CI 414/504: Disciplinary Literacies Spring 2024

 As future educators, we are going to be responsible for teaching our students valuable skills they will be able use in their professional lives.  Fundamental skills that will be important in any line of work a student chooses to go in. Collaboration is one of those skills. Growing up I often resented collaborating with other students in school. It felt unnatural to me and I am realizing that might have been due to a lack of fundamental collaboration skills I was taught. In the reading from Wolsey and Lapp, we are introduced to a variety of different skills and techniques to get students engaged in meaningful discussions in class. One I found particularly valuable was Language Frames. As someone who went to school with many students whose first language was not English, I understand how frustrating it could be to try to contribute to a conversation when you don't know how to communicate in the language, let alone the language of the discipline. By using language frames, the st...

Discussion as a form of instruction I am someone who naturally tends to think of education in terms of instruction and assessment. I find myself filtering activities that I am reading about or learning into one of these two distinct categories. But I also realize that this distinction is nominal and can be deleterious to complex learning. In reading the chapter by Wolsey and Lapp this became especially clear to me.  This chapter outlines the ways that small-group as well as class-wide discussion can play the role of effective instruction. How did your view of discussion in the classroom change after reading this chapter? In this chapter we learn that class-wide discussions on course content can be faulty if they aren't structured properly. The authors provide a few examples of common activities that make class-wide discussions more effective. Among these methods were the Socratic Seminar (or Socratic debate), the Chips method (in which each student is provided 3 chips to donate to ...

  In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the role of a teacher extends beyond the dissemination of knowledge; it encompasses fostering critical thinking, advocacy, and agency among students. Katherine E. Batchelor's article, "Using Linked Text Sets to Promote Advocacy and Agency Through a Critical Lens," offers valuable insights into how educators can employ linked text sets as a powerful tool to achieve these goals. Batchelor underscores the significance of employing a critical lens in education, enabling students to analyze, question, and engage with diverse perspectives. As future educators, it is imperative to recognize the potential of linked text sets in promoting critical thinking and nurturing students' capacity for advocacy. Linked text sets provide a curated collection of resources interconnected by a common theme or topic. By leveraging these sets, educators can create dynamic learning experiences that encourage students to explore multifaceted issues...

     As I was reflecting on the readings and podcast from this week, it seemed to me that the most prominent and potent question at hand is: How do we, as mediators of academic knowledge, authentically connect student's lived experiences with texts that also embolden them with the skills and standards that are necessary for their success?      What the podcast  Still Processing  does well is breaking down nuanced and abstract ideas latent (or not latent) in the media we are exposed to. Like the hosts of  Still Processing,  we as educators have to be meticulous about the texts that we bring into the classroom, for as I alluded to above, we must select texts that are familiar enough to students that they do not seem daunting but sophisticated enough to push the boundaries in the minds of our students.      In chapter three of the Buehl reading, he discusses the importance of prior knowledge when approaching a text. He accura...

  The entirety of this week’s reading with Buehl was informative, but specifically, I found Buehl’s findings on page 87 & 88 to be of most intrigue. Buehl discusses the weighty topics of both “access to academic knowledge” and “academic knowledge disparities.” In regards to accessing academic knowledge, Buehl mentions two factors that can be attributed to student understanding - access and experiences. Buehl mentions that students experience varying levels of access, a critical one being the individuals that a given student is able to talk to and learn from (ex. parents, family members, peers, and community members). The second one, experience, refers to the lived experiences or experiences/opportunities provided on an educational basis (ex. library, art gallery, museums).  Buehl goes on to briefly discuss “academic knowledge disparities”, not so much about how those disparities come to fruition, but rather, she creates a map to visualize her students’ academic knowledge d...

  As a future art educator, Buehl's exploration of reading comprehension, complex texts, and argumentation resonates deeply. Chapter 2 challenges us to consider the dynamic interaction between the reader's mind and the author's, framing reading comprehension as the basis of understanding. For me, Buehl's emphasis on the seven fundamental reading comprehension processes prompts reflection on how these processes manifest in art discourse. How can we incorporate the seven fundamental reading comprehension processes into art education to deepen students' engagement with complex artistic texts? In what ways does the nature of argumentation in art differ from other disciplines, and how can we leverage this diversity to enhance reading comprehension for our students? Additionally, Buehl's call for curriculum development aligns with our role as future educators. Moving beyond rote memorization of details, how might we design discipline-focused instruction that fosters t...

 One of my biggest take aways from the readings this week was learning about my own shortcomings in my reading and comprehension strategies. The second chapter of Buehl examines the idea of pseudo reading, in which many will engage with a text or work to get it done rather than to engage with it and understand it. This particular concept struck a chord with me as I felt as though this was how I completed my own assignments for a very long time. Throughout high school (maybe even before that and even after high school) I would be amazing at doing homework for my classes but never really remembered what I was learning and did not do the best on most tests. I always thought this was just the way the education system was set up, to have me take the test, regurgitate the info, and immediately forget the answer. I was not the best at critical thinking or application for example, I can now recall math classes where I could be given an equation and easily plug numbers in. However., when ...

 Chemistry, biology, physics, and earth science were all subjects that I found myself struggling in while being a high school and even college student. I will openly say that I did not (still don't) enjoy these classes one bit! (My apologies to any science lovers). Each assignment, activity, and reading that was required from me was always something that I felt needed to be completed, in order to ensure that I would pass the class. However, while taking these courses, I didn't realize that my comprehension of science was gradually improving. There were plenty of times where my instructor asked the class to come up with theories following with the opportunity to test our theories. Simultaneously, without realizing, I was generating questions in my head regarding the topic of discussion. "What would happen if I mix these two liquids together?" or "How will this stone react if I apply CO2 droplets on it?" Looking back, theorizing is something that eventually be...

       In chapter 2, Buehl explores reading comprehension, the nature of complex texts, discourse communities, and argumentation to better explain “what it means to read, write, think through a disciplinary lens” (Buehl, 29). Buehl frames reading comprehension as the moment when the “mind of the reader and the mind of the author(s)” meet and looks to the “seven fundamental reading comprehension processes” developed by researchers Keene and Zimmerman as a way to explain the process by which readers comprehend complex texts (Buehl, 33). Buehl implores middle and high school educators to develop curriculum that supports the learning of reading comprehension—urging us to move away from instructional models that permit students to just spit out details from complex texts—because reading comprehension is linked to a student’s capacity to succeed in college and career life. Central to the chapter is Buehl’s insistence that reading comprehension can and should be taught as ...

I think that I think, therefore I am thinking. In terms of this course, All I know is that I know something. So why am I rattling off butchered quotes from Descartes and Socrates? Metacognition of course! Author and educator Michael E. Martinez describes Metacognition as "Having an awareness of one's thought process and comprehension (Martinez, 2006).” (Noor does an excellent job of breaking down Martinez’s article in her blog post).    Author and project director Ruth Schoenbach throws her hand in the metaverse with an introduction to  metacognitive conversation , where “teachers and students discuss their relationship to literacy within the discipline and the strategies they use to comprehend (Schoenbach, 2003).” Schoenbach shares the framework for  Reading ApprenticeshipⓇ  that focuses on why and how we read as individuals. She puts a premium on incorporating problem-solving, critical thinking, context, pre-existing skills, and identity into reading strategie...

 As educators, I think about how we become the trusted adult in a sense. I was thinking about this the other day when I was student teaching "I'm only 20 and I'm the trusted adult. The person held responsible for twenty-something kids..." I am always wondering how can I make art engaging for kids, how can I show kids that they can have a future within the art field, and how can I encourage students to be vulnerable with me and each other? Art is a useful tool to help students think about their own emotions and the emotions of others. The expression of self through something that is not always words and verbal language is beautiful and we can think about the ever-expanding field as a way to express vulnerability with our students. We as educators should make an attempt to be open and vulnerable and want to discuss with our kids rather than be cold and authoritative. Another wonderful thing about art is the way you can learn so much from other people and other people...

  As aspiring educators, I think most of us would be worried about the level of engagement and learning during in-class activities. The thought of ‘are my students able to grasp the idea that I am conveying to them?” is always lingering on the back of our minds. As a reading tutor, I am always concerned about my instruction delivery as well as student understanding of the material, however, is that all there is to learning? Based on prior experience with teachers, I think we are all too stressed about reaching some “imaginary” educational goals whereas the art of learning and reaching the higher zones of learning is unintentionally ignored. When I talk about higher zones of learning, I am not talking about the supernatural skill to memorize all books or to have sonic-style reading skills, I am talking about Metacognition and Automaticity . Surprisingly, not only are the words fancy but also the concepts.  The term “meta” is defined as beyond or above. The term “cognition” is ...