I completed 10 hours of field work in a 6th grade class and I worked mostly with a student named Carlos. I worked to try to motivate Carlos to complete his work. After this experience, I wrote an exploratory essay in which I inform the readers about where in the literacy world in Carlos. I used the LEADER model to research and develop a literacy plan for instruction for Carlos. My paper includes information about my learner, research I used to make a plan to help him, and the results of how my plan worked. You can download my paper here.
leader_essay.docx | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | docx |
In this course, we were given professional readings to read to increase our knowledge about how the course topics are used in the educational field. Below I have summarized some of the reading that I consider to be the most helpful to me.
Topic: Close Reading
Boyles, Nancy. (2012). Closing in on Close Reading. ASCD.
Summary: This article talks about what close reading is, how to do it, and how to teach students to do it. Research has shown that close reading is linked to significant gains in reading proficiency and finds close reading to be a key component of college and career readiness. This article talks about how important close reading is and how beneficial it can be. It also gives three practices that bring close reading to the lower grades and help students become close readers even while reading independently.
Classroom Recommendation: As a future math teacher, I hope to be able to help my students close read. Although they might not be reading very many texts, there are parts of mathematics where it is very important to be able to close read, like word problems. The students need to make sure they understand what the questions are asking and that they pick up and look at all of the information in the question that can help them solve an answer. This goes along with my graphic organizer and Cue I created for solving word problems in my LEPs for this class.
Topic: Learning through Discussion
Brookfield, Stephen. (2005).Discussion in a Democratic Society. Chapter 1. Discussion as a Way of Teaching.
Summary: This article shows how discussion can be used in schools as a way of teaching and how students can learn through discussion. Discussion promotes growth and has students and teachers think about things they probably would not have thought of on their own. The article talks about the purposes of discussion and shows explains what is needed in a classroom in order to have valuable discussions to learn through.
Classroom Recomendation: Discussions are a valuable teaching method that can be used in math classes and I plan to use it in my future math courses as a teacher. This article helped me see how beneficial discussions would be and what I need to teach and have in my classroom in order for the class to have valuable discussions. Everyone has to feel comfortable to discuss and I will work as a teacher to set up an environment that promotes discussion as a way of learning.
Topic: Differentiation for Tweens
Wormeli, Rick. Differentiation for Tweens
Summary: This article talks about how tweens have different learning needs and are at different levels. Teachers need to understand that individuals have varying needs and differentiate their lessons and the way they teach to meet all of the student's needs. This article gives 5 strategies that teachers can use to differentiate their lessons and meet the needs of students at all different levels.
Classroom Recommendation: One of the challenges of teaching is teaching the same lesson to a group of students all at different levels and wit different needs. You want every student to be able to learn the curriculum they need to learn, but they will not be able to learn it the exact same way. This article gives good strategies that I can use when I am a teacher which will help me teach my students what they need to know but be able to differentiate my teaching so that every students has what they need in order to learn these things.
Topic: The Teenage Brain
Claudia Wallis, Kristina Dell. (2004). What Makes Teens Tick. TIME .
Summary: This article talks about the research that Dr. Jay Giedd did to learn about the development of the brain. He found out that the brain is not fully developed until the 20s and the part of the brain that needs to develop in teenagers still is the Pre-Frontal Cortex. This article relates how the adolescent brain explains adolescent actions. It talks about adolescent characteristics that are prevalent because of the development of their brain and also ways their brain can and can not help them learn. While their brain isn't fully developed yet, the teenagers will make mistakes, but can learn from them.
Classroom Recommendation: It is important for teachers to understand the student's they are teaching. Since I am going to be teaching adolescents, this article taught me a lot about how they act and why they do it. With the information I learned in this article, I will be able to be a more successful teacher because I can understand and predict the ways my students might learn and act. Through understanding my students actions and how their brain works, I can teach in ways they will be able to learn and run my classroom in a way where students will be able to succeed.
Topic: Using brain based research to teach in a way to enhance student learning in math
Tina VanKuren, Dave Love, Krista Thompson, Elizabeth Greasley. Brain Based Research and Math.
Summary: This article talks about how having knowledge of the adolescent brain can improve teaching practice. This paper describes how 4 teacher who are working with students of various ages and and ability and how they use brain-based teaching to help their students succeed in the subject of math. This article talks about 4 general principles of brain compatible learning which is active meaningful learning, stimulation and varied input, accurate feedback, and a safe, non-threatening environment. It also talks about techniques that can be used in math courses to help the students succeed and gives examples of different activities these teachers have used to do this.
Classroom Recommendation: After learning a lot about the adolescent brain, this article helps show how the knowledge I learned about the brain can help me be a better teacher. This article pointed out certain techniques I can use in the class to promote brain compatible learning. I need to create a positive safe environment, give food feedback, and provide active meaningful lessons that students can relate to. There were a lot of activities in this paper that these teachers have done that I can incorporate into my future classroom. Some of the techniques I really liked was when they brought physical activity into the math classroom. This article gives me a better understanding how I can use the brain based research I have learned about adolescents to become a very successful teacher.
Topic: Academic Language Demands
Susan O'Hara, Robert Pritchard, Jeff Zwiers. (2012). Identifying Academic Language Demands in Support of the Common Core Standards. Best Practices for Teaching ELLS. Volume 7. Issue 17.
Summary: This article talks about the urgent focus for education practitioners and researchers to meet the needs of ELLs because they have been scoring lower in every subject area then non ELLs. Now educators and policy makers are calling for improved academic language development in classrooms. The Common Core State Standards also call for specific attention to academic language development across core content areas. Academic language is important for ELLs to have success. Some academic language in content areas include vocabulary, syntax, and discourse. The article also gives ways to help academic language development in a classroom.
Classroom Recommendation: As a future math teacher, I worried about how I would be able to help my ELLs. I have field work experience in math classrooms with ELLs who have a very hard time learning in the classroom because of language barriers. This article really shows how important it is that a teacher does what they need to do to help these students from falling behind and focusing on academic language. In math, the article talked about how using symbolic notation, visual displays such as graphs, technical vocabulary, and grammatical features can challenge the ELL students. However, this article also gives teachers guidence about how to identify language demands and help the ELL students which I can use. In math, being able to use diagrams and pictures and focusing on vocabulary that is needed will help the ELLs succeed.
Topic: Close Reading
Boyles, Nancy. (2012). Closing in on Close Reading. ASCD.
Summary: This article talks about what close reading is, how to do it, and how to teach students to do it. Research has shown that close reading is linked to significant gains in reading proficiency and finds close reading to be a key component of college and career readiness. This article talks about how important close reading is and how beneficial it can be. It also gives three practices that bring close reading to the lower grades and help students become close readers even while reading independently.
Classroom Recommendation: As a future math teacher, I hope to be able to help my students close read. Although they might not be reading very many texts, there are parts of mathematics where it is very important to be able to close read, like word problems. The students need to make sure they understand what the questions are asking and that they pick up and look at all of the information in the question that can help them solve an answer. This goes along with my graphic organizer and Cue I created for solving word problems in my LEPs for this class.
Topic: Learning through Discussion
Brookfield, Stephen. (2005).Discussion in a Democratic Society. Chapter 1. Discussion as a Way of Teaching.
Summary: This article shows how discussion can be used in schools as a way of teaching and how students can learn through discussion. Discussion promotes growth and has students and teachers think about things they probably would not have thought of on their own. The article talks about the purposes of discussion and shows explains what is needed in a classroom in order to have valuable discussions to learn through.
Classroom Recomendation: Discussions are a valuable teaching method that can be used in math classes and I plan to use it in my future math courses as a teacher. This article helped me see how beneficial discussions would be and what I need to teach and have in my classroom in order for the class to have valuable discussions. Everyone has to feel comfortable to discuss and I will work as a teacher to set up an environment that promotes discussion as a way of learning.
Topic: Differentiation for Tweens
Wormeli, Rick. Differentiation for Tweens
Summary: This article talks about how tweens have different learning needs and are at different levels. Teachers need to understand that individuals have varying needs and differentiate their lessons and the way they teach to meet all of the student's needs. This article gives 5 strategies that teachers can use to differentiate their lessons and meet the needs of students at all different levels.
Classroom Recommendation: One of the challenges of teaching is teaching the same lesson to a group of students all at different levels and wit different needs. You want every student to be able to learn the curriculum they need to learn, but they will not be able to learn it the exact same way. This article gives good strategies that I can use when I am a teacher which will help me teach my students what they need to know but be able to differentiate my teaching so that every students has what they need in order to learn these things.
Topic: The Teenage Brain
Claudia Wallis, Kristina Dell. (2004). What Makes Teens Tick. TIME .
Summary: This article talks about the research that Dr. Jay Giedd did to learn about the development of the brain. He found out that the brain is not fully developed until the 20s and the part of the brain that needs to develop in teenagers still is the Pre-Frontal Cortex. This article relates how the adolescent brain explains adolescent actions. It talks about adolescent characteristics that are prevalent because of the development of their brain and also ways their brain can and can not help them learn. While their brain isn't fully developed yet, the teenagers will make mistakes, but can learn from them.
Classroom Recommendation: It is important for teachers to understand the student's they are teaching. Since I am going to be teaching adolescents, this article taught me a lot about how they act and why they do it. With the information I learned in this article, I will be able to be a more successful teacher because I can understand and predict the ways my students might learn and act. Through understanding my students actions and how their brain works, I can teach in ways they will be able to learn and run my classroom in a way where students will be able to succeed.
Topic: Using brain based research to teach in a way to enhance student learning in math
Tina VanKuren, Dave Love, Krista Thompson, Elizabeth Greasley. Brain Based Research and Math.
Summary: This article talks about how having knowledge of the adolescent brain can improve teaching practice. This paper describes how 4 teacher who are working with students of various ages and and ability and how they use brain-based teaching to help their students succeed in the subject of math. This article talks about 4 general principles of brain compatible learning which is active meaningful learning, stimulation and varied input, accurate feedback, and a safe, non-threatening environment. It also talks about techniques that can be used in math courses to help the students succeed and gives examples of different activities these teachers have used to do this.
Classroom Recommendation: After learning a lot about the adolescent brain, this article helps show how the knowledge I learned about the brain can help me be a better teacher. This article pointed out certain techniques I can use in the class to promote brain compatible learning. I need to create a positive safe environment, give food feedback, and provide active meaningful lessons that students can relate to. There were a lot of activities in this paper that these teachers have done that I can incorporate into my future classroom. Some of the techniques I really liked was when they brought physical activity into the math classroom. This article gives me a better understanding how I can use the brain based research I have learned about adolescents to become a very successful teacher.
Topic: Academic Language Demands
Susan O'Hara, Robert Pritchard, Jeff Zwiers. (2012). Identifying Academic Language Demands in Support of the Common Core Standards. Best Practices for Teaching ELLS. Volume 7. Issue 17.
Summary: This article talks about the urgent focus for education practitioners and researchers to meet the needs of ELLs because they have been scoring lower in every subject area then non ELLs. Now educators and policy makers are calling for improved academic language development in classrooms. The Common Core State Standards also call for specific attention to academic language development across core content areas. Academic language is important for ELLs to have success. Some academic language in content areas include vocabulary, syntax, and discourse. The article also gives ways to help academic language development in a classroom.
Classroom Recommendation: As a future math teacher, I worried about how I would be able to help my ELLs. I have field work experience in math classrooms with ELLs who have a very hard time learning in the classroom because of language barriers. This article really shows how important it is that a teacher does what they need to do to help these students from falling behind and focusing on academic language. In math, the article talked about how using symbolic notation, visual displays such as graphs, technical vocabulary, and grammatical features can challenge the ELL students. However, this article also gives teachers guidence about how to identify language demands and help the ELL students which I can use. In math, being able to use diagrams and pictures and focusing on vocabulary that is needed will help the ELLs succeed.