IPTS (2013) - STANDARD 1 - Teaching Diverse Students - The competent teacher understands the diverse characteristics and abilities of each student and how individuals develop and learn within the context of their social, economic, cultural, linguistic, and academic experiences. The teacher uses these experiences to create instructional opportunities that maximize student learning.

IPTS (2013) - STANDARD 3 - Planning for Differentiated Instruction - The competent teacher plans and designs instruction based on content-area knowledge, diverse student characteristics, student performance data, curriculum goals, and the community context. The teacher plans for ongoing student growth and achievement.

Clinical Teaching Experience at Emiliano Zapata Academy, Chicago, Illinois

Week 1: Self-Portrait

For the first lesson of this unit, the students created self-portraits with positive affirmations. The key artists for this lesson were Kehinde Wilde and Barbara Rivera. Critical questions encouraged the students to consider the subject matter, emotion, symbolism, culture, and identity. This project included watercolor paints and a black permanent marker. Students began by drawing portraits of themselves with a pencil onto the watercolor paper. Students then used a black permanent marker to outline the portraits and write positive affirmations around the portrait. Finally, watercolors were used to paint the entire piece. Demonstrations of how to draw facial proportions and paint were included in the slide presentation during instruction. Zapata Academy offers a diverse student base, and lessons were built to celebrate the self and cultural identity.

 

Week 2: Model Magic Sculpture

Students created 3D sculptures of personal hobbies and interests. Teachers referenced artists Claes Oldenburg and Jeff Koons for inspiration. Students were asked what their hobbies were and what symbols they would use to represent their hobbies. Students discussed how their culture influenced their interests. A discussion was had about sculptures they have seen in and around their area. Using their ideas from the discussion, students sculpted their hobbies in air-dry clay. They thought about where they would place a sculpture in their community and shared their reasons for creating the work.​​ References on how to mix colors of clay were presented.

 

Week 3: Mosaic

For the final lesson, students were asked to plan and construct a mosaic tile that represents a significant/favorite food of theirs. Students have presented artwork from Jim Bachor and Isidora Paz López. When viewing examples of their work,  students were provided a series of discussion questions about the importance of foods and how foods can relate to culture. Students sketched out their designs on the surface of a board to act as a blueprint, and then they began to lay out their mosaic pieces before gluing them down to their flat boards. Students reflected on the three projects with the class.

Rationale: Slide presentations included vocabulary definitions, demonstrations, and graphic organizers for students with additional needs. Class discussions allowed students another access point for participation in the lessons. Teachers gave hands-on assistance to students with needs and teachers were accessible for discussion and aid via Zoom.

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Clinical Observations at Chiddix Junior High, Normal, Illinois

Day One: Rationale & Evidence

The class began with five minutes of reading time. Each student read a book of their choice. When the time was up, the students discussed whether they liked their book with the class. Today's lesson was to complete a poster about a book the entire class read. There were two books that the students read; they chose which book they liked better between the two. Before completing the posters, the students had a conversation with the teacher. There were eight students; seven spoke Spanish, the eighth spoke Vietnamese. Students were speaking English in response to the teacher. The teacher presented information in English and Spanish and allowed students to communicate in response, but they were encouraged to speak English. Visual prompts were shown, like what was for lunch at the cafeteria that day. Lasagna was the food, the photo was shown, and then the food was described. There was a check-in about how students were feeling, and pictures of Scooby-Doo were used to show emotions like tiredness, excitement, happiness, mellowness, etc. Students used the photos to describe their moods. 

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Students were given markers, pencils, and pens to finish their posters. I helped a few students with descriptions and using the correct words and tense on the poster. The students gathered in a circle to present their arguments when the signs were complete. The teacher explained how the students should behave by listening and looking at their peers and giving them respect while presenting. Students proceeded to justify their argument by reading their posters to the class. The presentation was in English; if students needed further explanation, it was done in Spanish and English combined. Visual aids, in combination with both languages, helped students have successful outcomes in class.

 

Day Two: Rationale & Evidence

The ESL classroom is a mix of different languages and cultures mixing. No one language is used in class, and students vary in their language skills. Many accommodations are used to aid students in learning English. Students are encouraged to learn English and are not discouraged from using their native language in the classroom for understanding and comprehension purposes. Many visual aids are presented in the lessons. Photos of food and the English words for the food were used in the assignment for this class day.

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The lesson presented in class was a lesson on an observation of a photo. The students were asked to view the photo and try to guess what they were looking at. In this case, the photo was of an old market stall for hot food recently uncovered in the ruins of Pompeii. Students looked at the paintings of chickens, pork, fish, and snails on the stalls. They guessed what the stall might be for and what the painting might be for. They discussed where the stall was located and how old it might be. After a discussion, they wrote their questions on paper. The teacher told the class what the photo represented, which was discussed in class. If students did not know English words for terms, they would ask how do you say them in their native language. The class was then assigned a writing project to advertise a stall. They were to name their business, identify the food they would sell, and use adjectives to make the stall offerings enticing. 

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Some students had an easier time with the assignment, and others struggled to find words. Binders with images of food and the words written out were given to the students to use as references. Students discussed with classmates their ideas, and they helped each other with descriptive words. Rachel, Emmanuel, and I sat with two students throughout the assignment to assist. One of my students was more advanced than the other and needed more help. She doubted herself, so I encouraged her and helped her spell words. I gave a lot of process praise throughout the lesson. I found it to be challenging to work with two students at different levels. I would check back in on the student that was further along, and we also worked as a team together as I haven't taken Spanish in a long time. We all helped each other through our strengths and weaknesses. I learned that visual aids are vital for students in class who may not speak English. I also learned that stepping-out instructions are essential and that breaking the information into smaller chunks is beneficial. 

 

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