"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."

—— — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Second Series (1844)

Annotated Artifacts

  • Curriculum Design for EDUC 5333

    Exploring “What traditions do you celebrate?” with 3rd students

  • Inquiry project for EDUC 6329

    Exploring Adolescent Literacies through interviews: Digital Reading and Diversified Literary Forms

  • Thesis Paper for EDUC 6323

    Bridging the Class Divide and Promoting Multiculturalism: China's Evolving Education Reforms

Annotated Artifact 1

EDUC 5333 - Forming and Reforming the Elementary RWL Curriculum

Instructor - Dr. Gerald Campano

Curriculum Design

Exploring “What traditions do you celebrate?” with 3rd students

This curriculum project was my final assignment for EDUC 5333 - Forming and Reforming the Elementary RWL Curriculum. I designed a three-week literacy-based curriculum titled Exploring “What Traditions Do You Celebrate?” with 3rd Grade Students, aimed at fostering cultural identity exploration through reading, writing, and multimodal learning. The curriculum was developed for a public elementary school in South Philadelphia, an area known for its rich cultural and ethnic diversity, with students from White, African American, Mexican immigrant, and Asian backgrounds. Given the varying levels of formal literacy exposure among these students, my goal was to create an engaging, student-centered learning experience that validates their cultural heritages and positions literacy as a meaningful tool for self-expression and global understanding (Ladson-Billings, 1995).

This curriculum is deeply influenced by multimodal literacy theories (Kress, 2010), emphasizing the use of diverse textual forms, and culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2018). Inspired by in-class curriculum demonstration, I integrated drama, role-play, picture books, and interactive storytelling to make literacy engagement dynamic and reflective of students’ lived experiences. To extend learning beyond the book, I also incorporated movies, music, and visual storytelling as key instructional tools. Films like Mulan, Zootopia, and Moana serve as entry points for discussing cultural values, identity formation, and belonging (Dyson, 2003). By engaging students with multiple modes of representation—language, images, sound, and gesture, the curriculum fosters a more flexible and inclusive approach to literacy development (Jewitt, 2008).

Annotated Artifact 2

EDUC 6329 - Teaching English/language and Literacy in Middle and Secondary Schools

Instructor - Dr. Debora Broderick

Inquiry Project

Exploring Adolescent Literacies through interviews: Digital Reading and Diversified Literary Forms

This paper serves as my inquiry project for EDUC 6329 and I chose to focus on adolescent literacy, specifically how students engage with diverse literary forms in the digital age. Through interviews with two students—Leon, an eighth-grader in China, and Chloe, a sixth-grader in the United States—I explored how their reading habits, preferences, and experiences with both digital and traditional texts shape their literacy development. My inquiry was guided by a desire to understand how adolescents navigate digital reading platforms, alternative literary forms like audiobooks and podcasts, and school-imposed literacy expectations. Generally, this paper examines how digital literacy expands reading beyond traditional books, the ways in which school curricula influence students’ engagement with literature, and the role of personal interests in shaping reading motivation (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000).

Through this inquiry, I aim to contribute to a broader conversation on how educators can adapt literacy instruction to better reflect students’ evolving reading habits. My discussions with Leon and Chloe underscored the need for a more flexible and student-centered approach to literacy—one that embraces both digital and traditional forms while acknowledging students’ individual interests and cultural backgrounds (Vasquez, 2014; Moje, 2002). Writing this paper allowed me to critically reflect on how literacy education can evolve to meet the diverse needs of today’s adolescents, reinforcing my commitment to fostering a more engaging and inclusive learning environment.

Annotated Artifact 3

EDUC 6323 - Multicultural Issues in Education

Instructor - Dr. Vivian Gadsden

Final Thesis Paper

Bridging the Class Divide and Promoting Multiculturalism: China's Evolving Education Reforms

This paper serves as my final project for EDUC 6323: Multicultural Issues in Education. It explores how class and multicultural education intersect within China’s ongoing education reforms, with a particular focus on two key policy shifts: the Double Reduction Policy and the expansion of international schools. These reforms aim to reduce academic pressure, promote equitable access to education, and foster a more holistic approach to learning. By analyzing the historical evolution of school reform in China’s public education system, I examine how these policies address class-based educational disparities while simultaneously promoting multicultural understanding.

While these reforms represent significant progress, they also present challenges. Wealthier families continue to leverage private resources to maintain educational advantages (Liu & Bray, 2022), highlighting the need for additional interventions such as scholarships, resource-sharing initiatives, and inclusive curriculum development (Banks, 2015). By engaging with these complexities, this paper argues that while China’s education reforms take meaningful steps toward class equity and multiculturalism, further efforts are required to ensure that their benefits reach students of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Writing this paper allowed me to critically engage with China’s evolving education landscape and reflect on how policy changes can serve as a catalyst for broader educational transformation.

“Going beyond the book offers readers, both students and teachers, the opportunity to read both with and against texts” (Rodríguez et al., 2022)

Reference

Dyson, A. H. (2003). The brothers and sisters learn to write: Popular literacies in childhood and school cultures. Teachers College Press.

Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.

Jewitt, C. (2008). Multimodality and literacy in school classrooms. Review of Research in Education, 32(1), 241–267. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X07310586

Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465

Guthrie, J. T., & Wigfield, A. (2000). Engagement and motivation in reading. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp. 403–422). Lawrence Erlbaum.

Moje, E. B. (2002). Re-framing adolescent literacy research for new times: Studying youth as a resource. Reading Research and Instruction, 41(3), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388070209558367

Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education: Foundations, curriculum, and teaching (6th ed.). Routledge.

Liu, J., & Bray, M. (2022). Shadow education in China: Lessons from the Double Reduction policy. International Journal of Educational Development, 93, 102622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102622