Reflective Journals
" These journals will provide space for critical examination of practices, assumptions regarding difference and equity as they relate to teaching and learning, and affective responses to readings, discussions, and practices."- Dr. Hurd
teaching english language and content in mainstream classes
Linda New Levine & Mary Lou McCloskey
Chapter 1: Principles of Integrated Language Teaching and
In our TCH 207 class we are reading the Levine and McCloskey textbook titled “Teaching English Learning and Content in Mainstream Class. In this reflection, I’m going to write about chapter 1, titled “Principles of Integrated Language Teaching and Learning” which implements the nine principles that are mostly effective to teaching and learning because it gives guideless on how to organize and plan classroom instruction. The model that the authors created is called the activity-based communicative teaching and learning model (ABC model). These modes illustrate how learning is best retain and taught. The nine principles described in the text are broken into two dimensions which are activity-based teaching and learning and communicative teaching and learning. The first-dimension activity-based learning and teaching show what students contribute to the classroom and what active role they play in their own learning. Even though teachers generate the lessons, it is still important that ELLs are active in their learning so that they better retain and understand information. The second dimension is communicative teaching and learning shows how/if students comprehend what the language they are being taught. Students have to have a clear understand with the learning of language in order for them their learning to be more effective. For example, if students are taught 10 words a week but aren’t tested on their understanding or they never apply them outside of the classroom then their learning wasn’t effective because they will easily forget the meaning and context of the word. ON the other hand, if students are tested and have to speak the words frequently in context than they will retain and understand language better.
The first four principles introduced in the chapter falls under activity-based teaching in learning. Principle one is active engagement. This is when students are activity participating in their own learning. As I stated before, when language is practiced by students often then they will better learn it. If the students are just learning words all day but are never able to apply them in the classroom then they wouldn’t be able to understand them good enough for classroom discussions, tests, or etc. Principle two is cultural relevance, this is one that I will definitely apply to my lessons because incorporating culture in an ELL classroom will create a more comfortable space for myself and students. Cultural relevance is when you included the culture of your students in your teaching to better help them learn and understand new cultures. This gives the teacher and students a chance to get to know one another way of living, beliefs, traditions and so on. When everyone gets comfortable from learning about differences in their culture then students will be more comfortable to be actively engaged. Principle three is collaboration. Collaboration gives students the opportunities to develop and apply language in their classroom with their peers. Students can learn a lot from one another during group/classroom discussions. Principle four is Learning strategies. Learning strategies are a variety of different learning tools and patterns that are taught by teaching so that eventually learner can use them more independently. In my opinions, learning strategies make students more comfortable with answering questions because they become familiar to them. These strategies give leaners the chance to enhance their learning because they will eventually be able to control and direct their learning at their own pace.
The next five principles introduced in the chapter falls under the communicative teaching and learning. Principle five is differentiation, Differentiation creates variety in classroom because many learning styles are in place. Since all students are different , it is important to give each students option to be taught differently. For example, teacher can incorporate audio, pictures, and etc. This gives students the chance to become actively engagement in the classroom. Also, since there will be diversity in the classroom, different cultural backgrounds, experiences, and history can be orchestrated in learning and teaching styles. Principle six is comprehensible input with scaffolding. Comprehensible input is when teaching provide appropriate context and support to students so that they can better understand language that they don’t know. Teacher can do this by providing pictures and punctation with vocabulary. This gives students a chance to visually see the object which can help with understanding and pronunciation helps them to break down/ learn the new vocabulary by using sounds that they know. Principle seven is prior knowledge which flows into the pronunciation benefit that I just stated. Teachers teach learner importance of using their prior knowledge in order to learn new vocabulary. The more knowledge that students already have on a concept the better they will be able to add on to it. It will be more difficult for student to comprehend new language if they have never known anything about it. Teaching student start from where students are or what they already know then build upon that. For example, when teachers dive into a lesson by providing new information to students and then assessing them it is most likely that they students wouldn’t do well because what if they didn’t have the skills to organize the information you gave them or use context to help them better understand. Now, on the other hand, if teachers introduce a lesson by starting a discussion or quick assignment to figure out wat students know before teaching then this will guide the teacher on which pace to go when introducing the new information. The teachers can start from where the students are and build upon it that they their learning will be more effective. Principle eight is content integration. Content integration is students being able to apply language into meaningful context. This is important because “language is learned better when learners are doing something purposeful or important to them (Levine&McCloskey page 10). The ninth and final principle is clear, appropriate goals, and feedback. This is when teacher set goals for students that they can attain and then teacher provide them with clear feedback while they are progressing to completing these goals. This helps students to make corrections as they are retaining knowledge. Also, students tend to have increase learning when they clearly see the progress that they are making. For example, when I complete and assignment that I may not be confident in I email it to Dr. Hurd and he gives me consistent feedback, this helps me to make correction as well as feel better on the next assignment that I do.
Chapter 4: Organizing the Classroom for Language Learning
The chapter that I’m reflecting on is Chapter four which is titled “Organizing the Classroom for Language Learning”. The first section talks about getting prepared to teach English learners, what you need to know, and how to organize your classroom and instruction in ways that benefit your students. The author started off by explaining why provisioning and gathering information is the first things that you need to when first meeting your English learnings. It is very important to make sure that the students feel very safe and welcomed in your classroom when they enter. For example, you can have writing on the board that says welcome because this is what the student will see when they physically walk into your classroom. Provisioning can also help to make sure that students are comfortable. Teachers can try to learn how to pronounce each student so that maybe they can greet each student as they enter the classroom. Also, students may have had a bad morning or maybe nervous about coming to start school so it is very helpful to seat them with someone who may also be welcoming and friendly. It is very important for English learners to feel comfortable because they can easily try to distance themselves so the help of a friendly friend may give them some sort of grouping or fitting in. Teachers need to also gather as much information as they can about English learners. This can be anything from basic information to their cultural information. The basic information will be important when trying to learn about what type of person your student is outside of class or what type of life they live. This information alone can help you to connect with your English learner.
Cultural information can play a role in making sure that you don’t implicate unintentionally bias on your students because you don’t know their background. For example, some teachers may assume that certain students have great intellectual backgrounds based only on their physical appearance and now it can cause you as a teacher to expect expert work from them or etc. Also, by learning your English learning students’ culture you may learn which languages that they speak at home which can help you to set up certain learning skills for particular students. The more a teacher learns about their student's culture the more they will be able to connect with them and develop comfortable relationships. For example, once they feel comfortable with you then they may ask for help when they are struggling with something in class. This chapter also explains how the organization of a classroom can promote positive learning. It is important to have furniture in your classroom because in my opinion it adds style and can potentially make students feel more comfortable. This is why it is important for every classroom to have private and public areas somewhere for the students. For example, if you have a nice seating area with beans bags, couches, etc. and a rug in your classroom then students may feel like they can go to these areas to learn more peacefully by themselves or even sometimes as a group. When students just walk into a class filled with only desks and chairs it can become very overwhelming. The arrangement of furniture is also important because students should be able to get around the classroom easily without making any distractions or even be able to have access to everything in the classroom for their seats. For example, in the text, a teacher sets his student's desk up in a U-shape because it allows students to easily see whatever he is presenting to class as well as easily work in a group when needed.
This chapter is also useful in explaining how the social environment in a classroom can positively impact student learning if it is organized. For example, social integration and groups provide students the opportunity to collaborate and exchange knowledge with one another this way students will feel more conformable to engage in active learning. Overall, the organization from every aspect in a classroom is very important and plays a huge role in how you can interact and teach your English learning students.
Chapter 7: Teaching Vocabulary to English Learners
The chapter that I’m reflecting on is chapter seven which is titled “Teaching Vocabulary to English Learners”. This chapter focuses a lot on why vocabulary is important and the correct to teach ELLs vocabulary. The chapter starts off by discussing why learning vocabulary is important for language learners. English learners need to learn as much vocabulary as they can because the more words, they know then the better they will be able to comprehend reading and context. Learning and practicing vocabulary gives students the opportunity to become more fluent when speaking and reading texts. When teachers build students of vocabulary it makes lessons easier because students will be able to easily process and understand information. The students who know more vocabulary are the who will achieve higher due to this fact. For example, if students are assigned a test that they have to read paragraphs and questions, the students who know more of the words used in the texts and questions will comprehend it better so they will most likely answer the questions correctly.
When students learn vocabulary it’s not just an individual words that they learn its grammar instruction, word combination, phrases and etc. Students to learn the different context of how vocabulary is used because many words can be used in replace of others, but they have to be in the correct context for example, “ we say strong coffee, not powerful coffee”. When teaching is teaching students vocabulary it is important to teach them the meaning of the words that we use in everyday conversations. This section of the chapter provides plenty of information on how words can be similar in pronunciation but are different in meaning. It also discusses how teachers can enhance the vocabulary of students by also enhance their understanding of these vocabulary words. Like stated before, it is important for English learners to leave a high variety of vocabulary, it is also stated in the chapter, what words are important to teach. The words we should teach should relate to these three criteria “ (1) Words that are used and encountered frequently, (2) words that are used in academic textbooks across different content areas, and (3) words that help students become effective learning in the classroom”. IN my opinion these are three important aspects to look at when teaching vocabulary because are the words that students will run into or have to apply to instruction more. Also, once students learn words that fall into those criteria, they are more easily able to use their prior knowledge to learn new vocabulary.
This chapter provides examples of what doesn’t work when trying to teach vocabulary. Most of these ways were very familiar to me which is why I can agree that these are not an effective way of teaching new vocabulary. Some examples of what doesn’t work is guessing words from context, teaching vocabulary in semantic sets, too much information too soon, and exposure only. Most of these have a common factor which is trying to get students to gasp onto new words way to fast and trying to understand them by using way that they may have not been taught yet. The effective way of teaching vocabulary was also introduced in this chapter. Teachers should work to develop awareness, teach important words deeply, analyze and explore words, build learner's control, and expand exposure”. I believe that these steps are beneficial to students because it gives them the chance to learn new vocabulary at a pace where they can deeply come to and understanding of the new word and meaning as well as apply them in many situations.
In the future, I will use many of the strategies for teaching vocabulary in my classroom. My favorite one is the use of a word wall because I feel like it gives the students an opportunity to be constantly reminded of the new word that they are trying to understand.
Chapter 9: Developing Literacy with English Learners
The chapter that I’m reflecting on is chapter nine which is titled “ Developing Literacy with English Learners”. This chapter focuses on why writing is important for ELLs. ELLs start off by scribbling words and drawing random marks as they transition into creating names and letters to represent full words. As they progress, they learn to write more sophisticated words and learn usage. There are ways for English learners to use their first language to help them write in the new language that they are learning, this is called positive interference. But it is important for writers to know the context of each language because different rules apply to different languages, this is call interference errors. Writing helps Ells to develop productive skills because they will learn how to use their prior knowledge in order to create sentences or etc. Writing builds Ells comprehension skills because as they write then they are better able to understand the text and context of which they are writing. In the future, I will use many writing techniques in my class because it applies differentiation in a classroom since all students writing skills are at different levels. It also will give me a way to better monitor my students' progress and comprehension. Even though the writing is very important for Ells, it is also hard for them to beginning learning to write. Ells are going to struggle with writing due to the fact that they having to learn all aspects of the new language that they are being taught in order to write about it. Writing is explained to be the las language area that Ells learn. In the classroom, it is best for a teacher to constantly connect classroom learning and discussion to writing this way students are constantly applying their writing skills. As stated in the textbook, interactive writing works well to introduce concepts of writing to beginners. The four examples of interactive writing are message boards/mailboxes, interactive journals, content learning logs, and literacy. In the future, I believe that I will use interactive journals the most with my students because it helps them, to learn as well as make connections with their personal lives. It also gives students the chance to write frequently since things happen in someone’s life every day. I will encourage my students to write freehanded and I’ll letter help them to correct writing/grammar mistakes. There are many ways that teachers can guide their Ells as they are learning to write. The book provided the steps to the writing process which is steps students can use to develops a final piece of writing. It is not the same for every student, but these basic steps can help each student gain a better understanding of writing. The steps are pre-writing, drafting, sharing and review drafts, revising editing, and publishing. I feel that students will be more successful in gaining more productive writing skills when they follow these steps. This chapter provides many strategies for teachers to provide scaffolding writing and how it can connect to the different types of texts that students will be exposed to as they progress. These strategies focus on starting with what students already know and then building from there. For example, when a teacher is giving out a lesson such as a critical analysis paper they should first start giving students assignments that fall into a sequence of the steps to write a critical analysis paper. Lastly, the text gives examples of how teachers can assess students in order to see their writing achievements, such as editing checklists, mini-lesson checklists, essay rubrics and etc.
Chapter 11: Assessment Tools for the Integrated Classroom
The chapter that I’m reflecting on is chapter nine which is titled “ Assessment Tools for the Integrated Classroom” This chapter focuses on the different ways that teacher can assess their students in order to monitor and review their progress and achievement in the classroom. The textbook beginning by discussing the three types of assessments which are standardized testing, classroom-based assessment, and program evaluation. "Standardized tests are created by states and national testing companies, These tests are used to measure students’ skills, Standardized tests focuses on reliability and validity" (266). MAP, ACT, and SAT are an example of standardized testing, Classroom-based assessment is are created by teachers and are used to monitor students’ progress specifically in certain classrooms. They are directly linked to students' needs and can provide feedback to teachers in order to improve class instruction. Weekly quizzes, unit assessments, and final exams created by the teacher are examples of classroom-based assessments. Program evaluation leads to gaining information about schools, teachers, and larger groups of students. Its main focus is monitoring and determining the effectiveness of new educational programs (266) The two major types of assessments used are summative assessments and formative assessments. Summative assessments are assessments given at the end of all classroom instruction in order to view student’s achievement during that unit or class. Examples of summative assessments are mid-terms and final exams. Formative assessment is used to monitor student’s achievement as they are learning. Formative assessments are ongoing and help to guide teachers. Examples of formative assessments are classroom discussion, teacher observation, and quizzes. Even though assessments are important in the classroom, they can also lead to issues. Many standardized tests include bias which disables the students to comprehend questions. Some tests require students to know specific cultural knowledge that may not apply to them which is why their answer to the question may be incorrect, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t succeeding in the classroom. Another example that was giving the text is a teacher asking a question about football that one of her students unintendedly gets wrong only because in his culture football is referred to as soccer. In the future, I know to make sure that my students can comprehend the context as well as know the background of my classroom-based assessments so that they all can have a fair chance of passing. Another type of assessment is Performance-based (PBA). PBA measures student’s ability to use the skills and knowledge they have learned in order to apply to lifelong learning, they closely resemble the skills that are needed in the real-world. Examples of PBA’s are posters, interviews, role-plays and etc. The three additional features of PBA’s that help learners to achieve the goal of developing these lifelong skills are self-assessment, visible criteria, and rubrics.
In the future, I will use many of the assessments introduced in this chapter in order to better monitor my students learning as well as to guide my teaching. It is important to have knowledge about the different types of assessments and guides that you can use in the classroom since all students/Ells learn differently and at different paces. For example, one student may show more achievement during teacher observations at the end of each week rather than a unit quiz at the end of the month. Teachers should provide all forms of assistance in order to help students with assessments as well such as creating guidelines or rubrics that students use to better assist them in achieving the learning goal. Lastly, it is very important for teachers to help students to adapt to all forms of assessments and make sure that they are prepared whether it’s a classroom-based assessment or a standardized assessment.
the reflexivity of pain & priviledge
Dr. Ellis Hurd
Chapter 1: Navigating The Ambiguity
Dr.Hurd’s book “The Reflexivity of Pain and Privilege” is one of the readings that we were assigned in TCH 207. It gives a perspective of people with mixed identities life experiences. It highlights the pain and privileges that they go through because of their marginalized experiences. For this reflection, I will be reflecting on Chapter one titled “Navigating The Ambiguity Of Mixed Identity As Chinese-Indonesian” which is written by Dian Mitrayani. In this chapter, Mitrayani speaks about the pain and privilege that she dealt with because of her mixed identity. In the opening of her article, Mitrayani describes her full identity as being Chinese Indonesian because she is a woman of Chinese descent, but she was also born in Indonesian.
Mitrayani writes about how people view Chinese Indonesian popularity as uncertain because of the many cultural differences that they have. As a future teacher, this is something that was interesting for me to know because if I have any students who may identify as Chinese Indonesians like Mitrayani then I will know about some of the judgment that has been inflicted on their culture. This may help me to better understand them.
This chapter introduces a lot of new vocabulary words that I wasn’t familiar with. The term pribumi mean native and the tern non-prubimi mean non-native. The Chinese Indonesian is placed into the non-pribumi category even though they are very diverse. The term totok refers to someone who still traces back their family ancestry into China and the terms Peranakan describes a person who is in between both Chinese and Indonesian. Peranakan is also the term that Mitrayani parents identify as but they classify as Indonesian first.
Mitrayni reflects on the pain that she felt while she was in school. She had an Indonesian name only since her family is Peranakan but in school, her peers had both Indonesian and Chinese names. She was in disbelief to feel like she was singled out. What Mitrayani didn’t know was the historical aspect of the discrimination policies that caused the Chinese culture in Indonesia to be eliminated which is also why when Mitrayani wasn’t given a Chinese name. Physically, she looked Chinese Indonesian, but she has been raised to see herself as Indonesian. She eventually got a Chinese name which made her feel more confident about her identity. Her mixed identity reflected pain in many situations such as when the economic crisis led to riots that happened in Surabaya that led to Chinese people/women were attacks. This made Mitrayi fearful since she also identifies with Chinese.
Even though Mitrayani faced pain, she also had some privilege because of her mixed identity. She found a passion for education which was also an aspect of life that her family received numerous opportunities in. Mitrayani followed her passion for education and chose to major in Interior Design. Once she graduated with her Bachelor Design, she started working with design companies and she noticed that she had an advantage due to her higher education status, unlike her co-workers. This was a reason why she received most of the better projects to work on. This experience made Mitrayani feel guilty because she knew that her co-workers were just as good as her.
In this chapter, I learned a lot about both Chinese and Indonesian history that I can maybe use in the future. As a future teacher, I know that it will be very important to know some of the trials and tribulations/backgrounds of my students because there are many things that they may not express to me. Also, I will make sure that my classroom is feeling free of judgment so that students wouldn’t feel how Mitrayani felt when she didn’t have a Chinese name.
Chapter 2: The Unbearable Whiteness of Being
For this reflection I will be reflecting on Chapter two titled “The Unbearable Whiteness of Being”. In this chapter, Christina Santamaria Graff explores way in which “whiteness” had inflicted both pain and privilege in her life. Her physical appearance is light0skiined which is why how she self—identifies and how other perceive her are different. She has received privilege to the light color of her skin because it has placed her in a dominant white society. But it also prevents her from connecting with her colleagues of color. Santamaria identifies as a biracial Mexicana. She works in the education field which is where she feels she has received her most judgement. Some people view her specially from her appearance which can result in someone tying the oppressions of other races to her such as systematic racism. As teacher, Santamaria uses her job as an outlet to speak with her students about the critical conversations about how “whiteness” is rejected for its oppression and historical violence(22) and how she can disrupt the systematic oppression that is connected with the people of color. She is focused on creating a safe, equal, and supporting environment for all of her students who needs it. This is very important because she has experiences from her life in which she can help to better understand how some of her students may feel from judgement which is why she tries her best to make them feel more comfortable and not experiences some of the things that she have or know about. Santamaria speak on the incidents in her life where she basically had to choose whether to represent her “whiteness” or “brownness as she went through her schooling and career. In this chapter, the writers explore many vocabulary words that are deeply connected to race and etc. Critical multiracial Theory is states as a grounding used to understand the experiences of multiracial individuals while also connected the societal, institutional, and system racism (24). Santamaria focus on the three major tenets that are unique to MultiCrit which are monoracial paradigm of race, racism, monoracism, and colorism, and differential microracialization. The first tenet monoracial of paradigm of race, comes from structural determination of the significant social outcomes inflicted upon races, some of these practices being both conscious and unconscious (24). MultiCrit is used to expand past just black/white binary. The second tenet racism, monoracism, and colorism, “addresses the social construction of race as permanent endemic to living in and being a part of the United States society. (page 26). Racism is used when race is used as the dominant factor towards one’s life and creates hierarchies. Colorism is used when a color is seen to be more or less dominant over another color and maintain skin color hierarchies . Monoracism is racism that is used to erase many races that multiracial people identify with. The second tent is differential Micro-Racialization recognized the many ways how systemic obstruction and manipulation takes places against minorized racial groups and disfavors them as a way to make white group more dominant. One of Santamaria experiences of being multiracial resulted in one of her co-workers who is a woman of color chose to place Santamaria as a white woman and ignored how Santamaria self identifies. Another experiences that inflicted plain for Santamaria is when she joined a program for minorities and was yet question from a peer who she had just met. He why she was there and stated that she was not “Mexican enough” to be there. Santamaria has also inflicted privilege because of her identity. She stated that she once got hired on a committee only because they viewed her as a double minority which they wanted to use in order to add diversity in the committee. From reading and reflecting on this chapter, I have learned that it is very important for teachers who will work with multiracial students to learn the background knowledge of race, ethnicity and identity. As a teacher, I know that I may have students who have been inflicted pain from their identity which is why it is important that I make sure all support all of my students’ growth.
Chapter 4: "The Unidentified Nationality"
For this reflection, I will be reflecting on Chapter four titled “The Unidentified Nationality”. In this chapter, Hwa Pyung Yoo explores his experiences from navigating through middle school as a third culture kid. He takes into many factors of his identity such as gender ethnicity and etc. He does this in order to provide a visual aspect from a TCK’s point of view.
In this chapter, Yoo voices how important it is for future educators to engage with and learn more about third culture. During YOO 4th and 6th of middle school, he felt loneliness and frustration because he constantly moved between cultures. He had no issues in school though due to the fact that he acted just like every other student. No one ever pointed out Yoo's Korean identity due to this. Yoo struggling more with how he identifies at home and the how he identified elsewhere. In his household, his identity was particularly Korean this is what he was constantly taught and reminded of. His Korean identity was embraced in his home. On the other hand, at school is where he identifies as American. He didn’t embrace his Korean identity at school because he wanted to explore his “individualistic identity” (page 79). Yoo was managing two balance two identities until he eventually disregarded his Korean identity more and more. As he got other, he had issues with trying to fit his American culture that he developed into his household, but he also soon realized how important his Korean identity was. In this text, Yoo mentioned that “was oblivious to the differences between [him] and the other students, and others seemed to be as well” which is very important. It shows who children shouldn’t have to inflict judgment on one another because of their differences but instead embrace each other as equal which can categorize with privilege. But also, this can be categorized with pain because students may start to take away from the uniqueness of their own cultures. Similar to what Yoo did.
Yoo describes that he experiences pain when people made rude comments about his physical appearance or even made fun of the punctuation of his name. He forever reflected on these experiences throughout his life When it was time for Yoo to go back to Korea after 6th grade, he and his parents knew that there was much disconnect between Yoo and his Korean identity which resulted in him staying in the U.S. to finish school. Yoo eventually was only surround by American identity which resulted in him feeling like this what he was. But in reality, he knew that he was not American, it was apart of him, but it was not him. In the end, Yoo feels that from him being a TCK gave him the ability to be able to adapt but it also resulted in him losing touch with his Korean identity. Today, he accepts himself as a TCK from having to find a balance with his Korean and American Identity. He feels that TCK's should be able to find a better balance with their many identities and find the uniqueness if each one unlike he did, In conclusion, I feel that it is important for future teachers to have personal talk with their ethnically diverse students so that their students can get more comfortable with opening up about their identity development. I also feel that as a future teacher, I will create healthy space in my classroom where all students can embrace their unique cultures no matter if they only identify with one or many. I will use many of my lessons to spark conversation about cultures and history of races in order to better expand my knowledge as well as my student’s knowledge of cultural backgrounds
Chapter 8: Will I Ever Be Enough?
For this reflection, I will be reflecting on Chapter eight titled “Will I Ever Be Enough”. Raymond Adams who identifies as African Louisiana Creole’s explores the cultural differences between francophone creole and non- francophone creoles. He also used his experiences from his race and ethnicity to discusses the pain and privileges he had faced as a Francophone speaking Louisiana Creole color in Northeast Louisiana . Throughout the chapter we are given many vocabulary words that connected to Raymond identity. The word Creole is “ a word that used at different times and in various geographical regions to describe diverse identities, languages, peoples, ethnicities, racial heritages, and cultural artifacts” (Adams, 115). Raymond feels that this words best describes his identity. Many people who identifies with him can choose to identify as African American in which fewer speak Louisiana Creole French, the term which is referred to as “kourivini” of race. Francophone is also a term used to define a French speaking person.
Adams discusses his identity through the chapter though the viewpoint of two theorical frameworks, Theory of Intersectionality (TOI) and Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT has five core tenets that has “transformed the ways in which various disciplines problematized issues around equity and equality for minoritized groups” (Page 116). Adams uses these tenets to find way to navigate through racial, cultural, and social identities. TOI is the” critical insight of race, sex, gender, sexuality…operate not as a unitary, mutually exclusive entities, but as a reciprocally construction phenomena…(page 117”. Both of this theorical frameworks helps someone understand hoe race power and oppression play a role in one’s identity and it can either have a positive or negative influence on how one seems themselves.
Adams then discussed his pain that was inflicted from his identities. He describes how he felt resentment with his African identity because he says it as ugly. This resulted in his questioning his physical appearance. He wanted to have lighter skin like some of his other family members. . He expedited his first encounter with racism during a learning exercise in school where a white teacher insulted his accent publicly. This inflicted pain on Adams because he felt exclusion from his peers. Adams has learned the stereotypes that are associated with skin color over time. This is why he thinks that using the lens of TOI and CRT better depicts someone’s identity. It helps to associates not just one factor of your identity.
Adams describes one of his encounters with a stranger that he vividly remembers. He was eating at a restaurant with his cousin when an African American stranger approached them, assumed they didn’t speak English, and told them they needed to learn how to speak it because they were in America. He felt that this shows how some people of color enforced the same type of negative behavior that is connected to white supremacy. This also appeals to the “master narrative that Adams mentioned in the book as the “social mythologies that mute, erase, and neutralize features if racial history and struggle in ways that reinforce ideologies and practices of white supremacy” (p.5)
Adams also spoke about Donald trump election “has shattered the collective hallucination of post racialism” (P.1) by constantly engaging in acts of discrimination and injustices to minorities. He makes degrading statesmen and racist remarks towards people of colors. For example, he called Haiti and Black countries in Africa as “shithole countries” (P.123) .Trump constantly shows his hate and disrespects towards minorities through his campaign but yet he still with help power .
Overall, I believe that this chapter reflected in many issues that I can relate with. As a future teacher, I feel that it is important to make sure that everyone feel that they fit in as a whole and that every voice is heard.
Chapter 9: SIKA
For this reflection, I will be reflecting on Chapter nine titled SIKA. The definition of Sika is “a forest-dwelling deer with a grayish winter coat that turns yellowish-brown with white spots in summer. It is native to Japan and Southeast Asia and naturalized in Britain and elsewhere” this word is the best fit for this chapter because Jessica Samuels had many different races and cultures that she identifies with.
Jessica Samuels always knew that she looked different from her mother but thought that she was grouped with her childhood father’s identity which was Nez Perce Indian, but she soon found that he wasn’t her biological father. This information made her question her identity. She knew that she was darker than her stepfather and mother but didn’t know why. She soon found out that her biological dad Black, Puerto Rican which is why it’s now a part of her identity. Jessica’s skin color had a lot to do with the pain and negativity that she experienced in her life. People called her names and looked at her disgusted face, but it was as bad when she was with her mother who is light-toned. Everywhere Jessica went someone was questioning her identity. They tried to classify her with one identity which is black because of her physical appearance. Jessica spoke about some of the questions that people ask her which are “Wow, you speak Spanish”, “But are you black?”, “ Really your mom was really white?” these questions that Jessica was asked made me realize how when I start teaching my students may have many different backgrounds and it is my job to never made them feel uncomfortable. I want to make sure that I get to know each and every one of my students. Jessica’s pain in her life is what made her feel resilient and strong enough to overcome anything. I can relate to why Jessica felt like this because I feel that a lot of bad experiences that I have had have made me the motivated person that I am today. Also, in this chapter, Jessica spoke about how she got hired for a new job on a college campus she was hired to help Native American students. On the first day of the program, the presenter introduced Jessica as a Native American Woman. This made her infuriated because the teaching labeled her without knowing her background. When Jessica corrected her and said she wasn’t Native American, but her family was the teacher stated, “ Oh well something”. This is very disrespectful to me because you wouldn’t try to judge someone without knowing their background because you can hurt someone's feelings.
As a teacher, especially, your students or anyone should be able to come into your classroom and feel safe. When you put a spotlight on a student ad relay the wrong information it can hinder their learning because now, they are very uncomfortable. Also, one Jessica corrected the presenter and she rudely responded that made things worse because even though she may have felt like her comment didn’t mean anything to Jessica, but it really did. Jessica felt like Native people aren’t the same as her. She spoke about all of the trials and tribulations that Native Americans had to go through, how they were murdered and colonized. She never makes their history her own because it’s way too delicate and valuable. What I gained from Jessica’s experience is that as teachers we have to be careful how we respond to someone especially when it pertains to their culture or identity because that can be a very sensitive topic for many. At the end of the article Jessica stated, “ my race and mixed Nez Perce, U.S, Afro, Latina ethnic identity revealed to me deep hatred and inflicted deep pain from all directions.” This statement moved me because I love how Jessica proudly stated her full complete identity and how unique Jessica’s identity is. Also, I’m so angry with the fact that people receive so much hatred because they are different. I personally can relate to this because I have experienced someone judging me because if my skin color without even getting to see how kindhearted and caring that I’m. It is very important that I make sure that me and my students are very kind and respectful to one another because someone may have had a bad day or a bad experience at home and may feel that the classroom is their safe haven.
Lastly, I want to talk about historical trauma. I learned that it’s not just about the pain that your ancestors went through or your history, but it connected to your own life and reality. Your historical trauma is what you experience on a day-to-day basis such as the judgment you experience from your skin color or maybe the disrespect you receive because of the way you look or talk. These traumatic experiences that you go through will forever be a part of your identity because these are things you remember and may have an effect on why you are the way that you are.
virtual clinical and outside work
ATLA & Resources
ATLAS CAse #668
The first virtual clinical that I decided to observe was ATLAS case number 668. This video consists of fifth-grade literacy and language arts class students ranging from ages 6-8. The teacher is hosting a discussion for students to identify and make interpretations of different images of waves that are from two different authors/books. The teacher is making the students expand their inner thinking by having them make connections to their own experiences in order to interpret what they see in the pictures. For example, one student spoke about how she once “traveled and seen mountains with snow” that looked similar to the waves in one of the pictures, so she then believed that the picture showed snowy mountains. Also, the teacher made sure to make a clarification of what each student said. For example, one student said that they have seen water that looks similar to what is in the pictures then the teacher reinstated what these students said by saying that to the class that “ David has seen water that looks this colors so he thinking that this is not a mountain instead it is a wave”. The way that the teacher is handling this discussion is making students more open-minded to ideas about what they see in the pictures. One of the students even stated that the picture showed a “volcano that was about to abrupt” because the waves looked similar to smoke which made other students start to think the same thing. I’m really interested in how all of the students are engaged in the lesson and are really trying to build off of their peers’ knowledge. This class has a good amount of diversity. It is made of 13 Hispanic, 12 Caucasian, 1 Asian, and 1 African American student. The diversity in the classroom plays a role in the engagement because each student has different backgrounds and experiences which is why it was helpful for the class to have an open discussion when they analyzed the pictures. This gave students a chance to see their peer's points of view and aspects of pictures that their interpretations may differ from. Also, in the class, the students are all at a tier of learning. There are 4 beginners, 4 early intermediate, 2 intermediate, and 1 advanced. This mixture of knowledge and ability in the class allows all students to learn from one another and that is something that I believe is very important. Also, in this lesson, the teacher spoke to students in a way that made them think more about their answers. For example, she asked questions like “what more can you find’ or “ what do you see that made you say that”. She also pointed and interacted with the pictures that she was showing the students. This helped students to find more distinct differences between the two pictures. I learned from the Levine and McCloskey text (Chapter 4) that encouraging cooperation and collaboration is important when dealing with ELL learners. This Is what the teacher did. She made sure that she gave every student a chance to provide their feedback during the classroom discussion. During this clinical work, the teacher also put students into small groups and made students analyze matching cards. Each card has a fact that either pertains to the artist of the first image that she showed to the class or the second image that she showed to the class. In the groups, the students had to read aloud the vocabulary words and facts then work together to put each fact under the correct artist. This lesson shows another example of how the students displayed collaboration. Also, the students had the opportunity to use the computers if they needed more assistance in recognizing the difference between the pictures. Something that I observed from this classroom is that every student was respectful to their other group members' answers and assistance. I noticed that in one of the groups a female student helped out a male student pronounce the words from the card. The ultimate goal of this experience was to show student growth and understanding while using collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. I noticed that this classroom displayed a safe learning environment for students which is why the students felt very comfortable engaging in active learning. I loved how the teacher acknowledged each student and each group's accomplishments and then somewhat rewarded them for it, this is influenced other students to works harder. For example, one of the groups matched all of the cards first so she rewarded them with the opportunity to present to the class first. In the future, I would love to implement these teaching and learning skills inside my classroom.
atlas case #1079
The third virtual clinical that I decided to watch was ATLAS case number 1079. This video shows a ninth-grade physics honor class that has 29 students between ages 14-15. The students attend a suburban high school with high success rates connected to many standardized tests. Their school has a representation of students having high scores on the SAT as well as 90% of the students attending four-year colleges. Many of the students have anxiety from being pressured to be an overachiever and hard worker both in school and at home. Out of these 29 students, about half have parents who work in a professional field. The parents have very high expectations for their kids since some of them we born in countries that had limited educational resources.
Students' wellness is very important because it can affect their ability to excel in the classroom. IN the future, I will try my best to have one-on-one chats with my students just to check on how they are doing, how they are feeling, and etc. In this video, the students have a background of being highly stressed from the pressure that is placed on them. This is why the principal initiated the start of programs that promote wellness for students. In this particular classroom, the teacher feels that these students have incredible strengths and understanding in his classroom. One thing that I found interesting is that most everyone in the class got a chance to speak and participate Each student helped to expand the knowledge of other students by deeply explain how and why they answered the questions the way that they did. The students are having a discussion about a summative assessment that they took which covers the law of conservation of energy. The teacher’s main goal was to create a lesson in order to reduce student’s anxiety and use the review of the assessment as a learning opportunity. The teacher constantly added clarity and feedback after his students spoke which better help students to expand their comprehension of the lesson. This lesson added additional growth to what students had already learned instead of just taken an assessment and moving to the next unit. As students made errors with answering the question, the teacher gave them time to correct it without immediately jumping into the discussion. He wanted to ensure that all voices could be heard not just those who provided the right answer. This created equity and fairness in the class. I feel that this is important in a classroom because it makes students feel more comfortable with engaging in large group discussions. Another aspect of this lesson that influenced its dynamics is that the students hadn’t received the actual quiz back. This disabled them from immediately changing and transcribing words to better match what was shared in the discussion instead they will now have to reread and rethink the questions. But the effective thing is that now students are more focused on learning physics other than just receiving a high score. I feel that this is a really important lesson to teach students because when they take tests in general, they are extremely focused on the grade they receive back other than applying the knowledge that they have learned. Another thing that I like about this teacher’s lesson is that he decreased the student’s anxiety and helps them to put more energy into being productive in class. Students were more motivated to learn so that they can do better when they retake the assessment. In this lesson, I would also incorporate for students to talk to their neighbors and come up with the best answers to the questions and then share out, this will give students more time to be productive instead of losing focus.
Atlas case #181
The second virtual clinical that I decided to watch was ATLAS case number 181. This video shows a 7th grade English class that has 24 students. They were all born in the USA but most of them still speak Spanish at home. The students get to have an experience outside of the home when they’re at school because the teacher takes them on field trips so that they can get familiar with other places and cultures. Also, there are 4 ELLs and 4% of the class is special needs. The students are all abilities vary between one another which is a great thing because the students can learn from each other. In the instructional video, the class starts off by discussing with the elbow partners what they will be talking about doing the Socratic Seminar with the entire class. This was important because students were able to get familiar with sharing their answers as well as getting comfortable so this way when they talk in front of the class, they will be more comfortable. Also, in the Levine and McCloskey book, chapter 4 states that “ buddy-group and small-group formats support ELLS.” Before the Socratic seminar began all of the students had to arrange their seats in a circle so that everyone can make eye contact so this way, they are paying attention to what their peers are saying. The discussion is started with the teacher leading and asking the students to share their opinions about which character in the book showed great leadership. The students are answering the questions in a format of “In my opinions…” this way it is clear to the class how they feel. Also, I love the fact that many students are stated if they agree or disagree with some of their peers. The students are showing active learning. The teacher is at the end of the circle and after each student says their opinions, she asks them more questions for clarification. For example, one of the students said that since “the grandpa showed the leader he didn’t pay for the jacket” and in response to this the teacher asks “ do you think because he didn’t pay for the jacket does that that made him a good leader?”, this response from the teacher made her student thinking deeper into what she was saying which is why when she answered that questions she was more clear about why she felt the grandma was a great leader which was because “ he stood for what he believed in”. The teacher also responds to her students with a “very good” or ‘nice job”, these words are making the students feel more comfortable with sharing out as well as feeling confident in their answers. I also notice that a lot of the students felt had picked the same character that they felt was the greatest leaser but each of their reasons why varied from one another. This learning engagement is very helpful to all of the students because they are gaining so many different perspectives about the same person. I also noticed that all of the students have notecards that they are using during the discussion, this is a teaching technique. I will use in the future because it may make the students feel more comfortable when they can rely on their notecard when needed. This also keeps the discussion ongoing because the students aren’t as afraid to talk in the discussion as they would normally do in a regular open discussion with no notes. I really enjoyed how the teacher made the student think about movies they have watched or books that they have read that are “share a similar theme with the book The Scholarship Jacket”. Many of the students were engaged during this question. They shared many themes with their peers while also being able to support their theme with some information from their prior movie or story. Overall, this class was fun to observe because I can now know how to conduct Socratic seminars in my future classrooms as well as using many of these examples that I shared keep active learning going on during the Socratic seminar. Also, it was very powerful to see how to hear the type of feedback and themes that the students took away from these different looks and movies.
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zoom discussion
Subtitle
discussion 1
On September 30 during our TCH 207 class, we first discussed some key takeaways from chapter 10 in Levine and McCloskey's text. One takeaway was that“ we propose a lesson format for integrated content and language strategies that are used based on a three-part structure” (Page 327 L&M). The three-part structure is the process before a lesson, during the lesson, and after the lesson. I will get more into this information in one of my Levine & McCloskey reflections. During this class section, we had a guest speaker join our zoom meeting. The guest speaker is Ms. Conroy, who was once a student of Dr. Hurd’s, she is now a 7th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies at a middle school teacher. This is her first year of teaching which is why feel like her sharing her experiences was very helpful to us future teachers because she was once where we are not too long ago. She got the position at her Plano middle school at a career fair because she took an opportunity of acknowledging the school and still learning about them despite the fact that they didn’t have any positions available to her at the time. However, the school soon reached out to her when a position came about because of her actions at the ISU career fair. This is a great example of why it’s never a bad thing to reach out and communicate with people even if at the time they may not be beneficial to you. One thing that I noticed about Ms. Conroy’s job is that Plano middle school is somewhat diverse. The school has 64% Hispanic students, so it was interesting when Ms. Conroy said that she had no prior knowledge of their language. This made me think about how in the Levine and McCloskey book it tells how getting to know you ELLs is one of the most important things that you can do. You have to learn their basic information as well as their culture, religion, etc to better understand them which will also help to better guide them in your classroom. One-way Ms. Conroy got to know her ELLs is by assigning them an identity assignment. These are very helpful because students can tell you about whatever they identify themselves as which may not just be their gender or age. For example, Dr, Hurd assigned us an identity assignment in which I talked about how my hair is a part of my identity as well as my siblings. Another takeaway from Ms. Conroy’s visit is learning that organization is a huge part of being a teacher without it work can become very stressful and hard to keep up with since you have to keep up with a lot of things. She gave some advice on how to be organized which was by using labeled google folders, color coding, agendas for you and students, and etc. For example, when you collect assignments that need to be graded, you can place them in a file folder that’s labeled with that assignment name so that way when you are ready to grade the paper, they are easier to find. Ms. Conroy also spoke about the student’s well-being. Something that Ms. Conroy said during this meeting is that social-emotional learning is the first important thing that students need to focus on before academic learning. This is because it enables students to like your classroom is a safe and comfortable environment. If they feel like this then they will be more active and engaged in learning. For example, if students walk into a nice and organized classroom, that says welcome on the board, and a smiling teacher they may feel excited about what there is to learn in the class. Now, in the future I know to focus on my student mental/social well bring in class along with how well they are doing academically. This zoom meeting was so helpful to me and my future career because Ms. Conroy left me with so much advice and tips to use for when I teach. Also, I love how she found many ways to make her first-year teaching experiences great even during this covid-19 pandemic. Lastly, she made me feel more motivated when she said that she “failed at more lessons than successful”.
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