Professional Conference Reflection

On November 15^th, I attended the Rhode Island Teachers of English Language Learners (RITELL) conference at Rhode Island College. As is evidenced by the name, RITELL is involved with promoting literacy and the production of reading materials for English language learners all over Rhode Island. The keynote speaker was Danilo Figueredo, an author and librarian who has written a number of children’s books focusing on Latino characters and culture. He discussed the importance of making available to students materials that reflect their varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The other speakers at the conference also discussed how important this, and discussed a number of books and how they can be used effectively in the classroom.

Though connecting content to students’ experiences and backgrounds is certainly something I was familiar with before the conference, the speakers and their ideas gave me some concrete ideas as to how I could do this. Of course, the conference was geared more towards teachers who either teach English as a second language or have a lot of students whose first language is not English. I could not, therefore, completely relate to some of their suggestions or ideas, as I plan to teach history. Regardless of the disconnect between the conference’s focus and my own intentions in the future, it still provided me with food for thought as to how I can relate my lessons to my students’ lives.

One aspect of history that is frequently overlooked is what has been termed social history. This is the history of marginalized or minority populations, including women, ethnic minorities, laborers, and immigrants. I think it is important to include the stories of these populations because of the fact that they are so often overlooked. Not only that, but it is more than very likely that I will have female students, nonwhite students, and students whose ancestors immigrated here recently. As a result, it will be important, if not necessary, to include stories to which they can relate in order to keep them engaged with, excited about, and invested in the subject matter. Not only will this serve to teach these students about the value and importance of their own experiences and backgrounds, it will also paint a more complete and accurate picture of the historical narrative, which is something that every teacher should strive to do.

Though the ideas and materials discussed at the RITELL conference are not something that I could use explicitly in my future classroom, they certainly got me thinking about what I can do. I think that teaching students about the stories of often overlooked groups in history will be an invaluable tool in keeping students engaged and excited about learning.

MicroTeaching II Comments

Observation #4

Objective: Students will understand the factors, events, and people that contributed to the rise of Islam.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level: 1 (Knowledge)

Assessment:

Multiple Choice

1. When did Muhammad live?

a. 500-560 AD                    c. 570-632 AD
b. 550-640 AD                    d. 600-655 AD

2. Muhammad believed he was appointed to be a prophet of God. Who were the other two prophets that came before him?

a. Abraham and Moses                c. Abraham and Jesus
b. Moses and Elijah                     d. Jesus and Moses

3. What does the word "Muslim" mean?

a. "Follower of Islam"             c. "believer"
b. "one who submits"              d. "martyr"

4. Where did Muhammad go when he was exiled from Mecca?

a. Medina                     c. Damascus
b. Jerusalem                 d. Constantinople

5. When did Muhammad wage his holy war against Mecca?

a. 624                        c. 630
b. 615                        d. 627


Short Answers

1. How was Muhammad able to devote his time to religious studies?



2. How did Muhammad's religious beliefs affect Mecca's economic well-being?

Observation #3

The classroom that I was in for observations was a class of about thirty students in a large, urban high school. About half the students were female, the other half male. Only about six or seven students were Caucasian, with the rest being either African-American or Hispanic. All of these students were in a smallish room together for about an hour and a half when I observed their class. I feel it is important to know this information before I discuss classroom management in this particular classroom.

I was not there for the very beginning of the class, so I was unable to see how the teacher got students seated and beginning to do their work. When I walked into the classroom, the teacher already had that day’s PowerPoint presentation up on the screen and was lecturing to the class. She broke off briefly from lecturing to come speak with me and take attendance.

Over the course of the class period, students were paying attention to the lecture and taking notes. They did, however, talk a lot about topics not relevant to the lesson and were often loud and disruptive. This general misbehavior and off topic discussion was dealt with in a number of ways. Especially if she kept trying to start speaking and was being interrupted, the teacher would give the offender(s) a stern look without saying anything before resuming her lecture. She would also sometimes ask for quiet and if the students did not listen the first time, she would ask again more forcefully until the students actually quieted down and she could resume teaching. The teacher would, at times, also shush the class or try to talk over them if they got too loud. The last technique she used to try and control the volume and off topic discussion in her class was telling the class that they would not be able to move on to something new until they quieted down.

Student success and participation (though limited) was acknowledged through a number of short phrases, such as “nice”, “good job”, or “thank you”. While these small verbal acknowledgements are nice little recognitions of student success, I think that perhaps something a little more meaningful or with more substance would help students’ sense of self-efficacy and may reduce behavioral problems in the classroom.

The distribution of papers to students was another task that was handled in a very relaxed and informal manner. The teacher merely walked around the room, handing out the worksheets to the students while she continued to talk and joke with them and while they carried on with their loud and off topic conversations.

At one point, a couple of students asked the teacher for help with their assignments, and the teacher was quick to help the students with whatever clarification they needed. After any student in the room completed their first assignment, the teacher directed them into the next assignment in order to keep them occupied and productive.

Overall, I think that classroom management in this classroom was less than stellar. The teacher and the students got along well, but this made me wonder whether or not the students actually have respect for the teacher as a teacher. I think it also negatively impacts student learning because they are not focused on the material because the teacher allows them to conduct loud, frequent, and off topic conversations. This must be particularly difficult for students who actually want to learn because they cannot escape these distractions and are forced to suffer through them if they wish to take in the material that is being taught. I think that the teacher could exercise better classroom management, which would in turn improve student success and learning.

Observation #2

Lesson Plan Template for SED 406 and 407 part 1 = planning
Teacher Candidate: Kevin Cournoyer	Subject: History	Grade(s): 9-12
Name of Lesson: The Rise of Islam
Learning Objective(s), including Bloom's taxonomic level: (label A, B, C, *D) *optional Students will understand the factors, events, and people that contributed to the rise of Islam. Bloom’s: 1 (Knowledge)
Student Standards (GSE or/GLE or Common Core-in draft for math/science- list which): GSE HP 2: History is a chronicle of human activities, diverse people, and the societies they form. Students connect the past with the present by explaining origins of major historical events.
Teacher Standards (professional society and/or NETS  and RIPTS-list which): NCHS Historical Thinking Standard 3: The student engages in historical analysis and interpretation. Therefore, the student is able to analyze cause-and-effect relationships bearing in mind multiple causationincluding (a) the importance of the individual in history; (b) the influence of ideas, human interests, and beliefs; and (c) the role of chance, the accidental and the irrational.
Rationale: Why this lesson? How does it fit into the curriculum and context? Is this the introduction, conclusion, or somewhere in the middle of the unit of instruction? This lesson identifies important factors in the rise of a major world religion. Since this is a world history class, it is an important lesson in establishing how religion spreads and affects history. This lesson seems to be the introduction to a unit on Islam, though it could also be the middle of a unit on religion.
Materials/Resources needed, including technology: Overhead projector, laptop, handout(s) (excerpt from Quran and map on spread of Islam)
Accommodations and Modifications (special needs and learning styles) For example:  Dr. Kraus has poor vision and needs written material to be at least 12 pt. font.  He also reads two grade levels higher and needs appropriate reading material.  There did not appear to be any accommodations or modifications present in this lesson. The only thing that may qualify is the teacher’s periodic stopping to explain a word or idea or ask the students what they think it means in order to facilitate better understanding.
What content resources support this knowledge base? (list at least 2) -Primary source(s) (excerpt from Quran) -Map (the spread of Islam)
How confident are you in this topic as you start this lesson? T The teacher seemed confident in the topic and was able to present and explain the material in an effective and efficient manner.

(Boxes expand as you type)   Lesson Plan Template part 2 = action
Bell-ringer: How will you get students seated, and ready for academic work? (without your voice) N/A (I was not there for the beginning of the lesson)
Anticipatory Set: How will you introduce the material, interest the students, show relevance of topic? N/A
Phase (change as needed)/Time	Teacher action	Student action	Questions/Assessments
e.g. Intro/5 min.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Presentation or Open-ended/	Lecture from PowerPoint presentation about the rise of Islam	Listen to lecture and take notes from presentation	Who was Muhammad? What is a Muslim?
Guided Practice or Convergent/	Pass out handouts about Islam and its spread	Complete four questions about Islamic beliefs according to the Quran and analyze a map dealing with the spread of Islam.	None
Closing/	Assign unfinished work for homework	Write down homework, ask last minute clarification questions	Does anybody have any questions about what we did today?
HW/Application/	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above
Review and Reflection: How will you review for students who are still having trouble? No students appeared to be having any trouble, no review was forthcoming.
Extension: What will you offer to students who have mastered this? It did not seem like the teacher had anything extra to offer students who either finished the work or had a good working knowledge of the material.
*Closing: How will you review the material, and draw conclusions? (may be listed above) Again, there seemed to be no students that were in need of review. The teacher merely restated some of the main ideas about the Rise of Islam in order to review/draw conclusions.

	Lesson Plan Template pt. 3 = reflection
WHAT?	What went well?   The presentation of the information was concise and effective, if bland. Assignment of the worksheets and review of key concepts also went well.
	What area of weakness needs addressing? Something to really pull the students in and fully engage their interest would have made the lesson considerably more effective in my opinion.  Classroom management also could have been better. Had it been more effective, the lesson probably would have gone more smoothly.
	Which objectives were met? What is the evidence? The one objective of the lesson was met, as is evidenced by the students’ completion of the tasks assigned to them.
	Which students did not meet objectives? It appeared to me that all students met the objectives.
	Was time managed appropriately? Yes, the presentation lasted for as long as it needed to and left the students with ample time to complete their assigned tasks.
	Did any teacher mannerisms or actions detract from the lesson? I did not see any mannerisms or actions that detracted from the lesson.
	*What were the strengths and weaknesses of classroom management? The students were chatty and loud and frequently got off topic over the course of the lesson. This likely affected their learning the information and may have affected other students trying to learn. The teacher was able to get the class under control rather quickly when it did get out of hand, though.
SO WHAT?	Was the lesson engaging? The students were taking part in the lesson, but frequently went off topic or were distracted.
	*What did I learn from my peer observation (address at least one aspect)   N/A
NOW WHAT?	How will this experience influence your professional identity?  In the future, I will likely avoid lecturing off of a PowerPoint presentation and then giving out worksheets to reinforce what was taught. This seems ineffective and not engaging, therefore, not a good method of teaching.
	How will it influence how you plan/teach/assess in the future? This experience will make me wary of traditional methods of teaching and assessing in the future. Just because they are traditional does not mean they are the most effective or engaging ways of teaching.