Blog#8 Nilson Da SIlva

FNED 547

Nilson Da Silva

Introduction to Classroom research

Memo # 8 : Data collected

11/14/15

 

I have collected four sources of data for my research project: Progressive notes, external observations, thematic interviews, and a timeline of achievements. I have already collected some data for each one of the four case study students. I have written “progressive notes” after each weekly individual meeting  with them. I have highlighted   what I consider to be the main events in their emotional, social, and academic trajectory that are  features of agency and autonomy.  

These are official documents that belong to the supportive project, but preserving all student`s identity, I am using them to identify what patterns resemble agency and autonomy in their trajectories, throughout the Fall school semester.  In the progressive notes, I describe the approach I have taken  to support these students in achieving  their personal and academic goals.  As a strategy to categorize my written  observations about autonomy and agency, I have used  colored stickers in the progressive notes as a means to reveal patterns in behaviors or attitudes that are associated with proactive attitudes, initiative, goal identification,  and personal or academic achievement.  These progressive notes, or diaries, are also where I  register the process of identification of students` actions and where I document teacher (navigator) and student interaction. Observation data  include my informal observations during  community lunches. These events are voluntary meetings promoted by the project to expand communication, engagement, and connection among students, scholars and guests. I have used these events as opportunities  to  collect data on what behaviors, attitudes and connections my case study are reflected in students who choose to   participate in these free-period activities.

Next week, I plan to interview each one of my four case study students. I will read the questions and observe their oral expression, emotions, breathing expressions, and body language and connect these variables with autonomy and agency.  I have received students` permission to audio record these moments in order to facilitate the transcription of their “voices”.

The newest addition  to  my research is a timeline of achievements.  Timelines very clearly show change and progress, and I believe that they will help students to see their progress, which will help the feel a sense of pride as they  reflect, identify and talk about their accomplishments in their personal and academic achievements. 

 After collecting, analyzing and interpreting these data, I will be able to better comprehend my research questions and ultimately  develop a broad perspective in my pedagogical and supportive professional role as a navigator- teacher.

Memo #7 Nilson Da SIlva

FNED 547

Nilson Da Silva

Introduction to Classroom research

Memo # 7: Initial findings Literature review

11/14/15

 

 I have been very lucky in my efforts to gather sources on autonomy and agency as  the four articles I am using to develop my literature review also relate  to my research questions on bilingual undergraduate students in college.

One article describes an action research project developed with youth who are marginalized students in an urban community.  In the article, Alice McIntyre raises many of the same questions I have been asking myself. . For example, McIntyre questions how a person can expand his or her understanding of the social, cultural and educational processes that involve autonomy and student agency (McIntyre, 2006). The findings argue that “feeling of sense of agency about one`s life is both nurtured and discouraged in and through the educational process”. Other questions examine the extent to which  school satisfactorily “serves the function of enhancing students’ emotional, psychological and social well-being”. In my overall inquiring process, I have linked these variables within bilingual undergraduate students` life  experiences by their level of critical thinking, decision making and sense of agency and autonomy.

 In the second article, Reyes (2009) discusses the role(s) of key interactions between members of a supportive community program named “College Assistance Migrant Program,” or CAMP, which works primarily with students of Mexican descent in their first year of college. I felt this research closely aligns to the program that forms the basis of my case study. The author’s observations, about the importance of the relationships among teachers and students closely align with my own.

 Aligning with my overarching question related agency and autonomy, the third article, “Understanding Agency and Educating Character” by Klass Roth (2011), develops an understanding about agency connecting the relationship among three principles: The instrument principal, the principal of prudence, and the categorical imperative. These features are on the light of Kant`s thoughts.

 Finally, the fourth article I am referencing is the working paper entitled “How is agency possible?” (Gert Biesta and Michael Tedder, 2006).  This is a collaborative research project between the University of Exeter of Brighton, the University of Brighton, the University of Stirling, all in UK.    Their findings relate to my inquiry question regarding language development process and identity of bilingual students in higher education. The authors point out the interrelationship between learning, identity, and agency in people`s lives.

  In short, by working on this memo to connect my research with the work of other researchers on related topics,  I expanded my comprehension of saw connections between the phenomenon of agency and theory of agency which will help me to understand the factors related to  educational, social and psychological perspectives  in student`s  lives  within  their agency and identity.  

 

 

Memo #8 HJ Bennett

I have given two surveys and a set of interviews to my students.  Both have given me insight to my class.  Although some students have given me feedback regarding other classes at our school, I have enough info pertaining to my class to work with. First of all, not everyone is a fan of small group work.  A fair number enjoy the vibes given off by full class participation. A larger number prefer working alone at their own pace without distractions or the demands to socialize. Many enjoy the interaction and cooperation that a small group offers. They like the independence and ability to call the shots while working out who is the boss and who are the worker bees. I am kept busy taking notes, making observations and keeping up to date with my participation chart.

Memo #8 - Dan Harris

The only data collection I have done so far is writing in my teacher research journal.  I completely changed my research questions a couple of weeks ago, so I plan on giving my students a survey at the end of this week and completing student interviews next week.

The student survey I plan on giving is an abridged version of the WIHIC (What Is Happening In the Classroom?) survey.  The survey is specifically targeted at an inquiry classroom and has 7 sections: Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, Equity.  I am most interested in the Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Task Orientation, and Equity sections.  

My teacher research journal has yielded an emergent theme in my research that I did not anticipate when I wrote my research questions.  I discovered that training in inquiry teaching methods is something that I did not account for in my research questions.  Teacher skill, which I define as training and experience, may have a large affect on how effective the 5-E model is in my classroom.  If I am not trained in the questioning skills needed for the 5-E model, how will that change all of the sub-questions I have proposed.

I have also noticed a pattern in my research journal that focuses on my interactions with my students, specifically the questioning that I engage in during class.  I think that is one of the biggest adjustments I am making to teaching with an inquiry model, and I am noticing the difference.   

Gemma Travis Memo #8

                Last week, I gave the students at Cranston East a survey that asked questions about participation, attitudes toward science, previous experiences with science, and whether they would choose to take more science classes or pursue a career in the field.  While comparing data for boys and girls in the class, I have to keep in mind that gender patterns might be deceiving because boys are over represented compared to the number of girls in the class.  On the day that I gave the survey, there were fifteen boys and only seven girls in the class.

                The first thing that I noticed in my survey data was that only one girl out of seven said that she sees herself taking more science classes (other than those required) in the future.  She was also the only girl out of the seven that said that she sees herself pursuing a career in science.  Looking at the boys, eight out of fifteen said that they wanted to take more science classes and six out of fifteen saw themselves having a career in science.

                Next, I noticed that while ten out of the fifteen boys chose that they like science, girls were pretty much evenly split between liking and disliking science.  In terms of participation, it was interesting to see that the majority of boys claimed to participate (raise their hand, answer questions, engage in class discussion) three or more times per class period, while most of the girls said that they participate one to two times per class period.  Finally, looking at previous experiences in science class, the majority of both boys and girls chose that they have done well in past science classes.  Below is a table of my survey data.

		Girls	Boys
Participation:	3 or more times per class	1	7
	1-2 times per class	5	3
	3-4 times per week	0	1
	1-2 times per week	0	3
	Not at all	1	1
Listener/Talker in class:	Listener	5	6
	Talker	2	8
Attitude toward science:	Really enjoy science	1	2
	Like science	3	10
	Dislike science	3	1
	Hate science	0	2
Previous experience:	Awesome	0	2
	Good	4	9
	Fair	1	2
	Poor	2	2
More science classes?	Yes	1	8
	No	6	7
Science career?	Yes	1	6
	No	6	9

Memo #8- Research Memo

I have been going back through my TRJ week by week to see what trends I have seen. Here is my first memo from my earlier journal entries:

Repeated Observations:

• ·        Beginning of the year, good community in the class
• ·        Small, only 11 students
• ·        The teacher was very big on silent redirections
• ·        Differentiating with standardized tests was a bit difficult, forcing students to be silent, some students easily felt defeated
• ·        When working whole group in the small setting, my level 1 students were disengaged and frustrated
• ·        Students engaged with one another through charades and other activities when they could break from routine
• ·        Students that are of different levels do not interact with one another
• ·        Students unwilling to participate in small groups
• ·        Team building activities may not be enough

Trends that I am seeing:

• Students are grouping together based on proficiency, certain students are only comfortable speaking in front of other students.
• My higher proficiency students want to do their own thing, they do not want to help others in the classroom who may be struggling.
• I am getting the sense that other students are shutting down and may be intimidated by others in the room. 

Take -aways:

• I really want to focus at this point on getting different students to interact with one another. Since the trend is independent work and talking only with the people you can communicate with comfortably, I will try to implement more small group work into my lesson plans to observe how students work together in assigned small groups.

Memo #8

After looking through my student surveys, I have found some pretty clear patterns.

1. A lot of my students have skills or rules that they use or abide by outside of the classroom. Many students seemed to recognize dangerous times to be outside, what streets not to go down, and not getting involved with sketchy people. Even though they have this common knowledge, they did not recognize them!

2. After pushing students further with my questioning, students started to recognize that they have critical thinking skills, and apply these to the scenarios listed above. Many of my students are able to think quickly with their reactions to weird situations, and can determine the best course of action outside of school, whether they choose to follow it or not. But having this knowledge, will help me leverage these skills in the classroom! Very STOKED (yes, STOKED) on this information.


Now that I am conducting student interviews, with four specific students, I will try to find even more trends in my data.

Memo #8: Melillo, Research memo

MaryElizabeth Melillo

FNED 547

Research Memo for Student Surveys

    In my research I have used student surveys to collect information to determine  the impact of the student/teacher relationships on student engagement in the classroom, whether or not diverse learners are trying to learn, desire not to learn or do not learn due to fear of failure, and to determine what types of lessons are more engaging to my students.  From these surveys, I have created a matrix to examine the information by each question.

    Using the first and second surveys, students have informed me that they prefer group instruction and that being in a group and using the computer makes them want to engage in the class lesson.  Additionally, most of my students feel as though they either always engage  or most often engage in the class lesson.  In this analysis of their responses, I feel as though their responses are accurate in regards to what I have seen in the classroom daily.  Also, students feel as though their relationship with their teacher does impact their participation/engagement in the lesson.  In my first survey, seven out of sixteen students said it always impacted them.  In my second survey, four out of fifteen said it always impacted them while six felt it sometimes impacted them.  The majority of my students felt as though they are part of the learning in the classroom in the first survey, and the second survey indicated they were divided equally among always part of the learning, most often part of the learning, and sometimes part of the learning.  I hope that this change is due to the growth in our relationship which has made them more willing to answer honestly about how they are participating/engaging in class.  Overall, there is participation/engagement in the learning due to a desire to succeed according to the class majority.

    Reviewing the types of learners my student identify themselves as and their interests keeps me aware of how I’d like to continue to build my lessons. In my first survey, the majority students identified themselves as interpersonal, musical, bodily-kinesthetic learners.  In the second survey,  the majority of my students were musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal learners.  I wonder if the shift in learning styles is based on instruction or better understanding of the learning styles themselves.  The interests of my students vary.  Some of the top interest areas were drawing, models, hands-on, acting, listening to music, alone time, and multimedia.  My next task will be how to incorporate both these learning styles and areas of interest into my instruction.

Research Memo

Taking from Exercise #1 in the Falk and Blumenreich chapter, write a research memo about the data you have collected so far.  What themes and patterns have you been finding?  Have you been able name any of these themes as codes?  What is new/interesting/potentially troubling?

Memo 7: Classroom Research

Luckily, I have been able to find a great deal of research pertaining to the effects of group learning and non-traditional instructional techniques.

One article that I have found particularly engaging is called, "Supporting Autonomy in the Classroom: Ways Teachers Encourage Student Decision Making and Ownership" by Stefanou et al. (2004). This article explains that autonomy support can me manifested in the classroom in three different ways: organizational autonomy (allowing students to take decision-making role in terms of classroom management), procedural autonomy (offering students choices about the use of different media to present ideas) , and cognitive autonomy support (allowing students to evaluate their work). The authors explain that whereas organizational autonomy support may encourage a sense of well-being in the classroom and procedural autonomy may encourage initial engagement with learning activities, cognitive autonomy support may foster a more enduring psychological investment in deep level thinking (Stefanou et al., 2004). I really liked how this article broke down "autonomy" and analyzed student decision making from a variety of different angles.

One area I hope to find more research on pertains to one of my sub-questions: How does a more student-lead classroom affect who I am as a teacher and how my students perceive me? While there is a great deal of research that looks at student autonomy and how it affects students, I want to find more that looks at the effects of the instructor in the room. This does not necessarily have to be in the form of a study; I would love to even find some personal narratives from teachers who have tried to change the structure of their classroom from a teacher-centered one to a more student-led environment.

Finally, I am hoping to find more research that has been done in urban, public school environments. While the research I have discovered has been very insightful, I find that most of the analysis has been done in schools that do not share the same socioeconomic and racial compositions as my students. Most studies have focused on suburban schools or college students. While I do think that these other studies offer great insights into my research question, I am interested to see if there are any differences in techniques or results that focus on urban, public schools.

Harris - Memo #7

To start off, I just want to mention some interesting trends I saw while looking for articles about science inquiry education.  I came across many articles about teacher's attitudes and approaches towards inquiry learning.  It is an interesting topic to research, especially given the rollout of NGSS aligned curricula around the country that call for teachers to plan 5-E units and lessons. 

I was able to find research that addressed my overarching and sub-questions.  The articles come from a variety of education journals and use a variety of methods including teacher research, a case study, and empirical studies.  In terms of achievement, there is research that indicates that students who conduct the inquiry and investigations on their own have increases in achievement.  I was surprised by how much of the research dealt with specific aspects of inquiry science learning.  I will have to think about how to generalize from these more empirical papers and incorporate them into my literature review.  

Additionally, I was excited to see that some people have already explored the question of how gender dynamics can impact students' experiences of inquiry learning.  However, I have not yet found any literature that looks at other aspects of social dynamics besides gender in regards to inquiry learning.  The literature on gender proposed evidence that boys see more of a benefit of inquiry learning than girls.  

I also found a paper that focused on investigating specific teacher-student interactions during inquiry learning in science and what effect they had on student learning.  Reading this paper has made me rethink about what types of interactions I want to emphasize as a teacher during inquiry learning.  They specifically talk about what teacher-student interactions indicate to the students what is important to learn.  I'm looking forward to using this article to gain more resources on the topic.

Memo #7 HJ Bennett

Spending a few hours learning how to navigate search engines at the RIC Library under the direction of a librarian was eye opening. I appreciated the time and guidance she shared with us as well as the convenience of free copies.  I did have to catch myself from falling into the deep, dark rabbit hole of the thousands and thousands of available research articles.  I forced myself to focus and narrow down articles that were compatible to my research questions.  For the most part, I am happy to report that it was more hit than miss.

One of the articles I consider to be a gem is from the Foreign Language Annals. It has caused me to rethink my research regarding motivation and class participation in the foreign language classroom.  This article puts a spin on learning Spanish- are there gender differences in motivation to learn Spanish in the United States?  Boys crave desire greater control in L2 classrooms and "resent" being dependent upon the teacher.  Boys are " highly critical of the repetitive and teacher-centered nature of L2 classes."  They prefer student-centered learning where the target language is frequently used, authentic materials are incorporated and tasks are purposeful. Where do I sign up? My goal is teach in this manner to boys and girls. I did not realize that there is a great divide of sexes.

I do intend to pass out another questionnaire tailored to the points raised in this article. I will also refer to it as I interview students individually.

Gemma Travis Memo #7

I was pleased to discover that there is a lot of information out there on the role of gender in science class.  Now my job is to pick through the articles to narrow what I have found down to what relates most to my research questions.  As I have been doing this, there have been a few things that have struck my attention about my topic. 

Two articles specifically discuss the role of gender not only in science class, but in a future career in science.  I found this interesting and it was not something that I had originally thought of for this project.  However, this makes me want to add a question to my student survey about interest in pursuing a career in science.  This could also be something to ask in a student interview.  An article titled High School Students’ Perceptions of School Science and Science Careers: A Critical Look at a Critical Issue describes that student interest in school science is an indicator of whether they will choose to take science courses in college and pursue science careers, which makes a lot of sense.  However, the study also found no difference between girl and boy responses to questions about pursuing careers in science, which was not what I expected considering the disproportionate numbers of males and females in science careers.

Another article that stood out to me was titled Concern Over Gender Gap Switching to Boys.  This will be something to consider when looking for a counter argument, because so far I have read mostly about a gap relating to female interest and participation in science class. 

Finally, something I want to consider is an article that looked at student attitudes toward science.  I think that this could be something that I could integrate into my research questions.  I could collect data on student attitudes toward science through interviews and a survey.  It would be interesting to see the role of gender not only in student participation and engagement in science, but also their overall attitudes toward the subject.  I will definitely be adding a question to my student survey about this.

Memo #7

After learning how to search through the RIC database, I was STOKED to find an article directly relating to my research topic. Initially, I thought that I would not find something so spot on, and have to piece together research from a bunch of different resources, so to find a ringer like that was a pleasant surprise. The only thing is that will I find another one... which freaks me out a little bit, because I am finding it hard to do just that.

BUT, the fact that I found a research paper, that pushed my thinking of how to look at the students in a growth mindset, and more of a "what do students bring to the table" as opposed to what they are missing out on, has helped me re-focus some of my interviews to be more positive and optimistic on what students already know coming through the school doors.

Some of the excerpts from student conversations with the researcher paints a picture of how students value their street smarts just as much, if not more than their book smarts. Which just goes to show how tying them together could drive engagement and increase the strength and overall power they would have in the outside world but also in the classroom.

I hope to use this article as well as continue finding others that confirm that students street smarts are valued and are being used in the classroom to enhance learning.

Blog # 7
    Campano resonates a common thread throughout his stories about his students. That is "What appears to be is not always as simple as what is observed or perceived." You sometimes have to get to know your individual students better in order to teach them or begin to have an idea about what is maybe going on in their heads. My inclusion teacher gave me some insight into just two of my students this past week. One student, a male of thirteen years always seems to be pleasant and smiles a lot whenever he is talked to or gives an answer. The teacher had asked him why he had a cast on his broken hand when he came in last week. He told her that he had punched a wall and broke the knuckles on his right hand. She then asked him why he had done it and he said, "I have anger issues". If you look at this boy and were given a survey about how he broke his hand, and one of the answers was "Skateboarding" ,"Basketball accident", "Skiing accident", "In Anger I punched a wall", the least likely would be the last answer. I never observed anger issues with him. Both the inclusion teacher and myself suggested to him to seek help with this issue, either a social worker, guidance counselor, or psychologist.
    Another child who is always quiet and does his work, but rarely interacts with other students story is that his father had died last year suddenly and his mother decided to take the two children out of Florida and to move to Rhode Island for a fresh start in life and to try to go on in their lives. I had incorrectly assumed that the ELL was just not confident in speaking English with the other students or was shy, not that he had a great tragedy like losing his father at such a young age of twelve.
   We as teachers who have our own baggage sometimes do not look close enough to our students to see what their baggage is and to try to lighten their heavy burdens so that they can learn. "Things are not what they appear to be". "It is what it is", is not always a true statement.  

Melillo, Memo #7

Slowly, I’m making my way through my articles and finding information beneficial to my research.  Interestingly enough, the article, “Engaging Middle-Grade Students to Learn in a Caring Community,” by Range, Carnes-Holt,and Bruce seems to offers an instructional model, the Caring Community Teaching Model, which I feel represents my classroom instruction in some ways.  It explains the importance of considering both the emotional and academic needs of middle school students. Students need to feel as though you care about them to learn.  Educators have to create a caring community and utilize strategies that involve students so that they engage in their learning.  Learning can’t just be about content; it has to be about the student as well.  “Therefore, middle-level educators should be dedicated to creating environments in which students feel connected as demonstrated by meaningful participation in classroom activities, enjoyable relationships, and healthy social-emotional functioning” (National Middle School Association 2010; Waters, Cross, and Runnions 2009).  Although my classroom may not mirror the Caring Community Teaching Model completely, the learning community I’ve created is similar and is dedicated to the academic and emotional needs of my students.

    As I continued reading the articles I located on instructional practices for diverse learners, I again found myself agreeing with the content explained in the article, “What Curricular Designs and Strategies Accommodate Diverse Learners?” by Burke and Hagan.  Truthfully, not every student learns the same way.  Often times educators have to know the diversity of their students and teach the big ideas, use conspicuous strategies, prime background knowledge, scaffold, use judicious review, and strategically integrate prior learning to facilitate  more complex learning.  It is imperative that the diverse learners' needs be understood so that the learning can occur.  Ultimately, educators want diverse learners to be able to learn on their own; however, they have to teach strategies so that students can.

    There is definitely a balance needed between teaching strategies to acquire knowledge, understanding the needs of students, and building a relationship with students.  Each learner in the classroom has academic and emotional needs, and the educator has to do the best he or she can to meet them.  Interestingly, many of these articles touch on strategies or students’ needs, but many of them seem to focus on one or the other rather than both.  My classroom is currently a place where the strategies and the students’ needs have to be combined for a successful lesson.

Nelson- Memo #7

I had a little bit of a hard time finding articles that really went with my topic of fostering self-sufficiency in ELLs, but I was able to find some other articles that go along with what I am thinking, but once I started reading, I realized that the articles I found apply more to my research than I anticipated.  Initially, I thought an article called Fostering English Language Learners’ Confidence was just about strategies to help ELLs become successful, but as I thought more about the section of the article about establishing routines, I thought more about how maybe I have created a routine of giving too much feedback. I wonder if I limit my feedback or change how I respond to them, will the kids stop asking for it?

In another article I read about self-efficacy in struggling learners, talked about doing think alouds to show kids how to create and monitor small goals. I think that this idea might help my kids a lot. They probably just don’t know how to set goals and self-monitor, so if I can teach them some strategies on how to do this when they are working and once they finish their work. This article also talks about creating manageable tasks that are manageable for struggling learners which is something that I always try to keep in mind when planning for my ELLs.

After reading these articles, I am thinking about adding a piece to inquiry tasks that I plan for my students. Maybe if I model how I would think through the process first, I might give the students a checklist, or way to help them self-monitor while working in groups, or maybe I could have them come up with their own ways to self-monitor when doing an inquiry task. I definitely have some work to do. 

Aly Catalan- Memo 7

               I have been very fortunate to find a multitude of sources on classroom community and building culture. One article in particular by Judith Rance-Roney raised all the questions that I seem to ask myself on a regular basis. Some of the questions concern the marginalization of students due to low proficiency levels in English, discuss the paradox between teaching literature to English speakers, and the English language to new arrivals all at the same time, and contemplating a solution to battling “listening fatigue” and the “silent period.” It was incredibly refreshing to find this article, and I was amazed at how much it reflected my everyday life at school!

               Some discoveries that other authors have found are that providing experiences for students to “culture share” are key ways to build community within the classroom. One strategy is to build intentional learning communities so that students begin to build their own group culture and learn from one another. I really like this idea and truly believe it could work. However, the articles that I am finding all discuss the impact that this would have on a class that incorporates 2-7 new English Language Learners who are mainstreamed. I really want to find research on this that discusses complete SEI instruction. I would love to form intentional learning communities, however, the demographics of my class change on a daily basis. I started this year with 12 students in one class, and now have 25. I would have to change my cooperative groups constantly, and I don’t think it could be feasible when trying to get students to master common core standards to do getting-to-know-you interviews and activities all the time. My students are already sick of it. What else can I do if I want new ELLs in my classroom to feel welcome? Either they feel ignored and thrown into content, or I hold my students (who have been with my since August) back in their learning so they can introduce themselves yet again for the 13^th time to a new classmate in another culture building activity. I guess the real struggle, like some of the articles I am finding have pointed out, is making education more applicable to them and incorporating what they know about the world and their many experiences and perspectives on it into the classroom.

               I have begun to think of my research process in a new way because I kept looking at my research in terms of data collection and observations, not necessarily finding a solution to a problem.  Reading my articles, up to this point, has given me more of a focus on creating a classroom community where all class members are legitimized, not just the ones who speak English.

Literature Review--Your Discoveries

Take a moment to describe and write about the research you have collected for your literature review.  What discoveries have others made about your topic/questions?  How have these other researchers gotten you to think about your topic or research process in new ways?

Blog Post #6 HJ Bennett

"What the teacher didn't know" page 98 describes an opportunity for professional development via student input. Campano lists the following questions such as:

• When was there a productive atmosphere? 

• Why would a student adopt an oppositional stance toward school? 

• When did school require the students to compromise or deny an aspect of of who they felt they were?

Students were asked to share their feelings about classroom management. What better way to learn how one is viewed then from the mouths of our students? As educators we must take care to avoid conflict, social critique and intercultural miscommunication as suggested by Campano.

I do view my students as individuals from whom I have the distinct pleasure of watching the majority of them mature over a four year period either as my students or passers-by in the vast hallways. My thoughts of these young adults who are shaped by "both personal and group history" coincides with Campano's.  I feel strongly that student behaviors are "rational responses to unjust situations" reflected by their passions and interests.  I am witness to the youthful quest for independence  best described as a search for knowledge and identity in every day lives.

Blog Post #6 - Campano

One of Campano's central themes is the necessity for teachers to listen to their students and their stories. At face value, this seems obvious. With the first day of school comes a number of "ice breakers" and "tell me something about yourself" games. In a survey, I'm sure that most teachers would say that they get to know their students and that they feel like they have a close relationship with most of them.

Still, Campano's reflections on Priscilla and Ma-Lee's survival stories really resonated with me. I feel that I have created good relationships with my students: I go to their sports games, we joke about movies, and a number of my students come and see me after school to hang out or talk. Still, do I really know my students? All of my students have experienced successes and hard-ships, and all of them carry cultural identities, ideals, and experiences. How have I allowed my students to bring these experiences into their education? In many ways, I have failed to connect my students' lives to their education. This must go further than simply celebrating a country's holiday or a random show-and-tell.

When Campano allowed his students to express their stories, he found that, regardless of background, all of his students "asserted their deep emotional investment in schooling". Admittedly, I was taken a back somewhat when I read this. In the daily routine of teaching in an urban public school, it is easy to get lost in the "teacher's lounge banter" that usually focuses on a group of students who simply "don't care" or "it would be better if they just stayed at home." Additionally, probably every teacher has had these thoughts about a student or two: they're lazy, his parents don't care, it's not worth even trying to teach her. If we really take a step back, how do we actually know these things? More often than not, we have failed to really find out what our students think about their education, their goals, or even simply what their educational and life experiences have been like. We are quick to label a kid as "lazy" but we fail to find out what motivates our students and to create meaning for their edcuation. We expect our students to do what we ask of them, but maybe our students don't want to be ordered around by someone who knows nothing about them and just keeps saying "learn this because this will be on the next quiz". 

Blog #6 Nilson DaSilva

Campano’s book focuses on the role that immigrant stories play in the classroom environment.  He examines, through his personal experiences, the social significance of individual stories on student’s self-awareness of their own capacity and potential.  In using the “process of knowledge construction” as a framework to explore and interpret agency, engagement, and language development processes, Campano touches upon many areas which resonate with the student stories I have observed in the classroom.  Many of the students I observe come from immigrant families and speak English as a second language in their homes. 

My students and I engage in the process of knowledge construction by collaboratively building, interrogating, and elaborating our funds of knowledge.  As Campano, I always encourage my students to do their best while at the same time communicating to them that their tests and grades do not reflect their potential or impact my belief in them.  This process, in turn, allows students to reevaluate past experiences and begin to create supportive community where it did not exist for them before. I have engaged students, like Campano’s “Carmen”, who faced challenges relating to identity within the classroom and have found the process of knowledge construction as an invaluable tool for empowering such students to overcome their personal challenges.

I notice this process has a positive influence on students caught in a cycle of school categorization, a cycle I worry acts as a form of “symbolic violence” (Bordieu, 1993) that may cause immediate psychological effects and potentially long term consequences. As Campano, I treat my students as capable agents within their socio-cultural contexts.  I observe this engagement as helpful to students who may feel limited by their upbringing, language learning experiences, or social stigmatization.  Based on my experiences as an educator and student, I believe that when students have access to supportive academic environments they are more likely to engage in the process Campano refers to as “unlearning” and release the stories they hold that tell them they are failures.  They are magnificent.

Aly Catalan memo #6

       The closing to chapter 5 resonated with me because it is something that I am really thinking a lot about lately and just cannot shake from my mind. Campano writes: “I think it is important to temper one’s optimism. Although Ma-Lee, Priscilla, and other children were successful in my class, their educational futures remain uncertain because of systemic inequality… students who are shrouded in the mystery of their own particular histories, students who have left my class as well as the new students to arrive in the fall…whose mouths remain covered because we haven’t learned how to listen” (70-1). I am having such a hard time swallowing this this year. If there is a professional identity that I want to cultivate, it is really learning how to listen to students, which would be the interested identity. I spend so much time picking and choosing things from scripted curriculums that I think will resonate with my students, but who am I to make that decision? It is like one of Campano’s students says, that their lives do not just fit on a paper. I feel that oftentimes in my ESL courses, we are encouraged to get students to write about themselves first, and to use that as an entry way into getting to content. Although I do agree that it is important to let students express themselves and share who they are, which is what Campano touches on in his book, I find the entire system to be inauthentic, because even if I provide the time for my students to share their story with me or to use literacy in order to continue their stories, at the end of the day my students will take PARCC, STAR, ACCESS, and my ability to teach will be evaluated based upon their performance on these assessments. The whole thing is infuriating! I love what Campano did and what he was able to do in teaching and listen to his students, reflecting on his experiences, and then “committing to inquiry.” I think the real question that I have is how to inspire other teachers to follow this format as well? Is leading by example enough? I don’t know if anyone else felt this way while reading Campano. This realization is really depressing for me, even though I do think Campano wrote this work in a way that was meant to be hopeful and inspiring.

Melillo: Memo #6, Responding to Campano

Chapter 7, “Dancing Across Borders,” from Campano resonated with me.  Angelica’s work with Mini-Corps and  story and how she applied it to her teaching made me want to be able to do the same.  “Angelica’s exploration of her own life story, her testimonio, informed her ongoing development as an educator”  (Campano, 2007, p. 94).  As a result, her identity and purpose for teaching were interwoven.  Angelica was able to be the personal as the professional and cultivated her relationships with her students in the classroom and by organizing “Girl Talk.”  Her practice allowed her to connect with her students more.  This one teacher was able to share her work and  story, and her students shared theirs.  She understood what it was like to be unable to share a problem at recess,or why a student was unable to come to school on time due to family obligations.  Her students trusted her due to her experiences.
    As an educator, my students are incredibly important to me.  I worry about them in school and at home because I know that many of them don’t have traditional home lives and the support they deserve.  Over the years, I have had some students share their home lives with me, but many remain silent.  I often wish those who were silent would share themselves through their voices or in their writing.  However, the type of writing in my classroom does not always lend itself to this type of exchange.  I, myself, don’t share my story or experiences as much or as often as I have in the past.  Students need to know their teachers to build those trusted relationships that Angelica had in chapter 7.  “Our presence in the classroom is ineluctably animated by our own experiences as learners, our implicit and explicit notions of what constitutes knowledge,and what it means to be an educated person.  These shape the contours of what we imagine as being possible in the classroom.  They also expose our vulnerabilities.  As it is with students, so it is with teachers”  (Campano, 2007, p. 91).  To expose myself in the class would make me vulnerable; however, if it helped a child, it would be worth it.    Now, I need to reshape my instruction so that it lends itself to sharing my story so that my students can share theirs.

Memo #6

One story of Campano's that particularly stood out to me was the one of his student Ma-Lee. This Hmong girl was ridiculed by teachers due to the fact that she was quiet and "defiant" because of her unwillingness to talk in class. This lack of contribution was not recognized as a means to assess her surroundings, but as one of disobeying the classroom environment by withholding her participation.

Campano realized that Ma-Lee had something to bring to the table, and slowly but surely coaxed it out of her. When she felt comfortable enough, Ma-Lee, through writing, let Campano into her personal life and what she had dealt with growing up where she came from. This eventually led into her joining a group of other students with multiple cultural backgrounds, and Ma-Lee feeling more empowered with her voice. Culminating with an essay that was edited and went further into depth about her emotions being an immigrant and how she wants to defend her culture.

What struck me about how awesome this piece was, is that Campano gave the avenue for Ma-Lee to go down to express herself, and she took it. Instead of chalking her up as defiant and stubborn, he worked diligently, but patiently to break her out of her shell, and feel more comfortable being who she is in front of others.

If teachers do not allow students to be who they are, and encourage them to embrace their identity, then how do they expect them to participate or feel comfortable enough in the classroom to get involved? As educators we have a duty to make every student feel comfortable within our school building, to allow them the basic needs of Maslow's hierarchy, so they can grow and learn to their fullest potential.

Nelson memo#6

I thought it was interesting that while working through the mess of his inquiry, Compano came to new realizations about his students. He talks about using school literacy and curriculum to help students orient themselves in different communities. It makes me think about our projects and how we may fall into some new and intriguing discoveries about ourselves and our students throughout this research process.

Ma-Lee's idea of cultural identity made me think of my own students. They are all from other countries, and I bet that many of them would say that they identify with their native culture. I wonder if you ask the same kids in a few years how their cultural identities have changed, you might see some of the confusion that Ma Lee feels. I hope that my students can grow and change to embrace American culture as well as the culture of their Home countries. 

Compano's idea of the teacher researcher as relational identity. It makes sense to me that the teacher researcher can be creative and thoughtful while also looking at the big picture. This aligns with my philosophies.  I am definitely a big picture person, and I am not afraid to make mistakes. The teacher researcher as a relational identity relates a portion of the research work to the whole classroom. Ideally, this is what I would like to do as well. 

Memo 6: Dan Harris: Campano Response

I especially related to Campano's chapter titled, "I Will Tell You a Little Bit About My People."  Similarly to Campano, I find stories to be a powerful tool in not just education, but in someone's development as a person.  I have seen necessary silences, silencing in schools, and movement from silence to voice as a teacher, all headings of different sections within Campano's chapter.  Although I find it difficult to do as a science teacher, I value, as Campano does, personal stories as an "academic resource."  I wish I did a better job of encouraging students to voice their stories, as Erica and Priscilla do in the chapter.  Hearing these stories is a reminder of how all of my students are so multi-dimensional, and it really forces me to think about what to prioritize in the 1 hour per day I have with them.

Like Campano, I have had the experience of students divulging pieces of their stories extremely non-chalantly.  I taught sixth graders last year and I felt as though they were still trying to figure out how it was appropriate to communicate personal stories, and to whom it was safe to do so.  When they did feel safe, the stories would emerge in bits and pieces usually in the midst of normal conversation or daily routine.  One of my students had a difficult week because it was the one year anniversary of her baby sister passing away, and I only knew about it because she was doodling "R.I.P." instead of doing her work.

SILENCING IN SCHOOLS
Aside from 2 social workers (1 of whom is only part-time at my school) and a school psychologist, there is very minimal to zero effort put in to getting to know our students.  Campano points out that the school's bureaucratic response is to see them as in need of remediation, instead of any attempt at understanding their story.  In reality, I think a focus on making students feel heard and valued is the first step towards truly getting a child invested in their own education.  However, some teachers at my school believe remediation is the first and biggest step for many of the students, and it has fueled a culture of low expectations.  I also could not agree more with Campano about how families and parents are silenced.  He quotes Hugh Mehan (1996) talking specifically about students who are deemed to have learning disabilities through a series of computerized and/or standardized tests, without the more narrative input of parents and even sometimes teachers.  "Children are thus labeled. Without the means to challenge these 'institutionally sanctioned identities' parents often maintain a low profile" (55).  Teachers then blame parents for being uninvolved, but it is sometimes because they have already been made to feel powerless.  I really struggled to negotiate how to give voice to parents of my students who had IEPs.  They knew that their child already had an IEP whether they agreed with it or not, but unfortunately their child did not get support in my class because I taught science.  I too ultimately felt powerless and voiceless to make any real changes on my student's parent's behalf.