Journal 3

Ms. DePerno and I met at the Talley Starbucks at 12 pm on Friday, October 14th,
2016. Below are the questions I chose to ask and her response.
Interview:
Q1: What tips would you like to share for keeping students engaged in your classroom?
A: I keep all of my lessons chunked into different activities. Instead of an hour lecture,
its 15 mins of activity, 15 minutes of lecture, 15 minutes of group work. I allow a lot of
time for collaboration and discussions because middle school kids love to talk to each
other.
Q2: Keeping students engaged definitely helps with classroom management, but do you
have additional advice for managing a classroom?
A: Definitely being organized and having multiple activities available so you can switch
if something isn't going well. Thinking about each individual student as much as you can
and working within their needs.
Q3: Do you have suggestions for classroom configuration/layout for summative and/or
formative assessment activities?
A: Having multiple test forms is the biggest help for academic integrity because we are
constrained by large class sizes. I don't worry too much for formative assessments. We
are collecting so much of different types of data. Summative and formative assessments
are two different animals.
Q4: What do you do to address the diverse learning styles in your classroom/How do
you change instruction for individuals?
A: I always pay attention to IEPs and what special needs students may have. It seems
like we have a lot of kids with ADHD so i I try to have fast-paced activities so they are
moving. Everyone gets an opportunity to do the top activities but I modify quite a lot. I
have individual conversation with kids on certain assignments on what they can do. I try
to address learning needs and physical needs.
Q5: How would you describe your teaching style?
A: Very dynamic, constantly changing based on the needs of the kids. Student
centered and focused on collaborative learning.
Q6: What are your policies for make-up work and academic dishonesty?
A: If they get caught cheating, they have to call their parents and tell them and then
they hand the phone to me. I always accept makeup work but I count it down. But I don't
take a whole lot of points off so they can still show what they learned.
Q7: Do you agree with the statement "Assessments are not the end of the teaching and
learning process, but should be the starting point"? Explain.
A: Begin with the end in mind. You want to ultimately know what you want your kids to
learn when you go into a unit, and that's when the assessment comes in. I always build

my assessments first so I know what my kids need to learn that unit.

Reflection:
I thought Ms. DePerno answers to my questions were very helpful and practical. I
think she shares real life advice that is attainable for a new teacher to try to emulate. I
think we both have dynamic teaching styles, and I would adopt a lot of her techniques
such as moving quickly to keep ADHD students engaged, or having students call their
parents when they get in trouble. She is right to use special strategies like these for
ADHD children, as studied by many child development researchers ("ADHD Students
Learn Differently. Try These ADD Classroom ..."). This topic is important to me, because
my little brother has suffered in the classroom from ADHD, and I am always interested
in ways to help students like him succeed.
I like what Ms. DePerno talks about when she emphasizes that to work with a
diverse, differentiated population of students, she needs to work within their learning
and physical needs. Ms. DePerno chooses individual instruction often, however, as
opposed to a differential style, for her exceptional students, when she individually works
with them (Wormeli, 2006, p.3).
The opinions I wrote in my previous journals were not greatly changed. However,
something that Ms. DePerno emphasized the importance of to me which did impact me
a lot was the idea that you begin with the end mind. I now see how it is super
important to build your assignments, lessons, and learning segments from the
information you are going to ask students about on the test. In the words of Dr. Haim
Ginott in 1993, I am the decisive element in the classroom. (Wormeli, 2006, p.9).
Ms. DePerno also discussed the differences between summative and formative
assessment climates in the classroom. I like this analogy to help me remember the
differences: When the cook tastes the soup, thats formative; when the guests taste the
soup, thats summative. (Stake, 2004).

The assessment cycle that I have viewed and understood with the help of Ms.
DePerno, and that I will take into my classroom, looks like this: write assessments and
identify key learning objectives from that information. Then, structure unit lessons and
learning segments. Teach those lessons to students, checking with numerous formative
assessments, at least one per lesson, along the way. Provide students with enough
review, study guides, and and feedback to prepare them before the summative
assessment. Administer the summative assessment and provide feedback within a
timely manner.
References
ADHD Students Learn Differently. Try These ADD Classroom ... (n.d.). Retrieved
October 19, 2016,
Stake, R. cited in Earl, L. 2004. Assessment As Learning: Using classroom
achievement to
Maximize Student Learning. Experts in Assessment. Corwin Press Inc. Thousand
Oaks, California.
Wormeli, R. (2006). Fair isn't always equal: Assessing & grading in the differentiated
classroom. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse.