Webliography

1. Online Stopwatch
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/
This online stopwatch is a great resource to use during transitions. I use this website daily to time my students and reward my class when they are able to complete the transition in the given time. It is a great management tool.

2. Positive Behavior Supports
http://pbis.org/
This website lists information about positive behavior supports and the interventions and preventions to use with positive reinforcement. There are great resources listed for teachers to help with management in the classroom.

3. Brainpop and Brainpop Jr.
http://www.brainpop.com/
http://www.brainpopjr.com/
Brainpop and Brainpop Jr. are wonderful resources for students. I use these websites daily in my classroom to reinforce what we are learning for the day. Students can watch videos about a certain topic and answer questions about the video. There are videos on hundreds of topics. There is also a closed captioning option and an ELL section to help a variety of students.

4. Fun 4 the Brain
http://www.fun4thebrain.com/
Fun 4 the Brain is a great resource for math instruction. Students can work on math facts during independent practice during math. Students have so much fun playing games while practicing math, too!

5. Smart Exchange
http://exchange.smarttech.com/
Interactive white boards are a wonderful tool for students with disabilities. They are able to interact with the lesson and learn by doing. The Smart Exchange website is full of already-made Smart Board lessons to use in your classroom.

6. Scholastic
http://www.scholastic.com/home/
The Scholastic website is full of wonderful activities for students. There are wonderful resources for teachers to use to teach social studies. There is also a list of books and their levels for students. Scholastic provides multiple worksheets to use and a Scholastic News section to discuss current issues each week.

7. Wordle
http://www.wordle.net/
This site provides students with an opportunity to brainstorm and make thinking maps with any topic they are studying. Students can enter words to help review a certain subject and the website will create a fun map.

8. Storyline Online
http://www.storylineonline.net/
Storyline online is a website full of books read aloud to students by different adults. This website would be great for students with LD or students with cultural differences. Students could listen to the stories being read and follow along with the text.

9. Time for Kids
http://www.timeforkids.com/
Time for Kids is a great resource for teaching social studies. Teachers can use the website with the class to review current issues and research other topics. The class can also discuss magazine articles and how to research.

10. Reading Rockets
http://www.readingrockets.org/
Reading Rockets is a wonderful website for helping with reading and writing instruction. There are tons of resources and strategies for teachers and parents. Great for struggling readers!

11. I Can Write Online
http://www.icanwriteonline.com/
This website gives students an opportunity to write online. Students type their stories using the writing process and the six traits of writing. This website encourages students to write and learn how to type.

12. Multicultural Literature
http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/
This website provides children's literature and websites for many different cultures. There are lists of great resources to include while teaching about cultural differences.

13. Educate Autism
http://www.educateautism.com
Educate Autism is a website full of articles and information on Autism and Functional Behavioral Analysis. There are tons of resources for teachers to use that teach students with autism and lots of freebies to print.

14. BBC Kids Bitesize
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/
BBC Bitesize offers so many games and interactive website activities to go along with all subject areas. Students are able to interact and use the activities on a Smart Board.

15. Learning Style
http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz
This website is a questionnaire for students to complete to determine a student's learning style. Teachers can use this information to help with their instruction.

16. Sheppard Software
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/
This website is full of games, resources, and websites for every subject and every grade level. There are wonderful videos and pictures to enhance your instruction.

17. Progress Monitoring
http://www.studentprogress.org/
This website discusses the definition of progress monitoring and frequently asked questions. It also offers many resources and tools to help teachers and students with progress monitoring.

18. Songs for Teaching
http://www.songsforteaching.com/index.html
Songs for Teaching is a website with hundreds of songs that can be used to help teach a specific topic. The songs can help students learn and/or memorize what they are learning in class. The students can also read the lyrics while they are learning the song.

19. Giggle Poetry
http://www.gigglepoetry.com/
Giggle Poetry is a website full of poems for students to read or listen to on many different topics.

20. Prep Dog
http://www.prepdog.com/
Prep Dog offers test preparation for students in grades 2-10. Students are able to take multiple assessments to help prepare for standardized tests. The website is also great whole class practice to prepare for tests.

Chapter 9-Mathematics

Math was my favorite subject in school growing up, so as a teacher I try to make math meaningful and fun to learn in my classroom. I know how important math skills are in the real world and I work to make sure my students are able to successfully use the math they are learning in 3rd grade. In 3rd grade we learn a lot of new math skills, so it is important for me to continue to search for new ways to improve my math instruction. Over the years, I have learned several strategies that I do well in my math instruction. First, I do guided math groups once a week for review and extra practice. I would like to do math groups more often, but it is hard to get all the content taught during the week. During these groups, my students rotate through 4 stations (computers, games, independent work, and meeting with the teacher) for about 15 minutes each. I get to have extra practice with some groups and use challenge work with other groups. I also try to make my math instruction real world and interactive. I use problems that students would see in the real world and try to make each lesson meaningful. I use my Smart Board and math websites to help the students stay engaged during the lesson. I also try to use math songs and videos to help my students with math. Right now, we are learning a Multiplication Rap to help reinforce the multiplication facts that we've already learned. Finally, I have a lot of math early finisher work for my students so the high level students can work on these fun activities after they are finished with their work during the day. I try to do whatever I can do to keep my students engaged and successful in math.

After monitoring my students during math, I have seen there are several things I don't do well. First, I don't use a lot of independent practice. We do a lot of guided practice with individual white boards, but I struggle with finding time for independent practice during the school day. I want to do more individual work so I can see how students are progressing during the lesson. Time seems to be a big problem! Also, I don't have a self-monitoring system for my struggling math students. I really liked the examples in the book of checklists for students to follow during math. I would like to create a checklist for some of my students with questions about paying attention and taking their time with math work.

One area of math instruction that I would like to improve in is problem solving. I teach problem solving with different units, but I have never used a set system or program. I would like to use a problem solving strategy so my students could refer back to this strategy whenever they are completing word problems. I find that word problems are some of the hardest math problems for 3rd graders to answers. I would also like to work more with differentiated instruction in math. I am currently meeting with my low math students twice a week in the mornings to go over test taking strategies for PASS. I also want to challenge my high students and find ways to include them with peer tutoring or other classroom activities.

Chapter 14-Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices

Our schools are constantly become more diverse each year. It is important for teachers to adapt their teaching styles to become more culturally responsive. I have taught several students from different cultural backgrounds. Each year that I've taught these students, I've learned more about their culture and ways that I can help these students succeed in my classroom. We are fortunate to have great ESOL teachers in our district that are willing to help our students in and out of the classroom. Over the years, I learned some things to do to help my teaching become more culturally responsive. First, I form relationships with my students and learn about their lives. I want my students to know that I respect their cultural background and want to learn more about their culture. I form relationships with their families so they know I care about their child and want the very best for them in my classroom. I also work hard to make connections for students while I am teaching. I love teaching about different cultures and having my students share their thoughts with the class. When my students are able to make connections to their culture or traditions, they will be better able to understand what we are studying.

I feel there are several things that I don't do right when dealing with cultural diversity. First, I don't give my culturally diverse students enough time or opportunities to share information about their culture. Their culture and background is so important and I would like to give these students the opportunities to share with the class about their culture. I would also like to add more culture diversity to my lesson plans. I need to use more multi-cultural literature and learn more about cultures while teaching social studies and reading. I want my students to be open to different cultures and traditions.

I am always looking for ways to improve my teaching for culturally diverse students. First, I enjoy professional developments and classes that teach tools to help these students. I wasn't taught a lot of strategies while in college, so I am open to finding ways to help me in my classroom. Secondly, I hope to improve on the communication with my parents of students from different cultural backgrounds. It is sometimes hard to communicate with these families and I want to do what I can to relay information to parents about their child. Finally, I want to continue to learn from these students so I can make connections to the curriculum and use their prior knowledge. I hope to learn from these students just as much as they are learning from me.

Chapter 13-Assistive Technology

Technology is a wonderful tool for every type of student. Different types of technology can improve student learning and help with teacher instruction. Technology is used every day in my classroom. I teach in a STEM school and have always enjoyed incorporating technology into my everyday lesson plans. I am also constantly searching for new ways to use technology in my classroom. I search for any way I can make learning more interactive and easier for my students. Something that I do well with technology in my classroom is exposing my students to different types of technology. This year I was able to get a Smart Board and document camera in my classroom. This has unleashed unlimited amounts of resources and a variety of ways to teach my students. My students also know how to use the Smart Board and document camera. My students use the Senteo remote systems that go along with the Smart Board. They are able to log on and participate in review sessions using the remotes. Finally, I use the classroom computers during guided reading and math stations each week. My students are able to log on the computer and complete sessions on Compass Odyssey or math websites for extra practice with the lessons we are learning.

There are several things that I do not do right while working with technology in my classroom. First, my students are not very good at typing. It is hard to find time to teach my students how to type and give them practice at typing. I would like for my students to know how to type so they would be able to type their writing. Also, I do not use enough computer programs to help students with reading and writing. The book listed multiple websites as resources for students to help with differentiated instruction. There were multiple websites to help challenge my gifted students and help the low students with extra practice. I would like to send these websites home too so my students could use them with their parents.

Even though we are a STEM school, we are limited in several of the resources that we could have. I would like to write grants or talk to my administrators about getting better technology resources for our students. All of the teachers need Smart Boards and it would be great to get more digital camera, ipods, etc. in the classroom for our students to use. I would also like my students to do more research and present information using the computers and computer software. Instead of completing a written project, my students could complete a timeline using Powerpoint or Photostory. I would like to give my students more opportunities to show what they have learned through technology.

Writing-Chapter 8

Teaching writing is one of the biggest struggles I have as a third grade teacher. Writing has never been my favorite subject, so I have to work hard to be a good writing teacher. Teaching 3rd graders to write can be very trying. Some students are naturally good writers and just need some extra help, while others have a hard time even forming good sentences. There are several things that I've learned to do well after teaching writing for several years. First, I model, model, model! Every time I begin a new writing I start out and model the piece of writing myself to show what I expect from the students. I also use modeling when teaching mini lessons about grammar and other writing topics. The only problem with modeling is many students try to copy my work, so I have to use examples that I know they will not copy. I also teach my students the writing rubric that they are graded with at the beginning of the year. My students know what I expect from their writing and how they can do well. Teaching my students about good writing and showing examples of good writing helps them develop better ideas of what I expect. Finally, I keep my students' finished writings in a portfolio. They are able to showcase their finished writings to their parents or go back to revise or edit these writings during the year.

I am constantly searching for ways to improve my writing instruction each year. Right now, my school is doing a book club on different writing books. Our book has given me many ideas for my writing instruction. There are several things that I don't do right while teaching writing. First, I do not give my students enough time to write. I try to have my students write daily. Unfortunately, since we are not tested on writing right now, writing is sometimes the subject that has to go if we are too busy that day. When we have a chance to write, students often do not have enough time to develop their thoughts and get them on paper. Also, I don't give enough instruction time to keyboarding skills. I would really like to have my students type their papers, but it takes too long because they do not know how to type.

There are several things that I could do to improve my writing instruction. First, I need to show more examples of student writing to my students. I need to make copies of previous student writing to keep for the following year. It is good for my students to see my writing, but even better when they are able to see another 3rd grader's writing. I would also like to show my students a low, middle, and high level writing example. We could go through the pros and cons of each writing together. I would also like to work on better writing conferences with my students. I meet with my students after they have revised and edited their papers. I need to meet with my students for short conferences during their drafting to provide better feedback. Finally, I want to make it a priority to write every day in my classroom. Improving my writing instruction is one of my goals for the rest of the year!

Chapter 7-Reading Comprehension

One of the biggest issues for students with reading problems is reading comprehension and having motivation to read. To help my students succeed with reading comprehension I use several strategies in my classoom during shared and guided reading. First, I use text enhancement strategies such as mnemonic devices and diagrams and charts. Creating notes and charts about what we are reading helps the students find the most important parts of the text. We also focus on finding main ideas in texts and using main idea and details during writing. We also create story maps after reading to find the story elements and focus on the important details in the story.

Something I struggle with in teaching reading comprehension in my classroom is having my students read together or use peer tutoring. I use a lot of cooperative learning in my classroom, but always find it hard to manage during reading. My students also have a hard time with summaring and vocabulary instruction. It is hard for 3rd graders to find the most important details in the story in order to create a summary. They are able to orally retell the story, but have a hard time writing down the summary. I also struggle with teaching vocabulary to my students. I go over the vocabulary at the beginning of the week, but do not visit it much more throughout the week. I know my students need more instruction on these words to help them learn the meanings.

I am going to try to include more peer tutoring and reciprocal teaching in my classroom during reading. I want to group my students and have them read with each other and ask each other comprehension questions. My goal is also to work on summarizing by modeling how to orally retell a story and how to write a summary. Finally, I want to find new ways to enhance vocabulary instruction. I want to use crossword puzzles or other games to incorporate the new words each week.

Chapter 6-Reading Instruction

I've taught several students that were culturally and linguistically diverse, but I haven't had any students that were CLDE. I've seen that most students that are ELL have the biggest issue with the subject of reading. Most of my ELL students could read, but struggled with comprehension and reading in other content areas. To help these students and all my students with reading, I make sure to form relationships with all my students. I learn about their family, likes, dislikes, etc. Once I know my students I am able to make connections to my students and help them make connections with their reading. When my students are able to relate to the text we are reading, they are more likely to understand the text and be motivated to read it. I was able to use students' prior knowledge to make connections to texts we were reading in class. I also use guided reading in my class everyday to help all my students. Guided reading enables me to sit down with a group of students and focus on certain skills with these students. I am able to pinpoint what skills my students need the most help on. Guided reading also helps with fluency and comprehension. I was able to use guided reading and making connections to help my students become better readers.

Something I struggle with in reading instruction is letting my students have ownership of their reading. I lead most of the reading instruction in my room and ask most of the questions. I feel like my students would benefit from having the opportunity to take ownership, ask questions, and take a role in the reading instruction. I also struggle with oral language instruction. I need to give my students more time to read aloud and share stories with the class. Students gain so much from reading aloud and asking questions to students reading aloud. I especially think it is important for students to read aloud and have discussions about content area textbooks. Often times, these textbooks are written on grade level so some students have a hard time understanding the text. Listening to students read aloud and asking questions can help with reading instruction.

Right now, I am having one student a week read aloud a picture book to the class. This is helping with fluency and students are listening and asking questions about the class. I also am putting more responsibility on my students by having these students have roles in their guided reading groups. I have my students read together in their group, ask questions, and make predictions together.

Chapter 12-Assessments

Assessments are used in my classroom to guide instruction. I use a variety of assessments each day to help my instruction and to help monitor my students' success. I used a problem-solving model to help with several of my students this year. I've seen that several students in my classroom have trouble with math this year. I've used the data from MAP, Benchmark testing, and classroom assessments to notice an achievement gap. I am meeting with parents right now to discuss ways we can both help these students. These students are attending RtI and I am meeting with them in small math groups to help close the achievement gap. I also have a tutor that my students go to each week to help with math. I give my students many chances to succeed by offering many different types of assessments. I use the traditional assessments of quizzes, tests, and daily grades. I also use projects, observations, technology, and oral reports. My students can use the smartboard and write on their desks with whiteboard markers. I am able to walk around the room to monitor students' progress throughout the year.

First, I need to give more pretests to my students to see what they already know before beginning a unit. I can help my higher students by giving them individualized instruction during reading and math to help challenge their thinking. I struggle with using the data from classroom assessments to help meet my students' needs. I need to use their grades to plan my instruction for math and reading groups for the following weeks. It is hard to find time to continue teaching new content while going back and reteaching information to students that struggled with the old content.

I am going to try to analyze my students' assessments each week and use the data in their reading and math groups. I want to be able to focus on what skills they are struggling with. I want to make sure my students understand the current content before moving on to new content. I want to make sure my students are given multiple opportunities to show what they know through pretests and other types of assessments. Many of my students have test anxiety, so I want to make sure they are given opportunities to show what they know through different types of assessments.

Chapter 5-Classroom Management

Classroom management is such an important skill in the classroom and is something that I work to improve each year. I am always looking for new ways to improve my classroom management and keep my students' learning the number one priority in my classroom. First, I like structure and routines. From day one, I go over all of my procedures and what I expect from my students. I have rules and routines for everything in my classroom. My students know what to expect every day. I use a lot of positive reinforcement in my classroom. The class creates our class rules on the first day of school and we use a type of token economy. The students are rewarded with tickets for following the rules. They are able to use their tickets to "buy" candy, treats in the treasure box and coupons. They love being able to cash in their tickets each day. I  also have a positive reward system for our class. The students earn marbles for the marble jar for good class behavior. When the jar is filled, the class will receive some type of party. To help with transitions I use a timer to time our transitions. If the students finish in time, they will receive marbles for their marble jar. I also like to use a GO/STOP sign to help students remember when they can get up and when they need to stay seated during the class.

Even though I have all the positive supports set up, I often struggle with using them each day. Passing out tickets takes time and many times during the day I forget to pass them out. I also have a hard time being consistent. Some weeks I am good with tickets and marbles and sometimes I am not. It is a struggle to teach everything in the day and remember to use positive reinforcement. I know that using positive reinforcements will help my students concentrate and pay attention during class. Being fair to all students is also a struggle when using rewards. It is easy to give consequences to some students and not the others. It is definitely important to be fair and stay consistent with classroom management.

I want to improve my classroom management by using more positive supports each day. I want to stay fair and make sure all students are following the rules and routines set up at the beginning of the year. I also want to be more consistent with my tickets. It is important that all students have a chance to earn their tickets each day. Finally, I would like to implement some type of fees/fines for our token economy. When students disobey the rules we have set up, I think they should have to pay a fine or fee with the tickets instead of sitting out of recess. I want to work hard to improve my classroom management each and every year.