EDU 690 Spring 2018 Students and Links
Bernadette Giangreco
Title: Strategies for Establishing a Safe, Positive, and Productive Learning Environment for All.
https://bernadettegiangrecoeducurriculumproject.wordpress.com
Abstract: As a future educator implementing a safe, positive, and productive environment is my priority. Without development of such qualities it will be fairly impossible to have an effective learning environment. Creating awareness of how to create such environments and why it is important to do is essential for all involved within the school system.
Zhiyu Jiang
https://jiangz02.wixsite.com/website
Title: Gifted Programs in a Regular Classroom
Chen Lin
https://linchendotblog.wordpress.com
Title: Developing and Exploring Children’s Interests in Traditional Chinese Culture in American Daycare Center
While I was working in a daycare, I found that there are a lot of differences between the culture of kindergarten in the United States and China. In the process of observing children, I realized that American kindergarten classes have a better handling of children interaction. In organized activities, children in China are more efficient and disciplined. I began to realize that there is a great complementariness between Chinese educational culture and American educational culture in their children’s early education. If America’s early education system can incorporate some Chinese early education practices, will it make early education more perfect?
Chinese culture is one of the representatives of the ancient civilizations in the world. It has been passed on for 5,000 years and has never been interrupted. This shows that Chinese culture can withstand the scrutiny of the world and time. Childhood exposure to cultural diversity, can develop children’s inclusiveness and imagination and expand their horizons. Chinese culture, which runs through the world for 5,000 years, has its precious and desirable part, whether in the customs of festivals or historical literature. Chinese culture, which is based heavily on the ideas of Confucianism, is the wealth and spirits of the Chinese people. China advocates filial piety and values the virtues of righteousness and other precious qualities; these qualities should be implemented in children’s lives from an early age. It is an indispensable part of children’s growth.
The United States is the melting pot of many different cultures and a representative for multicultural countries. Starting from middle or high school, American students have foreign language lessons and history classes, but the materials, activities, and environment presented to children in kindergarten don’t represent other cultures. The education of children should start from an early age, especially when cultivating children’s tolerance, inclusiveness, and interest in various cultures.
This master’s program will discuss how to develop and explore children’s interest in Chinese traditional culture in American daycare centers. I will help children become familiar with Chinese culture and learn Chinese culture by preparing the typical books, creating an environment with Chinese elements, and carrying out group activities with Chinese characteristics. In the contemporary world of economic globalization and cultural diversity, it is of crucial importance to help children learn different cultures and cultivate children’s inclusiveness in cultural differences. There is an old saying in China that traveling ten thousand miles is better than reading ten thousand books. We need to create a diversified teaching environment for our children so that they can walk the ten thousand miles in the classroom.
Children in the U.S. education system have many precious and extraordinary qualities. Learning the essence of Chinese culture can help children develop themselves better, enrich themselves and improve themselves. In the future, I plan to engage in education-related occupations and I hope I can study the essence of education and culture in both countries and make contributions to complement each other in the early education system and culture of the two countries. This goal sounds far away, so let me start it with my master project.
Andrea Mermigas
https://andreamermigas.wordpress.com
Title: Implementing Narrative Writing in A Second-Grade Classroom Using A Writing Workshop
Jennifer Norton
https://jennifernorton649983390.wordpress.com/
Title: Using Sociodramatic Play to Instruct Kindergarten Students
My Masters Curriculum Research Project focused on building a curriculum using sociodramatic play as the element to instruct young, prekindergarten students aged 4-5 years to meet the objective of school readiness. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC; 2009) and Pagani and Fitzpatrick (2014) elaborated on the need for the whole student to be addressed in terms of readiness for school. This idea encompasses finding ways to increase the inclination and engagement of students as well as meeting social, physical, and emotional needs in addition to emergent academic skills. Through addressing all of these areas holistically in a prekindergarten classroom using the developmentally appropriate means of play, the learning outcomes of students will reach their highest potential. The American Association of Pediatrics (2007) and NAEYC have both expounded upon the strong degree of developmentally appropriate practice found in using play to teach young children. They enumerated the particular benefits of play to include that it is an element that fosters children’s brain development, creativity, ability to overcome fears, self-advocacy, confidence, leadership, and group skills, among others. Sociodramatic play, which can also be known as pretend or fantasy play, is a particularly efficient way of meeting classroom learning objectives as it entails establishing a play structure and collaborating with others to bring it to life as well as speaking within the play frame and providing commentary (Weisberg, Zosh, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2013).
Teachers even at the pre-kindergarten level, have an increased pressure put upon them to meet the guidelines set out for them by administration and New York State. The curriculum I have written has been shown to meet the numerous New York State Next Generation Learning Standards for Pre-Kindergarten in each lesson in the areas of Mathematics as well as English Language Arts, which includes reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Examples of curriculum standards met include, but are not limited to, measurement, sorting, counting, cardinality, turn-taking, interest and use of new vocabulary, engaging in discussions, and making connections between text, oneself, and the world. Furthermore, the benefits of guided and structured play such as that used in this curriculum have been supported in research (Trawick-Smith, Swaminathan, & Liu, 2016). The findings show that students’ learning is significantly increased through teachers’ use of open-ended questions and planned interactions to fit with their needed level of guidance during structured and guided play.
The research and statements by esteemed organizations like NAEYC clearly support the idea that students who have been taught using this type of curriculum will likely benefit in many areas. The standards established in New York State are met through its implementation as well. Students are likely to become more autonomous and engaged in learning through the repeated use of the lessons I have written throughout their designated weeks. The repetition, familiarity, and comfortability students have with sociodramatic play allows them to become increasingly willing to seek out more advanced opportunities to learn. These instances can include questioning, vocabulary, and using more sophisticated communication. This may even expand to other instances of play not included in this curriculum. Students may increase their engagement and curiosity during play as they become aware that exploration and experimentation are valued and encouraged by their teacher.
Through the composition and implementation of this curriculum, it can be clearly seen that play is not only developmentally appropriate for young students but that it can be an effective way to meet learning objectives in numerous areas. This curriculum focused on sociodramatic play, however, many play centers are found throughout prekindergarten classrooms. These centers may include blocks, sensory play, and so forth. Each type of play can be adopted to formulate lessons in target areas to meet standards that will promote school readiness goals. This will not only be developmentally appropriate for students but also engaging and meet the standards set out by New York State.
Play is a necessary element for prekindergarten teachers to use in their classrooms. It is recognized as possibly the most developmentally appropriate way to teach young students by organizations like NAEYC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. My project involved the writing of a nine-week curriculum based on guided and structured sociodramatic play to meet the goals of school readiness as defined by NAEYC and aligned with the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards. It can be clearly seen that this type of curriculum can meet and even exceed these goals. Students will likely become engaged and encouraged to explore and experiment in all types of play in which they partake. Teachers will see the benefits that can be had and become encouraged to rethink the possibilities within their classrooms. Play is not only for fun but a successful means to learn and work for young students.
Jena Nunnari
https://edu690nunnari.wordpress.com/
Title: Investigating Teaching Standard Essay Form in English Classrooms
In my research project, I will be investigating the teaching of the standard essay form in English classrooms, and how that writing model impacts students’ overall writing ability. In most schools, creative writing takes a backseat to the more formal, standard form of writing that is the three paragraph essay (e.g. the Critical Lens essay). As an English teacher, I have personally seen where this can be problematic. Students often become more concerned with meeting the very specific standards of the essay, rather than actually honing their skills as a writer. Personally, I developed my style of writing on my own, outside of school, and often don’t equate my writing ability with anything I learned in school. In response to this, I am determined to understand the best possible way to teach writing to my future students. I want to know the exact impacts, positive or negative, to using the standard essay form so religiously in schools, as opposed to more freeform writing activities.
There are two major components that I plan to enact in order to explore this matter. First, I plan to interview multiple English teachers at Lockport High School, the school I once attended and now am a substitute teacher at. There are five teachers that I specifically want to interview: A ninth grade honors teacher, a non-fiction writing teacher, a public speaking and eleventh grade teacher, the head of the English department, and a twelfth grade teacher who will be retiring at the end of this year. I want to ask these teachers about their own teaching practices regarding writing in their classrooms, as well as their general idea of how the standard essay form impacts students’ writing ability. Then, I will create a survey to distribute to students. This survey will gather information on how a vast majority of high school students feel about their writing ability, and how/when they believe that their writing is at its best. Throughout all of this, I will also be observing in a twelfth grade English classroom in order to obtain insight as to how often students are writing in class, as well as the subject and nature of that writing. With this information, I hope to better understand what the students understand about their own writing, and where they believe they could improve.
From my project, I believe other English teachers, and even teachers of other subjects, could reflect on their own practices of teaching writing. I believe that there are some aspects of teaching writing that we often don’t think about, or even forget, such as the personal development of our students’ writing style and ability. These ideas are often lost as a result of forcing the standard essay form. If others were to use my project, I think it could help to promote a more diverse offering of how we teach writing.
In the future, I will personally be using the results and experience of this project to cultivate my own classroom. I will use the information I find here to make informed decisions about how I plan to teach writing to my future students, as well as to help myself reflect on my teaching practices. I would recommend to anyone wishing to use my project that they look first to their own students. All students are different, and all schools are different. I understand that what might work best for me and my students, might not necessarily work the same way with different students or for a different teacher. I would hope that any teacher be able to take what I have done here and apply it to their own classes, to better reflect in their own way on their teaching of writing practices.
With this project, I mostly hope to gain a better understanding of how high school students best learn to write. Do we learn best by following one solid format over and over again, or do we learn best by branching out and trying new things? I want to know how to best serve my students in all aspects of teaching English, but writing is one aspect that I feel has been lacking in my education and personal experience. Therefore, I hope to use this project as a way to better equip myself for my future teaching, as well as to provide others with a project that can help to highlight the ways that students understand writing and their own writing ability.
Katelin Petranchuk
https://katelinannmastersproject.wordpress.com/
Title: Using Structured Play Within a Classroom
What do you think about when a teacher mentions play in their classroom? Play has been involved with the primary school age levels for a long period of time. Most people think about being able to or having time to play while in school. At one point in time, schools allowed preschool and kindergarten teachers to focus only on play during school hours. As time and education has continued on play has been explored in a variety of ways. Which type of play is better? How long should children be playing? What if my district does not allow play in the classrooms? These are some of the questions that buzz in a teacher’s mind when the concept of play is brought up in conversation. There could be lots of side of whether a general play time is or should be allowed. The type of play that is currently being mentioned as the current buzz word is: Structured Play.
What is structured play? How could structure play be conducted within a classroom? Most importantly, how can structured play be integrated into a classroom with appropriate standards? These are some questions that might come to mind when discussed. Let’s start off with defining this type of play. Structure Play is defined as a type of play where the children are involved with an activity or common theme while engaging with one another. Often times, this specific type of play has an objective or a directive attached to the children while they are playing. Most commonly this type of play is discussed with the children playing in a center where there is a bakery, a bank, a grocery store, or a house set up. The children are not told directly how to play, but they are given a specific setting and they will grow to learn more about the setting.
For this Master’s Project, I will develop a Kindergarten structure play curriculum that will further allow students to become involved with structured play concepts. My anticipated participants will be any Kindergarten classroom that would like to experiment with integrating Structure Play into their classroom. Anticipation of this type of play may be conducted within the classroom on a daily or every other day basis with at least twenty-five to thirty minutes for play. Children should be in a group between the sizes of three and five members unless otherwise noted.
The results of this project will show the growth of learning the students will achieve within the structure play environments. The students involved will, hopefully, show an increased knowledge or meaning of particular settings/topics, communication/social skills, and language and mathematical skills.
Additionally, in the future. this website could be used as a gateway for a teacher to connect his or her classroom to structured play environment. Ideas, lessons, and a curriculum map will later be available for personal use. Furthermore, all lessons and the curriculum map will align with New York State’s Kindergarten Common Core Learning Standards and the National Association for Educating Young Children standards (NAYEC). Please continue to check back as this project develops into future steps.
Elyse Rozsa
https://elyserozsa.wordpress.com
Title: Effects of Co-teaching Students with Autism
My Master’s Curriculum Research Project will have a strong focus on students with autism in a co-teaching classroom. I will be researching the effects of co-teaching on students with autism. In many school districts, children with learning disabilities and autism are now in a general education classroom without being pulled out for services in a different location. A co-teaching classroom includes a head, general education teacher who works hand in hand with a special education teacher. Students who need extra help will still be learning the same content as their peers but maybe separated into a smaller group during math or ELA time within their classroom. The special education teacher is in charge of differentiating instruction to meet their needs. This matters because we need to see if this is the right fit for students with autism and their future socially and academically.
In order to explore the effects of co-teaching on students with autism using authentic educational methods, I would have to gather a lot of data. The data would include their math and reading levels when they are being pulled out of class and then their math and reading levels when they stay in the co-teaching classroom. I would also have to observe students with autism in a co-teaching classroom and compare it to them being pulled out a couple times a day in a different location. Their social skills have to be measured, too. Students with autism may struggle socially so I need to find out if their social skills improve from staying in a co-teaching classroom all day. I will do this by monitoring their communication skills, play skills/shared activities and challenging/disruptive behavior. My anticipated participants who would use my Master’s Graduate Research Project would be special education teachers, general education teachers, and most of all, those who are the head of special education in their various districts.
When someone uses my Master’s Graduate Research Project, they will be able to confidently know what is best for students with autism. Is a pull out method better or is keeping those students in a co-teaching classroom more beneficial? They will know all about the effects of co-teaching on students with autism and all of the pros and cons. I anticipate that the results will show the many benefits of children with autism being kept in a co-teaching classroom but I know there are still many pros and cons to each.
I will be able to use this research project in my future. I will be able to put this research on my resume and talk about it in a future teaching interview. I will share my knowledge about students with autism and what truly benefits them. I want what is best for students with autism so I will be able to share my thoughts and beliefs based off the data and information I collect. When talking with parents whose children have autism, my knowledge on co-teaching classrooms will come in handy. I will be able to tell them based off research, “this” will benefit your child the greatest.
I am eager to learn more about effects of co-teaching on students with autism. I want to learn what is the most beneficial to those students. Co-teaching is relatively new and I think it will be around for a while. I will be able to talk about my research in many different settings and teach about the students with autism and how they will benefit academically and socially.
Cheriskira St Croix Topic
https://cheriskirastcroix.wordpress.com/
Title: The Impact of Learning Through Guided Play
Over the past few years, kindergarten has gone through an unrecognizable drastic change. You poke your head into a kindergarten classroom and you wonder what has happened to it. A blackhole is present in the class slowly draining the positivity, creativity and laughter out of it. You look around the room and it isn’t filled with smiling faces but rather unhappy ones.
Fun and enjoyment no longer exist in Kindergarten since the implementation of Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015; amended the No Child Left Behind Act but holds similar principles such as accountability (U.S Department of Education) and the Common Core Standards. Kindergarten has been replaced with more academics, pressure and unrealistic expectations ((Bowdon, 2015; Miller & Almon, 2009; Myck-Wayne, 2010; Sherman, 2014). The Every Student Succeed Act holds educators and their public school accountable for the children’s progress, which eventually places jobs on the line for low-performing schools. While, the Common Core Standards expects teachers to achieve the goals set forth for each grade to be successful in life (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014). Due to this, teachers have become more like drill sergeants as they try to get their class to grasp the given content and race against the clock in this short time frame.
Children learn best when they are having fun and surrounded by a positive environment. The constant need to drill information into them is not going to get them ready for the next grade level. Play provides that positive environment for them as well as it can be modified to better help children with their academics. There is no need to decrease or omit it or even deprive Kindergarten of a proper childhood.
My proposed research project will focus on guided play, using the Common Core Standards and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards to state what kindergartners will be taught. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact learning through guided play will have on them. My project will focus on the academic subject; science, as lack of attention has been given to it and I have always loved science. This study will also answer the research question; Can learning through guided play have an impact on children in kindergarten? The information found from conducting this research project can be beneficial to kindergarten children, teachers, parents and the education system. In the future, my lessons or a modified version of it could be used in a 6:1:1 kindergarten classroom.
Play is a very beneficial part of childhood and should be incorporated into all kindergarten classrooms. Through guided play children have a better understanding of their environment and the world. Children learn how to use self-control, problem solve, follow rules, socialize, share, collaborate, become leaders and so much more valuable skills. Most importantly, children feel freer to be themselves and more receptive to the skills and lessons taught to them.
References
Bowdon, J. (2015). The common core’s first casualty: Playful learning. The Phi Delta Kappan, 96(8), 33-37.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2014). Frequently asked questions, http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/
Miller, E., & Almon, J. (2009). Crisis in the kindergarten: Why children need to play in school. The Education Digest, 75(1), 42.
Myck-Wayne, J. (2010). In defense of play: Beginning the dialog about the power of play. Young Exceptional Children, 13(4), 14-23. 10.1177/1096250610376616
Sherman, S. M. (2014). Let’s lighten up!: Play and humor have important roles in learning. The Education Digest, 79(5), 13.
U.S Department of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018 from: https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=policy
Taylor Watson
https://watsontj01.wixsite.com/mastersproject
Title: Establishing a Safe, Positive and Productive Learning Environment
Student autonomy is a key part of any instruction. Not only does it build critical thinking skills and other tools that can be used outside of the classroom, but it improves student engagement as well. When students are more engaged, they are more motivated to perform well. While most see student autonomy as giving choice, drowning students with too many choices does not help their learning. Instead, teachers must give students select meaningful choices. Furthermore, autonomy is more than just choice. Allowing students a method to voice their criticism in the instruction allows them an outlet to feel heard and lets them know they are a valued part of the classroom community. Lastly, giving rationale is one of the most important parts of student autonomy. When students understand why they have to learn something or perform a learning task and relate that to their overall goals they have for themselves. With this information in mind, the research project then looked for ways to increase student autonomy in a fourth grade ELA classroom.
Matthew Woods
https://mattwoodsmastersproject2018.wordpress.com/
Title: Family Involvement’s Effect on Academic Achievement Among Elementary School Students
There are many different factors that come together to effect the education of our students in today’s classrooms. Factors such as income, race, and student to teacher ratios all culminate differently for each child. One of the most impactful factors of a child’s education is the inclusiveness of the family. The impact of the family can have a strong influence on whether or not a student will take their education seriously or let it fall down their list of priorities. My research question is what is the impact of family participation and involvement on a child’s academic achievement?