January 23, 2012
Second Language Acquisition in the Study of Science
I have often heard the complaints of many students crying that they are “just not good at science” or “science is so hard” as I walk into a science classroom. As heartbreaking as this is since at the heart of my education philosophy is the belief that anyone is a scientist, especially our young students, I can completely sympathize with their frustration.
Traditionally science content has been placed as one of the most difficult disciplines for good reason: it can be tough stuff to master. In many ways science itself has its own very particular language and discourse; and sometimes the terms alone can be challenging to understand. Continue reading 'Second Language Acquisition and the Study of Science'»
Shelbi Burnett
ED 498-Dr. Brooks
April 12, 2013
ATLAS Protocol
Introduction
Through working with, and observing English language learning (ELL) students during tutoring hours in addition to our class activities in ED 498, we have come to understand that these students have specific needs in the classroom. Often these diverse needs demand activities which are structured differently from those only designed for native English speaking students; however, these needs are not entirely different to students who struggle in content area vocabulary development. In fact some of the activities we can design and implement to aide ELL students, can help all students in content area classrooms with stringent vocabulary demands. Continue reading 'Using the ATLAS Protocol to Assess Student Work'»
Reflection 10
This week was my last week at North Central. Upon arriving, I found Sun again looking for some help with another speech. This time, he was working on a debate, the topic of which was minors being tried as adults in murder cases. He told me he had to argue against this situation and that he was in a group of five other students all collaborating on the SMELF protocol. I looked at the instruction sheet which said the debate would last between 20 and 30 minutes total. The instructions also included a sample of the sheet the teacher wanted the students to fill out for their sections of the debate. Sun, who had the ‘S’ of SMELF meaning safety, had a sheet broken into two repeated sections for argument, explanation, evidence, and related value. The directions modeled what the teacher expected these filled out sections to look like, as well as little instructions for what was to fill each section. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 10'»
Reflection 9
This was the second to last time I attended North Central to help tutor students. When I arrived, two students I had never seen before came over and asked if I could help with a health assignment. They explained their assignment to me saying they had to give a presentation about illegal drugs to the class and provide a handout. I noticed both of them had fairly competent conversational language skills. I introduced myself to them, and they introduced themselves to me as Ahmeir and Muhammad. A little later in the session, I found out that Muhammad was from Jordan and Ahmeir was from Iran. Unfamiliar with the two languages spoken in those countries, I wondered if the two of them would be able to collaborate using a common native language the way Sun and Bo did the week before–I did not hold out hope for this though. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 9'»
Reflection 8
This week I had the fortunate experience of working with Sun and Bo again. I remembered Bo from one of my first tutoring experiences at North Central–we had worked together on a lab report that he and other students were preparing. On this day, Bo and Sun were also working on science homework. They had been given a giant review packet from their teachers for an upcoming unit test. This packet was extensive, about 12 pages total, and filled with questions, examples, and all sorts of review information. Bo and Sun had already completed a significant amount of the packet, and they asked if I thought we could finish the rest of it in the hour. I responded that we might be able to, and so we sat down to work. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 8'»
4/8/13
Today, I worked again with Sun Light. I was less concerned this time about working with a student on science homework after my interesting experience helping Sun on his speech project. He told me as we went over to the computer stations that he was still working on his speech from the previous week and he would be delivering it on Friday to the class. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 7'»
4/1/13
I began my sixth field experience at North Central not as excited as my fifth experience the week before in which I worked with La Erb on his science and English homework. In that experience, I had begun the session happy to be working in science again. However, this week Ms. McCarthy introduced me to a student named Sun Light who was working on a speech for his speech class. She described Sun as being a strong student and said this would be a fun assignment to help with but I remained skeptical. I would not consider speech to be one of my strengths, but I set about helping Sun as best I could. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 6'»
3/18/13
For my fifth field experience, I had the opportunity to work with a student named La Erb on his science homework. I was excited for the opportunity to work on something in science because during the past few experiences I had to work outside of my content area, and as a result, somewhat outside of my comfort zone. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 5'»
3/4/13
For my fourth field experience Ms. McCarthy introduced me to a student named Lee and explained that he had been given an assignment to outline a speech. While English is not my content area, I decided I would try to help as much as I could with the assignment. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 4'»
2/27/13
In my third field experience at North Central, I arrived and met Ms. McCarthy at the top of the stairs. Saying she had to run off to a meeting, she directed me down the stairs where a student named Shaw Mo would meet me. Ms. McCarthy explained quickly that Shaw Mo was working on a business plan for a class and the assignment required significant creativity. So I made my way down the steps to find Shaw Mo as Ms. McCarthy headed to her meeting. Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 3'»
2/11/13
This was my first experience in North Central, and although I am from Indianapolis and had many track meets at the school, I had never actually been inside the building before. But despite my initial trepidation, I was very excited for my first field experience and to meet the students I would hopefully be working with throughout the semester.
Continue reading 'Reflection: Field Experience 1'»
Books Included
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- Invisible Frontiers: The race to synthesize a human gene
- A Wrinkle In Time
- The Tales of A Shaman’s Apprentice
- Survival of the Sickest
- The Making of the Fittest
- Physics of the Impossible
- Dr. Franklins Island
- Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie
- Uglies
- Gathering Blue
- Ender’s Game
- Divergent
- Feed
- The House of The Scorpion
- Galapagos
- The Freedom Maze
- The City of Ember
- Eva
- The Hunger Games
Continue reading 'Bibliography of Books for Teaching Science!'»
Novel Resource Guide
Our task in ED 420 this semester was to create a plan to teach a unit using a novel. Because my content area is science, I was hesitant to use a science fiction novel so I used the historical science book of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. By accessing the link, the viewer has access to all of the information necessary to teach a unit using the book, from discussion questions to in class activities, and assessments.
Craft and Structure (9-10), ED 420 Content Literacy, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (9-10), Key Ideas and Details (9-10), Lesson Plans, Range of Reading (9-10), Standard #1: Learner Development., Standard #2: Learning Differences., Standard #5: Innovative Applications of Content., Standard #6: Assessment, Standard #7: Planning for Instruction., Standard #8: Instructional Strategies., Standard 2: Nature of Science, Standard 4: Issues, Standard 7: Science in the Community, Standard 8: Assessment
- Flannery, M.E. (2010). Welcoming ELL Parents into the Classroom. National Education Association. March 28, 2012. From http://www.nea.org/home/37153.htm.
In this article, Flannery describes methods for increasing ELL parent involvement in the classroom. Centered around the idea that teachers, parents, students, and schools represent a team, the article offers different “invitations” for teachers to extend to ELL parents. These creative methods offer teachers unique ways to go beyond just calling or having a translator in the room at a parent teacher conference– although both of those can serve important functions to get in contact with ELL parents.
- Panferov, S. (2010). Increasing ELL Parental Involvement in Our Schools: Learning From the Parents. Theory Into Practice, 49, (2): 106-112. From http://globalprojects.arizona.edu/sites/globalprojects.arizona.edu/files/Panferov%20-%20Increasing%20ELL%20Parental%20Involvement.pdf.
This article uses real case studies to document and demonstrate ways in which schools can engage ELL parents as resources in the classroom. The article specifically tackles ELL parent’s views of literacy as well as parent to child and parent to school interactions which will contribute to school success. As a future educator, this article provides specific stories reflecting the views of real ELL parents and engagement strategies which would have been most effective in these two cases and cases like these.
- Waterman, R., & B. Harry. (2008). Building Collaboration Between Schools and Parents of English Language Learners: Transcending Barriers, Creating Opportunities. The National Center for Culturally Responsive Education Systems. March 28, 2012. From http://nccrest.org/Briefs/PractitionerBrief_BuildingCollaboration.pdf.
This article provides information for practicing educators regarding ways to overcome the barriers in place for the parents of ELL students. The article elucidates various obstacles to these parents which all result in parents having few or no opportunities for collaboration with and in their child’s school. The authors then move to describe and recommend specific policy innovations for districts. It is acknowledged that schools may need to introduce these new methods gradually because if implemented too quickly they may fail from lack of appropriate resources to maintain them. As a future educator I would feel comfortable referencing this article because the authors outline (in detail) 10 critical ways to increase parental involvement validated by scholarly research.
Ed 327 Reflection 2
October 4, 2012
Observations…
Mr. Pitcock runs a very structured classroom. I am not sure if the students recognize it exactly because there is significant freedom with in that structure. Although this was something I recognized in my first impressions of him, it still manages to shock me the subsequent times I have been observing his class. Continue reading 'Reflection of the Second 2 Weeks at Westlane'»
ED 327 Reflection 1
September 19, 2012
First Impressions…
Upon meeting Mr. Pitcock my interest was piqued! He explained he completed his undergraduate degree from Purdue University in elementary education, then after a few years of teaching returned to IUPUI to pursue a few more classes which would allow him the added licensure to teach at the middle school level. Continue reading 'Reflection of First 2 Weeks at Westlane Middle School'»
All Posts, ED 327 Curriculum and Instructional Strategies for Middle Level Learners, Shelbi, Standard #2: Learning Differences., Standard #3: Learning Environments., Standard #5: Innovative Applications of Content., Standard #7: Planning for Instruction., Standard #8: Instructional Strategies., Standard #9: Reflection and Continuous Growth., Standard 1: Content, Standard 3: Inquiry
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Classroom Management, Science Classroom, Student Focus
Education and Culture
In their article “Understand Culture” Shelley Zion and Elizabeth Kozleski (2005) define culture as “the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that members of society use to interact with their world and with one another” (p. 3). Continuing in an anthropological direction, culture is a powerful tool for survival, but it is a surprisingly delicate phenomenon which is constantly changing. For example, consider how the attitudes and values of a school may change when a new principal is hired, this new individual may make specific changes to shift the culture of a school in a different direction. But culture, as a noun with a concise definition like the one provided by Zion and Kozleski (2005), is easier to understand than its tremendous effects in the classroom. Continue reading 'What is Culture?'»
After reading Ruby Payne’s A Framework For Understanding Poverty, we were asked to complete a reflection detailing how we feel poverty impacts education and whether or not we agreed with Payne’s suggested ways to help students in poverty. While I did not necessarily agree with all of Payne’s points, I did feel she correctly noted the importance of forging a relationship with your students. Continue reading 'Reflection upon the Impacts of Poverty on Student Learning'»
The theory of Multiple Intelligences is a controversial topic. Many people argue over whether or not they exist and if so, are they really intelligences or are they simply talents or inclinations. These two readings concern the idea of multiple intelligences and are excellent resources for learning more about them as well as planning instruction for the intelligences found in a diverse student group.
Multiple Intelligences Around the World
Multiple Intelligences
Teachers must understand and appreciate the diverse backgrounds of each of their students, this simple reading is a great resource for techniques in understanding and being sympathetic to culture in the classroom to create a safe, fun, and balanced learning environment!
Understanding Culture
Prompt:
Using instructor provided materials, students will create an artifact to symbolically represent your ideal image of a learner as it has formed over the course of the semester. A written articulation of the image will be required along with the artifact that demonstrates an understanding of the developmental attributes and diverse learning styles of today’s students. You should consider carefully if your “ideal” imagine aligns with your “real” imagine. Is this how you want kids to be or is this how you actually perceive them? What are the implications of a disconnect between our “ideal” and “real” image? What are the negative implications of your image? Continue reading 'Image of a Learner'»
Prompt:
The purpose of this assignment is to have you re-enter a day in the life of adolescents carrying with you the knowledge you have now about developmental needs, school organization philosophy, and curriculum demands. You need to create a framing question so that you enter the shadow study with “something to look for” in regard to answering a question you have about student development or how schools meet/or fail to meet student needs. As you spend time with your student, consider what you did for the YA Book Reflection as a “practice” run. Identify the developmental characteristics of your student and address the following prompts:
- Using the developmental attributes domains, how would you describe this student?
- How does school life seem to fit into this student’s life?
- Based on your observation, how does this student’s engagement/disengagement manifest itself in the behaviors and actions of the student in different classes?
- What factors can you identify as contributing to the differences/commonalities in this student’s behavior over the course of the school day?
- This is a real student. In what ways are his/her needs being met or not?
- What have you learned from this experience?
Continue reading 'Shadow Study'»
Prompt:
Considering what we have read in Vatterott, Wood and Van Hoose et. all about the philosophy of creating middle schools and high schools that reflect responsiveness to students’ developmental needs, think about your impressions of Shortridge’s attempts to live a student-centered philosophy. With a digital camera, document images of Shortridges “philosophy in action.” What does the image say about this school’s, teacher’s, club’s, etc. image of a learner? Provide 2-3 images and 2-3 counter images. For the reflection component, provide a caption explaining the context of each image. Then, provide a reflective rationale to address the prompt.
Continue reading 'Instructional Patterns and Strategies for Student Focused Schools'»
All Posts, ED 227: Introduction to Middle Secondary Education, Standard #1: Learner Development., Standard #2: Learning Differences., Standard #3: Learning Environments., Standard #4: Content Knowledge., Standard #5: Innovative Applications of Content., Standard #6: Assessment
| Classroom Management, learning environment, needs, Student Focus
Prompt:
In general, the digital divide refers to the unequal access by some members of society to information and communications technology, and the unequal acquisition of related skills. Does the digital divide exist in today’s schools? Where does mobile use fit into this equation? Special needs? The first three news articles speak to these areas of the divide.
We tend to think about the divide in terms of access – does a student/school have networked computers? Wireless or mobile access? On the other hand, there is another definition of the divide which focuses on the instructional and pedagogical uses of technology with students. In other words: Once we have it, how do we ask students to understand and recognize its potential? Teachers? The last article speaks to this perspective of the divide.
What are your thoughts?
Continue reading 'Digital Divide'»
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