Wilhelm, Baker & Dube Reflection (Chapters 1 & 2)

"Strategic Reading, Guiding Students to Lifelong Literacy" Wilhelm, Dube and Baker argued many different theories, ideas and definitions of what teaching literacy should be like.  I was astounded when they mentioned how it is predicted that 95% of elementary school teachers use the basal reader as the curriculum.  The basal reader is a good way to find ideas on how to run a curriculum but it totally goes against the ideas Wilhelm, Dube and Baker stand by in these chapters.

The contributors kept stressing the idea of "Teaching must be reconceived as 'guiding students to more competent learning performances.'"  They also stood by the theory of having students in The Zone of Proximal Development instead of The Zone of Actual Development.  They explained that having students continue to work on information that they had already mastered was repetitive and pointless.  They stressed that real learning in literacy takes place in The Zone of Proximal Development where the teacher implements a strategy of teaching and becomes more of a guide.  This strategy that they support is: "I do you watch, I do you help, You do I help, You do I watch."  This strategy not only simplifies a seemingly complicated way of teaching but also stands behind Vygotsky's idea of scaffolding.  This also transforms the teacher into a guide where they guide the child by the hand until they master what is to be learned.

Wilhelm, Baker and Dube also stress how learning should be fun.  If learning is not fun or if students cannot see the correlation between learning and real life they will most likely be uninterested.  Especially if the learning is outside of The Zone of Proximal Development.  One of the theorists named Hillocks argued that the best learning engages students and is fun.  Hillocks also argues that engaged learning works because it is usually challenging and purposeful.  Hillocks said that if students are provided enough support and effective learning techniques they will learn.  The authors also went through and explained different kinds of methods for teaching reading strategies such as cognitive structuring, modeling, questioning, explaining/instructing, feeding back/naming and contingency management.  These two chapters really hit home as to what kind of skills I am trying to learn and master as a future teacher. 

How I Learned to Draw Graphically Using Different Types of Media and How it Influenced My Life

Growing up my parents always wanted to provide me with as much possible so I could succeed in my education.  They would buy sets of encyclopedias, hire tutors and also they bought me a computer at the age of ten.  For a while I had a computer without Internet because I did not need the Internet at that age.  Today, if you hand a teen a computer they would give you a dirty look and say, “What do you expect me to do with this?”  But at the young age of ten I learned the ins and outs of working with a computer without the use of Internet.  My favorite software had to be paint; I would sit in front of paint for hours and draw.  I would draw comics, cartoons and also lettering.  My drawings were not only limited to the computer but I also had a knack for drawing on paper.  My parents quickly realized that I could draw and that their investment in the computer was not going down the route they had intended.

            Some people will argue, “No art is ever original.”  But, I taught myself how to draw from observing other’s work.  My influences on my art came from two very distinct places.  My “graphic design” skills grew when my parents installed Internet.  Immediately I made a MySpace account and I remember surfing the website and finding beautiful, custom-made layouts.  People would create the graphics for the layouts and then code HTML onto their profiles and create beautiful webpages.  I remember that I immediately looked up as much information as I could about HTML and taught myself how to code from scratch. I then created my own layouts with different backgrounds and my name lettered across. The layouts would be created by hand using Paint and Photoshop.  Influences would come from all over including key layout artists I would look up and gain inspiration from their creativity.  My art on MySpace was highly regarded, I had over a 100,000 friends and people would offer me money to customize their layouts.

            For my paper drawings, I was heavily influenced by one of my art teachers in high school.  I always thought lowly of my paper drawings because I was not very good at drawing people or realistic items like fruit.  However, my art teacher in high school showed me artists who defied ordinary like Dali and Van Gogh.  Their art fit the other genre, which did not involve much people or realistic items. Throughout the art class I did get to work on a self-portrait, which with the guidance of my art teacher turned out pretty good.  My real talent and love was with drawings that had bold lines, graphic details and a fantastical touch.

            Once I hit my later years in high school MySpace got out of style and Facebook came in with it’s default, bland, blue and default layout for every user.  I lost a lot of my knowledge with coding HTML but drawing stayed with me.  Whether it is on a computer, iPad or paper, drawing has always been my favorite hobby.  I love sitting down with a full mind and just letting markers, pencil or my stylus do the talking.  Teaching myself how to code web page layouts not only taught me the power of my mind when I am determined but also showed me how amazing the human brain is.  I was a twelve year old who knew how to make complete web pages from scratch, something even adults with degrees in the field struggle with today.  It impacted my life because it taught me that many feats are possible with determination and goals.

            Being literate in drawing and graphic design helps me because I work with middle school students in an afterschool program.  My boss and I were told by the district to make visuals with our expectations for our youth and I decided to take on the task.   I made all of our posters from scratch which not only look fun but also colorful and deliver our important mission statement and message of “respect yourself, others and property.”  Other than creating visuals, the journey of learning how to draw has taught me that if a youth has the right amount of confidence, support, resources and knowledge they are able to achieve anything they want in their lives.

Observation #4: Creating a quiz for a previous observation @ C.F. high

Directions were: In this observation assignment, your goal is to create an assessment for the lesson you observed. Please write a 10 minute quiz that will determine if students can meet the objective.

*Remember, it’s about 1 minute for multiple choice and matching, 3-5 minutes for problems and short essays.

**Yes, you can ‘double-dip’ one of the observations that you have already made.

 1) What do you think the objective is?

Students will be able to analyze humanity, symbolism and society as they are reconstructed and deconstructed in William Goldberg’s Lord of the Flies.

 2) What level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is that?

I believe that it is Analysis.

Here is the quiz I made for Ms. Garces's class:

Classroom Management in Ms. Desmarais’s Class @ Central Falls Highschool

Central Falls high school has had a lot of negative speculation from media and the school district; the rumors have spread to all of Rhode Island. (Read more by clicking here) The rumors said that Central Falls was dangerous, students were unwilling to learn and that the residents lived in subpar living conditions.  Being a former student from Central Falls has allowed me to look past the bad reputation that the school has and to look at what has been actually occurring educationally. 

      Observing the classroom management at Central Falls high school was interesting because I could compare what the classroom was like before the school reform.  I walked into room 240 where Ms. Desmarais was teaching a tenth grade Geometry class.  I sat in the back where it was easy to see how the classroom was being managed.  An important aspect of classroom management is how the classroom is set up.  The back wall of the classroom was lined with Dell computers and swivel chairs in which I sat in.  The classroom was brightly lit with the shades open.  The desks were not in a circle or in rows but they were organized in a movie theater or auditorium sort of way.  The classroom felt like it was jam-packed probably due to the computers lining the back wall, which took up a lot of space.  The classroom walls were lined with big post it notes and motivational posters.  The white board was also packed with reminders, the daily agenda and the objective.

Although the classroom was jam-packed it was somewhat organized and some could say it even felt cozy.  Through my secondary education classes I have learned that the way the classroom is set up has a direct link to how well students learn.  Students need to be able to see their objective and the daily agenda clearly.  Although this classroom was jam-packed the daily agenda and objective were clearly written on the board for the classroom to see. 

The first aspect of Ms. Desmarais’s teaching that struck me was how she was using a microphone to teach the class.  Later we were told that the voice-amplifiers were actually used to reduce stress on the teacher’s voice.  These devices were not used when I was at Central Falls high school.  I can see why it would be an advantage to use these in the classroom.  The first advantage could be that students would find it difficult to have side conversations when the teacher’s voice is louder than theirs.  The second advantage could be that now all students in her classroom have a clear understanding of what she is saying no matter where they sit in the room.  I was sitting in the back and her voice was as clear as if she was sitting right next to me.  The last advantage could be that students with learning disabilities such as ADHD are more likely to keep their attention on the teacher.

Also, I saw that the teacher had a newer version of overhead projector.  The overhead projector showed the actual paper that she was going off of and it allowed for her to keep the light on.  Remembering back on when I was in high school I can remember loving it when the teacher would dim the lights because it was easier to daydream.  I think that being able to keep the lights on in the classroom is a big advantage for Ms. Desmarais’s classroom not only will her students remain awake but they will be able to learn a lot easier.

Ms. Desmarais asked many questions to her students while I was observing.  She asked questions like:

-        What if this shape was a quadrilateral?

-        Do you remember what a … is similar to? (I do not remember specifically what she said)

Her questions were mainly knowledge based review questions but it did allow the students room to analyze.  I could tell that her questions were working because hands would shoot up into the air when she asked them.  One of the students asked if a circle could be a polygon and Ms. Desmarais answered with: “Well, why can’t a circle be a polygon?”  The student thought and said that the circle could be a depressed or sad square.  Maybe the student was just trying to be funny but through that bit of laughter I could tell that the student was comfortable in the atmosphere that Ms. Desmarais created.

Throughout the observation I could tell that the whole class was engaged, no heads were down, notes were being taken and everybody was paying attention.  I think that the atmosphere in the classroom added to how engaged the students actually were.  Her use of the microphone, projector, seating arrangement and the posters all added to how well the class was learning.

Although the rumors that surround Central Falls are exaggerated there is some truth behind them.  The city being made up of lower income families is true and I have had friends who have been on welfare or did not have a car.  The school is located in a lower income community but I have never felt scared or threatened to be in the school.  Although I can see why an “outsider” may feel scared or reluctant to enter Central Falls especially due to the rumors of there being violence.  The biggest rumor and lie is that the students cannot learn or do not want to learn at Central Falls High school.  Through my observations I have realized that teaching conditions have improved greatly at Central Falls High school since I attended.  I can clearly see how the school is trying to re-vamp the way they educate the students.  Through the observations in SED 406 I have realized that student learning has a direct link to how they are taught.  If the students are not learning it must be the teacher who is not teaching.  Thankfully, Dr. Gallo and her cohorts have made drastic changes within the school.  Some of the obvious changes were: parents being involved within the school; more up-to-date equipment; clear objectives and agendas being presented; offering mentors for the newer teachers and of course the partnership with Rhode Island College.  Change occurs very slowly but I can already see big changes occurring in the school.  Hopefully, when I have a job there in the future it will be an even better learning community and that the partnership with Rhode Island College grows.

Microteaching Number two

Indirect lesson plan - My lesson was about using pictures to indirectly learn how to use first, second and third person.

Hope to hear from you guys! Thanks!

Reflection on the National Writing Project Conference

(Original Image source: Click here)

Walking into the National Writing Project conference I arrived around 8:30am – just on time.  Immediately I sat down and waited for the speakers to commence.  The first two speakers spoke about how Thomas Newkirk impacted their lives.  One of the women said, “question the status quo rather than be complacent.”  That really grasped my attention because after reading “1984” and taking a class with Professor Feldstein I really have started questioning EVERYTHING. I have questioned aspects about my life like how the government regulates money and how society views social media.  She also spoke about how she asked Newkirk to look over her papers and edit them.  When Newkirk met with her about the papers he did not exactly criticize the papers or edit them but instead he explained, “What he had learned.”  That was amazing and so fresh it made me really go “Wow.”  Professors and editors who usually edit papers deconstruct, criticize and usually change up the whole paper when they are asked to read it over.  Newkirk did the complete opposite, which in my opinion many writing teachers can learn from that.  Many times when we look over papers not only do we use a red pen (which radiates negativity) but also we cross out and leave negative comments alongside the papers.  Those actions can leave a permanent scar on the students’ thoughts, views on their writing abilities and egos.  Work that they thought was amazing is now work that was deemed as “crap.”  Now this is not the case all of the time but it is the case many times.

Finally Thomas Newkirk the keynote speaker started speaking and he kept my attention throughout his whole speech.  Something that really stuck with me was how he did not stand on the podium he wanted to be with us, his audience.  He also stuttered at a couple words while reading his PowerPoint.  I really paid attention to these things because of what one of my professors said.  She said that we must show our students that we are human too and that we also make mistakes in our writing – educators are not perfect. Newkirk did this subtly as well by showing us his imperfections.  Yes, Newkirk is successful and an amazing man but he is one of us, he is an educator.  One of his main points was that narrative is the prominent and central way of how we see the world.  So his question was why does the common core standards leave out narrative?  I agree with him about how narrative is the central way of life.  Back in high school I learned more about watching a civil war movie or reading a soldier’s memories about the civil war than reading any boring textbook about the civil war.  Newkirk also touched upon thesis and how it should leave the reader with an “itch” to keep reading.  I think that is a piece of advice I will try to carry with me now throughout my whole life.

In my first workshop I attended the “Overcoming #NoviceTeacherFails” option.  We were walked through a series of questions and at the end of maybe 10-15 questions we were to write a manifesto (which is a written public declaration which uses many adjectives to motivate yourself or people).  Instead of explaining my process I would much rather show the product so here is what I came up with:

I loved this workshop, it showed me yet another way of using creative writing to learn and motivate.  I am printing out the manifesto and framing it on my wall as a reminder to always be the best I can be.  I probably will make one for my classroom too once I am a teacher.  I left that classroom very inspired and I am reminded as to why I am here at Rhode Island College and why I am becoming a teacher.

In my second workshop I chose to go to the “Highlighting the Positive: A Way of Reflecting, Revising & Evaluating.”  The teacher there was Keith Sanzen who is an 8^thgrade English teacher.  He explained his beliefs in grading and how he would much rather track progress in writing much rather than stamp an “A” or a “D” on a paper.  His grading method was to check off things like the student had a “clear theme and purpose” or the student “used capitalization correctly.”  At the end of his unit if the student had accomplished all of their goals he would give them an “A” and if they did not he would work with the student and make sure that they got that “A” or “B.”  I like his thought process on grading because he is making sure his students are accomplishing everything a good writer does.  He also expressed how students who receive “A’s” feel like they are accomplished and throw their papers away meanwhile students who receive “D’s” feel like failures and stop trying.  His method works because both the “A” and “D” student will always be working toward a goal whether it be to improve their spelling, using strong word variations and working on having effective imagery/language use.  Many of the other teachers in the class felt like they would not know what to do when a parent came in and asked for a progress report.  He said he kept a detailed record of what the students have accomplished and would pull out the papers when the parents would arrive.  Sanzen would then point out what the student needed to work on and what they had already accomplished.  I left that classroom with a good tool for when I have to start grading papers and a new way to look at grading.

  All in all I am happy that I attended the conference.   It was an “eye-opener” and it inspired me to keep working on becoming a teacher and to look at writing as a skill we are always working on.  It is an experience I will never forget and now I feel like I remember why I am majoring in education and most importantly writing.  I will hopefully continue attending these conferences because I have realized that it is a very important tool for teachers.  I learned a lot and grew as a writer in those couple of hours, a very well spent $25.

To read more on The National Writing Project click here.

Observations No. 2 @ Central Falls Highschool

My Lesson: Constructing a Haiku

Hello classmates,
Please leave a comment on how I did on my lesson.  My lesson was on constructing a Haiku.

                                               - Thank You, Karen Ramirez.

Observations at Central Falls Highschool

The First Day:

While visiting Central Falls High school I was asked to make some observations on the students.  I am an English major so I decided to visit Ms. Garces’ class.  She is one of the teachers that the school rehired after the No Child Left Behind Act went into full effect.  She was also my  ninth-grade high school English teacher.  Ms. Garces is of Colombian descent and speaks both English and Spanish.  She graduated from both the University of Rhode Island and Central Falls High school.  Ms. Garces has many years of teaching under her belt although she appears very young.

            The students in the class I was observing were sitting in rows and were taking an exam.  Immediately as I walked in I could feel the relaxed atmosphere she had built.  She had posters plastered on the wall, which explained main ideas of novels they had read, inspirational quotes and the class agenda.  Her class although occupied by many desks seemed very organized.  Ms. Garces started off the class by explaining the exam they were going to take.  She made sure to go through the exam front to back and made sure to ask students if they had questions after every section.  Once Ms. Garces handed out the exam the students immediately began.  It was based off the book To Kill a Mockingbird.  The students were allowed to listen to music on their headphones and use the novel to answer questions on the exam.  I could tell that the students were engaged because their eyes were either inside the book or writing down responses.  Ms. Garces was not the only teacher in the class, there was another teacher walking around and making sure everyone was doing their work - her name  was Ms. Cataldo.  Ms. Garces later told us that the class had some special needs students and that the Ms. Cataldo was there as a supplement to make sure the special needs students had an equal advantage.  She also made it clear that we would not be able to pinpoint whom the special needs students were but that the supplemental teacher was open to helping any of the students.

            The classroom was made up of primarily Latino students and a couple of female Caucasian students amongst them.  Although the school is known for being occupied by low-income families the students were all dressed casual/urban but in a neat way.  Cliques or groups of students were not obvious to the naked eye but that may have been that way because they were taking an exam.  There were twelve students in total and all the seats were filled.  A couple of students whom had questions raised their hands; I could tell that Ms. Garces had built a relationship with the students in the class.  I can say that because the students joked with her and were not scared of asking questions.  She also kept the students controlled and the students knew when joke-time was over and exam time had started.

            In summary my first observation was a pleasant one.  Ms. Garces seemed very organized and the students were comfortable with her.  Ms. Garces kept the classroom under control and you could tell that the students looked up to her.  As far as having a supplemental teacher in the class I thought it was such a big help especially when there are special needs students scattered in a classroom.

The Second Time Around:

            In my second observation I continued to observe Ms. Garces’ classroom.  I walked into the classroom and the class was formed into a big circle where I could tell discussion was going to take place.  There were roughly 10-11 students in the classroom this time.  Each student was holding a Lord of The Flies book and they all had a worksheet in front of them.  The students were quiet and were waiting for Ms. Garces to start instruction.  Also, this time around none of the students had phones out or were listening to music.  Another observation I made was that Ms. Garces had a big poster on the board, which had the words “Leader, Reader, Reporter and Recorder.”  Each word was colored in a different color and had a description below it.

            The second time around I felt the same relaxed atmosphere that I entered into last time when the students were taking an exam.  Although this time I could see the cliques within the classroom.  There were a set of three boys along the back of the class and two groups of girls faced each other.  Although there were cliques I did not witness any conflict among them.  Ms. Garces started her lesson off by talking about how she had had a dream about her students.  The students were in a zombie apocalypse and only her class had survived.  She pointed out which of her students wouldn’t be able to survive without a hairbrush and who would take charge of the group in order to survive the apocalypse.  The students laughed along with her and either agreed or disagreed.  She tied in this zombie apocalypse with the setting of the book The Lord of The Flies where the groups of boys are stranded on an island.  I thought this was an effective way of stating the main idea and opening the class.  Not only did she get the whole class into a big discussion but also she started to get her students minds working towards the setting of the actual book.

            Her class was engaged and by the sounds of the discussion I could tell the students were very comfortable with expressing their ideas.  After the zombie apocalypse scenario she proceeded to talk about what inferences and facts the students could make from looking at the cover.  She made a couple of examples by using student pregnancy rates within the school as a fact and using why the student pregnancy rate is going up as an inference.  Everyone was joining in on the class discussion when she spoke about those issues.  It was interesting to see how she used real life Central Falls student problems to teach.  The whole class was interested in what she was saying, although there was one student who kept exclaiming how the conversation was “boring” and “useless.”  Eventually the student started to be involved because Ms. Garces would stop talking midsentence.  He knew that when she stayed quiet it was time for him to stop talking as well.  Eventually it worked because he began taking notes and was giving short responses to what could be an inference and what could be a fact.

            There were a couple of students who were late but they all did have passes and she made sure to ask them where they were.  Same as my last observation there were 2 teachers in the classroom Ms. Garces and the supplemental teacher, Ms. Cataldo.  From this observation I can make an educated guess that the rowdy male student was one of the special needs within the class.  Ms. Garces was speaking aloud to the class meanwhile the supplemental teacher wrote on the board.  It was an effective way of teaching because Ms. Garces was keeping an eye on the whole class and the supplemental teacher got a chance to write down everything for the students who needed visuals.

            From having Ms. Garces as a freshmen year English teacher I knew that I wanted to observe one of her classes for sure.  Even when I was a student at Central Falls she made sure to make real life connections in reading materials.  She also made sure to have a comfortable but authoritative relationship with her students.  As a freshman I remember being very comfortable with asking her questions.  From this observation I think I have come to the conclusion that students are comfortable around teachers who have gone through the same struggles they have gone through.  Ms. Garces was a student at Central Falls High school as well.   In my opinion when students see her they feel the inspiration to pull forward and they see the success she has attained.  Seeing a person come from a low-income neighborhood and be able to go to college is important for students.  Sometimes throughout high school the vision of college becomes more and more obscure and unattainable in a low income neighborhood.  Ms.Garces has survived the madness and has a career now, she makes a great role model for the students of Central Falls.