Reflective Journals
Virtual Clinical Videos
Virtual Clinical #1: Case 42- Developing U.S. History Content Vocabulary
The topic of this virtual clinic is titled, "Developing U.S. History Content Vocabulary." In this virtual clinical, the class observed a 5th grade classroom made up of 12 students (7 boys and 5 girls). The classroom was made up of English Learners at the beginning, early intermediate, and intermediate language proficiency levels. Each of the students come from a unique and diverse background. This video showed me what it was going to be like to have English Language Learners in the classroom as an ESL teacher, and it was interesting to watch.
At the beginning of the video, the students were put into groups. Both boys and girls were intermixed within each group. The objective of the lesson was to learn about U.S. History vocabulary. Each group was assigned a different term and to do research on their term and write about it on a poster. Their research consisted of looking up their term in the text books or even asking a fellow student's input about the term. This allowed the students to interact and talk to each other. The teacher was walking around to different groups making sure the students were going in the right direction and/or if they had any questions.
​
I thought the teacher did a great job with her students. The teacher assigned this assignment to be done on a poster. This was a great way to be used as a visual for the students. They would be able to see the term, term meaning, examples, and even a picture of their term to help the students remember it better. The teacher kept walking around to check on other groups to make sure each of them were on track. She didn't stay at each group long when watching the students work. This allowed the students to have freedom to participate within the group without being constantly watched. When the teacher was communicating with the students, she gave them wait/thinking time to have them really think about their definitions and examples. Whenever a student answers a question, the teacher gives them positive feedback. The teacher also gives no negative feedback when her students answer the questions. She would say, "That's a great example. Can you think of another?" I like this because it shows the teacher that the students understand the concepts and material by coming up with different answers. She even posed the question "Can you think of another" to help the students think a little deeper.. Throughout the discussions, the students switch between English and their native languages.
​
Even though the teacher did an amazing job, there are somethings I would do differently. For example, the rate of speech. She was talking a little too fast for the English Learners. It could be confusing; especially, for those who don't understand all that well yet. I would talk a little slower so all English Learners would be able to understand what I am saying. The teacher needs to be careful on how she words her sentences. For example, she said to one the students, "Find the perfect definition." I would stay away from using the word "perfect" because not everything is going to be perfect with English Learners. To some, this is a brand new language, and they won't know proper context or definitions to words. It will take them a couple of tries before they truly get the hang of it. Instead, the teacher could say, "Look up the definition in the dictionary."
​
In the end, I thought the teacher did a great job. I would do somethings a little differently. I enjoyed seeing how diverse the classroom was and seeing the interactions between the students. I am considering using this strategy with the posters for my own teaching methods. I think it is a great way to get the students engaged with the lesson.
Virtual Clinical #2: Case 181- Analyzing and Discussing "The Scholarship Jacket"
The topic of this virtual clinic is titled, “Analyzing and Discussing ‘The Scholarship Jacket.’” In this virtual clinical, the class being observed is a 7th grade ELA class. It contains 24 students ages 12 and 13. All of the students were born in the U.S., but 90% of them speak Spanish at home. 4 of the students are English Language Learners, and 7% of the class receives special education services. The class discussion is lead by their teacher who is an English Learner herself. Because she is also an English Learner, she understands the struggle of learning a new language. She would be able to help the students during this difficult process.
When observing this video, the students read and analyzed the short story, “The Scholarship Jacket” written by Marta Salinas. They are arranged by sitting in a giant circle like a Socratic Discussion. A majority of the class consists of female students more than male students. A majority of the girls sit next to each other and so do the boys. Some of the boys are mixed in with some of the girl students around the circle. The girls and boys all sat together instead of separated because they felt comfortable sitting next to each other. The teacher allowed them to sit next to their friends in the circle because she wanted them to feel comfortable throughout the whole discussion. During the discussion, each student went in order around the circle giving their answers to the first question. The students had their answers written down. This shows that the teacher gave out the questions before the discussion. I like this because it has the students prepare themselves for the discussion. When it came for their turn, they weren’t waiting to go or feel pressured to come up with an answer on the spot. As I mentioned before, the students all went in order for the first question. From there they were able to speak up and give their input to the discussion for the rest of the questions. The teacher made sure that they all participated at least once in the beginning. From there, they don’t have to feel pressured to jump into the discussion. If the teacher forced the students to participate in each questions, then they will shut down and not participate at all. Some of the students answered the questions pretty detailed and with examples from the story. When this happened, the teacher gave positive feedback. With some of the answers, she even asked a follow-up questions to try and get more detail from her students. What I liked the most is when the teacher is making eye contact with each of her students when they were talking. This is important because it tells the student that the teacher is paying attention and acknowledging their answers. With eye contact going along with positive feedback, it shows the students that the teacher was paying attention and acknowledged their answers. It shows she cares.
Even though the teacher did a great job leading the discussion, there was one thing I would’ve done differently. There were times when the teacher allowed the students to freely speak in the discussion with one another. She would give the question and then sit back and listen to the conversation. The only issue was that students can get off topic, and the discussion can become unorganized and loud. It did during these times. The teacher did step in and bring the conversations back, but I would try and limit this type of conversation. I would allow it once or twice, but no more than that. Other than that, the teacher did a great job.
Overall, I enjoyed watching this clinical video. Especially, with an ELA class because that is one of the endorsements I am going for. To me, I looked at this as a potential class in the future when I start teaching. I would definitely use the Socratic Discussion strategy with my students when discussing readings they did.
Virtual Clinical #3: The Danger of a Single Story (TED Talk)
I thought this TED talk was very interesting. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about how we look at certain groups of people and stereotyping them by looking at a single story. She defines a single story as, “Show a people one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” This is why she calls it the danger of a single story. We see on the news or we read on Twitter a negative story about a certain group of people, and they are instantly stereotyped from it. It’s something we see in our everyday lives, but we are just too blindsided to recognize it.
There was at one point Adichie mentions how she was just as guilty listening to a single story. She was visiting Guadalajara, Mexico, and she saw on the news about Mexicans getting arrested by border patrol, sneaking across the border, and even fleecing healthcare. When she was walking through Guadalajara, she saw all of the people in the market having a good time, going to work, smoking and laughing. After seeing all of the Mexican people in the town going about their normal lives, she felt shame. She gave into the single story from the media about Mexicans. From there they became one thing in her mind, “the abject immigrant.” This is the issue with stereotyping today and with technology being big in our lives. We tend to believe almost everything we see in the media and automatically start judging and stereotyping. There is always another side to the story.
Adichie even experienced the single story when she was a kid. She would read American and British literature when she was young. She would always read books about white characters who have a different lifestyle than her. At that young age, she was making up and writing her own stories. She would always write about the white characters with blue eyes, who would always talk about the weather, play in the snow, and ate apples. After writing these stories, she would realize that this doesn’t relate to her living in Nigeria. She mentioned in Nigeria, nobody was white, there was no snow, everybody at mangoes and not apples, and there was no need to talk about the weather because it never changed. This was because she read American and British literature. She wasn’t able to relate because it didn’t fit her lifestyle at the time. This is important because we have to try and find ways to have lessons, activities, and/or readings that ELLs can relate to.
There will always be some type of stereotyping out in the world. It’s not going away anytime soon. We can be aware of it, and try and prevent it. In the classroom when I start teaching, I am going to make sure everyone is included and respectful to their fellow peers, no matter their background.
Virtual Clinical #4: How School Leaders Can Place an Equity-Oriented Lens on Social-Emotional Learning (Podcast)
This was an interesting podcast. Kate Kennedy is a researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Southern California. She is researching social-emotional learning and related policies. I have heard of social-emotional learning, but I wasn’t 100% sure what it was. She says that social-emotional learning isn’t always going to be perfect at the start because it’s still an ongoing process and it’s still being developed.
In the podcast, there was a part where Kate was talking about how we need to center caring into our work. I thought this was important because we need to show our students, their parents, even our co-workers that we care. They would do well because it shows we are investing our time and effort into them to help them succeed. If we don’t show we care enough, then they won’t be interested, and it’ll be hard getting through to them.
Overall, I thought the podcast was interesting. I definitely learned some things from listening to it. Like I said, I never really knew much about social-emotional learning. I definitely have a better understanding of what it is now.
Virtual Clinical #5: Identity SHORT FILM
I enjoyed watching this short film. It was about how everyone was living behind a mask due to lack of self-identity. I think this short film shows what lack of identity looks like pretty well. The whole message was we had behind a mask to fit in and be the same. Underneath it is your true identity and who you really are.
One part of the short film stood out to me. When the main character was walking down the hall, we can see everyone is wearing a mask. Each color represents a certain group. For example, the yellow represents the popular girls, red represents the athletes, etc. The part that stood out to me was when one girl was wearing multiple masks. She was in one group with one color, and she went to another group and had another mask on that was a different color. This stood out to me because people can have more than one mask on to hide behind. They can even change their masks to try and fit in with their surroundings.
Overall, I really enjoyed the short film. It definitely made their point about having masks to try and hide who you really are just to fit in. This is something to look out for YAs as they are developing their identity. They might alter their identities to be someone their not so they can fit in and not be the odd man out.
Class Discussion
Class Discussion #1: Chapter 8 in Diaz-Rico Text
In this class discussion, we had to read chapter 8 from the Diaz-Rico text. This chapter outlined the historical backgrounds of different cultures and how these cultures were treated in the United States. The chapter also talked about how the culture’s achievements are overlooked and how it influenced our lives today. As a class, we did an activity based on the chapter we had to read. We were all split up into groups and assigned a different cultural group along with an aspect that affects that group in some way. For my group, we were assigned African Americans and migration. We discovered that Jazz is the most prominent music in the United States. Jazz is permeated with African American influence. Music in the United States wouldn’t exist in its current form if it wasn’t for Jazz. African Americans also had a big contribution in culture, literature, and science (which include: aviation, electrical, mechanical, construction engineering). African American writers in literature also have inspired current African American poets, writers, and even rappers.
The second part of this was looking at the section on Migration. After reading about that section, we learned more about why people migrated to the United States. The gold rush was a big reason, at the time, for people in the United States migrating West. From there, other people from different countries wanted to come to the United States for a better opportunity and instant wealth. The African Americans migrated to the North after WWI to escape prejudice and discrimination in the South. “Today, many immigrants are sponsored by special-interest groups such as churches and civic organizations that invite them to reside in the local community,” (pg. 230).
At the end of the activity, we all shared as a class on what we all discovered from the different cultural groups. Some examples of groups were, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Native Americans. Some of the things from different culture groups that influenced the United States I already knew about. For example, Asian Americans had fireworks and yoga stems from Buddhist meditations. There were somethings that were pretty interesting to hear about. For example, an Arab American came up with the idea of the heart pump, and an actor and comedian by the name of Danny Thomas founded St. Jude’s Children Hospital. I never knew some of these cultures influenced some things we have in the United States.
Class Discussion #2: Immersion Video
In this class discussion, we talked about how each student is different in their own way and how students struggle in the classroom because their needs aren’t being met. That is a big deal when we become teachers. It is very important we meet our students’ needs in order for them to be successful. Each student strives with different learning styles, so we need to learn how to accommodate those different styles.
We watched a video titled, “Immersion.” It follows a student who immigrated form a Spanish speaking country who is still learning English. We follow the perspective of this student in his math class. We get to see his perspective and struggle of being an English Learner in the class. Moises, the student we follow, is prepared to take this standardized test in his math class. When he’s taking the test, the words are jumbled up, and the words look confusing to him. He doesn’t understand the English language that well. He has a unique way of knowing the material. Even though he can’t read the words, he learns the material from visuals. This stuck out to me because even though many English Learners can’t read English they can still learn the material through visuals. Another thing that stuck out was the context of words. English Learners are still learning the language and don’t understand different meanings of words. In the video, there was a math problem that involved someone running a certain number of blocks, and the students had to figure out the amount of distance the man ran. To Moises, he was picturing the problem in his mind. He took it literally where a man was running with blocks in his hands. The problem meant the amount of city blocks in distance, but to English Learners, they may take it literally and visualize literal blocks.
The point of the video was to show us that we have to be careful on how we word certain phrases. English Learners are still learning the language and don’t completely understand the context of the language. I learned that when I teach something, I should use visuals to help give context to what I am saying. Especially, with English Learners who still don’t fully understand certain meanings of words or phrases.
Class Discussion #3: Conga Line Activity
In class, we had to read chapter 7 in the Levine and McCloskey text about vocabulary. This chapter talks about how vocabulary is important for English Learners to learn about. It is difficult to learn new vocabulary in a new language. There are different ways to use words because there are multiple different meanings for certain words. There are multiple ways to learn the vocabulary. There’s an activity to help learn this vocabulary. It’s called the Conga Line activity.
Each person in my class each got a different word that was part of the chapter. The goal was to do the Conga Line activity and teach the chapter vocabulary. We took an index card and wrote the word on one side. On the other side, we wrote down the definition and an example. We were advised to make the definitions not too long because as we go along the conga line, the time to learn the words get shorter and shorter. After we finished writing the cards, we lined up in two lines where we each faced a partner. We had a certain amount of time to teach our partner the word, definition, and the example. After the time is done, my partner and I switched cards and moved one spot to our left, like a conga line. I ended up getting a new word to teach along with a new partner. As we went along, the time get shorter and shorter. It kind of got harder and harder as the time became shorter.
A strength of this activity is that it is very interactive. You have to talk to your partner(s) in order to help them learn the terms. I feel this is a great activity to use with English Learners because it gives them a chance to interact with other students who they usually don’t talk to. This activity also helps with the physical and cognitive aspects of learning.
Even though this activity was fun and interactive, but there is a downside to this activity. It can be confusing because there are so many people talking at once. Someone could learn another word they weren’t supposed to because they heard someone else’s word. This could be fixed. The activity could be done in a larger space; such as, the gym or the cafeteria. The classroom can be too crowded depending on the amount of students in the class. Even if I was stuck in the classroom, to eliminate confusion, I could split the students up into small groups and do the activity.
Overall, I would use this activity to help my students learn vocabulary. I think it’s a great way for all of my students to participate and even be active. I would tell my students to follow the instructions we did, but I would modify it. I would tell them that they can add a visual. This will also help those who are more visual learners.
Class Discussion #4: Discourse Patterns
Before we talked about this concept during class, I didn’t really knowing anything about discourse patterns. I now realize it is very important to know if I am going to be an ESL teacher someday. It’s important because there are different discourse patterns that vary across different languages and cultures. With English Learners, they have different discourse patterns based on their culture and language. That’s why I need to get to know my students and learn about the discourse pattern of their first language. This is so I can communicate with my students and their parents.
My first language is English, so I would follow the English discourse pattern. I would get straight to the point. I would talk and go from point A to point B. However, I would have to be careful with I talk to an English Learner. They don’t understand the language completely like I do. I would have to give some context to what I am saying in order for them to understand. If I talk from point A to point B, the student may get confuse with what I am trying to say. Semitic Languages, Romance Languages, and Russian have a similar discourse pattern. They all go from point A to point B, but it isn’t as straightforward as English. The story can go one way by starting at point A, but it may get off track for a little bit. In the end, it still somehow finds a way to get back on track to get to point B. It isn’t straight like English, but the story still comes to a conclusion. Asian Languages are different from the previous languages. It follows the pattern where the story starts, but it continuously goes on and on until it reaches the end. Every detail and event is said in the story in order to understand the end. It may seem that something like this can go on forever. Navajo discourse patters is also different. Multiple stories are told, but it all comes together to teach one big lesson in a way.
In the end, it’s important to understand and learn about your students and even their parents. Learn about their culture and their first language to help communicate with your student and their parents. It’ll benefit you in the end. You get to understand your students better, and you may even learn something new about a culture.
Class Discussion #5: Panic Anxiety Disorders in Middle School Students
Before class started, we read an article from the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) on how more middle school students are having anxiety and panic attacks. The article gives statistics of the amount of students that have anxiety and panic attacks, how it’s on the rise, and how to respond if a student has a panic attack.
Middle school is the time where the students are going through changes. Their appearances change, their voices change, etc. They tend to worry if they look good enough, people are talking behind their backs, or even if they’re good enough for others. These are things that middle schoolers worry about today. With technology being big now, it increases the levels of anxiety for these middle schoolers. On top of the other worries, they tend to think if they have enough followers, if the pictures they post are good enough, or if someone is talking about them on social media. These are things that shouldn’t give YAs anxiety. According to the article, “Officially, the National Institute of Mental Health (www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics) reports that 31.9% of adolescents have some sort of anxiety disorder, with 8.3% having severe impairments as a result,” (Wormeli AMLE.org).
The article also outlines how we can respond to a student having a panic attack. One way it says we can help the students is to avoid comforting them. We should avoid the phrases, “It’s not a big deal” or “It’s going to be okay.” We should avoid using these phrases because it’s nothing normal. These are phrases that make break the trust with YAs. Like I mentioned before, technology is big in all schools. One of the ways mentioned was having an online hotline or app to talk to the counselor or school therapist. They can talk to them privately without feeling the need to make it look like they are helpless in front of the class. Another technique would be just to take 30 seconds to have silence and relax. Breathing techniques are a good way to help calm the students. In the end, I think these are the best ways to help YAs cope with anxiety and/or panic attacks. We want to make sure that the student’s health is one of our top concerns.
Levine & McCloskey Text
Levine & McCloskey Text #1
Chapter 3- Culturally Responsive Instruction: Connecting with Home Culture
This chapter really dives deep into how we can be culturally responsive as a teacher. I like how the chapter starts out by talking about what culture is. Culture is “the values, traditions, world view, and social and political relationships created, shared, and transformed by a group of people bound by a common history, geographic location, language, social class, religion, or other shared identity…It is not a monolithic, stagnant concept. Nor are individuals from a common culture homogenous. Culture is fluid, ever-changing, and nondeterministic,” (Levine and McClaskey 41).
The chapter outlines how we should talk to our students to get to know more about themselves and their culture. This would help us as teachers to modify our lessons to make them feel included. That’s important when it comes to English Learners in the classroom. We need to be able to make connections by showing them we acknowledged their culture. This chapter even showed me on how I can make lessons specifically for English Learners. For example, one of my endorsements is ELA, so I would come up with sentences that they could look at and read. When I write these, I would incorporate aspects of my students’ culture into those sentences. It’s to help them make a connection and make them feel comfortable in the classroom. The whole purpose is to not destroy their identity or make them feel they don’t belong. We want them to feel accepted and develop their identity more. There are 5 principles that we should keep in mind when making lessons and activities for students. These principles are important to have our students engaged and comfortable being active in the class.
Another thing I liked about this chapter is the section on parent involvement. I think it’s very important for parents to be involved because it helps their child succeed in school. We have to make sure that the students are welcome along with their parents. Making them feel welcome and included keeps the parents involved in their child’s education. I have seen instances where some parents don’t get involved with the school, and I saw how their kid was not doing well. There are different types of parent involvement listed in the chapter. They are all important for the parents to get involved in some way with their children at school.
I think this chapter is one of the more important ones. It helps outline what we can do to help our ELL students be comfortable and involved. These also tie along with their parents. Making them feel comfortable and involved. I will keep these ideas in mind when I start teaching.
Levine & McCloskey Text #2
Chapter 4- Organizing the Classroom for Language Learning
This chapter talks about organizing your classroom. We want to set up our classroom to make the students comfortable and welcome. We should have desks ready for the students when they arrive on their first day. You can even arrange the desks or tables any way you want. It’s a good idea to have that student sitting next to another friend. This shows that they aren’t alone in the class. It’ll make the student comfortable to be in that classroom knowing they have a friend to be with. It’s also good to get to know your students to set up the classroom appropriately. You can talk to them about their culture. From there, you can set up the classroom with posters or pictures that show the aspects of their culture.
Because language learning occurs in a social environment, interactions with other students can affect their learning progress. I really like the ideas of social integration and grouping. Social integration is when we encourage collaboration and promote academic achievement in the classroom. As I have mentioned many times before, we need to make sure our students are comfortable. We also need to make sure they are accepted socially as well. One idea for this is to assign jobs to the students. An ELL and another students can accomplish these tasks together. It’s a good way for the ELL to be social and to learn some new things. They could even educate their partner something from their culture.
In the classroom, there can be whole-class, small group, or individual formats for learning. For ELLs, the best type of learning, in my opinion, are the small groups. I like this style of grouping. Discussion as a whole class can be a little difficult for ELLs. It can put a lot of information on the student, and they may struggle. The same way could go with individual learning. The ELLs wouldn’t be able to get help from peers. It’s all on the student. That’s why small groups are beneficial for ELLs. In small groups, the students can collaborate with one another. This also gives the ELLs and other students an opportunity to interact amongst each other. We should be able to do different groups each time. We even did this in our own class. Dr. Hurd would split us up into groups to do group work each lesson. He would split us up by our endorsements, or even by our birth months. Sometimes he would give us slips of paper with a label that says, “Planet” or “Asteroid.” We would split up into groups this way. Another way is when we count off in Spanish. There are multiple ways to split up into groups. This is something I am going to do when I start teaching.
Levine & McCloskey Text #3
Chapter 7- Teaching Vocabulary to English Learners
This is chapter is particularly important to me. One of my endorsements is ELA which covers vocabulary. I think vocabulary is important. I want to be able to teach the vocabulary to a variety of students who are at different learning levels. This chapter helps me in achieving that in the future. Vocabulary consists of verbs, phrases, compound and hyphenated words, idioms, etc. There are many different meanings between all of these, and it all can be very confusing; especially, for an English Learner if they are learning a new language. I know when I was learning Spanish it was difficult for a while because there were so many meanings between words and phrases. Even the grammar made the slightest difference between two meanings. It is my job as a future educator to make sure all of these different meanings are understood. The best way for the students to remember vocab is to be exposed it and learning by repetition.
The chapter also lists some ways I can help teach vocabulary. One of the ways is through semantic mapping. This is a tool to help students learn new vocabulary. There are different types of semantic mapping. There’s a Word Square, Word Sort, Word Splash, and Word Wall. In my opinion, I really like the idea of the Word Square. You can find the meaning of the vocab, you can write a sentence with the word, have a synonym, and even draw a picture. These are all ways for the students to help learn new vocabulary. You can either do it by hand or online since technology is being used a lot more in schools. I can even use an activity I did in Middle School to help with sentences. It’s similar to Word Splash where the students can re-arrange certain parts of a sentence. I would ask them if it makes sense or if it fits and flows well. It’s something I did and thought really helped.
Another strategy I likes was the Conga Line. We even tried this in class, and it was fun to play. I talk more on the Conga Line activity in another journal entry. In the end, vocabulary is very important. It’s important we find ways to help ELLs learn the new language the best way possible. It may not be easy, but our jobs as educators are to be there to help them through it.
Levine & McCloskey Text #4
Chapter 9- Developing Literacy with English Learners: Focus on Writing
Chapter 9 discusses the development of literacy through writing. This chapter really focuses on helping English Learners develop their writing skills. There are stages that we go through when learning a new language. These are even stages we went through learning our first language. It is similar when we are learning how to write.
When learning how to write in a new language, we start out with scribbling, making random marks, and drawing. From there, we begin to use letter names and initial letters to represent words. When ELLs are learning to write in English, there are aspects of positive transference and interference errors. Positive transference is when learners use aspects of their first language to help them learn to write in their new language. This is something I can see when learning how to write in a new language, but as we read more into the chapter, using positive transference can cause interference errors. Interference errors is when rules from one language is applied to another language incorrectly. This is common when learning to write in a new language. At first, I never really gave positive transference and interference any thought. After reading about it, I can see this happening with ELLs. That’s why this is something I have to watch out for and help guide them to not make those errors.
This chapter also outlines 6 steps in the writing process. They are: pre-writing, drafting, sharing and reviewing drafts, revising, editing, and publishing. These stages are pretty important to all writers in general, not just ELLs. There are a couple things we have to look out for when going through these steps. For example, sharing and reviewing drafts. It’s nice to do this step to get others engaged and interact with one another. The only thing that we have to watch out for is if ELLs, or any student, comes across concepts of writing they haven’t seen before. This could confuse them, and this can possibly give them wrong ideas and make errors.
Overall, I think this is another important chapter for me to look at. Especially, because I have an ELA endorsement in mind. I would be giving out writing assignments. The 6 steps are important to keep in mind and to watch out for. It will help the ELLs be successful in writing.
Levine & McCloskey Text #5
Chapter 10- Structuring and Planning Content-Language Integrated Lessons
This chapter talks about planning different lessons and how to instruct it. I like this chapter because it gives us ways to support our students and the learning of the lessons. It even lists some activities that can be done to help with the lessons.
There are lesson characteristics that support learning in the classroom. They are teacher-directed instruction, heterogeneous grouping, appropriate content, attention to language, supported practice, and corrective feedback. All of these characteristics are important when it comes to supporting the students and their learning. To me, supported practice and corrective feedback are the most important. Supported practice give students the opportunity to practice the language within a content context. Instead of practicing in a broad way, the ELLs can learn in parts in certain aspects of the lesson. If all of the information comes at the students at once, they would get confused and struggle learning. There are different forms of support, which include: visual, verbal, graphics or interactional. Corrective learning is a way for teachers to encourage learning. This can be done with repetition, noting common errors, and asking questions.
Another aspect of this chapter that I thought was important are tools to activate prior or current knowledge. The activation of prior or current knowledge allows teachers to find out what learners already know about the given topic. This is where Semantic Mapping comes back into play. One of the best tools of semantic mapping to help with prior or current knowledge is the K-W-L chart. I have used K-W-L charts myself, and I think this is a helpful tool for the given topic. It helps engage the students on what they know, what they want to know, and what they learned. It’s a way for the students to look into the topic with a deeper thought. This can even lead to wanting to know more and looking it up in the future.
Hurd's Text
Hurd's Text #1
Chapter 6- A Different Kind of Asian Persuasion by Susan Y. Leonard
This chapter starts out with Susan Leonard describing the environment she grew up in, her parents’ professions, and her education. This seems like a normal start when describing yourself from when you were growing up. After we got to know Susan a little bit more, she tells us she was adopted from Korea, and she feels she’s a white person in an Asian body.
One of the sections of this chapter I found interesting is when she talks about why she feels white. Even though she’s seen as Asian to other, she doesn’t consider herself Asian. This is because she’s grown up white with white privileges. The author even considers her name a white privilege. There even got to a point where she was questioning her Asian culture. The author even talks about her experiences at school growing up. “The inability of my teachers to mediate and my parents to teach me how to advocate for myself culminated in my self-hatred for this face that fooled people into thinking that I was different from them, when deep down, I felt I was the same,” (Hurd 94). There would be a time where she considered herself a “fasian.” This means “fake Asian.”
She would convince her peers through her actions and words that she was white just like them. This is where the author came up with the Asian persuasion. The author would persuade all of her peers by telling them she wasn’t Asian. She would say because she was raised by a white family she: is bad at math, hates spicy food, can parallel park and drive well, and even considers all Asian food the same. This was her way of telling other people she’s white and not Asian. To her this also can be a way she hides her pain. These are all Asian stereotypes she’s heard, and using Asian persuasion is a way for her to cope with those stereotypes.
I was able to relate to this chapter in some way. I consider myself Asian because of my Filipino background. I have heard the Asian stereotypes before. They have been said around me, and they were even said to me. They have been said to me ever since Middle School up until now. I never really considered how it made people feel at first. As I got older, it never really bothered me that these stereotypes were being said. When my friends would sometimes say them to me, I would just say, “Yep you are totally right.” To some people, comments like these stereotypes would hurt them. That’s something I need to consider and keep in mind when I start teaching. To me, this chapter opened my eyes a little wider and look at how it affects others. This is something I need to look out for in the classroom.
Hurd's Text #2
Chapter 7- Transformative Consciousness Raising Questions by Hannah R. Stohry
This chapter starts off by asking a questions. Are we “woke” or aware to what is happening around us? I think this is an important question to think about. Things around us are constantly changing. Everybody is different and unique in their own way. “This section offers starter questions for raising consciousness for self as well as for our youth and students, to create inclusive environments, to facilitate healthy identity development directed by students, from a teacher-learner stance,” (Hurd 107).
I really started to look into the questions that can be related to my future classroom. How effective are the reflective classroom activities I use? What does reflection look like for different students? Can we encourage ourselves and students to express reflection in various activities? These are a few of the many questions I am considering with my future students. One of the questions listed that really stood out to me was, “How can I learn more about the diverse experiences of my multi-racial TCK students? Or, students with diverse experiences?” To answer it, I would just talk to my students and get to know more about them and their culture. It would be an enlightening experience for me because I will learn something I’ve never really known before. It would also build on the relationship with my students.
Some of the questions aren’t as easy to answer about myself. It requires myself to really put some thought in evaluating myself as a person and a future educator. Even though some might be tougher questions, it gives me a chance to really look at myself and my interactions with other people. With these list of questions, I hope to have a better relationship with my future students and make their experiences in the classroom beneficial.
Hurd's Text #3
Chapter 9- Sika by Jessica Samuels
This is another interesting chapter that I read. The author talks about her biracial identity in this chapter. At the age of 5 years old, she found out her dad was not her biological dad. She was devastated and started questioning her biracial identity. Jessica lived on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in a predominantly White, small, rural logging town in Northern Idaho. She struggled with her identity because she is “…caught in an in-between realm…” (Hurd 135). Members of her mom’s “White” family didn’t like her or her dad because they were “Brown.” Her dad’s side of the family didn’t like the fact that he married a white woman and had a biracial child. The author has been looked at negatively everywhere she went.
One of the stories she was telling was interesting to read. She brought IKEEP scholars to a school on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. They were attending the last school assembly of the year to see all of the students receive awards. Her cousin is a principle at the school, so Jessica was pretty pleased to see her. “At that moment I felt privileged and honored to witness one of the few PhD holding female Native American public-school principals, bringing together a community to honor high school students,” (Hurd 140). She’s proud of her cousin. Later on in the assembly, the principle referred to the author as a tribal member. She was in shock and dumbfounded, and she had to step out for a few minutes. “My head echoed with all the things I could imagine them saying when it was recounted, that I was referred to as a tribal member. In my head, I heard them say, ‘Oh Sika’s up there in Moscow trying to pretend she is Indian…She’s not Native,’” (Hurd 141). She felt this way because people knew of her cultural background. They knew she wasn’t a true Native American. This is a struggle the author has to deal with because of her biracial identity. As educators, we have to make sure that our students don’t feel like their identity causes them problems. We want them to develop and create their own identity and be proud.
Hurd's Text #4
Chapter 16- Poems on Being Mixed and Moving Forward by Lisa A. Boskovich
This was an interesting poem to read. In the poem, the author talks about her struggles with a learning disability and how she felt marginalized for it. Even though the poem was short and easy to read in five minutes, it was still meaningful. She was able to get her message across in the poem.
In the poem, Lisa talks about her pain for having a LD. Her identity was altered because of the learning disability. She even says that she felt like she wasn’t “good enough” or even “smart enough.” This is sad to see someone feel this way because of LD. This is something to look out for when I start teaching. I don’t want my students to change because they don’t feel like their good enough or smart enough. I would help them through it. In the end, Lisa said she ended up getting help with her learning disability. Because of the help, she’s been feeling better knowing there’s someone to help her out.
I think this poem had an important message. Like I mentioned, we need to make sure we keep our eyes open for people feeling this way. As future educators, it’s our job to help our students succeed. They don’t need to feel negative because of a disability.
Hurd's Text #5
Chapter 17- Walking the Line by Iman Fagan
This chapter talks about how the author grew up being biracial. She has a white mom and a black dad. At a young age, the author never considered looking at color when she was looking at her role models. It wasn’t until one day at recess when another child told Iman that she was going to pour a bottle of water on her because her mom is white and her dad is black. She was crying after hearing that statement. Now as an adult, she looks back at the event and she is proud to have a black dad and a white mom. The author says, “The world continues to be a place where skin-color matters,” (Hurd 250).
Towards the middle of the chapter, the author talks about a metaphor when comparing her to her mother. This is a metaphor from the Disney movie Tarzan. She says, “In the movie, I related to the gorilla, and imagined my mom was Tarzan because there is a moment where the two characters touched one-another's hands. Tarzan has a white hand and the gorilla has a black hand. I recall thinking to myself, 'That is like my mom and me,'" (Hurd 250). I thought this was interesting because I have never read anything where someone used a metaphor in the way that she did. It also makes me think. This is her way of telling us that everyone is unique and different. Identities are always being changed or rediscovered. There is not guide for society when it comes to acceptance. “The acceptance and exaltation of identity is a beautiful endeavor that serves as an invitation to us all. Accepting the invitation to welcome the attributes that my identity is comprised of has altered my perspective of viewing characteristics of my individuality as differences, hindrances or of lesser value,” (Hurd 253).