Chapter 9: Involving Parents and Communities

I really like the statistics in the beginning of the chapter. Students are more likely to achieve in school if the student's family is able to create a home environment that encourages learning, express high (but realistic) expectations of children's achievements, and become involved in children's education at school and in the community. Doing these things benefits students by increasing their grades and test scores, better attendance, and higher graduation rates. Some key aspects for effective parent-school relations are establishing continuity between home and school, monitoring students' work (both the parent and the teacher), directing children toward constructive learning outside the school, and assisting directly in school's effort to improve.

Chapter 8: A Safe and Healthy School Envirnment

Creating a safe and healthy environment in school will ensure students themselves are safe and comfortable. Managing your classroom and discipline important for creating that environment. The criteria mentioned in the book included clarifying the consequences of misbehavior, having all staff members assume responsibility,and increasing consistency and follow-through. I especially think the follow-through is important because I have had so many teachers not follow through on their disciplines and therefore students would walk all over them and not take them seriously. Another thing I found interesting in this section was the peer mediation. This process brings in a third person perspective. I see this working in a middle school more so than an elementary or secondary school. I also see this working more if the "mediator" were a member of staff or administration.

Chapter 5: Designing Instruction to Improve Teaching and Learning

This was a hefty chapter about designing instruction. What sticked out to me in this chapter was the three models for organizing instruction: authentic instruction, WHERE, and differentiated instruction. For authentic instruction, I liked the criteria the book described such as constructing their knowledge, engaging in cognitive work that requires them to rely on knowledge, and accomplishing value beyond the classroom. I feel that no matter what authentic form of assessment or instruction you have, if students can do these three things, then they fully understand the material. The WHERE design tool is something I'm sure everyone who's done Practicum. The system has guidelines such as: Where are we heading? Hook the students, Explore the subject and equip the students, Rethink our work and ideas, Evaluate results. Differentiated instruction is another form of instruction that we learned in Practicum. This caters the lessons to students' specific needs and backgrounds. As the book says, it maybe difficult for teachers to have the time, skill, tools, and resources needed to use the model correctly.

In my opinion, the WHERE design is a very effective way to design lessons.

Chapter 3: Curriculum and Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning

In this chapter there were three things discussed: the Backwards Design, assessments, and the standards. The Backwards Design I learned in Practicum. It's a really great way to put the teacher in the students' shoes; this way it would be clearer to see what students will understand at the end of the lesson. For assessments, it's important to have variety. This way, students will not get bored with the routine, and it is a great way for students with different strengths to shine. It is also important to have standards within a school. This way, teachers can have a common goal. It would also be a good way to stay focused when teaching. Standards could bring school and the community together by creating a common goal- to educate children.

Chapter 6: Organizing Relationships for Learning

This chapter in Turning Points 2000 explains the importance of working in groups. What really stood out to me, and was different than the other chapters on groups, was "The Anatomy of Effective Teams". Some of the advice was the same as past readings but this book explained the tips in greater depth. It explains that the smaller the team size the better, but that doesn't necessarily make it easier for the teacher. When planning to have students in group, the teacher must put aside a lot of time. If teachers make a schedule of tasks the team must complete by a certain time, students will be more likely to finish the tasks. Creating a designated area for certain teams to be could add working time in the schedule. Finally, teachers need to stick with the teams in order for the process to be effective. These are all excellent points and it does make sense that this process would be difficult to get use to but highly effective.

Chapter 2: A Design for Improving Middle Grades Education

This chapter mentioned the seven recommendations for improving middle grades schools. These recommendations, I thought, were similar to suggestions to high school teachers. For example, it’s suggested that teachers teach the curriculum on bases where the students should know and be able to perform the tasks related to the content. This is very similar to the idea of the Know, Understand, Do (KUD) process that is presented at a high school level. The seven recommendations mentioned in the text are very informative and have great potential; however, if there is no structure for these accommodations, the results will be unsatisfactory. Richard Elmore made the suggestion of “dividing teachers and students into teams, modifying schedules, and creating decision-making teams” (pg. 29), but if these processes are not carried out all the way through, then the teacher will not get his/her desired results.

Chapter 1: Turning Points: A Decade Later

The section that most jumped out at me was the section about why it is important for students to succeed in middle school. The reason why America’s middle schools should be redesigned is because “every young adolescent truly deserves an equal opportunity to achieve at the very highest level” (pg. 15). I found this statement somewhat obvious and I was shocked that this needed to be stated at all. I do, however, like how this ties into what students overall learn in middle school: social justice and national economic self-interest. It would not be smart to educate adolescents poorly during this time because how can they be expected to move on in a world where higher education is success? I also find it interesting how social justice is important in middle school because that is where you make friends, enemies, and bonds with other human beings.