Double Entry #10

Why is kid watching a critical practice for teacher to use? 
 To become an effective teacher you must know how to motivate your students to take part in the learning environment.  Your students are not little machines or robots that you can just give information to and expect them to memorize and know it.  They must have their interest sparked and their minds focused.  To do this you have to understand and know your students.  By kid watching you can listen and see what kinds of things your students talk about during class to their friends, they will probably not be talking about the assignment you have for them, they are more likely to be talking about their day and what they plan on doing after they go home.  These can be important clues to connect their home interest to the classroom, sparking motivation and likely hood that the students will be engaged in the assignments you are giving them. 

How is kid watching informed by cultural difference theory?
By kid watching you can see how each of your students vary in their cultural backgrounds and better understanding what kinds of levels they are on.  By observing them on more personal level you can open their virtual backpacks to see what kinds of 'funds of knowledge' they are bringing with them to the classroom.  These opportunities can allow you to better create and accommodate your lesson plans to best fit their needs and pace of learning.  This in turn can do a multitude of things such as create a closer classroom community, cut down on behavioral problems and focus more on the tasks of learning.

Double Entry #9: Getting to Know your Students

Why is it important to encourage students to use primary language or code switch during literacy events?
So that the students are not pressured into having to use and learn the new language.  Writing in their primary language can be a useful tool to get them to write expressively and how they want to convey what they are thinking and feeling.  Once they are comfortable with their writing, they can then acquire new skills to translate their writings more effectively.  Then learn new vocabulary and sentence structure translating something that they can connect to.

Does this apply to children with Appalachian dialects? Why or Why not?


Yes, because even though standard speaking individuals may think of it as garble, it is a dialect, with its own rules and vocabulary.  And if someone grows up with a certain set of words and structure and that is all they know then who is to say that they cannot speak properly.  To them it is the proper way to speak just as any foreign language of a different country.  Different countries like America all have their own regions and dialects, like China, Europe, or Africa.  And like America there may be a 'standard' or more popular dialect, but we do not disregard foreigners different dialects, we work them and should use equal opportunities for them to learn.


What are the differences between reading aloud from a students centered perspective and a teacher centered perspective?

The teacher centered perspective seemed to focus on what the teacher felt was important to get out of the story.  She asked direct questions that were literal answers from the book, leaving little room for creativity or opinion.  Students were thought that if they were speaking they were not learning so they had to remain seated and quiet while the teacher read aloud to them.  I do not care for this approach, I think that the students even though they are quiet with their eyes forward are probably wondering in their minds about everything but the story.  And only the few in the front would be able to really focus and be able to answer the question at the end.  And they would also walk away from the story with no personal connection probably forgetting the next day.

Student centered perspective on the other hand takes the focus away from the teacher and puts it on the students.  This then becomes engaging and students must take responsibility for their own connections they make.  Students are able to ask questions and become inquisitive and think on higher levels of cognition.  The story then takes a step back and the focus is placed on the students really taking in the information and making the book a tool for learning.  I much prefer this approach, it allows the teacher to really see what kinds of connections are going on in the classroom and how students are taking in the information.  This allows more effective gauging of student level and how to revise lesson to meet the students actual needs instead of where the teacher would expect or think they would be.

This article talks about code switching and the research they are doing in Appalachian Dialect.

Technology Survey

1. How many computer are in the classroom?

There is one computer in the classroom. It has internet access but is not hooked up to a printer.

2. Do they have internet access?

yes

3. Can you access Google tools?

yes

4. Do you have access to a laptop cart? Can they get on the internet?

yes, the building does have wifi.

5. Is there a computer lab? Do the computer have internet access? Can you access Google tools? How do you reserve it?

There are three computer labs that all have internet access, and google tools. Reserving happens in the beginning of a the year, and the art room gets it one day out of the year.

6. How many of your students have computers with internet access at home?

In the class I surveyed all of them had computers and only one had no internet access.

7. Are there locations in the community where students can access the computers and the internet?

Marion County Library

In the next year East Fairmont Jr High will be getting a new building which is said to have three computer labs, and each classroom will have 4 computer of their own.

Journal Entry #8 : Getting to Know your Students

Why is it a mistake to group all English as Second Learners together? Give three reasons and examples from the reading in a blog posting.

One reason I believe if we were to group all ESL's would be not only limiting their exposure to American culture, but also limiting exposure to English speaking students. The text talks about "students bringing their learning a vast array of linguistics knowledge, cultural experiences, values, and assumptions." These experiences play a critical role in establishing an effective and meaningful literacy curriculum. And through these curriculum's we can create a more varied and rich learning environment for all children.

Children who are all learning English may be grouped together as "though their knowledge and experiences are the same, when indeed the only common thread among them is the face that they are learning English." this approach completely neglects that the students have different backgrounds and communities where they grew up. No student is the same even if they are of the same culture; for instance American children vary greatly from state to state, and even county to county. Why would we treat other nationalities differently?

A third reason why grouping these students together may have a negative impact is that "exposure to the English language may vary greatly from student to student." Some students may know some English words or concepts while others are starting from the basics. By mixing the groups students who are having a hard time learning another language will be able to hear the language in constant use and in real situations.

What is a virtual backpack and how does it relate to Funds of Knowledge?

The virtual backpack is 'along the lines of Moll's work and the Funds of Knowledge." This idea of the 'virtual backpack gives awareness of how students learn outside of school. The students will bring their prior knowledge, skills, values, assumptions, and resources that they have learned from home.' These ideas and notions of the virtual backpack, can make teachers more aware of their students talents and incorporating them into their lesson's as Moll suggested in the Funds of Knowledge.

Getting to know students:developing culturally revelant practices for reading and writing [Web log message]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_5palgT26a4J:media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/24/EHEP0005/EHEP000524-1.pdf+getting+to+know+your+students+interview&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESihbHTui0felcMHojEsBpnh8z7NAdzADlw2OA4q9Vocu4GnsE9vU6W8FAkura70mCyuOla1xOr-rr-Fx2SClUgdkg0vR_t62WIa7eI5Xv0hb-0RJGU6wkBN550lYlezIl_CDQ0s&sig=AHIEtbQinv4Hao96DU6foV8n3HZ8ybE5Ng&pli=1

How to Teach Adults English As a Second Language -- powered by ehow

http://www.ehow.com/video_5103556_teach-adults-english-second-language.html

Reflection : Photo Story and Culturally Responsive Teaching

The photo stories helped to create the ideas of reaching into our roots and seeing the different sides of the many students in the classroom. When first meeting other people or students I tend to have preconceived notions about what they are like, with everyone in the class my first impression of them were changed by watching these photo stories. Though the preconceived notions were not negative they were untrue of the individual or a simple idea of them, which has now become a more complex and positive view. I feel that my experiences of preconceived notions are probably quite similar to some of my other classmates and would be to future students who may have the chance to participate in a similar if not the same activity. Through these exercises I can better know my students and their backgrounds and use the idea of Moll’s ‘Funds of Knowledge’ to strengthen student’s interest in learning in the classroom. By using the student’s background knowledge and family experiences in my lesson plans for class activities, I would go about changing the ideas of cultural deficit that exist and turn them into cultural capitals (strengths), just as the idea of using a qualitative approach to connect the home and the classroom that is discussed in the Funds of Knowledge reading. For example when we did the classroom activity where we had to think of a deficit or a capital for West Virginia, I had said that even though our deficit was the ongoing stereotypes of being unintelligent and backward, we could use those feeling to better understand other cultures who suffer from their stereotypes. The article also goes on to ask how we as teachers can break these cultural deficits, and I feel that this photo story is a great way to begin. Not only will students be able to share their cultures and families to other students they can also then relate better to one another and create a sense of classroom unity. These ideas of classroom unity and building lessons plans around the children’s ‘Funds of Knowledge’, will then create the mindset for me to use culturally responsive teaching. Which as the Diverse Learners’ article talks about the importance of being culturally responsive and how as an educator I might go about achieving this in my classroom. By following the characteristics of this idea I plan to focus on changing my natural mind-sets to become positive for the students. I truly feel that emotions are contagious and that if I continually show tolerance, positive attitudes, and patience that my students can then use me as a model for themselves and how they treat others. In my art education lessons I have been keeping these ideas and concepts in mind, by creating lessons that focus on unity to complete tasks, and building on their strengths to create ‘out of the box’ ideas of art. I feel that the world of art is truly for everyone and that all students possess some artistic talent if not through traditional styles then through contemporary one’s that they can connect to through their world.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

This activity was not done in the traditional classroom or in a core subject, but in an evening where the ballroom team invited all cultures and ethnicity's out one evening to learn from each other different types of dance. We had many different nationalities that showed up. When the activity started everyone was asked to stand in a circle to engage in an icebreaker activity, where we would share our names and a couple other things about ourselves. After wards two hats were set aside, we would take turns choosing out of each hat (one being a hat full of ball room dances, the other naming a culture). When a ballroom name was picked we would take 10 -15 min to learn a couple of basics and then we would dance to music that fit the style. Then the other hat was chosen and a culture that was represented in the group would share a dance from their country and pick music and teach it to all the others. I really enjoyed this in activity, it helped to break barriers and make bridges through something that everyone does, and they were free to express themselves and where they were from, while learning about other cultures.

"Principles for culturally Responsive Teaching." Teaching Diverse Learners. Brown University, 2006. Web. 9 Sep 2011. .



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbgPl1ryrwg&NR=1

My family Photostory: Where I'm From