"The ship comes safely home..."

Ruthie B.--Blog 4, Ch. 5


"In many respects, a teacher is like the captain of a ship who needs to get from one port of call to a final destination far away...she is responsible for the well-being of all passengers for the duration of the entire journey...navigating an outside world that can change from glorious to tempestuous and back again in the blink of an eye." (pg 76)

Creative Connector:

1. "So, while universal design was originally intended to incorporate people with disabilities, the flexibility it provides benefits everyone.  For example, corner curb cuts for wheelchair users help people pushing strollers, rolling luggage, or wheeling large or heavy items." (Pg 77)
In Physical Education we typically use matching equipment colors: a ball, that matches a poly-spot, that matches a cone, and thanks to companies like GOPHER we have plenty of colors to choose from.  This is usually done in classes that have students with autism or other processing delays but what we find is that it benefits all of our students whether they weren't listening attentively and have the ability to put two and two together or because it's easier to match the like colors.  In either case, something that was put in place to assist students with disabilities really benefits everyone.

2. "Everyone knows everyone else's name." (Pg 79)
So, so, so important to me!  It floors me when I fill in for another teacher and I find that the students in the classes don't know each other's names.  We make sure that there is such a community in the classroom in elementary school and as students get older and older we ensure that there is less and less of a structure to know one another. I really respect teachers who work to facilitate and environment where everyone knows everyone else regardless of popularity, clicks or peer groups.

3. "Walls can be used to inform children about one another by displaying student work.  A rule of thumb: Display student work prominently." (Pg 81)
One of the schools that I work in has 4th grade artwork painted on the ceiling tiles of the upstairs hallway.  My favorite part of that is walking by with high school students who did those paintings years ago and still proudly point out which one is theirs.

Vocabulary Vitalizer:

1. Gardner's Multiple Intelligences--
This website below has an awesome Multiple Intelligence test that calculates your levels in Excel.  It worked WONDERFULLY and defined them very well!
http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm#multiple%20intelligences%20tests

2. Competency--if we are speaking of our students being competent then we need to know exactly what it means.
1: a sufficiency of means for the necessities and conveniences of life 

2: the quality or state of being competent: as

      a : the properties of an embryonic field that enable it to respond in a characteristic manner to an organizer

      b : readiness of bacteria to undergo genetic transformation

3: the knowledge that enables a person to speak and understand a language

3. Relationship--we refer to having or being "in relationship" with our students.
1: the state of being related or interrelated
2: the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship: as a specific instance or type of kinship.
3: 

a : a state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealingsb : a romantic or passionate attachment

Idea Illustrator:

This chapter discussed all different kinds of learners.  The clip below is from the movie coach carter.  The significance of this clip is that these boys' basketball coach will not allow them to play until they are all passing.  It is not that they cannot pass their courses but that no one has ever taken the time to teach and be patient with the kind of learners that they are.  This clip shows these students finally taking pride in basketball, school, and who they are as people.

This next clip is from "The King and I".  Our chapter specifically referred to this song.  As teachers it's in our job description and a part of our responsibility...getting to know you...

"A rule of Thumb: Display student work prominently!" (pg 81)