Community Learning Contracts

Tomlinson describes community learning contracts as a way for students, in groups based on readiness, to learn terms, concepts, and skills in their own time. They also help students to plan out their timing. Tomlinson offers a few different types of contracts in her book Differentiation In Practice. One is a very basic contract that is meant for students who are at an introductory level and who need to become more familiar with the concept's terminology and skills. Another version she includes is a contract that is geared toward students who have a good handle of the concept and are ready for more of a challenge. The two contracts seem to be on the two extremes, so Tomlinson suggests that for your students who aren't quite ready for the second contract, is to ease them into it and introduce parts of it at a time. These contracts include different meaningful activities and a contract agreement where the student agrees to choose which activities they will complete.

I love the idea of using contracts in the classroom. It holds the students accountable and also gives them the choice of what their going to work on. These contracts clearly state what is expected of the students and what the teacher is looking for in the assignments. I think that it would be helpful to have a rubric for some of the more complicated assignments so that the students know exactly what is expected from them and pushes them to produce exceptional work. This is also a perfect way of differentiating for readiness. Students can have different contracts for the same unit/concept without attention being called to it. That is my biggest concern about grouping students by readiness. This is such a fantastic way to be discreet about it, but get the results you desire. It is so important for the students to be able to choose their own assignments. This gives them a chance to be involved in their learning and gives them a say in how they show what they have learned. It offers them a chance to try new things or go with what they know works best for them. Also, if you find that your students end up choosing the same types of assignments, you could split up the activities into sections and require that they choose one of each type. There are so many ways to make contracts unique to your class and work for your students.

Strategies for Curriculum and Instruction: Part 2

Strategies for Demanding and Supported Curriculum and Instruction

• Use tiered approaches
• Know that students should word toward the same curriculum standards, but also know each individual's readiness level. The sixth grade class I am in right now is working toward getting ready for end of year testing. They are all at different levels and the teacher and I are currently assessing where their gaps are and working with students in those areas where they are struggling. We are tiering them for how many different subjects they are not understanding.
• Use a variety of rubrics to guide quality
• Use rubrics for a unit, individual lessons, student goals, class goals, and share these with your students. It is important for them to know what you are expecting from them. I shared a rubric with my students for their argumentative writing, and I couldn't believe the increase in quality of their papers afterward.
• Aim high
• Students need to be pushed to try their hardest. We need to hold them to a higher standard so they have something to strive for. On the other hand, it needs to be a goal or standard that they can achieve. If it is impossible for them to reach that goal, they are going to become frustrated and stop trying.
• Take a "no excuses" stance
• This isn't meant as a punishment or to be mean spirited, but holding students to a higher standard. They are capable of turning in their homework on time, completed, and done to the best of their abilities.
• Become computer savvy
• Students these days know more about technology and how it works than I do. It is important to stay current with technology, especially because it has so much to offer in terms of education. The sixth grade class does a lot of their journal writing, and papers on chromebooks. They can share through google drive what they have created with the teacher and also with their peers.
• Directly teach strategies for working successfully with text
• This is something your students will be doing for the rest of their lives, so it is so important to teach them these skills. Once they can navigate through texts more easily, they will be able to comprehend more and become more interested in what they are learning. Teaching them basic comprehension skills like prediction, questioning, finding main ideas, locating key words, etc. will allow them to learn the information and be able to use it.
• Use small group instruction as a regular part of instructional cycles
• Small group instruction is great to get more individualized instruction, but it needs to be done regularly and in multiple flexible groups. By having various small, flexible groups, students can interact with many different peers who are all on different levels and work in different settings.
• Establish peer networks for learning
• Creating peer networks in your classroom is a great way to get students who have a harder time making those connections with their peers. It establishes friendships and camaraderie. In the class I am in, the teacher has set up table leaders at each table. Every week, they set goals in reading, homework, and service projects.
• Promote language proficiency
• For those students who are learning a language, you can label things throughout the classroom. Even if your students are not learning a new language, you still need to promote language proficiency. You can do this by being an example yourself and using elaborated words. You can also create lists with your students, or have students practice writing and reading dialogue heavy texts. Immersing students into a rich language environment helps them to broaden their vocabulary.
• Cue and coach student responses
• Encourage your students to elaborate on their responses. Do not always accept the first response they give you. By doing this, you encourage them to think deeper and focus their train of thought. It is also helpful for the students if you cue them into when you will be asking a question. This will give them some more time to think and come up with an intelligent and appropriate answer. I noticed my teacher using this strategy. He would tell the students to be thinking about something because he would ask questions about it later. He would then introduce the topic, or review it, and then ask the students a question. This produced great responses from the students and there were more hands raised than the times he did not do this.

Strategies for Curriculum and Instruction: Part 1

Strategies for Important, Focused, Engaging Curriculum and Instruction

• Focus student products around significant problems and issues
• Finding something current and relevant to relate your curriculum to is imperative for student understanding. Tomlinson gave examples of a math class studying construction and having them come up with suggestions for the construction company, who in turn used many of their suggestions. I think it is so amazing to have students make a difference in their community and not just tell them ways they can. I see teachers attempting to have their students make a difference, but rarely do the students really get the students out in the community doing something.
• Use meaningful audiences
• Giving students an audience to gear their knowledge toward is a great way for them to practice what they've learned. In the sixth grade class I am in, once a week, they go down to the second graders and help them with their reading skills. The sixth graders have to come up with ways to use their knowledge about reading that would be relatable and something a second grader could understand. Having a specific audience can really focus student learning and also give them a new perspective of looking at and using their knowledge.
• Help students discover how ideas and skills are useful in the world
• It is the constant challenge for teachers to find ways to relate what is in the textbooks to student lives. If they do not see how it can relate to real life or their own lives, the information is usually lost on them and they cannot become passionate about learning. Bring in people from the community to talk to your class, or use local businesses in comparison to large corporations to show different business practices, budgets, customers, demands, etc. A common field trip for younger students that I've seen is taking them to the local fire department. I think that is a wonderful field trip, but taking students to local places sort of ends there for most students.
• Provide choices that ensure focus
• Providing choices is essential in creating a differentiated classroom. The trick is making sure all of the choices still line up with your curriculum and they are still in line with your objectives. Students learn differently and giving them options allows them to chose the way they learn the information. Also, giving them a choice in their work gives them responsibility for their learning and they usually take the challenge and do more with the project than you imagined it being. Last year, I had students create a castle using food. I did not tell them what any of the food was for. My only direction was, make a castle using the candy/food, and make sure your castle has the required parts to it (we learned the different parts of a castle and I provided them with a list). I was scared that I didn't give them enough choices in food products and they were all going to turn out the same. I was wrong! They became so creative with the choices in candy and food and every single one of them had a completely different looking castle. Not telling them what each piece of food I intended them for really helped them use their creativity and find new ways to create some of the parts of a castle.
• Look for fresh ways to present and explore ideas
• Another big challenge for teachers is to keep the lessons fresh and fun for the students. It is easy to get in the rut of routine with your students and each lesson starts looking the same. Students need to be encouraged to try new things and push themselves to relate their learning to their lives. Having them create cartoons, plays, stories, digital stories, maps, videos, etc. can really get them interested in their learning and produce amazing and creative work. In the sixth grade science class, I saw the teacher have the students line up in order of birthdays to teach rotation of the Earth. The students used their bodies as globes (their heart was North America, stomachs South America, back shoulder blade was China) and they had to rotate their bodies to show which direction the Earth rotates and what continent was facing the sun at what time of day. It was such a fresh idea of teaching this lesson. I loved how it got the students up and moving and they really had to think hard about direction and where they were located in terms of the sun.
• Share your experiences and invite students to do the same
• Some teachers do not like to share their personal lives with their students, and some share way too much. It is important to find a balance, and to be able to relate it to what the students are learning. They need to see you as a human being and know that you have experience that you can share and will be helpful to them. Earlier this week, I told the students that I was behind in reading and new good books. So, I made a goal to read at least two books a month and I asked for suggestions from them. They gave me quite a list! It was great to share with them that I have struggles, but by setting goals I can change that. They now come up with suggestions for me all the time and are really invested in helping me reach my goal. I think it's great for them to see that they help me as well.

Curriculum and Instruction as the Vehicle

Five Elements for Curriculum and Instruction
1. Important
2. Focused
3. Engaging
4. Demanding
5. Scaffolded

1. Important
Steven Levy said, "We cannot teach the breadth of the entire world and at the same time achieve any depth of understanding." Knowing what to teach and how in-depth to teach is the constant battle teachers face. Students need to know that what they are studying is essential. If they do not see worth in it, then they will tune out and respect you less for wasting time. That is what I felt as a student when I couldn't see the reasoning behind the lesson, and no teacher ever took the time to point it out to me. Students also need to see the bigger picture and that their lessons build on knowledge they previously gained. They also need to be given opportunities to use their new knowledge and apply it. 
2. Focused
Teachers need to be clear about what they are teaching their students before their students can learn it. Each lesson needs to be aligned with the essential learning goals. This sounds like common sense, but there have been times when I am writing a lesson plan and I get on a tangent. I always have to pull myself back and ask, "Does this match with what I said I wanted them to learn?" Teachers and students, both need to know why you're doing what you're doing. This helps you to keep end goals in mind and motivate both yourself and students to keep trying and learning.
3. Engaging
It is hard to find exciting facts in all subject areas, but teachers need to search for them and incorporate them with their passion for teaching. In turn, the excitement of something new and the passion of the teacher combined is incredibly powerful in engaging students. Last year, I was reading an article with some students about lizards, and I learned something new. I wasn't expecting to because it was a pretty basic article and I was so focused on teaching guided reading. I genuinely gasped in excitement. I let them finish the sentence, and then I asked if any of them had learned anything new. They all looked at me blankly, so I shared what I learned. This got them going, and suddenly all of them wanted to share something they found interesting. It is so important to give students work that they will find interesting and meaningful.
4. Demanding
Finding that zone of proximal development for each student is so satisfying. It is the greatest feeling to see a student push themselves and really strive to increase their knowledge. It is equally the worst feeling to see a student so frustrated with the impossible challenge and give up. Students need to know that gaining new knowledge and growing isn't an option, they have to improve themselves. They should be held to high standards and be expected to achieve them. I have seen students who do not feel like they have to try because no one is really pushing them. Teachers need to be aware of all of their students and find ways to push each and everyone of them toward their goals.
5. Scaffolded
Scaffolding is usually thought of as being used toward students who are struggling, but it should be used toward all of them. Each student deserves to have work suited to their needs and personal goals. Teachers need to keep in mind the different ways and activities that they could scaffold for their students. It is important for the teacher to use modeling, graphic organizers, and other strategies to show students that they are successful and that they are learning. Last year, I was teaching math and realized that my fast finishers were bored out of their minds. So, I created a fun game for them to play when they finished their assignment. It wasn't until I got the game going, that I realized my students who weren't fast finishers were feeling left out and not as smart because they weren't done yet. I needed to find a way to scaffold for my other students in a fun way like I had for my fast finishing students.