Val Garcia

Module Reflection 2

After completing Module 2. Which went over creating motivating and engaging learning

environments, assessments, and planning for differentiated instruction. A question has come up

of how I tend to plan and design instruction so that students will be actively engaged in literacy

and discipline-specific activities. From what I learned from this module this is how I will do that.

My first step is to make my classroom environment as welcoming as possible, not only

that but I myself have to be welcoming. An article I read had stated that “Classroom

environments and teacher actions can sustain and encourage, or undermine, student motivation

and engagement in academic literacy tasks. Three important instructional practices are having

students make connections, creating safe and responsive classrooms, and having students

regularly interact with text and with one another about text (Judith, 2007).” My classroom and I

are the first things that students see when they come to my doors. If it does not seem welcoming

then student engagement and motivation will not be there. That is why must practice and

continue to practice, that way students feel comfortable sharing and participating in my class.

The next step deals with content and language objectives. as well as including the

framework for project-based inquiry. I had read that by connecting disciplinary literacy to PBI it

constructs new things for students to learn. Or In other words, “By relating disciplinary literacy

to PBI with intentionality, teachers guide students to learn the content of the disciplines and the

processes that experts undertake to create knowledge. Thus, students have opportunities to

construct new knowledge by employing the content knowledge and disciplinary literacy

practices used by literary critics, scientists, historians, and mathematicians (Spires, Kerkhoff,

Graham 2016).” Not only that but for content and language objectives I can follow a neat
checklist that tells if my objectives are observable, relatable, and it promotes student language

growth. Something great to have when I’m creating objectives.

Moving on now to the Assessments. I have learned that there are tremendous amounts of

formative assessment tools that are traditional in digital. An article also stated that “Most

importantly, teachers need to analyze student performance, not only for a grade but also for

determining the content that students need to be taught to demonstrate mastery (Fisher & Frey,

2014).” I 100% agree with this. Assessments can be used as a grade but also a determining factor

for the students’ knowledge. It can tell me if students are struggling and I need to elaborate more

or that they're getting it and I can move on.

Now, perhaps a challenge that arises deals with digital learning with especially with

current times, it is that “Students who are isolated at home because of school closures and social

distancing mandates are juggling a lot mentally and emotionally. They are negotiating a shared

space with their family. They may be sharing devices and limited bandwidth with parents and

siblings. They may also be dealing with fear and anxiety about the current health crisis (Tucker,

2020).” This in a way, also deals with creating motivating and engaging learning environments.

When it comes to online teaching, I cannot spend 7 hours a day at home in front of a screen and

neither can my students. That’s why I need to adopt a modular approach in which I break up

activities in smaller chunks. For students to self-pace themselves. I can also incorporate small

groups so students can support each other. That way my students and myself are not over-

encumbered.
 References

Tucker, C. R. (2020, April). Successfully Taking Offline Classes Online. Retrieved September

20, 2020,

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/summer20/vol77/num10/Success

fully-Taking-Offline-Classes-Online.aspx.

Judith, J. (2007). Chapter 1. Student Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement. Retrieved

October 11, 2020, from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107034/chapters/Student-Motivation,-

Engagement,-and-Achievement.aspx

Spires, H., Kerkhoff, S., & Graham, A. (2016). Disciplinary Literacy and Inquiry: Teaching for

Deeper Content Learning. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 60(2), 151-161.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Assessments That Highlight Strengths and Challenges. IRA

Essentials. Pg.9.