JOURNAL/PLAN

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Journal Writing, Final Summary, & Action Plan [50]

In this course we will explore journal writing as a collaborative community experience where we will use a blog to discuss, share resources and develop our knowledge about various topics related to the theme of diversity.

There are two parts to this assignment: 

Part A. Journal Writing - Weekly Postings [topic responses and comments on peer postings] ongoing. 
You will contribute regular posts and respond substantively to your peers' posts [substantive does not equal long but rather insightful]. These posts should reflect reactions to topics covered, provide insights  about teaching in general, your experiences in other courses, or make connections to your practicum experience, etc.  These entries will generate the content for your final 1-2 page final summary [see below].

Diversity-Related Topics you have completed for your weekly postings:

• Diversity in your Placement Posting
• Inquiry Study – an issues related to meeting a diverse population
• 21st Century Practitioner Posting [literacies -> 3Rs4C's]
• Diversity & CRE
• Learning Disabilities Posting
• Poverty KWL
• Alternative Youth Posting [Susan Winterbourne]
• Migrant Response Posting [Saulo Hernandez]
• SPED Response Posting [Kristy McGinnis]
• LGBTQ Response Posting [Dewayne Smith]

 
Part B. Final Summary & Draft Action Plan due 12/14/2012.
i. Final Summary [length 1-2 pages] 
The objective of this final summary is to synthesize the essence of your blog postings- including any strategies that you learned or insights you have gained -  through the lens of meeting the needs of diverse learners. Please complete the following:

a) Review your Posts and extract any key themes
b) Write a 1-2 page summary posting that addresses the following question: "What have you learned about successfully addressing the needs of diverse students?"

ii. Draft Action Plan [length 2 pages ->Text + Visual Plan] 
Your task is to formulate a DRAFT action plan. Please note that like your philosophy of education, this is a living or evolving document that represents where you are right now in your thinking with respect to classroom management/structure. This will be a 2 page submission: one page should consist of text that describes or unpacks your visual summary [e.g. model origin, philosophy, purpose..]. The second page is to be a visual quick summary reference, in effect a synthesis of your first page descriptive. You can create your visual using Inspiration or some other graphic application, or draw it by hand and scan it into electronic format.

Please use the following prompt to focus your plan:
"Based on the course themes, models you have experienced in class as well as in the field [e.g. service, practicum], create a visual that summarizes the key themes/strategies for establishing an inclusive classroom to support all learners."

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