Artifact 1A

Coming Soon

Standard 1

	Standard 1. Advocacy for Social Justice
1.1	Attentive to inequalities associated with race, social class, gender, language, and other social categories
1.2	Consciously look for alternatives to established educational practices that support the learning, development, and academic achievement of children whose backgrounds place them outside the dominant culture
1.3	Employ multicultural, anti-racist, anti-bias educational practices that foster deep engagement in learning and high academic achievement

As I have made my way through the education program at Wheelock College, I often find myself thinking back to my own elementary school experience. I compare and contrast the schools appearance and the demographic of students and teachers. The elementary school I attended is in a rural town, with majority white middle class teachers and students. The elementary schools I have been a part of during my career at Wheelock have been inner city with majority of teachers and students being people of color with various socio-economic statuses. Also, the school in Boston have less  resources and funding to put towards the school community. For me, it is unfair to think that teachers are not being given the tools necessary to make their classroom the richest learning environment it can be.

Standard One focuses on advocacy for social justice in the classroom. To me the term social justice is an umbrella under which are many issues regarding equity and social reform. More than ever it is apparent to me how much of a role the classroom teacher plays in outlook students acquire. It is important for all educators to take this responsibility seriously and uphold the integrity of the word “advocate”. Advocating for social justice in one’s school or classroom could mean fighting for your students to receive an equal and fair educational experience. I have learned that a fair educational experience can mean the exclusion of some of my most fond elementary school memories. At Mission Hill there is a strict policy regarding the celebration of birthdays and holidays with in the classroom or school. Before being a part of Mission Hill, I never understood why a school would not allow these celebrations. However, now I recognize the fact that because I was a part of the dominant culture, celebrations could happen in classrooms because the majority of student practiced the same holidays and beliefs. At Mission Hill, this is not the case. The school is very diverse, and many students do not have the same beliefs as the peers in their class. This was a really eye opening experience for me and I continue to think about it as I enter the professional world.

Secondly, after my student teaching career in the Boston Public School system, I see even more of a need to be conscious of social inequalities and providing students with a multicultural, anti-racist and anti-biased educational experience. Through the “Struggle for Justice” theme of study at Mission Hill, the students in my classroom were tackling social inequality full force. Focusing on the Civil Rights movement and reading the story of Ruby Bridges aloud, my second and third graders were able to begin to wrap their head around how unfair life used to be. As I was leaving my practicum, the class just being delving into the idea of “what if no one did anything?” “what if no one advocated or demanded change?” I was thoroughly impressed by the breadth and depth of the student’s discussion and written thoughts.  While it is easy to only focus on civil rights of African Americans during the 1950’s, I believe it is also important to provide students a non biased point of view in other areas of history. The most prominent example is the traditional lessons that are taught leading up to Thanksgiving. I went all the way to my sophomore year of high school believing that the Native Americans and pilgrims were friendly towards each other. Looking back from the educator’s perspective, I am shocked these lessons are allowed in schools. If teachers are supposed to enriching the minds of their students then they should do it with correct information. Teaching students the “friendly” story about the pilgrims and Native Americans is supporting a biased curriculum. As a part of my unit on Modern Egypt, I spent a day talking about Islam and Muslim prayer practice. Due to the current events in the world, it was important for me to deliver just the facts to my students. I did not want any of my impressions of people in the Middle East or Muslims relayed during my instruction. I used a PowerPoint to present the material to my students. Artifact 1A is the slideshow presentation. I also asked students in my class who are Muslim to help demonstrate or comment with personal experience.

Mary Cowhey, author of Black Ants and Buddhists also taught in very diverse area in Massachusetts. Within the pages of her book she spoke to just how important knowing where your students come from is. She also used her student’s cultural backgrounds as an educational opportunity.  Instead of giving the responsibility of learning to students, she gave them the responsibility of teaching too. I believe this is a very effective means of teaching, and it does not have to stop with the students; this is a prime opportunity to incorporate and invite families into the classroom. Bell Hooks, an American author and social activist believes in the holistic pedagogy. All children should be able to construct meaning and create personal connections to educational content through ones environment. By inviting educational opportunities into the classroom, a teacher can provide students with a better rounded and culturally rich education. When I have my own classroom, I hope to have the resources and opportunity to provide my students the means to learn through experience and rid as many biased and socially unjust material as possible. Lastly, I believe this is an issue that teachers around the world should be made aware of and take an active role in changing educational practices for the better.

References:

Cowhey, M. Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently in the Primary Grades, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Burke, B. (2004) 'bell hooks on education', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/thinkers/hooks.htm.

Artifact 2C

Questions about Teaching

Question: If learning disabled (LD) students need more time, how to fit it in? How to plan for 6 IEP students in each lesson?

Sources: http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/learning.html#sect3, http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/teachers/understanding/accommodations.asp, interview with S.P.

Summary of Strategies:

Many of the strategies found in written sources, bulleted instructional modifications and learning aids that could be done in the classroom on a daily routine. Most importantly when one is planning for his or her classroom constant consideration for the individual learner is necessary. Through knowing your students needs and willingness to experiment that is how one can effectively maximize the learning experience of LD students. Each LD student may have completely different needs, so it is important to have a wide variety of tools and methods available.

Below is a list of tools and methods. The list is broken up into two categories. One category is modifications a teacher can make to their instructional method, and the other is accommodations that a students can learn to do without too much adult aid.

Teacher: Instructional Modifications	Student Directed Accommodations
1.       Keep oral instruction logical and concise. Reinforce with brief cue words.	1.       Use books on tape.
2.       Repeat or re-word complicated directions	2.       Use provided secondary media to reinforce text.
3.       Verbalize written materials as much as possible. (writing on chalkboard, ditto directions, diagrams, etc.)	3.       Use a computer with a word processing or voice recording software for written activities.
4.       Outline material to be covered in unit or lesson.	4.       Underline key words or phrases in directions or worksheet questions.
5.       Have differentiated materials prepared for lessons when necessary.	5.       Use age appropriate dictionaries when writing.
6.       Break down complicated content and instructions	6.       Have a list of available manipulatives.
7.       Use multisensory instruction. Props or other secondary materials (video, graphics, etc.) can engage various learning types and can make information more vivid.	7.       Ask trusted peers for help (i.e clarification of directions, guidance, etc.)
8.       Establish a clear goal, and have checkpoints.	8.       Use provided “I Can Focus” materials (sound reducing headphones, T-stools, stress balls)
9.       Provide immediate and constructive feedback.

Artifact 2B

Connecting Theory to Practice

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:          

Students will be given a photocopy of the same poem that was read aloud. This will allow for students to be able to look back and jog their memory. During the read aloud, the students will be able to see the text as it is being read aloud. This will provide opportunity for students to follow along.

MODIFICATIONS/ACCOMMODATIONS & EXTENSIONS:

The following are students who are flagged as needing help with reading, writing or both. These students will be aided by an adult as necessary.

Name:	Reading	Writing
Chantal	X	X
Darius	X	X
Axel	X	X
Ronnie	X

All students should be reminded to get their “green books”. These are officially called, “Words I Use When I Write” books. However, it is more important for some to use them than others (i.e the students listed below).

Below are students who have specific needs to make this lesson run smoother and allow them to gain all they can from it.

Name:	T-stool (Discussion only)	Headphones (Writing only)	Green Books	Weighted Vest
Chantal		X	X
Darius	X	X
Axel		X	X
Ronnie			X	X
Zachary	X			X

Artifact 2A

Standard 2

	Standard 2. Understanding all Children in their many Dimensions
2.1	Know students as individuals, as learners, and be able to relate to them in a variety of ways
2.2	Be familiar with the cultures, histories, values of families
2.3	Know attributes of individual children/families with whom they work
2.4	Aware of range of students’ special needs and seek out information concerning strengths/resources to address developmental and learning needs
2.5	Use knowledge of second language acquisition, developmental variations, disabilities to support physical, emotional, social, cognitive, linguistic, intellectual, and creative development

The classroom is often viewed as a community or a group of students that are accompanied by a teacher. However, it is very important to remember not to lose sight of the individual student. Wheelock Education Standard Two speaks to just this. It demands that as a teacher, one gets to know all of his or her students on the individual level. This means connect with student’s families, cultures and backgrounds. Also, the teacher should know what strategies and tools work best when planning for the individual learners in the class.

Within my Teaching Diverse Learners class, I completed a project that was focused on one specific child. Along with completing five submissions about strategies to improve the child’s learning in the classroom, I also constructed an Eco-map. The Eco-map represents all factors that impact a child’s life and thus their learning. Artifact 2A is the Eco-map, I created for my focus child. All items stem from or are connected to her in some way. The straight connect lines represent normal connections, double lines show strong connections, and bumpy lines show a disrupted/weak connection. As a new educator, I found this project particularly interesting and helpful. I could only wish I would have enough time in my own classroom to make a map for every student. I feel that they provide a great insight to the life outside of school one student’s experience.

Knowing the learners in ones class as individuals also can aid in planning lessons. Tomlinson and McTighe, authors of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction provide a template in which the teacher is able to plan for the specific learning needs of individuals. Differentiated instruction states that a teacher is using a variety of instructional strategies and methods to make the information being taught accessible by the majority of students in ones class. When planning my lessons, I would write specifically what I am doing in my lesson to support auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners. Also, the last section of my lesson plan template was entitled Modifications/Accommodations/Extensions. Within this section, I would use a table to outline the specific needs of students in order to make the learning experience successful. Artifact 2B is an excerpt from a lesson plan that captures the Differentiated Instruction and Modifications/Accommodations/Extensions sections. After putting these plans into action, I immediately witnessed how greatly it benefited my lesson and my students understanding. Students who are usually not able focus during a writing assignment were staying on task and completing their work.

In addition, Mission Hill School is widely recognized for its inclusive practices. Within my classroom I had many students with learning disabilities and other special needs. In my practicum seminar class, I constructed a handout that spoke to planning for academic success for all students including those with special needs. Artifact 2C is the handout. The handout contains a summary of strategies I collected. There is also a table that breaks down specific strategies and instructional modifications into two many groups: Teacher: Instructional Modifications and Student Directed Accommodations. As a part of my research I spoke to my cooperating teacher about how to plan for such a variety of learners. The one piece I found critical to take away from the conversation, is the idea that a teacher can teach students to be in charge and advocate for themselves. Thusly, the students know the tools and resources available to them, and take it upon themselves to get them. I believe that this is an absolute brilliant perspective.. It provides all children an opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning. It also alleviates a lot of stress and pressure from the classroom teacher. The teacher is then free to focus on other areas in which they can improve learning experiences.  

After having many experiences individualizing instructional methods and utilizing learning tools, I feel that the next step is to seek out professional development. Eric Jensen, a former teacher who spends much of his time studying the neuroscience behind education. He offers many professional development opportunities for teachers to observe and learn his approach of brain-based learning. Brian-based learning is preparing teachers to understand some basic principles of how the brain works and apply it to their instructional strategies. I think that most importantly he supports the idea of knowing your students on the individual level having a bag of tools to help provide a space for academic success. Even though I am finishing my undergraduate career, the learning is still not over. Through professional development and graduate courses, I plan to stay current on the latest research and developments in the field. After all it is the only way I can truly be the most effective and responsive elementary teacher possible.

References:

Tomlinson & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction &

            understanding by design: Connecting content and kids. ASCD.

Jenson, E. Jensen Learning: practical teaching with the brain in mind. http://www.jensenlearning.com/index.php