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Module Two Reflection
Kyle Krestan
Arizona State University
October 9, 2020
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Creating the Environment
In order to teach students any type of content there are two things that are essential,
engagement from the students and a way to increase their motivation. According to authors of
Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy conditions that will improve student engagement and
motivation is to promote social collaboration, real-world examples, and variance of sources
(Irvin, Meltzer, & Dukes, 2007). This is something that has been taught throughout the teaching
program at ASU and something that if done correctly opens the classroom to a greater variety of
lesson plan styles. Currently, creating the learning environment for students is harder than ever
because the physical environment cannot be designed for digital learning. Previously, during face
to face instruction the teacher could implement posters or desk layouts to encourage a certain
style of instruction, but now it is up to teachers expressing the environment just through voice
and attitude. The importance of the environment is stressed in Taking Action on Adolescent
Literacy when it states, “classroom environments provide motivation to read, multiple
opportunities and authentic reasons to engage with text, and safe ways to participate, take risks,
and make mistakes” (Irvin, Meltzer, & Dukes, 2007). This introduces the topic of deep vs
surface learning and how teachers can set the conditions for either. According to an infographic
made by Heath Wickline, there are four components to create a deeper learning environment,
these are; a strong school culture, teachers function as professionals, meaningful learning
experiences, and deliberate practice (2015). Deeper learning is the idea that students should be
leaving school with the ability to apply the concepts learned in the classroom to real-life or at
least understand the how, when, and why of the lesson. For example, when a lesson plan focuses
on collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills students have a greater chance of
leaving the class if useful information instead of memorization of information and then a dump
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after their assessments (Wickline, 2018). It seems useless to actually describe surface learning
because it is an inferior teaching strategy compared to striving for deeper learning, so it will not
be addressed further.
Concepts of Evaluations
The idea of an assessment being some type of graded knowledge check is fairly common
amongst classrooms but it may not be the most efficient method of evaluation. According to
Assessments That Highlight Strengths and Challenges o ne class outperformed another and the
variable between the two was that one used assessments as non-graded learning tools instead of
evaluations (2014). This pushed the students away from a grade based goal towards a content
mastery based goal. Something that relates to this is the idea that teachers must use materials and
assessments that are appropriate for their students. For example, if students are introduced to
academically rigorous scholarly articles about a subject then it is likely that they will disengage
from the content, therefore “fail” assessments of any kind. According to Elizabeth Moje, “
demanding that adolescents suddenly become adept readers and writers of increasingly complex
disciplinary texts will fall short of the goal,” (2015).
Planning Instruction
The first step in planning instruction is to make sure that the objectives, content and language,
are properly created for students. This is because if the objectives are misaligned then the desired
outcome will not be met. The concept of applicability to real-life comes up again when creating
objectives. An example given in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy is over ratios and
volume or not important on their own but when calculating gas consumed and the cost per mile
when on a road trip (Hill, 2014). This does not only apply to the more scientific concepts but also
to the language concepts that are necessary in every lesson plan. When planning the rest of the
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instruction it is very important to ensure that the proper framework is being used for that lesson,
these being PBL, inquiry, or direct instruction. This is important because if the lesson requires
more of a direct instruction approach and the teacher uses a PBL framework than the information
that the students need to receive will most likely be cut short in order to give them the
opportunity to create their solution to some type of problem about the subject. Overall, the
takeaway from this section is the idea of all parts of the lesson connecting to each other so it
becomes a seamless transition between the different components, because this offers the greatest
chance of success for the students.
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References
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Assessments That Highlight Strengths and Challenges. 1-11.
doi:10.1598/e-ssentials.8052
Heath Wickline March 4, 2. (2018, February 06). Creating the Conditions for Deeper Learning.
Retrieved October 9, 2020, from https://hewlett.org/creating-the-conditions-for-deeper-
learning/
Hill, A. E. (2014). Using Interdisciplinary, Project-Based, Multimodal Activities to Facilitate
Literacy Across the Content Areas. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57( 6),
450-460. doi:10813004
Irvin, J. L., Meltzer, J., & Dukes, M. S. (2007). Chapter 1. Student Motivation, Engagement, and
Achievement. Retrieved October 9, 2020, from http://www.ascd.org/ publications/books
/107034/chapters/Student-Motivation,-Engagement,-and-Achievement.aspx
Moje, E. B. (2015). Doing and Teaching Disciplinary Literacy with Adolescent Learners (2nd
ed., Vol. 85). Harvard Educational Review. doi:0017-8055
