Connecting Reflection and Development

 
URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 12 -- Triad Three

Monday 12/17/12 to Friday 12/21/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Reflection and Development

Area of Concentration:
Connecting Reflection and Development


Summary Report - Overall Practicum Reflection

I consider my urban teaching practicum experience to be a total and complete success! The multicultural classrooms of diverse urban learners combined with the steady and generous assistance from my host Cooperating Teacher made this the ideal capstone to my experience at Metropolitan State’s School of Urban Education.  One thing I did very well during this residency was connect to the learners, teachers and school community. Despite the rigorous schedule, I was able to find time to create and maintain positive relationships. My greatest struggle was with classroom and personal time management.

Overall, I found I was able to maintain the schedule and meet my goals as an urban student and an urban teacher. The choice to have a pre-focus for each practicum week was an extremely successful system. Written reflections are only useful if they lead to action. The action is only useful if it empowers more thinking – through websites, reports, graphs, slideshows, etc. By pre-planning and "preflecting" on specific urban teaching standards and practices, and associating them directly with the production of specific artifacts, I was able to actively reflect on both process and progress.



As it concerns teacher preparation training itself, 
this practicum has pointed to five items:

Being a successful urban learner-teacher requires a great deal of planning, structuring and organizing.

Being a successful urban learner-teacher requires balancing one’s own academic and professional concerns with concern for the learners.

Being a successful urban learner-teacher requires the ability to manipulate multiple educational perspectives.

Being a successful urban learner-teacher requires a tolerance for liminality -- that is to say, the ambiguous existence at the threshold between two, completely separate worlds.

Being a successful urban learner-teacher requires the academic skills for self-directed study and a ready capacity for active reflection.

This urban learner-teacher residency experience, overall, highlighted
Ten Critical Dispositions of the Effective Urban Teacher:

• The urban teacher believes that all learners can achieve at high levels and persists in helping each learner reach his/her full potential.
  
  
  
•  The urban teacher respects learners' differing strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to further each learner's development.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher is committed to working with learners, colleagues, families, and communities to establish positive and supportive learning environments.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher realizes that content knowledge is not a fixed body of facts but is complex, culturally situated, and ever evolving. S/he keeps abreast of new ideas and understandings in the field.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher is committed to engaging learners actively in assessment processes and to developing each learner's capacity to review and communicate about their own progress and learning.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher respects learners' diverse strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to plan effective instruction.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher is committed to exploring how the use of new and emerging technologies can support and promote student learning.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher is committed to deepening understanding of his/her own frames of reference (e.g., culture, gender, language, abilities, ways of knowing), the potential biases in these frames, and their impact on expectations for and relationships with learners and their families.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher respects families' beliefs, norms, and expectations and seeks to work collaboratively with learners and families in setting and meeting challenging goals.
  
  
  
• The urban teacher takes responsibility for contributing to and advancing the profession.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Ten markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching have been underscored by this urban practicum experience:

• A respect-filled learning environment where all teachers and subjects "reflect a multicultural perspective"
  
  
  
• Set high standards
  
  
  
• Expect excellence and reward it
  
  
  
• Be explicit about behavior expectations and the home/ school conundrum
  
  
  
• Actively show respect for urban learners and for their learning
  
  
  
• Forge relationships with families
  
  
  
• Develop attitude
  
  
  
• Instructional planning that accounts for multiple literacies and supports linguistic diversity
  
  
  
• Consistent incorporation of culturally relevant classroom materials
  
  
  
• Learning strategies that activate and celebrate cultural knowledge

URBAN CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Urban teachers need to model behavior and attitude as well as academic excellence. The following was devised as an urban learner management memory aid:

U    Understand and address the underlying cause of classroom misbehavior. Determine the root issues and act in a systematic way to address them. Involve family members – parent/guardians – in overcoming obstacles to classroom success.

R    Remind learners of the rules and always demand maintenance of a safe and respectful environment. Set limits and make sure learners are aware of them.

B    Be explicit about high expectations and reward positive behavior. Give learners a reason to do their best.

A    Always be consistent -- with praise and discipline. Rewards should be the same for all learners. Whenever a student behavior problem arises, follow through with the appropriate consequences.

N    Never argue, fight or in any way engage in a power struggle with a student. In every situation, preserve the dignity of the learner.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Build relationships of respect.
  
  
  
• Learning targets must align to a testable knowledge, skill, or reasoning ability.
  
  
  
• Be flexible and understanding about the underlying cause of classroom misbehavior.
  
  
  
• Enforce rules but make the punishment "fit the crime."
  
  
  
• Create opportunities for diverse learners to form a positive and healthy social identity.
  
  
  
• Construct an intentionally diverse, culturally inclusive environment where each family’s cultural community and social identity is considered.
  
  
  
• Dialogic instruction allows learners to be actively involved and own their learning.
  
  
  
• Urban teachers need to model resiliency and ". . . move from the knowledge of their own resilience to the practice of building resilience in the classroom" (Dill & Stafford-Johnson, 2004).
  
  
  
• Conduct regular reviews of results (achievement data and student work) followed by targeted adjustments to curriculum and instruction.
  
  
  
• Be a patient insister and a "warm demander."
  
  

[ Read More ]

New Teacher Resources

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 11 -- Triad Three

Monday 12/10/12 to Friday 12/14/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Professional Responsibility

Area of Concentration:
Specific SEPT Element: Professional Development

Links to New Teacher Resources Online

New Teacher University
http://www.newteacheruniversity.com/resources/teacher-articles/

TeacherVision - New Teachers
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/new-teacher/teaching-methods/44377.html?detoured=1

New Middle School Teacher Resources
http://www.middleweb.com/1stDResources.html

Inspiring teachers
http://www.inspiringteachers.com/

Teachers Count
http://www.teacherscount.org/

Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/

Education Week - Teacher Blogs
http://www.edweek.org/tm/section/blogs/index.html

EduWonk Blog
http://www.eduwonk.com/

Kathy Schrock Blog
http://www.schrockguide.net/

Skill Builders
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help.htm

Lesson Plan Library
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/

Discovery - Education Network
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/

New Teacher Technology
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/survival/technology_in_your_classroom.cfm

PBS Teachers
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/

PBS Learning Media
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/?utm_source=modal_Fall2012&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=PBST2

Google Education
http://www.google.com/edu/teachers/#

Microsoft Education: Free Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/Pages/index.aspx

SmartBoard Exchange
http://exchange.smarttech.com



Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted two critical dispositions related to Professional Responsibility:

• Teacher appreciates multiple perspectives within the discipline and facilitates learners' critical analysis of these perspectives.
  
  
  
• Teacher recognizes the potential of bias in his/her representation of the discipline and seeks to appropriately address problems of bias.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Three markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and Professional Responsibility have been underscored by this week’s experiences:

• Provide instructional planning that accounts for multiple literacies and supports linguistic diversity.
  
  
  
• Use self-assessment to engender student understanding of their attainment and on-going development toward competence.
  
  
  
• Develop creative and effective ways to learn about student’s lives and interests.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Build relationships of respect.
  
  
  
• Forge relationships with families.
  
  
  
• Expect excellence and reward it.

[ Read More ]

Communicating Success

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 10 -- Triad Three

Monday 12/03/12 to Friday 12/07/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Communication

Area of Concentration:
Specific SEPT Element: Communication
Communicating Success in Urban Schools

A teacher must demonstrate proficiency in all areas of communication -- including "interpersonal communications, linguistic theories, language development, presentation and discussion strategies and the role of language in learning." A teacher’s work must demonstrate "a cultivated awareness of the potential power of language in promoting self-expression, fostering identity development, and improving the academic achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse urban youth."

Of the communication proficiencies outlined in the MN state SEPT – this week has highlighted the following teacher requirements: know effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques; use effective communication strategies in conveying ideas and information and in asking questions; support and expand learner expression in speaking, writing, and other media; know how to ask questions and stimulate discussion in different ways for particular purposes; use a variety of media and educational technology to enrich learning opportunities; understand the power of language for fostering self-expression, identity development, and learning.


Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted four critical dispositions related to Communication:

• Teacher is committed to exploring how the use of new and emerging technologies can support and promote student learning.
  
  
  
• Teacher appreciates how cultural differences can affect classroom communication.
  
  
  
• Teacher values the variety of ways people communicate and encourages learners to develop and use multiple forms of communication.
  
  
  
• Teacher values flexible learning environments that encourage learner exploration, discovery, and expression across content areas.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Four markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and Communication have been underscored by this week’s experiences:

• Communicate Success
  
  
  
• A respect-filled learning environment where all teachers and subjects "reflect a multicultural perspective"
  
  
  
• Instructional planning that accounts for multiple literacies and supports linguistic diversity
  
  
  
• Learning strategies that activate and celebrate cultural knowledge

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Expect excellence and reward it.
  
  
  
  
• Never engage in a power struggle with learners.
  
  
  
  
• Always be consistent with praise and discipline – and follow through with the appropriate consequences.
  
  
  
  
• Know how to ask questions and stimulate discussion in different ways for particular purposes.
  
  
  
  
• Use a variety of media and educational technology to enrich learning opportunities.

[ Read More ]

Diverse Urban Learning Strategies

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 9 -- Triad Three

Monday 11/26/12 to Friday 11/30/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Instructional Strategies

Area of Concentration:
Diverse Strategies for Reaching Diverse Urban Learners

"What children learn depends not only on what
they are taught but also how they are taught, their
development level, and their interests and experiences . . .
These beliefs require that much closer attention be paid
to the methods chosen for presenting material."

-- Understanding the Common Essential Learnings,
Saskatchewan Education

From the Saskatchewan Education’s online Instructional Handbook . . .

Instructional Skills

Instructional skills are the most specific category of teaching behaviors. They are necessary for procedural purposes and for structuring appropriate learning experiences for students. Among the variety of instructional skills and processes are the following six key skills: Explaining, Demonstrating, Questioning, Questioning Technique, Levels of Questions, Wait Time.

1. Explaining

The teacher spends much classroom time explaining or demonstrating something to the whole class, a small group, or an individual. Student resource materials typically do not provide extensive explanations of concepts, and students often need a demonstration in order to understand procedures.

2. Demonstrating

The teacher spends much classroom time explaining or demonstrating something to the whole class, a small group, or an individual. Student resource materials typically do not provide extensive explanations of concepts, and students often need a demonstration in order to understand procedures. Much student learning occurs through observing others. A demonstration provides the link between "knowing about" and "being able to do."

3. Questioning

Among the instructional skills, questioning holds a place of prominence in many classrooms. When questioning is used well: a high degree of student participation occurs as questions are widely distributed; an appropriate mix of low and high level cognitive questions is used; student understanding is increased; student thinking is stimulated, directed, and extended; feedback and appropriate reinforcement occur; students' critical thinking abilities are honed; and, student creativity is fostered.

4. Questioning Technique

The teacher should begin by obtaining the attention of the students before the question is asked. The question should be addressed to the entire class before a specific student is asked to respond. Calls for responses should be distributed among volunteers and non-volunteers, and the teacher should encourage students to speak to the whole class when responding. However, the teacher must be sensitive to each student's willingness to speak publicly and never put a student on the spot.

5. Levels of Questions

While the need for factual recall or comprehension must be recognized, teachers also need to challenge students with higher level questions requiring analysis, synthesis, or evaluation. The consideration of level is applicable at all grade levels and in all subject areas. All students need the opportunity to think about and respond to all levels of questions. Teacher probes or requests for clarification may be required to move students to higher levels of thinking and deeper levels of understanding.

6. Wait Time

Wait time is defined as the pause between asking the question and soliciting a response. Providing additional wait time after a student response also allows all students to reflect on the response prior to further discussion. Increased wait time results in longer student responses, more appropriate unsolicited responses, more student questions, and increased higher order responses. It should be noted that increased wait time is beneficial for students who speak English as a second language or English as a second dialect.



Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted four critical dispositions related to Instructional Strategies:

• Teacher is committed to deepening awareness and understanding the strengths and needs of diverse learners when planning and adjusting instruction.
• Teacher values knowledge outside his/her own content area and how such knowledge enhances student learning.
• Teacher values flexibility and reciprocity in the teaching process as necessary for adapting instruction to learner responses, ideas, and needs.
• Teacher is constantly exploring how to use disciplinary knowledge as a lens to address local and global issues.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Five markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and Instructional Strategies have been underscored by this week’s experiences:

• Model behavior
• Instructional strategy planning that accounts for cultural and linguistic diversity
• Activities that allow learners to connect course material to the "real world"
• Learning strategies that activate and celebrate cultural knowledge
• The culturally responsive teacher critically examines the examples used when illustrating key points to ensure they are meaningful and sensitive to learners.

Implications for Practice

My practicum week was very successful. Now that I am comfortable with the students and the daily routines, I feel more relaxed and focused as the classroom leader. This week I was able to assert discipline when necessary – and then move on. I was also able to successfully connect with several individual students.

The student-teaching practicum requires one to live in two worlds at the same time. The student-teacher has little to no control over the curriculum or instructional strategies -- yet must maximize learning in an effort to establish competence.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Expect excellence and reward it.
  
  
• Monitor progress and plan interventions.
  
  
• Teach learners how to ask questions.
  
  
• Conduct activities in a safe, respectful atmosphere.

[ Read More ]

Caring, Collaborative Leadership

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS -  
Week 8 - Triad Two

Monday 11/19/12 to Friday 11/23/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Leadership, Collaboration and Ethics

Area of Concentration:

Specific SEPT Element – Area of concentration: Leadership Collaboration, Ethics
Culturally Responsive, Collaborative Urban Classroom Leadership


"Schools must forge greater relationships with the wider 
community, parents and other schools. Too many schools 
are working in isolation. Schools need to share their power 
with students and the wider community."

-- Fullan and Hargreaves

 

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better, it's not."

-- Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

Leadership
(Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium)

Leadership, as defined by InTASC Standards refers to attributes of the teacher that include but are not limited to:

1) a view of the teacher’s role in education as multifaceted;

2) a keen sense of ethical responsibility to advance the profession while simultaneously advancing knowledge, skills, and opportunities for each learner;

3) a deep commitment to teaching
that includes a willingness to actively engage in professional development to expand knowledge about teaching and learning;

4) a willingness to take on the mantle of leadership in the classroom and among colleagues without a formal title;

5) a recognition of when to lead and when it is appropriate to allow others to lead;

6) knowledge of when and how to marshal a variety of stakeholders to work toward a common cause;

7) an ability to regularly garner resources, both human and other, for the betterment of the students and the school; and

8) the ability to make sound decisions based on the appropriate use and interpretation of quality data and evidence. Teacher leaders function well in professional communities, contribute to school improvement, and inspire their students and colleagues to excellence.


Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted five critical dispositions related to Leadership, Collaboration and Ethics:

• Teacher actively shares responsibility for shaping and supporting the mission of his/her school as one of advocacy for learners and accountability for their success.
  
• Teacher respects families' beliefs, norms, and expectations and seeks to work collaboratively with learners and families in setting and meeting challenging goals.
  
• Teacher takes initiative to grow and develop with colleagues through interactions that enhance practice and support student learning.
  
• Teacher takes responsibility for contributing to and advancing the profession.
  
• Teacher embraces the challenge of continuous improvement and change.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Four markers that align Culturally Responsive Teaching to Leadership, Collaboration and Ethics have been underscored by this week’s experiences:

• Develop creative and effective ways to learn about student’s lives and interests.
  
• Adopt a “cognitive coaching” stance to teaching; model and highlight -- in course readings and discussions -- the thinking, ways of making arguments, and use of academic rhetoric.
  
• Use self-assessment to engender student understanding of their attainment and on-going development toward competence.
  
• Monitor Progress and Plan Interventions

Implications for Practice

Week 8, the final week of this practicum’s second triad, was a good week for reflecting on the aspects of education leadership that take the teacher out of the classroom. I find great value in the opportunities to interact with people in after-school and community activities.  The teaching demands of the practicum do not leave much time for these sorts of things, so organization and pre-scheduling is critical.

The practicum would likely benefit from a permanent, four-day teaching schedule with one day set aside to pursue outside community involvement.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Build relationships of respect
  
  
  
• Forge Relationships with families
  
  
  
• Expect excellence and reward it
  
  
  
• Support students in goal setting for projects

[ Read More ]

Learning Strength, Patience and Passion

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week  7 - Triad Two

Monday 11/12/12 to Friday 11/16/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Learners and Learning:
Student Learners

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

-- Harriet Tubman

Area of Concentration: Student Learning

Developing the adolescent urban learner’s strength, patience and passion -- in order to bridge the education and opportunity achievement gap

Specific SEPT Element – Provide learning opportunities that support a student's intellectual, social, and personal development.

Report on specific control students – SOUL Focus

Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted four critical dispositions related to Student Learning:

• Teacher respects learners' differing strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to further each learner's development.
  
• Teacher is committed to using learners' strengths as a basis for growth, and their misconceptions as opportunities for learning.
  
• Teacher takes responsibility for promoting learners' growth and development.
  
• Teacher values the input and contributions of families, colleagues, and other professionals in understanding and supporting each learner's development.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Three markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and Student Learning have been underscored by this week’s experiences:

• A respect-filled learning environment where all teachers and subjects "reflect a multicultural perspective"
  
• Instructional planning that accounts for multiple literacies and supports linguistic diversity
  
• Learning strategies that activate and celebrate cultural knowledge

Implications for Practice

Week Seven of my practicum was one of my hardest and busiest weeks. I anticipated that, so I was very prepared. . . . Teaching all day is very emotionally exhausting. What I am learning is that progress is slow – so slow it’s hard to see at times. Here, patience isn’t just a virtue, it’s a tool. Patience must be wielded and artfully employed!

Student-teaching requires the academic skills for self-directed study and a ready capacity for active reflection. Preparation and practice of this specific skillset has never been addressed in the teacher prep program. Certainly, acquiring these personal learning skills is equal in importance to grasping education psychology concepts or theories of student learning.  Just as there are diverse learners, there are diverse learner-teachers. Very few students are naturally self-directed, active reflectors.  The practicum experience could be an overwhelming, or even threatening learning environment for some people.

Written reflections are only useful if they lead to action. The action is only useful if it empowers more thinking – through websites, reports, graphs, slideshows, etc. By pre-planning and “preflecting” on specific urban teaching standards and practices, and associating them directly with the production of specific artifacts, I find I am able to actively reflect on both process and progress.

I conclude that the student-teaching practicum greatly benefits from this pre-structuring. The TPA assignments should be incorporated – or better yet, abandoned altogether – so that the urban learner-teacher concentrates on the actualization or realization of reflected experiences and events. Each week’s preflection asks, “What can you learn about what you know?” in a particular domain of practice. The answer directs the production of an artifact.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Expect excellence and reward it.
  
  
  
• Be a patient insister and a “warm demander.”
  
  
  
• Recurrently make behavior expectations explicit and assess those established goals.
  
  
  
• Activate metacognition, particularly through use of rubrics and reflection activities.
  
  
  
• Motivate learners with activities that seem pertinent and goals that seem possible.
  
  
  
• Provide goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback.
  
  
  
• Provide Culturally Mediated Instruction.
  
  
  
• Teach the “Hidden Rules” of School.
  
  
  
• Have learners identify their prior knowledge and understandings of key concepts, issues, or content, and how those things are understood in their culture/community.
  
  
  
• Reflection is action!

[ Read More ]

Linking Content to Learners

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 6 -- Triad Two

Monday 11/05/12 to Friday 11/09/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Content - Subject Matter
Relating Content to Diverse Learners

Area of Concentration: 
Specific SEPT Element Subject Matter

A teacher must understand the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of Communication Arts and be able to create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.

Connect disciplinary knowledge to other subject areas and to everyday life

Evaluate teaching resources and curriculum materials for comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness for presenting particular ideas and concepts

Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted two critical dispositions related to Subject Matter:

• Teacher is committed to work toward each learner's mastery of disciplinary content and skills.
• Teacher realizes that content knowledge is not a fixed body of facts but is complex, culturally situated, and ever evolving. Teacher keeps abreast of new ideas and understandings in the field.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Four markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and Subject Matter have been underscored by this week’s experiences:

• Model cultural competence
• Establish ground rules with learners for the discussion of controversial or sensitive topics
• Consistent incorporation of culturally relevant classroom materials
• Enhance meaning

Implications for Practice

My sixth practicum week was very challenging and very rewarding. While I see the constraints in the district’s Focused Instruction model for classroom teachers, I also see a great value in it for the student teacher. Since, creation of my own untested and possibly unsuccessful lesson is not a pitfall in this particular practicum, I am able to concentrate on delivery of content – without fear of failure due to faulty instructional design.

Far from being restricting -- the imposition of a set, unit lesson plan is determined to be a liberating condition, freeing the student-teacher to focus fully on the learners and the learning.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• To be engaging, urban learners must see an activity as both, relevant and doable.
  
  
• Use analogies or metaphors from everyday life to help illustrate abstract concepts.
  
  
• Increase the amount of time urban learners spend in collaborative and cooperative group work.
  
  
• Carefully and constantly evaluate curriculum and classroom materials for comprehensiveness, accuracy, and bias.
  
  
• The research-based understanding of motivation (Lambert and McCombs, 1998) is that it is part of human nature to be curious, to be active, to initiate thought and behavior, to make meaning from experience, and to be effective at what we value. These primary sources of motivation reside in all learners, across all cultures.

[ Read More ]

Planning on Achievement

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 5 -- Triad Two

Monday 10/29/12 to Friday 11/02/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Learners and Learning:
Diverse Learners

Area of Concentration:
Specific SEPT Element – Planning Instruction

Preparation of lessons that are clearly based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals.

Planning instruction includes:

o    Planning for Diversity
o    Planning in Collaboration
o    Planning to Maximize Learning
o    Planning for Adjustments

Planning instruction involves using contextual considerations that . . .

o    Bridge curriculum and student experiences
o    Accommodate individual student learning styles and performance modes
o    Link to student needs and performance


Research source: Focused Instruction

Understanding by Design
UbD
(Wiggins & McTighe, 1998)

Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted four critical dispositions related to Planning Instruction:

• Teacher respects learners' diverse strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to plan effective instruction.
   
• Teacher values planning as a collegial activity that takes into consideration the input of learners, colleagues, families, and the larger community.
   
• Teacher takes professional responsibility to use short - and long-term planning as a means of assuring student learning.
   
• Teacher believes that plans must always be open to adjustment and revision based on learner needs and changing circumstances.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Four core markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and Planning Instruction have been highlighted by this week’s experiences:

• Instructional planning that accounts for multiple literacies and supports linguistic diversity
• Curriculum content that avoids bias and reflects the contributions of all cultures
• Learning strategies that activate and celebrate cultural knowledge
• Developing attitude

Implications for Practice

My practicum week was a high quality learning experience. It is an extremely busy but rewarding week. I am learning a great deal about planning instruction for the reality of the urban school schedule.

Student-teaching requires balancing one’s own academic and professional concerns with concern for the learners. Three months is a goodly amount of time and strong relationships with learners are established. The students come to know you and expect you to be in class with them. There is a natural tendency to want to help the dozens and dozens of learners in need. However, fulfilling the practicum and licensure requirements is also a central need – and there simply is not enough time to do everything.

I find that I am forced to be very selfish with my after-school time. I know I would greatly benefit from exploring after-school classes, PTA meetings and community activities. But my schedule will not permit it. “Burning the candle at both ends” and skimping on sleep is absolutely not an option. Working with young people is physically, emotionally and mentally draining. In order to pass any and all tests of patience, the urban educator must be well-rested, healthy and emotionally whole.

While a sustained, 12-week practicum makes a certain amount of sense in terms of occupational evaluation and workplace suitability, it is actually counter to the overall professional teaching purpose: linking content to students and the deepening of student understanding. A three or four-week classroom visit allows student-teacher, cooperating teacher, and learners to limit their involvement. Beyond a month or so, the practicum visitor is forced to engage as a permanent part of the learning community. One is not just a substitute teacher, or college assistant, but a trusted resource and good friend. Unfortunately, the practicum schedule is not student-friendly. In a few months, I will drop out of their classes and out of their lives.

Out of the blue -- a young African American male student asked me: “Are you coming back next week?” I said, “Of course I’ll be back.” It broke my heart when he asked, “Are you ever not coming back?” A few other students have begun to ask questions about if and when I would leave them. I interpret them to be judging what level of commitment they should be making to someone who is with them every day now and who is clearly more than just a visitor or temporary assistant. They rightly want to know if they can continue to depend on me.

In their report, Responding to the Needs of At-Risk Students in Poverty (http: www.usca.edu/essays/vol172006/mckinney.pdf ), SueAnne McKinney and Charlene Flenner write: 

Concentrated poverty, family instability, and early exposure to violence are but a few hardships typical of growing up in an urban environment. From an early age urban children are confronted with a series of obstacles in their attempts to meet academic, personal, and social success. Urban teachers need to be conscious of and understand the ecology of the environment that has a profound influence and impact on the urban child’s success in school.

Research tells us -- urban learners need stability and continuity. In order to grow and learn, they need to feel safe. A safe environment is a predictable one.

Popping into these learners’ lives for a quarter and then disappearing, is contrary to best practices. Two short sessions – with a few weeks off in-between, for reflection -- would be a far more advantageous schedule for the pre-service and cooperating teachers, and most especially, for the learners.

Children are not lab mice – available for experiments and research! This is real for the students. This is their sixth grade year. They will advance and achieve and connect this year – or they will not. Whole families, neighborhoods, and even whole communities may be changed by the connections made by any one of these sixth graders! The last thing quality urban educators want to do is have young folks start to see their educational institutions as a place where people they trust, come and go – a place where taking risks doesn’t pay off because nobody is consistently there for them.

In support of my firm belief that the personally-directed and occupational advancement-driven 12-week practicum should be – at least – halved into two, 6-week internships, I cite the following language from the Code of Ethics for Minnesota Teachers - Standards of Professional Conduct:

A teacher shall not use professional relationships with students, parents, and colleagues to private advantage.

I further cite the following factors of Henderson & Milstein’s (1996) “resiliency wheel” which serves as an outline for the process of building resiliency: supportive bonding among members; consistent caring and support; the provision of opportunities for meaningful participation.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Urban teachers need to model resiliency and “. . . move from the knowledge of their own resilience to the practice of building resilience in the classroom” (Dill & Stafford-Johnson, 2004, p. 2).
  
   
• Provide complex, authentic opportunities to explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective, empathize, and self-assess.
  
   
• Employ effective curriculum development that reflects the three-stage “Back-Mapping” design process of standards tied to activities and assessments.
  
   
• Conduct regular reviews of results (achievement data and student work) followed by targeted adjustments to curriculum and instruction.
  
  
  
• Remain aware that teacher expectations can and do affect learners’ achievement and attitudes
  
  
  
• Practice “active teaching” -- teaching that is responsive to learners’ needs and interests

[ Read More ]

Urban By Design

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 4 -- Triad One

Monday 10/22/12 to Friday 10/26/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Learners and Learning:
Diverse Learners

Area of Concentration:
Specific SEPT Element - Diverse Learners
Urban Diversity by Design

Research Target:
"Understanding by Design" in Principle and Practice

UbD and DI  (Tomlinson and McTighe)

"Teachers must place a strong emphasis on 

rigor, relevance, but most of all on developing 

relationships with children."

– Dr. Asa Hilliard,
former Director of Urban Studies at Georgia State University

Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted five critical dispositions related to Diverse Learners:

• Teacher believes that all learners can achieve at high levels and persists in helping each learner reach his/her full potential.
  
• Teacher respects learners as individuals with differing personal and family backgrounds and various skills, abilities, perspectives, talents, and interests.
  
• Teacher makes learners feel valued and helps them learn to value each other.
  
• Teacher values planning as a collegial activity.
  
• Teacher believes that plans must always be open to adjustment and revision based on learner needs and changing circumstances.
   

Culturally Responsive Framework

Three core markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and learning assessment have been highlighted by this week’s experiences:

• Establishing inclusion: Creating a learning atmosphere in which learners and instructors feel respected by and connected to one another.
  
  
• Developing attitude: Creating a favorable disposition toward the learning experience through personal relevance and choice.
  
   
• Recognize that the varying experiences, abilities, language, culture, and family and community values learners bring to school with them are assets that can be used to promote their learning.

Implications for Practice

My fourth practicum week was an important and had a sense of closure to the first phase of the process. I fully participated in the classroom and led the activities. My ability to team-teach and manage the at-times awkward position was established. My presence, purpose and place have been clarified -- at least for the learners in my focus class.

Student-teaching requires the ability to manipulate multiple educational perspectives. Beyond negotiating the multi-level relationship with the CT, the practicum requires one to be student-manager, student-boss, student-grader and student-leader. Also, at any given point in the process, the 25-30 student perspectives on, and cultural comfort with, the classroom's team-teaching environment must be considered. The practicum requires political skills that are not expressly addressed in the Cooperative Teaching model or the "Suggested Timeline of Responsibilities for the Student Teaching" in the university’s handbook.

Just as there are “teaching hospitals,” there should be “teaching schools.” It would be a matter of a college urban teaching program adopting a specific school and interacting so closely with the student community that they would perceive the “student-teacher” as a normal and important part of the classroom. The enormous benefits to be gained by both the college and the participating public school simply cannot be overstated. The ability to share facilities and resources alone is reason enough to have such a program. That these relationships are not in place nearly everywhere in the country speaks volumes about our nation’s disjointed and dysfunctional educational system.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Create coherent lesson plans that are engaging and relevant
  
  
   
• Dialogic instruction allows learners to be actively involved and own their learning
  
  
   
• The culturally competent educator seeks to use learners’ diverse knowledge to connect content concepts and skills
  

[ Read More ]

Connecting Classroom to Community

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 3 --Triad One

Monday 10/15/12 to Friday 10/19/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Professional Responsibility:
Collaboration, Ethics and Relationships

Area of Concentration: Collaboration
Connecting Classroom to Community

Guiding Questions:

What are the core components of a framework for effective and efficient family-teacher conferences that support diverse learners and their families? How can urban schools best connect the classroom to the multicultural community?

In what negative ways might the community’s various ethnic, linguistic and cultural social groups perceive the education system, the school environment or the family-teacher dynamic?  How has this school accounted for cultural concerns?

Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted four critical dispositions related to the area of Collaboration, Ethics and Relationships:

• Teacher takes responsibility for student learning and uses ongoing analysis and reflection to improve planning and practice.
• Teacher is committed to deepening understanding of his/her own frames of reference (e.g., culture, gender, language, abilities, ways of knowing), the potential biases in these frames, and their impact on expectations for and relationships with learners and their families.
• Teacher sees him/herself as a learner, continuously seeking opportunities to draw upon current education policy and research as sources of analysis and reflection to improve practice.
• Teacher understands the expectations of the profession including codes of ethics, professional standards of practice, and relevant law and policy.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Four markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and the pedagogical domain of Collaboration, Ethics and Relationships have been highlighted by this week's experiences:

• Maintaining a respect-filled learning environment that reflects a multicultural perspective
• Instructional planning that accounts for multiple literacies and supports linguistic diversity
• Engendering competence
• Differentiated instruction and assessments

Implications for Practice

Week three of my urban school residency was exciting, energizing and empowering! Although I am still struggling to organize and prioritize my work, I am finding new ways to think about urban teacher training itself.

This culminating student-teaching educational experience – what I am calling my capstone -- presents an obstacle course of interrelated but un-collated objectives, obligations and obligatory chores. I have devised a system to integrate and consolidate assignments. Considering the TPA, UTP and state requirements, there are simply too many things to do if I am to reach my goal – to synthesize Metro State course learning and education theory research through my practicum in the “real” world, resulting in a true capstone experience featuring authentic artifacts that reflect the critical dispositions central to the art and craft of managing the culturally-rich urban classroom . . .

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Be flexible and understanding about the underlying cause of classroom misbehavior.
  
  
• Enforce rules but make the punishment fit the crime.
  
  
• Create opportunities for diverse learners to form a positive and healthy social identity.
  
  
• Construct an intentionally diverse, culturally inclusive environment where each family’s cultural community and social identity is considered.
  
  
• Call the roll and openly acknowledge each member of the learning community. Make it a time to share a thought or say one positive thing about the day. If time is at issue on a particular day simply turn the roll call into a quick game – but honor the ritual of calling the roll so that at every session, each person has been acknowledged, if only for a brief moment.
  
  
• Provide specific opportunities for positive family interaction.
   
• Share fully with families in the academic targets and goals. Allow caregivers to take responsibility for raising student achievement. 
  
  
• Institute an “early warning system” for discipline issues and provide timely feedback about behavior.
  
  
• Make school conferences a very positive and prompt meeting, and provide pathways to conference further.
  
  
• Use a well-designed, consistently updated website as a communication tool.

[ Read More ]

Assessing Diverse Learners

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 2 -- Triad One

Monday 10/08/12 to Friday 10/12/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Instructional Practice:

Assessment - Practices, Strategies, Efficacy

Area of Concentration:
Assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous
intellectual and social development of urban learners.

Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted four critical dispositions related to assessment:

• Teacher is committed to providing timely and effective descriptive feedback to learners on their progress.
  
  
• Teacher is committed to using multiple types of assessment processes to support, verify, and document learning.
  
  
• Teacher is committed to making accommodations in assessments and testing conditions, especially for learners with disabilities and language learning needs.
  
  
• Teacher is committed to the ethical use of various assessments and assessment data to identify learner strengths and needs to promote learner growth.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Four markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and learning assessment have been highlighted by this week’s experiences:

• Curriculum content that avoids bias and reflects the contributions of all cultures
  
  
• Consistent incorporation of culturally relevant classroom materials
  
  
• Enhancing meaning
  
  
• Engendering competence

Implications for Practice

Student-teaching requires a great deal of organization in order to maximize the learning experience.

One suggestion for organizing the 12-week practicum is to designate a small number of focus students to train on as control cases. While certainly, each learner is a unique individual – it will be clarifying to study a set of three or four particular learners in greater depth, allowing for comparison and contrast of a broad range of specific information.

In an effort to organize my thinking and assess my learning, I have also devised a system using Minnesota’s SEPT as a weekly practicum focus.

The weekly focus standard becomes not only a target for specific reflection, but acts as an anchor limiting written reports to critical and connected reflection – as opposed to passive musing back on whatever happened to have popped up. The practicum experience benefits from this organizing tool because it can direct and shape the learning. The meaning of the week’s events – both as a student and a teacher – are synthesized. The various course assignments, TPA tasks and licensure requirements can be placed in the student controlled practicum schedule’s practice-to-research context of the week, as organized by state standards – resulting in associated, standards-based field artifacts.

My second practicum week was a total and complete success! I am very proud of my training and preparedness to enter the diverse urban classroom. I see urban learners who simply need an excuse to do something great. The goal to inspire excellence in urban learners is sometimes achieved by simply giving them a positive word.

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Expect excellence and reward it.
  
  
  
• Learning targets must align to a testable knowledge, skill, or reasoning ability.
  
  
  
• To be effective, feedback must be: connected to a rubric or specific learning target; communicative of success; clarifying (either confirmative or corrective); and it must be continuous.
  
  
  
• Call the roll and openly acknowledge each member of the learning community. Make it a time to share a thought or say one positive thing about the day. If time is at issue on a particular day simply turn the roll call into a quick game – but honor the ritual of calling the roll so that at every session, each person has been acknowledged, if only for a brief moment.
  
  
  
• The culturally competent educator respects families' beliefs, norms, and expectations and seeks to work collaboratively with learners and families in setting -- and meeting -- challenging goals.

[ Read More ]

Meeting Students Where They Are

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY REFLECTIONS
Week 1 -- Triad One

Monday 10/01/12 to Friday 10/05/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

Learners and Learning:

Learning Environment

Area of Concentration: Environment

Critical Dispositions Matrix

This week’s experiences highlighted two critical dispositions related to Learning Environments:

• Teacher is committed to working with learners, colleagues, families, and communities to establish positive and supportive learning environments.
  
  
• Teacher is committed to supporting learners as they participate in decision making, engage in exploration and invention, work collaboratively and independently, and engage in purposeful learning.

Culturally Responsive Framework

Three markers related to Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning Environments have been highlighted by this week’s experiences:

• A respect-filled learning environment where all teachers and subjects "reflect a multicultural perspective"
  
  
• Learning strategies that activate and celebrate cultural knowledge
  
  
• Enhancing meaning

Implications for Practice

The nature of my position as student-teacher is at times freeing, and at times, frustrating. I am not in charge of my own classroom. Learning to be an effective student-teacher requires a very specific and complex skill-set. The practicum experience would benefit from an entire course or workshop focused on student teaching, cooperative teaching and learning through teaching.

Over all, this was a fantastic week getting to know my urban learners! Yes, I see them being disrespectful. But, I also see them being disrespected. I see urban learners testing boundaries – and being tested. What I most notice about urban learners is their resilience!

Key implications toward a practical
Framework for Excellence in Urban Classroom Leadership:

• Set high standards
  
  
• Be explicit about behavior expectations and the home/ school conundrum
  
  
• Actively show respect for urban learners and for their learning
  
  
• Catch students doing something good and point it out!
  
  
• Cultural competence is a commitment to deepening understanding of one’s own cultural frames of reference, potential biases in these frames, and their impact on expectations for and relationships with diverse urban learners and their families.

[ Read More ]

IB Middle Years Program

International Baccalaureate Organization

The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) is said to be a "whole school" Instructional Philosophy designed to provide all students with a challenging and enriching curriculum that:

• develops critical thinking skills through studies in eight traditional academic subjects
      
• emphasizes the acquisition and command of both English and a foreign language (Spanish or French).
      
• exposes learners to the connections and interrelatedness of the eight curriculum subject areas.
      
• encourages the development of intercultural awareness along with an understanding of our own history and traditions.

 MYP Subject Areas include:

• Language A: the students best language, usually the school's language of instruction
      
• Language B: a modern foreign language learned at school
      
• Humanities: history and geography
      
• Sciences: general science, biology, chemistry, physics
      
• Mathematics: core course including topics in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, probability and statistics
      
• Arts: art/design, music, drama
      
• Physical Education: health and hygiene, individual and team sports
      
• Technology: the nature, processes and impact of technology

To assist students in their academic, intellectual and social development, the Middle Years Program also incorporates five organizing themes known as Areas of Interaction, which are integrated within the instruction of all subject areas. The Areas of Interaction include:

• Approaches to Learning - concentrates on the discovery and mastery of effective study skills and subject-specific skills.
      
• Community and Service - encourages responsible, caring participation in one's local setting and in the wider world.
      
• Health and Social Education - concentrates on preparing students for a physically and mentally healthy life.
      
• Environment - stresses understanding the importance of conservation and responsibility for caring for the environment.
      
• Homo Faber "Humans as Makers" - emphasizes an appreciation for the creative and inventive genius of humans and encourages students to be creative.

[ Read More ]

An Urban Placement

URBAN LEARNER-TEACHING RESIDENCY
REFLECTIONS OVERVIEW

12-week Practicum
Monday 10/01/12 to Friday 12/21/12, 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM

University Supervisor Observation Sessions
10/29, 11/12, 11/19, 12/6, 12/13

2955 Hayes St NE

Minneapolis, MN 55418

(612) 668-1500

Grades: 6 - 8

School Website

http://northeast.mpls.k12.mn.us

[ Read More ]

Urban Learner - Teaching Residency

Today, at long last, I received my student-teaching placement. My assignment is in Grade 6 English at Northeast Middle School (NEMS) in Minneapolis! Although I was hoping for a high school placement, I have previously been associated with NEMS and know that the school has a very solid program.

 
Practicum Schedule of 12 Weeks

October Weeks:
1, 8, 15, 22, 29
November Weeks:
5, 12, 19, 26
December Weeks:
3, 10, 17

Key Dates

Tuesday, Oct 16, 2012: 6th Grade Field Trip to Fort Snelling & Veterans Home
Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012: No school, Parent-teacher conferences
Thursday, Oct 18, 2012: No school, State Fall Conference Day
Friday, Oct 19, 2012: No school, Conference Conversion Day

Friday, Nov 2, 2012: No school - Record keeping day
Thursday, Nov 1, 2012: First Quarter Ends
Monday, Nov 5 – 7, 2012: Scholastic Book Fair
Thursday, Nov 15, 2012: National Native American Family Involvement Day
Thursday, Nov 22, 2012: No school
Friday, Nov 23, 2012: No school

Wednesday, Dec 12, 13: School Play
Thursday, Dec 13: NEMS Family Night

Developmental Milestones
Early Adolescence (10 – 12 years old)

Center for Development of Human Services. Child Development Guide.

Physical

• Have increased coordination and strength
• Are developing body proportions similar to those of an adult
• May begin puberty—evident sexual development, voice
changes, and increased body odor are common.

Emotional/Social

• Increased ability to interact with peers
• Increased ability to engage in competition
• Developing and testing values and beliefs that will guide present and future behaviors
• Has a strong group identity; increasingly defines self through peers
• Acquiring a sense of accomplishment based upon the achievement of greater physical strength and self-control
• Defines self-concept in part by success in school

Intellectual/Cognitive

• Early adolescents have an increased ability to learn and apply skills.
• The early adolescent years mark the beginning of abstract thinking but revert to concrete thought under stress.
• Even though abstract thinking generally starts during this age period, preteens are still developing this method of reasoning and are not able to make all intellectual leaps, such as inferring a motive or reasoning hypothetically.
• Youth in this age range learn to extend their way of thinking beyond their personal experiences and knowledge and start to view the world outside of an absolute black-white/right-wrong perspective.
• Interpretative ability develops during the years of early adolescence, as does the ability to recognize cause and affect sequences
• Early adolescents are able to answer who, what, where, and when questions, but still may have problems with why questions.







NEMS

[ Read More ]

Urban Teacher Candidate

EDU: 650

Metropolitan State University
Student Teaching in the Urban High School - Grades 9-12
   
Supervised student teaching for 12 weeks, full-time or the equivalent with students in urban grades 9-12 for teacher candidates seeking 5-12 licensure. Weekly reflections, periodic seminars with other student teachers, and the development of a standards-based portfolio are also required.

Student Teaching Seminar Schedule

Mondays 5:30-7:30
 
August 27
5:30-6:30 All 6:30 – 7:30 Candidates

September 10
Check-in, MTLE information, TaskStream
TPA Assignment -Context for Learning (CFL) Task 1

September 24
Review Drafts of CFL and Task 1
TPA Assignment - Task 2

October 1
TPA  Review Drafts of CFL,  Task 1, Task 2, TPA Video
TPA Assignment -Complete CFL Task 1 and 2 - video tape

October 22
TPA Task 3, Task 4  - Video
TPA Assignment - Task 3 Task 4 - Video tape

November 5
TPA only

November 19
Licensure, prep for Job Panel - resume, cover letter, TPA

December 3
Job Panel

December 10
TPA submissions due
E-folio presentation

[ Read More ]

Artifacts Matrix

Artifacts / Reflective Reports Matrix

Integrating Multiple Targets -
Reaching Each Teaching Goal

Connecting Content to Urban Learners

 Scheme of the Relationship between Artifacts and Commentary
to Practicum and State Licensure Competency Requirements

01    Subject Matter
[Seedfolks Unit Plan]

02    Student Learning
[“SOUL Focus” Report]

03    Diverse Learners
[“Cultural Inquiry” - PowerPoint]

04    Instructional Strategies
[“Urban Literacy” website]

05    Learning Environment
["Ideal Urban Classroom Design" PowerPoint]

06    Communication
[Seedfolks website]

07    Planning Instruction
[Copy of Lesson Plan]

08    Assessment
[Student Work Samples - Copy of an assessment]

09    Reflection - Develop
["Class Act" website and summary reflection on Framework for Urban Teaching]

10   Collaboration - Ethics
[“Family-Teacher Conferences” Report]

Urban School Residency - Triad I
Learners

1. Learners and Learning
(Learning Environment)
[Power Point report on "The Ideal Urban Classroom Design"]

2. Instructional Practice
(Assessment)
[Student Work Samples - Copy of an assessment / report on an assessment strategies]

3. Professional Responsibility
(Collaboration, Ethics and Relationships)
[Analysis Report detailing components of an effective framework for learner -family-teacher conferences]

4. Learners and Learning
(Diverse Learners)
[Power Point w/ interviews and collected data from students and -- Teacher Survey on "one thing you know now that you wish you had known then" back when starting out.]

 

Urban School Residency - Triad II
Learning

5. Instructional Practice
(Planning Instruction)
[Copy of Lesson Plan]

6. Content
(Subject Matter)
[Lesson Plan - Report on standard components of LA Ed. and specific areas studied in the host school/classroom]

7. Learners and Learning
(Student Learning)
[Report on specific control students]

8. Professional Responsibility
(Reflection and Development, Collaboration, Ethics and Relationships)

Urban School Residency - Triad III

Teaching

9. Instructional Practice
(Instructional Strategies)
[TPA Student Work Samples - Analysis Report of instructional strategies employed in the host school/classroom]

10. Instructional Practice
(Communication)
[TPA Video Tape of teaching]
proficiency in areas of communication -- including interpersonal communications, linguistic theories, language development, presentation and discussion strategies and the role of language in learning. . . .  demonstrates a cultivated awareness of the potential power of language in promoting self-expression, fostering identity development, and improving the academic achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse urban youth.

11. Professional Responsibility
(Reflection and Development)
12. Professional Responsibility
(Reflection and Development)
["Class Act" website / summary reflection on Framework for Urban Teaching] 

Research & Reports

• "The Ideal Urban Classroom Design" Power Point
• Effective Family-Teacher Term Conferences report
   
• Cultural Inquiry Power Point
• SOUL Focus - Learner Report
   
• “Urban Literacy” website
   
• Seedfolks Unit Plan
   
• Seedfolks Website
   
• “Class Act" website / summary & Framework for Urban Teaching
  
• TPA Video and Commentary
   
• eFolio Artifact Descriptors
•  Observation Lesson Plans
• Weekly Reflections

.

[ Read More ]