Ups and Downs, Flips and Turns

Good morning, UNITE. We were up and ready to go at 7am. After a few instances of getting lost, we finally found our way to Opportunity High School, an alternative high school for English Language Learners (ELL). Jenni Gunga, assistant principal of Opportunity High School, invited us to join her faculty bright and early to their Professional Learning Community (PLC), where they focused on the reading levels of their students. During this session, the teachers concentrated on MAP testing. MAP testing contains four categories that allow teachers to evaluate their students and track their progress throughout their years in school.  These four categories are vocabulary, literature, comprehension – informational text, and comprehension – narrative.  We compared the test score strands amongst each of the levels that the students are grouped in based on their ability to speak and understand English, 1 being not very fluent and 4 being the most fluent, across the categories.  From there, teachers, as well as UNITE students, shared their implications for instruction based on the results of their students’ test scores and reading strategies that they utilize in their very own classroom. Some examples included the Frayer model, context clues, word walls, predictions within a story and even a scavenger hunt for vocab words in a text.


Once the school day began, each of us were able to rotate within the classrooms to observe and participate in the classrooms as teacher aides.  Many of our tasks consisted of working with smaller groups, assisting students with activities, grading tests, and tutoring one on one with individuals.  Teachers encouraged us to take on leadership roles within their classrooms as opposed to observing all day. They succeeded in including us within their lesson plans and also sharing their own teaching strategies with our future teachers.  Many of us were able to participate in classrooms of our specific teaching concentration, but others stepped out of their comfort zone to other subjects, such as world history, ESL, and environmental sciences.  Meanwhile, other members not in the classrooms helped the school by organizing their basement that included a wide variety of materials for the high school, their adult program, and their weekend program. Through this experience, we were really able to understand the various aspects that contribute to the classroom and to the needs of making a high school function exceptionally.

UNITE at Nickelodean Universe

After an exhausting day at Opportunity High School, we hit the roller coasters and rides at Mall of America within Nickelodeon Universe.  A few of us chose to experience a few rides and hit the stores again, but the rest decided to explore the highs and lows, flips and turns that the park had to offer. With the shortest lines that I have ever experienced, we were able to go on more than 10 roller coaster and rides and repeat a few more with our unlimited wristbands. We got to be Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles for 3 minutes, get splashed on a water log ride, zip through the park on a roller coaster, and get pulled straight up towards the sky to only allow gravity to do its thing.  Nothing can beat this combination of this day.  I do not want to ever leave this place.

-          MJ