Curriculum Outlines

When creating a curriculum, all the research I did pointed to certain steps that you should take in order to create something effective and successful.


1. define the objective of the curriculum
2. choose an appropriate title
3. create a scope and a sequence
4. determine a teaching approach
5. build in an assessment component
6. establish a system of curriculum evaluation


Other research I did included an addendum of how to create your own.


http://goldenwestcollege.edu/accreditation2011-2012/evidence/StandardIIA/OnlineCourseAddendum.pdf

Section 504

What is it and What does it do?


Section 504 is a federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) (ed.gov).


The Section 504 regulations require a school district to provide a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) to each qualified student with a disability who is in the school district's jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability. Under Section 504, FAPE consists of the provision of regular or special education and related aids and services designed to meet the student's individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met.


Section 504 requires recipients to provide to students with disabilities appropriate educational services designed to meet the individual needs of such students to the same extent as the needs of students without disabilities are met. An appropriate education for a student with a disability under the Section 504 regulations could consist of education in regular classrooms, education in regular classes with supplementary services, and/or special education and related services.


The Difference between 504 plan and an IEP.


A student cannot have both a 504 and an IEP. Students who qualify under section 504 must have a 504 plan that outlines the services to be provided. Some students will also qualify under the more stringent IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act). These students will have an IEP rather than a 504 plan.


For example, if a student needed auxiliary aids and services, that would be under the students 504 plan. If they needed additional accommodations, they would have an IEP.

Differing Fundamental Beliefs

For common issues/ concerns I researched differing fundamental beliefs. Fundamental beliefs can include culture, religion, etc. 

they are present in our classroom and there isnt just one way to go about them because each situation will be different. 

I couldn't find too much on the subject, but the biggest thing I found was to stay neutral. If you have to teach a touchy subject, stay close to the textbook and avoid any bias you may have at all times. 

Research your community and see what the religious affliations there are around the school and in the school as well and familiarize yourself with each one. Research, research, research.

Never single out your students for being of a different belief if you know about it, unless the student is completely comfortable.

Build an assignment for everyone about their families and background. It could help you become comfortable and the students as well. 

The biggest thing in my opinion is to stay neutral and objective as possible. 

West-E Research

Detailed Description:

For my questions, When should I test? Should I take my major or minor first?, I couldn't find a lot of information about them on the website. For these questions, I would say you should consult your university's Education advisor. 

Every school has different education programs and requirements within the program. I don't think the website can tell you exactly when to take it and what to take first, so it could depend on what your school recommends. 

As for whether you should take your major content area test first or your minor, that also depends on your personal preference and what the school advises you do to, as well as taking into consideration the cost of the test.

Experience and Observations:

In my sequence, we were advised to take the West-E in the summer before we student teach in the fall, that way we have time to retake the test if we were to fail. 

I am currently in EDUC 420 and before we are done student teaching, they are wanting our scores for our West-E for our major content area. That is not to say that I cannot take both of them, but they are requiring us to have our scores for our major content area before we are done student teaching in the fall.

Application to Teaching:

In order to become certified, we must have taken and passed the West-E. My questions weren't pressing on the issue of taking the test. Regardless, if we are majoring and minoring in a subject, we have to take the tests related to that content area to be able to teach it.

Application to Students:

I don't think anyone was too concerned about which test to take first, but more so the question of when to take it. I would recommend talking to an advisor at your university for more guidance. The website offers test dates and I would take the test on the dates that work for you and around the appropriate time you are advised. There wasn't too much research on the topics, but it is always helpful to talk with an advisor and have them guide you in the correct path. 

Learning Letter

I've always struggled finding out who I am as a person. 

I have spent the last 10 months trying to rebuild my life from the ground up, and this quarter helped me to do. 

This most likely isn't going to be the typical learning letter like most students will turn in. Of course, you are interested in what I learned as a future teacher or English/Language Arts, but I think what I learned as a person is far more beneficial. 

I stated that I was rebuilding my life from the ground up because I feel like I am. In May 2013, I ended my relationship to my fiancé of almost five years. By no means was it easy to let go of something that for five years, was all I knew. We became a pair, rather than a pair of individuals. All of my plans were centered around him and couldn't imagine planning anything without him. I slowly found myself forgetting how it was to be on my own. What made Jordan happy? What kind of movies did I like? What music did I like? What kind of toppings did I like on my pizza? We became one before I knew who I was. 

I find myself still partly grieving, though we have both moved on. I am only twenty one years old, but I feel the need to discover who I am right away. I know teaching is what I am supposed to do with my life but right now I am just not ready.

No one is expecting me to 100% ready, but I feel so deeply in my heart that right now is just not my time. The courses I took this quarter and the work we needed to do solidified that as well. No one is forcing me to teach full time after student teaching, but I feel like I am letting people down. I just feel like I need more experience, more living, under my belt to be the best teacher I can be for my future students.

I need to know what my personal style is before I know what my teaching style is. I need to better Jordan before I can better Ms. Lehman. This quarter truly showed me where I want to go in my life and for me, it has made all the difference. 

Poe and Alexie

ALEXIE:
I have had the privilege of reading Alexie's work in almost every English I have had during my college career. His work is often banned from schools because of the "inappropriate" material that they contain, but I think they are pure genius. I was so happy when I saw that an Alexie novel was on our reading list at the beginning of the quarter. I have only dabbled in his poetry, but a novel is just as good. I love that he is a local writer and his work hits home because of the proximity of them. Spokane is my stomping ground and I am so grateful to live in such a city.
The novel was a little intense. I found myself struggling to relate at first, but then made the little connections along the way. I could relate to being the new kid in school, the death of family, and the experience of having a crush on the popular kid in school. I just wanted the situation for Arnold to get better because he had experienced so much in his life already.
Although I love Alexie's personal story and his work, I probably wouldn't include this particular text in my classroom. I think it is a little too mature for the middle school level and it wouldn't exactly fit in the demographic of Horizon Middle School in Spokane Valley. I would recommend the students to read it on their own time for pleasure, but I wouldn't have it implemented in my class. I think there are other works by Alexie that would fit more appropriately.




POE:
I have always had a love for Poe and his mysterious ways. I remember reading "Tell Tale Heart" in eighth grade and becoming so fond of Poe and his works. "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" was strange. I always had a really hard time understanding this story, as I usually do with his works. I am excited to see what Paul does with this and how he goes through the story with the class. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the story. It was just so strange.

Readicide

Out of everything the book covered, the one part that stuck out to me the most was the part captioned "The Danger of Word Poverty". This stuck out to me because I have done prior research on the achievement gap of vocabulary development between low SES students compared to high SES students. 

I am placed as a student teacher at Horizon Middle School in the Spokane Valley. The students primarily come from middle to upper class families and the school has a free and reduced percentage of 29.5% as of May 2013. I am an AVID tutor at Garry Middle School located in the outskirts of Hillyard. The free and reduced lunch rate at Garry is about 82%. 

I became interested in this topic because of Language Use and Structure taught by Tracey McHenry. We were covering language acquisition and how lower SES children are less exposed to a large range of words, where as children of high SES are exposed to more. Some figures show that there is a gap of some 382 to 187 words per hour. Readicide on page 32 states that "the average young middle-class child hears 32 million more spoken words than the young underprivileged child by age five". 

This is not to say that children who come from an underprivileged home can't excel in school but the statistics are working against their favor. 

The book gives many statistics about children and test scores which is interesting, but doesn't get me to where I want to be within my research. I conducted my own miniature research project by testing my eighth students at Horizon Middle School because there happened to be a transfer student from Garry in my class. I gave them a list of common words that an eighth grader should know and let them all study the list and definitions for 5 minutes, then gave them the simple quiz consisting of 20 questions with a variety of matching, fill in the blank, and multiple choice. Student A (from Horizon) received a score of 23/25 and the transfer student from Garry, student B, received a score of 9/25. 

This could have been an unfair or not a credible way of testing the theory, but still the results are pretty shocking. 

The section talks about standardized testing and how the underprivileged students are affected when it comes to taking these tests. Below I have attached a photo of the differences between the schools MSP scores for the 2012-13 school year. 

The results of the scores only proves what I believe and what Kelly Gallagher wrote about.