Social Practitioner

As social practitioner it is our responsibility to ensure that we are providing a connection between the classroom and real world and in a way that inspires social change. It is us, the educators, who have the responsibility of education the communities and society as a whole. According to Carbonneau (2008), “passion appears to be an important concept to consider in education because the teaching profession requires teachers to invest time, energy, and their hearts in their teaching” (p. 2). The field of education requires teachers to have a strong passion but also to continue to add to their pedagogy and grow professionally constantly. Therefore, it our responsibility to make sure that we are always finding ways to improve programs and initiatives at the schools and programs we are involved in.  

I believe that one of the greatest barriers to leading program evaluations is going to be getting everyone on board, especially the parents. One downfall to avoid is not making more opportunities to involve parents in the process of evaluation. Each year, the parental involvement seems to decrease. Parents are a major stakeholder in education because it is they who often guide their child’s educational experience from kindergarten through 12th grade. However, one major issue is that parents are often left in the dark or are given little information about the major changes taking place in education.  With that being said, many students are left with no support from home when it comes to their school experience. This directly impacts a student’s achievement and school experience. Often, parents do not know how to be an advocate for their child or what it even means to advocate on their behalf. One issue is that parents often rely on teachers to provide them with any necessary information but do not know what to ask. One way to minimize the barrier would be to teach parents how to advocate for their child’s education is important. As noted in Nueman (2013), “As collaborative partners, we need to address these and other questions if we are to continue to engage parents in supporting and advocating for their children” (p. 90). Working together with teachers can help parents to understand that being involved in the process of evaluation can benefit and improve the educational experience for all children. Implementing and involving all stakeholders in the process of evaluation has its challenges but also can prove to be very beneficial to all stakeholders involved, including principals, teachers, students, parents, and the community.

References

Carbonneau, N., Vallerand, R. J., Fernet, C., & Guay, F. (2008). The Role of Passion for    Teaching in Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(4), 977-98.

Neuman,S.B., &Roskos, K. (2013). Why common core matters: What parents need to know. Reading Teacher, 67(1), 9-11

Scholar Practitioners as Program Evaluators

Education is always evolving, growing, and changing. Each year, there are new teaching strategies and methods that are designed to enhance classroom instruction. My desire to continue to grow professionally and become a better educator has led me to pursue an advanced degree in education. As an early childhood educator my main role is currently a classroom teacher. However, one day I hope to be able to possibly step into a leadership role or become an academic coach. With that being said, program evaluation is a large part of leadership roles. Principals and coaches are constantly changing and reviewing programs that are already or will be implemented in their schools.

The content in this course will help me to delve deeper into understanding that programs are not just implemented and then everything is perfect. It can also provide me with some insight on how program evaluation is works and what it entails. For the most part, knowing how program are evaluated and how it can benefit teacher and students can only prove to be beneficial for myself and my students. As with anything, I think that I can provide some useful feedback to the program evaluation process. Also, it will allow me to explore some areas that I may not otherwise be involved in. As teachers, we are often involved in many panels, programs and committees in school and they are allow us to learn and be educated by just being a part of it. By learning more about program evaluation, it will allow me to help to evaluate and provide feedback form a knowledge and educated perspective.

Questions for program evaluations:
1. How are students involved in the program evaluation process?
2. Once a program evaluation is used for a program how often is it evaluated to determine if it is successful?
3. Do all programs undergo the same program evaluation process?

Technology in the classroom

Technology in the classroom has changes drastically of the past years. Teachers have so many options when it comes to assistive and supportive technology in the classroom. The main issue that teachers have is integrating all the technology the classroom successfully. It is important for teachers to integrate assistive and supportive technology in the classroom to support student learning. As noted in Connor and Beard, (2015), “Use of educational technology, especially computers, cell phones, tablets, and computer-related peripherals/applications, has grown tremendously and has permeated all areas of our lives” (p. 640). Implementing technology can seem intimidating to some teachers but is necessary because many children learn best using due to the technology driven society. As noted in Connor and Beard (2015), “Not only are teachers and teacher candidates being trained in the use of current technology and in the development of inexpensive alternative switches for classroom use, these methodologies are being utilized in the public school classroom setting. Therefore, students with disabilities will benefit from the increased use of accessible technology linked to college and career and functional standards” (p. 642). 

 

 

 One supportive technology program that I use with my students who have individualized educational plans are read aloud.  We use a reading program called Achieve 3000 in our school system. Achieve 3000 is a reading program that allows students to read on their own Lexile level. The program has a read aloud component for students with disabilities. The read aloud component reads the passages, questions and answers to students. This is a great  program that helps to  increase students’ reading levels and comprehension levels.  This assistive feature can be used with any age group and grade level.

Another supportive technology program that I use in my classroom room are online timers. In the past, teachers have used physical timers or egg timers to keep students on task. I love using online timers. They keep students on task when working and they can use them with their laptops and iPad. They can be used with any age group or grade level to support learning. Online timers are great for students who have time accommodations.

Technology in the classroom is important to classroom instruction. However, it does have some downfalls to implementing technology in the classroom. With the increased use of technology, teachers will need a lot of training to use and them integrate the programs in the classrooms. Also, because technology is so unpredictable it may not always work properly when needed. For example, we have one to one student technology in our classrooms and many issues we face are too many people on the server at once, computers or program glitches, or student laptops breaking.  

Connor, C., & Beard, L. A. (2015). Increasing Meaningful Assistive Technology Use in the Classrooms. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3(9), 640-642.

 

Choosing the Proper Assessment Scenarios

The following scenarios depict typical children found in classrooms across America. Each child displays behaviors that prevent him or her from being successful in the classroom. The teacher faces challenges every day in finding the best practices to ensure that students like these receive the best educational experiences and instruction in order to promote healthy development and growth. As you read, think about what assessments would be most beneficial for each student and his or her achievements in the classroom, while also noting that those assessments should be purposeful. A purposeful assessment is an assessment that aims to test students with an end goal in mind and for a specific purpose. According to Norris (2012), “(1) focus on assessment, not simply tests; (2) clarify the intended use of the test; and (3) evaluate the outcomes of assessment” (p. 41). A purposeful assessment can yield data that allow teachers to provide interventions or enrichments for students at their level of learning. These assessments can allow teachers to also provide instruction that is meaningful.

Scenario One

Caleigh is a healthy five-year-old girl. She is in kindergarten in the public school system. Her class has 18 students with one teacher and a teacher assistant. She enjoys school but is not eager to go each day. Her teacher has recently reported that she is starting to show signs of struggle. Caleigh’s teacher is following the state’s content standards which are aligned with the general curriculum for the classroom. She receives daily instruction in phonics, reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Caleigh has problems with blending sounds and withearly literacy skills and also shows very little interest in books or drawings. She has trouble following tasks when given and needs repeat explanations of directions. Her teacher also reports that she has trouble playing with her peers. There are times when she does not communicate and will not use any hand gestures or facial expressions. She often becomes frustrated when asked to repeat herself and is starting to withdraw from her peers. Her teacher mentioned to her parents that she does respond well to verbal praise and is able to stay focused on a task for a maximum of 10 minutes but often needs redirection. She frequently fidgets in her seat or on the carpet during circle time and is not engaged in lessons.

Scenario Two

Kennedy is a 7-year old girl in second grade. She enjoys coming to school and gets along well with her peers. She lives with her parents and is the oldest of four children. Her parents have reported that at home she is very rambunctious and behaves very immaturely. Kennedy’s teacher reports that she can be very quiet in class and participates very little in class discussion. Kennedy struggles to pay attention and is easily distracted.  She excels in math but is below grade level in the area of reading. She struggles when solving words problems and with writing. She avoids completing work assignment and will misbehave when confronted with not completing her assignments. She often will shut down if she has to complete assignments and will refuse to be compliant.

References

Norris, J. M. (2012). Purposeful language assessment: Selecting the right alternative test. English Teaching Forum, 50(3), 41–45.

Policies and National Regulations and Standards for Early Childhood Education

In recent years, common core and educational standards have been some of the biggest topics of debate in education. Many states are putting policies in place to ensure that these standards are being met and that students are receiving rigorous instruction. However, the problem lies in that many of these policies and standards vary from state to state and are not consistent in their measures. There are several organizations that provide a board set of standards for educators to refer to and use to help guide their instruction. For example, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offer many standards and guidelines for educators to use inside and outside the classroom. It is important to stay abreast with what is current in the field and new strategies, best practices, and professional development to help enhance instruction and increase student achievement. With that being said, many states and school districts are also ensuring that a set of learning expectations are put into place to guide teacher curricula and instruction in the classroom.

In Georgia, the most used resource for early childhood education policies and standards is the Georgia Department of Education (GADOE). The GADOE is a website that provides policies, standards, and guidelines for pre-kindergarten to the 12th grade. The Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS) http://www.gelds.decal.ga.gov is another useful resource. The GELDS offer a guideline of learning standards that are research based and high quality. The GELDS are a continuum of skills, behaviors, and concepts that children develop throughout early education. They are divided into age groups and serve as a framework for learning (The Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards, 2016). The GELDS are broken into five main categories of development: physical, social and emotional, play and learning, language and literacy, and cognitive development and general knowledge. This is very similar to the NAEYC learning standards, which are comprised of 10 broader categories, including relationships, curriculum, teaching, health, families, and physical environment. The GELDS and NAEYC learning standards are based on educating and teaching the whole child. They focus not just on academic growth and success, but also a child’s physical health and environment. Teaching the whole child is important because if a child is well rounded, the likelihood of his or her academic success, positive behavior choices, and happier, healthier children. According to Meschke and Bartholomae, 2012 “promotion of healthy outcomes contributes to the reduction of risk behaviors” (p. 91). However, the NAEYC standards are much broader because they address a child at any age. On the other hand, the GELDS have appropriate age indicators and suggestions for proper academic growth and development. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is very detailed in its suggestions for fostering healthy development in children. The standards are very detailed about providing the foundational skills needed for a child to experience healthy development. Like the GELDS, they cover numerous areas of learning and foundational skills necessary for proper growth and development, but they are not as detailed as the GELDS. The GELDS break down a child’s learning from birth to 60 months and offer learning milestones in six-month timeframes. It is important that there are guidelines because when a child is well rounded they are more likely to be successful in school and at home.

 

Questions for further research:

What professional development is being utilized to ensure that best practices are up to date for teacher to ensure they are providing rigorous instruction and a strong foundation for future learning?

What assessments are school systems using to ensure that student’s needs are being met to in the area of healthy development?

How do school ensure that teachers and educators are following the guidelines set forth? What assessments do the use to ensure they are meeting milestones and standards?

References

The Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards. (2016). Retrieved December 8, 2016, from http://www.gelds.decal.ga.gov/.

Meschke, L. L., Peter, C. R., & Bartholomae, S. (2012). Developmentally appropriate practice to promote healthy adolescent development: Integrating research and practice. Child & Youth Care Forum, 41(1), 89-108.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2002). Overview of the 10 NAEYC early learning standards. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/academy/files/academy/OverviewStandards.pdf

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/CAPEexpand.pdf

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). (2012). Early childhood generalist standards (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://boardcertifiedteachers.org/sites/default/files/EC-GEN.pdf

Cultivating Positive Classroom Cultures

Critical components to creating a positive classroom culture

Although a classroom environment and culture cannot be complete controlled, however, there are things that can be done to help make it a positive environment. After talking to one of my colleagues Mrs. Rawhoof, who teaches 5^th grade, we discussed several factors that are important to creating a positive classroom culture for students. It is important to make sure the classroom environments works for all that are involved teachers, students and parents. Often as educators, we tend to create classroom environments that work for us a teachers but not meet the needs of the students. For example, to start a child’s day it is important to make sure you greet each student as they in to the classroom and ensure they fell welcome in the classroom. It is important to set routines for children because many kids need structure and routines.

Build meaningful relationships with the children and the families

One way that she build meaningful relationships with her students is she shares her life with them and allows them to share their lives with her. Every Monday she does share our weekends, where each student get a few minutes to share how they spent their weekends. This allows for students to get to know each other and feel part of the classroom. Also, she attends sports events that students are involved in. She also shares her personal cell phone number with parents to allow them to let them know that she is available to them and has a an open line of communication.

Unique approaches to building a positive classroom culture

Fifth graders are a special group of students they are finding themselves and starting to enter into puberty. They are very social and need a lot of social interactions with peers and adults. At the age it is important to never act inappropriately towards them or their actions. It is important to make sure that one does not embarrass students this age in front of other students. She feels it is important to build a strong relationship through guidance and nurturing.

What challenges did the teacher face?

In this particular classroom, it is has mix of students from IEP, EIP, ESOL, and grade level students. However, majority of the students did have IEP’s and it makes building a positive culture a little more difficult. The main issues was that majority of the students had variety of personalities (immature, behaviors issues, emotional issues or constant need for attention) and they did not mesh well. With that being said, it can be very difficult to manage a classroom with such a wide variety of issues. Despite all the challenges that Mrs. Rawhoof’s faces as a teacher, she still believes that it is important to encourage her students so they do not give up. According to

Cultural considerations

Majority of Mrs. Rawhoof’s class is African American and in the middle class to lower middle class range. She feels that it is important that the students learn about one another in order to set the tone of respect in her classroom. Also, that they share their various cultural experiences whenever they can in order to build a level of respect for cultural differences.  According to DiTullio (2014), “Human nature is predictable. We’re less likely to be hurtful to people we know and view as friends than people with whom we are only vaguely acquainted” (p.38).  Making sure that students are actively listening to one another during this time as well.   

 

Improving this positive classroom culture

            Research has shown that children who have positive academic experiences ted to have better academic outcomes.  It is important that students feel that they can trust their teacher and peers in the classroom. According to Ditullio (2014), “Educators should consider several important factors when designing a classroom that promotes resiliency development. These factors include having students develop trusting relationships with one another and adults, building competence, building confidence, creating opportunities for risk taking, and creating engaging learning experiences that challenge students to think and problem solve” (p.36). Provide a safe, positive environment not only encourages students to grow, but also be academically successful. Building positive relationships are essential to creating a positive classroom culture. As noted in DiTullio (2014), “Teachers may believe that this is a waste of precious teaching time, but taking time to develop these relationships is essential to creating an environment where students are comfortable working together, taking risks, and engaging in challenging learning experiences (p.38).

 

DiTullio, G. (2014). Classroom Culture Promotes Academic Resiliency. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(2), 37