Category: Curriculum

Teaching style

• Cooperative learning and partner work are the two main teaching styles that I observed. Since students were divided into groups of four, they performed learning activities in their groups.
• I observed the teacher using cooperative learning as a way of administering instructions. Students were gathered in small groups and expected to work together. I observed as the teacher gave them tasks to accomplish together.
• Cooperative learning strategy involved the use of themes in reading to help learners develop strong understanding of what was required of them. Simple concepts in reading which was related to the 3^rd grade could be clearly noticed during the lesson.
• I observed the teacher asking students to omit sounds in a word and then speak out the word without the omitted sounds. Pupils were able to respond appropriately and there was an indication of achievement of learning outcomes.

Seating arrangement

• Students sat in groups of four. The size of the class was standard. It had 24 pupils implying a total of 6 groups. There was enough space for every pupil within the class. The desks were arranged in groups of four to allow enough space for every pupil in the group.
• I also noted that the students were arranged in sizeable groups in order to make participation effective. Large groups could interfere with dynamics of group work. It could cause students to form other small groups within the large groups. For instance, a large group of six pupils can be split into two or have few active members while the rest remain passive.
• Another important issue I noted within the classroom was the arrangement of the students. Despite being arranged in groups, the students were all able to see the board easily in case the teacher wanted to show something on the board. Similarly, the class was arranged in a way that the teacher could see every pupil. Being able to see every student is important for the teacher to assess the level of engagement of all the students.

Teacher movement

• The classroom is expected to be an interactive social environment where cultural practices are established and built over time. Every action and gesture of a teacher and every student has meaning which either facilitates or impedes effective learning. Considering the type of instruction used for the lessons, teacher movement was inevitable. I could observe the teacher moving around the classroom interacting with every group.
• I observed the teacher moving from one group to another ensuring that every group performed their task well. In addition, the teacher also moved around to ensure that every student was participating in the group activities and cooperating with others to complete their group work.
• I also observed the teacher using demonstration as a way of helping pupils understand content material. In addition to explaining content, the teacher went ahead to demonstrate content material in order to facilitate comprehension.

Discipline/ classroom management

• The third grade pupils can show disruptive behaviors. Therefore, it is the duty of the teacher to ensure discipline by gaining control of the class from the beginning of the lesson, up to its end. I observed as the teacher controlled the classroom and ensured that attention of every pupil was captured.
• Various methods of managing behavior in classroom were utilized during the lessons. At one of the lessons, I observed as the teacher used rote discipline to control undesired behaviors in the classroom. Rote discipline involves the use of negative sanctions to discourage ill behaviors. One of the pupils subjected to discipline control was making noise. The teacher made him write the same sentence repeatedly on a piece of paper. The sentences were supposed to fill both sides of the sheet. The student wrote the sentences filling both sides of the paper while others proceeded with the lesson.
• Upon completion, I continued taking notes of the students behavior to determine whether the punishment would be effective or not. Apparently, the punishment was effective. I never saw him engaging in unruly behaviors again. Instead, he continued to participate in the group activities.

Level of engagement

• The level of engagement is important during instruction because it indicates whether the process of instruction is successful or not. I observed a high level of engagement of the pupils. The students were very active during the lesson. They participated in the group work activities.
• I observed as some of them asked questions related to the content material, while others were able to respond to the questions raised by their colleagues.
• I observed a high level of engagement among the pupils. They were enthusiastic and confident throughout the entire lesson. The children seemed to be in pursuit of clear reading goals. All their attention was purposefully focused on the lesson and they demonstrated high concentration.

Guided practice

• Guided practice involves demonstrating tasks to students and allowing them to perform them. It is an important part of the learning process of English, as well as other subjects. During the assessment, I observed as the teacher modeled the way and allowed the students to come up with their own solutions.
• The teacher illustrated how to achieve the learning objectives and allowed the students to work individually, as well as in groups. I observed as the teacher demonstrated the concept of phonemes as one of the basic reading concepts.
• An important part of guided practice is checking student understanding. On several occasions, the teacher would randomly pick students from any group and ask them to perform task on the board. The group activities were also expected to be illustrated on the board upon completion.

Time management

• Teachers always have a lot of tasks to accomplish within the time frame of a lesson. Grade 3 lessons generally last for approximately 50 minutes. However, the lessons which I observed lasted for 45 minutes. The teacher was therefore expected to accomplish all the activities within this time limit. The teacher was very objective as he defined the time for every planned learning activity.
• I observed as the teacher took five minutes to help the students get into the lesson by reviewing concepts learned during the previous lessons. The teacher also used this section to engage students by explaining the purpose of the lesson.
• During the lessons, the teacher could spend approximately 20 minutes for the guided practice session. During this time, students listened as the teacher explained concepts from the reading.
• The independent student practice session lasted for approximately ten minutes before the students could present their work before the class.
• Finally, the culmination or the closing sessions of the lesson involved assessing whether the objectives were met and then a homework assignment was given.

Homework

• Homework is a common means of informal assessment. The teacher gave homework assignments at the end of every lesson.
• I also noted how the teacher emphasized on the need to complete the assignments. The teacher could ask the pupils to ensure that their parents and care givers checked and signed their work before submitting it.
• At the beginning of every lesson, the teacher inquired about homework. He used the opportunity to assess level of knowledge of students. Most of the assignments could touch on a new topic in addition to assessing understanding of the previous topics. The students were very engaged in their work because most of them completed the work before the next lesson.

Classroom environment

• The classroom environment was very productive and focused on learning. It was suitable for facilitating and enhancing the process of learning. I observed relevant learning materials pinned to the walls.
• The learning environment also provided positive relationships between students and the teacher and among the students. It enabled the students to get engaged in the process of learning. Their engagement is important to their learning and it is the duty of the teacher to ensure that the students are engaged in the lesson.
• The teacher also tried hard to create a learning environment that encouraged social support for the students. The necessary classroom environment is one that creates mutual respect among students in addition to creating respect between teachers and students. Such an environment makes students try hard and avoid failure.

Reflection

Teaching reading to grade 3 students requires special skills and practices that enable the students to easily grasp the content. The main essential practices to be used here include: classroom discussion, cooperative learning activities, project based learning, incorporated technology use in the process of instruction, and other motivational forces that would enhance learning. Motivation is a force that enables us to achieve set goals. It is an essential aspect of learning because it plays a big role in the process of teaching and learning. It helps students enjoy their lessons in class and therefore enhance their performance.

In the assessment, I was able to observe a lot of practices which I learned in theory. I realized the importance of using these evidence based practices to enhance learning and improve on outcomes. For instance, the use of various techniques for classroom management by the teacher was very insightful. I could not help but notice how effective some of the techniques were. Similarly, I also noted partner work and cooperative learning as instruction strategies. These were the main strategies used by the teacher during the lesions I observed. Partner work has the uniqueness of enhancing the process of learning. Partner work can be integrated into the lesson in various ways. The teacher can allow students to work in pairs and give them exercises and classroom learning activities to be completed in pairs. Partner work also helps improve conversation and speech among learners. Partner work can be used in the classroom by teaching the students to disagree and then work together in pairs until they come to an agreement.

The teacher used cooperative and collaborative learning to teach reading skill. This is an effective instructional method which has been described by researchers as additional tool when learning language skills. The strategy puts learners in an environment that helps them practice reading skills. Similarly, the instruction methods recommended in this assessment have been described to be effective. The use of partner work in reading lesson has a similar impact as cooperative learning

In regards to personal and professional development, there are factors that I consider when selecting pedagogy strategy. The factors include: the entry level of learners, desired learning outcomes, and the learning environment. Based on the lesson I observed, these three considerations are important for effective lesson.

Classroom management and the level of student engagement is another area of pedagogy that I was keen to assess. Key indicators for student engagement include willingness to participate in classroom activities, attendance, submission of homework and any other required work, and being attentive in class. I was able to note some of these indicators as the lesson progressed. I was also keen in to note the level of engagement in relation to gender. Both girls and boys participated in the classroom activities on an equal level. Proper classroom management requires that the teacher be very knowledgeable on the subject content and delivery. This is despite the approach that a teacher intends to use in managing the classroom. However as a teacher, the most appropriate approach for classroom management is one that benefits the teacher, the learners and the school environment as well. The consideration of classroom management begins at the planning stage, where the teacher prepares for instruction delivery.

Reading Fluency on Elementary Level and Technology

It is impossible to underestimate the impact of technologies on our daily life. This topic is relevant because the digital revolution has provided us with different tools and activities that can make the problems that we need to solve easier and less challenging. The same can be said about education and curriculum practices, although not everyone would agree with such a statement. Nevertheless, the writer chose this topic because it is evident that technologies can have a positive impact on the reading fluency of the students, allowing them, and teachers to work more efficiently than ever.

About this topic, the writer found out that the modern world demands from the students not only the ability to write, read, and compute but also critically evaluate the information that they receive day by day. Visual and multimedia literacy is also necessary to adapt to the flow of information provided by the media (Levin & Schrum, 2015). Some of the schools, although not all, are engaging technologies into the learning process, allowing students use school laptops to solve specific tasks, presenting them with particular computer games during the language classes that help increase the students interest in the topic, or providing the classes with interactive whiteboards and iPod Touches (Levin & Schrum, 2015). While the laptop initiative at one of the schools was used to raise achievement for 6th-graders in all core subject areas& [and] expose students to a tool they will use in their future work life, some of the teachers cleaned up defunct websites or created example websites for their students (Levin & Schrum, 2015, p. 22).

Another impact of technology on curriculum practices is the implementation of computer games that allow children to codesign the games, use new identities (scientist, writer, astronaut, etc.), understand what skills are valuable and what ones are not needed right now. Video games also teach students to define and reach short-term and long-term goals, and activities that teachers sometimes find challenging (Kellinger, 2016). Moreover, computer simulations also can help develop a better understanding of a concept, by both the teacher and the student (Kellinger, 2016). However, Kellinger (2016) points out that making a curriculum to a game can result in unexpected outcomes; therefore, the approach to this transformation needs to be careful, as some of the practices might not work.

The importance of visual media in curriculum practices is also discussed by Hyler and Hicks (2014) who point out that visual literacy should not be perceived as an add-on to the curriculum but rather as a critical component of the classes (p. 130). Although the authors admit that setting up the tools needed for the implementation of technology might cost some time, its impact on classroom activities is worth it (Hyler & Hicks, 2014). However, as the most curricula that are being developed rarely engage technologies as extensively as the authors propose, it remains unclear whether the traditional education will find it practical to review all practices just to include information technologies in it.

Nevertheless, some activities that are ignored by the traditional curriculum might be extremely useful: for example, comparing text, audio, and multimedia versions of one text will help learners develop reading skills and critically evaluate the text. This approach can trigger some questions relevant to adult life as well, e.g. what views and points are represented in this text? How will different people understand this text? What is not mentioned? (Hyler & Hicks, 2014). As can be seen, the integration of technology in the curriculum can learn students to be more critical, creative, and attentive to the texts.

Using Curriculum and Assessment to Strengthen Classroom

Curriculum and assessment belong to the traditional tools that teachers use to learn and develop the skills of their students. Depending on the country, the state, or the school curricula can be autonomous or standardized. Assessment is used in the major core subjects to evaluate students progress and success, understand what problems are present and how they can be eliminated. The writer chose this topic because the use of curriculum and assessment is regarded either as effective or as an unpractical approach, depending on the authors view (Steiner, 2012). It also seems reasonable to mention that the evaluation of the curriculum and its usefulness will help understand if it is capable of strengthening the classroom.

Curricula are usually dynamic and change class to class, presenting new ideas and activities. Assessments are also developed according to the contents of the class. About this topic, the writer found out that highly standardized curricula are used in different countries and provide equal opportunities for students (Steiner, 2012). Moreover, standardized curricula provide students with clear goals and tasks and allow them to understand what actions need to be taken to meet their expectations. The development of the curriculum also engages different stakeholders, including teachers, parents, administrators, and funders (Greenstein, 2016). If assessments are balanced, they will also be perceived as purposeful and responsive (Greenstein, 2016). Assessments can vary and include pre-assessments and formative assessments that help students understand where they are headed and guide teachers on how to adapt content and resource to students pace (Greenstein, 2016).

However, both curriculum and assessment practices can be inadequate and decrease the success of the learning process. As a professional, learning about this topic contributed to the understanding of why assessment practices are often criticized for their limitations and how these assessments influence students and teachers. For example, focus on processes that evaluate student learning led to the problem that actual outcomes of the learning were neglected (Astin, 2012). However, it is important to establish an assessment-based culture in the classroom so that the children will perceive assessments not as a problem but as a support during their study (Greenstein, 2016). It should be pointed out that too standardized assessments and curricula can undermine innovation at the local level (Steiner, 2012, p. 2). Moreover, such curricula limit teachers freedom to present creative ideas and decrease the levels of diversity in the learning process.

The use of curricula to strengthen classroom performance is not encouraged in every country; some of them prefer a more autonomous approach, e.g. Finland. Finlands method has proven to be successful and showed learners and teachers that frameworks and curricula, as well as assessments, are not always helpful in the learning process (Astin, 2012). This topic is relevant because it raises questions about whether the traditional approach (curriculum and assessment-based) is still necessary for schools. However, the impact of assessments cannot be underestimated as they can be used by students as guides for self-evaluation. For teachers, assessments are a tool of promotion of talent development (Astin, 2012). Thus, although curricula and assessments might become irrelevant one day, they remain to be practical and robust tools for evaluation and learning.

References

Astin, A. W. (2012). Assessment for excellence: The philosophy and practice of assessment and evaluation in higher education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Greenstein, L. (2016). Sticky assessment: Classroom strategies to amplify student learning. London: Routledge.

Hyler, J., & Hicks, T. (2014). Create, compose, connect!: Reading, writing, and learning with digital tools. London: Routledge.

Kellinger, J. J. (2016). A guide to designing curricular games: How to game the system. Berlin: Springer.

Levin, B. B., & Schrum, L. (2012). Leading technology-rich schools: Award-winning models for success. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Steiner, J. (2012). Why have a standards-based curriculum and what are the implications for the teaching-learning-assessment process? English Teachers Journal, 5(2), 1-8.

Curriculum refers to the content of what is learned and is being taught, resources used in teaching-learning processes and how assessment is done. It happens that teachers in their classrooms use curriculum designed by authorities. But major question is: do these curriculums ensure that all students get to learn effectively? According to U.S. Education report, about 96% of teachers encounter students with learning disabilities in their classrooms (Rock, Gregg & Ellis, 2008).

Globally, situation is not different as it has been noted that challenges facing teachers are not only limited to having students with learning disabilities in their classrooms but also due to having students who have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds which may not be necessarily compatible with traditional schooling (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).

Research findings indicated that most of prescribed curriculums used by many teachers did not address effectively the individual needs of students. They are found to have adverse effects on students with disabilities. Such students have significantly different cognitive abilities and require tailored learning-teaching method to meet their needs. Failure to do this has resulted in poor performance, increased dropout rates and high rates of unemployment among these children (Lewis & Batts, 2005). Therefore, in this paper I would like to emphasize the need of revising the prescribed curriculum in classrooms by integrating differentiation instruction in order to ensure that the needs for all students are fairly met.

Differentiation instruction can be described as a process that facilitates the way students learn and demonstration of that which has been learned to correspond to students readiness level, their interests and such learning as their preferred mode (Lewis & Batts, 2005). Therefore, from this definition we find that an effective education approach is the one which not only focuses on rigorous content but respects differences in students prior knowledge and interests and is the preferred mode of learning.

Prescribed curriculums rarely address this. Cognitive psychology and research findings concerned with achievement of students in studies support a number of principles that underpins an effective instructional design. One of such principles supports that human beings are more likely to construct meaning than passively receive it. Every aspect of learning should be guided by generalized principles that are vast in application but so appropriate to meet diverse populations need (McTighe & Brown, 2005).

Research studies indicate that when there is a coverage of many topics it does not help students develop competency in subject-matter. In addition, though feedback is very important in learning process, in most of classroom learning sessions it is omitted. A person has different ways of learning and achieving what has been learned. It has been recognized to students can only measure factual knowledge gained and do not go further to find out if students are aware where the reason for using knowledge is acquired (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). For this reason, it should be noted that there is a close linkage between how students achieve learning and education process that make use of differentiation principles (McTighe & Brown, 2005).

Wiggins & McTighe (2005) have created the stages according to which the curriculum is to be planned. The first stage is devoted to planning. Moreover, the information at this stage is to be used only by the designers of the lesson as the goals reflected here are to be understood only by the teachers. The next stage is to be devoted to the evidence which are to be used for achieving the results discussed in the third stage. The third stage should be the representation of the learning activities directed at making students interested by means to referring to their skills, knowledge and experience.

It is observed that differentiated instruction operates on theoretical framework, beliefs and guiding principles. This theoretical framework is derived from cognitive psychology and also based upon research focusing on student achievement. Theoretical framework is supported by four guiding principles that are associated with differentiating practices carried out in the classroom. One of the guiding principles is the attention to essential ideas and skills in the content. The second principle can be summarized in terms of integrating assessment and instruction. The third principle focuses on being responsive to each of individual students differences. The last principle involves the process of ongoing adjustment of content and products in a way suitable to meet the levels of prior knowledge of each student, style of expression and critical thinking (Tieso, 2005).

Differentiation instruction is also based on certain beliefs. One of such beliefs is that students of same age have different readiness when it comes to learning even in their interests and style of leaning. Their experience and life circumstances are not the same. These differences are sufficient to make great impact in respect to what students require in order to learn, pace of their learning as well as the kind of support suitable to them from their teachers (Tomlinson, 2000).

Evidence-based educational research indicates that students can achieve more if supportive adults can press them slightly beyond the point they are able to work without help. If there is a connection between students interests and curriculum, effective learning can be realized. In order to enhance capacity of students in learning there should be a sense of community between schools and classrooms. By this students feel valued and respected (Tomlinson, 2000).

Differentiation instruction can be perceived in two ways. The first way is that educator can decide to modify the teaching and learning content or process (Nordlund, 2003). The second one is that teachers can consider varying what they expect for completing a task in a given lesson or across instructional unit. For example, varying graphic organizers, scaffolding strategies, previewing and offering direct instruction in small groups can be some of the ways teachers can vary their expectations in respect to students completing tasks. No doubt, many students have been found to benefit from instructional methods which are diverse (Lawrence-Brown, 2004).

However, there are a number of misconceptions that are associated with differentiate instruction. If differentiation instruction is used, a student will turn out to be poorly prepared for standardized tests. Some people perceive that if teachers decide to implement differentiation instruction, they are bound to create workloads unfairly. It is also mistaken to believe that there would be unfairness if a student were given a credit for learning while he/she has not demonstrated the same knowledge as others in the classroom. Last misconception is that if differentiation instruction is applied in learning, students will not be competitive enough in the real world (Wormeli, 2005).

The number of evidence-based research has been conducted to find out the effectiveness of differentiation instruction. For instance, certain qualitative study assessed teachers and students who took a three-week enhanced math unit to investigate impact of differentiation instruction. Findings indicated that there were a number of positive impacts from students in terms of motivation, level of engagement and excitement in learning process (Tieso, 2001).

Another study carried out in the area of reading which applied differentiated approaches that consisted of students choices of various tasks, flexible grouping, increased self-selected reading and accessibility to different reading resource material also found positive outcomes. It revealed significant improvements in respect to students instructional reading levels. Several strategies such as mastery of phonemic, decoding skills, and reading attitudes were used (Tieso, 2005).

Findings from curriculum-based assessment that included before and after assessment measures to evaluated student performance indicated that students who possessed diverse abilities and got intervention had greater achievements in math unit compared to those who did not get differentiated instruction (Tieso, 2005). A certain qualitative study was conducted to find out how differentiate instruction approach is implemented in students with cognitive disabilities revealed several aspects that reflected this approach (McTighe & Brown, 2005).

Such included reduced emphasis on whole class lessons, high level of peer-assisted learning and presence of team-teacher collaboration. Another study which employed problem solving tasks in differentiation science instruction with two mixed ability class indicated positive academic outcomes with need for teachers to allocate enough time for their students so that they can reflect and be able to evaluate their learning (Odgers, Symons & Mitchell, 2000).

Although there are overwhelming evidence that differentiated instruction approach is of great benefit for students it is not applied in a large scale in learning. Possible reasons are that only few general teachers are ready to deal with students who have varied learning needs and where teachers are willing to use differentiation instruction there are challenges such as overwhelming responsibilities and need for substantial content coverage (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Nevertheless, benefits of differentiated instruction outweigh setbacks to implement it. For this reason, intense advocacy and sensitization to education authorities is needed so that differentiation instruction can be integrated into the standard curriculum in order to meet the needs of all students.

References

Lawrence-Brown, D. (2004). Differentiated instruction: Inclusive strategies for standards-based learning that benefit the whole class. American Secondary Education, 32, 34-62.

Lewis, S., & Batts, K. (2005). How to implement differentiated instructions? Adjust, adjust, adjust. Journal of staff development, 26(4), 26-31.

McTighe, J., & Brown, L. J. (2005). Differentiated instruction and education standards: Is Detente Possible? Journal of theory into practice, 44(3), 77-95.

Nordlund, M. (2003). Differentiated instruction: Meeting the educational needs of all students in your classroom. Lanham: Scarecrow Education.

Odgers, S., Symons, A., & Mitchell, I. (2000). Differentiating the curriculum through the use of problem solving. Research in Science Education, 30, 289-300.

Rock, L. M., Gregg, M., Ellis, E., & Gable, A. R. (2008). Reach: a framework for differentiating classroom instruction. Preventing Child Failure, 52(2), 37-46.

Tieso, C. (2001).Curriculum: Broad brushstrokes or pain-by-the numbers? Teachers Educator, 36,199-213.

Tieso, C. (2005). The effects of grouping practices and curricular adjustments on achievement. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29, 29-36.

Tomlinson, A. C. (2000). Reconcilable differences? Standards-based teaching and differentiation. Education leadership, 58(1), 24-39.

Wormeli, R (2005). Busting the myths about differentiated instruction. Principal Leadership, 5(7), 28-33.

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. New York: ASCD Publishers.

NAEYC Professional Preparation Standards provide a vision of excellent professional performance in early childhood education. The document is comprised of seven standards that can be efficiently used by the specialists in practice for the improvement of self-efficiency and provision of a high-quality service.

The aim of the paper is the evaluation of NAEYC Standard 5. The level of teachers knowledge and compliance with the curriculum program influence the effectiveness of students learning. Therefore, the comprehension of standard constructs will help to find ways for the improvement of academic performance.

Standard 5: Using a Content Knowledge to Build Meaningful Curriculum

The effectiveness of the early education curriculum depends on many aspects including teachers content knowledge, compliance with age-appropriate standards of teaching, addressing the psychological, cognitive, and emotional needs of the students (NAEYC Standards 2010).

The level of teachers competence has a direct effect on educational outcomes. When aware of this cause-and-effect interrelation between content knowledge and students achievements, a professional from the side may evaluate the negative academic situation, and identify the roots of the problem easily.

Secondly, it is important to understand that a teachers level of competence also depends on his/her ability to comprehend the capabilities and needs of the students (Tarrant, Greenberg, Kagan & Kauerz 2008). By following this principle, a teacher can improve self-efficacy in the development of curriculums. At the same time, comprehension of the standards constructs by advocates may significantly facilitate the identification of the issues related to the curriculum development and content knowledge in teachers. In this way, an advocate may become an expert in the evaluation of educational problems, can resolve the controversies between the parties (parents and teachers) through the accurate detection of the problem causes, and suggest the appropriate solutions.

List of Questions

What is the interrelation between content knowledge and students academic development?

Children can attain significant positive results in education only if the teaching is efficient. The efficiency of teaching, in its turn, depends on a sufficient level of professional knowledge and effectiveness of the educational program (Barbour & Lash 2008). Only when these basic constructs of teaching efficiency are fulfilled, the children and their caregivers may be considered responsible for adverse academic outcomes.

How to improve content knowledge?

The key elements of competency include the knowledge of disciplines content, their core concepts and structures, and early learning standards. The development of content knowledge is essential to professional growth.

What makes the early curriculum good?

The young students have particular emotional and psychological needs that should be considered by the teachers in the development of a program. A teacher needs to be sure that all the needs can be effectively addressed through education that follows the curriculum.

How do content knowledge and curriculum design interrelate?

The profound knowledge of subjects and the interrelations between their main concepts may increase the effectiveness of curriculum design, especially in terms of its consistency.

What are the major goals of early curriculum development?

The main goals are the provision of accessible and powerful education for children with different demographic backgrounds. The curriculum should be aimed to develop students concerning academic performance, social-emotional, and psychological well-being (Colker 2008).

Early Childhood Professional

Nicole Theriault, an Early Childhood Teacher at the Phillips Brooks School.

The purpose of the assignment for Nicole as an experienced professional in early education is the review of the teaching-related issues from the inside perspective. It is expected that Miss Theriault will give her vision of advantages provoked by an extensive content knowledge in the development of curriculums. Through the online interview, she can share her opinion on how a teacher may increase competence and what aspects make an early education curriculum strong.

Conclusion

NAEYC standard addresses the issues of teachers professionalism. It provides an ideal vision of a specialist that should be followed to build competence and increase educational efficiency. The understanding of the main rules of professional conduct supports the improvement of students academic performance. Thus, NAEYC standards may be considered valuable informational resources for specialists in education.

Reference List

Barbour, N & Lash, M 2008, The professional development of teachers of young children, in S Feeney, A Galper & C Seefeldt (eds), Continuing issues in early childhood education, Pearson, New York. Web.

Colker, L J 2008, Twelve characteristics of effective early childhood teachers, YC Young Children, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 68-73. Web.

NAEYC Standards: for initial and advanced early childhood professional preparation programs 2010. Web.

Tarrant, K, Greenberg, E, Kagan, S & Kauerz, K 2008, The early childhood workforce, in S Feeney, A Galper & C Seefeldt (eds), Continuing issues in early childhood education, Pearson, New York. Web.

Cultures and Literacies

The concept of literacy has been significantly changing during the last several decades due to the digital revolution and invention of new information storage media. The common types of literacies during my study in high school were books relevant to the subject (if one could find them) and the online databases such as Wikipedia and other educational websites. It was evident back then, and it is even more evident now that new literacies are in many ways more effective than their previous forms because they can provide information much faster than any books or print media. Therefore, teachers should not avoid using new literacies and new media as tools for teaching and learning; instead, they should be encouraged because modern students will have a hard time learning without them.

However, the issue of new literacies is their potential to distract and interfere with learning, as well as discourage it by providing instant answers and reflections. When used unwisely and without extent, new literacies can disrupt ones ability to learn, although, as it appears, not critically. Thus, new literacies should be used in the classroom as complimentary tools that are allowed to enhance the learning process but prohibited as soon as they start interfering with it.

The next problem linked to the new literacies is students access to them. Most of the new classrooms have Internet access, but there are students who are more proficient in using online resources than others. This can lead to difficulties and challenges for those students who have trouble using computers and browsing the Internet. Moreover, students with disabilities can also face barriers when working with online resources. As a teacher, I can present the necessary information in different forms, provide print texts with their digital copies and vice versa. It should also be taken into consideration that students who do not have Internet access at home or who have limited access to online sources need to be supported by the teacher or the school (e.g. if the teacher decides to provide a YouTube link as homework, she or he also needs to provide the video to those students who cannot access it). Schools can help such students learn by allowing them to visit the computer classes to complete their homework.

The diversity of cultures is another theme that should be addressed by all teachers to ensure that all students take part in the learning process. None of the students wants to feel left out, especially if they represent another culture compared to the majority of students in the classroom. Therefore, I believe it is crucial to teach children about cultural differences and similarities, to explore beliefs, traditions, and holidays in a creative way, to address the history of cultures. Such classes are needed to ensure that all students have the ability to discuss and represent their culture, as well as the culture of others. Moreover, the deep understanding of ones culture also leads to the increased awareness of possible privileges or discriminations linked to it. These issues should not be neglected; instead, teachers should show how students can investigate the impact of cultures on their daily life and the life of others.

Another way to address cultures is to present texts that discuss students cultures for analysis; this way, students will learn about dialects and languages that they might have never encountered before even if their classmates are representatives of this culture. Careful and thoughtful approach to cultures encourages respect and curiosity towards them.

Three Steps

One of the steps often implemented by teachers is increasing awareness by physically presenting words in the classroom. For example, students are introduced to one or several texts during the week. When the week is ending, the teacher can suggest voting for the words of the week, i.e. those words that students regard as the most challenging or the most curious or the most misspelled ones. Using this approach, the teacher can increase students awareness of new words; furthermore, the teacher can also ask students to use this word at home and in their writing (but only if relevant) to see if the word is understood correctly.

The word or words of the week can also be the ones that were used more frequently during the week. When talking about the word, the teacher can ask students to quickly think about sentences that can include this word and make sense at the same time. Thus, the teacher can evaluate students who will provide examples to see if the word is used in the right context. Each week students will be able to learn a new word or comprehend its meaning better and be more aware of it next time when it is used in a text.

The next step can be comparing and discussing ones favorite words during the discussion session. New words introduced to students and old words that everybody is aware of can be presented as favorite ones; if a student shows their favorite word, they also need to explain what exactly this word means or in what contexts (i.e. sentence) it can be used. This type of exercise is frequently used when teaching English as a second language; however, teachers often do not realize the potential of this activity for students who are native English speakers. Discussing and explaining ones favorite words will make them more comprehensible; next time when students will face one of these words during the reading, it is most likely that they will recall its meaning. Furthermore, this exercise also implies students are conscious that words have specific meanings and& [students can] reflect on their meanings (Otto, 2015, p. 175).

To encourage independent work on words in the content area, students can make a word collection journal where they will write down all the words they found interesting, confusing, or fun during their reading. Thus, students will be encouraged to pay attention to words in class readings but, at the same time, they will work on this journal independently. As soon as the reading of a particular material is over, students can introduce their collection journals to each other to compare what words each of them decided to add. It is possible that some of the words will repeat in different journals; next time when reading or writing the word, students will have less trouble remembering how the word is written or spelled.

Students can have a hard time understanding or determining the meaning of an unknown word, and the steps presented above can reduce the anxiety or stress related to these activities. The problem of confusing or boring texts, as students define them, often roots in new, unfamiliar words that students cannot recognize and use in a conversation; therefore, word awareness is crucial for students motivation to read a text. After discussing their favorite words or collecting them in a neat journal, students will see that discovering new words can be fun and entertaining. This, in return, can motivate students to try reading independently or with parents assistance at home. Teaching students to become aware of specific domains of words can result in better productivity during the reading.

Knowledge of the Reading Process

If a teacher is aware of how the reading process flows, this awareness will suit them as a supporting tool in making teaching and studying more efficient. Reading comprehension is the construction of meaning of a written or spoken communication through a reciprocal, holistic interchange of ideas between the interpreter and the message (McLaughlin, 2012, p. 432). In the article, the author points out that the social constructive nature of reading and comprehension is based on the assumption that readers enhance their understanding when they communicate with others about the meaning of a text or any other type of information media (McLaughlin, 2012). Therefore, students need to be involved in discussions about subjects and themes to construct the meaning(s) of the text.

Some of the readers can engage different strategies when reading a text; using them, readers use the knowledge they have to process the text strategically (McLaughlin, 2012). They also generate and ask questions when encountering different parts of the text; these questions help them discover new information, hidden in the text (McLaughlin, 2012). Students can also use context clues and re-reading strategies to understand more complicated sections of the text (McLaughlin, 2012). The teacher can utilize the same strategies when working with students on a complicated text; some of them will try using these strategies independently, while others might ask for assistance. Nevertheless, the reading process will be more efficient for both types of the readers if they will try to follow at least one of the strategies provided by the teacher. The reading process often demands to ask questions, especially when the meaning or the message of the text are too complicated to define. As McLaughlin (2012) points out, good readers can also differentiate when they construct a meaning and when not. For elementary and middle school students it might be a difficult task, but high school students are capable of distinguishing between the idea they generated and the one that is present in the text. Thus, this approach can be engaged when working with high school students who are struggling to understand the idea of a text. Although generating ideas about a text is not a bad ability per se, it can negatively influence the comprehension and perception of the text.

The teacher can also try introducing this knowledge to students to help them develop individual reading strategies. For example, the teacher can discuss previewing and self-questioning as essential parts of reading, and ask students engage these strategies not only when they are reading but also when they are writing. This will make students reading easier due to the previewing that will evoke their background knowledge of the material. During writing, students will be more aware of what and how they are discussing a problem by asking themselves questions related to the issue.

Another important part of every reading process is the readers interest in text. Complex texts can be challenging, but if students are interested in this text, the reading process will not be burdened by students lack of motivation. Those students who are not interested in reading at all might have had a negative experience with complex and not suitable texts, which eventually made students think that reading is generally boring and complicated. That is why it is crucial for the teacher to understand how the complexity of the text influences students perception of it. Too complex texts should be avoided. Furthermore, students should also have the opportunity to choose between different texts. It is reasonable to suggest that the teacher can provide several texts on various topics with the same level of complexity and let students choose which of the texts will be analyzed during the reading session.

Integrating Writing

One of the efficient strategies to incorporate writing in the teaching process is to ask students to create and fill reading journals that will be related to the course material. On the one hand, reading journals stimulate students to use their imagination and creativity in describing and approaching the studied texts. On the other hand, students can reflect upon the expressed ideas using their writing, which can improve their writing skills and help them notice what kinds of mistakes they often make. I also find it reasonable to ask students to provide their reading journals to the teacher so that the teacher can take part in their reflections as well. Moreover, such strategy will help the teacher evaluate whether or not writing is integrated successfully and how students use their writing in text analysis. Writing out ideas can help students develop a better understanding of complex texts in the course material.

Another approach towards the integration of writing can have the following form: students will be asked to write a short essay about the key concepts and words they learned during the class. Complicated essays linked to the reading material in each of the content areas will be an unnecessary burden for students; that is why it is reasonable to provide students with easy, but routine writing tasks that have the potential to foster students writing skills. Moreover, the teacher should also ensure that the texts she or he provides are various, and do not only include excerpts from textbooks. This needs to be done because students exposure to different texts will help them to learn how to describe texts of various genres (essays, articles, poems, chapters from books, etc.). It is evident that different genres and pieces of information require the engagement of different writing techniques and methods.

The method used in the words awareness section can also be used to integrate writing. Students are to be asked to write down all words they find interesting in a text; students can also try finding synonyms or antonyms to these words and writing them down as well (if appropriate). Students can be asked to check ones journals with words, revise and correct them if possible. Using this assignment, the teacher will have the opportunity to evaluate whether students are ready to develop their editing skills and if they are capable of detecting mistakes in the work of other students and their own.

When the previous activities are implemented, the teacher can ask his or her students to write a review or another material linked to the book (an essay, a detailed opinion, etc.). When the task is completed, students work can be displayed in the classroom or shared among them. One can expect that students will engage the background knowledge they gathered and the skills they developed to write the assignment because it will be seen as a competition. However, it is unadvisable to determine a winner, because this might negatively influence self-esteem of other students.

Generating ideas about a book in the written form is also a good opportunity to engage students writing skills. The teacher should also encourage students to take notes during reading so that students can use them when generating an idea or completing their journals. It is important to make lessons connected so that students are clear about the aims of these lessons and the goals that the teacher sets. If lessons materials are isolated from each other, students will have more difficulties in engaging their writing skills when completing an assignment that requires a variety of them: for example, students might forget about prewriting when composing their first essay.

Increasing young childrens contact with print during shared reading by Piasta et al.

In the reviewed article, the authors tested their hypothesis about the influence of an early contact with print on the childrens reading, comprehension, and spelling. The enhanced contact with print sources (newspapers, letters, magazines, etc.) resulted in higher word reading, spelling, and comprehension outcomes (Piasta, Justice, McGinty, & Kaderavek, 2012). Using the STAR program as a base, teachers in the assigned groups made references to print by asking questions such as do you know this letter? and tracking a sentence with their finger (Piasta et al., 2012, p. 813). Each print reference needed to be referenced at least twice (Piasta et al., 2012). The teachers in the control group had the same training and visited the same workshops as the teachers from groups with other conditions. However, teachers from the control group were not asked to make any explicit references to print sources; they engaged other high-quality reading practices (Piasta et al., 2012). Phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge were assessed as emergent literacy skills because they are capable of predicting the later reading success (Piasta et al., 2012, p. 815). To analyze the data, the authors used hierarchical linear models (Piasta et al., 2012).

One-year and two-year post intervention analyses showed that children who learned in the high-dose STAR condition had higher word reading, spelling, and comprehension outcomes than children in the regular reading comparison condition (Piasta et al., 2012, p. 816). Two-year post intervention showed that children who learned in the high-dose STAR condition had better results compared to children from the low-dose STAR condition group. Post hoc analysis supported the findings that children from the high-dose and low-dose STAR condition groups demonstrated longitudinal advantages in language as compared with children in the comparison condition (Piasta et al., 2012, p. 816). Therefore, as it can be seen, references to a print text during the reading sessions are related to the improved reading comprehension in early learners. As the authors point out, it is crucial to implement such reading strategies that will positively influence later reading comprehension, especially in those children from disadvantaged backgrounds (Piasta et al., 2012, p. 818). According to the authors, approximately 30 references to print are seen as beneficial, compared to 8.5 references that teachers normally make. Thus, it is possible to assume that increasing childs access to print and encouraging contact with it can result in an enhancement of their reading skills.

Suggestions and cautions for addressing text complexity by Wixson & Valencia

The second article focuses on the instructional goals in text complexity and points out how teachers can transform the goals and assignments related to it to ensure that students can learn effectively. The CCSS-ELA Three-Part Model, argue the authors, needs to be revisited by teachers; instead of approaching it in a linear fashion (quantitative, qualitative, and reader and task), teachers need to begin with reader and task factors to measure text complexity (Wixson & Valencia, 2014). As the authors argue, text complexity is not inherent in the text, but it is a set of factors. Therefore, the instruction goals developed for an assignment need to take these factors into consideration. Thus, it is essential to pay attention to the nature of the tasks in which they engage students because teachers can control these factors (Wixson & Valencia, 2014, p. 431). The mode of response, the amount of text that students need to read, and the depth of the process influence the perception of text complexity. Therefore, the authors point out, teachers can change the complex nature of the text by providing different tasks and taking students ability to comprehend the text into consideration (Wixson & Valencia, 2014). It is unadvisable to use the Three-Part Model only because a greater focus on reader and task factors will help the teacher understand what goals and objectives need to be included in the instruction (Wixson & Valencia, 2014).

The next suggestion provided by Wixson and Valencia (2014) is to approach the text and its content carefully. It is important to understand the relations between the text content and the goals the teacher sets (e.g. what students need to learn from reading). The teacher should also take into consideration that purposes, Standards, and knowledge the teacher expects students to engage will identify the most relevant task features (Wixson & Valencia, 2014).

The authors conclude that students need to read various types of texts; these texts can be easy for some and difficult for others. Therefore, students who can read grade-level materials independently need to be introduced to other materials, more complicated ones if they are interested. Students who have difficulties with grade-level materials need instruction and practice& at their specific instructional levels (Wixson & Valencia, 2014, p. 434). The strategies suggested by Wixson and Valencia (2014) can be used as a supporting guide when developing instructional goals for content readers.

Use of the outdoor classroom and nature-study to support science and literacy learning by Eick

The next article summarizes the strategies that can be used to engage writing and reading in other content areas of the curriculum. As the author points out, the teacher examined in the case study uses the outdoor classroom to meet the science and language arts standards (Eick, 2012). The teacher used the outdoor classroom to introduce children to some of the concepts and ideas taught during the science classes; she encouraged examination of insects, plants, and trees and fostered interaction with nature during recess (Eick, 2012). During language arts classes, the teacher selected those texts that aligned with the topics in the nature class, for example, books or poems about trees. Furthermore, the writing assignments were also linked to the science classes  students described their experiences in the outdoor classroom, wrote about their butterfly garden, or being a water droplet in the water cycle (Eick, 2012, p. 797). However, the test scores did not always correspond with the demands expressed in the Standards, and the teacher was not sure whether this approach was always right.

As Eick (2012) points out, describing outdoor activities was especially exciting for students with lower achievements because such assignments boosted their self-esteem. In the presented case, science curriculum was used as reading content for students, and the experiences during the outdoor classes were used as the content for writing classes. The difference from other strategies was the teachers decision to link the experiences to reading and writing; students were provided with a meaningful context they could relate to during their reading and writing activities. As Eick (2012) points out, this relation between contents and experiences helped students develop an additional motivation to complete the tasks presented in the language arts area because they were already familiar with the topics. Furthermore, writing also helped students develop a better understanding of the facts they learned during the science class. Students were capable of reflecting their experiences and describing them, which positively influenced their literacy skills, as well as scientific knowledge.

The real-world context connected to the reading and writing areas is a framework that other teachers can also use if they wish to connect two or more content areas. As the study shows, children are more motivated to read and write about those facts they are familiar with.

References

Eick, C. J. (2012). Use of the outdoor classroom and nature-study to support science and literacy learning: A narrative case study of a third-grade classroom. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 23(7), 789-803.

McLaughlin, M. (2012). Reading comprehension: What every teacher needs to know. The Reading Teacher, 65(7), 432-440.

Otto, B. (2015). Literacy development in early childhood: Reflective teaching for birth to age eight. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Piasta, S. B., Justice, L. M., McGinty, A. S., & Kaderavek, J. N. (2012). Increasing young childrens contact with print during shared reading: Longitudinal effects on literacy achievement. Child Development, 83(3), 810-820.

Wixson, K. K., & Valencia, S. W. (2014). CCSSELA. Suggestions and cautions for addressing text complexity. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 430-434.

Introduction

Children with disabilities especially mental disability have continuingly been discriminated by world curriculum. Inclusive education is a curriculum that accommodates both disabled children and the non disabled in the same school environment. They are exposed to the same learning facilities. The curriculum is made to fit the needs and expectations of these two categories of children (Wehmeyer, Lattin, & Agran, 2001). There are numerous advantages that accrue to students with disability when such a system is adopted; therefore, this paper discusses access to the general curriculum for students with severe disabilities in terms of the definition of access to general curriculum and the methods that might be considered such as modification and accommodation.

Benefits of Inclusive

Other than developing an educational background from the programs, they develop interpersonal skills as they interact with their peers. On the other hand, children without disabilities are able to develop a positive attitude towards the disabled a factor that assist the disabled to integrate in the society more easily during their schooling life and life after school. As the interaction continues, disabled develop communication skills which extend to facial and body language interpolation and understanding. The students with disabilities develop social skills and an improved self esteem. On the other hand, when they find them as not different from others in school, they develop motivation that can be of great gain in their academic life (Wehmeyer, 2003).

General Curriculum for Students with Significant

What is the access to general curriculum for students with severe disabilities?

Curriculum involves all the processes that are done in a typical day in a school environment. It starts from lateness rules set in the school to the conduct of general class activities; games and sports also form a part of the curriculum. In an inclusive education curriculum, a disabled and normal student should participate and be treated in the same way. There should be no discrimination in sharing of duties and enforcement of rules and regulations. When this happens, it assists in shaping emotional and psychological health of a disabled.

Access to general curriculum gives students with cognitive disability a chance to adhere to curriculum standards, contents, and material of the prevailing curriculum and schooling model. It gives a chance for them to fully integrate and follow the system of the cognitive upright students. Other than the student being set free to interact with their peers, educators should go a step further and ensure that cognitive disabled students maximize the advantage that they have as they interact with their peers. The educator should assist the child to develop an esteem that assists in competition with its peers. Adoption is a major problem in these set up, tutors have the task of ensuring that these student interact efficiently (Smith, 2006).

Modification and Accommodation

Modification and accommodation are terms that are used interchangeably in describing various situations in school settings. Students with disabilities cannot compete at the same platform with cognitive upright students; they require special attention and thus modification in the way classes are conducted is essential. On an inclusion system there must be accommodation and modification to ensure that both students benefit equally. Despite modification and accommodation having the same objective, they are different in the approach they take.

Classroom Modification

It means changing the curriculum so as it can accommodate all the students according to their level of understanding. It may involve ensuring that cognitive disabled student is taught on the basics alone and no much complex work is given to him / her. It targets at giving the disabled a chance to take less demanding tasks. For example they may be required to answer few questions in a test or be allowed more time than the normal time that the other students are using in the same test (Rotter, 2009). Another area is on grading; students with cognitive disability could be given a lower pass mark than their peers. The following are strategies for modification;

Instructional Modification

It means that the guidelines and rules followed by and given to the disabled are adjusted to make them more easy to follow than other students. They include additional time for skill mastery; Braille use, late assignment submission among other ways that will make the life of the student comfortable.

Assignment Modification

This means that the assignment given to the students are reduced or simplified in a way that will make them more accommodated by the disabled. The time of submission should be checked as well as the mode of presentation; the aim is to ensure that a student submit his assignment with the best way according to his disability.

Grading Modification

Expectation should be lowered and grading different. An example is where a test with few multiple answers is given or where a pass mark of a disabled is lowered. To ensure that the students (both normal and disabled) benefit from such an adjustment, teachers should give regular assignment depending on the students abilities as a way of assessing the progress made by each student. The students who perform poorly should be given more attention by helping them understand the areas that they lag behind the others. Many are the times when teachers prefer the good performing students and ignore the others (who actually need more attention).

Accessibility Modification

This is concerned about how information is available for the disabled. If need be recording it for future reference should be done.

Definition of Accommodation

Accommodation means that the classroom environment is adjusted to cater for the needs of cognitive disabled students; it ensures that the structure, expectations, and some elements or total elements in class settings are adjusted to promote education of the disabled. It involves changing the learning environment to enhance learning of disabled students despite their deficiency in life. It takes deliberate efforts by administrators, tutors, and parents.

Accommodation Strategies

Accommodation takes different forms; they are both administrative and operational the following are forms that the strategy follows;

Administrative Strategies

This is all about policies that are set by the top management that should support an inclusive system. The administrators should support the system; they are the ones who should ensure that parents and tutors understand the need for such a system and develop innovation measures to make the life of cognitive disabled students comfortable. The decision on the type of infrastructure that is adopted in the school should support the need of cognitive disabled students.

Facilities Strategies

This focuses on how comfortable the learning physical environment is. It involves the classrooms that the students will be taking their classes and ensuring that they are accessible. Sitting desks also fall in this category. They should be made to accommodate the needs of such students.

Instructional and Curricular Variations

This involves what takes place inside the classroom. Here when a student is disabled, measures are taken to ensure that he benefits from lessons in class. It involves the curriculum adjusted to fit the needs of the student. Advanced notice of assignment, syllabus and different form of teaching or presenting assignment, an example is a case where lessons for such students are tapped and homeworks presented orally instead of written assignments. Time and reporting time is another area that can be adjusted to ensure that the student fits in the system.

Depending on the kind of disorder that the disabled is suffering from, he may need to report late or go home early. A good system should take care of such factors. In some cases the normal way that exams are conducted should be adjusted, these are in terms of time and the pass grades. Also electronic equipments (like computers and calculators) should be allowed in exams for the disabled. Whichever the strategy, the aim is to adjust the prevailing condition such that a cognitive disabled student is assisted to learn in the same environment with cognitive upright ones (Hitchcock et al, 2002).

The Differences between Modification and Accommodation

Either modification or accommodation the target is to ensure that cognitive disabled child is able to interact and fully participate in activities that other students are doing. They involve making their life better by understanding their condition in life and act to assist them cope with the environment presented by the school.

The only difference that they have is on the approach that each takes; accommodation means that in the prevailing conditions and standards, the needs of the disabled are taken care of. For example, the shape that sitting desks have may be modified to meet the cognitive disabled student condition. In modification the same conditions exists but expectations of the disabled are lowered than those of other students. For instance the grading may be lower than that of the peers or the duration expected to accomplish a task lengthened (Craig, et al. 2006).

Conclusion and Summary

Every child has a right to education. Children go to school to learn and to acquire the skills that they can get from their families. It would therefore be unfair and unjust if these children are discriminated against in terms of education. It is good to understand that, children have different needs and abilities and they should be handled differently if they are to succeed in life. There is a common saying that, disability is not inability and therefore every child should be given equal rights regardless of their physical or mental disabilities.

Modification and accommodation are terms that are used interchangeably in describing various situations in school settings. Students with disabilities cannot compete at same platform with cognitive upright students; they require special attention and hence modification in the way classes are conducted is essential. Accommodation means that the classroom environment is adjusted to cater for the needs of cognitive disabled students. Modification means changing the curriculum so as it can accommodate the entire student community according to their level of understanding. There is need to develop an inclusive syllabus since it ensures that cognitive disabled children develop high self esteem and become better people in life.

Reference List

Craig, H., et al. (2006). Introduction to Special Issue on Accessing the General Curriculum What We Know and Need to Know about Accessing the General Curriculum for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. Vol. 31, Issue no. 4. New York: Tash.

Hitchcock, C. et al. (2002). Providing New Access to the General Curriculum Universal Design for Learning. CEC.

Rotter, A. (2009). Rekindling the Love of Learning. New York: Strategic Book Publishing.

Smith, A. (2006). Access, Participation, and Progress in the General Education Curriculum in the Least Restrictive Environment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. New York: Tash.

Wehmeyer, M. L., Lattin, D. L., & Agran, M. (2001). Achieving access to the general curriculum for students with mental retardation. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 36, 327-342.

Wehmeyer, M. (2003). Defining Mental Retardation and Ensuring Access to the General Curriculum.38 (3); 271-283. Kansas: University of Kansas.

Introduction

The efficiency of educational programs may differ depending on the community. It is evident that schools with higher academic performance require a more advanced curriculum than schools with lower academic achievements. Therefore, sometimes, schools curriculum is to be reevaluated and changed to adhere to the needs and ability of learners and the capabilities of the school. The present paper offers a curriculum change plan for Jacox Elementary in Virginia. This plan utilizes Lewins change theory to include biblical worldview into the language arts classes.

Plan Proposal

General Considerations

Jacox Elementary is a school in Norfolk, VA, that serves 718 students in grades kindergarten through five (Jacox elementary school, n.d.). The percentage of students achieving proficiency in language arts is 48%, while the division is 66%, and the state passing rate is 78% (Jacox elementary school, n.d.). According to the Virginia Department of Education (VDoE, n.d.), in 2018, there were 172 disruptive or disorderly offenses committed by students, and 20.28% of students were chronically absent. In short, the school operates in a problem neighborhood; therefore, the standard curriculum for English classes proposed by VDoE (2017) needs to be altered to reflect the characteristics of the area.

The school would benefit from the introduction of the biblical worldview to its curriculum because it may help by giving hope of salvation and bring meaning to the life of students. In Bible, it is said that without the knowledge about God, children will always be learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7, The New King James Version). Indeed, children living in a hostile environment need to know about the grace of God to acquire meaning in life; otherwise, they will remain ignorant.

Even though education currently aims at being technologically advanced, this is not relevant for Jacox Elementary. Technology in schools gives students the opportunity to enhance their interaction with classmates. Integrating technology may be effective for connecting with students of all learning styles. However, the school suffers from sufficient underfunding, and its facilities are old and require constant repairs (Jacox elementary school, n.d.). Therefore, the current digital trends and technology seem inapplicable to the selected school. These trends are to be considered after the integration of biblical worldview into the educational process on all levels.

Three Steps of Change

Curriculum alteration will benefit from utilizing comprehensive change theory to decrease the probability of adverse outcomes. According to Rudhumbu, Mswazie, and Maphosa (2016), curriculum change is not just a process but rather as a complex interaction of various factors in society acting at different stages so that whatever transpires on one stage affects the activities of another (p. 1). Therefore, it is proposed to utilize Lewins change theory for the endeavor since it is a thoroughly studied framework. The theory describes three stages of change: unfreezing, or arousing dissatisfaction with the current state of matters among stakeholders, moving or implementing the change, and refreezing, or making final adjustments to accept new standards (Schein, 1996). Therefore, the curriculum change plan will also have three stages described below.

• Stage 1: Unfreezing. During this stage, all the educational plans will be reevaluated and strengths and weaknesses identified. Additionally, the arguments for the introduction of biblical worldview will be gathered, summarized, and condensed into a coherent presentation. This stage will take three months of the summer break.
• Stage 2: Moving. During the moving process, the proposed changes will be implemented and tested. The process will require a whole academic year, or nine months to assess its outcomes.
• Stage 3: Refreezing. This period will take another three months of a summer break after the implementation of change. During this time, feedback will be gathered, and the outcomes of the change assessed. After that, a list of recommendations will be elaborated, and the project will be altered accordingly.

Reaching out to the Stakeholders

Lewins change theory describes three steps to reaching the stakeholders so that they become dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. According to Schein (1996), all the stakeholders have to go through disconfirmation, survival guilt, and psychological safety of overcoming the barriers. Below is the plan to reach out to all the stakeholders, including parents, teachers, librarians, and administrators. Al the information will be delivered during meetings, media announcements, online discussions, and posters in schools. The plan is applicable both to parents and school staff.

• Step 1: Disconfirmation. This phrase implies that the stakeholders get to know about the issues with the current practice.
• Step 2: Survival Guilt. This step is describing the implications of the present problems for learner and community outcomes.
• Step 3: Psychological Safety. This step aims at reassuring all the stakeholders that the issues can overcome by providing recent empirical evidence and theoretical concepts.

Conclusion

Curriculum changes are inevitable due to the evolving nature of the environment. Educational programs are to be adapted for the learners and school settings to ensure the best educational outcomes. The analysis of Jacox Elementary demonstrates that its curriculum is to be altered to include a biblical worldview. The introduction of technologically advanced methods is inappropriate due to insufficient funding and lack of required equipment. The curriculum change plan covers 15 months, and it is to be guided by Lewins change theory. Special attention is to be paid to communicating the change to all the stakeholders.

References

Jacox elementary school. (n.d.). Web.

Rudhumbu, N., Mswazie, J., & Maphosa, C. (2016). A model for planning and implementing curriculum change in private higher education in Botswana. European Journal of Training and Development Studies, 3(1), 1-22.

Schein, E. H. (1996). Kurt Lewins change theory in the field and in the classroom: Notes toward a model of managed learning. Systems practice, 9(1), 27-47.

Virginia Department of Education. (2017). Norfolk public schools English curriculum 2019-2020. Richmond, VA: Virginia Department of Education.

Virginia Department of Education. (n.d.). Jacox elementary. Web.

The philosophy of the 2016 Kindergarten program is established based on providing a substantial foundation for 4-5-old-year learners in friendly and safe conditions. The major goals are concerned with the development of young learners curiosity, social and emotional competence, creativity, and well-being (The Kindergarten Program, 2016). The program emphasizes the need for collaboration between children, educators, families, and environments.

Pedagogical approaches include studying through inquiry, environment as the third teacher, responsive relationships, and reflective practice (The Kindergarten Program, 2016, p. 11). The program identifies several basic principles of play-based learning, including recognizing play as a preschoolers right, considering every child as having a rich potential, viewing curiosity as the main driver of learning. Also, creating a suitable environment and including play-based learning programs are considered highly important (The Kindergarten Program, 2016).

The Kindergarten Program views assessment as the main approach to understanding childrens learning. Reporting and communication mechanisms in this area include observations, videos, photos and notes, work samples, interactions, and voice recordings (The Kindergarten Program, 2016). With the help of these approaches, teachers can analyze and interpret learners achievements effectively and focus their further activities on increasing childrens performance. Criteria on which children are evaluated include the use of physical space and reaction to various levels of sensory stimulation and the use of time by the preschooler (The Kindergarten Program, 2016, p. 40).

Also, verbal expression of actions and thoughts, body language, emotional response to the environment, adjustment, and understanding others perspectives are included in the assessment. Recent changes to methodology include offering learners numerous opportunities for drawing connections between past and new experiences. The analysis of such associations allows teachers to improve childrens skills. Also, the methodology has been enriched by such approaches as sustained shared thinking and assessment as learning (The Kindergarten Program, 2016).

To successfully implement and evaluate the new curriculum document, teachers need to function as reflective practitioners (The Kindergarten Program, 2016, p. 117). In particular, educators are responsible for challenging learners and responding to childrens words and actions to make connections to prior knowledge. Also, teachers play an important role in extending their pupils learning (The Kindergarten Program, 2016). When working with children based on the How does learning happen? (2014) pedagogy, teachers need to engage in collaborative inquiry.

The major benefit for children, parents, and educators in Ontario kindergarten classrooms is a shared understanding. Parents gladly use teachers observations to promote their childrens development. At the same time, insights that parents share help teachers to gain a more extensive understanding of their students (The Kindergarten Program, 2016). There are four frames supporting Kindergarten learning that promote teachers understanding of childrens development.

These frames incorporate thinking about belonging and contributing, self-regulation and well-being, demonstrating literacy and mathematics behaviours, and problem solving and innovating (The Kindergarten Program, 2016, pp. 47, 54, 64, 87). Finally, a significant advantage of the curriculum model is the opportunity for families to become a part of various learning and teaching activities (The Kindergarten Program, 2016).

Despite the numerous benefits provided by the Kindergarten program, there are some challenges that educators may meet when implementing it. The major possible difficulty is presented with the process of pedagogical documentation (The Kindergarten Program, 2016). While this approach is rather beneficial for understanding pupils abilities, some teachers might find it difficult to collect all the necessary data and analyze it appropriately and timely. Another challenge is the arrangement of effective collaboration with preschoolers families. Finally, some teachers may find it complicated to arrange the learning environment in the most effective way.

References

How does learning happen? Ontarios pedagogy for the early years. (2014). Web.

The Kindergarten Program. (2016). Web.

What feelings did you have about the people with disabilities featured in this module?

Blindness is a disability that has no equal. The eyes are the windows to the soul is a popular analogy that is used to capture the importance that eyes play in our lives. While some people are born blind, some acquire blindness that drastically changes their way of life. From a normal persons point of view, people with the disability of blindness are quite impaired and cannot easily perform day-to-day duties. While the above perception may be true, the extent to which it is distorted is clearly captured through everyday life activities. Hardly can employers employ blind people to perform administrative or other duties in the corporate world. It is hard to imagine blind people correctly describing an object or a situation or actively participating in any forum with people with normal eyesight.

The common perception that we normally have is that, blind people are trapped in eternal darkness and, can hardly figure out the meaning of physical world like normal people do. More often than not, we are oblivious of the fact that blind people can learn, have brains that function optimally and sometimes, some were one not born blind.

Did the initial thoughts and perceptions you had at the beginning change after completing the module?

After completing the module, the perceptions about blind people change. It is clear from the module that blind people are nothing of what we think about them. The blind man accurately describes the David with precision that only a normal man can do. I look at his beautiful eyes, incredible eyelids and the tear ducts that no person could see from the ground. The pupils of his eyes were like hearts (Transcript, n.d, par. 2). He further describes the feelings that he thinks the David is having and especially, how their eyes meet. This particular description only serves to reinforce the popular notion that whatever opinion we have about anything is all in our mind.

Further, the blind man reveals that he was once normal with eyesight that he lost at war (Transcript, n.d, par. 5). The fact that he was once normal means that he understands different phenomena better than those people that were born blind. The revelation helps change our tendency to classify wrongly blind people as one group who have more or les the same experiences to offer.

Share at least one strategy for fostering an inclusive environment in your classroom

After completing the module and realizing that blind people have as much to offer as normal people, it is only fair to think of ways to foster inclusion so that we can reduce the disadvantage gap that exists between normal and disabled people. The strategy involves the use of leaders to foster the inclusion of disabled people to in everyday life activities. This strategy will help in creating and raising awareness, help increase understanding among the population and help in enhancing development of skills on how to handle disabled people.

The strategy will require leaders to carry out an assessment of current perceptions about disabled people and inclusion measures that are already in place. The strategy will also require leaders to set up a vision that captures current reality and what the desired outcomes are. Finally, the strategy must ensure there is in place a criteria of measuring progress on the inclusion measures that will have been put in place.

Reference

Transcript. (n.d). Disability Awareness : Wrap Up: What Do You See? Perceptions of Disability. Web.

Abstract

This paper presents a personal design of the essential learning strategies in the prevailing curriculum. It discusses how the curriculum can be modified to develop in various factors such as environment, social state, current education, and psychological state. All these are associated with the learning outcomes of education theories such as Vygotysky and Piaget. Eventually, there is synthesis of literature and its reflection to the curriculum.

Introduction

The essential learning styles must dictate the outcomes and become relevant to the prevailing working conditions. The establishment of such a system that overlooks outcomes and stresses on result based teaching practices is fundamental and ultimately paramount in the education system. This paper describes various points where the curriculum can be modified to basing on the various learning theories

Psychological Foundation

Traits

Behaviorism is also a crucial concept in the psychological area when discussing curriculum. This entails the stimulus responses to issues or conditions. It is about how one carries out oneself as shown in the image study style on the board (Todd, 2010). When followed separately, this concept entails conditioning and shaping the characters of the learners. This is done through giving rewards to the learners and reinforcements. In the Behaviorist Reinforcement Theory, Clark Hull says that drive and reward determine the conditioning of behavior (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013). The drive possessed by a person to get something, and the reward associated with attaining it allows the conditioning of the behavior.

This concept is a priority because it caters for those students with difficulty in learning. In behaviorism, the curriculum can be divided into smaller partitions for those students with problems (Jacobs, 2010). With the small units and desired behaviors reinforced to them, the curriculum can accommodate such students (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013). This idea is also important because all students are not quick learners. Therefore, there will be a need to reinforce the slow learners so that they keep on track. Rewards are also important since they may give the students the drive required. This concept has influenced curriculum in a way. For instance, there are set behaviors that are acceptable in the classrooms. These are to ensure order and safety of the students. Therefore, these imply that the behaviorism is also a vital concept in the curriculum.

Historical Influence

Nationality

With the new evolutionary period in The National Period (1770s and 1880s), the mission for education changed. In this era, education had a new mission of life, equality and liberty as depicted in the image of different races attending similar classes. Dr. Benjamin Rush came up with the idea that a curriculum should emphasize democracy (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013). He also believed that exploration and development of natural resources were to be enacted through the curriculum. In his concept, some unnecessary subjects in the curriculum were to be eliminated while crucial areas were introduced. Science became a major area of study in the curriculum.

This idea of nationality is essential in the curriculum for making it relevant and accessible to all like the introduction of free elementary schools. This idea has influenced the curriculum by introducing new missions for education and the curriculum.

Reading

One of the concepts and ideas introduced in the colonial period (1642  1776) was the reading culture. The picture with learners holding books in the action board shows that much of reading is required in the curriculum. During this colonial period, the curriculum majorly focused on reading (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013). The educationists in America at the time had to concentrate on subjects that promoted reading and also those that supported reading.

This concept is a priority when enacting the curriculum because most of the studies taken in the curriculum are done through reading (Samaras, 2011). For example, even when having scientific studies, a person accesses the libraries for research purposes. Therefore, a positive attitude towards reading and following this attitude is vital. Furthermore, reading has influenced the curriculum in a big way as it is a main subject.

Social Foundation

Modernity

The image of the postmodern computer laboratory illustrates modernity. The concept of postmodern society is a priority when discussing the curriculum. In the present world, it is difficult to predict issue and outcomes of most incidents. New ideas and methods are being introduced and utilized currently. The postmodern theory states that the schools are involved in the introduction and distribution of new knowledge and technologies (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013)

This concept is integral in the curriculum since it ensures that relevance of the curriculum is maintained. For instance, there seems to be no universal/common language for students in this postmodern society. The theory believes that a language remains a political tool, but the contemporary theories of education and social sciences shall be rewritten. In this theory, it is said that gender, class, and race are brought by language but liberty joins them together (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013). Therefore, the concept in this theory is important when campaigning for liberty through the curriculum.

Age-mates

The effect of the peers to a learner is another important concept in the social foundation that should be considered in the curriculum. With many studies showing that the social conditions of the students affect their academics, it was important to check into it. In populations where the young people view education as less important, the peers will end up carrying a negative attitude towards education. This perception was experienced in the Latinos.

As children go through their adolescence, the peer groups are crucial since studies show that they affect their academics and social behavior (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013). This idea of monitoring the peers is important when looking into the curriculum since the peers affect the academics of learners to the extent of manipulating their attitudes towards education. This concept has influenced the curriculum by making sure some specific studies are done at particular ages to manage the peer pressure.

Education Philosophy

Change

The philosophy of reconstructing is one integral concept to have when enacting the curriculum. This philosophy looks into changing and improving the society through the schools. Its main objective is to reconstruct the society and to improve it (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013). Reconstruction will be a priority since it is in these educational institutions that people gain knowledge and experience. This concept allows serious consideration in the field of curriculum since it is seen that the curriculum will be charged with improving and maintaining the societies conducts and values.

Values

The philosophy of Perennialism aims at preserving the good values and knowledge learnt in the curriculum. It also advocates the passing of these values and knowledge to the next generations. As a school leader in the curriculum, the concept is the best in this philosophy because the students get to carry the values they gained to the next classes and even pass them to the next generation (Aveyard, 2010). This implies that the morals and knowledge gained would not be wasted which is a credible attribute. The concept in this philosophy has seen the curriculum change to make learning an innovative field. It also prepares students to be ready in handling situations without resisting. This philosophy preserves the world since some of the past ideas and educations are conserved (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013).

References

Aveyard, H. (2010). Doing a literature review in health and social care a practical guide (2nd ed.). Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press.

Jacobs, H. (2010). Curriculum 21 essential education for a changing world. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Ornstein, A., & Hunkins, F. (2013). Curriculum: Foundations, Principles and Issues. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Samaras, A. (2011). Self-study teacher research improving your practice through collaborative inquiry. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Todd, R. (2010). Curriculum integration. Camberwell, Vic.: ACER Press.