Blog #3 (FS18)

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Vazquez on November 14, 2018 at 11:40am

My teaching slice involved setting up a plan that can suit students with and without accommodations. One can say, dealing with students with accommodations went well. Videos, pair work, and timing was included into the lesson, which allowed students with learning disabilities to be able to communicate and work as the other students. Communication between the student and teacher was very well promoted in order to make sure the student was learning, and not getting confused with the directions according to Shrum and Glisan (2016). My colleague was in charge of creating a lesson plan for students with non accommodations. One can say the lesson plan went very well. The three P’s were used. The practice part was great because, reading and writing was promoted. Students having to read about Dia de los Muertos, really helped promote culture. Lee and VanPatten (2003) believes that promoting culture will help the student get into the lesson. It makes the lesson relevant because students will understand the significance of this type of lesson. The production part of the presentation was another part of the lesson were you promoted communication. Students expressing themselves to the class will help you as a prospering teacher to get to know your students academically. You presented the lesson very well. You were enthusiastic, and knew what you were doing, although that is the case, your pacing could have been slower for our colleagues to understand. Now, One recommendation that could be dealt with from your lesson plan is the presentation part. It was very broad, and it was a very generic question. Although it was a big hook, students need a little lesson about what will be taught. Not all students know about this day. During the presentation, one can say, editing was a major issue that could have been dealt with. There was a lack of accent marks, and one the pictures could have been fixed. Another issue was that there was failure to address which type of learning disability student we are targeting. This is very crucial because not all students with learning disabilities have the same issues. One can say the presentation was very general, and needed to have focused more on the student then in a general classroom. (374 Words)

Permalink Reply by Maria Sciortino on November 18, 2018 at 11:01am

The lesson which you and Gloria created followed each step required by the three Ps. As I already said in class, the only flaw was not specifying which learning disability the teaching slice was created for.  The reason I point this out is because the activity choice changes according to the disability the teacher is trying to address. Other than that, the lesson was well structured in each part, and the choice of videos was excellent. The video was entertaining and informative at the same time. The activities proposed were adequate for both general and special education. Both of you presented the lesson with a lot of enthusiasm. Good job! (110)

Permalink Reply by Margarita Mejia-Ramos on November 19, 2018 at 12:28pm

Hi David,

The presentation that was showed was great. All of the three P’s were included in the lesson, the timing was also great, as it will give students the opportunity time to complete all the activities one wanted to present. One should be careful when giving students bad input, such as spelling, especially in a second language. One should also keep in mind the accommodations that are being made since there are many different learning disabilities. One will like to complete you and your peer coach for including culture in your lesson plan. The video that you showed was impressing, and it was very slow paced.  (105 words)

Permalink Reply by Maria Sciortino on November 15, 2018 at 7:18pm

Our teaching slice covered a disability with special physical needs, in particular, hearing impairment. My peer coach and I worked synergistically in finding the topic and creating two different one-day lessons, one for general education, and another one for special education. Briana worked exceptionally well at researching for options regarding our topic choices which allowed us to find the optimal topic to work on. After we agreed on the topic we worked on differentiating the lesson for the student with hearing impairment. In this regard: "Effective differentiation will typically be proactively planned by the teacher to be robust enough to address a range of learner needs, in contrast with planning a single approach for everyone and reactively trying to adjust the plans when it becomes apparent that the lesson is not working for some of the learners for whom it was intended (Tomlinson, 2001, p.4). 

Briana suggested using many visual cues, giving the student the possibility to understand the lesson and learn the vocabulary words through the use of images. Working from there, it was easy to create activities for both, general, and special education classes. Briana showed a lot of confidence, even though the activities which we presented were in Italian, a language unknown to her. Briana was exceptionally convincing in her performance, as she explained how the activities were created in order to accommodate the student's needs and showing the difference between how the two lessons presented different activities according to the students' different needs. It is important to make students with disabilities learn a second language as any other student. In this vein: "Prior to the 2004 reauthorization, students with learning disabilities were often excluded from foreign language study. The law now stipulates that foreign language is one of the core subject areas that must be accessible by learners with disabilities" (Shrum and Glisan,2016, p.357). A teacher can create an inclusive environment for students with disabilities not only by choosing the right activities but also by creating an inclusive environment. In this vein: "Through a provision called inclusion, students who have physical, intellectual, or emotional impairments are now part of regular classrooms and receive special accommodations in those classrooms. IDEA was reauthorized in 2004 as Public Law 108-446 to include updates related to newly identified disabilities, accommodations access, and teacher preparation"(Shrum and Glisan, 2016, p.357). (word count 397)

Permalink Reply by David Vazquez on November 15, 2018 at 8:16pm

Hello Maria,
You and Briana did an exceptional job in your presentation. You added as many pictures to your work which is very important for students who can't hear. You added as many activities to challenge these students. One can say that the three P’s were there. With that being said, you presented very well, and clearly. I was able to understand what is being said. You convinced the class about your activities. The fact that there was lots of binding really helped your lesson plan. The references you used were very well cited. Overall, the student will definitely learn if you use your plan. Body language is another thing a teacher can use for hearing impairment. Great job to both of you, and very great teamwork.

Permalink Reply by Oscar Bustamante on November 19, 2018 at 5:25pm

Ciao Maria,

Briana and you did a good job. Your hearing impaired student method using visual cues was the most appropriate approach. In this case, the use of images, which is great to teach the TL to general education students too, is of much significance for this type of Special education students. The indirect method for the assessment test suggested for this lesson plan is also suitable for the hearing impaired students. The dynamics that Briana and you showed working together during the presentation of the lesson plan was fantastic. Briana showed more confidence this time even though Italian is new for her. Well done!

(103 words)

Permalink Reply by Maria Rodriguez on November 15, 2018 at 8:15pm

The mini- lesson was based on heritage language learners. Valdés (2000) “defines an HL. A Learner are individuals who are raised in a home where a non-English language is spoken. The student may speak or merely understand the heritage language and be, to some degree, bilingual in English and the heritage language” (p.33). Therefore, it is very important that teachers, parents, and the community work together to share cultural and linguistic elements that contribute in the students’ success in the acquisition of the TL in the classroom.
My partner and I did a differentiate lesson plan to address HLLs’ learning needs. At the beginning of the lesson, students had the opportunity to visualize a video clip, in which they were exposed to sociolinguistic variation from Perú. While students were listening to the video, they had to fill in the information as they heard it. During this phase, students were able to comprehend the material because it was easy to comprehend.
During the process phase, students were able to visualize some pictures related to the reading activity. Students were provided with a reading material based on “Sofia and friends” trips to Perú. This activity was differentiated, in one activity students were able to select vocabulary related to the passage. The other activity students had to answer some questions related to the passage. In both activities, students had to implement listening, reading and writing skills.
During productivity activity, students had the opportunity to work in groups of four and talked about the activities that they would like to do in their trips and why? Then they had to write a paragraph about what they would like to do on their trip. They will have the option to use the vocabulary provided. Through this activity students had the opportunity to exchange their interpersonal ideas about the topic in the TL, as well as they were able to implement their listening, talking, and writing skills. At the end of the lesson, students participated in an open-end question about the topic. From my point of view, the preparation of the lesson went well because my partner and I were able to work collaboratively and collect adequate material for the lesson. In which we could create a differentiated instruction that meet HLLs needs and interests. (379 words)

Permalink Reply by David Vazquez on November 15, 2018 at 8:23pm

Hello Maria,
Your presentation was phenomenal. It was a very difficult task, and it made students who know the language challenge themselves. It was very important how you put videos, and reading task because these heritage speaking students should be able to take on these task. This activity was very cultural. The students were able to learn a lot about Peru. There was the three P’s that is very important for your lesson plan. I really liked how you guys presented. You made it look like a lesson which really helped us understand the audience the lesson plan was for. Overall great job, and very well presented.

Permalink Reply by Oscar Bustamante on November 19, 2018 at 6:06pm

Hola Maria,

Your lesson plan addressed for Heritage Language learners (HLL) showed an approach full of reading needed to challenge this type of students. This lesson plan was special to me because its cultural content and sociolinguistic variation was about my home country Peru. The vocabulary part and the reading although a little long, were necessary because it is addressed to HLL students. The video and the names of the local ruins of "El Valle Sagrado" (The Sacred Valley) demonstrate the advanced content needed for the differentiated HLL. The reading comprehension in the practice phase was impressive. I enjoy your lesson plan. Congratulations Xochitl and Maria!

(104 words)

Permalink Reply by Gloria Payne on November 15, 2018 at 8:49pm

The presentation that David and I presented focused on students with a learning disability. Overall our presentation went well. We decided to divide our task to present the student with a disability and without a disability. I was responsible to present students without a disability. I was able to integrate El Dias los Muertos which is based around Mexican culture which captures and enhances the leaning of a new culture. We followed the input technique by asking questions to the class and waited for feedback which enables us to control and guide the narrative of the lesson plan. All the while we sought to simplify our approach so that we can address the students who required additional assistance. This was an important section with the lesson that was extremely useful in capturing the student attention. The use of the video was in part to draw the student attention, focus them on the real-life issue related to proper and improper ways of dealing with a student who are either mentally is physically disabled. Overall, we were able to incorporate the three “P’s” which are presentation, practice, and production. There was some missed opportunity. Additionally, the video was used as a medium to promote communication with the students. Taking time to collaborate on these exercises, cleaning up on any potential errors, is vital to the overall process in presenting a meaning full lesson plan. It was also the small hook in our presentation that was used to tie our lesson plan. For instance, the accent mark was missing from the presentation, which is important when creating a lesson plan to educate students learning the target language (TL). This was learned experience that I will review and scrutinize when presenting a lesson to the students. A second missed opportunity mentioned in class was that we did not designate the particular disability that was being addressed. This lesson was important as they provide vital in how to effectively educate the student with various levels of disability. Again, this presentation was helpful and add to our experience in building on our goal of being an effective teacher who are able to engage student from all walks of life. (word count 363)

Permalink Reply by Briana Lopez on November 19, 2018 at 6:47pm

 Hi Xochitl, I would like to start by saying I really enjoyed the lesson you planned for your heritage learner. In specific, the video you chose was very entertaining and appealing to the eye which will help you and Maria gain the attention of your fellow students. One also appreciates the fact you incorporate a reading activity into your lesson since that will help your heritage learners practice their reading skills. As you mention, it is important to incorporate grammar in one’s lesson, in order for students to improve their grammatical skills. Overall, I believe you and you peer coach Maria were able to achieve your goals of designing a lesson plan for your heritage speakers. (116)

Permalink Reply by Briana Lopez on November 15, 2018 at 9:34pm

During this teaching slice, Maria and I focused on coming up with a lesson that is designed for learners with special physical needs. In specific, my peer coach and I focused on designing a lesson plan that was designed and differentiated for hearing-impaired learners. We came up with two one-day lessons, one for general education students and another for hearing-impaired students. Maria did an amazing job helping me find a topic for our lesson. After finding our topic we both agreed on adding a lot of visual to fulfill our hearing-impaired learner's needs. Shrum and Glisan (2016) suggestion “Foreign language teachers of deaf students must think visually about their teaching” (p. 360). Therefore, we decided on providing our hearing-impaired students with vocabulary words that included images before showing them the video. Maria did an amazing job of finding two different videos for our lesson relating to winter clothing. The video intended for general education students was fast paced and straight to the point. While the video intended for hearing impaired students was slow pace, more detailed and appealing to the eye. Maria suggested we could use the same activities for our differentiated lesson plan however, we would just need to incorporate more visuals. I believe this is an amazing idea because this will help students with disabilities to feel a part of the lesson and classroom setting. Maria and I also agreed on having our student work in pairs, however, we would have to provide our hearing-impaired student with the extra support they might need. We did this by providing our student with images next to the true or false activity; therefore, our students with physical disabilities will feel a part of the lesson and not excluded.  Maria overall did an incredible job. She was very confident in what she presented and did a phenomenal job when explaining the reasoning behind every activity we chose. Overall, I believe Maria and I did a good job at designing a lesson plan that fulfilled a student with hearing-impaired needs while still having the student be a part of the lesson and not feel excluded. (352)

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