KaDeWo - The Joy Advocate

When I started teaching English in South Korea I entered in the middle of the school year. The fall semester had commenced when I came in at the end of August 2016. The start of the new academic year commenced in March 2017. After six months of working in a new school, living in a new country and rapidly adjusting to a new culture and community I felt the level in which I was getting to know my coworkers was moving at a slow pace. Although we ate lunch together, several teachers talked around me but not to me. I thought about this one evening and decided that when the new semester started I would write a Welcome Letter.  In my Temple University undergraduate education courses, one of my seasoned professors had us create a Welcome Letter as an introductory assignment. I am so happy that I took that assignment seriously and saved it with my files I knew I would use throughout my teaching career. When I student taught I wrote and distributed a letter to all of my students and it helpe...

"They say, the first 24 hours behind bars are the hardest." - '12 Inside Student, Graduation Day In the Fall of 2012 I spent every Tuesday night in Pennsylvania's State Correctional Institution in Graterford ; it is a maximum security prison for men. Among the 14 selected Criminal Justice majors, I was the only Education major approved for the community-based-learning (CBL) course .  I eagerly joined the fresh "outside" inductees, in the   Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program . I am extremely honored to be an alumna of this program. The course will challenge your views and force you to consider what you have been taught as well as what you truly believe. From the moment I learned about the CBL course I was intrigued and wanted to know how I could be a part of the movement...The powerful movement of bringing people from the "outside" inside prisons to work with "inside" students to discuss prejudices, poverty, and perspecti...

Using the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) and Mathematics data, the Texas Education Agency reported vital methods for educators to employ for successfully teaching ELLs academic vocabulary in the "Academic Vocabulary for Fifth-to Seventh-Grade English Language Learners in Texas" article. Many of the things mentioned were included in chapter 9 of Kylene Beers' text When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do ; however there were some new techniques which I found useful enough to highlight. Students need to learn how words work; therefore, teach root words, prefixes and suffixes. Actively engage students in vocabulary building so they will take ownership of scaffolding their word knowledge -- include an array of visuals. Spend time developing common academic content terms for ELLs. Make time for students to read and to read a variety of texts. Capitalize students' knowledge of their first langua...

Urie Bronfenbrenner, a co-founder of the Headstart Program, developed the Human Ecology Theory (also known as the Ecological Systems theory). The Human Ecology Theory states that human development is influenced by the different environmental systems. This theory helps us understand why we may behave differently when we compare our behavior in the presence of our family and our behavior when we are in school or at work, etc. The Five Environmental Systems The ecological systems theory holds that we encounter different environments throughout our lifespan that may influence our behavior in varying degrees. These systems include the micro system , the mesosystem , the exosystem , the macro system , and the chronosystem . The micro system 's setting is the direct environment we have in our lives. Your family, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors and other people who have a direct contact with you are included in your micro system. The micro system is the setting in whic...

In investing the relationship between essential components of instruction in constructing students into good readers, Susan C Cantrell and Janis C. Carter found, the critical elements of reading success were comprehension instruction that provide students explicit comprehension strategies. Good readers do more than just read a text. They actively engage with the reading, including comprehending its purpose, developing questions about it, as well as the ability to discuss and analyze the text. Much like the articles Reading Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities and Developing Academic Literacy in Adolescent English Language , the research of Cantrell and Carter emphasizes students’ characteristics as key in developing connections to literary texts and assignments. Considering students’ ages, cultures, and interests and incorporating relevant associations is a motivator for learners. All these factors play a part in student learning and achievement. Once students are t...

"All students have different abilities, types of knowledge, and literacies; all students can benefit from engaging with texts in different ways and in different contexts." Allison Hitt When I think of Universal Design (UD) the rainbow comes to mind. To me, a rainbow symbolizes a group of individual colors bound together to make one overarching bridge. It is as simple as everyone identifying as one of the colors, connecting themselves to another person/color for a common interest. Resistan ce only makes things harder for of all us ; working toge ther welcomes harmony.   Allison Hitt, author of "Access for All: The Role of Dis/Ability in Multiliteracy Centers" believes writing pedagogy should support multi l iteracies that are accessible to a diverse range of students . As a future educator, I am inclined to agree with her and apply this to all forms of pedagogy. I f teachers spend more time thinking about all learning styles instead of student diagnoses t...

I ♥ e-learning! Check out this link http://www.e-learningforkids.org/  for numerous interactive lessons for various subjects: language arts, math, technology, life skills, health, environmental skills, science, and English language. The site has easy to maneuver and understand activities for ages 5 through 12. Here's a review on the Language Arts - Introduction Microsoft Word 2003 activity. This is a well organized presentation with written and audio instructions accompanied by highlighting and blinking symbols to guide all learners. The narrator provides clear step by step instructions on how to use the MS program.  Instructors can use this guide in and outside of class. The lesson includes many useful tools for students to learn independently. For instance, there is an instructional key that incorporates several command selections (ex. arrows point to the location of the ruler, scroll bar, and empty text ...

This question was posed to my Harlem Renaissance class: Which of the character/s in Langston Hughes' novella The Ways of White Folks' story titled Father and Son was the most disturbing to you? This is not an easy question for me to answer. Set on the Big House Plantation in Georgia during Reconstruction, all the characters provoke the mind into considering why the familial "structure" was a social norm in the nation's past and how it affects the present day? Colonel Thomas Norwood with his Negro mistress Coralee Lewis, and his mulatto children, Willie; Bert; and Bertha Lewis (Norwood), that he would deny as his own before white people, as if many of them did not have similar situations in their own household, are all familiar characters to those that have studied Black Bondage in American history. However, I was not prepared for the actual discomfort I felt in reading the short, offensive interaction Cora has with Talbot and Jim, two well-known white men of ...

Nov 2016 UPDATE: Happy Annivesary KaDeWo.rld!! Thank you for visiting my blog. I have been self-publishing for 5 years now. I am proud of the people I have been able to attract and engage in this online space. May the numbers continue to grow. This blog WAS solely directed to present and future educators. It is NOW open to all, as there are a variety of topics addressed. As I have evolved so has my reading audience. Enjoy! Take care, make self care your top priority. Be well in mind, body and spirit. ♥ KaDeWo       (2011 Welcome) Greetings & Salutations readers! As I ambitiously continue on my nontraditional journey to complete my baccalaureate degrees in Secondary Education and English, I am interested in learning new ways to bring creativity into the classroom for my future scholars. There are many ways to grab and keep students' attention. Technology is one avenue I will take to introduce material and concepts to my students. With universal...