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Friday, March 31, 2017

Girls and STEM

This article addresses programs sponsered by Microsoft that keep girls interested in STEM. By the time they are in their teens, most girls have lost interest in STEM fields. Microsoct has develped two programs, #WhatsNextCampaign and DigiGirlz to encourage young ladies to pursue careers in STEM.



Does your school have a STEM program? Do you find that boys are more interested that girls? What can you do as a school to encourage girls to stay interested in STEM as they get older?

Promoting Kindness

In the article "Creating a Culture of Kindness in Your Classroom",  Shari Carter discusses several ways to promote kindness between students and teachers. My students struggle with being kind to one another, so we tried "Secret Encouraging Pals" for about 5 weeks. Each student had another student that they were supposed to do something kind for over a period of about 2.5 weeks. I think it worked well, I would like to do it again next year.

What do you do to promote kindness in your classroom?


Thursday, March 30, 2017

Alternatives To Homework

I will be honest, I would rather my students spend 15 minutes reviewing what we covered in class than doing a worksheet, but sometimes homework is inevitable. In history, I try to assign homework no more than 2 times a week. (I don't count studying as homework). I am going to be covering the material in class, and most of the times they don't do it anyway, so I have decided that there are better ways to assess learning. In English, I do assign homework on a regular basis, but it is usually reading a story at home that way we have time to discuss it in class. If I didn't teach multi-grade classrooms I probably wouldn't assign reading homework. 

I came across this chart about alternatives to homework, and I really liked some of the ideas. 
click on the picture to be taken to the source.

Would you incorporate these ideas into your classroom? I would like to use some of them once a week to replace a traditional assignment. 

Low Tech Accomodations

While teaching in a Christian school has many benefits, one of the struggles can be access to technology.  In a world where many accommodations are provided through technology, it can be difficult to come up with effective differentiation strategies that don't require technology. Here is a list of some low tech or no tech options for accommodations that work to provide differentiation in the classroom.

1) Cooperative Learning- Students work together in small groups. Students share strengths and develop weaker skills. Promotes interpersonal skills and interdependence
2)Highlighted text- One of the easiest accommodations. Highlight key points in text. Allows students to focus on main ideas and not get lost in the details. A very good accommodation for ESL students.
higlight
3)Guided Notes- Handouts with blanks for key points and spaces for diagrams. The handout increases student understanding because less time is spent trying to organize information.
a sample of guided notes
a sample of guided notes
4)Sentence strips/Sentence Starters- The beginning of a sentence to help students begin their ideas. This can help improve student writing and language proficiency by using starters that are just above their current comfort level.
5)Goal Setting—Goal setting promotes motivation and self-regulation, two of the major concepts of providing multiple means of engagement. Students work together with the teacher to set academic of behavioral goals. A worksheet is often used to list the steps needed to accomplish the goals.
goals
A sample goal setting worksheet


What low tech or no tech accommodations do you use in your classroom?  What have you found that works best?

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Social Media in the Classroom

Students are connected through social media more than ever these days, and often social media can be our biggest competition to hold student attention. Can social media and instructional time exist in harmony? I say a wholehearted YES! Social media can be a powerful tool to engage your students, but you have to know how to incorporate it in a meaningful way.
social media

Instagram
A fellow teacher I know is on Instagram as @grammarqueen1. She posts pictures of grammar errors in public to let her students see how uneducated you look when you make these types of errors. She even lets her students turn in photos to her to post. Her students love it when their picture is shared, but they love it even more when they are the first one to identify the error.

Facebook
The same teacher mentioned above also has a bell ringer activity that she has named "Facebook Friday." On Fridays (obviously) She posts a series of real Facebook comments and/or post that have come across her newsfeed with spelling and grammar errors. The names are blacked out to protect the innocent. Her students must find and correct all of the errors. She has said that sometimes she will even put a Facebook Friday question on a test. I love this application of  Facebook in a practical way.
Facebook could also be used to connect with students (or parents depending on the age of your kids), but personally, I like to keep my school life and my personal life a little more separated than that. I would rather use Edmodo or Google Classroom to connect with my students.

Twitter
I used twitter in my student teaching classroom, and my students loved it! I used it mainly as an exit slip where students summarized what they learned from that day's Socratic seminar. As a class, we would come up with a hashtag for the novel we were reading. I required that I be tagged in tweets and that they include the novel hashtag. Students told me that it could be challenging to summarize with only 140 characters, but it made them think carefully about their word choice, and the tweets were usually very creative.
In this article, Kristen Wideen shares how she created a class Twitter account and allows her students to post what they are learning. I found the article to be super inspiring, and I am considering incorporating Twitter into my classroom in this manner.

YouTube
YouTube is by far the social media channel I use the most in my classroom. I use it to show TED Talks, poetry recordings, music that connects to the theme in literature, etc. Basically, if there is a video in my lesson it generally comes from YouTube.
This year, though, I want to move away from just using YouTube as a way to show videos to enhance learning. Yes, I will still use it to add multi-media to lessons, but I want it to be more focused on my class. I am planning to create screencasts of presentations and upload them to a class account so that students can review material. YouTube can also be a great platform for students to create and share their own videos.



What social media do you use in your classroom? Has anyone found a way for SnapChat to have a place in your teaching? I am interested to hear and learn from all of you.

Classroom Managment Tips

This past Monday I completed a classroom management webinar hosted by Linda Kardimas at Teach4theHeart. The webinar provided 5 basic tips for regaining control of your classroom.

1. Don't be a friend, Be a mentor--This one is probably the hardest for me because I am so close in age to my students and I knew many of them before becoming their teacher. It is hard to find a balance. Somedays I feel I am too hard and other days too soft.

2. Develop systems to get attention and eliminate distractions--This tips included using callbacks, elements of whole brain teaching, and using a warning system that doesn't disrupt the flow of teaching.

3. "Shake-up" problem areas--This means identifying the area of your routine that causes the most behavioral problems and completely changing them up to get the attention of students. This allows for reteaching and practicing of procedures.

4. Deal with problems when they are small--Small problems become big problems when left unchecked. Dealing with the problem could be as simple as a warning as long as you follow through the next time. I know this is an area that I struggle with.

5. Build strong relationships with students: Often behavioral issues go deeper than disobeying. As teachers, we will only get to the root of the problem if we have the relationships with students.

This webinar was a brief refresher on classroom management. Linda also offers a classroom management course. It is a paid class but right now it is on sale. I signed up, and I can't wait to start watching the videos this summer when life slows down a tad.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Answering "Why?"



"Why do I need to learn this?"  
All teachers hear this question. I know some days I hear it more than others. In lower grades an answer such as "Because I said so" might work, but as students get older answers of that type will only frustrate students even more. 

It is true that you can look up basic facts on Google. I am really bad about whipping out my phone and googling something in the middle of a conversation. But can Google teach students how to think? 

Education  is more than just learning a collection of facts. It is what we do with those facts that is important. Facts are good, but if you do t know how to use them they become worthless. 

So fellow teachers, take the time to ask yourself why your students are learning this material. If it isn't relevant past a chapter test, is it really worth spending a majority of your time on? Evaluate what you are teaching. Make it relevant to your students. 

Students, trust that your teachers have a purpose for what they are teaching. Put your best effort into learning what they have prepared for you. If you aren't sure why something is important, it's ok to ask, but make sure you do it in a respectful manner. You never know what God has for you. The information you are learning now could become vital for you down the road. 

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Teaching Responsibility: The Implied Curriculum


Curriculum is more than the textbook that a school uses or the subjects they teach. Curriculum also includes the philosophies and values of an institution. Inlay (2003) remarks that teachers and schools teach values, and this is often seen in the way teachers and students interact with one another. Inlay is the director of a charter middle school, River School, that emphasizes the values of personal and social responsibility. This is done mainly through teachers modeling these values in their own lives and associating everything that goes on in school with character development.
River School teaches personal responsibility by viewing mistakes as chances to learn as opposed to “bad behavior.” The do this by creating a safe environment for students to make mistakes and be held accountable. The ideas of creating safe spaces is not a new one. According to the National Education Association (2017) learning cannot take place if students do not feel safe and welcomed in a classroom. The River School creates safe spaces for learning by constructing learning activities full of choices. When students make a bad choice, it is used as a teachable moment to teach students to own up to their mistakes and how they can fix them. Inlay (2003) emphasizes the fact that the faculty aims to treat the middle school students like adults whether they are acting like an adult or not. Gish and Markham (2013) point out a similar method used in Gish’s classroom that while it is important for students to know the rules and the theory, they must also be coached on how to handle and use this rules. Both Gish and Inlay uses their classrooms as a platform for mentorship and promoting personal responsibility.
Additionally, the River School promotes social responsibility by teaching its students to accept differences and be responsive to one another. Wolk (2013) claims that by designing education to be community-centered, students take an active role in learning and work together to better themselves and the world around them. At the River School, teachers take the questions of students seriously, and both parties practice active listening. This seen most clearly in their process for conflict resolution. Conflict resolution involves asking a third party to mediate, and after each party voices their concerns, the other party repeats the concerns in their own words in order to see the other person’s point of view.
I appreciate the goal of teaching responsibility to middle school students. Responsibility and responsiveness are character qualities I am constantly promoting to my students. One of the reasons why I think the program is successful is because everything is tied back to that. In order for a values curriculum to be successful, it must be highlighted at a school-wide level, not just in individual classrooms. This means that parents are onboard with the curriculum and how it is being implemented as well, and that is a change that does not happen overnight. I am also interested in using a similar method of conflict resolution in my classroom. So many times not listening is the cause of disagreements, and then everything gets blown out of proportion.
While I applaud the work at the River School, I would disagree with some things, especially when it comes to teaching responsibility. Inlay (2013) claims that they “trust in our students' innate ability to make good decisions for themselves” (p 70).  As Christians, we know that we cannot trust our flesh to make the right decisions because we are all sinners. Therefore, mistakes still must be punished even if they are used as a learning experience. The River school also allows students to participate in deciding what is a part of the explicit curriculum. There is nothing inherently wrong with giving students a choice but left unchecked it can lead to the student becoming the source of knowledge. With careful planning and alignment with the Bible, I think the values enforced at the River School, could be successfully implemented into a Christian school.
References
Elizabeth Gish, & Paul Markham. (2013). Living well together: Citizenship, education, and moral formation. The Good Society, 22(2), 151-161. doi:10.5325/goodsociety.22.2.0151
Inlay, L. (2003). Values: The implicit curriculum. Educational Leadership,60(6), 69-71.
National Educators Association. (2017). Take the pledge: Safe learning environments for every student. NEA Today, 2017, 1.

Wolk, S. (2013). Reading democracy: Exploring ideas that matter with middle grade and young adult literature. The English Journal, 103(2), 45-51

Monday, March 20, 2017

Repost: I Corinthians 13 for Teachers

Once again, I am sharing a post from Grace4Teachers.This is probably my favorite post from Rachel. It is such a needed reminder. I have it printed out, and I keep it in my desk at school. I spend time focusing on it at the start of each semester. I hope that it is as much of a blessing to you as it has been to me.



You can view the original post here: I Corinthians 13 for Teachers



If I am an entertaining and articulate teacher, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I have all wisdom in dealing with student and parent issues that arise, and have not love, I am nothing.
If I give  my free time grading, creating exciting lesson plans, and designing stellar bulletin boards; and have not love, I am nothing.
Love is patient
It does not get annoyed with the drumming pencil or the millionth time a student asks, “what page are we on?”
Love is kind
It speaks to students with kindness, even in times of discipline. It looks for little ways throughout the day to show students care.
Love does not envy or boast
It does not “show off” bulletin boards, lesson ideas, etc. to show up other teachers.
Love is not arrogant
It listens respectfully to the opinions of others and is willing to admit that it is wrong. It is even willing to ask forgiveness from students or other faculty when necessary.
Love is not rude
It finds ways to discipline students without belittling or embarrassing them.
Love does not insist on its own way
It does not get out of sorts when its lesson does not go according to plan or when scheduling does not work out in its favor. It does not consider its way the only way to do things.
Love is not irritable or resentful
It gives students a clean slate daily and doesn’t hold grudges. It doesn’t take student behavior personally. Its mood is not dictated by outside circumstances.
Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth
It looks for the positives in the students instead of focusing in on their weaknesses. It doesn’t feel smug or justified when the student “gets what’s coming to him”. It is heartbroken when a student makes wrong choices, not because those choices affect the day, but because those choices are displeasing to God.
Love bears all things
It sets aside its constant to-do list to really listen to what’s on students’ hearts and minds. It finds time to listen to the looong stories, pray for a pet guinea pig, and counsel the friendship drama at recess. These problems that seem so trivial to most are very real and heavy burdens on our students’ hearts.
Love believes all things
It believes the best about the students.
 Love hopes all things
Even after a rough day, it is still hopeful knowing that it was a day in which God was working His grace and perfect plan.
Love endures all things
It keeps going day in and day out. It doesn’t give up on any child because God never gives up on us .
Love never ends.
If you are like me, I see so many areas that I failed in loving my students today. Can I tell you a secret? There is no way that you or I can daily show that kind of love to our students without God’s grace!  We need God to work in our hearts and give us that spirit of love.
II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power,  and of love, and of a sound mind.
When I realize that I am not loving my students as I ought to be, I need to look back to the love of God for me. He has loved me despite my sinfulness, and He has offered me grace to love my students in the same unconditional way. It’s all grace!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Cultivating Discipleship in the Classroom

In the article 9 Truths You Need to Know to Create Powerful Discipleship in Your Christian School by Linda Kardamis of Teach 4 The Heart, Linda shares what makes Christian education different: Discipleship. She introduces 9 truths to cultivate discipleship in your school.


  • Discipline: Discipline issues are great opportunities for discipleship.
  • Interactions: The rapport we build opens doors for discipleship.

  • Spiritual Walk: The only was to make a real impact is to be led by the Spirit
  • Classroom Managment: Without order, litter learning or discipleship can take place
  • Integrity: Students learn more by what we do than what we say
  • Partnership with Parents: God has given parents the primary responsibility for their children's discipleship; we are partners with them in this process
  • Lessons: Leaders who think Biblically can change the world (and we can teach them how to do just that)
  • Energy: If you want to be effective, you must take time to sharpen the saw.
  • Synergy: When we work together, we make a bigger impact in out students' lives


  • Curriuclum Orientations

    There are 4 main curriculum orientations. This chart gives examples of what each one might look like in a high school English Classroom


    TRADITIONAL
    PROCESS/MASTERY
    EXPERIENTIAL
    CHRISTIAN
    Education’s Purpose
    *Students should be able to know and recite core set of facts
    *Ideas are more important that actions
    *Teachers are the source of knowledge
    *Step-by-step instructions for knowledge
    *must meet measurable objectives.
    *Prepare students for the work place.
    *Children are the source of their own truth
    * Whatever you can experience with your senses can be trusted as truth

    * Bible is the source of all truth
    *apply knowledge to your life
    *we are to be imitators of Christ

    Essential Questions
    * What are the elements of Romantic literature?
    * What were some of the historical causes for the romantic movement?
    * How do I find the theme of a poem?

    *What in the poem guides the reader to discover the theme
    *How does nature inspire you?

    *What can you learn from nature?
    *How does Romanticism differ from a Christian worldview

    *Because God created nature, how should I respond to him?
    Procedures
    Before reading the selected poems, the teacher will explain the terms of simile, metaphor and synesthesia, as well as explain the historical events leading up to the Romantic period. Teacher will lecture from the textbook highlighting important facts. The student will take notes during the teacher lecture.
    After the lecture, students will answer comprehension questions from the text.
    The teacher will read a selected poem out loud as the class follows along. The teacher will then model the process of finding the theme by asking the following questions.
    --What is the main idea? Give Proof.
    --What is the author’s tone? Give proof?
    --What message does the poem have for the reader? Proof?
    Combine them all together an get the theme.
    The class will work  together through the next poem using the same process. The student will complete the same process for 4 more poems.
    The students will read selected poems by William Wordsworth. After reading students will work in groups to discover the meaning of the poems. They will write their answer in their journal. The class will spend 15 minutes sitting quietly outside. Students will write their thoughts about how nature makes them feel in their journal.
    The students will work in pairs to complete a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting a Biblical world view to the tenants of Romanticism. After students, have filled out their Venn Diagram we will have a discussion about the differences and similarities.  The teacher will emphasize that God created nature for us to enjoy, but we need to worship the creator more than the creation. The students will watch a presentation of pictures set to “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”
    Assessment
    Drill and Practice worksheets over terms and vocabulary

    Multiple Choice tests

    Essay explaining how history affected the Romantic Period
    The teacher will grade the student individual work. The student must get 3 of the 4 themes correct.

    Test would include a new poem and students must find the theme.
    The teacher will grade the quality of the poem analyzes.

    The students will turn their feelings about nature into a short poem. They will be graded on creativity,
    The teacher will grade the conversations that take place during the discussion.

    The Unit test will include an essay asking students to compare and contrast Romanticism with a Biblical Worlview

    Saturday, March 18, 2017

    Repost:Finding Peace in the Chaos



    My friend Rachel over at Grace4Teachers wrote this beautiful article about finding peace as a teacher. Despite all of the mess that comes with teaching, God promises us peace.

    Check out the full article Finding Peace in the Chaos on her blog, but you can enjoy a sample right here.

    Don’t you love stock photos of teachers?
    The teacher with every hair perfectly in place…her beautiful unwrinkled button-down shirt. Her glistening white smile. The beautiful chalkboard behind her. Her students sitting in spotless desks with their hands eagerly outstretched, waiting patiently for their turn to talk.
    It always looks so calm and peaceful. It doesn’t look like me or my classroom.
    My hair is thrown back in a messy bun because I just don’t feel like dealing with it anymore. My shirt is covered in pen marks and fruit cocktail juice (from tearing off those plastic coverings on fruit cups at lunch). I choose to not look at the desks because they give me nightmares. My whiteboard is covered with marker residue, and I have forgotten to change the date at the top again. And the kid with the eagerly outstretched hand…he is already talking and just about falling out of his seat from waving it.
    Some days, it’s just a little bit of chaos.
    God’s Word has so many examples of people whose lives are in chaos – men and women just like us who feel like they are spinning out of control. Yet many of these men and women still found joy and peace amidst the storms raging around them.
    God lovingly and ever so carefully brings us through storms to grow us closer to Him. No gust of wind or wave can break over your ship without Him knowing and allowing it. No storm is faced on your own. In fact, He has already successfully faced every storm that you will ever come up against and is waiting to help you to do the same.
    For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are,yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)
    Dear friend, whatever you are facing…you are facing it with Christ right by your side. He is growing your faith by bringing you to the point where you can do nothing else but turn to Him. He wants you to get to know who He is.
    In your storm, turn your gaze to whom your God is. Remind yourself of His promises. Cling to His character. Your chaos is not too much for Him to handle.
    Peace, just like joy, is not a feeling that depends on circumstances. It’s a fruit that the Spirit grows in our lives as we get to know our God more and more.  Run to Him – knowing Him is the true and only source of lasting peace!

    Intelligence Testing

    The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines intelligence as “the skilled use of reason.” Tests have been developed to measure how well an individual uses his reasoning ability. Intelligence testing assesses an individual’s ability to comprehend, reason, and evaluate sets of data. In the early 1900s, Alfred Binet was among the first to use a standardized test to diagnose learning disabilities. Since then, intelligence tests have been given to students to determine intellectual potential and general knowledge. Today, the main purpose of an intelligence test is to determine if a student’s learning is on track for their age or to diagnose a potential learning disability. There are four prominent intelligence tests used today: the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, the Wechsler-Adult Intelligence Scale, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, and the Wechsler Primary & Preschool Scale of Intelligence. Each one measures intelligence in a slightly different way, but the end results give a measurable number to rate one’s intelligence.
    What determines if learning is on track? Can intelligence truly be measured? According to Au and Gourd (2013), Binet’s original testing was only designed as a diagnostic tool for learning disabilities for young children and was never designed to be a measure of “natural” intelligence. It was actually a handful of American psychologists who began promoting Binet’s work as proof of “natural” intelligence and developing his processes into a standardized intelligence test. It was only after their new processes became popular that “intelligence then became something quantifiable through testing” (Hatt, 2013, p 443). In other words, it has only been in the last century or so that intelligence has been deemed measurable; prior to Binet’s processes becoming standard, intelligence merely existed.
    Hatt (2012) also points out that as schools, rather than parents, began to take over the responsibility of education, it is the educational system that determines what knowledge is the most important and defines which kids are “smart.” Brinch and Galloway (2012) claim that not only is there is a definite correlation between the number of years of schooling an individual has completed and how high their IQ is but the reversal is also true; the higher a person’s IQ, the more years of schooling they are likely to complete. These conclusions make sense given that schools determine what is appropriate for students to know at each age level.
    Additionally, intelligence does not guarantee success in school. Rutger and van de Flier (2012) found that personal effort often results in greater success than test scores alone. If self-efficacy is a greater measure of future academic success, why is there so much emphasis placed on the results of a standard intelligence test? Similarly, labeling children as “smart” or “not smart” often does more harm than good. Shrifer’s (2013) research indicated that students who are labeled as “smart” often become overconfident in their abilities and do not put as much effort into school work as they should, and those students whose IQ is below average often do not challenge themselves because they do not think they have the ability to perform any better.
    A final concern with intelligence testing is cultural bias. Cultural bias affects all forms of assessment, not just intelligence tests. Many researchers, including Hatt (2012) point out that intelligence is culturally constructed, and intelligence tests were originally designed “when the dominant group in power (i.e., White, elite men) was anxious about losing its economic and social privilege” (p. 443), and therefore the questions are biased toward other cultures. While this argument certainly has merit, the cultural makeup of modern classrooms is changing, and tests are changing to keep up with the new composition. Dale, Finch, Mcintosh, Rothlisberg, and Finch (2014) highlight the fact that in preschool classrooms across America, minority groups make up the majority of students, and when their test results are compared with their Caucasian classmates, they score at the same level. This research proves that tests are changing with the times. Although keeping up with cultural diversity requires large amounts of work and time, intelligence, and standardized tests are moving in the right direction.
    While I believe that intelligence testing has a place, it only measures intelligence based on what the test deems the correct answer to be. Often there is more than one correct answer to a question, but the test will only list one of the possible solutions. Does this mean that the person who came up with a different answer is any less intelligent than a person who came to the answer the test deemed correct? Therefore, measuring intelligence through the results of testing is limited by the test itself.  I think that intelligence tests can be informative, but should not be the sole measure of intelligence. Intelligence is more than being able to spout off facts. There are certain levels of social skills that are needed to function in society. Creativity, communication, and collaboration are 21st-century skills that should not be ignored. Employers do not want employees that limit themselves to what has worked in the past; they are looking for individuals who are willing to think outside of the box and apply their knowledge to new situations, and critical thinking can be very difficult to measure on a standarized test.






    References
    Au, W., & Gourd, K. (2013). Asinine assessment: Why high-stakes testing is bad for everyone, including English teachers. The English Journal, 103(1), 14-19. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24484054
    Brinch, C. N., & Galloway, T. A. (2012). Schooling in adolescences raises IQ scores. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(2), 425-430. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23075988
    Dale, B. A., Finch, M. H., Mcintosh, D. E., Rothlisberg, B. A., & Finch, W. H. (2014). Utility of the Standford-Binet Intelligence Scales, fifth edition , with ethnically diverse preschoolers. Psychology In The Schools51(6), 581-590. doi:10.1002/pits.21766
    Hatt, B. (2012). Smartness as a cultural practice in schools. American Educational Research Journal, 49(3), 438-460. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23249233
    Rutger, K., & van de Flier, H. (2012). Predicting academic success in higher education: What’s more important than being smart?. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 27(4), 605-619. Retrieved from  http://www.jstor.org/stable/43551101

    Shifrer, D. (2013). Stigma of a label: Educational expectations for high school students labeled with learning disabilities. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 54(4), 462-480. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43186869

    Media Literacy and Leaders

    Technology is constantly changing, and it’s making its way into our schools like never before. In his article “21st Century Schools Require Media Literate Leaders”, Eric Anctil (2014) recognizes the rapid technological advancements of society but points out that “many schools have been slow to grasp the importance of technology and media literacy” (p. 110). While it is important that schools become more media literate, the burden of this responsibility falls on preparation programs for school administrators.  Many schools encourage teachers and students to develop their media literacy skills; however, “there is currently little or no formal media literacy education targeted at aspiring or practical school leaders” (Anctil, 2014, p.111). This article places as much importance on media literate leaders as school leaders knowing school law.
    I would define media literacy as the ability to effectively use, interpret, and troubleshoot multiple forms of technology.  Thoman (1999) defines media literacy as “the ability to create personal meaning from the verbal and visual symbols we take in every day through television, radio, computer, newspapers and magazines, and, of course, advertising” (as cited in Anctil, 2014, p.111). I would consider myself fairly media literate. I am the go-to-girl for technology at my school, and I am comfortable using many different forms of media. I am constantly researching new educational technologies and am willing to try most things at least once. Even though I would consider myself proficient using technology, I feel it is something that I could always be improving on since technology changes so rapidly.
    Quinn (2003) identifies “the First Amendment, harassment, privacy, special education, plagiarism, and copyright concerns” (as cited in Anctil, 2014, p. 112) as media and technology issues that school leaders must face.  In my current sphere of influence, I believe that the legal issues of plagiarism and copyright laws are the most critical, not only to teach students but also to teachers. I think that schools need to place a bigger emphasis on the severity of plagiarism and copyright infringement. If teachers are not complying with the law, how are they supposed to model good behavior to students? As a whole, I feel that policies, curricular and legal aspects of my current leaders are being handled well. Out technology curriculum needs to be strengthened, but I feel we are doing the best we can given the resources that we have available to us.
    If I were to design a media literacy course for a teacher/leader preparation course, I curriculum would be very hands on. We would spend time discovering how to develop anti-bullying campaigns and how to address cyberbullying. In addition, the topic of professional and personal personas would be addressed. It is very important for teachers and leaders to keep their personal persona online separate from their professional one. I personally believe that teachers and administrators should not be online “friends” with parents or students while the child is enrolled at the school. The one exception would be a family member who is enrolled at your school. The class would also include basic technology skills such as Google Apps and other popular educational tools. I am shocked at the number of teachers at my school who do not know how to use Google products. The technology skills section of the course would need to be recertified every 3 years. For my local audience, I would put an emphasis on modern technology tools likes Google Apps, with a recertification every 2 years. I think it would be very difficult to keep up a detailed program like this. I took two educational technology classes for my undergrad program, and I either a) already knew the material or b )I learned new material, but it was outdated by the time I started teaching.


    References
    Anctil, E. J. (2014). 21st century schools require media literate leaders. In Curriculum leadership: Readings for developing quality educational program (10th ed., pp. 109-114). Boston, MA: Peason.


    Teacher Workload and Differeniated Instruction

    Differentiated instruction is an integral part of being able to learn. As I addressed here, there is no average learner, so there is no one way to teach everyone. There are multiple methods for differentiating instruction in the classroom, but the three main categories are grouping, strategy instruction, and peer tutoring.  While each of these methods is proven to be effective, they all require extra work from the teacher. Today, I will examine these three methods and give my opinions about which one is the easiest to include in the classroom.

    To me, peer-tutoring is most labor-intensive for teachers. It is labor intensive up front because you have to teach the process to all of your students. I am sure that after a few peer-tutoring sessions it would be easier as students will already know the processes and routines. The teachers would just need to be available for extra guidance and questions. I also think that this strategy would be hard for me. I like to know exactly what is being taught in my classroom, and I have a hard time turning that responsibility over to someone else. I would like to include some peer-tutoring in my classroom, but with no more than 4 students learning the same material, I think it would be extremely difficult. 

    Grouping is easier to me than peer-tutoring because this is something I do every day in my classroom. Because I teach multi-grade classrooms, I am constantly teaching multiple lessons during the same period. It was difficult for me at first, but now that I have gotten a feel for it, it is way easier. Grouping may not be as easy for teachers who are not used to doing it. 

    I feel that strategy instruction is the easiest to include in everyday teaching, and doesn't require as much work for teachers. All it requires is explaining the process for how to do something. It might seem redundant (especially in higher grades), but it does work. I feel that this happens almost every day in younger grades because students are still learning processes. It tends to disappear as students get older because teachers assume that students already know.


    These are just my opinions, and what I have found works for my current teaching situation. 

    Friday, March 17, 2017

    Inquiry in the ELA classroom

    Inquiry is a popular topic in modern education. Some content areas, like science and math, naturally lend themselves to inquiry processes. It is much harder to incorporate inquiry in an English or history classroom. Here are two ideas on how to incorporate inquiry learning into an English classroom.

    1) What Makes a Good Essay Conclusion? (Multi-day lesson)
    Ask students how the decide what to write for their essay.
    ---make a list of answers on the board
    ---ask students to identify which strategies have worked for them in the past. Which have not been successful?
    Students will research different approaches to writing conclusions through the following website.  (http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/OnlineConclusionResources.html) As students research, they will keep a chart of each source, what they learned or was reinforced, and ideas they want to try in their conclusion.
    Students will then work in pairs to analyze sample essay conclusions from the aforementioned site.  Students will discuss what strategies were used and how successful they were. Then students will write two possible conclusions for their research papers, with each conclusion utilizing a new strategy.
    Finally, students will work in pairs to evaluate the new conclusions and the effectiveness of each. After each pair has evaluated the essay, the whole class will reflect on which new strategies worked the best. 

    2) Using an I-Chart
    (Adapted from readwritethink.org)
    I really liked this idea as an extension of a KWL chart, especially as a way of introducing students to the inquiry method.  An Inquiry Chart or I-Chart is a table that helps organize students' questions and research. ( see a sample here.) 
    How it works: Teacher of students identify a topic and discuss what they already know about it. This material gets put into the "K" column of the KWL chart. Students then fill out the "W"--What they want to know. The "W" leads to questions in the I-Chart. Students take the material they want to know about the topic and formulate questions about it. Then they research the answers using books and websites.  After the research is complete, students summarize their research in the "L" column.
    My Version: I would use the I-chart to introduce the Shakespeare unit. This is the first year my 10th graders have studied Shakespeare, and I would want them to have sufficient background knowledge before starting the unit. I would ask them to research Shakespearean Theatre--props, stage, customs, physical theater, audiences, etc. I would also let them work in pairs since it is a very broad topic. Instead of filling out the "L" column, I would have them write a one-page report summarizing what they learned.