Flaws in California's English-language programs place students in jeopardy, threatens state's economic future, study finds

Flaws in California's English-language programs place students in jeopardy, threatens state's economic future, study finds

Posted using ShareThis

Classroom Community

I started reading a book by Rafe Esquith called Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire. It focuses on his particular strategies toward creating a classroom community built upon mutual trust and respect. I personally love his philosophies and plan to implement them in the future but I have yet to see this type of practice used in an actual classroom first hand. Most of the teachers that I have observed continue to believe that they are dictators and a quiet classroom filled with obedient children is an accurate measure of teaching success. I disagree completely. Children should be given an opportunity to interact with each other at every available opportunity as this interaction is the basis for forming bonds built upon trust and respect. When I begin student teaching in the fall, I really, really hope that I am assigned to a teacher that values this type of practice so I may see how to implement it for my own class.

Marilyn Burns

I was introduced to Marilyn Burns through my Math methods professor. Burns is an author who pairs a literature base with mathematical concepts in a way that's engaging and really highlights conceptual understanding over procedure and rote memorization. I used her book Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! for a math lesson involving area and I felt the book was really effective as an introduction to this concept. Here is a link to a few articles that Burns has written:

http://www.mathsolutions.com/index.cfm?page=wp10&crid=37

20 Questions

So, as I was playing 20 questions with my fiance (it was really 10 questions because I get impatient) I realized that this type of game would be fantastic to use as a partnered vocabulary building activity. Students could use the vocabulary of the week from the basal reading system or it could even work with ELD vocabulary. The kids could have a few, set questions that they ask, like instead of "Animal, vegetable, or mineral" they could say "Noun, adjective, or verb" and then they just use their own imaginations to try to figure out the word.

Statement of Objectives for Credential Program Admission

Here is the Statement of Objectives I had to write for my credential program application. I guess it's my "teaching manifesto". I plan to tweak it a bit because I feel like my philosophy has evolved some since I wrote it. I think it would be kind of cool to continue revising it as I gain experience teaching, collaborating, etc.

Why do I wish to become a teacher?

My sincere motivation to become a teacher has stemmed from several sources, including a personal and enduring passion for the craft, a charge towards assuming the role of child advocate on both a personal and academic level, and an aspiration to serve as a catalyst for social change in the hopes that my students will understand and embrace the differences that can be found in all individuals. Throughout my near eight-year higher educational experience, I have considered and explored several career avenues including psychology, philosophy, sociology, and English literature, all of which I took a genuine interest. Despite the passion that I felt in studying these disciplines, there was and still is no match for my genuine enthusiasm and excitement towards teaching. When I envision my life’s professional path, I can see myself as an educator, above all else and although I may choose to pursue my interests in psychology, philosophy, sociology, and English literature in a personal capacity, I feel compelled to make teaching my life-long career.

I have always had a deep love and respect for children, and it is through my future role as an educator that I may serve as their advocate on both a personal and academic level. As a future educator, I will have the opportunity to become closely acquainted with my students as both a teacher and a role model. It is through these capacities that I am sincerely eager to aid my future students in achieving their academic best as a supportive and encouraging figure, regardless of the barriers or obstacles that may come their way. Through my position, I will also serve as a confidant and a caregiver, which will allow me to act as a trusted authority figure and thus qualified to lend emotional support to my students when they need me in this capacity. I sincerely look forward to serving as an advocate to my future students and I am compelled to aid them in any way possible.

It is my hope that through my role as an educator, I may also function as an agent for social change, in order to ultimately make my students better people. As an educator, I have the unique opportunity to aid children in not just merely tolerating the differences that can be found in individuals but leading them on a journey towards understanding and embracing those differences. In using this philosophy, I can establish a basis for securing equality among my students within our future classroom community. In addition, I may also use this philosophy to empower my future students in their own work for equality and equal opportunity for all. Children are the future of our world and it is my sincere aspiration to lead them toward making it a more peaceful place.

What can I contribute to the profession?

In using my personal and academic experience as a vehicle, I plan to contribute new perspectives to often overlooked subject areas such as multicultural education as facilitated through a social justice lens, insights into culturally sensitive and relevant literacy instruction, and a drive to create professional connections with my colleagues in order to establish meaningful and effective collaboration. As a new educator, I believe that I can bring a fresh perspective to the field that places a major emphasis on the incorporation of multicultural education and the perpetuation of social justice work in the classroom. As a new teacher, I will overtly and deliberately incorporate multicultural education into the very fabric of the curriculum, making sure that all of my students’ ethnic and cultural backgrounds are represented, understood and embraced by the collective classroom community. In order to facilitate this type of instruction, I plan to regularly recognize the notable contributions that people of color have made to the world across all subject areas rather than isolating these figures to themed months or holidays. I also plan to purposefully highlight the cultural backgrounds from which my students belong and allow them the opportunity to share their cultural experiences at every available opportunity in the hopes that I may create and maintain a classroom community climate that is steeped in a deep appreciation for the differences that can be found amongst my future students.

Through my role as an educator, I hope to contribute alternative ways in which culturally diverse and linguistically sensitive literacy instruction may be successfully facilitated in the classroom. In order to implement this important instruction, I will draw upon the knowledge I have gained through a set of literacy courses in which I participated as part of a specialized concentration at CSUN. As part of one of these courses, focus was placed upon the utilization of Chicano/a children’s literature as a useful literacy-enhancing tool in the classroom. Through the utilization of culturally rich and relevant texts such as these, I will be able to provide my students with opportunities to strengthen their literacy base and understanding of differing cultural experiences and traditions. I will also draw upon my personal experience in helping to facilitate bilingual storytelling events for children as a means by which I may create connections between necessary literacy instruction and cultural relevancy. As the co-founder of a grassroots community literacy program entitled “Stories Under the Stars,” I have worked to provide free storytelling events for families in the community of Boyle Heights, which focuses on connecting literacy building through bilingual storytelling and art instruction. Through this experience, I have gained insight into how best to begin supporting bilingual students in my future classroom while exposing my English-speaking students to culturally relevant literacy materials. It is through these experiences that I hope to contribute potentially new and alternative methods to effective literacy instruction.

As a future educator, I believe in the necessity of forging connections with my colleagues in order to facilitate effective collaboration and it is my hope that this appreciation for building professional partnerships will be a positive contribution to the education field. When I begin my professional career as an educator, I will excitedly turn to my colleagues as valuable and experienced resources who can act as guides through my first years in the profession. In exchange, I plan to offer my own insights, ideas, and resources to contribute to my more seasoned colleagues in order to offer a fresh perspective to their own instruction. In my opinion, it is imperative that educators combine their collective resources, ideas, and plans of action to ensure that the academic interests of students are addressed appropriately and effectively. It is my hope that this contribution of collaboration and partnership will be beneficial to the teaching field.

What do you plan to achieve as a teacher?

As a future educator, I plan to achieve the effective transmission of information to my students while helping them to foster their own critical thinking skills, the formation of bonds with my students and their families, and the construction of a safe, supportive, and positive environment to maximize student learning. My ultimate goal as a future educator is to ensure that my students receive the most effective and relevant instruction possible. It will be my responsibility to transmit knowledge and information that is clear and meaningful and I must always take the time to make certain my students understand what is being conveyed. At the same time, it is also my responsibility to draw upon the knowledge that my students already possess and to encourage them to use this knowledge in novel and extraordinary ways. Through this joint effort, it is my goal that my students will take with them the critical thinking skills that are necessary for future academic and personal success.

An essential component of successful student learning is the role of the family and my goal as a future educator is to forge bonds with the families of my students in order to foster more effective learning outcomes and to create a close-knit classroom community. Without the support of parents and families, the infinite possibilities for student achievement can be limited. However, when parents and families feel connected and valued as members of the classroom community, their participation and support has the potential to be limitless and can positively contribute to successful and fruitful learning for students. It is a goal of mine that the parents and families of my students feel connected and wanted in my classroom space and I will do everything in my power to gain their support.

Finally, I hope to achieve the creation of a positive, healthy, and supportive classroom environment for my students. In order to facilitate successful and effective learning, students must feel comfortable and welcome in my classroom. If I do not establish a sense of safety and calm within this space, my students will not be able to achieve at their fullest potentials. It is from my own personal experience that students have much difficulty focusing on their learning process when their classroom environment is tense, uncomfortable, and negative. Instead, I hope to set a tone from the very beginning that my classroom is a space where students can feel at safe and at ease. By creating this type of nonthreatening space, I hope to maximize student learning and student wellbeing.

Copyright/Use of Materials

It is completely my intention to post papers, lesson plans, worksheets (of my own creation) and any other interesting or applicable materials to this blog that I think might help someone out. However, I am definitely not down for plagiarism. So, I am taking this opportunity to say "all rights are reserved" as far as the original written material is concerned. Any other material is up for grabs unless otherwise noted. I should have some stuff up later on today. Thanks for reading!

Victory!

So, I just found out that I passed the Geometry for Elementary Teachers class that has plagued me for the last 4 months. I am beyond excited and relieved at this news. In hindsight, I wish I was able to master the concepts explored in this course as much as my classmates did. Although math has never been my strong suit, I feel it is so incredibly important that we enable our young people with the confidence and the tools necessary to at least appreciate math and see it for the truly interesting and thought-provoking discipline that it is. It is my continuing goal to explore math concepts in a way that I, myself may understand them more and so I may teach them in a more productive and inclusive way. If I come across anything that would help me in this venture, I am definitely going to post it.

A few days ago, the state of Arizona signed a new law attached to SB 1070 making ethnic studies programs in schools ILLEGAL. I am beside myself. If racial profiling weren't enough, Arizona has now eliminated individuals' rights to educational access. Does Arizona really think that the absence of culture is merely just that, no culture at all? What's always left is White. White Dominant Culture. It is what our school systems (and our world, for that matter) have been run on for a very, very long time and it was only until recently that small but progressive strides were beginning to be made in order to not just merely tolerate our students of color but create a classroom space that embraces difference as something beautiful rather than something to be swept under the rug. These strides have sought to slowly chip away at the reigning White Dominant Culture in our schools and to create a platform for learning through the exercise of empathy and acceptance of those who may be different from us. Arizona's actions in the last few weeks have set these strides back exponentially. I am ashamed that I live in a world where children and adults alike are being separated from a well-rounded, equitable, and exploratory education.

Welcome!

Hello, to the 2 or 3 people that will actually read this, my name is Allie Lovich and I am planning to use this blog to document my Student Teaching experience, slated to begin in the Fall semester of this year. As I have envisioned this time in my life for many years now, the anticipation (and a few horror stories) have caused me to become seriously nervous about this new journey and it is my hope that by chronicling this experience I may ease my worries if only by a small amount. This blog will not just be about my Student Teaching experience but will also be a little house for all of my instructional and classroom ideas, the buddings of scholarly articles that I plan to submit to academic publications, and any other rants or raves I may thrust into the universe if only to get them out of my system. I have about three months to go until I begin the exciting and incredibly scary journey called "Student Teaching" so I'm going to use the opportunity to develop this blog and see what comes of it. Thanks for your time and stay tuned for more in a bit!