As an educator, curiosity and passion are two important factors that we should embody. They not only help us do our job well but also are essential for our students’ learning and future careers. This is more true than ever as we currently live in a fast-evolving world which is hyperconnected and where “old average is over” (Friedman, 2013). I agree with what Friedman (2013) wrote in his New York Times article - P.Q. (passion quotient) and C.Q. (curiosity quotient) are now more valued than I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) as passion and curiosity are needed “to leverage all the new digital tools to not just find a job, but to invent one or reinvent one, and to not just learn but to relearn for a lifetime.” Nurturing lifelong learners has always been one of my goals as a teacher. I believe that helping students find their passion and grow curiosity would lead them to be lifelong learners, and one way to achieve this is by questioning. Questioning opens the door to passion and curiosity, and vice versa. However, people, including myself, do evade inquiry for several reasons. This may be because we are too busy with our everyday lives and view questioning as counterproductive or because we fear that we might not get the answers to the critical questions we raise (Berger, 2014). Reading Berger’s book led me to think that questioning is the opposite of counterproductive and makes us do so many wonderful things and that we should not fear the uncertainty that comes with questioning. To remind myself of what I learned this summer and encourage my students to develop passion and curiosity as well as to use questions to learn and relearn, I made the poster below, which I am going to hang on my classroom wall. Reference:
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York: Bloomsbury. Friedman, T. (2013, Jan). It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as much as I.Q.. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/opinion/friedman-its-pq-and-cq-as-much-as-iq.html Froster, I. (2016). Behind the scenes of ART21’s series Art in the Twenty-First Century [GIF]. Retrieved from http://magazine.art21.org/2016/07/01/behind-the-scenes-of-season-8-mexico-city/#.XzX8mpMza3U Unless otherwise noted, the poster presented on this post is the property of the blog owner.
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Imagine being in a room with people who speak, look, and even act differently from you. On top of that, imagine being asked to complete assignments using a foreign language that you are unfamiliar with. Emergent Bilingual Students (EBS) face multifaceted challenges as they enter schools that only offer English as the medium of instruction. One of the many ill-structured problems that profoundly affect EBS’ academic performance is reading English texts. Understandably, Emergent Bilinguals tend to have low reading proficiency compared to their fluent English-speaking peers as English is not their first language (de Schonewise & Klingner, 2012). Yes, this is a problem, but an even bigger problem is that schools do not provide enough support to these students. According to Khong and Saito (2014), schools and the educational system, in general, do not respond appropriately to Emergent Bilingual Students’ learning needs, and they provide teachers with the same materials for both types of students. I believe that this is an urgent problem as the National Education Association reported that Emergent Bilinguals are the fastest-growing segment of the public school population in the United States. After spending some time pondering and researching about this ill-structured problem, I found a technology tool that could help both teachers and EBS alleviate the issue. Newsela is an instructional content platform that provides students and teachers with nonfiction reading texts published at five different reading (Lexile) levels. Watch the video below for more information: I think Newsela would be an effective technology tool for Emergent bilinguals. It allows them to read the same content as their English speaking peers without feeling overwhelmed. Actively engaging EBS in meaningful learning would develop a sense of being competent learners and, as a result, increase their motivation (Jones & Jones, 2015). Through using Newesla, Emergent bilinguals are encouraged to read more and eventually improve their reading skills. Reference:
de Schonewise, E. A., & Klingner, J. K. (2012). Linguistic and cultural issues in developing disciplinary literacy for adolescent english language learners. Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 51-68. https://journals.lww.com/topicsinlanguagedisorders/Abstract/2012/01000/Linguistic_and_Cultural_Issues_in_Developing.6.aspx Jones, V. F., & Jones, L. S. (2015). Comprehensive classroom management, Creating communities of support and solving problems (11th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon Khong, T. D. H., & Saito, E. (2014). Challenges confronting teachers of English language learners. Educational Review, 66(2), 210-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2013.769425 National Research Association. (n.d.). Research & tools. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from http://www.nea.org/home/32409.htm Video: Kim, H. (2020, July 12). Technology tool for emergent bilingual students: NEWSELA [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMLzRLC4KG4&feature=youtu.be Unless otherwise noted, the video presented on this blog is the property of the blog owner. Over the past few weeks, I have captured an image/video every day and rearranged them in a sequence to reflect on my learning and to show who I am. As evidenced in the video below, I love traveling, eating, watching movies, and spending time with my family and friends. I am also a maker and an innovator! I created an innovative learning experience plan integrating Makey Makey into my ELL class. Using Floor Planner, I redesigned my classroom. Also, I learned how to use a sewing machine and decorated a stool and made a cushion for my dog. I am a Korean, a teacher, a female, and a Christian. It was impossible to give myself one label. While thinking deeper about who I am, I also thought of intersectionality, which is a term I learned in my grad course a few weeks ago. Intersectionality is a metaphor for understanding multiple different categories of potential discrimination or oppression that may compound and interplay in one’s life (NAIS, 2018). As educators, we have to always keep in mind that our students are all unique and be careful not to label them by seeing only one side of their characteristics, personalities, or academic performances. In addition, we have to be sensitive so that none of our students are discriminated, and also teach our students to accept others who are different from them. Resources:
National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). (2018, June 22). Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc Unless otherwise noted, the video presented on this post is the property of the blog owner. August is a busy, yet exciting, month for teachers. Before the new school year begins, teachers put in a lot of time and effort in designing and decorating learning spaces for students. We do this not only because we want our classrooms to look colorful and fun but also because classroom design affects students’ learning. The study of Barett, Zhang, Moffat, and Kobbacy (2013) reveals a 25% impact of school design on 751 pupils’ learning rates. It was also written in The Third Teacher - Chapter 2: Minds at Work that Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation, and human resources, said "to meet the challenges ahead, we must redesign schools to nurture the creative capacity in all of us" (p. 4). Using Floor Planner, I created a 3D model of my classroom last school year. Although the program was user-friendly, I was not able to create an exact replica for a few reasons. Whiteboard and air conditioner were not included in the furniture/appliances options. Also, I could not find desks and chairs that had the same color as the ones in my classroom. Lastly, I had difficulty changing the color of the walls and floor. As shown in the picture above, I teach a small group of students. They are all English Language Learners (ELL), and they come to my class to receive extra English language support. After doing some research, reading studies, and watching videos about Experience Design, I was able to rethink and create a new classroom design for my students (see pictures below). I made several modifications to further support my students’ learning. A couple of changes that I designed are difficult to make in a short period as major construction is required. For instance, I added a bigger window for more natural light. In addition, I wanted to change the color of the walls (although I was not able to do so using the program). However, most changes I made could be easily done when provided a sufficient budget. Collaboration, along with creativity and communication, is one of the aspects of 21st-century learning. (Feel free to check my blog post about 21st-century learning). I replaced the individual desks with two large tables where six students can sit together. The tables give students a larger space to work, make, and collaborate. Also, the chairs have wheels which help students easily move and work with various peers. According to Barrett P., Zhang, Davies, and Barrett L. (2015), well-defined learning zones are crucial in facilitating learning (p.29). In order to create multiple learning zones in my classroom, I added several pieces of furniture. I placed two sofas and bookshelves at the back of the room to make a reading zone. Also, I created a small maker’s zone using two solid pine L shaped toy boxes in front of the teacher’s desk. The two solid pine L shaped toy boxes have wheels attached which allow the users to easily move them and create a more spacious maker’s zone. Lastly, I placed three rugs not only to make my classroom more colorful and cozy but to attenuate noise. According to Barrett P., Zhang, Davies, and Barrett L. (2015), comfortable and clear auditory perception, along with freedom from background noise, improves communication and promotes working and learning efficiency, and they suggested that small carpeted/rug areas can make a positive difference. Resources:
Barett, P., Zhang, Y., Moffat, J., & Kobbacy, K. (2013). A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning. Science Direct, (59) pp. 678-689 Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360132312002582?via%3dihub Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Davies, F., & Barrett, L. (2015). Clever Classrooms: Summary report of the HEAD Project. Retrieved from https://www.salford.ac.uk/cleverclassrooms/1503-Salford-Uni-Report-DIGITAL.pdf O'Donnell, Wicklund Pigozzi and Peterson, Architects Inc., VS Furniture., & Bruce Mau Design. (2010). The third teacher: 79 ways you can use design to transform teaching & learning. New York: Abrams. What is an equal learning opportunity? Is giving the same lesson or assigning the same project to all students considered fair? Every student is unique with different prior knowledge, background, preference, and many more. Moreover, they come into our classrooms with highly diverse learning needs. An effective lesson for student A might not be useful for student B. I created a short video below to help educators in designing curriculum and lessons that offer equal opportunities of learning to all students. The two topics included in the video are Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and intersectionality. UDL is a framework created based on scientific insights into how humans learn in order to improve teaching and learning. While researching on the topic, I found some guidelines teachers could use to support students to be motivated, resourceful, as well as strategic and goal-directed. Intersectionality is a metaphor for understanding multiple different categories of potential discrimination or oppression that may compound and interplay in one’s life. Being knowledgeable about these topics, educators would be able to optimize learning opportunities for all students in our classrooms. Now that I know about UDL and intersectionality, my next challenge was to think about how I would use them to design lessons. UDL and intersectionality are particularly helpful to me as I teach English Language Learners (ELL) who have diverse learning needs. Also, there is a potential for discrimination since ELL students are usually a minority. This week, I had the chance to peer review two lesson plans and to apply what I’ve learned. Through this experience, I learned that having UDL and intersectionality lenses allows teachers to have a broader perspective. It is definitely not easy to provide equal learning opportunities to all students every lesson. However, by trying our best and making small changes in light of UDL and intersectionality, I believe that we can make a difference. Resources:
CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: Author National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). (2018, June 22). Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc Unless otherwise noted, the video presented on this blog is the property of the blog owner. |
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