Student Interviews

I conducted an interview with two 6th grade students about the Making Connections lesson that I taught and had them chose from Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences to select how they best learned. Student 1 was a struggling student and Student 2 was a successful student in the class that I taught.

Student 1 said that he did learn a little more about how to make text-text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections because of the Making Connections brochure that we constructed in class. He said it would have been more helpful if they would have used the Making Connections brochure with other stories to practice making connections, so that he could understand the concept better.

I also asked the students to pick out which of Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences best fit them. Student 1 said that he was a Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, and Naturalistic learner; and that I did use Bodily-Kinesthetic and Interpersonal intelligences in the Making Connections lesson. He wished that more of the lessons and activities that were taught in school were created for Bodily-Kinesthetic learners.

Student 2 told me that this lesson was very beneficial to her because she had concrete questions to refer to when making text connections. She said that she needs more practice making text-to-self connections because she may not have life experiences that she can use to relate to the text.  Just as Student 1 said, she said that if they could use the brochure with other stories to make connections, that would better help her understand the concept of making connections.

She concluded that she was a Spatial, Naturalistic, Math/Logical, and Intrapersonal learner from Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences. She liked that I targeted Spatial and Intrapersonal learners for this lesson because she is a visual learner and also likes doing assignments by herself because she is the one who works the most in a group. She wishes that teachers taught lessons and activities that were Naturalistic, Bodily Kinesthetic, and Logical/Mathematical because they do a lot of paper work for schoolwork.

East Park Elementary 6th Grade Student Interview & Artifacts

Making Connections Lesson

(Abstract to Concrete Lesson)

The Making Connections ReadWriteThink lesson that I taught was to better equip students to relate the text to self, world, and other texts. We created a graphic organizer brochure. Each inside panel corresponded to each of the above. There were three questions for each connection (text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text) that students could ask themselves to connect the text to either self, world, or other texts.

Student 1 said that he only learned a little bit about making connections between the text and self, world, and another text. He said that if they would have applied these questions to other stories, he would have a better grasp for each connection. I also asked him how he learned best by choosing from Gardner’s Eight Multiple Intelligences. He told me that his intelligences were bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, and naturalistic. He also said that he wished that there were more lessons that involved bodily-kinesthetic activities. Then I asked if he felt if he was a successful student, he responded that he was sort of a successful student. This is because he does not try hard enough and he knows that he needs to pay more attention in class.

Student 2 said that this graphic organizer helped her have a more concrete understanding of making connections between the text and self, world, and other texts. She said that she does need more practice relating the text to herself because she may not have experiences that relate to the text that is being read. Like Student 1, she also wishes that she could use these questions to practice making connections with other texts so that making connections will become more concrete to her. She answers that she learned best spatially, naturalistically, mathematically/logically, and interpersonally. This less was good for her because I taught to spatial and intrapersonal learners. She believes herself to be a successful student because when she does an activity, the information sticks in her brain and she feels that school just comes natural to her.

Student 2 Artifacts: Making Connections Graphic Organizer

Hot House as Inquiry-Based Learning

http://www.glogster.com/icantstopsmiling/inquiry-based-hot-house/g-6ksniql9p5gpe92ipfo4na0

Best Practices Blog

I read the Moving from Conflict to Peace blog post on the Expedionary Learning website. This blog post was about restoring justice practices in an EL classroom. In this classroom, they were discussing tragic injustices in history. Students were upset by how people could hurt and mistreat other, but once the students left the classroom they were gossiping and name calling. The teacher was puzzled by how her students could be outraged by brutal unjustice in the classroom, but then walk out of class and hurt each other without a second thought. So she implemented a Restorative Justice(RJ) program in her classes that involved peace circles.

In Peace circles, "a student facillitator directs the conversation, first reviewing norms and then approaching any conflict through the three central RJ questions: What was the harm? Who is responsible? How can we fix it? All participants—whether victim, perpetrator, or community member— speak in turn without interruption. Listeners follow by paraphrasing what they heard with a focus on the needs and wants underlying a position. As a group, they then summarize the main issues that need to be addressed as well as common interests—the needs and wants of those involved that initially go unspoken or unnoticed. From here, the group brainstorms agreements— actions that will repair the harm done and move everyone forward."

Both the students and teachers noticed changes in class and school controversy. Students were now able to hear each other and make an agreement to move forward to repair hurt relationships. 

This reflects Culturally Responsive Teaching because it encourages students to share their varied perspectives and experiences and create a supportive environment where this can occur. It also encourages students to know and listen to each other. The peace circles allow opportunity for each of the above to happen because students listen to each other and come to an agreement to mend hurt feelings.

Think Quest Library Project

I would use the project "Entertainment: You are What You Watch" in my classroom. I would use this project because students could evaluate what they are watching and how it affects them. This website, http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312170/, allows students to explore Music, Video Games, Internet, Movies, Primetime TV, and a conclusion. As you choose each topic, you can read facts and statistics about that topic and some have the choice to explore different genres within that topic. By exploring this website, students can see how what they watch actually does affect who they are. This would be a great project for students to evaluate what they watch and why.

PowerPoint Response

1. What was the learning goal of the PowerPoint activity? The learning goal was for the students to use PowerPoint to create a PowerPoint presentation.

2. How do you know? I know that the learning goal was to create a PowerPoint presentation because Dr. Linstrom instructed us to follow the directions and complete the assignment. By going through the assignment, I realized that we were creating a PowerPoint assignment too.

3. How was learning assessed? Was the assessment formative or summative? Learning was assessed by the CORRECT completion of the activity. The assessment was formative because our instructor was walking around checking our progress on the assignment. It was also summative because the assignment was not officially graded until we had submitted the assignment.

4. Did this activity support 21st century learning? (We used computes!) The activity barely supported 21st century learning because we did use computers to create a PowerPoint presentation.

5. Did this activity feel inclusive (meaning did all student experience positives emotions or some degree of success?) This activity did not feel inclusive because the directions were for one specific program for one specific computer to be designed specifically and exactly how the instructor wanted. I have an Apple MAC computer so my program was not compatible with the directions that were provided for the assignment. It was impossible for everyone to follow the directions and complete the assignment correctly because of different computers and different programs.

It is important for educators who plan on teaching in the Appalachian region to understand that the language we speak here is a part of who we are. We are all different and we should not be judgmental of difference, but we should try to understand the difference. “ Can we look at differences among children in the amount and type of written language experiences they have had before schooling in the same way, without assigning inherent deficit, or inability to learn, to children who do not have as much literacy knowledge as other children?” (Purcell Gates, 2002). Students’ culture can be a power in the classroom instead of a hindrance. If teachers will accept and incorporate students’ culture and utilize it in the classroom to assist learning, they will be amazed at their students’ learning success.

            Teachers can overcome their cultural deficits perspectives of their students by involving their students’ culture and community into the classroom. By teaching through themes and topics that your students are familiar with, your students will have a better chance of learning content. “Moll described the potential of these networks as “truly formidable.” He noted that once they are uncovered and mobilized for learning, they can become a social and intellectual resource for a school.”(Moll, 1992).  By doing this, students can begin with knowledge that they already have and either apply it or attach more information to what they already know. Cultural deficit in the classroom is now just a cultural difference, which strives to understand and respect differences in culture not reject the culture because of difference.

            To improve literacy instruction for speakers of non-Standard English, teachers can use speaking to writing exercises to encourage students to potentially use code switching. “In early writing, we can expect lots of talk to surround writing, since what children are doing is figuring out how to get speech onto paper.  Early teaching in composition should also attend to helping children get used to producing language orally, through telling stories, explaining how things work, predicting what will happen, and guessing about why things and people are the way they are.  Early writing experiences will include students explaining orally what is in a text, whether it is printed or drawn”(NCTE, 2008). By speaking Business English, students can overcome or enrich the cultural capital that they were raised in and excel in life.

            The Where I Am From project supported culturally responsive teaching by building bridges of meaningfulness between home and school experiences.  By showing students that their home life is meaningful to the classroom, students can sense that they are more than just a grade in a class, but that they matter as a person. When the classroom acknowledges the legitimacy of cultural heritages as worthy content to be taught in the formal curriculum, students can experience a safe environment to be themselves and also learn to respect other cultures. This activity could create a more “family” class atmosphere and new friendships could possibly develop because classmates can connect with experiences, values, characteristics, etc that they share with other students.

            I do not believe that speakers of non-standard English should be taught varieties of a language when they are first learning a language. Non-standard English speakers should first learn basic English, then once they have accomplished that, and then they can expand their learning to varieties of the English language. I plan on implementing culturally responsive teaching practices into my future classroom by using the knowledge that my students’ bring to my classroom. I will try to plan units, lessons, and activities around topics and themes that my students are familiar with. Beginning in the first weeks of school and throughout the year, I will have my class participate in getting to know each other activities and teamwork games. My classroom will bubble with students’ various cultural backgrounds and those cultures will be utilized in my classroom to enable my students’ learning.

Reference Page

1.     Purcell-Gates,V. (2002). “…As soon as she opened her mouth!” In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy(Eds.) The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language, culture, and power.

2.     Gonzalez. N.. Greenberg, J. & Velez. C. Thanks Funds of Knowledge: A Look at Luis Moll’s Research Into Hidden Family Resources. CITYSCHOOLS, 1 (1). 19-21, 1994.

3.     National Council of Teachers of English (2008). National Council of Beliefs About Writing. Retrieved October 12, 2012: http:/www. Ncte.org/positions/statements/writingbeliefs

Where I Am From

I am from the front porch swing, from Barbie and Bandaids.

I am from cozy, memory making moments, and Saturday morning pancakes.

I am from homegrown sunflowers and natural beauty that silences your soul.

I am from birthday parties and uncles’ crazy love, from Pa and Grandma, and my two incredible parents who still love each other for better or for worse.

I am from Fourth of July camping trips and family beach vacations.

From “You are pretty on the outside, but even more beautiful on the inside.” and “Make good choices.”

I am from the church pew, Sunday School, Church Camp, and Chi Alpha events and friendships that have changed me forever.

I'm from good ole’ Fairmont and traces of Scotland and Native American, from Mama’s made from scratch chocolate chip cookies and eating funnel cakes beside a campfire.

From the 70 family members singing songs together in the living room at Thanksgiving, sister weather reports in bathing suits and , and Pa making the sound of a train whistle.

I am from boxes in the basement and bookcase photo albums. I am from family love that grows deeper and stronger than the pine tree in Grandma’s backyard.

I am from family.

Cultural Difference & Cultural Deficit

Which video reflects a cultural difference perspective and which video reflects a cultural deficit perspective? How do you know?

I feel like the FOX News video reflected a cultural difference perspective and the What Matters video reflected a cultural deficit perspective. The teacher and students from the FOX News video recognized that they had a different cultural language and were striving to better their use of Standard American English. The people involved in the discussion on the What Matters talk show discussed how and possibly why people either accept or refuse to adapt to using Standard American English in professional settings and then using the language that they are most comfortable speaking with their friends or at home; this is also known as code switching. Some people do use code switching because they see importance in speaking Standard American English in professional settings and then falling back to their most comfortable language when with their friends and/or family. On the contrary, others feel that they should not have to switch back and forth between different languages because they are who they are and that is just how it is for everyone or they do not use code switching because they have not been educated to speak Standard American English. People that disagree with code switching have a cultural deficit perspective. They do not have enough education and/or motivation to speak Standard American English; they believe that their way of speaking is the best and most comfortable for them and everyone should just accept that language.