Diversity...it's not just about people

I noticed as I went back and reread some of my margin notes, I had a trend going with the word diversity.  That's the thought I kept having as I read through the chapter.  Diversity among our students, but more so, diversity in the reading material we are providing these students.  How can we help students form their own views and opinions if they are not reading texts that they can, at least, somewhat relate to? For example, I actually really liked history in high school.  What can I say, I had a great teacher.  That being said, I also liked to read, so when we would cover something of interest to me in History, I would find a historical fiction book to read about it.  When referencing Burr by Gore Vidal, Daniels and Zemelman note that historical novels can make "both a person and a period come alive" (57).  I remember that!  I loved that aspect of historical fiction, still do.  I could place myself there and almost feel what the characters felt. Interestingly enough, I am seeing this same trend with my own children.  They found this series of books called I Survived by Lauren Tarshis, here's a link: https://www.scholastic.com/isurvived/.  They love them and they're learning about history while they are reading from the perspective of kids their own age! Can you imagine my surprise when my son, who does not share my love for reading, actually begged me to request these from the library for him.  REALLY?!  It just proves the authors' point that we need some diversity in our classroom literature.  We need to get away from just the classics, just the textbooks, just fiction even.

I did have a small disagreement with one thing and I'm just going to throw it out there... Over on page 62 as they're discussing assorted texts to check out different views, they talk about the Holocaust from Anne Frank's perspective and another book from the perspective of a German family who hid the Jews.  Ok, so even though we have two differing cultures here their view was kind of the same.  They both agree what the Germans were doing was wrong.  Now don't misunderstand me, I think it was heinous but in the true spirit of perspective, wouldn't it be a good idea to offer a book from a German perspective that was on the Nazi side.  Maybe it's just me, but I want to know what was going through their heads.  I think that is a diverse option, plus it truly offers both sides of the story.

Offering our students diverse reading material, both in content and form, really allows the acceptance of all texts.  It also serves to desegregate leisure reading and academic reading, hopefully providing our students with an appreciation for both.

Roaming the Halls

I must say the highlight of this experience thus far is being able to visit and take a critical look at the inner workings of the classrooms.  This week was very interesting because we were able to see a variety of classes.  I noticed that some classes had a good percentage of students paying attention, while others seemed to be lacking focus.  It is beneficial as a future teacher to look at these classes and say, "What's working here?" or "What could this teacher do to engage the students more?"  One particular teacher was showing a video in his class that pertained to the lesson they were studying.  He graciously pointed our attention to the board as we entered so we could follow what the plan for the class was. They were at a mid point, and the video seemed to be backing up prior learning that had taken place both in class and in their textbooks.  Now, I remember being in high school and as soon as the TV was pulled out, everyone got ready to take a nap.  We basically considered it free time.  This teacher's method was refreshing because he stopped the video to have a discussion about what they had just seen.  It caused the students to be involved while making an informal assessment to ensure they understood the material.  They would need to pay attention to the film to be able to participate in the discussion.  For the most part, the students had thoughtful responses and appeared to understand the concepts discussed.

A teachable moment came when we all returned to discuss the classes we observed.  I was surprised to find out that this wonderful class we visited was later unfocused and disengaged.  Another group had observed them during a time where they were working on a project and many of the students were fooling around.  They even heard some negative feedback about the teacher.  In my Special Ed class, my professor has mentioned, a few times, that some students benefit from direct instruction.  This is hard to understand when we are taught over and over how indirect instruction is the way to go.  I think this gives us the opportunity to reflect on what we have heard here over the past few weeks.  Every student learns differently, and although we are taught to use indirect instruction, we may have classes that benefit from direct instruction.  The class we observed seemed to be doing well with guided direct instruction, but when they were given the freedom to work on a project to demonstrate their knowledge, it wasn't working out too well.

I remember the first week of this class, one of the first lessons we learned was to be able to change things up seamlessly. As I read through the Chapter 1 of Understanding By Design I thought about how rigid lesson planning can be.  I mean, you start out with the best of intentions and a great plan but what do you do when you get to the final project of the health unit and students are planning their three-day meal plan still using Little Debbie's and Froot Loops?  Sometimes textbooks only provide us with the best scenarios but the reality is that we need to be able to change it up if it's not working and how do we plan for that?  I think the life experience of having this class in an actual high school setting will hopefully prepare us for these unexpected changes.

I wanted to insert this photo as a final thought because I really feel that it reflects a lot of what we have learned and discussed over the past couple of weeks.  For me, not only in this class, but in others I am taking.  It also really highlights what some of the teachers talked about in the panel last week. It really gives focus to the question I'm sure we all are pondering, "What kind of teacher am I going to be?"

Content Reading Reflection

Let me start by saying that this may be one of the best text books I have had to read.  The authors' ideas were portrayed very clearly and backed up with many relevant examples.  I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks and what I will learn from this book.

The Fast Food Nation project at the beginning of Chapter 1 was a great attention getter.  It was exciting for me as a future educator to see how passionate these students became throughout the project.  I also thought it was great how the school implemented it across content areas.  For example, after being given the "Fast Food Nation" book to read, students studied digestion, nutrition, bacteria and viruses. (Daniels & Zemelman 3)  They made the content relevant to the students and they were able to make real life connections.  This was a great first example.

When discussing the "stuff-kids-don't-know" critics, they addressed the point of students not remembering material that they learned.  It is not that they were never taught, "the problem is: they don't remember it." (Daniels & Zemelman 12)  I read this and exclaimed, "YES!" I say this all the time because it happens to me.  I can ace an exam but the second I leave that room, I could forget 90% of it.  I haven't truly learned anything except that I'm a good memorizer.  I have found that I do well in research, when I immerse myself in a question or topic.  I can totally relate to that Fast Food Nation project.

The last thing I'll mention that really resonated with me was that students do not truly understand what they are reading.  This seems to be the trouble with the imaginary Mr. Cosgrove.  His students may have read but they did not comprehend the material.  I loved their suggestions about using prior knowledge to access one's schema.  The Columbus exercise really brought it home for me.

I really feel I'm going to learn so much from this book.  I loved the "Thinking Strategies of Effective Reader" as well as the "Stages of Reading."  It's true what they said, reading at times becomes like driving a car to a familiar place, you just go without even thinking about how you're getting there.  I think I'm going to consciously try and apply some of these suggestions to see if it helps me to become a better close reader.  Best to test drive before we teach it, right?

Literacy, Faith and How it All Came Together

I’ve been in church since I was a kid.  I went to Sunday School, sat through services and even attended a Christian school.  Needless to say, I was pretty well versed in the Bible by the time I was a teenager.  I knew everything there was to know about my faith and the Bible…or so I thought.  As an adult, I grew to realize almost everything I “knew” about my faith and the Bible was what I was told or taught, not necessarily what I believed to be true.

It wasn’t until I had my daughter Kaila that I really came into my own faith in God.  When she was five months old she was diagnosed with a severe heart condition and had to have open-heart surgery.  For months after her surgery she remained in congestive heart failure, despite all of the medications we had to administer to her daily.  Her case was rare so her doctors had no answers.  They searched across the country for similar cases to help them with her treatment.  Finally they told us there was nothing more they could do except keep her stable on medications and a restricted lifestyle until she was ten.  We were told at that point she would need a heart transplant; I was devastated and angry.  I couldn’t understand how or why God would allow this to happen.  Why did my child have to suffer like this, and furthermore, for her to live another child would need to die! I struggled for months with my faith and my emotions.  Finally, I came to the point where I helplessly waved my white flag in surrender.  I remember standing over her crib, tired and defeated, I prayed, and told God how there was nothing more the doctors could do, how I couldn’t go on like this, and to either heal her or take her. 

About a month after this emotional breakdown, Kaila had an appointment with her Cardiologist.  She was supposed to get another round of meds to add to her daily routine.  Each visit began with an ultrasound of her heart to check her progress, which until this point was none.  The doctor was shocked to see that she had actually made progress, not only progress but had jumped up to where she should be in her recovery.  No one could explain why, except me; I knew that day I prayed, God answered.  Two months later at another ultrasound I noticed the technician double-checking the video from her last appointment and her current pictures.  She couldn’t understand how she had improved even more in such a short time.  At that appointment they took her off of all her medications.  We call Kaila our miracle baby for obvious reasons.

This experience was a crucial point in my life.  I really found my own faith because of my daughter.  I began to get more involved in my church and explore the Bible for myself.  I found that there were things that I had been taught that were wrong, and I discovered God on my own.  I learned to throw out everything I knew and start fresh.  I still had people who I trusted to go to and get advice if I needed it; those people became invaluable to me. 

It was around this time I decided to get involved in teaching in Children’s Church.  I had to prepare lessons and be ready to teach a class of 5-9 year olds.  I really enjoyed teaching them, they had such excitement to be there and they made it fun.  After a while, my husband and I were approached to help out with our church youth group.  While I liked teaching the younger kids, I loved teaching the teenagers.  I really had it in my heart to help them find their faith on their own apart from their parents, while being there for them through everything they were going through in life.  I knew firsthand how important that had been for me.

Teaching youth was a completely different experience.  Most of the time we had to prepare our own lessons, unlike in Children’s Church where we had a curriculum to follow.  I had to really get into the Bible and analyze it, sometimes interpret it, and find practical life application for these kids.  While it was difficult, it was also very rewarding.  Not only did we build great relationships with these kids, but I learned so much more about the Bible.  Most of these kids are in college now. My husband and I still have a close relationship with them.  We are now mentoring a few of them to become the next youth leaders for our kids.

Through all of these experiences, I became literate in the Bible and my faith, but they have also prepared me for my journey as a teacher.  As an English major, I often have to analyze texts, write papers, and eventually lesson plans. I feel that all those years of analyzing the Bible to solidify my faith has been preparation for this point.  The years I spent working with the youth has prepared me to work with teenagers.  Now, as I venture into a new ministry in my church, Special Needs, I will be prepared for my next goal of getting my Special Ed certification.

I have been through a lot to get where I am today but I wouldn’t change a thing.  I see how everything that has happened has prepared me for another part of my life.  Kaila turns ten this year and she has no restrictions and there is no more talk of a heart transplant.  As a matter of fact, now when she goes to the Cardiologist they marvel at how “normal” she appears.  Last year her doctor told us that if he didn’t know how sick she had been, he would never be able to tell.

Observation Assignment 4: Student Assessment

Objective: After reading "Night," students will create a Holocaust project using paint, boxes, poster board, pictures, and any information online to demonstrate what happened during the Holocaust.

Bloom's Taxonomy: Synthesis

Assessment:

Choose 2 of the following 3 essay questions and answer them in 2-3 paragraphs.  Give examples from "Night" to back up your answers.

1. Imagine you are a Jew living in Germany during the time of the Holocaust.  Write a journal entry describing your feelings about what is happening.

2. Summarize what was happening in Germany from 1942-1945.

3. Evaluate why Elie Wiesel called his story "Night."  How does this relate to his Holocaust experience?

Observation 3...Classroom Management

As the students arrived Mrs. R. directed them to look at the board to review the objectives for the day.  She then reviewed them verbally, giving clear, concise, instructions.  She asked students to think about three things they personally needed to finish their Holocaust project.  She instructed the students to look on the back of their chairs to locate an index card that had a writing prompt relative to their assignment.  Questions were open-ended and led students to be opinionated and reflective. They were then instructed to journal for about 5 minutes.  Students who got out of their seat were asked to return and begin working on the assignment.  The teacher walked around the class to see who needed assistance.  One student was struggling with her prompt so the teacher helped her by talking it out.  The student then resumed working on the assignment and the teacher went on to assist another student. 

After the students finished journaling they worked in their groups on the Holocaust project.  Students had been making a display to represent what they have learned about the Holocaust.  They had freedom to design their model however they wanted as long as it was reflective of their knowledge of the Holocaust.  Students could paint, print pictures, or use the internet to find further information.  Materials were provided within the classroom.  The teacher stated that she likes to have the students rotate partners in group work so the same kids will not work together for every project.  This encourages diversity and as she stated, “the kids feed off each other.”  This has been a little problematic this year because the classes have been smaller.  She said the kids work better when there are more chances to switch off and work with different people.

In comparison to the other class I observed, this one seemed way more efficient. This teacher was enthusiastic and her assignments were fun for the students.  Her energy seemed to affect the overall mood of the classroom.  The students in this class were more respectful to Mrs. R. and motivated to learn.  They seemed more knowledgeable about their content, while in the other class the students were clearly not motivated and many of them did not have a good grasp on the material.  Both classes were at the end of a unit and it was clear that this class had gained more.  Surprisingly, Mrs. R. has only been teaching for 2 years.  Even her student’s think she had been a teacher for many years.  She kept that very hush, hush. She had so many great ideas for her classroom.  One was called RAFT, which is a method of writing: Role: Who am I writing as? Audience: Who am I writing for? Format: How should it look? Topic: What am I writing about?  She said this has completely changed the way her students write.  It was obvious Mrs. R. is always looking for ways to improve her classroom and motivate her students. 

The last thing Mrs. R. showed me was her raffle box that she does once a month.  Students earn tickets for various things in the class, including good behavior.  She then draws a few tickets each month and those students receive a prize.  She has taken nothing out of her pocket for the prizes.  She went to the school’s athletic department and requested donations of t-shirts, water bottles and other things she could use as raffle prizes.

I was so impressed with this teacher.  If I can be half as effective as her in the classroom, my students will be successful.  She went above and beyond.  Her passion for her job and her students showed every step of the way.  She is a great model for the future.

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