Complex Problem Benchmark: How do I meet the needs of all the students in my classroom?

I chose this topic because I wanted to reap the immediate benefits of trying to solve this problem. I think this is a problem ALL teachers face. When I set out on this daunting task, the only logical way for me to start organizing my ideas about solving this problem was to make a list of factors I had to consider.

It looked something like this:


Step #2
I worked on the curriculum objectives specific to my classroom. Since my students are in 6th grade at an elementary school, I deemed them "Late Elementary" when looking at Curriculum Objectives. I did not think a concept map was in anyway appropriate for this data. I simply cut and pasted (for over 2 hours!) all the various state goals and objectives for the subjects I am responsible for. Later I plan on picking them apart to see which ones I am really covering, and which ones am I not getting to. This was a good reminder to me of the expectations of my job. I still have yet to find a manageable way to record how often I really cover these goals each year.

Here is a Jing screen capture of one of the 7 pages of my objectives:
Reading

Step #3 Building/Organizing Various Concept Maps in Webspiration
To help me start sorting through how complex all of my hindrances are I decided to work in outline mode. The diagram mode is too overwhelming for me visually, and outline mode kept me more organized as I was considering all the possibilities.
I often found myself considering something as a resource on one page and a hindrance on another. For example, teaching assistants are often a valuable resource in my classroom, but they also hold me back from meeting my student's needs when I spend my planning time teaching them how to do things I think they should already know how to do (if they are hired as capable for the job).

Webspiration Links:

Outline of Hindrances




Outline of Overcoming Hindrances





Step #4
I'm suppose to be thinking about my students as individuals to meet their needs. Yet this is hard, because if I want to make a systems model of their performance, don't I need numerical data? So that means I am going to have to generalize so many attributes of "students". And WHAT am I going to do with the 7 pages of IL Curriculum Objectives?????!!!!! I don't even know how I can get that to relate to my concept map at this point.

How will I model individual student performance? I started by logging into Illinois Interactive Report Card website. I have been to this website many times to analyze student needs, but I have never tracked student progress over a longer period of time. I generally look at their academic performance within the last 2 years. I decided to only focus on my homeroom students since looking at all 67 sixth graders just isn't feasible time wise. Then the problem arose that half my class isn't in IIRC because they are from other schools or other countries.














Step#5
Where I am currently stuck is making a systems model of all the factors that influence a student's success. I don't really know how to give these factors a numerical value since a hindrance for one child might be helpful to another. For example, living with only one parent may be considered a negative for one child, while it has no affect on another child. Some of
the students in my class have 2 parents who are bad influences on him/her in regards to follow-through with academics, while in another household the one parent is great with academic support.

Right now I am stuck on figuring out what a systems model will really show me about my own students...I feel that if a "total package" predictor of student success was available, wouldn't we already be using it? I think all of the variables intertwine, but I can't pinpoint one factor from my concept map that I could give a numerical value in a spreadsheet program. I tried brainstorming in Excel...

Step #6
In my classroom I have hypothesized that parental involvement is a huge factor that influences academic success. I think the teacher is the biggest factor, but I'm not sure if I can analyze myself objectively.

So if I take myself out of the equation, parental involvement was the next factor I went to. I tried to quantify family makeup, education of parents, and weekly time spent with children in the last excel spreadsheet. Now I am stuck. Where to go from here?!!!!!!







<---Academic Data (not including Aimsweb or ISAT)






















<-- Demographics that I think are influential












<- Quantifying Parents ???








Internet Articles About Meeting the Needs of All Learners in Your Classroom
What Makes a Good Teacher? by Marie F. Hassett, Ph.D.
How to Differentiate Instruction
Enhance Learning with Technology
Although Some Voice Doubts, Advocates Say Differentiated Instruction Can Raise the Bar for All Learners by Mary Anne Hess
What's the Best Predictor of School Success?by Kendra Cherry
Parental Involvement and Student Achievement





EBSCO Academic Search Articles
Schweizer, H., & Kossow, B. (2007). WebQuests: Tools for Differentiation. Gifted Child Today, 30(1), 29-35. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Tukey, L. (2002). Differentiation. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(1), 63. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Time Parents Spend With Children
Kids spend more time with parents than 20 years ago
Married Parents' Use of Time Summary

Greek Mythology Problem-Based Learning Mini-Unit Reflection

My mini-unit was based on the complex, soap-opera-like world of Greek mythology. I had never memorized or really paid attention to Greek mythology, I guess I had always written it off as useless or untimely. Not until I was a reading teacher, and I had to teach my students all forms of traditional literature, did I come to appreciate how much the Greeks can really explain everything (made me think of the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding). I am also pretty fascinated with the idea of traveling to Greece, so I personally have really taken to learning about Greek architecture and the various Gods.

I am going to really implement this with my students, whether it be this school year or next (who does all this work for nothing!?). Being a 6th grade classroom teacher, I have been quite consumed with ensuring my students pass the ISAT tests and help our school make AYP this year. Not until after school TODAY, have I had the time to really focus on everything else (gave my last ISAT test at 2:00 today). If the ISAT test didn't fall in sync with this project, then I most certainly would have used most of the unit's components.

I don't directly teach Social Studies, but my teaching partner and I were right in tune when it came to the timing of our Greek mythology instruction this year. My reading students and I read the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, while my teaching partner was teaching the 6th graders about Greek civilizations in Social Studies. The students found SO many connections to the book that our Greek mythology knowledge base continued to grow and the students were constantly making connections and asking questions. The teachers on my team all went to see the movie with students on a Friday night when it came out, the same day we finished the book. I'd say 75% of the kids in my class (MANY reluctant readers included) are currently reading one of the next books in the Percy Jackson series. They had SO many things to say about all the things changed or left out from the book. It was so nice for them to have the experience I had been hoping for - THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE!

So when the assignment was changed from having to implement the unit to designing it to be implemented, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I also expanded my idea for the problem-based unit to incorporate 2 scenarios instead of just one. I think, if I did not have time restraints, I would realistically do both and the kids would eat it up. I have continued to pick various picture books for read alouds and stories from the students' literature textbook that have Greek myths in them for shared reading.

The first scenario I created is a prerequisite for the 2nd scenario. It is based on the kids understanding the relationships between the Titans, Gods and Humans and identifying those relationships in a model. The second scenario really makes the kids take their thinking to a higher level by analyzing the relationships between all of the characters to design an event where all the Greek characters would be present. The event type is totally open for their choosing. I can not wait for my artistic students to really get into this project, because the basis of it is design. Sadly, there is very little time in my classroom to design, draw, or model.

With the various levels of students in my class (many ESL and special ed.), I think I might modify the 2nd assignment to be done with a partner. I think the students will struggle the most with the concept mapping tools, because most have never used them before.

I learned a great deal about concept mapping and mind tools, as well. I don't use these regularly in my classroom, so this assignment made me buckle down and learn them. I especially liked Webspiration and would recommend that program to students and adults. I also learned that signing up for all of the family tree/concept mapping sites is a huge pain. Most of them only offer free trial periods, you can't save your work, or they weren't student friendly with all of their advertising and e-mail requirements. I took to Webspiration because of its simplicity and ease of use.