Entry #4 3-2-1 Summarizing This Week's Readings

 During this week's reading assignments, I was introduced to different frameworks which provide guidance for teaching literacy from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, as well as nine principals of balanced literacy instruction from Gail Tompkins. Below are my thoughts on what I have read following the 3-2-1 writing to learn strategy.

3 Ideas I'm Left Pondering

When looking at both Muhammad's text, and Tompkins' Chapter, I see alignment when Tompkins talks about the Sociocultural Theory (as part of Principle 1: Effective Teachers Understand How Students Learn) and Muhammad speaks about the importance of incorporating culture and identity into teaching. Tompkins states, "Reading and writing are viewed as social activities that reflect the culture and community in which students live... Teachers apply this theory as they create culturally responsive classrooms that empower everyone, including those from marginalized groups, to become more successful readers and writers" (Tompkins, 2017, p. 8). This piece of understanding how students learn relates back to Ladson-Billings' work informing "educators of the importance of designing curriculum and instructional practices that authentically connect to students' cultural identities and cultural practices" (Muhammad, 2020, p. 45). From Muhammad's reading, we also know and acknowledge that students are more likely to become engaged and interested in what they are learning, when they see themselves in what they're learning. When educators use "pedagogies connected to their experiences" (Muhammad, 2020, p. 45), students are likely to become more intent on what they are learning.

Something else I have begun to think about following the reading, is focused on Tompkins text, and the Common Core Standards discussed in Principle 5: Effective Teachers Address Standards, and the best approach to incorporating Standards into today's teaching environments. I have always heard the "bad side" of Common Core, and only that it's not a great tool to be able to gauge student learning, and teacher effectiveness. Through this reading, I did notice Common Core is not a "one-size-fits-all" approach as I previously heard people complain about. Although Tompkins did a great job at explaining the Standards and how they relate to each subject, I cannot help but come back to Muhammad's remarks on Historically Responsive Literacies Call for "Urgent Pedagogies", and her arguments for a shift - this includes "A shift in thinking and the types of instructional practices in which we engage our young people, a shift in the policies that govern the schools, a shift in the curriculum that teachers are told to teach, and a shift in the ways we support and prepare teachers for the field" (Muhammad, 2020, p. 54).

One last idea I'm left pondering is the idea of differentiating instruction as laid out by Tompkins. I remember a class I took last semester in which a portion of our lesson planning focused specifically on differentiating instruction, and ways in which educators can/should adjust their teachings based on  students' varying levels of development. While I had previously known/learned myself about ways to differentiate the Content, Process, and Product in a lesson, I had not taken into consideration background knowledge as Tompkins states. I am glad to have a larger reference in terms of different ways to accomplish this, with the chart addressing different techniques including Instruction, Thinking Styles, and Tiered Activities. 

2 Comments I found Inspiring 

One quote I found particularly inspiring from the readings is from Tompkins, where she is speaking on the Classroom Culture: "When the classroom environment is predictable, with familiar routines and literacy procedures, students feel comfortable, dafe, and more willing to take risks. This is especially true for students from varied cultures, English learners, and students who struggle" (Tompkins, 2017, p. 16). I found this quote to be an important one because I think often times the classroom environment and culture gets overlooked. It's important to think of the classroom as a community, as Tompkins states, and when this is achieved through safety, collaboration, choices, and family and community involvement, students will be able to succeed at a higher rate. 

Another quote I thought to be powerful from this week's readings comes from Muhammad: "The HRL Framework encourages educators to go beyond skills and knowledge in their lesson planning and practice. These goals build upon one another. If students know themselves, they are engaged with the confidence to learn the skills. If they have the skills, they can learn new knowledge and critique that knowledge" (Muhammad, 2020, p. 60). The Historically Responsive Literacy Model is layered in this way, and I think it's important to be able to give our students skills, but more important to do so while also thinking about these other frameworks: their identities, intellect, and criticality. 

1 Commitment I Am Willing to Make for Future Students

One commitment I want to be able to make for future students of mine is to focus on my own mood during teaching, as well as recognizing different literacy among cultures. Muhammad talks about the ability of many students to be able to read social contexts saying: "Youth may struggle with skills like decoding or reading fluency, but they can read social contexts and environments exceptionally well. They can read teachers' moods and temperaments, and if they feel the teachers like them or not. They become very skilled at reading people, expressions and dispositions. This type of reading shouldn't go unacknowledged" (Muhammad, 2020, p. 41-42). I have long been a believer in the idea that students can sense your own bad moods, and that in turn can rub off on them, I want to make it a goal of mine to be able to check my own personal dealings at the door in order to be the best educator for my students. I also commit to acknowledging this different type of "reading" as Muhammad explains further.