I have enjoyed writing a blog over the course of the semester. I had never had one before, so it was interesting going through the whole process of it and getting comments from classmates on some of them. I liked that there was no limit to the length, and there was also no set way that they had to be written each week. The blog topics were great prompts for thoughtful writing.

I feel like I really benefited from taking this class because it helped fill in gaps in Language Arts that I had forgotten over the years. I feel like as a result of becoming a college-educated student who now has expertise in English, I have forgotten the basics that began my language arts experience in school. It was vital that I be refreshed on simple things like long and short vowels, the reading process, and types of propaganda. All of these things I remember learning in elementary school, but because I have built up my knowledge in these schemas so much, I had forgotten the basics that created the schemas in the first place.

Reflection on Past Week

I enjoyed the marker board "talk" that we participated in last week during class. I thought that it was an excellent way to get everyone in the class involved on a thoughtful discussion. Often times, in an informal class discussion, especially in middle and high school, there are always a few outgoing students in the class that raise their hand or often don't raise their hand to speak several times throughout the seminar; this makes others feel outshined and unable to fit in anything to say that they haven't already said. It also leads to a less thoughtful discussion because students are apt to blurt out answers and ideas without really thinking about how valid their idea is to the discussion. I think marker board "talk" is so great because it is still a form of talking, it is just talking through the medium of writing. Students have time to come up with thoughful contributions to the discussion, everyone can participate, and its a fun and different approach to regular seminars. I feel like it takes a lot of the pressure off, too, for studnets who are shy because they are able to write their answer and review it before making it public to the whole classroom.

On a different note, I enjoyed the clip that we watched of Freedom Writers in class so much that I rented the movie this weekend and watched it. The whole movie was really interesting and inspiring for future teachers. The degree to which her students misbehaved terrified me, but the way that she was able to refocus their energies and find a way to relate to them on a new level impressed me and put me at ease.

Listening

Teachers definitely take listening for granted in the classroom. When you think about it, it really is kind of ridiculous to assume that first and second graders know how to listen simply because they have ears. They may know that with their ears they can listen if they want, but they probably don't know that there are times when they should listen especially hard, such as anytime the teacher is talking, and times when they should tune out other things they hear, such as their classmates goofing off in the back of the room during a lesson. Our lesson on listening really opened my eyes to this concept--I will definitely make it a top priority to teach my students first thing how to listen, since its doubtful they know how to appropriately.

Furthermore, I feel like it is really important as a teacher to ensure that whatever you are teaching is listen-able. In other words, make it interesting, that way you will have no doubts whether the faces looking at you are in a different world or if they are actually paying attention to what you're saying. You can't expect students, especially in elementary school, to pay attention to you if you're not being interesting. Period. Ways to keep things interesting are to make them short and concise, design the lessons so that they are engaging and thought-provoking, and ideally a teacher should make them interactive. Kids love to move so creating an active lesson would be effective for most learners.

I enjoyed the propaganda activity because it helped refresh me on the different types and to also relate them to commercials that we see every day we watch tv. It was a great reminder of what not to believe when enticed by a catchy ad. I think a lot of Americans are far too gullible, though, because anytime I see a diet ad on tv I laugh because it is so unrealistic. The diet pill companies make millions, however, so someone must be buying their antics.

Field Experiences

I have enjoyed working with my mentor teacher this semester. It's fun watching her class grow throughout the year- I remember first coming to her in September and now looking at her students you would think they were a little family and they all have grown so much academically. I can't wait to be responsible for that process that students make throughout a school year.

Probably my favorite thing that her class does is "Compliments and Appreciation" at the end of the day each Friday. They gather in a circle on the carpet and take turns either "getting" or "giving" a compliment. I think this is a great way to create a positive atmosphere in Mrs. Renigar's class and I'd love to use this in my own classroom one day. The children seem to enjoy giving compliments even more than they do getting them which I have found interesting.

Overall, my field experiences have been a very positive experience for me since being able to observe and assist Mrs. Renigar has helped me gather ideas and techniques to use in my future classroom.

I would like to do a literature unit on The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. By first reading the traditional story of The Three Little Pigs with the class, I could then have them read this book. Not only is it an entertaining read, but it would also be a great way to teach point of view. The following link has great ideas for how to develop a lesson about point of view based on The True Story of the Three Little Pigs:

http://www.teachingheart.net/truepigs.html

From this site, I especially liked the idea of turning the book into a thematic unit by tying in math. The site suggests teaching about balance and weight by comparing the weight of straws, sticks, and bricks by using a balance scale. You could also discuss ordinal numbers such as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in reference to the pigs.

The main reason I chose this book though was because I will never forget reading this book in 4th grade because we tied the book into a lesson on the court system. All of the 4th grade teachers created an authentic looking court room in the library and played the parts of various characters in the books. They got students to volunteer as well. We had a case of the wolf versus the three little pigs in who was to blame for the houses being burned down. Each character had to tell the story from his point of view and we were allowed to ask questions to the characters to determine whose fault it was. Everyone played the part of judge and cast their vote in the end, and whoever recieved the most votes "went to jail."

I would love to do a scaled down version of what I did in 4th grade with my class because it would be a lot of fun and the students would learn quite a bit at the same time.

Over spring break I was so happy when I finally got to go home for a weekend. I hadn't been home since the semester began, so it was really nice spending time with my family. The weather was fantastic; I am from New Bern so going home to the water was all that I could ask for on such a beautiful weekend.

On a different note, I am especially overwhelmed with my general work load, as usual. It still baffles me that in order to graduate from Meredith with a licensure in K-6 you absolutely must take 18 hours a semester, beginning your freshman year, and on top of that do summer school. I have friends at other colleges who aren't finishing in 4 years--but this is because they have either taken close to the minimum of 12 hours a semester since freshman year, they have failed some of their classes, and/or they have not ever taken summer school to make up for their lack of hours in the regular semester. Unlike at Meredith, it is actually very simple for these people to graduate with a teaching degree in 4 years.

Furthermore, I'm so excited to graduate in a year! I can't wait to have the freedom of choosing a new place to live and explore and to find a job.

I hope everyone had a great spring break! Can't wait for it to get warm :)

I have always loved writing. Ever since I learned how to write, I did it during my free time; I kept a journal of poems that I wrote all throughout elementary school, and I wrote stories in my free time about my own life and about fictitious characters I would create in my head. My dream was to write and publish a series of books like the ones from the American Girl or Nancy Drew series because they were my favorite books at the time. I was a bit of a nerd, because I remember in 8th grade skipping break time a lot of days to work on my self-assigned "mini novel." I made sure to be a part of the very small Creative Writing group that met during lunch once a week during middle school. It was my chance to share my creations with fellow students.
I think that trying to instill a love of writing in one's students at an early age is so important because writing assignments will continue for them through any level of education they attain. I'm not sure when I started to enjoy writing so much, but I do know that making students feel like they are good writers will increase their interest in the subject. I remember in 2nd grade being excited about winning a writing contest held by the school, and in 3rd grade being complimented often by my teacher about my papers. It made me want to write more and it made me feel like my writing was special. As a teacher, I hope to make all the students in my class feel like their writing is special because it is their personal creation, after all. Most of all, though, I want to to instill a love of writing in all of them and a love of the entire writing process. If I can show them that the pre-writing stage is fun because you get to use your imagination, the actual writing stage is fun because you get to develop your creative ideas, then maybe they will enjoy it.

I've liked having a blog because there is no limit to how much you can write or what you write about. The less restrictions in creativity, the better!

I'm not sure what I'm going to write my book about yet. I look forward to illustrating it, though, because I love drawing but as usual I can't decide on a topic. I considered writing about my study abroad experience, but I thought that might end up being too personal for this project!

Chances are, if a person has a disability in her reading comprehension skills, she may also have trouble comprehending basic social cues or registering a conversion quick enough in her mind. If a person has trouble simply reading or writing, it's normally no secret to the rest of her peers. In the younger grades, one's peers will take advantage of knowing anything about their peers that makes them less "normal" as everyone else; this knowledge seems to typically be used as a tool for teasing the less "normal" students, usually to the detriment of their social life. When a student feels weird, or dumb, or at the pit of all the jokes, her social skills may suffer if she chooses to alienate herself from the majority of her class to get away from teasing or feeling less apt. Having a problem reading or writing at the level of students' peers can affect their social skills when they aren't given opportunities to develop them with others their age.

In the 1st grade class that I am assisting in right now there is a child named Andrew who has autism. Autism as a disability has an affect on Andrew's ability to pick up social cues, but the fact that all of his classmates know he is somewhat "slower" than everyone else, and that he requires extra attention does not help him to have much of a social life. Furthermore, during center time he usually needs to sit by himself at a desk so that he can focus on his work since he is known to easily become distracted; this alienates him from the social interactions that Vigotsky theorizes are vital for one's learning development.
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As a teacher, I can make sure to include activities during class time that encourage social interaction with everyone in the class. I can make sure call on every student during lessons, as well. To build a positive environment, I can do activities like the one that my 1st grade mentor teacher does every Friday afternoon with her students. She has them gather in a circle on the floor and each take turns either "getting" or "giving" a compliment. They are asked to choose when it is their turn, and if they choose to "get" one, then the person who is "it" gets to choose a person holding their hand up to give them a compliment. In Mrs. Renigar's class, they are all very eager to compliment each other, even the less social students like Andrew, and the bully of the class, Sam. Anything that encourages students to interact with one another in a positive manner is great for teaching good social skills.

I have a terrible memory, so I do not remember a whole lot from my elementary school years as far as learning is concerned. I remember that my worst subject was spelling and it still is--I am no good at spelling. This leads me to the conclusion that I must have been taught to spell phonetically, and never was corrected when I continued to spell that way in my upper elementary school years. Right now I am working in a 1st grade classroom and when I first came to Ms. Renigar's class last semester I was shocked because I didn't realize that the students were aloud to spell pretty much every word incorrectly on their assignments. They would all write the words phonetically. Now that they are in 2nd semester of their 1st grade year, Ms. Renigar always has spelling books out for them to look up words they are trying to spell and she stresses the importance of spelling them just right. I feel like this is what I missed out on in my elementary school years. The outbreak of spell check on the computer when I entered middle school didn't help either--I just typed everything and have been doing that ever since. When I have to write something entirely in hand, that's when I'm in trouble. I mostly blame an over reliance on the computer for my lack of spelling ability, rather than teachers. I feel like it will be important in whatever grade I end up teaching to make sure student's hand write their assignments and are corrected every time something is spelled wrong.

The Reading Process

Aesthetic reading is reading that is pleasing to a person's senses and it is usually the most appealing type of reading because it is purely enjoyable. Efferent reading is reading that allows a person to acquire information, or to read for the purpose of understanding the story rather than to become a part of the story while reading. Obviously, a purely aesthetic stance when reading is most appealing, however most of the time there is a balance between the two. I love to read aesthetically, but I have not in quite a while because I am so busy reading the books assigned to me in class and even at my job (I have to read about sporting goods and take tests on what I read!) Needless to say, I miss reading for fun and cannot remember the last time I was really able to throw myself into a book and understand the feelings and thoughts of the characters.

There are five stages of the reading process. 1) Pre-reading involves simply becoming informed of the background of the book and creating a purpose for the reading. An example of this would be to read a little bit about evolution before reading an argument against the theory of evolution and for the theory of creationism. 2) Actually reading the text comes next. This can be done through a buddy system, independently, through shared reading, guided reading from perhaps the teacher, or by listening to someone read it aloud. It is important to read any diagrams, charts, or illustrations as well since they too contribute to the text. 3) After reading is responding. A person can respond in reading logs, or through discussion with either classmates and/or the teacher of the classroom. The discussions can be guided or unguided, probably depending on the type of learners in the classroom. 4) Following the response, a person should explore. This involves pondering the text more deeply, participating in mini lessons, and learning any vocabulary words that weren’t familiar before. 5) And finally, once a student has learned something from the text he should apply it to new experiences. He can create a project based on it, connect it with related books, or simply use what he learned in every day situations.

It is important when developing a capable reader to develop his fluency skills, his vocabulary database, his word identification skills, and his reading comprehension. To improve fluency skills, a teacher should have the students read at their reading level, rather than below it or too far above it. Teachers should also introduce key vocabulary words before reading to build a background, and after once she sees ones that were difficult. Word walls also work great to develop vocabulary. Furthermore, for comprehension, discussions and writing and creating projects are wonderful ways to make sure the student comprehends what he is reading.

There really are no rules to reading as long as one takes in the information. A person can take the information in and not gain anything from it, but that wouldn’t have any benefit to the reader and would end up as a waste of time. A good teacher is able to bridge the gap between aesthetic and efferent reading in a way that both provides students with the knowledge they need, but also allows them to enjoy the process of reading it.

Of the 6 language arts, I found "reading" and "writing" to be the only two I had expected to see on the list, and all the rest a bit surprising. For whatever reason, I was unaware of the fact that "listening" and such things as drama and presentations could be included under language arts, although once I thought about it it made sense. Basically anything that involved language can be considered under the umbrella of Language Arts, which means that Language Arts encompasses much more than I realized. The act of creating or watching commercials and viewing items on the internet are considered to be part of the language arts! I agree, as well, with most of the other bloggers in our class when they state that the "visually representing" and "viewing" categories are definitely a sign of the times and will keep expanding quite a bit.


Furthermore, I really enjoy reading the book Sahara Special. I like the idea of hearing the book outloud in class because for auditory learners this method of teaching is a great way to reach students. It is personally appealing to me because I still love to hear stories outloud. This book in peticular is really interesting and I will be glad to pick up in it where we left off two weeks ago. I can't wait to find out what type of classroom Sahara ends up in next and if she ever makes the type of connection with a teacher that is necessary for her to succeed in her grade. Obviously, I hope the faculty at her school will see that she does not belong in a special needs classroom.

My very first blog

I have never made a blog before. This is very new to me... but I like it! My name is Emily and I am just beginning my 2nd semester of my junior year at Meredith College. I am majoring in psychology with a licensure in k-6 education. So far, I love my major and am excited about become a key component in the school systems of North Carolina. I can't wait to have an impact on the lives of chlidren whose minds haven't yet been molded by society nor the pressures that come with society's ideals. I feel like the beginning years in school are the best times to really make an impact on a child's life and I'm looking forward to that privilege.
Anyway, this semester is going to be interesting for me because I'm taking 20 hours of classes and I'm working quite a bit, but I'm pleased that so far I enjoy most of my classes. I'm finally taking courses that all seem valid to me and my future which makes them seem all the more worthwhile to struggle through when they are difficult. I will like becoming more specialized in my major and licensure during the next year and half and am so pleased to finally almost be finished with my gen ed classes!