Information Processing TIPR + edTPA Prep

Current Teacher Behavior

The teacher I'm observing showed evidence of using aspects of Information Processing Theory. She focused the student's attention by having clear teaching segments. Her lessons were meaningful and related to the student's lives. When introducing The Crucible, she had the students participate in the role-playing of a modern-day high school scene. This activity introduced the concepts she will be addressing throughout this unit and allowed the students to rehearse them in class. And by having them physically act out the scene, it helped them encode the information for them to later retrieve and reconstruct as they read the play and address a similar circumstance in a new context. By introducing information in different ways (kinetically, auditorily, and visually) and then giving them real-world connections, she was ensuring that the students built many different neurological connections to the information, helping to move the information from working memory into long term memory. This activity was also a great way to connect what the students were about to learn to a situation they could all relate to. It also built on the previous unit they'd had concerning argument and the Tolman model of argument. The students would be reminded of this model of argument and would be able to see how the arguments made in The Crucible measured up. This was a clear link to students' prior academic knowledge, as well as their prior knowledge in their personal and cultural communities. This activity was also a great way to establish additional academic knowledge that they could later build on as the read the play and were able to gain further understanding at a deeper level than they would have otherwise.

Student Needs

I really don't know what more this teacher could do in this classroom. I truly understand why my own kids who had this teacher in high school raved about her and thought she was one of the best teachers they'd ever had. She made English Language Arts come to life and gave them a good foundation to build on.

My Lesson
In my own lesson, I taught MLA citation. I will be drawing on prior knowledge as I discuss a subject I'm sure they've had countless times. I will further build on this knowledge and help them encode the information by having the students address the information in a new way--by becoming a moving citation. In this activity, the students will hold a sign with a part of the citation and they will need to move to be put in the right order as directed by themselves and the other students in the classroom. By doing this it helps them rehearse the information I'd just presented auditorily and visually (powerpoint) and allow them to again rehearse it kinetically.

Constructivism TIPR

Current Teacher Behavior

1. How the teacher uses modern constructivist techniques/complex learning environments to promote student learning:

The teacher I've observed uses constructivist techniques. I've witnessed evidence of cooperative learning with a JigSaw. The students were learning the concepts from a book called, They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff. This was a good book that helped the students learn the basics of argument, but it was a bit long for the students to really digest. The teacher thought that the students would be able to understand and comprehend this book better by breaking the class into smaller groups of four to read, analyze, and present on one chapter. In this way, each group would be cooperating to understand and present the material together and also the class as a whole would be cooperating to be able to learn many of the concepts in the entire book. Each group would also become an "expert" in their chapter with the task of teaching the rest of the class what they'd learned. This teacher also used a complex learning environment with an authentic task when she had the students watch a clip from a courtroom scene where a law student was attempting to discredit a witness for the prosecution. The students were asked what happened in the scene. The teacher wrote down all their comments and then she was able to construct a diagram of the Tolman Method of Argument. This is an example of having the students examine a broad/complex idea and then narrowing it down to its individual parts and then determined how they work together. She also used spiraling as she emersed the students by having them play parts in a fictional roleplay of a story regarding an incidence of mass cheating on a final and the subsequent questioning of students by school officials. Elements of argument were readdressed lightly and this was used to introduce the next text they would be reading--The Crucible.

 How is the teacher implementing the 4 tenets of constructivism and the 3 modes of processing?

The teacher is implementing the four tenets of constructivism by first, giving the students tools to work with and then having them actively drawing on their own knowledge and reasoning to construct a model of argument. And second, she is also allowing them to actively process the knowledge to adapt to the learning in the class. And then third, she is guiding them to make sense of what she is laying out in front of them. And fourth, she's using cultural and language-based instruction and interactions.
She is also using the three modes of processing by having the students do presentations (action). She uses the image of the movie clip to make her point (iconic). And finally, she organized the students' words and comments into a usable diagram (symbolic).

Student Needs

2. What are these students' needs through the lens of Constructivism? What more could or should be done?

 These students need to have an environment rich in opportunities for guided observations, problem-based learning, making predictions, spiraling, and collaborative learning. And although the teacher is already doing of a lot of constructivist teaching, there could be more group work and collaboration. And the group work that she had, the individuals in the groups didn't have specific tasks to do or tasks for cooperative learning. One or two members of the group may have worked hard or contributed a lot and the other couple members might have done nothing, were afraid to contribute, or might have been outright ignored. Giving each group member a specific task, or assigning roles, would eliminate this problem. 
 

Plans for your Lesson

3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson in this class?

I already did my mini-lesson and addressed the needs of the students by having them work together to solve a problem with some support as needed. The task I gave them was to create a moving citation. I passed out an instructional handout on MLA formatting and then handed out several papers that had parts of a book citation, i.e. the author's name, The title of the book, periods, question marks, the publisher, etc. The students were asked to line up at the front of the room and tasked with putting the parts of the citation in the right order. This is an example of problem based learning. They had to face a challenge and do the best they could to solve the problem. But these students weren't completely on their own. They had scaffolding in the form of handouts with instructions and they had me to give them cues or clues to accomplish the task correctly as needed. This model used collaborative learning as they worked together to get in the right order. This was also spiraling; these students have learned to cite using MLA previously--more than once, actually. 

Identity TIPR

Current Teacher Behaviors

Which of Erikson's psychosocial crises are the children in the class facing (maybe more than one)? Which of Marcia's identity states seem(s) to be most prevalent? What specific teacher behaviors do you observe that either help or hinder the students to successfully navigate their identities?

According to Erikson, the students are currently facing an industry/inferiority crisis. And the most prevalent identity state defined by James Marica is the identity forclosure. Most of the classes I'm observing are AP English classes. These students value conformity and they are willing to conform to the teacher's expectations. The students I'm observing in the eleventh-grade English class are preparing a speech that they will deliver in front of the class. This is an assignment that few of the students are truly looking forward to. Speaking in front of the class is nerve-wracking and stressful. If the student is successful and gets a good grade, they will gain a feeling of competence. However, if they don't do well, they will feel inferior to their classmates. The teacher is extremely encouraging and helpful for the students. They don't have to guess at what the teaching thinks about their ideas or whether their ideas are "stupid." The teacher gives a lot of support no matter what ideas the students come up with and if the idea needs more work, she doesn't criticize, but instead encourages the student to dig deeper into what they want to say and does it in a way that tells them that she's interested in what they have to say and the guidance looks like wanting to know more about their topic. For example, one student wanted to talk about a basketball player they admired. She nudged them to think of a specific example or story the exemplifies the topic best.

Student Needs

What are the students' needs with regard to identity development in this class? What more could or should be done?

 The students need to develop their identity and role in life. The teacher is having the students dig deep to think about their successes. This gives them an opportunity to look within themselves and explore their identity. If they feel support for who they are, they will have fidelity. If they don't feel the support, they will react with rebellion, possibly refusing to complete the assignment. I don't know what more could be done by this teacher. She is amazingly supportive of her students.

Plans for your Lesson

How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson in this class?

 I already taught my mini-lessons in four different classes. Erikson's identity and role confusion came into play when I encouraged students to solve problems together with other students.  They created a "Human Citation" and were required to figure out where all the parts of a citation belong. This activity has the power to support their identity as a "smart student." The students were allowed to collaborate to created a correct citation, which helped support the student's knowledge and egos. This activity also helped moved students from Identity Diffusion to Identity Foreclosure. They went from nervous and reluctant to make a commitment to telling each other where they belong in the "Human Citation."

Contexts of Development TIPR + edTPA Prep

Current Teacher Behavior

Describe how the teacher implements a consideration of the students' physical development and/or Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model into instruction, assessment, and/or procedures. What more could/should the teacher do in this regard? Provide specific examples.

edTPA Prep

The teacher I'm observing is aware and involved in extending the student's circles. She has the students working with each other in group discussions and group presentations. In Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory, this is interaction within the students' microsystems. She also has the students getting information from movie clips and articles (macrosystems). A summative assignment they are working toward is an oral presentation she calls "Youd Talks" (like TED Talks) in which they will talk about "success according to you." They are to talk to the class, telling about something they did that they were successful at and then they are to relate another person's story of success. This covers the self, microsystems of them and their peers, and another level of connection. Mesosystem, exosystem, and even macrosystems may be involved, depending on who they choose to speak about. She is giving them ample experiences to help them form their sense of self.

What does the teacher do to learn more about students' personal, cultural, and community assets?

 From what I've observed, this teacher is very friendly with the students and talks to them about what they are involved in. She attends games and activities and doesn't shy away from student interaction, but is happily involved with the students. I saw this during an assembly. She had many friendly interactions with current, former, and even students who haven't been in any of her classes.

How does the teacher incorporate those assets into instruction?

 I've witnessed the teacher helping students come up with reading lists by mentioning interests. I remember with a particular student, she told her that she didn't have to read a novel. Instead, she could read articles about soccer. That she didn't have to read a novel.

 How does the teacher use those assets to build relationships with students?

She uses assets to get to know the students and help them in ways that are specific to them and their needs. This lets the students know that she really cares about them. She's not just teaching to the high school masses, she's teaching individual students with unique sitations and needs.

How does the teacher demonstrate responsiveness to students with varied needs and backgrounds?

It doesn't matter what the student looks like, whether they're shy, or interactive, the teacher takes time to speak and help each student. I see no signs of favoritism, but at the same time, she is interested in the students and wants to help each one. I also saw the teacher, while giving instruction about oral reports, mention that she knows that there are students who have anxiety with public speaking. She encouraged them to go ahead and do their best, but if there were serious issues, they could speak to her and she would do what she could to help them.

Student Needs

What are these students' needs with regard to the topics above? What more could or should be done?

 I don't know what more could be done. This teacher seems proactive in doing everything she can to reach the student and help them to feel important to her.

Plans for your Lesson

How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson to this class?

I already taught my mini-lesson. In fact, the teacher had me teach about MLA citation in all the classes she taught on that day, a total of four classes. I chatted with students in the class about the topic and attempted to engage in a small discussion. The first class started at 7:50 am. That class was a bit closed off and it was difficult to get them to respond. It helped when I got many of them out of their seats and we did an activity called "Human Citation." Each student involved in the activity was a different part of a citation (book title, author, publisher, period, comma, etc.) and the students had to decide where they belonged and line up in the correct order at the front of the class. That seemed to liven up the room and loosen up the students as their mesosystems of themselves, their peers, and me as the teacher interacted to accomplish a goal. This allowed for the "more knowledgable others" to help guide the other students. This also provided differentiated instruction by providing a kinaesthetic learning environment for the concept I was teaching. There was more eye contact and friendly banter that resulted from this activity and the whole class livened up.

Vygotsky TIPR

Current Teacher Behavior

1. What evidence do you see in your field experience of specific teacher behaviors that are related to Vygotsky's theory of sociocultural cognitive development?  

I see a lot of evidence of my cooperating teacher using elements of Vygotsky's model. Observing her, it's obvious to me that she sees the importance of modeling for the students. When teaching a concept, she shares knowledge in different ways to reach the students and the most prominent aspect of her teaching is the modeling she does. Modeling allows the students to enter her Zone of Proximal Development to be able to see how she interacts with information and how she completes skillful tasks. The student recognizes her as the More Knowledgable Other and follows her lead and they attempt to tackle new skills and concepts. As the More Knowledgable Other, she teaches different ways that not only help students understand, it demonstrates to them that she does know the material and they put their trust in her to teach them correctly. Another thing she does is allow time for the students to work and think on their own. She teaches, she models, and then she has the students work quietly as she moves around observing and giving input. This allows her to see if the students get what she's teaching, if it's they didn't get it, or if it seems they already have mastered it. In other words, she's gaging the students' performance in order to see if what she is teaching is in their Zone of Proximal Development. This time for working alone also allows the students time for self-talk in which they are able to talk themselves through things and adjust what they do to match what had been modeling. Self-talk works in much the same way as collaboration and allows the students to carry on an internal dialog to allow students to access their own more knowledgable parts of their brain.

Student Needs

2. What are these students' needs through the lens of Vygotsky's theory? What more could or should be done?

I've noticed that the teacher does several things when teaching new things. She takes the time to teach her lessons with visual aids and examples to aid the learning. This puts the students in the Zone of Proximal Development. While in this zone, she models what she wants the students to do, allows them time to think and self-talk, and then she lets them try on their own with some guidance from her. In this class, I see that the teacher puts herself up as the More Knowledgable Other (with good cause) and then she helps and guides the students as they attempt to do their assignments and/or work on their own. As I try to figure out what more she could do, I can see that possibly that she could allow more collaborative work. This would allow the more knowledgable students to teach one another.

Plans for your Lesson

3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson in this class?

 I hope to be able to use the students' own knowledge and abilities to help one another figure out how to complete a task. Students teaching students seems to be a better way to help them learn and it will also help them in the future in their employment and/or college experience. In their future professions, there will not often be easy access to an official "expert" when faced with problems. It is at this time when coworkers and/or colleagues can help the student as they both figure it out. Depending on what is needed, one of the student's colleagues will have more knowledge about what they need help with.

In the classroom where I am observing, other students are within the student's Zone of Proximity. There is an established culture of community. This allows the students to access a More Knowledgable Other because it's within their reach and with so many shared experiences and levels of developments between fellow students, they are nearly all within the same Zone of Proximal Development. I've seen evidence of this when students turn to quietly ask their neighbor a clarifying question or when they raise their hand and the teacher responds, leaving the student satisfied. These are both signs that the teacher and students are all within the Zone of Proximal Development.

I really would like to allow the students time for self-talk. I see a real benefit for self-talk. I saw self-talk in action with my own daughter, Alyssa, who is a former student of the teacher I'm observing. Alyssa has a somewhat unique mind--a schizophrenic mind. One of my daughter's best friends is someone no one else can see, a hallucination. This hallucination has a name; his name is Jake. I found it interesting and somewhat amusing when my daughter confessed to me that Jake would sometimes help her "cheat" on tests. He was better in certain subjects than she was. I told her it's not really cheating because he is a part of her own mind and it's okay to let him help her.

Although other teenagers don't usually have a hallucination communicating with them, they do have different areas of learning that can cross over. In the mini-lesson I teach I would like to uses examples of things the students are familiar with--such popular movies or books they've read to illustrate the idea I'm teaching. By using different areas of prior knowledge and then allowing the student time to think, it allows for self-talk between those different areas of the brain. This allows students to reason and internally debate themselves to figure problems out. In other words, this allows their prior knowledge to communicate with the new knowledge to come up with solutions better than if they didn't self-talk. If I can find the time, I would like to slow things down a bit when challenging the students, to give them time for self-talk, to reason things out.

Assessment TIPR + edTPA Prep

Current Teacher Behaviors

1. How does the teacher assess student learning? Identify specific instances of informal and formal, formative and summative assessment and explain the types of assessments (e.g., self-assessment, portfolio, project, performance, etc.) that are used. How valid, reliable, biased, and practical are these assessments?

I've seen a lot of evidence for formal and informal, formative and summative assessment from my cooperating teacher through the following ways:

• The cooperating teacher administered a vocabulary quiz they took on their Chromebooks (she mentioned that you couldn't come back to a question because she didn't want you using the process of elimination to figure out the definition)
  (Assessment Types: formative, formal, online test-taking performance type, valid, reliable, unbiased, and practical)
• She mentioned having "what some might call a test, but I prefer to call it an extravaganza" next week (not sure exactly what she means by that, but I love how she's framing it)
  (Assessment Type: summative, not sure the type)
• She also had a group do an oral presentation on a chapter from the book, They Say I say by G. Graff and C. Birkenstein
  (Assessment Type: formative, informal, performance type, valid, somewhat unreliable, and impractical for use as a regular assessment)
• She had one-on-one interviews in the hall about the students reading outside of class
  (Assessment Type: formative, informal, interview type, valid, reliable, could be biased depending on the teacher, and usually impractical because of time constraint)
• She talked about a paper they were gathering information about that will be due at a time in the future
  (Assessment Type: summative, informal, performance type, probably valid, reliable, could be biased, and it's practical)
• She also talked about the students doing their own version of TED Talks. They will spend 1 1/2 to 3 minutes talking about success using two stories: one about the student and one about someone else
  (Assessment Type: summative, informal, performance type, valid, may be unreliable and biased due to anxiety or stage-fright, and not practical to do often)

 I feel like my cooperating teacher has a handle on where her students are and how well they are learning. She holds them to task, and does so with understanding and always with a touch of humor. The tone of her classroom is such a positive one and the students engage often in classroom discussion--especially her AP English classes. The regular English class I see is a little less forthcoming in their participation, but they will participate when encouraged and do seem to enjoy her class. I did ask her about feedback and she said she subscribes to a minimalist approach. She always tells the student something positive about the work--even if it is difficult to find and she has to say something along the lines of, "I'd never thought of it that way before" and then she gives them one thing they could do to improve. The rest of it, she just follows the rubric for their grade.

As of yet, I haven't witnessed any adjustments of assessments to accommodate students. She did, however, address concerns students might have concerning public speaking and anxiety they might feel in giving a talk about success. She did say that everyone would need to participate, but if there were students who struggled with anxiety, they should come to her and she would help them.

Student Needs

2. What are these students' needs with regard to assessment in this class? What more could or should be done?

 I don't see how my cooperating teacher could do more in the area of assessment. She is really on top of things. She formatively assesses her students daily and gives encouragement and feedback. Perhaps she could possibly give more feedback, but as often as she's assessing, it may be difficult timewise for her to do. Not only that but hearing more that one thing a student can improve on may defeat the purpose intended and make the student discouraged. Constructive criticism is best served in a sandwich of compliments.

Plan for your Lesson

 

3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson in this class?

I will look for opportunities to praise the students for doing something right, and if they do make an error, I will gently guide them to the proper answer and make sure the correction is not made without also praising something about something the student did right. For example, I plan to do an activity where the students practice putting parts of a citation source in the proper order. This allows the students a hands-on way to move through their schemas and achieve equilibrium. If a student puts something in the wrong place, this indicates their disequilibrium. In this situation, I might ask, "Are you sure that's where you want it?" giving them an opportunity to change their answer. And then if they move it to the right place, I'll say, "Nicely done. Thanks for helping out. That's a great example of self-correction." This helps encourage the students to progress through adaptation to get to a state of equilibrium.

PIAGET TIPR: Field Observation and Plans for Lesson Based in Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

Current Teacher Behaviors

1. What evidence do you see in your field experience of specific teacher behaviors that are related to Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

I’m happy to say that I see evidence of the teacher I’m observing using Piaget’s theories in the classroom. When the teacher introduces new information and she often does so in a way that the students can tie the information to things that they are already familiar with. For example, the teacher wanted to introduce the Toulmin model of argument to eleventh graders who are well into the Formal Operational Stage. She didn’t start by talking about the Toulmin argument until after she showed a clip from the movie Legally Blonde. The students experienced some disequilibrium because of the lack of context—they were wondering what this movie clip had to do with what they were learning that day. She didn’t attempt to spare them from the disequilibrium, but instead inhanced it by calling the movie clip a highly sophisticated literary text (using a bit of sarcasm). Then the teacher had the students tell her what was going on in the clip. As they listed off the things that happened in the clip, she wrote what they said on the board. Then she put boxes around different parts the student mentioned that had similarities. From here, she spoke about what was contained in the boxes and gave a label to each of them, naming their attributes in Toulmin terms. From there she drew arrows from one box to another, recreating a diagram of the Toulmin model. This is an example of assimilation. By going through this process, the teacher helped the students with adaptation as they move from disequilibrium to equilibrium and allowed the students to add the new ideas to a previously established schema so that they could accommodate the new knowledge.

Student Needs

2. What are these students' needs through the lens of Piaget's theory? What more could or should be done?


The students, according to Piaget, are capable of abstract thought. Abstract thinking, once the level has been attained, can be developed and enhanced. The students need to work on problem solving, deductive reasoning, and abstract reasoning to support their cognition. By building on already established schemas, the students can assimilate new information to enhance their schemas. I can see evidence of abstract reasoning and deductive reasoning in the classroom I’m observing. Students are given the Toulmin model and expected to understand how it applies to arguments they have be researching and will be writing. The teacher led them through several scenarios of the Toulmin model of argument. Perhaps more could have been done to allow the students to have their own independent experience with the Toulmin model using abstract reasoning—maybe thinking of multiple, potential situations that would fit the model.

Plans for your Lesson

3. How will you address these needs when you teach your mini-lesson in this class?


The cooperating teacher has asked me to teach MLA format and citations. For some students, MLA may cause a state of disequilibrium because they are used to using APA formatting or Chicago style citation. I intend to teach the format of MLA and then have the student use abstract reasoning to figure out how to apply citation format for different types of sources. As I have the students practice putting citations in the right order with all the information needed, they will become more comfortable with the formatting and their equilibrium will normalize as their assimilation balances out the conflict in their brains as they accommodate the new information. The activity I have planned will include giving the students an array of source information: author, title, publishing year, editor, cover designer, page number, credentials of the author, etc. (Not all these things are required for a correct citation.) Using this activity will allow the schemes to go through the process of assimilation and the students will accommodate the new information. They will use abstract reasoning to determine if the items provided on the board fit the new schema or should be discarded. In the end, the students will have a more complete schema regarding MLA citation.