CREDE Standards in my Classroom

The CREDE standard that I believe is most obvious in my classroom is "teachers and students working together." My classroom is a 6:1:6, so each student has an aide. I think of it as each student having their own personal teacher and then a main instructor as well. We provide assistance to our students as needed. At times, they may even need hand over hand assistance, and others not. In the afternoon, we rotate which student we are working with by week. I always work with the same student every morning and then in the afternoon, I have a different student. The student in the afternoon will stay the same for one whole week and then change the next. This way, I get to work with each student in the classroom. By working with the students so closely, you really get to establish a good relationship with them.

We also engage our students with challenging lessons. Each student has individual goals to meet. Everyday these goals are worked on until they are mastered. Once they are mastered, a new goal is set in place.

Enhancing Learning For All

There are so many strategies and resources out there to be used in your classroom. With so many different types of learning, it is important to be able to adjust your teaching style and come up with new ideas as your students change and the times change.

Every year, there are more and more English Language Learner's coming to our schools. We need to know how to best support them and provide meaningful learning experiences. Two things that I think work very well are using visuals and group work. The use of visuals can go a long way. You can pair pictures with vocabulary, use diagrams, or use technology to create presentations. Students also usually enjoy working in groups. You can use different kinds of groups in your classroom. You can group students with different levels, the same level, ELL's together, or even have yourself as part of a group. Students are more likely to perform at a higher level when they know that the success of the group depends on it. Working in cooperative groups promotes social and academic language interactions. This is a great strategy for English Language Learners.

Being Culturally Responsive

Along with the five CREDE standards are Dr. Eugene Garcia's five R's and T.
The five R's and T are:
Respect
Responsive
Responsible
Resourceful
Reasonable
Theory-driven

When I think about these words, I think that they are all very much needed in order to have a positive and supportive classroom environment. Without these things, a student is not going to feel comfortable or engaged in learning. One thing that I really liked that Dr. Garcia stated in his presentation was, "Children learn to see themselves as others see them and then adapt to that identity." If we don't give students the respect they deserve, they are not going to have a positive self image and the confidence they need to be life long learners. As teachers, we must also teach students how to respect each other. Students come from all different backgrounds, along with their parents. Showing respect goes a long way when trying to receive support from other people in your students' lives. A parent is not going to feel willing to be more involved with a school unless they feel respected.

Next is responsive. To me, responsive means being an effective communicator. You also need to give students time to talk and be there to listen. You can learn a lot by listening. In agreement with Dr. Garcia, I also think that it is important to understand cultural differences in talk. Everyday classrooms are becoming more and more diverse. Different cultures have different ways of perceiving things, such as gestures or expressions. You could be doing something that you are unaware of that is disrespectful in another culture. It is important to always keep an open mind and not be afraid to ask questions or do some of your own research.

Being responsible means that you are accountable. It is a teacher's job to ensure that everyone is involved and engaged in daily activities. It is also a teacher's responsibility to have a positive attitude and assist students in finding what works best for them as individuals.

Resourceful is another aspect of culturally responsive teaching. As Dr. Garcia says, "Diversity should be a resource, not a problem." Students learn from each other and we learn from them. With so many diverse backgrounds, there is so much to learn. Use what your students bring to the classroom as an advantage.

Always important is being reasonable. Being reasonable just means using your head. Like I said before, don't be afraid to ask for help or go find out something on your own. No one knows everything. Dr. Garcia brought up knowing what not to do. So if you don't know exactly what to do in a situation, at least you can come up with things you know not to do and go from there. Being reasonable in a classroom also means coming up with realistic,challenging, and fun lessons. I also think that being reasonable goes along with being fair. Treat all students fairly. Select consequences and rewards that are directly related to what the task is.

The "T" for theory-driven is how teachers approach learning and educating children. Theory-driven means that you have done research and are open to new ideas. You know what you are responsible for as a teacher and know how to react in different situations. You also understand children and how they learn.

Standards for High Quality Learning Experiences

How do we ensure that ALL students have high quality learning experiences?

Dr. Roland Tharp presented five standards for achieving this goal which were derived from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence. The five CREDE standards are as follows:
1) Teachers and students working together
2) Developing literacy and language skills across the curriculum
3) Connecting school to students' lives
4) Engaging students with challenging lessons
5) Emphasizing dialogue over lecture

I agree that these standards help ensure that students will have a high quality learning experience. Although, I think that in order for teachers to correctly implement these standards, they would need some type of professional development, lessons, or examples of activities that serve as an example as to how to use this correctly. These standards are good, but sound pretty general. Someone might read them and go, "Of course!" or "That sounds easy." It might seem that way, but I think the more teachers are trained in how to do this correctly, the better the outcome will be. We also learn from each other. It would be good for teacher to get together in small team meetings to discuss ways that they can use these standards in their classrooms. Teachers could create activities together and share them. A good way to model working together is for students to see teachers working together.

Dr. Tharp spoke about Vygotsky and the movement from total assistance to the zone of proximal development to assistance no longer needed. He said that, "the task of teaching is to provide assistance at the time it is needed." The zone of proximal development is what a student can do with and without help. It is the job of the teacher to figure out when and how much to assist a students. This involves a lot of observation of the student in different settings and learning arrangements. It is important to know what kind of assistance a student needs in order to still make activities fun, but at the same time challenging.