It is a
frigid night tonight in NW Wisconsin, -9 degrees Fahrenheit! We are once again in a stubborn arctic
air high pressure system. For me this means being very productive with indoor
activities...
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| We have over 25 inches of snow! |
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| My writing desk at our cabin. |
I am finally making some headway in getting published, which is very exciting. One article will appear in Science and Children sometime in the near future. This is an article I wrote about pollinators, specifically bees, with a couple of teachers and an entomologist. I was the main writer and editor, but I gave first author rights to the two teachers who designed a unit about bees that was the inspiration for the article. With pollinators increasingly in the news, this is a timely article. I am guessing it will be out in late spring.
The
second article is one that was part of my original dissertation research. It is
a case study about a 7th grade student who chose the name of Wizard
as his pseudonym. Wizard was identified with learning and behavioral challenges
at a young age. In elementary school he was enrolled mainly in special
education classes, so a 7th grade inclusive science classroom was a
great place to understand his experiences in learning. The paper that is now in
“production” had many iterations over the years. Last summer, I finally landed
on an appropriate and relevant theoretical lens of disability studies in
education to analyze and synthesize the data. I rewatched all the video tapes
last summer, too. This time I used a Classroom Observation Protocol called
CETP-COP to help me understand the learning environment across 5 minute
intervals. This paper represents such a huge chunk of
my life, professionally. Here is the abstract:
This case study reports on a special education
student in an inclusive seventh grade life science classroom using a framework
of disability studies in education. Classroom data collected over 13 weeks
consisted of both qualitative (student and classroom observations, interviews,
student work samples) and quantitative methods (video-taped classroom teaching
and learning record using CETP-COP). Three key findings emerged in the analysis
and synthesis of the data: 1) the experiences in learning science for Wizard
are in a position of disability or service 2) the outcomes of learning are
fragmented as a result of vulnerable and weak disciplinary literacy, 3) the
nature of the inclusion is fragile and functional. Implications for classroom
practices that support students with learning disabilities include focusing on
student strengths, intentional use of disciplinary literacy strategies, and opportunities for eliciting
student voice in decision making.
It sounds trite to
say that I learned a great deal
from Wizard, but I did. Each semester I bring him (figuratively speaking) into
my teaching with my teacher candidates. I use his voice to push my students to
think more about inclusion with the hardest to reach students. What I learned
from Wizard has contributed to my own growth as a teacher educator in ways that
I could never have imagined. His story is one that should be shared. I am very
excited that it will finally get the press it deserves.
January Term is just
about upon me. I have a few more hours of grading to do, and then all of my
responsibilities for Fall semester will be complete. I am looking forward to
the next 5 weeks of respite from my teaching so that I can more fully
concentrate on my scholarship. I have another 4 articles that I am working on.
One more for Science and Children, one on disciplinary literacy, a resubmit of research of my summer work at the U of MN about a professional development program using scientific inquiry and a resubmit of a
descriptive inquiry paper that I wrote with some of my students.
Besides all of the
Writing, I am also hoping to catch up on at least 15 weeks of the New Yorker and
read two books and see a bunch of movies. Love January term! TTFN, Michele
