Social Justice Action Plan

One issue I would like to address is the lack of diversity in the approved reading lists in my English 12 class.  The authors are mostly white males, with some approved works by white females.  From what I understand, it is very difficult to modify the approved reading curriculum but there is more freedom when assigning excerpts for students to read.  I plan on using excerpts of stories and works from authors that represent different cultural perspectives.  In this part of California, many students could benefit from reading material from Latino writers, for example.  I will make it a point to offer readings that offer different cultural perspectives.

Classroom Management Plan

Introduction:

Based on my educational philosophy assessment, my educational beliefs fall distinctly in the existentialist school of thought.  However, I realize that an effective educator incorporates elements from all schools of thought and cannot be entrenched in the point of view of any one philosophy.  In my classroom, I most identify with the strategies offered in Cooperative Discipline and Synergetic Discipline. I believe that students learn best when they feel a sense of ownership and independence over the behavioral expectations established in a classroom.  These approaches fit in with my attraction to the existentialist educational theory that suggests students thrive when they understand and appreciate themselves as individuals who have ownership over their thoughts, decisions and actions.  I am inspired by the methods that include students in the disciplinary process and threat them with dignity at all times.

Preventive Approach:

It is widely agreed upon that the best way to prevent inappropriate behavior in the classroom is to design lessons that are engaging and require students to be active participants in any given activity.  This is more easily said than done.  However, there are some disciplinary methods that describe what this approach may look like.

1.     “Involve your students in discussing the details of your lesson plan and listen to suggestions they might have,” (Charles, 2000, p. 247).  Students must take an active role in creating the classroom expectations.  By doing so, they are less likely to defy those expectations because they were not imposed upon them but, rather, created by them.  This also allows the teacher to discuss misbehavior, why it negatively affects learning and how students can work together with the teacher to eliminate those factors (Charles, 2000).

2.     “Maintain student interest and good personal relations,” (Charles, 2000, p. 247).  Students need to feel comfortable in their surroundings and are more likely to behave positively when they are surrounded by people, places, objects, situations and activities they like (Charles, 2000).

3.     “Encourage student input in class matters,” (Albert, 1989-1996, p. 95).  By welcoming and respecting student input, a message is sent that their input is valued and appreciated (Albert, 1989-1996).

4.     “Encourage students to help other students,” (Albert, 1989-1996, p. 95).  Fitting in with the idea that students are more likely to exhibit positive behavior when they are in surroundings they like, students helping students only enhances that comfort level within the classroom.  This type of community building helps ensure that no one student is left out and always has another classmate to lean on when necessary.

5.     (Updated): Show students a “pathway to redemption,” (Jackson, 2010). In order to motivate students, we have to understand what they value and not what we value.  Jackson refers to this as “starting where your students are.” Try to relate to their interests just for the sake of relating to them is often not helpful in motivating them to learn. 

6.     (Updated): The ideal classroom is one in which “students play an active role in decisions, teachers work with students rather than doing things to them…” (Kohn, 1996).  The classroom setup is important in creating an environment that is interactive, working with students.  Desks in rows that all face the front do not help create this type of environment. Students should be able to engage each other in discussion directly and ask questions of the teacher freely.  Students should be able to work on different activities at the same time.

Supportive Approach:

In order for students to succeed in the classroom, positive behavior must be reinforced rather than punishing misbehavior.  Focusing on negative behavior and punishing in front of the class only creates an atmosphere of fear and does not foster a positive, creative and nurturing environment.

1.     Besides trust, communication is the most important element of a synergetic classroom.  Teachers must listen to student needs with genuine interest and speak encouragingly rather than talking down to students (Charles, 2000).

2.     Problems in the classroom must be addressed immediately in order to prevent them from create an uncomfortable environment (Charles, 2000).  By bringing them up right when they happen, a conversation can be initiated about what the problem is and possible solutions.

3.     The teacher must help remove the fear of making mistakes. First, students must understand what mistakes are and that they are a part of the learning process (Albert, 1989-1996).  Students must know that making a mistake is not a justifiable reason for getting punished.  Mistakes are sometimes vital for students to find the correct behavior.

4.     “Coopetition” can be a great way to build friendly competition in the classroom to succeed (Charles, 2000).  Teachers must help create an environment where students want to succeed because their peers are succeeding rather than shut down and misbehave in order to get attention.

Corrective Approach:

No matter how successful the preventive and supportive approaches can be, there is always still the possibility of misbehavior occurring that must be corrected.  I think corrective approaches must always preserve each student’s dignity and seek to address the root causes of the behavior issue. 

1.     The teacher must identify the different types of misbehavior that might be occurring and address with strategies that target the specific type of behavior being exhibited.  There is attention-seeking behavior, power-seeking behavior, revenge-seeking behavior and avoidance-of-failure behavior (Albert, 1989-1996).  The teacher must seek to identify what the causes of the misbehavior may by and how they can be addressed. 

2.     “Focus on the behavior, not the student,” (Albert, 1989-1996, p. 98).  Teachers must try to separate the student and the behavior so that the behavior can be addressed subjectively and without the baggage of previous experience attached to it.

3.     “Allow the student to save face,” (Albert, 1989-1996, p. 98).  Because students may choose to display some sort of defiance to maintain an image with their peers, teachers must be willing to overlook those behaviors and discuss the original misbehavior with the student later and in private.

4.     In extreme cases, certain consequences must be introduced to combat misbehavior.  The consequences must be “related, reasonable, respectful and reliably enforced” in order to be effective (Albert, 1989-1996, p. 99).  This ensures that student are not merely punished but are made to understand what type of misbehavior occurred, why it is unacceptable and what must be done to prevent it from happening in the future.

The cooperative and synergetic classroom is a place where students feel comfortable to be themselves yet understand that there are behavioral expectations that must be respected.  Those expectations are not imposed on them but are created by them.  This element of choice and ownership contributes to the existentialist theory of education and helps limit the factors that lead to misbehavior in the first place.  If and when misbehavior does occur, it is addressed with respect and dignity so as to decrease the chances of the behavior occurring again.

SDAIE Lesson Design Assessment

Assessment:

     

B. Formative-Progress Monitoring

Each student wrote down and turned in one higher level question based on one of the two short stories they have already read.  Teacher can check for understanding based on the quality of the questions as well as the class discussions the questions generate.

Students must also write responses to the student-generated questions using evidence from the stories to support their answers.

ELD (i+1): Cesar is Early Advanced so this assessment addresses the following standard at the Advanced level:

Cluster 4: Clarify and defend positions with relevant evidence, including facts, expert opinions, quotations, and/or expressions of commonly accepted beliefs and logical reasoning.

SDAIE Strategy

One SDAIE strategy that I have used in my class thus far was a vocabulary exercise.  We wanted to introduce our students in English 12 to various schools of literary criticism so my CT recommended a strategy in which each critical lens is printed on a sheet of paper (new historicism, Marxist theory, feminist theory, etc.), that sheet is held up in front of the class, the class repeats the name in unison, then a hand gesture is assigned to each as the definition is described.  Students then repeat the name, hand gesture and definition as a class.  At first, I thought this was a bit silly, especially for a class of seniors.  However, during the next class session when we reviewed the terms, I was blown away at how many students remembered the terms, hand gestures and, most importantly, the definitions.  There were even some students who had the term and definition on the tip of their tongues but as soon as they soon they saw the hand gesture, they immediately blurted out the term and what it meant.  They established connections with the movements.  I was impressed at how they retained the information and found it fun to try and remember the gestures along with the meanings.

Injustice

This is a photo of one of the air conditioning vents in my classroom.  I took a picture of it because the A/C does not work in our class.  Recently, this has meant opening the windows but there is no breeze, the weather is hot and humid, and when 41 kids are piled into a tiny room, it is very uncomfortable.  I think this is an injustice for the students because a.) ours is only one of a couple rooms without A/C and b.) the students have difficulty focusing and staying on task partly because the heat is so uncomfortably distracting.

Literacy Survey

I used the following questions to get an idea of the reading habits of my 12th grade English students:

1.  What types of material do you read during your free time? (Check all that apply)

___ Newspapers

___ Magazines

___ Fiction

___ Nonfiction

___ Internet articles/news

___ Twitter

___ Facebook

___ Other: _____________________________

2. How much free time do you spend reading for enjoyment per week?

___ Less than an hour     ___1-2 hours      ___ 3-4 hours      ___ 5 hours or more

3. What language do you primarily read in? _______________________

4. How many books have you read this year?

­­___ 1-3

___ 4-6

___ 7 or more

___ None

6. Did you enjoy reading as a child or was it challenging?

                        ___ Yes                                    ___ No

7. What was the first book you remember reading? ___________________________

(Updated)

8. What, if anything, has frustrated you about reading in the past?



9. What reading strategy benefits you most? (Circle One)

          Reading aloud          Silent reading           Both


10.  What type of material would you like to read more of in school?



11.  What can teachers do to make reading more interesting?

Reflection:  The thing that jumped out at me the most was how little reading my students do in their free time.  Many students checked the box that said "Less than an hour" spent reading for enjoyment per week.  Many students also checked "None" for the question about how many books they read this year.  I'm not quite sure how to apply this information in my class yet but it is clear that I need to find a way to get my students more interested in reading.  I might try using more magazine articles and writing that is digestible in small doses.  The more current the material, the more interesting it might be for my students.  There will definitely need to be some experimentation involved to find out how to engage them more as readers.

MY NAME

My name, Collin, was chosen quite simply because my mother knew a Colin when she was in middle school and said she always loved the named.  The second "L" was added because my grandmother said the original spelling looked as though it should have been pronounced as "colon."  This was deemed unacceptable by my grandmother (although the pronunciation seemed to have no ill effects for Colin Powell), so an extra "L" was added and history was made.

My last name, Elliott, is a Scottish name and comes from the Elliott clan which inhabited the island.  My last name is often confused with my first name leading many to refer to me as Elliott Collins.  While this is, admittedly, a fine sounding name, it is not my name.

My nickname among friends is Gene, my middle name.  The name comes from my great uncle on my father's side and is also my father's middle name.  I've never been particularly fond of my middle name, which is why for a long time I refused to share my middle name with anyone who asked.  Once my friends found what my middle name is, they've referred to me as Gene ever since.

My name is misunderstood somewhat frequently.  I don't have any entertaining stories on this subject other than to say that people, mostly over the phone, mistake Collin for Paul.

If given the choice, I would keep my name just the way it is.  I have no desire to change it and I like the way Collin Elliott sounds.  My middle name is still up for debate, however...