Experiences of English Language Learners

Two of my students in  EDI700: Introduction to Education Research, Mara Larrainza and Cesar Lovaton decided to respond to some of the comments on this blog about English Language Learners by conducting an interview research study with international Latino students.

Mara told me that it was difficult for her to read the comments about English Language Learners by some fellow teachers-to-be as they did not seem to be sensitive to the experiences of English Language Learners. The interviews were conducted with mostly women who were from Latin America but had a strong connection to the U.S. as they are U.S. military wives.

Mara and Cesar also recorded a fun audio podcast hosted by a 12 year-old girl.

You can read their research and listen to their podcast by clicking here.

-Yen Yen

An Interview With Dr. Amy Stuart Wells, Principal Investigator of “Why Boundaries Matter: A Study of Five Separate and Unequal – By Yen Yen Woo

When I first came to teach on Long Island, my impression is that Long Island is filled with affluent school districts. I have learned otherwise.

This qualitative study documents how Long Island school districts are segregated by race and ethnicity and how this has a real impact on what students in these different districts see as possibilities for themselves.

It is important to read this report – especially for those who live, work, and teach on Long Island. How can we contribute to the desire to change this separate and unequal education experience for students?

You can download the audio interview here.

You can download a copy of the report here.

Students Learn New Literacies Through Comic Books and Online Games – by Demitra Georgalas

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” (Alvin Toffler) Teachers need to be flexible and adapt their lessons toward students’ needs and interests as a means of inspiring them towards literacy. Although many look down upon popular culture, children today and always have been infatuated with it.

I have observed and interviewed three adolescent boys to get their perspective on popular culture. They are Caucasian and attend schools in the same middle class district. Their ages are eleven, twelve, and fourteen. Not surprising, they have a tendency to have an interest in some of the same things: for example Naruto Shippunden, an anime online series, Mabinogi, a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), and Dungeon Fighter, an arcade MMORPG. All of them are savvy with computer or digital communication devices.

The Race to the Top Forgetting about the Bottom By:Pili Cubeiro, Vicky Gill, and Grace Jimenez

The United States Secretary of Education Mr. Arne Duncan has been held in high regard since he was appointed in January, but that has recently changed, when he issued the long-awaited rules that states must follow in order to apply for a $4.3 billion discretionary fund, known as the Race to the Top Fund and the second round of federal financing under the $49 billion federal stimulus package, known as the state fiscal stabilization fund.

The rules for the Race to the Top Fund, rewards states that embrace reform and bypass those states that do not, are considered generally sound and have been greeted with enthusiasm. The emphasis for the reforming states is on charter schools, using standardized test scores in teacher evaluation and merit pay systems, and encouraging local districts to dismiss entire staffs of thousands of failing schools. 

Considering Charter Schools

In case any of you missed our scintillating role play on 10/14 when we played the roles of various curriculum theorists to debate charter schools, here are the highlights. Meet the two “John Deweys” and “Franklin Bobbitt”. These photos were taken by Donna. Thanks, Donna!

Here's Donna in her role as John Dewey

Here's Sarah as Franklin Bobbitt

Here's Beth as John Dewey

And finally, our Curriculum Development class!

Who Owns Lesson Plans? By: Demitra Georgalas, George Ioannou, and Tammy Tavarone

Recently an old practice has taken on a new form. Selling services and products have gone from being sold physically to being sold via the internet. This new technology has opened up new markets and ease of sales for everything imaginable, from music to furniture to term papers and now to lesson plans. Some teachers have a prolific ability to create lesson plans, and since they have been doing this for years know what works and what doesn’t. They are able to benefit from their talents now by offering their goods to the world via the internet. Just look up lesson plans on Craig’s List or Ebay and you will find a myriad of lessons to choose from. With just a click of a button you can have a new lesson plan for each class without putting in much effort.

Do You Have What It Takes? by Liz Heath, James Marotta and Andrew Clark

Now more than ever students are being evaluated by state regulations and regents scores.  Recently state officials are turning the tables, putting teachers to the test.  Certain officials in New York State have proposed to mandate new assessments to evaluate teachers beginning in 2013.  These evaluations and assessments include: an initial assessment performed during student teaching (i.e. video clips of prospective teachers working with students),  and a second assessment in order to obtain permanent certification, in which teachers after two years teaching will be evaluated based on the performance of their students.  In creating this lengthy certification process, New York State’s Education Commissioner feels that the state wants to emphasize that the work the students do is directly a result of the impact and success of the teacher.   With this said, specialty teachers (i.e. those in math and science areas) are eligible to receive cash bonuses if they are willing to teach in low-performing schools in the future.

New Age Bullying…

By Meredith Frey, Carole Gilfedder, Bryan Knipfing, and Lisa Rankin

Why do people have a need or desire to act superior to others?  This desire is usually driven by a subconscious need to make ourselves feel more important and generally displays weakness in our own character.  It has found its way into our families, school yards, and even places of work.  There are many definitions that can be used for this unpleasant and unwarranted behavior but the one that best suits the purpose of this article is: “the intimidation of a weaker person: the process of intimidating or mistreating someone weaker or in a more vulnerable situation”.  Bullying has been a long standing “tradition” in society but it has spiraled into more danger than we once believed. Recent bullying statistics show that half of all traditional bullying incidents go unreported. Statistics regarding cyberbullying indicate even less of these type are reported. Traditionally, a schoolyard bully is the child who is the biggest, strongest, and stereotypically the meanest.  The ability to intimidate others out of toys, friends, and of course lunch money belonged to the ill mannered boy or girl that could most easily intimidate the other children.  A cyberbully on the other hand can remain nameless through technology.  This means that the general character of the intimidator no longer needs to be the biggest or the meanest because behind a screen name or a blog no one can truly depict who the initiator is.  This makes cyberbullying more of a threat because more students can participate without the fear of retaliation.

Diversity in Schools…How will your classroom be affected? By, Erin O’Hara, Alyssa Biel, Jessica Tornatore, Dan Heller

As populations become more ethnically diverse, so do our public school systems. This reality generates a lot of challenges for our schools. Schools are faced with getting all of their students to pass standardized tests.  Statistically, schools in low socio-economic areas score lower than higher income areas. Ethnically diverse communities in low income areas are challenged even greater. There is a consensus amongst some that the communities should merge.

According to an article in USA Today, there are programs in the United States that strive to make schools more ethnically diverse. Their methods are very controversial. Traditionally, students go to school based on where they reside. This initiative strategically manipulates the demographics of schools. In an effort to make districts more evenly (ethnically diverse), they are sending students to the schools that need that particular demographic.  This issue is now before the Supreme Court, as some believe it may restrict constitutional freedoms. 

Video Games for Enrichment By: Melissa Pfeffer, and Meredith Prisco

Video Games for Enrichment

By: Melissa Pfeffer , and  Meredith Prisco

Video games and gaming systems have become a part of almost every child’s life. There are countless games that are designed to target children of all ages, and intellectual levels. The designers of most of the games center there programs around either education or entertainment.  Typically the games that are the most popular are the ones that were designed for entertainment purposes.

In recent years game designers have taken into consideration how much time is being spent playing video games, “Among all kid gamers, approximately half are light users (5 hours per week or less) and the other half are medium, heavy or super users (6 to 16 or more hours per week)” www.consumeraffairs.com. With this in mind the games that are being designed now are starting to focus more on getting the children active or educating them in some way.  The goal in games centered on education, is to help the child develop their problem solving skills, and the use critical of thinking. www.nytimes.com.   Leapster, Leap frog, and Vsmile are popular handheld educational gaming systems for children that are similar to Gameboy.  Being that they are handheld they can use them in a variety of different places, whereas before, those games could only be played at home. There are also educational games you can play on the internet and gaming systems that connect to the internet while you play, allowing you to play with others on the system. “The difference in many today’s educational games is that they are online and social, allowing children to interact and collaborate to achieve common goals” www.nytimes.com.