EDSS 541

Reading Responses 1 - 6

Reading Response 1

            One important strategy that I could use to assist with the learning of my students is to put important information in contextual format based on their particular culture. While some saying or understandings cross multiple cultural boundaries, there are times when this is not the case, and it is important the students receive a proper explanation that connects with their personal cultural understandings. Another important factor is to hold expectations that show adherence to equitable standards for all of the students. Everyone should be held to the same levels of expectations, but understandably, sometimes some students might require a little extra help to get them on the right road of learning the information. It is also important to involve the resources of both the school and community when working with students of different cultural and economic backgrounds. For students with particular language struggles, the use of school ELD resources can assist with the education of the student, as well as communicating with the parents. If there are problems with the students, it is possible to use the resources in that student’s community to assist with their development. it is paramount that the students feel that the classroom is a safe location for them to be in. whether the student is involved in less savory activities or has a different life choice, then they should be able to come into the classroom without fear of being attacked for their lifestyle.

Reading Response 2

7.1

            For our ITU group, we identified several of the resources that we would be able to use that would assist us in developing the unit. Between our several subject areas – History, English, and Spanish – we will be able to draw on our respective state frameworks to help us guide the project. We will be able to connect our classes’ textbooks, internet resources, student interests and questions, and professional literature and documents to create a unit that can be connected through our content areas. Focusing on Cesar Chavez in connection with Latino/a literature, Spanish language development, and historical analysis of laborers’ rights, there are several key words or phrases that I can connect with history. A list includes: Cesar Chavez, unions, laborers, rights, repression, agriculture, corporations, profits, organizing, origins, and 1960’s movements. The main process that we used to develop the idea for our ITU was to first look at what subject areas we were all part of in our team. Having a History, English, and Spanish candidate, we brainstormed over a possible connection between our subject areas. A common theme was the agricultural workers movement that developed during the 1960’s, and were able to come up with several project ideas that we could incorporate in our respective content areas. Through the use of literature, presentations, research, and other related assignments, we felt that we could create an integrated unit that involved different aspects of learning for each of our classes.

7.2

            Several of the essential questions that could be developed for the ITU from a historical perspective include: What were the issues that surrounded the period in terms of laborers’ rights? What were conditions like for the workers? Were there previous movements for workers’ rights previous to this and how successful were they? Who were important figures for this movement and how did they advocate their cause? How successful was this movement and what were some of its outcomes? These questions will help to outline some of the objects of this unit, and will help the students to understand what the focus of some of the days’ lessons will be about.

Reading Response 3

Some of the ITU resources and activities that I could provide for the team include:

·         Group discussions between the students with teacher beginning conversations with topics and ideas.

·         Timeline of events based on the workers’ movement.

·         Document analysis of important figures/events of the movement.

·         Online research project using the school’s media center.

·         Jeopardy review session of the information.

·         Community involvement with local authorities on the topic.

·         Roleplay/presentation project for the students to interact with each other.

Reading Response 4

            Some of the aspects of the ITU that I feel that I could positively provide for could include some of the framework for the overall project. I would like to help develop some of the essential questions and enduring understandings that would be invaluable in leading the students’ development of the unit. I also have access to several points of resources that I could use for gathering information such as journals, articles and primary documents that could be used by the students in their various classes. I would also like to help to develop an integrated schedule between myself and my cohort members so that we could plan lessons that coincide between the different classes.

Reading Response 5

Here is a copy of the thematic list that my ITU group came up with in class the other evening:

Task 1: Theme - Immigrant Rights
Task 2: Webpage - Create a Blogspot page for the theme
Task 3: Context - Southwestern United States in the 1960s
Task 4: Rationale - Appealing to the culture of the Orange Glen demographic
Task 5: Overview - History: Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Movement

Spanish: Contextual vocabulary pertaining to Cesar Chavez

English: Chicano/a poetry; Cesar Chavez , etc. Speeches

Task 6: Objectives, Standards and Assessments - History: Role play and reflection

Spanish: Poster presentation with vocab     English: Poetry Jam on immigrant rights

Task 7: Calendar - How many weeks?
Task 8: Technology - Blogger.com, research websites for posters, e-Dictionaries
Task 9: Art - Poetry, murals, posters.
Task 10: Social Justice - The whole thing – focuses on the positive learning about historical figures important to the local demographics of the school.
Task 11: Service Learning - Attend Cesar Chavez Celebration on March 31

Reading Response 6

            My PLN now includes: blogspot, google apps, twittier, edmodo, diigo, and the list I am sure will continue to grow with all new technical applications!

Reading Responses 7 – 10

7.       The primary elements of service learning include preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration. It is important that the director of the service learning understand what the particular needs of the local community are so that they can plan accordingly. It requires the students and the teacher to lean about their community, what issues there might be, and in what ways they can work to improve the situation. It is also during this period that the logistics of the project will be planned out: when and where the service will occur, what are the objectives of the activity, and how will it be conducted. The actions taken by the students and the teacher are a direct result of the research and coordination that was completed during the preparation phase.  Those involved will carry through with whatever plan was created by the class to become actively involved in their community. Reflection, an important concept that follows any valuable lesson, comes next. During this phase, the teacher will lead the students in a process that has the students connect the activities that they completed with discussion that will ensure that the students develop, socially, emotionally, and academically, as individuals who are part of a community.  The final portion, demonstration, is the phase in which the teacher and students model their activities and learning through some form of medium. This can include oral or physical presentations or written essays about their experiences.

8.       A list of resources and ideas for my content area that could be useful for the ITU can include some of the following: professional journals about immigrant labor during the 1950’s through the 1970’s, personal biographies from immigrant and/or agricultural workers from this time period, a study or timeline about the growth of unions in the agricultural industry, speeches from Cesar Chavez, a trip to local agricultural centers where tours or informative sessions can be made available, a guest speaker who is an expert on the material, and newspapers from the time period.

9.       Orange Glen High School has a student population of approximately 2,400 students. 75% of this population is Hispanic, 16% is Caucasian, 4% is Asian, 2.5% is African American, and the rest of the population is made of ethnic groups that number less than 1%. There is a 25:1 student/teacher ratio at the school. Approximately 25% of the student population is eligible for free/reduced meals.

10.   A work in progress for the ITU.

Reading Response 11
Postponed

Reading Response 12

Please see my tab to my ITU website

 Reading Response 13

The co-teaching strategies used during this week were supportive teaching, complementary, and team co-teaching. There were multiple instances of the professors and guest speaker, Dr. Thousand, switching between these different models of cooperative teaching. While Dr. Thousand was giving her presentation, she was the main teacher of that portion of the class, while our normal professors played a supportive or complementary role at different points, providing positive feedback or reinforcing what Dr. Thousand was speaking about. During the night at High Tech High, there were also several moments where Dr. Thousand and our professors equally split different responsibilities of the night, demonstrating the team co-teaching model to my peers and the visiting teachers and supervisors.

 Reading Response 14

In our ITU, there are going to be several opportunities for myself, Mr. Oliver, and Mrs. Hinojosa to demonstrate supportive as well as parallel models of cooperative teaching. The initial and final days of our ITU will have the students of our three classes, US History, English 12, and Spanish 1, coming together to learn in a combined atmosphere. In the these situations, we will be moving about our combined classes as they work on projects associated with our different content areas. These times will have us working in a parallel teaching model, with the students rotating between our specific research areas. If you would like to see the lesson plan for this particular day, please see our ITU website, which you can reach through a tab at the top of my blog.

 Reading Response 15

There will be two main periods when myself and the members of my ITU group will being teaching cooperatively during the process of the ITU. This periods will be focused on the initial and final day of the unit. On the first day of the ITU, the individual teachers will explain what an ITU is to their classes, and how they will be working collaboratively with their peers in other classes throughout this unit. After this, the three classes will come together in the media center and have a group web search activity. This activity will have been developed to be cross-content based, with the students researching different topics provided by the three co-teachers. The students will be rotating through different learning stations, based on content areas, and monitored by that content teacher. They will be researching a set of topics that we had developed. This period will be largely focused on parallel co-teaching. Another period where the three classes will combine again will be on the closing day of the ITU. On this day, the students will get to demonstrate their experiences from the service learning activity in a shared art gallery walk. The projects developed by the students will be based on their content areas, such as a detailed timeline from the US History classes, that will be connected with the work of their peers from the Spanish 1 and English 12 classes.

 Reading Response 16

           There are five key components to creating a positive cooperative learning experience. The first is positive interdependence. What this describes is the ability of the the students to not only learn the materials on an individual basis, but also to ensure that their peers are also able to positively comprehend the materials provided by the teacher. The contributions of each member of the group must also be felt to be a positive addition, making sure that the students understand that their individual work was essential to the learning of the group as a whole. On the other side of the coin, that means that the teacher must have developed materials for the classes that can be effectively split between the members of a learning group. They must ensure that each student understands the expectations of a collaborative activity, as well as monitoring the students during the activity to make sure that the students are making equal contributions to the group.
            The second component is the individual and group accountability process. The students are required to contribute equally throughout the whole process of the activity. They have to realize that they will be responsible for one aspect of the activity, and that it would be their component to make sure that the other members of the group have an understanding of the materials. It is the teacher's role during this accountability process to assess the individual learning of each student, and to provide feedback and guidance to the groups as a whole. They also have to ensure that there is group accountability, and that each student will be responsible for the total product of the activity.
            The third process of collaborative learning is group processing. This requires the students to be aware of their learning, and the process in which they are attaining the objectives of the activity. They need to be able to apply what actions are positively affecting the group, while cutting out negative behaviors that influence the group. The role of the teacher in this portion is to act as a guiding measure once the activity is completed. They ensure that the students properly reflect on the activity, and check for understanding behind the reasons for doing the project. They also have to develop the skills of the students during this period that were necessary for completion of the activity, and to work with the students to improve their performance for the future.
            The fourth component are the social skills that were used between the students and instructor. For the students, it is important that they increase their interpersonal skills that are based on leadership, decision making, trust-building, and conflict management. The focus for the teacher in this period is to provide opportunities for the students to work on these skills in their collaborative groups. They must observe their students and make sure positive communications are made between the students, and that if there are any conflicts, that they be resolved constructively.
             The final component of collaborative learning is based on the face-to-face interactions between the students. They need to be able to work together to not only cover the material, but be able to assess whether their peers are comprehending the material. They will need to teach each other the information that they learned, as well as check for comprehension. Again, the teacher's main role is to provide opportunities for this style of learning and cooperation. They must monitor the groups and provide feedback or intervene in the groups to make sure that there are positive interactions throughout the whole activity.

 Reading Response 17

A large component of cooperative learning in portion of the ITU will have the students working together in their learning groups to go over primary source documents to complete a series of critical analysis questions. The students will be broken up into learning groups of 4 students, with each groups receiving a different primary source article. The students will be responsible for sharing the division of reading the source aloud to their peers in the group. Once they have completed this component, each student will be given a set of questions that they will have to discuss together and come up with a group answer. Once this has been completed, there will be a jigsaw presentation segment, where the groups will take turns presenting the questions that had as well as they responses that they developed collaboratively.

Reading Response 18

Please see my ITU website, which you can reach through the tab at the top of my blog. In it you will be able to observe some of the planning resources incorporated throughout the ITU.