Chapter 11: Supporting Diverse Learners in Content Classrooms

When I read the title to this chapter I became increasingly excited. I myself considered being a special education teacher before making the decision to be general education and my initial beliefs of equal education for all students still defines my educational philosophy today. All types of students with disabilities are explained in this chapter but I am particularly fond of the fact that the text addressed the necessary recognition of gifted students. Gifted students also need differentiated instruction as do students with learning disabilities. There is no “one size fits all” idea for instruction which is why differentiated instruction is so important.

The Universal design for learning (UDL) strategy sounds as if it would be very effective in an inclusion classroom and I would really like to observe it being implemented in a classroom. I did my observation hours in a 5^th grade inclusion classroom at a title 1 school and to be honest my experience scared me. The teacher was assisted by two special education teachers but it did not seem like they were of any assistance. The teacher often gave instruction through lecture and did not seem to have control of the ‘misbehaved’ students. I even witnessed an emotionally disturbed child throw a chair across the room and I had no idea how to deal with the situation. That is why I am glad this chapter includes strategies for dealing with students with special needs.

Since my last experience in an inclusion classroom was quite eye-opening, I was a little apprehensive about leading an inclusion classroom. But since I have read this chapter I have realized that even homogeneous groups of students are all unique and bring their own experiences and perspectives to the classroom. More than anything I think it is important for teachers to be well-educated on the characteristics of the student in their class, whether it be the child’s culture, disability, SES, or anything else

What are some cultural and economic problems that impact students?
-poverty
-disability
-limited resources (from home or the school)
-lack of support
-negative perspective on school


What should we do?

Communicate with parents, educate yourself on the cultural diversity within your classroom, put aside personal biases, provide direct instruction, provide support and encouragement, relate instruction to real-life situations, use strategies to encourage students to make connections, be aware of your students personal situations.

I-Search Reflection

I had a difficult time with the formatting of the I-search paper because I had a hard time writing from my perspective since I have always been taught not to use "I" when writing a paper. So my original draft had to be altered to include more of the actual process of my research instead of the findings of my research. After making alterations I feel that the paper helped me reflect upon my researching process. I included more of my reflection of the articles instead of a summary of the articles.

Assessing Myself
I believe my introduction was well organized and intriguing for readers. My sources and interview provided me with an abundance of information and I tried to just include what was important so I would not overwhelm  readers. I believe I organized my content well so that it will be clearly understood and easy to read. The one area I am unsure about is my conclusion. I combined my conclusion with what I had learned because I viewed both areas as more of a reflection of my research and topic.

Chapter 8: Writing to Learn in the Content Areas

Reading and writing are interrelated to one another and they can reinforce the content being learned. I am a firm believer in “writing to learn” because I seem to gain a better understanding of material if I use writing as a tool while I am learning. I write key points as I’m reading as a study technique and then summarize the material in a short paragraph. This allows me to reconstruct the knowledge I have learned and communicate it to myself as well as others. Students must be able to communicate their thoughts and understandings through writing to be successful. Writing also allows students to explore subject matter which fosters learning.

It is important to promote authentic writing within a classroom so students are able to use their writing abilities in constructive ways. I want students to understand the connection writing has with their everyday experiences. Authentic tasks can include writing a letter for a specific purpose, creating brochures to distribute at a community event, or creating a speech or play that will be performed in front of the school/parents. Although I do stress the importance of authentic writing, on demand writing should not be completely ignored. Students will need to learn this writing skill to succeed as well. Strategies should be taught to help students address prompts. When confronted with a prompt, students should ask themselves:

What is the prompt asking me to do?

What do I know about the topic?

What do I need to say?

In what order do I want to say it?

Have I stated my points clearly, logically, and with enough detail?

When I reread, is my grammar correct? Is my spelling accurate?

I will admit that I struggled with responding to prompts in my first year of college because I did not know how to adequately assess and address the prompt. That is why it is important to equip students with these skills so they do not get anxiety when coming across a question that requires a lot of writing. Certain writing strategies listed in chapter 8 provide students with the support and practice they need when it comes to writing. I personally think the “brain writing” strategy would be effective in any content classroom and promote learning through social interaction. I will also more than likely use learning logs within my classroom so I can tap into students thinking and interact with them on a more personal level. 

I-Search Proposal

Topic:  Literacy rates across the spectrum

Possible Questions: Why do students from low SES homes have lower literacy rates than students from higher SES homes? Are there any strategies available to teachers in order to close this gap?

People to interview:  Cathy Shepherd- A first grade teacher at a high-poverty school. Pam Kitterman- A kindergarten teacher at a low-poverty school.

Titles of Articles: “Targeted Reading Intervention: A Coaching Model to Help Classroom Teachers With Struggling Readers.”  “Welcoming Families: A Parent Literacy Project in a Linguistically Rich, High-Poverty School.” “Circuits of Dominance in Education and Poverty: Control Logic and Counter Narrative.”

Notes: I know that statistically students from low SES homes have lower literacy rates than other students.  In my undergrad experience I have come to understand that this gap occurs for different reasons but how do we fix it? I have worked in schools with high rates of poverty and the teachers I have spoken with tend to place blame on the parents. I am interested to find out if there is anything we as educators can do and should all the blame lie on the parents?  

Chapter 7: Teaching Vocabulary

This chapter focuses on teaching vocabulary throughout the three phases of PAR. I enjoyed the fact that this chapter focused on building vocabulary in more than just the preparation phase. The importance of learning vocabulary in the preparation phase is often discussed amongst educators but we are forgetting that vocabulary needs to continually be stressed throughout the lesson to assure student success.  I particularly liked learning about the strategies that can be implemented in the reflection phase. I essentially believed that the implementation of vocabulary should occur earlier on in the lesson but after reading the reflection strategies I changed my perspective. Although vocabulary should be introduced early, it is just as important to review it after the reading has taken place. I believe strategies that focus on helping students connect keywords from the reading, such as Postgraphic Organizers and Categorization, will be extremely effective and help students correct misconceptions and better understand the text as a whole.

I really enjoyed the TOAST strategy which works as a vocabulary study system in the reflection phase of learning. The T stands for test which involves students self-testing themselves to determine which vocabulary words they need clarified. The O stands for organize which includes students categorizing the words depending on similarities. The A stands for anchor which involves students using a keyword method (relating a picture and a caption to a vocabulary term) in order to strengthen connections and develop understanding. The S stands for say and students will work with a partner to review the words during this step. The final step, T, stands for test and it requires students to self-assess in order to determine how much they have learned from this strategy. I enjoyed this strategy because I believe it offers students multiple opportunities to develop their understanding of words that they still had questions about even after the reading. 

Keywords, Pages 193-200

This section focuses on teaching vocabulary as a reflection activity. The importance of teaching vocabulary in the preparation phase is often stressed but reviewing and elaborating on vocabulary in the reflection phase is very important as well. The following strategies were included within the chapter for learning vocabulary in the reflection phase.

Postgraphic Organizers- Students construct a postgraphic organizer after they have read. This organizer helps students make connections with other important keywords in the reading and allows them to review vocabulary.

A vocabulary study system- This strategy promotes the learning of vocabulary through different phases that are emphasized by the acronym TOAST.
T: Test. Students self-test in order to figure out which vocabulary terms they need to review.
O: Organize. Students use similarities to organize these vocabulary words into categories.
A: Anchor. Students use methods such as assigning a picture and a caption to a vocabulary term in order to make connections and gain a more in-depth understanding.
S: Say. Students work with a partner to review the words by calling out spellings, definitions, and uses in sentences.
T: Test. Student self-test themselves to prove understanding.

Directed Reading- Thinking Activity Vocabulary Search
Semantic Feature Analysis
Categorization
Four-Column Organizer for Word Master
Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy

Chapter 6: Moving beyond the Traditional Textbook and Transmission Methods

As stated by Dove(1998), “the one-textbook approach is no longer viable”. The strategies we use to provide students with knowledge and instruction should reflect what is most viably used in society today. There is no denying that technology has changed the world as we know and most students use technology as a means of communication, entertainment, inquiry, and much more in their everyday lives so it would seem silly for teachers not to utilize technology within the classroom to interest and stimulate students. I’m not suggesting we completely get rid of textbooks all together but I believe students should be exposed to a variety of sources in order to acquire information. This chapter recommends that textbooks be used as a guide for curriculum rather than becoming the curriculum and I could not agree more. When writing papers or reports teachers expect students to obtain information from a variety of sources in order to develop a well-researched paper but we as teachers need to demonstrate this skill to students in order for them to understand how to utilize it.

Not all textbooks used in schools are up to date. This can be a problem if teachers base their entire curriculum on the textbook because students become disinterested and devalue the text. This chapter provides an example of a textbook being used in a fourth grade classroom in the 1980’s that predicted, “Someday we may put a man on the moon”. The students found this quite funny because they often watched space launches on a roll-in television in the classroom. I think this example highlights the fact that multiple sources of information should be made available to students so they are constantly up-to-date on the never-ending discovers made through science.    

Chapter 5: Learning Through Reflection

The final phase of PAR, reflection, focuses on improving comprehension and retention. Research shows that reflection is essential for promoting learning because it helps students organize their thinking and focus their understanding. Reflection promotes communication, reflective thinking, comprehension monitoring, and critical thinking. Research shows that many elementary school teachers are not promoting critical thinking because it is hard to assess and teachers are not well-equipped with effective strategies to promote it. This is a shame because the development of critical thinking skills is essential for student success in higher grades.  The definition for critical thinking can be rather vague which poses a problem but the book explains it as connecting newly introduced information to prior knowledge and experiences in order to construct a more complex mental schema. Two important qualities that stem from critical thinking include problem solving and decision making. Guided prompts can be used to promote these skills by helping students structure their thinking.

Reflection can be effectively promoted through cooperative learning if individual accountability and group goals are present. Cooperative learning encourages learning through social interaction and allows students to take ownership of their learning. I like the fact that this chapter reflects on the flaws of cooperative learning and offers potential solutions to fix these flaws. For example, cooperative learning is extremely beneficial for students but sometimes student participation is not equal within groups because a student is dominating the group or a student is not putting any effort into the activity. This can be addressed by using role-playing strategies to make students aware of dysfunctional groups or group roles can be written on flashcards and students can be assigned (or pick) what they are responsible for contributing to the group. I also enjoyed the different reflection strategies included in this chapter, particularly the “Numbered Heads Together” strategy. This activity appeared to be engaging for students and it promoted collaboration and participation. 

Lesson Plan Components (in progress)

Topic: Expanding vocabulary through reading 

Grade: 1st

Lesson Plan Framework: 

The student will expand vocabulary.

a)   Discuss meanings of words in context.

b)   Develop vocabulary by listening to and reading a variety of texts.

c)   Ask for the meaning of unknown words and make connections to familiar words.

d)   Use text clues such as words or pictures to discern meanings of unknown words.

e)   Use vocabulary from other content areas.

Written purpose:

Objectives: Students will identify real-life connections between words and their use by listing different scenarios that relate to the meaning of the word. 

Students will determine the meaning of unknown words within a text by using context clues (words, pictures, sentence structure) as indicators.

Reading: A nonfiction picture book

Strategies/Activities:

Preparation:

Assistance: The (GRP) Guided Reading Procedure can be used to help students develop meaning of the text and use context clues to understanding the meaning of an unknown word. 

Reflection: Think-Pair-Share because this strategy gives students the opportunity to individually think about the open-ended question then collaboration with a peer promotes learning through social interaction and finally pairs participate in a class discussion to hear different approaches to the question. Think-Alouds will be utilized to help students approach reading in a more effective way. 

Evaluation: Students will identify real-life connections between words and their use (list some places that are safe). Students will create a graphic organizer that places similar words into categories. 

Preparing for Learning Strategies

I believe the K-W-L activity would be an effective strategy to use within my lesson plan to assess prior knowledge. This strategy promotes student learning by evaluating the student's prior knowledge, assuring the student that their interests do matter, and reiterating what the student learned. This strategy is useful in closing the gap between "where is the student now?" and "where does he/she need to be?"

Analogy for Chapter 3

Preparing students to read is like...growing a flower.

A well-developed basis of prior knowledge leads to an in-depth understanding of reading as well-nourished roots leads to a healthy flower.

Chapter 3: Preparation for Learning

It is unbelievably important to allow for adequate preparation time during a lesson in order to assess and build upon prior knowledge. Students must be able to make connections between known and new information to learn and this cannot be done without the teacher becoming aware of student’s previous knowledge of the subject being discussed. The text compares learning to basketball. More time and effort is exerted towards the preparation of a game, compared to the game itself. After the game has been played, coaches and players often review their performance, critique their mistakes, and apply these corrections to future games. The same goes for learning. Studies show that students with more background knowledge on the topic being read tend to better comprehend the reading. Preparing for learning should be a permanent aspect in every lesson plan.

Preparing for learning includes assessing and building upon the prior knowledge of the students. Understanding what students do and do not know is crucial for student success because students with limited or misguided prior knowledge are at a disadvantage unless they are able to develop a more accurate and rich background of the future topic. Many strategies can be implemented to prepare students for learning but a few include; rewriting text, analogies, story impressions, K-W-L Activity, anticipatory guide, and pre-learning concept check. Many of these strategies can be used in any of the PAR categories but they are directed towards the “Preparing” category for the sake of this chapter. Students who have a limited or misconstrued prior knowledge of a subject can greatly benefit from writing previews and rewritten text. These two strategies allow students to be aware of the key concepts within the text and the strategies allow students to comprehend the original text by offering the information in a different way. Analogies help students make comparisons and relate information to real-life experiences. Graphic organizers and story impressions allow students to visualize and predict the story so they are more motivated and interested in the material. I believe “preparing for learning” strategies should be used within every lesson. Not only because the strategies motivate and inform students but because awareness of prior knowledge is important for both the student and the teacher. The absence of prior knowledge, in regards to a specific topic, can be extremely frustrating for the student and lead to lack of interest.

Chapter 2: Teaching in the Affective Domain

Chapter two was very informative and it refreshed my brain on topics I learned in my previous classes but had forgotten over time. Many people discuss cognitive domain when referring to student learning but affective domain is also an important aspect to consider when planning instruction, activities, or assessments. Affective domain can significantly enhance, inhibit or prevent student learning. The chapter explains different aspects of affective domain and ways to promote and consider these aspects in your teaching. I agree that strategies that promote an intrinsic locus of control can be beneficial for students and improve student learning. A huge part of teaching is motivating students to learn which is what this chapter reflects upon. I believe teachers should instill a love of learning instead of promoting learning to receive a reward. Students must possess self-efficacy and have internal motivators to succeed; otherwise they are merely learning for some external reason. So how do teachers assist students in developing these intrinsic qualities? We can relate the material being discussed in class to the student’s everyday life. By being able to apply what they have learned to reality, they value the information more and have a reason for learning. Helping students establish reasonable goals is always a great way to self-motivate. By working towards something they have a purpose for the task at hand and once again value the information. There are always going to be students who do not see the benefit of learning that is why it is important to consider affective domain when creating your instruction, activities, and assessments because student motivation is directly related to student success.