Double Entry Journal #10

Kid Watching: A Critical Practice
Kid watching is learning about children by watching how they learn. Kid watching is an important practice because it allows you to get to know the students, how they learn, and what they are interested in. For example, in the reading, Jacob said he didn't like reading about anything. The teacher used kid watching to observe this and his responses to reading, then she gave an inventory of the students and learned that Jacob liked soccer. This allowed the teacher to find material on soccer and suddenly Jacob started reading. You have to do something with the information you gather from kid watching so taht it can benefit the students.

Cultural difference theory is when the teachers and students are focused on their cultural "blind spots." By using the kid watching, teachers can overcome this blind spot and misunderstanding by observing the students, talking with them, and gaining a better understanding of who they are and what they know.


Retrieved from Getting to know students

Double Entry Journal #9

Use Primary Language or Code Switch
By allowing students to switch between their primary language and English, students may be able to remember more of what they learned. It also helps them become linguistically savvy. Students will be more apt to try writing or speaking in the new language because they know when they get stuck or confused they can switch back to their native language. It is said to "facilitate self esteem to be maintained, stress to be reduced, and education to be a positive experience. I think this should apply to Appalachian dialects as well. These students can use their language while trying to incorporate prope English into their vocabulary. I feel this would be beneficial to those students as well.

Reading Aloud: Student-centered vs. Teacher-centered
In teacher-centered, the lesson is focused on what the teacher asks and wants the students to know. This teacher expects students to listen without speaking, raise their hands and that will determine if they know the answer. The student-centered allows the students to facilitate what questions are being asked and what direction the conversation goes in. This checks for understanding by allowing students to develop their understanding.

Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_5palgT26a4J:media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/24/EHEP0005/EHEP000524-1.pdf+getting+to+know+your+students+interview&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESihbHTui0felcMHojEsBpnh8z7NAdzADlw2OA4q9Vocu4GnsE9vU6W8FAkura70mCyuOla1xOr-rr-Fx2SClUgdkg0vR_t62WIa7eI5Xv0hb-0RJGU6wkBN550lYlezIl_CDQ0s&sig=AHIEtbQinv4Hao96DU6foV8n3HZ8ybE5Ng&pli=1 pages 58-66

Using Appalachian Literature
http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/appalachia.html
This website has titles of literature, uses, how to engage the literature and other ways to include it in the classroom.

Culturally Responsive Reflection

Culturally responsive teaching is a type of pedagogy that acknowledges the importance of including the students’ cultural references in all of their aspects of learning. (Teaching Diverse Learners. (2006). Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml). The digital photo story we did in class was a culturally responsive assignment because: it allowed for different performance modes other than traditional pencil and paper essay or exam, it helped to build a community that respects individual differences and interests as we watch each others digital stories, and it was a type of instruction to accommodate our various developmental needs and learning styles.
First, the digital photo story allowed for different performance modes by allowing us to use the computer to create this assignment rather than writing it or finding actual pictures to cut and glue. Instead of using power point to create the assignment, we were able to use and experience this new program. This is an authentic, real-life assignment that allowed us to create and use information that we are familiar with and actually experience. Louis Moll and his Funds of Knowledge would appreciate this. Moll felt that you could gain a better understanding of your students by seeing them in their cultural element (Moll, L. (1992). Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1476399). By assigning a photo story that is to be a representation of who we are, it is an open-ended assignment that allows for many different answers.
Second, the photo story helped to build a community between our classmates that helps us to respect individual differences. We got to learn about various activities like hunting, fishing, other outdoors activities, sports, and many others. We were able to learn a lot about the entire class in a relatively short amount of time. By learning about other people, we could dispel some of those cultural deficits associated with West Virginia, its land and its people. Instead of looking at the bad things, deficits, we were able to find the good things with are the cultural capital of the people and land. “Tall Tales of Appalachia” said that the people who came into the area thought of us as “backward” people and felt they needed to correct us (O'Brien, J. (2003, May 10). Tall Tales of Appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html) These photo stories allowed us to ignore the views of outsiders and truly appreciate what we have. They also gave each of us a voice. We could use that voice to tell who we are, where we are from, and how proud we are of both of those.
Third, the instruction was able to accommodate various developmental needs and learning styles. Some people can’t just sit down and tell you all about their lives. However, if given the chance, they can sit down, right out some information, find images, and put together an amazing photo story. Some people are way more comfortable using images to explain things than using words. For kinesthetic learners, the act of actually putting together the photo story was the perfect task. The pictures and music was beneficial for the aural, read/write types of learners. Visual learners could see the words and the images and use those. Each type of learner was met by some aspect of this assignment.

Final version photo story

Double Entry Journal #6

A culturally responsive activity that I did occurred this semester. In science methods, we have been discussing the learning cycle. Instead of just telling us the steps of the cycle and what they do, we actually demonstrated it. For example we were discussing the cycle and to learn it, we were talking about circuits and got to work with the circuits and learned the cycle by experiencing and experimenting with it.

Teaching Diverse Learners. (2006). Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml

Resource: Culturally Responsive power point
This power point discusses culturally responsive teaching: what it is and how to do it.

Photo story

Where I am From Photo Story

Here is my final copy of my photo story...finally! (It took multiple tries on youtube and then on blogger to get my video uploaded and the blog posted.

Double Entry Journal #5

3 Things I learned:

• Writers often talk in order to rehearse the language and content that will go into what they write. I never really thought about this. Writing includes a lot of talk but I never really knew that.


• I learned about all the communication and networking and socialization and considerations that must come together and be utilized for good writing to occur.


• I learned that writing instruction needs to include all of the technologies that could be used as well.

2 Things I Found Interesting:

• That people can indirectly be involved in others writing and not even know it.


• That writers need to think about the physical design of the text, appropriateness and thematic content, integration of sound, etc. along with the actual writing.

1 Question I Have:

• How do you best utilize talk to assist with writng, what type of talk is the most beneficial?

Citation: NCTE Beliefs About the Teaching of Writing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://docs.google.com/document/d/1kBob4rwoBfMr5KibZlGhE7RopH9ZVrXij2XWhbNzeVk/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1#

Resource: http://www.time4learning.com/teaching-writing.shtml This website gives steps to be used when teaching writing.

Double Entry Journal #4

Quote: "One advantage to studying 'human beings dynamically, within their social circumstances, in their full complexity,' Moll remarks, is that one can gain, 'a much more complete, and, we believe, a much more valid understanding of them.'" (Moll, 1992)

Response: I completely agree with this quote. In fact I completely agree with the entire article. I do think that sometimes students and parents know more than teachers believe they know and could be very beneficial to the education of the students. Sometimes children are exposed to many different methods of learning at home based on what their parents or other community members do for a living. I do think that by going to a students home or visiting the community you will be able to better understand the students and will probably be able to develop a better format for teaching. The fact that you need to know your students has been drilled into my head for a while now when discussing education and how to help a student succed. The teacher who did the building unit is a perfect example of this. This article makes total sense in that aspect.

Reference: Moll, L. (1992). Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1476399

Resource: http://www.tolerance.org/tdsi/asset/explanation-funds-knowledge
This website has a video of Louis Moll explaining his Funds of Knowlege.

Where I am from Poem

I am from rolling hills, tinkling streams, and starry nights. I am from spring peepers and cricket song. I am from two parent homes full of love and from late night sister sessions. I am from yearly family reunions, knowing who you are and where you come from.
I am from Friday night football and Sunday morning church. I am from the faith that God can do ALL things. I am from having as much of a church family as your own family. I am from covered dish dinners, homemade pies, and homemade macaroni and cheese. I am from Sunday dinners at Mamaw and Papaw’s house and playing in the yard with my cousins.
I am from trips to Ohio to see Mammy and Pappy and the uncles. I am from summers at the beach or trips to the mountains. I am from hunting and fishing and spending time in the company of great friends.
I am from standing as the flag goes by, from showing our respect, and from saying thanks to our veterans.
I am from bleeding blue and gold from the Bearcats to the Mountaineers. I am from Chevy, the Heartbeat of America, because Pappy won’t stand for those foreign jobs.
I am from laughing ‘til you cry with aunts, cousins, and grandmas. From praying that my family won’t embarrass me in public but loving them anyway.
I am from weekends at Grandma’s learning the right way to make her coffee and sleeping on her arm at night.
I am from Love. The love of family, friends, and country.
West Virginia is my home and my family is my greatest blessing.

Double Entry Journal #3

Here is my own the word for cultural deficit theory.

Resource: Bolima, Donna. Contexts for Understanding: Educational Learning Theories. Retrieved From: http://staff.washington.edu/saki/strategies/101/new_page_5.htm.