Terms+Used+In+Teaching

Here's a really good website that defines many teaching terms: http://www.teach-nology.com/glossary/


 * English Language Learners (ELL)**- A student who speaks one or more languages other than English and is developing proficiency in English. English Language Learners often have large gaps of knowledge regarding proficiency in the English language. ELL students often need extra assistance when having to deal with learning english. ELL students are diverse in their economic backgrounds. The teacher will need to develop approaches for working and assisting the ELL students that will allow the teacher to get these students actively involved. It is a difficult task for students to learn another language so the teacher must be patient while the students learn. The teacher also needs to be aware that sometimes forcing the ELL students to participate may be a bad thing. It is important for the teacher to find a balance between having the students participate in class or remain silent. Forcing these students to speak may result in a negative experience that could result in the students not wanting to participate again.


 * Scaffolding**- Teaching methodology where teachers assist and guide students so that they can complete learning activities they could not do without support. The idea of scaffolding is to take one lesson and have it build off of another. It is important to remember that the scaffolding is temporary because as the student advances he progresses past the learning objectives. The goal of scaffolding is to eventually have the student become independent learner.


 * Mainstream**- Mainstreaming in the educational sense refers to the teaching and handling of children with special needs. Students that are mainstreamed spend time in regular classrooms as well as time with a teacher that is able to assist the student in the areas where he/she needs extra assistance. Students with special needs leave their designated classroom at ideal times to receive one-on-one aid (or small groups of 3-4). One-on-one aid is crucial in developing the education of children with learning disabilities. One-on-one aid allows the student to be in a much more controlled environment where he/she can learn at his/her own pace. However, there can be disadvantages to mainstreaming such as cost. Mainstreaming programs can cost money that the school may not be able to provide. Mainstreaming can also cause the disabled student to be bullied because he/she can be seen as receiving extra help.


 * Prior Knowledge**- A combination of the learner's preexisting //**attitudes** (beliefs about ourself as learners, motivation, and awareness of individual strengths and interests)//, //**experiences** (everyday activities, family and community experiences, and events that shape who we are)//, and //**knowledge** (of concepts, content, and topics).//


 * Guided Practice**-As a part of a lesson plan, teachers must use guided practice to allow students time in class to practice, discuss or think about the skill or concept. Some ways to put guided practice into the classroom: a written story, having students work together on a play, writing in a jounral, disccusion, working on the white board, demonstartions, worksheets or ansewring questions orally. (Paul Flores, Professor at APU. Introduction to Teaching Course).


 * Independent Practice**- After the teacher has taught the lesson and the students have gone through the guided practice they begin the independent practice. Independent practice is when the students to the work on their own with little to no help from the teacher. Independent practice is when the student has the opportunity to use the skills they have acquired/learned from the lesson and put them to use.


 * Cooperative Learning**- A successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm
 * Comprehension (reading)-** The ability to find and construct meaning from texts.


 * Fluency (reading)-** The ability to read text accurately and quickly. Fluency tests often times reflect the readability of the grade level. They are timed tests and the teacher takes notes on how many words misread and deducts that from the total amount of words read.


 * Learning Centers**- Designated classroom areas where students engage in specific activities to facilitate learning skills or knowledge; students typically work in learning centers without direct oversight by the instructor. Centers are beneficial because children learn best when they are actively engaged. Centers promote independence, help students become more responsible, and allow students to learn through self-disovery.


 * Gifted**- no exact definnition but it is children that are identified that are able to excel academically or in the arts or athletically. There are different tests used to identify gifted children. One main test is an IQ test. If a child has an IQ over 132 then they are considered gifted. If their IQ is over 145 then they are considered "highly" gifted. When teaching gifted children they need differentiated instruction which meansthey need different work not more work. Also gifted children who are academically gifted are usually very good readers.


 * Limited English Proficient (LEP)** - students who have limited ability to understand, read, or speak enlish proficiently seeing as their first language is not english. Califnornia currently has the largest public school LEP enrollments with 1.48 million students, followed by Texas with only 0.55 million.


 * Afrocentric Schools** - schools that have a focus on African AMerican history and culture. This is a brand new concept that has only recently been tested in giving students a history more specific to their ethnic and cultural background.


 * Indian Education Act of 1972 / Amendments of 1974** - allowed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide educational assistance to tribes. The Act seeks to improve needs of Native American students, to strengthen state and local educational adgencies, and to improve the education of teachers to beter prep them for teaching Native Americans, and allows for scholarships for Native American students to attend college.


 * Multicultural Education** - is committed to the goal of providing all students regardless of scoioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation or ethnic, racial, or cultural background, with equal opportunities to leanr within the school system.


 * Multicultural Curriculum** - addresses the needs and backgrounds of all students re-gardless of which culture they identify with the most.


 * Women's Educational Equality Act (WEEA)** **1974** - expanded all opportunities of educational opportunities for women, allowing them to attend more classes originally specified for men, hold positions within education that were originally specified for men. created programs to extend opportunities for women, and oppened up more opportunities for woemn to participate in atheletic programs.


 * Gender-Bias** - subtle favortism or discrimination of a certain gender. When an instructor tends to favor one gender over the other within the classroom by either giving easier homework assignments or unfair grades on tests and quizzes. Verbal discrimination can occur as well.


 * Specific Learning Disability -** learning is significantly hindered by difficulty in listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or computing.