EDSS 541 R.R. 19-21

Reading Response #19

There are many strategies a teacher can use to differentiate assessment. One strategy is using visual and auditory cues. Another strategy is grouping students heterogeneously. Teaching to a multiplicity of intelligences is also an invaluable differentiation strategy. Project based learning, rubrics, discussions, and presenting opportunities for students to think for themselves are all examples of strategies a teacher can utilize to differentiate assessment.

Reading Response #20

Two to three assessment strategies that I would use in my unit are grouping students into heterogeneous groups, discussions, and project based learning.

Reading Response #21

Using these assessment strategies in the TPA would be very valuable and would represent a more thoughtful teacher. I can use student grouping and discussion to assist with student comprehension of a text. I could use visual cues to assist the ESL students while using auditory cues to assist with my visually impaired students. I could use a rubric to ensure an equitable grading system while making my standards for the activity clear. All of these differentiation assessments also adhere to a multiplicity of intelligences as well. 

EDSS 531 Journal Entry #5

After looking back at the journey I have made through the credential program I have learned a lot about myself, the teacher I am and wish to be, and also my students. I discovered that my students have a variety of needs that they require of me as their teacher. They need their teacher to be fair and clear when it comes to directions and assignments. They need their teacher to have consistent habits such as always writing the homework on the board or being reminded at the beginning of the period. The need that surprised me the most which surfaced over time was the need for the students to feel a sense of school involvement and community. This need didn't become visible to me until the end of my first semester of student teaching. This was understandable because I was very cautious not to tell my students a lot about myself because I was more interested in their personalities and perspectives. For this reason, students were hesitant at first. As I became more comfortable with my class more of my personality began to show. This rapport strengthened the communication between my students and they were eventually able to expose their true need.

My students needed to feel like a part of a school community where their hard work and creativity was valued by their teachers and their peers. This was very surprising to me because I had the benefit of attending a high school that had a strong sense of community between all of the students and the teachers. This sense of camaraderie has sadly faded away from my old high school. But I look back and wonder, where did it go? And, how did it get there in the first place? It was the teachers. The teachers had implemented this sense of community and value in their students' hard work and creative expression. It took me awhile to fully understand this need my students required but after walking around campus during lunch time one afternoon, it became abundantly clear. Where were all the other teachers? They were sitting in their rooms, many alone with no students. While some classrooms were blasting with music and overflowing with students. And, I must, of course, compliment the teacher's whose rooms are filled at lunch with amazing influential clubs like the GSA, Interact Club, and Habitat for Humanity. Of course, there are many more. The classrooms I just described clearly made the students feel comfortable and confident. After witnessing the different dynamic between these types of classrooms, I realized that the gap between my students and I was only as wide as I made it.

Students are very responsive and want to create a sense of community. They want to feel appreciated. They want to feel safe and comfortable in the classroom and around campus. The only way to create this is to open myself up to my students. Teachers really can lead by example. If I create a safe, friendly, accepting environment in my classroom and make myself visible and available to students, it's almost like opening a floodgate. I can become an adviser of a club, offer homework help, participate in community events, help cast the spring musical, the options are vast and numerous. The gap is only as wide as I make it. After reading “One Teacher's Story,” there was one thing that really triggered a negative response in me which was the excuse for the history textbooks being watered down,“It is easier not to know.” I would also like to add a commonly heard phrase, “It's not my responsibility, someone else will do it.” I have heard this time and time again. Really? I thought school was where Ignorance and Misunderstanding were exposed for the perpetrators they really are? What happened? When did this become the mentality? Had it always been the mentality and I was just too naive to notice? No, that was my own biased ignorant opinion, because there were always those teachers that took those statements and snapped them in their hands, bursting like fountains of generosity, responsibility, and enthusiasm for their profession. A passion that the students could feel. It's an impossible intensity to miss. Like watching actors on a stage, an equilibrium sharing their energy with the audience and vice versa. Students don't feel connected to their teacher or their school, students don't share that dynamic energy. As educator Wendy Zagray Warren best said,“I learned a long time ago about the correlation between students' academic success and whether or not they were able to see themselves in schools.” A student can't see themselves in a place they can connect to and students connect best to other human beings. I hope I am able to create an environment in which students feel comfortable, confident to speak their mind, and comfortable making mistakes. I hope that I can be an amazing educator because I have had the privilege of working with so many brilliant educators in my lifetime. I hope I can make a difference and allow my own ignorant triggers to subside allowing me to become the educator I aspire to be. And for the teachers that are already on the front lines, fighting the hard fight, I look forward to joining your ranks soon.

Allia Who?

Allia Who?

Allia who laughs with satirists
and asks, "Why not?"
who is saffron and rosewater
who is curious and creative
whose imagination runs rampant
is singing and wailing in her car
who tells me, "This world is changing."
who tells me, "Pick up the pieces, make something new."

Whose imperfections scar her confidence
whose blind heart leads her brain
is fighting with her impatience
is pounding on the door
is learning to wait and waiting to learn
who wants the world to be a better place
is humbled by reality
Asking, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
               "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

EDSS 531 Journal #4

Journal #4

Covert racism is the worse. Like stated earlier, Neo Nazi's actions are easily identifiable. It's the tiny actions that perpetuate the ignorance and feelings of racism. If you saw a black man walking down the sidewalk would you cross the street? Would you clutch your purse a little tighter? If a car cuts you off do you dismiss the person's bad driving because they are of Asian descent? Think about it. Your true feelings are expressed in split second fleeting motions. If you heard someone talking Arabic or another Middle Eastern laniguage in the line at the grocery store, would you switch lanes? This, sadly, has happened to me before. I was standing in line with my father and he was speaking Farsi to me. Everyone in line grew uncomfortable and eventually switched lanes. The cashier grew silent, scanned our items through, and handed me the receipt, not my father who had paid. I looked the lady in the face and said, "Thank you for being so welcoming and friendly. I will not be returning to this establishment again." Living in Temecula was very difficult. Everyone thought I was Mexican and associated a variety of stereotypes with me. I have also been told that I do not have the credentials to talk about these types of topics because "You are just white." A college professor actually said that to me. Temecula, being a largely conservative community is covered is discriminatory signage, bumper stickers, and the like. There is a man that sits outside of the Temecula Post Office with a sign that depicts as picture of President Obama as Hitler. Everyone just drove by and an uncomfortable number of people honked in support. My boyfriend and I pulled over, got out of the car, and had a very very long dialogue with the man. I think the biggest bias I have is ignorance. It is difficult for me not to immediately jump on someone when they make ignorant or discriminatory comment. This is one of my biggest biases. I always think to myself, well, if I don't say something no one will. This is also a mentality I take into the classroom. I can't stand it when students used words like "fag" or "beaner." I immediately try to calm myself down, take a deep breath, and come at this ignorant comment from the perspective of an educator. If I don't tell you why it's wrong, it will just perpetuate. This is definitely a trigger of mine that I am very aware of and need to make sure that I always maintain a professional demeanor because most of the time, the students are repeating what they have heard in their own home.

I would love to know how you deal with these kinds of comments?

EDSS 531 Journal Entry #3

Journal Entry #3

I really enjoyed this question because it brings so many aspects to mind. When someone says, "I need you to do this," or, "You don't understand, I need this," what do they really mean? A need is a necessity that arises from a variety of circumstances. Or, a lack of something wanted. Or, an urgent want or desire. Even the definition of the word "need" has a variety of insinuations. When asked the question, "To what degree do you think you really understand the needs of your student and what they need for the 21st century?" I can only give one answer based on my own personal experience. Students in the 21st century need an amazing teacher. Being an amazing teacher takes far more effort and personal drive than I could have ever imagined. I can meet the needs of some students by using differentiation strategies and good creative lesson plans. A good comprehension of technology is also highly beneficial but not necessarily vital. However, the increased use of technology has definitely helped my students by providing additional support services and resources including making homework and handouts available online. I have done all of these things, but I don't feel that in the 21st century the gap between the needs of the teachers and their students is technology, or differentiation strategies, or an awesome lesson plan. What the students of the 21st century really need is someone to believe in them. They need hope. Hope for the future. Hope for their education. Hope that they will be able to succeed and aspire to their own goals. Many of my students felt inferior to some of their peers. Why? Because they didn't score the highest on the SAT's? Because they didn't win the CIF championships? Because they had never gotten an A on an English paper? I must make sure to clarify that not all students feel this way. There have been and always will be the individuals that will strive to reach their goals regardless of the support they have or lack. These individuals are what I call Supernovas. An explosion of energy that is unstoppable. But what about the majority? What about the kid that comes in every day and sits in the same old desk but never says one word? How many teachers acknowledge that student? I did. I made sure to. Especially because those shy, quite, socially awkward students, are some of my favorite people.

I think there is a division between the teacher and student because of our roles as educators in the classroom. Teachers are perceived as being the all knowing being that holds the student's precious grades in their clutches. There is a distance established between the teacher and the student. The best way to decrease the gap is to get to know your students. Getting to know your students solves so many gaps. If you show that you care and are invested in them because they are interesting people they will be more likely to complete assignments producing a higher quality of work and they will be more likely to seek out the teacher's assistance. In order to bridge the gap, I had one objective everyday: Teacher will be able to know and understand the needs of her students by engaging in discussions with individual students before and after class. If teacher is unable to speak with every student, teacher will create a scaffolding system within the classroom that establishes a supportive learning environment by creating a class website, making one-on-one conferences available, using Think-Pair-Share and reflective writing activities, and ensuring a low affective filter.

At first this gap between the students and I seemed huge. Initially, many of the students were hesitant to trust and respect me because I was a student teacher. I had not been with them during the beginning of the year and upon the announcement that I was a newbie teacher about to take full control, well, let's just say many student's faces turned deathly pale white. But, I had anticipated this reaction. I was confident in my abilities and knowledge of the subject matter but what I needed to learn was how to connect to the students. I didn't need them to like me, I needed them to respect me and trust that I had their best interest at heart every day, every time I stood up to give a lesson, and every time I crossed that threshold into the classroom. The only way to create this sense of trust was to establish an environment of consistency and assurance while not making it the “Miss Sadeghipour Show.” Thus, I made a promise to myself. Every day I would get to know one student. This was one goal that I set for myself. I had distributed questionnaires to each of the students to fill out and had read them so much that they now resembled crumbled pieces of cloth. I used my knowledge of their likes and dislikes to initiate conversations with many of the students. I had one student who had to come up with a team name and came up with the name "Mastodon." I had a huge grin on my face and asked him, "Do you mean the prehistoric beast or the band?"

He looked as if I had just spoken an alien language to him and eventually asked, "You know Mastodon?"

"March of the Fire Ants is one of my favorite songs." With that simple moment I had created a bond with that student. I had no idea. This student wore all black every day and usually looked down at his feet when he walked down the hall or spoke. But when he spoke to me, he looked me in the eyes. I even got some laughs out of him.

One day I had noticed him in the hall and he seemed really upset. I pulled him aside and he was hesitant to explain why he seemed upset. He then said, "I just don't get it. Why do so many people care about such mundane things? Why do people care about the Kardashians? Why do people care about the clothes they wear? Why do people care about such stupid things? I don't. Am I the weird one?" I couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Student X, I have to apologize. I'm really sorry, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because I can't believe you just said that. Do you have any idea how long it's been since someone has been so honest. Since someone has been so normal. It may not seem like it but you, the one with your eyes open, you are the normal one. You are the one that is supposed to be here. You are a puzzle piece that has the ability to look at the whole puzzle and realize where and how you fit. Who cares if everyone else thinks they need the newest pair of jeans or to be like the people on Jersey Shore. You are the brave one because you're willing to use your eyes. You are the normal one." Student X shrugged and merely responded with, "I guess."Perhaps my words had fallen on deaf ears. The semester carried on and the student made sure to say "Hello" to me every single day.

On my final day, I wrote them a speech. I presented my speech to both my classes. This is what it said:

I'm not very good with goodbyes. My original idea was to flash the peace sign and say, "Peace out foo's" as I walked out the door. But then I realized, oh yeah, I still have to give the final. So, I'm back to square one and I still don't know what to say. I guess I'll start with this.

The more I read your quick writes and overheard your discussions, the more I realized what fascinating, hilarious, intriguing adults you are. The amount of depth, perspective, and personal reflection each of you put into those really made me understand who each of you are. Each of you have helped solidify my chosen career path. Thank you. I don't think you will ever fully understand how excited I am that brilliant people like yourselves are going to be a part of society. Each in your own way.

Piece of advice? Don't let anyone cut your off, either in life or traffic. Always let someone you appreciate and care about know it over and over again. Don't be afraid to take smart chances. Most of the time, those once in a lifetime moments pass you by before you had the time to weigh the pro's and con's. As the brilliant Steve Jobs once said, "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." At the end of the day, the only person you have to live with for the rest of your life is yourself. Make yourself someone your proud of.

Final piece of advice, if you're planning on going to college, buy lots of Ramen noodles. College can be a starving experience. Thank you.

On the last day of school I was approached by Student X. "Miss Sadeghipour, thank you. I know I didn't ever say that but thank you. I didn't think I was going to make it through this year. But knowing that there are people like you out there, I know I can do it." I had no idea the suffering this student was going through and I definitely did not think that my words had that much of an impact. To this day I still see Student X volunteering at the adoption counter at Petsmart. He always grins and waves "Hello" asking me if I've listened to any metal recently.

EDSS 541 RR #13-14

Reading Response #13

After reading the co-teaching resources, I was exposed to a plethora of co-teaching methods and models. There are four specific co-teaching strategies: supportive co-teaching, parallel co-teaching, complementary co-teaching, and team teaching. Supportive co-teaching involves one teacher taking the lead role of teacher in the classroom while the other teacher MBWA and assists students. Parallel co-teaching involves both the teacher and and the support personnel to teach heterogeneous groups of students simultaneously. Complementary co-teaching a member of the teaching team supplements or complements the instruction of the other team member. Such as transcribing notes, adding additional comments or insights, or assessing students in the classroom. Lastly, team teaching involves both members of the team to teach along side one another and share the responsibilities of the teacher from lesson planning, to lectures, to grading.

Reading Response #14

The co-teaching practices that I will use in my group's ITU will most likely be team teaching. I have the benefit of working with the amazing Mallory Sorben, another brilliant English teacher. It would be very beneficial for us to use the team teaching method. By teaming up, we will have the ability to assess students more accurately while providing differing perspectives on a controversial topic. We will also be able to complement each others' lessons and commentaries. This is also very beneficial when dealing with large class sizes. My class sizes range from 38-41 students and hers mirror the same numbers. With that many students it is difficult to MBWA and still assist every student. For these reasons, I think team teaching will be the best approach in our ITU assignment.  

EDSS 546 R.R. #3

Reading Response #3

For this reading response I have created a Googledocs form that involves students using the templates in They Say, I Say to assert their opinion while still maintaining an appropriate academic tone. This activity serves as a bridge into a unit about character. 
Please click on the link below to participate in the activity. 


Um, wait, what did you just say? 

Tinker Thinker

Reading Response #2


I absolutely love making my students think and stretch their creative minds. Isn't that why we're here in the first place? To make them think? One of the units I created in my CP I was a unit around expectations and assumptions specifically in regards to adolescence and teenagers. I really wanted to create a unit that involved the students not only reflecting on their own misconceptions but the lens in which the rest of the world views them as well. The first part of the unit involved students having to think about their own assumptions or expectations. I separated the class into groups according to their interests and grade levels. Interest being a key factor. I noticed that even though the students may be at different levels, if they were all invested in the same things they have a higher likelihood of completing the task. There were a couple of exceptions of course that would enjoy veering their group into the opposite direction but I spread those students out accordingly. I began with a Gallerywalk activity where the students were each given a topic like "Technology," "Love," "Education," or "Family." I then had them draw two columns with the numbers 1-10 in each column. The first column was labeled "10 Things Everyone Should Know About _______" and the other "10 Things Everyone Should Learn About ________."  The students were then asked to work in their groups and come up with ten items for each column. They then had to participate in a gallery walk writing down the items they most agreed with and least agreed with. Afterwards, they had to do another reflection. Many students did not realize the assumptions that some of their peers had towards these topics. From there, I used their "Education" and "Family" poster to begin transitioning to student's expectations of themselves and their life goals versus that of their peers, parents, and the nation towards adolescence. My students really had to think about the limitations put on them by outside forces while reflecting on who they were as a person and what they wanted. It was a fantastic transition between the hopeless, "There is nothing I can do" to the, "I am who I am and no one will stand in my way." I had them think a lot about the assumptions and limitations they put on themselves and how these factors have changed their life path. I presented numerous articles that would argue that "Teenagers require guidance and need to be taken care of" versus "teenagers are doing just fine and the media is creating a false perception." I also used the late Steve Jobs as an example and pulled from his graduation speech at Harvard. The students really responded to this icon and his ability to follow his own dreams. The way I support my student's to think is through solid essential questions that open the class up for discussion. I also use a lot of self reflection to increase the affectivness of the assignment and to make them realize that they are part of this perpetuating system. I have to admit, I also really like using loaded statements to get a rise out of them. Oftentimes, the students will begin to think about the statement and start realizing the fallacies within it and they connect those fallacies to things that they have seen in their own lives. As Jim Burke states that students need to " 'embrace the contradictions' and the complexity we find everywhere in our world." From there they attempt to rationalize the opponent's argument in an attempt to find understanding in something they disagree with. The student's make the connections themselves. It's like a puzzle. I made the puzzle and broke it apart but they already know how to put it back together.