Double Entry Journal 13

Community is better defined in relationship to spaces because it does not label people, but if defined in spaces you can break that down even farther to see what different people are doing in the space given. A generator is whatever it is that gives space a content, a generator in school could be a textbook. The content organizer is how the content is designed, using the textbook example, a content organizer in a school setting would be how the author of the textbook organized the content in the book. A portal is anything that gives access to the content and this could be the teacher in a school setting. According to the author people have an "affinity" for "the endeavor or interest around which the space is organized" or what the space is organized for rather than the people that are also in the space. This shows me that the true focus of "affinity spaces" are the content rather than the people. Affinity spaces, like inclusive classrooms, give people a sense of community because while the most important part of the space is not the other people, the sense of having things in common among one another gives a sense of community. Affinity spaces also lead to a common vision for people in the space. In the example in the book all the people shared a vision of making the AoM website helpful and informative.

Double Entry Journal 12

The main argument the author makes in chapter 5 is that video games incorporate good learning principles. The author also argues that video games do better with the learning principles than current schools. The author struggled to learn to play Warcraft III because the game did not motivate him to take the time necessary to learn the game. He states that before learning principles the game has to motivate you for an extended engagement. He also notes that in a school setting his experience with Warcraft III would have been simply seen as a failure. One learning experience that is good for "at risk" students is what the author calls horizontal learning which allows students to get their feet wet and when ready move into vertical learning. The author states that the schools view on "at risk" learning is to dumb down the curriculum to try to help, where instead it could be looked at as a learning experience to help them in the future. If schools could create the motivation for extended engagement like a game can, then learning would increase. When it comes to assessing in schools it is often looked at as you pass or fail while in games you are assessed and put in the proper skill level where it will be just challenging enough.The fish tank is when a game, RoN in this case, first begins by providing the player with choice from the beginning and no matter what choice you make it allows you to learn the basic skills to start playing the game and learning from playing. A sand box tutorial is one that is supervised but the environment is there for you to explore but the environment does not need to be as clean and planned as that of a fish tank. A genre is a certain type of something, for instance if I say I am playing a video game I could be playing a number of different types of games and Genre is used to classify each game. The skills tests in games are used as a development tool which ,according to the author,usually is not the case in school. RoN allows collaboration learning by allowing players of the game to engage in competition and you learn from those who have beaten you, and you can see the strategies they used compared to your own and simply learn from the experience.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning. The central purpose is to help teachers effectively respond to students learning needs. In formative assessment it is important that we, as teachers, provide our students with feedback that will give students clear suggestions about what can be improved. As stated in the article these assessments can be used in a few different ways, "For example, a rubric that lists criteria for evaluating writing can be used formatively to help students understand.what is expected and summatively to assign a grade." One strategy to help formative assessment be more effective is to stress the quality of the students work rather than focusing on the amount they have done. Some advantages of formative assessment is that it allows teachers to identify students who are struggle and make the proper changes to help and it also, for students, increases both confidence and the feeling of control. Challenges in implementing Formative assessment arise when it becomes hard to distinguish between high quality formative assessment and assessment that is not fully developed.

Double Entry Journal 11

In the statement "Learning doesn't work well when learners are forced to check their bodies at the school room door like guns in the old West." the author states that learning as a cultural process involves the bodies and we learn better when we have experiences that facilitate learning, not just memorizing words. The author states the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is by experiencing the worlds in which words refer to. A word gains a specific meaning by the word it is used in. One example of this from the book is when the author talks about power ups in games. While power ups have a general what a power up truly is, differs from game to game. So what gives power up a specific meaning is the game you are playing. Off the hook has different meanings in these three sentences. My sister broke up with her fiance, so I'm off the hook for buying her a wedding present. Them shoes are off the hook dog. Man that cat was fighting 6 people and he beat them all. Yo, it was "off the hook", you should have seen it!! In the first one it means no longer required to, in the second it means cool or really nice, and in the third it means amazing or awesome. The author states that the work of childhood is play and I tend to agree with him because play is extremely important to children and is helpful to their growing. Not reading the instruction before playing a game is a wise decision because unless you have played the game it will be hard to understand the ways with words used in the instruction manual. The author argues that knowing words at the general or the literal meaning is "useless" and that you need to know the specific meaning. The author states that good learning is learning in which we learn by the cultural process and make a personal connection to. Peer to peer interaction is important because in those situation many words gain the specific meaning referred to earlier. In my experiences I have been lucky enough to see some great group work and I truly believe that the students can learn a lot from time with their peers but it also has to be done a certain way for it to be a good learning experience. 

Double Entry Journal #10

The main concern when looking at early literacy development are social practices. These social practices are written and oral forms of language when around other people. Leona's specialized form of language features groups of lines which she puts in stanzas. Each line tends to have a parallel structure with other lines in the stanza and matches them in content. Leona's specialized form of language because it does not sound like an early prototype of academic language to teachers even though she uses a complex structure and has learned meaningful language skills. the Snow et al (1998) contradicts itself by stating that we need to improve children in poor areas initial reading skill and then showing that regardless of initial reading level they fall further behind. Some factors that make or break good readers are factor such as racism and power. Some students may dis identify with the teacher based on these will make the learning environment non productive for the students. Some children have a hard time identifying with the "ways with words" in schools because they find other specialized languages more interesting and focus on those.

Double Entry #9

The author states that the strange fact is the majority of students who have trouble with reading come from poor families or minorities and have faced oppression and prejudice. This fact is strange because being in a particular social group or being poor should not have an affect on ones ability to read. School separates students into different groups, the author calls those who enjoy and excel in school the "school club". Traditionalists advocate a skill based approach while more progressive educators focus on meaning making. According to the author reading is not a natural process like learning to speak. A natural process is something that just happens such as learning ones language. An instructed process is something we must learn through skill based approaches such as learning physics. A cultural process is one that a culture values so much that they ensure that everyone who needs to learns it, reading should be considered a cultural process according the author. Humans learn best through cultural processes but reading is taught in schools using the instructed process. The author attributes the "fourth grade slump"to the fact that the students can not read for understanding but can read in the sense of decoding. A better predictor of reading success is language ability. The parents of the child are not to blame because it is more than that. According to the author reading is a cultural process and as a cultural we need to make sure all of us can read. I struggled at certain parts of the chapter and I would say it was due to my unfamiliarity with the specialized language used throughout the chapter. 

Double Entry Journal 8

In Situated Language and Learning, by James Gee, the main challenge being addressed is the tension that everyone faces when dealing with "academic jargon". The author talks about "ways with words" which are the different types of words and structure that we use. One "ways with words" is academic while another is a students out of school language. The author states that the core argument of the book is that people learn new ways with words only when they  find the worlds in which these words apply compelling. I am into video games so one variety of language I have learned outside school is one that I learned through video games. The best way to learn a specialized language according to the author is when we are interested in the world that these "ways with words" are associated with. To be successful in the 21st century we must be "shape-shifting portfolio people" or people with different kinds of experiences that are able to adapt. I do agree with the author, while academic language is still important but in today's society you also need to know many other specialized languages. Many types of language are out in the world and if you don't learn these types you will be unable to communicate with other. Any job you get usually has a specialized language that is not academic language and in order to do the job you must know the language. After only reading the Intro I am still not sure what I personally think of the authors "way with words" but he does a good job of switching between academic language and language everyone could understand.

Double Entry Journal #7

According to the reading one of the major challenges when implementing inquiry approaches is the skill and knowledge of the teacher. It goes on to say that some teachers do not understand all that is included in inquiry approaches and simply dismiss them as unstructured. If this is the belief of the teacher it may result in the students not receiving the proper scaffolding or prior knowledge. Without a strong model in these approaches students may struggle with coming up with driving questions and moving toward the goal of the project. Teachers must, in order to succeed, learn how to juggle different responsibilities. They must also come up with a different idea for classroom management and also make sure that the inquiries are diverse to cover different concepts. While the inquiry approaches can be great it takes a teacher that truly believes in the approach and is willing to work in more ways than just simply directly feeding students facts.

Double Entry Journal 6

The dominant paradigm that is showing signs of wear is "the instructional model of the teacher and the textbook as the primary sources of knowledge, conveyed through lecturing, discussion, and reading" according to the reading. Project based learning supports student learning by being organized in a way that the questions lead the students to encounter central ideas and concepts. It supports learning by focusing on the students investigating which involves them building knowledge. Another great thing about project based learning is that is allows the students to design and manage their own work on a personal and group level. Research has found that students that are involved in this approach benefit in gains of factual learning. Many short term studies that compared project based learning to traditional learning show that there are several advantages to project based learning, such as better identifying a problem. Problem based learning also puts students into small groups and the activities aim to have students solve a particular problem with the reason and resources they have. Some benefits of this approach are that students are solving realistic problems , students are taking an active role in learning, and  there are multiple answers rather than a single answer. Most studies about problem based learning are done in the medical field as this type of teaching is often used in those settings. Studies show that those who have been in problem based learning usually have a higher ability to problem solve. Studies also show that problem based learning helps students learn how to apply the theories they have learned in realistic situations. Learning through design approach is based on the idea that students learn deeply when asked to design or create an artifact. This approach supports revision, it also creates a need for collaboration due to  the difficulty of the work, and it always the students to have different roles and for each to become an expert over their part of the project. There have been very few studies done on the comparison between learning through design and traditional but the study mentioned in the text was about a group of sixth graders and the learning through design group had better learning outcomes. The three approaches are quite similar and the article even refers to them as "cousins". While each project is group based the focuses of each are a little different. Project based learning has students focus on central ideas, which are often common to all groups, while problem based learning has many possible answers and none are consider the "right" answer and students don't have to be pushed toward a central theme. Learning by design has students break the work down more than the others and usually has students become experts of a certain area, rather than everyone knowing a little bit about everything. In my opinion the most important benefit to learning used in these approaches is the fact students must work as a group. Learning to work with people and in groups becomes very important after school. Many jobs in the world today often require collaborations between people, and learning to give and take in a group becomes a valuable skill. When you work properly as a group not only can you learn more but in the group discussions many pointsof view come out so it leads to a more open form of learning.

Double Entry Journal #5

Reverent listening in teaching is a teacher who truly respects their students but also gets respect from them. Reverent listening can support culturally responsive teaching because it promotes the valuing of everyone's opinion. Any cultural capital a student may have will be brought to the forefront and valued. The quote "Reverent listening is not to be confused with humiliation and domination by others who force us to listen,and even less so, with the kind of incompetence that wants to be told what to do". shows what Reverent listening is not. Reverent listening actually promotes all to speak and listen and for no one person to dominate. Most teachers that show traits of a reverent teacher are teachers I have had in college. I hate talking in classes but these teachers made me believe my opinion was valuable and I found myself wanted to participate in discussions because I felt     that my ideas were an asset to the entire class. Factors that contribute to "toxic" school culture are a culture that is dominated by one, silencing the rest, and one that makes students feel as if their opinions and ideas are not valued. While I do not have a specific quote from the article I plan on incorporating many of the traits mentioned in the article. One section that sticks out was the one that focused on knowledge. IN that section the article goes over how many people view things differently and as a teacher it is very important for you to see how you students view things rather than to simply teach to your own view. The article had some great ideas that all teachers should incorporate into their plans as a teacher. 

Where I'm From Reflection Draft

The relationship between literacy, language and power is one that is extremely important. Those who possess  language and literacy skills are often the ones who are put in power. Often those who do not speak like the people who are in power are criticized for the way that they speak. The quote from the article I choose is  "First, and most obvious teachers and schools must accept, believe, and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners." I choose this quote because it shows that children from poor families are sometimes considered non learners. I cant help but think that the fact that they don't have the language and literacy skills of those in power plays a role in this. The article is based on the fact that those who don't speak like those in power are considered dumb or below everyone else. The article points out that the school did nothing to help the mother because they did not even take her seriously.

Teachers can overcome the cultural deficit perspective by taking time to get to know their students as individuals rather than lumping them into groups. In the article "A Look at Luis Moll's Research Into Hidden Family Resources" once the teacher learns about them as individuals, and loses her cultural deficit perspective, she then teaches off of what the students have learned and she gets overwhelming success. The teacher realizes that each student possess cultural capital and uses this to her and the students advantage. The teacher in the article can attribute some of her success to the funds of knowledge held within the community. When you take the time to learn about your students or do projects such as the Where I'm From activity, you get a much better sense of where the students are and it gives a great starting place to make their education apply to everyday life and become more important to them. One strategy that really seems to work for non-standard English speaking students is relating the English words back to their language. When you provide the association between the two words it becomes much easier for them to grasp. We often learn by association and being able to associate an English word with a word I already makes it easier to learn. Teaching from many perspectives is also very important as not everyone views the world the same. So being open to many different points of view and many ideas is extremely important as a teacher.

The Where I'm From project supported culturally responsive teaching by giving the instructor a chance to see where each of us come from and we got to use what we know to make a project for a formal classroom. The assignment blurred the line between me as a student and me as a person, which allowed a more personal connection to the assignment. It also covered many of the ways in which we learn, the writing of the poem and the making of the video are aimed toward different kinds of learners as we got to read, see pictures, and the making of the video was hands on. The project also gave me a sense of pride in my personal life and you could see the pride in all the projects. As I watched them I couldn't help but to think about how everyone's project was so well done and everyone truly cared about they were represented by their project. We also got to learn about all those in the class, I found myself watching everyone's just to find out more about them. I feel closer to everyone in the class just from watching their video and knowing a little about them. The project overall did a great job of celebrating who we are and bringing a diverse class together. In my future classroom being culturally responsible will be very important. I will probably use a this project or one similar to this early on the course because bringing students together will certainly make for a much better learning environment for all.

Where I'm From

Where I'm From

I am from  Baseball gloves and Basketball hoops, from bailing hay all summer and the greatness that is Mountain Dew.

I am from the tan house in the country with the huge yard and the baseball backstop.  
I am from the twisting creek we use to fish in, the wooded hillside
I am from family reunions at grandpa's house at the end of each May and never being on time, from Loys and Sapps.

I am from the do it yourself projects and always working hard.
From treating those as you want to be treated  and always doing your best.
I am from going to church on Sunday mornings but sometimes missing to gain some much needed sleep.

I'm from New Martinsville and Wise Acres, Nan's tater soup and Mom's Thanksgiving Turkey .

From the Engagement to my wife with the April Fools joke that wasn't , the first true family vacation to Disney World, and the and the dysfunction of our cats.

I am from riding bikes, fishing in the creek,  helping with projects around the house, throwing my first "perfect game" on a summer afternoon in the back yard, a place where family means everything,  living next to my grandparents, spending time with my brother and parents, swinging on vines during "adventures" in the woods and dominating in neighborhood wiffle ball games.  

Double Entry Journal

The quote "First, and most obvious teachers and schools must accept, believe, and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners." The reason I picked this quote is because I am surprised that this needs to be stated. I simply do not see the need for this statement. As a future teacher, I would like to believe that those already in the field still have faith in the children they teach, regardless of the background of the child. To put it simply all children can learn and to believe something different is wrong in my mind.  1. Literacy knowledge is the knowledge that children gain before their schooling begins. One example used in the article was a girl in a church who knew that reading was what happened when her mom read aloud to her, another example used in the article was about a boy who played with a pen and paper and was able to realize that he had written something. 2.Stereotypes can interfere with the learning process by allowing educators to write off certain students rather than teaching these children in different ways. 3. In this article the teachers and school contributed to poor literacy by simply not taking the family seriously and simply passing the child on. 4. In the article because the family was poor and both parents were uneducated their son was passed on and none of his teachers had any hope in him. This lead to the denial of his education due to his family's status. 5. A few misconceptions between language and literacy are that without language you cant be literate. The mother in the article is a great example when she told the author that she was never able to write her own words, she instead had to copy others. 6. Children must not simply be pushed along and teachers must also realize that children from poor backgrounds are learners and in fact can be taught. It would also be a good idea to teach children in the language that they have known and can learn. 7. We all learn best with what we know. Pushing everyone toward proper English restricts children's ability to learn.
The picture below applies to the article because it shows a diverse group of "people" as a perfect group. If we as both people and especially teachers could get passed what we look like or where we come from and instead focus on who we are and what we can become we could all move forward instead of holding each other back.

Sources: \
Gates, V. (2000). As soon as she opened her mouth. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6DFAmexYq7vMGQxMjI1OTEtMjAyZS00NzJmLTg1OTUtODlmMGQ0ZDIxOTVk/edit?hl=en_US

Double Entry Journal #1

Inclusive education is education that is meant to include all. Inclusive education benefits all students because not only does it include all but, it also provides ways to learn for a very diverse group of people. Inclusion also makes sure that all students get an equal opportunity at education. Inclusive schools often have a sense of community and co-teaching is often used to help all students. A strategy that helps students become more responsible is having the students cooperative learn, which is when a group of students work together to solve problems and answer questions. The following link is to an article that I choose because it takes a very positive view on the idea of inclusion and talks about how inclusion is great for all students involved in inclusive education.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/learning-disabilities/inclusive-education/

Inclusive education. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/learning-disabilities/inclusive-education/