TPA response

The TPA lesson format is a great learning tool.  Tedious and repetitive, it is a fantastic way to allow teacher-candidates a way to think completely about the lesson plans we create.  It is not my favorite thing to do, and writing 15 of them for the unit plan is going to take more time than it could really be worth.  I just take it as a learning tool and way to practice my way of forming lesson plans that will be most effective in the classroom. 

I have been familiarized with the TPA since my inception into the education program.  The first quarter in, our final project was really just one TPA – now with practice I am able to write them out in a much more timely manner.  I like thinking about how I  am going to reach each student and what I need to do differently in between the class periods. 

The TPA is a bit difficult to quickly adjust, and that may be where the most difficulties come from.  What do you do if things don’t go according to plan, but it’s working?  Are you still able to assess the same things?  What if the class is not getting the lesson?  How can it be changed on the fly?  If the TPA is viewed as a tool to get to the whole classroom, then it is worthwhile.  If it’s viewed as a hard and fast program, it’s going to be a rough class.

I think it’s great to get teacher-candidates to think about what they are creating.  I don’t foresee myself using them much once I am completely in the classroom on my own.

Differentiated Instruction for English Language Learners as "variations on a theme"

This article, written by 4 teachers for the Middle School Journal, talks a lot about how to reach ELL students.  They start out with a stat provided by the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisistion that by 2025 1 out of 4 students will be an ELL student.  But the surprising note there is that most of them are going to be native-born, multi-generational US citizens.

As teacher-candidates, we all know we must differentiate instruction.  What I really enjoyed about this article is that differentiation does not mean "dumbing down".  They do make a distinction between 'sheltering' and 'differentiation'.  Sheltering is used in a whole-class setting, making it easier to connect with students where they are but differentiation is used to tailor to specific sub-groups of students.

The main point between the two is that differentiation and sheltering work to provide more opportunities to become more focused on language development within the CONTENT lesson.

They come up with a list of 10 principles that should be applied when working to differentiate a lesson: (keep in mind, this is an article geared towards ELL's and not the general population)

1: Know your students! - Get to know where the student's are at and don't be fooled by oral proficiency

2: Set common content objectives but differentiate the language objective - they should be working towards the same goal in content, but need new roads to reach it!

3: Make it manageable for teacher - a base activity w/ small variations for individuals make it easier to assess their learning

4: Make learning manageable for students - don't water down the objectives! just be aware of their language capabilities

5: Identify a base for higher-level students and tier downward: This allows for differentiation to happen and allows to all students to be challenged; always move towards same goal though!

6: Allow similar groups to work together - they will help each other out

7: Be flexible in grouping though!  Break it up at times to allow ELLs and HL learners to interact

8: Offer a choice of activities to students

9: Know language proficiency is related to cognitive complexity: if they don't know the words - they can't tell you!

10: Allow same number of minutes for differentiated tasks!

Access Tool - D.E.D. - Ender's Game

Quote: The monitor lady smile very nicely and tousled his hair and said, "Andrew, I suppose by now you're just absolutely sick of having that horrid monitor.  Well, I have good news for you. (p. 2)

This reminds me of:  This little bit of introduction to the character reminds me of when I was younger and had to go to my great-grandma's house.  She was one of those ladies who smelled a little funny (to a 7 year old) and would pinch cheeks and mess with my hair and clothes.  Looking back, I realize she was really sweet, but I never wanted to go and see her.

Quote: The bell rang.  Everyone signed off their desks or hurriedly typed in reminders to themselves.  Some were dumping lessons or data into their computers at home.  A few gathered at the printers while something they wanted to show was printed out. (p. 5)

This reminds me of: How I am always the last one to leave a bench after playing or coaching.  Everyone else seems to be rushing off to do something else why I let my mind wander a bit and reflect on what just happened.


Quote:  Ender knew the unspoken rules of manly warfare, even though he was only six.  It was forbidden to strike an opponent who lay helpless on the ground; only an animal would do that. (p. 7)

This reminds me of:  Wanting to win games or whatever but wanting to know that I beat the best.  It's best to keep your honor when you win, instead of just winning.

Response Based Approach to Reading Literature

This was not a real earth-shattering article.  Some of the other things we have read have really been eye-opening and made me think differently about how to teach.  This article really didn't provide much new material in the way of trying to motivate students to read and interact.  We have been discussing all quarter what it means to teach kids in a discussion based format and this seemed to be just another example of that.

I did appreciate what they had to say about creating 'horizons' instead of goals or objectives.  The learning and respecting of literature does not just stop when a lesson is over, but it constantly changes over time and with new understandings and discussions.  I don't know how many times I've read Catcher in the Rye but every time I do, there is something new to take from it.  The horizons keep changing for me too as I try to challenge and accept my students.

The 'horizon' metaphor also works because students are invited to explore new possibilities and things where they may have been blind to it before.  The discussions and activities should try and promote this level of exploration.

Social Justice: Creating Classrooms for Equity and Social Justice - intro

After reading through the first paragraphs or so of a few different articles I came upon one that seemed to concisely boil down the tenets of the idea of 'social justice within a classroom'.  It is actually the introduction to a larger book that I was unable to find, but this intro was available through rethinkingschools.org.

It touched on a lot of the same things that we have been discussing in class lately: open discussions in a safe and supportive environment, being critical thinkers of everything, and academically rigorous.  They did have a few other topics that were to be discussed in ensuing chapters, but I found to be quite helpful in making myself think about the classroom.

They mentioned how the classroom needs to "experiential" and active.  The more the students are engaged with more than just sitting in seats and need to move around and interact with every other student in the classroom.  The editors also write about how we want to invite students to become activists in the community and world.  While it is not our job to show them specific organizations and causes, we do want to show them they can make a difference in the world at large.

This was an interesting introduction and I think the book would be a good read as well.

Critical Pedagogy and Popular Culture

This was another interesting article with some great ideas of utilizing critical pedagogy in a classroom setting.  The teachers, working together, had some great insights on how to create a meaningful and productive project for their urban/diverse students.

The first thing I really liked about what they did in their classroom was to recognize the fact that students are all participating in a culture that is very different from the culture that had been imposed on them.  They were very creative in attempting to bring together the "hip-hop" culture and the "Shakespeare" culture through the lens of poetry and literature.  They were attempting to prepare the students for AP standardized testing but allowing them to explore the skills needed to read/interact critically with a piece.  I think this was a very good idea because it exposes them to classic writing and letting them read that, but also drawing connections between their current culture, and that of 400 years ago.

These teachers did not allow the curriculum to take-away the skills needed to be critical readers.  They helped them bridge the gap between the "language of power" and the language of the oppressed.  This also helped them to each to multiple cultures w/ "canonical" texts because they drew connections to many different cultures.  "The more we study the cultural practices of others, the more these practices seem logical to us and the more they help us to understand our own practices as equally unique and equally meaningful" was a good way to promote the students looking past their own windows to try and appreciate what they had in front of them..

Critical Pedagogy Reader

Hey Everyone,

Reading through this piece I noticed a lot of similarities in thought between Peter McLaren and Paolo Freire.  They are both looking for the freedom from oppression within the educational setting, or at least trying to examine the implications and circumstances that preclude the oppression.

He says that people can both be the oppressed and the oppressor without even knowing it.  I found that interesting because we are constantly barraged with circumstances in which we (as teachers) seem to have little control over, but in reality we are the ones who can set the stage for the student learning.

We then come to EWU and are seated in our desks and "filled up" most of the time with knowledge from our professors.  It is very rare that a professor actually attempts to engage us as students to try and create understanding of material.  As McLaren writes, "the dominant culture tries to 'fix' the meanings of signs, symbols and representations to create a 'common' worldview".  We are just as much a part of the dominant culture in our classrooms as politicians are to the populace.

The hegemonic structures are in place and not questioned because those in with authority keep things from those who concede the power.  While there is some logic to this argument, the debate is whether or not it is right.  McLaren and Freire both seem to think it is right to let the populace know how the sausage is made.  I believe that it may be counter-productive to have so many captains trying to steer a ship.  There is a hierarchical  form to our lives because we need to trust the people around us to do what is best for the entire population.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed Ch. 2

The BEST quote in the whole thing:


"Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning. The teacher's thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the students' thinking. The teacher cannot think for her students, nor can she impose her thought on them. Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication. If it is true that thought has meaning only when generated by action upon the world, the subordination of students to teachers becomes impossible."

 I noticed that throughout the Freire readings, he writes a lot about allowing students to think and understand for themselves - to challenge authority - and that it is the teacher's role to help students realize they do not have to be "filled up w/ knowledge" but can be an active member in the creation of knowledge and their own understanding.

This quote above from about half-way through the text really spoke to me. I have noticed a difference in my way of teaching to my cooperating teacher's in that I tend to ask a lot more questions of the students and try to engage their thinking a bit more.  He may do more of it when I am not in the room, but my goals are not only to get them students to read the material and answer questions, but to try and get them to make connections between chapters and ask questions.

This Freire chapters have been dense and difficult to understand at times, but I really enjoy how they have helped me to think more openly about my discussions within the classrooms and trying to allow the students to question and not be vessels filled up with my knowledge.

Pedagogy of Oppressed 1

Yea, didn't quite get to this...

Sorry Sean!

Common Core State Standards for English

These Common Core State Standards are kind of an incredible feat.  I didn't realize until I read more about them how much thought had gone into them by Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governor's Association.  It's nice to think that so many minds have gone into creating a breadth of standards all with the goals of creating career and college ready literate people.

In the introduction I appreciated how they made the goals try to align with international 'benchmarks'.  With the amount of technology and communication increasing throughout the world, we will need to create young people who have a common understanding of the world and share common experiences.

Obviously I have been using the CCSS in creating my TPA lesson plans and will continue to do so, but I like that I know more about where they come from and how each standard is in itself a goal to be achieved.