Writing Centers

Writing at the second grade level is a challenge for many students. So today I set up centers and tried to give the children some choices. We have been studying the ocean so I wanted to stick to that topic to tie in science.
The children had to produce a piece of writing by the end of the center time. They could work in groups or independently.
At the first center I had shells, sea urchins, sea stars and sponges. The children observed these with a magnifying glass and explored these artifacts using their senses. I had a printed piece of paper that had a place to draw a picture of the ocean on the top and a space on the bottom for writing. I used the five senses. The ocean feels,smells, looks, sounds like and so on. I got the most clear vision from these children. They used adjectives!!!! It sounds like the playground at recess, the roar of the crashing waves and squawking of the sea gulls.
The next table was full of books about the sea creatures and plants that we had been learning about. At this center they were to simply write down facts. One girl wrote One and a half pages of facts that she accumulated on lobsters. She loves facts and the writing was incredible.
Last option was a table with various samples of kelp. These children had to imagine that they were the kelp. Write an imaginary story about their life. This is the table that I saw pairs of children talking about their lives as kelp. It got a bit noisy at this center but they were actively engaged in spinning a story together.Again I saw a lot of communication, cooperation and enthusiasm about writing. Once again the final product was more than I could of hoped for. They wove in tidbits of information about other animals that we were learning about in science. How cool is that?
My experiment was a success. I had all students engaged in writing. Each child chose if they wanted to work alone or together and which center appealed to them the most. Looks like I will need to get busy to create some more writing centers.

New Strategies To Try Out In My Classroom

I really like the idea of prior knowledge stations. I find that many students have very little knowledge of a lot of the topics I cover in class before we learn about them and many have little knowledge of tools, finishes, or technical drawing. I expect this and I have in the past asked students as we are doing a lecture or demonstration to offer any information they know what about what we’re covering. However, sometimes I feel like doing this tends to lead my lesson a little off course when kids want to share stores and things like that. Lately I have asked students before we begin a lesson to share their knowledge so I can get a better idea of what they know beforehand. I would like to in the future set up little stations around the classroom for students to do mini activities that focus on all learning types and combine hands-on, reading, writing, collaborating, discussions, movement, and problem solving activities.

I also think that differentiated choices are a good thing for me to work on. I have been slowly adding in more choices for students to choose from in both daily activities and as extensions. I give students many opportunities for choices in my Enrichment classes such as what activities they’d like to do or what order they’d like to do something, and also I give them 2-3 choices for an activity we’ll be doing a particular day or week and as a group they need to decide. In regular Tech Ed class I allow students the choice to work independently or with groups on many things, and they have freedom to make choices in the detailing of their projects.

How would they be useful to a team or PLC:
I think that these strategies I mentioned and all of the strategies discussed in the book are all useful to a team or PLC because every team or PLC will have a dynamic group of people in it and adults like choices just as much as children do. I feel like teachers especially, who have a lot of routine in their professional lives need variety in professional development opportunities and team collaboration to become better at what they do and to learn new things.

Hypothesizing Students Types Through Observation

Student number 1:

I hypothesize that a student who I often became frustrated with in their behavior during lectures is an ESTJ.  I find this interesting because this is the same type that I am.  Every day that students come to class they are expected to get their notebooks, a pencil & sit at the drafting tables.  If it is a journal day they must answer the journal question quietly to allow all students equal opportunity for concentration and then I either give a lecture on a specific topic or give a few simple directions for the day’s lab activity & then dismiss them to the lab to work on their projects. 

This student is clearly an Extravert because he always called out and interrupted.  He often got out of his seat to sharpen his pencil in the middle of directions or a lecture, and he was very loud.  I am pretty confident that my predictions on his other types are accurate as well.  The majority of my class is hands-on learning, problem solving, and teamwork activities. 

This student fits into the Sensing type well because he always interrupted during directions or demonstrations with questions I was about to explain if he had waited.  He excelled in the manufacturing project which is a hands-on activity involving wood working.  It was accurately measured, assembled according to specifications, and he took his time applying a finish.  I did notice that he struggled with reading & writing assignments, and when I allowed him to work with others he did much better because he could share his ideas. 

I believe that this student fits into the Thinking type.  During class I was doing a doing an assembly demonstration for the manufacturing project that 8^th grade is doing this year and this particular student loved to critique me and make suggestions of alternative supplies or materials we should use.  He also loved to argue with me about my classroom rules like safety, and I always told him that the rules are there for a reason and to keep you safe. 

Finally, I feel as though this student is a Judging type because he did rush through his work and was resistant to my suggestions and critiques in things that needed to be fixed.  He did finally end up fixing them.  This student also did not like to stop working at the end of class.  I always save at least 5 minutes for clean-up and he always wanted to keep working.  Every day I put an agenda on the board which tells which day we are on in a project for example 6/10 and what step they should be on.  I feel this helps students know how to manage their time. 

This student reminds me a lot of myself in middle school.  He is very goofy, but likes to push your buttons and see how much he can get away with.  Although we are the same type I was often very annoyed by this student’s behavior, but I also think that the mix of other students in the class had something to do with his need to act out to be “cool”.  This student did well in my class, but it was sometimes a struggle to motivate him in certain tasks or correct his behavior. 

Student number 2:

            Another student is also in the 8^th grade is quite the opposite of the first.  I hypothesize that this student is an INFJ.  I believe he is an introvert because he is always very quiet in his demeanor, and his participation in class discussions were delayed, but insightful.  He is someone who can work well independently, but also enjoys working with people he chooses that are similar to him.  When he finished his manufacturing project I asked him if he’d like to do another woodshop project and he said he’d prefer to draw or read. 

            This student strikes me as an Intuitive because when we did classwork I noticed he would often begin immediately without waiting for my directions and he did request to make changes in his caddy project.  I allowed him some exceptions because he brought up a good argument for why he wanted to make these changes. 

            It is pretty clear that this student is a Feeler was challenging for me.  I had to lean more toward Feeling thought.  He strikes me as a sensitive person who often looks out for the underdog.  He also did seek my feedback quite often to make sure he was doing things correctly.  I also think that this person is good at relating lessons and assignments to the needs of people.  I always have students do a project reflection when they’re finished with their project to express what they’ve learned and might change in the future.  I also ask them how they would market this product to consumers.  This student was able to give such a clear explanation of this. 

Determining whether this student is Judging or Perceiving was challenging.  He doesn’t really clearly exemplify most of these traits.  I am leaning more towards judging, but I might be wrong.  He seems like he is a student who plans things out and likes to know what to expect, but I don’t think that he rushes through work or necessarily minds changes in schedules.  He strikes me more as a J because I don’t see him as a student who would wait until the last minute to tell his parents that something is due or appear to be working without getting anything done. 

This student did very well on both the written assignments and the hands-on woodworking project in my class.  He was generally quiet, polite did not interrupt, is a sweet, and kind young man. 

When I chose these two students I didn’t really think too much about them other than that they were total opposites and I felt like I could easily identify them the best out of my students right now.  I didn’t begin analyzing their types until I really got to thinking about them and how they were in my class. 

Daily Observations

During my typical day, when it can be called typical, I work with two students for most of the day. I have decided to observe these students and determine their preferences. From what I can see the students are different on two of the four preferences and are the same two preferences. These two students just like adults and other students can sometimes seem to be one preference one day and another the next day. My conclusions that I have come to about each student were from my observations of both students over the course of two weeks.

            Based on my observations I have determined that Student A is an ISTJ, or prefers extraversion, sensing, thinking, and judging. Student B is an INFJ, or prefers introversion, intuitive, feeling, and judging. Both Student A and Student B have a preference for introversion. I have found that both students prefer to work alone, are annoyed by interruptions, and prefer reading and writing over discussions. Student A often pauses before responding to one-on-one conversations, to which I try to use as little language as possible in a one-on-one situation as to limit the stimulus on the student. Student B can be slow to respond to in class discussions, which is why I often try to give them the topic as far in advance as I can. 

            When it comes to Sensing or Intuition, each student prefers one of each. Student A has a sensing preference. This student interrupts constantly during directions, and often asks questions about either things I was going to say or already said. Brainstorming is something that Student A struggles with on a daily basis, whether it is for a project or a writing prompt. Kise mentions that students “May ask, ‘Did that really happen?’” which made me giggle while I read it because Student A asks this constantly. Student B has an intuition preference. Student B never reads the directions, even when prompted to and starts to work immediately. This student makes many careless mistakes, including forgetting to put their name on things, as well as misspelling words that are usually either on the paper or in the reading. Finally this student frequently has the tendency to come up with project ideas that are so broad there is no way to complete it in the allotted time.

            Moving on to the thinking and feeling preferences, Student A has a thinking preference vs. Student B has a feeling preference. Student A always finds the flaw whether it be in my directions, or on an assignment, and can be quite the critic. This student has the need to be in charge of things, they often try to mimic myself, or other teachers, and try to control other students. This is a goal we have been working on, when it is expected to take charge of things, and when it is unexpected, telling the difference and choosing the right course of action. Student A frequently shuts down when they do not have self-confidence on a given task. Student B also shuts down frequently, but only when they believe that a teacher does not like them. I have found that this mostly occurs when I am working with her when I am holding her accountable to the class expectations. This student takes critiques to heart and takes them as indications that someone does not like her, rather than constructive criticism. This student also becomes visibly upset when they notice disrespect in the classroom, or when they have been disrespectful.

            Lastly, but not least come the judging and perceiving preferences. Here is where I found the second similarity between my two students. Student A is most certainly prefers the judging preference. This student rushes through their work in order to complete and move on. When I mention going back to double check math problems, or editing their writing, I encounter a lot of resistance. Changes in schedules or the daily routine are often a struggle, but with the right set up this student works through these adjustments. This student also dislikes unclear expectations which can then through off their whole day from that point on. Student B also has a judging preference. This student shuts down when asked to go back and look over or fix their work. Student B is very resistant to changing their method or format for task completion. New resources are also a struggle for this student, they have the mind set of their way is the only way and they do not need to learn any new ways.

            I have learned a lot since reading about what to look for in regards to student preferences from Kise. The reading and my own observations have opened new doors for me as an educator and ways I can differentiate the different aspects of a student’s day.

First thoughts about Type Theory

The first three chapters of Differentiation through Personality Types by Jane Kise were very insightful. I could not agree more with the idea that you cannot teach until you know yourself as a learner. I always thought I was one type of learner, but as I have grown and matured I have finally found what I thought was my niche, but it just ended up being my type.

I found my type to be ENFP or extravert, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving. I completely agree with Kise’s assessment of how teachers teach the way they learn. I find myself reflecting on my teaching daily now. I am now aware that I am most likely reaching the students who are my type, and only checking in with others. I am making it my goal to push my comfort zone and reach all of my students at least one of their preferences each class.

 I have a unique situation where I teach three students, and work as a paraprofessional with a dozen others closely. For these fifteen students I now have the ability to see how type really works on a small, zoomed in frame. Rather than having fifty to one hundred students I can start to experiment with type in my daily tasks and see what works and what does not work. I am always working on new ways to differentiate, what better way than to play into student preferences to improve student learning and help them better than achieve flow in their academics. I am hoping to use type to help me implement better techniques for classroom management, academic enrichment and accelerating, working with challenging students and building relationships with students.

“Type theory holds that we have similar personality preferences for how we gain energy, take in information, make decisions, approach life”. (Kise, p. 10) I now see this in my students every day, even in myself. I am an extravert, and I gain energy from being outside, from being in the middle of an activity, from teaching and having my controlled chaos. Even on days when I am just exhausted from everything, I get into school and love having all of the noise and students completing their morning or afternoon routines, running around at recess, or hard at work in the classroom.

Type is already opening doors to paths for differentiation I would have never thought of on my own. Sometimes differentiation can seem like a huge daunting task, but Kise puts it in a way that makes it simpler to look it. Kise has created a framework to be implemented and tailored to fit in every classroom. I am glad to have the opportunity to start using it in mine.

New addition to “Helpful Links”

In the menu bar at the top of the blog page there is a link to “Helpful Links” — maybe you’ve noticed it, or . . . maybe you haven’t. This morning I am adding a new link to that page: Type For Life. It’s a blog that’s sponsored by CAPT, the Center for Applications for Psychological Type, the organization that manages all the forms and training, keeps track of amazing amounts of research, and sells excellent books and other materials to people like me.

Their blog can be pretty interesting, and I thought some of you might like to read this one: Good Learning Environments. It is aimed at type practitioners such as myself who train adults, but there are some good things to remember for classroom teachers working with children, too. It’s a short article and can even be skimmed for its main points. Enjoy.

Second Time Around!

In just a few days, the second offering for this course will begin, and I am getting excited! The first group had four participants, and far exceeded my expectations regarding how enthusiastic people would be and how valuable the information was to their work. This group will be larger, which I hope will open up new possibilities for different kinds of activities, thus making the learning more active — always a good thing.

Students are expected to check the blog regularly for notices, discussions, and ideas, and each student is expected to add to the collection of material by commenting on other people’s posts and by writing posts of their own.  Once the course begins, participants will be named as Authors. An author can edit, publish and delete their posts, as well as upload files/images. Authors do not have access to modify, add, delete, or publish pages.

Posts should always have a Category label to help readers look for information and to help with general organization of this blog. The list may be expanded as needed, and I hope it will help course participants in deciding what to write about. Categories are:

• About This Course – The article is mainly about the SAUniversity24 course itself.
• Classroom Management – The article is mainly about how to use knowledge of type in managing student behavior in the classroom.
• Instruction – The article is mainly about differentiating instruction in the classroom.
• Making Progress – The article is about how the writer is making changes in instruction or making progress with students.
• Textbook Talk – The article responds to passages or sections of the textbook, and should be an invitation to others to respond in kind.
• Theory – The article is mainly about the theory and application of MBTI — how it works, what it means, what it looks like.
• Troubleshooting – The article is mainly about something tried out in the classroom not working as expected. This could be a call for input and/or help from colleagues and/or other readers.