This is a joint showcase with Stephanie Buelow.

“learning is a life-long endeavor. Individuals do not learn a finite body of knowledge and then stop learning. Instead, individuals constantly build on previous knowledge, learning each day.”

Table of Contents

• Teaching Philosophy
• Teaching Practice
• Impact
• Supplemental Material
  

Teaching Philosophy

As literacy teacher educators we find the dynamics of teaching in the context of teacher education to be unique because we teach students how to teach. Therefore we see every moment as an opportunity to demonstrate for the students. In other words, we must walk the talk. Philosophically, we believe that learning is a life-long endeavor. Individuals do not learn a finite body of knowledge and then stop learning. Instead, individuals constantly build on previous knowledge, learning each day. Therefore, we are only one part of our students’ learning journey as we support them in developing their teacher identity. Thus, these three enduring understandings guide us.

(1) Learning happens in caring communities where students are the center of our work.

(2) Literacy is essential to students’ meaningful participation in a democratic society and for the possibility of achieving a socially just society.

(3) Teaching is the negotiation among theory, practice and students.

Teaching Practice

We designed and implemented the first-ever UHM College of Education K-8 Literacy Clinics (LC) to provide targeted and scaffolded clinical experiences for teacher candidates (TCs) to work with ethnically and linguistically diverse K-8 student populations with our school partners. For background, the TCs in our initial licensure programs already had clinical field experiences that included observing K-12 mentor teachers and teaching lessons in their classrooms (two days a week) along with a capstone full time student teaching semester.

However, due to rising concerns surrounding the need to improve literacy instruction in our state, we felt compelled to develop an additional and more nuanced clinical experience for TCs to specifically hone in on reading and writing instructional K-12 methods. Working with both our STE department and public school leaders, the secondary LC first launched as a pilot in spring 2019 at Waipahu Intermediate School (WIS) and the elementary LC launched fall 2021 at Noelani Elementary School (NES).

The UHM TCs were paired with WIS & NES K-8 age students in a range of ratios (TC: K-8 Student) including 1:1 – 1:5 to 2:2 – 2:4. The TCs used professional literacy diagnostic/assessment tools to assess K – 8 students and then designed appropriate literacy lessons to teach diverse K-8 students who were experiencing difficulties in reading and writing skills.

To prepare the TCs for the LC, we (the LC supervisors and instructors of the courses) used multiple techniques. Each TC was provided a comprehensive Literacy Clinic Lesson Plan Book Guide (See Supplemental Materials) to support their weekly instruction.

Steps for Engagement: One specific technique we intentionally aligned with multiple course SLOs, to prepare TCs for the LC was the Micro-Teaching Literacy Strategy Lesson (See Supplemental Materials). Admittedly, Micro-Teaching is not new to our own practice and is adaptable across academic disciplines (Remesh, 2013). However, when we paired micro-teaching with the LC it became a game changer, thus bringing more innovation and relevancy to this assignment. To better explain, the TCs taught their micro-lesson in the seminar/methods course (e.g., STE 401, STE 312) and then adapted and executed their micro-lesson in the LC making the micro-lesson more authentic and timely so the TCs could practice their pedagogical skills. The TCs also saw the value of the literacy strategies more quickly since they needed the strategies to succeed in the LC.

In the past, we would implement micro-teaching in our courses, but would later find out the TC could not always apply the literacy strategies they learned due to various constraints (i.e,. mentor teacher had different objectives). With the birth of the LC, the micro-teaching experiences now get consistently translated into the TCs’ practice, making this a breakthrough in our vision for how to change instructional literacy practices in our K-12 schools.

To prepare for micro-teaching, each TC individually signs up to teach a Literacy Strategy lesson to their peers in our weekly class. After teaching their peers the TCs received Glows (positive praise) and Grows (constructive feedback) from not only us (the instructors) but from their peers. TCs also formally reflect on the application of their lessons. After the literacy strategy was experienced by all, the TCs implemented these literacy strategies into the LC with K-8 students. This skillful scaffolding provided explicit opportunities for TCs to gain pedagogical knowledge, literacy content knowledge, think critically and creatively as they adapted strategies to meet the needs of the diverse learners they served, and provide a service to the school community.

Meeting Student Needs & Promoting Equity: Now that we have paired micro-teaching with the LC, we cannot return to our old methods. John Dewey argued, “We learn by doing.” Thus, TCs can only learn how to teach by teaching. In sum, micro-teaching provides TCs a safe setting to first practice their lesson before taking it to the LC with K-8 children. Furthermore, now that our LC serves real K-8 students who need targeted literacy interventions, we see the LC directly works toward attaining social justice as TCs explore literacy as an active process of creating meaning, incorporating diverse modalities (e.g., reading, writing, speaking) to foster critical engagement. We agree with Kofi Annan, ‘Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.” Simply stated, if students cannot make sense of the content they are reading, they lose hope. The LC brings hope to students who need small group literacy interventions, making it a win-all approach.

Challenges: Implementing a LC takes a village and is time intensive. In order to succeed, we collaborated with our K-8 partners to obtain K-8 student rosters and locations for the LC. Under our guidance, TCs need time in class to implement the micro-teaching, time to analyze assessment data, determine higher-order thinking, grouping of students, and plan for differentiated instruction of the literacy strategies they are learning. To proactively meet TC’s needs we met one-on-one with each TC to coach them as they prepared for the micro-teaching experience. These are time and labor intensive endeavors, however this is the “real” work of educators and TCs learned first-hand how one-on-one coaching provides equitable opportunities as we leveraged their strengths.

Impact

Different rubrics were used to assess the impact of the Literacy Clinic (LC) Teacher Candidates’ (TC) lesson plans, reflections, and observations of TCs teaching.

Results:

• 99% of TCs passed the Micro-teaching assignment and seamlessly implemented it in the LC.
• 100% TCs described the LC as valuable. One TC wrote, “My biggest takeaway from the LC was all of the literacy strategies that I learned and implemented. I am continuously amazed by all of the different ways possible to get students excited and engaged in a text….” Another TC wrote, “The LC experience helped me to become a more knowledgeable teacher in several ways, one of the first times in my life where theory and research was paired with practical experience. Had it not been for the real-time practice…I would have never developed such a deep understanding of …literacy, the function of literacy strategies, and so much more.

Positive impact on learning for K-8 students: 415 Total K-8 students have attended the LC.

• WIS Administrator wrote, “Charlotte’s work in initiating, implementing and growing the LC has seen tremendous results with our students. Immediate effects highlight positive changes in attitudes and behaviors of our ELLs.”
• NES Administrator wrote, “The UH LC had a meaningful impact on our students. Through this innovative program, teacher candidates and students benefit from one another while cultivating positive relationships. We truly appreciate the hard work and dedication of Dr. Buelow and her teacher candidates.”
• K-8 student wrote, “I love the LC and wish it could be every single day.”

Supplemental Material

• Assignment Instructions
  • Instructions 1
  • Instructions 2