Section 4: Instructional Practice

· Classroom Management Philosophy (Written February 2018)
Aligned to INTASC Standard 5: Motivation and Management

Classroom Management Philosophy

I believe that flexibility is a key trait for any secondary educator as they will interact with well over 100 students in a single day and it is this principal idea that I will attempt to integrate into my own future classroom, as my mentor teacher has in hers for 30 years. As an educator, I understand that there are a myriad of factors that can impact a student’s daily behavior, attitude, and abilities and that it is my role to ensure that learning takes place despite these extraneous conditions. What this will require is a well-constructed classroom management plan that includes plans to implement routines and behavioral expectations as well as information detailing how I can use my classroom management plan to meet the needs of diverse students and to achieve learning goals as well as to effectively increase family involvement.

First, I must consider the atmosphere of my classroom. I want my students to feel welcomed, respected, and safe in my classroom environment. One of the ways I can do this is to decorate the classroom in a way that feels friendly while it is also informative and relevant to the subject matter; between informational posters and student work, this seems easy to accomplish. One of the keys to making sure that students feel welcome in your classroom, however, has less to do with decor and more to do with how you interact with the students. Developing a positive but respectful rapport with your students is incredibly important to positive engagement and positive classroom management. If the students do not respect you as the teacher and authority figure, it will be harder to manage them. I plan to address this with my students very soon after the school year starts by telling them that as long as they demonstrate to me the same kind of respect that they want, I am more than happy to reciprocate. I think this is particularly important at the high school level as students are rapidly moving towards adulthood.

I plan to implement a number of procedures and routines in my classroom including the use of “bell-ringers” and absent work and to implement these, I will introduce them at the beginning of the school year and spend the first few weeks reminding students of the steps while practicing them. This will ensure that the steps are firmly cemented in their memories and I will not need to spend valuable class time explaining the steps every day. The behavioral expectations set for my class will be largely decided by the school and the district unless it appears that the combination of students in my classroom plus the combination of allowances by the rules are creating a problem in my classroom. At that point, I will be required to update the rules as I see fit; the students will be informed of this at the beginning of the school year and again at the beginning of the second semester. When it comes to handling behavior issues from students who cause a particular problem on their own, I plan to address these students away from the rest of the class and to attempt to get to the bottom of their problems so I can actually help make a difference with whatever issue they’re having.

Another aspect of classroom management is engaging in a way that allows you to meet the diverse needs of a diverse student population, that helps students to achieve learning goals, and that works to involve families. In order to meet the needs of my diverse students, I plan to get to know them. As many students will come to my classroom without their Gifted and Talented/ ESL status, 504/IEP plans, or mild learning-disabilities announced, I will have access to that information through my district-regulated roster and attendance system and should be able to scan through the list of my students and easily identify which ones may need a greater level of assistance compared to the other students. These students will be attended to in various ways. Standing by the student with ADHD to help him focus, or stopping to double-check that the girl in ESL totally understood the directions are both ways I can do this. If one class has a higher ratio of G/T students than the others then I can provide that class with a more difficult level of instruction and practice than the other classes. All of these things can change radically from class to class and school year to school year and thus we see again that flexibility is required in all aspects.

To meet achievement goals, I will differentiate the way that I engage with the students. Increasing the amount of formative assessment as necessary by the class and the students to ascertain which groups will require increased rates of reteaching than others and which aspects of my field seem to cause them the greatest amount of problems. This will mean that different classes have an increased focus on things like grammar and writing while others may take an emphasis on interpretation and analysis of written works. Ultimately, it is my job to teach what they need to know and this can only be determined after working with them for some time and assessing what they already know. In regards to engaging with families, I can attempt to engage as much as possible but at the high school level, parents tend to have backed off on pursuing their child’s academics and may not see much reason to continue a higher level of involvement that they did at the elementary school level. While they may be wrong in this, I cannot simply change their minds but I can encourage them to know about what we’re learning. One way I can do this is to send out a monthly email that details what we’ll be focusing on in that class during that month and to warn them ahead of time if there are any large projects coming up or any extra supplies that they will need to obtain.

As explained, my classroom management philosophy attempts to take a holistic approach to management. I plan to approach my students with respect and to treat them like the young adults they are and the grown adults they aspire to be. I will attempt to engage families and to reach students in ways that make a difference and help them to improve and grow as people. I ascribe to the ideal stance of flexibility and maintain that this may be the single-most important trait for a teacher to have. Ultimately, I plan to approach classroom management not as a dictator or imposing source of knowledge but as a guide and mentor.

Classroom Management Plan (Written October 2015)
Aligned to INTASC Standard 5: Motivation and Management

My Philosophy of Classroom Management

The classroom consists of more than simply desks and chairs - also necessary are a welcoming atmosphere, a healthy culture of motivation, support, open communication, and a straight-forward approach to education and its benefits. There are a number of ways in which a teacher can promote a welcoming atmosphere and a community that supports itself and renews its own motivation, but large groups of people are naturally accompanied by chaos, and it is this that necessitates the use of rules, consequences, and procedures. Teachers must be able to find a delicate balance between order, control and making learning fun to ensure student engagement. The culture that develops within a classroom is dependent on several factors with the most important of these being respect, student engagement, and clearly outlined roles for students and teacher. A relationship between teacher and student that is built on respect ensures that both parties are listening to the needs of the others and that they are thoughtful when making choices that will impact the other; it demonstrates to the student that the teacher genuinely wants to act as a support to them. Students who feel respected are more likely to be respectful, to put more effort into their work because they feel valued, and to contribute to a classroom culture in a beneficial way. Another important factor in classroom culture is that of student engagement. Students who are more consistently engaged in the classroom are more likely to be motivated in that subject and thus to learn more and on a deeper level. Finally, having clearly defined roles for students and teacher provides a number of benefits. It serves to remind students that their job is to learn while the teacher's job is to teach and to provide structure, and this helps students to focus on their education while allowing teachers to focus on teaching; overall it helps to make the classroom a more effective environment by eschewing distractions.

Overarching Goals:

Playing into the ideas outlined above, the overarching goals within my classroom are very simple; students will learn what the teacher has to teach. Through the procedures laid out in my classroom management plan, I will be able to streamline the in-between necessities that keep a classroom afloat and this will help to streamline the learning process and prevent and eliminate chaos. With the help of the rules laid out in my classroom management plan, my students will be able to very easily identify the behaviors that are not acceptable in my classroom and to avoid them. The consequences presented in my classroom management plan are present to show students that when they feel the need to ignore the rules, there are consequences for their behavior just as there would be for breaking the laws in general society as an adult. The reward system teaches my students that positive actions and positive behavior can be rewarded with positive consequences while it avoids rewarding them outright for the behavior that they should be demonstrating without being reminded or for learning what they should be learning simply because it is their job to learn.

Classroom Procedures

Procedure title: Entering Class and Arriving Late

Objective

Students will enter the classroom in a calm and orderly fashion in order to avoid chaos and unnecessary excitement. Students will be prepared for the day’s activities and will immediately be prepared for the ‘Bell-Ringer’, thus avoiding undue disruption and demonstrating a desire to learn and behave appropriately.

This procedure is in place to ensure that there is no precious time wasted or undue chaos and confusion in this classroom.

When procedure will be introduced, modeled, practiced and the frequency:

The procedure will be introduced on the first day of class and reviewed on the second. The teacher will model the procedure both times for students to observe. The procedure will be practiced every day until the procedure becomes habitual and routine for the classroom.

Assessment and Feedback

Positive feedback will be given to students who demonstrate all of the correct steps in this procedure without prompting. Students who do not correctly demonstrate all of the steps in this procedure without being prompted will be encouraged to re-examine the steps and reminded of the importance of following classroom procedures.

Procedure Steps or Activity

Entering the Classroom:

1. Students will wait quietly in the hallway until Mrs. Miller opens the classroom door and/or until all students from the previous class have left.

2. Students will quickly and quietly enter the classroom and take their assigned seats.

3. There will be a warm-up assignment (the Bell-Ringer) written on the board or on the overhead projector. Students will begin this assignment immediately.

4. Students will have until five minutes after the tardy bell has rung to complete the Bell-Ringer.

5. Upon completing the Bell-Ringer, students will sit quietly at their desk and wait for further instructions from Mrs. Miller.

Late Arrival:

1. Students who arrive after the tardy bell has rung will be counted as late in the attendance record. Three or more late arrivals during a grading period will result in a referral to the front office and Mrs. Miller will notify parents/guardians.

2. Students who arrive after the tardy bell with a note that excuses them will be excused from being marked late.

3. If you have a note, present it to Mrs. Miller upon arrival.

4. Take your seat quickly and quietly without disturbing your classmates.

5. Mrs. Miller will make sure that you receive any handouts that you may have missed and your desk-neighbor may be asked to quickly fill you in on what has happened in class.

6. If you need more help on catching up on what you may have missed, please let Mrs. Miller know.

Procedure title: Hall, Bathroom, and Emergency Passes

Objective

The classroom cannot always remain undisturbed but procedures can be put in place that make it easier and more orderly to leave and return to the classroom without disturbing your classmates.

This procedure is in place to ensure that there is no precious time wasted or undue chaos and confusion in this classroom.

When procedure will be introduced, modeled, practiced and the frequency

The procedure will be introduced and modeled on the first day of class and reviewed on the second. The procedure will be practiced every day, as necessary, until the procedure becomes habitual and routine for the classroom.

Assessment and Feedback

Procedure Steps or Activity

Hall Passes:

1. If you are given a hall pass ahead of time that requires that you leave the class while it is in session, please let Mrs. Miller know as you enter the classroom.

2. If you are sent a hall pass during class, let Mrs. Miller know if you will be back or if you will miss the rest of class so that she can make sure you get the rest of the work you need before you leave.

3. When returning to class, please return calmly and quietly to your desk and resume working as you were before you left.

Bathroom Passes:

1. Each student will be given three bathroom passes per quarter to use during class.

2. The best time to use the bathroom is in between classes.

3. If you need to use a pass during class, do not interrupt Mrs. Miller if she is giving a lecture. Wait until the class has turned to individual work so that you won’t disturb your classmates.

4. Bring your bathroom pass paper to Mrs. Miller and she will stamp on space off of it. Now you may go to the bathroom.

5. Only one student is allowed to go to the bathroom at a time.

6. When you return to class, please return calmly and quietly to your desk and resume working as you were before you left.

7. Please try to be quick about using the bathroom – class time is very valuable to everyone. If you abuse the bathroom pass privilege, you will lose it.

Emergency:

1. If you feel suddenly ill, please let Mrs. Miller know by raising your hand. She will give you her classroom hall pass.

2. You may go to either the nurse’s office or the bathroom.

3. If you need to go home, the front office will let Mrs. Miller know.

4. If you are feeling better, please return to class as quickly as possible so that you do not fall behind your classmates.

5. Please do not abuse this system – you should not become ill very frequently. You are being trusted not to take advantage of the emergency hall pass system.

Procedure title: Leaving Class

Objective

Students will leave the classroom in a calm and orderly fashion in order to avoid chaos. Students will not leave until Mrs. Miller says they may. Class time is very valuable for everyone. Rushing to leave class can cause items to be forgotten, can cause important things to go unheard, and can cause class to stay later because of the disruption it creates.

This procedure is in place to ensure that there is no precious time wasted or undue chaos and confusion in this classroom.

When procedure will be introduced, modeled, practiced and the frequency

The procedure will be introduced and modeled on the first day of class and reviewed on the second. The procedure will be practiced every day until the procedure becomes habitual and routine for the classroom.

Assessment and Feedback

Procedure Steps or Activity

Leaving the classroom:

1. Class time is very valuable to everyone. Please do not waste class time by preparing to leave class before Mrs. Miller is ready to dismiss you.

2. Before you are dismissed, please make sure that you have written the day’s homework assignment into your planner.

3. When Mrs. Miller says that you may, gather all of your belongings. Please make sure not to forget jackets, books, pencils, et cetera.

4. Please make sure that your desk and the area around it are clean and ready for the next group of students. If you see trash, please throw it away even if it is not yours.

5. If Mrs. Miller says you may, you may line up before the door in an orderly, calm, and quiet fashion.

6. The classroom door will remain closed until Mrs. Miller gives permission to open the door and leave.

Procedure title: After You Have Been Absent

Objective

Students who are absent are more likely to fall behind in school work because they were not present for the lessons that their classmates were there for. It is very important that students try as hard as possible to catch-up the rest of the class following an absence. The “While you were gone…” basket is used in this classroom to ensure that students who miss class are able to quickly find and collect the papers they need to make up missed work.

This procedure is in place to ensure that there is no precious time wasted or undue chaos and confusion in this classroom, as well as to make sure that every student has the opportunity to stay up-to-date with their school work.

When procedure will be introduced, modeled, practiced and the frequency

This procedure will be introduced and modeled on the first day of school. The procedure will be reviewed again on the second day of school. The procedure will be practiced in the classroom whenever a student misses a class period, with reminders as necessary for students who struggle to remember the procedure.

Assessment and Feedback

Procedure Steps or Activity

Informing the school of an excused absence:

1. A parent or guardian must call the front office to excuse an absence by 9am the day that the absence occurs.

2. Any absence not excused with be listed as an unexcused absence. Three or more unexcused absences within a semester will result in a referral to the front office to discuss truancy issues and a notice to parents and guardians.

3. Too many absences will result in consequences, will effect grades, and may require dropped classes, an IEP, and legal action. This school and district do enforce the Colorado state truancy laws.

Retrieving missed work in Mrs. Miller’s class:

1. After you’ve been absent, check with Mrs. Miller to make sure that you have not missed any tests or anything else that would require teacher supervision to complete.

2. Check in the “While you were gone…” basket kept on the back counter of the classroom next to the homework submission bin.

3. Ask Mrs. Miller how long you will have to complete each of the missing assignments to receive full points. She will determine this based on how long you were absent, how large each assignment is, and what is coming up in the class schedule.

4. If you need to take a test that you missed when you were absent, Mrs. Miller will help you pick a date that she can give you the test after school once you have studied all of the relevant material.

5. Turn in your completed absent homework in to Mrs. Miller herself, not to the homework submission box.

Procedure title: Extra Credit Opportunities

Objective

Students may encounter a time when their grade is lacking – this may happen for many different reasons. Mrs. Miller wants to help her students succeed in any way possible and to teach them that a little extra hard work can go a long way. The extra credit opportunities that Mrs. Miller offers are designed to enhance your current understanding of the English language and of literature and to strengthen your reading comprehension skills.

This procedure is in place to ensure that there is no precious time wasted or undue chaos and confusion in this classroom.

When procedure will be introduced, modeled, practiced and the frequency

This procedure will be introduced and modeled on the first day of school and reviewed again on the second day of school. The frequency with which it is practiced will vary from student to student. This is because some students will be willing to make the extra effort required to earn the extra points and others will not while other students simply will have no need to.

Assessment and Feedback

Procedure Steps or Activity

Extra Credit Opportunities:

1. Mrs. Miller offers two different options for extra credit;

a. You may choose to read a short story from a collection that Mrs. Miller suggests and then you may write a 1,000+ word essay explaining the literary elements within the story.

b. You may select any of Shakespeare’s sonnets, complete a poem interpretation worksheet about the sonnet of your choosing and then give a dramatic reading of that sonnet before your classmates.

2. If you would like to complete one of the above options for extra credit, let Mrs. Miller know ahead of time so that she can help you locate any necessary resources.

3. Extra credit may only be done once per quarter and has the ability to greatly impact your grade, so take the opportunity very seriously.

Rules, Consequences, and Reward System

Rules:

· Be prompt and prepared (in your seat with all of the things you will need for class when the bell rings).

· Respect the teacher, respect your classmates, and respect yourself.

· Take control of your learning; always give your very best.

· Make sure that the classroom is ready for the next class before you leave it (all trash thrown away, chairs pushed in, desks straight, boards clear, et cetera).

· Cell phones need to be placed into the cellphone pocket on the front blackboard before we begin – all other electronics must remain in your bags. No electronic usage is allowed without teacher permission.

Consequences:

· First infraction: Warning from teacher in private conference

· Second infraction: E-mail/call to parent/guardian

· Third infraction: Written referral to the front office and scheduled conference between teacher/parent/student.

· Extreme infractions: Student sent directly to or escorted to the front office, result may be in-school or out-of-school suspension, expulsion, or legal action as necessary.

Reward System:

The Modified Marble Jar System

Supplies needed:

· 1 large jar per class, labeled with the class title and class period number and divided into quarters from the bottom up with stickers.

· As many marbles as are needed to fill all of the jars together.

Students can earn marbles to drop into their class's jar in several ways:

· 1 marble for each 100% earned on a Unit Test (this means that during a Unit Test, a class can earn a good number of marbles).

· 1 marble for following the classroom procedures without issue or reminders from Mrs. Miller (first two weeks of school only) per procedure

· 1 marble per act of positive behavior and good citizenship that is "above-and-beyond the call-of-duty".

· 1 marble for every day that there is perfect attendance

· 1 marble for every day that everyone turns in their homework

· 1 marble for every day that there are no reminders to not use personal technology in class

· 1 marble for every day that there are no reminders to not speak when Mrs. Miller is speaking

We will discuss this list in class and add extraordinarily positive and helpful behaviors as we need to.

Students can lose marbles from the class jar in several ways:

· Inappropriate outbursts in class

· Mrs. Miller is unable to calm the class quickly

· A poor report from a substitute teacher

· A failure to follow directions as a class.

We will discuss this list as a class and add negative behaviors deserving of consequence and loss of marbles as we need to.

Rewards for earning enough marbles to reach different sticker levels:

Level 1: An edible treat from Mrs. Miller (cookies, candy, et cetera)

Level 2: A movie day with a movie related to our current reading material

Level 3: A class vote on upcoming reading material (vote between two short stories, two novels, or two plays)

Level 4: A class vote between an edible treat from Mrs. Miller or another movie day

If a class stays on target and earns a steady number of marbles, a class should be able to earn enough marbles to completely fill a jar by the end of the school year.

The first class to completely fill their class jar will earn an extra surprise.

A note about this system:

The marbles added to the jars in my classroom will serve as a physical and visible reminder of the progress that they have made as a class in regards to excellent behavior, mastery of skills, the importance of working towards long-term goals, the importance of teamwork, and as a physical form of verbal praise. The marble jar system will be aligned with copious amounts of specific, verbal praise targeted at praising effort rather than success to show to students that effort is what we expect from them as students and that enough effort can lead to success.

Rationale for rules, consequences, and reward system:

The rules, consequences, and the reward system set forth in my classroom management plan have all been chosen after a great deal of consideration to ensure that student exhibit the best possible behavior at all times and that students understand why they are expected to demonstrate excellent behavior.

The rules listed above were selected to minimize the chaos inherent in a classroom full of teenagers and the time that could otherwise be wasted. They were also selected to make sure that all members of the classroom are treated with respect and that they feel like valuable members of the classroom environment. All who enter my classroom will be treated with the utmost respect and will never made to feel any less than they are. This is true whether they are students, teacher’s aides, substitute teachers, administrative staff, or support staff. These rules are set forth to ensure that our time in class together runs as smoothly as possible so that as much learning as possible can take place without interferences.

The consequences were chosen to make sure that all students have the same amount of opportunity to correct their negative behaviors and to ensure that all of the parties who are, at least in part, responsible for helping to shape students into contributing members of society are aware of the behaviors that need to be remedied. Students must learn that negative behaviors are quickly followed by negative consequences just as positive behaviors are quickly followed by positive results.

The reward system implemented in my future classroom will be a modified version of the traditional and common marble jar system. I will use a modified version because I do not believe that students in high school (ages 13-19) should be rewarded for doing what they should already be doing without reminder. Instead, the marbles added to the jars in my classroom will serve as a physical and visible reminder of the progress that they have made as a class in regards to excellent behavior, mastery of skills, the importance of working towards long-term goals, the importance of teamwork, and as a physical form of verbal praise. The marble jar system will be aligned with copious amounts of specific, verbal praise targeted at praising effort rather than success to show to students that effort is what we expect from them as students and that enough of it can lead to success.

Communication with Parents/Guardians

Time and time again the importance of parent and teacher interaction has proven to be a very influential factor on student success. A healthy and positive relationship between teacher and parent has the ability to help teachers "learn more about students' needs and home environment, which is information they can apply toward better meeting those needs" (American Federation of Teachers, 2007). Following conclusively, then, is the idea that in order to build a positive parent-teacher relationship, the parents must first be able to communicate with the teachers. In today's technologically advanced society, where communication constantly improves and evolves, it is important that teachers provide a variety of ways through which they can communicate with parents and students. Three very different, but equally important, ways that teachers can open the channels of communication are through email, through the use of a mass automated texting service, and through the maintenance of a classroom website.

Email:

Since the dawn of the home computer era, email has grown to become one of the most dominant forms of communication and it is because of this that teachers must and do remain diligent about regularly checking and responding to their emails. Email has essentially become the backbone of all parent-teacher communication because it is more convenient than phone calls, as it can be read and responded to at one's convenience and it provides the ability to quickly and easily attach documents that can be shared digitally. It is also discreet in that parents and teacher are able to communicate about sensitive and private matters that may be impacting their students without the possibility of uninvolved parties overhearing. Email's usefulness is only further enhanced by the fact that email retrieval services are also available through a large percentage of cell phones. It is all of these things combined that make email a formidable tool for parent-teacher communication.

Automated Mass-Text Service:

Playing into the idea that cellphones continue to be a necessity for daily life, and that a vast majority of these cell phones have the ability to send and receive text messages, an automated mass text service would make an excellent tool for parent-teacher communication. With this type of service, the teacher can select when to send a text out and what the text would contain. Only those who had previously opted into the service would receive the text messages so it would be an optional form of communication. The texts sent out could contain reminders for parents about upcoming assignment due dates and test dates or general information about the class. Because of its versatile nature, students could also opt into the text service and then both the parent and the student would be 'on the same page' about the happenings in the classroom. Texting is a non-intrusive method of communication because it can be viewed at one's leisure and does not require immediate attention or response; this makes a mass-text service ideal for simply sending out general purpose reminders to a large and diverse crowd of people.

A Classroom Website:

As with email, the advent of the home computer system enabled the population to have access to the world-wide-web and mankind's newfound dependence on it for information and entertainment continues to grow exponentially. Another excellent way that teachers can communicate with parents is through the development and maintenance of a website dedicated to everything happening within the teacher's different classes. A classroom website containing a page for each individual course could be updated on a weekly basis with the syllabi, current assignment instructions, lists of upcoming due dates, a calendar containing class and school events, and other such similar things. Parents would find it very easy to navigate such a site to locate more immediate methods of communication with the teacher and may even find a "FAQ" (frequently asked questions) section to be of great use. Similarly, having digital access to the items that students would need for class would likely be reassuring for students who may be prone to losing hard copies of information. The site would, of course, provide the teacher's email address should the parent need to contact the teacher in a more direct manner. Even including this, however, the classroom website could prove to be a huge time-saver for a teacher who is frequently approached with the same set of questions.

Student Engagement Strategies

There are a staggering number of strategies that teachers can use to keep their students focused and engaged in the lesson and thus more likely to retain the information being learned. Some of these strategies simply involve a new method of delivering the material while others involve complex arrangements for collaborative group work.

Think-Pair-Share: Collaborative (Kagan, 1989)

One of these collaborative strategies is called the Think-Pair-Share strategy. When using the Think-Pair-Share strategy, the classroom could be very easily rearranged so that all of the students sat in groups of two and these would be the groups that the students work in throughout the duration of the task. First, the students are given the topic on which they will think or the question that they need to answer and then they will be given the time they need to form a set of complete thoughts. After this the students will be given a set time in which they can collaborate with their partner so that they can share their thoughts and continue the conversation in the hopes that they can reach new and possibly surprising conclusions and ideas. Following this, the teacher would move from group to group and ask their thoughts on the task. The students would share their ideas and conclusion with the class and conversation could follow from there. The benefits of this system include that students are thinking and interacting in three different situations; they think on their own, collaborate with their partner, and then move onto class discussion. This allows students to see how differently classmates work through the same issue and teaches them that they can learn from each other. Essentially this holds to the old adage "two heads are better than one".

Popcorn Question-and-Answer: Teacher-led comprehension check

Another engagement strategy that does not involve traditionally collaborative student work is a modified version of the standard question-and-answer routine. Instead of a passive environment with a teacher asking a question of the class as a whole and then selecting a student to answer from only the students who have volunteered an answer, the teacher warns the students at the beginning of the lecture that students will be chosen at random to answer questions about the lecture.

This is beneficial in several ways; firstly, that this enables the teacher to involve those who are usually quiet in the class discussion and to help drag those students who usually ‘drift off’ mentally back towards focusing, and secondly, it allows the teacher to check all of the students for attention and comprehension rather than just the select few who regularly participate in class.

Overall, this strategy can help to provide a ‘level playing field’. By asking questions of those students who participate in class less frequently, the less confident students may be more encouraged to speak up in class. Similarly, if the students who regularly participate in class are able to see that other students have the ability to answer questions, too, they may be more likely to allow their quieter classmates to answer questions as well.

The surprise factor in this engagement strategy is what helps to keep students focused on the lesson. If students do not know when they will be called on, they are less likely to drift off in their own thoughts or to become distracted. The fear of being caught off guard and not having the right answer would be, ideally, enough to keep a majority of students focused on the material at hand.

In reality, any classroom arrangement will work for this engagement strategy, though all student desks should be facing towards the teacher’s desk to ensure that all parties are appropriately focused and that the teacher is the center of the student’s attention. This also makes it easier for the teacher to wander the classroom at will and to help bring the students attention back to the lesson at hand simply through proximity to the students.

Team Word-Webbing: Collaborative (Kagan, 1989)

Another collaborative engagement strategy is that referred to as “Team Word-Webbing”. This strategy takes a more traditional approach to group projects and provides a fantastic opportunity for students to learn to depend on each other in a positive way while highlighting the benefits of collaborative thinking.

Instead of the small groups of two students used in the Think-Pair-Share strategy, Team Word-Webbing involves larger groups of no less than four, but ideally, six. This ensures that all of the groups created are appropriately diverse in all of the ways that are important, including background, skill sets, material comprehension, and intra/extroverted personality types.

During the course of this project-strategy combination, students are given a very large piece of paper and asked to all write down the different and important parts of a task they are given and to find new ways to connect them and to form a connected web out of all of the separate ideas. This method of group idea examination would work particularly well in an English class where students were required to read a piece of literature and then were assigned into groups for Team Word-Webbing to analyze the piece of literature and to uncover all of its important elements.

There are a great number of benefits to this strategy with the most important being that it still enables the necessary group discussion following the completion of a piece of literature but provides some novelty that enhances student focus with the need to be physically involved in the compiling of information. It shows students that the combination of their knowledge and their combined brainstorming can help them to come to complex conclusions about the piece through the power of teamwork and combined new perspectives; it helps students to work together to see the bigger picture of a lesson by recognizing all of the smaller connected points. Beyond all of this, it helps students to practice important social skills.

Professionalism

Teaching, an ancient and truly noble calling, requires that one who wishes to be seen as a wise and respectable teacher must first become so respectable and admired. The best way to quickly and easily demonstrate oneself to be competent when amongst teaching peers is by having and maintaining a polished and professional exterior towards every aspect of interacting with people as a teacher. This includes the parents, the students, the administrative school staff, and one’s teaching colleagues. There are truly a stunning number of ways in which a teacher can demonstrate professionalism; briefly, ten of these shall be examined here.

1. Being polite, as simple as it may seem, may be one of the most efficient means of demonstrating professional behavior in today’s teaching field. This is efficient because students, fellow-teachers, administrative workers, and the parents of our students simply want to be respected as they help to further improve their student’s education.

2. In regards to working with colleagues, one must remember to not bring one’s home-related issues to work, while some work-related issues must remain at work. One’s “dirty laundry” is not the business of the students or of other teacher and needs to be eliminated from one’s work life as it may serve as a distraction.

3. Professionalism is very important when dealing with students because without a professional demeanor, the students may mistake you for a weak individual who will be lax with rule use and could let an entire class get away with things. Teachers who always maintain a professional demeanor around their students will be better able to begin building respect into the student-teacher relationship.

4. One very impactful way that teachers can both demonstrate their professionalism and to build rapport with the front office (thus the administrative staff) is to handle one’s own disciplinary problems in one’s classroom rather than sending students to the front office for minor indiscretions. This helps to streamline the issues that the administrative staff deal with daily and demonstrates to them that you are beyond competent in your profession.

5. Parents respond well to a professional attitude that always sets a positive outlook on student behavior. This means that a simple and occasional phone call from teacher to parent with unexpectedly positive praise goes a long way towards demonstrating a professional demeanor and positive mindset.

6. Parents, teachers, administrative staff, and students can all be shown a level of professionalism through the classroom management plan that is laid out for all to observe. Simple and effective procedures, rules, consequences, rewards, and expectations go miles towards demonstrating to all four parties that a teacher is professional in the way that they are no-nonsense, straight-forward, and that they can break a job down to its most basic elements before reconstructing them into a ‘well-oiled machine’.

7. Another way to begin building respect between the teacher and the student is to demonstrate to the student that the teacher is professional and, as a professional, expects the same level of professionalism from their students. Students flourish when they feel as though they are valued, respected, and believed in and requiring a degree of professional behavior from them is a simple way to convey this message.

8. Teachers are those who have moved from gaining knowledge to sharing knowledge, but in order to inspire a life-long love of learning in one’s students, one must be willing to demonstrate one’s own lifelong love of learning. Making it known, and demonstrating success, to the administrative staff and the students shows that a teacher has chosen to continue their own education. This bespeaks of a life-long love of learning and a dedication towards one’s job, and a desire to better one’s self.

9. Teachers can demonstrate their professionalism by ‘giving credit where credit is due’, in other words, being able to admit when an idea was not their own but the intellectual property of someone else. This demonstrates to parents, teachers, and administrative staff that the teacher acknowledges that education is often the result of a community wide sharing of ideas and collaboration and not the end result of one single human being. It also indicates a dedication to academic honesty.

10. Lastly, teachers can communicate their professionalism to both parents and students by ensuring that their students know where the line lays between ‘fun teacher’ and ‘serious teacher’. In other words, a teacher is able to lay down the idea that “teachers are teachers, not friends” while still being able to maintain that teachers can be fun, friendly, and can interact with their students in a way that helps to foster a strong and healthy relationship but that does not jeopardize the safety or integrity of any parties involved.

My own personal strengths in working with each of these groups vary. I plan on working at the high school grade levels, and this means working closely with teenagers from ages 13-19 with a wildly varying level of ability in my field of study (English). In dealing with parents, I feel that I may have some advantage as I have children of my own who are in school and I am in the process of developing relationships with their teachers that are beneficial to all parties involved. This gives me a unique perspective over a lot of other young teachers who may not have children of their own yet and thus have not seen the parent’s list of needs when it comes to a relationship with their child’s teachers. In dealing with students, I feel that I may also have some slight advantage over other young teachers in that I have two younger siblings who are currently high school aged and there have been several times that I have approached them and asked their opinions on some of their teacher’s behaviors. It is because of this that I have a unique window into the teenaged-student’s mind and the way that they perceive their teachers and schools. My skills in dealing with other teachers and administrative staff are slim-to-none as I have nearly nothing to ‘go off of’ besides my own high school education and the interactions that I had with the teachers there. However, I have always had a strong sense of respecting authority which may come in handy, tied with a love of learning that helps me to very quickly study and learn from a situation.

The one area that I could greatly improve in is that of my dealing with administrative staff. I have so little experience with them that they are still intimidating to me but, as with most things, the more time that one spends around a person or group of people, the less intimidating and the more human some figures become. I think what would help me immensely in learning how to deal with administrative staff is to read more on how administrative jobs in a school vary so vastly from the teaching positions in a school. This would help to develop some more in-depth insight on how they handle their daily activities. Similarly, finding the principal of a local school and discussing with them at length a number of things relating to how she views teachers, how she views students, and how she views other administrative staff would also give me invaluable insight relating to the nuances of an administrative position within the school.

Professionalism is such an important concept for teachers to have considered, to have studied, and to have mastered. Professionalism shows students that the teacher takes her job seriously and that they should do the same. To parents, professionalism states that the teacher is dedicated, enjoys their job and places a great deal of value on making sure that everyone is being treated respectfully. To the administrative staff of a school, and to the other teaching staff, professionalism demonstrates that they are dedicated to the success of their school, their field, their students, their class, and their coworkers. Without a professional demeanor, teachers would simply be people who share information that they once gained. Teachers with a professional demeanor have the ability to help groom, shape, and nurture young minds in a way that others are not able to. With great power comes great responsibility and with the responsibility of shaping young minds come a need to act in a professional manner.

In Conclusion…

My classroom management model holds to three main ideas; firstly that students must be allowed some kind of autonomy over their education in order to take an interest in it, that certain procedures and action plans must be put into place by those in a position of authority to ensure a safe, effective, and positive learning environment, and that students of a certain age should be held to the behavioral standards that society holds adults to in order to prepare them for their imminent entry into adulthood. In my classroom, I intend to create an environment that is welcoming, supportive, positive, efficient, well-organized, a community in-and-of-itself, and that is ultimately a place of learning. This can be done through a desk arrangement that is conducive to learning and that makes students feel like equals, with procedures that eliminate and prevent chaos, rules and consequences that mirror those found in society, consistent communication with parents, a healthy parent-teacher relationship, and the professional attitude and demeanor that makes a teacher a positive role model for the students under their tutelage. All of these ideas work together to create a seamless learning environment that allows students to focus, encourages motivation, and helps to guide students to the best possible academic outcome.

References

Kagan, S. (December1989). The Structural approach to cooperative learning. ProQuest Central:

Educational Leadership. 47:4, pg 12. Figure 4. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from https ://library.gcu.edu:2443/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.library.gc u.edu:2048/docview /224857174?accountid=7374

American Federation of Teachers, (2007). Building Parent-Teacher Relationships. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Teachers. Retrieved October 24, 2015, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/building-parent-teacher-relationships

STEP Standards

Aligned to INTASC Standards 1-10

· STEP Template 1: January 8, 2018 -March 3, 2018

STEP Standard 1 - Contextual Factors: Knowing Your School and Community

Part I: Community, District, School, and Classroom Factors

A. Geographic Location

Pueblo, Colorado, is the 9^th largest town, by population, in the state. The town itself rests about two hours South of Denver and is situated in the Arkansas River Valley, making it perfect for its widespread agriculture. As of 2016, the total population of the city was 110,295 (this includes only proper city limits and does not account for the Suburb of Pueblo West outside of city limits but within commute distance). Also, as of 2016, the 52.6% of the population was Hispanic, 42.2% white, 2.1% African American, and 3.1% of the population identified as multi-racial, Indian America, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. The median income in Pueblo, Colorado, was $38,380 compared to the state median of $65, 685 and the median rental home cost $787 as of 2016 (Pueblo, Colorado, n.d.). In general, the area is considered low-income, especially when compared to areas like Denver; about 41% of all Pueblo County residents qualify financially to receive government assistance in healthcare (Roper, 2017).

B. District Demographics

Compared to other districts within the state, Pueblo City Schools District 60 (a conglomeration of two earlier districts in 1946) is considered to have a diversified student population, the majority of which is comprised of minority ethnicities in the United States. 70.1% of the entire student population across the 31 schools are of Hispanic ethnicity, 25.2% is white, and the remaining 4.7% is African American, Native American Indian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Asian, or multi-racial. Of the 31 schools, four are high schools, two are k-8, one is 4-8, four are middle schools, 18 are elementary schools, and two are charter-magnet schools.

The district has faced a good amount of difficulty with funding and performance ratings in the last few decades and were – at one point – facing intervention from the Colorado Board of Education if they could not beat the “turn-around” clock. Just this week, it was announced that many of the schools has passed recent reviews and the district could present its “turn-around” and performance improvement plan to the Colorado Board of Education in Denver. However, funding issues still loom and teacher contract negotiations have left many feeling frustrated and unappreciated. The solution at the start of the school year left many teachers extremely displeased and many still consider strike and walk-outs to be a valid future option.

The district is largely a Title One district, provides most of its students with free breakfast and lunch daily, and the fundraising attempts appear to be endless. Per-pupil revenue amounts to $7,550.73 per student, per year. The ESL/ELL students comprise 8.2% of the total student population, Gifted and Talented create 3.2%, and 7.1% of the student population registered as homeless (this could be due to the large migrant farm workers that move through the area every year) (Demographics 2016-2017, n.d.). While the district has made large improvements recently, it still has a long way to go as it still chronically underperforms compared to the rest of the state.

C. School Demographics

East High School was opened in 1959 to serve two newer and growing neighborhoods on Pueblo’s North-East side. It is one of four public high schools operated by the district and is the only D60 high school to integrate the International Baccalaureate program (Middle Years Programme for grades 9 and 10 since 2011 and the Diploma Programme for grades 11 and 12 since 1996). East’s total student population has decreased in recent years and throughout the school year, even, dropping from about 1,200 at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year to 1,046 by January 2018. The reason for this appears to be the increased awareness of at-home online schooling opportunities. As many of these students come from impoverished families, many of them also hold jobs to help support their families and the online school opportunity works better for those students than a regular school day would. However, the school does expect to see a small student population jump during the start of the next semester.

Of the 1,046-total student population, they maintain a 51% Male and 49% female population. Like the district demographics, most of the student population is Hispanic, totaling 73%, 21% white and the remaining 6% are comprised of African America, Native American Indian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Asian, or multi-racial students. The average ACT score for the school was 18.1, lower than the state average, in the 2016 school year and since then, the district has moved away from the ACT and towards implementing a series of tests designed to help students prepare for the SAT. The school is administering the PSAT test next week and the results from that should be available in two or so weeks. The first PSAT administered in September showed promising results indicating improvement across the board for East, particularly in the Honors level courses and showed that East was several points ahead of the other three district high schools. However, even with this improvement, East still has miles of improvement ahead of them before they can hope to compete with the state averages.

Of the classes that I am directly involved with, 4 of the 5 are Honors level courses. Because of this, there tends to be a slightly higher population of female students than male. students in my classes and the number of Gifted and Talented students within my classes is higher than it is throughout the district. However, of the three 9^th grade classes that I will be teaching my unit to, only two are honors. This means that I may have to accommodate the level of instruction or the time spent working towards understanding the concepts when I teach it to the first set of 9^th graders, of whom none are Gifted and Talented and two of them are current ELL, having not yet exited the program while another two are also on IEPs and one of them has unlabeled behavioral issues.

STEP Standard 1 - Contextual Factors: Knowing Your School and Community

Part II: Demographic, Environment, and Academic Factors

A. Student Demographic Factors

The demographic information for the students that I encounter daily closely mirrors the demographic information of the district and the school in general with a few exceptions. I work with 5 total different ELA classes, two 10^th grade Honors ELA and two 9^th grade Honors ELA as well as one standard level 9^th grade ELA class. Ages range from 13-16. Between all five classes, there is a 41% male population and a 59% female population (125-total students, 51 males, 74 female); this seems to be indicative of an overall trend with Honors and advanced classes across the United States. Backing this up is that the only one of the 5 classes with a gender split that does not favor female students is the standard 9^th grade ELA where there is an even 50-50 split. Of these students, the ethnicity split is much the same as the general school demographics – a majority are Hispanic, a smaller percentage is white, and an even smaller percentage is African American and Asian. Within my classes, there are no Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or Native American Indian students. Their socioeconomic information is also representative of the schools’; they all receive free breakfast and lunch daily and many do not have the money to buy a complete set of school supplies at the start of the school year.

B. Environmental Factors

The physical classroom is large enough to comfortably seat 36 students though the largest class size is only 29. The desks are small tables and are arranged in 9 groups of 4 each, with groups of 3-4 students facing each other in a square. There is a space for the teacher at the front of the room and her desk and auxiliary tables are in the back of the room. The front wall of the classroom is all one long whiteboard and a projector hangs from the ceiling at the back of the room, set up to project on a smart board that was installed and then promptly forgotten when the projector was installed. The teacher has given me my own space at the front of the room, in an empty corner, next to a filing cabinet. A large closet-like cabinet is at the back of the room that contains some novels, less used materials, cleaning supplies, and other miscellaneous items. Another cabinet contains frequently used worksheets, and book shelf at the front of the room holds a complete class set of textbooks – two different set of literature books, one for 9^th grade and one for 10^th, as well as a class set of grammar books for 9^th and 10^th grade. The books have been in use for the district for at least 20 years and are – largely – outdated, though the materials contained within them are still teachable. The classroom has two doors – one that leads to the main hallway and another that leads to the “media center” where there are study tables and a class set of computers. East High School does not have a traditional library.

Technology can be reserved for a class several weeks ahead of time – though reservations go quickly – and there are only so many carts available. Each cart contains a class set of laptops and the students know their computer login information. The ELA department has been fighting to make sure that a cart of laptops is available exclusively for the ELA department since they make such frequent use of them. Thus far, the district has been uncooperative. The laptops are frequently used for testing and typing in the ELA department and having them unavailable can hinder the progress of the class in producing typed materials (which are infinitely easier for teachers to grade as they remove the hassle of deciphering student handwriting).

Parental involvement appears typical. The concerned parents reach out and try while others appear content to let the student handle their education independently and others seem to care very little or to simply not value education. A few examples immediately come to mind; one morning, a parent called the classroom to confirm that the teacher had received the money necessary to purchase the novel needed for class, another immediately texted a student who was accidentally marked absent, another called at the beginning of the school year to demand to know why classic novels like Moby Dick and Les Miserable weren’t being taught, and another – disappointingly – has decided that since his wife left him, his oldest daughter will be in charge of her 4 younger siblings despite her poor health, making it nearly impossible for her to actually attend class. Despite this, it seems to be a balanced mix and it seems that most parents allow their high schoolers the autonomy you would expect at that age and grade level.

C. Student Academic Factors

Student Subgroup	ELL	IEP	Section 504	Gifted	Other Services (Explain)	Behavior or Cognitive Needs Receiving No Services
Boys	4	2	0	12	0	0
Girls	6	1	1	11	0	0
Instructional Accommodations and Modifications (Describe any instructional accommodations and modifications regularly used to meet the needs of students in each subgroup.)	When students complete their vocab words, they include an illustration that helps them retain the meaning of the word. This is commonly employed with ESL students as a memory device.	Adhering to the student’s IEP plan is the best choice for these students. Allowing them extra time to complete work or to take tests is frequently employed for them.	The one student that has a 504 in place does not frequently attend class, likely because of her health issues, but her 504 dictates that she is allowed extra time to complete all assignment and tests.	All the G/T students are in Honors courses and so their coursework is already more challenging than it would be in a standard class. On top of this they also have an increased number of vocabulary words.	Text	Text

In the space below, discuss the possible affect these characteristics could have on the planning, delivery, and assessment of your unit. Refrain from using student names.

The classes that I will be teaching this unit to include both 9th grade Honors ELA and the 9^th grade standard ELA. Ultimately, this include all three IEP students, 5 ESL students, and 10 Gifted/Talented students. The majority of the IEP and ESL students are all in one class – the standard 9^th grade ELA class. To accommodate these students, I will have to closely monitor their understanding of the topic through frequent formative assessment questions, asked to reveal to me their understanding and to help them clarify their own. I will also need to allow the IEP students to possibly have more time or to offer to work with them during one of our planning periods later in the day to help them fully understand the material.

Other options for aiding in the IEP students understanding is to group them with other students who have shown understanding of the topic – this would be easily enough accomplished as I already plan on having the students work in groups to complete the assignment. To help the ESL students, I plan on providing the key vocabulary words ahead of time, allowing them time to define and study the meaning of those terms beforehand and by providing ample explanation of the meaning as well as the application of those terms. Also included in the lesson will be a good number of examples of the terms in action. I will also be presenting a YouTube video that explains the terms and presents examples while also providing visual memory cues. After the completion of the project, the exemplary examples of the assignments will be posted on the classroom walls to serve as a visual reminder of the terms and their uses.

To provide a higher level of challenge for the Honors/Gifted and Talented students that the standard 9^th grade ELA class will not require, I will be including some restrictions on their options for completing the project and may include a secondary assignment asking them to make use of the literary devices we are studying. Also, the Honors class will need to know and understand these literary devices to make use of them on the SAT later in the year and in upcoming unit tests and written assignments, particularly during the ‘argumentative essay unit’.

STEP Standard 2 - Writing Standards-Based Objectives and the Learning Goal

Unit Topic: Rhetorical Analysis; Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and Connotation

Unit Title: Rhetorical Analysis

National or State Academic Content Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6

Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3

Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.

Learning Goal

Students will be able to identify the most commonly employed rhetorical devices with accuracy, demonstrating understanding of how these devices are used in argumentative, persuasive, and rhetorical literature as well as in their everyday lives.

Measurable Objectives

· Students will be able to define rhetoric and explain how ethos, pathos, logos, and word choice help to further the speaker’s position or belief.

· Students will be able to identify examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in a well-known political speech.

· Students will be able to identify words that have either a positive or negative connotation and explain how that word choice effects the overall tone, voice, and meaning of a piece of writing.

STEP Standard 3 - Assessment and Data Literacy

Pre-Assessment - Copy and paste the pre-assessment you plan to use to assess the students’ knowledge of the topic prior to implementing the unit lessons. Include the scoring criteria used to determine whether the student Exceeds, Meets, Approaches, or Falls Far Below the learning goal and measurable objectives.

Rhetorical Analysis Pre-Test

1. What is ethos?

a. An appeal to emotion

b. An appeal to trust

c. An appeal to reason

2. What is logos?
a. An appeal to reason

c. An appeal to trust

a. An appeal to emotion

3. What is pathos?

a. An appeal to trust

b. An appeal to emotion

c. An appeal to reason

4. What is rhetoric?

a. An argument c. Political discussion

b. Persuasive literature d. All the above

5. What is connotation?

a. The dictionary definition of a word c. Repeated beginning sounds

b. Repeated middle sounds d. The emotional weight of a word

Scoring criteria:

The pre-test was given through the site www.polleverywhere.com. Students answered individually on a classroom set of computers while the questions were displayed on the large projector screen and on their individual screens. The data collected did not include individual scores but provided the percentages of students answers for each of the prompts. For example, the first question (“What is ethos?”) would have a certain percentage of students answer “A”, a different percentage would answer “B” and, and the remaining percentage would answer “C”. This means that for this problem, there is no way to determine “nearly met expectations” because it is a simple matter of if the students know what the term means.

My mentor teacher and I discussed this quite a bit and decided that because it was only a pre-test and it was a short one (also because of the chaos of the school week at that point) that this would be the optimal situation. We also expected that we already knew the results of the test so the lack of individual student information was not something that we felt would be detrimental. Ultimately, all students still need to learn this and will still have to go through the unit with the rest of the class even if they completely passed the pre-test. It is because of these reasons that we opted for a paperless and more general means of assessment data.

The measurable objectives for this unit are that students will be able to define ethos, pathos, logos, and connotative words, and that they will be able to produce examples of ethos, pathos, logos, and connotative words. Naturally, it would be difficult for students to create examples for something that they do not yet understand so this pre-test only assesses their ability to define those terms.

Pre-Assessment Data: Whole Class - Once you have assessed your students’ knowledge on the topic, collect and analyze the pre-assessment data to determine if you will need to modify the standards, learning goal, or measurable objectives that will be addressed during instruction. *Pre-Test:*
	Number of Students
Exceeds	This was not assessed
Meets	9^th Grade Standard (2^nd Period) - Ethos: 5/21 - Pathos: 13/21 - Logos: 12/21 - Connotation: 8/21 - Rhetoric: 11/21 9^th Grade Honors (3^rd Period) - Ethos: 4/24 - Pathos: 6/24 - Logos: 10/24 - Connotation: 8/24 - Rhetoric: 15/24 9^th Grade Honors (4^th Period) - Ethos: 6/25 - Pathos: 9/25 - Logos: 8/25 - Connotation: 10/25 - Rhetoric: 17/25
Approaches	This was not assessed
Falls Far Below	9^th Grade Standard (2^nd Period) - Ethos: 16/21 - Pathos: 8/21 - Logos: 9/21 - Connotation: 13/21 - Rhetoric: 10/21 9^th Grade Honors (3^rd Period) - Ethos: 20/24 - Pathos: 18/24 - Logos: 14/24 - Connotation: 16/24 - Rhetoric: 9/24 9^th Grade Honors (4^th Period) - Ethos: 19/25 - Pathos: 16/25 - Logos: 17/25 - Connotation: 15/25 - Rhetoric: 8/25
Pre-Assessment Analysis: Whole Class		All three classes: Met Expectations - Ethos: 16/70 - Pathos: 28/70 - Logos: 30/70 - Connotation: 26/70 - Rhetoric: 43/70
Based on the results of the pretest administered this week to my three classes of 9^th grade honors/standard ELA students, I think that the standards selected are appropriate. It is painfully apparent that these students are not familiar with the concepts tested on and that their grasp of persuasive/argumentative writing/speaking is tenuous at best. As the unit I developed is brand new to myself and to my mentor teacher, there is little we can do in the way of making changes until after we have taught the unit and we see the post-assessment feedback. We still feel that the standards, goals, and objectives are obtainable and appropriate.
If these tests would have been scored based on how many questions students got correct, the scores would appear a great deal more abysmal than they already are. For example, each class only had one single question where more than half of the students selected the correct answer. That means that for most of the students, their scores would have been about 20% or so. Without individual student information, this is impossible to guarantee but the gathered data appears to support this. I am already aware of the class period (2^nd period – Standard 9^th Grade ELA) that will require a greater deal of explanation when it comes to understanding the concepts (I could even go so far as to predict the students that will struggle with the concepts even after explicit instruction and guided practice). As the unit is brand new to both myself and my mentor teacher, there is little that we can predict in the way that most students will react to it and the best that I can possibly do is to take each thing as it comes and to just roll with it. That means that if a student asks the same questions a dozen times, all I can do is to work with that student to help them understand and to determine what the gap in their knowledge may be and to help eradicate that gap.

Post-Assessment – Copy and paste the post-assessment you plan to use to assess the students’ knowledge of the topic after implementing the unit lessons. The post-assessment can be the same as the pre-assessment, a modified version, or something comparable that measures the same concepts. Include the scoring criteria used to determine whether the student Exceeds, Meets, Approaches, or Falls Far Below the learning goal and measurable objectives.

Identify whether each of the following is an example of ethos (E), pathos (P), or logos (L).

1. ____ Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 70 of which are known to cause cancer - so why would you start smoking?

2. ____ We have been mistreated, abused, and oppressed! They have benefitted from our suffering and we must act now!

3. ____ The research, conducted by professors at Harvard University, suggests that everyone should learn a second language.

4. ____ Just eat and don’t complain! There are starving children in Africa who would give anything to have that plate of food!

5. ____ 9 out of 10 dentists agree that Crest toothpaste is better at fighting gum disease that other leading brands.

6. ____ That is not my wallet. My wallet has a hole in it and that wallet does not, therefore, that cannot possibly be my wallet.

Select the word with a stronger connotation.

1. The woman ran her hands over the _______________ fabric.

a. expensive

b. overpriced

2. Sarah, the ballerina, was tall and ___________.

a. slender

b. skinny

3. The dog’s behavior towards its new owners was ______________.

a. aggressive

b. unpleasant

4. Brian wanted to turn his car _____________ into a career.

a. hobby

b. obsession

STEP Standard 4 - Unit and Lesson Planning

Note: When implementing the unit of study, you will be choosing one of these activities to video record, review, and reflect on your teaching later in the STEP process,

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Title of Lesson or Activity	Introduction to Rhetorical Devices	Rhetorical Devices in Obama’s 2009 Inaugural Speech	Rhetorical Devices in Trump’s 2017 Inaugural Speech	Rhetorical Devices Comparative Chart	Review and YouTube Game
Standards and Objectives What do students need to know and be able to do for each day of the unit?	Standards: - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3 Objectives: The students will be able to identify and define the terms ethos, pathos, logo, connotation, denotation, tone, and voice and will be able to create examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in persuasive writing.	Standards: - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3 Objectives: The students will be able to identify and explain examples of ethos, pathos, and logos as they appear in a presidential speech. The students will be able to identify examples of words with positive and negative connotations in a presidential speech and explain how their connotation impacts the speech.	Standards: - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3 Objectives: The students will be able to identify and explain examples of ethos, pathos, and logos as they appear in a presidential speech. The students will be able to identify examples of words with positive and negative connotations in a presidential speech and explain how their connotation impacts the speech.	Standards: - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3 Objectives: The students will be able to cite evidence of the use of ethos, pathos, logos, and positive/negative connotation in a presidential speech. The students will be able to explain how the use of ethos, pathos, logos and positive/negative connotative words impacts the overall message of a piece.	Standards: - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.6 - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.3 Objectives: The students will be able to identify and explain the rhetorical device and persuasive technique being used in a commercial advertisement.
Academic Language and Vocabulary What academic language will you emphasize and teach each day during this unit?	Ethos Pathos Logos Connotation Denotation Rhetoric	Ethos Pathos Logos Connotation Denotation Rhetoric	Ethos Pathos Logos Connotation Denotation Rhetoric	Ethos Pathos Logos Connotation Denotation Rhetoric	Ethos Pathos Logos Connotation Denotation Rhetoric
Summary of Instruction and Activities for the Lesson How will the instruction and activities flow? Consider how the students will efficiently transition from one to the next.	This lesson is primarily introductory. The teacher will present the Vocabulary PPT one slide at a time, explaining and expanding on the information as necessary. - Key vocab: (Rhetoric, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Connotation, Denotation) During this, students will take Cornell-style notes. After the PPT is complete, students will complete the “Summary” part of their Cornell-styles notes. The teacher will present them with their next task, a writing exercise that requires them to write rhetorical appeals, presented at the end of the PPT. The teacher will walk the class through one of the situational writing prompts, giving examples of the rhetorical devices before (the “we do” of I do, we do, you do), which students will then select and complete.	Review of previous day’s vocabulary. The teacher will queue the YouTube video of President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration speech and will lay the setting for the students. - He had won the race against Senator John McCain. America was during a depression that started in 2008. Lots of people had just lost their jobs and homes and he campaigned on the idea of hope and change, promising to improve the economy quickly. The students will watch the speech. After the speech, the teacher will pass out a hard copy of the speech and will explain the annotation guidelines. - Chunk paragraphs, number the paragraphs, and summarize in the margins. - Circle unfamiliar words The teacher will circulate the classroom while students work on annotating their speeches, asking clarifying questions and ensuring that all students firmly understand what they are analyzing the speech for.	Students will compare/share their summaries. The teacher will queue the YouTube video of President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration speech and will lay the setting for the students. - He had won the race against Hillary Clinton. America was doing well economically and had seen recent growth and prosperity, but after years of Republicans and Democrats fighting and blocking each other in the House and Congress, they didn’t feel like they were being listened to, represented, or like anything was getting done. Trump ran on the promise of stopping illegal immigration and refugees, changing the healthcare system, and cutting taxes. The students will watch the speech. After the speech, the teacher will pass out a hard copy of the speech and will explain the annotation guidelines. (See previous). The teacher will circulate the classroom while students work on annotating their speeches, asking clarifying questions and ensuring that all students firmly understand what they are analyzing the speech for.	Students will compare/share their summaries from the Trump speech. The teacher will then pass out the “Inaugural Speeches: Comparison Chart” to the students. Standard ELA classes (2^nd period) will complete the worksheet in their groups. Honors ELA classes (3^rd and 4^th period) will complete the worksheet independently.	The teacher will provide some class time to complete the comparative chart worksheet for those students who were absent or did not complete in the allotted time frame (Mentor teacher is generally opposed to given assignments as homework because of the low completion rate demonstrated by non-honors students). Afterwards, teacher will collect the Obama speeches, the Trump speeches, and the completed worksheets. Teacher will then pass out the mini whiteboards and the dry-erase markers and will show the commercials from YouTube one at a time, allowing time after each for the students to present their answers. Teams with the highest number correct will receive a prize.
Differentiation What are the adaptations or modifications to the instruction/activities as determined by the student factors or individual learning needs?	Increased amount of required work for honors classes. Standard (P.2): Select one of the situational writing prompts and write one appeal for each ethos, pathos, and logos – totaling 3 sentences. Honors (P.3/4): Select two of the situational writing prompts and write one appeal for each ethos, pathos, and logos – totaling 6 sentences.	Increased individual work for the honors classes. Standard (P.2): Read and summarize sections 1 & 2 of the Obama speech, due for a grade the following day. Honors (P.3/4): Read and summarize sections 1-3 of the Obama speech, due for a grade the following day.	Increased individual work for the honors classes. Standard (P.2): Read and summarize sections 4 & 5 of the Trump speech, due for a grade the following day. Honors (P.3/4): Read and summarize sections 4-6 of the Trump speech, due for a grade the following day.	Increased individual work for the honors classes. Standard (P.2): Complete the comparative chart worksheet with the help of a partner, including citations from the texts. Honors (P.3/4): Complete the comparative chart worksheet individually, including citations from the texts.	Faster speed of gameplay for the honors classes. Standard (P.2): Students watch commercial and then have 2 minutes to deliberate the rhetorical device before announcing their answer. Honors (P.3/4): Students watch commercial and then have 1 minute to deliberate the rhetorical device before announcing their answer.
Required Materials, Handouts, Text, Slides, and Technology	Technology: computer and projector Slides: Ethos, Pathos, Logos PPT.	Handouts: A hardcopy version of Obama’s 2009 Inaugural Address Technology: computer and projector	Handouts: A hardcopy version of Trump’s 2017 Inaugural Address Technology: computer and projector	Handouts: Inaugural Speech Comparative Chart worksheet	Technology: computer and projector Misc.: Miniature whiteboards and dry-erase markers
Instructional and Engagement Strategies What strategies are you going to use with your students to keep them engaged throughout the unit of study?	Interactive questions throughout the PPT. Activity for students at end of PPT. Relating the material to the real-world, asking students for personal examples from their lives.	Following along with text of speech while watching/listening. Stopping during speech to ask about examples of ethos, pathos, logos, and connotation. Checking for comprehension frequently.	Following along with text of speech while watching/listening. Stopping during speech to ask about examples of ethos, pathos, logos, and connotation. Checking for comprehension frequently.	Checking comprehension frequently. Allowing for a variety of grouping with students – some activities solo, some with groups. Reviewing terms before beginning to ensure understanding.	Group and solo work in different classes as well as different group structures. Competitive game format with tangible reward encourages participation.
Formative Assessments How are you going to measure the learning of your students throughout the lesson?	Checking to make sure students are following along and taking notes. Many slides in the PPT ask for student feedback and participation, allowing for a chance to see the students working with what they just learned and seeing it in action.	Checking for comprehension halfway through the speech. Allows teacher the chance to see the students examining a new text for examples of ethos, pathos, and logos.	Checking for comprehension halfway through the speech. Allows teacher the chance to see the students examining a new text for examples of ethos, pathos, and logos.	Students will independently (honors) or codependently (standard) work to complete the worksheet, locating examples of ethos, pathos, logos, and positive/negative connotation in each speech studied this week. Teacher will circulate the room during this, asking questions to assess understanding and helping to clarify any confusion the students may have.	Firmly assessing which students, or groups of students, can effectively identify examples of ethos, pathos, and logos quickly and efficiently.
Summative, Post- Assessment What post-assessment will measure the learning progress? Note: This can be the same as the pre-assessment or a modified version of it.	Post-assessment will be administered 24 hours after the lesson has concluded with no review before to ensure that student understanding and retention is genuine. Post-assessment includes 6 questions which require the students to identify if the argument contained within is ethos, pathos, or logos. Post-assessment also includes 4 questions which require student to choose the word with the strongest connotation for the sentence. While the pre-assessment required students to simply provide the correct definitions for the terms rhetoric, ethos, pathos, logos, and connotation, the post-assessment requires students to apply the knowledge that they should have gained from studying the terms to correctly identify it without the use of the definitions at hand.

STEP Standard 5 - Implementation of Instructional Unit

Summary of Unit Implementation:

Lesson 1: This lesson consisted of presenting to the classes (three in total) the vocabulary PPT I had compiled for this unit, including the terms rhetoric, ethos, pathos, logos, connotation, and denotation. The slideshow included an example/practice slide for each term and ended with an activity that required students to write an ethos/pathos/logos appeal for one of the prompts provided. During the slideshow, the students were also meant to be taking Cornell style notes and they appeared to do this without issue. The first time I presented, I was nervous and was fumbling over my words. The activity at the end went relatively well, however, and it seemed that students were beginning to understand. The second and third time I went through this activity were better as I was more familiar with the routine and was comfortable with presenting something large to them.

Lesson 2: This lesson consisted of reviewing the terms learned the day before and then watching President Obama’s 2009 inaugural speech, stopping to identify examples of ethos/pathos/logos and positive/negative connotation, and then summarizing 2-3 sections of the speech. This went well. The first class being the standard ELA class struggled to identify examples of ethos/pathos/logos but the second appeared to have better luck. They were then set to number the paragraphs and section them off according to my directions. This also went well. Students were then allowed about 15 minutes of class time to re-read and summarize those sections while circling any words they were not familiar with; anything they didn’t finish in class was due the following day as homework. While this should seem like plenty of time, many did not make a genuine effort.

Lesson 3: Lesson 3 began with sharing the summaries they created for lesson 2 and then jumping into the same activity as Lesson 2 but using President Trump’s 2017 inaugural speech for comparison. Again, we stopped to identify examples of ethos/pathos/logos and positive/negative connotations. Again, they numbered paragraphs and sectioned the paper according to directions, working to summarize 2-3 sections and circle unfamiliar words. As before, the work they did not finish in class was due the following class as homework.

Lesson 4: Lesson 4 began with sharing the summaries that they completed from the Trump speech. The next activity was a worksheet that required students to compare the two inaugural speeches, locating examples of ethos, pathos, and logos from each as well as identifying many positive and negative connotative words. The standard class could work in groups – a choice later regretted – and the honors course was required to complete the worksheet individually.

Lesson 5: This lesson served as the culmination for the unit and would be the final time that students were able to practice identifying examples of ethos/pathos/logos before they were given the post-assessment. For this lesson, the students shared some of what they had written on their comparative worksheets and then the class moved into a “game” where the objective was to identify the ethos/pathos/logos used in the commercial they were shown. The first time through was difficult. This class has a difficult time taking any tasks seriously and they were rowdy and obnoxious to the point that we cut the activity short and they received a stern talking-to about behavior. Because of this we made some changes for the Honors courses, also requiring them to explain why it was as they stated and working in smaller groups and these changes greatly improved the experience of the game for all students involved.

Summary of Student Learning:

My initial perception of student learning was that they had made progress since they were given the pre-assessment. However, this was simply a perception of growth as it was obvious that they had not achieved mastery yet. My mentor teacher and I were tempted to postpone the post-assessment until after they had further review and more practice with application but understood that the post-assessment was due at a particular time in order to complete my own homework. With that in mind, we moved forward.

The results were as we expected; there was improvement but there was not mastery. Of three 9^th grade classes, totaling about 85 students, only 3 students were able to earn a 100% on the test while most averaged about 70%. The students had the opportunity to earn a few points of extra credit on the test by defining ethos, pathos, and logos on the back. Even the students who clearly understood the definitions struggled with application.

There are two specific students that I can think of that had an impact on the way I was teaching the material and how I was helping those students who needed an increased amount of assistance with the material. One, Darion, made a connection early on during the vocabulary term slideshow before I had even reached the portion where we would go the examples. While discussing how Pathos is an appeal to emotion and an attempt to sway the audience using emotional or graphic images that cause the audience to feel something, Darion raised his hand and asked, “Like those sad animal commercials?”. I was so excited and praised his connection before asking the class if they could think of any other examples. There were a few. It was because of this that I asked the other class directly during this portion if they could think of any examples they had seen recently and another student again mentioned the ‘sad animal commercials’.

The second student, was one who either wasn’t giving applying the information they had learned a genuine effort or who genuinely did not understand, it was difficult to tell because she broached the subject in such a flippant way by saying “I just don’t get this,” as approached their table while circulating the room. I asked her specifically what she didn’t understand and then attempted to re-explain it first by reminding her to check her notes and then by providing some of the examples we had already seen in class. She continued to react flippantly to the information so I approached it a different way. “Let’s say you’re on the market to buy a new car. What would it take to persuade you that a car was the one you wanted to buy?”. She answered the questions and I explained that that was what they should be looking for – but in terms of “What makes me want this guy to be my president? What is he doing to convince me that I want him to be my president?”. She seemed to accept what I had said, so I asked if she wanted another example or if she thought she understood it. She said she did so I went on my way. After this encounter, this was the example I used with any students to help clear up any confusion.

STEP Standard 6 - Analysis of Student Learning

Post-Test Data: Whole Class - Once you have assessed your students’ learning on the topic, collect and analyze the post-test data to determine the effectiveness of your instruction and assessment.

	Number of Students Pre-Test	Number of Students Post-Test
Exceeds	Was not assessed	Was not assessed
Meets	All three classes: Met Expectations - Ethos: 16/70 - Pathos: 28/70 - Logos: 30/70 - Connotation: 26/70 - Rhetoric: 43/70 Average: 27 students/70	All three classes: Met expectations - Ethos: 45/70 - Pathos: 58/70 - Logos: 54/70 - Connotation: 37/70 - Rhetoric: not assessed Average: 49 students/70
Approaches	Was not assessed	Was not assessed
Falls Far Below	All three classes: Falls Far Below - Ethos: 54/70 - Pathos: 42/70 - Logos: 40/70 - Connotation: 44/70 - Rhetoric: 27/70 Average: 43 students/70	All three classes: Falls Far Below: - Ethos: 25/70 - Pathos: 12/70 - Logos: 16/70 - Connotation: 33/70 - Rhetoric: not assessed Average: 21 students/70

Post-Test Analysis: Whole Class

Based on my analysis of the whole-class post-assessment data from this unit, I would say that it was moderately successful but that it was not as effective as it could have been to reach all students. Students struggled with some parts of the material but not others. In particular, they struggled to correctly identify “ethos” and they struggled with correctly identifying words with the stronger positive/negative connotation. Comparing the number of students who fell far below expectations from pre-test to post-test, however, shows that there are a good number of students who benefitted from the lesson unit. Whether they can maintain that understanding and later demonstrate application is still yet to be seen, however.

Based on the analysis of the whole-class post-assessment data when compared to the whole-class pre-assessment data, it appears that while my instructional methodologies were successful to a point, they were not as successful as they could have been and simply did not serve to meet all students and help them grow. Students continued to struggle with the idea of ethos and how it was used and identified in rhetorical works. Students also struggled to grasp the full nuance of how connotation plays into building an argument. This is likely because there was no specific and direct drill suing this concept. Further practice will be required to achieve mastery of those skills as students will need to demonstrate them in an upcoming unit that requires them to build an argumentative essay from the ground up. I believe that the majority of the fault in not achieving completely met expectations lies in the level of interest that students took in the material being examined. It seems like no exaggeration to say that most students will not take an outright interest in the presidential inauguration speeches of years gone by. Also tied into this could be that there was a two day period where students did little to apply their previously gained knowledge of ethos/pathos/logos in a practical way. This was remedied by compiling the data from the post-assessment and providing a more-engaging extension activity following the post-assessemtn.

Post-Assessment Analysis: Subgroup Selection Pre-Test -

For this subgroup post-assessment data analysis, I chose to focus on the Gifted and Talented students. This the largest subgroup of students in my classroom and their Gifted nature ranges from mathematics specialization to reading/writing. I have found myself questioning before if these students are being adequately challenged in this classroom, in this school, and in this district in general as it tends to be the district’s policy to cater to the ‘lowest denominator’ in order to raise test scores and I feel this leaves those particularly adept students wanting more challenging material to ensure they are meeting their fullest potential.

Post-Assessment Data: Subgroup (Gender, ELL population, Gifted, students on IEPs or 504s, etc.)

	Number of Students Pre-Test	Number of Students Post-Test
Exceeds	Was not assessed	Was not assessed
Meets	While student-specific data was not collected for this class, the general number of students who met expectations was lower than the overall number of Gifted students in each the 3^rd and 4^th Honors classes. This leads me to conclude that only about 5 of the 23 Gifted students in these two classes already demonstrated an understanding of the material.	Gifted Student Subgroup: Met expectations - Ethos: 15/23 - Pathos: 21/23 - Logos: 18/23 - Connotation: 14/23 - Rhetoric: not assessed Average: 17/23 met expectations
Approaches	Was not assessed	Was not assessed
Falls Far Below	See above “meets” box detailing how individual student data was not collected. The clear majority of students did not yet demonstrate any level of mastery of these topics. An estimated 18/23 students fell far below pre-determined measures of success on this pre-test.	Gifted Student Subgroup: Falls far below - Ethos: 8/23 - Pathos: 2/23 - Logos: 5/23 - Connotation: 7/23 - Rhetoric: not assessed Average: 6/23 fall far below
Post-Assessment Analysis: Subgroup
Perhaps unsurprisingly, considered their status as Gifted, this subgroup of students consistently demonstrates a deeper level of understanding and higher level of mastery over the assigned content than non-Gifted students. While this may be due to their over-all higher level of competency in the realm of academia, it may also be due to internal factors like intrinsic motivation and a willingness and eagerness to study and absorb new information that non-Gifted students often seem to lack. Overall, for this group the unit was more efficient at teaching them the necessary material than it was for standard non-Gifted students.
While most of the students in this subgroup demonstrated mastery over the content, there were a number who failed to do so. I attribute this to the fact that the district does not label all Gifted students the same way. While they all receive the general “Gifted” label, they all have areas of emphasis where their skills are particularly advanced. This appears to have been the case with my Gifted students as, while they are all placed in an Honors level ELA course, some of them are qualified Gifted in the realm of mathematics or science while some are labeled Gifted for reading/writing/speaking. This, I believe, explains the minor discrepancies in failing to meet expectations. As with the majority group, this group failed to fully grasp the concept of “ethos” and they require a good deal more experience with connotation. These are both easy to explain and match up relatively well with the general whole-class data.

Post-Assessment Data: Remainder of Class

	Number of Students Pre-Test	Number of Students Post-Test
Exceeds	Was not assessed	Was not assessed
Meets	Assuming that about 5 of the 23 Gifted students met expectations, then the remaining numbers would be 22/47 non-GT students who met expectations.	Non-GT Met expectations: - Ethos: 30/47 - Pathos: 37/47 - Logos: 35/47 - Connotation: 23/47 - Rhetoric: not assessed Average: 32/47 meet expectations
Approaches	Was not assessed	Was not assessed
Falls Far Below	Assuming that 18/23 GT students falls far below expectations and the remaining number of students is 47, then 29/47 students fell far below expectations.	Non-GT Falls Far Below: - Ethos: 17/47 - Pathos: 10/47 - Logos: 12/47 - Connotation: 24/47 - Rhetoric: not assessed Average: 15/47 fall far below

Post-Assessment Analysis: Subgroup and Remainder of Class

Comparing the data from the Gifted and Talented student subgroup post-assessment with the data from the Non-Gifted and Talented student group’s post-assessment data, it is apparent that the instructional materials provided for this unit and the instructional techniques used within this unit were adequate for most students but failed to reach all of them. It is also apparent that the Gifted and Talented student subgroup was already more adept and prepared to accept and utilize this information than the Non-GT student group. As explained above, this could be due to a number of reasons including intrinsic motivation to learn and succeed academically and a generally higher level of academic skills. The unit required that students were able to read, comprehend, synthesize information, and to determine the rhetorical devices being used in two different presidential inaugural speeches. If students entered this lesson with an already-low reading skill set and a low-level ability to read and synthesize informational texts, they would already be at a disadvantage when compared to their averagely skilled peers. Here, again, we see the age-old dilemma; do we, as educators, cater to the ‘lowest denominator’ and fail to adequately challenge those who are academically advanced or do we provide rigorous content for those who are advanced and risk leaving behind those who are not?

Overall, this unit felt generally successful and the extension activities that were planned following the post-assessment results appear to have already increased the students’ understanding of the rhetorical devices and how they are best used.

After analyzing the post-assessment data with my mentor teacher, we were in concurrence that the students – all groups – required more familiarity with the concepts in ethos/pathos/logos, especially considering the looming 9^th grade argumentative research essay wherein they would need to demonstrate control of persuasive techniques. We planned another, larger activity that was designed to allow students to engage in a possibly-familiar topic while applying their new academic knowledge to the topic to persuade their classmates. The students were to work in groups to create an advertisement for a superhero that was assigned to them in the hopes that they would persuade their classmates to vote for their hero to be the savior of the world. As of this moment in time, that activity has concluded as well and it generally appears that students have a better understanding of ethos/pathos/logos. For the time being, we are moving on because we need to introduce the essay unit but we will circle back to the rhetorical devices in about two weeks when we review them and discuss how they can best implement them into their own argumentative papers.

STEP Standard 7 – Reflecting on Instruction to Improve Student Progress

Improved Practice Based on the Unit of Study

Based on the experience of developing and delivering your instructional unit, list three short-term goals to improve specific areas of your teaching practice based on the unit of instruction and describe your plan to reach each short-term goal.

Short-Term Goal	Plan to Reach the Goal (i.e., professional development, research on the Internet, observation of a veteran teacher, etc.)
1. To develop a more advanced level of classroom management skills.	· Gaining feedback from my mentor teacher about my current management skills and what she would recommend to improve them. · Internet research to identify a number of common classroom management techniques that do and do not work. · Keeping in mind that because the students still do not fully see my mentor teacher’s classroom as my classroom that I will likely not be able to achieve full management with them but that this is a learning experience and that I shouldn’t take any failures as a personal slight to my management skills but should instead take it into account when preparing for managing my own classroom in the coming school year. · Reading “Classroom Management that Works: Research-based Strategies for Every Teacher” by Robert J. Marzano
2. To stop more frequently to check for comprehension and do on-the-spot reteaching.	· To be more aware of when my students are lacking in knowledge by asking questions throughout that are meant to gauge how much of the presented information they are grasping. · To take continued feedback from my mentor teacher about when the speed of the lesson is too quick and when it is too slow. · Internet research based around identifying a number of strategies that could be easily implemented into the classroom to gauge student understanding. · To provide a greater number of post-assessments to ensure that learning goals have been met for every lesson. · To implement an “exit ticket” or Demonstration of Learning (DOL) system that will require students to turn in a small thing at the end of every class that is meant to serve as data showing whether or not they fully grasped the information.
3. Create more engaging activities that students want to complete	· Examine internet resources for ideas about topics that engage students. · Examine internet resources for ideas about how to engage students with topics that may not immediately interest them. · Take suggestions from other teachers about what activities got their students involved and which ones fell flat. · Remember that it will be impossible to create an activity that absolutely engages every single student because they are all individuals with widely varied interests, but with the right level of modernity and application to the real-world, it is possible to engage the majority. · When designing units, question “How can I help my students better relate to this material? How can I get them to care about this?”

References

Demographics 2016-2017. (n.d.). Pueblo City Schools. Retrieved January 20, 2018, from http://www.pueblocityschools.us/about-pueblo-city-schools/demographics

Pueblo, Colorado. City-Data. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2018, from http://www.city-data.com/city/Pueblo-Colorado.html

Roper, P. (2017, May 23). More than 40 Percent of Pueblo County Residents Use Medicaid. The Pueblo Chieftain. Retrieved January 20, 2018, from https://www.chieftain.com/news/pueblo/more-than-percent-of-pueblo-county-residents-use-medicaid/article_90f1268c-3adc-5078-b7fb-f7e2d9060ec3.html

STEP Template 2 - March 4, 2018-April 27, 2018

STEP Standard 1 - Contextual Factors: Knowing Your School and Community

Part I: Community, District, School, and Classroom Factors

A. Geographic Location

B. District Demographics

C. School Demographics

STEP Standard 1 - Contextual Factors: Knowing Your School and Community

Part II: Demographic, Environment, and Academic Factors

A. Student Demographic Factors

B. Environmental Factors

C. Student Academic Factors

Student Subgroup	ELL	IEP	Section 504	Gifted	Other Services (Explain)	Behavior or Cognitive Needs Receiving No Services
Boys	4	2	0	12	0	0
Girls	6	1	1	11	0	0
Instructional Accommodations and Modifications (Describe any instructional accommodations and modifications regularly used to meet the needs of students in each subgroup.)	When students complete their vocab words, they include an illustration that helps them retain the meaning of the word. This is commonly employed with ESL students as a memory device.	Adhering to the student’s IEP plan is the best choice for these students. Allowing them extra time to complete work or to take tests is frequently employed for them.	The one student that has a 504 in place does not frequently attend class, likely because of her health issues, but her 504 dictates that she is allowed extra time to complete all assignment and tests.	All the G/T students are in Honors courses and so their coursework is already more challenging than it would be in a standard class. On top of this they also have an increased number of vocabulary words.	Text	Text

In the space below, discuss the possible affect these characteristics could have on the planning, delivery, and assessment of your unit. Refrain from using student names.

STEP Standard 2 - Writing Standards-Based Objectives and the Learning Goal

Unit Topic: Poetry Appreciation, Analysis, Interpretation

Unit Title: Poetry: Art as Communication

National or State Academic Content Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10
By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Learning Goal: For students to have a deeper understanding of a poem through analysis of meaning, theme, and figurative language.

Measurable Objectives:

- Students will be able to independently analyze and interpret a poem by Maya Angelou by completing the Poetry ID Card worksheet designed by the teacher.

- Students will be able to analyze and interpret a number of poetic works from a variety of poets (including Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, Tupac Shakur, William Shakespeare, Alfred Lord Tennyson, John McCrae, and Rupi Kuar) by completing a range of poetry activities including a Poetry ID Card, a TPCASTT Analysis, a round-robin discussion, a gallery walk, and figurative language interactive notebook manipulatives.

STEP Standard 3 - Assessment and Data Literacy

The Kraken

Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1809 - 1892

Below the thunders of the upper deep,
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides; above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

In worksheet form:

TPCASTT Analysis

TITLE: Consider the title and make a prediction about what the poem is about.

PARAPHRASE: Translate the poem line by line into your own words on a literal level. Look for complete thoughts (sentences may be inverted) and look up unfamiliar words.

CONNOTATION: Examine the poem for meaning beyond the literal. Look for figurative language, imagery, and sound elements.

ATTITUDE/TONE: Notice the speaker’s tone and attitude. Humor? Sarcasm? Awe?

SHIFTS: Note any shifts or changes in speaker or attitude. Look for key words, time change, punctuation.

TITLE: Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level.

THEME: Briefly state in your own words what the poem is about (subject), then what the poet is saying about the subject (theme).

Students had been given a presentation regarding the types of figurative language before this unit and had access to those notes while completing the worksheet. The worksheet was meant to gauge how well they tackled and older and more formal tone in poetry and how deeply they tackled the ‘interpretive” aspect of poetry analysis. The worksheet was gone over before they started it and they had access to the poem above (“The Kraken” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson) during.

Grading criteria:

5 possible points for each section.

Must be complete thoughts and sentences – must demonstrate genuine effort and attempt at analysis. While some are more personal and free-response, others have a set answer for being correct – how correct those things are will determine how many of the 5 possible points they receive.

Pre-Assessment Data: Whole Class - Once you have assessed your students’ knowledge on the topic, collect and analyze the pre-assessment data to determine if you will need to modify the standards, learning goal, or measurable objectives that will be addressed during instruction. *Pre-Test:*
	Number of Students
Exceeds	3/50
Meets	13/50
Approaches	29/50
Falls Far Below	5/50
Pre-Assessment Analysis: Whole Class
Based on the data above, there are few changes I would make. It is obvious that there are many students who have already encountered poetry analysis and figurative language at least to the level that it was assessed on or that have already gained a surprising amount of insight from our introduction to poetry and figurative language. However, there are even more students – the majority, in fact – that needs further instruction in figurative language and analysis techniques. They struggle to look at a poem and identify aspects on figurative language used without being told specifically which aspect to look for; this is something that I have noticed during out classroom discussions regarding poetry. The other challenge is to get them thinking on a deeper level and considering the author’s purpose and intent when analyzing. The standards remain the same and the learning objectives remain the same but the things that I place emphasis on are now slightly altered.
After examining the data above, it appears that the wisest course of action would be to integrate an increased amount of analysis that focuses on the author’s intent and purpose. While many of my students met or exceeded expectations, ever more fell into the ‘approaching’ category and this was due mainly to their evident lack of skill in interpreting a poem from the author’s perspective or on a level deeper than surface. This will likely require that I model the action before they attempt to complete it or that I explain the importance of understanding the author’s intent and purpose As far as figurative language goes, I will need to slightly alter the focus as well. At the moment, the students are familiar enough with the terms that many of them can identify the terms when called on to do so thought finding examples in a text would present a challenge. Essentially, what they lack is the ability to apply that information. They will get the chance to do that in-class as they read a number of poems that require them to identify certain aspects of figurative language and to write a number of poems that incorporate various forms of figurative language.

The post-assessment given for this unit will be the EUA given for the entire unit. It consists of approximately 25 different questions asking the students to analyze and compare two different pomes on the same subject matter.

The first poem is John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” and the second is Sara Teasdale’s “Spring in War-Time” – both poems are written about the dead and the aftermath of World War One but treat the subject matter differently. The multiple-choice questions ask students to answer how they are similar and how they are different by comparing theme, figurative language use, and perspective within the poem. Other questions include the identification of author’s intent in writing, author’s purpose, author’s inspiration, alliteration, personification, metaphor, and rhyme.

I have not included the test here because the version that we will use has not yet been finalized by the ELA department at East; so far only content has been agreed upon and the questions will be written in the next week.

STEP Standard 4 - Unit and Lesson Planning

Note: When implementing the unit of study, you will be choosing one of these activities to video record, review, and reflect on your teaching later in the STEP process,

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Title of Lesson or Activity	“In Flanders Fields” and Poem ID Card	Free Verse Poetry	“Caged Bird” – Class analysis and annotation	Blackout Poetry	Emily Dickinson Gallery Walk
Standards and Objectives What do students need to know and be able to do for each day of the unit?	Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10 Objectives: Students will be able to identify and explain all the necessary technical aspects of poetry and analyze a poem.	Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4 Objectives: Students will be able to define and create free verse poems.	Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10 Objectives: Students will be able to analyze symbolism in a poem and analyze how symbol and theme interact throughout a poem.	Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4 Objectives: Students will be able to define blackout poetry and explain its characteristics and to create their own blackout poems.	Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.10 Objectives: Students will be able to identify and explain all necessary technical aspects of a poem and to identify the characteristics of Emily Dickinson’s poems.
Academic Language and Vocabulary What academic language will you emphasize and teach each day during this unit?	Theme Topic Rhyme Meter Connotation Denotation Symbolism	Free Verse Rhyme Meter	Author’s Purpose Theme Symbolism Personification	Topic	Theme Meter Rhyme Personification Hyperbole Alliteration Allusion Author’s Purpose
Summary of Instruction and Activities for the Lesson How will the instruction and activities flow? Consider how the students will efficiently transition from one to the next.	-Students will locate their textbooks and then use their glossary to locate the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae. -The teacher will provide some background information on the poet. -One student will give a dramatic reading of the poem and then the class will discuss meaning and content. -Teacher will reveal when the poem was written and why and then pass out the Poem ID Card sheets. -Class will discuss the sheets, teacher will identify which parts are not applicable for this poem and will explain anything that is confusing or that has not been explicitly covered already. -Students then work together with their tables to complete the sheet by the end of class.	-Four volunteer students will read a different free verse poem by one of the poets mentioned above. -After hearing them, students will discuss what each has (or does not have) in common. -Teacher will introduce the idea of free verse poetry and then introduce the requirement for their assignment -Students will work the rest of class to complete this poetry assignment.	-Student will give dramatic reading of the poem. -Class will discuss meaning and interesting points of note upon first reading. -Students will then be given list of things that should be annotated on their poems. -Students will discuss after annotating -After discussion, students will be presented with prompt and will answer the writing prompt on the board”; “What is the symbolism in this poem? Why did Angelou choose that poem? What is the theme? Would any other symbol work just as well through this theme? Explain.” Students will have what remains of the class to respond.	-The teacher will show students examples of blackout poetry, with an emphasis on what would or would not be okay in their own -Teacher explains the process for creating Students collect the supplies they need and begin creating.	Students move in groups of four moving from one table to the next, completing the task assigned to each poem before moving onto the next at the teacher’s command.
Differentiation What are the adaptations or modifications to the instruction/activities as determined by the student factors or individual learning needs?	Students will be able to work with students, providing a hands-on assistant. Students may use their poetry notes which includes information for each task.	Student may need more help to begin wiritng.	Student may receive access from teacher or from tablemate for this lesson, looking at their notes for information.	Students will ask clarifying questions as necessary.	Students will be working in groups and will have that built-in assistance in completing the sheet and teacher will be ready to answer questions as necessary.
Required Materials, Handouts, Text, Slides, and Technology	Text: “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae (in textbook) Handouts: “Poem ID Card” Worksheet	Text: Examples of Free Verse poetry - Rupi Kaur “i want to apologize to all the women i have called pretty” - Stephen Crane “The Wayfarer” - William Carlos Williams “This Is Just To Say” - Langston Hughes “I, Too” Handouts: Poetry Portfolio Information and Requirements Informational Sheet	Text: Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” Handout: Copy of Maya Angelou’s “Cages Bird” poem with space in margins to annotate	Materials: -Loose pages torn from old books -Loose leaf paper for brainstorming -Black markers Slides: “Blackout Poetry” examples	Text: -Copies of Emily Dickinson poems (6 total – teacher’s choice) -Tasks for each poem center Materials: -Loose leaf paper for completing tasks
Instructional and Engagement Strategies What strategies are you going to use with your students to keep them engaged throughout the unit of study?	A dramatic reading of the poem grabs attention. Circulating the room while they work on their sheets to answer questions ensures that they have the chance to clarify anything that may confuse them. Students are also allowed to work in groups to complete this.	Dramatic readings and minor analysis of each of the free verse poems mentioned above leads to students writing their own free verse poems. Allowing them this opportunity to be creative and express themselves holds their attention throughout.	A dramatic reading of the poem before launching into analysis grabs attention at first. Some topical analysis leads into a small series of different tasks which creates a small challenge and maintains a level of novelty throughout.	Blackout poetry is a very creative and hands-on exercise which requires students to look at a page of text and turn it into something totally different. Students enjoy the challenge and freedom in this assignment.	Working in groups is a novelty in itself. Reading six poems from one author in one day instead of just one also creates a level of novelty. This assignment also requires students to remain focused as tasks are times and they are able to move throughout the room during.
Formative Assessments How are you going to measure the learning of your students throughout the lesson?	-Grading of worksheet will act as formative assessment as the unit will continue past this point. Student questions during work time.	Student questions during assignment worktime.	Student questions during worktime – When calling on volunteers to share annotations, teacher can ask for definitions of works mentionedin the sample.	Click here to enter text.	Student questions during assignment worktime.
Summative, Post- Assessment What post-assessment will measure the learning progress? Note: This can be the same as the pre-assessment or a modified version of it.	The post-assessment given for this unit will be the EUA given for the entire unit. It consists of approximately 25 different questions asking the students to analyze and compare two different pomes on the same subject matter. The first poem is John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” and the second is Sara Teasdale’s “Spring in War-Time” – both poems are written about the dead and the aftermath of World War One but treat the subject matter differently. The multiple-choice questions ask students to answer how they are similar and how they are different by comparing theme, figurative language use, and perspective within the poem. Other questions include the identification of author’s intent in writing, author’s purpose, author’s inspiration, alliteration, personification, metaphor, and rhyme. I have not included the test here because the version that we will use has not yet been finalized by the ELA department at East; so far only content has been agreed upon and the questions will be written in the next week.

STEP Standard 5 - Implementation of Instructional Unit

Summary of Unit Implementation:

Ultimately, I felt like this unit had been a success. The students had seemed to enjoy some of the poems – “The Kraken”, for instance caught their attention because it was about a giant sea monster – and seemed to really ‘get into’ writing their own poetry when they were given the chance to do so. They eagerly took part in the discussion we had about Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” and even went so far as to begin debating each other over some of the finer points of the poem. Student engagement seemed highest during the days we worked on creating poetry. Blackout poetry was a smash hit; students were engaged, intrigued, and eager to begin working on their own.

Summary of Student Learning:

Student learning seemed to be going well. The classes that this unit was designed for are 10^th grade honors students and they seemed engaged and as though they were steadily gaining knowledge. The rough scores, however, for the final assessment did not look promising. I was disappointed by how well they did on them. Upon investigation, it appears that there was a heavy-handed focus on analysis and interpretation - which is something that they have struggled with all year - which is something that the poetry unit wasn’t geared towards mastering. Citing textual evidence was also an issue during the test – this is something else that students have struggled with all year. In summary, I think the students mostly have a new-found and deeper appreciation of poetry as art and as a means of communication but I am disappointed that the unit did not seem to help them develop their analysis, interpretation, and citing textual evidence skills as a whole.

STEP Standard 6 - Analysis of Student Learning

	Number of Students Pre-Test	Number of Students Post-Test
Exceeds	3/50	0/39
Meets	13/50	5/39
Approaches	29/50	18/39
Falls Far Below	5/50	16/39
Have yet to test	0/50	11/50

Post-Test Analysis: Whole Class

As a whole, I am disappointed with the results of the test but have a variety of reasons to explain the poor results. The pre-test, a TPCASTT analysis of Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Kraken” asked students to consider the title, the tone/attitude, theme, figurative language, symbolism, and to paraphrase the poem. The post-assessment asked students to compare two poems and to consider the themes and author’s choices in demonstrating those themes; it did ask students to analyze a few forms of figurative language but also asked them to use textual evidence to support these answers and this is where they fell short.

Textual evidence is something that the ELA department at East High School has noticed the students lacking in for years now and, unfortunately, they have yet to remedy this problem. They aren’t sure why this has been such an issue but they are sure that this is also impacting their ability to fully interpret and analyze text and that those two issues are likely related.

My poetry unit was geared towards analysis but there was also a focus placed on the technical aspect of poetry. Had I designed the test, this would have been reflected. However, this end-unit assessment was designed by the ELA departments for the district several years ago and all poetry units since then have simply tried to build a unit around that assessment. I do not believe that this is the right way to go about designing units but their hands are tied as the district has a variety testing requirement to be met and this is only one of them. These district requirements do not always match up to East’s IB methods or ideals, however, and again this can cause the students at East to fall short simply because it is not testing precisely what they have been taught.

What I do know about my students learning is that they ended this unit with a deeper understanding and appreciation of poetry and that many of them relished the opportunities that were provided to create their own. Some of the poetry portfolios that I have received from them (the culmination project) are simply outstanding and clearly demonstrate their deepened interest in the topic. I know that they have a better understanding of figurative language – if not a mastery over it – and I know that they were impressed by the modern poets we read and that many of them found a connection to the modern perspective in the poems. In this regard, at least, my instruction was effective. It is an unfortunate truth that there was little in the way of textual evidence or in critical thinking and analysis integrated into the unit but had there been more, it still would not have been enough practice to help them master the skills needed to effectively do that as this is a deep-seated problem that runs much further back in the district curriculum than 10^th grade poetry.

Post-Assessment Analysis: Subgroup Selection Pre-Test -

The selection of subgroup for this class comes from an observation I made earlier in the semester that the classes seemed to have a slight skew in favor of the female gender, demographically speaking. Combining this with the knowledge that I was working with many Gifted and Talented students and that I was a Gifted and Talented ELA student during my high school career, I was interested in seeing how this gender subgroup faired compared to the opposite sex. Knowing that girls nationwide tend to be less involved in the STE(A)M programs and that they tend to be the higher population group in advanced-level ELA courses, my curiosity was piqued and the numbers did not fail to fascinate.

Post-Assessment Data: Gender Subgroup, Female

	Number of Students Pre-Test	Number of Students Post-Test
Exceeds	2/28	0/28
Meets	8/28	4/28
Approaches	16/28	8/28
Falls Far Below	2/28	9/28
Did Not Test	0/28	7/28
Post-Assessment Analysis: Subgroup
Based on my analysis of the data above for the female students in my two 10^th grade classes regarding this final portion of the poetry unit, it appears that the female students have a stronger grasp the concepts tested than their male counterparts do. While it is true that the students are the larger gender population in the classes this could also be because they are honors courses and looking at Gifted and Talented statistics, more girls are considered gifted and talented in the reading/writing categories than males. While this doesn’t appear to be based on any scientific evidence, it is a societal construct that boys are more often adept and encouraged in the mathematics/science field while girls are more often encouraged in the direction of language arts. This may have impacted the way that these girls chose their advanced courses and the same can be said of the boys despite the fact that their strengths may be greater in other areas. Alternatively, the girls may have fared better when it came to analyzing poetry for mood and tone because they may be more in touch with their own emotions as a female teenager. Again, this is merely speculation but I suspect that many of the boys in these classes would agree that girls are better at dealing with emotional things than they are.
It appears that my instruction worked better for this subgroup than the other. As to why I can only speculate and there are many other factors to consider. For example, this test was taken on a Monday immediately following the week that the students were in and out of school on an irregular schedule taking the CMAS (Colorado Measure of Academic Standards) and the PSAT/SAT. At this point, they were very likely “over” testing and may not have made an excellent effort. However, I can safely say that my unit did not place as much an emphasis on analysis and interpretation as the test did and that, combined with the long-standing issue of students struggling with locating textual evidence. My unit focused more on the figurative language and the technical aspects of poetry. We did cover some analysis and interpretation but it was not a focus. While this poetry unit is entirely over, I can help them by focusing more on interpretation and analysis by practicing those ideas on other texts. With enough practice, they will eventually be at the skill level that that assessment would have liked though I cannot say with certainty when that would be.

Post-Assessment Data: Remainder of Class

	Number of Students Pre-Test	Number of Students Post-Test
Exceeds	1/22	0/22
Meets	5/22	1/22
Approaches	13/22	10/22
Falls Far Below	3/22	7/22
Did Not Test	0/22	4/22

Post-Assessment Analysis: Subgroup and Remainder of Class

As previously explained, it doesn’t seem to me that there was anything entirely wrong with the applied teaching methodologies because my students then later demonstrated competency on what the unit focused on but the fault lies within the contents of the unit versus the contents of the district-mandated assessment. Instead of allowing teachers to design a test that best reflects their unit, teachers are required to design a unit that best reflects the test. However, if a teacher designed a unit to reflect the test entirely, students would take very little interest in poetry at all. My goal in creating the unit that I did was to have my students walk away with a deeper appreciation for poetry as an artform while also being able to identify and explain the technical aspects of poetry. In this regard, I feel as though expectations were met. This test does not feel like an accurate representation of the contents of the unit I designed or the teaching methodologies used to present that content. It is frustrating to see these results because this test did not test them on things like being able to create their own or being able to explain their emotional reaction to the problem, instead it had a heavy-handed focus on theme and analysis which, considering the extremely personal nature of poetry would be arbitrary at best.

This test marked the end of involvement with poetry for the 10^th grade classes. It will not be seen again until sometime in 11^th or 12^th grade; it is because of this that it is difficult to design an objective that would continue to enhance their understanding of the ideas contained within. However, the students do need further experience with citing textual evidence or evaluating theme from textual analysis. Something that might be useful to cover in coming days would be the idea of theme itself and to discover the difference between theme and topic as the two are often confused and miss-taught. One way to do this is to present the students with a very simple story – like one found in a children’s book – and to then walk students through the process of identifying theme and topic. And objective for this might look like “Students will be able to identify and explain the difference between topic and theme as they are presented in Leo Lionni’s ‘A Color of His Own’”. Students can then keep this process in mind and apply the steps to identifying the topic and theme of other works.

STEP Standard 7 – Reflecting on Instruction to Improve Student Progress

Improved Practice Based on the Unit of Study

Short-Term Goal	Plan to Reach the Goal (i.e., professional development, research on the Internet, observation of a veteran teacher, etc.)
1. Include more written responses to increase student familiarity with traditional literature analysis.	-Research on the internet for how to introduce the traditional format of literature analysis in a high school level classroom. -Discuss with veteran ELA teachers regarding written literature analysis and their suggestions for approaching it. -Brainstorm a list of questions that could apply to any text that would spark the critical analysis process.
2. Improve overall classroom management skills.	-Observe a variety of veteran teachers in different disciplines to see their management techniques and approaches. -Research on the internet for management guides for first year teachers in the modern era. -Brainstorm a list of innovative ways to get the rules across to students without the need for constant reminders. -Brainstorm a list of reasonable repercussions for breaking those rules before the issue needs to leave the classroom for a higher level of intervention.
3. Increase the number of incidences that students are required to think critically of an author’s intent and action to play out that intent, leading to a better understanding of textual purpose.	-Research ways to spark critical thinking. -Introduce the list of ‘literature analysis questions’ to the class and ask them to use those questions to guide their answers during a class discussion. -Attempt different forms of student conversation formats in the ELA classroom (Socratic seminar, round-robin, etc.) to determine which works best for which class. -Discuss with veteran teachers in the ELA department which conversation formats they have tried, which they have had success with, and what improvements they would make to what they have tried. -Create a list of discussion guidelines that include respectful silence for the speaker and perhaps some kind of symbol that would indicate which student ‘has the floor’.

References

Demographics 2016-2017. (n.d.). Pueblo City Schools. Retrieved January 20, 2018, from http://www.pueblocityschools.us/about-pueblo-city-schools/demographics

Pueblo, Colorado. City-Data. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2018, from http://www.city-data.com/city/Pueblo-Colorado.html

Jesika Miller's Professional Teaching Portfolio

Sections

Instructional Practice

My Philosophy of Classroom Management

Classroom Procedures

Procedure title: Entering Class and Arriving Late

Rules, Consequences, and Reward System

Communication with Parents/Guardians

Student Engagement Strategies

In Conclusion…

References

STEP Standards

Aligned to INTASC Standards 1-10

STEP Standard 1 - Contextual Factors: Knowing Your School and Community

STEP Standard 2 - Writing Standards-Based Objectives and the Learning Goal

STEP Standard 3 - Assessment and Data Literacy

STEP Standard 4 - Unit and Lesson Planning

STEP Standard 5 - Implementation of Instructional Unit

STEP Standard 6 - Analysis of Student Learning

STEP Standard 7 – Reflecting on Instruction to Improve Student Progress

STEP Template 2 - March 4, 2018-April 27, 2018

STEP Standard 1 - Contextual Factors: Knowing Your School and Community

STEP Standard 2 - Writing Standards-Based Objectives and the Learning Goal

STEP Standard 3 - Assessment and Data Literacy

The Kraken

Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1809 - 1892

STEP Standard 4 - Unit and Lesson Planning

STEP Standard 5 - Implementation of Instructional Unit

STEP Standard 6 - Analysis of Student Learning

STEP Standard 7 – Reflecting on Instruction to Improve Student Progress