Educational Methods Commons^™

Book Review Of "Differentiating Instruction And Assessment For English Language Learners: A Guide For K-12 Teachers", Melanie Gonzalez

TAPESTRY

Text: Fairbairn, S. & Jones-Vo, S. (2010). Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners: A Guide for K-12 Teachers. Philadelphia: Calson.

Enhancing Reading Proficiency In English Language Learners (Ells): The Importance Of Knowing Your Ell In Mainstream Classrooms, Marth Castañeda, Eva Rodríguez-González, Melissa Schultz

TAPESTRY

In this manuscript, the authors encourage classroom teachers and school leaders to learn about the home culture and language of the growing English learner population if they are to respond effectively to these students’ language, literacy, and content learning needs. These funds of knowledge have been shown to help teachers adjust instruction in ways that permit students to engage more actively in language, literacy, and content learning tasks. In addition to offering recommendations for administrators and teachers working to improve literacy of ELLs within and outside the school setting, the authors share sample surveys that can be used to gather …

In English You Read With A Stopwatch: A Journey Towards Biliteracy In Two Older Adopted Salvadoran Children, Mary A. Petron, Barbara J. Greybeck

TAPESTRY

This longitudinal case study provides an in-depth exploration of the journey toward bilingualism and biliteracy of two older adopted Salvadoran siblings in U.S. schools. Data sources include observations in the home and school, interviews, written artifacts, field notes, and various reading test scores. Analysis suggests that literacy instruction in English tended to focus more on phonics and fluency than comprehension and vocabulary, and it assumed a level of oral proficiency in English that neither of the children had. Spanish literacy instruction was aimed toward children of Mexican origin that was neither culturally relevant nor geared toward their specific language needs. …

Teaching Inclusivity: Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Knowledge, Skills And Attitudes Toward Working With English Language Learners In Mainstream Classrooms, Philip C. Smith

TAPESTRY

This study investigated the effect of one semester of ESOL education on preservice teachers by examining their perceived knowledge and skill in working with English Language Learner (ELL) students, and their attitude toward having ELL students in their mainstream classrooms. The survey identified two factors: a) Perception of ESOL Knowledge and Skills (PEKS) and b) Attitude Toward Inclusion (ATI). Results showed that preservice teachers’ perceptions of both knowledge & skill (PEKS) changed from introductory to the final ESOL course, and that PEKS changed significantly from pre- to post-test within the same course. No significant changes were found in students’ attitude …

Editor's Note, Tapestry Staff

TAPESTRY

From the Editors

Book Review Of "Teaching Reading To English Language Learners: Insights From Linguistics", Alex Poole

TAPESTRY

Text: Lems, K., Miller, L. D., & Soro, T. M. (2010). Teaching reading to English language learners: Insights from linguistics. New York: The Guilford Press.

“You Got The Word Now”: Problematizing Vocabulary-Based Academic Language Instruction For English Learners In Science, Katherine Richardson Bruna, Roberta Vann, Moises Perales Escudero

TAPESTRY

With increasing numbers of English Learners enrolling in public schools, teachers of core academic subject area classes are facing the challenge of integrating English language development into instruction. This article describes how teachers' understanding of infusing language into science teaching can shape instructional practices and consequently influence the simultaneous English language development and science learning of English Learner students.

Deciding When To Step In And When To Back Off: Culturally Mediated Writing Instruction For Adolescent English Learners, Leslie Patterson, Carol Wickstrom, Jennifer Roberts, Juan Araujo, Chieko Hoki

TAPESTRY

Culturally Mediated Writing Instruction invites students to take an inquiry stance toward issues of interest and significance—exploring issues, framing questions, gathering information, synthesizing findings into messages, publishing or presenting their findings, and assessing their efforts before moving on to other inquiries. CMWI can be seen as a rich and dynamic landscape of literacy tasks, routines, practices, materials, and dialogues that invites students to ask questions and to look for answers to those questions. Data from four high-school classrooms illustrate that CMWI teachers made interdependent and layered instructional decisions in response to students' needs, and that they provided mediation toward for …

Editor's Note, Tapestry Staff

TAPESTRY

From the Editors

Home To School Transitions: A Guatemalan Family Portrait, Lisa Crayton

TAPESTRY

This study applies a sociocultural perspective to examine the home to school transitions in literacy achievement of three low-income children from Guatemala. Through participant observation and informal conversations with the family during home visits, two factors appeared to influence the literacy development of the family's young children: bilingualism and cultural assimilation. Investigating the home literacy environment of an immigrant family provides an insider's perspective of the life experiences of children from non-mainstream homes. Understanding their home reading and writing experiences, and their transition to school literacy, is valuable for reading teachers facing increasingly diverse students from multicultural backgrounds.

Building A Community For Migrant Education Services Through Family Literacy And Farm Worker Outreach, Karen S. Vocke

TAPESTRY

Cultural and linguistic differences within the migrant population, coupled with the transient nature of these families, often present challenges that can inhibit the education of migrant students in our schools. How can schools and communities come together to provide resources and services for this vulnerable population? Through the theoretical lens of Paulo Freire, we identify the need to work against the current educational trend toward increased standardization and work towards a model of education that is both individualized and democratic. For migrant students, individualizing educational experiences often means reaching out to the families for linguistic support. We have found the …

Elementary Students’ And Teachers’ Perceptions Of Flipped Mathematics Lessons, Susan Grace Edwards Mosher

All Theses And Dissertations

Flipped learning is a pedagogical model that allows more time for students to engage in active learning in the classroom because direct instruction is moved to video and watched outside of class time. Although many studies have shown the effectiveness of this strategy, previous perceptional studies have primarily focused on flipped learning through the lens of high school students and adult learners. This study was designed to explore elementary students’ and teachers’ perceptions of flipped learning in mathematics. A descriptive qualitative case study was conducted in a suburban elementary school in North Carolina. Three fifth grade teachers and fifteen of …

Teacher/Student Interpersonal Engagement And Customer Service Principles: A Phenomenological Study, Juanita Takeno

All Theses And Dissertations

The importance of understanding the effects of teacher and student engagement in online learning is especially pertinent to the online teacher and the online student as well as the college as a whole. This qualitative phenomenological study involved discovering if interpersonal online engagement between teacher and student involved those principles used in business customer service. The focus of this phenomenological study is on the lived experience of online students relative to interpersonal engagement – it is about the students’ stories. Accordingly, the questions asked what the participants felt when their teachers were engaged and if the engagement was augmented with …

The Role Of The Secondary Principal As A Transformational Leader In High Performing, Project Based Learning Schools In California, Daniel P. Ching

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The Role of the Secondary Principal as a Transformational Leader in High Performing, Project Based Learning Schools in California

by Daniel Ching

Purpose: California (CA) schools are facing increased pressure to implement new content standards and perform well on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). The new standards focus on higher level thinking skills, technology, and skills that cross multiple content areas. These expectations are aligned with project based learning (PBL) as an instructional model. However, there are very few models for PBL schools that are considered high performing. To implement PBL in high schools requires …

Innovative Techniques For Inspiring Efl Students' Enthusiasm And Participating In English Classroom Activities, Yinghung Natalie Chiang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Since 1990, the government of Taiwan has sought to position the country as an international economic and trading center. As a result, English became a compulsory subject for Taiwanese students in 2005 (Lu, 2011). The Taiwan Ministry of Education (MOE) is promoting communicative language teaching (CLT) and encouraging learners to develop and increased desire to improve their language skills. However, many Taiwanese English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers still focus on memorization and the grammar translation method (Chung & Huang, 2009). The author discovered two major issues related to English language teaching in Taiwan. The first issue was many Taiwanese …

The Immigrants In The Central Coast Of California Need Motivation To Attend Classes And Learn English As Their Second Language, Martin Rodriguez-Juarez

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project shows that the immigrant community that works in the fields from the Central Coast of California need the motivation to attend adult school to learn English as their second language. A six-week courses is included.

Feminist Herstory Through Indian English Literature, Suryaa Rangarajan

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project explores how the definition of femininity is deeply intertwined with the concept of nationalism, and the performance of cultural duty in order to protect the sanctity of marriage and family. Beginning with investigating how laws and policies have held women back in their status as second-class citizens, unable to exercise their right to feel safe, the chapter will delve into the roles that critical pedagogy and third world feminism play in achieving sustainable equity in India. These policies and theoretical frameworks provide a foundation for my curriculum design project, which uses Indian English feminist literature to amplify monolithic …

Education Through Simulation, Melody A. Padilla-Collings

Master's Projects and Capstones

SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/Mac/Desktop/653Abstract.docx

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if education through simulation was effective in an undergraduate ADN nursing program to improve nursing confidence, knowledge, skill competency, and nursing care. Two groups of second year RN students were selected in their fall semester to participate in a before and after survey to compare traditional learning (required course readings, assignments, and lectures) with the PROMPT Birthing Simulator that allows hands on, interactive learning, and feedback in preparation for the Mother-Baby clinical setting. The first PDSA cycle with Group A revealed 21% were confident in their knowledge with the traditional …

Jackson Creek Arts And Trails, Llc: Museum Travel Immersion Programs, Else C. Trygstad-Burke

Master's Projects and Capstones

Museums have become increasingly oriented towards reaching new audiences, encouraging visitor loyalty, and informing the public about their overall relevance. Innovation in programming is a centerpiece of this effort, including a provision of programs for all age groups and demographics. At the same time that this transformation occurs in the museum world, similar changes are taking place in the leisure, travel and tourism industries. A continuously rapid increase in globalism and cultural access contributes to an atmosphere in which travelers can expand their goals and purposes within the context of a travel experience. This report will demonstrate that these trends …

If Only They Tried; The Complicated Crusade For Salvation In The Post-Katrina Education Reform Movement, Brooke Wanamaker

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Education reform is shifting the landscape of New Orleans public schools, where alternative certification programs are thriving and changing the demographics of core teachers. This study follows a Teach for America (TFA) Corps Member from 2007 (just after the historic flooding from Hurricane Katrina) who brought a promise of innovation through idealism and green wisdom. The teacher’s preparation and motivations are shown to be problematic. Examining the assumptions and privileges that underlie the import of inexperienced talent to urban education systems, this study considers the ways that community voices have been lost or undervalued in New Orleans schools. The thesis …