Teaching Philosophy as of Right Now...Subject to Change with Experience

            I believe in the teaching of individuals, not just the teaching of English. Though I will hold the title of teacher one day, classroom learning will happen in spite of me not because of me.  Knowing this to be true, I fully embrace my responsibility to create and maintain a classroom culture that facilitates positive and authentic learning experiences for my students.  This time belongs to them, and they deserve someone who cares.

            My priority is to create a community of learners who respect one another’s values and beliefs and actively engage with one another.  We can achieve this through interpersonal dialogue, class and small group discussion, writing projects, and relevant personal and community involvement.  In Montana, many students go through their entire school lives together having the unique opportunity to know one another very well.  A level of intimacy such as this lends itself well to developing loyalty, accountability, motivation, and healthy competition among classmates.  I see myself as a multilateral facilitator of learning – teacher to students, students to teacher, students to students. 

            I value creativity, fun, and an affective response to knowledge because those are the components of authentic learning.   As I get to know my students, learning plans will be differentiated and customized to their individual and communal interests so that they will walk away from my class having learned something, or better, having considered a new way of thinking and communicating.  I use the word "learning plan" as opposed to lesson plan because my goal is to pose questions and provide tools that challenge students to think critically.  My intent is to amplify their innate abilities to learn in ways that they themselves recognize and value. 

My job is to set the tone for a safe space to think, create, and share, so that we may learn together.  Students have much to teach me about ELA content, and even more importantly, ways to maintain and improve methods of student-centered education.

Position Statement on Literacy Spring 2015

Resolution on Communications as a Facet of Literacy

Communication theory and practices, both small group and interpersonal, should be given a larger portion of the ELA curriculum than it is currently receiving.  The scope of literacy expands beyond reading and writing.  It includes speaking, seeing, listening, and using electronic media, all of which are addressed in the study of communications.  Literacy and the understanding thereof is communication in the broadest sense.  

Before technology made information retrieval easy and accessible, literacy and learning occurred through the transmission of information from the teacher to the students.  A teacher taught her students to read, spell, and write.  The knowledge was the emphasis.  Teachers still teach students to read, spell, and write, but the emphasis now is to go beyond knowledge into the zone of analysis and skill, often in collaborative ways with other students and teachers.  The education system must not neglect basic communication strategies as a type of literacy.  All the world and the people in it are a text to which meaning and interpretation can be assigned.

Communication Skills to Emphasize:

o   Small Group Communications – Take time to discuss rank and leadership within small groups, how to stay on task, and how to constructively criticize when working with literacy.

o   Interpersonal Communications – Real life, practical theory can be paired with relationships and conflicts between characters within texts.  It also helps students empathize with characters to deepen their understanding of what they read.

o   Conflict Management – Incorporate this into discussions of conflict and management strategies in literary contexts.  Address the purpose of a position statement in argumentative writing.

o   Technical Writing – This includes outlines, memos, meeting minutes, instructions, detailed accounts, and resumes that enhance work-place literacy.

o   Public Speaking – Formative and summative assessments often include public speaking projects, and the way something is written for public speech may not be the same way it is written for print.  The rhetorical situation differs.  Instruction on public speaking builds literacy and confidence.

o   Digital Media – Digital media is an ever-expanding realm of literacy that is commonplace in the ELA classroom.  It includes print, image, and audio texts as additional literacy components.

Here is a screencast of Prezi I made to summarize the Tech Club visits.

https://youtu.be/2EFbNr02FBA

Technology Integration Rationale

For my technology integration class (Summer 2015) we were asked to create a hypothetical classroom and defend our choice to use technology for the assignment.  This paper does not include a complete lesson plan.  The assignment I had in mind is writing a parable or allegory and presenting it as a digital story.

We had to personally create a digital story as an assignment for the course, so I blended a lesson plan I wrote during the spring with the technology use.  Here is my rationale.

Technology as Literacy in English Language Arts

Contextual Factors and Background Research

West Jackson High School is located in Greene County, Montana.  It serves Belmont, a town of approximately 8000 people.  I am the English Language Arts teacher for the 9^th grade classes and teach 120 students a day.  Roughly 29% are considered economically disadvantaged and 9% are minority students.  Gender enrollment is nearly equal, and based on last year’s test scores 86% ranked proficient to advanced in reading proficiency.  In my classes I have two students who speak English as a second language and another student who is hearing impaired and requires the use of a personal PA system.

            As an ELA teacher, my lessons range in literary genre and take into account multimodal literacy including but not limited to reading, writing, communications, visual imagery, and technology integration.  These forms of literacy span across literature, art, music, film, history, geography and any other subject that enhances students’ understanding of ELA.  Computing resources are vital to our understanding.  For the parable writing assignment, students will be asked to utilize computers and/or photo-taking devices (not required, but acceptable to use) and have internet access at school and after school as needed for digital presentations, word processing, video and image resources, collaboration, research, and document/file sharing and publication. 

Activity Plan

Standards:

CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism

W.9-10.3 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

W.9-10.6 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Materials:

            Computer with audio sound for whole class

            Smartboard to display videos in lesson

Computer and/or device and headphones for each student (computer lab – already scheduled)

Personal device and headset for Martin Allen (*Made up name*  He knows to arrive prepared and already has links.)

PA system for Martin.  Be sure to repeat any Q/A in whole-class situations.

ESL students may have questions on videos.

Objectives:    

Students will understand and identify the differences and purposes of parables and allegories.

Students will write their own parable or allegory.

Students will create and share with the class a digital story presentation of their parable or allegory relying on technology to convey meaning.

Day 1:

            Follow specific lesson plan located in Google drive

Days 2-4:

Students are to spend time creating and publishing their digital stories using one of the following programs: Animoto, Storybird, or iMovie. 

Students are expected to adhere to the following standard:  CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism

Encourage them to experiment with the technology and use Google to search for answers to their questions.

Stories are to be uploaded to YouTube and shared with me (leevernonteaches@gmail.com) by the end of class on Day 4. 

Technology Integration Rationale:

While I could ask the students to write a parable or allegory on paper, the opportunity to incorporate visual imagery strengthens their contextual understanding.  It also lends itself to communication accommodations for my students with IEPs.  Students typically enjoy playing with technology and free expression, so the digital process may make learning fun while allowing students agency over the outcome.  Parables and allegories employ the use of abstract thinking, so to bridge the abstract thought with concrete images and sounds may encourage students to see meaning in images and visualize images with written text. The students still have to use their imaginations to create the story and find suitable pictures, but instead of just surface reading (fake reading) and writing, they must find substantial imagery to accompany their words.  There’s no faking that. 

According to very recent research, “Digital video is a valuable 21st century writing tool in the classroom in three ways: high levels of student engagement, multiple layers of experiential learning, and authentic social collaborations” (Bruce & Chiu, “Composing with New Technology”).  Students, both high achieving and low, are regularly exposed to digital media, and most are quite comfortable searching for, creating, and sharing their interests and personal creations in this format.  It is highly accessible to them, so they are likely more motivated to use it.  It is always changing, so it rarely causes boredom.  Digital video is also inherently meant for sharing.  It can quickly reach a large audience and results in more learning experiences for students (Bruce & Chiu, “Composing with New Technology”).   The ARCS model of student motivation intertwines attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction.  Incorporating digital video into this particular writing assignment hits each component of this research-based model. 

The use of technology works to the advantage of a differentiated classroom.  This particular assignment asks students to express themselves and their understanding of ELA topics through creating, writing, visualizing, and presenting.   Those who struggle with writing may have a keen eye for visual design and feel good about their ability to succeed at a writing assignment.  Those who are comfortable with presentations are allowed to shine, while those who aren’t comfortable can still express themselves but with less exposure.  Students who are kinesthetic learners are not confined to a black and white one-dimensional screen.  They can move around, perform, take photos, and be physically involved in this process.  The options are endless and can be modified to suit all learners. 

One of the goals of any ELA teacher is to develop students’ organization skills in writing.  A growing trend exists in the inclusion of comic books as part of the regular curriculum because the images prompt readers to fill in the gaps. Digital stories work similarly by making use of story grammar elements explained by Harry R. Noden, author of Image Grammar: Teaching Grammar as Part of the Writing Process.  Story grammar elements are an initiating event, internal response, attempt, outcome, resolution, and reaction.  They are similar to the set up, rising action, climax, and resolution concept of a story (Noden 177-179).  Studies suggest that visualizing the steps improve reading comprehension and memory as well as organization in writing.  A simple allegory or parable follows this model well, and the use of technology makes achieving this goal convenient, interesting, diverse, and shareable. 

School subjects are no longer taught in a vacuum.  Teaching and learning increasingly become multi-disciplinary evidenced by a growing trend in blended classrooms as well as the adoption of common core standards.  Common core standards include those for literacy and technology.  Literacy, for example, has become a huge emphasis across all disciplines, which in turn redefines literacy to include multiple modes.  It would be irresponsible of an ELA teacher to exclude technology as an ever-burgeoning literacy outlet.  Technology does not replace creativity; it expands horizons and provides students with an opportunity to construct their own understanding. 

           

  

Works Cited

 

Bruce, David L., Chiu, Ming Ming.  “Composing With New Technology: Teacher

Reflections on Learning Digital Video.” Journal of Teacher Education 66.3

(2015). Web. 24 June 2015.

Noden, Harry R.  Image Grammar: Teaching Grammar as Part of the Writing Process.

2nd ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011.  Print.

Response to Intervention

Russian psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner created a developmental systems theory to explain the impact of the microsystem and macrosystem on human development.  The microsystem consists of those closest to a person such as family, friends, and school.  The macrosystem is made of larger components such as community, religious affiliation, state, and political influence (Belsky, 2010).  The American education system impacts the development of students in tremendous ways, second only to their families.  For most parents, nothing is more important than their children, and the parents of children with exceptional needs are often more voracious in their educational goals for their children.  The American education system bears a tremendous responsibility to provide free appropriate public education to all learners, both typically developing and those with exceptional needs.  For students to be successful, supports must come from both the micro and macro systems, and when intervention is necessary, the confluence of these systems becomes even more important.  “The best intervention is prevention” (Buffum, Mattos, & Weber, 2012).

RTI stands for Response to Intervention, which refers to a multi-tiered system of supports identified for all students, those with exceptional needs and those who learn by the general curriculum.  The purpose of RTI is to integrate resources, dissolving the territorial boundaries between special education, Title 1, and general education.  RTI involves taking a multi disciplinary approach to assessing students’ needs on how to best deliver high-quality, research-based instruction based on the belief that all students can learn (Laferriere Lecture, 2015). 

            Intervention is most effective when implemented early on.  Assessment and supports are available from the state to children from 0-36 months old.  The school system begins its responsibility when children reach the age of 3 and continues until they graduate from high school.   In the book Simplifying Response to Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles, the authors preface this entire concept by emphasizing urgency.  Proactivity is paramount, and every student and every family is different which presents unique and ever-changing challenges to effective intervention.  Intervention integrated with quality education is a moral responsibility, not a privilege, and it can be difficult, but not impossible.  It requires professionals to first attempt to reach all students in meaningful ways, differentiating as opposed to labeling.  Educators, counselors, families, and those in supporting roles need to attend to and identify those children at risk before they fall too far behind (Buffum et al., 2012).   

Buffum et al. list the 4 Cs of RTI:

1.     Collective Responsibility – Why are we here?

2.     Concentrated Instruction – Where do we need to go?

3.     Convergent Assessment – Where are we now?

4.     Certain Access – How do we get every child there?

Collective responsibility may be the most significant aspect of RTI because it is centered on the idea that education is a collaborative event both in teaching and learning.  It involves the entire system to provide appropriate opportunity to all students within the core curriculum and those identified as needing additional supports.  It includes school wide teams as well as teacher teams taking on the arduous task of challenging the old ways of thinking and transforming them into a collectivist focus.  If educators are asked whether or not they believe all students can learn, they will all agree yes, but they will follow their answers with qualifiers about things beyond an educator’s control such as the condition of home life, economic conditions, and intrinsic motivation (Buffum et al., 2012).  It is true that educators cannot change much of that, but what happens during school time is within their control, and it is their responsibility to execute purposeful plans during that time.  Learning needs to be the focus, not just teaching.

So what can I do?  I can demonstrate the acknowledgement and acceptance of a collectivist culture within the educational realm.  I can vocalize my intentions and motivate others to join me.  I can find out whom and seek help from interdisciplinary teams within the school system and offer my assistance and insight to the highest level possible for the good of the student.  These teams are made up of administrators, teachers, counselors, therapists, specialists, community resources officers, and parents and students, too.  If there is a team building committee or a teacher team structure on which I can serve as an ambassador for “regular” teachers, I could join.  I can also encourage others to and personally participate in ongoing learning.  In respectful ways, I can hold myself and others accountable for promoting cultural change within the school where I teach and the community as a whole.

Once educators commit to collaborative intervention, the next step is determining where to go.  Learners vary in skill level, and those who qualify for added supports and services vary even more.  The whole purpose of RTI is to reach all students on all levels before those determined “at risk” fall too far behind or are cast to the wayside.  RTI is grounded in the notion of implementing research-based strategies for teaching.  It has purpose.  This concept refers to concentrated instruction, which has 3 parts:  1.  Define the learning objectives (core instruction).   2.  Conceptualize what modification and accommodations will be offered and to whom.  3.  Design formative assessments that accurately reflect student achievement (Buffum et al., 2012). 

            This is no easy task.  Core standards have been established, but the number of standards is grossly disproportionate to the amount of time a teacher has to cover them.  Teachers prioritize standards by choosing which ones work best with the curriculum and which ones will generate the best outcome.  Besides, true learning can happen beyond standard measurement.  As a teacher my job will be to implement the chosen standards that other teacher teams and I collaboratively create.  It will also be my job to not just view the standards as one-dimensional but as having multiple dimensions that include depth, demonstration, and endurance.   Additional time and support for differentiated learners and those in need of remediation and enrichment should also be considered when planning instruction (Buffum et al., 2012).  It’s a continual process that requires ongoing attention from teachers and administrators to ensure that goals are being met and that assessment is dealt with in timely, productive, meaningful ways.  My job in this is to work with the systems around me and consider not just academic achievement but also behavioral achievement from real data sources.  I’m just one person, but I’m part of the team in a multi-tiered support system.

            All students are given assessment probes to measure achievement throughout the year.  Those who are Tier 1 students needing the least amount of intervention are assessed at least 3 times a year whereas Tier 3 students who need ongoing assessment, are probed more often up to several times a week (Laferriere Lecture, 2015).  The purpose of regular assessment is to ensure that students are progressing.  If students are not demonstrating increased achievement or are regressing, then the curriculum and implementation strategies should be reevaluated.  Systematic, measurable learning objectives are established to determine where students are and where they need to go.   Convergent assessment means to identify, determine, monitor, and revise assessments to obtain the most accurate evidence of student learning (Buffum et al., 2012).

            Again, my role as a teacher is to actively take part in the teacher team component of RTI.  Assessment criteria includes attendance, behavior, and grades in addition to research-based universal tests. These formative tests are administered several times a year, and I will be asked to provide results, so record keeping will be key.  It will be crucial for me to effectively convey classroom expectations and make myself present in the hallways, for example, to give students a chance to succeed behaviorally and academically.  Reading carries tremendous weight as a foundation for all learning.  As a future English teacher, I will need to know my students and assess their reading and writing abilities fairly in order to identify those who may need extra support.  I must also be willing and able to teach remedial learners the skills they need to make progress.       

Certain access is the fourth component of RTI.  Certain access encompasses the final result of RTI – that every student will receive the necessary support to be successful (Buffum et al., 2012).  It requires that all systems work together to produce the intended outcome.  It is a universal promise that the school district will deliver the appropriate time and support each child needs in order to learn.  One part of this involves the proper placement of students in the most effective teacher/learner environment.  Identifying the students who need support is going to determine the best intervention (Buffum et al., 2012).

            RTI and certain access do not just have to happen on the macro level.  The idea of prevention being the best intervention includes teacher responsibility to know her students chart their progress or lack thereof.  Ongoing pre and formative assessment will be crucial to monitoring students.  A quarterly report card might not be enough if needs are discovered until the entire first quarter is over.  Grading should also be valid and measurable to ensure that learning objectives are met.  The bottom line is for me to design the class purposefully, treat students equitably, differentiate successfully, assess fairly, revise and extend when necessary, and collaborate frequently.

I should follow the proper steps for referring students who need additional support. 

As a pre-service, non-SPED teacher, my opinion on RTI would be that RTI encompasses the implementation of an enormous system that we cannot completely control.  Sadly, time and place constrains make the implementation of RTI difficult because a child’s needs for time and support can vary child to child, even day to day (Buffum et al., 2012).  My job is to know my students and commit to working collaboratively with the intervention supports in place to best serve students according to their individual needs.  My job is also to practice acceptance and collaboration to promote a culture of commitment to social justice.  My motives in doing so should be in accordance with the principles, culture, and purpose of the school where I teach, and I should have a mind for continuing education and exposure.  I should also keep in mind that the goal of any education is to create cohorts of functional, thoughtful, and productive people, not to pass a test or master a certain standard. Society has made some improvements in the ways we think about and implement intervention strategies, but it is a continual process.  I believe if we, as a body of educators, can trudge through the discomfort of change, we as a society will reap the long-term benefits of offering a rich experience for our students.

 References

Belsky, J. (2010). Experiencing the lifespan (2nd ed.). New York: Worth. Print.

Buffum, Austin G., Mike Mattos, and Chris Weber. Simplifying Response to

Intervention: Four Essential Guiding Principles. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree, 2012. Print.

Laferriere, EDSP 306 Class Lecture 2015.