http://prezi.com/o7ripept9is6/michelle-labbies-final-project/?kw=view-o7ripept9is6&rc=ref-38609435
I decided to represent the reading process as a tree. A reader is just like a tree because they both go through many stages and have different parts that influence the big picture. As a beginning reader we start out as the seeds of the tree. Every seed has its own genetic makeup that will help determine the growth, size, look, etc. of the tree. This is the same with a beginning reader because we all come with our own prior knowledge, experiences, and background. The things we come into the learning process knowing about helps influence our reading learning process. After you plant a seed it is important to provide it with the proper care and nutrients. I think this is comparable to the literacy environment we create for our students, children, etc. In a proper literate environment we are nurturing our students and helping them to become successful readers. As a tree starts to grow it begins to develop branches. These branches can be represented by a reader's new knowledge of phonological awareness, fluency, and vocabulary. Just like a branch is important for the tree to grow leaves and flowers/fruit...it is equally important for a reader to have these 3 skills. Without these skills a reader will not be able to comprehend what he or she is reading. This is why I would say that comprehension is like the leaves. When a tree has grown its leaves it looks full of life, and when a reader is able to comprehend they have completed their reading task.
Reference list...
Gallagher, K.. (2003). Reading reasons: Motivating mini-lessons for middle and high school. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publisher.
Graves, M. F., Juel, C., Graves, B. B., Dwitz, P.. (2011). Teaching reading in the 21st century: Motivating all learners. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Blog Review
As
I searched for different inspirational teachers' blog online I came across one
that really stood out. The blog I decided to do my review on is done by
Ms. Cassidy who teaches a 1st grade class in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. There are several reasons why Ms. Cassidy’s
classroom blog stood out to me…
1. I think the way she has
set up her blog is a great way for parents to see what their children are doing
in class (she posts nearly every day!!).
In our reading foundations class we have learned how important family
support is on a student’s education. A
classroom blog is a great resource for keeping parents up to date. If you update the blog frequently parents are
able to be well informed on what is going on with their students lives. I believe this can help build a good teacher,
student, and teacher connection which can only improve a child’s education
experience.
2. Another reason her blog
stood out to me was because she posts lots of pictures, videos, etc. on the
different activities she does in the class.
This is a great resource for me and other teachers to use to incorporate
things in our own classes.
3. Not only does she make it
easy for others to “steal” her activities easily, but she has AWESOME
activities to promote students to read!!
a.
One activity I saw that really stood out was on their 100th
day of school. Every student was to
bring one hundred of something into school.
Then the kids would compare the things they brought in and take pictures
of them. After that the students would
count out each thing and write a sentence, or so, about 100 of something. The students would try to get other classes
involved so that they could have 100 different sentences. Then they put together the “story of 100” and
tweeted the different sentences using the hashtag #100storiesof100. I think this activity is great for so many
different reasons. The first is that it
includes multiple different subjects. In
our reading class we have learned how it is important to include reading and
writing into every subject. By doing
this activity you are incorporating math, writing, and teaching students how to
use technology. Another reason I liked
this activity is because it is applying the lesson to things the students can
relate to. Twitter is becoming a
popularly used website by people all over the world. Using it to teach a lesson is promoting
higher interest among the students.
b.
Another activity I thought was interesting was her blog post about
the hockey players coming in and reading to her students. This is a great idea because it displays
modeling (from people students idolize). Also reading aloud to students at a young age
is giving them more exposure to reading.
c.
Ms. Cassidy’s class also uses Skype in many different ways. One way is they have interactions with
students from schools in other countries.
The students from both schools will interact with one another, give them
a tour of their classroom, etc. I think
this a great opportunity to build on the culture aspect of reading. If you have a student come in from another
country you could potentially use this to interact with students from his or
hers home country. This can allow the
student to feel more comfortable in the classroom and teach the other students
more about their new student’s culture.
This can also be a great opportunity to incorporate the Rosetta Stone
method. You can create a word wall to
help the new student learn the English words and the other students can learn
some of the new student’s language. Ms.
Cassidy’s class also uses Skype to read aloud to university students. This is such a creative way in getting
students to read aloud! Another time she
used Skype was by doing a phonics drill.
Her students were reviewing the long vowel word with a silent e at the
end. To practice this the students would
make up words that followed the phonic generalization then practice saying the
words, using Skype with students in South Carolina.
4. She also has each of her
students create a blog. All of the
students’ blogs are connected to the main blog.
I think having every student make a blog is a great idea to get the students
involved. She is not only teaching
students to utilize the upcoming world of technology, but she is getting them
to read and write! One of the keys to succeeding in reading is the practice. Having the blogs are a great, initiative way for
kids to put their reading skills to use.
5. Another great thing about
her blog is she shows pictures of her classroom. Her classroom is set up as an excellent
learning/reading environment. She has
various areas set up throughout the classroom for her students to read,
including a couch. In our reading
foundations class we have learned the importance of setting up a proper reading
environment for our students.
I could probably give soo many reasons as to why I found her blog very inspirational. As a future teacher I hope to find many more resources, like this, to help me think of new fun ways to keep students engaged! Her activities played into our new world of technology, created a social environment for her classroom, and taught students lessons on different subject matters including culture all while teaching kids to read and write (with fun, creative ways).
TED Talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html
In the Ted talk, “Bring on
the Learning Revolution,” Sir Ken Robinson argues that a reform in education is
simply not enough. He states we do not
need a evolution, WE NEED A REVOLUTION.
He begins to talk about how education
has a literarity, that there is one path in education (it starts and ends in
the same way for everyone). People
believe if you follow this path of education then you will be set for
life. But almost every TED talker will
argue that this is not the case: life is organic. He says in order to improve education we need
to change our direction from industrial to agrilcultural. What he means by this is that we need to stop
trying to use the same strategies, techniques, goals, directions, etc. in our
teaching for every student. Sir Robinson
states that one way our country industrializes education is by stressing the
importance of college. Instead of making
education industrial, teachers should be like a farmer; a farmer cannot
determine the exact outcome of the growth of a plant, but they can create an
environment where the seed can flourish.
He then gives us a metaphor
on how we have designed our education system to be like a fast food chain. In a fast food chain everything is
standardized. In contrast there are
local restaurants that use the resources in their local area to provide food. Although the fast food industry gets a lot of
business it is “depleting our bodies.” I
believe what he means by this metaphor is that something that is standardized
does not always mean it is good. We are
more likely to come across healthy options at a local restaurant (that has
local produce and less processed foods) than we are at a fast food
restaurant. This relates to the way we
teach our students. If we continue to
teach kids based on a standardized curriculum we are not necessarily using all
of our “local resources.” These
resources can vary from the skills and talents the students possess to the job
market in your area. It may be useful to
use our students skills and the local job market to teach instructions better
fitted for the students’ futures.
He also talks about how
education does not fill our spirits.
People typically enjoy doing things they are good at…and are good at
doing the things they enjoy. He argues
that students may “opt out of education” because it is not suiting their
enjoyment. I definitely think this
relates to what we have discussed in the course. We often find students that struggle in
reading do not enjoy to read. When
students do not enjoy to read, they do less reading, which causes them to
struggle even more. As teachers it is
important for us to promote both sides in reading…interest and skills. If we can build a student’s interest we can
increase their skills and vise versa.
The point of all of his
examples in his talk are to show us that it is important to personalize
education. Yes, there are important
things for every student across the country to learn while in school. With that said, there are different, creative ways to teach the particular students in each classroom.
I definitely think this talk
applies to many things that we have discussed in this class. We have learned that every student comes in
with different cultures, backgrounds, reading experiences, etc. If a teacher uses the more agricultural
approach to their classroom they are able to create an environment where every
student has an opportunity. Because we
base our classrooms on such a standardized track we are not allowing students
to reach their full potential. I think
Sir Robinson give excellent examples in his talk as to why this approach is not
working. As a future teacher I will take
his ideas into consideration. I plan to
build on my students interests and talents.
I also want to be a teacher that supports individuality. Every student may have a different plan and
it is important for me to help them achieve it.
In my classroom I will create an agricultural environment where my
students have an opportunity to flourish in their own ways. I will provide them with the materials they
need, and individualize lessons as needed.
I will base lessons on people’s interests so that their enjoyment causes
success.
There are many different
strategies I have learned in this class to incorporate my students. I would love to use a technique like the
Robust Vocabulary so that my students feel involved and are learning words that
are important to their daily use. I also
want to encourage free choices in books so that my students can read about
their interests and enjoy reading. I
truly believe when a child is making decisions and helping creat their own
track they will have a better reading and educational experience.
Reading Autobiography
http://prezi.com/opr56h3usfoh/michelle-autobiography/?kw=view-opr56h3usfoh&rc=ref-38609435
^This is a link to my autopbiography!!
^This is a link to my autopbiography!!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Blog 10
As a child, and embarrassingly still today, I struggled with vocabulary. I was great at memorizing the definitions for words so I was able to ace the test, however, when it came to applying the word in life or telling someone what it meant after the test was over I was totally incapable. I really think the strategies used in the Robust Vocabulary article could have been extremely effective for me growing up. I truly believe if my teachers implemented some of the activities that the teacher in the article did I would have grasped the meaning of more words and would be able to use those words today in my speech, writing, etc. I am very glad that I read this article because it has given me some great ideas to implement into my classroom. These strategies, I believe, will be very beneficial for my students, in special education, because they are very engaging.
The first thing I really like about this vocabulary technique is that it allows students to choose the words. Allowing students to choose the words are getting them interested in the vocabulary, helps teachers identify the levels their students are at, and helps students understand things that they hear more often. Also the teacher has digression to which words are being used so there is not a problem with students choosing too easy of words. Another thing about this that I really like were the daily activities that were done with the vocabulary words. I liked how they played games with the words, wrote sentences as a class, and did a final understanding at the end of the week. My favorite activity they did was writing sentence as a class. I liked that they first individually thought of ideas, then worked with a partner, and then as a class. This allowed for a good sentence that really captured the meaning of the word. I remember the times I was supposed to write sentences when I was younger, and although my sentences made sense, it was very hard to be able to pick out the meaning of the word. I also really like the use of a word wall. This allows students to see the words that they are learning. The teacher would also keep previous words up until she thought her students fully grasped the definition of that word. Using the wall and repetition I believe would really ingrain the meaning of the words which allows for the student to use the word in their speech!
I think my main question after reading this article is...
Are there any other strategies people know of that worked for them going through schools? What kind of techniques did your teachers use to teach you vocabulary?
Blog 9
There are 3 main points I really got out of the Purcell-Gates chapter that we were to read this week.
1. It's not necessarily the socioeconomic background someone has that affects their emergent reading. Just because a person comes from a home with low socioeconomics does not mean that the child is doomed to never being able to read. The main factor, when studies have been conducted, in a child's emergent literacy is the amount of reading/writing they are exposed to. I really liked the author's comparison of teaching reading to teaching someone to drive. If someone is foreign to the concept of a car (came from a setting where there are little to no cars to get around) they are going to have a hard time understanding what to do when you tell them to start the car. Most people come in with prior knowledge knowing that you put a key in the ignition to start a car, however a person who has never seen a car would struggle with this. This is exactly like students who have never witnessed reading/writing. There is simple background knowledge that people assume others have when learning how to do something. If someone comes in without the knowledge it does not mean that they are incapable of performing the task, they just may need some briefing on common knowledge.
2. Another point I got from this reading was that many teachers are quick to judge, and often bring their judgments into how they treat their students, parents, etc. This article tells a story about how a teacher instantly thought a mother was ignorant by the way she spoke. The staff at the school had also ignored any special requests the mother had made, but when the same requests were asked by a professional they completed the requests. I found this to not only be very disrespectful but also very shocking. I have always assumed that teachers are very open-minded people and are willing/wanting to help all students. Even if a teacher believes the parent's request is insane they should still acknowledge it, respect it, and provide options. After reading this I found myself asking a couple of questions...
Is this happening in all of our schools throughout the country?
How can we expect parental involvement when our teachers are being disrespectful?
3. The last and main point I took away from this reading is that just because someone lacks a background in literacy, it does not mean that the student is helpless. There are many strategies that teach these children to develop literacy just like any other student would do. The article gives some really good tips as to how help these students succeed. First, and foremost, the teacher needs to have confidence that the student is capable of learning the material, regardless of their background. The second thing a teacher needs to do is accept the students language. No person talks exactly how they write (using proper grammar, order, etc.). So there is no need to teach a child to talk properly in order for them to write properly. Instead it is important to teach the students how to write properly in different forms.
1. It's not necessarily the socioeconomic background someone has that affects their emergent reading. Just because a person comes from a home with low socioeconomics does not mean that the child is doomed to never being able to read. The main factor, when studies have been conducted, in a child's emergent literacy is the amount of reading/writing they are exposed to. I really liked the author's comparison of teaching reading to teaching someone to drive. If someone is foreign to the concept of a car (came from a setting where there are little to no cars to get around) they are going to have a hard time understanding what to do when you tell them to start the car. Most people come in with prior knowledge knowing that you put a key in the ignition to start a car, however a person who has never seen a car would struggle with this. This is exactly like students who have never witnessed reading/writing. There is simple background knowledge that people assume others have when learning how to do something. If someone comes in without the knowledge it does not mean that they are incapable of performing the task, they just may need some briefing on common knowledge.
2. Another point I got from this reading was that many teachers are quick to judge, and often bring their judgments into how they treat their students, parents, etc. This article tells a story about how a teacher instantly thought a mother was ignorant by the way she spoke. The staff at the school had also ignored any special requests the mother had made, but when the same requests were asked by a professional they completed the requests. I found this to not only be very disrespectful but also very shocking. I have always assumed that teachers are very open-minded people and are willing/wanting to help all students. Even if a teacher believes the parent's request is insane they should still acknowledge it, respect it, and provide options. After reading this I found myself asking a couple of questions...
Is this happening in all of our schools throughout the country?
How can we expect parental involvement when our teachers are being disrespectful?
3. The last and main point I took away from this reading is that just because someone lacks a background in literacy, it does not mean that the student is helpless. There are many strategies that teach these children to develop literacy just like any other student would do. The article gives some really good tips as to how help these students succeed. First, and foremost, the teacher needs to have confidence that the student is capable of learning the material, regardless of their background. The second thing a teacher needs to do is accept the students language. No person talks exactly how they write (using proper grammar, order, etc.). So there is no need to teach a child to talk properly in order for them to write properly. Instead it is important to teach the students how to write properly in different forms.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Blog 8
I feel as if Chapter 14 in the Graves book is really important, especially with the increasing number of English Language Learner's in our country. The book states that from 1979-2003 the school-age population increased by 19% while the children that spoke English with some difficulty increased by 139%. Clearly the ELL population is on a huge rise! As future teachers it is important to understand how to teach these students English and how to proficiently read and write in English. This is definitely a tough task, especially when the majority of our students will already have a lot of background knowledge in the English language. Luckily the Graves book does a really good job at giving tips to improve your classroom environment to better accommodate it for ELL students.
Some of the best tips I got out of this chapter...
1. It is important to remember everything you know about first-language reading when teaching reading to ELL.
2. Demand critical thinking of your ELL students. High levels of literacy curriculum are as appropriate for ELL students as they are for other students.
3. Teach mastery of basic skills. ELL students often do not learn these skills that most kids come to school with.
4. Know the students strengths and build on them to avoid boring them.
5. Use students background knowledge and interests to help them relate. Also make sure to honor/respect the children's cultures!
6. Some languages have up to 20% overlap with one another...make sure to take advantage of their similarities!
7. Create a classroom chart with everyday English words and put up the words that mean the same thing in your students' native languages. This not only helps your ELL students but allows your English proficient students to learn new words!
8. Involve the family!
9.When assessing students allow them to choose the language they'd like to respond in.
10. One of your major goals should be to increase their English vocabulary.
11. Use visuals.
All of these tips will be important for me to remember when I become a teacher. It is EXTREMELY likely that I will have students who struggle to learn English sometime in my career. With the help from these tips I am better prepared to address the needs of these students and help them attain English Proficiency.
Some of the best tips I got out of this chapter...
1. It is important to remember everything you know about first-language reading when teaching reading to ELL.
2. Demand critical thinking of your ELL students. High levels of literacy curriculum are as appropriate for ELL students as they are for other students.
3. Teach mastery of basic skills. ELL students often do not learn these skills that most kids come to school with.
4. Know the students strengths and build on them to avoid boring them.
5. Use students background knowledge and interests to help them relate. Also make sure to honor/respect the children's cultures!
6. Some languages have up to 20% overlap with one another...make sure to take advantage of their similarities!
7. Create a classroom chart with everyday English words and put up the words that mean the same thing in your students' native languages. This not only helps your ELL students but allows your English proficient students to learn new words!
8. Involve the family!
9.When assessing students allow them to choose the language they'd like to respond in.
10. One of your major goals should be to increase their English vocabulary.
11. Use visuals.
All of these tips will be important for me to remember when I become a teacher. It is EXTREMELY likely that I will have students who struggle to learn English sometime in my career. With the help from these tips I am better prepared to address the needs of these students and help them attain English Proficiency.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Blog 7
I really enjoyed ready Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodriggo Corral. Although it was mostly a picture book, it was made for an older audience. I never realized how much pictures tell a story. Chopsticks was about a young pianist that lost her mother in a motorcycle accident. Her father was her piano teacher and had her travel all over the world to share her talents. At a young age she falls in love with a boy who lived on the same street. Her father disapproved of their relationship and forced her into more shows to keep her away. During her tour, she would "slip" and play the song Chopsticks. Chopsticks was the song that reminded her of the boy back home. The couple continued to talk to each other while she was on tour through IM and mail. She would also recieve multiple paintings in the mail. Their love grew very strong and eventually both of them snapped. The boy got expelled from schol and she had to go to a school to deal with her mental break-downs.
As I was reading this story I often felt like I had to go back and read/look at the previous pages at times. I realized there were details from the pictures that I had not noticed that were important for the storyline. It would not surprise me if there are things brought up in class that I had not noticed while reading. I'm excited to hear what my classmates got out of the story and see if there's a deeper meaning to the book than what I saw.
One thing that I would like to figure it out from the story is the meaning behind the octopus. Throughout the book there were several pictures of an octopus and I'm not really sure what it symbolizes.
As I was reading this story I often felt like I had to go back and read/look at the previous pages at times. I realized there were details from the pictures that I had not noticed that were important for the storyline. It would not surprise me if there are things brought up in class that I had not noticed while reading. I'm excited to hear what my classmates got out of the story and see if there's a deeper meaning to the book than what I saw.
One thing that I would like to figure it out from the story is the meaning behind the octopus. Throughout the book there were several pictures of an octopus and I'm not really sure what it symbolizes.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Blog 6
In both the Grave's book and the article we had to read this week I learned about the importance of fluency. Fluency is really amazing when we consider our brain has a hard time attending to one thing at a time. When we read fluently we are recognizing words as well as reading with reading with the proper phrasing, intonation, and stress. Not only are we reading the words off the page but we are also processing the words and comprehending them. While reading fluently we are putting our brain to a lot of work!
Since our brains are bad at multitasking we must train ourselves to do all of these things automatically. In order to train our brains both readings stressed the importance of modeling and repetition. A teacher is responsible for modeling what fluent reading looks like and a student will read the passage after trying to mirror the teacher. It may take the student several times to develop fluency for a certain passage.
I really like the Poetry Academy strategy to promote fluency. In the Poetry Academy the teacher would pick a poem for the students to read out in the hall (for 5-10 minutes) with an aide/volunteer. The poems were funny or entertaining to keep students' interests. The volunteer would start by modeling how the poem should be read and then the student would read with the volunteer. After that the student would read the poem independently aloud. While the student read indpendently the volunteer would provide assistance and praise. Then the student would take the poem home and read it to as many people as they could and would have those people sign off verifying they heard the poem. The following week the student would meet with the volunteer again and read the poem one more time. The process would then restart. At the end of the year the class would have a party where they would all read aloud their favorite poems. Parents were encouraged to attend and snacks were provided. I like this program because it takes very little time out of the classroom and shows great improvements in the students' reading abilities. I also like that it gets the family involved and promotes repetition.
After reading this chapter I have one main question...
When is it appropriate to "force" a student to read aloud? In the readings I learned that having round robin type reading in your class could be detrimental to some students. Struggling readers do not want to read in front of the entire class and show that they are struggling. But I feel like reading aloud in front of people is inevitable. A student needs to learn to be able to do this. How would you know the right time to have a student do this? I would never want to embarass a student, however, I think it is important that they learn to speak/read in front of others.
Since our brains are bad at multitasking we must train ourselves to do all of these things automatically. In order to train our brains both readings stressed the importance of modeling and repetition. A teacher is responsible for modeling what fluent reading looks like and a student will read the passage after trying to mirror the teacher. It may take the student several times to develop fluency for a certain passage.
I really like the Poetry Academy strategy to promote fluency. In the Poetry Academy the teacher would pick a poem for the students to read out in the hall (for 5-10 minutes) with an aide/volunteer. The poems were funny or entertaining to keep students' interests. The volunteer would start by modeling how the poem should be read and then the student would read with the volunteer. After that the student would read the poem independently aloud. While the student read indpendently the volunteer would provide assistance and praise. Then the student would take the poem home and read it to as many people as they could and would have those people sign off verifying they heard the poem. The following week the student would meet with the volunteer again and read the poem one more time. The process would then restart. At the end of the year the class would have a party where they would all read aloud their favorite poems. Parents were encouraged to attend and snacks were provided. I like this program because it takes very little time out of the classroom and shows great improvements in the students' reading abilities. I also like that it gets the family involved and promotes repetition.
After reading this chapter I have one main question...
When is it appropriate to "force" a student to read aloud? In the readings I learned that having round robin type reading in your class could be detrimental to some students. Struggling readers do not want to read in front of the entire class and show that they are struggling. But I feel like reading aloud in front of people is inevitable. A student needs to learn to be able to do this. How would you know the right time to have a student do this? I would never want to embarass a student, however, I think it is important that they learn to speak/read in front of others.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Blog 5
I thought this week's readings were very insightful, particularily Chapter 4 from Creating Literacy Rich School for Adolescents. I am doing my FEEP course this semester and I have seen many of the issues Chapter 4 addresses in my classroom. My FEEP classroom is a 7th and 8th grade resource Math and Language Arts. Just like some of the students the book talked about, the students in my classroom attend regular classes for the the majority of their day. However, most (if not all) of the students are reading around a 2nd grade level or below. While in this class I often get discouraged and wonder if these students will ever learn to read. I also question how they are able to comprehend the lessons in a regular classroom when they are struggling with simple passages. I have always considered teaching high school students, but seeing the students struggle makes me believe I should teach a younger age so I can intervene and help students start/stay on track. Luckily this chapter has given me more confidence in teaching older children. This chapter has helped me see that just because the students are behind does not mean that they are hopeless.
In this chapter I learned many different strategies to help struggling students. If caught at an early enough age, I believe RTI can be very beneficial for students. By using RTI we can try multiple settings to implement interventions and catch struggling learners early. It also eliminates Special Education for some students; some students may not need to be in Special Ed, rather they just need a little more instruction (or attention) in a couple of areas. Another strategy I learned from this book is to utilize reading and students interests rather than using textbook programs. By developing lessons around a student's interest we are able to get them more engaged. Also, textbook programs focus on one skill at a time. When we focus on one skill at a time, students are not focusing as much on the comprehension of the story. If we use stories and have students use different skills as they read they are getting much more practice. The final strategy I learned in this chapter is to do a lot of small group activities. By doing this, students are able to recieve more attention and are focusing on the area they are struggling in. If a teacher constantly teaches to the whole class they are not addressing the different levels of their students.
After reading this chapter I find myself asking...
How can we show teachers that textbook programs are not always as successful as we would imagine? Is there a way to influence teachers to create their own lessons around readings rather than a program?
I would like to see if these strategies helped the students my FEEP class. Once again I am so glad I read this chapter! It definitely gave me some encouragement and makes me want to go out and help teach struggling readers to read!
In this chapter I learned many different strategies to help struggling students. If caught at an early enough age, I believe RTI can be very beneficial for students. By using RTI we can try multiple settings to implement interventions and catch struggling learners early. It also eliminates Special Education for some students; some students may not need to be in Special Ed, rather they just need a little more instruction (or attention) in a couple of areas. Another strategy I learned from this book is to utilize reading and students interests rather than using textbook programs. By developing lessons around a student's interest we are able to get them more engaged. Also, textbook programs focus on one skill at a time. When we focus on one skill at a time, students are not focusing as much on the comprehension of the story. If we use stories and have students use different skills as they read they are getting much more practice. The final strategy I learned in this chapter is to do a lot of small group activities. By doing this, students are able to recieve more attention and are focusing on the area they are struggling in. If a teacher constantly teaches to the whole class they are not addressing the different levels of their students.
After reading this chapter I find myself asking...
How can we show teachers that textbook programs are not always as successful as we would imagine? Is there a way to influence teachers to create their own lessons around readings rather than a program?
I would like to see if these strategies helped the students my FEEP class. Once again I am so glad I read this chapter! It definitely gave me some encouragement and makes me want to go out and help teach struggling readers to read!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Blog 4
While reading chapter 2, in Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents, I was amazed to learn about the progress of a freshman in high school named Abdurashid. Abdurashid came to the United States from Ethiopia in the 9th grade. He spoke 4 different languages, none of them were English. By his senior year, Abdurashid was passing AP exams (including English) and was accepted into the University of CA at San Diego to study premedicine. In less than 4 years Abdurashid was able to not only learn the English language, but to completely flourish in America.
I am so glad I read this chapter because it showed me that things like these are completely accomplishable if we approach them in an effective way. This chapter gave me great insight into creating a rich literacy environment in my classroom. I plan to use many, if not all, of the techniques I learned in this chapter. I think these techniques will especially be beneficial for me working with Special Education students. They, like Abdurashid, will have struggles learning English literacy, but with the proper instruction we can make big strides.
One of the techniques, given by the book, is to have all classes use the same notes template. I can see this being beneficial in so many ways. Notes are very important for students to identify the main ideas/topics. If teachers teach the students an effective template, and use it across all classes, students will be able to take more efficient notes and keep them organized. I often had teachers try to teach us how to use Cornell Notes in school, but none of them enforced them. Personally, I think enforcing good notes will definitely help students down the road. In college, sitting in meetings, etc. it is important to be able to take notes AND be able to go back and understand them. If schools taught students a schoolwide notetaking system, students could better prepare for the future...tests, jobs, etc.
Another technique I see as being beneficial is to have beginning class work; at my high school we called this bell work. Everyday students would come into EVERY class and there would be a prompt/assignment on the board. This assignment took no longer than 10 minutes, but allowed students to introduce themselves with the topic of the day or refresh on yesterday's topic. Then after bell work the teachers would extend on the lesson. The book also noted that it is a good idea to have some form of exit slip at the end of the day. This gives students reflextion time on the material they learned that day. Both of these techniques are very beneficial because it is promoting repetition of the material. It is also adding reading/writing into every subject! The book gave so many great activities that teachers can use for these exercises: vocabulary instruction, graphic organizers, anticipatory guides...
This chapter has given me so many great ideas to promote literacy in my classroom. By using the different techniques in the book I am hitting 2 birds with one stone. My students will be practicing their literacy AND the subject matter I am teaching. I truly believe if teachers use some of these techniques we may see more students flourish like Abdurashid did!
After I read this chapter I came up with one main question...
1. How does a student like Abdurashid pick up so quickly on a foreign language, yet others struggle to become literate in one?
I am so glad I read this chapter because it showed me that things like these are completely accomplishable if we approach them in an effective way. This chapter gave me great insight into creating a rich literacy environment in my classroom. I plan to use many, if not all, of the techniques I learned in this chapter. I think these techniques will especially be beneficial for me working with Special Education students. They, like Abdurashid, will have struggles learning English literacy, but with the proper instruction we can make big strides.
One of the techniques, given by the book, is to have all classes use the same notes template. I can see this being beneficial in so many ways. Notes are very important for students to identify the main ideas/topics. If teachers teach the students an effective template, and use it across all classes, students will be able to take more efficient notes and keep them organized. I often had teachers try to teach us how to use Cornell Notes in school, but none of them enforced them. Personally, I think enforcing good notes will definitely help students down the road. In college, sitting in meetings, etc. it is important to be able to take notes AND be able to go back and understand them. If schools taught students a schoolwide notetaking system, students could better prepare for the future...tests, jobs, etc.
Another technique I see as being beneficial is to have beginning class work; at my high school we called this bell work. Everyday students would come into EVERY class and there would be a prompt/assignment on the board. This assignment took no longer than 10 minutes, but allowed students to introduce themselves with the topic of the day or refresh on yesterday's topic. Then after bell work the teachers would extend on the lesson. The book also noted that it is a good idea to have some form of exit slip at the end of the day. This gives students reflextion time on the material they learned that day. Both of these techniques are very beneficial because it is promoting repetition of the material. It is also adding reading/writing into every subject! The book gave so many great activities that teachers can use for these exercises: vocabulary instruction, graphic organizers, anticipatory guides...
This chapter has given me so many great ideas to promote literacy in my classroom. By using the different techniques in the book I am hitting 2 birds with one stone. My students will be practicing their literacy AND the subject matter I am teaching. I truly believe if teachers use some of these techniques we may see more students flourish like Abdurashid did!
After I read this chapter I came up with one main question...
1. How does a student like Abdurashid pick up so quickly on a foreign language, yet others struggle to become literate in one?
Monday, January 21, 2013
Blog 3
Our reading this week, from Reading Reasons Mothivational Mini-Lessons for Middle and High School, was extremely insightful. I learned that it is much more important to stress the reasons for reading rather than to reward my students for completeing their readings. Rewarding students for reading can actually have an adverse effect and de-motivate our students. By offering rewards we are teaching our students that reading is "chore" and without rewards it is not worth doing. Instead of rewarding our students we must stress the reasons for reading. Our reading explains 9 reading reasons that...
1. Reading is rewarding
Reading itself is rewarding; there is no need for a tangible prize/thing everytime a student completes their reading. The rewards for reading are pleasure and knowledge. Pleasure and knowledge are rewards that can carry through life, while recieving a piece of candy or a gold star last for short periods of time.
2. Reading builds a mature vocabulary
The book gives us a great example of a first time sailor. The sailor decides that she wants to go and build a boat then take her friends out for a ride. After telling her friends that she's been studying sailing for 2 months and as their skipper she will try her hardest, she is surprised that no one wants to join her on her first sailing experience. Becoming a sailor takes years of expertise. The same applies with reading. We cannot expect to just wake up our senior year of high school with a mature vocabulary; it takes years of practice through reading.
3. Reading makes you a better writer
Reading and writing have many characteristics in common. Both engage us in constructing meaning from texts, use skills automatically, interact with one another, etc. In order to improve our reading we must write and in order to improve our writing we must read. These two things cannot be seen as seperate entities, rather they must be seen as influences of one another.
4. Reading is "hard" and "hard" is necessary
"It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The 'hard' is what makes it great." Reading certain things in life can be difficult (i.e. directions or a government bill) but they are important in life. When we take the time to understand hard materials the end result becomes rewarding. With directions it gets you in the right place, or with a bill you understand what it is you are voting on. It is necessary to take time to read these hard materials in order to accomplish what you want.
5. Reading makes you smarter
"Reading not only makes you smart, it keeps you smart as you age." Recent studies have shown that reading correlates with Alzheimers, cognitive functioning, etc. People with low education are more likely to get Alzheimers when they are older. Also the reading habits of people as youths has a strong prediction of their cognitive function as they age.
6. Reading prepares you for the world of work
Jobs are looking for their employees to have both "hard" and "soft" skills. The "hard" skills include mathematics, problem solving, and reading abilities that are at level much higher than what most high schoolers obtain. The "soft" skills include ability to work in groups and to effectively make oral/written presentations. Both "hard" and "soft" skills require the ability to read!!!
7. Reading is financially rewarding
In 2000 the average lifetime earnings of a student without a high school degree was $936,000 and a student with a degree was 1,216,000. This made a high school diploma worth $280,000. When you calculate that $280,000 to see how much a student earned each day spent in high school, a student "made" $400 a day. Although a student may not see this as an advantage at the time, as they age that invisible money makes a difference in their lives.
8. Reading opens the door to college and beyond
When college looks at accepting a student, AP placements courses, SAT scores, and application essays are among the most important factors. All 3 of these are looking at students ability to read. AP courses require high school students to read at a much higher level, SAT scores assess students reading abiulities, and essays require reading to write. Also as students go into college they are required to read harder materials and read at a much faster pace. The ability to read well plays a huge factor for getting into college and completeing college.
9. Reading arms you against oppression
By being able to read, you are able to educate yourself much easier. A lack of reading skills can allow higher figures to take advantage of you because you are unaware of what is going on. It is important to be able to read in order to stand up for your rights.
After reading this article I learned that they 9 reasons are far more rewarding than a tangible prize. Reading is a necessity in life, it is NOT a chore. As teachers we need to stress the importance of reading so students can understand its necessity. After learning this I have come up with 2 questions...
1. How do we make this transition to teaching the importance of reading? Especially since most schools have a rewards system.
2. Will this approach work for all students or do some students gain from other incentives?
1. Reading is rewarding
Reading itself is rewarding; there is no need for a tangible prize/thing everytime a student completes their reading. The rewards for reading are pleasure and knowledge. Pleasure and knowledge are rewards that can carry through life, while recieving a piece of candy or a gold star last for short periods of time.
2. Reading builds a mature vocabulary
The book gives us a great example of a first time sailor. The sailor decides that she wants to go and build a boat then take her friends out for a ride. After telling her friends that she's been studying sailing for 2 months and as their skipper she will try her hardest, she is surprised that no one wants to join her on her first sailing experience. Becoming a sailor takes years of expertise. The same applies with reading. We cannot expect to just wake up our senior year of high school with a mature vocabulary; it takes years of practice through reading.
3. Reading makes you a better writer
Reading and writing have many characteristics in common. Both engage us in constructing meaning from texts, use skills automatically, interact with one another, etc. In order to improve our reading we must write and in order to improve our writing we must read. These two things cannot be seen as seperate entities, rather they must be seen as influences of one another.
4. Reading is "hard" and "hard" is necessary
"It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The 'hard' is what makes it great." Reading certain things in life can be difficult (i.e. directions or a government bill) but they are important in life. When we take the time to understand hard materials the end result becomes rewarding. With directions it gets you in the right place, or with a bill you understand what it is you are voting on. It is necessary to take time to read these hard materials in order to accomplish what you want.
5. Reading makes you smarter
"Reading not only makes you smart, it keeps you smart as you age." Recent studies have shown that reading correlates with Alzheimers, cognitive functioning, etc. People with low education are more likely to get Alzheimers when they are older. Also the reading habits of people as youths has a strong prediction of their cognitive function as they age.
6. Reading prepares you for the world of work
Jobs are looking for their employees to have both "hard" and "soft" skills. The "hard" skills include mathematics, problem solving, and reading abilities that are at level much higher than what most high schoolers obtain. The "soft" skills include ability to work in groups and to effectively make oral/written presentations. Both "hard" and "soft" skills require the ability to read!!!
7. Reading is financially rewarding
In 2000 the average lifetime earnings of a student without a high school degree was $936,000 and a student with a degree was 1,216,000. This made a high school diploma worth $280,000. When you calculate that $280,000 to see how much a student earned each day spent in high school, a student "made" $400 a day. Although a student may not see this as an advantage at the time, as they age that invisible money makes a difference in their lives.
8. Reading opens the door to college and beyond
When college looks at accepting a student, AP placements courses, SAT scores, and application essays are among the most important factors. All 3 of these are looking at students ability to read. AP courses require high school students to read at a much higher level, SAT scores assess students reading abiulities, and essays require reading to write. Also as students go into college they are required to read harder materials and read at a much faster pace. The ability to read well plays a huge factor for getting into college and completeing college.
9. Reading arms you against oppression
By being able to read, you are able to educate yourself much easier. A lack of reading skills can allow higher figures to take advantage of you because you are unaware of what is going on. It is important to be able to read in order to stand up for your rights.
After reading this article I learned that they 9 reasons are far more rewarding than a tangible prize. Reading is a necessity in life, it is NOT a chore. As teachers we need to stress the importance of reading so students can understand its necessity. After learning this I have come up with 2 questions...
1. How do we make this transition to teaching the importance of reading? Especially since most schools have a rewards system.
2. Will this approach work for all students or do some students gain from other incentives?
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Blog 2
Culture consists of the values, norms, and material group characteristics that make up a social group. Our culture greatly plays a role in how we associate ourselves in the world around us. My personal culture consists of many things. I have been raised in an upper-middle class, American family that is extremely conservative in their values and political views. My family is also very close and has a strong Catholic faith. These values, beliefs, etc. really help define the person I am today.
I have been raised in predominantely Caucasian areas and in suburban towns, but I believe I am a fairly cultured person. I think in order for someone to be cultured he or she must be receptive of other people's cultures. Although my high school was located in a predominantely white area, the white population at my school was the minority. Through my high school experience in high school I learned a lot about different cultures, religions, political views, and socioeconomic statuses. My involvement with Peer Mediation, in high school, also gave me a lot of insight of personal lives of people with different cultures. Through my experience I have become very accepting of other's culture and interested in learning more.
I believe it is important for teachers to be cultured. In our textbook we learned that student's cultures and experiences play a huge role in their reading. People's outside knowledge often affects their perspective on the reading at hand. If a teacher is culture, he or she is able to associate activities with the readings to people's cultures, thus making it more understandable and entertaining.
After speaking in class today I came up with a couple of questions related to culture and how it plays a part in people's reading...
How do we promote both cultural diversities (including dialect) and professionalism?
If "Practice makes perfect," then has the practice of social literacy affected professional literacy?
Is professionalism based on "White male/people principles?" Or is it that what is considered socially professional carried out more oftenly by white people?
I have been raised in predominantely Caucasian areas and in suburban towns, but I believe I am a fairly cultured person. I think in order for someone to be cultured he or she must be receptive of other people's cultures. Although my high school was located in a predominantely white area, the white population at my school was the minority. Through my high school experience in high school I learned a lot about different cultures, religions, political views, and socioeconomic statuses. My involvement with Peer Mediation, in high school, also gave me a lot of insight of personal lives of people with different cultures. Through my experience I have become very accepting of other's culture and interested in learning more.
I believe it is important for teachers to be cultured. In our textbook we learned that student's cultures and experiences play a huge role in their reading. People's outside knowledge often affects their perspective on the reading at hand. If a teacher is culture, he or she is able to associate activities with the readings to people's cultures, thus making it more understandable and entertaining.
After speaking in class today I came up with a couple of questions related to culture and how it plays a part in people's reading...
How do we promote both cultural diversities (including dialect) and professionalism?
If "Practice makes perfect," then has the practice of social literacy affected professional literacy?
Is professionalism based on "White male/people principles?" Or is it that what is considered socially professional carried out more oftenly by white people?
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Blog 1
In the past people saw literacy as the ability to write your name or read a passage that you were already familiar with. Today, literacy is much more important, in fact people believe it will increase our future. I see literacy as the ability to develop strategies for comprehending written materials. Literacy is very important because it is needed to function in society and to develop knowledge. Without the ability to attain literacy, a person will struggle to become successful in any other subject. Literacy is truely the foundation for all things in life.
With a greater role of literacy in today's society, I believe there is a need for higher standards in reading. I remember when I was a senior in high school and the incoming class of freshmen had 53% of its population reading below grade level. I also knew many people who had to take introductory reading courses in college because of placing low on standardized reading tests. I think the book takes current critisms, in regards to the United States reading levels, too lightly. Although reading performance has slightly increased, I think we are still far away from where we need to be. I personally believe that we should not settle for being ranked 14th out of 40 countries (in the recent IEA study). Being in the 35th percentile of the countries is respectable, but as a country that leads a lot of the world our scores should be higher. Like I said before literacy is the foundation for all things in life, and for our country to continue to be successful we must not settle for the growth we've made. Having an incoming class of freshman with such a high percentage of students reading below grade level is completely unexceptable. And having people enter college without the necessary reading skills is a failure by the schools. There is always room for growth, and I have a hard time agreeing with the book that our students are holding their own when we see so many students struggling.
How do we as educators continue the growth of our students literacy? What strategies can we use to get students to attain literacy before high school, college, and jobs...especially if they're behind? And how can we get our country a higher rank?
With a greater role of literacy in today's society, I believe there is a need for higher standards in reading. I remember when I was a senior in high school and the incoming class of freshmen had 53% of its population reading below grade level. I also knew many people who had to take introductory reading courses in college because of placing low on standardized reading tests. I think the book takes current critisms, in regards to the United States reading levels, too lightly. Although reading performance has slightly increased, I think we are still far away from where we need to be. I personally believe that we should not settle for being ranked 14th out of 40 countries (in the recent IEA study). Being in the 35th percentile of the countries is respectable, but as a country that leads a lot of the world our scores should be higher. Like I said before literacy is the foundation for all things in life, and for our country to continue to be successful we must not settle for the growth we've made. Having an incoming class of freshman with such a high percentage of students reading below grade level is completely unexceptable. And having people enter college without the necessary reading skills is a failure by the schools. There is always room for growth, and I have a hard time agreeing with the book that our students are holding their own when we see so many students struggling.
How do we as educators continue the growth of our students literacy? What strategies can we use to get students to attain literacy before high school, college, and jobs...especially if they're behind? And how can we get our country a higher rank?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)