Double Entry Journal #6

1.  The "dominant paradigm" that is starting to show signs of wear is the instructional model that the teach and textbook are the main source for knowledge.  This model uses lecturing, discussion, and reading as the method for the delivery of knowledge.  Teachers are now moving towards methods that are more project and performance-based and changing their roles.

2.  Project-based learning supports student learning better than traditional approaches because students complete complex tasks that typically result in a realistic product, event, or presentation.  One benefit of project-based learning is an increase in the ability to define problems, as shown by research completed by Gallagher, Stepien, and Rosenthal.  Another benefit is that students experience a growth in their ability to support their reasoning with clear arguments, which was determined by research completed by Stepien,
Gallagher, and Workman.  A third benefit, concluded by Moore, Sherwood, Bateman, Bransford, and Goldman's research, is that students have an enhanced ability to plan.

3.  Problem-based learning supports learning better than traditional approaches because students are instructed to solve problems that are realistic and have multiple solutions.  Benefits of this type of instruction are that students become more flexible problem-solvers, they learn to apply the knowledge they have, and are better able to generate accurate hypotheses and coherent explanations.  These benefits are supported by the research done by Dochy, Segers, Van den Bossche, and Gijbels.

4.  Learning by Design supports learning better than traditional approaches because children are asked to apply their knowledge and create something.  Research done by Fortus showed that students involved in this type of instruction showed strong evidence  of progress in learning concepts, learned to apply key concepts in design work, and had a more positive affect on motivation and the students sense of ownership over what they created.

5.  In each of these approaches, the students are asked to produce different types of products.  Also, the mechanisms in which the students reach this goal differ.  The way in which students must apply the knowledge that they have also differs.  Though very similar, these three approaches are distinctly different and accomplish different goals.

6.  I feel the most important benefit to learning that is common across all three types of inquiry-based learning approaches is that students gain a better understanding of what they are trying to learn.  The purpose of instruction is to teach the students, and if that is not accomplished, then that method of instruction is useless.  The goal of an educator is to pass on knowledge to their students, and though learning a great deal of skills is important, a greater understanding of concepts is the most important.

Double Journal Entry #5

"But around a good leader there are no thick walls to crash through, and habits of mutual respect, rising on reverence, can flourish."

To me, this feels like a very powerful statement, and set the tone for what the rest of the article had to say.  If the person, such as a teacher, who is in charge listens and respects those that are under his or her care, then the environment created is one that is respectful and can get things accomplished.  Someone who does apply the principles of reverence is someone we would consider a good leader, and that gives what they have to offer more validity.

1.  Reverent listening involves the components of knowledge, modeling, respect, transcendence, and humility.  Reverent teaching supports the idea of culturally responsive teaching because it works from the perspective that the children have valuable knowledge.  Reverent listening helps create a respectful community within the classroom that values each individual student and what they have to offer to what is being taught.

2.  I have no example from my schooling experience to explain the meaning of this quote.  I was very formulate to have never a teacher within my experience that would single out a student and humiliate them.  My teachers my not have always respected their students, but they never crossed the line where they became bullies.

3.

4.  Yes, I believe I did have a teacher who exhibited traits of a reverent teacher.  This teacher always seemed to have a mutual respect for her students.  She was always positive and encouraging of the students that she taught.  Feeling respected and valued by a teacher made me feel important and as if I had something to offer.  She was encouraging, and that always made me feel as if I could accomplish anything.

Where I'm From Reflection

Language, literacy, and power have a direct relationship with each other.  Those who have the power are the ones who set the standard.  In America, those who speak Standard English hold the power, and anything else is considered inferior.  Those who plan to teach in Appalachia need to understand this relationship because the people who live here do not speak Standard English, for the most part, at least.  Appalachia has it's own dialect, and it is very much a part of who and what we are.  It is important that teachers in the Appalachia region understand the presence of this dialect and incorporate it into their teaching strategy.  "I believe that if we claim to allow equal opportunity to all children in our schools then we must" (Purcell-Gates, 2002).  I think this quote rings true.  Every child deserves the best possible education that they can get, and sometimes this does not occur for children in Appalachia or other children who do not speak the standard form of English.  This is because those teachers buy into the stereotypes of a certain group of people a develop an attitude that is culturally deficit.  A way to overcome this would be for the teacher to get to know their students and where they come from.  Luis Moll encourages teachers to "involve students as thoughtful learners in socially meaningful tasks" (Moll).  He wanted for teachers to learn to understand their students and then to apply what they learned about them and create instruction that became meaningful to those students.  By doing this, the teachers not only gain a better understanding of their students, but also manage to overcome biases and attitudes that negatively affect their students.  When they overcome these culturally deficit attitudes, teachers begin to give their students more of an equal-opportunity education.

Teachers and schools contribute to poor literacy instruction when they have a culturally deficit prospective as opposed to one that is culturally different.  Those that view the world through a lens that is culturally deficit feel that some groups of people, such as those from Appalachia are "intelligently inferior" to the group that holds the power.  By holding this belief, schools and teachers are setting the students up for failure because they believe that they are incapable of learning.  However, if a teacher holds a perspective that is culturally different, they understand that different groups of people are different, but that this does not make them incapable of learning.  Marginalized and immigrant populations have the ability to "succeed despite their having cultural differences from the educational system" (Bolima).  Just because a certain group is different does not mean that they are deficit.  A strategy that can help students who speak non-standard English is to allow them to use their form of speech when speaking and writing, and incorporating Standard English instruction in this.  By crossing over the two forms of language, the students stand a better chance of understanding the lesson being taught to them and will succeed.  They will also feel less judged and more as if they are valued.  If a teacher accepts the way they speak, the children will feel more of an urge to speak out, as opposed to when they are constantly being corrected because they don't speak the way that is considered "standard".  If teachers “work from the premise that teaching students about the structural differences and similarities of the languages would help them “code-switch” or move back and forth between the variants of the dialect of their place and Standard English” (Epstein, 2011).  Believing in the students’ abilities in speech can help to give them confidence that they might otherwise not get, and will encourage them to learn.  “Writers often talk in order to rehearse the language and content that will go into what they write, and conversation often provide an impetus or occasion for writing” (National Council of Teachers).  Students will write how they speak, and giving them the opportunity to use their language, and to build from that, will also help them when it comes to their writing and “code switching”.  Teachers who realize that these students have cultural capital and funds of knowledge, and use this to their advantage, will have better success with their students.

The Where I'm From project contributes to culturally responsive teaching in a number of ways.  Firstly, it helps to teach students to know and praise their own and each others' cultural heritages.  This project highlights where each person is from.  The videos and poems are shared among the class, and this helps everyone to gain a better understanding of their peers' background.  This also encourages students to share their varied perspectives and experiences and create a supportive environment where this can occur.  The students, having gained a better understanding of their peers, can find similarities between themselves and their peers that they might not have realized were there before.  It helps to create a community in the classroom and create a sort of unity.  This project also encourages students to know and listen to each other, which is important when trying to build a community within the classroom.  This project also uses a wide variety of instructional strategies.  It incorporates things that are visual as well as auditory, and the students are creating something, which makes the project very hands on.  This project legitimizes the cultural heritage of the students and gives it validity in the classroom.  When teaching, I plan to implement culturally responsive teaching by giving the students a chance to choose some of the subjects and activities that are done in the classroom.  By doing this, I hope to create more of an interest in what the students are learning.  If students are interested, then they will become more engaged.  By giving the students a say in their instruction, they also feel as if their opinion is valued.  Feeling valued, and as if they have something to offer, will also increase their excitement and interest in learning.

Double Entry Journal #4

1.  One thing I learned about teaching and literacy development is that the students being taught did improve their language skills and knowledge of Standard English when they were taught in their home dialect.  By not telling the students that their dialect was wrong, and allowing them to make connections between the two, they came to understand the language better.  The second thing I learned was that teachers often mirror their teaching of literacy after the way they were taught.  Because the students they taught feared judgement, they did not excel when it came to writing.  Lastly, teaching the kids Standard English based on their home dialects helped them when it came to "code switching".  This form of instruction gave them a better knowledge of both forms of the language and better prepared them to switch back and forth between the two forms.

2.  One example of how the strategies for literacy instruction presented in the article reflect Culturally Responsive Teaching is that they build bridges of meaningfulness between home and school experience.  The students were able to establish a relationship between their dialect at home and the Standard English that they were taught in school, making it mean more to them.  Another example of this is that these methods acknowledged the legitimacy of the cultural heritages as worthy content to be taught in the formal curriculum. The student's home dialect was respected in the classroom and not viewed as "wrong" or "incorrect" which made them feel respected.

3.  I can not recall a time when my literacy instruction reflected Culturally Responsive Teaching.  That does not necessarily mean that I never participated in such, but simply that I do not remember.  I cannot say, however, that my literacy instruction ever went against Culturally Responsive Teaching.  There are many times throughout school that I participated in small groups when doing assignments.  I do not recall ever involving this, though, in my literacy instruction.

Where I'm From Digital Story

Where I'm From

I am from buckwheat cakes and strawberry jam, from homemade apple butter and fried bread.

I am from the second and third house on the left, from quiet summer nights and days full of winter snow.

I am from horse shows in the summer and baby goats in the spring,  a garden full of rhubarb and green beans, potatoes and sweet corn.

I am from the unyielding and compassionate Holyfields, who always give everything they have, and from a father I never got to know.

I am from Christmas dinners and Easter Sundays, and trail rides to the river as soon as it got warm.

From a family who never turned their back on someone in need, and who showed me that hard work can get you anywhere.

I am from lazy, restful Sundays and people who believed that faith was not measured by your church attendance, but by your actions alone.

I'm from large, home-cooked meals and days baking cookies with Mom and Grandma.

From my cousins and I singing to the Spice Girls in my grandmother's kitchen and the strength of my mother, who had to courage to walk away.  From a grandfather who's life was saved, and then so soon taken away.

I am from Pap's home videos and shoe boxes full of photos; a lifetime of priceless memories.