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.

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.