This Strategy Log was a culmination of all the activities/strategies that Dr. Mora-Flores utilized in our class on a week to week basis. Each week, Dr. Mora-Flores would have us enact one or more of these activities while applying that weeks content/reading. We authentically acted out these activities as to gain hands on experience while also deepening our understanding of our class content. By experiencing these activities as a student while having the opportunity to observe how Dr. Mora-Flores implemented and instructed the strategy, as a future educator I have a better understanding of how to use these strategies in my own future classroom. These strategies are specifically chosen to help ELs in the classroom, but as we have learned time and time again, whatever strategies deemed useful for ELs are useful for the entire class.
One of the objectives of EDUC 671 is to be able to identify strategies to mediate the social and academic learning environment to acknowledge and address the diversity (including race, ability, learning differences, gender, disposition etc.) that students bring, and inequity they face in the classroom. Strategies in this log were intended to deepen learning and increase comprehendible output from students learning English. They were meant to reinforce the interactionist theory and allow students to have a chance to practice speaking, listening, and interacting with peers. For example, cognitive maps and graphic organizers not only work for ELs but also students struggling with organization or compartmentalizing their knowledge. 2 by 4, three-minute share, pair/shares and tea parties can be used to not only increase comprehensible input and output, but used to bring students' funds of knowledge to the surface through discussion.
I am a very visual person. I learn deeper and remember more thoroughly when information fits into some sort of categorized graphic organizer. Dr. Mora-Flores, introduced this graphic organizer at the start of the school year and we have been adding to it each week. Not only do we name the strategy and describe what it entails, but we also identify the purpose of the activity--what we want our students to experience, what we want to reinforce in terms of content or emotional experience, and what we want our students to take away from the activity. Lastly, we assigned a visual to the activity--something to help us visualize or relate to the activity later on. The visuals are a key reminder and really helped me get creative when searching for the right image to match the activity. For example, Cognitive Map vs. Cognitive Language Map sound very similar, but the images help to remind me that the Cognitive Language Map has ideas linked together with phrases, words, or ideas to connect them.
This piece of evidence shows growth throughout the semester as it has quite literally grown along side of me. As I add more and more to this graphic organizer, I better understand the SDAIE (Specially designed academic instruction in English) Strategies that help English Learners (ELs) better succeed in class. What is so great about these strategies is that they work for all students, not just English Language Learners. This table shows that I have a better understand of how to reach my ELs on a more personal level, on a level with a lower affective filter, and on a level that gives them the scaffolds, opportunities for output, and times for interactions that will help them not only understand the English language more efficiently, but also the content. The more mature the teacher, the bigger the bag of tricks they have to reach students--this is just the start of my bag of tricks--I fully intend on sharing this document with future peers and colleagues, and adding to it as I find more SDAIE strategies that work and inspire myself and my students.
This piece of evidence translates directly into my future classroom. Not only do I want to try to utilize all of these activities as much as possible, but I would like to continue adding to this graphic organizer with any future strategies I may try in my future classroom or see/witness in my colleagues' classrooms. Because I have created this document as a shareable Google Doc, I will be able to share and collaborate with future colleagues as they add or adjust strategies within the log. As mentioned previously, this list was originally created with intent to assist L2 development in ELs; however, in whatever future classroom I end up in, with whatever range of demographics/abilities/learning modalities/funds of knowledge/etc. of students in my future classroom, these activities are just good strategies. All intended to increase cooperation, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION
EDUC 672 Strategy Log
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of instructional methods and strategies that support diverse
English Learners across the curriculum; including knowledge of SDAIE, ALD and ELD in theory
and in practice.