MTSS & Formative Assessment

EDUC 350

This week in 350, we had a guest speaker! Our guest speaker was Dr. Mitcham! She used to be a special education teacher, but now teaches at a university! She discussed Exceptional Children and MTSS. MTSS is Multi-Teared System of Support.  This is going through multiple tears to teach children that are struggling.   This deals with TIPS (Team Initiated Problem Solving). These are groups and centers that are going to collect and use data to get down to the root of the problem. It was very interesting to see how if a child is still not understanding a topic after the core instruction, the MTSS adds more time with that specific child to see if they will understand the material! I had never heard of these systems, so it was really beneficial for me to learn about this! The one thing that really stuck with me was the quote "When you teach to the heart the mind will follow." I absolutely loved this quote. I think that is something that is so important for us to strive for as teachers. We have to be the one caring for each and every student. We have to be meeting each and every student's need. We have to make sure that we are providing the student with what they need. We are teaching students, not teaching the curriculum. 

For my outside learning this week, I decided to go into more detail from a Sinek Ted Talk about leadership. He explained that majority of the time, most people know what they do, some know how they do it, but barely anyone knows WHY. He explained that successful leaders and organizations all know why they do it. Then work from inside the circle to outside the circle. In education, our why is so important. Every teacher needs to understand WHY we are doing what we are doing. Why we are teaching certain material over other, why we are doing this lesson plan, why teach children in the first place. The why is the most important aspect of a leader, and we are the leader of our future classroom- we have to make sure we know our why.

https://startwithwhy.com

EDUC 410

This week in 410, we discussed formative assessment within the classroom! We discussed how formative assessment should be seamless within the classroom. Our students should not know when we are assessing them. They should feel comfortable in their answers and not nervous about having to know the information. Assessment is a crucial part of our education system. Without assessment, we would not have data. Data is important to make critical decisions about where to go in the future with our lessons. This deals with specifically NCTCS 5: Teachers reflect on their practice, specifically teachers analyze student learning. Taking formative assessment throughout the lesson and day will allow you to analyze student learning. This is something that is so vital to our classroom! If we do not analyze our student's learning, we will never fully know if they are understanding the material or not.

Future Classroom

In my future classroom, I want to make sure that I am teaching to the hearts of my students by fully knowing my why. I want to make sure that every child is being assessed throughout the day, and that my assessment is so seamless that my students do not realize that they are being assessed. I want to make sure that my students know that they are important, and cared for. I want them to know that their needs will be met. I want to make sure my classroom is a safe place for every single student that enters through my door.