Thursday, December 15, 2016

Understanding Inclusion: Foundations of Inclusive Practice Reflection

Before I took Foundations of Inclusive Practice, I never really considered inclusion and just thought that students with disabilities were included when the special educator thought it was appropriate. After taking this course, I see the role of an educator a bit differently. Some of the aspects that allow us to be more inclusive make us better educators as a whole for all students, not just students with disabilities.

One of my most profound learning experiences came through the study of Universal Design for Learning. I realized that it will help me be a more effective and more inclusive teacher in the future. My thinking around how I will plan my lessons and my units in the future has shifted as a result of our class discussions and course reading. The UDL guidelines wrap everything that students need into one area, which is helpful. I like how if it is done correctly, supports like scaffolding, external supports such as checklists and graphic organizers, and more challenging material can all be incorporated into one plan naturally. In one single space, we can account for the differences in all of our students and meet all of their needs. This is a change in my thinking as I always had just thought that we would focus on adapting the lesson to meet the needs of students with disabilities. I now believe that the UDL guidelines make the least restrictive environment and inclusion more possible and an easier transition because the curriculum is guided by the students and their needs.

In one of our course readings, it was urged that the curriculum should be guided around differences and planned around those rather than planning for them after the curriculum is already in place. This is an area where I think I currently struggle because my understanding of inclusion was so off before beginning this class. I have identified this as an area where I really need to develop and grow so that my curriculum is accessible for all of my students rather than just for a few. Universal Design for Learning is the best way to design for inclusion in our classrooms.

 
Beyond Universal Design, just understanding how students in our classrooms learn best is important so that we can make sure every student has the greatest opportunity for success in our class. Before taking Foundations of Inclusive Practice, I never could have told you what the characteristics of disabilities were or how I would adjust my teaching strategies to best fit individual differences. As a result of my learning, I now have an emerging understanding of how I can help students with ADHD work on their executive functions so that they may meet a goal of being more on task in my class. Furthermore, I now know that if I have a student who has a learning disability, they are really only going to be able to learn the content if I provide them with direct instruction. Additionally, I see the importance of assisting students with autism spectrum disorders with breaking down tasks and help them with their organizational skills.

By making all of these adjustments and being aware of them before I plan my curriculum, I can integrate these pieces into my curriculum from the start. This means I will be more likely to meet the needs of every student. It also means that by including these aspects, students with individual needs are going to be more likely to succeed in my classroom. By finding ways to work in practice in skills around organization, I can assist all students and it would directly address an area where some of my students with disabilities need extra assistance. It means that students with disabilities are singled out less and can be included in classroom activities more often.


I recognize that there is still a lot for me to learn, but I am confident that I have a much better understanding of the importance of inclusion and how crucial it is to know all of our students and know what they need before we design our curriculum. Through practice and experience, I believe that I will be able to meet the needs of all of my students and create a classroom environment that will allow all students to meet their goals, whatever those goals or long term learning outcomes may be.


Chains - A Reflection on Lesson Three

An element of my teaching that I notice needs improvement is my movement around the classroom. In seeing film of my teaching Lesson Three - where I read two chapters of the novel Chains to students and had them respond to questions - this was clearly reflected. I stayed at the front of the classroom for nearly the entire 45 minute class session. Until I saw myself this way, I didn’t notice that two boys on the left side of the room weren’t at all engaged in the lesson. They were flipping aimlessly through the pages and having what appears to be a nudging war throughout the class session. I didn’t notice this at the time, in part because my face was buried in the book reading to them, but also because I stayed at the front. Had I walked around the room as I read, perhaps the students would have been more on task. Maybe they wouldn’t have, but it probably would have been more effective in helping them focus. Aside from this, I think I created a classroom climate that was positive overall. I think stopping and explaining certain vocabulary terms in the reading that they were unfamiliar with helped create that climate. In the section of the class that was filmed, it didn’t happen but later in the class, a student spoke up and asked what a specific vocabulary term meant. I think because I stopped myself and explained vocabulary terms or aspects of the book that I knew they might not understand, it helped students feel more comfortable speaking up and asking questions when they didn’t quite catch something or didn’t know what it meant.
I have to be critical of my instructional strategy. Even before seeing my teaching, I didn’t really like just reading directly to them. But, I also didn’t want to popcorn read, because I know that can lead to anxiety for a lot of students. Upon watching my teaching, I felt bored. If I feel bored by watching it, I can guarantee that there were students who shared my boredom. I don’t know right now what the best way to complete the reading would have been. Perhaps small groups? I need to come up with better strategies for having students read the same text and start and end in the same spot without me having to stand at the front of the class and read the chapter to them. There were aspects of the story that were better because I read to them and could stop and discuss or explain the section, but it’s not the greatest option for engagement purposes.
As a whole, the lesson was decent it just wasn’t particularly interesting. Maybe I would feel differently if the chapter was action-packed and the students were really excited about the reading - but that wasn’t the case this day. My take-away from this exercise is to make a conscious effort to really move around the room more rather than stay at the front of the room. Also, I need to be more aware of my students in the room if I am forced to be at the front. Finally, I need to research reading strategies to try out in my classroom.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

A Semester of Growth & Progress

To be completely honest, I don't even know where to begin in trying to wrap up my thinking around everything I have learned and experienced this semester. Despite having a rough semester in terms of the amount of work I had to complete and how mentally and emotionally demanding it has been, I recognize such a shift within myself and my understanding.

For starters, I am much more successful in reflecting. This is relevant to my teaching as I was able to immediately recognize aspects of my lessons that were not working and I was able to adjust on the spot. I was able to reflect after each individual group of students and make necessary adjustments based upon the things I noticed that worked well and what fell apart immediately. After teaching, my reflections were incredible. I recognized what I did well, where I could improve, and over time I began to make those adjustments. This process was SO clear in my lessons by the end of the semester as I feel like my final lesson is one I could actually teach again in the future with only a few tweaks and adjustments. I noticed aspects that worked well and where I needed to improve and I was able to actually do that. It was really rewarding for me to have that experience.

My ideas about teaching social studies have also changed dramatically. I always thought that social studies courses that are rooted in history have to be taught chronologically. That aspect always terrified me because I'm not a linear thinker and I would rather make connections over time than go through an entire school year only moving forward event by event. To learn that we can create thematic units that don't even necessarily have to focus only on world history or only on American history was such a relief. And you know, I've realized that it's probably a million times more interesting for students if it is planned out thematically (when it's done well, anyway). I feel so much better about becoming a social studies teacher after learning about thematic units and then getting real practice with creating one.

Regarding my unit plan, I feel really proud. My first draft of the unit plan feels like garbage compared to what it is now, but I can only imagine what my first unit plan would have looked like next year as a first-year teacher if I hadn't gone through this process now. There is still so much that I really need to hone in on and practice - I'm not even going to pretend that I'm good at assessments yet, that's a real area of struggle for me - but at least I know the starting point. I know that if I am asked to complete it, which I will be, then I know where to begin. I can also recognize in my unit plans where I need to improve, so I can always turn to my coworkers or other mentors to help me in that area if it's something that they really do well with. I've gotten better about asking for assistance and being okay with feedback, even if it's not something that I want to change.

A big part of me still really fears the thought of having my own classroom in eight months. Part of me still feels like I should be a middle school student again so I can redo everything, be a better and less strategically compliant student, and have a clearer vision of where I was going in life. Regardless of this feeling, I know that I'm ready. Every choice I've made in the last six years has brought me here and I wouldn't change it for the world. Now more than ever, I know that I should be a teacher. Within a few years, I'm sure I will become a good teacher. Mostly because I've had a ton of guidance and I have the skills that will make me always strive to work harder and be a better teacher because my students deserve it.

Student teaching: ready or not, here I come.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Protecting the Government in Textbooks

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, Chapter Eight (Watching Big Brother: What Textbooks Teach About the Federal Government).

Reading this chapter was odd to me. I have studied governments and governmental actions in my political science courses for years now and yet I never considered how traditional high school history textbooks treat the government in their analyses. I have to agree with Loewen after reading this chapter that textbooks are doing Americans a disservice by understating the actions of the US government.

To pretend that our government and our society is all flowers and happiness and that we are 100% committed to helping other nations is not a fair representation. To teach this to students is misleading and makes it impossible to have an informed citizenry - something that is necessary in a democracy. Loewen asserts that "in short, textbook authors portray a heroic state, and like their other heroes, this one is pretty much without blemishes" (210). In simpler terms, textbook authors are giving a picture-perfect perspective of the government that is not representative of reality. They also try to protect the government from looking like they are doing anything wrong. When they do portray this type of view in textbooks and admit that something wrong happened they portray it is as if "others misunderstood us, or perhaps because we misunderstood the situation. But always our motives were good" and he continues that they portray the United States government as the "'international good guy'" (211).

Loewen provides multiple examples where it is illustrated that this is simply not the case. Textbooks repeatedly try to rationalize U.S. foreign policy to be about humanitarianism, but it tends to rely more upon our self-interests. Throughout history, the United States and US agencies have made attempts to bring down the leaders of other states, such as the case of Fidel Castro in Cuba. The US has also taken elected leaders out of power in their nations and replaced them with leaders that we agree with, with no regard for the fact that many individuals in these nations will not support the new leader (214). When any of these actions are mentioned, they are always put into a context of not knowing why something happened the way it did or that the US was looking to help the other nation, even though that is not reality. "Since textbook authors are unwilling to criticize the US government, they present opponents of the United States that are not intelligible. Only by disclosing our actions can textbooks provide readers with rational accounts of our adversaries" (217). But this cannot be done because textbook authors do not want to present the real situation because it does not shed favorable light upon the government.

The only real controversy that textbooks tend to cover is the Watergate scandal, but they don't delve deep into that either. Loewen spends a great deal of time outlining the actions that the FBI took against Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights movement, and yet there are still textbooks out there that "actually credit the government, almost single-handedly, for the advances made during the period" when we know that they were trying to make King disappear or let go of the Civil Rights movement altogether (227).

After reading so many chapters of Loewen's text, I have to question why textbooks have been able to get away with these false portrayals for so many years? If textbooks continue to be this way, then we need to really make a point to show perspectives that aren't in the textbook during out class sessions until we can really push textbook companies to be reality-based rather than only covering content that makes the United States look favorable. History isn't perfect and our actions aren't always the most honorable or with the best intentions, but that does not mean that it did not happen. I would rather know the nasty truth than be stuck believing in a false reality for my whole life. I hope that my students feel the same way too.

Project-Based Learning; The Ultimate Personalized Learning Model

Social Studies for Secondary Schools: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach by Alan J. Singer: Chapter 11 ("What is a Project Approach to Social Studies?").

Make Learning Personal: The What, Who, WOW, Where, and Why by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey: Chapter 4 ("Where is Personalized Learning Happening?")


To add to the learning process I went through with chapter 10, I saw another direct application of how a project-based learning approach is a personalized learning opportunity. For starters, project-based learning is listed as one of the characteristics of personalized learning models by Bray and McClaskey (121). With project-based learning, students "are required to organize themselves and each other, think critically about difficult topics, and may actually use more demanding reading material and produce more sophisticated writing" than they would in a classroom that was simply content driven (Singer, 182). Singer emphasizes that this way of learning focuses on the skills that students need and learning as if they were actual historians or social scientists rather than trying to drive the content that historians and social scientists "need to know". I argue that Singer's approach is a better one because it is so easy to look information up on Google or through web research in an instant, but skills take a long time to develop. We can find the right answer to a question anywhere, but can we always have the skills to complete a task if we don't practice them for a significant amount of time first? I would rather focus on the skills rather than the content for that very reason.

In a project-based approach to learning, it can be tailored to student needs. "Students can work as individuals or in learning teams. Projects can originate from student discussions or teachers can present previously developed ideas to their classes. The focus ... can be on academic skill development, the research process, the product created by individuals or groups, or on student presentations in class. It can also be a combination of all of these" (182). The possibilities seem to be endless.

The possibilities are also endless on how these can be completed, and all work in a personalized way. There are examples of flexible pathways through an internship "at historic sites, government offices, with economic development agencies, or with community-based organizations" (182). Those are important community partnerships that provide new learning opportunities for students outside of the traditional classroom setting.

Voice and choice is also at the heart of a project-based approach. If we allow students to come up with any representation of what they know, that provides choice. Or, we can give them a number of options to choose from. Another example of voice and choice in one school was a "'project menu'" where "students select both the type of individual and group projects they want to complete and the topics they wish to explore so that the total value of all their projects is equal to 100 points" (183). Students get the opportunity to say what they want to learn, how they want to represent that learning, and how they will complete it. That is the ultimate voice and choice!

There is a component of the teacher just guiding learning and being a coach rather than spending all of their time at the front of the classroom lecturing and forcing students to take notes. There is opportunity for UDL as there is now flexibility in time for the teacher to have the opportunity to spend more time with students with needs and who really benefit from extra time with the teacher. Learning is self-directed as "students need to take responsibility for their learning" (184). We still guide our students but they need to be reflective and be able to monitor themselves for progress. Furthermore, there is room for flexible learning spaces. The classroom should have spaces that work for every type of project - grouped desks, desks on their own, spaces for movement and to create reenactments, technology areas if there is not 1:1 tech., etc. Additionally, not all learning has to come from the "typical" classroom; learning can take place in museums, historical societies, government buildings, etc.

This chapter really added to my understanding of personalized learning opportunities. Can this project-based learning approach be combined with a thematic unit? This is a question I really seek an answer to.

Thematic Units: An Opportunity for Personalized Learning

Social Studies for Secondary Schools: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach by Alan J. Singer: Chapter 10 ("How Can Social Studies Teachers Plan Controversy-Centered, Thematic, and Interdisciplinary Units?")

Make Learning Personal: The What, Who, WOW, Where, and Why by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey: Chapter 4 ("Where is Personalized Learning Happening?")

This was an eye opener for me. All semester, we have been working on thematic units, but I hadn't fully put together exactly how I could translate it into personalized learning. Singer made that happen for me to a new extent that I don't think I had come to yet.

Chapter 4 of Make Learning Personal lists different characteristics of personalized learning models including voice and choice, project-based learning, flexible learning spaces, multi-age classrooms, inquiry-based, and self-directed learning (121). All of this can take place under thematic units, and Singer's explanation made the connection clear in my head. Most of Singer's chapter explores how a thematic unit about human rights could be explored through various topics. "A thematic focus on human rights issues provides a lens for examining social conflicts, as well as social and individual choices" and forces students to consider many different issues and eventually make "informed judgments based on evidence, thoughtful consideration of individual and social values, and respect for difference" while having a choice in what they focus on (171).

Singer illustrates at least a dozen different of potential focal points for students. In world history, they could examine civil rights laws around the world with potential lenses including Nazi Germany or genocides in Africa (172). In a religious context, students can assess human rights in terms of a belief in God. This can be rooted in American history by assessing the Declaration of Independence and unalienable rights, the Catholic Church and their actions throughout history and today, in addition to justifications for slavery and other atrocities by the word of God (172). Additionally a focus on an area in early U.S. history would be acceptable. Again, students can assess unalienable rights and the Declaration of Independence or the ratification of the Constitution and surrounding rebellions (173). In more modern history, a study of the Civil Rights movement could serve the purpose or a study of current rights and assessing if reproductive rights or similar rights should be considered human rights (173). The possibilities are truly endless.

Singer also assesses a thematic unit surrounding a social group - in this case women - could be used in a similar way. U.S. history could be the focus and discuss fighting for suffrage rights in America or see how women helped to shape the country. For world history, focus on how women's rights differ throughout the world and why. In economics, "examine the changing role of women in the economy as producers and consumers" over time (176). In government, consider equal pay for women and men, how women's roles have changed in the government, their acceptance into the military, etc. The possibilities are absolutely endless.

This relates to personalized learning because we have some flexibility in how students learn these things. If the focus has to be on government because it is a government course, they can choose any lens that interests them. We don't have to say that they have to learn about a specific event or about a specific topic in order to gain content knowledge or learn the skills that are necessary for them. This is the aspect of voice and choice that Bray and McClaskey talk about. This is also entirely about self-directed learning. We may provide students with a focus by giving them a guiding question that they need to be able to respond to as a result of their inquiry, but we don't have to tell them exactly how to do it, how to answer it, or how they represent their learning.

This chapter from Singer gave me a new perspective on my unit planning. It is challenging me to come up with more examples of thematic units that I could use in courses and just realize how many examples from different areas of social studies could be incorporated into a single learning opportunity.

One Sided Story: Textbook Treatment of Native Americans

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, Chapter Four (Red Eyes).

If I had to combine what I have learned from James Loewen in chapters two through four, it is that we have a horrible tendency of understating or completely ignoring major issues in our history. It is almost like if we don't put it down in the textbook then we can pretend that it never happened. Thankfully, I think teachers today are beginning to spend less time teaching from the textbook so it may get better in coming years and a more reality-based history can be taught to students. I just want to say that I now am going to make a conscious effort in every unit of study that I teach to find examples of the "other" side of the story. In chapter four, the "other" side would be that of the Native Americans. Like chapter three, the Native perspective is almost entirely ignored by textbooks. Loewen acknowledged that in the last few decades, textbooks are giving better treatment to the Native Americans, but historically American history textbooks have a focus on white people and the European point-of-view rather than a focus on teaching reality. Loewen asserts that "authors of American history textbooks need a crash course in cultural relativism and ethnic sensitivity" (91). After reading the last few chapters of his book, I wholeheartedly agree.

I found this chapter to be a bit lengthy and it makes it a little difficult to sum up. But I was surprised by some of what I read. I didn't know that "the Pilgrims so feared Indianization that they made it a crime for men to wear long hair" or that they made it a crime - punishable by death penalty - for individuals to join Native Americans (101). Also, I was aware that this happened to a certain degree but it was good to see that Loewen spent time addressing how Native Americans became more dependent upon Europeans as time wore on whereas the European became less dependent on Natives. Europeans learned the skills that the Native Americans had to provide them, but after that they needed less and less while the Native Americans became dependent upon the technology that Europeans brought to the area (98). Unfortunately, "not one textbook tells of the process of incorporation into the global economy, none tells how contact worked to deskill Native Americans, most don't tell of increased Indian warfare, and only [one] even hints at the extent of the Native American slave trade" (98). Furthermore, the following quote will stick with me on another aspect that the textbooks missed: "Just as American societies changed when they encountered whites, so European societies changed when they encountered Natives. Textbooks completely miss this side of the mutual accommodation and acculturation process" (99). This is such a big deal. We only see how European life changed by the Natives teaching them agricultural techniques and the like, but we spend no time seeing how the lives of Natives were changed by having to interact with and share with Europeans.

To expand upon this, it is so crucial to be aware that only one side of the story is presented. One quote really stayed with me following the reading because it shows how important context is in portraying reality. "In Vermont the settlers worried about savages scalping them. This description is accurate, provided the reader understands that the settlers were Native Americans, the scalpers were white" (108). When we began to let Hollywood and popular culture educate individuals on what history looked like rather than being honest in our portrayals of history in textbooks, it gave people misconceptions on what actually happened. Hollywood has portrayed this savage stereotype of the Native American and that makes it difficult to erase those stereotypes when textbooks struggle to back us up on it. Textbooks are thankfully getting better about being honest that there was brutality and violence from both sides, but as a whole textbooks "do not challenge our archetypal Laura Ingalls Wilder picture of peaceful white settlers suffering occasional attacks by brutal Indians" (108).

Turning a blind eye to reality does not mean it did not happen. It also does not mean that because it doesn't appear in our textbooks, that people will not find out the truth. Loewen brings up a difficult but incredibly important point: "We also have to admit that Adolf Hitler displayed more knowledge of how we treated Native Americans than American high schoolers who rely on their textbooks. Hitler admired our concentration camps for Indians in the west 'and often praised to his inner circle the efficiency of America's extermination - by starvation and uneven combat' as the model for his extermination of Jews and Gypsies" (118). This hits home. Just because the truth did not make it into our textbooks did not mean that nobody found out what really happened. We need to accept our past as it truly happened so we can learn from it.

To close my analysis of the chapter, there was a quote toward the end that really made me think about my role as an educator. The quote discusses the role of the historian and it makes me think about what I can do as a teacher to make sure that I give voices to those who have been voiceless in textbooks. "'The duty of the historian,' Gordon Craig has reminded us, 'is to restore the past the options it once had.' Craig also pointed out that this is an appropriate way to teach history and to make it memorable" (119). We need to show students that choices were made along the way that led to the events we study. Everybody chose a certain path. They chose not to actively work against being a racist society. They chose not to allow intermarriage that could have potentially lessened the violence and misunderstanding between the groups. It is also a reminder that there are multiple sides to every story and just reading about the European side is not a fair portrayal of history. As a history teacher, I need to make an active effort to shed light on all sides of the story whenever possible.

False Portrayals - The Thanksgiving Story

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, Chapter Three (The Truth About the First Thanksgiving)

The story of the First Thanksgiving was one that I didn't realize that even I have a ton of misconceptions about or had never heard pieces of the real story. It's frightening to me that these particular students thought that the first settlers were in 1620, because it shows that we follow a "white history" of sorts.

What I found most interesting in this reading was the disease and plagues that ravaged the area following the Europeans coming to America. I always knew that there were diseases but I never knew to the extent that those diseases wiped out the Native population. It seems crazy to me that the healthiness of the Native Americans was actually part of their undoing because Europeans brought those diseases that they were not resistant to. The plagues "wiped out between 90 percent and 96 percent of inhabitants of coastal New England" in a matter of three years (70). Even worse was the aftermath where survivors had to simply leave where they had been because the amount of bodies surrounding them was overwhelming. Unfortunately, leaving meant that they ended up carrying these diseases with them to other places where Europeans never went - meaning that Native Americans who had never even met a European were now dying because of the diseases that had been carried over. One quote will really stick with me following this reading: "The Europeans' advantages in military and social technology might have enabled them to dominate the Americas ... but not to 'settle' the hemisphere. For that, the plague was required" (74). How different would history be if the Native Americans had been able to survive in larger numbers? Of course we are not supposed to ask 'what if' questions, but it makes me wonder what it would look like if disease hadn't made it nearly impossible for the Natives to do anything.

Of course I knew that there was rampant racism at the time, but it was still difficult to read and understand their ways of thinking. The Europeans thought that because they were surviving from Smallpox but Native Americans were dying from it that it meant that God was choosing them (72). They believed that it was a sign from God that they were superior and it was meant to be their land. Somewhat connected to this, the Native Americans had spent time and energy providing assistance to the Native Americans, and yet the Europeans thanked God for the assistance rather than the Natives. I really struggle to follow this line of thinking, but must remind myself to not impose my own values and keep in mind that nobody would have thought the same way that I do.

Along a similar line is another quote that will stay with me. "In this invocation, the Pilgrims supply not only the origin of the United Stats, but also the inspiration for democracy in Europe and perhaps for all goodness in the world today! ... This notion that 'we' advanced peoples provided for the Indians, exactly the converse of the truth, is not benign. It reemerges time and again in our history to complicate race relations" (86). The textbooks that some history teachers are instructing from are providing this false idea that the Europeans that came to America provided for the Native Americans, and it is simply untrue. Omitting the truth that Natives were enslaved, that there was a plague brought to the area because of European disease, and that people were grave robbing speaks to the fact that these textbooks aren't concerned with telling the truth - they seem to be more concerned with spreading a false story that makes white people look better than the truth would.

So, what does this mean? A quote from Loewen shows the consequences: "Today, when textbooks promote this ethnocentrism with their Pilgrim stories, they leave students less able to learn from and deal with people from other cultures" (87). We have to be more honest in our representation of history so students can learn from it. They're not learning anything if we don't present them with reality.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

End of the Road

Yesterday was the last day of my Practicum II in Mr. Scott's room. I know in my last blog post I expressed that I was so relieved that I would be returning, but that feeling is present now more than ever. I honestly don't know that I would have been happy leaving my cooperating teacher and the classroom at this point in the year. I can only imagine how tough it will be when I leave in May!


My semester in the classroom has taught me so much. I learned new technology and new ways of teaching that will change the way I look at education forever. I honestly can say that I never once saw a lesson in the classroom that I questioned if it was really getting through to students or if there was thought put into keeping students engaged. I can clearly see that students are learning in the classroom. I hear it in their discussions, I see it in the classwork that I collected after teaching my final lesson on Monday, and I can read it in their responses on Schoology.


On Monday when I taught, I saw how much I have changed already as a result of my experiences. My lesson was on the Declaration of Independence. I had students translating the Declaration into sentences that middle school students could understand without background knowledge. I saw how my experiences have been changed because I was using graphic organizers - something I have never been comfortable finding and implementing before. I used a PowerPoint to guide the introduction of the class - something I did because it's sort of a norm in their classroom and I wanted to try it out. While I didn't really use the PowerPoint for an extended period of time, it was still a good challenge for me to begin to think about how to use visual aids with my lesson so I can get through to more students. I also recognized how much more comfortable I was teaching these students at this point than I was the first time I taught them two months ago.


I am so thankful for my experiences in Mr. Scott's classroom. I can't wait to add to these lessons, and I'm already anxious for their winter break to start and come to an end so I can get back into the classroom at least once a week until student teaching begins.


Furthermore, I am particularly happy that we were required to blog about our classroom experiences. Spending the time twice a week to reflect upon my experiences has given me a different perspective. It's kind of funny how much I realize and recognize the next day as I am writing my reflection when I hadn't noticed it as I was actually experiencing it. It is my goal to continue this practice at least twice a week during my student teaching (regardless of if it is a requirement or not) so that I can continue this practice of reflection.

Friday, December 2, 2016

Peer Observation & Substitutes

Today was a completely new experience in my practicum. Mr. Scott was absent, so the daily routine was thrown off as we had a substitute teacher. Thankfully, the special educator who works with the team came in and assisted during our advisory block because students were expected to complete what could be a difficult assignment. In preparing and developing their PLP, they were provided with a handout that has sixteen habits of mind listed and described. They included things like perseverance, finding the humor in situations, creating and innovating, striving for accuracy, etc. They were required to choose one of these habits of mind and describe three examples of how they have worked toward it this year. In other words, they begin the process of gathering evidence that they are meeting a proficiency - which in this case is a habit of mind. By the end of the class session (about 40 minutes), they should have completed this process for two habits of mind.

Some students really excelled with this and other students really struggled. I am happy to say that I was able to step in and really provide assistance since I have been in the classroom so long. I've gotten to know some students well enough that I could point toward extra-curricular examples that they hadn't considered. For instance, there is one habit of mind that essentially boils down to being able to work in groups and think with others to come to one good idea. I was able to mention that he plays a sport and that he should think of an instance related to that. Once I opened his eyes to the potential outside of just classroom curriculum, the entire process became much easier and came more naturally to him.

After that, I actually spent time watching one of my peers teach a lesson. On Monday I will be teaching about the Declaration of Independence, so it was actually twice as valuable for me to watch because she was teaching about the Declaration as well. It gave me with ideas on things that could really work well with my own students as well as seeing things that probably wouldn't work in my classroom.

As a whole, watching my peer teach a lesson was an incredibly valuable lesson. Something that I personally struggle with is classroom management when students are working in small groups and I'm going around the room helping them. I noticed that she also may have struggled with this as she spent time with one group and the students on the other side of the room became louder and less productive as time passed. Mostly, I recognized a lot of strengths and what she did well. It provided me with a nice reminder that we may not feel the best about a lesson when we walk away from it, but the people who are watching it may see it a different way. I know she didn't walk away from the lesson feeling spectacular about it but I thought it was a good lesson and she tried a lot of different teaching methods and at the end of the lesson, the students certainly had learned something. It's nice to get a little perspective on this.

It was a great day in my placement and I'm definitely feeling a little disappointed that I'm going to be away from the classroom for over a month. Thank goodness I will be returning for the spring semester!

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Flexible Pathways and Creativity

It is absolutely insane to me that I am in my final week of my Practicum II. I'm really excited that I will be returning to Mr. Scott's classroom for student teaching in a month and a half, but it will be so strange to step away from the classroom for over a month!

Classes were shortened on Wednesday, so I saw my usual two eighth grade classes in the time span that I would usually see one. They're currently working on a project for the American Revolution project where they are taking on the role of either a real or imaginary individual, deciding if they are going to be a loyalist or patriot, and write a letter to a loved one explaining what's happening. They're expected to be able to apply what they know about the positions of loyalists and patriots and the various acts such as the Quartering Act, Stamp Act, Intolerable Acts, and their reactions to events like the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party and have that be reflected in their letter.

There is also a component to it where students should handwrite it on fake parchment paper, to pretend that they are actually writing this letter in the late 1770s. Most students have decided to write it in cursive as they felt like this was more realistic. One student even took the time to do calligraphy on the "D" in "Dear". They are having the opportunity to make their learning a little more real, and for the most part, they seem to be enjoying it.

The second part of the day was spent touring the local technical center. While these students are only seventh and eighth graders, they could begin taking courses at the tech center in tenth grade. We got to explore 12 or 13 of the available programs, hear from the students and teachers in the programs, and see what they are currently working on. It was actually really incredible to see what they're doing. Jerry, a male student in seventh grade, immediately lit up with excitement when we entered the creative media and digital arts classrooms when he saw the large iMacs, photography equipment, heard that there is a radio station down the hallway, and that he would have the opportunity to use all of this equipment for free and gain college credit for it in his high school years. He turned to me and said, "this is the perfect classroom for me!"

Seeing Jerry's excitement and the excitement of other students as we visited culinary arts, construction, business, and other programs showed me that personalized learning and flexible pathways is SUCH a good thing. I've always thought it was a good idea but seeing how these flexible pathways are helping students who knew what they were interested in and that they could apply their math, science, and other knowledge to create something like an entire house while still in high school was eye opening. I turned to my friend and fellow student teacher and told her that if I had known what was taking place at the tech center when I was in school, I would have definitely attended the business program when I was a senior.

I know the tour was meant for the middle school students to see what options are available to them, but I honestly think I received as much information as they did. It should be a requirement of all area teachers to visit the tech center and see what options are available to students. It helps put everything into perspective and even come up with our own ways of making some of these projects real in our own classrooms even if students don't attend the technical center. I know that if I personally keep the visit in mind and apply aspects of it to my own classroom, I'll most likely be a better educator as a result of it.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Differentiation and Engagement in Action

This week, students have really started to look at the beginning of the American Revolution. Students became familiar with the Stamp Act, Quartering Act, and the Townshend Acts through reading and connecting the information to a role that they would play. Some students are loyalists, some are neutralist, and others are radicals. Some roles include Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, the Earl of Effingham, a slave who was a neutralist, and the governor of one of the colonies. They each have a card with their role and what their beliefs and perspectives on issues were. This made students think critically about their position on the Revolution and consider whether they would comply with or rebel against the acts and decisions made by British Parliament.

It was a fun way to look at the American Revolution and the various perspectives involved. Students had to set aside their own beliefs and knowledge and focus only on what was on the card in front of them. It put everyone on a level playing field to some extent. It was certainly a more engaging way to learn about these events that I ever experienced - I had been subjected to a lecture and memorization of the different acts and their dates. For the most part, I would say that they engagement was really there. Students seemed genuinely interested and really considered how their individual would have reacted.

While this post is not lengthy, I got a lot out of the class sessions. I saw how Mr. Scott was thoughtful in handing out the roles. Roles that were more in the middle and unclear about how they may have reacted to the acts were not given to students who may have struggled with the assignment at a more basic level. This ability to differentiate on the spot was nice to see. It also showed me another way to promote engagement on a topic that could be boring to some of the students if it was taught in a different way. It gave me a new idea on how to teach a topic like this.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Celebrating Atrocities: The Columbus Story

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, Chapter Two (1493: The True Importance of Christopher Columbus)

I always knew that the Columbus story was misrepresented in history textbooks, but I never realized to what extent and how this carries over to other areas. I was baffled to read that "some textbooks even invoke the Protestant Reformation [in leading to the Age of Exploration], although it didn't begin until twenty-five years after 1492!" (Loewens, 32). As I continued to read, I became more horrified. Thankfully, I am reading this chapter before I have ever taught a lesson on Columbus and can now keep myself from perpetuating the myth that most textbooks have written.

My question following reading this chapter of the text is: why are textbooks practicing cognitive dissonance on something that happened over 500 years ago? I argue that it is cognitive dissonance as we have consciously taken a Eurocentric viewpoint in our academics rather than presenting students with the reality that not all of Christopher Columbus' actions - or even the majority of them - were honorable. Why can't we accept our history for what it is and accept that colonialism has a really nasty side to it including racism and treating human beings as if they were commodities or resources?

One thing I want to remember following this reading is that "American history textbooks treat Columbus [in a way that] reinforces the tendency not to think about the process of domination" as they celebrate the domination of Columbus rather than consider if that domination was a good thing for those involved and affected by it (Loewen, 35). Building off of this idea, one quote really stayed with me after reading the chapter:

"American history textbooks promote the belief that most important developments in world history are traceable back to Europe. To grant too much human potential to pre-Columbian Africans might jar European American sensibilities. As Samuel Marble put it, 'the possibility of African discovery of America has never been a tempting one for American histories'" (42).

This quote will be difficult to forget, and I agree with it. I think our textbooks and our traditional teachings have really focused on how discoveries affected Europe and America - but really only white Europe and America who reaped the benefits. We have to stop thinking and teaching in a way that only represents a privileged perspective and present real history. I'm not saying that fifth grade students need to hear about every detail on how Columbus encouraged the rape of native women among his lieutenants, but there certainly are details that should be taught at different levels to show that exploration was not all good (56). We can't hide negative details of events simply because it doesn't fit in with our picture-perfect narrative that we have created. We are not writing narratives and history isn't always pretty, so our textbooks and teaching should reflect that.

I also want to remember that even details that I figured would be standard across textbooks, such as details about Columbus and where he is from, aren't. I never expected this. Loewen outlines how there is disagreement among textbooks on where Columbus is from, what the weather was like for the travel, how long the exploration took, etc. simply because there isn't any evidence. So, how can we really know what happened with any degree of certainty on areas of the exploration that have no evidence or writing about them? If I am ever going to teach something out of a textbook, it would be important to research which aspects are disputed that way I don't give students the impression that something is absolutely true if it may not be.

Rather than discuss things that I disagree with or I find controversial, I want to leave a couple of quotes that hit home. They either had to do with the punishment and brutality that natives faced from the Spaniards, or the effect that the Spaniards had upon their population.


"When Columbus and his men returned to Haiti in 1493, they demanded food, gold, spun cotton—whatever the Indians had that they wanted, including; sex with their women. To ensure cooperation, Columbus used punishment by example. When an Indian committed even a minor offense, the Spanish cut off his ears or nose. Disfigured, the person was sent back to his village as living evidence of the brutality the Spaniards were capable of" (51).

"Spaniards hunted Indians for sport and murdered them for dog food. Columbus, upset because he could not locate the gold he was certain was on the island, set up a tribute system." (53). Likewise, they would cut off the hands of those who were not productive enough. Many turned to suicide, women turned to abortion so they wouldn't bring children into the world under such conditions. This is not a history that I ever read about in my history textbooks and was never taught in my classroom.

Their effect upon the population: "estimate of Haiti's pre-Columbian population range as high as 8,000,000 people. When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain ... took a census of Indian adults in 1496 and came up with 1,100,000" (54). Including children and those who escaped to the mountains, the population was more likely around 3,000,000 (55). Slave trade and labor policies that Columbus put into effect left about only 12,000 natives by 1516, less than 200 in 1542, and  they were gone by 1555 (55).  All of these atrocities are ignored by the textbooks that Loewen evaluated.

These quotes and this information presents the reality of the Columbus story. There were positive outcomes for Europe and those can certainly still be mentioned in classrooms and in textbooks, but we should also acknowledge the negative aspects of European exploration and exploitation as well.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Curriculum & Unit Planning

Social Studies for Secondary Schools: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach by Alan J. Singer: Chapter 6 (How do you plan a social studies curriculum?) and Chapter 7 (How do you plan a social studies unit?)

The two chapters I read this week were fairly relevant to my coursework, particularly that about planning a social studies unit. The big things I take away from this is to be intentional and very clear in my curriculum and unit plans. The more clear that I make it for myself and the more time I really spend preparing and doing my research, the better the unit and lesson plans will be as long as I keep tabs on where students are at with their understanding and make necessary judgments as I go along.

Three Things I want to Remember

That our unit and lesson plans aren't the end of planning. We have to adjust during lessons, after lessons, before our next one, etc. We are constantly planning. And just because we put something into our lesson and unit plans it doesn't mean it has to happen. If it's no longer appropriate or necessary to include something, then we shouldn't spend class time on it. If we realize that something isn't going to work, then we don't do it. This is something that I know I struggle with in my lesson plans currently, and I need to be aware of it going into my teaching.

One of the questions that is listed to consider while unit planning: "Does this unit build on previous work and understanding?" Starting with this question will be huge because it really defines the time and scope of the unit from the start. If a lot of the unit is building off of skills that students have already become nearly proficient in, then we know we probably don't need to spend nearly as much time teaching those skills. Unless we are pushing them a lot further, then we don't need to spend quite so much time on that unit than we would with a unit with all new skills and proficiencies. It gives a great starting point.

Finally, one thing I want to keep in mind is the result of a lesson I recently taught. I recently had students read parts of the Constitution with the intention of having them find examples of natural rights and a separation of powers. Some students were able to complete the assignment, but others really, really struggled with it. This text gave me a good idea. "Sometimes, I provide students with differentiated text, activity sheets with a series of documents that were originally written, or have been edited, so that they offer a range of academic difficulty" (111). This would have been a great idea for my lesson, and it's something that I want to remember for the next time that I have students analyze potentially difficult historical documents.


Two Disagreements/Controversial Ideas

While this isn't something that I disagree with or personally find controversial, it is something that would certainly be controversial in some areas of the United States. On page 97, Singer mentioned one call "for a sweeping reorganization of the social studies curriculum because of is overwhelmingly male context. She recommends introducing women's culture into social studies by focusing on social interaction and human relationships, family and community building, the role of love and caring in different cultures, and movements for world peace." This change wouldn't be welcome to some individuals and this feminist approach probably would not be adopted in conservative areas.

Also in the curriculum chapter, there was discussion on a sample curriculum calendar. In the sample calendar, "at that time New York City had semiannual reorganization in high school, so social studies teachers had to have their classes in roughly the same place at the end of the semester in January" (99). To me, this is a terrible idea. Not every student learns at the same pace, and there is absolutely no way that every class in New York City public schools would be learning at a similar pace. That means that the curriculum is going to be slowed down for some groups that should be moving through content more quickly. Even worse, the curriculum is going to be moving way too quickly for other students when it should be slowed down so they could actually comprehend the content and skills that are being taught. By forcing them to be at about the same place, so many students are being cheated of an education that would be appropriate for them.


One Question I Have

I recognize that units focusing on content make chronology clearer for students as they go through a unit, but how do we make sure that students are able to make thematic connections between regions at the same time? The organization of content-focused units is appealing because there is a clear sequence of events, but just having an understanding of the order of events isn't enough for students in my opinion. How do we foster those skills if we have  to teach in a content-focused unit rather than thematic?

Friday, November 4, 2016

Elections & Interviews

Today's practicum was a little different than usual. Because the election is on Tuesday, the whole middle school used the advisory block to run different election workshops. I decided to stay right with Mr. Scott because he was having students play a game called Win the White House. This game is run on an app on their iPads where they learn about the electoral college system. They create their own character who will run for President. They choose which political party they belong to, which issues they will focus on, etc. They participate in debates where they defend or attack certain issues, they run positive or negative campaign ads, and really go through the process of trying to win over each state. Within a couple of rounds, the students really began to understand the role of money and campaigning  in addition to how swing states work and the entire election process. Watching them play this game made me realize that this technology is a great way of teaching students about the process. They didn't quite understand how it worked as far as getting those votes until they went through and played the game on their own. It's a great teaching tool, in my opinion.

Afterward, I spent my time outside of the classroom to interview the special educator that works with the team. In order to prepare for my Entry two, I spent a significant amount of time getting to know what services the district offers to students, learning about the identification and referral process, and generally just hearing about what a "typical" day looks like - although I quickly realized that there is no such thing as a "typical" day as multiple interruptions took place in what would usually be down time for her as a student needed assistance, the student support center needed to speak with her about a student's progress, and a phone call came in for her to the office, all within the first seven or eight minutes of our meeting. The interruptions were great, though, because it gave me more of a real look at what her job can look like sometimes because it really isn't realistic that she would have much free time when she has a caseload of over 20 students with IEPs and various students who are on 504 plans or receiving other assistance. In the next week, I will be spending more time with her and a special educator from the neighboring team to really get a feel for the services provided at the school.

It was a great morning. It was odd spending so much time outside of my classroom but I learned so much from my time with the special educator that gave me insight into the workings of Mr. Scott's room. I realized that many of the structures of the classroom were very intentional and were there to support the students who need services to allow them to stay in the classroom and be successful. Middle school students generally don't want to be taken out of the classroom and made to be different than their peers so I now have a better understanding that Mr. Scott was intentional in the format of some assignments and in breaking down to the smallest details that way the learning is accessible to all students. It seems so obvious, but it is so well done in his classroom that it is difficult to really even notice that such adjustments are being made.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Organizing My Lessons

Today I taught my second lesson of the semester. I learned a valuable lesson in how to get better in planning my lessons, particularly when they are content heavy.

The lesson centered around Enlightenment ideas - particularly the state of nature, social contracts, natural rights, and a separation of powers thanks to Locke and Montesquieu. When I really slowed down my brief lectures and our following discussions, I think it made sense to students. Where I really lacked in my planning and saw students struggle as a result was being unclear on where they should be taking notes or what they should do with the information. For next time, I think I need to bring graphic organizers and be super explicit in where the information should go. They were able to take notes today, but they didn't seem to understand where I wanted them to put the information. But I realized that I hadn't really considered the answer to that question before. I think this will get easier when I have my own classroom because there will be an organization structure that I create from the start and will stick to. Currently, I am aware of the structure but I wasn't sure if they should add it to notability or not or what Mr. Scott would like to do with their notes and stuff in the long term.

Moving forward, I'm going to really make a point to consider what I want students to do with the information. I'll be able to hand them a graphic organizer or be very clear that I want them to set up a page in notability rather than tell them to put the information wherever they want. I could tell after the fact that they wanted specific directions on where to put it. I also want to make my questions and directions much more clear. There was some time spent repeating directions or clarifying what I meant by the question that I wanted them to consider for a free write. If I am very intentional with my questions and make my directions really clear, I may still have a couple of questions but I think it would lessen. It wasn't a big deal today because I was able to handle them individually and it didn't take up class time really, but if it consistently happened, we would lose a lot of instructional time by just having to repeat myself or give alternative explanations.

All in all, I think the lesson went alright. They certainly had a better understanding of the content by the end of it. My only other area that I need to work on is classroom management. Again, this is something that will be easier for me in my own classroom with my own system but I noticed that things got a little out of hand when I was working with small groups or one on one. I need to find a way to manage what's happening on the other side of the room while I'm also occupied helping students on the other side. I know that will come with practice as well, though. As a whole, I can't complain. I was happy to see students open up to me even a little bit more and that they are excited when I come in to teach.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Preview - Now and for the Future

My last two visits have given me previews. On Friday, it was a preview into what will be coming in the future as we move toward Personalized Learning Plans. Students that morning were working on preparing for their student-led conferences in addition to their PLPs. I have to say, watching this process was really valuable. Some students really soared through the process and could immediately decide on pieces of work from each class that they wanted to add to the presentation that they will show to their parents. It was kind of their first run through on finding evidence, much like they will with their personalized learning plans. As I said, this process went much more smoothly for some rather than others.

When they began work on their PLPs, one of the first steps was to create a couple of different goals. One goal would be academic, and couldn't be based upon grades. They could say that they want to boost their participation in class which may be proven by a boost in participation grades (if those are available in the classroom), but they were not allowed to say that their academic goal was to get a 95% in social studies. This goal wasn't terribly difficult for students to come up with. Some students focused on an area where they may be particularly weak and would write what they wanted to improve and how they would go about it.

The second part that they worked on was a personal goal. Many students really struggled with this one. Some had goals that may have been too short-term (one student had already seen his goal related to football not work out within a week of making it, leaving him in the position of having to create a new goal) and others were too large (like emphasizing their occupation goals post-high school or college). While none of these personal goals were bad, they just didn't fit the scope of the plan. These personal goals should be achievable within the next year or two, though they can work toward those larger goals like working toward entering their dream profession.

It was useful to watch this process take place because I was faced with having to give examples of personal goals that might inspire them to create their own. This worked with a couple of students, but it didn't work with other students that I did not know as well. This was a great lesson because it made me see how valuable it is to really know your students, particularly in the PLP world when student interests and goals become central to their education. Friday gave me a solid preview of what my life will be like as a teacher when I try to start the PLP process and get students to start thinking about their short and long term goals and plan out how they are going to achieve those goals.

Today, Wednesday, provided a preview for what I will be teaching tomorrow. Mr. Scott taught a different version of the same lesson I will be teaching to a different group of students tomorrow. It was really useful to watch him teach because it helped me to consider new questions that students may ask me. It also helped me to rethink how much time I may actually need to lecture and explain Enlightenment concepts to the seventh graders. By watching Mr. Scott, I was able to kind of come up with a back up plan in case aspects of my lesson don't really pan out the way I want them to. Watching somebody else teach the same content that you will teach in a different way is a valuable experience because I got to see what he decided to emphasize and compare it to what I thought was most important.

I am really looking forward to teaching my lesson tomorrow, although I am nervous because the content may not be the most interesting to students and it can be a little difficult to really grasp. Regardless, I think these students are up for the challenge and will rise to the occasion and we will all learn something new from it.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Chaotic Wednesday

My Wednesday practicum hours showed me how switching from one unit to the next can cause a little bit of chaos. Logistically, there were still some students who were concerned with the previous unit. They had just taken their summative assessment on Monday and had received their scores and feedback. Some students knew that they were expected to retake the assessment to see if they could improve their score. Other students had yet to take the assessment because they were absent. This seemed a little chaotic to me at the beginning of the class sessions because some students were so focused on what they had gotten on the assessment, when they would retake it or take it for the first time, while Mr. Scott and many other class members were ready to put the unit behind them and start to discuss the American Revolution.

It was good to see this little chaotic scene (it really only lasted maybe five minutes or so in each session, but it really stuck out to me) because it shows me how transitions can become complicated. The students will have the time to retake or take the assessment as it was fairly short and they could use their break time to complete it (which is standard practice, the students know that break time is used to complete assignments if they are not finished, if they hadn't started them when they were expected to, or if they need extra time).

Some of this seemed to set the tone for the first class, though. It seemed to me like the students could never really get focused. Mr. Scott used his usual classroom management system by using "Gimme Five" - which did work to get their attention when he needed to speak or give directions. What didn't work, though, was his use of the "think cards". Rather than halting his lesson to speak to an individual about their behavior, he simply hands a think card to the student or students who needed a reminder of the expectation and they know that it is a warning of sorts. For Henry, the think card was effective. He knew that he had been talking when he wasn't supposed to be and his behavior changed accordingly. For Josh, the think card didn't change much about his behavior. He quieted down for a short period of time, but he never focused on the reading assignment. He didn't work with his group to complete the assignment despite reminders. Josh was more worried about his food and making comments on the things that people in other groups would say - that tended to be quite off-topic - rather than meeting the classroom expectations. With about ten minutes left of class, after being separated from his group mates with the expectation that he would get serious about the assignment and really work on it, Josh was given his final warning and eventually had to go out in the hallway for a private conversation with Mr. Scott about classroom expectations and how his behavior did not meet them.

This was a new experience for me. I had seen Mr. Scott give out these think cards, but he had never had to go as far as separating a student so the rest of his group mates could work without distraction or to take a student into the hallway. It was a nice reminder that even when we are clear with our expectations and are consistent in making sure that students are meeting them and being respectful, the early interventions in our classroom management won't always do the trick. In a veteran classroom, it's hard to see this in action all the time because most of the time there aren't really any classroom management issues to observe. A lot of it is handled silently or so discreetly that nobody really notices it. It will be interesting to see if there is a pattern over time that when a unit ends or there is some other significant transition, classroom management becomes more important in keeping everything in line. Regardless, I have something to keep in mind when looking toward the future.

Friday, October 21, 2016

Academic Freedom and the Politics of Education

I have really slipped as of lately on my content area reading, so in the coming days there will be more posts about what I'm reading and what I'm learning.

Social Studies for Secondary Schools: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach by Alan J. Singer: Chapter 4 (What are Our Goals?) and Chapter 5 (Is Social Studies Teaching "Political"?)

Both of these chapters were great and I was able to fly through them because I was able to connect to them so well with where I'm at in my learning and understanding. This is true in particular for chapter four. Essentially, the chapter addresses the question of what goals we have for ourselves as teachers, for our students, and for our lessons and units. All of this is both short-term and long-term as we need to have different types of goals throughout the year and for our careers. Both chapters also looked at how ideology can affect the curriculum. This was discussed at length in the fifth chapter about how politics can shape what students are "allowed" to learn in the classroom. Chapter four addresses it as many packaged curricula will promote a certain ideology and it's evident in the phrases that are used and the messages that they send to the students. If teachers are not aware of this, then do we really know what it is that our students are learning and what message that they're taking away from our lesson?

Three Things I want to Remember:

More than anything, this is something I want to write down because I want to explore it more. Chapter four, and a bit of chapter five, references "culturally relevant pedagogy" and the importance of making sure that all of our students are represented in the texts we read and the history we learn about (57). We need to be intentional in our planning to make sure that we don't exclude viewpoints and perspectives that students may never have been exposed to. This all relates back to knowing who are students are, which is absolutely essential to being a great teacher, in my opinion. Because this is such a big piece of education and is so important, I want to do further research on culturally relevant pedagogy and find resources that give advice on where to find great examples of perspectives that we don't get in the whitewashed version that history textbooks traditionally provide.

This quote from Chapter five stuck with me long after finishing my reading: "our main choice as social studies teachers is whether we allow political forces to dictate us, or we become activists who shape what takes place in our classrooms and who influences broader policy debates" (71). This is huge. It relates back to what I said earlier about ideologies affecting what is taught. Often, the decisions that are made about what is allowed to be in the state and eventually school curriculum is decided by men in suits who have never taught before. This quote is empowering because it asks the question of if we simply sit back and teach based upon what those men believe is most essential for our students (who they don't know and likely never will know). Or we can stand up and really push back against this to regain control over what is actually essential for students to know. I believe it's related that we also empower our students to take control of their learning. This quote reminds me that we always have a voice and we get to choose how and if we use it. But where our students are concerned, if they're not getting what they really need and deserve from their education, then they deserve teachers who are willing to stand up and be activists to make a change.

Finally, I think it's important to remember the aspects on the importance of student input. Again, we need to allow students to find their voice. If students want to hear a perspective that is more reflective of who they are and what their background is, then I believe we owe that to them. They should have a say in some of the direction we take in our units and lessons. As long as the skills are being taught and the standards are being met, why not allow students to have some say in if they learn about one topic or the other in order to meet those goals? Of course they may not get what they want all the time, but I do think that if we let students have a voice in their learning and the direction we take sometimes, it will be much more engaging and memorable for our students.

Two Controversial Ideas/Things I Disagree With

A controversial idea I have brought up already has reappeared this week. This controversy is whether or not teachers should be able to express their opinion in the classroom. Chapter five addresses how one teacher was dismissed because she told her students that "she sometimes 'honks for peace'" (76). This is absolutely wrong, in my opinion. How on Earth are students ever going to hear different opinions if teachers constantly have to hide their own? As long as a teacher stresses the importance of students coming to their own conclusions and that disagreements are okay, why can't a teacher say how they feel about certain topics? If a teacher gives their opinion every single class period on controversial topics, sure that may not be the best. But it is not my belief that teachers automatically lose their First Amendment rights the second that they walk through the classroom door. We need to teach students to be critical of all opinions, including that of their teacher.

The second controversial topic that came up was the idea of academic freedom. I was really bothered by how many instances there were where individuals tried to limit what is taught in schools based upon their own beliefs. We hear about it often, unfortunately. The one story that really bothered me was when high school seniors were reading a book about teenage behavior and a parent took offense to it because "a passage referred to masturbation" (78). These aren't second graders we are talking about, these are high school seniors who are about to enter the outside world. If they did not know what masturbation was before they began reading that book, then the school had bigger issues to begin with. But the fact that one individual's opinion on the matter was enough to have the school initially drop the book from the curriculum before students and other parents fought to have it back really bothers me. The topic isn't a particularly offensive one and it is most certainly a real topic. Unless there are truly offensive aspects, why are we sheltering what our children will know because one person didn't like it's inclusion in the classroom? This bothered me tremendously.


One Question:
Early in chapter four, Singer describes how there has been disagreement with how classes are structured at different levels. For middle school courses and lower-level high school courses, teachers work harder to maintain student attention. But when high school students reach the AP level or when we enter college, many teachers or professors switch to a "chalk and talk" format where the instructor simply speaks and gives their knowledge to their students and leaves it at that. Singer, thankfully, expresses disappointment with this approach. My question is why this approach has stuck around for so long? I see it weekly in some of my courses. Sure, students may speak up here and there and we are "encouraged" to think for ourselves, but at the same time, we are subjected to listening to the professor speak for 90 minutes straight. We see students perform well when instructors use less passive approaches to teaching, so why have we allowed this model to exist at the highest level of our education? What can we, as students, do to demand that more interesting and better forms of teaching take place outside of our education classrooms?

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Success and Failure in my First Lesson

This was a busy practicum week! I actually visited Mr. Scott's classroom on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. The big deal this week - I taught my first lesson.

The good news is that I think it went well. The students really seemed to learn from it. They were engaged in the lesson (for the most part) as they found the topic interesting. The responses that I got from students on their discussion forum and submissions were quite good. As an assessment strategy, their responses were great because they gave me an idea of where I could have spent more time on my lesson. I saw fairly quickly that I could have spent more time allowing students to think about causes of the Salem Witch Trials and the mass hysteria. Perhaps more discussion with each other around those causes would have been beneficial and maybe there would have been more variation in their responses. I think that most of the responses ended up being about the same because they went with the cause that I spent the most time discussing and they thought it was most valuable as a result of that time spent. If I was going to carry this lesson forward and put more emphasis on it, I would address this and have students discuss it more and take more time looking into additional causes and see how/if their responses changed as a result of that.

I also learned a valuable technology lesson. ALWAYS find a way to test your lesson's components out on the technology that the students will be expected to use. I didn't do this because I don't own an iPad. Next time I plan a lesson, I'll ask to borrow Mr. Scott's iPad during my practicum hours to make sure that it will work. I was able to adjust my lesson this time, but what would I have done if that adjustment wasn't easy to make? Or if it was impossible? I had additional ideas that could have been incorporated into the lesson, but none of them could have salvaged the lesson as a whole. It honestly would have been a disaster. That was a nice reminder for me. Just because I triple-checked the technology on my laptop and saw the lesson would work on my end does not mean that it will work on the iPads and that it will go as I plan there.

The best part about teaching this first lesson is what it has done for me after teaching. I'm more confident in the classroom now. I feel a million times more comfortable with the students. I can tell that they're more comfortable with me, too. So many students opened up to me on Wednesday, the first day I went back to Mr. Scott's room following teaching, and they spent more time talking to me. They also expressed excitement that I had taught them and they were asking when I would teach again. Some of these students were even part of that first group that I taught on Monday, where the lesson didn't go exactly as I had planned and they weren't as engaged in the lesson as following groups. This was reassuring to me that even though I felt like I had failed that group to some extent, they were still excited about the lesson I taught and could forgive that I wasn't as bright and cheery walking into the lesson at the beginning as I should have been.

I'm excited to see what the next two months holds for me. I'm a bit anxious about getting all of my lessons in as time is ticking down and students are now switching into a new unit, so it may be another couple of weeks before I get the opportunity to teach again. But, this will be a good test for me and Mr. Scott and see how well we can communicate with each other and work together to plan how we move forward. We'll see what happens next week, but I'm feeling good about where I am in the classroom and how I'm progressing in my teaching!

Friday, October 14, 2016

Busy Week

So I forgot to post about my Wednesday practicum, so I'm going to combine my two visits into one post.

Wednesday for me was about getting back into the swing of things. I hadn't been in the classroom for a week and a half, and after being incredibly sick and still not feeling 100% I saw how exhausting it can be as a teacher. Mr. Scott asked me to kind of take the lead on helping students on Wednesday and doing quick check-ins with them as they worked through an assignment in pairs where they would complete a reading (a page or two), and then fill out a structured diagram. I was happy to have the challenge, but found myself completely exhausted after 20 minutes. It was a piece of cake checking in with some students as they just seemed to really understand the reading and exactly what they should write on each part of the diagram. Other students, not so much. When I tried to check in with Billy, I was getting nowhere. He wouldn't start the reading. When he did, he would just scribble on the page rather than actually read it or highlight. He was having an off day and so was I.

I felt guilty, but I started to give up after a while. I didn't understand why Billy didn't want my help. I offered many times to sit and read with him. I asked him to speak to his partner about what he needed to do and maybe they could do the entire assignment together. He would always say "that's okay, I'm fine" to get me to walk away, and then he would go back to scribbling or something else to occupy his time. Mr. Scott did step in and speak to Billy eventually to get him to start the assignment, and once he started, then he was open to receiving my help. This was a meaningful learning experience for me as I saw my reaction to the situation and how it was my first instinct to walk away when I was frustrated that he wouldn't begin. When I have my own classroom, and when I become more and more comfortable with these students, I think it will be easier to have those more difficult conversations and discuss with Billy why he wouldn't start rather than allowing him to say something to placate me and walk away. The situation could have been totally different too if I had been feeling more like myself - but I still need to be aware that this is my reaction, because I won't always be feeling my best when I have my own classroom but that doesn't mean I should change as a teacher.

Today, I still wasn't myself but I had a less active role in the classroom. Students spent advisory setting up a portfolio space either online or through an app on their iPad to document evidence for their PLPs. Today was mostly about setting up the different pages or tabs that they will enter information into. One section is about them and who they are as a learner and a person. Another section is about their goals - short term in addition to long term goals like what they want to be when they graduate and where they see themselves in 30 or 40 years. This is part of the portfolio that I think is really significant because it provides a space to connect what students are learning in the classroom to their goals - which is one of the main points behind personalized learning plans. Then, they set up folders for each class that they are taking so they can add content to it. I wish that students had started to discuss their goals and who they are as learners, but they didn't get that far today. Hopefully I will be there on a day where they continue that conversation and I can see how PLPs work.

I can't wait to get back to feeling like myself again so I can enjoy my time in the classroom a bit more. I teach a lesson on Monday and Tuesday, so I will have a better understanding of the students in the classes after that. I'm excited but nervous. I guess we'll see what happens, but at the very least, I know I'm prepared!

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Exploration - Students and Myself


We are reaching the end of our first unit in Mr. Scott's class. Students are currently wrapping up a short project where they researched two or more explorers from the Colonial Era. They were instructed to find information such as where they were from, when they took their voyage, who sponsored their journey, where they landed and explored, and what they found, among other criteria.
 
Upon completion of their research, they created identification cards with some of this information, photographs, and other graphics through Piccollage, where they then would upload them to Schoology to be assessed. As a class, they created this Exploration Timeline (pictured below) on the window. They created QR codes that linked to their Piccollage creation so they can be scanned and brought directly to their identification card.
 
 


 
My classroom time has been a bit limited lately because of time changes for my class to spend more time unit planning. It has been valuable to have that extra time, but I'm seeing a little less of the students in my classroom as a result. Part of my time in my classroom on Wednesday was spent preparing for a lesson I will be teaching next week. I am excited, but nervous to teach. I think the big juggling act is figuring out how to frame my lesson (on the Salem Witch Trials) within the larger unit as it is coming to an end, while also keeping it in line with some of the main themes of the unit. I'm currently finding primary source documents for students to analyze. I am also toying with the idea of having students look at a couple different theories for the causes of the behavior of individuals in Salem during that year and at the end of the lesson, express their thoughts on what they think is the most significant cause of the odd behavior.
 
My thoughts have been a bit jumbled for the last few days as I think about my practicum and where I'm going next. A lot of this will straighten out as I get my lesson plan a little more solid in the next 24 hours. We'll see what happens next!



Friday, September 23, 2016

Reading about Elections

Weekly Reading:
"(Not so) Unprecedented: Media Analysis of the 2016 Presidential Race and its Historical Precedents." by Sox Sperry. Social Education 80(4).
"Political Polling in Past and Present." by Syd Golston. Social Education 80(4).

 My weekly reading was focused on pieces that could help me dive into my unit plan. It may seem a little out of place, but by reading a few articles surrounding my unit, it gave me new ideas and new ways of thinking about my direction. For that reason, I'm really thankful that I decided to dive into reading that was related to media and elections. I feel like I've made a lot of progress as a result of that decision.

Sperry's article is directly related to the concepts I am going to study and my central theme, the media. Upon reading it, I was really excited when I noticed that there was a graphic titled "Six key concepts in media analysis" and that these concepts were lining up with what I believed would be my guiding concepts for my unit.


This graphic is one of my three things that I want to remember. Anytime I get confused on my direction, I want to refer back to this graphic. I want to compare my proficiencies against this graphic. I also would share this with my students so they could refer back to it as well. An additional thing that I want to remember from my reading is how to draw in history while still studying the current election. There were multiple examples on how to do this, but one such example would be to assess political posters from an election far in the past to try to determine which political party it was biased toward. They could analyze that and then move on to analyzing current media documents on our presidential candidates.

There were great media literacy questions that I want to use myself, such as "who is the target audience and how is this message targeted to them?" Another example that could connect to history is to ask how the portrayal of candidates has changed over time. Students should be asking themselves if a source is credible, what makes it that way, and what the author may be selecting to leave out and why they would leave information out if they did.

This article was significant for me because it opened my eyes to new possibilities in my unit. Of course media literacy would be a big part of a unit on media bias, but I'm having a better understanding on how to frame it.


The second reading I did gave me ideas on how to connect and integrate polling and math into my curriculum. I was immediately drawn into this article when I read "the trends that are shared with the American public influence party deliberations, election strategies, turnout, and voting booth decisions" (206).This touches on so many components that I want to discuss.

One essential piece that I come out with is that bias can happen without even trying. Golston provides an example that is significant:
"The problem comes if the sample isn't really random. After what was perceived as a disastrous first debate for Barack Obama against Mitt Romney in 2012, Democratic voters became less likely to answer surveys, as they just didn't want to talk about politics, while newly enthusiastic Republicans did. As a result, poll results shifted towards Romney, even though his actual support didn't increase: it's just that the samples were biased towards Romney voters. If the sample is bad, the results follow" (207).
This is huge! Even if the poll was intended to be a fair sample, it didn't happen that way, and it may not be the fault of the person running the poll. But this information still goes out to the media and they use it - fairly or unfairly. Being aware of how that can happen, even when you're trying not to be biased, is a big piece for students to understand. Another big issue is how questions are worded. One idea I've come up with is to ask students questions (with anonymous responses) where I ask the same question twice but once with positive connotations in the language (programs for the poor) and others with negative connotations (welfare). It could be done with a number of different issues. Then students can see if they voted differently for the exact same thing simply based upon how the question was phrased. It may be eye-opening for some students based upon their responses.



While these readings were short, I spent a lot of time considering the implications for my unit. I think a lot of this will really come in handy when I go to plan the final pieces of my unit. But I'm glad that I'm seeing possibilities of where I can go with my ideas, as I can already see that they fit perfectly within my standards and larger concepts that I would plan to teach. The graphic shows me that, and if I do it all correctly and authentically, I think it would be engaging for students as well. So while this is not my typical content area reading, this was really significant for me in understanding where I'm headed with my unit plan and coming up with a cohesive plan.