The Self-Monitoring Student!

Self-Monitoring Students

            In chapters 10 and 11 by Daniels and Zemelman, I noticed that I could relate my observation visits through Central Falls High School to the readings.

            Chapter 10 was on inquiry units, and how project-based, problem-based and experiential learning can help motivate students into becoming life long learners. What I liked about this chapter is that it promoted what I like to call “investigative learning”. Chapter 10 correlates life-long learning to school experiences that help a student become an independent thinker by searching for answers for any “burning question”. During my observations, my first observation was in an ESL classroom that focused on a “theme” of what it means to be a hero. Because the students were reading a text based on heroic actions, the teacher had the students work independently on a project of their own hero. Although it wasn’t collaborative work that Chapter 10 does recommend for successful learning, the student’s were still “active researchers instead of passive listeners”, as noted in chapter 10. In each video presentation, a student would present who their hero is, and some of the student’s presentations ranged from ambassadors to other successful figures that the student’s had to do in depth research in order to explain why that chosen person was their hero.

            Inquiry units, I believe, make learning fun because a student can actually apply what their learning by getting out there and somewhat taking on the role of a detective, as opposed to sitting in a classroom while tediously listening to material they may or may not fully understand.

            It is in Chapter 11 that I built a strong connection from my reading to my observation visits. Considering my visits were in an ESL classroom, this chapter, which was titled “Help for Struggling Readers”, I could connect the material to what I have seen in period one of ESL. To start off, this chapter emphasizes how important it is to model reading processes as a teacher. In period one, the student’s were working on figurative language before reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. With each figurative language example, the teacher would break up each example and help the students understand what exactly the phrase would be saying. In example, in a phrase that went along the lines of “her fingers were like little magnets”, the teacher would first ask the student’s if they knew what a magnet was. After showing the class a magnet, he told a story of Mr. Magneto from X-Men, a movie most of the students were familiar with. After breaking down the figurative phrase to the students, the student’s were engaged in a class discussion on the meaning of the phrase.

            What I liked most about this chapter is how it promoted “self-monitoring”. In my observations, every single time a student was stuck at a certain question, the teacher didn’t give up on the student, instead the teacher would only give more examples, and break down the question even more till the student could finally find a way to answer what was asked. The teacher didn’t use his position to just give out information every time a student was stuck, instead he believed in the student so much as to spend a good ten minutes breaking down a single question until the student could finally find a way to understand what was being asked. The teacher I observed definitely modeled what the chapter was emphasizing in which it is crucial to believe in your students potential and create an environment filled with positivity.

           

Life Long Learning...

           Chapters 8 and 9 of Subjects Matter By Daniels and Zemelman both incorporate the importance of getting students to become life long learners, and that starts with reading and the choice of what to read.

             “Book clubs” or “literature circles” both can be a successful tool in getting students to read because with these kinds of workshops, there are no punishments or rewards,  as chapter 8 states, it simply is a way to allow students to individually learn about certain topics in each content area.

            What I liked most about this chapter is that it emphasizes the importance of student freedom when reading. Instead of basing classroom content strictly off of textbook and lecture, literature circles gives the student a chance to explore a certain concept in a subject, whether it’s through various types of books, magazine articles, online documents… this is the starting tool, I believe, to help a student view learning as fun. As the chapter states, why wait for a student to “hopefully” become a lifelong learner after secondary education?

            Chapter 9 expands on chapter 8 by giving examples for beginning teachers in how to incorporate reading workshops. Obviously, it would be hard for one to incorporate workshops every single day for there does need to be actual time for classroom coverage, but I feel as if in each “literature circle”, it would be successful if each student were to be given a certain responsibility as stated in this chapter: The connector, questioner, passage master, vocabulary enricher, illustration, and researcher. This I believe takes a certain type of pressure off of the student because while reading the material, the student will know what to look for while learning new vocabulary, concepts, etc.

            Although I think it is important to use academics to help students apply certain lessons to real life situations, I feel as if sometimes learning for fun is sometimes overlooked, and with chapters 8 and 9 of D&Z, it brings us back to the importance of being a life long learner just because, well, it’s good to be one.

Reading as Fun!

            Chapters 4 and 5 of D&Z not only reflect what the CCSS’s expect when it comes to student reading, but both chapters share in common the ways in how to get students engaged in what they’re reading.

            Chapter four explains how instruction relying on textbooks may have students able to explain the material they have  read but  as for understanding it? Probably not. In an example, the chapter mentions a novel titled E=MC2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation by Bodanis, and D&Z uses this novel as an way to explain a more exciting and engaging approach to content, it provides “depth and understanding”, yet it is a page turner, as stated in the chapter.

            Although I was upset to read that the CCSS emphasizes mostly nonfiction novels as opposed to fiction and poetry in regards to ELA, I did like how the chapter stated that the CCSS finds importance in approaching multiple texts as opposed to relying on minimal reads. There is importance in “depth versus coverage”, so instead of expecting the student to somewhat understand an endless amount of facts, it is more important that a student can link what they’ve learned to a deeper understanding of other learned and understood concepts.

            Chapter 5 is a continuation of Chapter Four except it actually offers ways to engage students in reading. Chapter Five is split up into “Before, During, and After” approaches to reading. In example, a "before approach" could be getting the students excited and interested in whatever they are about to read, it is a tool for engagement. A “during” approach would be along the lines of something such as partner reading, where as an “after approach” could be building academic vocabulary, or including a “turn and talk”, and even then, these multiples “after approaches” are great ideas for “during reading” approaches as well.

            Lastly, what I found most fascinating was the importance placed on reading and how to get a student to want to read, whether it was a list of ideas for a teacher’s classroom library, using the CCSS as a tool to enhance reading desire in student’s, using engaging activities, or lastly steering away from the typical textbook in order to get a student to learn what is needed while enjoying it... this chapter reveals that diving a student into difficult reading to understand a concept isn’t the right approach, but it is about finding the right material that is fun and engaging so that a student can flow easily through it as opposed to struggling to get through it, and there seems to be a freedom in this-- as if  learning is finally approached in a way where it should be fun not tedious and impossibly challenging.  

Writing Design- Strong

 

The above picture is Darth Vader trying to implement strict classroom tradition and deprive his students of creativity. In the Strong chapter, the above picture can represent what is called the "stand-and-deliver" type teaching. The "stand-and-deliver" approach reminds me of certain classes I've had in high school that depended on route memorization and single word answers, and as soon as the class would end, all the "learning" would soon fade away into oblivion. Instead of a "stand-and-deliver" approach, I found it helpful that the chapter mentions that students learn best by a "learn by doing" approach, and this actually makes learning meaningful, instead of learning to memorize and eventually forget, learning by doing has a student connect a lesson to a meaningful life experience. Considering my content area is English Language Arts, in order to keep students engaged and excited to learn, having a classroom read a book and write according to what they believe will "please" the teacher will only hinder higher thinking skills.

In this chapter it mentions ten design principles, and it is also helpful for future teachers like me to know what exactly to avoid. For example, a few of the ten design principles emphasizes the importance of creating a design that invites a student to critically think and one that will elicit meaningful and specific responses, as opposed to a design that is solely "question and answer" or one that hinders inventive thinking. Although there will always be an expected criteria/rubric, if a student has a choice and is allowed to be creative, this will truly have a student "learn by doing" as opposed to route memorization or answering to what one believes the teacher wants to see. 

Although I have heard of RAFT before, I was unfamiliar with the CRAFT design and I find it to be very helpful, especially for my 406 class and my content area. Instead of creating vague and abstract writing designs, the CRAFT design helps to narrow down a focus which in turn will have a student understand the assignment.

Lastly, this chapter extends the importance of approaching every lesson with a "why are you doing this" approach. There's more to teaching than a "stand-and-deliver" approach. Teaching becomes a lot more valuable when the learning has a purpose, and it's exciting to know that going about instruction one way isn't valued but actually discouraged because allowing teachers and students free reign of creativity only allows for a richer learning experience I believe.

SCAVENGER HUNT

1.     How many schools are in the city? Colleges and Universities? I have discovered that Central Falls contains no Universities/Higher Education, however, outside of Central Falls High School, the city has six public schools. There is the Captain Hunt Early Learning School, which is prekindergarten. Second, there is the Margaret Robertson Elementary School. Thirdly, there is the Ella Risk Elementary School –which holds grades one through four. Fourth, there is the Veterans Memorial Elementary that holds grades one through four. There is also the Calcutt Middle School holding grades five through eight, and lastly the Central Falls High School holding grades nine through twelve.

2.     Is there a post office in town? Yes. Surprisingly I only stumbled across one. In exploring Central Falls, I realized how many of the major sites are in walking distance of Central Falls High School. In being raised in East Providence, I thought East Providence was fairly small till exploring Central Falls which is an even smaller and tight knitted community.

3.     How is the local education system structured? What level of education do people from each generation complete? The local "public" education system is structured into pre-school, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. The education system is supported by the Central Falls School District and is funded by the State of Rhode Island Department of Education. It is until now, as of the year 2000, that residents of Central Falls have an advanced degree/ a continuing education proceeding high school.

4.     What is the major religion in the city/town? Are there churches/synagogues/mosques/temples? It seems to me that the major religion in this city is of the Catholic branch. I found many Episcopal churches when exploring the town. The culture of this town appears very similar to the culture of my own. I was raised in a Portuguese Catholic household, and in my town there are Portuguese markets, Catholic Churches, and everything related to the religion and culture, and so I found Central Falls to be very similar to that, except it is based on the Spanish culture which shares many similarities to the Portuguese I have discovered throughout this scavenger hunt.

5.     Visit the CF library. What events and resources are available? In visiting the CF Library, or rather the Adams Memorial Library, I was able to speak with a librarian and she guided me throughout the library. I was pleased to find out about the library’s children section and the librarian informed me of how many events and fundraisers the library has on occasion in order to raise funds for the Adams Memorial Library. There are about twenty computers. This is the only library (or so I’ve seen) located. 

6.     There are three professional baseball players from Central Falls. Name them. Jim Siwy. Max Surkont. Charley Bassett!

7.     She was a champion of the underdog and with the help of her husband helped slaves escaping to Canada. Later she worked for the rights of women. Harriet Tubman!

8.     Other? What did you find? In exploring the Adams Memorial Library, I read up on the history of Central Falls and learned that the 72^nd governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Almond was born in Central Falls. Also I was impressed to find out that Viola Davis, a successful actress who won two Tony awards was also born in Central Falls, Rhode Island.

9.     British Soldier, Irish revolutionary, a fugitive from justice. He escaped on the Catalpa and landed in Central Falls. Eamon De Valera visited him on Cross St. James Wilson!

10.  What is the name of the local newspaper? Driving around Central Falls, I landed at a set of lights and saw a building called The Times. I believe, however, that I was nearing my way into Pawtucket, Rhode Island... but in exploring Central Falls I could not see any other broadcast buildings and so in researching further, The Times seems to be the local newspaper for Central Falls, Rhode Island.

Teaching Backwards

I believe chapter one of the UBD reading to be the most insightful reading regarding teaching for me. At first I didn’t understand what exactly UBD meant, until reading further as it clarified the “understanding by design”. Through this reading, I believe understanding by design concerns how to get students to understand the content by a unique instructional design/approach. The instructional design this chapter refers to is the “backward design”.  As a future teacher, I was eager  to learn about how there are different ways to go about an “assessment” that differs from the traditional “teach and end instruction with assessment”. With this backwards design, it helps the teacher gain insight on what the student already knows and sharpening the teacher's focus from there by framing their unit or course on how to get one’s students from what they already know to what the teacher wants their students to gain an “understanding” of by the time the unit or course comes to a close.

As this chapter gives insight on a backwards approach towards assessing and teaching, it continued to explain different sorts of assessment methods that I found helpful. Instead of relying on a pre assessment and an assessment at the end of a unit, this chapter offered a “continuum of assessment methods” ranging from an easy understanding of students by “informal checks for understanding” to a more complex understanding required from students through “performance tasks and projects”, and all of these various types of assessments are to be thought of as a collection of evidence.

Lastly, I found it interesting that this chapter not only explains the backward design approach while offering insight on assessment methods, this chapter also explains how a teacher can “organize” what is worthy of understanding. In example, the chapter offers a framework of what the teacher should organize its content into: “worth being familiar with”, “important to know and do”, and “enduring understanding”. The “worth being familiar with” and the “important to know and do” can be viewed as “pre-requisites". The enduring understanding is the “big idea”—it is what the teacher hopes the student will take with them beyond the classroom.

            This chapter gives a unique and helpful insight on organizing instruction. It departs from traditional instruction that I view to be "lecture and test at the end of course" by instead offering a design that appears to be beneficial for student learning and understanding.

Chapters 1 and 2 of Subjects Matter!

Chapters 1 and 2 of Daniels and Zemelman’s Subjects Matter gave me a different perspective on reading and how to teach reading. I found it interesting that Chapter 1 mentions how the Common Core State Standards for the 6-12^th grades are divided into two sections, one concerning the English Language Arts, and the second concerning History, Science, and other technical subjects. This shows how critical is it for students to not only read but also comprehend what they’re reading. I think  Chapter 1 tried to advise future teachers to not focus word for word on the CCSS instruction of reading across the curriculum because, for one of many reasons, the CCSS have a “new criticism” type of outlook towards reading, meaning that it expects students to read a text and join together to find a single and unified meaning. Chapter 1, however, makes sure it goes beyond that to instruct future teachers that we can’t just have a student dive into complex reading and expect them to critically think and analyze difficult texts as the CCSS seem to expect adolescent students to do. 

Chapter 2 extends on Chapter 1 by noting that even though the CCSS can be helpful in many areas, it is important as future educators to adolescents to keep in mind that not many student’s will have a pre-knowledge on the content one may be teaching. If we expect a student to independently read about certain content, we must provide them with preparatory work in order to ensure that they have all the vocabulary and key concepts in order to comprehend these “complex” texts. It’s not just about activating schemata, as this chapter emphasizes, but it's about providing our students with background knowledge to make sure that the student has an understanding of content before our expectations of activating a student’s schemata that might have not been earlier developed.

 All in all, these two chapters really reached out to me because it didn’t believe in teaching to the text book, it revealed a genuine care for getting students to engage in reading across the curriculum by helping the students to learn how to read- as opposed to focusing solely on getting the students to read. It’s about engaging the students and helping with their developmental skills in order to sharpen their reading strategies, these chapters recognize that reading and its comprehension do not just simply happen with any content. These two chapters reveal to be sensitive to the student's needs in learning how to get to a point that, well, satisfies the standards as well as  getting a student to the point where they will feel inspired to develop a love for at least one content area as well as a growing desire to explore and research in order to learn more.