1. Which specific learning accommodations
does your cooperating teacher use to assist ELL or special ed students?
a. I am in an 11th grade honors history
class where only one student has a 504 plan due to his physical handicap.
Cognitively he is fine, hence why he is in an honors class. She does not have
any students who are ELL (English Language Learners) or Special Education
students. For the student who has a physical handicap, he is allowed a few
extra minutes to arrive to class and to leave the classroom at the end of
the period.
2. What are a few rigorous, authentic
learning experiences used by your teacher to engage diverse students in
learning the content?
a. Since, this is an honors class,
cognitively her students are where they should be developmentally. In terms of
diversity, the students are different in the ways they learn. Each student has
a particular learning style. In order to keep her students engaged, she
uses differentiated instruction. She sometimes lets the students work
with each other. She uses music and visuals to supplement her lectures. In
addition, she had the students create a propaganda poster when they were
learning about World War II and the Cold War. This can be considered
an authentic learning experience partly because the students had to
imagine what the world was like at that time. They felt and had to
demonstrate through the poster certain prejudices and stereotypes that existed
back then. This is authentic because the content they were learning came
to life, and it became real. Upon reflection, the students realized how
detrimental and wrong propaganda could be.
3. What is an authentic learning experience
that you plan to use when you teach?
a. For me, authentic learning experiences need
to be hands on where the students are using their senses and cognitive skills
to tackle a problem or task. It has to be meaningful and student centered. Bray,
Brown and Green suggest using virtual expeditions. This is such a neat idea and
it is very interactive. This gives students a chance to experience what it
would be like living in different areas around the world, especially when some
may never get the chance to travel there. According to Bray, Brown, and Green
this is “for the benefit of both those students who are having difficulties
with reading and those students who need to supplement the information
available to them in the class text” (Bray, Brown, and Green 74). This is
authentic learning experience that would fit in well in a social studies
classroom. Another thing I would do is a pen pal system. Bray, Brown, and Green
call it “key-pals”. In social studies, culture is a constant theme that comes
up and it is important the students fully understand the importance of culture.
It is true the more we know about something the less ignorant we are about the
world around us. Learning about other cultures and about different kinds of
people, help break down racial and ethnic barriers. Prejudices and stereotypes
are eliminated. Bray, Brown, and Green say this idea is great for ELL students
because they “benefit not only from exposure to their own native culture but
also from exposure to other cultures” (Bray, Brown, and Green 74). I would use
both of these ideas in my classroom because it benefits all of the students not
just those who are considered exceptional or diverse.
