Monday, January 30, 2012

EDSS 541 RR#7


Reading Response #7
Identify the key elements and process for Service Learning
                The first step in identifying what service learning is should be explaining how it is different than regular community service. Although community service is a valuable aspect of an adolescent’s young life it is something separated from curriculum and or educational standards. Service learning is possibly the same action, such as a beach cleanup etc, but with education and student emotional, social and intellectual growth as the priority of the activity. Service learning is an educational opportunity that can also double as community service but community service is not guaranteed to be considered service learning.   
                The key element of any service learning project is the connection that each student will make with the material, each other, the instructors, the community and themselves. The outcome of service learning is the authentic experience that is produced by doing and not just saying, practicing and not just professing, living and not just thinking. In the world of education it is the primary goal of the instructor to have the students be able to make connection and relevance to the material. It is one thing to be able to say, quote, and or regurgitate the material but it is more important for the students to be able to apply the material as well.
                The process of a successful service learning project can be a fairly complex collection of planning, collaboration, creativity, and reflection. The most important part of a project will be the design and planning since at the heart it is intended to be an application of the standards so it will be built around the objective. Just like our lesson plans for our various content areas, the service projects should be backwards designed. After the objective is defined, the next piece is the action, event, and or group in which explores the objective and how the standard/objective will be completed and or shown. This is the other major planning obstacle whereas you first need to find the purpose and standard of the project then you need to plot out the logistics, without either your project will not succeed.
                Once the overall backwards planning and logistics are ironed out then there is the actual preparation of the project itself such as student readiness. The students must know and understand the rationale of why a beach cleanup has anything to do with history or why homelessness can be a product of racism. There should be an integrated series of lessons leading into, during and especially after the project’s completion. The final step in a successful service project will be reflection in regards to the students reflecting on their experiences and the instructors reflecting on the outcome of the project.    

EDSS 531 Reflection


Clinical Practice #1 Reflection
What is it like to be a student in my class?
                Although this experience will vary from student to student and from period to period I would like to have my response focus on the average. Most of my students enjoy my class due my passion and energy level in which I celebrated American history. What has the possibility to be a dry subject that consists of lecture and note taking I believe that history should be akin to “story time”. History can be fun, interesting, and relatable and it is my job to exactly that.
My greatest strength can also be a tragic weakness however in regards to energy level and delivery. Early in my student teaching I had a tendency to be overexcited when answering a question and or explaining a topic. I would find myself spewing out a stream of consciousness describing everything before, during, and after whatever point I was trying to make. Once I found, and still improving, a way to slow down my explanations and tighten up my precision more of my students were able to follow along.

What is it like for a student to move through classes in a day at our school?
                It is difficult for me to see the world through the eyes of my former students in this regard. Their high school experience up to the series of events that brought them into continuing education is at time unfathomable considering each of their personal hardships just making it to school that day. That being noted I would imagine most of the students on that campus are happy to be in a safe, stable and structured environment. Most may grumble and grip about having to do work every now and then but they enjoy the overall experience.
                Another interesting insight would be how the students felt about each of their instructors. At my former school the faculty really went out of their way in order to support the students. I would also understand how each of the staff were all unique and interesting individuals in which different students will have their own opinion based on the instructor and or subject material.   

EDSS 541 RR#6

Although not the actual response listed in the syllabus, I still feel compelled to respond to the two videos on the 21st century Student and Teacher (Links provided). The integration of content areas with any assortment of technology will always be a step forward. I did have some questions arise during each of the viewings...

1) If China has more honor role students then we (USA) have population is it due to actually having a better educational model (I assume so) or just more students over all. What is their educational model, what are they doing, and how are we not doing it. I think using statistics to show the proportionality could improve that statement.

2)Involving mixes, remixes, student compilations, multimedia presentations etc. will be vital for the next generation of students. I do retain my doubts when such things as SOPA (Anti piracy Act) will try to shut down the very sources of free information we need for these things to be successful. I look back to my EDUC 422 professor and the belief (at that time, hopefully I'm not misrepresenting) that the legal issues and so forth needs to catch up with the technology.

It is always very comfortable to hear the adage "not reinventing the wheel" but that no longer is a viable way to look at education. We teach as we have been taught and there we have the wheel that needs to be reinvented.

http://youtu.be/_A-ZVCjfWf8
http://youtu.be/B4g5M06YyVw

EDSS RR#5

Reading Response #5
                Although the details still need to be worked out in many respects, our theme will be the local ecology of the area immediately surrounding the campus including the beach which only a few blocks away. The draft of the cover sheet for the project will be discussed at our next meeting tomorrow. Some of the tasks drawn out will include the service leaning that will involve volunteering for beach clean ups and or other groups. Although not mentioned as a group I believe there will be many opportunities offered through groups such as The Surfrider Foundation.
                From the social science standpoint I am projecting either an Industrial revolution based standard and or creating assignments that would involve local city ordinances, the creation of such initiatives or possibly a project focused of the Californian Proposition system. More to come.

EDSS 541 RR#4

Reading Response #4
                I believe that I will successfully contribute to my thematic unit team in a couple of areas. On a personal level I feel that I am a warm person who can create friendships and successful collaborative relationships. I enjoy humor and appreciate safe and respectful working environments.
One major difficulty with aligning so many content areas is deciding how one theme can apply each of them. Our group has already conquered this issue and my contribution was creativity and flexibility as per the application of our specific areas of expertise.   
Last but not least I do believe that the content area in which I am “bringing to the table” is probably one of the most flexible. Each area of study can be fairly universal in one way or the other but Social Science includes history, econ, political science, psychology, sociology, and criminology to name a few. My content area can be involved in any theme in which could be initiated.   

EDSS 541 RR#3

Reading Response #3
“Helps them teach an interdisciplinary thematic unit as a meaningful way for students to learn through connected relationships of content

Model #1

Several Disciplines Can Initiate ITU. Often, to help the students recognize connections between selected content areas, the initial ITU activities can be designed to allow the students to assume the role of real-world professionals

Over the next few sessions, you and the students can approach the unit from the point of view of a particular discipline and then move on to a different discipline every day or two.

As the teacher, you would first solicit and introduce questions an archeologist would ask and discuss, and then demonstrate how an archeologist would organize and share information about the topic

Ongoing Developmental Activities
Ongoing developmental activities are those that make up the day-to-day energy of the unit-consider these activities the ongoing laps of an educational Indy 500. Once the ITU has been initiated, the students can become occupied with a variety of daily activities.

Culminating Activities
A culminating activity is one that incorporates sharing the product of the students' study-consider this a final lap in an educational Indy 500 for an ITU. You can accept the students' suggestions for a final event if it engages them in summarizing what they have learned with others.

Activities
Discovering patterns in disciplines can become
one of the culminating projects for an ITU if it is appropriate
for your group of students
A quiz show as a culminating activity can help
older students review information they gain in an
ITU about a period in history

Readings and inserts adapted from:
( Roberts, P. & Kellough, R. (2004). A complete guide to integrated thematic units. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.)

EDSS 541 RR#2

Reading Response #2
                Activity 7.1
The thematic group that I will have the pleasure to be working with will consist of mathematics, biology, physical education and social science. Although we remain in the earliest of stages when considering planning, our primary focus to guide this unit will be the combination of the California State Standards for each to the respective content areas in addition to available on-line informative sites and student interests.
            The brainstorming was more of a group effort on how to create a theme some of the ideas thrown about included but was not limited to the linking of our somewhat varied content areas.
That lists contained:


·        Find a way to link math/biology with social science
·        Involving physical education into the unit
·        Looking into the nutritional aspects of PE
·        Allowing social science to view “The History of…..”
·        Hoping the math and bio areas could align
·        Figuring out how the service project would pan out



The ongoing understanding of our thematic unit will involve a river, oceans and or lakes “field trip” where tests on water quality etc will be administered and recorded. Bio and math will focus on the testing and recording, PE will have the students walk, run, jog to the testing area and social science will compare such article that include industrialization.

Activity 7.2
My thematic unit team will be meeting later in the week, I believe tomorrow, in order to really hash out some of the major details such as essential questions, specific education standards, and other collaborative efforts. Prior to doing so, my essential questions will be similar to:
1.      What is the current “health” of this area?
2.      What impact have humans had on the environment?
3.      How can we change to foreseeable negative outcome?

EDSS 541 Reading #1

Reading Response #1
                Although each of these groups in which we need to close the achievement gap go far beyond under and over achievers, the research methods of successful practice and instructional strategies are effectively the same approach in respect to each group. It is important to teach each student as an individual and each of these groupings a more advanced knowledge of their unique differences and contributions as a whole. The first step in closing the various gaps is to find and acknowledge the various stereotypes that are in place. These preconceived notions can be very harmful to both the students and the instruction. When you approach any instructional strategy are a catch all there will be many who slip through the net. Most of the proven effective methods involve supporting each of the diverse groups and how their identified culture has contributed to the greater whole. It is important to have each student be comfortable with who they are and have a sense of pride in what they themselves can accomplish.  Another proven way in which instructors can close the gap is to have high expectations for all of their students even though each student will have natural talents and interests in different subjects.
 Differentiation is the greatest tool that we can use to help all of our students and it takes work and insight on our part. The classroom must be a place of knowledge, goals, and personal discovery. In order to foster such an environment we must structure our curriculum to celebrate everyone and teach in such ways in which we all learn, students and instructors.