Guiding Questions

What comes to mind when you hear “classroom management”? Where did you get this impression? What role does it have in teaching and learning? 

When I hear classroom management, I think of what practices are put in place to manage the classroom daily. I think of routines that everyone collectively practices to help the classroom stay happy, efficient, and cordial.

I get the impression from my Grade 5 learning experience. My teacher at the time demonstrated how well she can manage her class, despite a large group and many problematic students. As her student I felt everyone of us, in our best efforts upheld classroom expectations, and wanted to make her proud. 

I think classroom management is the foundation for teaching and learning to take place. Without it, teachers will not have established a concrete bond/relationship with the learners. Consequently it will be difficult to truly understand what the learners need, let alone bridging trust in guiding them to become confident learners. 

How does a learning community contribute to the learning process?

Learning community connects the learners. It is important to the learning process because learning doesn’t happen alone. As important as the role of educators in the learning process, a well built learning community will support learners in every aspect of their academic success. Throughout the learning process this community of people will work collaboratively, build confidence amongst its members, and share common academic goals, because as human beings we are social creatures who work best with a sense of belonging. Even in learning, learners need to develop a sense of belonging. 

Why must learning environments be student-centred?

The learning environments must be student-centred because learning is not universal. People learn at different pace, have different motivations, and different knowledges. As educators we must not assume learners are all the same, and that they share the same learning environments. This will create an adverse effect in the learning experiences because it creates dicomfort for learner and knowledge gaps, as a result disengageing them from obtaining their academic goals. Student-centre environments will allow educators to recognize these differences, continue to provide all learners with preconceptions and from diversified experiences to feel supported acheiving academic success. 

Why must learning environments be assessment-centred?

The learning environments must be assessment-centred because there’s always room for improvement. Again, learning is not universal therefore there will be ongoing changes for the learners and their experiences. Educators must have frequent assessments and feedbacks in order to reflect then revise. These opportunities will enrich the quality of learning for the learners. 

Describe one particular learning environment from your K-12 experiences and describe the degree to which the setting or situation was student-, knowledge-, assessment-, and community-centred. How did this setting influence your learning? Why? How might others in that particular setting respond to this question? Why?

In grade two I was a newcomer to this country. My mother tongue was Chinese Mandarin. At the time my home room teacher enrolled me into the ESL program where a teacher would come in once a week to improve my language proficiency. But that was the worst school year I’ve had. I was singled out in my class being the only child who didn’t speak English, and many of my classmates were made aware of it because I would be put aside to the corner of the classroom with a different teacher. They all knew I was different from them. This segregation of learning made me uncomfortable. I was not part of that learning community because at the end of the day I was speaking a different language. For most part of the school year I didn’t have any friends, I kept my head down, and my language proficiency didn’t improve at all other than knowing my ABCs. My home room teacher continued to check-in if my language skills have improved but didn’t ask me what was not working. Of course as a grade two student, I didn’t know any better. I had no voice of my own to change my learning environments. I did what any child would do in that setting, conform to what my teachers were telling me to do because they can’t be wrong. I’m sure my classmates didn’t know any better either. Not until I got to grade five did things start to improve with my learning environments. I was put into ESL programs with various age group students. We had our own learning community, and teachers made sure we were still building a strong bond with our home room environments. Now time has changed quite significantly since I’ve been in elementary school. I would never want anyone to feel disassociated or unsupported in their learning. Which is why, knowledge, assessments, and community-centred learning environments are so paramount for the learners. For others, following these practices they will put aside their biases, close in on the gaps they may be unaware of, and truly focus on what the learners' needs are. If only my homeroom teacher at the time focused on what I know and what I don't; assessed my learning outcomes connecting to my experiences; gathered reflective responses; and inlcuded me in the learning community, I would have became a confident learner sooner.

Using your understanding of backward design AND the Ontario Tech lesson plan template as a tool to guide your planning, where would you feel you want to start the planning process?  Why? Remember, this isn't a linear process, and there is no one way. Consider the manner in which you would work through the template (the response should be 1-2 paragraphs in length). 

Using my understanding of the backward design and the Ontario Tech lesson plan template, I believe I would start with the learning goals and success criteria. Backward lesson planning models prioritize learning outcomes shared with the students. By identifying clear outcomes and objectives, educators and learners can clearly determine effective assessments aligning with the goals. Thus making planning activities which will encourage exploration, what's more enhances the learning experiences knowing exactly what to expect. After identifying the learning goals and success criteria, it is important to move onto pre-assessment and addressing students' needs. This goes hand-in-hand with the first step because it will guide the teacher establishing learning outcomes and learning objectives. 

We don't want as educators to only focus on curriculums and not addressing what the students need. It is important to recognize the traditional lesson planning method's lack of acknowledgement of inclusivity and diversity. Learners coming from diverse backgrounds with preconceptions and existing knowledge will be overlooked if we only focused on what topics that are in the curriculum. For example, I may go into a grade five classroom expecting everyone had learned about planets in the previous grade's science curriculum. Therefore I went ahead lesson planning for the solar systems which is the topic I want to cover. By neglecting the fact that some learners may know and others may not, the measurement for intended learning outcome  can be unrealistic for some students. In simple terms, as their educator I may be setting them up for failure to begin with. Therefore it is crucial to identify the learning objective and outcome so activities can evidently align with intended learning that is supposed to occur.

What is it that students will learn and be able to do?

In section 1 of the lesson planning template, teacher must identify what students will learn and be able to do. Using the backward model, after establishing the learning goals and success criteria, teacher can plan for specifics to what student will learn and be able to do. For instance, if I want students to be able to identify the stages of water cycle, and the success criteria would be students are able to label a water cycle diagram identifying the stages. Then that is what students will learn and be able to do. The questions will be what should students know, understand, and be able to do, and what is the ultimate transfer we seek as a result of this unit. 

By the end of the lesson, students are learning to analyze the components of affecting adaptations in certain areas, identify the differences and similarities between two or more communities and/or of other countries. The success criteria will be when learners can describe the location, climate, and physical characteristics of Canada, label couple communities with the correct pictograph, and justify adaptation conclusions drawn with example-conclusion model. Therefore, students will learn how to use the ECM to mind-map their thinkings about the unit. Learners will able to identify and contrast season differences between two or more communities. The causes for differing climate throughout the year, and the consequences it has on the adaptation choices. I feel this section should be the learning outcomes on the pyramid, because it is what the teacher wants the student to learn and do by the end of the lesson. 

How will you know that they learned or are able to do “it”?

Teacher will know learners had quality learning experience and are able to perform/utilize the new/enhanced knowledge, when they can confidently sort and label descriptive sentences for two distinct communities, and justify why. Through activities like ECM, teacher can listen to learners thinking process as the group come up with distinctive charateristics of two communities. The foundation video shown us an exemplar of a lesson plan, and this section is specific to the activities the learners will engage in to demonstrate they can perform the lesson topic. I feel this section should be the assessment stage on the pyramid because through the instructional teacher can evaluate the progress of learning, and if students are making their way to the final learning outcomes. Teachers can use various assessment tools such as observation, tasks, and conversation to assess learning outcomes. 

How will you guide them through the process to get them to “it”?

Students will be guided by the teacher using a example-conclusion map to draw conclusions about Canada’s location, climate, and physical characteristics, then compared to other distinct communities. Teacher continues to build on pre-existing knowledge and challenge the students to critically think about the causes and consequences of differing climates through asking open-ended questions, and meta cognitive reflections of the lesson. Such as the lesson plan exemplar, students will be guided through the hook, and then onto the minds-on activities. I think this section is part of the instructional activites, because this answers how will teacher get learners to the final learning outcomes. 

Compare assessment "for" "as" and "of" learning.  How are they similar? Different? How can these forms of assessment benefit both teacher and learner?

According to Growing Success, there are essential steps to assessments. These three assessments of learning are similar as they all aim to assess the learning which occurred. However, they are very different since for, as, and of learning are assessed by different methods, duration, and who performs the functions. Although "as" and "for" learning are formative assessments while "for" learning is summative, the two that are similar in assessment style aren't quite the same in who does it and how learning is done. What's more, the information collected is used for, and how it is used.

For instance, “for” learning happens when teachers engage learners to clarify student learning and understanding. It involves teachers and learners engaging in a series of instructional activities to collect evidence of students’ knowledge, understanding, and skills. “As” learning is when learners take charge of their own learning process. Through asking questions and using ranges of strategies learners will explore how to improve. Lastly, “of” learning is when a teacher summarizes collected evidence of students’ learning progress. It is a formal assessment of learning outcomes. These forms of assessments will benefit the class differently. 

During foundation we explored through a concept map that "for" learning is beneficial for both the teacher and the learners as it is ongoing check-in and feedback. The learners benefit from getting informal feedback so there's room for correction and improvement, while the teacher benefits from acknowledging if the instructional strategies are making progress. "As" learning on the other hand benefits only the learner to take charge of their own academic progress. Then "of" learning would essentially combine all efforts of informal assessment, giving both the students and teachers the ability to finally put a grade on all their learning experiences. The last formal "of" learning assessment would then come in forms of exist-tickets, quizzes, tests, and report cards to consolidate the learning experiences. 

Consider your own K-12 experiences. How was assessment "as learning" integrated into your experience?

Throughout my own K-12 experiences, I believe all the educators I’ve encountered aim to give me the opportunity to take responsibility for my own learning. I was never the good student who showed up at school everyday due to family circumstances. Therefore, a lot of the time I had to make up the missing time through my own efforts. Thanks to many of my high-school educators who despite my absences had accommodated my independence of the learning processes. For the majority part I was able to self-assess through summative assessments what I lacked, how I can improve, and reach out for to teacher and peers for help when needed.  Of course at the end there are always "of" learning assessments of either unit test, culminating assignment, and report card, which is the teachers way of knowing if I truly made any academic progress despite absences from class time. However, for the majority part of K-12 experiences, I had more opportunity to apply more "as" learning assessments compared to the other two assessment 

What has helped you as a learner as you have progressed through the Lesson Plan Assignment thus far? Why? 

What helped me as a learner as I have progressed through the Lesson Plan Assignment thus far is recognizing the zone of proximal development like what Alison discussed in the weekly video. I started out with an assignment without instructions and assistance knowing that it was something we must complete by week five. At first it seems like an impossible task, then as a class we scaffolded chunks we need to complete Part 1 of the assignment. Although we are not able to fully complete a lesson planning template independently, but being able to understand the concept of ZPD, I’m beginning to feel more at ease with the idea that we'll eventually get there in the inner circle of “can do independently”. This understanding helped me tremendously as I progressed through the lesson planning because it helped me clarify the steps I must take to close-in on the steps between what I am capable of doing unsupported and what I cannot do even with support. 

What has hindered your learning as you have progressed through this assignment thus far? Why? How might you address this moving forward?

What has hindered me through learning as I progress through the lesson planning assignment thus far is the knowledge gap. I think as part of human nature I do easily get frustrated not having enough knowledge to support my learning outcomes. Although I know knowledge also comes from more experiences. It does require me to put in more effort to process all the information, and again I do hope I can process it all in such a short period of time. This feeling of frustration unfortunately does create negative learning experiences, however it is very insignificant compared to my academic and professional development. Moving forward I know learning is ongoing, and I must continue to work hard acquiring more knowledge. Also, I understand there is never an end to closing in the gap indefinitely. Which is why, professional developments are crucial to help alleviate this frustration. 

In your own schooling experiences (grade school to now), recall an experience where your teacher stimulated or inspired your thinking about a topic using thoughtful questioning techniques (e.g., A Socratic circle with questions, debate questions, etc.).  Describe and share the impact it had on your learning.

This year has truly been an eye-opener. I think as a Greek philosopher Socrates explored many ethical and morality questions with his students. In his time, questioning guided the exchange of thinking and knowledge. Every time a question was pointed out, it sparked students' curiosity and motivation to answer them. Which was all intrinsic drive from the learner, and all Socrates did was asked interesting questions. The reason why I pointed out this year has truly been an eye-opener is because I’ve been in the presence of great learning experiences. Math used to be a subject I absolutely did not enjoy in all my learning. Ironically enough coming from a finance background I practiced math everyday for my career. As distasteful as my learning experiences had been on the subject matter now reflected back to the pedagogies we discussed in class. This year’s math has been very interactive, inspiring, and stimulating. Without having to feel overwhelmed by math problem-solving. And with the right questioning techniques, I feel like as learners we are happily engaged in a series of mathematical processes that occurred. Mr. Errey aimed for the low-floor so it activated our motivation to problem solve. Then he focused on cultural responsive and relevant pedagogies which enabled us to help one another clarify understanding. Much like the inner circle focused on exploring and analyzing through the act of questioning and answering. The empowered learners would deliver academic results with high-ceiling questions because once the back-and-forth questioning has begun, it is truly impactful and meaningful to others in the classroom. Another interesting class has been Science and Technology where I got to learn the power of inquiry-based learning in STEM. As a novice educator it is influential to witness the power of student-driven learning in one of my classroom’s now. I want to enable my students to learn by either asking or collecting the questions for exploration. I find that truly more empowering than teaching a subject without the soul. Which is to find answers to enhance learners’ understanding, not to encode knowledge that will be meaningless to them. 

As you see it now (remember, this is a snapshot of your thinking that will likely evolve), how would you organize your questioning techniques to inspire thinking during a lesson? Consider Bloom's, as well as videos and readings from this week and last. Consider how you will ensure all students have an opportunity to engage. 

It is important to recognize teachers can guide students as long as we are using the right questioning techniques. If an educator began a lesson reaching beyond the learners limitation, this will create stress and unfortunately disengagement. Anderson and Krathwohl revised Bloom’s Taxonomy support educators practicing good questioning techniques in the right stages of the learning experience. It gives a structured framework on how to achieve academic engagement. For instance, referring to my recent learning experiences, students must be activated to recall memory and knowledge. In doing so, it helps them to actively engage in the questions and activities constructing meaning relevant to themselves. This grasp of meaning is essentially what will inspire thinking in learners. Questions at the first level should be simple retrieval of prior-knowledge. Then it evolves over the stages as learners become comfortable enough through construction of meanings, eventually enabling them to answer higher-order questions, breaking barriers in their understanding. Following Bloom's Taxonomy supports us to develop these questions, acknowledging the learners are progressing through the stages. It is pivotal not to overwhelm the students jumping to irrelevant questioning practices. 

In your own schooling experiences (grade school to now), recall an experience where your teacher stimulated or inspired your thinking about a topic using thoughtful questioning techniques (e.g., A Socratic circle with questions, debate questions, etc.).  Describe and share the impact it had on your learning.

This year has truly been an eye-opener. I think as a Greek philosopher Socrates explored many ethical and morality questions with his students. In his time, questioning guided the exchange of thinking and knowledge. Every time a question was pointed out, it sparked students' curiosity and motivation to answer them. Which was all intrinsic drive from the learner, and all Socrates did was asked interesting questions. The reason why I pointed out this year has truly been an eye-opener is because I’ve been in the presence of great learning experiences. Math used to be a subject I absolutely did not enjoy in all my learning. Ironically enough coming from a finance background I practiced math everyday for my career. As distasteful as my learning experiences had been on the subject matter now reflected back to the pedagogies we discussed in class. This year’s math has been very interactive, inspiring, and stimulating. Without having to feel overwhelmed by math problem-solving. And with the right questioning techniques, I feel like as learners we are happily engaged in a series of mathematical processes that occurred. Mr. Errey aimed for the low-floor so it activated our motivation to problem solve. Then he focused on cultural responsive and relevant pedagogies which enabled us to help one another clarify understanding. Much like the inner circle focused on exploring and analyzing through the act of questioning and answering. The empowered learners would deliver academic results with high-ceiling questions because once the back-and-forth questioning has begun, it is truly impactful and meaningful to others in the classroom. Another interesting class has been Science and Technology where I got to learn the power of inquiry-based learning in STEM. As a novice educator it is influential to witness the power of student-driven learning in one of my classroom’s now. I want to enable my students to learn by either asking or collecting the questions for exploration. I find that truly more empowering than teaching a subject without the soul. Which is to find answers to enhance learners’ understanding, not to encode knowledge that will be meaningless to them. 

As you see it now (remember, this is a snapshot of your thinking that will likely evolve), how would you organize your questioning techniques to inspire thinking during a lesson? Consider Bloom's, as well as videos and readings from this week and last. Consider how you will ensure all students have an opportunity to engage. 

It is important to recognize teachers can guide students as long as we are using the right questioning techniques. If an educator began a lesson reaching beyond the learners limitation, this will create stress and unfortunately disengagement. Anderson and Krathwohl revised Bloom’s Taxonomy support educators practicing good questioning techniques in the right stages of the learning experience. It gives a structured framework on how to achieve academic engagement. For instance, referring to my recent learning experiences, students must be activated to recall memory and knowledge. In doing so, it helps them to actively engage in the questions and activities constructing meaning relevant to themselves. This grasp of meaning is essentially what will inspire thinking in learners. Questions at the first level should be simple retrieval of prior-knowledge. Then it evolves over the stages as learners become comfortable enough through construction of meanings, eventually enabling them to answer higher-order questions, breaking barriers in their understanding. Following Bloom's Taxonomy supports us to develop these questions, acknowledging the learners are progressing through the stages. It is pivotal not to overwhelm the students jumping to irrelevant questioning practices.