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Full-Text Articles in Education
Grit, Biography, And Dedicated Teachers Who Struggled Academically As Students, Sara Winstead Fry
Grit, Biography, And Dedicated Teachers Who Struggled Academically As Students, Sara Winstead Fry
Sara Winstead Fry
Dedicated teachers who had and overcame academic challenges in their youth offer valuable insights into how to support students who struggle. This article presents a qualitative study of 46 teachers from across the United Stated [sic] who faced academic challenges as elementary, middle, and/or secondary students. Their memories of academic struggles lead them to use teaching practices that are grounded in the professional disposition that all children can learn. The findings suggest a positive interrelationship between a biography (Knowles, 1992) that includes academic struggles, the theoretical constructs of grit (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007) and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), and …
Writing To Learn: Benefits And Limitations, Sara Winstead Fry, Amanda Villagomez
Writing To Learn: Benefits And Limitations, Sara Winstead Fry, Amanda Villagomez
Sara Winstead Fry
Writing to learn (WTL) is the act of making a subject or topic clear to oneself by reasoning through it in writing; it is a pedagogical approach that uses writing to facilitate learning (Zinsser 1988). Some researchers have reported favorable results associated with the approach (Balgopal and Wallace 2009; Bullock 2006; Hand, Hand, Gunel, and Ulu 2009). However, others have indicated that studies supporting WTL pedagogy tend to lack comparison groups, pre/posttest data, or the rich description that contributes to a rigorous qualitative study (Hübner, Nückles, and Renkl 2010; Kieft, Rijlaarsdam, and van den Bergh 2006; Klein 1999). Thus, existing …
Career Changers As First-Year Teachers In Rural Schools, Sara Winstead Fry, Holly Anderson
Career Changers As First-Year Teachers In Rural Schools, Sara Winstead Fry, Holly Anderson
Sara Winstead Fry
The challenges novice teachers face as they adjust to inservice teaching are well documented. However, relatively little attention has been given to beginning teachers in rural schools who have had previous careers in other professions. We used qualitative methods to examine the professional experiences and perceptions of four career-changing first-year teachers in rural schools, seeking to identify significant issues in their professional developmental processes. Three primary themes emerged: evidence of effectiveness as teachers; mentoring career changers, and; adjustment to rural school and community. We conclude with implications and recommendations for educators working to support this unique population of educators in …
Exploring Social Studies Through Multicultural Literature: Legend Of The St. Ann’S Flood, Sara Winstead Fry
Exploring Social Studies Through Multicultural Literature: Legend Of The St. Ann’S Flood, Sara Winstead Fry
Sara Winstead Fry
The search for literature that is high quality, high interest, written at age-appropriate levels for adolescent readers, addresses social studies topics, and presents multicultural perspectives can be daunting. Legend of the St Ann’s Flood is a novel that meets all of these goals. Its setting in Trinidad and Tobago provides the opportunity for students to learn about a country and region that are frequently overlooked in social studies curriculum in the United States. This article provides historical and cultural background information about Trinidad and Tobago, an overview of the novel, and specific teaching suggestions that integrate reading and writing into …