REFLECTION ZONE: Big Changes for Voting Laws



I read the article "Big Changes for Voting Laws" in the March 2012 edition of WEACinPrint.
Wisconsin's new voter id laws will be in effect for the recall election JUNE 5. 

• You will need photo identification to vote.  This can be a Wisconsin DOT-issued driver's license, identification card, military ID card issued by a U.S. uniformed service, or a U.S. passport. 

• You need to be registered to vote.  You may still register on election day, but you cannot register the Saturday, Sunday, or Monday before an election. You need proof or residence to register such as a driver's license, utility bill, bank statement, or paycheck.

• In person early voting has been reduced from one month before the election to two weeks prior.  It begins 15 days before the election and ends the Friday before the election.

• Absentee ballot requests need a photocopy of an acceptable form of voter ID.  Absentee ballots may not be picked up the Friday-Monday before an election.   I learned this last summer as I wanted to pick up an absentee ballot for my husband. (Shelia Harsdorf vs. Shelly Moore election) At the time, he left for work at 5am, and he was on a Tuesday night golf league in the cities and wouldn't get home before the polls closed at 8pm.  I called the Monday before and was notified that our governor had changed this, and I had missed the window of opportunity to obtain an absentee ballot. 

I don't think these are huge changes, but I don't want anyone to be surprised about a change and not be able to vote, since it is a very important election.



FEFLECTION ZONE: Changing Education Paradigms



I thought this video clip was interesting.  I agreed that students or people should not be classified into academic (smart people) and non-academic people based on one's attending college.  The longer I live and the more people I meet, I find highly intelligent, incredibly gifted, and successful people who never attended college.  It is sad to think these people wouldn't view themselves as anything less than brilliant. 
The piece that surprised me the most was that 98% of students in kindergarten scored at the genius level for divergent thinking.  The same students were re-tested years later and the percentages decreased. (I actually didn't see or hear the exact percentages, but I could tell they decreased from the rest of the conversation.  Maybe it was my computer, so if you heard them, let me know.)  One would think that these percentages would get better as students learned more and got older.  It is sad that small children are good at something so valuable, but they lose it because somewhere along the way they learn that there should only be one right answer.
My question is similar to Rick's.  How can we show value or even cultivate important things such as divergent thinking, creativity, real-world problem solving, and other "gifts" that aren't measured on a standardized test (that only has one right answer per question) when so much pressure and focus is on test scores?

REFLECTION ZONE: Possible New Math Materials Aligned with Common Core

Last week I attended a meeting for all middle school math teachers and special ed teachers as we took a closer look at a possible math program for next year.  The program was called digits.  It is aligned with the new Common Core Math Standards as one of the writers of the standards helped create this program.  It is an interactive math program.  I liked that it had great visuals to help teach students concepts.  It was created with the Understanding by Design thinking in mind as well.  Each lesson there is an essential question that the students are presented, and by the end of the lesson students are held accountable to answer that question in writing.  I like that part of the exit ticket for the day has the students write and explain what they know.  It is within their writing where I can determine if each student understands the topic.  One piece that was new with this program was that students are encouraged to complete their daily work online.  A positive would be that we would not use classtime to evaluate the work as the computer would record how many questions each student answered correctly.  All of these questions are multiple choice or fill in the number.  I do wonder about students (and parents) making this transition.  I would predict that this would be a huge learning curve as this would be very new to many.  I worry about students logging on to a computer, trouble shooting technology, AND trying to get homework done.  There could be some struggles as well as some valid excuses for not being able to complete the work. Also, not all our students have internet access, or the necessary access for this program. Another positive was that the work could be differentiated for each student.  Some could have deeper level thinking problems that call for application or synthesizing while others could be working on the exact same concept, but at a more basic level.  The program also includes interventions if a student is having difficulty with any of the topics.  While there could be a lot of curveballs to starting a math program like this, and there would be a great deal of time and energy needed to explore and implement something so new, I am still interested in trying digits. I will be interested to see what our district decides. 

REFLECTION ZONE: Becoming a Stronger Writer



Within the game of basketball, how do you become a better shooter?  My coacher would say, "SHOOT - get outside and shoot."  Take the feedback you are given during the season and from camps, and keep practicing.  How do you become a better writer?  Write.  Take the feedback provided and write, rewrite, re-read, and revise.  Over the past two months I have grown as a writer.  I have many people to thank for this growth. One being my accountability partner who spent numerous hours reading and re-reading my paper.  His comments and help with APA format have helped me learn and grow. While I learned a lot using my APA manual, I learned even more from his comments as I saw the rules applied to my writing. My teachers also provided help in comments to improve my paper, and so did two other community members.  It is all appreciated and all the help has played a role in improving my paper and writing skills.  I have also had the opportunity to proofread and work with three other community members as they are in the process of improving their papers.  Reading, thinking, writing, and revising all require work, time, and energy, but doing these things make one a better writer.  I have learned a great deal during the writing and revisions and proofreading and re-proofreading period, and I have grown as a writer.



REFLECTION ZONE: Greatest Diverstiy Issue - Acceptance of Differences

I think one of the greatest diversity issues at our school is students being able to accept other people's differences.  The middle school years are a difficult time for all students, as many are insecure about themselves.  I think this factor contributes to the reason why some really struggle with accepting kids who are different - weigh more, dress differently, don't wear their hair the same... Sometimes an insecure student finds it easier to pick on someone else who is different, so his/her differences don't stand out.

I do not know how to stop the hurtful comments that students make, but I believe it is our job as educators to "sweat the small stuff."  We must not act like we didn't hear a rude remark, but instead take the time to talk to the students making them.   

I think taking time to build a classroom community is a good place to start.  Community can be built by implementing daily greetings, taking time for short activities/energizers, or giving students an opportunity to share.  If students get to know others who are different, and develop relationships with people who are different than they are, they might learn that they aren't so different, and there is a better chance the hurtful comments will stop. I don't have the answer, but I believe the more community we take time to build, the fewer problems we will have.

After watching the news about a recent school shooting I see an even more urgent need to take the time to build community and meet students' need to belong, be acknowledged, and be accepted.  I believe that making time to meet these needs contributes to students accepting each other and students enjoying school. If students enjoy school they will want to come to school, therefore improving student attendance and therefore improve student learning. 



REFLECTION ZONE: I Learned New Things!

I have learned a lot from completing my action research.  Besides learning the effects of cultivating a growth mindset from analyzing the results of my data I learned a great deal more.  I became much more familiar with Xcel and how to create the graphs I wanted to best demonstrate my findings.  It was not an easy process since I have not used Xcel this way for some time.  I ended up playing around with it until it did what I wanted.  I also called my brother quite a bit too.  I am not an expert, but I definitely improved my skills.  I also learned more about APA format in the 6th edition.  This too, I have not used for some time, so there was a great deal of time spent looking up certain situations to write my professional paper.  I appreciated my proofreader who also pointed out things I missed.  When I went back to double check the correct procedure I learned more about this process too.  I also learned how to make comments in word.  I had never used this feature before, and I enjoyed being able to comment on other's papers this way.  It works slick, as it allows a proofreader to provide clear feedback without printing a hard copy.  I definitely learned a lot from writing my action research paper. 

                              

REFLECTION ZONE: The Right Fit for Henry (Differentiation)

I read an article entitled "The Right Fit for Henry," which appeared in the February 2012 edition of Educational Leadership.

This article was about how schools can help students who are twice-exceptional.  I learned that a twice-exceptional student is any gifted student who has a disability. This article was about a second grade boy named Henry.  His teacher recognized his talents, so he was tested, and he qualified for the Challenge Program. This was an all-day magnet program with advanced curriculum for gifted children.   He did well socially and academically when he could demonstrate his knowledge verbally.  However, he really struggled with reading and writing.

Instead of returning to the general education, his teachers implemented a plan where Henry would stay in the Challenge Program, but also have an IEP where he would get reading and writing support and receive various accommodations.  The school provided services for both types of exceptionality for one student.  This school took pride in tailoring Henry's education to meet his specific needs.

Many times students like this are:

1.) identified as gifted, but their learning problem goes without notice (receive attention for giftedness with no remediation)

2.) not identified in either area (do not receive attention for giftedness or struggles)

3.) identified as learning disabled, but not as gifted (receive remediation, but no attention to giftedness)

Examples 1 & 3 would be examples of the danger of a single story.  Sometimes I am surprised when I learn a student who does really well in math class is really struggling in reading or vice versa.  Sometimes I assume a child in the gifted program learns all material fairly quickly and easily.  I should not make assumptions about students or their abilities.  Because of this, I am seeing the need to have more data on students to meet them where they are at, and to best help them to learn.  I feel our school is working at doing a better job of this with RtI, but we have a ways to go.  I think schools will need more teachers, and teachers will need more prep time in order to successfully tailor each student's education to their learning style and level effectively.