Erin Doherty

Final Synthesis Blog Post

My learning over the course of the semester was immense. I learned a lot from investigating
my inquiry question. My inquiry question was How do I engage a student who is uninterested in
an assignment? Throughout the weeks I pieced together my newly found data to inform my
instruction. Reading with my focus student one-on-one really helped him progress in his over-all
confidence. Learner differences inform and impact planning and instruction by allowing teachers
to differentiate parts of the lesson. Being able to modify parts of the instruction helps bridge the
gap of different learning levels. It is important to know your students and the school community
because classroom demographics are essential when understanding the makeup of your students.
Knowing where the majority of the students live in relation to the school is important too. Most
of the students live in the Connerton community and most are bus riders. Specific teaching
methods can help teachers meet students needs because they can cater to the individual students
different learning styles. Teaching through various entry points will help all kinds of learners. In
regards to my instructional and classroom management implications for my future teaching
practice, I will make sure to enforce my classroom rules and I will be consistent in my means of
reinforcement and discipline practices. I believe classroom management is the foundation to
allow learning to take place within the classroom environment. My related goals for the fall
practicum experience include being more assertive in getting the students attention and
remembering to have students clip up or clip down based on their classroom behavior. I believe I
am on track with all the other internship responsibilities so I will continue to progress and
improve in these areas. The three readings from this course that are in reference with this blog
include, readings titled The Colorblind Perspective in School: Causes and Consequences,
Seeing Color, Seeing Culture, and Kagan Strategies. The first reading is by Janet Ward

Schofield. She explains how a colorblind society is one in which racial or ethnic group
membership is irrelevant to the way individuals are treated. The article continues on to talk about
cultural differences between students. This content relates to my internship because I had a very
diverse class of students. Despite their varying racial backgrounds, every student was treated
with the same respect. The second reading is by Ladson Billings. He discusses how many
teachers are reluctant to acknowledge racial differences in the classroom. This article suggests
that teachers must not ignore color. Relating back to my internship, my CT was aware of the
racial differences in the classroom. Color wasnt ignored, but rather embraced. My third reading
was about the Kagan Strategies. This article listed and explained various strategies that can be
used in the classroom. For example, Blind Sequencing builds teambuilding and thinking for
students. The objective for this strategy is for teams to work to sequence cards in their proper
order but each student holds his or her own cards, and no one else can see what is on them. The
next five steps are then listed in detail. This final reading relates to my internship because my CT
used many different strategies and techniques when she taught her lessons. As a teacher, it is
important to switch up the instruction so that students stay engaged and interested in the content.