Cheyenne's Writing Journey

The UDL approach requires teachers to use "flexible instruction with multiple options and choices" (Meyer, Rose, and Gordon, 2014; Ralabate and Nelson, 2017). The CCSS ELA speaking and listening standards for 9-10 2 and 5 best support the UDL approach. Standard 2 states, "Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source, " (RIDE). Standard 5 states, " Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest," (RIDE). These standards cater to the UDL approach as they both call for educators to use multiple formats to deliver lessons to provide for the different ways in which students learn and take in information.       The NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts caters to...

   During this first week of observations, I tried to look more closely at how the class was functioning beyond getting to know each other. At the start of every class, my cooperating teacher took attendance and then introduced the day's lesson. Depending on the lesson, the cooperating teacher would either have the prompt or directions on the board, pass out a physical copy of the prompt or directions, or both. He always had paper for writing assignments and the students seemed to always supply themselves with pens, pencils, and highlighters. When computers were needed for the lesson, students would either take a laptop from a mobile charging station or the cooperating teacher would have scheduled time in the computer lab.    I noticed that my cooperating teacher was always organized, even when he felt like he wasn't. He always had the assignments and lessons ready to go and was very good about making sure his classes had time in the computer lab when needed, even...

   In today's observations, I took notice of the classroom. The classroom that the freshman were in was very welcoming, fun, and silly. There was a row of ducks on the top of the cabinets, llama and frog cutouts randomly posted all over the room, a calendar with student birthdays and school events, and photographs of the teachers outside of school. There was also an LGBT+ flag hanging in this room. This gave the classroom a more comfortable feeling and allowed the students to see their teachers as people with lives outside of the classroom. It also showed the students that this was a safe space that accepted them.     I noticed that my cooperating teacher interacted with the freshman differently than with the juniors. With the freshman he worked more humor and exaggerated reactions. I took this to be him trying to build relationships with the students by showing them that he has feelings and thoughts and is just like anyone else. I have found in my own experien...

I am from A home of pictures, blankets, trinkets And Cobwebs. Where there’s no time to dust because We’re busy busy busy. I am from Crab grass, firewood, a vine-covered windmill, And a fallen tree Who refuses death  Because who has time to die? I am from Little Neck cemetery, Dairy-Bee,  And the bay Where we’re not allowed to swim But the water’s warm anyway. I am from Pops who’s from Poppy who’s from Pa who’s from The Crow Who got that name for being strict and Native. I am from  Loud laughter and The blood of the covenant But I have learned to respect The water of the womb.  I am from A golden Frost and a mourning Thomas , Where you Stand and Deliver , Where a lot can happen in 19 Minutes , Where the most important medicine is Love . Where I’m from We know how to escape the labyrinth But we walk through it Because it’s the only way We get our most valued treasure.

The most important task we need to accomplish as educators is making sure our classroom is a comfortable and accepting environment. Multilingual students need to feel just as comfortable crafting their literacy in their native tongue as well as English. In fact, it is a law in Rhode Island to include our multilingual students’ native language in their lessons. Many people try to overlook this law and say that ELL classrooms have to be English only, when in reality that is not how they learn best or what the law mandates. A great idea that I learned in a professional development conference was to provide side-by-side translations for assignment notes or instructions. This way, students can compare their language to English and also know exactly what they have to do for the assignment. We can and should let them write their first drafts in their native language so they can think more clearly. This helps them work on their literacy in both their native language and English and helps...

The very first day I went to my observations this semester, my cooperating teacher was very excited for her English II class to come in. She had recently found out that a couple of her EL students had given her English names instead of their actual names, so she spent all weekend practicing their pronunciations and even had them taped to her fridge. When they came into class, she called them by their names and told them that she would be calling them by their names for the rest of the year. The students were shocked and happy that she was doing this. They tried to tell the teacher that she did not have to use them because they were hard, but she told them that they deserve to be called by their given names. Stewart states in chapter one, “we should consider very practical ways of affirming our students, such as pronouncing their names correctly, even if doing so requires a lot of practice.” I had thought about this very little before my cooperating teacher had brought this to my ...