Blog Post #17: Learning Letter

I’m always excited to see the end of a quarter, because it means I’m one step closer to achieving my lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. However, this quarter was such a challenge for me that I’m even more excited than usual.  Without a doubt, this has been one of the most difficult quarters to date, yet also one of the most rewarding quarters I have experienced in my educational career. Taking this class alongside English 408 has monumentally impacted me as both a teacher and a student. English 493 was extremely insightful for me, and I feel as though I not only learned lessons about how to effectively teach literature to adolescents, but also how to think practically about the way I approach curriculum development.      

One major takeaway that I took from this course is to pay attention to what my students are reading. This might seem like a simple step to take in the classroom, but it helps create an important connection to students through literature. In order to maintain student engagement in the classroom, good educators attempt to utilize what students are experiencing in their own lives to incorporate it into their learning. This quarter I have made a point to ask my students in my placement classroom what they are reading out of class, and I have found that it has helped me connect with them in ways I didn’t expect. I now make a point to read what they are reading, because as a teacher, I think it is important to never lose sight of what it’s like to be a student.           

I loved doing the book talks this quarter! It was like a glorified show and tell. I spent weeks thinking about the one perfect book I wanted to share with my classmates, and in the end I picked a book that I have wanted to reread since my freshman year of high school: Watership Down. Not only did the book talks help me further my own love for reading, but also determine the ways I can help my students fall in love with reading as well. I have made it my goal to stock my classroom library with as many books as possible, and this quarter alone I have added roughly 40 books that I can’t wait to share with my future students.          

 I also found the mini-lessons to be extremely beneficial for my growth as a teacher. Stepping outside of my actual 8^th grade classroom to teach a lesson in front of my colleagues was extremely constructive. Planning an entire lesson in only twenty-minutes was way more challenging than I expected it to be. It forced me to consciously plan every moment so that directions were clear and transitions were smooth. In the end, I think this was one of the best learning experiences I had this quarter.            

The biggest challenge this quarter was the unit plan. I put a lot of hours into my 3-week unit plan, but taking twenty credits, having a family, and doing my practicum made me feel as though there was never enough time. However, in the end, this was the most rewarding project I have ever completed. During my time in the education program I have received lots of excellent information regarding how to teach, what to teach, and how to assess, but I have never had to put it all together. Developing my unit plan allowed me to pull together everything I had learned so far into one coherent piece, which was a really enjoyable process. Nothing has prepared me more for the reality of teaching than this class, and the unit plan was a major component.            

I was very much influenced by Paulo Freire’s critiques of the banking metaphor for education, where teachers view students as passive, empty storage receptacles and schooling becomes a process whereby knowledgeable experts “deposit” pieces of information into the oppressed and impoverished minds of students. To combat the banking model of education, Freire advocated a pedagogical practiced centered upon dialogue, inquiry, and the real exchange of ideas between teachers and students, who, he felt, had a great deal to offer one another. Freire’s words will continue to monumentally impact the way I think about curriculum for the rest of my career.            

Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide is based on the concept that standardized testing and the mind-numbing practices found in classrooms all over the country are killing reading. It also contains a fair amount of information on how to prevent “readicide.” Gallagher defines readicide as: “Noun, the systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools” (2). He suggests several reasons why the love of reading is being killed in schools: too many standardized multiple choice tests and all the test practice that goes along with it, the over-teaching of books, the lack of enjoyable reading time in schools, and the lack of emphasis and time for free reading provided to students.
  
Beach, Thein, and Webb’s Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core Standards: A Literacy Practice approach for 6-12 Classrooms was one of the most valuable resources I have encountered in my educational journey to become a teacher. As a preservice English language arts teacher, the education I have received in regards to CCSSs is that I must use them, even if I don’t know why. The first chapter of this book brilliantly highlights the fact that Common Core State Standards are general goals for students to achieve outstanding intellectual and academic accomplishments. Their effectiveness depends entirely on educators, to appropriately develop curriculum and teaching approaches that teach to exceed the guidelines set by CCSS.         
     
 Overall, I’m happy I have made it out of winter quarter 2016 alive! These past ten weeks have been some of the longest of my life. Although I still have much more to learn in regards to being both a student, and teacher of English, English 493 has provided me with an excellent framework to build upon. I am so excited to be an English teacher, and the time spent in this class has helped me feel more prepared for the challenges I will one-day face in the classroom.

Blog Post #16 Maus Lesson Plan

TPA Lesson Plan # 1___

1. Teacher Candidate	Jessica Gaynor and Kylee Welch	Date Taught	March 7, 2016
Cooperating Teacher	Sean Agriss	School/District	Cheney/EWU
2. Subject	English Language Arts	Field Supervisor	Sean Agriss
3. Lesson Title/Focus	Maus	5. Length of Lesson	20 minutes
4. Grade Level	8th Grade

6. Academic & Content Standards (GLEs/EARLs/Common Core)	CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
7. Learning Objective(s)	Given a Holocaust victim’s identification card, students will demonstrate their understanding of the victim’s biography by producing clear, and coherent journal entry from the perspective of the Holocaust victim, in which the style, and organization are appropriate to the task and purpose. Today I am researching a specific Holocaust victim and composing a journal entry that captures his or her story. I know that I got it when I can compose a journal entry writing in first person perspective utilizing relevant dates and information. This learning objective is aligned with the following Common Core State Standards, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4, and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.1, which are listed in #6, because it asks students to write clearly and coherently by writing a journal entry using the perspective of a Holocaust victim, in which the style and organization are appropriate to the task and purpose. In addition, it asks students to use textual evidence from the identification cards that supports their analysis of what the text explicitly states as well as draw inferences from it.
8. Academic Language	Vocabulary: Holocaust, Biography, first person perspective, journal entry, identification card, social justice, and victim. Discourse: Students will individually read a Holocaust victim’s identification card, write a journal entry from the perspective of a Holocaust victim, and reflect on why the characters in Maus have no specific identity or individuality. Language Functions: Students will write a coherent journal entry from the perspective of a Holocaust victim, in which the style, and organization are appropriate to the task and purpose Syntax: Students will write a journal entry using first person perspective after reading a Holocaust victim’s identification card.
9. Assessment
The assessment for the lesson will be formative. Each student will complete a journal entry and receive a grade out of five points regarding their participation and completion of the journal task. After students complete the writing activity, we will walk around the room to formatively assess student participation by listening to conversations.
10.Lesson Connections
From Classroom Instruction That Works, explained about why keeping group sizes small is essential for development for all students. Studies show that as groups get larger, external and internal motivation tends to decrease and members of larger groups tend to feel that their individual contributions will go unnoticed. Naylor and Keogh’s (1999) research, from Constructivism In Classroom: Theory Into Practice, states that learning involves an active process in which learners construct meaning by linking new ideas with their existing knowledge. This lesson is supported by their research because students are asked to develop an understanding of a Holocaust victim’s identity by reading an identification card, and reflect on their learning by writing a journal entry that includes specific details from their reading and connects to their background knowledge. What examples of prior knowledge are you building on? Students have been learning about the Holocaust for the past two weeks. Therefore, this lesson is building upon the knowledge they have accumulated so far throughout this unit through previous research, and their Holocaust novels. What examples of personal cultural or community assets are you building your lesson on? Students really enjoy when they have an opportunity to share or present their learning with their peers. At the end of the lesson, students will be provided an opportunity to share information about their Holocaust victim, how they connected to that person, and what they wrote about.   Why Teach this? This lesson is post-reading activity for Maus. Due to the lack of individual identity/characteristics Spiegelman gives characters presented throughout the graphic novel, students will be able to read and reflect on the identification cards that describe the experiences of real people who lived in Europe during the Holocaust, which will help students personalize the historical events of the time.

11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies Sequenced instruction
Teacher’s Role 2 minutes: We will begin by having one student to read the learning objective from the document camera, and then student will ask the class“what are we doing today, class?” The student will call on someone to reiterate the learning objective. 2 minutes: Kylee will ask the class a discussion question about the book Maus, “Why do you think the characters in Maus have no specific identity or individuality?” Students will write on the back of their handouts their personal perspectives on this question. 1 minute: We will then ask students to share what they wrote with the rest of the class.       2 minutes: Jessica will explain the next part of the lesson by going over the components of the Holocaust victim’s Identification Cards and explain how they will allow students to understand how social justice pertained to the victims of the Holocaust.   2 minutes: We will instruct students to individually read their Holocaust victims’ identification card. 6 minutes: Before having students begin writing their journal entries, Jessica will read a sample journal entry written by an 8th grader, and inform students that if they get stuck or need ideas, they can use the writing questions/ideas displayed on the document camera. Students will then write their journal entry and take on the first person perspective of their Holocaust victims ID card in their journal entry. 4 minutes: Students will be asked to get break into groups of 3-4 to reflect upon their journal entry. We will hand out a fake newspaper article providing the students with their Holocaust’s victims fate. 2 minutes: Students will write one thing they learned during the lesson that specifically pertains to social justice.	Students’ Role Once student has read the learning objective out loud, the student will ask the class “what are we doing today, class?” The student will call on another student to summarize or read the learning objective in their own words. Students will then answer the discussion question “Why do you think the characters in Maus have no specific identity or individuality?” On the back of their handout. They will then be asked to share some of their answers with the rest of the class. Then they will listen for instruction for the next part of the lesson. Students will be give real Holocaust victims ID cards to read and reflect upon on their handout journal entry. After reading their Holocaust victims ID card students will be given time to reflect in their journal entry handout. When students are finished writing they will be asked to get into groups of 3-4 to discuss their journal entry reflections. They will be provided at newspaper article about their Holocaust's victims fate. They will also discuss this within their group. If students are struggling to write, they will use the writing questions/ideas displayed on the document camera. Students will then have a couple minutes to write down on the back of their journal entry under their entry task what they took away from this lesson pertaining to the social justice of the victims of the Holocaust.
Student Voice to Gather Students will utilize student voice by reading the learning objective for the day and then asking the whole class what the learning objective is and calling on a student to reiterate the objective in his or her own words. Students will write their own journal entry from the perspective of a Holocaust victim, which will provide them with an opportunity to connect their background knowledge to the life of the person in the identification card they received. This will help personalize the historical events they have been learning, and provide them an opportunity to express their learning through writing. Students will write their own thoughts on the discussion question at the beginning of class. This will be written on the back of their handout. At the end of the lesson, students will reflect on their learning by summarizing their thoughts on how the lesson pertains to social justice.
12. Differentiated Instruction
To help with transitions between various activities, we will set a timer so students will be provided an auditory clue as to when it is time to move onto the next task. All students will receive a two-page blank frame for the journal entry, which has a fill-in for the date and name, and the writing prompt will be written at the top of the page.  This will provide students who need extra support. Everything we go over during class will be displayed on the overhead projector or provided as a handout. This allows any students with a visual or hearing impairment to fully participate and engage in the lesson. Within the lesson, we have provided opportunities for students to participate in a variety of ways. They will first share some thoughts with the entire class, write individually, share their thoughts and ideas with group members, and reflect on how today’s lesson applies to social justice. All students will be able to participate in one way or another throughout the lesson.
13. Resources and Materials
Naylor, S. & Keogh, B. (1999). Constructivism in classroom: Theory into practice.   Journal of    Science Teacher Education, 10, 93-106. Marzano, RJ, & Pickering, DJ. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works: Researched based strategies for increasing student achievement, 12, 110-111. The Anne Frank Center USA. (n.d.). Diary Excerpts. Retrieved March 2, 2016, from http://annefrank.com/about-anne-frank/diary-excerpts/ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (n.d.). Identification Cards. Retrieved March 02, 2016, from https://www.ushmm.org/remember/id-cards Teacher Materials: Identification cards for students, a copy of the “newspaper” to handout at the end of class, the journal entry template, writing prompt for exit ticket activity, a timer, writing ideas/questions to display on document camera to help prompt student writing. Student Materials: a writing utensil.
14. Management and Safety Issues
The class may have some management issues since students will not only be asked to work individually, but also occasionally share their thoughts with their group partners. These issues can be avoided by monitoring the temperament of the room. If students are having difficulties participating or staying on-task during in-group discussion or the writing time, we will shorten the time, and move students onto the next task. We will actively pay attention to whether or not students are participating in the activity they are currently engaged in, and we will attempt to redirect their attention in the least disruptive way possible. Since this lesson deals with detailed information about a Holocaust victim, it can be emotionally difficult to confront. Because of this, students will have multiple opportunities to share their thoughts with their desk partners to confront their thoughts on their reading. Students may feel more comfortable with the content of their biographies by talking about it in a small group discussion, versus having to share their opinion in front of the whole class and teacher. In addition, when selecting identification cards to present to students, we personally went through each biography to make sure the content was appropriate for 8th grade students.
15. Parent & Community Connections
At the end of the lesson, we will ask students to take their newsletter home and share it with a parent or family member, and if they feel comfortable, students can discuss what they learned by reading the identification card of a Holocaust victim. In addition, due to the fact that the unit is on the Holocaust, this unit builds on the idea of people taking action to create positive change in their communities and the world. Students will have to consider the ways they can create change and make a difference in their community.