Learning Letter

Learning Letter

ENG 493

                  The book talk focused on a young Japanese women and her experience of the U.S. after World War II. This narrative is well received by a young audience because it is very relatable. Students often feel out-casted or have trouble fitting-in in today’s society. This book offers World history along with a interesting story. I felt that the book talk went well, but I could have done better at explaining the storyline. I found it a little difficult to distinguish which events to leave-in or take-out as a mini preview into the book. I thought that the overall assignment was very beneficial because I was introduced to many books I have never read or heard of before.

The mini lesson I performed focused on defining imagery through the Shakespearian lens. The play, Romeo and Juliet was the chosen text for the lesson. Students were required to contribute in groups to find imagery within their given scene, and then finally physically performing the small scene for the class to hear. All students were required to complete a imagery term worksheet. In my attempt to aid student understanding I began with front-loading previous work with imagery and past Shakespeare readings. I also provided a short PowerPoint in where the term imagery is more defined. The PowerPoint also displayed a short bibliography of William Shakespeare, along with some fun facts about his works. I concluded the introduction PowerPoint with the agenda for the day. Overall I thought that the mini-lesson did achieve the overall objective for the day, but I do feel that the students could have received a deeper level of understanding had I described the worksheet better, and followed up with physical instructions. I do feel that the practice helps get over the jitters for performing in front of an audience, as well as practice skills for student voice, and lesson planning.

What I have learned from the lesson planning project is to have a direct vision for a lesson before trying to piece different aspects together. I have also learned that lesson planning for fifteen days takes a lot more time than expected. Along with all the unexpected struggles I have learned that extensive units can also be very fun because it allows more time to focus in on the literature and information. I felt that it was a lot less rushing in to a particular objective, and rather leaning into a greater focus with a lot more momentum and sources.

The theories and concepts we explored were based from a student minded focus, while also establishing productive methods for optimal student learning. These authors are research rooted and range from differentiated instruction methods to teaching accountability methods to students. These sources are working from a variety of elements implemented throughout my lesson plan such as, classroom discussion, reading and writing practices, student-teacher relationship, and importance of student-voice. I enjoyed these authors because I believe their practices to be very practical in applicability and credibility.

This course has aided my role as a teacher by influencing my teaching methods through the theories provided throughout the course. I have learned how to apply student-minded activities and conversation into the classroom for an overall better learning environment. I have also learned that classroom discussion is about a lot more than words being spoken. Without effective whole class discussion teachers are missing out on great learning opportunities. I feel that my confidence as a future teacher has grown tremendously because of what this course has provided. I feel that all of the assignments required truly contributed to my learning. As a whole I enjoyed the classroom environment and found Dr. Agriss to be very knowledgeable and very genuine in his goals for the classroom.  

mini lesson

TPA Lesson Plan #_1______

1. Teacher Candidate	Cristal Alcala	Date Taught	11-30-2015
Cooperating Teacher	Jana McKnight	School/District	Barker High
2. Subject	Language Arts	Field Supervisor	Elizabeth Phillips
3. Lesson Title/Focus	Romeo & Juliet  Roles and imagery	5. Length of Lesson	20 minutes
4. Grade Level	9th grade

6. Academic & Content Standards (Common Core/National)	CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.A Come to discussions prepared having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.
7. Learning Objective(s)	By the end of this lesson students will have read a scene from Romeo and Juliet to find imagery through role play. Students will use foundations for learning about poetic tools to enhance their awareness for reading literature.
8. Academic Language demands (vocabulary, function, syntax, discourse)	The academic language students will need to understand in order to accomplish goal: Imagery, scene, line number, roleplay, descriptive words. The purpose and use for this language is to enhance students understanding of poetic devices incorporated in many of Shakespeare's plays. This language knowledge allows students to apply their knowledge of imagery to a storyline of events for meaning.

9. Assessment

students will be assessed throughout the lesson for understanding through hand raising, and participation. I will use a checklist for group participation as they will be required to roleplay a character of their choice from the given scene. Students will be required to complete a imagery worksheet as they watch each group perform. These worksheets will be assessed for completeness and correct answers. The assessments for this mini lesson are formative and will be followed up by a summative quiz at the end of the quarter. I believe these assessments best apply to this mini lesson because they provide quick feedback that can be easily assessed for meeting the objective.  **Attached** all assessment tools for this lesson

10. Lesson Connections

This lesson will be building off of student’s previous knowledge of symbolism and imagery found in literature. Students have also had previous experience contributing to class/group discussions from the beginning of the year. Discussion is an important part of student achievement. According to Dr. Stephen Preskill discussion teaches students dispositions and practices, and provides students with the opportunity to serve and connect with others, and also tests our ability to confront difficult problems by thinking them through collaboratively. By having students work through the text together they are more likely to be prepared to simulate thoughts and ideas in their writing. My students will be contributing to classroom discussion about the text on a daily basis and are also encouraged to connect what they have learned to previous readings from the week. This will build student memory of text and important ideas, but will also encourage students to constantly be making connections in their reading. These readings will encourage a wide range of ideas about culture and our personal connections to it and also provide knowledge for cultural awareness within our community.

11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies Sequenced Instruction
Teacher’s Role ●     Teacher will introduce objective and checklist on white board. ●     Teacher will check for understanding through a raise of hands. ●     Teacher will introduce Author (Shakespeare) with powerpoint. ●     Teacher will then review imagery             definition. ●     Teacher will connect how imagery is found through Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet”. ●     Teacher will check for understanding through a raise of hands. ●     Teacher will assign groups of three ●     Each Group will be assigned a scene to work from. ●     Group 1 will act out scene while students write down any words that display imagery. ●     Group 2 will act out scene while students write down any words that display imagery. ●     Teacher will observe student participation with a checklist. ●     whole class will discuss task difficulty/ease for finding imagery in “Romeo & Juliet”. ●     Teacher will review objective and have students write a number 1-5 whether they feel they have met objective next to their written objective on the worksheet as an exit task. ●     (end)	Students’ Role ●     Students will write objective on paper. ●     Students will raise hands for understanding. ●     Students will raise hands if they understand how to find imagery in literature. ●     Students will get into groups of three. ●     Students will pick actors. ●     Students will work on their scene to find words for imagery. ●     Students in group 1 will act out scene, other groups will be writing down words heard that represent imagery. ●     Students in group 2 will act out scene, other groups will be writing down words heard that represent imagery. ●     Students in group 3 will act out scene, other groups will be writing down words heard that represent imagery. ●     Students will participate in discussion. ●     Students will write a number 1-5 whether they feel they have met objective next to the written objective on their worksheet.
Student Voice to Gather Student voice will be gathered throughout the lesson to check for understanding. This will be established through hand raising, classroom discussion, group discussion, and exit task prompts. The exit task prompt will require them to evaluate if objective was met through class activities by writing a number from 1-5 next to their  “I can” statement. Class discussion will allow students the opportunity to voice misunderstanding or need for further knowledge before task and after task. Their knowledge of the relationship between the assessment and learning objectives will be established through student voice with a raise of hands and whole class discussion at the beginning of classroom period and “I can” statements for exit.

12. Differentiated Instruction

Plan The lesson is designed to be universally accessible through the use of choice. Students will be allowed to choose whichever character they feel comfortable reading aloud. For students who may need extra support, the classroom discussions are designed to promote student involvement through respect for individual voices to be heard. Students will receive guidelines for respectful listening and speaking established through the common core standards.

13. Resources and Materials

Plan This lesson is using a copy of Shakespeare’s “ Romeo & Juliet”, along with the use of the overhead for informational text support about the poet, pens, imagery handout, and whiteboard for clear objective display.

14. Management and Safety Issues

Plan While contributing in groups students will be monitored for respectful comments and actions. If any student does not follow guidelines they will be removed from group and will meet with teacher after class for further action. During group work the instructor will monitor for respectful ideas/comments. .

15. Parent & Community Connections

Plan I will engage parents through a Monday handout about Shakespeare's’ famous, “Romeo & Juliet” and its importance to student learning, along with it’s romanticized ideas that may come up in reading. A notification through the school website will also be available. This is where parents or community members can access to view daily readings or topics for discussion.

Why "Readicide" Should be in the Dictionary

     Within " Readicide" by Kelly Gallagher you find that this word has much more impact in the world then we had ever realized. Readicide meaning: " noun, the systematic killing of the love for reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools". Of course this exact definition made by Gallagher may never actually make it in any official print because it probably would be viewed as an offensive description for the cause of this "killing" of reading.

     Although it is particularly hard to blame one problem for student's lack of interest, the majority of the reason does follow behind teacher expectations, and then school board expectation, and so on. So in the long run we could point it out and relate it back to a group of people responsible for student learning. The problem then is, what does student learning mean? Student learning can mean a variety of things depending on what the outcome should look like. Take current events for example, as schools show a increase in state funded testing, the number of students with frequent or avid reading skills decreases. Why you may ask? Well lets just say that test taking skills do not correlate with comprehensive reading skills. Meaning that the more time students spend preparing for tests or scoring , the less time there is in the classroom for reading.

      According to " Readicide"  about 16 percent of adults are actually avid readers of literary text, and in addition to that about 27 percent of adults admitted to not reading a single book in 2007! that's almost 30 percent of people who DO NOT read. If this isn't a reading genocide i don't know what is. Of course we could all blame it on the new generation of technology that is also in the race for your child's attention and time, but what about the real need for cover to cover experience? Does this also die? There is something magical about reading a physical copy of a favorite book that can take your breathe away. The experience of turning the pages and loosing yourself in time with the images of warriors dancing in your head is something one can never replace. This experience is crucial for students to enhance their own relationship with reading.

   If students are no longer reading then how do we expect them to become good writers? I would say these to things are somewhat tied together. If we begin to have a generation of students who do not know how to read or write in a sophisticated manner then how can we expect them to generate exquisite scores on their SAT's or state testing? If God prevent them from leaving high school with any real literacy skill then what is to say about their college experience? Don't we all need to have mastered these skills in order to become proactive college students? I would say HELL YES. Setting up a student with no real skills in reading and writing is like asking the student to fail. Fail in school, but also fail in many other ways that could damage the student's overall learning for a lifetime! We as parents, teachers, and community members should stand up and fight this battle through school board initiatives, home experiences, and teaching methods. This "readicide" cannot continue to damage our children and future leaders.

Helping Students Gain Back the Joy of Reading: Tovani’s “I Read it, but I don’t get it”

     

        A Common misconception with students is that their level of reading reflects the students motivation for learning. Most students would like to understand what they are reading, but are often fatigued by the density of work. By aiding the students through the use of graphic organizers, thinking methods, and most importantly helping them discover the purpose in everything they read, they can then become fully equip for life-long reading with meaning. 

      Tovani studies student interest in reading through the use of class discussion. In the beginning of every writing class she prompts whole class discussion in where students can freely discuss likes and dislikes of reading. She found that much of the problem wasn't the students ability to read or time restrains, it was the students level of comprehension to the text. She found that the comprehension becomes compromised when the student does not find the real purpose for reading. Within this discussion she found that students will spend hours reading sports articles or glamour magazines because they enjoyed what they were reading and found it applicable to their everyday life. This should also true for readings within the classroom.

      If teachers can connect purpose with every assigned reading, students can then gain a deeper understanding for reading. Most students will admit that a lot of the reading in class does not feel connected to their real lives, as Tovani states, " We were all at one point a master of fake reading". With all of the literature out there we as mentors should be able to adapt some kind of real world aspect into a purposeful reading. In most cases reading has lost its purpose and pleasure for students and has morphed into this horrid assigned reading. In order for students to find pleasure in what they read they must also find purpose. Although this all may sound repetitive, it is important to realize that these two things are very well tied together. 

      As a teacher I will help my students always have a purpose for reading. I will clearly communicate this purpose in the classroom before every reading. I will also try to model what purposeful reading should look like, for example if I am reading aloud I will pause between ideas and thoughts and state them to the classroom. Modeling good thinking practices will help my students understand that good reading takes time and thought. There are many great tips and ques for aiding student reading within this book that I could not write enough about, but one good suggestion that I've heard my professor Dr. Agriss say is, " We should always be writing while reading, I never read without a pen in my hand". This is very true. Reading is a thought process and although our brain is very powerful, we simply do not have the ability to make complete productive mental notes that we can look back on for progress. 
       

Discovering the Meaning of Social Justice Within the Classroom

                     Social Justice may seem like this vague term to describe overall justice between people in our society, but the reality of social justice is constantly changing depending on individual background and experience. In a classroom setting, the environment, curriculum, and overall learning expectations can be greatly influenced by the common culture. This common culture is then forced to mold into ALL students, including those who have no personal connection, experience, or relativity to the curriculum.

                     Social Justice fights for the level playing field between all students. By creating a environment in which students feel personally connected to their learning, students can establish a deeper meaning and purpose for achieving the goals. As rethinkingschools.org states, " Schools and classrooms should be laboratories for a more just society". As teachers it is our job to be constantly aware of our student's needs in the curriculum.

                    Many schools fail to employ a safety net for those students who do not fit the common " white man" mold that has been established within most schools in the United States. Although most teachers are also facing the decline in school funding, teacher pay, and large class sizes, we must always be looking for innovative ways to create equality within the classroom.

                  Some ways we can create a socially equal classroom is to begin with the students. If my students find zero relevance to the text assigned, it is my job to figure out what impacts my students on a more personal level. For example, if my classroom consists of a large minority group, then it is my job to discover their cultural interest and values. Once finding that I can connect specific details into reading choice. I must find ways to make learning applicable for all students.

               By becoming culturally and socially sensitive, I can then make choices that best fit my students. This begins with respect. By respecting all cultures and social experiences through curriculum choices, student's innate curiosity for learning increases. This should be respected in all classroom subjects. The teaching should probe the way students connect to society, and how we are often limited as well.

              As the author says, " The curriculum should equip students to talk back to the world". Students need to learn how to pose critical questions about the world and our role in society. Through this critical thinking approach students can gain skills that ultimately provide a voice for change within themselves. As teachers we must not be afraid of our students questioning social reality. This is where learning shifts from not only the classroom, but into real world problems and solutions.

Loving This: Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom

              The Authors Jeff Andrade and Ernest Morrel, have really established a clear idea for revamping student learning by incorporating critical pedagogy into their curriculum. This type of learning is focused on : "Dialogue instead of a one way transmission of knowledge". This type of school reform should be established in all classrooms for effective learning.

               If students are not motivated to learn, then effectiveness for student achievement will plummet. These authors have established a focus of critical pedagogy combined with the use empirical data: a new found way of applying learning into urban education for the new century schools. These practices encourage literacy development and academic achievement  for students by approaching education from all aspects of society.

               The authors are ambitious and dedicated to innovating curriculum that promotes student advancement, but also reflects on individual experience for deeper learning. The point of this was to not just serve as " gatekeepers to post-secondary education", but to provide students with tools that will allow them to continue to adapt and grow throughout their lives. This type of commitment for student learning goes beyond the classroom.

               This kind of student learning is mainly focused on aiding critical literacy for student improvement, but with more emphasis on the demand of literacy knowledge. As the author writes
"The language of power" allows students to be able to critique text with a whole new level of compression. This process begins by studying the importance of dominant texts. These dominant text are specifically chosen for the " development and maintenance of a revolutionary consciousness". Meaning that through clear focus and purpose of text, students can reach maximum literacy understanding for lifelong learning.

              As teachers we must focus on tools that will transport into a variety of student needs, specifically within their lifelong educational career, but also education that can transfer into their social and economic awareness. By educating our students they can become authentic voices for inequality and justice, which can promote change for improving their educational experience.

            I believe through these philosophers mentioned, some being Dr. Friere and Dr. Vygotsky who encouraged certain concepts and ideas within their model, they were able to incorporate well researched approaches to student learning while adapting it to student's personal experiences, creating a new level of student commitment. I believe that anytime the teacher is student minded the learning is genuine and purposeful. We should never settle for a one way street to learning, but always be searching for new ways to reach students by taking chances; this mindset can open doors we never new possible.
               

                   

Thoughts: "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"

             Paulo Freire, the author of this chapter begins with a very philosophical view of teacher ego within the classroom. Viewing students as containers for information: Objects. This dynamic of student teacher relationship has never been so magnified as it is within this chapter. By viewing students as receptacles only waiting to be filled by the teacher, we begin this ugly system where the students simply reapply old information; replica minions.

             Students who live in this type of system experience things in a flawed or imitated way. Paulo says, "His task is to fill the students with contents of his narration-contents which are detached from reality". When the teacher is self invested for a specific set of outcomes, causing the students to become master imitators: hollow of any real knowledge.

             This type of classroom is what Freire calls, " The banking concept of Education: knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing". This process is a unproductive form of crippling the human mind from recreating, inventing, or hypothesizing. Classrooms should never become justified through monotone repeats. We as educators should always be moving in a forward motion of learning by resisting this repetitive motionless activity.

           Freire says we can avoid this type of motionless slump through reconciling the poles of contradiction, through teacher-student relationship. The many characteristics described by Freire as the oppressor behavior ALWAYS beginning with the teacher's actions where the teacher is the "subject" while the students are "objects". This concept is very interesting to me because it does rekindle allot of feelings about my high school experience. The teacher knows EVERYTHING and I know NOTHING.

          This type of classroom atmosphere is not at all what I would want in my classroom. It minimizes student "creative power". We must always become aware of our students needs and create a thinking free zone, where students are considered "conscious beings". Freire replaces the oppressor mentality with a system in where education becomes "problem posing" through the process of communication. I believe this is a productive way to experience authentic reality. By allowing students to participate their own solutions, we can then begin a process for collaboration. A real experience of individual voice is a process by which no other person can process for you. The students should always be exposed a free environment for learning through a healthy student-teacher collaboration.