Final post of the semester

This semester has been such great preparation for teaching language arts in the elementary school. Throughout this semester I have learned such a great variety of ways to teach the different elements of l.a. that I am very excited to try in my own class room--in a year and a half!

I found the mini lessons to be a great tool for not only use in my future classroom but also in teaching our class. I also really benefited from learning different ways to teach things that I struggled with in elementary school, such as spelling!

Who could forget the phonics vs. whole language "war"? I now stand firm in my belief that using both is the best way to teach; however I could only form this opinion after not only learning about the two options but seeing one or both of them in action during my field experiences.

I feel that this semester I was provided with the knowledge I need to successfully teach language arts. Mind you I am holding onto my book because it is such a great resource, but so much of what I learned this semester was from class discussion, activity, and spending time in the actual classroom.

Now I must speak about the blog. At first I was mortified that I would have to write in a blog; I have an absurd and almost debilitation fear of stalkers. However, once I over came the irrational nightmares that involved someone tracking me down with a printed copy of my blog in hand, I found that I really enjoyed writing in it.

This blog has really helped with my writing. As you know, in college you write paper after paper with more cited sources than fingers and toes, so a chance to discuss what I have learned without having to site the copy write year, authors last name, and page number was incredibly refreshing. The other thing I really loved about the blog was that, after a while, I found a way to portrait who I am in my writing. Being able to express myself in this blog has not only improved my writing on papers ( I have found they have become more interesting and less like a carbon copy of every other college paper), but it has also made writing more fun for me. Writing in this blog was also greatly helpful in preparing to write my book.

Since I am someone who has tried, and failed, to keep a journal since I could write three words I cannot say for certain that I will keep writing on this blog; but I hope I do. Sure I will never add any personal information in my profile, but maybe one day I will throw up a picture of my beloved dog (after I overcome my fear of his being kidnapped) and write about my experiences in the education school and the classroom. After all who doesn't want updates about cute students who are mistaken for my children? Besides my boyfriend, that is.

Talk is a valuable instructional tool.

In last weeks class we proved that talk is a valuable instructional tool in a few ways. The thing that spoke to me the most, however, was the clip we watched from freedom writers. This clip was a prime example of how by letting our students speak and actually listening to them, we can learn more about them than we do from the "Tell Me About You" worksheet we give them at the start of the year.

I really loved how in this clip Hilary Swank's character did not try to correct the students when they showed disdain toward her and her race, or the other races. By letting the students share their true feelings, Swank's character was able to gauge what types of literature would speak to them, as well as help them to see that they are not the only race, religion, or gender that has ever been oppressed.

I believe that in order to be effective teachers we must always be searching for ways to reach our students. It is impossible to do this if we do not allow them to express themselves, and of course, listen to what they have to say.

We must remember that talk is not only what we can hear. Sometimes talk is in drawings, or writing. At my field experience this year the teacher I worked with showed me a students portfolio that contained a picture he had drawn of his family and underneath were the works, creatively spelled, "My dad hits my sister." The teacher listened to the student and the family issue was resolved by child services. We must always be listening to our students, not only to better their learning but sometimes even their lives.

It is not enough to listen, we must encourage talk. Class and group discussions are a great way to do this. I also think that for older students "magic talk" is a wonderful activity. I personally plan on having a question box so that I can address questions in an anonymous and orderly manner. I plan on doing this because talk is a valuable instructional tool.

listening

I always find it interesting to talk about the types of listening. Of course discriminative listening is to vital in children learning their language, but I also like to think that it comes into play with my dog, who I speak with more than 97% of humans. He understands just chooses not to listen because his dad taught him Selective Listening. Selective listening, an annoying strand of Efferent Listening in which an individual does not hear what they do not want to hear. This listening form is prevalent in males ages 0-130 and is to blame for 100% of the chores around the house that don't get done because my boyfriend didn't "hear" me. I digress.

I think Efferent and Critical Listening, (note not selective), while vital, is hard to teach and assess. This combined with the fact that people always think what they are saying is important so people must be listening to them, often makes us over look listening all together. I think that teaching different strategies of note-taking along with listening is the most effective way to teach how to listening.

I am torn on assessing listening. I believe that we should assess it, however not for a grade. We should assess to see how affective our own teaching is. We should also assess listening, to see which of our students learn this way, and which ones would benefit from other ways of receiving information.

Oh propaganda. I was quite surprised when I realized we were learning about it. I automatically associate propaganda with WWII. Being the daughter of a marketing professor I have the opposite reaction to commercials than Dr. Duncan, I believe none of them. This is actually a serious issue. For example, not only did I think the Sham Wow should have been called the Scam Wow, but I actually believed it would be so nonabsorbent that it would actually spread liquid around instead of picking it up (leaving me crying on my kitchen floor after trying to clean up spilled dog bowl water for three hours). Like I said, it's an issue.

I think that teaching propganda in the elementary school is very important however. As a child I wanted everything I saw, because I really believed that the trampoline shoes would allow me to jump to the sky. Once I actually convinced my mom to get me the skate shoes that had wheels on the bottom of them (they were skates AND shoes!!) These were generation one skate shoes mind you, and my dreams were crushed when I landed on my butt for the 27th time because one set of wheels (it varied which side) decided they wanted to be shoes and not skates. The loss of control I felt when I realized that I could not control a pair of shoes with a personality disorder not only made me lose faith in every advertisment, but I believe contributed to the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that I have been working through in therapy since.

In order to help our students understand all facets of our language, and to save their parents money on both the expensive cheap-toy and therapy front. I think teaching propoganda is important. And any student would be thrilled to learn about it by creating their own camercial or watching camericals in school. When fun meets learning is when students want to come to school--and isn't that the goal?

Observations

Although field experiences are time and money consuming (thank goodness gas has gone down) they normally very informative and fun. I'm working to accept the fact that when I am a teacher my students will not be quite as excited about my being there, since that will be daily.

This semesters field experiences have been amazing. I absolutely loved the first grade class I worked with. I loved them so much that I agreed to chaperon on their field trip, if it ever gets planned.

I had three field experiences with that class and they were all so great. The first two times I went to observe multiple students asked me if I was one girls mother. This girl, who had brown hair for the record, was amazingly adorable and I really would not have minded if she was my daughter (in you know ten years). Fortunately, I understand that six year-old's have no concept of age past elementary school so I forgave them for what I assume was adding a decade or more onto my life. That first afternoon I informed my, brown hair, boyfriend that I had seen what our daughter would look like when she was six years old. Once he started breathing again it was clear he was not amused.

Once the students clarified I did not birth any of them, they were very happy to show me what they were working on, ask me for help, and try their hardest to use me as a dictionary/thesaurus. They were slightly bummed when I referred them to the multiple other resources in the room including their word wall and that outdated book that had the words in alphabetacial order followed by their definitions.

Thanks to these field experiences I got to see first hand what first grade curriculum is like and hear about the difficulties and joys of it from an established teacher. Because of these field experiences I think I would like to teach first grade. Although I will have to get used to reading inventive spelling (I spent three minutes trying to figure out what word a student meant by "psp" before I realized he has used the abbrivated term for "play station personal), I think teaching first grade would be incredibly rewarding. I really love reading and writing and I think that that love will really encourage my future students to get excited to learn those all important skills.

There is another plus to teaching first grade which is that the students will, more than likely, not be taller than me yet. I hope.

What a bunny!

I love the book Bunnicula! I was exstatic a few weeks ago when the little girl I babysit suggested that we read it before bed. For those of you that don't know Bunnicula is written from the point of view of the family dog. The dog writes about the excitement that follows the finding of a bunny in the movie theater while seeing Dracula. The irony of irony is that the bunny (who they so cleverly name Bunnicula) is a vampire! But that is not the best part; the bunny sucks the color out of vegtables!


I have some different ideas that I want to use this book for, unfortunatly they don't really fit together. I think that Bunnicula could be a great seqway into learning about different animals and whether they are carnivors, herbavors, omnivors and what that means for their diets. I also think it would be neat to use Bunnicula along with other books to look at different examples of fiction.

If I were going to use the book to look at the different animals "eating preferences" I would do a thematic unit. If I were going to use it along with other fiction books I would do a literature focus unit.

I am sorry this is so brief-- I am very worn out from three days straight of wedding "fun".

The biggest news of the week was the food poisoning I came down with Tuesday night and that I am still recovering from. Luckily on Monday night when I was babysitting something happened that was related to our class.

As I mentioned in class before the little girl that I babysit for had an assignment last week to write a paragraph using her spelling words. What I learned this Monday is that the class is told to practice the words five times each as an assignment prior to writing their paragraphs. I was very impressed with the mothers approach to this task ; instead of making her daughter write all of the words, she lets her paint them. This takes a good ten minutes longer than it would if she were just writing them but it does make the homework enjoyable.

I am not sure painting the words has any benefit other than fun wise, but I do think that the teacher assigning spelling-related homework is a big step in the right direction. I believe in class we established that the norm of teaching spelling was to give the words out out Monday and not talk about them again until Friday. Perhaps there is hope for learning spelling yet.

Writing, blogs, and my book (my titles are uncreative, I know)

Until we studied it in class I had no idea that the scribbles I used to see the kids do when I worked at a daycare were actually forms of writing. I would see the kids draw and scribble which I know know are preliterate forms of writing. At the daycare I also saw the kids draw letter like shapes and hold the pencil with a death grip. I know know this is the early emergent writing. Just this week while observing my first grade class I saw multiple uses of inventive spelling, which is the transitional stage of writing. There was one student however who was so advanced in his writing that I would dare to classify him as fluent. Most first graders would struggle to write the words cafeteria, complicated, and nemesis however this student did so with no assistance. He also completed and complex and interesting story about a little boy who is scared of the lunch lady. Needless to say I was more than a little impressed.

I was very skeptical when I first learned that I needed to make a blog. Very may even be an understatement. Much to my surprise, however, I have found this blog to be incredibly helpful. It offers me a different way to review what I have learned, as well as something I can easily reflect back on. Of course I still will not put up a picture or any personal information due to my extreme fear of internet stalkers.

This blog has actually helped to change my opinions on writing. Until this class I never thought of using a blog as writing. I also did not think that drawings and scribbles were forms of writing. But low and behold I was wrong; this is a rarity of course.

Last Monday we started discussing our book project. After I got over the initial shock that we were not writing a childrens book, as I had convinced myself we were, I began to think of a topic. I am incredibly pleased with my chosen topic actually. I am going to write about my decision to go to either Meredith or Appalachin State. This choice about my education career was not only difficult, but the first major choice that I had to make on my own. I am known for taking twenty minutes to choose between grits or oatmeal and then changing my mind atleast once, so this decision was not an easy one. In my story I will discuss the things that influenced my discision as well as the people who attempted to help me. It will be a story of competing disireses, which football team my best friend would play on, my mothers bribes of groceries, and my then eight year old sister who somehow was in control of my life. I am pretty sure this book I plan to bind with yarn and cardboard will soon be on the New York Times best seller list. Or perhaps the Dayquil I took today is getting to me.

School and Social Skills

Until today I had never given thought to how a disability or a delay in reading or writing could affect ones social skills. It did not take me very long to realize that not being able to read or write at or above the level of your peers could have a hugely negative affect on your social skills.

Reading is the best way to increase vocabulary. Having a sufficient vocabulary to communicate what you want to say as well as to comprehend what is being said to you is incredibility important in social social situation. Writing is actually putting into words what you want to say, which is also very important in communication. Both reading and writing help students to learn how sentences should be structured.

As a teacher, if I were to encounter a student who was having difficulty with socialization due to delays in their reading or writing there are a few things that I would do. I would instigate more group work and place that student with children who were very effective and talkative communicators. I would also encourage their parents to read aloud to them at home, and do what I can to read aloud to the student myself or have an assistant do it when it was appropriate with the lesson. At that point I would also being writing letters to the student and ask that they write them to me in return. If the student is not comfortable with doing this I would provide them with a journal that they could write in and show me only if they wanted to.

I am sure that as I continue my education I will learn other ways to help students improve their socialization skills, and I will be sure to ask the teachers that I come in contact with if they have ever seen this and how they helped their students overcome it.

The Joys of Language

After we discussed the different ways to teach children Language I tried to remember how I learned what all those letters on the pages of books meant. Because my kindergarten did not force children to learn how to read like every other kindergarten in Pittsburgh did I was very behind when I got to first grade. I spent all of my Language Arts and Reading time with a small group in reading help room. My education in there was strictly phonics. I was taught using sound isolation activities, sound blending activities, and of course segmentation activities. My learning how to read with these methods was unable to my 6 year old self. Unfortunately the two phonics activities that I think would have been the most helpful to me were the two that I was never taught with. I'm pretty sure that I can out of my mothers womb singing Madonna and Tina Turner songs, and I was notorious for singing "Old MacDonald" during our Roman Catholic church services so I'm pretty sure I would have thrived learning sound matching from classic lines such as "Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep, Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep," and if only someone had capitalized on my love of old MacDonald and my accidental additions and substitutions I think my language learning experience would have been much more enjoyable.

Although my phonics experience was not my fondest memory I believe it is undoubtedly affective and since to this day I love to read I feel that it does not turn children off from learning. Some kids in my class became fluent readers from the activities we did in no time flat. This only reaffirms what I already knew; children learn in different ways.

I am not sure how my phonics based learning has affected me as a student how I do know how it will affect me as a teacher; I plan to teacher with phonics, teaching the ever present consonants and vowels by teaching onsets and rimes. And although as a teacher I will refrain from teaching my children using the hits from the 80's I will definitely capitalize on sound-matching activities; as well sound isolation, sound blending, sound addition/ substitution, and segmentation activies. I think that teaching with all of these different activities will help all of my future (and current imaginary) students learn language in the way that is the most helpful to them.

Even before I know that the words "aesthetic" and "efferent" meant, I always knew that I enjoyed reading much more when there was not going to be a quiz on it. I love aesthetic reading; I love to throw myself into a story and feel the motions the characters feel and to see the things that the characters see. It is no wonder that aesthetic reading is meant to entertain. Who doesn't enjoy being somebody else for a little while? Then we have efferent reading, the dreaded "read these articles and be prepared for a quiz" reading. Efferent reading focuses on the information from the text and illustrations if they are present. While these types of reading seem like opposites they actually go together quite well. It is rare that a reading experience does not include some type of mix between aesthetic and efferent reading moving back a forth between the two.

I once thought that reading was basic. I was wrong. Not only are there different types of reading, there are five (yes five!) stages in the reading process. So much for just learning our ABC's and sounding out words. These five stages are: prereading, reading, responding, exploring, and applying.

Prereading is used to activate or build background knowledge relating to the reading as well as to establish purposes for reading and get a little preview of the text. Many things can be considered prereading such as a student reading the such a a teacher asking the students to make predictions about the book. In addition students can activate their own background knowledge of the book by simply looking at the title, author, or genere and remembering something they heard about the book or something that they like or dislike about the genre.

The actual process of reading can take place in many different ways. The students can read by themselves (it is nice to provide a comfoy "reading corner" with bean bags or soft chairs to promote a claming space for the students to read), with a buddy( reading or rereading a text with another student), shared reading( by following along in the book while the teacher reads aloud ), or with guided reading (where the teacher reads with a group of students, who are either at the same level of reading or use similar stategies to read, a text that is appropriate for all the students in the group).

The next stage of reading is responding to the text. Students can respond to the text with keeping a log throughout their reading. Another way to respond is for students to discuss the text with their classmates or teacher.

After responding to the text comes the exploring stage. During this stage students are lead by the teachers to explore their text more deeply. This can be done when the students reread sections in order to make deeper or more connections between the text and their lives or or books or even TV shows that they can recall. Students are also lead to examine the genere, structure of the text, and the specific way the author writes during this stage. This can be done by having the students create a story board or map, or compair more than one book by the author. This stage is also a time for students to pay more attention to new vocabularly for the text. This can be done by having the students add words for the text to a word wall and then use it as a word bank for activitys such as word chains or the more basic poster to focus on specific words. The final aspect of the exploring stage is invloves minilessons. Teachers use this stage to present minilessons on reading procodures, concepts, strategies and skills. These lessons make connections between the topics and examples for the featured text, this then helps the students connect the information with their own reading process.

Finally the last stage, applying. In this stage students build on their interpretations on the text by creating a project (such as a collage to represent the theme of the book), or making connections between the text and related books. These activitys are meant to help the students value the reading experience.

Now that that we understand all of the different types and stages of reading, lets learn how to develop capable readers.

The first aspect of a capable reader is word identification. Site words or high freqency words are very important for students to master when learning to reader, however many students have a difficult time with this since they are so young and there are so many words to learn! Many parents and teachers place lists of these site words in places where the child spends alot of time such as the classroom, their bed room, or even the kitchen and bathroom. The goal is for the students to be able to recognize these site words automatically. In addition to the memorization of site words, it is also very important that the students learn phonics (we all remember sounding out words right?) as a way to indentify words.

The next area that defines a capable reader is fluency. Part of fluency is reading speed. I feel that the best way to improve a students reading speed is to help widen the vocabularly that they recognise (word recognition). A vital part of this including helping the students learn to identify the roots in larger words. I believe that the best way to do this is to expose them to a wider range of texts (not just Dr. Suess books for example). Another great way to improve their word recognition is have a word of the day written on the board and have them imcorperate the word into atleast 3 things that they write that day. This goes hand in hand with the vocabulary aspect of a capable reader. Since reading is the best way to expand a students vocabulary I believe that it is vital to alot the students time to the resources to explore many different texts (I personally believe in allow students to read magazines that are appropriate as well as comics or even the back of cereal boxes during this time, as long as it is something new they have not read before).

The last area that defines a capable reader is comprehension. To help reader comprehension students can activate background knowledge about a text before they read. While they are reading the texts students can write down predictions that they have for the book. After they have finished reading students can then ask questions or seek clarification about what they just read. While comprehension does not have to invlove these three activitys persay it is important that the students are engaged with some sort of comprehension activity before, during, and after they read the text.

As I discussed above there are different ways of actually reading. Here are examples of classroom activites that invlove one or more way of reading.
-- Literature focus units invlove the teacher reading aloud (shared reading) a book that is difficult for students to read on their own. The text is age appropriate though which allows students to read indenpendntly sometimes.
--Reading and writing workshops allow the students to pick out their own books and read them independently. The teacher also reads books aloud to the class and uses them to teach minilessons about different reading strategies as well as different ways authors write.
--Litureature circles (my favorite!) invlove students reading independtly, or with a buddy if the book is more difficult.
--Thematic units invlove the teacher reading allow to the students. The students then used shared reading, buddy reading, and independent reading to read other related texts.


I just have one more thing to say...

GO STEELERS!

Reflections from the first day of EDU 300

At first I was very surprised that viewing and visual representing were considered a part of language arts. I have always associated language arts with the proper use and understanding of the English language. However once I thought about it for a few minutes, viewing and visual representing are a huge part of our society today. I think that by adding viewing and visual representing to the list of language arts we are not condoning these influences in the children's lives so much as embracing it. If the only way to get a child involved enough to learn language arts is by including technology in his or her curriculum then by all means should we show them a video or a computer game that teaches it. Childrens lives are already molded by what they see on televison or read on the internet; I believe as teachers we can benefit from this by not ingnoring it.

None of the six language arts really stand out to me in particular. I learn the best when a mix of all of them is used. I have realized that when only one of the language arts is present I learn far less than if I both read and listened to the matierial. My learning needs have been the same since I was a child and I do not expect them to change.

On another note I really enjoyed the first chapter of Sahara Special. I can relate to Sahara's character somewhat. I understand the feeling that school is unimportant when something bigger is going on in your life. I'm not very good at predictions but I do hope that Sarhara thrives in her regular classroom and her file gets thrown away!