Instructions: Choose an article that relates to our current module. Write one paragraph per prompt. Each paragraph should be at least three sentences. The full instructions appear on the next page. I will provide example responses below but I encourage you to write in your own voice. Please keep the prompts in place so your answers are clearly separated.

1.What is the main idea of the article? What supporting details does the author provide?

Answer: In “(title of article),” (author’s last name) explains that (paraphrase main idea). One reason is (paraphrase first supporting detail). Additionally, (paraphrase other supporting details).  

2.How does this article connect to our current module and why is it important? What new ideas emerge from reading these together? What questions arise for you?

Answer: This article connects to the PowerPoint/textbook for chapter (#) because (identify the connection). After reading (paraphrase of textbook material), it enhances my understanding of the article by (explain how the skill in the textbook applies here). One question that arises for me is (identify something you would now wonder about or wish to examine further.)

3.What is your opinion of what you read in the article? Why is this important to you?

Answer: I believe that this is important to examine for several reasons. One reason is … Secondly, … Lastly … One comment that caught my attention was (include quotation here). In my opinion (agree or disagree with the quotation you shared).

4.Please provide a link to the article here:

Link:  (Paste link here.)

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Journal 1.

Thinking Activity 8.2: Review the following passage, which is an example of the process-analysis pattern of thinking, then answer the questions that follow.

“If you are inexperienced in relaxation techniques, begin by sitting in a comfortable chair with your feet on the floor and your hands resting easily in your lap. Close your eyes and breathe evenly, deeply, and gently. As you exhale each breath let your body become more relaxed. Starting with one hand direct your attention to one part of your body at a time. Close your fist and tighten the muscles of your forearm. Feel the sensation of tension in your muscles. Relax your hand and let your forearm and hand become completely limp. Direct all your attention to the sensation of relaxation as you continue to let all tension leave your hand and arm. Continue this practice once or several times each day, relaxing your other hand and arm, your legs, back, abdomen, chest, neck, face, and scalp. When you have this mastered and can relax completely, turn your thoughts to scenes of natural tranquility from your past. Stay with your inner self as long as you wish, whether thinking of nothing or visualizing only the loveliest of images. Often you will become completely unaware of your surroundings. When you open your eyes you will find yourself refreshed in mind and body.” —Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Prescription

1.Identify the purpose of the passage.

Answer:

2.Describe the main stages in the process identified by the author.

Answer:

Thinking Activity 8.3: We tend to be most acutely aware of process analysis when we are learning a new activity for the first time, such as preparing formula for an infant or installing a new oil filter in a car. Identify such an occasion in your own life.

1.Describe the steps or stages in the process.

Answer:

2.How might you modify this process if a problem arose? Identify one real life or hypothetical problem and how you could adapt the process to respond.

PART 4: FINAL PROJECTData Collection: You will conduct a data collection and analysis process for the method that you have selected in Part 3. You will collect and analyze only one sample of data. This could include an interview, survey, document or social media analysis, or photo voice/digital story. As you analyze your data, reflect and record the following, which will be pertinent to your final project: 1) what themes arose in your data? 2) how does this data help you better understand your research topic? 3) use the concepts/ideas/theories from your methodology to contextualize your results, and 4) what questions/concerns arose for you during the research process? A NOTE ON THE RESEARCH PROCESS: • You should plan to spend approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour doing your interview, survey or photovoice. Questions should be based on an attitude of respect for the interview subject and appreciation for the time they have given to you. • You must tell your research participant who you are and that you are doing the research as part of an assignment in a York University undergraduate course. You must also tell 5 your participant that a pseudonym will be used instead of their real name in your project report. You are required to inform your participant that they have the right to terminate the interview/survey at any time or to decline to answer any questions. You must go to your interview/survey/photovoice etc. with an Informed Consent Form – which must be signed before the process can begin. Remember that you need to give your participant time to read the form carefully. • You are required to maintain all informed consent forms in a sealed container, securely in your possession until the end of the course, at which time it will need to be shredded. Please keep any digital (audio/photo/video) data on a secure laptop or desktop and delete the data at the end of this course. The final project should include the following elements: 1. Set the context for your research topic: what are you investigating? Why does it matter? What are your research aims and objective(s)? 2. Research findings and discussion: Use the literature and scholarly analysis to delve more deeply. What is the theoretical context for this issue and how is it being understood? What are the debates? Then ask: What are the key themes that have arisen in your research investigation? Does your research data concerning the University reflect issues and themes that arise in the scholarly literature? Do certain theoretical approaches, studies, cases or examples help you to interpret your data? Ask: How did the University respond to this issue? Why? 3. Reflection & Recommendations: To what extent does the University’s response perpetuate, reproduce, or disrupt power dynamics, social structures and/or cultural norms? What recommendations would you make to the University to better address the issue? Close by reflecting on the research process and if/how you might have approached your research assignment differently a second time around. How might a shift in your positionality impact how you (re)interpret your research topic? Looking back, would you apply a different lens/methodology? How might this shape your selection of methods? 4. Bibliography: List your interview and all published secondary sources. Please make sure to reference all ideas and information not your own. 

Please answer the questions below using the script of In the Heights, video documentary

1. Identify a theme from the musical and discuss how this theme evolves and unfolds throughout the play. Please make reference to specific lyrics, dialogue or characters to support your ideas
2. In the Heights was written, in part, to redress the lack of roles on Broadway for Latinx actors and to create Latinx characters that moved beyond stereotype. Analyze one of the characters in the musical and discuss how he or she does or does not exemplify a complex identity that cannot be reduced to a stereotype.
3. Community is an important concept in the musical In the Heights; how the characters support one another in times of crisis. Give an example of a moment in the musical when you see the community being resilient and coming together to overcome an obstacle.
4. What is the cultural context of In the Heights? In the Heights follows the traditional formula of a classic American Broadway musical, but Lin-Manuel Miranda contextualizes this formula within Latinx culture, integrating bilingual lyrics and fusing various styles of music including hip hop, rap, salsa, R&B, funk, dance beat, waltz, bolero, pop ballad, reggaeton, merengue, and bachata. The musical blends his classic and contemporary sensibilities while celebrating the Latinx community and promoting positive representation of Latinx characters. Why does the play stage so many cultural forms and what does this format reveal about the intentions of the playwright?
5. Some theatre historians believe that theatre functions as a mirror of society, reflecting a society’s beliefs, tensions and desires. Other critics have suggested that theatre is more than a mirror held up, but instead serves as a vehicle for social change and transformation. What do you believe? Using In the Heights as an example, please explain what you believe to be the function of theatre/musical theatre in relation to social change?
6. a.There have been several productions of In the Heights, in which a non-Latino actor was cast in the role of Usnavi. What are your thoughts about the potential problems of having an actor of a different ethnicity playing Usnavi? If you were producing this musical what would your casting parameters be and why? The film was criticized for not hiring or showcasing actors with darker skin tones. Did you notice this and if so how could the film have done a better job representing the diversity within Latin communities?

6. b. How was it for you to watch the film version of this musical. What was lost and what was gained in the translation from page to screen?

7. Write a thesis statement or pose a research question as if you were writing a paper on In the Heights. You are not writing the paper, but I want you to practice creating a thesis statement that can be argued. For example, In the Heights is about immigrants in New York,” is not an argument, actually it is a topic. To transform a topic into an argument you need to identify a problem.

“Although Usnavi ultimately does not return to the Dominican Republic, this play is very much about an immigrant’s longing for home/search for his roots.”

To complicate your thesis and you need to make a claim that you can explore. You might add,

“Usnavi must find in the freedom to return or the courage to stay.”

Reply to 

1.

At the school I work at, for our interventions with the students the teachers are responsible for all tier II documentation. If the student is in tier III their is an interventionist who will come pull the student and work with them for 30 mins if not a little longer. There are usually 4-6 students to 1 teacher in the intervention room.

To me I do not think intervention works as well as we hope it would. When there are student who are performing at a kindergarten level, but are in third and fourth grade there’s a problem. We do have a lot of EL students at our school so a language barrier is present. However, the tier system to me is very cookie cutter and not all students will fit that cookie cutter mold. Our interventions need to be more differentiated to better help our students.

The paperwork for doing interventions is overwhelming. It’s like an endless mountain of paperwork each time the child is pulled for the intervention. I do believe interventions can be very helpful and improve student learning, but I also believe there has to be a better way of providing interventions for our students that will benefit each individual student.

2. 

Discuss the intervention (RtI, Tier I, II, III) process in your school. How well is it working? Who is responsible for delivering instruction at the different tier levels? What about the paperwork involved?

I’m sure other districts are like the district I’m teaching in. Since I’ve been in the district, local schools use progress monitoring, work samples, student observations, and teacher test data to determine which intervention group a student should be in. There is a total of three different intervention groups: tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3.

In tier 1 intervention group, general instructions are provided to all students in a classroom setting. This intervention group is designed to provided learning access to all grade-level curriculum. In this group, all students are part of the instruction and additional intervention is based on the instruction the teacher is given. The second intervention group is tier 2 intervention group. During this intervention group, students who share and demonstrate similar skill insufficiencies or social/emotional/behavioral risk characteristics are apart of this group. In this intervention group, a collaborative interventional plan is created, supervised, and documented. For this intervention group, administrators are responsible. However, the general education teacher should share responsibility for the instructional planning and the decision-making process for these students. The last intervention group is tier 3 intervention. Tier 3 intervention group is the most intense group. Tier 3 intervention students are those who work in small groups, or individual lessons. Majority of the students in this group can get their support in a general education classroom. Yet, they may spend bigger parts of the day in a resource room. These students are inclusive in a general ed classroom but need additional support and tutorial. During our intervention blocks, we are directed to work with the students depending on their individual or group needs. Students are required to sign in and teachers are required to provide each student with a folder to keep track of their progress.

Edited by Vantashia Jones“>Vantashia Jones on Apr 14 at 5:15pm 

Conversation entries are your way of conversing with the writers, artists, critics and scholars that we are reading/viewing/listening for our class. For our class, we will post publicly (in discussion boards) so that you can read alongside each other and build knowledge collectively in conversation. If there is more than one reading assigned, you do not have to write a separate entry for each reading, but I expect that you will be comprehensive rather than focusing only on one reading (or some of the reading). What this means is that if we have readings spanning two days from two different books, I expect your conversation entry to address both books. For the sake of this particular Conversation Entry, the reading to cover would be the reading assigned for the previous Thursday and for this Tuesday. Please respond to the following questions in response to the reading (with a minimum of 300 words for this total Conversation Entry). Please include a word count at the end of your post.

1) Note any words or phrases that are unfamiliar to you or that are used in a special sense. List them below and choose one to generate a Hundreds on what this new word or phrase brings to you in your lexicon/vocabulary. For a good example of this, look up an entry in Counter-Desecration: A Glossary for Writing Within the Anthropocene (edited by Linda Russo, Marthe Reed, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke). The library has an online copy you can access (Links to an external site.) (or I do recommend it as a useful book to have on hand as a creative reference):

a.

b.

Hundreds:

2) Note two specific concepts that stand out to you as noteworthy in some way and why. This can be something totally new to you or something that you had never thought about in exactly this way (e.g. seeing it through a new lens). List them below and choose one to generate a Hundreds on what this new concept brings to the field of your thinking.

a.

b.

Hundreds:

3) Choose one line or sentence that you think speaks to the heart of this reading OR choose one line or sentence that you find really generative for you in your writing and thinking and write this sentence below. Then, write an additional line in response – could be a counterpoint, a line to keep digging below the surface, a line excavating the structure.

Line from reading:

Your line:

4) Using one of the concepts above, create a question you can ask the rest of the class about the concept. Using “how,” “why,” or “in what ways” as your beginning will elicit detailed responses instead of simple answers. Please make the question specific to a question of writing content or craft.

5) What item (or items) did you find confusing, puzzling or perplexing in the reading for class? Note the item and be sure to ask for a clarification.

6) Based on your answers to Questions 2 and 3, what questions are you interested in posing to thewriter(s), artist(s), critic(s) and scholar(s) of this work? Because we will have Quenton Baker and Paul Hlava Ceballos visiting, please post questions for them (not the other authors). How is this related to your own writing?