Learning Letter

Valentin Kucheryaviy

Learning Letter

            This class was a great learning experience for me. It changed my view on teaching English and I learned a lot about the EdTPA. The articles we got in class ended up being very useful for my unit plan. I got a lot of ideas on how to create classroom activities. One of the most important things I learned is that the teacher is the least important person in the classroom. The teacher should not focus on the information he has to teach the students, but focus on the students and their needs. This class consisted of blogs, book talks, mini-lesson, and a 3 week unit plan.

            The blog were very helpful because they made me think deeper about the articles we had to read. They made me think about the teaching theories the articles touched on. I got to also read what my colleagues had to say about the article and then we discussed them in class as well. We talked a lot about discussion. Discussion is an important teaching strategy and it can be done in so many ways. I personally liked how the teacher can create group discussions and assign students their role in the discussion. Every time I came to class I felt that I was prepared because of the blogs. I liked sharing posts with other people and hear what they had to say.

            The book talks were very interesting, because of the wide variety of books. I even ended up watching the movie the Outsiders after Michael’s presentation. I loved the ways people thought they can use their books in the classroom. Some of the books I never even heard of and seemed really interesting. Some of the books I read for fun and never thought about how they could be used in the classroom.

            My favorite part of the class was the mini-lessons. Before this class I didn’t have much experience with English lessons and I got a lot of ideas after the mini-lessons. I liked how everyone chose different age groups and had different ways of teaching a text. It made me think more about teaching English. I feel a lot more prepared to teach English after the mini-lessons. I got to know my strengths and my weaknesses.

            The 3 week unit plan was the first time I had to create a unit. I had to think of a way to link all my lessons together. I never created 15 lesson plan focused on the same text and having a different assessment every day. This assignment was definitely a challenge.

            This class is the kind of class that you get out of it how much you put in. I came into this class with an open mind to learn different strategies on how to teach English. I learned the importance of making the classroom more student focused and meaningful. Also I got to exchange ideas with a lot of the other students, so I learned how to work my colleagues.

mini lesson

TPA Lesson Plan #____1___

1. Teacher Candidate	Valentin Kucheryaviy	Date Taught	11/30/15
Cooperating Teacher	Jamee Bell David West Kendrick Michael Potesky	School/District	East Valley
2. Subject	English	Field Supervisor
3. Lesson Title/Focus	The Cask of Amontillado	5. Length of Lesson	20min
4. Grade Level	9th

6. Academic & Content Standards (Common Core/National)	[ELA-Literacy/RL/9-10/2] Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text [ELA-Literacy/L/9-10/5] Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meaning [ELA-Literacy/L/9-10/3] Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening
7. Learning Objective(s)	Given the text students will identify theme, irony, and foreshadowing by providing examples from the story. I can demonstrate understanding of foreshadowing by providing examples from the text.
8. Academic Language demands (vocabulary, function, syntax, discourse)	Theme, irony, foreshadowing, Poe Students would have already learned about theme and irony, so we are going to briefly go over them as a review. Students will learn about foreshadowing and they are going to have to write examples from the text.

9. Assessment

Students are going to have to do a foreshowing worksheet. Also at the end of class they are going to have an exit slip. The exit slips consists of three questions. What did the student learn? What did the student find interesting? What question does the student have?

10. Lesson Connections

1.    Marzano states “cooperative learning provides opportunities for students to interact in ways that enhance and deepen their learning”. 2.    Before this lesson student would’ve already learned about Poe, themes, and irony. 3.    After this lesson students will read more complex stories like the Fall of the House of Usher

11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies Sequenced Instruction
Teacher’s Role 1.    Teacher asks a student to summarize the story in his own words.(1min) 2.    Teacher has a short discussion about theme and irony.(3min) 3.    Teacher talks about foreshadowing and has students break up into groups for the assignment.(10min) 4.    Teacher asks students to share their examples. (5min) 5.    The teacher has students do their exit slips.(1min)	Students’ Role 1.    A student summarizes the story in his own words.(1min) 2.    Students discuss theme and irony.(3min) 3.    Students break up into groups and start working on the assignment.(10min) 4.    Students share their examples from the story.(5min) 5.    Students fill out their exit slips.(1min)
Student Voice to Gather The exit slips will let the teacher know what the students have learned and what they want to know. Also the worksheet will show if students understand theme, irony, and foreshadowing.

12. Differentiated Instruction

Plan Students can learn by listening to the teacher, working on the worksheet, and from their group. Also students with IEPs will be in a group with a high achieving student.

13. Resources and Materials

Plan Cask of Amontillado, worksheet, pencil, pen, white board, marker, chairs, desks

14. Management and Safety Issues

Plan During the group work the teacher will be walking around making sure everyone is on task.

15. Parent & Community Connections

Plan Before each unit parents will receive an email explaining what the students are going to be doing for the next few weeks.

Readicide

Kelly Gallagher's  Readicide argues that  actual reading is less seen in school and is being replaced with testing. He makes it clear that today students are being tested way to much and it has an effect on how teachers teach and how students learn. If a school is being successful then all the students should have good test scores, but that is not always true. I liked the part when Gallagher talked about standards. In my education classes and in this class we talk a lot about standards. Gallagher does not oppose standards, yet he thinks that there are to many of them and that it would be impossible to cover all of them deeply. I like the example he showed because I am a Social Studies major and it is hard to teach students about everything that happened in the last 1000 years.

Students are not reading enough in school, and that reading time is being replaced by test preparation. I like the pool metaphor Gallagher uses, that a swimmer has been in the pool almost everyday before the completion. Same with reading, students should read everyday before taking the big test at the end. Unfortunately a lot of schools have removed novels from the curriculum and replaced it with much shorter text that can be read in a day.

Gallagher makes a strong case for SSR. He argues that it can make reading a good habit and a lot of good things come from reading. Students will start reading newspapers and different kinds of texts outside of books. This way students can actually know what is going on in the world and become better readers. Their vocabulary and comprehension levels will rise dramatically. In some cases SSR is the only time a student gets to read during the day. In my unit plan I have two class days that the students will have to read the novel. I think it is important for students to use class time to read , so that if they have any questions the teacher will be able to answer right away.

I Read It, But I Don't Get It

With todays technology it is really hard for teachers to make students read because students can just go online where all their work is done for them. Sparknotes and Cliffnotes make it really easy for students to get away without reading the actual text. Cris Tovani's I Read It, But I Don't Get It says its important to make reading purposeful. If students don't care about the reading then they will be less likely to read it. When students know the purpose of why they are reading something then they will know what to look for and have an easier time comprehending the text. It doesn't even have to be an English class, if a student is reading text for science class they should also know what to look for and not just try to memorize everything. Just because a student can read the words does not mean that the student can read. Students need to be able to comprehend what they read. A lot of students in high school struggle with this problem and that is why every teacher should be a reading teacher outside of their subject. Reading a scientific text is different than reading a novel. Teachers need to make sure students have the background knowledge they need to read the text successfully. Also a teacher should never think that it is to late to teach a student how to read, Tovani learned how to read after high school.

One of my favorite parts in the book is when Tovani talks about having questions when reading. Tovani says that students need to form questions in their mind before reading, during reading, and after reading. Most of the questions might not even get answered, but it forces the students to think about the text and keeps them motivated to read.

Social Justice

I read an article called "Creating Classrooms for Social Justice" by Tabitha Dell’Angelo. In the article she describes social justice as "recognizing and acting upon the power that we have for making positive change". She says that in order to bring social justice into the classroom teachers need to learn about their students and meet their needs. The teacher needs to make lessons that values the students and what they already know. Making relationships with students is really important in order to achieve social justice in the classroom.When teaching a lesson the teacher should not impose his beliefs on the students, but "support students' own journey of learning how to be critical thinkers and forming their own opinions". The lesson should also have some kind of value to the students. Students should just remember pointless facts, but be able to connect the lesson to the real world. Even if the class is not diverse the teacher should make an effort to bring diversity into the classroom. The teacher should choose curriculum which will teach students about the diverse aspects of society. Diversity in the classroom is really important.

I liked this article because it gave some good examples on how to create social justice in the classroom. This article talks about a lot of the stuff we talked about in class. To summarize social justice in the classroom would be making the classroom student centered and not teacher centered. Students should make connections with the lessons that will help them in the real world. The teacher should not rob the students from their education. Students should become critical thinkers and know how to use the information they learn in class. Every lesson needs to be meaningful and student centered. Assessment should not just be busy work, but serve a useful purpose.

Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom

"Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom" article gave me a lot of new ideas on activities and also thought me some new things. One of the things I never thought about was teaching multiculturalism by simply having a minority author. The article argues that using a text written by a person of color or having the main character be a person of color might actually be oppressive, because the text might talk about the negative stereotypes. The text will serve as a disservice because students will be left with a negative image of the culture. Instead students should read a text and make connections "while gaining an understanding of similarities across time and cultures".

One of my favorite activities from this article is having students compare rap/hip hop music to poetry. This activity brings in students voice because students like that kind of music and rap is not that much different than poetry. Poetry becomes way more interesting for students because they can make connections with something they like. By the end of the activity students start to write their own poetry. The only problem I see with this activity is that a lot of rap/hip hop songs use bad words, so it might be hard for students to find a song they can use. In high school I actually had a very similar project. My freshman year in high school we had to read a book of our own choosing. After reading the book we had to find three songs which in someway can be connected to the book. After choosing three songs we had to explain how this song relates to the book. This was a cool assignment because it makes you think more about the book and you get to find ideas that are similar to the book, yet they are in the form of music.

PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED

Chapter 2 from Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire makes it clear that banking education is the wrong way of teaching while problem-posing education is the right way. Banking education is a very teacher centered style of teaching. During class the teacher talks and tells students information, it’s the student’s job to remember that information. The chapter says the teacher is considered the oppressor and the students are the oppressed. Students are being treated like objects and not like human beings. This type of classroom has not student voice. Problem-posing education makes information more meaningful. Students are not supposed to just memorize as much information as they can, they are supposed to make meaning of it. This is when students think critically and try to solve the problem. This process requires the teacher and student to work together. Sometimes they can switch roles and the student can be the teacher. Students could teach other students. There is no dictator in the classroom. Problem-posing education helps the students use their creativity and does a way better job preparing them for the real world. Banking education is not a realistic way of learning, because they might have information memorized, yet they might not know how to apply it. In today’s world memorizing information is not as important as it once was, with technology students can have access to information at any time.

As teachers we need to make sure that we are not just giving student’s information and expect them to remember it. We need to make our students think critically. If a student has a question it is important to address that question. Teachers should make their students think deeper and not just be sitting robots memorizing everything.  The most important person in the room is not the teacher, but the students. The teacher should constantly address the student’s needs.

Assessing and Evaluating Student Learning

Assessing and evaluating is big part of the teachers job. Most students worry about assessment because it ends up being their grade. There are many forms of assessment and I think its best to use all of them. Students should take tests, write in journals, write essays, have discussions, etc.

The chapter from "Assessing and Evaluating Student Learning" looks down on testing. It talks about how testing is information driven and doesn't let students formulate their own responses. Testing should not be the main focus of assessment, yet it is still important for students to memorize some facts. Testing could be harmful when students ask "is that going to be on the test" and not care about anything else. Students should be able to know how to use the information and not just memorize it.

One of the sections I had a problem with was "Evaluating Classroom Discussions". Class discussions are really important, yet I don't like the criteria this section gives. Some students are shy and will not talk as much. As long as everyone is respectful and has some participation in a discussion then everyone should get all the points. There were some things I did like in this section. I found it interesting to assign students roles. I think it would work really good in small groups. Each student can have a different role so that everyone can participate and have different perspectives.

Feedback is really important and sometimes teachers don't have enough time to give each student feedback. Peer-conferences has students give each other feedback. At first it is important for the teacher to teach students how to give effective feedback. A lot of times students do learn best from each other because they can relate the most.  A students might have had the same problem his peer did, so he can explain how he overcame that problem. With this comes a lot of problems because students could easily get distracted and start talking about something off topic. The teacher needs to walk around the classroom and make sure everyone is doing what they are suppose to.

The reason why the teacher should use different types of assessment is because it gives students a chance to practice their strengths and weaknesses. Some students might do very well on tests while someone else might be really good at writing essays.

California's Common Core

This article was very helpful. I like this article because it goes over a lot of information about reading and writing. This article will be useful in the future. It reminded me how much goes into reading and writing. It is important to go through all the steps with the students. When pre reading it is really important to understand the vocabulary and key concepts. Students need to know what to look for when they are reading so that they can get the most out of it. It is the teachers job to make sure students get the most out of the reading and that is why it is important to follow these steps.  

One of my favorite sections in this article is "Annotating and Questioning the Text". The activity can be very helpful for teachers to see what is going on in the students head. Students get the opportunity to say what they think the author is saying. This consists of them summarizing, stating the issue, giving main arguments, and giving the conclusion. This is a lot of information students have to give. Summarizing is a useful tool, it allows students to give the meaning of the text. Also students get to share their reactions with other students. This activity can create some good discussions between students. 

Another section I think is really important is "Gathering Evidence to Support Your Claim". It is easy to take a stance, but it is really important to have valid evidence to back it up. The state standard wants students to find evidence from sources to prove an argument. Students need to learn about the different types of evidence they can use and how to use it. Evidence can come in different forms, it can be a quote from the text, a statistic, or a case study. The teacher needs to make sure students have the necessary skills to incorporate evidence into their arguments.

Common Core State Standards

I agree with this chapter that Common Core State Standards are important, yet they should not be standardized. It is important to have a set of standards for all teachers. There are certain skills students should attain at certain grade levels. The standards should always be on the teachers mind when creating a lesson plan. In order for students to be successful the teacher should set high goals. Without any set of goals it is hard to accomplish anything. Standards should be implied in the classroom lessons, but they should not be the main focus.

Teachers should be accountable for teaching students these skills, yet there is so much a teacher cant control. Once the student leaves the classroom, the teacher can not make sure the students are getting enough nutrition, sleep, time to do homework, etc. That is why students should not  be tested as much, but have goals they can reach.

Even though standards are important, they should not be the main focus of how a teacher teaches. A teacher should have control over the curriculum and do necessary changes if needed. Teachers should choose curriculum based on the students needs. When all teachers teach the exact same curriculum, the classroom loses diverse instructions. Students are all different and learn at different paces, so it is important to address their needs.

Students today are different than students ten years ago. Todays students are more technologically advanced and have different interests. The teacher should keep changing the curriculum year after year and try to improve the students learning experience. Students in the 21st century require different curriculum.Unfortunately many teachers have fallen into the habit of standardizing instead of just holding high standards.

Common Core State Standards set high expectations in a classroom. Sometimes it is misinterpreted and can cause problems. Teachers should always have some kind of standard, but they should not standardize.

Discussion in a Democratic Society

I have had many good experiences with classroom discussions, yet I have also had some bad ones as well. Before reading this chapter I always wondered about what makes a class discussion successful. This chapter made a lot of good points and addressed my questions.

One of my main concerns was about the students who are quiet and let other students dominate the discussion. This chapter makes the point that not everyone is going to get chance to speak in a class discussion, yet its important to have a large amount of students to participate. It is really important for everyone to be respectful and mindful about what other students are saying. This way students feel more comfortable sharing with the class. Some students are naturally quiet, yet their opinion still matters and it is up to the teacher to get them involved in the discussion. A classroom discussion is best when students share different views, so it is important to hear from different students.

This chapter covers a lot of problems that can occur during a classroom discussion. The problems that I think could ruin a discussion is when students are ignorant or they agree with everything. It is important for students to pay attention to other students arguments and take them into consideration. Also students should challenge each other and be confident in their argument.