1. Final Colloquium Presentation
ASHLY FYSH
EDS 379 B
MARCH 2013

2. My Teaching Placement
 Kearny School of International Business
 Advanced English 4– Grade 10
 19 students, 1 “Intermediate” English Learner

3. My Thoughts on PACT…
 I encountered a few difficulties in putting together my
lessons for the PACT teaching events. I had the most
difficulty connecting my lessons and ensuring that they
would lead to the fulfillment of my overarching learning
objective.
 Overall, I think that I was highly conscientious of
incorporating varied activities into my lesson plans that
would help make the content accessible and
comprehensible to my students. I also think that I had
integrated a strong balance of various formal and
informal assessments to monitor the progression of
student learning.

4. Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students
TPE 1B: Subject-Specific Pedagogical Skills for Single Subject
Teaching Assignments
Understand how to make language (e.g., vocabulary, forms, uses)
comprehensible to students and the need for students to master
foundational skills.
During a class discussion,
the students were asked to use sente-
nce frames to compare and contrast
characters from Fahrenheit 451.
The activity provided
a context for students to
practice using academic language.

5. Assessing Student Learning
TPE 2: Monitoring Student Learning During Instruction
anticipate, check for, and address common student misconceptions and
misunderstandings.
After students read about the terms “Afrocentric” and “Assimilation” the students
were asked to explain how an assimilationist and a person who supports
Afrocentric ideals may view various topics such as fashion, entertainment
(pictured below), history, sports, food, religion, education etc.
One group misunderstood that
Afrocentric ideals supported segregation,
and held African history as “superior” to
others. After the presentation, I led a class
discussion which emphasized that Afrocentric
ideals were not necessarily supportive of
segregation or race-superiority.

6. Assessing Student Learning
 TPE 3: Interpretation and Use of Assessments
teach students how to use self-assessment strategies and provide guidance and time for
students to practice these strategies.
The students were given a rubric
to use as a checklist while they
wrote their final paper.
Additionally, one class period was
turned into a peer-editing
workshop before the students turned in
their final essays. The students graded
their partner’s essay according
to the same rubric I had given them.
The rubric and the workshop gave the
students the opportunity to apply their
knowledge of good writing and editing
skills.

7. Planning Instruction and Designing Learning
Experiences
TPE 8: Learning about Students
Through interpersonal interactions, they learn about students’
abilities, ideas, interests and aspirations.
On the first day of class, I introduced myself
to the students with a “Pecha-Kucha” slide
show. I asked the students to do something
similar through an activity I called “Introduce
Yourself”. I asked the students to draw
symbols and images that represent important
aspects of their life. The students were
asked to describe the significance of each
image in a brief paragraph.
The activity definitely helped me learn about
my students’ diverse backgrounds, interests,
and unique abilities.

8. Planning Instruction and Designing Learning
Experiences
TPE 9: Instructional Planning
Plan how to explain content clearly and make abstract concepts concrete and
meaningful.
While reading Fahrenheit 451, the class
defined and explored the concept of
a “dystopia”. In order to make the concept
concrete and meaningful, the students
were asked to create an original dystopia.
Their description would include details
about its rules, consequences, general
atmosphere, and people living there.
The students also wrote a reflection about
how their dystopia compares to our society.

9. Next Steps…
 As an educator, I realize the need to encourage parents to
become involved and support their efforts to improve
student learning in my classroom. (TPE 8)
 I also plan to connect the academic curriculum with
students’ linguistic and cultural
backgrounds, experiences, interests, and developmental
learning needs more often to ensure that my instruction is
comprehensible and meaningful to them. (TPE 9)
 Finally, I will work on accommodating varied student needs
through differentiated instruction. (TPE 9)