Practicum for ELEM 402
During my 12-day observation at Magnolia Elementary School I sat on two different grade level meeting, assisted with grading assessments, tutored various levels of students, observed Ms. McDonald and assisted her with reading and math lessons, and taught a social studies lesson to the class. I have truly enjoyed my time at Magnolia and have learned a lot from observing Ms. McDonald teach reading and math. However, there was no real lesson for social studies or science even through it is on her class schedule. Art is taught by _________ and the students go either one or two times a week depending on their resource schedule. Social study lessons are made up of homework sheets that the students do throughout the week. During the time of my observation the students were learning how to read a map and how to read charts with information about the temperature climates of various northern
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Within this novel the students are learning about the Mohawk tribe and some of the cultural differences that they had compared to the people that lived in Brooklyn, NY. This would have been a great way to have introduced a 30-minute lesson about the North Carolina Native American tribes each day or at least every other day. The use of integration of subjects was not observed during my 12-days within the classroom. I do feel that there were areas that social studies and science could have been integrated throughout reading and math. With Magnolia being classified by DPI as a failing school, with only 30% passing the End of Grade testing the main emphasis is on reading and math throughout the whole school, especially the testing grades. Ms. McDonald’s class is considered to have the most ESL learners within fourth grade. This school ranks 16th out of 19 schools for Robeson County Public School, with last year only 28% of fourth grades meeting the standards for math and 27.2% for
Cowhey’s book is broken down by the major themes and concepts she teaches her first and second grade students. Each concept relates back to her personal pedagogy of implementing a Multicultural Education. These major themes include empathy, freedom, peace, activism, community, and social justice. Cowhey’s pedagogy uses “language and literacy to teach about the world with rigor, depth, and challenge in a way that engages and
Culture has the power and ability to give someone spiritual and emotional distinction which shapes one's identity. Without culture, society would be less and less diverse. Culture is what gives this earth warmth and color that expands across miles and miles. The author of “The School Days of an Indian Girl”, Zitkala Sa, incorporates the ideals of Native American culture into her writing. Similarly, Sherman Alexie sheds light onto the hardships he struggled through growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven in a chapter titled “Indian Education”.
Poverty is a huge issue for Native Americans, an everyday trip to school is walking in the freezing cold with only a T-shirt and a ripped pair of jeans. Walking down the road you see nothing but rundown houses and a group of punks beating up a kid. Looking to the side of the road you see a man, about thirty-two years old, lying on the sidewalk surrounded by about eight empty liquor bottles. You get to school, and in the hallway there is a kid leaning up against a cold brick wall, he is pale, skinny, and he looks really sick. He is so hungry and so skinny that you can see under his rib cage. You also notice that half the teachers chose not to go to school and all the hallways are empty from lack of kids actually going to school. In my essay,
This mixing of inner-city and suburban cultures creates new challenges for students and teachers alike. Children from the inner city characteristically have lower GPAs, attend very few AP classes and have a dropout rate that is much higher than their suburban counterparts. This has been an area for much exploration and study throughout the years, but yet the trend of a knowledge gap among children seems to continue. Perhaps one area that needs to be further explored is the differences in cultural identity in these two groups of students and its impact on the education these students wish to achieve.
The second classroom that I observed was a second grade classroom and I notice that there was one student who was an ELL. The teacher informed to me that this student had just came from Dominican Republic in September and started school and after school 2 weeks later then everybody else. The first SEI strategy that I notice that the teacher applied to her lesson was guided interaction. Before the teacher read the book called “The Recess Queen” she had a conversation with the students. She asks the students if they have every been bullied or knew someone who has been bullied. The students first shared out and then talked with a partner about their experiences. After this the teacher read “The Recess Queen” to the students. After the teacher
Education has been a topic of controversy for many years now, and will continue to be for years to come. The modern American society is best defined by its education. A good part of the average person’s life is spent at school, going to school, and paying for school. However, even though education is so obviously very important, there are many groups in America that are getting shorted. The Native Americans are a key group that has struggled the most. The largest obstacle they face is lack of proper education. The standard educational practices being used for the instruction of Native American peoples are not effective. There are many pieces to this road-block, and many solutions. This can be rectified by having more culturally aware teachers and parents, and by teaching the general population more about the Native American cultures. The main solution here is to understand both precious cultures and modern society.
Children come to the classroom rich in the culture of their community and family; from which their learning style is primed (Aguirre et al, 2012; Morgan, 2009). For example (Saracho & Spodek, 1984) stated that Native Americans are “field dependent learners”. This in an indication that Native American students prefer to work together, are...
Indeed, educational experiences and achievement of Native Americans have been dismal due to inequality, racism, low or lack of expectations, and little to no cultural relevance in classrooms. To contribute to the vision of democracy that Lomawaima and McCarty write about, it is imperative that we continue to recognize barriers to educational attainment, and begin to challenged deep-rooted structures and operations that promote discrimination against marginalized peoples. At the same time, we must deliver culturally responsive curriculum that respects and accommodates the needs and development of all students.
White-Kaulaity, M. (2007). Reflections on Native American reading: A seed, a tool, and a weapon. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(7), 560-569.
I completed my observation at the Roosevelt Middle School located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The students being served at this school are sixth through eigth grade. The students are comprised from a diverse population. I observerd at this site a total of nine times from 1pm to 3pm every Tuesday and Thursday.
I observed a first-grade science lesson at Moore Elementary in Pasadena ISD on a Monday February 5, 2018 from 1-3pm. The class is a general education with 11 boys and 10 girls in the class it also has a five ESL (English as the Second Language) students. In the lesson the students were learning about the four different seasons. The first thing the teacher did to introduce the lesson was have the students watch a brain pop video about the four seasons. After the video the teacher went over the different seasons and asked the students what season we are currently and what season come next until they have covered all four seasons. Next, the teacher had the students do two different interactive board activities. The first interactive board activity
Elliot mentioned how after Martin Luther King died she wanted to deal with racism in a concrete way and just not talk about it with her students. She heard white commentators say many arrogant things about the shooting of Martin Luther King and also asked who was going to control and hold African Americans. So she wondered how her third graders were going to react to this situation if these white commentators reacted negatively and ignorantly. When the class was studying about the Indians, the teacher realized the how there was no progression with the treatment towards Native Americans. With that in mind, Mrs. Elliot thought it was time to do her lesson on prejudices and stereotypes and have the children walk in the shoes of those who face
... other students. This proved rather challenging within our learning circle group as neither the Social Work Students or the Primary Education students had any idea. It had been said by one of the three social work students that they thought it was all about ‘arts and crafts’ and that we had no real involvement with social work or education departments. The whole learning circle was challenging, there was very little or no input from some group members. Opinions and ideas were requested and nothing was offered back in to the group.
One possible strategy that Ms. Thomas could try is on the days her student specific aide is not there, perhaps one of her peers in the class can step in and help Jodi with classroom activities. Peer mentoring can be defined as a helping relationship in which two individuals of similar age or experience come together informally, or formally through formal mentoring schemes (Beltman & Schaeben, 2012). Another possible strategy that can benefit Jodie on doing the reading assignment and questions is putting her and the entire class in small groups and have them work as a team. Ms. Thomas is aware that Jodie reads at a second-grade level so she needs to create a learning environment where Jodi can achieve and be successful. According to the case, Jodie seems to have an interest in the planets and the solar system. Ms. Thomas should find a book on the solar system and set-up an after school or before school reading program where she can work with Jodie one on one with her reading. Students will be motivated if they can read something they like or
Teacher Interview summary: I had the pleasure of interviewing the 3rd grade social studies teacher Mr. Columbie. As I observed Mr. Columbie on a weekly basis, I would constantly ask him questions on how he taught social studies in his classroom and what strategies he uses. Mr. Columbie informed me that he teaches social studies in his classroom once a week, but now that the students are preparing for the FSA test he has not been teaching social studies. He explained that the schools main focus is that every teacher is teaching and building students math and reading skills. He also explained to me that he can get in trouble with the principle if he were to teach a full social studies lesson in his classroom. He told me that for social studies he is giving his students reading passages and the students are answering comprehension questions at the end of the reading.