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Using On-Going Mentoring to Support Elementary Teachers of Language Learners
Get PDFThis project was shaped from experiences as an ESL teacher, classroom teacher, and teacher mentor led me to research how teachers improve their practices, particularly around language learners in the mainstream classroom. The question became how can implementing a mentoring program support elementary classroom teachers in changing their practices with language learners. The research led in two directions: effective professional development and best practices with language learners. Based on this research, a determination was made that in order to support teachers in developing their practices with language learners, a mentoring program focusing on four specific areas – vocabulary, syntax, oral language development, and identity – would be beneficial. The project is a guidebook for mentors to work with teachers on their practice. The guidebook provides ways to set up a mentoring relationship, tools for observations and feedback, as well as best practices to employ for language learning. The intent is to give a mentor the tools they need to support teacher growth. The goal of this project is to improve teacher practice through on-going mentoring support to meet the needs of language learners in the mainstream elementary classroom
The Work-Life Balance of a Single Mother and Secondary School Principal
Get PDFAs more women enter the workforce and move into leadership positions, understanding the conflicts between balancing work and family life is essential. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to focus on the lived experiences of single mother, secondary school principals and how they face the challenges of balancing work and family. Through semi-structured interviews, the study focused on four single mother secondary school principals. It aimed to answer the research question: What are the internal and external drivers of effective single-parent female secondary school principals that allow them to face the challenges of balancing work and family? The study concluded with the key finding that there are competing demands between home and work life, and finding balance can be extremely difficult. The women in this study are dedicated to both roles\u27 success and have shown high perseverance in managing both domains of life. They have determined that although they might not have balance, they have found a variety of support systems and management strategies to neutralize the stressful demands of both roles. Key drivers in their success were having relationships with their own children, their staff and finding the perseverance and tenacity to push through any challenge they face. This study provided insights and suggestions for other single mothers or those who support single, working mothers around the strategies and systems that can be used to help successfully manage being a working professional and a mother
Culturally Responsive Teaching in Science Classrooms
Get PDFOur educational system is producing a generation of dependent learners. Whether because of a lack of confidence or a lack of skills, these scholars often don’t know where to start when tackling complex problems. Inequitable educational experiences have caused these challenges to disproportionately impact students of color. Education scholars, including Geneva Gay, Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Zaretta Hammond, have completed extensive research on how culturally responsive teaching can be used as a strategy to address these inequities. This project takes on a specific focus and works to address the following question: How can science teachers use culturally responsive teaching to help students develop into independent, self-directed learners? The project utilizes Zaretta Hammond’s “Ignite, Chunk, Chew, Review” strategy as a scaffold within a collaborative professional development series for science teachers. The end goal is that science teachers are able to analyze and rework their existing lessons to incorporate more culturally responsive teaching strategies. When we tap into how students learn on a cultural level, we can replicate those processes in the classroom and improve the effectiveness of our lessons. No student wants to be dependent on support from others; our goal is that every child has the skills and confidence to independently tackle whatever problem they face
Indigenous Resources And Other Materials For Minnesota Studies
Get PDFCurrently, the state of Minnesota has begun to re-examine its social studies standards. These standards serve as the backbone for teachers to design their lessons in the classroom. Among these standards several cover Minnesota Studies. With the revised standards set to be released soon, teachers have begun to examine how they teach social studies. With these standards being rewritten, I began to create and implement a project that could be useful to teachers in the classroom. I began by posing the question: How can we give teachers resources to reshape how Minnesota studies’ is taught through the lens of Indigenous people? The answer to that question came in the form of a website that I designed for my Capstone Project. This website contains resources for teachers, educators and students to use in order to create a more inclusive classroom for Native and Indigenous students. These resources include lesson plans designed around Native Americans, tools to decolonize the classroom and stories written by Native American authors. This website serves as a small step to rethinking how we teach about Native Americans in Minnesota
School Recess: Benefits, Obstacles, and Policy
Get PDFThe practice of school recess is explored including its benefits, obstacles, and policies. Academic literature provided research indicating a myriad of benefits including academic or cognitive, behavioral, health, and social emotional development, while challenges with implementing school recess are described as allocation of time as well as supervision, safety, and bullying. Current policies regarding recess are divided into two categories: requiring students be given a recess period and the issue of withholding recess. Original research was conducted with a mixed methods design by an electronic survey, where Minnesota elementary school principals were surveyed regarding recess in their schools. The data collected in this research generally affirmed the academic literature with regards to the benefits, obstacles, and policies surrounding school recess. Based on these findings, the author concluded that there are significant benefits, and while there may be some challenges with implementing a successful recess program, recess is an important component of the school day. Accordingly, policy should support recess programs, ensuring that elementary school children are provided recess and recess should not be withheld for disciplinary reasons
Availability of Diverse Books For Early Elementary Students
Get PDFToday students are more diverse than ever. They come from all different backgrounds. Many students are multicultural. Because of this, teachers and educators must have diverse books available to students. Diverse books allow students to gain self-confidence (Gomez-Najarro, 2020) and give them a new perspective on how others live their lives (Harper & Brand, 2010). However, when choosing diverse books, it is significant that the culture depicted in the book is accurate and not based on stereotypes and generalizations. Stereotypes and generalizations do not give the reader an accurate perspective and can be harmful (Harper & Brand, 2010). When looking at books, I believe there are four ways books can be diverse. They include characters, authors, illustrators, and illustrations. Since diverse books are an essential resource, I created a website for early elementary teachers and educators of diverse students but, all teachers and educators of early elementary students could benefit from this website. On my website, teachers and educators can learn about the importance of diverse books and they can learn about me and what led to my goal of having diverse books available to students. The main portion of the website offers diverse book recommendations with read-aloud links and ready-made literacy and social-emotional lesson plans that are based on diverse books. Part of each literacy lesson plan includes an optional cultural visual survey that will allow students to reflect on their culture and the culture depicted in the books I have recommended
Culturally Sustaining Social Studies: Practical Applications to a High School Elective Course
Get PDFScholars including Delpit, Ladson-Billings, Chandler, Paris and Alim remind us that schools must be a place where students’ cultures are validated, centered, and sustained. Social studies classrooms are optimally positioned to allow students to explore issues around race, class, gender, and other forms of (in)justice. Yet while many social studies teachers wish to teach in alignment with the theory of culturally sustaining pedagogy, powerful factors make its tenets difficult to enact in the classroom. This project embedded culturally sustaining pedagogy into curriculum design for a high school Environmental History elective. Using Tomlinson and McTighe’s (2006) Understanding by Design + Differentiated Instruction curriculum design model as a baseline, then incorporating core elements of culturally sustaining pedagogy, this project explored ways that culturally sustaining pedagogy can be authentically enacted in a real classroom. The project resulted in a curriculum that engages students with present and historical environmental justice issues, including indigeneity, class, race, and who is writing the history. While it was designed specifically for an American Environmental History elective setting in mind, the curriculum or individual lessons from it could be adapted for a variety of social studies classroom settings including American Studies, American History, World History, or Human Geography. The project’s curriculum design framework may also be used outside of the social studies discipline. The goal of this curriculum is to enable students to engage with their own cultures while cultivating a passion for environmental justice, while the aim of the study is to give teachers a curriculum-development tool to embed culturally sustaining pedagogy into all types of classrooms
Asset-Based Kindergarten Readiness For Black Children In Preschool And The Implications For Racial Equity
Get PDFEarly childhood education represents both a significant and formative moment in a child’s entry into the K-12 education system. While preschool children learn from well-meaning educators, inequities persist in kindergarten readiness outcomes for Black children. Some of the most saliently known disparities include the preschool to prison pipeline (i.e., discipline and suspension practices), poverty, and literacy rates. The Capstone Project sought to answer the research question: How might teacher preparation utilize an asset-based approach to reduce bias in Kindergarten readiness for Black children in lower socioeconomic status households? Explored were effective instructional and curriculum practices to increase learner engagement, empowerment, and belonging. The findings included practical tools incorporating anti-bias curriculum, culturally responsive pedagogy, and multicultural literature. For educators resolved to drive system change, featured is an interactive professional development website including a six-step learning experience offering evidence-based ways to advance Black children academically and socially utilizing an asset-based approach. Key words: African-American, Anti-Bias Curriculum, Asset-based, Bias, Black, Children, Critical Race Theory, Culture, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Deficit, Early Childhood Education, Kindergarten Readiness, Multicultural Literature, Preschool, Professional Development, Racial Equity, Website
Engaging Hmong Learners With Oral Storytelling And Flipgrid
Get PDFSince the start of the covid-19 pandemic, Minnesota had to make the decision to temporarily close schools. Many school districts resorted to online distance learning in order to protect the community from covid-19 spread. There are so many teachers that have not been prepared to teach from an online model. Moreover, teachers were losing engagement from students. Hmong students face a unique challenge where engagement is highly absent due to the switch of an online learning setting. This capstone explored a curriculum design that supports the cultural tradition of oral storytelling using Flipgrid to enhance engagement in the online classroom for Hmong students at the 7th grade level. Pre and post surveys, oral storytelling elements, writing, and Flipgrid are the main resources to support engagement among Hmong students along with rubrics to evaluate the level of success from the curriculum. Research concluded that incorporating more than one online learning media platform and using culturally relevant practices in the classroom can support the engagement of Hmong students, such as oral storytelling and Flipgrid. This provides the occasion to further explore the possibilities of using culture and technology together for online education
Social Emotional Learning in Elementary Schools: A Professional Development Series
Get PDFABSTRACT
The purpose of this capstone project is to evaluate the impact social emotional learning has in elementary schools. There are several aspects that play key roles in social emotional learning, such as, Trauma Informed Instruction, the effectiveness of social emotional learning, and the teachers mental health. Each one of these key aspects are carefully reviewed and analyzed through an extensive literature review, to answer the capstone question, How can social emotional learning be implemented in elementary schools? This capstone project is a professional development series that dives into the effectiveness of social emotional learning. It is a series that is intended to empower and support both teachers and students