Task 3: Final semester content
Pre-Posting: In your preparation for this final post, review your readings, notes, discussion posts, or any other of the ways in which you personally review content materials. In preparing for this posting, please also refresh your memory of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and really push yourself to focus your explanations under the Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation categories. I have included a Bloom’s Taxonomy Verb Sheet to help.
BLOOM'S TAXONOMY VERB SHEET --- BLOOM'S TAXONOMY VERBS-- CLICK HERE!
Posting: Post your own learning from the semester on all topic areas –OR you can choose 1 – 2 areas and go into greater depth and detail. There is no one right answer for this posting. Your goal is to accurately display the key learnings/concepts for you this semester from KSP669 in a way in which others can also gain from your insights.
This semester provided great ideas for teaching and focusing on academic language. As we talked about in class there are many descriptions for academic language. Students learn through reading, talking, experiencing, and seeing. They learn through their peers, their text books or materials, and also by seeing the teachers modeling concepts.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was helpful to remember to build on the students prior knowledge. In our school it is becoming apparent in one of the music classrooms that the students are not learning at the pace that they should be. For me to see this is an eye opener because I always assumed they should know certain concepts by a certain time period and this is not the case. It is important to establish what the prior knowledge base really is before presenting new concepts.
It was fun to research some activities so that I could try them out on my students in my class and in my field service classroom. I tried to relate actual events to help students learn new concepts related to music as well as history and language. Teaching the students about the Mayflower and the pilgrims became more of a learning experience than I anticipated. The students learned some history, they learned how to spell some more complicated words, and they also grasped the concept that was being presented through learning the words (rhythm concepts). It was excellent progress and they got more out of the activities than I ever anticipated!
Students needed to analyze words and break them down in to rhythmic patterns. This took some time as they needed to identify how many syllables were present and then experiment with patterns to discover the correct one. Students were encouraged to practice various patterns so they would learn to apply the same pattern to different words.
Student were then encouraged to come up with more words that had the same patterns as the previous words. They were to categorize the words into the different pattern categories. It was fun to watch as they reorganized their charts to make them read from the most simplistic patterns to more complex patterns. They learned to compare the patterns and predict which category they might fit in based on hearing and seeing the syllables. They needed to perform the patterns and describe why that particular word would fit into a certain pattern. It was really a simple process but for the first graders, it was long and not as easy. They learned much more than I anticipated and were so creative in coming up with additional words for us to learn.
I believe this helped students who struggled with reading as well as the students who struggle to stay engaged. They all had some area of interest in each lesson and seemed to gain progress with reading rhythms. They now look at my flip chart book and begin to sound out not only rhythms, but the words as well!
I found the topic of academic language challenging when trying to apply the knowledge to my content area specific guidelines. It took a few classes for me to see where academic language is present. Using academic language became more clear when I engaged in a conversation regarding language demands and techniques used by my co-operating teacher in the field experience. Although I still have difficulties tying the knowledge into my content, I can confidently state that I have observed my lack of academic language used during the evaluation of my video commentary. I can see how changing language can benefit in delivering a lesson. Changing words like “students should do” to “I would like to see students do” can give the student more ownership of the lesson. “Show me” rather than just “do” can make a world of a difference in the retaining of information delivered.
ReplyDeleteI do see the importance of academic language, but I also believe that I was unable to understand the difference until my cooperating teacher pointed out the flaws in my teaching. One question I would ask the the course is why was I unable to recognize these flaws earlier or in the context of reading the subjects? I have been met with much frustration again with the content of my particular edTPA. I was very concerned that the edTPA groups the performing arts together under one roof (music/theater/dance all share the same edTPA). To me, this clearly defined the way that [maybe] Pearson’s views art classes. Grouping our disciplines together is similar to grouping all foreign languages, math classes, physics classes, and phy-ed classes in the same category. I really wanted to see the content specific edTPA. Show me the music classes!!! Clearly, the study of music has been around for many centuries, and there is enough documentation, and theories that the edTPA could have asked for rather than just an umbrella over all the performing arts.
There is so much busy work connected to the edTPA that by the time I finished the documents, I lost track of what lessons I was trying to deliver. This to me is not an ideal way of retaining information. I would rather video tape a full week of lessons, dissect them, and talk about strategies for improvement rather than trying to explain my actions in very few little words. I believe the edTPA will be easier when applied to a class that is a full semester long. I believe that this practice of the edTPA will help when preparing our full edTPA- whether or not I agree with the evaluation process.
- I should clarify that it wasn't the instructions of the class, but rather the readings that I believe failed to effectively acknowledge the appropriate use academic language. And after reviewing others comments, I believe this could due to the difficulties in applying academic language to certain content areas. Although my frustration with the edTPA is expressed, I did find the process of going through the trail edTPA to be helpful before having to complete our official edTPA's.
DeleteThroughout this class I’ve developed a true Minnesotan, passive/aggressive, love/hate relationship with the term “academic language” - which is a huge improvement since at the beginning of the semester, the “love” was certainly nowhere to be found.
ReplyDeleteThe portions of this subject that are most intimidating for me are the ironically enormous volume of vocabulary associated with academic language, and the nitpicky requirements for phrasing each portion of the edTPA appropriately. As frustrated as I’ve been throughout this class, I admit that I’ve produced some of my best work within the past month thanks to a deeper understanding of academic language I didn’t realize I had.
When I think about academic and content specific language, I think about almost every studio art professor I had at the U of M. These teachers were fabulous artists, but often not so great at helping us understand content specific vocabulary. I was well into my introductory printmaking class before I understood what the professor was actually talking about when he was referring to the “matrix,” and it took the demise of my first plaster mold before I really understood what an “undercut” was (and the importance of avoiding one).
I’ve written two full units this semester, one for this course, and one for my art methods class. As I was scrounging through some of the old units I’ve created in the past year and a half to find examples and jumping-off points, I’ve realized that my understanding of academic language has deepened dramatically. I’ve become much more aware of ALL the academic language I use throughout each of my lessons, and have made a conscious effort to find ways to organize my lessons around language, rather than throw words around that students may or may not understand.
Finally, I’ve also developed the mindset that the methods I use to teach each lesson need to fit the needs of as many students as possible - rather than creating a multitude of potential modifications. I’ve successfully created a variety of step-by-step handouts that include photographs and written explanations for each step. I plan to use these handouts (and create many more!) in the future.
All in all, while I’m still incredibly intimidated by the formality of academic language on paper, I’m very glad to have gained a much deeper understanding of it. I’m excited to use the units I've created in my future classroom.
I have to be honest, when I first thought about having to take a reading class for getting a secondary license, I didn't quite see the point. After having taken this class I know can see the point. I felt as though it was really hard to think about how to use reading skills in FCS classes, however it is so much easier than I thought. While my students are not reading novels and doing book reports, they are reading patterns, recipes, job descriptions, banking statements, etc. There are many ways that reading is incorporate in school. This class was good to help me realize this.
ReplyDeleteI have been struggling with how to write in academic language has been hard as I have been trying to apply it to my content area. It has been helpful to realize that academic language can be different for each content area. This class has helped me not get so bogged down in my thinking that all academic language has to sound extremely scholarly. Sometimes it can be very simple.
I also feel that I do have a bit better comfort level with the edTPA. It has been a very overwhelming process and after having gone through it more in detail this semester I have been able to see the value at looking closely at our teaching. I can't imagine writing every lesson I ever teach in this way, however it has been good to see how my brain was already thinking in this way when it comes to planning my lessons.
This class has made me think about language, literacy, and overall use of text inside the art room much more then I ever had. To be honest, other then the elements, principles, art mediums, a few methods, and artist names I haven't given much thought to what text and literacy looks like in the visual arts. This class, along with my high school field experience, has forced me to think about how I will teach to the language needs of my students. It has also made me realize that many schools are requiring visual art courses to include literacy (in the form of text and writing) as part of the curriculum. I'm a little surprised that I am enjoying the process of including this inside the classroom. This has forced me to reconsider how to go about and teach the critiquing process and the artist statement process. With so much focus being put on literacy I realize that I can make these lessons even stronger and more poignant.
ReplyDeleteThis class has also made me put more thought towards my ELL students. I have always used the fact that art is so visual as a scapegoat to explain how I will teach these students. Now that I have more understanding and techniques to add to my "tool kit", such as Fisher and Frey's model, etc, I can approach teaching all my students with a more solid plan of action.
At the start of this class, I will admit that I thought a lot of it was going to be review. Indeed, most of the information discussed in this class was about topics covered in my other ESL content area courses. I did learn a lot more about the differences between languages in different subject areas, which is very important to me as an ESL teacher. Each discipline has a unique way of organizing and presenting information, as well as a way that it would like its' students to respond. I keep thinking about the difficulty that native speakers have with this, and how it must be even more difficult for non-native speakers!
ReplyDeleteWhile most of the information was a refresher for me, my absolute favorite part of the class was being able to talk about this information with teaching candidates from other content areas. Too long had I preached to the choir in my ESL content classes! Hearing opinions from the other teaching candidates really helped me see the steps that need to be taken for ESL students in their mainstream classroom.
Advocating for ESL students during our classroom discussions also brought me closer to my content area. I had always known that I had a desire to assist learners that needed extra help, and being able to share this passion with members of different content areas really reaffirmed my decision to become ESL certified.
I believe literacy development is ongoing for everyone, not just low lever readers. This class taught my classmates and I how to remember that important point, as our students will continue to better themselves every day (well, hopefully!).
I have a HUGE passion for literacy and believe the early development of literacy skills in students can impact them for the res of their lives. I was really looking forward to taking this class, because I knew it would pull information learned from my content courses and connect them with other ideas. I also feel that this class was so helpful in advocating the importance of getting to know/paying attention to the ELL’s in the general or content area classrooms….wahoo!!
ReplyDeleteI’ve been considering getting my reading certificate after I receive my ESL licensure, and this class has pushed me to confirm that decision. Language and literacy go hand in hand and when a school district is short on funding, it is going to be important that I work as both positions. Also, through this class I’ve learned more about the TPA and the importance of each section. It’s nice that we focused on creating the edTPA’s before we actually submit them in the spring!
Lastly, I just wanted to thank everyone for a great year and a half! I can’t believe we’ve come this far together. I wish everyone the best of luck in the future…who knows, some of us may even be coworkers some day!
I recently took the MTLE pedagogy test, the test was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I was struck by two opposing thoughts that encapsulated not only this class, but all the KSP classes we have taken. I was satisfied with how much I had learned, and struck by the amount of information that had not been covered or had not stuck with me. For me it is hard to say what one or two items stood out, and at the same time summing up KSP 669 in one posting seems like a task that I am not willing to take on. With that all being said, I will give it a go. Opening the course by taking a look at ourselves as readers was helpful. To examine who we are as readers will help us explain and extrapolate to our students the importance of reading. Reading for pleasure, reading for information gathering, or reading for educational purposes do relate. By combining the skills from each area we make overall stronger readers of our students. When we looked at adolescent literacy in the academic disciplines we found that there is an increasing level of complexity and specialized discipline language in the secondary levels of education and this comes with higher than average dropout rates and because of this we are obligated to find better ways to reach students through various and differentiated literacy methods. By teaching students various skills we are helping them access not just higher levels of learning in your specialized content area, we are also teaching autonomy in there reading and ultimately their learning as a whole. A breakdown of the skills that are needed is essential to design a path for student success. I do have to end this with an homage to our last class period together face to face. Perhaps it was the fact that we will be off in our separate ways, having spent 1-3 semesters with all of you I have come to appreciate what we all have to offer. Support, varying perspectives on issues that range from the mundane to the ethereal, there is a litany of reasons I so enjoyed this experience with all of you. But, our last class together were we all took turns sharing some different strategies was so enjoyable to me. Some great information aside, seeing future teachers in front of a group doing what you do, in only the manner you can do it, I know the future of education will be in capable hands. Each person in the class will be great teachers that care for the students in your charge. I have little doubt that each one of you will always go above and beyond to help students in any way possible. We have learned some valuable information over the course of this last half of this semester, KSP 669 helped me in a myriad of ways. But for me it is what was displayed in class, there are some skills that teachers can’t be taught. It is those strengths and intangibles that radiates from every one of you. I am so happy I could be a part of this, and I will be proud to be able to share the title of teacher with a group of people of the highest character. Thanks to all, and to all the best of luck in what will be a very bright future.
ReplyDeleteApplication: There are so many things from this course that I will be able to apply to my future teaching/interactions with people. However, one of the biggest take aways for me was learning that not everybody is at the same level of literacy. I know this probably sounds completely obvious to most people, but not so to me! Reading and writing and speaking have all always come very easily to me, so sometimes it's difficult for me to get in the mindset of somebody who struggles with literacy. The activities we did with the missing words and everything else in that packet really helped open my eyes to what it would be like if literacy didn't come as naturally as breathing to you. I hope that this gives me patience, empathy, etc. with my future students. I want to understand that everybody learns differently and what is obvious to me is not so to everybody else. We all have different minds and learning styles - even in something that I may perceive as uniform i.e. literacy instruction.
ReplyDeleteAnalysis: Therefore, it is always essential to keep an open mind and encourage and push students. There will always be theories and research and reading strategies, etc. out in the world for us to peruse and accept/reject. It is a constant flux of new ideas being promoted, while old ideas can be rediscovered. Literacy is an ever-changing beast, that a close eye must be kept on by any teacher wishing to remain effective.
Synthesis: Literacy is something that stretches across disciplines. I can not do all of the work for literacy learning in my Language Arts classrooms. In future schools, I must encourage the other content (and extracurricular!) teachers to aid me in my promotion of literacy. Social Studies teachers, especially, need to be assigning essays on the regular. Critical analysis needs to be employed in every classroom, all the time - along with academic language and an understanding of what academic language is.
Evaluation: Literacy may be the most important component of our education system. It is a building block for so much beyond academia - everything from how you communicate with your friends to how you read advertisements to how future potential employers will judge you. Therefore, literacy learning is something I need to keep on top of the research about (mentioned above in analysis, also) and make sure my colleagues are doing the same.
This class brought me back to my first love ~ expression through language. I remember our very first posting was about memories around our first reading experiences. This triggered for me the beginnings of the love affair I’ve had with language - to receive and give through this medium is profound. As teachers, we are so enmeshed in language that I believe we are often immune to the immense power we hold in delivering a word, a sentence, a lesson, a course. This class helped me to come back to the basics first, remembering how language is developed in the early years and builds on that learning, or lack thereof into the adolescent years.
ReplyDeleteI learned about the many approaches there are to reading - specifically for adolescents who are at such a crucial age in their literacy development. I was particularly interested in the redefining of literacy in the English classroom and the shift towards critical approaches. Studying about academic language and adolescent literacy in academic disciplines caused me to be much more mindful of my own language when I teach and careful in my word choices. Learning more about ELL realities and being introduced to new strategies to support their learning was helpful and practical.
The field study, thematic unit, edTPA lesson plans and in-person classes provided very practical and hands on opportunities for learning, growth, executing of theoretical ideas and some good discussion. My field study was very rich and valuable and I’m extremely grateful for the experiences I gained through that opportunity. As much as the edTPA work was tedious and laborious, I know it will be much more so next semester, so the practice was beneficial.
All in all, the class connected me more consciously to my own language, the language I pass on to my students and the many opportunities I have to support literacy in my teaching.
The first topic I would like to discuss has to do with the definitions of reading and literacy. We had a great discussion at the start of this course, trying to define literacy. Everyone made some great comments, but I especially remember Karin and Ian’s take on what “reading” means in the art world, and reminding myself to think about broadening my own definition. That reference to “my own definition” is probably the biggest takeaway for me from that unit. It was clear that there wasn’t a single, agreed-upon definition of reading and literacy for us all in the class. We might all walk away from this course with different definitions of reading and literacy, and that is not a problem. Just as we all read and process the texts we read in different, individualized ways, it stands to reason we would define the whole process differently, too. What’s important is that we make sure our definition is beneficial to our students; we can’t afford to confuse them, but we have to enlighten them and encourage them.
ReplyDeletePart of that process of enlightenment and encouragement comes from collaboration with our coworkers. Working together, we can both understand others’ definitions and solidify our own. That’s what we did during our discussion, and that’s what we will need to do as teachers: Focus on learning from our coworkers, experts in our discipline, and experts in the field of literacy, to enhance our understanding of reading and literacy, including effective techniques, and help our students to develop better reading skills. Even if we focus in our own discipline, a lot of that should carry over to other areas for our students, too.
The second topic I want to discuss is vocabulary and academic language. Paul made a humorous point a while back about the deficiencies in his students’ vocabulary, and we all had another excellent discussion about academic language. In many ways, it was a new concept for all of us. From what I’ve learned in our discussions and readings, we need to devote some of our instructional time to increasing our students’ exposure to and awareness of academic language. Students need to develop their ability to understand it for its own sake. They need to be able to answer the question “Why do artists write about their art that way?” or “Why do historians talk that way?” so that they can gain more insight into the language of the discipline, and the discipline itself. The academic language specific to each discipline is a separate entity, inextricably linked to the discipline but with its own set of rules that need to be learned.
Thinking about teaching vocabulary as part of academic language, and separate from it, we face a lot of challenges to do so. Our disciplinary vocabulary is our responsibility to impart, but where does our responsibility begin and end with so-called “generic academic vocabulary,” the Tier II vocabulary discussed in the vocabulary instruction example Erik and I presented? That’s a tough one, but I think it depends on how relevant the vocabulary is to our lesson or unit. Plus, we will always have those teachable moments where we need to stop and explain a word to our students. Thinking about vocabulary and academic language, we can’t help but frame it in terms of Bloom’s taxonomy. As students develop their knowledge and comprehension of the vocabulary and language, they will be better able to analyze and apply it, synthesizing it into new ideas and understandings that they can evaluate and examine, and then begin the process all over again.
Overall the most important topic I learned about was academic language. At this time last year I had left the academic language section blank on all of my lesson plans. Although, I still have a lot more to learn I have a much better understanding of it. I no longer think that is only teaching definition but that it embraces the whole idea of how you present the academic language including using power point presentations, reading material, handouts and orally.
ReplyDeleteThe second major topic that I have expanded on in this class is both the importance of reading and what is reading. As a class we really expanded my thoughts on how and what reading is.
PS...
ReplyDeleteWAY TO GO EVERYONE! :-) :-) :-)
During the course, I have learned a lot about how to reach students of different backgrounds and learning abilities, which I am highly grateful for and I think this will help me as I move on to teaching professionally. I have learned about the importance of teaching academic language, which was something that I knew as an ELL teaching student, but I also learned how much it can help other teachers as well and what an impact it can have on ELL academic performance overall. The course has brought me back to the fundamentals of teaching and it has stressed the importance of assessment and learning for the assessments we give as teachers to create a better experience for ELLs.
ReplyDeleteAnother big point I got from this course was the necessity of interconnectedness of each teacher within a school community and I have seen the bond that exists between different educational disciplines from my experiences with our community of educators. I have always known that teachers work together to achieve their goals, but I didn't realize the how necessary it is until we began discussing SpEd and ELL students as a class. The use of Bloom's Taxonomy and the application of the EdTPA format has been a great resources as we move forward in our careers and I feel like I have a strong understanding of what is required for us as we write our final unit plan drafts in the portfolio we send to Pearson's.
Application:
ReplyDeleteI will apply my understanding of language acquisition and differentiated instruction to my lesson planning and this will inform everything very my assessments to my day to day activities in the classroom.
Analysis:
I have reflected on my methodology and I believe that flexibility, openness, critical and objective assessments are key to the success of each and every student. I plan to analyze the data I collect and use it to make changes as needed, which is the best thing for students.
Synthesis:
My approach to learning from my experiences is simple and that is to ask questions, look at the performance of students and think about what I could do differently to improve the results I'm seeking.
Evaluation:
My evaluation will consist of a two part reflect and that is to evaluate my performance as an educator as well as how my approach has met the standards and practices of ESL. I will also look at the results of students on tests and other assessment tools used in the lessons I've created and this will inform my decisions in the future.
I think I’m walking away from this class with a better understanding of academic language, but I am lacking any of the confidence I believe comes from a complete understanding. I definitely see the importance language has to learning. I guess I should say that I see it more clearly now: I knew the importance before, but not all the intricacies.
ReplyDeleteExamining things through the lens of Bloom’s Taxonomy, I’d say I’ve covered some of the knowledge, application, and a little bit of the comprehension objectives. It seems odd to have done the application side of things without having more comprehension of the class’s concepts: it feels like I’ve done a lot of things I didn’t quite comprehend. (Is this even possible or does “true” application only come when a person comprehends what they are doing?)
I am always building my own understanding through analysis, and I think that is where this class has been most helpful. I’ve definitely constructed my own viewpoints and understanding (synthesis) regarding language in learning, but I don’t feel confident defending my original ideas. I guess that is something that is still missing. I don’t have the confidence to say, “I know this” or, “This is what I believe and I am right.” I see how the concepts in this class relate to my content; it just seems more complicated than it needs to be. Or maybe I don’t actually understand how it relates and it wouldn’t seem so overly complicated if I did.
If anything, this course has been an interesting wake up call for me. I have questioned my future and my philosophy towards teaching. I guess that is an intended function of the KSP program. No other class (specifically the thematic unit project) has made me question my decision to teach. It has convinced me that the “system” couldn’t be more at odds with more content areas within education. Maybe that thinking is my own delusional rationale to compensate for my own inabilities as a teacher. Either way, I have never felt more like a stranger in a strange land—at least academically—then during this semester.
It’s too early for me to really understand the lasting benefits of the course. I remember thinking last year that I still had no idea about specific methods, developmental theories and what not, but I was surprised how much I knew when working with those concepts this semester. Ask me again a year from now and I can really tell you what I took away from this class.
Before taking this class I really hadn't thought about how much academic language influences not only how we teach, but how our students learn new content. The first topic I found important goes back to the first few weeks when we discussed the meaning of language, communication, and especially literacy. My initial thoughts on literacy were that knowing the specific words/vocab to describe something weren't absolutely necessary to show competency or literacy. After we talked more in class, I now think that the words and text do play a large part in truly understanding the content, but that there are different ways of interpreting literacy. My favorite reading of the semester was we read about the meanings of literacy in different content areas. I personally found the chapter on math to be very insightful on this topic and it helped broaden my understanding of how to apply academic language and literacy within my own content area.
ReplyDeleteThe second topic that I found helpful was our last face-to-face meeting when we went through the different methods of presenting the language/text. More specifically, I found it beneficial to learn about the various ways that we can present text in more interesting and thought-provoking ways. In business education, I think this will be very important to do because the material from the textbook and the business-specific vocab can sometimes feel very dry and uninteresting. By finding creative ways to go over the content while incorporating the language, I feel much better about being able to present new information to my students.
Lastly, I found that after all of the readings and discussions we have had I now have a much better understanding of my own literacy. It has been interesting not only to see where my own strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to reading comprehension and retention, but also to learn about the different ways that everyone in the class approaches these things for themselves. I think this will help me as a teacher because it will give me a broader perspective on the various learning styles that my students will have.