(Context)
One of the “through-lines” (Blythe et al, 1998 p. 20) that the faculty intends to run through the master’s program is an emphasis on teaching that is responsive to the particular students and their particular context in which you are teaching (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006) —“listening” to students lives (Schultz, 2003). In this section we ask you to briefly describe the topic of your study, the grade and school where you will teach it, and how you see this curriculum fitting--or not--with your particular students’ lives inside and outside of the classroom. What “funds of knowledge” do students bring? What issues or themes seem present in the community and/or in the interests of students? What evidence do you have for the relevance of this emic view of your students or other community members? In the broadest terms, what is your intended purpose for the curriculum? Two ways to think about this issue are in terms of Dewey’s principle of “continuity,” or Levy’s notion of the “genius” of the topic.
(Final Context: March 7, 2015)
For my spring placement, I am working with fourth grade students at Henry C. Lea Elementary School. Lea is a public school in West Philadelphia that serves students in Kindergarten through Eighth grade. The most striking thing about Lea is its diversity. When I first went on a tour of Lea in the summer, I was told that there were approximately 30 different languages spoken by Lea students at home. On the school website, even the supply lists are listed in English, Albanian, Arabic, French, Khmer, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Chinese.
My students are a particularly diverse group of learners. Out of our twenty-six students, six students have individualized education plans, two students are on the Autism spectrum, two students are English Language Learners (one student was from Saudi Arabia and had only been in this country for one week prior to entering our classroom and the other student came from Mauritania), three students are being evaluated for services, and one student is mainstreaming into our classroom. Although we are very diverse, there are a number of things that I noticed about the class as a whole. I spent most of the first two weeks observing and getting to know the students by asking to read their daily journals and the goals that they made for themselves. I noticed that while many of the students talked about typical student interests like sports and playing games, they also talked about their love of math, wanting to help people, and solving problems. I noticed that nearly one hundred percent of our very diverse class was engaged in learning when it was hands-on (“Building a Circuit” lesson), involved using manipulatives (my “M&M division” lesson) or some kind of movement (my “Features of a Play” lesson), or involved authentic discussions where the students were able to debate and make connections to their own lives. Given what I have learned at GSE (i.e. Victor, Bransford, Calkins), all of this made sense.
My students are a particularly diverse group of learners. Out of our twenty-six students, six students have individualized education plans, two students are on the Autism spectrum, two students are English Language Learners (one student was from Saudi Arabia and had only been in this country for one week prior to entering our classroom and the other student came from Mauritania), three students are being evaluated for services, and one student is mainstreaming into our classroom. Although we are very diverse, there are a number of things that I noticed about the class as a whole. I spent most of the first two weeks observing and getting to know the students by asking to read their daily journals and the goals that they made for themselves. I noticed that while many of the students talked about typical student interests like sports and playing games, they also talked about their love of math, wanting to help people, and solving problems. I noticed that nearly one hundred percent of our very diverse class was engaged in learning when it was hands-on (“Building a Circuit” lesson), involved using manipulatives (my “M&M division” lesson) or some kind of movement (my “Features of a Play” lesson), or involved authentic discussions where the students were able to debate and make connections to their own lives. Given what I have learned at GSE (i.e. Victor, Bransford, Calkins), all of this made sense.
After observing my CM and the students for the first week, it was also apparent that using evidence to support claims had become a norm in English/Language Arts, Math, and every day life in Room 208. During my first day, I heard my CM do a call and response with the students where she would say, “Show me the…” and they would shout, “EVIDENCE!” During report card conferences, one of the students showed up outside of our door while his mother was conferencing with my CM. My CM asked the parent if the student came with her. We were all surprised to see him and when my CM asked him what he was doing there, he said with a grin, “I saw my mom’s signature on the book downstairs and I used the EVIDENCE to figure out that she was up here.”
Given what I observed about my CM, the students, and the culture of 208 as a whole, I knew that I wanted to do something with the idea of evidence since it permeated everything the students did in class as well as their conversations. However, I also knew that evidence alone was not a generative topic. Generative topics are issues, themes, concepts, or ideas that provide enough depth, significance, connections and variety of perspective to support students' development of powerful understandings (Blythe, 1998, p. 25). Blythe (1998) also specifically talks about how one of the most important key features to selecting a generative topic is that it is interesting to the teacher (p. 18). I knew that I wasn’t satisfied with my unit yet and I still wasn’t sure what lasting understandings I wanted my students to have.
With the help of my TA, I realized that one of the overall themes around the topics that I talked about was developing critical thinkers. Initially, I thought that my key idea would be evidence, but I realized what I really wanted the students to take away from their time with me was the importance of questioning the evidence , using the evidence to problem solve , and digging deeper into the multiple perspectives that serve as lenses for the evidence . It was clear to me that the students had taken the idea of evidence to heart, but I wanted to push them a bit further. My unit draws on the funds of knowledge that the students have about evidence and I am adding the next layer: critical and historical thinking.
Much of my unit fits in with the foundation my CM has been building. Our students already have some experience with identifying multiple perspectives and questioning the evidence because my CM conducts a classroom meeting/trial after any incidents (usually fights that take place). Although it is unclear if my students are accustomed to questioning evidence outside of school, I get the sense that the parents of my students will fully support my efforts to cultivate the critical thinking skills that their children are already beginning to develop. I say this because at report card conferences many of the parents were concerned about their children's grades and making sure that they are doing challenging work that will prepare them for future grades. Even though these kids are only in fourth grade, the pressure of applying to the various high schools in Philadelphia can be felt. I firmly believe that developing these critical and historical thinking skills will help these students both academically and generally in life. It is my hope that focusing on different perspectives will also lead my students to increase their empathy for others.
Given what I observed about my CM, the students, and the culture of 208 as a whole, I knew that I wanted to do something with the idea of evidence since it permeated everything the students did in class as well as their conversations. However, I also knew that evidence alone was not a generative topic. Generative topics are issues, themes, concepts, or ideas that provide enough depth, significance, connections and variety of perspective to support students' development of powerful understandings (Blythe, 1998, p. 25). Blythe (1998) also specifically talks about how one of the most important key features to selecting a generative topic is that it is interesting to the teacher (p. 18). I knew that I wasn’t satisfied with my unit yet and I still wasn’t sure what lasting understandings I wanted my students to have.
With the help of my TA, I realized that one of the overall themes around the topics that I talked about was developing critical thinkers. Initially, I thought that my key idea would be evidence, but I realized what I really wanted the students to take away from their time with me was the importance of questioning the evidence , using the evidence to problem solve , and digging deeper into the multiple perspectives that serve as lenses for the evidence . It was clear to me that the students had taken the idea of evidence to heart, but I wanted to push them a bit further. My unit draws on the funds of knowledge that the students have about evidence and I am adding the next layer: critical and historical thinking.
Much of my unit fits in with the foundation my CM has been building. Our students already have some experience with identifying multiple perspectives and questioning the evidence because my CM conducts a classroom meeting/trial after any incidents (usually fights that take place). Although it is unclear if my students are accustomed to questioning evidence outside of school, I get the sense that the parents of my students will fully support my efforts to cultivate the critical thinking skills that their children are already beginning to develop. I say this because at report card conferences many of the parents were concerned about their children's grades and making sure that they are doing challenging work that will prepare them for future grades. Even though these kids are only in fourth grade, the pressure of applying to the various high schools in Philadelphia can be felt. I firmly believe that developing these critical and historical thinking skills will help these students both academically and generally in life. It is my hope that focusing on different perspectives will also lead my students to increase their empathy for others.