This is my contract for grade page.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 1998

Answers

I would like to contract for an "A" by completing the following projects:

1- I will be attending a Bureau of Education & Research conference titled "Making Best Use of the INTERNET to Enhance Classroom Instruction." The conference is in Minneapolis on Tuesday, December 1. I selected this conference because I have INTERNET access in my classroom and am looking for creative and educational ways to use it with my fifth grade students.This course is specifically designed for educators serving grades 3-6.

2-The second project will be a book report and analysis. I would like to read Stephan Covey's book entitled "THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE FAMILIES." I became interested in his work at our planning session in August. It sounds like we will be using his other book " THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE" as a part of our required reading. I discovered his book on families and thought I would like to read it to see how his principals apply to the family unit. As a teacher, I know the importance of family systems so I thought this book would offer some insight both personally and professionally.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 1998

I would like to change the book that I will read for my book report. I would like to read Glasser's book " Control Theory in the Classroom." I wanted to read more about Glasser's ideas regarding choice theory and cooperative learning. I was going to read Covery's book but I selected that for my "great book" discussion group. Thanks!

-- Anonymous, January 10, 1999

Michelle Kunst Contract for grade-Conference-A

I attended a conference on December 1, 1998 entitled Making Best Use of the Internet to Enhance Classroom Instruction (Grades 3-6). The workshop was presented by Phil Reinhardt in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He is a teacher and technology trainer who focuses on practical applications of technology to enhance existing classroom instruction. There are several reasons why I selected this conference. I have a multimedia cart in my classroom including a Power Mac with Internet access and I wanted to learn some ways to effectively use this equipment with my students. How do I use one computer with 23 students? What do we use the Internet for? How do we begin using the Internet? Is there educational value in the Internet/WWW,etc.

This was really a great conference. Phil began by exploring all the Internet lingo including what the web site addresses mean and descriptions of terms. The best part of the conference was the wonderful resource handbook which we received. It is loaded with teacher resources including e-mail options(listservs and discussion groups), news groups and web sites. All the web sites are tested and selected as the best ones to use in a school setting. Phil introduced me to some fun web sites including A Word A Day and Ask Dr. Math.

He also gave us a list of things to do with students before you put them online. He emphasized that a lot of kids will know how to get on the web and look around however, they are not good at doing a meaningful search for information. Included was a great research planner to use with the students as they begin a search. The planner has three of questions 1) before search 2) during search 3) after search. The before questions are the most important because we want the kids to know where they are going. The Before Search Questions include 1) Question(s) you want to answer 2) KEYWORDS about topic 3) Where you will search including Yahooligans, Yahoo, Alta Vista, KidsClick,etc. Phil gave us many lesson plans to use as we begin using the Internet with our students. The lessons include scavenger hunts where students are searching for specific information. They need to be taught how to use the addresses and where they should go for help,etc. He also includes 50 Ideas and Projects to use with our students along with several pages of other resources.

We also discussed the issue of Internet access and privileges. It is very important to have parent consent forms filled out prior to any Internet use. Our school district has adopted an Acceptable Use Policy and Internet Contract. Both the parents and the student have to read and sign the forms. It is so important to set rules for use of the Internet. We need to go over the rules with the students, set consequences for breaking them and follow through! Some of the important rules include 1) not giving out personal information without teacher permission and 2) telling the teacher right away if you come across information that makes you feel uncomfortable. Our district does have protective software to limit access to inappropriate information. However, with technology changing every day, there is no way to block all inappropriate sites and information. We also need to be proactive with parents. They need to be informed and included in the Internet use. Phil encouraged us to have a Family Technology Night so parents can be part of an Internet demonstration. Parents also need to know that students will be supervised at all times while using the Internet.

It was truly a wonderful conference and a day well spent. It gave me a lot of practical, useful knowledge that I could go back and use the next day in my classroom. The Internet is such a motivating tool and all my students cant wait for the chance to go online. Phil gave us many ways to use the Internet in meaningful ways. He is also realistic about the use of technology in the classroom. It should simply be used as one of the tools we use to enrich and expand our curriculum. Howard Peter, Principal LOuverture Computer Technology Magnet School, Wichita, Kansas quotes, The teacher is the most important and most expensive piece of technology in the classroom. Lets try and remember this thought as we continue to buzz with excitement over this new technology. Thanks to Phil Reinhardt for helping me feel more comfortable and at ease with this newest technology tool!

-- Anonymous, January 20, 1999

Michelle Kunst Contract for grade-Book report

I chose to read William Glassers book entitled Control Theory in the Classroom. The language has now been changed from Control Theory to Choice Theory.After reading Glassers book Quality Schools, I wanted to know more about this choice theory , cooperative learning and how I could effectively use these practices to enhance my own classroom.

Glasser emphasizes that if students are not having their needs met, they will quit learning. We have as many as one-half of our students who are unmotivated to learn. Glasser offers some reasons why this is happening and then presents some ways we can recharge their value in learning. Glasser states that there are five basic needs that drive us all. The need 1)to survive and reproduce 2)to belong and love 3)to gain power 4) to be free 5)to have fun. Power is a need that can be extremely hard to satisfy in our culture and often conflicts with freedom and belonging. If we are not having our needs met, it leaves us frustrated and unsatisfied. This is what is happening with many of our current students. This made me think about my own classroom and the needs of my students. I have recently moved from teaching kindergarten to teaching fifth grade. It really has been an eye-opening experience. I think that we all do really well at meeting the needs of all kindergartners. We know that they need many, varied hands-on activities. We set up centers so they have some choices. We give them free- choice time. We read stories, have snack, dance and sing, jump like a frog, rest, practice writing in the sand, learn our letters, work together, hold hands, take care of pets,count blocks, have recess, etc. My students needs were being satisfied and it showed. Kindergartners have endless enthusiasm and love to try new things. I also made sure that we had some fun and freedom every day.

Moving to fifth grade has been quite an adjustment. I felt so bogged down with all the required curriculum. Where was my freedom? Where was my students freedom? What about the fun? Glassers book did give me some ideas on how to put more fun and creative learning into my classroom. I feel good about my classroom atmosphere but Im looking for some good, meaningful and fun learning opportunities. It seems to me that we tend to think that older students do not need as many hands-on experiences so we overwhelm them with workbooks. Teachers can feel so tied to the massive curriculum that they lose the freedom to bring in things that their students love and they love. This has been the most frustrating thing for me this year. I had so much freedom in kindergarten. I was able to pick units and have students select topics they wanted to learn about because we were not tied to all the curriculum. This year I face intense curriculum, seven Profiles of Learning, and the Minnesota mandatory Fifth Grade Test. Glasser has helped me to put some of this into perspective. In the midst of all the requirements, I do need to make learning significant for the students and they need to have some power over what they are learning.I need to make sure their needs are being satisfied including time for freedom and fun! Glasser discussed the learning pictures that are in our heads. I have seen first-hand how drastically this picture changes from age 5 to age 10. How do we keep the positive picture alive for our students? I can definitely see why we seem to lose so many of the students.

The section of the book on the Learning-Team Model was also very important for me. I know that cooperative learning is a good stategy and I have used it this year but I want to use it much more. He really gave some practical information that I can use to enhance the learning that takes place in my classroom. Glasser says, Wouldnt it be great if we could restructure our classes so some of the need satisfaction that is so motivating in nonacademics could be brought into the classroom. This need fulfilling structure leads to success! I believe that the Small Learning-Teams approach can help us restructure the way we teach so students will want to work and learn and they will experience success! Why does it work?1) They experience a sense of belonging 2) They want to work harder because they feel knowledge is power 3)It is need fulfilling for higher students to help others 4) Lower students feel they have something to contribute 5) Dependent upon themselves and the team 6) They experience depth of the topic 7) They need to provide the evidence that they learned something 8) Teams change on a regular basis. Teachers move from being a worker to being a modern manager. The teacher is a facilitator, resource person, coach while students take on more responsibility for their learning. I did try one of the cooperative learning projects titled  Environmental Engineering. Students had to work together to plan a city park and make a model. They were given park requirements and a budget. It was fun to see the groups pull together. Some of them started planning right away while other groups went through some disorganization and confusion. In the end, all groups were able to complete the task. The students really did a great job and exceeded my expectations.

I am excited and inspired to try some more of this team learning in my classroom. I think it lends itself to much greater subject depth and complexity. It also is a lot more fun. Thinking back to my own learning experiences, I learned more and remembered more when I was involved in group learning. It is empowering to work together to solve a problem , develop a plan, or prepare a presentation. I guess that it what also drew me to this Cohort Group Program. I enjoy being part of a group and I feel we have so much to share and gain when we cooperate. Glasser also said that we do not really learn much if we just read a book. It is in the discussions regarding the book that we really learn. I am definitely going to use a Great Books learning activity in my classroom. Teams will all be responsible for reading a novel. They will be discussing it with their group, participating in projects and preparing a presentation for the class. I am anxious to use this in my class. I am looking for ways to get more students to read quality literature and I think this is a good way to start.

I really like the Small Teams-Learning approach because it combines three essential learning elements. It requires 1) involvement 2) relevance 3)thinking. I want my students to experience this type of creative and critical thinking. They will remember these activities because they instill the message that Knowledge is power! Students will feel empowered because they will have some control over what they are learning. They will experience belonging, freedom and fun! I hope to provide my students with experiences that will recapture the good learning pictures that were alive in their heads when they bounded into that kindergarten room!

-- Anonymous, January 20, 1999