In the reading, Effective Literacy Instruction for Adolescents, there was a point that was made which stood out to me. "People think one-size instruction fits all" (pg 191). This is an approach to teaching that needs to be changed. Every child learns and adapts to things differently. Not every child is the same and not every child will learn certain things the same way. For example, some students are visual learners while some students can learn by just listening.
The reading Who Are Adolescents Today? can be related to what I am currently learning in my EPSY 446 class. What this reading describes and tells us is exactly what I read for that class. That a lot of times adolescents act the way they act is due to different factors including friends, family, and peers. It was interesting to read two different articles that relate to the same subject and topic.
"Indeed, disciplinary
literacy teaching can be considered a form of socially just teaching, one
that not only gives youth access to these highly specialized discourse communities
but that may actually produce social justice by supporting the development
of new kinds of knowledge as people from a range of backgrounds and experiences
gain access to these specialized domains. Thus, disciplinary literacy
teaching is not about producing new members of the disciplines (although
it surely will produce some new members, and perhaps some from a range of
diverse backgrounds) but about providing all students with the opportunity to
understand how disciplines work and to raise questions about the trustworthiness
of disciplinary knowledge (Moje, 2007, 2008, 2010)." What I liked about this is that it went against my thinking of disciplinary literacy. I thought disciplinary literacy is having a strict way of teaching or doing something but in reality it provides students with a lot of opportunities and information.
Its interesting when you said " adolescents act the way they act to different factors" but how can we determine what those factors when we have a classroom of 25 plus kids. It would be ideal to jnow all the students one on one, but based on my time observing kids maybe 5 at most will share out confidently what they are going though while others would prefer to keep to themselves but how do we get to know all of them? How do you make a kid trust you? Its not an easy question and I ask myself that question everyday. I ask myself that because each kid if different and will react differently towards you. At the end of the day you could always ask other teachers with more experience to land a hand to help you connect with them better
ReplyDeleteHi Madiha,
ReplyDeleteAshley brought up a really good point here. Ideally, teachers would want to form great relationships with their students and be able to know what is going on with their lives. Unfortunately, there are not that many students who would be open about their personal lives with their teachers. Heck, some might not be even open with their friends about their family issues. Maybe some are ashamed or they just plainly don't want their family business to spread. So going back to the topic, to me, it is extremely hard to be able to maintain a close relationship with your students and their families when teachers have so much on their plate, like standardized testing. Although I admit that it's hard, I still believe it is doable. It will just take time and dedication to earn not only the trust of your students, but also their families. Maybe an open door policy for the students and their family, and spending the time to communicate with their families???
Hi Madiha,
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting to see the connection between EPSY and this reading so clearly. I also thought the same as you did about disciplinary literacy before I actually saw the term defined.
I really like the photo that you posted. I think that a lot of teachers and people in general quickly assume that a student can't learn something if they are not able to understand it immediately the way the teacher is teaching it to them. It makes me think of the case study we just did in SPED with Juanita. Teachers are too quick to just dismiss the student and not believe they can reach the student. There is no effort to seek help and to see how they could improve themselves in order to help the student. I think teachers should be taught they should exhaust all options and never just label a student as unteachable. I really really like your picture haha
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ReplyDeleteMadiha,
ReplyDeleteI really found your post interesting. I really liked how you connected the reading to this idea of teacher adjusting their instruction to better accommodate the students. This made me think of what we have been discussing in SPED class in regards to IEP's and how quick teachers are to dismiss their students when they have to adjust their instruction. It is important to remember that everyone learns at a different pace. As a teacher, I would want to be able to make sure that I am accommodating to my student's needs and doing everything that I can to make sure they are progressing and improving. It is tough because there are so many kids in the classroom, but it is doable. I really liked the connections you made between our classes and the different readings.
The first part of your article caught my attention because it is one of the reasons I want to be a teacher. I've seen it in every classroom that I have been in. Teachers give their lessons in one way and explain the content once or twice. They walk around the room and answer questions. If one of the students doesn't understand a concept in the lesson, the teacher repeats it the same way he/she explained it to the whole class.
ReplyDeleteIt is a major issue because when students aren't getting it from one way of explaining, the teacher looks at the student as being wrong. The teacher never considers the way she explained it or consider different options. The student is always blamed for being behind the "standard" level.
Students might not be behind; all it takes is a different approach and they student might understand. The teacher just has to be open minded and consider all options.
Hey Madiha
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point about how not every child learning the same way. I also thought that in the reading we did by Alvermann, "Effective Instruction for Adolescents" the author talks about something that relates. We focus a lot on particular kinds of literacy, mainly book reading but there are other kinds of literacies that kids can excel at and that are important to their learning and development. I'm beginning to understand how interdisciplinary literacy can reach different kinds of learners.
I also agree with the point Ashley made about "how do we do this in a class with 25-30 students" large classrooms are so much the norm that we as teachers have to work to find creative ways to reach every student in the way they need to be reached. It would make it so much easier if classes were significantly smaller like they should be because every kid is unique and there isn't always enough time to give them the catered instruction they need.
I agree with many points you made above!
ReplyDeleteI believe that every student learns and absorbs information differently. Having one way to teach something is not benefitting the students in any way. Two or three out of thirty students might understand a specific way of teaching, but the rest won't and still need that extra step to grasp whatever is being taught.
Other than teaching in one way, having a certain set of expectations for a whole group is even worse! Some students might gain something out of a lesson and some won't. So we cannot expect them to all be at a certain level at the same time or learn in the same way.