Strong Chapter 6

This chapter of reading was refreshing as both an english and education major.  Finally someone puts creativity into their actual practice!  The use of Darth Vader as an enemy trying to create students into subjects of society was great.  I can relate to what William Strong was talking about when he said that

Punishment + Fear + Writing = Non-writers

This topic was stressed in my Secondary Education English class.  Where I learned that as a future English teacher I need to be able to not criticize but give advice as to how to improve writing in order to make future writers.   Also as teachers we cannot expect students to just magically know how to write.  (Expectations like that will also create non-writers.)

This chapter also reminded me of what types of writing are the fun and engaging kinds of writing.  I know that some of my best writing is always when I am very emotional about it.  Whether I was in middle school and in love with a boy, angry about what someone said to me or sad about a family/friend situation.  Whether my writing was in poetry, writing mini-novels, comics or journal entries - I was always passionate about something.  Our students are the same way too! Which is why I think that this chapter talked about writing in a way that I KNOW works.

Strong mentioned that the best and most effective assignments are the ones that have ten design principles.  They were:

Make sure your topics are meaningful

Use specific terms such as: define, illustrate, persuade, etc.

Exercise C.R.A.F.T. (Context, Role, Audience, Format)

Design topics to elicit meaningful, specific, immediate responses.

Define the criteria.

Give the students choice.

Create topics that invite inventive thinking.

If you use a hypothetical situation make sure it is within your students grasp.

Select topics that have a purpose.

Use creative formats.

This makes sense because when you use topics that are interesting such as, teen pregnancy, racism and drug abuse.  Suddenly you see student's eyes light up, especially those who would never participate.  I have been fortunate enough to see some of these topics in action at Central Falls Highschool.

Scavenger Hunt

1.  What is the name of the oldest health care provider in Central Falls?
The oldest health care provider in Central Falls is Notre Dame Ambulatory Center which is now an extension of Memorial Hospital which is located in Pawtucket, RI.  Notre Dame Ambulatory Center is located on 1000 Broad St, Central Falls RI.

The Post Office

2.  What is the name of the oldest nonprofit organization serving the Latino community in the city?
The oldest non-profit organization in Central Falls is "Progreso Latino."  They help Latinos in the community to be able to attain education, housing as well as immigration services and lots of other useful things.

www.ProgresoLatino.org

7.  Do local residents generally have Internet in their homes?

Higginson Ave Complex (aka snow piles everywhere)

I believe that a lot of local residents do have internet, I know my younger cousin who goes to Veterans Elementary School receives reduced-price internet services.  Which I think is amazing because now even low income families can afford to have internet.

8. Is there a post office in the town?
Yes, there is and it is located on Dexter St.

10. Is there a movie theater in town?
Not anymore but when I was very young I remember driving by this movie theater.  It has been bought out and is now being used as a church.

12.  Are there public parks?

What used to be a Movie Theater kinda still looks like one :)

Yes, there are a couple of public parks in Central Falls.  There is:
Higginson Park Complex
Jenks Park
Macomber Stadium
High St Ball field
Coutu Memorial Park
Crossman Street Playground
Sacred Heart Ave Playground
Illinois Street Playground
Garfield St Playground
Lewis & Hunt Park
Pierce Park
River Island Park.
Woo! that was a mouth-full I never realized we had so many parks.

15.  Find one monument or Statue.  What is the history associated with it?
The Coutu Memorial Park is a memorial park which was interesting to me because it is so recent.  It is located on the corner of Hunt St & Lewis St.  It was built as a reminder and memorial for Chief Robert A. Coutu and Chief René R. Coutu.  It was built due to their great work and contributions to the City of Central Falls and to the Fire Department.  

24.  There are three professional baseball players from Central Falls.  Name them.

Cogswell Tower in Jenks Park

Charley Bassett played from 1884-1892
Jim Siwy played from 1982 - 1984
Max Surkont played from played 1949-1957


26.  Becoming wealthy during the Gold Rush of 1849, she remembered her hometown and donated $50,000 to build the most recognizable feature in the city.  Everyone knows who she is and can see her donation, time after time.
Caroline Cogwell donated $50,000 to build Cogswell Tower which is located in Jenk's Park and is thought as Central Falls signature landmark.  

28.  She was a champion of the underdog and with the help of her husband helped slaves escaping to Canada.  Later she worked for the rights of women.
Elizabeth B. Chase helped to move slaves into Canada through Central Falls which used to be considered Valley Falls.  

Phillips, Arthur Sherman. The Phillips History of Fall River. Fall River, MA: Dover, 1944. Print.

Ubd Chapter 1 & Modules A & F

Ubd chapter 1 focused on the idea of backwards lesson planning.  The chapter broke down the meaning behind why and how teachers should implement this form of planning into their everyday routine.  Understanding by design is what Ubd stands for and there is a lot of punch behind the three letter acronym.  Ubd claims that teachers are designers and that the way that we plan out curriculums should be based on: Planning lesson plans backwards; Focusing the design of the curriculum to meet specified purposes and most importantly students are learning is the curriculum is designed well.  

Ubd starts off with mapping out what you want your students to learn and what results are expected.  Also determining acceptable behavior as well as planning learning experiences and instructions.  This translated to me as "if you want to be a teacher your curriculums should be thought out well and prepared, if not you are in the wrong career."  Ubd is further broken down into filters as well as stages to more easily plan out curriculums.  What really stuck out to me from the stages and filters were:

- The importance of engagement of students.

- Assessment and evidence is needed to validate proficiency in your students.

- Plan, plan, plan.

-What materials and/or resources will you need for this curriculum?

-Establish standards and curriculum expectations.

What I really enjoyed about this method of curriculum planning was how easy it would be to fuse scaffolding and Understanding by Design together to create a master curriculum.  Understanding by design is in a way placing emphasis on scaffolding by, creating steps from the last step to the very beginning.

Module A went into "The big ideas of Ubd."  Which included:

- Research on learning and cognition that reflects the centrality of teaching and assessing for understanding.

- A helpful and time honored process for curriculum writing.

A big red flag that popped in my mind when reading this section was how great it was that I was being exposed to Ubd this early in my career.  Which will help me be able to create curriculums easily and have a way to see curriculums as a sort of timeline or how to step by step.  Judy Willis a contributor to Ubd explained that patterning is when the brain perceives patterns from information either learned previously or newly attained material.  The best remembered information is learned through multiple and varied exposures.  Also learning that is engaging will be the stored in long term memory. I really do agree with this section and was like "hell yea!" in my mind.  Mostly because I remember having those great high school teachers who would use different ways of teaching like recording a commercial activity or using real life examples.  Those teaching techniques still stick with me today while note taking days are blank from my memory.

One aspect of Module A that I did not like was the "twin sins"  where the author claims that teachers may confuse "hands on with minds on" and that teaching is sub-par when "marching through resources."  An example of each of these twin sins is what really lacked for me in this chapter.  It was not as clear as I would have hoped.

Module F covered essential questions and understanding.  I liked how there was a whole chapter on questioning.  I understand how questioning is truly essential to include into curriculums.  Questioning not only activates schema but it also acts as a cue which allows students to answer and understand better.  A quote from this module that really made me happy was: "Serious learning involves inquiry in the face of uncertainty (77)."

This quote just made me tingle with excitement because I would LOVE to create a community of learners where students were not scared to ask questions.  I think asking questions is a great way to learn and as long as we create a community within our classrooms having students seriously learn should be a piece of cake.

My Interest inventory

Subjects Matter Chapters 1 & 2

After reading through chapters 1 & 2 of Subjects Matter by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels and Steven Zemelman I have come to a couple conclusions and a couple of concerns.  The first chapter in Subjects Matter depicted how a proficient classroom along with students should look and act like if they are fully engaged in learning.   The first chapter also depicted what classrooms and students will look and feel like if they are just doing the typical read through the text and quiz the next day.  What I liked about this chapter was how the authors wrote it, they made me feel like I had a teaching best friend who is going to help me become the best teacher I possibly can.  Second, I also liked how the authors presented examples and detailed what goes on in a student's mind when they are actually comprehending a text.

Daniels and Zemelman made me feel excited to teach again because they hit home with everything they talked about.  Especially about how they said "Subjects Matter is all about: effectively inviting kids to engage in our subjects, to think, remember, build knowledge -- and to care. (9 Daniels and Zemelman)"  A couple of questions were raised in my mind when I finished chapter one.  I realize that yes, creating a community of learners is definitely possible but what happens to the lone student who just does not want to participate at all?  Working in an after school program I have seen the students who just pack up their stuff and leave the classroom because they feel that it is a waste of time.  What tactics can teachers use to help these hard-to-reach students?  I hope eventually I will come to some strategies about this.

This chapter also went into detail about the Common Core.  I graduated from an urban high school and it has helped me see what it is actually like to come from a low-performing school.  This chapter brought me back to what it was like to have teachers say "you guys are not doing well on the NECAP, it is because you are poor.  Scores matter! Why aren't you guys learning? blah blah blah."  If teachers repeatedly remind students how they are low-performing and poor year after year.  How do they expect improvement?  Development and learning stems from positive reinforcement, amazing curriculums and great teachers. (Am I missing something?)  Scores are a student's right to know but I am a firm believer that teachers should keep those remarks to themselves.  But nobody has tried this out yet, hopefully sometime in the future. (Definitely by me)

Chapter 2 went into detail about what a student feels like when they read in a classroom.  I loved how this was structured within the text! It totally put me back to what it actually felt at times in my middle school/high school classes.  This chapter also analyzed the Common Core Standards which definitely relieved me.  Daniels and Zemelman really broke down what was great about the Common Core Standards and what needed fine tuning (a.k.a. what sucks about them).  It really helped how they clarified what an independent learner/reader should be.  Independent learner/reader does not actually mean "here is some reading or work now do it by yourself."  An independent learner/reader has a teacher as a guide and the teacher holds the students hand step by step until they actually LEARN what they are analyzing, reading, comprehending etc.

After reading these chapters I have questions in my mind but also a happiness that having Common Core Standards as well as an engaged classroom is a possible task.  Sometimes, when I read the standards I think wow, this is so hard how is this going to be possible?  But, Daniels and Zemelman made it feel possible.