Double Entry Journal #14

Chapter 7: Shape-Shifting Portfolio People * Chapter 8 A final Word the content fetish

1. What was the most interesting idea you encountered as you read the chapter?

The most interesting idea that I encountered as I read chapter 7 was about a game called Arcanum.  Gee says, " A second identity that is at stake in playing a game like Arcanum is a real-world identity: namely, my own identity as "James Paul Gee," a non-virtual person playing a computer game." " This virtual identity impinges on and bridges to the real-world identities of different children in the classroom in different ways. Indeed, if children cannot or will not make bridges between some of their real-world identities and the virtual identity at stake in the classroom (here, a particular type of scientist)- or if teachers or others destroy or don't help build such bridges- then, once again, learning is imperiled."
 

2. What connections can you make between Gee's critique and Sir Ken Robinsons' critique of traditional schooling?

They both believe that students need to be creative and as teachers, we need to draw upon the talents, (multiple intelligences) of the students by giving them assessments where they can paint a picture, create a song, etc.  They both feel that the students are not learning content that will have meaning for them in the real-world, but that they are learning content that has no meaning for the students except to pass the test and class. 
 

3. How did this book change or support your understanding of good teaching?
This book supports my understanding of good teaching.  Students need to have assessments that will challenge them with hands-on/minds-on activities and that create meaning for the students.  Bridges need to be built between school and the real-world so the students understand why it is important to learn the content that is being taught.  James Paul Gee compared school to video games because all students love video games, but they do not all love school.  Children need to feel like they belong that their talents are being used wisely in the classroom.  All of these things are required to be considered good teaching. 

Double Entry Journal #13

Chapter 6: Affinity Spaces

 

1. Give an example of a "community of practice" in which you are currently participating in.

A "community of practice" that I am currently participating in is learning how to be a teacher.

2.Why is the term "community" better defined in relation to spaces rather than groups of people?
Gee says, "Indeed, some people interacting within a space may see themselves as sharing a "community" with others in that space, while other people view their interactions in the space differently.  In any case, creating spaces wherein diverse sorts of people can interact is a leitmotif of the modern world." 

3. What is a "generator"? What is it's counterpart in school?
A "generator" is something that gives the space content. 
A counterpart in school would be the different subjects students learn such as Science, Social Studies, Math, English, etc. 

4. What is a "content organizer"? What is it's counterpart in school?

A "content organizer" is the way the content of the space is organized or designed.
The counterpart in school would be lessons plans, state standards and objectives, and national standards. 

5. What is a "portal"? What is it's counterpart in school?

"A "portal" is anything that gives access to the content and to ways of interacting with that content, by oneself or with other people."
It's counterpart in school would be resources where students can access information such as textbooks, internet sources, etc. 

6. What do people have an "affinity" for in an "affinity space"? How does this inform your understanding of good teaching?

People have an "affinity" for the way that the space is organized.  Teachers need to organize their classroom in order to address the different learners.  All learners needs need to be addressed and the students need to be in an engaging classroom in order to meet their needs. 

7. How do "affinity spaces" support inclusive classrooms? Choose two characteristics below to make connections between "affinity spaces" and inclusive classrooms.

 An "affinity space" supports an inclusive classroom because students of varying abilities are together in one classroom working collaboratively. 
It helps to create a a sense of community by addressing each individual and working together towards a common goal. 
 

8. How are traditional classroom different from Affinity Spaces?
In a traditional classroom, students are grouped by ability and are not given chances to work on more difficult tasks because of their label.  In affinity spaces, students are all working towards a common goal, and scaffolding takes place so students can accomplish more difficult tasks with the help of a peer or teacher. 

Double Entry Journal #12

1. What is the main argument the author is making in Chapter 5?
The main argument the author is making is this chapter is the issue of learning and video games.  How video games can help or increase learning of the person playing the game. 

2. What constitutes a theory of learning?
Gee says, "Learning is not infinitely variable and there are patterns and principles to be discovered-patterns and principles that ultimately constitute a theory of learning. Indeed, what I am offering her is a case study meant to offer suggestions for a theory of how deep learning works". Therefore, patterns and principles constitute a theory of learning.

3. Why did the author struggle to learn to play Warcraft III? What needs to proceed before good learning principles?
Gee struggled to learn to play Warcraft III because, "I failed to engage with it in a way that fully recruited its solid design and learning principles".  Gee says, "So something has to come even before good learning principles.  What has to come before is motivation for an extended engagement with the game". 

4. How would have the authors struggle with learning to play Warcraft III been interpreted in school?
His struggle with learning to play the game would equal failure in a school setting.  Failing the game would also result in a low or failing grade.  The author would also give up, if this were to be in a school setting, because he had failed and would not be motivated to try again. 

5. What kind of learning experience might be better suited for at-risk students?
A horizontal learning experience would be better suited for at-risk students.  Gee says, "'Horizontal' learning experiences are those where one does not make a lot of progress up the ladder of skills, but stays on the initial rungs awhile, exploring them and getting to know what some of the rungs are and what the ladder looks like".

6. Why does the school-based interpretation of "at-risk" lead to bad learning?
Gee says, "This is all 'at-risk' needs to mean in schools too, though there it often means giving 'at-risk' learners a special dumbed-down curriculum meant to catch them up on 'basic skills'- a curriculum that all too often is a bad learning experience for these students". 

7. What do schools need to do to function more like a good game?
According to Gee, "When students are learning a content area in school- such as some area of science- this domain could be seen as a special world of its own: the world of doing science in a certain way and acting with certain values. In this case, school would be functioning more like a good game than traditional schooling which stresses knowledge apart from action and identity". Students could pretend to be zoologists and explore different ecosystems or become actual scientists and perform experiments that the person would actually do. This would make the learning experience a real-life situation and would be like a "good game" also.

8. What is different about how good games and school assess learners?
In a school setting, students are assessed by taking a test or completing an assignment and then the teacher decides for the learner how they can fix the problems that they are having. Also, the teacher decides what learning style is best for each student.  Good games assess learners by letting the person playing the game decide for themselves what topics they know or do not know and what learning style suits them best. 

9. What are the attributes of a fish-tank tutorial that make it an effective learning tool? How is it different than school-based learning?
Gee says, "I will call this a "fish-tank tutorial", because a fish tank can be, when done right, a simplified environment that lets one appreciate an ecosystem (e.g. a river, a pond, or reef in the ocean) by stripping away a good deal of complexity, but keeping enough to bring out some basic and important relationships". Information is given in print, orally, and visually. Gee says, "Information is always given "just in time" when it can be used and we can see its meaning in terms of effects and actions. Unlike in school, we don't get lots of verbal information up front and then have to remember it all when we can actually use it much later."

10. What is a sand-box tutorial? Why is it effective? How is it different than school-based learning?
A sand-box tutorial is a place where the player is free to explore, try new things, take risks, and make new discoveries and nothing bad will happen. Sand-box tutorial is effective because the learners are free to explore, but also they have the help of a supervised game if they need extra help. It is different than school-based learning because learners can "fail" because they don't want to explore or take risks because of the risk of failure.

11. What is genre? Why is it important for good learning?
"Genre just means what type of thing something is: for example, whether a novel is a mystery romance, science fiction, etc., or a piece of writing is a story, report, essay, and so forth." "Good learning always involves knowing early and well what type of thing we are being asked to learn and do. Learners need to see this type of thing in action, not to be given static rules, if they are really to understand."

12. According to the author, what does learning and play have in common?
Gee says, "For humans, real learning is always associated with pleasure and is ultimately a form of play- a principle almost always dismissed by schools."

13. How are the skills tests in good games different from skills tests in school?
According to Gee, "The skill tests are, as they often are not in school, developmental for the learner and not evaluative (judgments carried out by authority figures). Furthermore, they are tests of what skills mean as strategies, not decontextualized tests of skills outside contexts of application where they mean quite specific things."

14. How does RoN support collaborative learning?
RoN supports a collaborative learning environment because people can go to websites or blogs based upon a shared activity, interests, and goals.  Gee says, "The many websites and publications devoted to RoN create a social space in which people can, to any decree they wish, small or large, affiliate with others to share knowledge and gain knowledge that is distributed and dispersed across many different people, places, Internet sites, and modalities." 

15. Match at least one learning principle of good games (pg.74) with each of the following learning theorists you have studied in 3352:

Dewey: 22) They allow learners to practice enough so that they routinize their skills and then challenge them with new problems that force them to re-think these taken-for-granted skills and integrate them with new ones.  Repeat. 
Vygotsky: 12) They offer supervised fish tank tutorials.
Piaget: 5) They let learners themselves assess their previous knowledge and learning styles and make decisions for themselves (with help)
Gardner: 14) They give information via several modes (e.g. in print, orally, visually). They create redundancy.
Bandura: 1) They create motivation for an extended engagement

Fostering High-Quality Formative Assessment

What is formative assessment?

Formative assessment is constantly throughout a lesson being taught.  “It is feedback students receive-timely, specific, and task-focused-from teachers or other adults, peers, or through structured self-assessment.” 

What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?

The central purpose of formative assessment is the students learning.  Giving formative assessments throughout the lesson can help the teachers see what material the students are getting and what they need to re-teach.  Formative assessments assure that students are learning the objectives of the lesson. 

Connect a best practice in formative assessment to one research-based strategy.

One research-based strategy that connects to formative assessment is “Providing Feedback”.  The research-based strategy says, “When feedback is corrective in nature—that is, it explains where and why students have made errors--significant increases in student learning occur (Lysakowski & Walberg, 1981, 1982; Walberg, 1999; Tennenbaum & Goldring, 1989)”.  

Give an example of how a specific assessment can be used formatively and summatively.

One example of how a specific assessment can be used as a formative and summative assessment is a rubric.  “For example, a rubric that lists criteria for evaluating writing can be used formatively to help students understand what is expected and summatively to assign a grade”. 

Give an example from your field placement related to formative assessment and timing.

Students take a pre and post spelling test at the beginning of each week.  The pre test would be a formative assessment and students are given feedback very quickly on how they have done.  I don’t really see any sort of formative assessment, other than pre test, that are being done in the classroom. 

What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback?

Focus on the task rather than the student; tell the students how they are doing on the task at hand.  Focus attention to specific areas of strength in the work.  Formative assessment should provide detail to students so they can have a clear idea of how they are to proceed on their assignment. 

Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.

One advantage of formative assessment is that students feel more confident and in control of their own learning.  Students can relate what they are learning to different concepts across the curriculum.  Another advantage of formative assessment is that it “encourages students to engage in more complex thinking and problem solving and to hold higher expectations for their learning”. 

What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?

One challenge of implementing formative assessment is distinguishing between high-quality formative assessment and assessment.  Teachers need to recognize the need for varying assessment to the difficulty of the task and the students’ different abilities.  “Another policy challenge is to develop mechanisms of support for teachers who employ high-quality formative assessment in their classrooms”. 

Double Entry Journal # 11

Chapter 4:Simulations and Bodies

 

1.     What does the author mean when he says, "Learning doesn't work well when learners are forced to check their bodies at the school room door like guns in the old West."
The author says, “School learning is often about disembodied minds learning outside any context of decisions and actions.”  Students are not engaged when they are sitting still and reading word for word out of a textbook.  Students need to be up moving around either through stations or different centers.  Students are more involved and more likely to learn the content if they are up moving around and doing different activities. 

2.     According to the author, what is the best way to acquire a large vocabulary?
The best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to “experience the ‘worlds’ to which these words refer”.  People build their vocabulary by being placed in different situations that involve action or talk around different types of content or by the experiences they are involved in throughout their lives. 

 

3.     What gives a word a specific meaning?
A word is given a specific meaning depending on the context or sentence that it is placed in.  For example, Gee gives many different types of examples of the word “coffee” and “work”.  Gee says, “’ The coffee spilled, go get the mop’ (coffee as a liquid); ’The coffee spilled, go get a broom’ (coffee as grains); ’The coffee spilled, stack it again’ (coffee in cans).”  The word “coffee” is used in three different sentences and has three different meanings because of the context it is used in. 

 

4.     What does the term "off the hook" mean in each of these sentences?
a. My sister broke up with her fiance, so I'm off the hook for buying her a wedding present.
(not responsible anymore to buy their sister a wedding present)
b. Them shoes are off the hook dog.
(the shoes are awesome)
c. Man that cat was fighting 6 people and he beat them all. Yo, it was "off the hook", you should have seen it!!
(the fight was intense or interesting)
 
5.    According to the author what is the “work” of childhood? Do you agree?
According to the author, the “work” of a child is play.  I agree with what the author said because children need to have the opportunity to play because it broadens their imagination and children learn through play. 
 
6.    Why is NOT reading the instruction for how to play a game before playing a game a wise decision?
Gee says, “These young people are making a very wise decision when they start by playing and not reading.  The texts that come with games are very hard to understand unless and until one has some experience of playing the game- experience which, then, will give specific situated meanings to the language in the text.” Children need to first experience the game and actually play it in order to understand the game.  Then they can read the instructions on how to play because they will be more familiar with the terms and content they are reading. 

7.    Does knowing the general or literal meaning of a word lead to strong reading skills?
Knowing the general or literal meaning of a word does not lead to strong reading skills.  The author says that knowing the general or literal meaning of a word is pointless.  The reader has to know how to apply the meaning of the word because words have different meanings depending on the context they are in. 
 
8.    What does the author mean by the terms “identity” and “game”?  Give an example of 3 “identities” or “games” you play.
According to the author, the word “identity” means who you are as a person or a certain role that you play and the word “game” means that you have to know what rules or actions that you have to go by in order to keep your “identity”. 
1)    I am a Wife.
2)    I am a Teacher.
3)    I am a Student.
 
9.    According to the author what is good learning?
According to the author good learning is being able to understand the meanings of words in their contextual situations, etc.
       
10.  How does understanding that being able to build a mental model and simulations of a real-world experience is closely tied to comprehending written and oral language support of change the way you think children should learn in school?
Being able to build a mental model and simulation of a real-world experience is a great way for children to learn in school.  Children can build upon real-world experiences through play and experiences that they have while growing up.  Being involved in a simulation of a real-world experience can help children to comprehend written and oral language by playing through the situation and then written and oral language is increased. 
 
11.  Why is peer to peer interaction so important for the language development of young children? How does knowing this support or change the way you think children should learn in school?
The author says, “In dialogue with equals, children appear to compare and contrast perspectives more deeply and reflectively, learning thereby not only how to take particular perspectives through language, but also how to reason about such perspectives and perspective-taking.  “As they engage in such talk, children simulate what other people have said and done in relation to their own words, desires, perspectives, and deeds, thereby seeing what the world and they themselves have said or done what was actually said or done by a peer with whom they collaborated.”  Knowing that peer to peer interaction increases the language development of young children helps the way children should learn in school because students should be involved in group work.  Talking through their decisions and content will help students to develop language skills and to better their interactions with peers.    

Double Entry Journal #10

Chapter 3: Language and Identity At Home

1. What are the features of the forms of language that are spoken in a home environment that align with academic varieties of language?
There are a few different features of the forms of language that are spoken in a home environment that aligh with academic varieties of language. Jennie goes through these first six forms of language by telling her story.  The first form of language is introducing a a beginning and end to her story and giving a summary of what the story is going to be about.  Jennie adopts a frame that mimics story book reading as it is done by teachers; she is imitating adults language.  The third form of language is giving her story a title.  Syntactic structures are used such as: "'Once upon a time there was three boys 'n three girls.'"  The fifth type she uses is a lot of repetition and parallelism; giving examples of types of activities girls like to do and what boys like to do.  The last thing is that she uses "sympathetic fallacy".  "The fight between the girls and boys is immediately followed by the sky turning dark and lightning flashing." 

 

2. What are the features of Leona's specialized form of language?
Leon uses parallelism and repetition throughout telling her story to the class.  In many of the stanzas she ends the line with "cake".  She goes back and forth in some stanzas from what her mom is baking and to what her grandmother is baking.   She organizes her stories by breaking each part into different episodes that occurred.  She ends many of the words with "an", too which is a unique way to her story telling. Gee says, "She is interested in creating a pattern out of language, within and across her stanzas: a pattern which will generate meaning through the sets of relationships and contrasts which it sets up, like the multiple relationships and contrasts- the points of contact and stress(Gee,2004)."   

3. Why is Leona's specialized form of language not accepted in school?
Leona's specialized form of language was not accepted in school because the teacher thought she was rambling on with her story and that she was going to start telling more stories, when in fact she was getting to the end of her story.  The teacher would tell her to sit down and she would not be able to finish her story.  I thought this was so sad because the student wanted to share her story with the class like everybody else but was shut down and couldn't finish.  Teachers are looking for stories about narratives or reports; they are not looking for stories like Leona's. 

4. Explain the contradiction between the research conducted by Snow et al. (1998) and the recommendations made by Snow et al. (1998).

Gee quotes research conducted by Snow et al. and says, "As we have pointed out, in the United States poor readers are concentrated 'in certain ethnic groups and in poor, urban neighborhoods and rural towns'.  Later on in the text on page 36 Gee says, " However that may be, the test scores were going up at a time that integration was also increasing." 
 

5. What other factors besides early skills training will make or break good readers?

"Steele shows clearly that how people read when they are taking tests changes as their fear of falling victim to cultural stereotypes increases ( 37)."  In order to make or break a good reader, they need to have a variety of academic language and to belong to a certain social group. 
 

6. Why do some children fail to identify with, or find alienating, the "ways with words" taught in school?
"Children cannot feel they belong at school when their valuable home-based practices (like Leona's) are ignored, denigrated, and unused.  They cannot feel like they belong when the real game is acquiring academic varieties of language, and they are given no help with this, as they watch other children get high assessments at school for what they have learned not at school but at home (Gee, 2004)." 

Double Entry Journal #9

Ch.2 A Strange Fact About Not Learning to Read

1. What is the strange fact about not learning to read?
The strange fact about not learning to read is that it is usually the majority of poor children, or children from minority groups who are not learning to read in school.

2. Why is this fact so strange?

This fact is so strange because going to school is to create a level playing field for all children.  All children are supposed to be given the right to an education no matter what socioeconomic group they are from. 

3. What is it about school that manages to transform children who at good at learning things like Pokeman into children who are not good a learning?
School manages to transform children from not wanting to learn because of the activities that the teachers are doing.  Many teachers hand-out worksheets to students and expect them to learn and be interested in the content through completing a worksheet.  This is not the case, students need to experience hands-on activities and have a choice to act upon their interest, such as Pokemon. 

4. What is the differences between a traditionalists approach to learning to read and more progressive educators?
The traditionalists approach to learning to read is described as a sequential, skills-based approach.  Phonemic awareness is taught first, then phonics, practice with fluent oral reading, and then finally comprehension skills.  It is like an assembly line where if you complete the first step it will lead automatically lead you to the next.  The progressive educators believe in making your own meaning “meaning-making”.  They believe that learning to read is done best through picking up the skills when attempting to give meaning to written texts. 

5. Is learning to read a natural process like learning to speak a language?
No, learning is not a natural process like learning to speak a language.  The child has to be exposed to the right environment in order for the languages to be a natural process.  The author says, “Learning to read is not a natural process like acquiring a first language or, for that matter, learning to walk.  Such natural processes simply happen when a child is exposed to the right sorts of input and environments”. 

6. What are the differences between natural, instructed and cultural processes and which process should reading be classified under?
 A natural process is where humans can learn the language they speak or how to walk with no effort; it comes naturally to them.  It is the biological clock in their bodies that tells them when it is time to learn to talk or walk.  The instructed process is where students acquire knowledge of subjects such as physics, social studies, and mathematics.  Some people succeed in one subject that others may not succeed in.  The cultural process is where students have a purpose for learning.  An example would be learning how to cook.  Most people know how to cook, even though some people may not be very good at it; they know the gist of it to not starve.  Cultural process is learning because you want to learn something such as playing video games or even reading.  Reading is a cultural process because most students want to learn how to read in order to succeed.    

  7. How do humans learn best? Through instructional processes or through cultural processes? How is reading taught in school?
Humans learn best through a cultural process.  This is because they have a purpose for learning and are not instructed to learn through worksheets.  Reading in school is taught through an instructed process by learning phonics and going through the steps as in the traditionalists approach to learning. 

8. According to the author, what is the reason for the "fourth grade slump."
The reason for the “fourth grade slump” is because of the “failure to bring prototypes of academic language to school”.  The author says, “Children who do not bring such prototypes to school can learn to read in the sense of decoding vernacular language that is written down. But they cannot later read the early versions of academic varieties of language they see in books and sometimes hear teachers speak around fourth grade. 

 9. What is a better predictor of reading success than phonemic awareness?

A better predictor of reading success other than phonemic awareness is semantic and syntactic skills.  The author says, “Measures of semantic and syntactic skills” means how well children deal with what language means and with its structure (“syntax”). 

 10. What is the difference between "vernacular" and "specialist" varieties of language? Give an example of two sentences, one written in the vernacular and one written in a "a specialized variety", about a topic in your content area.

Vernacular language is the type used for face-to-face conversation and for everyday purposes.  This is how a person talks to their family, friends, and other people in their community.  Specialist language or also known as “academic language” is connected to learning and using information for school-based content areas. 

 11. What is "early language ability" and how is it developed?

“Early language ability” is when students bring to school with them the academic language that they have learned by being in their home environment. 

12. According to the author why and how does the traditionalist approach to teaching children to read fail?
The traditionalist approach to teaching children to read fails because they are not teaching children how to read academic language; they are teaching them how to read by doing phonics and dealing with superficial literal meanings that are mostly in the vernacular language not in the specialist language. 

 13. Are parents of poor children to blame for their children's inexperience with specialized varieties of language before coming to school?

I do not feel that parents of poor children are to blame for their children’s inexperience with specialized varieties of language before coming to school.  Some parents do not know that there are two types of languages that students need to bring with them to school.  Most parents, including parents of higher status, do the best they can to create more experiences for their children. 

14. Did you struggle with reading this text? Why? Are you a poor reader or are you unfamiliar with this variety of specialized language?
For the most part I did not struggle while reading this text.  There were a few parts that I had trouble with because I was unfamiliar with the terms when it came to reading about Pokémon.  I have heard of Pokémon before, but did not know all of the names and terms that went along with the game.  This is one part that I struggled with while reading.      

Double Entry Journal #8

1.     What is the main challenge being addressed in the book?

The main challenge being addressed in this book is connecting the importance of language, literacy, and learning.  Language being used in the schools are becoming more difficult and challenging for students throughout each discipline, content area. 

2.     What does the author mean by the phrase "ways with words"?

“Ways with words” means that each content area has a different language that is being used in order for students to learn.  The students need to learn to adapt to different situations and use their “way with words” according to the situation they are in or the content they are learning. 

The author says, “These new ways are the ways with words (and their concominant ways of thinking) connected to contemporary digital technologies and the myriad of popular culture and specialist practices to which they have given rise”. 

3.     What is the core argument being made by the author of this book?

The author says, “But, then, the core argument of this book will be that people learn new ways with words, in or out of school, only when they find the worlds to which these words apply compelling”.  Therefore, the core argument of this book is that people will adapt to the situate they are in by using the different language associated with that situation.    

4.     Give an example of a specialized variety of a language or "way with words" you have learned outside of school?

Outside of school I played girls softball for many years.  While playing softball I had to learn the different rules and words associated with the game.  So I had to learn the “ways with words” for softball.  I had to learn what a “ball” and “strike” were considered and also had to learn how to “slide”.  I also had to learn the different positions of the outfield and infield. By playing softball I am now able to understand the game if someone is talking about it or if I am playing it myself.

5.     According to the author, how do people learn a specialized variety of a language or "way with words" best?

The author states, “People learn (academic and non-academic) specialist languages and their con-comitant ways of thinking best when they can tie the words and structures of those languages to experiences they have had- experiences with which they can build simulations to prepare themselves for action in the domains in which the specialist language is used (e.g. biology or video games)”.

6.     If people are to be successful in the 21st century, what must they become?

The author says that if people are to be successful in the 21^st century, then they must become “shape-shifting portfolio people”.  These people are ones who gain many diverse experiences and can adapt themselves for different circumstances that may occur in their lives. 

7.     The author states that learning academic language is NOT sufficient for success in modern society? Do you agree? Why or Why not?

In a way I kind of agree with the author, but on the other hand I do not agree with the author.  I agree with the author because I think it is important for everyone to learn academic language in order to be successful throughout their educational career.  I do not agree with the author on this statement because some people are not going to be using academic language for their job and will still be successful.  I think it just depends on the situation and job that you will partake in when you are older.  I think that some people can be successful even if they do not understand the academic language. 

8.     What do you think about this author's "way with words"?

I   thought the first paragraph was way over my head; I was thinking “Oh no, this book is going to be so hard to read and I am going to be bored”.  After the first paragraph, I thought the book was beginning to get interesting.  I like how he is actually talking to the reader through his writing.  I also like how he numbered the points that were going to be discussed throughout the book.  It has been pretty easy to read so far and I haven’t hit the “black hole” yet.

Source:
Gee, James Paul. Situated language and learning: a critique of traditional schooling. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.

Student Interviews

Observation
Observation of struggling student has been conducted from September 26 to October 8. This struggling student never wants to answer any questions when you ask him. He doesn't do his work in class; instead he just looks around the room or talks to students at his table.  His grades are low in every subject and he doesn’t try to do his best in class.  Recently, he has been answering questions and doing his work in class.  I can see a big difference in him over the past few weeks.  The host teacher told me that his parents were getting a divorce and that neither of his parents would watch him.  She had seen him at the playground with his brother after school hours.  He told me that he stayed up late and didn’t have time to do his homework or study for his spelling test.  I think this is part of the reason why he is struggling in school. 
Observation of a high achieving student has been conducted from September 26 to October 8.  This high achieving student is always raising his hand to answer questions in class, and always gives his best in every subject or project that he does.  He is also in the “gifted” program and is taken out of class every Thursday to participate in different activities that will challenge him.  He is always one of the first people done with the assignments and helps other students if they need help.  I have also noticed that he is always receiving 100 on all of his assignments, or at least an A on all of his homework.  He is very smart and talented; I could tell from the beginning that he was a high achieving student. 

Interviews
Interviews conducted on October 10, 2012 with one struggling student and one high achieving student.

 Struggling student (SS) and High achieving student (HAS) responses are below.
Question: Do you enjoy school?
(SS): Yes, because I get to see my friends.
Question: What kind of student are you?
(SS takes a long time to respond and didn’t really answer the question; he shrugged his shoulders): Math is my favorite subject and I think I am kind of smart.
Question: What do you do for fun outside of school?
(SS): I like to play football when someone is outside and play X-Box.
Question: How would your classmates describe you?
(SS takes a long time to answer this question): Fun
Question: Who are you friends with? What do you and your friends do together?
(SS): Tanner, William, Taylor, Christian F., Austin, and Ton (football name).  We play football together.
Question: Tell me a good memory you have about school.
(SS again takes a long time to answer this question): Whenever we did a science activity in this class about bird beaks. 
Question: Tell me a bad memory you have about school.
(SS): Whenever I got tracked down by girls because they were mad at me for not wanting to date their friend.
Question: Describe a “good” teacher or tell me about a favorite teacher you had in the past.
(SS): My favorite teacher was Mrs. Reckart (2^nd grade teacher) because we did fun stuff with her. (Then he went on to describe a bad teacher he had for kindergarten) I didn’t like my kindergarten teacher because she told us all that we were going to fail. 
Question: What is one thing you wish your teacher knew about you?
(SS): When I grow up, I want to be a dirt-bike driver.
 
Question: Do you enjoy school?
(HAS):  Yes, it is fun and you never know what you are going to learn each day.
Question: What kind of student are you?
(HAS): I like math and reading.  I think I am pretty smart; my parents think I am smart, too.
Question: What do you do for fun outside of school?
(HAS): Hiking and fishing
Question: How would your classmates describe you?
(HAS): Funny, smart
Question: Who are you friends with? What do you and your friends do together?
(HAS):  Jacob, Ally, Kristian, Jonathan, Alexis. We go into the woods and explore.
Question: Tell me a good memory you have about school.
(HAS): Last year in second grade when we made a perfect pet house by using scaling.
Question: Tell me a bad memory you have about school.
(HAS): I cannot think of a bad memory that I have about school.   
Question: Describe a “good” teacher or tell me about a favorite teacher you had in the past.
(HAS): Mrs. Hagedorn was my favorite teacher because she was fun and didn’t take things too seriously, except when she needed too. 
Question: What is one thing you wish your teacher knew about you?
(HAS): I always take things seriously, when it comes to my schoolwork.

 Conclusion
The struggling student didn’t really want to partake in the interview and had difficulty answering questions about school.  I can tell that he has a low academic self-concept because he doesn’t think he is good at any subject.  He does like math, but he doesn’t think he is very good at it.  This interview took a long time to complete because he couldn’t think of any answers for a few questions.   
The high achieving student has a high self-esteem and academic self-concept.  I can tell that he really enjoys school by his answers and that he wants to succeed.  He takes all of his school work seriously and wants to get good grades.  Also, he likes lessons that are engaging and memorable.  He likes coming to school because he likes to learn.   

 

Double Entry Journal #7

What are some challenges to inquiry approaches to learning?

 

There are a few challenges to inquiry approaches to learning that occur.  One challenge is that teachers do not have the skills and knowledge to complete a lesson using the inquiry approach.  Teachers are used to being the person who is directing the lesson and giving all of the information.  In inquiry-based learning, students are constructing their own knowledge through designing a model of solving a problem.  Teachers may think that the approach is “unstructured” and may result in the lesson failing because the teacher is not using the proper assessment, redirection or scaffolding.  Another challenge that occurs during inquiry approach learning is that students find it hard to work together in a group and to manage their time.  Students are not given enough information or the proper tools to complete a certain task, or they may not have the background information or prerequisite to complete the inquiry task.  Through research, they found out that teachers have a hard time deciding if the students are getting the information they are supposed to out of the project because they can only hear one small group discussion at a time.  A whole group discussion did not take place and therefore the teacher did not know if the information was learned.  Another thing they found out through research was that students need more specific prompts to justifying their decision when completing a certain task or solving a problem.  Inquiry-based learning takes a lot of pre-planning before class and then puts the emphasis on the students instead of the teacher.  It takes a lot of careful planning and many strategies such as collaboration, classroom interaction, and assessment is developed. 

Source:
 Barron, Darling-Hammond, B. ,. (2008).       
       Teaching for meaningful learning. (pp. 1-8).        
       Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/ e
       dutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdf

Double Entry Journal #6

Teaching for Meaningful Learning

1. The “dominant paradigm” that is showing signs of wear is the model where the teacher and textbook were the primary sources of knowledge.  Students would learn information through lectures, discussions, and reading the textbook.  The teacher was known to provide all of the information and answers to the students without the students actually figuring out the information on their own. 

2.Project-based learning can support student learning better than the traditional approaches by applying what they know to new concept, test scores were better, and struggling students often excel. “Shepherd (1998) studied the results of a unit in which a group of fourth and fifth graders completed a nine-week project to define and find solutions related to housing shortages in several countries.  In comparison to the control group, the students engaged in project-based learning demonstrated a significant increase in score on a critical-thinking test, as well as increased confidence in learning”(5).  The students are designing the project they want to work on, and they work in groups in order to complete the task.  “The students in the multimedia program earned higher scores than the comparison group on content mastery, sensitivity to audience, and coherent design.  They performed equally well on standardized test scores of basic skills” (5).  Students test scores are higher because they are learning the information on their own.  Therefore, the students are more likely to remember content because it was information they had to learn on their own and make connections. “Students who may struggle in traditional instructional settings have often been found to excel when they have the opportunity to work in PBL context, which better matches their learning style of preference for collaboration and activity type” (5).  Struggling students are having an opportunity to excel when working PBL because they can work at their own pace and figure out the best way from them to learn the information.   

3.Problem-based learning can support student learning better than traditional approached by working in groups, learning how to solve problems, and generate hypotheses.  Problem-based learning can be used in different subjects, but it is used a lot in science.  “In all problem-based approaches, students take an active role in building their knowledge, while the teacher’s role is to make thinking visible, guide the group process and participation, and to ask questions to solicit reflections” (5).  Students are constructing their own knowledge through listening to group members and working together to solve a problem.   Working in groups helps students to view different viewpoints of a situation and to come to a better consensus.  “The problems are realistic and have multiple solutions and methods for reaching them, rather than a single “right” approach” (5).  Letting students work on a problem that they may encounter in the “real-world” will help them to gain skills and knowledge to succeed in the future.  This also helps students to realize that there are many different ways to solve a problem and different approaches can be taken to reach the same goal, and there is no one right answer to a problem.  “Additional studies have demonstrated that students who participated in problem-based experiences are better able to generate accurate hypotheses and coherent explanations” (7).  Students are learning to make a hypothesis about the problem they are trying to solve in order to come up with a solution.   

4.Learning by design can support student learning better than traditional approaches by have students to be creative to design an artifact, students need to apply knowledge, and develop plans to design something.  “In the ThinkQuest competition, for example, teams of students design and build Web sites on topics ranging from art, astronomy, and programming to foster care and mental health” (7).  Students are apply knowledge that they already have about a topic and are applying it into a new topic to design a website of or some other type of project.  “Hmelo, Holton, and Kolodner (2000) asked sixth-grade students to design a set of artificial lungs nad build a partially working model of the respiratory system.  They found that the design project led to better learning outcomes than the traditional approach to instruction” (8).  Students can learn complex subjects such as health and different systems by designing different parts of the body.  This will give students a better understanding of how things work and what they look like by creating models and designing their own projects. 

5. The three approaches are very similar, but there are a few differences between the three.  In the project based learning, students are working together to complete a speech or presentation on a real-world concept to explain to the class; the project is usually complex and takes many days to work on.  In problem-based learning, students are given a problem to work on and they have to find solutions to the problem.  In learning by design, students are designing something complex, such as a body system, in order to understand how it works.

6.The most important benefit to learning that is common across the three types of inquiry-based learning is that the students are creating their own knowledge through different activities, while the teacher acts as a guide to facilitate student learning, to ask questions, and to circulate around the classroom to ensure that students are learning what they are supposed to be learning.  Source:  Barron, Darling-Hammond, B. ,. (2008).        Teaching for meaningful learning. (pp. 1-8).         Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/       edutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdf