Double Entry Journal #13

Chapter 6: Affinity Spaces

1. Give an example of a "community of practice" in which you are currently participating in.

One “community of practice” which I am currently involved in is church. 

2. Why is the term "community" better defined in relation to spaces rather than groups of people?

The author says “the key problem with notions like ‘community of practice’ is that they make it look like we are attempting to label a group of people.”

3. What is a "generator"?

Whatever gives a space content (or something for the space to be about) is a generator.    

4. What is a "content organizer"? What is it's counterpart in school?

Content organization is how its content is designed or organized and “interactional organization” is how people organize their thoughts, beliefs, values, actions, and social interactions in regard to those signs and their relationships. “One portal may be small group discussions, another might be question-and-answer sessions between the teacher and the class, another might be lab work.” 

5. What is a "portal"? What is it's counterpart in school?

A portal is anything that gives access to the content and to ways of interacting with that content, by oneself or with other people. 

6. What do people have an "affinity" for in an "affinity space"? How does this inform your understanding of good teaching?

Because everyone learns differently and comes from different backgrounds and with different experiences, individuals have their own affinities.  A good teacher will be willing to get a glimpse into each student’s affinity space and discover ways to best reach that student by relating school to his/her affinity. 

7. How do "affinity spaces" support inclusive classrooms? Choose two characteristics below to make connections between "affinity spaces" and inclusive classrooms.

In affinity spaces, “newbies and masters and everyone else share common space”.  One of the points of an inclusive classroom says that the classroom should share a common language.  At the beginning of the year, a teacher could teach students some form of common language to be used in the classroom, which would make a common space for the students.  In addition, in an affinity classroom, “both intensive and extensive knowledge are encouraged.”  In an inclusive classroom, community members can be partners.  If a teacher had different community members come into the classroom (sharing extensive knowledge), then affinity classrooms and inclusive classrooms meet.     

8. How are traditional classrooms different from affinity spaces?   

Affinity spaces are different than traditional classrooms in that traditional classrooms didn’t allow for student sharing as much as an affinity classroom would. 

 

Double Entry Journal #13

Chapter 6: Affinity Spaces

1. Give an example of a "community of practice" in which you are currently participating in.

One “community of practice” which I am currently involved in is church. 

2. Why is the term "community" better defined in relation to spaces rather than groups of people?

The author says “the key problem with notions like ‘community of practice’ is that they make it look like we are attempting to label a group of people.”

3. What is a "generator"?

Whatever gives a space content (or something for the space to be about) is a generator.    

4. What is a "content organizer"? What is it's counterpart in school?

Content organization is how its content is designed or organized and “interactional organization” is how people organize their thoughts, beliefs, values, actions, and social interactions in regard to those signs and their relationships. “One portal may be small group discussions, another might be question-and-answer sessions between the teacher and the class, another might be lab work.” 

5. What is a "portal"? What is it's counterpart in school?

A portal is anything that gives access to the content and to ways of interacting with that content, by oneself or with other people. 

6. What do people have an "affinity" for in an "affinity space"? How does this inform your understanding of good teaching?

Because everyone learns differently and comes from different backgrounds and with different experiences, individuals have their own affinities.  A good teacher will be willing to get a glimpse into each student’s affinity space and discover ways to best reach that student by relating school to his/her affinity. 

7. How do "affinity spaces" support inclusive classrooms? Choose two characteristics below to make connections between "affinity spaces" and inclusive classrooms.

In affinity spaces, “newbies and masters and everyone else share common space”.  One of the points of an inclusive classroom says that the classroom should share a common language.  At the beginning of the year, a teacher could teach students some form of common language to be used in the classroom, which would make a common space for the students.  In addition, in an affinity classroom, “both intensive and extensive knowledge are encouraged.”  In an inclusive classroom, community members can be partners.  If a teacher had different community members come into the classroom (sharing extensive knowledge), then affinity classrooms and inclusive classrooms meet.     

8. How are traditional classrooms different from affinity spaces?   

Affinity spaces are different than traditional classrooms in that traditional classrooms didn’t allow for student sharing as much as an affinity classroom would. 

 

Double Entry Journal #12

Chapter 5: Learning and Gaming

1. What is the main argument the author is trying to make in chapter 5?

The main argument that the author is trying to make in chapter 5 is the fact that schools should structure learning like the learning that occurs when a person plays a video game. 

2. What constitutes a theory of learning?

The setting in which learning is taking place is what constitutes a theory of learning.

3. Why did the author struggle to learn to play Warcraft III?  What needs to proceed before good learning principles? 

The author struggled to learn to play Warcraft III because he “failed to engage with it in a way that fully recruited its solid design and learning principles (Gee 59).”

Before good learning principles occur, the player has to have “motivation for an extended engagement with the game (60).” 

4. How would have the author’s struggle with learning to play Warcraft III been interpreted in school?

The author feels that his struggle and failure to learn how to play Warcraft III would’ve been seen simply as a failure and not seen as a precursor to how to learn something further.

5. What kind of learning experience might be better suited for at risk students? 

At risk students might learn better in an environment where they are able to do education simulations and video games!

6. Why does the school-based interpretation of “at risk” lead to bad learning?

 The school-based interpretation of “at risk” leads to bad learning because to reach the “at risk” students’ level academically, many schools just give the students “dumbed-down” curriculum, which doesn’t make them feel successful! 

7. What do schools need to do to function more like a good game?

 To function more like a good game, schools need to allow students to take on identities as learners and get students’ minds fully involved, just like video games do. 

8. What is different about how good games and schools assess learners?

In school, students are disconnected from the curriculum, but in games, they take on the identity of what they are learning. 

9. What are the attributes of a fish-tank tutorial that make it an effective learning tool?  How is it different than school-based learning? 

RoN’s fish-tank tutorial allows the player to assess his/her own learning style and preferences by actually playing the game and learning how he/she learns best.  This is different from the way that learning occurs in schools because in school, the learner is assessed and then adults in the school decide for the learner how they can learn best.

10. What is a sand-box tutorial?  Why is it effective?  How is it different than school-based learning?

In a sand-box tutorial, the player is free to explore the game without risk of getting harmed.  It is like they are really playing, but the tutorial is designed so that players can get a feel for the game in a realish situation.  It is effective because the player knows somewhat of how the game works when he/she gets a feel for it from the tutorial.  This is different from school-based learning in that students often don’t have time to explore what they are learning in a “non-harmful” way just to get the feel of it.   

11. What is a genre?  Why is it important for good learning?

Genre means the “type of thing something is (68).”  It is important for good learning because good learning always requires knowledge of the type of thing that is expected to be learned.   

12. According to the author, what do learning and play have in common?

In some games, the player plays as he/she learns how to play.  This is exactly how real life works in lots of instances.  Very rarely will you find a tutorial on how to do things in life; rather, you play as you go! 

13. How are the skills tests in good games different from skills tests in school?

Skills tests in school are not usually “developmental for the learner and not evaluative (73).”

14. How does RoN support collaborative learning?

RoN supports collaborative learning by giving players the opportunity to work in affinity groups (groups with people who share their interest in RoN). 

15. Match at least one learning principle of good games (on page 74) with each of the following theorists.

Dewey - 1) They create motivation for an extended engagement.

Vygotsky - 12) They offer (guided) fish tank tutorials (simplified versions of the real system).

Gardner - 14) They give information via several different modes. 

Bandura - 9) (To go along with Bandura’s views on motivation) “Experienced” doesn’t mean “expert”; it can mean that one is prepared for future learning.   

Skinner - 15) They give information “just in time” and “on demand.”  

   

High Quality Assessments Blog Posting

What is formative assessment?

Formative assessment is the continued assessment of a student’s development in a specific subject. 

What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?

The central purpose of formative assessments is to see what a student is learning and to help students understand the teacher’s goals… the purpose is not to decide which changes to make in teaching and curriculum. 

Connect a best practice in formative assessment to one research-based strategy.

Formative assessment “provides feedback that engenders motivation and leads to improvement.”  This is similar to the research-based strategy of “Reinforcing Effort” which says that “achievement can increase when teachers show the connection between effort and success.”

Give an example of how a specific assessment can be used formatively and summatively.

A week-long observation notebook can be assessed formatively (each day the entry is checked to make sure that it contains specific points) and summatively (at the end of the week, a collective grade is given on the notebook as a whole). 

Give an example from your field placement related to formative assessment and timing.

In my clinical school, I taught a lesson about estimating decimals.  The students were given a problem and then they were to work it out on their individual wipe-off boards.  After I’d given them a few minutes (and after I’d noticed that most students had finished writing), I’d ask them to show me their answers.  This was formative and students were given ample timing to work out each problem. 

What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback?

·         Emphasizes the quality rather than the quantity of student work;

·         prizes giving advice and guidance over giving grades;

·         avoids comparing students in favor of enabling individual students to assess their own learning;

·         fosters dialogues that explore understandings rather

       than lectures that present information;

·         encourages multiple iterations of an assessment cycle,

       each focused on a few issues;

·         provides feedback that engenders motivation and

       leads to improvement.

Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.

1. It helps teachers see who is struggling with a particular subject or task.

2. Students’ confidences are increased. 

What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?

One disadvantage or challenge to using high quality formative assessments is that they can be time consuming for the teacher to create.

 

Double Entry Journal #11

Chapter 4:Simulations and Bodies

1. What does the author mean when he says, "Learning doesn't work well when learners are forced to check their bodies at the school room door like guns in the old West."

The author’s next sentence after the one quoted above says “School learning is often about disembodied minds learning outside any context of decisions and actions.”  This is very true.  I take this to mean that learning should be physical!  I know for a fact that many students learn better when they are able to be up and moving around during the learning process.  For that reason, school learning should not revolve around the “disembodied” minds that the author mentions, but should use every part of every student!

2. According to the author, what is the best way to acquire a large vocabulary?

According to the author, the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is by experiencing the “worlds” to which particular words refer.

3. What gives a word a specific meaning?

The context in which a word is used is how the word gets its own specific meaning.  This is why teaching vocabulary isn’t effective unless students are taught the vocabulary words in the appropriate context.

4. What does the term "off the hook" mean in each of these sentences?

a. My sister broke up with her fiance, so I'm off the hook for buying her a wedding present.

No longer obligated or responsible for purchasing the gift. 

b. Them shoes are off the hook dog.

??? I don’t know… there isn’t enough context for me to be able to tell what “off the hook” means in this sentence.

c. Man that cat was fighting 6 people and he beat them all. Yo, it was "off the hook", you should have seen it!!

It appears that this “off the hook” means really cool, or astonishing. 

5. According to the author what is the "work" of childhood? Do you agree?

The author says that the work of childhood is play.  Yes, I agree with him.  I see my 4-year-old sister at play every day and it is certainly not a waste of time.  The little wheels in her mind constantly are turning when she is playing!

6.Why is NOT reading the instruction for how to play a game before playing a game a wise decision?

Because game instruction guides are written with a large amount of concise and technical information, it can be overwhelmingly confusing until the player has actually played the game himself.  Then, after playing, if he comes to a problem, it might be useful to consult the instructions. 

7. Does knowing the general or literal meaning of a word lead to strong reading skills?

The author says that knowing the literal meaning of a word is useless.  Unless the reader knows how to apply the meaning of the word, just understanding the literal meaning has no point. 

8. What does the author mean by the terms "identity" and "game". Give an example of 3 "identities" or "games" you play?

The author says that someone’s “identity” is created by the moves that he/she makes in the “game” of his/her career, life, choices, etc.

a. I am a Christian.  (It is not an act, but a true part of my identity which determines all of the moves that I make as a person!)

b. I am a student.

c. I am a teacher.  

9. According to the author what is good learning?

Good learning, according to the author, is understanding word meanings, etc. in their contextual situation. 

10. How does understanding that being able to build a mental model and simulations of a real-word experience is closely tied to comprehending written and oral language support or change the way you think children should learn in school?

This statement supports the way that I think that children should learn in school because it reinforces the fact that seeing or feeling a physical “something” is a good way to get a solid mental understanding of that “something.”  In addition, when talking about that “something,” written and oral language is enhanced. 

11. Why is peer to peer interaction so important for the language development of young children? How does knowing this support or change the way you think children should learn in school?

Unless students talk to peers, they might not get adequate practice using their language, and thus, developing it.  This also supports the way that I think that children should learn in school, because I don’t think that a silent classroom is the best classroom. 

 

 

Double Entry Journal #10

Chapter 3: Language and Identity At Home

1. What are the features of the forms of language that are spoken in a home environment that align with academic varieties of language?

When Jennie is telling her story, she uses six distinct forms of language which she has learned from an academic reading environment.  They are as follows

a. she announces a beginning and an end to her story and offers a summary

b. she “adopts a frame that mimics story book reading as it is often done by teachers and teacherly adults (saying “you can read along”)

c. she offers a title for her story

d. she uses literary syntactic structures such as phrases like “once upon a time”

e. she uses literary repetition and parallelism (ex. “They were punching.  And they were pulling.  And they were banging.”)

f. she uses “sympathetic fallacy” (the sky turning dark when the fighting in the story occurred)   

2. What are the features of Leona's specialized form of language?

Throughout Leona’s story, she uses lots of patterns in the way that she speaks.  By ending each line of certain stanzas in the same word, the rhythm created by her story is poetic.  Gee even goes as far as to say (on page 34) that Leona tells this story with a “theory of signs.”  I’m not sure if I agree with this or not, but nonetheless, Leona’s story does do some interesting things!  He also says “Leona has inherited, by her apprenticeship in the social practices of her community, ways of making sense of experience that, in fact, have a long and rich history going back thousands of years.  This enculturation/apprenticeship has given her certain forms of language, ranging from devices at the word and clause level, through the stanza level, to the story level as a whole -- forms of language which are intimately connected to forms of life.  These forms of language are not merely structural; rather they encapsulate and carry through time and space meanings shared by and lived out in a variety of ways by the social group.”    

3. Why is Leona's specialized form of language not accepted in school?

Gee says “Research has shown that teachers at sharing time are often not listening for stories like Leona’s.  Rather, they expect blow-by-blow narratives or reports.  They stress linear step-by-step events or facts organized around one topic expressed with no poetry or emotion.”

4. Explain the contradiction between the research conducted by Snow et al. (1998) and the recommendations made by Snow et al. (1998).

Initially, Snow et al. says that poor readers are concentrated “in certain ethnic groups and in poor, urban neighborhoods and rural towns.”  However, then in the long quote on page 35, it makes claim that black children made gains in reading while the white-black gap remained constant. 

5. What other factors besides early skills training will make or break good readers?

How well people read when test taking (Steele says “how people read when they are taking tests changes as their fear of falling victim to cultural stereotypes increases.”), mastering academic varieties of language, and people feeling like they belong to a particular social group are all factors besides early skills training that will make or break good readers. 

6. Why do some children fail to identify with, or find alienating, the "ways with words" taught in school?

“Children cannot feel they belong at school when their valuable home-based practices (like Leona’s) are ignore, denigrated, and unused.  They cannot feel like they belong when the real game is acquiring academic varieties of language, and they are given no help with this, as they watch other children get high assessments at school for what they have learned not at school but at home.”  (Gee 37)

Source: Gee, James Paul. Situated language and learning: a critique of traditional schooling. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.

Double Entry Journal #9

Chapter 2 - A Strange Fact About Not Learning to Read

1. What is the strange fact about not learning to read?

The strange fact about not learning to read is that it is related to poverty. 

2. Why is this fact so strange?

This fact is strange because it is not true.  A student’s ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status doesn’t determine whether the student can or cannot learn!  All students can learn, even if they are born in complete poverty. 

3. What is it about school that manages to transform children who are good at learning things like Pokémon into children who are not good at learning?

The author doesn’t really answer this question, but I think that the factor that transforms children who are good at learning things like Pokémon into children who are not good at learning is simply the teacher/administration/school system stereotyping of poor students.  It is a matter of self fulfilling prophecy from the leaders in the school system! 

4. What is the difference between a traditionalists approach to learning to read and more progressive educators?

“Traditionalists argue that learning to read requires overt instruction.  For them, reading is what we can call an “instructed process.”  More progressive educators, on the other hand, stress meaning-making.  They believe that people learn to read best when they pick up the skills stressed by the traditionalists as part and parcel of attempting to give meaning to written texts (10).”    

5. Is learning to read a natural process like learning to speak a language?

Gee says on page 11 “Today’s reading traditionalists, supported  by many linguists, myself included, argue that learning to read, unlike acquiring one’s first oral language, cannot be a biologically supported process and, thus, cannot be “natural.”  Literacy (written language) is too new a process historically to have had the evolutionary time required to have become “wired” into our human genetic structure.” 

6. What is the difference between natural, instructed and cultural processes and which process should reading be classified under?

- Natural process: “When humans acquire something by a natural process, like their first language or walking, we find that everyone, barring those with serious disorders, succeeds and succeeds well.  This is the hallmark of biologically supported acquisition.  All human beings acquire their first language well, and about equally as well as everyone else (11).”

- Instructed process: Learning something through an instructed process is like learning physics.  It is something that is actually taught, not naturally learned. 

- Cultural process: “There are some things that are so important to a cultural group that the group ensures that everyone who needs to learns them.”  This is the cultural process.  An example of learning something because of culture is cooking. 

Reading falls into the instructed process category.    

7. How do humans learn best? Through instructional processes or through cultural processes? How is reading taught in school?

Humans learn best through the cultural process.  “IT is clear that deep learning works better as a cultural process than it does as an instructed process.  Most humans are not, in fact, very good at learning via overt instruction (13).”  Unfortunately, reading is taught as an instructional process.    

8. According to the author, what is the reason for the "fourth grade slump."

According to Gee, the reason for the 4^th grade slump is whenever “some children seem to acquire reading fine in the early grades, but fail to be able to use reading to learn school content in the later grades, when the language demands of that content get more and more complex (15).”

9. What is a better predictor of reading success than phonemic awareness?

“Early language ability” is a better predictor of reading success than phonemic awareness. 

10. What is the difference between "vernacular" and "specialist" varieties of language? Give an example of two sentences, one written in the vernacular and one written in a "specialized variety", about a topic in your content area.

-Vernacular language is “used for face-to-face conversation and for “everyday” purposes.  A person’s vernacular dialect is closely connected to his or her initial sense of self and belonging in life (17).” 

- Specialist language is the specific way of talking that is used for “special purposes and activities (17).” 

Vernacular sentence:  If I said to a 3 year old, “The horse doctor is coming today to give Jasmine some medicine.” 

Specialist language: “The equine veterinarian is coming to administer some aminoplex. 

11. What is "early language ability" and how is it developed?

Early language ability is the ability of a student to know and extensive vocabulary (15).  It is developed by “family, community, and school language environments in which children interact intensively with adults and more advanced peers and experience cognitively challenging talk and texts on sustained topics and in different genres of oral and written language (16).”   

12. According to the author why and how does the traditionalist approach to teaching children to read fail?

According to the author, schools teach children “to read only in the sense of being able to do phonics and dealing with the superficial literal meanings of words mostly in the vernacular.  Poor children suffer the same sort of plight that someone who tries to pass French 4 with out French 1, French 2, and French 3 does.”  Thus, schools don’t provide the background work, so that is why the traditionalist approach fails. 

13. Are parents of poor children to blame for their children's inexperience with specialized varieties of language before coming to school?

Yes, I believe that it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children prior to the child entering school.  If the parent doesn’t teach the child (and he/she isn’t in daycare, etc.), then who will??? Children are little sponges… parents should take every opportunity to make a situation a teachable moment! 

14. Did you struggle with reading this text? Why? Are you a poor reader or are you unfamiliar with this variety of specialized language?

No, I didn’t struggle with reading this text.  I will admit that I did a little bit of skimming over the text that the author put in parenthesis, but other than that, I read the chapter word for word.  There were a few paragraphs that I had to re-read, but after doing that, I was able to fully comprehend the author’s message. 

 

Source: Gee, James Paul. Situated language and learning: a critique of traditional schooling. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.