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Dancing Science: Using Dance and Movement as Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies to Increase Motivation, Interest, and Understanding in Middle School Science Classes
Get PDFMany classrooms are characterized by students sitting in desks. However, research in embodied cognition shows us that the mind is best activated when the body is moving and interacting with the world. The curriculum designed for this project focuses on bringing dance and movement to an eighth grade physical science class in order to increase their motivation, interest, and understanding. Historically, dance and movement have been used as educational methods in many non-white cultures. More recently, incorporating dance into classrooms has been linked to increased executive function in students of color in at-risk and urban schools. Dancing provides students who might not otherwise participate with a way to engage in class. Dancing also provides a way to conceptualize many of the difficult to see, abstract, scientific concepts. This project involved creating a curriculum that engages middle school students in the topics of physics and chemistry by incorporating a variety of dance, movement, and mindfulness strategies. This curriculum will be used in an eighth grade physical science classroom, but the strategies are adaptable to a range of educational settings. The goal of the project is to ground students in their bodies and provide students with a way of knowing and tools for meaning-making that feel more relevant and authentic than those traditionally provided in science classes
Dear Education System, It’s You, Not Me: Burnout in Elementary Special Education Teachers
Get PDFPutman-Bailey, B. (2023). Dear education system, it’s you, not me: Burnout in elementary special education teachers. Burnout is not new to the education system as there seems to be a news article around burnout in the teaching profession and the shortage of teachers nationwide. Minnesota is not immune to this problem, but it is particularly true in special education. Special education teacher positions are the most difficult to recruit and retain for school districts in Minnesota. This research focused on the phenomenon of burnout in elementary special education teachers in urban and suburban areas of Minneapolis. The primary research question was Using job demands-resources theory of burnout as a framework, what are the causes of job burnout for public elementary school special education teachers in suburban and urban areas? Through in-depth interviews of six elementary special education teachers, themes of high needs of students, too much paperwork and not enough time to complete it, and being required to complete evaluations were identified as job demands pushing them into burnout. They also identified needing more administrative support in the ways of providing empathy to the special education teacher, observing their classroom more, and trusting their abilities and judgements when working with students with disabilities. The study had a secondary research question of What are the changes that school districts or policymakers should implement that would decrease special education burnout? This was explored through discussion of resources that supported the special education teachers, as well as gathering ideas from the teachers themselves of what they need to continue being a special education teacher
A Ninth Grade English Language Arts Supplemental Curriculum That Integrates Language and Content Instruction for English Language Learners Using a Co-Taught Model
Get PDFThe research question addressed in this capstone project is: How can ninth grade English Language Arts curriculum be designed to integrate language and content instruction to support academic English proficiency for English Learners using a co-teaching model? The paper provides an in-depth literature review on both academic language development and co-teaching. Topics of this paper are: long-term English language learners (LTELs) in the mainstream, academic and language standards, content instructional models for secondary English language learners which includes co-teaching practices and building academic language. Following this paper, a supplemental curriculum for ninth grade English language arts was created in order to fuse content and language instruction. This supplemental curriculum was designed to better meet the needs of English learners in a mainstream co-taught classroom. Included in the project are one unit of supplemental curriculum; lesson templates with content and language objectives, key vocabulary, scaffolds and supports; instructional materials; and finally, co-teaching models that can be used effectively between ELA and EL teachers serving LTELs
A Plurilingual Approach for Secondary EFL Students in Panama
Get PDFThis capstone project was guided by the following research question: How can we develop a pedagogy for emerging bilingual EFL students that leverages their full linguistic potential? The research question was identified in response to the shortcomings of an English immersion program that was not promoting the full linguistic potential of its bilingual students. This paper pursues solutions to this problem through a multidisciplinary literature review designed to explore the benefits of bilingualism, how to increase language awareness among students, as well as the explicit use of students’ L1 to learn a L2. Topics explored in the literature review include bilingualism, second language acquisition, critical language awareness, and plurilingualism. A professional development program (PD) with Google Slides and a script is included with the paper. The PD program is designed to provide educators with the theoretical background and the pedagogical approaches that will allow them to pivot towards plurilingualism, thus allowing them to better serve their bilingual students. While the focus of this capstone project is on an EFL context, the content of the literature review and the PD is also relevant for teachers working in EL and bilingual settings
Diversity Among Educators in Minnesota
Get PDFDiversity Among Educators in Minnesota Wiest, G. (2023) Diversity Among Educators in Minnesota The research question addressed in this capstone project is: ‘How can Minnesota cultivate a more racially diverse teaching workforce that represents our BIPOC students?’In this capstone, research is discovered about the lack of diversity among educators in America’s teaching staff. The foundational research for this project explores current efforts that have been implemented to create more diverse teaching staffs as well as the impact diverse teachers have on students. The topics of focus are: representation in schools, student perception, and past and present. The website designed for this project provides a series of resources to guide prospective teachers of color through the education career pathway. Included in the project are the literature review of research, explanation of website, follow-up of results, and plans to expand the website. The goal of this project is to inspire more people of color to pursue education and make a positive impact on the students in Minnesota. Project Type Website Keywords Diversity, Community, Impac
Striving to Increase BIPOC Family Participation in Early Childhood Family Education
Get PDFBoomer, A. U. (2023). Striving to Increase BIPOC Family Participation in Early Childhood Family Education. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) is a public education program designed and available for all parents and families in Minnesota. Despite these intentions, many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families remain unaware of ECFE\u27s existence and its significance. The purpose of this study is to understand the current methodologies of parent education outreach and collaboration with other programs, in particular, BIPOC communities, and explore and process what efforts have been made to increase BIPOC participation in traditional ECFE parent education group classes (non-affinity groups) in Minnesota. The research also examines BIPOC participation in traditional ECFE classes and explores and discovers the types of support ECFE educators and coordinators need to reach the BIPOC communities. The research also details the history and purpose of parent education and the development of ECFE to uncover the importance of this support. Additional information includes the significance of parent involvement and parent education classes, ECFE’s outreach methodologies, the role and process of being parent educators, and barriers to reaching all its community members. The research design involved a qualitative research approach that included a survey and interviews. The survey data was collected from various districts, including urban, suburban, and rural areas with BIPOC residents. The interviewers were selected through the voluntary checklist on the survey. The survey and interviews allowed personal narratives to flourish and have individualized perspectives and reflections on the participants\u27 experiences while acknowledging the agreed expectations of their roles and responsibilities. The study revealed participants\u27 differing ideas and thoughts about outreach and increasing involvement for BIPOC families. The interview process honed in on the personal and specific issues that may occur in each region and the variety of processes of working to include more BIPOC families in their district. The study revealed major learnings of building trust, creating support, and involving committed staff to increase BIPOC family participation in Early Childhood Family Education
Effective Teaching Practices for Phonemic Awareness and Phonics in Small Group Reading Instruction
Get PDFSullivan, C. (2023) Effective teaching practices for phonemic awareness and phonics in small group reading instruction. This paper is the documentation of an educational coach’s journey to find the most effective small group instructional practices for teaching phonemic awareness and phonics to kindergarten and first grade students. The need to share this research led to the development of four professional development sessions for effective instruction of phonemic awareness and phonics instruction specifically created for teachers of kindergarten and first grade students. The Capstone project began by answering the question, How do kindergarten-first grade teachers use best practices in phonemic awareness and phonics to develop effective small group reading instruction that will increase students reading proficiency? The research led to four topics that teachers must understand in order to provide effective instruction. These topics are: Response to Intervention, using and understanding reading assessment data, best practices in teaching phonemic awareness and best practices in teaching phonics. This project includes: a narrative of the writer’s journey through the Capstone project, a review of associated literature, the four sessions of professional development complete with slides and an instructional guide, and an explanation of the framework used to create the professional development. Project Type Professional Development Keywords Response to Intervention, small groups, phonemic awareness, phonic
Teaching Non-Experimental Chemistry Content Through the Pairing of Strategically Curated Data Sets and Model-Based Inquiry
Get PDFHistorically science education has seemed to be in a pendulum swing battle between prioritizing teaching science content or science practices. The Next Generation Science Standards sought to synthesize both priorities in their Framework. Minnesota high schools will face a new wave of Science MCA tests in the 2024-2025 school year that will reflect the 2019 Minnesota science standards and thereby the Next Generation Science Standards. The curricular resource presented in this project is a valuable template for how high school science teachers can pursue meeting the parallel goals of teaching science content and science practices as the new standards emphasize. While much previous scholarship focuses on how to incorporate scientific practices into lab explorations, there is a dearth of resources for incorporating science practices in non-experimental science content. The resource I developed consists of (1) a Model-based inquiry (MBI)-inspired protocol that can be used flexibly with various types of science content and (2) insertable data sets to be used with the protocol. To exemplify how to pair content with the protocol, three data sets are presented: one non-science content example and two chemistry examples. The protocol demonstrates how disparate content can be inserted into the same protocol so as to engage students in a process of model development that is informed by data exposures, inductive thinking, collaboration, peer review, and focused testing of their models. The goal is for students to be able to, through an iterative process, develop a data-fitted model that is useful for describing and explaining a system
Increasing Engagement and Effectiveness of Independent Reading in the Kindergarten Classroom
Get PDFThe research question addressed in this study was: What are the most effective and engaging methods for independent reading in the kindergarten classroom? Additionally, this study addressed the subquestion of: What are the benefits and disadvantages of reading traditional books and books on a digital device for young readers? The literature topics that were researched and reviewed included history and current trends in independent reading, academic success, motivation and engagement, technology, and effective independent reading strategies. For this study, a mixed methods approach was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data within the kindergarten classroom. At the beginning of the research study, kindergarten students participated in an attitude scale where they demonstrated their feelings about a variety of topics related to reading. Students also took the attitude scale at the end of the year. The kindergarteners also participated in three weeks of independent reading. During the first week, students read picture books. In the second week, students read books on a device. During the third week, students chose if they wanted to read picture books or read on a device. Observations and data were collected daily throughout the three weeks. 6 student interviews were conducted to gather data related to a variety of reading topics. The study revealed that providing students with choices are important to increase engagement in independent reading, that there are advantages and disadvantages to reading traditional picture books and books on a device, and that strong procedures and routines are needed for an effective independent reading program. Limitations, implications and suggestions for future research were also discussed
Observing the Impact of Environmental Science Exploration and Discovery on the Social-Emotional Learning of 2nd Grade Students
Get PDFThe guiding question in this study was, how do outdoor science exploration and discovery impact the social-emotional learning of 2nd grade students. This study documents the author’s development, facilitation and analysis of a 3-week science unit that included an increase of time spent outdoors. This study was conducted in an observational and descriptive qualitative manner that used the researcher’s real-time observations, reflections and student surveys. The author utilized research literature to develop meaning and understanding of the concepts to support the importance of the study. The author describes the study in terms of successes and limitations. The study concludes that an increase of time spent outdoors designated for science exploration and discovery impacted the social-emotional learning of the participants in terms of 1) student engagement, real-life learning and hands-on engagement decreased undesirable behaviors, 2) peer relationships, the impact the classroom has on peer relationships compared to outdoors, and 3) Scaffolding, although time consuming and difficult providing proper scaffolding can set expectations for success for all learners