Captain's Log 8

Captain's Log Week 8

This past week in the classroom students have started working on their Social Studies Curriculum Based Assessment essays. The challenge with this work is that students are at this point in the quarter- the last two weeks- where they have disengaged, mentally checked out and a good portion are completely resistant to participating in class. I can’t really blame them because I feel the same exact way with my own college courses.

            The challenge in my class is the learning gap. There is a defined group of students who excel and do well, but its marginal from the larger group that does not fully comprehend the objectives nor do they speak up when they need help until they are asked. With this range in the class, my coordinating teacher and I find ourselves spread thin, trying to re-explain how the lesson that had just been taught. Some students catch on to what were telling them, but a handful just brush us off and say “I have to go to summer school anyways!” and that fact can be discouraging not only to the students but to us, the teachers, as well because it feels fruitless- we want to see them succeed and its difficult to see them just give up!

            Another challenge is the lack of alignment between the CBA essay and the English class content. The ability to brainstorm, research, and write an essay is lacking so much so that I had to teach a lesson of formatting an essay in addition to previous lessons taught over the quarter. Its very redundant for students who get it and remember talking about it but news to those who don’t. The best alternative is to separate the class and develop depth to the essays of those who are at the finish line and aid those who need the basics discussed more.  Having the two learning groups together really prevents students from wanting to admit that they’re not part of that top group.

            I learned that unfortunately everyone, students and teachers, all feel that end of the school year drag and it is killer to trying to finish up leftover work and lessons. My greatest take away is making sure to lesson plan all first year of teaching because its important not just to stay on track but to know how to adjust to requirements like the CBA. Rushing the essays at the end is crippling for students who don’t finish and I don’t want to put my students or myself in that position. 

Captain Raschko, signing off. 

Captain's Log 4

Captain's Log 4

            On Monday I had a break through moment with a female student in my class who in the past has been shy, reserved and resistant to completing class work or participating in discussions at all. I asked her how her day was to which she shook her head and just said “awful”. I asked her what was going on and she said her mom and her had a fight, and that it was a regular thing. We talked about her upcoming move to England to live with her father; our connections to the Air Force and at the end of the conversation she asked me, “Are you going to be here the rest of the year?” To which I answered “Yes, of course!” She smiled- I have never seen this girl smile-and said “Good”. During the conversation, however, she confessed (I’m paraphrasing for her own privacy) that the fights between her mother and her were moderately physical. I was shocked that she had decided to share this with me. I reported back to my coordinating instructor which he said he would document and report during his free period, and then we briefly discussed her past history. Apparently she had shared similar information with him, but left out the physical aspect of the fighting. It dawned on me that for this girl I had become someone she could trust with private and personal information.

While I know it is mandatory to report, and I fully believe in the idea, I am worried that our teacher-student relationship will lose trust to which I see as harmful to her. I see this as harmful because I see already see her disconnect in the classroom and I’m hoping this won’t add further to it. I also can tell that these fights DO affect her classroom performance and that it is absolutely necessary to report this- that this is quite possible her call for help.

            My experience from this incident serves to affirm, in my own beliefs, the importance of mandatory reporting as well as the weight of relationships between students and teachers. We need to be the person they can trust but also act as their safety line, especially when they can’t see the way out for themselves. In my own classroom in the future I want to establish trusting relationships with my students and maintain an open door policy so when things like this happen in their lives they can trust me to act in their best interest.

            A final thought: What do you say to a child who says something like that? I’m a little in despair about that conversation still. At that time I just sort of paused, and sort of re-directed the subject. I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but she must not have thought anything poorly of it by the way the conversation ended. I mean how do you console someone who confesses something like that?

This is Captain Danielle Raschko, signing off. 

Captain's Log 2 (Weekly Reflections from in the Classroom

Captain’s Log 2

            Being back in a middle school classroom has provoked me to look back in to my past, at my own middle school experiences. I was shy, awkward and a late-bloomer. I didn't have all the developed parts my fellow classmates did, and I was convinced they gossiped about me all the time. I hated school so much and begged my mother a million times over to let me transfer to another school in the Yakima Valley. Thankfully my mother knew better and forced me to stick it out in the trenches of my middle school, which was actually more of a portable rather than a traditional classroom. The highlight of my week would have made middle school me beam with admiration. I've finally realized the thickness of my skin as of this last week in school.

            My students often make comments. At first these comments were nice like, “We love Ms. R! Can we keep her?!”

They have slowly transgressed:

Student: “You’re not a real teacher so you can’t tell me what to do.”

Me: “Well I’m not a fake teacher either. I’m a teacher to you right now, and you need to

complete this assignment in order to pass- that’s from your ‘real’ teacher”.

Yes, I used air quotes to make that emphasize. Roll your eyes if you want but it worked.

Another comment which wasn't critical or mean, but rather sweet was a compliment from a student. However the compliment got a bit out of hand and was leering towards becoming an inappropriate topic at the exploitation of the student’s peers:

Male student: “Ms. R, you look beautiful today!”

Me: “Thanks,”

Other students: “Oh my God, you can’t just hit on the teacher!”

Male student: “I was just trying to make her feel nice!”

Me: “Thank you for the compliment, but I’m going to walk away now because this is getting out

of hand. The three of you need to get to work.”

    Although these comments weren't outrageous, I've come to notice the dramatic change in my ability identify when it is appropriate to let the comments roll and when to address them. Being able to handle these situations today, in comparison to my middle school self, is something comparable to a 180 degree change- she was shy and introverted and thin-skinned. I wouldn't recognize myself today as myself back then.

            In my own future classroom, I will certainly need to develop this more. Making sure students know what is appropriate to say as well as when is a line I will need to develop and define for them. It’s something that is difficult for me now since this is not my own classroom, or my own students, but instead someone else’s. I have to consider their own rules before I make judgment calls, which can be difficult because as I’m still learning I don’t know them all. For example, I’m still unclear of the schools expectations for myself when I allow students to leave the room to use the bathroom or retrieve their materials in terms of hall passes. I also still don’t know if I should be asking students in the hall ways to produce their passes/slips as I’m passing by. I suppose I’m still learning the ropes as I go.

(Me as students walk by in the hall)

            This is Captain Danielle Raschko, signing off. 

Education 303 – Foundations of Assessment

TPA Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Danielle Raschko            Grade: 11 Length of Lesson: 55 minutes

Content Area: English/History                         Unit/Subject: American Literature/US History 

Lesson Title/Focus: Elements of the Jazz Age within The Great Gatsby         

Academic and/or Content Standards:

Social Studies EALR 4: History: The student understands and applies knowledge of historical thinking, chronology, eras, turning points, major ideas, individuals, and themes on local, Washington State, tribal, United States, and world history in order to evaluate how history shapes the present and future.

Component 4.3: Understands that there are multiple perspectives and interpretations of historical events

GLE 4.1.2, Part 3: The student understands how the following themes help to define eras in US history: Reform, Prosperity, and the Great Depression.

English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, Reading Literature Standard 1: Students cite strong and through textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as influences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

Content Objective:

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to identify specific elements of the Jazz Age that appear in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby.

Academic Language Objective:

Students will be able to relate theme and motifs from a literary text to historical events as well as find historical context within a literary work.

Assessment Strategies:

Before students begin group work, they will be given a worksheet that will be used to assess their work. Additionally, students will be observed during their group work and prompted with questions to assess their understanding. Students will also be questioned during class discussion.

Lesson Rationale:

This lesson builds on both previous English language arts and US history knowledge of The Great Gatsby and the Jazz Age, respectively. Having students think about both subjects and topics gives them a different perspective on literature as well as a narrative of a historical event adding to the depth and breadth of their overall knowledge and understanding.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks to Support Learning:

Direct Instruction (15 minutes): To begin the class, there will be a brief PowerPoint presentation covering the lives of Americans during the Jazz Age accompanied by a lecture by the teacher. Students will be expected to take notes during this presentation to use for their group work later on in the period. Students will also be given an opportunity at the end of the presentation to ask questions. Students will then be sorted into groups of 3-4 by the teacher and given time to gather a handout and meet with their group members.

Group Work (20 minutes): Groups of students will then find examples of Jazz Age life within The Great Gatsby and support their finds with evidence from the text. During this time, the teacher will observe each group, prompting relevant questions and answering any questions students may have. Additionally, the teacher will be making sure that students remain on track and are participating in their groups using an observational checklist.

Class Discussion (15 minutes): The teacher will then direct the groups into a class-wide discussion of the findings. Each group will share one element of the Jazz Age that they found. Students will record these on their handouts. Once all groups have had an opportunity to share, additional responses will be asked for. When all of the responses to the handout have been shared, the teacher will lead students in a discussion relating the Jazz Age to one of the main themes of The Great Gatsby: how the American dream doesn’t overcome everything.

End of Class (5 minutes): Students will have time at the end of the lesson to turn in assignments and pack their belongings.

Differentiated Instruction:

The student who has a Section 504 accommodation for vision will be given print copies of the PowerPoint as well as the content of the PowerPoint in text. The student with an IEP for learning disabilities will be paired with students who have been performing well in this unit and consistently proving that they understand the material. The teacher will also be close by in case the student is having trouble understanding the material.

Additionally, this lesson targets multiple learning styles. The actual PowerPoint presentation will benefit visual learners, while lecture will benefit audio learners, and the notes will benefit tactile/kinesthetic learners. The group discussions have also been constructed in a similar fashion, as audio learners will listen to their classmates, visual learners have the worksheet to see, and tactile/kinesthetic learners have the worksheet to work on.

Resources and Materials:

This lesson consulted:

Fitzgerald, F.S. (2004). The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner.

Management and Safety Issues:

Not applicable.

Parent and Community Connections:

Parents/Guardians will have received an itinerary of the unit schedule from their student. Students will be sent home with weekly notifications of missing/incomplete work or failure to participate; slip must be signed and returned.

Observation Checklist

Group #	On task	Members	On task	Participating in group	Participating in discussion
Group 1		Jimmy
		Bobby
		Sally
Group 2		Eddie
		Martha
		June
Group 3		Johnny
		Jane
		Roy
Group 4		Mary
		Niel
		Patty
		Priscilla
Group 5		Finneas
		Quentin
		Adelle

Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

In Waking Up the Back Row: Using Effective Communicating-to-Learn Strategies in Education Courses, the authors Patricia Williams, Margaret Hammer, Joyce K. McCauley, and Sam Sullivan focus on writing as a form of assessment. Williams, Hammer, McCauley and Sullivan cite writing as a preferred technique for assessment because of it causes students to learn “specific material” relevant to the content area, forcing them to analyze and think critically, drawling out their own ideas and formulating conclusions about the material. Writing is a demonstration of communication techniques; “Students become more active learners….putting their knowledge, uncertainties, speculations and intellectual connections into a words on a page” (Anson, 2001, p. 10). Furthermore, writing helps us to organize our thoughts and opinions in order to come to our own conclusions, which become separate and independent from the ideas of others.

In terms of assessment, writing can take place in various formats aside from essays! For example, teachers should consider journal entries, poetry, letters and note taking as well as brainstorming activities. Williams, Hammer, McCauley and Sullivan provide fifteen example activities to consider in a college classroom, which I have taken and considered in the terms of a secondary setting.

Of the suggested activities I really liked the QCC (Questions, c comments and concerns) cards which are similar to the KWL (know, want to learn, learned)Charts. Using index cards, students are allowed to offer student voice about a particular class day or a recently completed assignment- any topic works. Students jot down questions, comments and concerns for the teacher to consider and address. This method is a great idea to help students feel more involved and valued; it is certainly something I want to implement in my own classroom.

Another suggestion is allowing a ten minute free write. In this activity students must keep pen to paper for a set amount of time (like seven or ten minutes), regardless if what is written makes sense or not. It’s a great opportunity for students to, again, voice their opinions as well as issues in their own lives. It is helpful if the writing is related to the day’s content, but again it is suppose to act as a free space for students. And finally, I liked the idea of using writing as an exit task in which students take a question, answer it and share before they leave. It’s a good task to close the day with, especially if it is relevant to the day’s content. If done well, it can work to refocus the class before dismissal. 

Article: Waking Up the Back Row

Williams, P., Hammer, M., McCauley, J. K., & Sullivan, S. (2007). Waking Up the Back Row: Using Effective Communicating-to-Learn Strategies in 

Blog to Follow:

The YUNiversity

Why?

The YUNiversity blog takes difficult English subjects, such as grammar, and explains in easy-to-understand memes like these. Students/I love these! I will certainly be using this information in my future classroom. 

 You bring up an excellent question.

There is a subtle (but crucial) difference between “recur” and “reoccur”:

 “Reoccur” isn’t even listed in many dictionaries. But those that do include it define it as simply “happening again,” with no mention of it being repetitive or occurring in a pattern. Quite literally, it is to “re-occur”:

Star Trek Schools: Education...But Not As We Know It

Check out this article about the future of education with the involvement of new technologies such as the iPad, which is finding itself in classrooms nationwide.

This article also features Salman Khan, a 36-year-old former hedge fund analyst, it has put almost 3,400 tutorials online at his video stream, Khan Academy. 

Classroom Management Response

Frontloading Classroom Management written by science teachers Keith Roscoe and Kim Orr called defines frontloading as the uniting of several classroom management elements including the “organization of the physical environment, positive relationships, behavior expectations, classroom procedures, effective instruction and intervention.” Although Roscoe and Orr are addressing important elements of a science classroom, these elements are important to remember and consider in any subject-based classroom. Physical environment, for example, is essential to consider when arranging class desks. For example, English teachers must think of what arrangements allow for students to easily transition from individual work to group work as well as whole class discussion. Roscoe and Orr reiterate the importance of paying attention and practicing classroom management such as classroom procedures and behavioral expectations early in the school year. If procedures and expectations are established and practiced, the class runs smoothly- students know what they are expected to do and the proper way to conduct themselves.

            Roscoe and Orr provide a run-through of first-day procedures for teachers including the lesson’s introduction which involves the use of a “hook”- or something that sparks the student’s interest. A “hook” is a wonderful idea because it answers the question, “Why is this important?” for students. Further, teachers should make sure to discuss year objectives, assessment strategies, classroom rules, procedures and expectations. Following, Roscoe and Orr suggests icebreaker activities, referring to them as “relationship-building activities” that help “build trust”. Activities such as asking students to introduce themselves or playing games like bingo, helps build community amongst peers and with the teacher. Activities also help students to get an understanding of the classroom environment for the year as well as how their instructor acts. Of the first-day errors, avoiding relationship-building activities is accounted for a failure in overall management, especially when trying to build a healthy environment and friendly relationships.

            Most useful to new teachers, Roscoe and Orr offer personal suggestions including organization, advanced preparation of the inclusion of frontloading classroom management as vital to first day success. Both authors cite the attention paid to these three aforementioned details had a “ripple effect” for the rest of the school year. In my own experience of student observation I too would agree that these three elements are crucial. In my own case, my coordinating teacher is new to the school for and is working to establish his classroom as his first year there; however, he has ran into several issues which can be traced back to the lack of time to have advanced preparation. His own hiring was last minute and prevented him from  having the normal allotted time to prepare his classroom to the caliber in which his previous teaching experiences had been at.

Roscoe, Keith, and Kim Orr. "Frontloading Classroom Management." Science Teacher. 77.5

(2010): 43-48. Print.

Frontloading Classroom Management by Keith Roscoe and Kim Orr

TPA Lesson Plan Response

TPA Lesson Plan Response

In all honesty, the Washington Teaching Performance Assessment (edTPA) Lesson Plan Framework demands a large amount of detail that is not always necessary or possible to provide in individual lessons. Much of the edTPA asks for redundant information such as providing a introductory and closure information to summarize information within the Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks to Support Learning section; however, this appears unnecessary because everything that must be known is listed in the TPA. For further explanation the introduction information asks how the instructor will introduce the lesson. It was my impression that the section would provide a detailed run-down of how class time would be spent. To answer the introduction and closure questions/demands would be re-stating the information. Repeating information is useless and time-exhaustive. I really believe that the TPA should provide detailed information without demanding too much time from instructors. TPAs should be useful rather than hindering.

Another item I found to be useless as far as TPA lessons is the Parent and Community Connections section. On a daily lesson plan format, it is impossible for every lesson plan to produce substance for this section; however, this section would be wonderful for a unit or quarterly TPA format. I think it is useful, but in terms of an individual lesson it is again too time exhaustive.

What I do like about this document are the questions that are asked before the TPA lesson format. For example, Context for Learning asks for instructors to address students’ background, interests and needs in order to create engaging lessons that encompass a larger population of the class. I found this to be helpful, especially since every class and school is different; we can’t, as instructors, rely on a cookie-cutter less plans and expect them to work out if they are not relevant to our unique class makeup. Further, this section asks teachers to consider what may prevent this lesson being successful. In my own classroom, class discipline would affect the delivery of this lesson. In this specific scenario is not a case of whether or not the lesson is engaging but rather or not students can be disciplined, or kept on task, with less time spent deviating to address such issues. I would include that a lack of materials- something that is very possible in a low SES school- should also be considered as to what could impact/prevent the delivery of the lesson.

I also liked that student voice was included in the section in which the lesson-time schedule is detailed is a great idea because instructors can go further into detail about what the students will be doing ten minutes into the classroom in greater detail. This change from the previous formats I have been using is convenient and space/time-saving.

Finally, my last thought rests upon my distaste for using materials from California. Why aren't we looking at our own state needs, especially since we are not allowed to student-teach outside of Washington Stat? Shouldn't we continue to focus on this demanded venue? I think that the requirements for educators such as these TPAs are excessive, despite their good intentions. These sort of documents could be useful tools for lesson planning if the idea of time management and efficiency for the document was taken into more consideration. In this case, detail is excessive.  

Welcome to Education: Resistance is Futile

Hello random page viewers, lost Googlers, classmates and Dr. Sean Agriss!

My name is Danielle Raschko. I am twenty-one and currently on track to graduate Winter 2013 with my degree in Secondary English Education with an endorsement in History. After school I'm looking to teach abroad whether that be at a DOD school or English Language Learner-focused schools. I want to take at least a three year break from attending college, because honestly I am very burnt out. When I do return to college I want to earn an endorsement in Spanish as well as a masters in ELL.

This blog is specifically for Education 341 Strategies, Management and Assesement at Eastern Washington University.

I themed this blog Star Trek because I am a geek and I wanted to. Starfleet Academy is the URL name in reference to the school Star Trek officers must attend before becoming members aboard the spacecrafts. I haven't yet decided if I'll refer to my weekly blogs as Captain's Logs yet, hmmmm.... In truth I wanted to make Star Trek references without needing to explain myself.

If you have an questions, comments or suggestions for posts please feel free to comment!

-Ex Astris Scientia- From The Stars, Knowledge- 

Dani

Also here is a picture of Chris Pine: