Education Research (EDU-6920)

I just completed my final graduate class at Johnson State College.  The class was titled Education Research.  The guiding question for the course was: how can research improve my practice?

Throughout the course we read many different scholarly articles.  We looked at these articles to compare, contrast, and learn more about educational research.  We looked at not only the different forms of research but also how these can best be represented in a clear and professional way.  Analyzing these articles was helpful when it came time to design and implement our own educational research.

The research project needed to be connected to our current jobs or placements.  I currently work as a first grade teacher.  I chose to focus my research on the implementation of Reading Workshop within my first grade class.  This was an easy choice because it was a professional practice I was already doing within my classroom.  The focus question I created was: what can I learn about my professional practice through the implementation of the Reading Workshop model?

I first created a proposal for my project.  This was challenging because I had never written a proposal before.  I rewrote the proposal three times before it seemed to accurately and professionally represent my plan in a way that was comprehensible for those who do not teach first grade or literacy.

Once my proposal was complete, I began to implement it within my classroom.  I collected three forms of data on three specific students.  I chose these students because of their end of year kindergarten reading assessments.  I wanted to be able to compare and contrast the findings from students reading above grade level, on grade level, and below grade level.  The three types of data

I collected were time studies of their engagement during independent reading time, their Developmental Reading Assessment scores, and student interviews.  

This project was helpful to me as a first grade teacher of literacy because I was able to better understand the concepts within the Reading Workshop model.  I was also able to see what pieces may be missing, so that I can make changes to better meet my students needs.  I enjoyed doing the literature reviews because it gave me time to research other educator’s experiences with Reading Workshop.  I could see what ideas helped their students become successful.  

Through this research experience as a first grade teacher, I saw the importance of independent reading time, students requiring the freedom to choose books independently, and also the importance of thinking critically about literature in different ways.  It is also a great teaching model because it allows for a lot of differentiation. “The workshop approach is not based on ability groups but provides a venue to focus on the strengths and needs of each student” (Towell, 2000, p. 1).  It allows me to really get to know my students, so that I can help them to become successful, lifelong readers.This experience also helped me to see how I could implement other small research projects within my classroom to better meet my students needs.

As a graduate student, it was helpful to have the hands-on experience of creating, implementing, and reflecting on my own research project.  This will be helpful as I read other scholarly articles so that I can better understand the process of a research project and what each section of writing represents.

Towle, W. (2000). The art of the reading workshop. Educational Leadership, 58(1), 38-41.

Moral Philosophy and Professional Ethics (EDU-6933)

I just completed the graduate course Moral Philosophy and Professional Ethics at Johnson State College.  The guiding question for this course was: how should we treat others?  We used this question to direct our thinking while completing our academic tasks.   

Through this course we examined many different ethical dilemmas most of which were connected to education.  We examined these dilemmas using four different ethical lenses.  Shapiro and Gross (2013) believe that these four lenses are imperative for any educator to use when faced with a moral dilemma.  The four lenses are the ethic of critique, the ethic of care, the ethic of professionalism, and the ethic of justice.  The ethic of care focuses on relationships and how decisions will affect the other people that are involved.  The ethic of justice emphasizes the truth along with current laws, rights, and policies.  The ethic of critique stresses the ideals of democracy and forces people to rethink important concepts.  The final lens, the ethic of professionalism, looks at maintaining stability and putting the student in the center of the decision-making process.

One of the projects that we completed was an inquiry project.  For my inquiry project, I chose to do a case analysis based off an incident that occurred at the school that I teach at.  The case was based on the question: should the topic of homosexuality be taught at elementary schools?  I analyzed this question using the four different ethical lenses. This project helped me to realize that educators have so many points to consider when making any professional decision and sometimes there might not be just one correct answer.  Also, finding the best answer that perfectly combines all four ethical lenses can sometimes be impossible.

When I think back to the guiding question about how should we treat others, I really believe that is my ultimate goal as an elementary school teacher.  I know as a first grade educator I am there to teach the basics of reading, writing, spelling, and math.  However, I believe that I am really there to teach my students how to treat each other.  I am teaching them how to stay calm, be flexible, use kind words, and compromise.  Those are the lessons I teach to my students directly and indirectly everyday.  These ideals that I teach my students seem very similar to the beliefs laid out in our other assigned book, The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Puett and Gross-Loh.  While academics are important, as humans the real happiness in life comes from the connection we feel to others.  To me, it seems that it is more important for me to teach my students how to positively get along with others because that is where they will find true happiness.  Their social skills will also be incredibly important in their professional lives.  The most successful people I know are able to work harmoniously with their coworkers. 

It seems that this guiding question would be a good guiding question for our world right now.  I sometimes think that my first grade students have better awareness of others and make better decisions in their relationships than many of the adults in the world.  We as a country have definitely lost sight of what is most important and that is our connections with other human beings.

Puett, M., & Gross-Loh, C. (2016). The path: What Chinese philosophers can teach us

about the good life. Simon & Schuster. ISBN-10: 1476777837. ISBN-13: 978-

1476777832.

Shapiro, J. P., & Gross, S. J. (2013). Ethical educational leadership in turbulent times:

(Re) solving moral dilemmas (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN-13: 978-0415895118. ISBN-10: 0415895111.

  

Strategies for Promoting Inclusive Practices (EDU-6465)

          I recently completed the graduate class Strategies for Promoting Inclusive Practices.  The guiding question for this class was: How does inclusion happen?  As part of this class, I participated in class discussions and applied my learning to many projects.  These projects included creating and co-teaching a lesson, creating an FBA, designing and delivering a presentation, writing a paper, and conducting two interviews.  I also continued to spend time working within special education in my school.

            One of the requirements of the graduate students within the class was writing a paper on a specific behavioral disorder.  I liked that we were given the freedom to choose our own behavior disorder to focus on.  I chose Obsessive Compulsive Disorder because I did not know that much about it.  I really enjoyed researching the disorder and finding different ways that other people had accommodated students with OCD.  If I ever have a student with OCD within my classroom, I believe that I am more now knowledgeable about how to make my classroom a more successful place for someone with OCD.

            The FBA was helpful because I was able to perform the FBA on a student within my first grade classroom.  When you are in the process of teaching it can be hard to see everything that is happening with every student.  It helped me to take a step back from teaching and observe a student who was struggling with some behaviors.   I was able to use the information to better help the student and meet his needs within my classroom.

            Co-teaching is something that I do frequently within my school.  I spend time co-teaching with our math and reading specialists.  It is a great model because you are able to see other teacher’s techniques and ideas, and apply them to your own teaching.  I fully believe that too often classroom doors are closed and that there is not enough collaboration happening. Co-teaching allows teachers to grow and to also have more fun when teaching.  The more fun teachers are having in their jobs than the more enjoyable it is for students to learn.

            I enjoyed reading the book Lost at School by Dr. Ross Greene.  The book outlines Dr. Greene’s approach to dealing with behaviors.  He believes in making it collaboration between the student and all of the adults in the student’s life.  The book uses detailed examples of students, and how they’re lives were changed by using this technique.  I have started to use pieces of his technique within my classroom, and I hope to use more of it with my class next year.  I really like that the program looks at each student as a whole person, and forces adults to really listen to what their students have to say.  The program helps to look at what is really best for each student.

            I did enjoy many aspects of this class, and feel that the assignments have made me a better first grade teacher and future special educator.  I did at times find it challenging because it was primarily an undergraduate class, and I do wonder how my experiences would have been changed if it had been a classroom of graduate students.

Special Education Practices and Procedures (EDU-6730)

            I recently completed the graduate class Special Education Practices and Procedures.  The guiding question for this class was: How can special education support the inclusion of students with disabilities?  I did not actually attend this class because it was held during school hours and this did make the class a little more challenging. 

However, for this class I spent time working within my own school as a special education graduate student.  I spent time working with students within first grade and students outside of my grade level.  I performed assessments, one on one instruction, small group instruction, and supported students within the general classroom setting.  I also helped teachers with accommodations and modifications for their classrooms.  I worked with a special educator in my school, and she helped to guide me and answer any questions that came up.  In addition to these tasks, I participated in my school’s PBIS team and worked with different behavior management tools.

A lot of the tasks I performed were already things I had completed within my job as a first grade teacher.  However, I did enjoy working with students outside of my grade level and seeing what other accommodations and modifications were being used in other classrooms.

Another aspect of this class was learning about Individualized Education Plans.  I have read many IEPs as a teacher, but this was the first time I had created my own.  None of the students on my supervising teacher’s caseload were up for re-evaluation, so I got to choose which student I wanted to write an IEP for.  I chose a student I had in my first grade class, but now she is currently in third grade.  Through this class, I had the opportunity to work with her again.  I used her previous IEP, the observations I completed, and evaluations I had done with her.  Using all of this information, I created my own IEP.  My special educator offered guidance, and I found it to be a very beneficial learning experience.

As a graduate student in this class, I was required to complete a literature review each week.  The professor assigned the topic of the literature review, but we were able to choose the articles we wanted to use.  This allowed me to look at the area of special education from different viewpoints.  It also gave me ideas to use with my own students, and got me thinking about obstacles I might face as a special educator.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent working within special education at my own school.  I do feel like I missed out because I was not able to attend the actual classes.  These would have been helpful when designing my own IEP and for learning other important details about being a special educator. 

Language, Culture, and Education (EDU-5039)

           This semester I have been participating in the graduate class Language, Culture, and Education at Johnson State College.  The guiding question for this class was: how does language make us who we are?
         This class has showed me that our language does affect who we are.  Children who struggle with communication disorders have different life experiences than they would if they did not have those struggles.  These struggles and experiences help to mold who they are.  This is also true for children who are raised speaking more than language.  Their lives are enriched by this experience.  They may have access to different experiences because of their language abilities.  Your language is a part of your culture, so it has an impact on the person that you are.
         A requirement for this class was to research a specific language difficulty and apply this knowledge in three different ways.  I chose to research stuttering.  It was a topic I had not had a lot of exposure to.  The first way we applied our new knowledge was by writing a literature review.  This was a great way for me to really dive into the topic, and learn about the topic from different viewpoints.  We then took our literature review and molded it into a topic study.  This gave me the opportunity to research different ways to help students who may stutter within my classroom.  Lastly, we took all the information we had learned and created a resource guide using technology.  I chose to use Google Slides to present my information.  I enjoyed this project the most out of all the tasks we were assigned this semester.  I enjoyed using technology to create a resource that could be used by my own colleagues.  It also helped to solidify the information I had been learning about all semester.
         Another requirement of this class was to spend time observing language within a certain setting.  I chose to observe the language within my own school.  As teachers we spend so much time talking, but we don’t always stop and really think about the language that is being used in our classroom.  Through completing this project, I was able to see ways communication was being created and blocked throughout my whole school.  I learned this by writing down the conversations I heard, and then sorting and coding all of the conversations I had recorded. I learned that ability, topic fixations, and adult interference could block student communication.  I also learned that peer support and adult scaffolding are the most common way that communication is created.  Overall, I enjoyed finding the time to really listen to my students communicate. 
         This class really pushed me to think about how difficult it is for some students to communicate their thoughts and feelings and how frustrating this can be.  School is a place where communication is constantly requested of you.  Students are asked to communicate through listening, speaking, and writing.  It is an exhausting world for some children to exist in. 
         Language, Culture, and Education was a beneficial learning experience for me.   I was able to learn about ELL students, language development, and language difficulties.  It gave me an opportunity to think about speech and language, and what a complicated process it can be. 

Evaluating Characteristics of Diverse Learners (EDU-6330)

I recently completed the graduate class Evaluating Characteristics of Diverse Learners.  The guiding question for this class is: how can evaluating academic characteristics promote success in school?

As an educator, assessments are a huge piece of my teaching process.  I am constantly assessing students both formally and informally.  They inform my teaching by helping me get to know my students better.  I am able to see what my students understand and what we need to spend more time studying.  Assessments also give me information to share with my coworkers and with parents.  It is critical to have proof when speaking to parents about their child’s strengths and weaknesses.

A requirement of this class was to acquire strategies for developing individualized and measurable goals and objectives.  I found this activity to be beneficial as a future special educator and as a current first grade teacher.  I read many IEPs every year, and it gave me insight into the IEP process by having to create my own SMART goals and objectives.  As a future special educator, paperwork is a huge part of the job description.  It was helpful to start learning about writing IEPs in a small and manageable manner.

We were also required to learn the practices and procedures associated with the WJ-IV.  We were able to administer the WJ-IV to a peer within the class and actually take the test ourselves.  I found it valuable to experience both sides of the testing experience.  It helped me to become more familiar with the assessment and the experience helped me to identify with what my students might feel when they are asked to take the WJ-IV.  As an educator, it helped me to better understand the results of the WJ-IV when the students from my classroom are being evaluated.

It is clear the there is a symbiotic relationship between evaluation and teaching strategies.  Evaluations and assessments help educators to choose strategies that will best help specific students.  Also, knowing specific strategies that help certain students can give educators information that will be helpful when choosing the appropriate assessments for a student.  For example, if a student has high oral comprehension and high verbal skills but lower reading skills, a teacher may want to assess this student using an interview process.

Evaluating Characteristics of Diverse Learners was a great learning experience for me.  The class reaffirmed my belief in the importance of assessments in the classroom.  I also received new learning about how to write IEP goals and objectives and how to administer the WJ-IV.

Critical and Cultural Perspectives of Education (EDU-6555)

      Since January I have been a student in the class Critical and Cultural Perspectives in Education.  As a student in this class, I have participated in discussions, read many articles, written papers, completed observations and interviews, and created a tutorial for my peers.  All of these activities have forced me to look closely at education, government, and our society.  The course focused on the question: what is the role of education in a democratic society?
         Within this class, I participated in a class book discussion.  The book I was assigned to read was titled Ability Profiling and School Failure: One Child’s Struggle to Be Seen as Competent written by Kathleen M. Collins.  This book follows the life of one boy as he struggles to fit in and make progress within public education.  This book really highlighted for me how we are failing many of our students.  Our current education system is just not set up to meet everyone’s needs.  We as educators need to examine the current education system and work together to make a truly inclusive learning environment. Collins (2013) writes, “A disability may be a better display board for the weakness of a culture than it is an account of a real person”(p. 2).  We are so quick to label our students, but we are not working hard enough to meet their many needs.  We are not taking the times as a culture to get to know our students, so that we can really help them succeed.
Through this class I was able to spend time observing and interviewing a social service employee.  She works for the Howard Center in their Autism Spectrum Program.  While spending time on my inquiry project, I focused on this question: How does the work of the human service professional serve the aims of democracy?  From my research, I came to the conclusion that social service agencies help to keep democracy running in a number of ways.  They help individuals build skills, so that they may be independent and participate within a democratic society.  They also advocates, helping to protect the rights of the individuals they support.  They teach their clients how to advocate for themselves and they also advocate for those who are not able.
         While researching the Howard Center, I saw how many individuals and families their many programs help.  I also know that even with all the Howard Center and other agencies are doing, it is still not enough to conquer the poverty and needs within Vermont and within our country as a whole.  How are children supposed to come to school and learn when they are more concerned about their basic needs being met?  Without a good education and a positive set of skills, people will continue to struggle to live and the circle of poverty will continue.
          This class has made me reflect on the many things that can affect a child’s development and overall life.  The one factor that has the biggest influence is poverty.  Everything seems to come back to poverty.  If parents do not have good jobs then they do not earn enough money.  If a family doesn’t have enough money then children can lack food, positive attention, safety, housing, healthcare, and a good education.  Poverty has a negative impact on a child’s life, and it is a never-ending circle for many families.  However, as country we don’t seem to be doing enough to solve this problem.  Many people in our country spend too much time blaming each other and not enough time looking at themselves and really thinking about what they could do to help our country be more successful.
          As an educator, I think the most important thing I will take away from this class is that there are so many factors and influences in a child’s life.  As a teacher, you can’t be aware of all of them.  However, as educators we must really work to get to know our students are learners and as people.  We should talk to them about their home lives, their dreams, and their worries.  If a child in my class is worried about food or safety, I can’t expect them to be fully available for learning.  I must give them extra support to try and help balance out the insecurities they are feeling in their lives outside of school.