Prompt #8: When using technology with your students, what are your challenges? Strengths? What could be done to increase your usage of technology in the classroom?

Unfortunately, the computers in the class room are very old and some do not have Office products to enhance the learning experience. This is the weakness of my classroom. There are portable computers that students can go and check out from an office, but if we did that from the start of the classroom it would take 20 minutes to initially get and about 20 minutes to put back. The only technology I use is just the more traditional projector connected to my laptop where I use it for students to take notes. This is a strength because I can better observe the class for signs of struggle with the material, move about the classroom and monitor behavior, and discuss the material as it is being recorded.

If the computers were lent out to students so that they had them from the start of the classroom (which doesn't happen in my school but all the district school do) and update software\office to help me prepare lessons to help with going to the next educational level.

Prompt #7: How Prepared do you feel in effectively teaching your students in reading? Is this one of your strengths? A weakness? Have you started to plan Common Core Standards? If you have, how is that going? If you haven't, why not? What support do you need?

I have little to no teaching skills in reading. I am not an English teacher, in fact, my class Economics class is meant for students that have demonstrated appropriate comprehension of the English language. However, I do receive students that struggle with understanding certain and have made arrangements to help the student understand the material. Anything from reading the material out load and simplifying it are techniques used to help the student understand the material, but it does not help the student learn how to read much. I do have give notes during class and as they write them I go over what they mean and place them in context. Not many of the notes are full sentences, but the ones that are I definitely read to the class.

I have not started out planning for Common Core Standards. Mostly, because what information they do have does not relate to my subject or what "similar" subject they do have does not sync well with mine. I teach at an alternative school and while I understand that the end goals have to be the same for the district\state, we have differences that I have to keep per student necessities and subject matter.

Prompt #6: Go to educationworld.com and read one article on some aspect of Classroom Management. Post a reflection to your blog based on your practice as it relates to what you learn from the article. How effectively is your well classroom management system working at this point in the year? What are your struggles? What are your successes? Reflect with honest hearts and minds!

I choose the article Classroom Management: Ten Teacher-tested Tips to read. The article gives many tips on ways to stop a classroom that is being troublesome like having a system to stop certain students from disrupting the class or stop the class as a whole from being too loud once they have already started. They also give advice on the mindset teachers should have for better outcomes from students. One the points stressed was having teachers like the students, find something to like and let it be real because students respond well to comments coming from a individuals that are not negative towards them. I honestly do not check how my attitude is during class, but I will assume it is not very sunny. Improving that is a definite must.

My classroom management is not very good. I was just recently moved from a school campus, (same overall school) that is more for troubled kids and the system I used before just did not work. I had to adopt practices that I never had to implement like punishments for extreme behavior. The biggest problem is having students focus and not start up side conversations. I'd like to say that it has become easier over time, but it has not. One of the major problems are couple students that instigate unwanted behavior within other students and after repeated warnings one student was suspended. While that student was gone classroom instruction become better and students stayed on task and assignments were finished in a timely manner. The other students have issues but the techniques I've done work. Hopefully, the other student becomes receptive to the negative outcome that could come if his behavior continues, but after several warnings, it seems unlikely.

One of the techniques I started using, that the article has as well, was a three strike rule. The students have three strikes and on the third, they will get a referral. I'm not sure what the minimum punishment is for referrals, but the last one was one week suspension. After the students heard that and since I started implementing the technique, behavior improved for most students; except for the one that I've already mentioned. It almost feels he's trying to pick up the slack for the other student that was suspended!

Prompt #5: Reflect on your use of assessment  in the classroom. On a scale of 1-10, ten being highest, how would you rate yourself. What are your plans for becoming a "10" if you are not there already? How are you using assessment in the classroom to guide your instruction? Describe how assessment results are used to differentiate instruction within your class.

I would not rate myself high on an assessment scale, possibly a 4 at best. One of the main reasons it is not high is because even though I continuously give out quizzes to determine what subject the students are having trouble learning, I have no state standards or comparisons. As an economics teacher I have very distinct subjects that I know students must know for college, but there are numerous ones and each economics instructor may choose different ones. The assessments done by quizzes and chapter recap questions help differentiate instruction because I separate students based on what they've done badly in and go over it again.

This type of summative assessment helps in my style of teaching because I am very lecture based. I give out lectures and have students take notes. Once the lecture is completed, classwork on the material is given and I scan for signs of struggling. During the lecture, I could use more Formative Assessment to help the process so I do not have to spend much time during material classwork time and thus increase the scale for a 4 to higher number.