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 example of a community of practice that I am currently participating in is my Pottery II class, in which my classmates and I benefit from interaction and sharing ideas, techniques, and experiences as much as from instruction.

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

“Community” in the term “community of practice applies better to spaces rather than groups of people, because all of the people within a given group are not necessarily part of the same community of practice. It makes more sense to draw the boundaries of communites of practice according to space, and then look at how the people within the space use it in different ways. (Gee, 73)

                                                                                            

2.     What is a "generator"? What is it's counterpart in school?

A generator is whatever gives a space context; something that defines what the space is about. Generators in school are related to content: a textbook, teacher, or classroom materials could all be generators.

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

A content organizer is how the signs generated by the generator are designed to communicate certain content and how that content is organized. This could be the types of thoughts, values, deeds and identities people adopt in relation to these signs. (Gee, 82)

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

Portals are places where people get access to interact with the content of generators. A portal in a classroom could be things that give students access to interaction with the signs, such as textbooks, small group discussion, or lab work. ( Gee, 82,83)

 

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

In affinity spaces as described by Gee, people have affinities with the interest or endeavor around which the space is organized. This is significant to good teaching because it suggests that in order to develop an affinity, or a connection, that leads students to be committed to the content, they must have a interest in the goal of the lesson; an idea that strongly supports  both  Moll’s “funds of knowledge” and problem based learning. (Gee, 84)

 

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

Affinity spaces are strongly related to the inclusive practice of creating a common vision, because affinity spaces are centered on a common endeavor. A common vision can be established in a classroom in which the students have an affinity with the content being taught. Affinity spaces are also connected to inclusive practice through the characteristic of Students as Problem Solvers. As suggested in Gee’s definition of an affinity space, students must have an affinity with the endeavor or interest of the space. Students will have a deeper connection with a space such as a classroom or school community, in which they are given an active part and allowed to make decisions about.

8. How are traditional classroom different from Affinity Spaces?

Traditional classrooms differ from Affinity Spaces on many points. First of all, in today’s typical classroom, the common endeavor is unclear, and race, class, gender, and disability function much more prominent than they are in an affinity space. Also, classrooms are often segregated according to grade level, ability, and skills rather than being mixed as they are in affinity spaces.  Strong generators are rarely found in classrooms. Students are encouraged to gain the same level of information, and students who gain intensive information are not allowed to teach the teacher and other students. In Affinity spaces, all of the students share varying extensive knowledge, and each person is allowed to share his or own intensive knowledge as a source for others. Classrooms also encourage individual, stored knowledge rather than distributed knowledge, networking, and utilizing dispersed knowledge as affinity spaces do. In contrast to Affinity Spaces, traditional classrooms have limited routes of participation and status, and inflexible leadership opportunities. ( Gee, 88-89)

source

Gee, P. (2004). Situated language and learning a critque of traditional schooling.

Double Entry Journal #12

 

Chapter 5: Learning and Gaming     1 What is the main argument the author is making in Chapter 5?   The main argument Gee makes in Chapter five is that many video games are full of learning principals that if applied to school curriculum, could greatly improve learning in schools.     2. What constitutes a theory of learning?   According to Gee, a theory of learning is made up of principals and patterns of how we learn. (Gee, 59)   3. Why did the author struggle to learn to play Warcraft III? What needs to proceed before good learning principles?   The author struggled with Warcraft III because he found it “too hard”, meaning that he failed to engage with the game in a way that made use of its good design and learning principles. Before good learning principles can be fully realized, the learner must have motivation for an extended engagement with the game. There has to bee commitment before deep learning of a complex domain can occur. (Gee, 59, 60)   4. How would have the authors struggle with learning to play Warcraft III been interpreted in school?   If Warcraft III had been a school subject, his struggle to learn to play the game would have been viewed as a failure, and he would have received a failing grade. (Gee, 60)   5 What kind of learning experience might be better suited for at risk students?   Rather than “vertical” learning, in which the learner makes much progress moving from low skills to high skills in an area, “horizontal” learning, in which learners do not seem to make much progress, but spend a lot of time mastering the first skills of an area, may be most important for students who are “at risk”. (Gee, 60)   6. Why does the school-based interpretation of "at risk" lead to bad learning?   The typical school’s view of “at risk” often leads them to give learners with this label “dumbed-down curriculum that is based in bad learning experiences for the students, causing them to give up. (Gee, 60)   7. What do schools need to do to function more like a good game?   To function more like a good game, schools need to provide students the powerful motivation for extended engagement that games provide by treating content areas as domains with special worlds of their own, giving students the opportunity to take on identities that allow them to see and think about themselves in new ways, connecting knowledge with action and identity (Gee, 61)   8. What is different about how good games and school assess learners?   Games such as RoN allow learners to assess themselves, what they already know and don’t know, and decide which learning style suits them best, while schools tend to assess the learner and make the decision for the learner how to address these choices (Gee, 61).   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?   A fish-tank tutorial is an effective learning tool because it gives information multimodally, including print, orally, and visually; uses a lot of repetition; information clearly interconnected, and is given “just in time” so the learner can see its meaning in terms of effects and action. In school, however, students often get too much verbal information up front and are expected to remember it for the undetermined time in the future when they will actually use it. (65,66)   10. What is a sand-box tutorial? Why is effective? How is it different that school-based learning?   A sand-box tutorial is a space in which the game player is protected and is free t explore and make new discoveries about the game before they actually start playing. This type of tutorial is effective because it alerts players to that fact that they need to assess their own progress, desires, and learning styles. It also encourages them to make proactive decisions, take control of their own learning, builds confidence, School based learning often does not give students the chance to take control and make decisions about their learning, and can quickly destroy confidence if students are not immediately successful. (66-69)     11. What is a genre? Why is it important for good learning?     Genre is the type or category a given thing falls into. For example, a book’s genre could be mystery, romance, or science fiction. Genre is important to good learning because different types of reading and writing operate by different principles, and it is vital to know early and well what type of thing we are asked to learn or do. (Gee, 69)   12. According to the author, what to learning and play having in common?   Learning and play both give people a sense of joy and pleasure at meeting challenges. (Gee, 71)   13. How are the skills tests in good games different from skills tests in school?     The skills tests of good games allow players of assess how well their skills are integrated with each other and with the game system. They are developmental for the learner rather than evaluative, and they test skills for their value in strategies, rather than testing skills outside of contexts of application as tests in schools often do. (Gee, 73)   14. How does RoN support collaborative learning?     RoN supports collaborative learning by bringing together a host of people with a common interest (the game) to share and disperse knowledge through websites, chartrooms, and publications regardless of race class, culture, ethnicity, or gender. (Gee, 73)   15. Match at least one learning principle of good games (on page 74) with each the following learning theorists you have studied in 3352:   Dewey- (inquiry and problem-based learning) 3. “They create and honor horizontal learning experiences, not just vertical ones.”   Vygotsky-  (scaffolding, zone of proximal development) 12. “They offer supervised (i.e. guided) fish tank tutorials (simplified versions of the real system)   Piaget (assimilation and accommodation) 22. “They allow learners to practice enough so that they routinize their skills and then challenge them with new problems that force them to re-think these taken for grated skills and integrate them with new ones. Repeat.”   Gardner- (theory of multiple intelligences) 14. “ They give information via several different nodes (e.g. in print, orally, visually) They create redundancy   Bandura- (social-cognitive theory) 16. “ Learning should be a collaborative dance between the teacher’s (designer’s) guidance and the learner’s actions and interpretations.”   Skinner- (reinforcement in Behaviorism) 1. “They create motivation for an extended engagement”

 

source

 

Gee, P. (2004). Situated language and learning a critque of traditional schooling.

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 is pointing out that learning in typical schools today is disconnected from the students’ actual lives and is outside of the context of their everyday decisions and actions, and therefore, the learner’s minds are “disembodied”. (Gee,39)

 

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

According to Gee, reading alone will not build a large vocabulary. The best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to “actually experience the ‘worlds’ to which these words refer.” (Gee,40)

 

3. What gives a word a specific meaning?

There is much more to word meaning than just literal definitions. So many of the words in the English language can be spelled the same way, but have a different specific meaning according to the context in which it is used. (Gee,41)

 

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

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

In this sentence, “off the hook “means you are released from a previously required duty.

b.      Them shoes are off the hook dog.

I think this use of “off the hook” means that the shoes are particularly pleasing.

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

I think here “off the hook “means that the experience was incredible or amazing.

 

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

According to Gee, the work of childhood is play.  (Gee, 42)Although I understand that play is a legitimate and important part of children’s development, I’m not sure I agree with this exactly. When I was growing up I got to play of course, but I was expected to be a contributing member of the household and I spent a lot of time working. Play definitely came last, and was certainly not my “job”. I didn’t like it much then, but looking back, I’m glad that I developed a good work ethic and learned how to get things done and enjoy myself in the process. I don’t think that is something I would have learned naturally if my parents had decided that it was my job to just “play” until I was 18 and then thrown me out into the real world and expected me to know how to work. That doesn’t prepare kids to succeed; it sets them up for failure.

 

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

It is a good idea to skip reading the instructions for playing a video game because the texts are very hard to understand until they have been given specific meanings relevant to actually experiencing the game itself. Its easier just to play the game and learn what you need to do along the way. (Gee, 42)

 

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

Knowing the general or literal meaning of a work does not necessarily lead to strong reading skills because there are so many ways to use words outside of their literal meanings. According to Gee, the literal level of understanding vocabulary is only an “illusion of understanding.” (Gee, 43)

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

The author uses the term “game” metaphorically to describe the ways people have to know specific moves they need to make to be accepted in a role, such as a basketball player or a marine biologist, just as in a game, certain steps must be mastered to achieve the ultimate goal and beat it. “Identities” are the roles people take on as they play these “games” I play the games of Aunt, artist, and student. (Gee, 46,47)

 

8. According to the author what is good learning?

 Good learning is learning that involves understanding the right moves in embodied interaction in the world, moves that give person recognition in a certain identity. (Gee, 48,49)

 

9. 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 of change the way you think children should learn in school?

Understanding that building mental models and participating in simulation of real- life experiences requires much of the same kind of thinking as comprehending written and spoken language definitely illustrates the disconnectedness of a traditionalist, skill-building approach to learning to read. Students need a variety of experiences in all subject areas that will help them build simulations for understanding specialist areas. (Gee, 52)

 

10. 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?

Kruger (1992) is a study that found that when students were evaluated on their responses to a moral dilemma, those who engaged in discussion with their peers made further gains than those who discussed with adult authority figures. Clearly, peer groups offer more reflective discourse and allow children to simulate “ what other people have said and done in relation to their own works, desires, perspectives, and deeds, thereby  seeing what the world and they themselves look like from the perspective of the other” , thus promoting moral reasoning. (Gee, 56)

Knowing this supports my belief that students should not be kept quiet in school constantly, but should be allowed to interact. Students should be given opportunities to engage socially, but also given many more opportunities in the classroom to debate, discuss, and interact in ways that take advantage of the social nature of most children to deepen learning.

 

 

 

source

Gee, P. (2004). Situated language and learning a critque of traditional schooling.

 

Formative Assessment

1. What is formative assessment?

Formative assessment is informal assessment that occurs during a lesson to aid learning, rather than assessment given after a lesson to measure learning. Formative assessment also evaluates learning, but it takes the form of comments, feedback, and tools that help students evaluate their learning more effectively, such as a rubric, rather than a letter grade. Formative assessment can also take the form of skill-building activities that focus on specific goals such as writing a rough draft that uses transitions well and is well organized.

2. What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?

The central purpose of formative assessment is to put the student at the center of learning by giving them opportunities to evaluate their learning more effectively, see how their own work matches a given learning goals, and understand and monitor their own learning.

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

Formative assessment can be connected to the research-based strategy of “Summarizing and Note-taking” because formative assessment works best when it is focused, specific, and helps the students monitor their own learning. Filling in Guided notes as they read can help students identify the main points and give them a clear outline to focus on, which will make expectations for the material to be learned clearer and more specific, and allow students to monitor their own learning.

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

A rubric is a tool that can be used formatively by listing criteria for evaluating a specific lesson to help students understand what is expected, and summatively by serving as a basis for assigning grades.

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

In my field placement, when working on a lesson with material that is familiar to students (such as pencil drawing) my host teacher and I always wait a few minutes after explaining an assignment and passing out materials so students have a chance to brainstorm and come up with their own ideas before walking around the room and giving individual help and suggestions. If we immediately bombarded them with examples, they would likely just use the ideas shown rather than their own. However, if we are introducing a new material (such as embossing foil) we will first provide ample demonstrations and examples, and make ourselves immediately available to clarify expectations and techniques until the students feel confident with the material so they do not become overwhelmed.

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

A strategy to make student feedback more effective is to focus on the task rather than the student. A teacher should not praise the students’ talent, but the specific ways that they performed strongly. Feedback should also include detail, but be offered in manageable amounts so the student can absorb what is being said.

7. Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.

Formative assessment can lead to improved instruction that addresses student learning by helping teachers to identify students who are struggling and the areas they are having difficulty. It can also encourage student self-awareness, on-task behavior, and motivation because it gives students a feeling of confidence and control.

8. What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?

One challenge to implementing formative assessment is making sure it is truly high-quality formative assessment. Since research shows that many teachers do not know how to include high- quality formative assessment, policy makers should affirm the features of successful formative assessment, and include provisions for professional development in this area. Another challenge is to support teachers who do engage in formative assessment, because uniformed individuals may be suspicious of its use in the classroom. Policy makers and teachers both should take steps to inform parents and the community about formative assessment in their classroom strategies and document evidence of its success to avoid misunderstandings and to generate public support of high-quality learning.

Source

National Council of Teachers of English,. (2010). Fostering high quality formative assessment: A policy brief national council of teachers of english. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CC/0201-sep2010/CC0201PolicyBrief.pdf