Reading Reflection #1

Prompt

Read the "Focus On" Research-Based Teaching Practices at http://www.nea.org/home/16454.htm. Identify research-based instructional strategies you can use in your Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit (ITU).

Introduction

Upon reading the research-based teaching practices provided by the National Educational Association I discovered several that can be of great use in developing my ITU. The research-based teaching strategies that stood out to me did so because they address the populations that exist at the school site where the ITU will be put into place, Valley High School.

Hispanics

Through the reading and through the use of background knowledge I know that the Hispanic population is often overrepresented in the dropout rate of high schools and in low test scores. Therefore I identified several strategies that I believe can address these issues at my school site:

- Teacher Preparation – I believe that in the era of raising teacher salaries based on test scores many teachers focus on getting the highest performing classes. However by giving incentives for assisting minority students will lower the achievement gap greatly as experienced teachers can assist lower performing students.

- Enabling and energizing the Hispanic community and parents – There is no doubt that the Hispanic population prides itself on community and family. With this basic knowledge it would be absurd not to tap into to the desire for parents to want to see their children do well. This would greatly decrease the dropout rate.

Women and Girls

In an alternative school like Valley I feel young women are subjugated to stereotypes as that is all their male classmates have seen. Therefore I believe it is important for the research-based teaching strategies to address this issue.

- Addressing invisibility – As a potential social studies teacher I know how excluded women are from basic history textbooks. Therefore it is up to my department to show both genders how much women have impacted history.