Discussion Board – Funding Schools

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Schools always seem to be at the short end of the political stick when it comes to funding. State tax dollars are the principal means of funding schools, yet it would be very unpopular for politicians to suggest raising taxes even if schools are underfunded.

Some suggest that it would be better to fund schools locally through local taxes. Others say it would be more efficient if we privatized schools as the charter school movement suggests. Still, others suggest that if we offer extra dollars to schools that perform well on the FCAT then that will get everyone to be more successful with the funds they have and to compete for additional merit funds.

What do you think is the best remedy for the difficult question of how best to provide schools with sufficient funds to do a good job?

Please limit your responses to two paragraphs. Quality (not quantity) is the key!

Create A Action Plan Brocks Runny Nose

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Chapter 6 Scenario: Brock’s Runny Nose

Objective and scenario

To develop and evaluate an action plan to identify and manage childhood illness.

Brock is a delightful 4-year old who has Down syndrome.  During the first weeks of the preschool session, he seemed to listen carefully, try hard, and get along well with his classmates. So far, you are pleased with his progress.
One of your assistant teachers expressed concern about Brock’s continuously runny nose and productive cough during a recent team meeting. She wonders if this is normal or a sign of illness, so you share your knowledge about children who have Down syndrome with the group. However, today you both have observed that Brock is noticeably more listless than usual, his cough is more frequent, and he has begun rubbing his right ear.

Focus assignment

1. Complete the first step of your action plan by briefly explaining why you would, or would not, be concerned about the symptoms that Brock is exhibiting. List the symptoms that are characteristic of an upper respiratory infection and outline the steps you would take to prevent its spread in the classroom.
2. Be sure to read the REFLECTION section below to guide your thinking. Write your reflection after you have completed the first step of your plan.
Self-Evaluation

1. For each item in your plan:
a. Explain how this item addresses the issues in the scenario.

2. Describe and justify how your plan would improve teaching and learning in the scenario.

Assignment #5: Pamphlet Creation

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  1. Create a pamphlet (a trifold) that includes information, images, quotes etc. about sexual violence and rape culture within colleges and universities.  You might focus on these larger topics; you might focus on specific areas of discussion such as Title IX, athletics, Greek Life, or party culture. Or you can focus on a specific school, example, or issue.  The options are endless so long as it connects directly to this lesson’s area of focus
    The pamphlet should highlight issues of sexual violence and rape culture within colleges and universities, educating the viewer about the issue, offering specifics, details, and insights to further the knowledge and understanding about the subject at hand.  It is your opportunity to teach and educate those outside the classroom about these issues, about what you learned (or knowledge connected to our class) challenging them to engage in these critical conversations.  The key is to highlight these issues, and to do so primarily through images, quotes, statistics.  The challenge is to bring this part of the course, its readings/film, and the issues discussed in/related to class to life in a pamphlet.  The challenge is to make visible these issues in a medium that doesn’t allow for a lot of text.  Be creative.  Point to things they can do with this information.
    A successful project in 10 steps

    1. Prepare and plan to be successful
    2. Find a focus.  I am going to do a pamphlet on ____ (topic).
    3. CONDUCT RESEARCH; utilize outside sources AND course sources
    4. Find images, key facts, quotes, information, that allow you to tell your story
    5. CONDUCT MORE RESEARCH
    6. Reflect and then decide how you will present this information.  Think creatively
    7. Make sure you project educates a person, encouraging them to learn about the issue, theme, concept, etc.
    8. GIVE EFFORT
    9. SHOW EFFORT
    10. Submit on ______
    11. Grading breakdown is as follows:
    • 9 points – Quality of pamphlet, chosen issue(s), connection to course materials, how is it expressed,
    • 5 points – Incorporation of both course materials and outside research
    • 3 points – Creativity and clarity of presentation
    • for a possible total of seventeen (17) points.
      Look here for template, resources, and help in creating: https://www.canva.com; https://flippingbook.com; https://spark.adobe.com/make/pamphlet-maker/; https://templates.office.com/en-us/business-tri-fold-brochure-tm00001002

Reading Education

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Directions: Please answer the discussion questions in 150 words each, using in-text citation (APA style) and answer reply to the responses using 100 words each. This is for an ESL (English as a Second Language) Education Course. This is due within 26 hours!

 

Discussion Question 1: Explore the National Center on Universal Design for Learning website, particularly noting the principles of UDL. How would employing these principles in lesson planning increase academic achievement of ELLs?

Response: Magaly wrote –

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) main goal is to make learning more accessible to students, especially those in inclusionary programs (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2019). UDL is a structure that gives flexible and responsive curriculum that will decrease learning barriers. The concept is that with modifications of representation (materials), expression (methods of communication) and engagement (how students respond to curriculum) teachers will be able to include a more diverse range of students in a general education classroom of instructions (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2019). When using UDL, educators and speech-language pathologist (SPLs) can provide curriculum options such as using varies ways to present a lesson. This is important because students can express themselves and their knowledge as well as being able to engage in learning. ELL students need to have variation and choices in their everyday class experience, as educators we should be able to provide different learning styles. Providing different learning styles ensures that ELL students are given the opportunity to have their needs educational goals both daily and by semester. The UDL guidelines can be mixed and matched according to specific learning goals and can be applied to particular content areas and contexts (CAST, 2018). They can be seen as a tool to support the development of a shared language in the design of goals, assessments, methods, and materials that lead to accessible, meaningful, and challenging learning experiences for all (CAST, 2018).

 

Response: Stefanie wrote –

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for teachers to build lesson plans that enables all students the opportunity to participate in, and progress in the general-education curriculum by decreasing their specific obstacles to education (Ralabate, 2017). Each student we will encounter within our classroom has their own needs, preferences for learning, and abilities. UDL takes the burden off of the students and teachers to adapt material and puts it on the curriculum and offers options for the ways that information is taught, how students demonstrate their skills and knowledge, and how students are able to engage in learning within their classroom (Ralabate, 2017)

The UDL Guidelines offer a framework to optimize learning and teaching for all people based on how humans learn (The UDL Guidelines, 2021). This framework can then be used to look at the why of learning to provide engagement, the what of learning to provide representation, and the how of learning through action and expression (The UDL Guidelines, 2021). Learning expectations lays out the goals for the lesson, instructional strategies are the methods to accomplish said goals, the materials that are needed to demonstrate learning is not limited to one method, and the assessment refers to how the information pertaining to the student’s progress is gathered and used to continue to work towards creating expert learners that can assess what their learning needs are, monitor their own progress, sustain and regulate their own interest, persistence, and effort to complete the learning task assigned (Ralabate, 2017).

The UDL guidelines and principles in lesson planning increase academic achievement of ELLs because it allows for multiple ways for ELL students to engage in the material being taught, removes barriers that stand in the way of their understanding what is being taught, and offers multiple ways to show their understanding of the presented material. Conventional methods of teaching based on a structured curriculum that does not offer these supports will leave ELL students behind in the classroom setting because it does not offer the freedom to meet these students where they are in the learning process and help them to succeed.

 

Discussion Question 2: Provide an example of a project, assignment, or in-class activity that could be used as a means of employing multiple assessments of ELLs. Why are multiple assessments important? ( Subject: Secondary- 11th Grade History)

 

Response: Amanda wrote-

When I read this question, I looked at each the project, the assignment, and the in-class activity as varying levels of assessments that make up a unit of study. To clarify, if you were teaching a unit on Historical Fiction and the overall objective was for students to be able to determine the major theme of the novel you would design lessons that build up to that point. You would first use a pre-assessment to gauge what do my students know about theme, do I need to teach what theme explicitly, or can I review it and weave theme related activities throughout the unit. Then I would take that information and use it to help determine what activities would help them understand theme, determine how to gauge if they were understanding it or not. I would use in-class activities and assignments to assess them (formatively) to determine if they needed more time, more context, or if they were ready to take on the next chunk of learning reading the book and using all the tools to determine theme and submit a final project on that theme. Each lesson you teach should have layers to it, you should determine what students know (this is your starting line), assess them with comprehension questions or fun quizzes mid lesson (this is mid-point assessment) to see if they are on track or you need to slow the lesson down, and then you have the final assignment or exit ticket that will show you what they learned (this is the finisher) and if they made any progress from the start of the lesson to the end.

Multiple assessments are important because they provide you real information about the lesson you are teaching. They tell you where the student started, where they are growing or not growing so you can switch gears or add in more supports, and then the final assessment is to show the progress they have made.

“One assessment generates evidence, which in turn can be used to make decisions about student learning and development, as well as improve program quality and effectiveness. However, the use of multiple measures encourages more comprehensive and accurate assessment. This benefits not only the students who are learning but also the instructors who are doing the teaching” (Whalen, 2016, para. 1).

Multiple assessments serve students and teachers as a way to demonstrate progress and help educators know when more support is needed. They are valuable tools that can be done simply through quick writes, quick multiple-choice quizzes, in-class discussions, in-class polling, exit tickets, homework assignments, and final projects.