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Looking back at my teaching experience this year in Sparta and in the NTI meetings, there were many successes and some difficulties. Although at times it was difficult, I was interested to discover how the strategies we have discussed this year were applicable in my classroom and towards my students. One of the better strategies that I found successful in my classroom was from the beginning of the year when we discussed graphic organizers. I was able to develop a graphic organizer fit for my kindergarten classroom. We were able to complete it as a class and my students were able to use this to complete a journal entry. I was able to take digital pictures of their work and present it on the blog. 

Besides what we have learned and discussed through the NTI meetings, there have also been successes and difficulties in my own classroom experience this year. This year was my first full year as a teacher. As a 5 month leave replacement the previous year, I was able to build upon my experiences and adapt them to my classroom this year.  Some of the difficulties I had this year was in classroom management. I tried a multiple of strategies this year and have found ones that work and ones that did not. From this, I am already reflecting on ways to improve upon this aspect of my teaching for next year. Despite this, there were highlights from this year. I tried to open up communication more with parents through newsletters, conferences, emails and inviting them into the classroom. I also was able to develop instructional methods that were successful in the classroom, such as sight word flash cards, sight word booklets, and literacy centers that built upon the curriculum we were studing in the classroom.

Overall, I had a successful year. I am reflecting on ways  that I can improve upon this year and am already excited to put these ideas and strategies into action for next year.  

Role: Fellow teacher/ colleague Audience: A resistant teacher to cooperative learning Format: Letter Topic: Why use cooperative learning?

 Dear Mrs. X,

I am writing this letter about my opinions on how cooperative learning is beneficial in a kindergarten classroom. Cooperative learning is a great teaching strategy to incorporate into an elementary classroom. We have had success using this teaching strategy in our kindergarten classroom. Recently in our mathematics curriculum we have been studying two digit numbers and counting to 100. Many students can do a great job of counting to 100 and identifying numbers. However, we wanted students to be able to demonstrate their understanding of these numbers in a different way. So, we decided to use one of Kagan's structures called Who Am I? We had two-digit numbers written on index cards. Then we posted a number on each child's back. Then we told students that they had to use what they knew already about numbers to try and guess which number they were. Students needed to work cooperatively in order to determine their number and answer questions about other students' numbers. At first we were skeptical as to whether the students would be able to generate questions about their numbers. We also were worried that this may become a little bit chaotic since students would be asking and answering questions simultaneously. However, by modeling the types of questions to be asked and constraining students to the carpet area only, this activity worked out very smoothly. I know that classroom management and order are one of your components for being resistant towards cooperative learning. However, we were able to keep the students on task and keep order in the classroom during this cooperative learning activity. I also know that you are resistant of cooperative learning because you think that it does not give every students equal opportunity to participate. Yet, with this activity each student was responsible for asking questions about their number and answering questions about other's numbers. From this activity students had an equal opportunity to participate in both roles, asking and answering.

The students seemed to thoroughly enjoy this activity. I was impressed with the types of questions students asked about their numbers, as well as their ability to answer questions about other's numbers. By the end of the activity, all students were able to determine their own number and were engaged during the entire activity. I think that if you were in the classroom during this activity your views towards cooperative learning might change. Cooperative learning is a great instructional strategy to engage all students in their learning. I plan on incorporating this activity again in the classroom using letters or sight words instead of numbers. You should observe this next cooperative learning lesson. I hope that you will be able to realize that cooperative learning is an instructional strategy that can work in every classroom.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Z 

I found this NTI meeting very interesting and useful. I was excited about incorporating structures into my classroom. I chose to utilize the Who Am I? structure in my kindergarten classroom. In kindergarten we have been practicing counting to 100, identifying numbers, and locating numbers on a hundreds chart using the words "before", "after" and "in between". I decided to incorporate this structure into our math lesson by giving each student a number. I taped the number to the back of each student. Then I told them they needed to ask questions about their number. I gave them examples of such questions, "What number do I begin with? Am I an even number? Is this number before 50?".  When they found out their number they put their sticker on the front of them, so I knew who had finished the task. I was a little anxious for this lesson because I was not sure if the students would be able to ask questions, or that it might become noisy and chaotic in the classroom. However, the students came up with great questions, they managed to keep the volume low and they were able to determine their own number. Overall, I though that this was a great activity. The kids were able to be up and moving, talking, and using what they know about numbers to complete the task. The students told me they really enjoyed this activity. I would like to use this structure again in another way in my classroom. Another way I can do this is with our sight words.

P: Positive Interdependence

This was accomplished in Who Am I? because to complete the task all students needed to determine their own number and they needed other students to answer the questions so they were able to identify their own number.

I: Individual Accountability

            This was accomplished in this structure in two ways. Students needed to determine their own number correctly by asking questions and they also needed to answer questions correctly to help others determine their own number.

E: Equal Participation

            The structure Who Am I? incorporated equal participation. All students were given a number, had to ask questions about their own number and had to answer questions correctly about other's numbers.

S: Simultaneous Interaction

            Simultaneous interaction was evident in this structures. Students were asking and answering questions simultaneously in order to determine their given number.

How do you proivde recognition in your classroom?

I reinforce effort by acknowledging when a student is doing a good job, trying hard, and doing their best work. I would recognize their effort by making an example of them in front of the class or giving them a comment about their effort.

Reflection on initial statment:

Upon reflecting on my inital statement, I feel that there are other ways that I can provide recognition in my classroom and encourage effort. I think that to encourage effort amongst my students, I need to take into account my individual student's needs and abilities. For example, one student may not being doing as well as another student, but they are putting forth great effort and trying hard. I also think to encourage effort amongst my students I will need to acknowledge more when I see students putting forth effort through praise and recognition. This will in turn encourage them to always put forth effort, so that they may be recognized again for their accomplishments.