Synthesis of SCED 4200

This course has proved to be a very valuable experience for me. I have learned many new ways to instruct students and to focus on helping them grasp oral and written language in a variety of representations. Incorporating a variety of instruction in my discipline will be very important in providing students with a variety of learning activities in order to fit the learning preferences of each student.
For comprehension strategies, I plan to use many before, during, and after writing activities. These activities will allow students to access background knowledge of the text and subject and will allow them to utilize their inference and prediction skills of what might happen in the text. Before-reading activities will help students be on the same page and at the same level of understanding. During-reading activities will help students process what they are learning as they annotate the text and continue to make inferences. This will help them develop a deeper understanding of the text instead of reading the words but not comprehending the meaning of the text. After-reading activities will help students tie the information all together and confirm their understanding of what they have read. The different activities we were taught and observed in this class helped me understand the different ways in which these strategies can be taught. The Before/During/After Reading charts (or B/D/A Charts) seem to be an effective tool in teaching comprehension strategies and allow both the student and the instructor understand how the student increased in their knowledge of the issue as they experienced the text.
I also plan on having my classroom being a class in which students have plenty of opportunities to develop their oral language skills. Activities such as a mock debate or fishbowl activity seem to be very useful, effective, and fun strategies of teaching students to utilize their oral language skills. Speaking is own of the skills that is most valued in the workforce. Practicing those public speaking skills will not only help students in the educational environment but also in everyday life. They will have more confidence in speaking and expressing their ideas and opinions. In one of my social studies teaching methods courses we were able to experience a mock trial and understand how involved students might get if given the opportunity to participate in an activity similar to this. This was a worthwhile experience in that it taught me the difference between sitting in a desk for 90 minutes and being spoken taught as opposed to being part of the attention and participating in sharing one's own opinion and collaborating with others. I want my students to be able to experience that as well.
One of the big issues I most likely will face in teaching is instructing culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse students. I plan on teaching in a big city which implies teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students. I plan on scaffolding the learning of these students and providing additional feedback and support for these students in order to help them be successful as they leave high school and enter the workforce. The most important thing to help these students with is teaching them the language and teaching them how to act and adapt to American culture. However, I want to be careful in not stripping these students of their cultural identity and force them to forget where they come from and the way they were raised. I plan on allowing these students additional time to finish assignments so they can be done properly. If students struggle to understand specific instruction or directions then I will attempt to communicate with them in their native language (provided they are Spanish speakers). For students of other linguistic backgrounds I will attempt to communicate with them or find a student who speaks that language as well as English in order to help the struggling student.
I want to have an extensive library available for students in any classroom I am in. I want to have novels, graphic novels, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, suspense, popular young adult fiction, and appropriate magazines in the class. I want to provide texts with varying cultures, languages, protagonists, and settings. It is important to have texts which portray countries and cultures in a positive light. It is also important to provide texts with protagonists who are of varying ages, cultures, religions, and genders. The larger the variety of the text selection the better.
Overall, this course has taught me the importance of providing a variety of activities and instruction for students. Students thrive on a variation of instruction and this will allow them to adapt to new requirements and expectations.