Education Commons^™

Workplace English As Professional Development: The Uw-Madison Model, Karen Parrillo

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

University human resources departments dedicate themselves to providing relevant professional development to their institutions’ employees. However, few of these departments consider the language learning needs of employees who are nonnative English speakers. This paper introduces the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison)’s unique approach to meeting the English language learning needs of employees through its Cultural Linguistic Services (CLS) department within the Office of Human Resources (OHR). The CLS Workplace English Program features the development of contextualized learning materials, active participation of employees’ supervisors, dynamic scheduling, and on-the-job practice with authentic communicative tasks. The collaboration between CLS/OHR and other UW-Madison departments has …

I, Too, Sing Neurodiversity, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The neurodiversity community was envisioned as an inclusive and welcoming space for individuals with neurological conditions such as ADHD, autism, Tourette’s Syndrome, giftedness, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, intellectual disability, NVLD and related diagnoses. The underlying premise of neurodiversity is that people present with various neurological differences and there is value in acknowledging and accepting these differences. Despite efforts made over the past few decades, a growing number of individuals within the neurodiversity community, including people of color, have called for intersectional concepts to be more intentionally and more effectively interwoven into neurodiversity as a whole. Referencing “I, Too,” a decades-old poem …

The Blue Room, Suzanne J. Gikas

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The Blue Room is a true account of a teacher's experience in a federal setting four classroom.

Challenged by highly restrictive practices and perceived lack of support, the teacher finally confronts the realization that the concepts of continuum and least restrictive environment equally apply to teachers in that setting.

Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, And Pedagogy, Raven Jones Stanbrough

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

No More Teaching Without Positive Relationships, Annie P. Spear

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

Great Lakes, Great Books In A Time Of Change, Lynette Marten Suckow

Michigan Reading Journal

Books reviews addressing changes in our lives

Essential Practices For Disciplinary Literacy Instruction In Secondary Classrooms, Laura Gabrion, Michelle Renna, Megan Schrauben, Jenelle Williams

Michigan Reading Journal

In response to the call for increased literacy and more equitable learning opportunities across the state of Michigan, the 6-12 Disciplinary Literacy Task Force formed. The group’s first charge was to revise and publish the Essential Practices for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction in the Secondary Classroom: Grades 6 to 12, based on the work of lead researchers from the University of Michigan, Drs. Elizabeth Moje and Darin Stockdill. During the 2019-2020 school year, education consultants and educators from around Michigan participated in the Regional One-Day Institute, which served as an introduction to the Essential Practices for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction in …

Inquiry And Counter-Witnessing In Covid-19, Erica R. Hamilton, Deborah Vriend Van Duinen, Gretchen Rumohr

Michigan Reading Journal

This essay focuses on the use of inquiry and counter-witnessing as a means of understanding our teaching identities, vulnerability, and productivity in the era of COVID-19. Based on our experiences as teacher educators at three separate institutions of higher education, we have come to value counter-telling and validating. As we share in this essay, working in COVID-19 has taught us, once again, that we must find, and model, courage and self-acceptance. In our teaching and administrative roles, we – along with other educators – can learn to speak our truths and experiences bravely. We hope that in so doing, others …

Teaching And Learning Through Shared Grief And Loss During Covid-19, Amanda Thorpe

Michigan Reading Journal

The closure of Michigan’s schools and the emergency learning that followed no doubt kept students and teachers safe during a global pandemic, but the fallout from these transitions is differing amounts of shared grief and loss among students and teachers. Giving staff and students time, space, and resources to process this will be essential in any plan for returning to learning in the fall.

Creating An Online Community Of Learners During The Covid-19 Shutdown Using Michigan’S Literacy Essentials, Annie P. Spear

Michigan Reading Journal

When a global pandemic shuts down our educational system it is critical to mobilize quickly and effectively to support children and families. This article explores one educator's experience of setting up free online classes to support students during the COVID-19 shutdown. Participants ranged in age from 3 to 12 and were from Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Ohio. The author outlines how she designed classes, engaged with children and families, and provided instruction that was grounded in literacy research and Michigan's Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy while guided by developmentally appropriate pedagogy. Specific practices that foster motivation and engagement …

From A Distance: Teaching, Learning, And Parenting During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Melanie Love

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

I Wrote My Way Out, Sharon Murchie

Michigan Reading Journal

When the pandemic caused schools to close, I challenged myself to write a blog post a day about the experience. I had expected to write funny posts about the ridiculousness of the entire situation, sheltering-in-place in a too-small space with too many people. Instead, I wrote about that and so much more. Throughout this journaling experience, I came to several realizations about me, about my students, about my family, about my profession, about our state, and about our country.

An Educator's Response To Michigan's Stay At Home Order, Kristin M. Scherkenbach

Michigan Reading Journal

This article examines the educational impact of the stay at home order issued in the spring of 2020. It explores methods that were used to connect with students during this time such as YouTube videos, book drop offs, parent education PowerPoints, and online teaching. It concludes with the understanding that a passion for literacy can be ignited in students even in challenging situations.

Reflections On A Third Year Of Teaching, Chelsea Berg

Michigan Reading Journal

The first year of my teaching career ended with the following advice from the building administrator who had served as my evaluator: “During your first year, you will learn more than your students. In your second year, it might be an equal balance between what you learn and what they learn. By the end of your third year, your students will finally learn more than you.” As much as I love learning and I’ve enjoyed my growth as an educator, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the end of my third year so I could see if the advice I had been …

Let's Read A Story!: Collaborative Meaning Making, Student Engagement, And Vocabulary Building Through The Use Of Interactive Read-Alouds, Shaya Helbig, Susan V. Piazza

Michigan Reading Journal

The interactive read-aloud has long been a practice during early literacy instruction in schools and in homes. Reading aloud to children provides a platform for teachers or caregivers to model meaning-making interactions with text. Students are able to collaboratively engage in conversations to create a collective understanding of texts. Interactions during a read-aloud can foster engagement, create meaning, and promote vocabulary acquisition. This article examines current research that supports the use of interactive read alouds to engage learners in meaning-making processes and translates research and theory into practical recommendations for effective interactive read-alouds.

Autistic Representation In Charter Schools: A First-Hand Experience Within A Michigan Charter, Morgan Selke

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

Since the 1990s, Michigan has had an overabundance of charter schools established within the state. In hopes that it would urge public school districts to improve. Michigan has become the state with the second-highest amount of charter schools in the nation (Zernike, 2016). There have been many controversial issues that surround the inclusion of charter schools in the public education sector. One issue that I wanted to explore more was the underrepresentation of autistic students and students with special needs in these schools--focusing on the resources and support available to these students. This article showcases my experience teaching, as a …

Grading For Growth: Introducing New Assessment Approaches In Traditional Grading Models, Beth A. Walsh-Moorman, Katie Ours, Aubrey Deaton, Maura Mcginty-O'Hara

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article explores three teachers’ experiences introducing a new assessment approach in an existing school-wide, grading framework. Teachers explore how they were able to manipulate the school framework in a way that allowed (and required) students to revise and rewrite until they had achieved mastery on key writing assignments.

The Transformative Effects Of Authentic Argumentative Writing, Margaret Grossnickle

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

How can argumentative writing have an impactful and transformative effect on the classroom? A reflection on the effects of bringing authentic argumentative writing to the language arts classroom. Engagement and achievement increased through embracing student choice, student ownership of content mastery, and the teacher working as a facilitator not an expert.

Staying Power, Elizabeth M. Brockman

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Using a wide-angle lens spanning three decades, the author proposes that a 1991 OJELA article has “staying power” in the field. Its original purpose—to celebrate the highly recursive revision and personal voice of Emily, a high school junior—is still relevant today, nearly thirty years after the fact. In other words, Emily (who must be nearly 50!) can still vividly model revision strategies and habits of mind with the power to enlarge our own students’ writerly horizons, bolster their rhetorical confidence, and accelerate their literacy growth. However, English teachers today can do more than value the original purpose; they can broaden …

Process Drama: A Creative Way To Assess Ela Understanding, Nicole Rausch

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

With increasing demands and decreasing amounts of instructional time, teachers are constantly looking for creative ways to integrate, assess, and target instruction to meet the needs of each student. This article takes a look at how one teacher employed the use of a highly engaging process drama to teach and assess multiple subject area content standards. A process drama is remarkably creative, social, and applicable so can be easily adapted to meet the needs of any grade level. The low floor, high ceiling project allows students multiple avenues to demonstrate understanding of skills and concepts.

Teaching Happiness: Developing And Assessing A Happiness Course, Charles Hammersley

Journal of Tourism Insights

Can “happiness” be taught? In the spring of 2015 the Northern Arizona University’s Parks and Recreation Management program introduced a new course, PRM 205 Happiness. A study of the fall 2015 PRM 205 Happiness courses (campus section and distance section) were conducted to determine if the PRM 205 Happiness course resulted in measurable changes in student “happiness” scores. Also, if there were any differences between campus and distance delivery modes and student “happiness” scores. A Pre-test / Post-test survey design using the Fordyce Emotions Questionnaire (Fordyce, 1988) was conducted on both a campus class (N=49) and a distance class (N=23). …

How Much Is Enough To Learn? Exploring The Effects Of An Abbreviated Implementation Of The National Writing Project’S College, Career And Community Writers Program (C3wp) On English Learners’ Argumentative Writing Growth, Samantha J. Manzo, Kelsey Decamillis, Sarah Lorenz

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Without doubt, explicit instruction is essential as English learners develop important academic skills such as argument writing. Less clear is the extent to which students need to receive such explicit instruction and engage in practice in order to benefit from it. The National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community Writing Program (C3WP) provides teachers with resources and assessments for the explicit instruction of argument writing. Prior research on C3WP has indicated that in order to see student growth, teachers must implement at least four short cycles in an academic year. The four cycles can seem ambitious and difficult for teachers …