Wrapping up the Semester

Upon completing the end of semester sheet about our blogs, and writers notebooks, I thought further about the assignments that I completed, and sometimes didn't complete on time, for this class.  I think that it is very beneficial to have us the teachers, complete and interact in different ways of writing that we would like to have our students do.  Even though at times it was like pulling teeth for me to sit down with my journal and write two entries, I was able to make it through and near the end come up with ideas much quicker than I did at the begining of the semester.  I enjoyed completeing the in class activities and interacting because this kept my interest and allowed for us not to just read about different methods of teaching lessons, but actually hands on complete and discuss these items as well.
There are so many wonderful strategies that I have learned through this course that I don't even knw where to start.  I hope that I can use all of these in my future classrooms and my greatest fear is that I will not remember all of these strategies.  Then again, when we watched the video two weeks ago about the current generation, the statistic that struck me the most was the one about how the information we learn in college will be outdated by the time we are out.  Although I don't think that this completely applies becuase I hope to be teaching in  a year and a half, it will be such a challenge to keep up to date on the latest teaching strategies and technologies once I am set in a way of doing something. 
The only frustrating times that i had during this semester we when learning new and exciting material in 339, we would end up relearning the same strategies in 340. This does show that the methods that were discussed twice were exceptionally important however I think that a great idea for future semesters of this course would be to have the same teacher for 339 and 340.  This would allow for maximum teaching time and not a recap of strategies that were already learned in 339 being taught in 340. 

My Xtranormal video

Day in the Park

Templeton Experience/ Mutimodal Classrooms

When the class was given the opportunity to share our projects with the K-6 children at Templeton I was nervous about the explanation of the product that I had completed and the lack of visual appeal that came with the online display of my genres.   I found it very interesting that the children were so intrigued to learn about the subjects that we were writing on.  Eleanor Roosevelt isn't quite as exciting as Barbies or Disney World, however my project was still able to get attention and teach children about my topic as well as the writing process that I used to complete it.  When working with a kindergartner, I was able to get a better look at what the students were drawn into, and the types of questions that they were asking.  Although he was unable to completely grasp some of the projects, my kindergartner showed interest in learning about the topics and showing his understanding of the information that the students were presenting them with.

I think that introducing the children to different types of literature's on various topics allowed for them to think of literacy as a multi modal process.  Showing that after doing the research we were able to come up with the various genre pieces showed how to further the process and use the information to create something they were interested in.  When giving children the opportunity to write their own research papers, they will have the influences of popular culture genres of writing and topics.  Their home life along with these aspects will help them to choose something that interests them and this is very important for children to create their own modalities.

MGRP gets closer to the finish

While working on my MGRP genres,  I was shocked to see how much information I still was able to pry out of what I had already learned.  The genres were much more important to me for the learning process because I am a very good last minute writer, and seem to be able to slide by in most things with ease.  The genres however, required me to not only look at the information that was presented to me but also to take a personal look on the information and show my interpretation. I created a graffiti piece, diary entry, newspaper article, newspaper ad, and I AM poem.  I learned so much more when completing these than I did in the research project.  I believe that this is great insight into how I would like to run my classroom in the future.  Although i do understand that writing a research paper is very typical and has its benefits, I think that children can get so much more from doing the research and turning it into their own genre of literature to present.  I had my doubts about this project but was very pleased after completing the genres because I had finally found the strategy that resignated with the area and style of teaching that I hope to eventually work in.
 I created a Glogster to show all of the genres that I used for this project. http://lcburbri.glogster.com/eleanor-roosevelt/

Week 9 observations

During week 9, we used the book Seeing the Blue Between to learn about using poetry in writing.  This was actually one of the most beneficial things that we have completed this year i believe.  Because this is one of the first times that we were exposed to tons of different types of one genre, I feel as if I will be able to encourage poetry in my classroom not only by teaching them the rules for different poetic forms, but also how to read a poem, and react to it.  This is something that is very important to show the understanding of what the children have read, and also it allows for them to have a chance to feel like they are successful poets as well.
When conferencing with the children over Skype, it was very evident that they were very proud and confident of their poems they had written.  This is something that obviously took them several weeks to complete, and there were many steps involved to have the coordination of the art teacher, computer lab, and classroom writing time all cooperate.  I would love to implement something like this in my future classroom, although I don't think that I will spend as much time as the teacher did.  I do think that using different modalities of literature is highly important for the children to grasp concepts, however I want to expose my children to different types of literature all at once, so I would add in something such as letter writing to the principal and other staff to come see their poems and pictures (like Beth showed).  This i believe would be more helpful to have a well rounded unit.

Donut House

The quote which first stuck out to me in the article Donut House was, "learning to read, not reading to learn."  I think that thinking about children reading to learn is a wonderful idea and perspective to take in my future career.  It is such a challenge to think about not teaching children to learn and focusing on the phonetics.  Using sociodramatic play in classrooms and whole language approaches are great benefits to leraners. 
The donut shop idea is such a wonderful cultural experience for the students in the class.  A unit lesson about real life aspects would ge great to implement in my future and i really hope to have the time to make it thoughtful, and cover the standards that are necessary for my grade level.

Classroom Experiences

When in the classroom this past week, I experienced the children reading and writing and discussed the reading levels with the teacher.  I think this is something that is vvery important to my learning process as a future teacher.  In the second grade classroom, I witnessed the children doing guided reading on the "average" grade level with the group as a whole.  They later transition into independent reading while the teacher conferences with children on an individual basis about the stories that they are reading.  During this time I was able to walk around the classroom and read along side students who were interested in reading aloud.  I was particularly intrigued by one boy who had his desk facing the chalkboard away from the other students.  When I asked him to read aloud, I was taken back.  I do not believe in juding students by the placements that their teachers have placed them in, and wanted to see what it was that he was secluded for.  When he began reading the (extremely advanced) comic book aloud, he was reading at a very steady pace and using intonation in his voice for the characters.  I then discussed his advanced level with the teacher and she explained to me that he was one of the most advanced students in her class, she showed me the levels that each student were on and I was overwhelmed with the range of readers.  Some students were reading at a kindergarten level while this student in particular was testing at above a 6th grade level.  This resignates with me becuase it shows that not only do i need to prepare myself for the range of readers i will be dealing with, but I also must learn how to cater each of them so that they are always advancing, and moving forward.   I need to continually think about how i am going to reach all of the learners.

MGRP

As of today (one week after I should have),  I finally was struck with an idea that fully had my interest for the multi genre research project.   While sitting in the education library, I looked up from my boredom at the computer and saw a poster on the wall of an old woman in black and white.  Squinting, I saw the woman's name.  Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman whom I had heard of briefly in the past was staring me in the eye,making me question what I really knew about her contributions to America.  Although I am fully aware that the actions that she took while alive impacted many Americans because of her courage, I never really knew what it was that she did.  I immediately googled her name and began reading up on the information that I could find (which included over 1.5million results).  I realized that this would be a perfect research topic because of the lack of knowledge that I have about her.  I have already found multiple books relating to her life and can't wait to being my deeper research about her influences.

Lesson Plan

When flipping through the Craft Lesson plan book, I was so surprised to find out the multiple lesson plans that were so short and simple to teach with the help of a childrens book.  I had not planned on buying this book because I didn't believe that it would be of any use in my future. However, after reading through the lessons and connections that it made with many common children's books, I couldn't be more excited to teach mini lessons using the lessons given.
  I chose to use the lesson on Crafting a Lead (pg. 77), using the book Wilma Unlimited.  Without looking into the story, I quickly looked up the call number and checked out the book. When returning home I was disappointed becuase I found out that in order to teach the lesson, I would not particularly need to have the book with me.  Even though it wasn't needed, I sat down to read the book about Wilma's life and was so interested in the story.  The short non-fiction book was very intesting and will help me teach the story becuase I have a better understanding of what the whole book is about.  This is something that is very important when teaching small lessons that don't require a full read of the book. I think that it is also a great idea to have the book that is discussed in the lesson on hand to encourage children to read the story during their independent reading time.  If the book is something that is appropriate for a group it could also be read during guided reading and/or shared reading.

Teaching Codeswitching/ MGRP

Codeswitching is something that I have heard about in other classes before this.  By reading the article by Wheeler and Swords, codeswitching took a much more practical place in a classroom.  Learning how to teach children the right time for formal/informal language is something that every teacher will face at some point.  Because of the language that children speak comes primarily from their parents, students need a Formal Language 101 lesson just as Ms. Swords taught on how to show the two compared to one another.  I believe that if a teacher brings out this process in every class that they teach, it will be a much smoother process for future informal translations that occur in the classroom.

For the multi genre research paper, I was very surprised to find out how open the topic choice was going to be.  Because this is not something that most children are allowed to do, I believe that learning how to construct a MGRP in a classroom setting by completing one is a great idea.  Although I am not sure what my topic choice will be, I began to write down a list of ideas that I find interesting.  Not coincidentally, most of the topics that come to mind are educationally related.  This is something that I need to try to branch out from becuase I am so used to picking a topic that has to do with the class that I am writing the research paper.  If I want to use this paper as an example in the future, I would like to be able to present a topic that is not typical for my students to see that their options are completely open.

Teaching Spelling and Phonics

Reading the articles that were assigned for week three allowed for a deeper evaluation of what I would do as a teacher in many situations.  I was first struck by the article by Cusumano.  She gave us a sample writing by a 5 year-old student and evaluated it on many levels.  Before reading her evaluation, I too took a look at the writing that this child did, and in my head evaluated it from the beginning.  After completing the article I was shocked to find out how brilliant this child truly was, and how easily it can be overlooked.

• drawing along with writing
• writing from left to right
• flexible shapes of letters
• spaces between words
• multiple spellings for words
• a special mark at the end

All of these practices were included in the 5 year-olds writing showing her knowledge of the very complex topics on a basic level.  Thinking about how children understand these conventions and can apply them to their work shows the importance of freedoms that teachers give to children.  At such a young age, writing on lines, proper spelling, capitalization, and many other aspects of writing that are required in the later years, are not important.  Although I am not sure if I will be teaching children of that age level, it requires me to think about whatever level of students I will be teaching and how I can apply this to them as well.  If teaching students of a 1st through 3rd grade level, there will be a very wide range of writers.  Knowing each students abilities can show what should be expected of them. Working off what they can practice they will be able to grow at a better rate than throwing them into the writing of different abilities so that I can "Provide praise and

encouragement for the ideas without criticizing the errors in conventions."

Literacy Dig

The weekly assignment for week two required for groups to observe literacy in action.  The open field of Bloomington allowed for many options on where to take this observation.  As a group, Laura, Riley, Allison, Josh, and I chose to view this taking place in the arboretum.  Because of the multiple students walking through the area, as well as the beautiful weather on the chosen day, this was a wonderful place to view literacy. 
I was assigned to observe and record the physical environment to describe the area that we were located in.  I completed this task by taking a picture on my cell phone, drawing a very simple map, and picking up a leaf off the ground. The physical environment was very opportune for many literacy's to take place.  As it was on Monday September 6th a very beautiful day, there were many students leisurely laying in the arboretum. The trees, water, grassy area, and central location on campus attract those who are looking to sit outside in between classes.  There are small brooks, benches, and wide sidewalks winding all through the area.

I was not surprised by the observation in any way.  The three literacies that occurred were sometimes interrupted by causal talk between the couple that we observed. I found the observation interesting because of the location that we chose.  By not completing this observation in a closed area, there was much room for complications of retrieving the data. Seeing that there is literacy found even in a arboretum on a beautiful sunny day only reinforces my knowledge that there is literacy everywhere and that teaching it will be one of my most important tasks in the future.

Blogging in the Classroom

Because of my previous history with blogging (W200), I have not found the blogging world as beneficial as intended.  Although it is very important to have a blog, especially in the classroom, keeping up on various information is hard.  Well written blogs are going to include ones thoughts which may not always be important to others and chosing what to blog about is something that I will have a hard time with.
When entering a classroom setting, using blogs and online tools will narrrow the student and teacher gap just as the article stated.  Trying to keep up with technology, students gain a better respect and need to feel more involved. I liked the idea that in the middle school classroom a 2 way journal between the teacher and student to help gramatical and writing skills. Using blogs in a younger classroom would draw many problems becuase of their typing ability, computer literacy, and the time that it takes out of the classroom.  An idea that I would have for the early elementary schools is if there was a blog for the "student of the week" and they would be able to type their own biography with pictures of themselves and their family to let the students feel recognized.