Alyssa+Erbes


 * Record of Assignments**
 * Name of Student:** Alyssa Erbes

toc

** Pre-Adolescence **

** W : What you want to know (curiosities) **
 How to balance teaching differentiation in a classroom of students at different stages of development? (Physical, mental, emotional, and social)

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/di_meeting.phtml

** L : What you learned **
[Directions: First we will formulate RAR prompts for the four categories listed below (physical cognitive, emotional, and social). These prompts should relate back to your three curiosities listed above. Technologically speaking, add widget anchors here for easier reading, then delete instructions in the brackets]
 * 1) Physical
 * 2) Cognitive
 * 3) Emotional
 * 4) Social

** 1. Physical **

 * R (Review):**
 * About 15 to 20 percent of American children have chronic diseases and conditions, (including physical disabilities). During the past three decades Asthma in children has doubled. Being exposed to unsuitable physical environments has a large factor in children's health.


 * A (Apply):**
 * Children in poor environments tend to be more subjected to getting a disease causing them to miss school.


 * R (Reflect):**
 * If students could be exposed to better environments and stay active and healthy the chances of getting a chronic disease would hopefully decrease. However, that factors in environments during their infancy which only parents can control.

** 2. Cognitive **
Cognitive development is significantly related to Piaget's Theory. It talks about how children during the "concrete operational stage" start to think logically and reasoning. Then children move to the school-age level, practicing cultural associations such as social and other situations that relate to their development in school. This is also the time when students are acquiring the skill of processing information and developing attention and memory. This is the time we see students who ave ADHD and how it has affects on other areas of development including social. Children also learn memorizing strategies and developing long-term knowledge. We then look at Language developments and how the students vocabulary increases and mastering a second language. All this new information and skills cause cognitive changes as well. There are positives and negatives to these changes. For instance, some positives are proper growth and application of growth in academics and other areas. But a negative is children begin to see their faults and compare themselves to other students casing judgment and difficulty upon themselves.

** 3. Emotional **
In the text Emotional Development is structured by "Self-conscious Emotions", " Emotional Understanding", and "Emotional Self-Regulation". My inquiry questions focuses on how to adjust teaching to each student with different levels of emotion. To help the students better understand how to deal with their development, for my area of study (Middle), we see social comparisons have a large effect. This comparison starts with approval and coping. These students need reinforcements and encouragement as well as a positive self-image that develops in a school setting. As a teacher you are one of the adults who do have a large effect on their development and can provide that type of environment that some may lack. Self-understanding is also a large factor. in the text it describes "gains in emotional understanding are supported by cognitive development and social experiences," this is the basic illustration of how a teacher needs to see to have supported in their classroom.

** 4. Social **
Similar to the emotion development aspect, social is another level of development that every child in the classroom struggle with. Many social influences come from peers as well as parents. These two main forms of sociability change throughout children's lives and differ. Some students may have supporting parents who are increasingly evident in their children's lives then some who are not. So as a teacher you must learn to understand where those children are coming from and adjust your teaching and support to their needs and how they can be proactive in their studies, if that is a problem comes out of the lack of family influence. Peer relations are extremely influential and necessary to every child development.

**Observation Site Information**
I want to observe my cousins for a weekend. Often times I nanny them over the period of a long weekend so that my aunt and uncle can get away. I will be staying with them on October 12th. I have three cousins, ranging from the age 8-12 years old.

** A. Site details: **

 * Name of site: www.younglife.org
 * Link to site: [|Young Life]
 * Contact person: Kevin Williams
 * http://greatercincinnatiurban.younglife.org/Pages/default.aspx

__** B. Describe your setting **__
My setting of observation is many places, but all together it is the community of Newport Kentucky. There I am a coach, a volunteer, and a Younglife leader. I participate in many of the high school and middle school activities and coach many girls in my teaching area. It is a school district that has many students who are extremely underprivileged and poor and possibly homeless. I am able to help them with school work, meeting one on one with studies, and coaching. I have seen many violent acts during my time there. I continue to go to the city of Newport and invest my time there through more observation with teachers and students as well as understanding the community as a whole. Although these students do not have the best home life, some living with brothers or sisters or just friends families, they still seem to have joy and a strong sense of pride. I have noticed students always stand up for each other in times of needs, saying " I got your back," which is essential in a social relationship especially at their academic level. Another description of my setting is that majority if not all of the students walk to school. The school district does not have a bus route for the students because of financial problems which therefore allows kids to be free of adult supervision before and after school. These students-not all- do not have proper discipline or support from families, in which they then seek it out in other areas.

__** C. Describe what you did at the site (free-write/journal formatting) **__
My first observation with Young Life I went to a planned and organized meeting traditionally called "Club". During this the students and leaders played games, watched funny (appropriate) videos, and then proceeded to eat pizza and hang out. During this students were having fun and laughing however one student was arguing with another. This student then proceeded to use foul language and start stepping closer to other student. Looking around the other children, ages ranging from 14 to 18, felt the tension yet watched for what would happen next. Before anything could happen the leaders stepped in and took both feuding students out of the room to calm them down and understand where why the situation had escalated to that point. This was, I thought, a perfect depiction of what could easily happen in a classroom setting. Although the students were in a fun carefree environment, there was still structure and order and they got out of hand. In a classroom with a single teacher and more students, the situation could be more dangerous and easily uncontrollable. I really liked to see the leaders take control of the situation and remove the feuding students form the room and calm them down. However, I learned that both students were fighting previously and the situation should have been better prevented prior to the "club" starting.
 * __1st visit:__**

This second observation was extremely interesting. We did not have any difficulties with students instead struggled getting them to participate with any of the games. We had students volunteer but did not feel very happy doing it even though they volunteered. One thing I did notice about these students is if they find anything funny or exciting it is when someone is either embarrassed-making fun of another student- or when they see or do something new that has them be active altogether. They really enjoy games and gathers where they can choose what they can do together such as basketball or girls can gossip in corner or watch the boys play basketball. Some girls become active but only if they are comfortable. Some boys do roam around talking to the girls, mostly just to “spit their game.” This was a great description of how students act in social settings. I was able to observe students who were comfortable and uncomfortable with this type of setting. We have a few new students come and join who were from a different country and blended in well. Then we had students who had never talked to the other students from their school yet feel welcome to have fun and join in. I saw students come together in a community outside of school and have fun.
 * __2nd visit:__**

This evening at club we, as leaders, were scrambling to prepare for it. We had mentally prepared ourselves, and thought we had organized it enough, however we did not. Therefore we were running around trying to talk to kids and be intentional as well as fulfill all the needs and responsibilities we had to have done for club. Before we knew it there was a fight. We have our club at the Salvation Army in Covington Kentucky. There we have the boys play basketball before club, while the girls run around and hang out. This is prime time as a leader to see what is going on in their lives and understanding them in their social situations. Back to the fight, I open the doors to the gym and find a Holmes High School leader rushing a boy out of the gym while another is racing after them. I immediately go into froze mode. I try not to react because it makes things worse around the other students. However, all the kids are use to this kind of behavior and just continue doing their own thing. Club ended up going well and kids had fun. We also had five New Leader Training kids with us. These are college students who want to potentially become leaders. They came to observe, and I am very glad they came to this club. They were able to see what these high school kids see on a regular bases. They are able to see the need these children have and how we, as leaders and individuals, are a part of filling that need.
 * __3rd visit:__**

Last night I paid more attention to my girls attitudes pre-club and post-club. I particularly want to look at JJ. I have known JJ for almost a year now. She is a senior at Newport high school and is very active in clubs, after school activities, and volleyball. I single out volleyball specifically because I coached her in that. She is a very quite introverted girl, however when you get her around her friends or in her environment where she feels comfortable, you can see her true self. Last night JJ came into the quieter than normal. I asked if she was okay, and she persistently told me she was. I always get the feeling that she does not like me because she has not been her total self around me. In a way that is extremely depressing. I am there for her to see her at her worst and best. I try and remind her that I am not a normal acquaintance, but one who is there for her. I will be making it my goal to provide her with the opportunity to trust me more but also respect her boundaries.

This visit will particularly include my mornings having bible study with one of the high school girls, JJ. JJ found me prior to us fundraising for the summer camp that began in March of this year. She contacted me and told me how she wanted to go. There she decided to pursue a relationship with Christ, changing her life forever. Through this experience, and why young life is in high schools, we want to spur these teenagers in their faith. This meaning engaging them in bible studies as well as co-ed bible studies and specifically being invited to things so they see a community of believers. JJ was the first one at Newport High School and wanted to join me for bible study on Friday mornings at 6:30am, before school. There we came together and talked about the first book of the bible Genesis and she asked questions while I guided her through it. I asked her her struggles and how I can help and or pray for her through them. I also asked her about school and friends and her preferences and favorites in movies and generally just wanted to understand who she was. JJ was one who did not share her opinions or thoughts unless given time to think logically and add every detail needed and once she did that would present it to me. Needless to say, she was not one to open up quickly. I went many mornings asking her what went on during her week and how she was dealing with school, many of those questions went unanswered or vaguely explained. However, during the times she was in an environment she was comfortable with and familiar, she was more than willing to talk. This happened after many weeks of her and I meeting. This moment of openness showed her trust in me as well as her level comfort in my company increased. Through just seeing her and asking her questions in times when I did not think she was listening, when in fact she was, was paying off because our relationship became more two way rather than one way. This openness exposed more than I could have ever wished for because it not only reminded me how much love these kids need but how fragile their trust is in others. I do not want to break that trust and have her trust me but to an appropriate extent. I want JJ to understand that I am not there to give her life but help guide her through it and seeing her expose that to others at Newport High School is more beautiful that I every wished. This bond has not only directly affected me or JJ but will indirectly affect others at Newport hopefully creating a healthy and supportive community there, where it is desperately needed.
 * __4th visit:__**

This visit was of the fall weekend camp that we take all the area's high schools with Young Life too. It takes part at the YMCA camp, Camp Kern, which is located in Lebanon Ohio. During this camp Newport brought nine young girls ages ranging form fourteen to eighteen years old. We were also paired up to share a cabin with girls from Holmes and Hughes High School. In other words these urban area students were camping with other urban area students of their age. During the weekend we would come together and talk about how we were enjoying it and discussing the speaker and the information he was giving us. I, as a new leader, was expecting the students to not want to share and maybe feel judged or secluded. However, the complete opposite happened. These girls opened up and shared some of the most vulnerable parts of their life to perfect strangers they met that day. This interaction showed me how all my previous assumptions were thrown out the window. These girls we so accepting of each others stories and sadness and struggles because they themselves all have gone through that. Some to different degrees and different situations, but they bonded over their pains. It not only moved me but the girls as well. They felt that sense of community and love they did not get from their family and friends. This weekend showed these girls what we were created for and some took that and accepted, some pondered and reflected their own lives, and some denied it. This experience gave girls and opportunity to find growth. While at Fall Weekend, we had three girls who did want to take that step and pursue a relationship with God. They admitted their fears and joys in such a way that showed how much they desperately needed help and a Father. Some girls did not have a father or a mother, one of them was in fact homeless for a part of her childhood, and seeing her make this step towards new life showed such growth and beauty in her life.
 * __5th__** visit:

My sixth visit will be of our first campaigners. Campaigners is in simplest form, a co-ed bible study. This is particularly a time where students develop a community with each other and exemplifies their community at the High School. Standing out and accepting others as well. This was the first campaigners Newport has seen in over four years, in other words, was made up of all new students, ones that have been to other Young Life events as well as Fall Weekend and or Summer Camp. To my surprise however, we had a student who we have invited to many events, who was never able to come, join us for campaigners and was extremely interested. He later told us of some of the exciting things happening in his life, exposing more of who he is, and telling us he is looking forward to returning next week for the next campaigners, which is held every Monday night at the Library across from Newport High School. We chose this location particularly because it is in the students community as well as easily accessible for them as well as us. This was a wonderful opportunity for the students to feel like they could bring back the community they had at Fall Weekend home with them as well as bring it to their high schools. During this study students were open and willing to read from the bible and asked questions as well as individually had fun. The hope we had with these kids were to see how they could share this wonderful experience with their other friends and eventually change the community of Newport. They were told that change started with them. They immediately understood and felt the desire to go indeed pursue that change and hopefully have an affect.
 * __6th visit:__**

__** D. Summarize and describe your experience in relation to the concepts in our textbook **__
Through my observations I saw many emotional features in children and their past. Looking at their development level, I saw that they were much more developed than they should be at this age. Either it was the reason from their identity and how they were raised or rather the fact that is just the factor the area they grew up in had on them. Look at the Middle and Late Adolescence emotional development I can reasonably connect my observations to societal perspective. On pages 262 and 320, it talks about students conventional level. This is the "individuals continue to regard conformity to social rules as important, but not for reasons of self-interest. They believe that actively maintaining the current social system ensures positive relationships and societal order," (320). The idea of conformity among the students was high because many of them saw how and what they should like based upon the social crowds around them. They were seeking for acceptance through what others thought and made the social "norm".
 * Emotional **

[|Berk, Laura. //Exploring Lifespan Development//. 2008. Reprint. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2010. Print.]

** Social **
My observations consisted of mainly, if not all, social situations. For isntance, club was a time where students came together and play games, and interacted with each other based upon their likes and dislikes. This was the formidable example of how students chose their friend group(s) based upon the social acceptances their felt were needed and or right. On page 326, it talks about the characteristics of adolescent friendships and the meaning of them. it shows how mutual affirmation and cooperation between friends increase and how students become less possessive of their friends. I saw this situation exactly. From my own high school experience I saw people, specifically girls, get upset when one friend becomes better friends with someone else, resulting in the other persons jealousy. In what I observed, the high schools students I saw could not have cared less about who their friends were friends with because they their trust with and for each other meant more than that to give up on. However, there are some definite examples that contradict this theory.

[|Berk, Laura. //Exploring Lifespan Development//. 2008. Reprint. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2010. Print.]

** Revisiting Your Curiosities **
Differentiated instruction will always be a formula teachers should use and be able to adjust to their classroom setting and students. However, it will take many trials and errors to make it work well enough for the class. Many teachers and schools have decided to use a core teaching method that students will have to learn to adjust to for maximum learning. I personally have mixed emotions about this method. Yes, it will allow kids to develop and learn how to adjust their learning techniques, although it will affect students who do no learn that way causing them to have to adjust more than others. A teacher should incorporate a large mixture of learning strategies into their classroom stimulating adjustment from all students. This will then help all students as well as relating to them.
 * W : What you want to know (curiosities) **
 * 1.**

Will I be able to meet the needs of my students? What learning strategies should I use that will meet standards as well as needs of students?
 * 4. What new questions emerge for you as a future teacher?**

Poster Final


=__Partner Review- Claire Ferguson__= Alyssa, great job on your observation project! You really showed how much you learned through your observations and grew from them. I think two sections of the book that would be the most interesting to you would be under "Peer Relations" on both pages 264 and 326. These describe students in relationship with their peers in both Middle Childhood and Adolescence. Also, Emotional and Moral development on pages 261-263 may help in understanding the feuding that went on between students in your first observation. "Gender Typing" on page 267 will help describe how the kids are interested in different activities and may be nervous to participate in certain activities. Also, the information about JJ really reminded me to consider Identity achievement on page 315. It describes what she may be going through in order to figure out her identity and who she does or does not trust or feel comfortable with.

Article 1
[|" Differentiating Instruction: Meeting Students Where They Are." //Glencoe Online//. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2013. .] Differentiated Instruction

This article specified more of instruction in a classroom. It talked about how we as teachers need to look to the needs of all the students and work with different activities that may challenge others as well as not challenge others. It also talked about what differentiated instruction is and how it is implemented in the classroom. It also mentions "Do and Don't s" for teachers. It related to my inquiry question pretty well, because it introduced mainly with differentiated instruction looks like and specifically what it is. However, I have found more of a desire to look at specifically urban schools and learn how to meet their instruction needs. This relates to my inquiry question fine. I like the aspect that it discusses the challenges students face and how as teachers we need to be more sensitive to that and adjust our teaching to that. I think it is extremely significant when a teacher goes out of their way, making themselves uncomfortable to meet the needs of a child. The article specified more on instruction in a more impersonal way, which is not exactly what I am looking for. However, the set up a format so that I can creatively instruct students in a way that I can meet their needs.

Article 2
[|A Teacher's Guide to Differentiating Instruction. (n.d.). //Education.com//. Retrieved October 28, 2013, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Teacher_s_Guide/]

Differentiated Instruction
This article talks about more of a guide for teachers in classrooms with different levels of instruction needed. It also mentions how to begin teaching a classroom that needs differentiated instruction. It then mentions ways to do that as well as provides ideas for teachers. Mentioning assessments and the pros and cons of this in a classroom that needs differentiated instruction. It also discusses other topics that influence the instruction of a classroom, positively or negatively. This relates perfectly to my inquiry question because it gives many ideas of how to do just that, instruct towards students with different needs. My inquiry questions relates more to this article because it it provides more ideas on how to meet kids needs. Not only does it allow creativity to be involved but it gives simple ideas and how to implement them in a classroom. I like this article because of how easily manipulative the ideas are, which as a future teacher makes it a lot easier utilize in the classroom.

Article 3
Santamaria, L. J. (2009). Culturally responsive differentiated instruction: Narrowing gaps between best pedagogical practices benefiting all learners. //The Teachers College Record//, //111//(1), 214-247. Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instruction

Article 4
Rock, M. L., Gregg, M., Ellis, E., & Gable, R. A. (2008). REACH: A framework for differentiating classroom instruction. //Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth//, //52//(2), 31-47. [|Frame Work]