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This Could Have Been an Email: Adapting English Language Arts Curriculum to Better Suit Modern Communication Needs
Get PDFAs technology and society evolve, so do the modes and practices of communication. The teacher resources and classroom activities presented within this capstone project focus on the combination of Minnesota’s English Language Arts (ELA) and College and Career Readiness (CCR) standards to develop future-ready classroom curricula and activities. Through the creation of an asynchronous professional resource for educators, this project works to highlight key tenets of modern communication, skills students will need in their futures, and showcase how these skills can look in the classroom. With research focusing on academic standards, employability skills, and classroom curriculum and instruction, the goal of this work is to empower educators to review their own classroom practices and how they are serving students, as well as present tangible resources educators can bring to their own practice. While designed specifically for secondary ELA classrooms in Minnesota, the resources and concepts presented could be adapted to many educational settings
Increasing Student Engagement of English Learners in Synchronous Online Settings
Get PDFIncreasing engagement has been an essential focal point in second language acquisition for English learners (ELs). However, further research is needed to comprehend precisely how to increase engagement of ELs during live video conferences, also known as synchronous online learning. This is especially prevalent after COVID-19 created a shift in learning, where K-12 teachers were forced to adjust their instruction to benefit from an online platform. Teachers and students had to use technology as a means of teaching and learning without proper planning for teaching online. The limited knowledge of how to instruct and engage English learners online during my student-teaching amidst the pandemic led to the research question: How can student engagement of English learners be increased in synchronous online settings? There is an increased need for enhancing engagement in online environments. Through proven research, this project synthesized that student-centered approaches and online interaction were mainly linked to enhancing engagement. The literature acquired in this capstone led to the making of a professional development workshop, which included two PD sessions for educators. The PD was intended for teachers who taught English learners or educators interested in broadening their knowledge on instructional practices for ELs within online learning. As teachers strive to better their teaching instruction, they develop skills to further support English learners in being more actively engaged in their learning
Experiencing an Old-Growth Forest: An Immersive Nature and Art Workshop for Environmental Educators
Get PDFEnvironmental education seeks to develop an engaged and environmentally literate citizenry for a more equitable and sustainable future (NAAEE). Environmental art education is an interdisciplinary field which utilizes environmental education and art education practices. Addressing environmental issues through artmaking can expand learner understandings and emotional connections to the natural world, fostering environmental literacy. Exploring concepts from environmental education and art education, this capstone project uses the sense of wonder (Carson, 1956), the live creature (Dewey, 1934) and aesthetic empathy (Haskell, 2018) as a framework for study. This professional development workshop for environmental educators is designed to introduce environmental art education ideas through experiential learning in nature and art. After one month of background study on the environmental issue of deforestation, participants will spend a day in an old-growth forest followed by a day of collaborative creative reuse, building a cardboard tree sculpture inspired by the poem Unchopping a Tree (2014) by W. S. Merwin. Reflection, discussion and further study will culminate in the development of a lesson plan one month after the workshop
Why Children Should Attend Summer Camp: The Benefits of Residential Summer Camp and Outdoor Education
Get PDFSummer camp has been a long tradition for many families across the United States. It is a favorite summer activity and an important time of social and developmental growth for many children. The purpose of this project was to dive into the history of summer camps and outdoor education in the United States as well as the many benefits attending summer camp can provide to children. Children attend summer camp to have a great experience, make friends, and learn to have some independence from their families. Camp counselors work at summer camp to care for children and show them that a week full of fun can also be educational and beneficial to their growth. This project will walk the reader through a quick history of summer camp and outdoor education and their purpose in society and then provide a detailed explanation of the benefits and challenges of summer camp
Adult Immigrant English Learners’ Perceptions of Their Multilingual and Multicultural Identities
Get PDFAdult immigrant English learners (ELs) must navigate living in a new country while also learning a new language. These immigrants are becoming both multicultural and multilingual. It has been established in prior literature that as immigrants adjust to living in a new culture with a different language, they experience both a language (Wardhaugh & Fuller, 2015) and cultural (Gibson, 2001, as cited in Schwartz, 2006, p. 2) shift. These shifts can sometimes result in immigrants losing connection to their first languages (Zhang, 2010) or their home cultures Gu and Lai (2019). Self-reflection activities have been shown to allow individuals to better understand themselves and sometimes change attitudes (Chen & Zheng, 2019). This capstone thesis seeks to understand how adult immigrant ELs perceive themselves as multilingual and multicultural individuals. It then focuses on how interventions in the form of short lessons, with activities and self-reflection questions, may influence these perceptions. Participants in this study came from an adult English class. Throughout the course of the study, participants took both a pre- and post-intervention mixed-methods survey that asked questions regarding their multilingual and multicultural identities. Between the two surveys, participants completed a series of six mini-lessons focused on discussion and reflection of their multilingualism and multiculturalism. Results of the surveys indicate that adult immigrant ELs tend to view their multilingualism and multiculturalism in a positive light. Almost all reported attitudes towards immigrants\u27 cultural and linguistic identities improved upon moving to the United States. These attitude reports, however, were not positively influenced by the mini-lesson interventions. However, participants did report subjective changes as a result of the mini-lesson interventions. For instance, participants become more comfortable with the idea of continuing to use their first language in public, sharing their first languages with others, and relate the importance of sharing their culture with their children. It also appears opportunities for discussion and self-reflection on adult EL immigrants’ perceptions of their multilingual and multicultural identities allow immigrants the ability to think about who they are and how they can maintain these identities into the future. In conclusion, the researcher identifies limitations of the study, the impact the study may have on various stakeholders, and suggestions for further research on this topic
The Impact Of Nature Deficit On Creating Learning Spaces For Children
Get PDFNature deficit disorder is a problem because it causes a disconnect between people and the environment. Adults have their own experiences with nature deficit disorder and that is impacting their ability to design nature rich environments for children. Recognizing their own experiences can help them to create and enrich the learning environment of their students. This project aims to decrease nature deficit disorder and stress and increase overall health and wellness
Interlocking Directorates among the S&P 500: Social Networks, Gender Diversity, and Corporate Governance
Get PDFThis multi-article investigation examines corporate board composition and the implications for regulatory penalties. Director diversity on key board committees and board interlocks influence board behaviors as they relate to regulatory risk. Directors bring experience and inter-industry ties to a board position and subsequently transfer and receive specific knowledge, practices, and contacts with other directors (Hillman & Haynes, 2010). Despite this exchange, firms may suffer regulatory oversight penalties because different directors perceive and respond to risk differently (Douglas & Wildavsky, 1983; Flynn et al., 1994). Leveraging the tenets of the cultural theory of risk perception (Douglas & Wildavsky, 1983) and of resource dependence theory (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978), I formulate hypotheses and test those hypotheses, empirically. This dissertation research combines existing theory along with board compositional data to explore the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance vis-à-vis a regulatory penalties database (Good Jobs First, n.d.). Examining financial penalties between 2016 – 2020 among firms in the S&P 500 and the firms’ respective boards, I advance a model that describes and predicts the type of firms at greatest risk for agency-imposed financial penalties. Combining board gender diversity data, board and director attributes, and social network-derived variables, this research explores whether gender diversity and highly influential directors bring greater monitoring effectiveness to the board
Phonological Awareness in the Elementary Classroom
Get PDFResearch has demonstrated that teaching all elementary aged students phonological awareness skills in an explicit manner builds a strong literacy foundation. The blog designed for this project focuses on each explicit instructional skill set to best set our students up for success and is inspired by the work of Dr. Louisa Moats. The creation of the project involved looking at the background of how educators teach students to read including whole language and balanced literacy approaches. The goal of this project is to provide an online resource that can serve as a form of a professional learning community. The blog posts are written with the intention to support teachers in a step by step systematic approach as they implement phonological awareness instruction into their classrooms
Increasing Student Engagement in Kindergarten Read Alouds
Get PDFResearch has shown that when students are given the opportunity to showcase their learnings in various settings, there will be a greater chance of student engagement and motivation when completing various classroom activities. The curriculum designed for this project uses Howard Gardner’s (2006) Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Thomas Armstrong’s (2009) work with integrating these intelligences into a classroom environment to target the various ways that students learn in the classroom that is best suited to the way their brain processes and applies information. The project involved creating a curriculum that was suitable for kindergarten students to engage in various learning environments while allowing them to have a say in the information that is being taught in the classroom. The goal of this project is to allow students to begin to make connections with other students in the classroom in an attempt to strengthen the classroom community while allowing each individual student to gain a better understanding of who they are as a learner. A part of this includes allowing students to make strong connections between who they are in the classroom and who they are at home. Allowing students to share the important aspects of their culture by bringing in beloved books from home or inviting family members to be guest readers in the classroom adds a deeper layer of who they are and where they come from to share with their classmates. The project, at its core is focused on engaging students in classroom read alouds. Through these various elements, students will be not only engaged in classroom read alouds, they will also be moving beyond the read alouds themselves and applying what they have learned in various learning styles
Social Emotional Learning: A Professional Development Series for Teachers
Get PDFIn the past two years, we have experienced unprecedented times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As students were forced into distance learning, they were missing out on the opportunity to grow their social and emotional skills in person with their peers. This capstone paper and project seek to answer the question, “How can we as teachers incorporate social emotional learning on a regular basis to create meaningful progress for students?” As we return to regular in person learning, it is so important for teachers and students to focus on social and emotional learning. Although academics are what most people think of when they picture school, students also need social emotional learning to become successful students. Along with math, reading, and other academic subjects, students need to learn important skills including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. As students grow in their social emotional skills and learn to manage their behaviors and emotions, it creates a positive classroom environment for learning. The professional development sessions were created for teachers, reviewing the main concepts from Kuyper’s Zones of Regulation, MindUp, and Purposefull People by Character Strong. These are a few of the many social emotional curricula and concepts that exist, however they each include important concepts that can be used in the classroom when working with students on social and emotional skills. The goal of the professional development is for the teacher participants to leave the sessions feeling increased knowledge of the social emotional concepts discussed, and be more prepared to implement them with their students