Quote of the Day:
“Events in our classrooms today
will prompt world events
tomorrow”
- J. Lloyd Trump
Do Now:
Use the markers and cardstock to make
a name tent.
TE 402 Crafting Teaching Practice:
English Language Arts
Spring, Section 011
Course Instructor: Sarah Little
Week One
Our Learning Community and Our Own
Diversity
January 12, 2009
Objectives
We will be able to:
Identify the purpose and trajectory of TE 402
Characterize and describe ourselves as
learners
Identify literacy learning theories and apply
them to our own learning and teaching
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10
min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10 min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference and
Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we believe? (30
min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Setting Expectations and Norms
 Be brief and memorable
 Present the rationale
 Choice: Present them or develop them together
 Do something to help students learn them
 Expectations/Rules (example)
 Be respectful and kind to others
 Come to school ready to learn and work hard
 Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself
 Raise your hand and wait for permission to speak
 Always listen to the person who is speaking
 Daily Affirmation (example)
 I will do my best and try my hardest today and every day
 I am a beautiful person
 I am a smart person
 I will respect myself and everyone around me
 I will do amazing things today
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Expectations and Norms
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 Be Punctual
 Know your schedule and arrive to class and the field on time
 Be Prepared
 Do any required preparation and have necessary materials
ready
 Be Polite/Positive
 Assume the best of others and participate in discussions
respectfully
 Be Proactive
 Make class and field time work for you! If you have a question,
ask it. If you need help, seek it out.
 Be Purposeful
 Make sure we stay on topic and on task
 Be Present
 Engage actively in the course discussion and activities
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10 min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10 min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference and
Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we believe? (30
min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Why is literacy so important?
In
So stro ng is the link between literacy and
international
being a useful member of society that
comparisons
some states use 3rd grade-level reading
of
statistics as a factor in projecting future
performance
prison construction.
on reading
44 million adults
assessments,
in the U.S. canΥ
t
FACTS
U.S. eleventh
read well enough
ABOU
T
graders have
to read a simple
placed very
LI TERACY story to a child.
close to the
bottom.
Between 1983 and 1999, more than
More than 20% of
th
10 million Americans reached the 12
adults read at or
grade without having learned to read
below a fifthat even a basic level. In the same
grade levelΡ far
period, more that 6 million Americans below the level
dropped out of high school altogether. needed to earn a
living wage.
Syllabus and Course Overview
Section 011 - The coolest section
around!
Urban Infusion
Special attention to context
Syllabus and Course Overview
Goals of the Course
Developing your vision of standards-based
teaching
What kind of learning community do I want to
develop in my classroom?
How might the identity of my students and their
families, and our perceptions of each other,
influence my teaching?
How does who I am as a person and as a learner
influence my decisions as a teacher?
What guiding principles and concepts will help me
make decisions about my teaching?
Syllabus and Course Overview
Goals for the course
Developing your pedagogy
Building a teaching repertoire
Developing knowledge of curriculum,
planning and assessment
Understanding children and adolescents
as learners and as people and seeing the
diversity of the students in my class as an
asset
Syllabus and Course Overview
Goals for the course
Engaging in ongoing self-assessment
Understanding yourself as a learner and
as a person
Understanding yourself as a colleague
Syllabus and Course Overview
Assignments:
Notebooks/Noteblogs
Classroom participation logs
New Literacies project
Language Arts Lesson Plan
Class participation
Reading - Discussions - Participating in Activities Instructional models
QUESTIONS?
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10 min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10
min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference
and Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we
believe? (30 min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Participation Log
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 Rationale:
 Hits all 3 course goals
 To help you keep track of what activities you see and do in the
field
 To record your thoughts, observations, “ah-hah” moments from
the field
 To reflect on what you and your students are learning
 Help you develop your pedagogy
 Must be typed into the template (on Angel)
 Due:
 Monday, March 2 by 9:00 am
 Friday, May 1 by 5:00 pm
 Save as:
 Yourname_ParticipationLog.doc
 Ex: Little_ParticipationLog.doc
Example
Date
Activity Comments
9/22/08
Led a
literacy
center
Each morning she does literacy centers. She had me run a literacy center where I had a
group of five students at a time. This week apples were a theme so apples were used as a
manipulative in the center. I had a bag of apples, five red apples, 10 green apples and 5
yellow apples. I asked the students how I could separate them into different groups. The
students seemed a bit confused. By asking them what was different about them they
decided they could separate the apples by color. On a worksheet, they had to copy the
words red, green, and yellow and then on a graph draw how many of each apples they had.
I could definitely tell which groups were ahead of others in terms of literacy development.
The lowest group struggled with writing their names on the worksheet as well as holding a
pencil. One student in particular seemed embarrass by his performance and tried avoiding
the task by talking with me about things he had done that weekend. Looking at
Cambourne’s conditions of learning, specifically expectations: students will achieve what
they expect or think they can achieve. Thus, this student felt he could not achieve the task
so inevitably he did not. I tried to reinforce that he could do it but it was not enough for him
to concentrate and put forth the effort on the task. It might be a good idea to have students
set goals each week for the work they will be doing. Whereas the highest group did most of
the task with ease, when problems were encountered with the graph they were able to, as a
group, work through them – finished early – and almost seemed bored. Here they knew
they could accomplish the task, and thus they did so. In both cases though, I feel the task
could/should have been altered to cater to the ability of the students, or at least the groups
they are placed into. I feel the group with the highest ability was not challenged and hence
their literacy development was not really affected. In terms of the lowest group, I feel their
frustration with the task led them to completely disengage themselves from the task and
hence their literacy development was not affected either. I wonder if most of the literacy
center activities are geared towards the average ability in the class. If so I feel some
students are being cheated on their chance to develop their literacy at these centers, or on
any other tasks.
Participation Log cont.
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Things to remember:
Use this assignment to reflect, analyze and
evaluate your learning and the learning of your
students - put your thinking and opinion in there
Pick a focus - write about a couple of major events
for the day not a list about every action
Keep it up to date!
Set aside 15-20 minutes at the end of the day that you
spend in the field to record your thoughts.
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10 min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10 min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25
min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference and
Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we believe? (30
min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Life Maps
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 Who are we as learners and as people?
 What got us to this point?
 Questions to consider?
 When did you learn to read and write?
 Where did you hit a crossroads?
 What learning experiences or teachers shaped your life?
 What books have influenced you?
 What do you remember about reading and writing in school?
 What challenges or barriers did you face when learning to
read and write and how have they influenced you?
Life Maps
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Directions:
Take 15-20 minutes to create your life map
- make sure your name is on the map
Post your life map somewhere in the room
Use this time to take a break if you need to
Gallery Walk - take a look at others’ maps
Life Maps: Dynamics of
Difference and Sameness
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Talk at your tables:
What struck you?
What similarities bridge our experiences?
What differences set us apart?
How might that affect our learning environment?
Whole group:
What did you learn from this experience?
How could you use this activity in your classroom?
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10 min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10 min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference and
Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we
believe? (30 min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Literacy Theories
What do we mean by literacy theories?
Theories about how we learn and teach
how to read and write
Why are they important?
They express what you hold important
They influence how you teach - our
practice is grounded in principle
Literacy Theories: Examining
Beliefs
Read the statements about literacy
learning and teaching
Choose the five statements that align
the most with your beliefs
Aligning Literacy Beliefs
Check to see with what theories your beliefs most align:
Reader Response Perspective:
Reading Literature
1, 4, 8, 10, 15
Critical Perspective:
Teaching Literature
3, 6, 7, 12, 14, 16
Interactive Perspective:
Teaching Reading Skills and Strategies
1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 17
Social Action Perspective:
Taking a Critical Stance toward Literature and Teaching for Social Justice
1, 5, 9, 13, 18
Reader Response
Perspective
Critical Perspective
Interactive Perspective
Social Action Perspective
 Major Focus: Reading
Literature
 Major Focus: Teaching
Literature
 Major Focus: Teaching
Reading Skills and
Strategies
 Major Focus: Taking a
Critical Stance toward
Literature and Teaching
for Social Justice
 Reading viewed as a
transaction wi th text, as
experience
 Reading viewed as
acquisition of literary
knowledge
 Reading viewed as
interaction of reader-based
processes (skills &
strategies) and text -based
processes (text structures
and how they work to
communicate meaning)
 Encourages engagement,
personal involvement,
personal connections to
text; use res ponses to build
more interpretive
responses
 Emphasizes learning about
literary eleme nts, genre,
authors and illustrators as a
way to exte nd
understandings of literature
 Emphasizes learning skills
and strategies for
constructing and monitoring
meaning
 Reading viewed as a
political act that requires
examination of how readers
are influenced by multiple
and contradictory cultural
institutions; readers
respond to literature
subjectively based on their
socialization and cultural
viewpoints
 Emphasizes questioning of
interpretations that are
based on the subjective
positions we bring to texts;
emphasizes taking action to
challenge the status quo
Examining Literacy Theories
 Take your handout and move to the section of the
room designated to your theory/beliefs
 Discuss with your group why you chose the
statements you did.
 Also discuss:
 How do theories influence our teaching?
 What would you privilege in your teaching if you used this
theory?
 What would you hear or see in a classroom that prioritizes
each perspective?
 Choose a representative and report back to the group
your understanding of your group’s theory.
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10 min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10 min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference and
Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we believe?
(30 min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Teachers in Bloom
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
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•Everyone blooms in different ways in different rates
•Think about how you want to bloom as a teacher
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10 min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10 min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference and
Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we believe?
(30 min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Coming Attractions for 1/26 - What is literacy
 Everyone Reads:
 Tompkins, p. 11
 Gibbons, p. 51
 Cambourne, 1995 *** (ANGEL)
 Langer, 1990 (ANGEL)
 Leland, 2005 (ANGEL)
 Noteblog due 1/20: Read the syllabus and write about your
goals for the course. Write specifically about your thoughts
about your preparation for placement in an urban setting. How
do you want to use this course to help aid you in that
preparation? What do you want to learn about teaching in an
urban setting? How do you want to “bloom?”
 Due Wednesday 1/21: Interest survey (on Angel) due via email
to Sarah (little50@msu.edu)
 Questions?
Session Agenda
Welcome!
Setting expectations and norms (10 min)
Syllabus overview (15 min)
Field Participation Log description (10 min)
Life Maps: How did we get here? (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Life Maps Continued: Dynamics of Difference and
Sameness (25 min)
Literacy Learning Theories: What do we believe?
(30 min)
Read Aloud - Teachers in Bloom (10 min)
Coming Attractions/Questions? (5 min)
Notebook/Noteblog Assignment (25 min)
Notebooks/Noteblogs
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Forum to:
Record, reflect on and revise your
assumptions and ideas about teaching,
learning, and learning to teach
Express your thoughts as you prepare for
class, make sense of our in-class discussions
and activities, and as you participate in your
field placement classroom
Discuss assigned readings, special topics,
respond to children's literature, and language
arts activities
And do this all in a community of learners
Notebooks/Noteblogs
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Noteblog Entries:
 You and 3 of your peers will create a blog on
www.blogger.com
 You will post required noteblog entries and respond
to the ideas you are seeing expressed in others’
entries.
 Noteblog postings are due prior to the start of
class.
 You’re required to respond to the postings of your
colleagues at least 4 times throughout the semester
 3 responses before 3/16
 And 1 response after 3/23
 Responses should be posted by 1 week after the
original post date
Notebooks/Noteblogs
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Notebook Entries:
Kept in binder or folder that organizes a hard-copy
notebook entries for you to revisit throughout the
semester
Prefer typed, but not required
Will receive comments on these entries as you
write them
Sometimes will have to respond to colleagues.
Please file them in your notebook as they are
returned to you.
Notebook/Noteblog: Strong Entries
 Refer to readings and class discussions and pull in other
sources (discussions with colleagues, experiences in the
field, etc.)
 Discuss ideas, don’t just state them
 Show how your learning has been effected/changed
 Make connections and use evidence and examples
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Noteblog/Notebook: Strong responses
to others
 Go beyond just saying, “I agree” or “I disagree.”
 Refer to specific quotes or ideas from your colleagues
 Push their thinking and/or add to their thinking
 “I wonder if you’ve thought about…”
 “Something else to consider might be…”
 “I’ve seen/heard other people do/say…”
 “Your entry makes me think about…”
 “Something that might add to your ideas could be…”
 “One question your entry left me with was…”
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Notebooks/Noteblogs
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Forming our groups
 Group 1: Rachel A., Lyndsay B., Katalin Z., Alexandra W.
 Group 2: Andrea B., Alison B., Rachel W., Paula W.
 Group 3: Colleen C., Melissa C., Jeanette V., Gina V.
 Group 4: Jessica F., Colleen G., Lindsay P., Brandon P.
 Group 5: Katherine H., Elizabeth K., Lauren P. Sara P.
 Group 6: Julie K., Katherine K., Kelley N., Tim M.
 Group 7: Lisa K., Tiffany L., Mandy M., Shannon M.
 Use http://www.blogger.com/start
 Title your blog group:
 “TE402Section11Group__”
 Someone with a gmail account should create the blog,
then go to “settings” to add authors. Once you receive
your invite, you will need to use or create a gmail account
 Add all members’ emails as authors and Sarah
(little50@msu.edu)
 Use the last few minutes of class to make a plan