Reflective Journal

Jessica Stith
Reflection Set 1
11/1/2016
Student-Teacher Relationships
▧ One of the best ways that I build
student-teacher relationships is by showing
trust in my students. I give all of my students
my cell phone number and make it clear that if
they are struggling with an assignment, they
can text me for help. In five years, I have never
had a student abuse my number or use it
inappropriately.
▧ I talk to my students before and after class, I
remember the things that they tell me and I
make sure to follow-up when possible.
▧ When students are absent I make sure to tell
them that I missed them when they return.
▧ I have individual conferences with every
student at least twice a semester.
Learner-Centered Teachers:
▧ treat students as individuals and work to meet the
“needs of the whole child in balance with the needs of
the community and society” (McCombs 6).
▧ engage with the students as co-learners
▧ provide choice in the classroom and allow students to
be self-directed.
▧ make the students aware of the value of the content to
them as individuals and to their own lives.

I think that I am already fairly good at the first and last of

these. I work hard to show students how what we are doing
in class is meaningful in their own lives and I also work hard
to know and treat my students as individuals including
differentiating assignments according to the needs of the
students, regardless of whether or not they have an IEP.
I scored a 3.4, 4.4 and 3.4. However, I Teacher Beliefs
Survey
can’t figure out the “rubric” on page
29. I was within .2 on
Learner-Centered Beliefs about
Learners, Learning and teaching,
which I assume means that I fall
within the Learner-Centered scale.
However, I don’t know what scoring
significantly higher than the rubric on
Non Learner-Centered Beliefs about
Learners and Non-Learner Centered
Beliefs about Learning and Teaching
means. There is no range or
descriptor for the rubric based on
your score.
 Student Motivation
My student said that what motivates them to learn is:
▧ Technology
▧ Studying what they want to
▧ Teachers who care about them
▧ Extracurriculars
▧ Electives
▧ Classes where the students and the teachers cared
These responses seem to line up with the following responses from page 38:
▧ To be part of a family;
▧ To have choices;
▧ Their teachers to act as helpers;
I see that in both lists students identify their relationship with adults as being a key motivator or
desire. I also see the that having choices (extracurriculars and electives) is a key point for
students. My student is more focused on specifics, technology , and non-academic concerns
than those of the author’s.
Reaching Difficult Students
▧ I call them after school and talk to them. I let them
know that I want them to be successful and ask if
there’s any way I can help them to achieve that.
▧ I write them notes of encouragement and give them
to those students.
▧ I speak to coaches, counselors, teachers or other
adults in the building with whom they have a good
relationship and see if there’s any way I can engage
them.
▧ I go to their sporting events or other extra curriculars
and then congratulate them on their performance
later
▧ I conference with them and we come up with a
behavior contract
 Learner-Centered Practices, In Short.
Takeaways:
▧ Learner-centered practices improve motivation and engagement for both
students and teachers.
▧ Learner-centered practices also increase student achievement and learning.
▧ Learner-centered practices acknowledge and honor individual differences
between students and allow students to manage their own learning.

How will I incorporate these practices into my instructional practice?

▧ Incorporate more student choice of assessments
▧ Incorporate more student-determined research.
▧ Identify and explain how our work is relevant and meaningful in the lives of
my students.
Reflection Set 2
11/7/2016
 LCP Strength:
LCP 11: Social Influences on Learning
I do well on this standard in two ways. First, I do a good job of building relationships with my students. I do
this in a variety of ways. Everyday, during the drill, they have the option to “Tell Me Something Real”
instead of answering the given drill, though they have write at least 100 words. Students generally use this
option when they have some personal or social issue that they need to express their emotions before they
can engage in the lesson. I read these and write back to the students and in this way I learn about the
personal issues that they are struggling with in their families or with friends. I also greet students at the
door every day and this allows me check in with students and address any concerns from the day before. I
also call my students first and talk to them when there is an issue in class. My students are 14-15, so I tell
them that they are about to be adults and I trust they can talk to me and resolve any concerns before I have
to call their parents. Once I start calling students, they become excited about the fact that I do, in fact, call
them and I find that for most students, one call is enough. However, when I have good news, I call their
families first.

Second, students work collaboratively in my classroom almost every single day. This allows for students to
practice their collaborative skills and gives them the opportunity to talk to and learn from their peers.
 Improving Conditions:
The condition which I need to improve the most is number four: Students are asked to
evaluate their own work. I do ask students to evaluate their own work, but not
consistently and only on major assignments. This is an area that I can improve
significantly.

Suggestions for improvement:

▧ Have students score their own work.
▧ Have students revise work based on feedback from me, their peers or their own
self-evaluation.
▧ Have students take a piece of work and revise it, repeatedly, to achieve a higher
score or specific standard of accomplishment.
▧ Have students identify an assignment to improve their performance on by using a
rubric and scoring themselves as they go.
 Growth-Centered Classroom Culture
I establish a supportive, growth-centered culture in my classroom.
I do this in a variety of ways:
▧ From the first day of school, I make it clear that pejoratives are not allowed in the
classroom. By the end of the first quarter, students not only know what
pejoratives are, they self-correct when they use them.
▧ I celebrate student growth on a variety of measures including specific standards,
overall grade, and specific writing skills.
▧ Students are allowed to make up and resubmit any assignment other than a drill
or reading quiz on which they receive less than an 80%. As many as times as
they’d like until they get an 80%.
▧ I individually conference with students several times throughout the quarter and
focus on ways that they can grow and make improvements in problem areas.
Lowest Achievements:
Factors in Student Achievement
▧ Based on the NAEP findings one of the key factors in my students lowest achievements is the fact
that they attend a school with high black student density (90+ percent).
▧ Another major factor in my students lowest achievements is that they attend a school with a high
teacher turnover (more than 30% of the staff has rolled over each of the past five years and in
some years it was as high as 80%).
▧ Another factor is that my students are taught by a high-percentage of first-year teachers, most of
whom are in cohorts like TFA or the Baltimore City Teaching Residency.
Highest Achievements:
▧ One factor that I think contributes to the high achievements of my students is that most teachers
in our school cultivate meaningful relationships with our students and provide support beyond
that of homework assistance.
▧ I make myself available to students at any time by giving them my cell phone number and they
use it to ask for clarification or assistance or to inform me of absences and personal matters. This
makes sure that I know what is going on and lets me make reasonable accommodations for those
students who need them.
▧ I focus heavily on cultivating a growth mindset in my classroom and I think that helps students to
continue to grapple with challenging tasks and continue to improve, particularly because I allow
students to complete and re-submit assignments as needed.
 Goals for a more Learner-Centered Classroom
Choice:
▧ Incorporate more student choice in how they demonstrate knowledge. (use menus of
approved options)
▧ Offer students a variety of related topics or aspects of a topic and allow them to choose
which one that they research/focus on.
▧ Build student motivation, engagement and agency in the classroom through the use of
LCPs

Practical Changes:
▧ Incorporate LCPs in the classroom on a regular basis (once a week to start (significant
curriculum work must be done to accommodate the LCPs)).
▧ Change summative assessment to allow for a narrative, rather than a written narrative
and increase student choice.
I am a first-generation college student. My maternal grandfather had to drop out of
school when he was eight-years-old because his father died and he was needed on the
farm. When he was 18, he joined the Navy and went and served in the Korean War. It was
the Navy that taught my grandfather how to read. When he returned to rural Kentucky
after the war, he met and married my Grandmother and they had six children. My
grandfather was determined that his kids would graduate from school and all six of them
did. I am the oldest grandchild and I was the first person in the family to attend and
graduate from college. In fact, at this time only my sister and I have graduated with any
degree and we’re both currently pursuing advanced degrees. I tell my students this to
show them that education is very important to me and that I understand how choosing to
pursue higher education can separate you from your family in some ways. My family loves
and supports me, but they consider me and my sister city girls and they definitely feel the
difference in our chosen paths. That’s something that my students intuitively know, but
don’t know how to articulate. I know choosing a different path from the rest of your family
or peer group can be challenging in lots of ways, but I also know that you can do it and
still love and respect where you are from. I am a huge advocate for technical education
and career readiness, I know that not all students need or want college to be successful,
but I do want all of them to be successful in their chosen fields.
Reflection Set 3
11/14/2016
 11/14/2016 Determine
acceptable evidence
(develop assessments)
Plan
Learning
Experiences
Start
by identifying the
desired results

The road to effective teaching and

learning!
Difficulties in preparing assessments at the end of a unit:

Preparing assessments at the end of a unit, rather than the

beginning, can mean that your assessments are aligned to the
activities that you did rather than the learning goals you set for
your students. Additionally, waiting until the end of a unit to
develop the assessment can mean that your assessment is a
test over the content rather than a reflection of the students’
mastery of skills. Creating assessments near the conclusion of a
unit of study can also mean that you inadvertently spend class
time on activities which are not meaningful or relevant to your
actual goals for your students.
 Why is Alignment Important?
Student
Goals Assessments Plans
Success
Alignment of unit goals, assessments and
instructional plans is key to maximizing student
learning and transfer of skills and knowledge as well
as maximizing instructional time. When these three
components are aligned, instruction is driven by the
ultimate goal and ancillary lessons and information
is removed from the plan in order to best utilize the
time for teaching and applying the focus skills or
knowledge.
 How Does UbD support the LCPs?

Learner-centered education is focused on developing individual

student achievement and motivation through providing a supportive
environment, choice, control and clear evaluation and reflection. When
instruction is aligned by using the UbD process, students are aware of
why they are learning what they are learning and what the final goal is.
These are key factors in empowering students in the classroom and
increasing their motivation through learner-centered principles.
Students are also introduced to material via essential questions which
are meant to be meaningful and relevant--even beyond that unit of
study and ideally within the students’ own lives and experiences,
another key principle of learner-centered principles.
Reflection Set 4
11/28/2016
 Is Curriculum Disabling?
I agree that the curriculum is often a factor in why students struggle in
the classroom. Our curriculum is fixed, and it’s fixed in such a way as to
privilege learners who are already adept at reading and expressing
themselves in writing. My curriculum requires that every assessment
throughout the course of the year is a written essay, the only change in
that requirement is the type of essay which is required. This is severely
limiting to students and does not allow students to demonstrate
learning in any other fashion. Although our curriculum is organized
around essential questions and enduring understandings and begins
with the final assessment, it still fails to meet the standards of a UDL
framework because it does not allow for student choice or multiple
modes and styles of demonstrating learning and mastery.
 Personal Mastery
One area where I have achieved mastery is in the making of traditional dreamcatchers. I was
first taught how to make dreamcatchers this way by an elder when I was in my teens, complete
with the traditional stories about the how and why dreamcatchers are made the way that they
are. I would sit and make dreamcatchers with friends and for sale at the local pow-wows, but I
still didn’t consider myself a master. I would look at the dreamcatchers which were smaller,
more intricate, or had multiple hoops and examine how they were made and consider how I
might do the same. Over time and with practice, I found that I was making dreamcatchers
faster and with more detail. In college I was President of our Native Peoples’ Awareness
Coalition. One of our most popular events was a dreamcatcher workshop and I found that with
the practice that I already had, I was able to teach people how to make a traditional
dreamcatcher as I told the stories about why we made them the way we did. Helping other
people make dreamcatchers and seeing where they struggled or ran into problems, I was found
myself making and teaching dreamcatchers more effectively. Today I would still not say I am a
master, I am still learning how to do multiple hoops within the constraints of our tradition, but it
is something that I am still asked to teach and demonstrate.
My personal dreamcatcher
 What is a Growth Mindset?

A “growth mindset” is the belief that we are not

fixed as learners or individuals and that our
abilities and understandings can and will
change as we apply ourselves and practice. A
growth mindset is crucial to learning success
because without the true belief that with effort
and action we can improve, there is no
motivation to learn.
Why do teachers need to be expert learners?
For most students, teachers are the first experts that they encounter.
Teachers become the face of learning and education to students and,
as the text says, teachers demonstrate a skill and alacrity that belies the
effort and journey that led to that skill. For students that can be
disenfranchising because they believe, erroneously, that people simply
have or don’t have that skill or knowledge and they do not see the
actual process of learning. Additionally, I think it’s important for
teachers to be expert learners themselves because I think it’s important
for teachers to remember and be able to explain the struggle to learn
something new, perhaps something that we were not naturally gifted
at. In order to demonstrate true learning and increase student
self-efficacy, teachers need to be seen and show themselves as expert
learners, which is to say not experts, but experts at learning.
 What is the myth of average?
The myth of average is the prevailing common belief that is underpinning all
of our current educational practice and policy. Policymakers are concerned
with the average student and the average test score and how to improve
both of those. As the video illustrates, the preoccupation with the average is
doing a disservice to all of our students, but our students at the margins in
particular. In addition, I think it helps me personally to consider that while
my students are not average in demographic or skills, something that those
of us who teach in high poverty and low-resource schools are excruciatingly
aware of, but we do tend to subscribe to the belief that teachers in other
schools or districts have it better because their students are average.
However, that is also incorrect. I think sometimes we comfort ourselves with
the way things are by making excuses about our differences, but if everyone
is different and there is no average, there are no excuses.
Reflection Set 5
12/5/2016
 Which brain network does traditional curriculum focus on?
Although UDL is based on three brain networks: recognition, strategic,
and affective networks. Although curriculum is coming to value and
include the affective networks in terms of building and support student
engagement, traditional curriculum is focused primarily on recognition
networks. Recognition networks are focused primarily on pattern
recognition such as word and sentence patterns, patterns of math
problems and art. When students struggle with the curriculum, we
often look for where in the pattern their understanding breaks down or
is not engaged. However, this approach is flawed because not only are
there two other primary networks which matter, even the recognition
networks are not organized hierarchically as we have previously
believed which means understanding how to reach students is not
simply a case of seeing where the pattern has been disrupted.
 The Affective Network
The affective network is about the
social and emotional context for
learning. Specifically, the affective
network is where engagement and
motivation occur. Research into the
affective network has uncovered
that students’ social and emotional
sense of safety is key to their ability
to receive and process new
information successfully.
The Recognition Network
The recognition network is
primarily devoted to
exploring and understanding
various patterns and
connecting them to other
information. One key fact in
the recognition network is
that different types of
patterns (auditory, visual,
verbal) are recognized in
different parts of the brain.
 The Strategic Network
The strategic network is
key to what educators
generally refer to as the
executive functions. This
network is responsible for
strategic thinking, goal
setting and monitoring,
self-assessment, and
other key higher-level
thinking skills.
 How to remember the networks?
I find it relatively simple to distinguish between
these three networks. I think of them using a bit of
wordplay:
Strategic=strategy=planning, preparing and
executing
Recognition=recognize=patterns=reading, writing,
math
Affective=affect=emotions and engagement
 Take-Aways from Carol Dweck’s Ted Talk
▧ I was interested in the correlation between grades and a growth mindset.
The study from the school in Chicago that showed that students who did
not meet passing requirements were marked “not yet” rather than “failing”
was interesting to me. I am struggling with how to motivate my unmotivated
students and engage them in the work required to improve their grades. I
wonder if making some of these changes would help my students.
▧ The studies that showed students who have received a failing score would
rather cheat than study or expend more effort was fascinating and also
supported what I’ve observed in my classroom.
▧ I need to make sure that my praise is focused on process and effort and I
need to find more opportunities to praise process and effort.
▧ Focusing on a growth mindset can help me bridge the achievement gap
with my students.
Reflection Set 6
12/12/2016
 UDL Guidelines
Engagement Provide Options for recruiting interest Optimize individual choice
and autonomy
As I’ve been reflecting on my students’ simultaneous lack of engagement and background knowledge, I
decided to try and apply the UDL principles to my curriculum and see what I could do to improve both of
these. I created a webquest and mini-research project. Students had to do the webquest which involved
watching a video and touring the author’s website as well as connecting to the essential question of our unit
(Webquest Organizer and Research Project Rubric). Once students were familiar with the primary topics,
they had to choose one and also choose how to present the information to the class. Students could work
alone or in a partner, students could pick any of the topics or devise one of their own choosing (with
approval) and, although I recommended some specific mediums for various topics, students were free to
choose how they presented the information. I did notice that students needed more time than I originally
anticipated, but students have been uniformly engaged and interested and they’ve begun to support and
tutor each other in the unfamiliar technologies. One student, who is repeating my course and currently failing
created this poster for his chosen topic. I’ve known this student for two years and never seen him so proud
of anything. He fully approves of the ability to do this type of work, as he commented, “this is hard* Ms.
Stith.” (where hard=cool, neat). We printed it on the poster maker and hung it in the classroom today and he
was quietly so proud of his work.
 UDL Guidelines

Representation Provide options for language, mathematical

expressions, and symbols Illustrate through multiple media
With the webquest and mini-research project for Unbroken, students have been able to
view videos, listen to audio stories, read interviews, view timelines, use an interactive
map and pursue pictures for information around the various topics that they are
researching. Although every topic does not have every type of media, all students will
view a video with both the author and subject of the text, view and use an interactive
map showing key locations from the text, view key images from the life and experiences
of Louie Zamperini in addition to the key articles, videos, timelines, interviews, photos
and audio recording embedded with the various resources for each of the topics.
 UDL Guidelines

Action and Expression Provide options for expression and communication

Use multiple tools for construction and composition
Within the same project, I am providing students with options for expression and communication in a few
ways. First, at the end of each day, I have a nearpod for students that asks them to identify key
takeaways, areas of need or growth, and a self-reflection. This is working pretty well, but I think I need to
simplify the number of questions because it is taking too long as an exit slip. Additionally, students have
the full range of options to create their presentations on their topics, but I have suggested certain options
for each topic . Students also have a resource page where I identify some types of media and also link to
themed lists of other types of resources. At present, I have students composing cartoons about World War
II, making posters of Vocabulary and doing prezis of nearly every topic. I haven’t had a student choose to
do a video yet, but that may be something we work up to.
 Upcoming Goals...
Goal: Students will analyze how the author is conveying information and the
effect of the details she chooses to include.

Separate the ends from the means:

Students need to be able to identify how the author conveys information and the
effect of the strategy she chooses.
 Goals
Goal: Students will analyze how the author is conveying information and the effect of the details she
chooses to include.

Consider all three learning networks

Engagement:
● Students will have the choice to work together or individually
● Students will choose from pre-identified sections of text to analyze the author’s choices.
Representation:
● Students will be able to consult text or audio versions of the text
● Students will be able to use highlighters, annotation or other methods to mark and identify
patterns.
Action and Expression:
● Students will have access to highllighters and post-it notes to support idendtification and
annotation.
● Some students will receive a copy of the text which already has some annotation of word choice
as a guide to support their individual work.
● Students can demonstrate their understanding via written response, graphci organizer, or other
medium.
 Goals

Goal: Students will analyze how the author is conveying information and the
effect of the details she chooses to include.

Challenge all learners:

● Advanced students will be pushed to investigate the nuances of the

author’s word choice.
● Students who find this task more challenging will have access to supports
such as teacher annotations and models of the text and an exemplar
response
● Students will be able to choose from a selection of text passages at varying
levels of complexity.
 Goals

Goal: Students will analyze how the author is conveying information and the effect
of the details she chooses to include.

Actively involve learners

● Students will be able to choose the text selection they want to analyze
● Students will be able to choose whether to work independently or with a
partner
● Students will be able to physically manipulate the text if they so desire
● Students will be able to digitally manipulate the text if they so desire
● I will circulate and do checks for understanding to ensure that all students are
progressing in such a way as to be successful on the assignment or re-teach
skills as needed.
 Poor/Alternative Assessment
College Assessment: My first course of my undergraduate experience was a history course
about America after WWII. The professor came in every day, lectured for two hours, non-stop,
and walked out. We had a midterm and a final and they were both essay exams. We had no
study guides and the exams were three hours, in a blue book, each. The short answer
response questions were drawn from esoteric passages in the text that were never covered in
class and were not significant or key to understanding, but clearly meant to be a check for
reading.
Alternative Assessment: Give students a list of topics along with key ideas or points and have
them demonstrate their mastery of a specified number of those topics in class. Students could
write an essay, but they could also draw diagrams, make a timeline, create a visual or provide
some other alternative demonstration of their mastery. Students should have a clear idea of
which topics were going to be assessed and some guide for how that assessment would be
graded.
 Does UDL require technology?
Although technology certainly helps facilitate UDL, it is not necessary for the
implementation of UDL principles. The key to implementing UDL in the
classroom is the backwards planning and the strategic use of resources to
support key learning goals. Whether or not those resources are digital is
determined by availability, support and purpose.. In UDL the use of any
curriculum tool or support is based on its effectiveness and ability to support
diverse learners or support learner variability. Although digital formats often aid
these goals, it is not the only way or even always the preferred way. Often
students learn certain concepts best through manipulatives or other tactile
methods, digital methods would not be necessary or appropriate in these
cases. The key to UDL is about developing a curriculum and learning plan that
supports students across a range of abilities, needs, interests, skills and
preferences. Although it may take more planning or creative thinking in some
contexts to do this without employing digital technologies, it is possible. The
most important thing is to deploy UDL guidelines and principles in the best
interests of your students, not wait until you have a utopian,
technology-centered classroom.
Reflection Set 7
12/19/2016
 Bach to Lady Gaga

I would give this video three stars. I thought there was interesting stuff in there,
particularly about designing instruments that were responsive to the needs and
abilities of different musicians. However, overall I thought that the video was
much longer than it needed to be to demonstrate and explain the point Dr. Rose
was trying to make. In fact, at several points he notes this, but he still does it. It’s
obvious that he’s excited and energized by his research and presentation, but a
more succinct presentation would be better for me.
UDL and Learners with Severe Support Needs
● I found her explanation of Marcus’s
strengths in each of the brain networks,
taking into account the supports required
for his success, were interesting and
challenged my own thinking about what
strengths might look like for different
students.
● I found her questions for additional
research about the need for further
investigation of the relationship between
the UDL framework and the needs of
students with severe disabilities to be
thought-provoking. I don’t teach any
students with severe disabilities, but
looking at this made me wonder how I
could plan for that level of variability.
● I recently watched an ARC talk of Kylene
Beers talking about literacy and one thing
she talks about is the segregation of
intellectual rigor. I found this echoed in this
article and it really solidified this idea for
me.
 UDL and the Common Core
▧ I believe that UDL will improve my teaching, the learning of my students and the comfort
and success of all of us.
▧ In my classroom, I will implement UDL by considering my curriculum in advance and
adapting it to met the UDL framework by broadly interpreting certain assessments (write
a narrative) to remove barriers for students. Doing this well in advance will allow me to
add the resources required to meet multiple means of engagement, representation and
action and expression.
▧ One concern I have about implementing UDL in my classroom is how interact with how I
am evaluated and observed. I have district observers in my classroom almost weekly and
they have a very narrow field of vision.
▧ The most significant learning I have had about UDL is in how I have begun to consider
multiple means of representation in my classroom. I think this was one of my weaker
areas and throughout the course I have been trying to apply the framework and I have
seen an increase in student agency, efficacy and motivation.
▧ UDL is included in the Common Core Standards in the provisions for students with
disability. However, UDL can and should be infused throughout the standards and
students and teachers would benefit from separating the means from the goals in the
CCSS. They are conflated in some strands which builds a barrier to student learning.
 Final Reflections
▧ I have already begun to change and adapt my classroom as a consequence of
the information I’ve learned in this class. One thing that I have done and hope to
continue to do is begin adapt my somewhat strict curriculum to incorporate
multiple means of engagement, representation and action and expression. One
way that I have done that is adapt the background lesson for our current novel
into a webquest and mini-research project. That has made a huge difference in
the atmosphere and engagement in my classroom. Students who are repeating
the course from last year are now motivated and interested and all the students
are excited to share what they’ve done.

Tech is tight
Student so students
product of worked
research on together and
Louis worked on
Zamperini my computer
created using to do their
Canva projects
 Final Reflections
▧ Another way that I intend to incorporate my learning from this course in my
classroom is by incorporating more means of representation. I am a
verbal-linguistic/visual learner and I have to make an effort to incorporate
other forms of representation for my students. For our current unit we’ve
used videos, interviews, articles, a podcast, interactive maps, timelines as
well as the traditional text to ensure that students understand the context of
the novel we’re reading. It has been remarkably successful so far and it’s
something I want to continue to incorporate as we move forward.
▧ I also want to meaningfully and authentically use goal setting with my
students. I have attempted goal setting in the past, but it has not seemed to
resonate with students. I think it can be an important motivating factor as
well as strategic tool. I plan to start in January with having students set a
growth goal that they want to meet by the first progress report. I also want
to try and meet with each student about their goal at least once after two
weeks to re-evaluate their goals and see their progress.
Final Notes:
● All pictures are royalty free and obtained from
Pixabay.com
● Links to individual picture pages are in the notes field for
that slide.
● Any pictures without attribution are my own pictures from
my classroom or practice.