Incorporating Dewey's Law in the Classroom

Gianna Cerbone, Verrazzano Class of 2023, completed major in SLS (1-6), and minor in ASL

While developing my capstone project, I researched philosopher John Dewey’s theories on education and how to incorporate them into the classroom. Many teachers have struggled with getting their students excited and eager to learn or even show up to school. Using these theories, teachers can follow his ideas to achieve high success rates in the classroom and positive learning environment.

John Dewey’s theories can be put into simpler terms by creating a “formula” known as Dewey’s Law. This formula is made up of variables that allow teachers to measure what was successful in their teaching methods as well as what failed. Each variable describes the efficiency of teaching techniques, each affecting the overall outcome. This allows teachers to monitor and self-regulate their own learning in order to improve themselves for their students. The goal is to achieve a high score in all variables to achieve a successfully run class with excited students.

The first variable in this formula is interaction. When the students are engaged in conversations about their learning or clearly focusing on what the teacher or their peers are communicating, interaction is high. I learned about techniques to improve interaction within the class: movement breaks, ​​partner or group activities such as turn and talk, using fun attention grabbers to refocus the students, and playing objective driven games to teach and reinforce the lessons. By using various techniques and teaching strategies, teachers can ensure their students are actively engaged in their learning which results in a high score for the variable interaction.

The next variable I learned about is generative stocks of knowledge. This variable measures how well the lesson correlates with the students’ level of imaginative development. In order to keep the students’ imaginations flowing, the lessons they learn need to match their level of imaginative development. By focusing on the level of each student, it allows the educator to place themselves in their students' shoes and make the lesson memorable and relatable. These levels are based on age. By matching the students' generative knowledge and how they make meaning of what they learn, generative stocks of knowledge will be high.

Another variable is propositional stocks of knowledge. This will be high when the terms used in the lesson match the students’ understanding. I learned that if the vocabulary and terms used are too advanced, the students lose focus because their understanding of the topic progressively declines. This section includes vocabulary as well as all types of language used.

The next variables are internal and external curriculum coherence. I learned that internal curriculum coherence relates to how well the pieces of the curriculum fit together and support one another. This variable determines how well the learning is structured and if there are levels of support provided in the lesson to ensure success. This variable will be high if the teacher ensures the students know the background knowledge to certain topics before moving on, otherwise known as scaffolding. High external curriculum coherence relates to how well the lesson relates to the students’ lives outside of school. I learned that connecting curriculum to the student's lives allows them to understand the purpose of what they are learning and why they are learning it. Students are more motivated to be engaged in the lesson when they know it is relevant to their lives and it could be useful to them.

All of these variables will help teachers achieve the dependent variable known as a high educational energy classroom. Educational energy represents the entire lesson as a whole and how well the students understood, engaged in, and enjoyed the lesson. This is what the students take from the lessons they learn in school. This variable should be considered as an epistemic emotion. This means that emotion plays a strong role in learning which is once again supported by Dewey. I learned that because both teachers and students have feelings towards the material, if students have multiple times where they experience positive short-term feelings about school and what they learned, those short-term feelings will turn into positive long term feelings about school.

This project could have been developed further by researching more about how educational energy could be considered an epistemic emotion. This also could have been further researched by focusing on how cognitive and emotional neural systems are connected and the implications that has on learning. This topic could then develop further by supporting social emotional learning that is taught in some schools.

This research project allowed me to learn more about my career and learn ways to better myself as an aspiring teacher. I now have various techniques and methods to ensure my students are excited to learn and would want to come to class. I can use this knowledge of Dewey’s Law to measure what goes successful and what fails in my own classroom. By using Dewey’s theories of education, I can better myself as a teacher not only for myself, but for my students as well.

Importance of Teaching Proper Grammar in Schools

Kayla Forminio, Verrazzano Class of 2023, completed major in SLS (1-6) and minor in Psychology

When I was trying to decide on a topic for my capstone, I was very conflicted so I turned to my advisor for advice. She asked me if there was something I felt strongly about in the field of education. During this time, I was also taking an English course with Professor Rosenberg, who constantly stressed the importance of grammar as an educator. Immediately, I knew what I needed to write about. I chose to write an argumentative essay on why grammar should be taught in public schools and how the removal of it is detrimental to students’ learning.

I researched why grammar is no longer prioritized in schools and found that this stems back to 1985, when the National Councils of Teachers of English released a statement urging educators to discontinue grammar practices and to place a greater focus on language arts instead. While some schools teach grammar as part of their curriculum, some have removed it completely. I argued that grammar needs to be taught because it serves as the foundation for clear and coherent writing and successful reading comprehension.

When writing, incorrect spelling and lack of punctuation can create confusion for readers and lead them to misunderstand the work. This can be problematic when students try to apply for jobs, because if an applicant’s résumé contains grammatical errors, employers may assume that the applicant does not proofread his/her work or does not pay attention to detail.

I was shocked to find a study conducted by Career Builder in 2013, which found that employers automatically dismissed fifty-eight percent of résumés with typos, despite an applicants’ experience and qualifications.

I continued to research the impact that grammar has on reading and was pleased to find connections to my own experience as a student teacher. I learned through my research that students are first taught how to read by decoding words in phonics and then asking themselves the following three questions, “Does it look right?” “Does it sound right?” and “Does it make sense?” At the same time, my cooperating teachers were implementing these questions as a fun song into their lessons for their first graders. It was amazing to see strategies that I had researched online utilized in real life.

As I continued my research, I became aware that students turn to technology for help when writing their papers, since they were never taught proper grammar. They use autocorrect services through Microsoft Word and Google Docs, as well as free digital writing assistants, such as Grammarly, to proofread their word. Many teachers expressed concern towards this, as it does not provide students with opportunities to fix their mistakes, which prevents their learning.

This project allowed me to dive deeper into the field that I am pursuing and learn how to benefit my future students. As I discuss my project with fellow teachers, I have found that they feel the same way as me. A family member, who is also a foreign language teacher, expressed that she strongly agrees with my thesis, as she sees students struggling to learn Italian, since they have not first mastered the foundations of the English language. Therefore, if I were to further develop this project, I would research how knowledge in English grammar affects students’ abilities to learn new languages.

Greek Tragedies and Modern Day Culture

Erin Westgate,  Verrazzano Class of 2025, completing major in SLS Early Childhood

In my SLS 301 Humanities I class I learned about Greek Tragedies, their culture, and how much of an influence Greek society and culture has had on today’s society.

We have evolved a great deal since then, but one can make clear connections to the past. One of those connections is gender roles. In many of the play’s, women were viewed as emotional and much less worthy than men. A perfect example of this was in the play The Oresteia. Orestes murders his mother in order to get revenge for his father, who was murdered by Orestes’ mother. At his trial, it was revealed that he would get away with the murder of his own mother simply for the fact that she was a woman. He would be free because a man’s life was worth more than a woman’s life.

This scenario would not happen today, but that there are people in today’s society who still view men as superior to women. In ancient Greek culture, women were just meant to marry and have children, and that is still viewed by some people in today’s society. Modern day culture still holds the stigma that some jobs are meant for women and some jobs are meant for men, even though most women today are educated and have successful careers. We have come a long way from this mindset in today’s society, yet I do think there is still room to grow.

Another thing I noticed in ancient cultures was democracy. As many famous Greek Tragedies became popular, so did democracy. During this time, Athenian men believed there was no purpose to life if you were not publicly participating, and there was even a law made stating you must pick a political side or lose citizenship. Politics is a huge part of today’s society, something that is causing a huge divide amongst us, with the feeling that one must pick a side. Many people today are not satisfied until they know your political standing. Politics was a huge part of ancient Greek culture and is still a big part of today’s society.

Should You Study Abroad? Yes!

 Raphael Pollante, Verrazzano Class of 2023, completed major in Psychology & minor in Cinema Production

I remember when I first entered college, I went to an event where a guest speaker from the Center for Global Engagement talked about the amazing time they had when they went to study abroad. From my own personal experience, I can say that it has definitely been a once-in-a-lifetime experience to say the least.

After studying abroad in Florence Italy, it definitely changed my perspective and point of view of myself. I did so many things that I never thought I would’ve done in my lifetime. I was able to travel to another continent by myself, ride a gondola, drive a vespa, and casually walk by the Duomo on my way to class.

Along this trip, I met so many lifelong friends that quickly changed into family. We were able to experience everything together and it helped us bond with each other.

We traveled all over Italy to Siena, Pisa, San Gimignani, Verona, Viareggio, Cinque Terre, Lucca, Venice, and Bologna.

This experience is definitely something I will remember my entire life, as well as the memories and friends that I made along the way.