Secondary Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Dimensions Of Teachers Who Write And The Essence Of A Writing Life, Shari L. Daniels, Pamela Beck

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The purpose of this grounded theory case study was to explore the perceptions among ten K-12 teachers who teach writing and also write themselves. What are the key essentials for teachers to sustain a writing life? What habits of mind or attitudes are necessary for teachers to sustain a writing life? Interviews served as the primary data source along with writing artifacts from the participants’ own writing life. Findings indicate that teacher-writers committed to a writing life do so for the purpose of 1) discovering meaning, 2) connections to others 3) commitment to learning and 4) well-being, with an overall …

The Relationship Between The Next Generation Content Area Reading Professional Development Program On The Effectiveness Of Teaching Literacy Strategies In High School Biology Classes, Tia Pridgen Brown

Dissertations

The need for effective content area reading teachers have continued to increase since the introduction of one public school districts’ Content Area Reading Professional Development (CAR-PD) in 2006. In 2011, modifications were made to improve the program, and it became known as the Next Generation Content Area Reading Professional Development (NGCAR-PD). The purpose of this program evaluation is to investigate the relationship between NGCAR-PD certified Biology teachers and their ability to implement reading strategies with science content effectively. The context of this inquiry is a mid-sized public school district that has implemented the program since 2006 at the middle and …

Espoused And Enacted Beliefs Of High School English Language Arts Teachers In Writing Instruction, Sydnie Schoepf

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of the current study is to explore the espoused beliefs and enacted practices of secondary English Language Arts teachers with regards to writing instruction and how these beliefs correlate with teacher self-efficacy beliefs. The study worked to build upon the literature mainly in the fields of mathematics and science in order to explore what the perceived and enacted beliefs are and how they affect the self-efficacy belief of teachers within the field of writing instruction in the high school classroom. The study used a collective case study design in order to better understand what espoused and enacted pedagogical …

Within, Without, And Amidst: A Review Of Literacy Educators’ Perceptions Of Participatory Media Technologies, William T. Wright

Journal of Media Literacy Education

With strict no-cell phone policies in classrooms becoming commonplace, national and international electioneering campaigns eroding trust in social media platforms, and content posted years prior affecting students’ acceptance into the colleges of their choice, it is little wonder that educators often think twice about bringing participatory technologies into their instruction. This literature review seeks to address how literacy educators reckon with the risks and potentials of these participatory technologies in the midst of our current sociopolitical climate, through an examination of an array of factors and influences that shape and give rise to educators’ understandings of participatory technologies’ place in …

Keeping Things Going: Reflections On Teaching “Teaching Writing” Online, Emily S. Meixner

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

What does it mean to “keep things going online” in an undergraduate teacher education course on teaching writing? In this article, a teacher educator describes how, in consultation with her students, she adapted a secondary English methods course on teaching writing to teach it online. While highlighting and celebrating what worked, she also reflects on lessons learned and teaching questions that continue to persist.

Looking Forward, Looking Back: Reflections On Values And Pedagogical Choices During Covid-19, Susanna L. Benko

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this reflective essay, the author describes teaching a writing pedagogy course for secondary English education students during the Covid-19 pandemic. The author describes two different bodies of literature – ethics of care and high leverage practices -- and reflects how these concepts guided her pedagogical decision making when moving her class online on a short timeline.

Review Of The Vulnerable Heart Of Literacy: Centering Trauma As Powerful Pedagogy., Zipporah Galimore

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

In The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy (2019), Elizabeth Dutro provides educators with heart-felt, inquiry-based strategies for using trauma as pedagogy in literacy classrooms. This book describes how to situate both educators and children to provide testimony and be critical witnesses in an effort to allow life knowledge, empathy, and wisdom be brought to classroom learning experiences. Dutro uses classroom vignettes and student work samples to illustrate how the concept of trauma as pedagogy can be applied across genres. Experiences and examples of literacy instruction in children's work from several elementary classrooms, from second grade through …

I Don’T Have The Answers, Sway! Teaching Secondary Literacy Methods Course Using An Inquiry Model Of Instruction, Kisha Porcher

New Jersey English Journal

In the era of high stakes testing, students have become conditioned to find the “right answer”and earn an “A” as opposed to engaging in critical thinking and productive struggle. In an effort to break this cycle, I restructured the literacy methods course to an inquiry model; Launch-Explore-Discuss.

Helping Students Choose A Reading Frame: Three Ways Of Teaching Jacqueline Woodson’S Harbor Me, Emily S. Meixner, Anne Peel

New Jersey English Journal

Choice and autonomy in ways of reading are just as important as choice and autonomy in what to read. Teaching students different frames for reading novels provides students with essential tools for making meaning of texts. This article explores three frames using the middle grade novel Harbor Me.

English Teaching Methods Course: Unit Plan Description And Rubric, Nicole Klimow

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

This unit plan describes expectations for a unit plan that serves as the cumulative performance assessment for the ESEC 506-E course that single-subject-teacher-candidates in English Teaching Methods Course. In small groups, clustered by the grade level they will be teaching, create a six-week unit plan that incorporates multiple learning standards, assessment practices, and texts grounded by an overarching question(s). This assignment mimics expectations and dispositions that in-service teachers demonstrate daily. The unit must define the academic focus—the big learning expectation that will be assessed summatively—by identifying the learning sequence and formative checkpoints so that learners are “ready” to demonstrate their …

When Memories Make A Difference: Multimodal Literacy Narratives For Preservice Ela Methods Students, Kate Hope

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article examines multimodal literacy narrative projects designed by students in a methods of teaching course for secondary preservice English Language Arts teachers. For the multimodal project, preservice teachers infused written, audio, and visual text using a variety of creative mediums. Through combined theoretical frames, the researcher explores semiotics and preservice teachers’ use of multiliteracies as they shift their conceptions of what it means to compose. Finally, this article explores how the act of reflection through the literacy narrative influences preservice teachers’ notions of teaching composition through a variety of mediums.

Exploring The Impact Of Teacher Collaboration On Student Learning: A Focus On Writing, Shannon M. Pella

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this yearlong case study, six English teachers in an urban high school in Northern California engaged in sustained collaboration focused on developing and enacting strategies to improve the writing skills of their culturally and linguistically diverse freshmen. The study was conducted between August 2018 and June 2019, to determine the connections, if any, between teacher collaboration and student learning. Qualitative data were analyzed from teacher collaboration and observation of classroom practices, focus groups and teacher-created artifacts. Students’ on-demand writing assessments in fall and spring were compared with instructionally supported writing. Student surveys were analyzed in a mixed methods approach. …

Preservice Teacher Writer Identities: Tensions And Implications, David Premont, Shea Kerkhoff, Janet Alsup

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Because of recent attention underscoring the lack of preservice teachers’ (PSTs) writer identities , the purpose of this manuscript is to learn more about the writer identities of two PSTs, how to uncover the tensions that exist therein, and how they intend to enact that writer identity in the secondary classroom. This multiple case study examines the writer identity of two PSTs from a midwestern university in the United States. Data collection included a visual metaphorical representation, participant generated reflections in class, and participate generated reflections in practicum. The data suggest that contrasting writer identities exist among preservice ELA teachers …

Teaching Standards, Approaches, And Techniques For K-12 Chinese Classes In The Us, Jia Xu

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

K-12 is the term used to denote the primary and secondary education system in the U.S., from kindergarten to 12th grade. Second language education is critically important, especially for Chinese language, which has become the fourth most widely taught foreign language at the K-12 levels in the country. This thesis addresses K-12 foreign language frameworks and content standards, as well as discusses and summarizes effective teaching approaches and techniques for K-12 Chinese Classes in the US; and therefore, provides a reference for teachers, schools, and educational institutions. This thesis includes three parts: Part One summarizes K-12 Chinese education in the …

Content Area Literacy: The Effects Of Focusing On Preservice Teachers’ Literacy Identities, Heather Pule

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

While secondary preservice content area teachers are passionate about their content areas, many are still resistant to learning about and using literacy in their future classrooms (Moje, 2010; O’Brien & Stewart, 1990, Spitler, 2011). This could be due to a struggle with high level literacy skills (American Institute for Research, 2006; NAEP, 2015) or a lack of literacy in their personal lives. This study examines a university content area literacy course that focused on preservice teachers’ literacy identities and on providing a community that offered positive interactions with literacy through authentic and purposeful reading experiences. A study of survey data …

Cultural Diversity Professional Development In Schools Survey, Krystal R. Thomas, Hillary Parkhouse, Jesse Senechal, Zoey Lu, Laura Faulcon, Julie Gorlewski, David B. Naff

MERC Publications

This report presents findings from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) Cultural Diversity Within Schools Survey. This survey was designed for school- based professionals (i.e., teachers, instructional staff, administrators) within the MERC region. Administered in the fall of 2018, the survey collected information about experiences of professional development related to cultural diversity, attitudes toward cultural diversity within schools, perceptions of barriers and opportunities, and perspectives on the need for professional development. Section 1 of the report discusses the context for this survey effort: increased cultural diversity in our schools, increased cultural mismatch between students and teachers, and multicultural education as …

Preservice Teachers As Document Detectives, Lorna Quinnell, Radha Iyer, Bronwyn Ewing

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Literacy today relies on a readers’ ability to analyse text critically. This case study investigated preservice teachers’ critical analysis of media text containing visuals and representations. In particular, the analysis focused on mathematical factors that impact on readers’ interpretation of diverse visuals.

Data was gathered from the 23 preservice teachers, enrolled in the Graduate Diploma program at one Australian university. They participated in a series of mathematics learning sessions focused on the critical analysis of a selection of media items.

The paper argues that the ability to critically analyse graphs and visuals relies on mathematical knowledge and that the ability …

How The Change To Online Learning Affected Chinese Language Teaching In California Schools Due To The 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic, Jing Ren

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research study investigates how Chinese language teachers in California made the change from in-person learning to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they set up and taught virtual classes and what their reactions were to the online transitions. Teachers utilized various interactive tools and strategies to teach students in their virtual classrooms. Parental involvement with the child’s education at home increased. Some public school district polices caused greater reductions in student participation than others. Teachers applied various communication strategies to engage students in creative ways while teaching online. This together with curriculum development and assessment design required that …

The Rise Of Infographics: Why Teachers And Teacher Educators Should Take Heed, Katie Alford

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

How can teacher educators utilize infographics to prepare preservice ELA teachers for the complex task of creating both critical consumers and conscious creators of this 21st-century genre? As what counts as “text” expands because of our digital world, teachers are struggling to keep up with the demands of knowing and being able to support students in both their reading and writing of many new genres. Infographics have proliferated on the internet and have now hit print media, so they are a growing reality in our world today. This article lays out what we know about infographics in education today and …

Using Primary Sources In Content Areas To Increase Disciplinary Literacy Instruction, Salika A. Lawrence, Elise Langan, Julie Maurer

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This paper describes how a three-day summer workshop on using primary sources helped teachers increase the emphasis placed on disciplinary literacy when teaching social studies and history. Two specific issues in teacher education and practice are addressed. First, increasing teachers’ content knowledge of history topics can help them plan lessons that connect local and global events. Second, content area reading requires literacy practices, which are unique to disciplines. Therefore, teachers need to apply historical inquiry and disciplinary literacy methods in the curriculum.

Increasing Awareness Of Romantic Behaviors In Former Foster Youth, Kimberly Beardshear

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Because of their inexperience, emerging adults often have a difficult time navigating healthy romantic relationships. For many, the skills necessary for quality relationships are usually learned through parents, friends, or mentors. Foster youth, in particular, may struggle more in developing and sustaining romantic relationships due to the lack of or inconsistent parental guidance or mentoring. To address this, I have created a two-hour lesson for emerging adult foster youth attending Hartnell College in Salinas, California. The content will be comprised of the characteristics of a healthy relationship, role-play scenarios, identifying unhealthy relationship behaviors, and how to use healthy relationship behaviors.

Writing On Demand In College, Career, And Community Writing: Preparing Students To Participate In The Pop-Up Parlor, Kelly J. Sassi, Hannah Stevens

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The Writing on Demand Unit is an important part of the College, Career, and Community Writers Program. In this article, we review the literature on C3WP; contextualize the writing on demand unit in relation to the other instructional resources in C3WP; explore five big ideas about writing on demand; and describe an approach to teaching this unit that includes some preliminary results of teaching this unit in a rural, Native American high school. The five big ideas that inform its use are the following: 1) emotions matter, 2) everyone does it, so provide reasons for writing on demand, 3) time …

Using Literacy Quadrants In Preparing Teachers Of Writing: Reflective Tools For Identity, Agency, And Dialogue, Elsie Lindy Olan, Kia Jane Richmond

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The researchers of this hermeneutic phenomenological study applied Colaizzi’s (1978) method to analyze and interpret English Language Arts (ELA) teacher candidates’ (TC) learning experiences with literacy quadrants and narratives while attending secondary writing instruction methods courses in diverse institutional settings. Qualitative strategies of data collection included inquiry-driven activities such as drawing and written reflections to literacy quadrants, as well as oral responses to open-ended questions. TCs, moving from knowledge to action, were reflexive about their literacy and learning experiences and the application of knowledge and practices when preparing to teach English to all students. Analysis of TCs’ narratives showed reliance …

Getting To What Is: Poetry As A Genre Of Access For Multilingual Learners, Audrey A. Friedman, Joelle M. Pedersen, Chris K. Bacon

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This paper explores the poetry writing of 15, multilingual ninth graders to construct a practitioner framework for analyzing writing as discourse with multilingual learners (MLs). Grounded in an understanding of poetry as a genre of access for both teachers and students, we asked: How does poetry—read as a specific, situated discourse—reveal linguistic and cultural competence among MLs in an urban, high-school classroom?

Using four tools of Critical Discourse Analysis—situated meaning, significance building, connections building, and identity building—we analyzed student poetry produced via an online mentoring platform. Through applying these lenses, three major themes emerged, which structured our framework: language experimentation, …

Data Diving Into “Noticing Poetry”: An Analysis Of Student Engagement With The “I Notice” Method, Scot Slaby, Jordan Benedict

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This paper explores students’ engagement in reading poems, examining data on their self perceptions of their confidence and competence in reading poems before, during, and after using the “I Notice” methodology as adapted from The Academy of American Poets’ unit plan, “Noticing Poetry” (Slaby, 2017). The data was collected over the course of a month from January 9 through January 30, 2018 and involved five classes of one hundred general English tenth grade students across three teachers’ classrooms at Shanghai American School’s Puxi High School Campus. Data indicates that the “I Notice” method and the “Noticing Poetry” unit and its …

Beating The Bamboozle: Literacy Pedagogy Design And The Technicality Of Sfl, Erika Matruglio

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the issue of metalanguage and writing instruction in the senior secondary curriculum. It reports on the use of a design based research collaboration between a very experienced teacher of Ancient History and a research team with the aim of improving literacy outcomes for a group of disadvantaged students. The case highlights some of the challenges implicated in this close work between educational linguistic theorists as language specialists and classroom practitioners as subject specialists. In particular, it raises the issue of how to provide already experienced teachers with a metalanguage to express their implicit knowledge about text more …

“I Don't Read No Books”: How Teachers Can Use Students' Literacy Stories To Change Literacy Lives, Stephanie J. Malone

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Practitioner knowledge, as the center for change in teacher education, is the heart of The Carnegie Project of the Educational Doctorate (CPED) program. Margaret Lata and Susan Wunder explain a key principle of CPED is to grow practitioners as change agents, through the development of a Problem of Practice. In their article, Investing in the Formative Nature of Professional Learning: Redirecting, Mediating, and Generating Education Practice-as-Policy (2012), they discuss how the capstone product that evolves from this Problem of Practice should impact the professional field by producing knowledge that informs and changes professional practice.

This Dissertation in Practice, “I …

School Climate: A Comparison Of Teachers, Students, And Parents, James A. Jacobs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the benefits of positive school climate and to measure the perceptions of school climate for intermediate grades in a Northeast Tennessee School district. An online school climate survey was used to collect responses from participants in intermediate grades and focused on the 3 major components of school climate: school engagement, school environment, and school safety. Data were collected for 2 consecutive years in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. Response totals included 1,955 student responses, 116 teacher responses, and 210 parent responses that were analyzed and used for this study. Of the student totals, some students that …

Factors Affecting Teachers’ Implementation Of Communicative Language Teaching Curriculum In Secondary Schools In Bangladesh, Mohammad Mosiur Rahman, Ambigapathy Pandian, Manjet Kaur

The Qualitative Report

This study focuses on the selected factors affecting teachers’ implementation of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) curriculum in secondary schools in Bangladesh. The study is explorative, interpretivist, and qualitative in nature. A phenomenology approach, under qualitative method, was adopted to explore how teachers experience the phenomenon of CLT based curriculum change. Four schools were chosen, two from Dhaka (Urban), the capital of the country, and two from the villages in Chandpur (Rural). Eight selected participants were chosen from these schools based on a purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis of curriculum, assessment, and teaching materials were the …

Teaching Peer Feedback As Ethical Practice, Derek Miller, Troy Hicks, Susan Golab

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Even with weeks of building a classroom community and deliberate instructional scaffolding, students may not engage in thoughtful peer review. One teacher discovers how he must place a deep, intentional value on the feedback itself—and the writers who provided it to one another.