INQUIRY SCAN!

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Inquiry Scan Assignment! Melissa Whyman! Laredo Middle School#

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INQUIRY SCAN!

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ABSTRACT! The Inquiry Scan was an observation of Laredo Middle School. Special Education students and general education Language Arts teachers were observed to determine areas of concern for my students over all achievement. Concerns about teachers instruction, students home life and race, and students internal operations were all called into question. The end result being, How can I help my students success academically? #

INQUIRY SCAN!

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! I teach Language Arts to students with Learning Disabilities at Laredo Middle School in Aurora. The students I work with have on average IQs in the 70s. This means that most of my students struggle with reading and writing. They tend to be 2 or more grade levels behind academically. I also work with a large population of minority students. I absolutely love my school and the diversity my students bring to me. ! ! After hearing about our CSAP results my number one priority is to nd a way to

help my students achieve at a higher level. I want to be the force that motivated them to strive for success. Students with Learning Disabilities can achieve but often times lose the drive and determination to obtain their educational goals. ! ! After scanning my environment I had determined a number of issues that I would

like to inquire more about. Based on my desire to help my students achieve, I found motivation, determination, and advocacy to all be a concern. Most of my students know that they need help but rarely take an avenue to get their questions or understanding resolved. Years of failure has caused students to become less motivated to work hard because it is easier to fail than struggle. Their determination to achieve is thwarted by their motivation. ! ! Along with inner struggles come the outer. Most of my students come from single

parent households. Their parents often work long hours to provide for the family thus rely on their children to complete homework and assignments without support. However, these students have a hard time advocating for help. This situation results in incomplete assignments and loss of learning. !

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Working with minority students also possess an interesting inquiry. I am a young

white female who was raised in household with a mother and father who always supported me in school and in my goals. I have a vastly different up bringing than my students. How can I relate? How can I be equitable? What ways do my students learn best? These are all things I struggle to wrap my mind around. I want to be the best for my students so that they can be the best for themselves. ! ! I have a passion for technology to improve success as well as foster a more

global learner. I fear that many of my students do not have the same exposure or knowledge of technology in their own lives. I know our school has a goal to improve technology in our students lives. Making that dream a reality is another story. Which makes me ponder, How can I help bring technology into the hands of my students? ! ! Technology can be a very powerful tool for my students who struggle in class.

Being able to have access to computers, even just to use a word processing program can, dramatically improve my students struggles to write in class as well as outside of class. There are many programs that can be used to help instruct students with Learning Disabilities who have a hard time reading text. Visual instruction can help students achieve valuable knowledge. How do I get other teachers to use it in their classrooms? ! ! I team teach with a 7th grade Language Arts teacher as well as an 8th grade

Language Arts teacher. Both have very different styles of instructing. In one class the teacher uses a visual schedule to help students stay on task, while the other uses purely verbal cues. How can I help these teachers become more interactive with the

INQUIRY SCAN! students? One teacher has a SmartBoard. This would greatly in pact student engagement, yet it has yet to be turned on this year. ! ! I feel as though my role would be a bridge between what teachers are already

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doing or have and the endless possibilities for learning. The staff at my school have many things they are trying to implement: Thinking Maps, AVID, and MYP. It might be a challenge to overcome another thing in the classroom. This is another area of concern that could be looked into. How can I help teachers instruct using technology without changing the ways they plan and the requirements they are faced with? ! ! I have taken a step back and seen the environment I am faced with. I have

students who choose to do nothing in class. I have students who are responsible for themselves. I face students of color and students with disabilities. There are teachers with technology resources and teaching without. Students who have a hard time motivation themselves and advocating for their needs. District requirements to fulll also come into play. I have many options to look into from my inquiry scan. I know that all of these questions can relate back to one important idea. How can I help my students success academically? In completing this scan I am determined to nd a way to use action research to help my students of all color and disability achieve success in school using technology at home and in the classroom.