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How Can Teachers Utilize A Curriculum To Expand Students’ Knowledge Of Waste Management And Change Their Waste Reduction Behaviors?
Get PDFResearch has shown that environmental education is an important tool to develop students’ knowledge of the environment and foster more environmentally friendly behaviors (Braun et. al., 2018). Lack of education in waste management and waste reduction fields has led to confusion on where waste goes, what can be recycled, and how students’ can change their behaviors to reduce their waste footprint. This paper investigates waste management in the United States and North Dakota, and how it can be implemented into an environmental education curriculum. The curriculum designed for this project uses this information and these environmental education and behavior change concepts to increase students’ knowledge of waste management and what happens to their recycling and garbage after it is put on their curb. The curriculum was developed for North Dakota middle school students in a formal setting, but is adaptable to other states, informal settings, and lessons can be used as stand-alone supplements to the classroom. The goal of the curriculum is to increase students’ knowledge of waste management and waste reduction activities, and to help facilitate a positive behavior change in their waste reduction behaviors at home, in school, and in the community
Decolonizing Environmental Education: A Resource Guide for Non-Indigenous Educators
Get PDFThe field of environmental education is shaped by pervasive narratives and ideologies of settler colonialism. Many scholars cite the need for Indigenous voices and perspectives to be centered in education in order to move towards a process of decolonization, reconciliation, and support for ongoing Indigenous resurgence. In order for non-Indigenous educators to be able to guide students towards critical understanding of the history and context of land in environmental education, they must first investigate their own identity and assumptions within settler colonial society and education. This capstone project provides a resource guide in the form of a website for non-Indigenous environmental educators seeking to critically examine their own role in settler colonial systems and engage in co-resistance and Indigenous resurgence by centering Indigenous voices in their teaching. Using transformative learning and social justice education frameworks, the resource guide includes self-reflective practices and resources for critical analysis to decolonize curriculum and center Indigenous perspectives, as well as teaching resources exclusively created by Indigenous authors for use with students in the classroom or field. Intended for use by both formal and informal environmental educators, the resource guide is publically accessible and self-paced. Annotated resources allow readers to choose the most appropriate tools to further investigate internal biases and develop a personal path towards self-decolonization in order to facilitate similar critical and transformative learning experiences for students. (224 words
Social And Emotional Learning In An Open Space
Get PDFUtilizes an adaptation of the open space technology (OST) method to support 9‐12‐year‐old attendees of residential summer camps in proposing, developing, and facilitating own camp activities. Provides intentional support for development of social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies laid out by Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2020). Specifies examples of skills from each competency and where practiced in the curriculum. Offers considerations for supporting diverse individuals and groups in practice
Scaffolding Full-length Texts in a Middle School Classroom to Promote Reading Engagement
Get PDFThe research question addressed in this capstone project is: How can teachers scaffold a full-length text in order to increase reading accountability and engagement from students in a middle school setting? The capstone paper documents multiple approaches to reading consistency, growth, accountability and engagement. Additionally, this document follows with the creation of a middle school reading unit meant to engage with the works of Reutzel and Juth (2014), Gallagher (2009), and Daniels (2002). The topics focused on are approaches to reading, influences on student reading motivation, and classroom scaffolds and strategies to promote reading engagement. Included within this capstone paper and project are a literature review of research, a curriculum unit plan, and materials and resources used for this curriculum. Lastly, it concludes with a reflection of the limitations of the curriculum and suggestions for both future usage of the curriculum and continued research on the topic of sustaining reading engagement and accountability in longer texts within a middle school setting
The Role of the Native-Speaker Listener in English as a Lingua Franca Interactions
Get PDFResearch agrees that monolingualism, through a lack of linguistic and metalinguistic awareness and general linguistic reflexivity, is the source of a widely observed listening problem where monolingual native-speakers (NSs) of English fail to correctly perceive the meaning of spoken English that diverges from their own in phonological forms or contextual norms. On the other hand, research has also shown multilingual communities, such as those which use English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), to display the intuitive use of collaborative, pragmatic listening strategies that keep them from misunderstanding each other, despite their differences in forms and norms. As a result, this project sought to create a website that would teach the strategic multilingual listening techniques intuitive to ELF to monolingual English NSs to raise their speech recognition skills in exchanges with NNSs of English. This objective was influenced by the concept of ambiguity tolerance (TA) which measures a person’s level of listening flexibility based on the sum of their language learning or language exposure experiences over time (Dewaele & Wei, 2013) and by the understanding that a person’s perceptual boundaries can shift (Cenoz, 2019). The website first offers users an self-assessment, through which they are introduced to TA as they respond to prompts about their language experiences and perceptions of English variety. The next two sections of the website offer video-based training, first in understanding the useful linguistic repertoire that each communicator has access to if activated, then in pragmatic listening strategies observed in multilingual ELF-using communities. The goal of this project is to give English NS United States educators, who have had their listening abilities influenced by monolingualism, the chance to act upon their linguistic identities and take responsibility for listening in a way that will positively impact the second language (L2) English students in their classroom
English Learner Families, Rural County Public Libraries, and Rural Public Elementary Schools
Get PDFEnglish Learner families in rural areas have unique experiences in accessing bilingual materials in home languages for literacy learning. This research focused on gathering the perceptions of parents of elementary school ELs regarding the barriers that impede collaboration between public elementary schools and county public libraries for improving the literacy of ELs in rural communities. This qualitative research followed a grounded theory process and community-based research from data collection via interviews with parents of ELs, rural public elementary school educators, and rural county public librarians. Seven participants from Central Minnesota included two bilingual parents of ELs, three educators, and two librarians. Findings suggested several themes from all three stakeholder groups: the importance of relationships, shared responsibility to provide culturally appropriate literacy resources, and a willingness to work together to overcome barriers and improve literacy learning for EL families in rural communities. The research results provide useful information from interviewees to direct future collaboration between rural public elementary schools and rural county public libraries on behalf of literacy learning for EL families
Math in Nature: Expanding Fourth-Grade Students’ Mathematics Knowledge through Nature-Based Learning
Get PDFThis capstone project explores how nature-based learning can expand fourth-grade mathematics instruction. As a fourth-grade classroom teacher, I have seen firsthand the benefits of teaching academic content in a nature-based manner. However, it is often difficult for classroom teachers to find the time or resources needed to prepare standards-based mathematics instruction that integrates nature-based learning principles. Nature-based learning benefits students by exposing them to nature. Learning outdoors coincides with a decrease in cortisol levels, translating to less stress (Dettweiler et al., 2017). Exposure to dirt and sunlight boosts one’s mood by increasing serotonin production and leads to deeper, more restful sleep (NWF, 2012, Mead, 2008). Outdoor learning settings have been found to decrease common ADHD symptoms in children ages 7-12 with a formal ADHD diagnosis (Kuo & Faber Taylor, 2004). Additionally, academic learning that occurs in a natural context provides students with real-world applications of their studies, proving that what they are learning matters (Sobel, 2020). Nature-based learning is also effective in academic retention. In comparing classroom-based instruction with nature-based instruction, a 2022 study found that both methods were equally effective in delivering content instruction (Faber Taylor et al.). This capstone project is a digital toolkit providing fourth-grade classroom teachers with supplementary nature-based learning activities that align with the most recent draft of the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Mathematics, from May of 2022. The toolkit includes ideas for teaching graphing, geometry, estimation, equations, and more. A comprehensive resource guide with book recommendations, relevant research, and links to nature-based websites and blogs is also included. This toolkit will equip fourth-grade classroom teachers to incorporate nature-based learning into their existing mathematics instruction, providing their students with the numerous benefits of learning outdoors
A Black Woman’s Road to Principalship: An Autoethnography
Get PDFThis study investigates the perceived barriers of Black women in educational leadership. Majority of the research in the educational field pertaining to women is generalized in various ways and are not specific to Black women. With Black women in educational leadership on the rise, more research is needed for and by Black women to help successfully navigate educational leadership. During the last decade, African American women have pioneered and forged new frontiers as educational leaders (Rusher, 1996). This study included four Black women in educational leadership in different school districts in Minnesota. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews as well as the researcher’s first-hand experiences. Participants volunteered to take part in the study through a Linkedin post. From the individual interviews and data analysis this study describes the experiences and perceived barriers as shared by four Black women in K-12 educational leadership. In reviewing and analyzing the stories shared, their experiences and perceptions were undeniably similar. All four leaders revealed being viewed as a motherly figure to Black students in their buildings but struggled to be heard amongst their staff. Research revealed, being a woman as a barrier to principalship, coupled with historical and societal norms upheld and perpetuated in education today. Although Black women are still a scarcity in educational leadership, research shows we are now believed to possess the qualities deemed necessary to be a successful school leader. This scarcity is caused largely in part by sexism, hiring practices and lack of support/mentorship
A High School Economics Course Curriculum That Effectively Integrates Language and Content Instruction for English Learners
Get PDFWhile secondary English learners face barriers to learning across all content areas, social studies courses are especially linguistically complex, and have a high level of expected prior knowledge. In the author\u27s experience as a high school EL teacher, economics is often a particularly challenging course for EL students. This prompted the research question: How can a high school economics curriculum be designed to help English learners gain a deep understanding of the course topics while improving their academic English proficiency? A review of the literature found that features of a sheltered instruction model will validate, engage, and benefit a diverse range of English learners as they simultaneously learn content and increase English proficiency. The project is a Sheltered Economics Course Plan, with a scope and sequence of five units for a semester-long economics course, and lesson plans to launch each of these units. The unit overview includes academic content benchmarks and English language development expectations, which provide the basis for lesson-level content and language objectives. A sheltered instruction (SIOP) lesson template was used to create the detailed lesson plans. The lesson plans each include key features of sheltered instruction, with an emphasis on developing academic vocabulary, using multimodal techniques that support comprehension, grouping students intentionally for interaction, and reviewing key vocabulary and content concepts at the end of each lesson
Facilitating the Success of Students Transitioning Between Different Methods of Instruction
Get PDFThe research question being addressed in this project is, how do teachers successfully facilitate the movement back and forth between different methods of instruction for students? This question is answered in the paper and then the project. The project consists of a professional development workshop that is five 120 minute sessions. The first chapter introduces the topic with discussing teaching experiences before the pandemic, COVID-19 and distance learning, and teaching experiences after the pandemic. The second chapter is the literature review that looks at defining student success (academic, social, and mental/emotional), distance learning and COVID-19, and transitions in method of instruction. The third chapter is the project description that covers the setting/audience, timeline, and assessment. The final chapter is a reflection that discusses major learnings, connecting with the literature, project limitations, benefits and future projects that connect with the research topic. In conclusion, it was found that the teacher steps to help successfully facilitate the movement in different methods of instruction are to increase communication, strategic planning, reflection and designing a safe and collaborative environment. Student steps to help transition between methods of instruction include having grit, staying positive, being organized, asking for help, setting goals and being willing to explore new technologies