- Mr. Y

• How is a student identified for special education referral?

• The whole system has been revamped and implement a new protocol. A teacher has the ability to recognize the needs a student will have. Teachers already have differentiation, but if they need extra support they will ask a referral. They will talk to the special needs teacher who will come in and make an observation to see how they should help.

• Who takes responsibility for the progress of the child before and after the referral?

• Both the teacher and the Learning support staff. The paperwork usually comes under case manager, but the teaching strategies and teaching the material, takes the lead.

• What is the school administration's directive for special education?

• Moving fully into inclusion, getting the students into the school who have mild needs. Seeing support take base. Hard to fully implement, because of the newness. Some teachers seem weary about having additional students with special needs in the classroom because of the extra time involved but the head of school wants to champion the cause. And making sure there is documentation to go along with the support.

• What provisions are made for students identified for special education?

• They get put on a plan developed by a teacher and a special ed teacher, as well as the principle and the parents. Student will sometimes be brought into the meetings to talk about how it isn't a stigma that there is no label but these are needs that they have and they will be owning the support that they get.

• What is the level of parent involvement in referral process and special education?

• Important because they need to be following at home. Important to get them involved earlier on, the more cooperation, even though they are at school for 8 hours a day there are more hours they are at home and its important for the family to be involved

• What are some areas the school does excel in? 

• Supporting our students helping our students the best that we can. Teachers using different teaching strategies. The revitalization of the whole process. Make it about the student and doing our best to meet their needs.

• What are some cultural differences you see in the USA vs. our school in Hong Kong ?

• US it's required by law. There are appropriate channels, staff on site to administer tests for cognitive and behavioral, and they don't need to pay for it. In Hong Kong it's very expensive to have a student treated as well as get the documentation they need, a deterrent for parents to have their child tested. More of a stigma in Hong Kong and parents do not want to be labeled. Need for more awareness that people are not the same and we all need help. Students also need to know that they are not all the same that they are not cookie cutter models of each other. Every student has specific strengths and areas they need to improve on.
• 
  

Interview with two teachers from my School. Mr. H and Ms. Q.

• How do you identify a student for special education?

Mr H: Student clearly has difficulty in their development, academic, social, emotional, effect the process of learning material and advancing in school.

Ms. Q: Watching for methods that work for other students that don't work for this student. Not weak all over, but weak in some areas. Doesn't seem to be a link between them. If can't find a link then see if they need help with special help. 

• What are the signs of a struggling student?

Mr. H: Difficulty socializing with peers, developing friends, new friends, trust in peers. Teachers look at more which is the academic side. Students cant keep up with content or focusing in class. This is difficult in Middle School because a lot of kids have trouble focusing, it could be need for special education or if they are still developing. That is why there should be different levels and tiers for referral. 
Ms. Q: When you look at data, test scores, participation, what you notice what they say vs what they write vs what they do. The differences between what they say and what the can do. A general inability to keep up with peers or standards. Most concern when modifications have changed so much that expectations are lowered. 

• Are there alternate methods of instruction tried out before referring the student for special education? If yes, what are they?

Mr. H: Different methods could be differentiating the instruction if a student doesn't learn well if a student is lecturing because they are a Kinetics learner and need more hands on activity to be able to receive the information. Maybe they didn't need any special education but they learn differently from their peers. 

Ms. Q: Always alternative methods before referring them. Trying lots of strategies, prefer sitting, visual aids, written and verbal instructions, type instead of write, have some choice in assessment, verbal vs written response, not all the instructions on summative assessment at the end, taking formative assessment. Looking at all the pieces, lots of different strategy to try before hand just to see what works and what doesn't.

• Do you have a specific example or a story of how you used a personalized learning plan?

Ms. Q: A student with S as far as she would not understood things in class, never spoke up in class. Gave her a card that had a prompt card. In the end had to prompt her personally. In the end the plan had to change. 

After the Interviews-
Even though the interviews are short and precise, I found that the teachers have a heart for wanting to do whats best for the student. And that they try new things for the student with differentiated instruction before they refer the student to the learning support team. I am very impressed with how they put the student as a focus, that the student isn't a burden, but that the teachers job is to help the student best as they can to make sure that the student is getting all the support that they need. Because I live in Hong Kong, where it is not a law to have to refer a student, the referral process seems a little less formal than in the US, which is required by law. And that even though teachers and learning support are responsible to help the student with needs, they are not bound by law to do so, but instead by the schools policies 

 I have attended meetings for students who needed help from the learning support with these teachers, and I have to say it shows some similarity to the Finish Special Education video I talked about in my last blog post. The video that describes what the teachers work towards helping the student with an individual learning plan. We meet the student is the focus of the meeting, and meet twice a cycle, and to make sure all subject teachers are on board with the process. The referral process the teachers mentioned in the interview gets discussed in these meetings to help the teachers all be on the same page. Our meetings might go something like this: little Jimmy is a kinetic learner and is excelling in certain subjects but falling behind in others, the teachers meet together and discuss how they teach little Jimmy,the teachers who have had success in instruction share their learning strategies and differentiated ideas,and then they come up with a plan to teach him in a way where he will excel, a personalized learning plan,  before suggesting that little Jimmy gets a referral to learning support. 

I think that the whole purpose of special education, personalized learning plans, and the process of referral is important to our students, especially in the 21century, if done well. If student's and parents don't see it as a label or a stigma but as a tool, if teachers don't find it a burden but as a way for students to succeed and shine, then I think that it will be incredibly helpful for the students who in the past who would have been labeled  dumb, or trouble, or unteachable in the past could have an opportunity to reach their potential and be known as The Future. 


Links to the audio clips: 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2AbcDYPeoUFZ2tLLTBZbkpFVEJrcUZTanV0dmM4dnpkTnl3
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2AbcDYPeoUFNFJWSEhfZFhJc3E4VjVNeWp3Y3FxQUxkTFRV
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2AbcDYPeoUFWTA5RUxHSGZrSER4Q0pjVnBvMTdhTnFycHZr
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2AbcDYPeoUFT1EtcXdvWGZkcWc3NjlQSUpORkF0OUdKdTBJ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2AbcDYPeoUFSjBzTk45RW5ISEQ3YjhGZnZsT01TSFp2ZlBr
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2AbcDYPeoUFa0xDRHJPb05HYnM4dGFVZXFFS1RpaUY3SnBr

Personalized learning

This week I was given the task of writing a "reflection on the role personalized learning plays in special education today, how you see it being addressed in tomorrow's world, and reasons to justify your opinions."

As I was reading up on the role personalized learning plays in special education today a few different contents got my attention, Finland's response to special education, the National Center of Learning Disabilities web page, and how one of my colleagues has been using personalized learning for his students in special needs. When I was watching Finland's way to respond to special education a few things in particular really popped out at me.First they said that the help students receive is so common that students who don’t get a little extra help. That the try to detect issues at an earlier stage, theys say that earlier detection is key, that a lot of issues could be resolved if the child was detected earlier. The other part that really got my attention was when they talked about who was involved in the care of a child, the principle, a special ed teacher, a school nurse, psychologist, and the classroom or subject teacher. I think that kind of help is crucial to the success of any student, especially that of a special need student. The third thing that got my attention in the time put in the student. The teachers met with each other twice a month for each child, they plan out a detailed personal plan for their education. The plan put out for learning sounds amazing. To have teachers sit around and discuss how and what can and should be done to help the students using attainable and measurable ways. It brings to mind the old saying “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Using the National Center of Learning Disabilities I found out what a personalized learning plan looks like and what it includes and benefits of a PLP. I found that learning plans include competency-based progressions, flexible learning environments, project based learning, learner profiles, blended or online learning, and personal learning paths. This helped me understand what it entails and what it could look like in a class. This last year our Special Education teacher asked how I would feel if I would try out integrating a student who has a developmental and learning disability into my art and drama class. I said that I would love to and we worked on what the expectations were for him, since this is his first time to be integrated into a regular class we used project based learning for him as well as flexible learning environments. And from that experience I can see what the National Center of Learning Disabilities is saying the benefits are. The site says that it increases student engagement and achievement, Encourages growth mindset, builds decision-making and self-advocacy skills, reduces the stigma of special education, and gives students who think differently multiple ways to show what they have learned. In the experience I saw the part of reducing stigma and gave the student more chances to be engaged and achieve the same standards that the other students achieved. I would meet with his special needs teacher once a cycle to touch base and could hear what the plan for him was.

The last thing that gave me some understanding, was as I reflect on my own opinion on personalized learning was my coworker, the special education teacher. How I have seen him use personalized learning plans and goals has been inspiring. I have seen his students, that in some societies are seen as a burden, grow with skills that others might not have seen because of his use of a personal growth plan, helping them achieve goals that they plan together. And with what I’ve seen him do in his class, the information about Finland's program, and National Center of Learning Disabilities website, I see that using a personalized learning is the future of education! I think this is the future of education. But, not just for special education, instead for all students. Just like in Finland a student would be considered special if a student has not used extra help that is available. Think about it, wouldn’t it be great if the future of our education, took a page out of the special needs program, valuing each student and planning a way for the child to succeed the goals that have been set out in front of them. As the success rate increases as more students achieve, I can see the main stream starting to use the same techniques.