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The Decentering of Native English Speaking Teachers in English as a Lingua Franca Contexts
Get PDFEnglish’s spread throughout the world has made it the most widely studied second language in the world and the de facto lingua franca. Though the purpose of a lingua franca is to allow speakers with varied native languages to have a common language to communicate with, there are historical and social factors such as colonialism and racism that have created inequities in the field between native English speaking teachers and their non-native English speaking teacher colleagues. This project aims to to present the conditions that led to inequities, address discriminatory practices in the field, and provide opportunities for newly minted native English speakers to recognize and mitigate their own privileges and position in the field. This project was influenced by the research and writings of Jenkins (2014, 2015), Canagarajah (1999a, 1999b), Motha (2014, 2020), and many others exploring the history, role, and impact of English as a lingua franca. The framework for the project was informed by guidelines created by The University of Toronto (2021). It is designed to be a self-guided professional development tool for Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate graduates. The three sessions will be conducted online, providing facts about the history and current realities in the field, while asking participants to focus on self-reflection and how they can be agents for change creating a more equitable English as a lingua franca field
Supplementing Math Instruction in the Elementary Classroom with Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI)
Get PDFEducation in the United States has long used the traditional written algorithm for math. In other countries around the world with high student achievement on international math assessments, different approaches to math instruction are taken. Cognitively guided instruction (CGI) in math is one of the alternative approaches to teaching math in American classrooms. Teachers may sometimes avoid implementing different math instruction approaches in their profession. This capstone sought to answer the research question, How can cognitively guided instruction (CGI) in math supplement current math in the elementary classroom? The result is a collection of nine lessons that address the research question in a fourth-grade after school classroom
Death Education In Environmental Education: Making Meaning From Children\u27s Eco-Grief
Get PDFEco-grief, the feeling of sadness, loss, or bereavement caused by environmental degradation and destruction, is an increasingly widespread phenomenon as ecological issues such as climate change are widely acknowledged. Children, with their limited agency, are vulnerable to feelings of helplessness and may develop maladaptive coping mechanisms, while educators often struggle to discuss environmental topics that prompt negative emotions. Drawing on best practices from the field of death education, this project examines ways of making meaning and outlines a new set of best practices for environmental educators to assuage students\u27 eco-grief as well as their own, answering the question of: How can environmental educators apply best practices from death education to help children make meaning from eco-grief
Building Student Confidence: Capitalizing on Social and Emotional Skill Building in Environmental Education
Get PDFon the social and emotional learning of students, most notably building self-esteem, confidence, and independence. At a time in which children spend less time outdoors, environmental education programs provide an unique opportunity for children to engage in nature and the outdoors and reap the social, emotional, and physical benefits. The professional development materials designed for this project utilizes four identified methods for incorporating social and emotional skill building into environmental education programs, in order to capitalize on the social and emotional learning in environmental education programs. Incorporating social and emotional skill building has been central to nature preschools and forest kindergartens, but its formal and intentional application into elementary and middle school programs has been limited. The project involved creating four professional development guides to allow environmental education programs to train their educators on how to incorporate social and emotional learning into curriculum, program structure, and teaching methods. The materials will primarily be utilized by environmental education centers that deliver residential or day programming to students in nature, away from the students’ school, however, the materials are also applicable to other types of environmental education programs such as nature centers, garden programs, school programs, and camps. The goal of the project is to help educators feel better prepared to incorporate social and emotional learning into programming in order to support the growth of student confidence, independence, and self-esteem in students
Strengthening Early Literacy Skills Through Data-Driven Decision Making
Get PDFAs part of this research, nine professional development sessions and a data workbook were designed to address the research question: how can a school establish a sustainable system for making data-based decisions to strengthen the literacy skills of kindergarten and first-grade students necessary for further educational success? Data-driven decision-making is an essential component of an MTSS framework and is based on the steps of a problem-solving model. Key tenets of a data-driven school include strong leadership, a comprehensive assessment system, easy access to data, time and resources to examine data, and clear connections between data and potential interventions. Often schools collect data but are not given the time, resources, or professional development to analyze the data. For this project, professional development was intentionally designed based on knowledge of adult learners, creating self- and collective teacher efficacy, and frameworks for effective professional development. Throughout the school year, teachers are guided through the data-driven decision-making process focusing on early literacy skills. While each of the five components of reading are essential to building comprehensive literacy, this project focuses on the early literacy development of phonemic awareness and phonics skill development. The data workbook gathers universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and progress monitoring in a central, easy to access location, along with providing clear connections between early literacy skills, intervention, and progress monitoring. Flow charts and data-analysis recording forms support teams throughout the data-driven decision-making process. This project strives to accelerate students’ early literacy skills to support their comprehensive literacy development
Supporting Healthy Identity Development Using Text Selection and Instructional Activities in Secondary Language Arts Classes
Get PDFAdolescence is a critical juncture in the process of identity development and has implications for secondary-level students. This project connects the topics of adolescent identity development with literature instruction at the secondary level, investigating the question “How can secondary language arts teachers support healthy identity development in adolescent learners using text selection and instructional activities?” A literature review provides a theoretical basis of adolescent identity development, including foundational theories such as Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory and contemporary ideas like Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality. The review provides a framework for understanding how text selection and instructional activities affect adolescent identity development and discusses research that guides educators toward curricular choices and texts that support healthy student identity development. Essential findings in the literature review include the importance of selecting texts that are culturally relevant and affirming, and the practice of pairing classic canon literature with more accessible and relevant young adult literature. A website for secondary language arts educators, Linking Literature for the Student Self, is based on this research and provides guidance for selecting texts and pairing classic and young adult literature
Unlocking Math Minds: Using Inquiry-based Instruction to Increase Student Engagement and Learning in a Third Grade Classroom
Get PDFThis paper and supporting website include research and strategies to answer the research question, How can the implementation of inquiry-based math instruction increase student engagement and learning success in a third grade classroom? Inquiry-based learning is a process where the students are involved in their learning. The classroom is student-centered, not teacher-centered. Using the student-centered or inquiry-based approach, students do not learn through transmission. Instead, they collect information and synthesize the information they find through critical thinking skills. The learning process is considered to be higher-order learning. The research presented in this paper focuses on guided inquiry within a mathematics classroom. Guided inquiry allows for students to take agency in their learning, while the educator guides students through their attainment of the mathematical concept. They are “doing” math instead of just “knowing” math. The website designed in support of the research provides strategies that can be utilized both in and beyond the math classroom. Many of the strategies are based on the research and practices of Jo Boaler, professor at the Stanford Graduate School for Education. Boaler provides multiple strategies to support students’ learning through exploration, questioning, and “doing”. Furthermore, she emphasizes the importance of building a math community and growth mindset. Building a community in the classroom is critical to the successful implementation of inquiry-based learning. This website will provide educators with strategies to incorporate inquiry-based instruction into their classroom
An Intervention to Support Comprehension During Independent Reading Time
Get PDFThe question that guided this project was: How can using an intervention based on a comprehension strategy increase student reading interest? This question guided research on digital and print texts, student reading interest, and a brief history of balanced literacy. Many schools use a mix of digital and print resources and students need to be prepared to understand each. Using independent reading time at school has shown to give students greater success in literacy and other areas of school. It has shown that dedicated independent reading time is important at school. The goal of this project was to make independent reading time at school more intentional for all students. The resources in this project are meant to be used by teachers to better utilize and support students during their independent reading time. By using this project, students will develop stronger comprehension skills and a better understanding of what types of books they like and dislike. It utilizes a classroom diagnostic to indicate which students need more support in comprehension skills. There are six weeks intervention lessons with assessments each day and progress monitoring each week
Implementation of Movement Integration in the Classroom
Get PDFResearch has illustrated that the involvement of movement and physical activity in the classroom can be utilized to achieve a variety of positive outcomes. This paper explores the concept of movement integration in regards to its effects on classroom management, student engagement, and childhood obesity. While the body of literature on movement integration is extensive, there has not been a defined “best practice” providing exact allotments of timing, type, duration, or intensity for implementation. The intent of this project is to synthesize current research and organize the types of movement integration that had common results. The website and professional development series created for this project focus on using movement integration in the classroom for purposes of practicing exercise, cognitive, and calming skills and providing brain breaks
Using an Interactive Word Wall to Increase Spanish Language Acquisition for Urban Middle School Learners
Get PDFMy primary research question for my capstone project is: What are the ways in which interaction, collaboration, and dialogue impact students’ Spanish language acquisition? More specifically, my research and project aim to answer: How can an interactive word wall affect Spanish language acquisition in an urban classroom? I have created an interactive word wall curriculum. This was specifically designed to fit my context as a middle school Spanish teacher, grades 6-8. However, this interactive word wall curriculum can be utilized effectively in any content area. Through considering culturally and linguistically responsive teaching (Hollie, 2018) as well as how to best provide comprehensible input (Krashen, 1989) within my classroom, this word wall has been created. I considered how to best lower students’ affective filters and reduce their anxiety within my classroom (Lin et al., 2010) when designing these activities. The interactive word wall has sixteen specifically designed activities: four reading activities, four writing activities, four speaking activities, and four listening activities. These are meant to be in the four modalities of language learning. Loyola (2016) discusses the importance of speaking within a language classroom and how to best utilize speaking, collaborative activities, and vocabulary use. In noticing a need for collaboration, dialogue, and discussion, these activities are designed to be collaborative in nature, with high amounts of support so that all students will succeed (Hammond, 2015). This project proves the importance of collaboration and vocabulary use in the secondary age classroom, and how important this can be for students, future jobs they will have, and even families who support them at home. Students will have manageable ways to use, practice, and remember content-specific vocabulary. In all, this interactive word wall seeks to engage and excite students about learning and using new vocabulary in any content area, but specifically when learning a new language in an increasingly multilingual world