New Literacies Learning (from 4/14)

My ideas surrounding both literacy and technology have greatly evolved throughout this course. Throughout my collegiate classes, I can recall briefly discussing literacy as it applies to education and cirriculum within schools. However, throughout this course my understandings of just how in depth the term literacy really is has drastically changed. Before this course, I had little idea as to how involved the term literacy itself was, let alone all the forms and types literacy comes in! In choosing a new literacy, emotional literacy, I was able to research and expand my understandings as to what new literacies are and specifically emotional literacy. I feel that this project has made me realize more clearly the importance as a future teacher including instruction in literacy in multiple forms. Between emotional literacy, cultural literacy, visual literacy, and social literacy; there are a lot of aspects surrounding instruction we as teachers must keep in mind. I have learned that literacy instruction does not need to be limited to the simple, monotonous English instruction I can recall, but an encompassing of literacy instruction through various technologies in which students can discover and explore their individual identities.
The new technologies aspect of this project was also very educational and benefical in working with. Before this course, I definately considered myself to be a digital immigrant in that I was fairly unfamiliar with most technology. Beyond cell phones, email, and google, my technology experiences have been limited. This project allowed me to see just how many ways new forms of technology can be incorporated in all forms of classroom education. Through our use of the smart board in class, and the day in class that we explored the different technologies, I realized just how many ways teachers can utilize such technology as a resource to promote students learning in all forms.
I truly learned a lot in this project about both my new literacy and technology to ways in which I can modernize and incorporate these new ideas and technologies to create a more effective learning environment for my students.

My Learning of New Literacy and New Technology...

Since the beginning of class, my knowledge and conception of literacy has changed drastically! At the start of the semester, I thought of literacy as the basic "reading and writing" kind of thing. Now, however, I see that there are many different branches of literacies, including emotional, visual, print, social, environmental, and many more. Within these literacies, there is a common thread-- a full understanding of the specific topic is important towards becoming an expert at the literacy. There are so many important aspects of all of these literacies that, in the end, come together to make a person's overall knowledge of the world around them whole. The technology I used informed me that I am not as mush of a digital native as I thought I was! Technology expands by the day, and there is no way to keep up with it 100% of the time. I think it is important as future teachers to at least play around with some of these technologies in order to expose our future students to it as well. My first choice of new technology to explore was iMovie, a program on a Mac computer, which I have played with before. However, it was an older version that I was familiar with. I found the new update version to be more complicated and unfamiliar and it was very frustrating. I still plan on playing with this program to re-familiarize myself with it so that I can use it still in the future. The technology I ended up using was a Weebly (website). It was a lot of fun to explore this technology, because I have never made a website before! I really enjoyed using Weebly.com as my host site because the site guided me through working on my site. I was able to insert web pages and pictures and I learned how to make sub-pages on a main page. This project has showed me that with Language Arts, it is important to include other extra factors into the teaching. Nowadays, it is not enough to read a story and have students write a sentence about why they liked it--there are so many more meaningful ways to get so much more out of the activities that you do in your classroom! Have your students EXPLORE the authors by making websites or slideshows or scrapblogs. This way the student will be more engaged and will actually LEARN from their own projects, and expand their technological literacy.
To provide "effective literacy instruction" means different things. First off, you have to be aware of the types of learners in your classroom--this means having options. There must be multiple options for your students to choose from in order to engage their thinking and give all the learners a fair opportunity in the classroom. Using a Weebly made me realize that if I had more assignments/projects assigned that I was allowed to make a website INSTEAD of writing a 3-5 page paper on, I would learn a lot more and not DREAD doing the assignment. Yes, school is for learning, but I believe that the best learning is done when you are engaged in MORE than just the information-- you are engaged in the assignment as a WHOLE.
If my first graders were going to be using my technology, which I don't think they really would since they are in first grade, I think that they would have to first become more computer literate. They have had experience in the computer lab, but just with playing computer games and not really navigating the web. They would have to be aware of the different components of a webpage before making one. They would also have to be very patient in listening and viewing of examples done by the teacher in order to be able to do it themselves. I don't think it would be beneficial to have first graders making webpages because I think their focus should be on reading and writing at this level and becoming comfortable at a computer in general.

LESSON PLAN

Target Area: Adding Pictures

Rationale: This area is needed to use this technology because it will increase the appearance of the website and give the student more familiarity with using search engines for images.

Objectives:
Students will be able to add a picture box on their webpage.
Students will be able to use a search engine to find an image corresponding to their website topic.
Students will be able to insert the picture into the website.

Materials: Computers

Outline of Key Events:

The students will have been working on their webpage for some time now and the information regarding their topic will be on the page. Now they are at the point of adding pictures.
Students will observe teacher modeling how to search through a search engine for images regarding topic.
Class will follow steps as a whole towards finding their first image.
After first image is found, students will continue to search on their own while being supervised by teacher.
Students will try to find at least 4 images to put on their website.

Closing Summary: Teacher will explain to students that the appearance makes their website more attractive to viewers and also helps to show examples. Give the example of trying to read a book with no pictures!

Ongoing Assessment: Students will continue to use website-making for other assignments. As they progress through the year, their websites should become more complex and also be completed faster.

My learning from New Literacies....

When I first went into this project, I had full intentions of creating a project on emotional literacy using a comic. As I explored the comic path, I realized that it would be very difficult to convey emotions through this technology. What good would a project on emotion be if you couldn't even show or tell about the emotions? This is when I realized that a scrap blog may be a better route. I started to explore this technology and found that you could definitely convey feelings with colors, "stickers", pictures, different fonts, backgrounds and music. I decided right away that this would be the path I would take for this particular project and I have yet to regret that decision. The more I learned about emotional literacy, the more I realized that this entailed more than understanding what emotions are but also focused on learning how to share and communicate them properly. I found it easy to share what this meant by including pictures that showed different emotions and word bubbles with these people communicating their feelings. Even though this would have been possible with a comic, I found it much easier to include this aspect as well as the informational report on emotional literacy in a scrap blog. I was able to include text boxes with straight information as well as pictures and captions to example this information. I also added music as a last minute thing. I originally did not realize you could add music to a scrap blog but the more I explored it, the more I found it necessary. The program supplied it's own music and I was able to find an appropriate song that gave the project an uplifting feel. I wanted the music uplifting because the more I researched emotional literacy, the more I found it to be something that is sometimes pushed to the side but is absolutely necessary. I wanted the music to be inspirational and happy in order to give emotional literacy a good, positive feeling.
I really enjoyed researching emotional literacy. I had originally picked it because I thought that it had potential to be interesting and I felt that emotions are probably pretty important with children. I found that this was not only true, but it went above and beyond what I thought. The more I researched emotional literacy, the more I came across the benefits of teaching it. This made me want to become more involved in the subject because it has so many positive aspects to it, yet it is so new that it desperately needs publicity. That is why I included the FEEL group. This organizations sole purpose is to get the word of emotional literacy out into the public and gain support from the government. If you have not heard of it yet, I highly recommend checking them out at www.feel.org.

New Literacies Project Notes

New Literacy: Emotional Literacy

-Must be able to identify and communication emotions in order to be able to identify your individual emotional needs.
-We communicate the degree at which our needs are being met through intensity modifiers to our emotions.
-People often miscommunicate their feelings to blend in or accomodate themselves into the norm or what is socially acceptable.
-There are many ways in which we go about miscommunicating our feelings. (Exaggeration, minimization, overuse, etc)
-90% of communication is nonverbal. This also stands true for communication of emotions through various forms of body language.
-'You' and 'I' messages- different forms of expressing emotions through messages. You messages typically break down effective communication between to people through accusatory you messages.
-Emotional Literacy- ability to recognize, understand, and appropriately express our emotions.
-Emotional literacy can be linked to social literacy and development in children.

New Technology; Scrapblog
- I am not enjoying working with the scrapblog! I feel very unfamiliar with it and it does not seem an adequate learning tool but more appropriate in online scrap booking. I am not sure how to incorporate it into this project and was possibly thinking of creating a wiki instead?

Emotional Literacy with an iMovie

Well, it looks like Erin and I found some of the same resources. :)

New Literacy

1. Emotional literacy is the ability to precisely identify and communicate feelings.
2. Helps students control their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
3. The expression "I feel..." is the correct format for directly communicating in emotional literacy. Phrases like "I feel like..." are indirect.
4. "I" vs. "You" messages: a "you" message is something that sounds like "I feel like you..." or "When you do that I..." These often cause the other person to become defensive because it is blaming them. "I" messages are like in #3, "I feel..."
5. Nonverbal emotional communication: facial expression, gestures, attitude, body language
6. Speaking in emotional literacy causes people to use expression in the correct manner. Listening involves people understanding someone else's feelings, expressions, etc.
7. Although not explicitly in the curriculum, I believe that classroom rules, norms, etc. do enforce emotional literacy. These ideals cause students to learn how to act in the classroom setting, how to communicate problems, etc.

New Technology

1. I am viewing in a different way when using iMovie because I have to look at my work through an outside perspective to see if I am getting a point across in a meaningful way.
2. It has been a bit difficult to figure out all of the tricks to the program.
3. It is a very fun program, but it very time consuming. You have to be very precise with you placement of pictures, clips, music, etc.
4. I couldn't teach this program to my first graders, it is way too complex.
5. I really like figuring out technological things for myself, so it has been fun to play around with the program. I like the challenge because when I figure out new things with this program I get really excited to try and use the program to its fullest.

New Literacy Exploration Notes

Emotional Literacy told through Scrapblog

New Literacy
1. Especially important while online because we cannot convey emotions as well through typing or print, but yet with Instant Messaging or blogging, it is easy to feel more susceptible.
2. Emotional literacy includes how empathetic or emotional you will be or can be towards others
3. I found a definition that believes emotional literacy is the ability to express your feelings in three word sentences usually using the phrase, “I feel”. I’m wondering if you would be fluent in this literacy when you master this ability.
4. There are different types of messages that you can send when talking about feelings. There are I messages and you messages. I still have to research and find exactly how they differ and what the importance is of them.
5. Apparently not many of us are skilled at sharing our feelings because we often say things with “I feel like”. This is a form of indirect communication.
6. Teaching and focusing on emotional literacy can be especially helpful for students with special needs.

New Technology
1. Will be using www.scrapblog.com
2. It seems as though pictures will be especially important in this type of project which should be good since I am working with emotions, and they can be conveyed well through visuals.
3. There are previously created themes that you can choose from if you like, but I find them kind of hindering in the creativity sector, even though you are able to move the elements around.
4. It seems easy to import sources such as pictures from outside sources, including photobucket and blogger. It also seems easy to post your scrapblog on these outside sources.
5. As I started importing some pictures, I found that it will not import GIF. Images. It comes up blank rather than with the picture.

Vocabulary Mini Lesson

Topic: Vocabulary
Literature: The Watson’s Go To Birmingham-1963
Grade Level: 4th
Time: Ongoing vocabulary instruction throughout novel

Introduction:
Upon beginning this book, I will provide the students with a list of about twenty vocabulary words the students will come across throughout the book. Before beginning the novel, I will have the students write down their own definitions for the words provided and hang on to them for future use. As we work through the novel, the students should make note of when they come across a vocabulary word (I will provide page numbers for each word to help). When the student comes across a flagged vocab word, I will have them write a new or altered definition of the word based on contextual clues. After finishing each chapter, the students will be expected to research definitions using either the internet or dictionaries depending on resources. The students will keep running lists of their initial definitions, their contextual definitions, and then the dictionary definitions until the novel is finished.

Assessment/Activity:
An activity or assessment tool following the conclusion of the novel would be to play a few rounds of vocabulary bingo. I will make the bingo charts using the definitions of the words. When the definitions are read, the students must accurately identify the word in order to place a chip on it. This is a fun alternative to a vocabulary test to check for the student’s comprehension.

Vocabulary Words Used:

hostile pg. 37
intimidate pg. 39
emulate pg. 39
welfare pg. 100
peon pg. 101
pinnacle pg. 131
Walter Cronkite pg. 141
maestro pg. 146
Lawrence Welk Show pg. 159
eavesdropped pg. 161
seniority pg. 170
whirlpool pg. 210
raising cain pg. 235
Narcissus (from Nar-sissy) pg. 28

Mini Lesson on Vocabulary

Mini Lesson on Vocabulary Development
Grade Level: 3rd of 4th
Time: Entire Novel

Lesson: My lesson would kind of be an on-going theme throughout the reading of the novel. Prior to the novel I would have words listed on the side of the board that we would come across while reading. I would explain to the students that once they come across the word while reading, they should look it up and define it on their book marks so that they can have it in front of them while reading in case the word comes up again in the book. I would notify students of the words the would come across before hand for the assigned readings so they would know which ones to be aware of. After reading the assigned reading for that homework, we would discuss the words as a group to ensure understanding, and have a class definition on the board as well.

Assessment: For an assessment, at the end of the novel, and after the students are familiar with the new vocabulary words, I may have an assignment to use the words in their own creative sentences pertaining to the book or the time period.

Some of the vocabulary words would be:

civilized
Copenhagen
halte
Danish
contempt
soldier
German
Nazi
sabotage
Resistance fighters
Star of David
bravery

Mini Fluency Lesson

"The Watson's Go to Birmingham-1963"
Grade: 4th or 5th
Topic: Fluency- Prosody and Phonic Analysis

Introduction: Before beginning this specific lesson involving fluency, I would expect the class to have finished reading the entire novel. I would use the novel to connect lessons on social studies and the social issues involved in the novel to tie into language arts, and specifically fluency. I hope to use this lesson as an expansion upon such social studies lesson surrounding social issues of race, ethnicity, and culture by incorporating the phonics used throughout the novel.

For this fluency lesson, I will ask the students to take a deeper look at the dialogue found throughout the book. The students will be expected to perform a sort of choral reading as a group in front of the class. I will ask the students to choose a specific passage from anywhere in the novel that includes dialogue. The students, in small groups of two or three, will read the passage in front of the class evoke the emotions portrayed in that specific passage. The focus of their reading is to portray the emotions and meaning behind the short passage chosen. I will model a few passages to the students before having them begin their work with their groups. The passages I will model:
1. "Daniel Watson, what're we gonna do?" Momma went nuts. "You gotta get this boy to the hospital! My baby is gonna die!"
Dad tried to look serious real quick.
"Wilona, how far do you think I'd get driving down the street with this little clown attached to the mirror? What am I supposed to do, have him run beside the car all they down to the emergency room?" (p. 17)
2. I held my breath. If I found out we were on welfare I was going to really have to get ready to be teased.
"No. We're not on welfare."
"I can't believe it. You really gonna start serving welfare food in this house? You really gonna make me go embarrass myself by signing a welfare list for some groceries like a blanged peon?"

After reading the class the two examples, I will remind the student's that to properly capture the emotion and dialogue expressed in their chosen passages, they may need to reread or skim the text both before and after their selected passage.

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to encourage the student's fluency development and comfort levels by having the students interpret the passages as a group and read them accordingly in front of the class. They will need to skim the text to choose a passage and reread the text surrounding the text to put the passage and the dialogue into context.

"The Watson's Go to Birmingham- 1963" Vocabulary Minilesson

Mini-lesson
Topic: “The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963” for teaching vocabulary
Grade: 3rd or 4th
Time: Three half-hour periods

Introduction
Before the children read the book “The Watson’s Go to Birmingham—1963” by Christopher Paul Curtis we will work on key terms that are important in the book. After reading the words together, I will tell the students that the words on the board are some terms that they will come across throughout the book. The terms/words will be, “colored’s only, blizzard, southern, whirlpool, outhouse, Appalachia, trespassing, sonic boom, segregation, prejudice.” I will send the students to their desks with a K-W-L chart to fill out pertaining to the new vocabulary words. I will ask the students to only fill out the K and W part of the chart until after reading the book. For the “what they know”, they will fill in words they believe that they could already use in a sentence, and the “want to learn” part with the rest of the words that they want to learn about.

-Teach
After reading the book, the students will be split into ten groups. Each group will work with one word or term. They will discuss how each term works into the story. They will write down their definition nine different times on cards I have supplied for them. Each group will then exchange their definition with each other group so each group ends up with nine different definitions. They will match these definitions with each term that is written on the board based on what they read in the book.

-Guided Practice
The following day the students will use what they learned from the activity the previous day to complete an activity. Working on their own, they will write a sentence using each term. The sentence must either describe something that happened in the book or something to do with the book.

-Assess Learning
Another day, the students will receive their old K-W-L charts back. They will also receive a blank one. I will ask each student to work alone to fill It out again. This time though, they must write the word as well as a brief definition of the word or term. Hopefully each student will be able to define all ten terms in the “what I know” section.

Abby Siegel
Mini lesson
Topic: Number the Stars (focusing on prosody)
Grade: 4th
Time: 1 hour

Introduction and Lesson:
I would have the students read this book in connection with social studies material. The book will have been completed before this lesson would be taught, so students will be familiar with the book. To begin, I would have the students have a discussion of the characters and share their feelings and emotions about the characters and share if they felt connected/related to any of them. The main activity that the students will be doing is based around fluency, and will also incorporate prosody and speedy reading/skimming. The initial part of the lesson will be for students who volunteer to read a short passage that will be written on the board/overhead aloud to the class. The first time will simply be reading it. Then the student will explain the emotion behind the passage, and read it again accordingly. I will model this by reading a passage myself with emotion. I will do this with 3 different passages. Then I will have the whole class find a passage in the book that they found to be particularly emotion and describe the passage in their own words with thought and emotion. Next, I would ask for more volunteers to share their readings using prosody, and then I would collect their papers.

Passages:

The passage I would read to the class would be:

“Yes. Mama has never lied to me before. Never. But I know there is no Great-aunt Birte. Never once, in all the stories I’ve heard, in all the old pictures I’ve seen, has there been a Great-aunt Birte.” (75)

The passages the volunteers would read would be:

“I was racing with my friend,” she answered politely. “We have races at school every Friday, and I want to do well, so I—.” Her voice trailed away, the sentence unfinished. Don’t talk so much, she told herself. Just answer them, that’s all. (3)

“Mama, it had a swastika on it.” Her mother turned away with a distracted look. “Annemarie, watch your sister for a few moments. And begin to peel the potatoes for dinner. I’ll be right back.” “Where are you going?” Annemarie asked as her mother started for the door. “I want to talk to Mrs. Rosen.” (22)

“Uncle Henrik,” Annemarie said suddenly, her voice cold, “you are lying to me. You and Mama both.” His strong hands continued, deftly pressing like a pulse against the cow. The strady streams of milk still came. He looked at her again, his deep blue eyes kind and questioning. “You are angry,” he said. (75)

Mini-lesson for Watson's Go to Birmingham- 1963

Erin Verona
Mini-lesson
Topic: “The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963” for teaching prosody
Grade: 4th or 5th
Time: One hour period and one 25 minute period

Introduction
The children will have already read the book “The Watson’s Go to Birmingham—1963” by Christopher Paul Curtis. After a short discussion about the likes and dislikes of the book, we will move into the mini-lesson. Since this lesson is based around fluency, the activities will be based around improving reading speed, teaching prosody and reading practice. I will read the passage with emphasis at certain parts and then write the passage on the board phrase by phrase. The passage is “Doors opened in the neighborhood and people came out and looked up in the sky but there was nothing there, not one cloud, nothing to give a clue to what the big hollow sound was, nothing but bright, hot, stupid Alabama sun” (Curtis, 182). It will be written as,
“Doors opened in the neighborhood
And people came out and looked up in the sky
But there was nothing there
Not one cloud
Nothing to give a clue to what the big hollow sound was
Nothing but bright, hot, stupid Alabama sun”
Main Events
-Teach
I will explain the activity to the students first. I will explain that they will be split into groups of 3 or 4 and decide how they will read the passage together. After they have done this, they will pick another passage to do the same thing with. They will then present as a group both their original passage reading and the new passage. It will have been explained in the directions that it is open ended as to whether they will read all together or break up the passages into individual parts. I will then do the activity myself to example. I have chosen, “I walked as slowly and as quietly as I could out of the church. Maybe if I moved quietly he wouldn’t come for me. Maybe if I walked and didn’t look back he’d leave me alone” (Curtis, 185). I chose this example because I want to be sure that they realize a passage can be more than one sentence. After asking if there are any questions, I will split the children into already chosen groups.
-Guided Practice
I will walk around to supervise and answer questions. I will be sure to ask each group what other passage they have chosen to read. I will give them approximately 20-25 minutes to figure out how they want to present. We will then as a class watch the presentations.
Assess Learning
I wanted to do this activity because it definitely teaches prosody by chunking passages into phrases. Since the students will be skimming the book quickly to find an additional passage, they will be working on reading speed. This activity also provides an opportunity to practice reading which is vital to the children’s development of fluency. Two to three days after performing this activity, we will do the assessment. I will take a chapter out of this book and split it into as many passages as there are students in the class. Each student will get one passage. Figuring that the class has their desks or chairs in a circle, they will just read from the first one to the last one. Hopefully each child will read their passage with correct phrasing and fluently. I figure this will take about 15 minutes in addition to an extra 5-10 minutes for comments and questions.

Reading Comprehension

Today's readings really opened my eyes to just how complicated the issue of comprehension is. I have worked with students before with low comprehension levels, and I believe it is a very challenging aspect of reading to teach. In regards to my own reading comprehension, I have never really questioned it until now. I have always loved to read. As a child, I frequently went to the local library with my mom to check out books, and I especially loved reading out in the sun during the summers. I still really enjoy reading, although while in school my personal reading is limited due to time! In my free-reading, I feel that I have never really been challenged with comprehension because I choose what to ready, and what interests me, therefore making it a more comprehendable for me. I cannot recall any issues I had in my early school years with comprehension because overall I did not mind reading. I felt comfortable reading in front of others, therefor I was more confidant and motivated to continue reading. I do remember some instances in middle school where I did not enjoy doing book reports but I believe that was due more to my disinterest than my comprehension. Now, in my college level readings, I sometimes feel less motivated to read because some of the readings, especially in my higher up English classes, are uninteresting to me. While there are quite a few times I find myself struggling with comprehension, I am now a learned reader and can follow steps to deepen my comprehension like rereading, and sometimes extra research.
The Tompkins chapters especially deepened my awareness in considering comprehension from a teacher stand point. Lucky for me, reading was always my strong subject, so I find myself not as concerned with comprehension as I should be at times. The Tompkins chapter 7 highlights the eight strategies surrounding student's comprehension. I was very surprised at just how in-depth one simple reading skill requires students to think! I see many of these strategies applied in my classroom, yet I still feel that because comprehension is such a huge aspect surrounding the student's success, more can be done surrounding comprehension. I look forward to talking about this more thoroughly in class today because comprehension is a topic I feel somewhat nervous to tackle in my own classroom!

My Reading Comprehension

After doing the readings, I find that there a many many details that I haven't considered when it comes to comprehension. It was made clear to me that one of the reasons I don't always get anything out of the readings I do for some of my English classes is because I almost skip every step there is to comprehension. I never set a purpose. I never make predictions. I only shrug and complain that I have to read a play in old English! Maybe if I took the time to look deeper into the readings and start off by acknowledging why I am reading it at all will help set me on a path towards better comprehension.

It is hard for me to remember when I started to dislike reading. Well, it's not that I dislike reading-- but I just would rather do anything else for fun. Make sense? I was never the kid who read books for fun and I have never been the adult who does that either. I simply read because I have to and that's that. From Tompkins, motivation is defined as "intrinsic, the innate curiosity within each of us that makes us want to figure things out." (pg. 234) I can apply this definition of motivation to technology or sports, or other things-- but NOT reading! It is kind of crazy when I really think about it, I have almost zero motivation to read (on my own that is.).

I found it very interesting in Tompkins on page 226: "Involving students in experiences such as field trips, participating in dramatizations, and manipulating artifacts is the best way to build background knowledge..." This idea that we can help build background knowledge for those students that don't have as much as others is new to me. I really like it, though, because it helps to include that student in on many things that they would otherwise not have. In a sense, it is helping to build their cultural capital as well.

Readings for February 24

After reading the Applegate and Carlisle articles, as well as chapters 2 and 7 in “Literacy for the 21st Century,” I have a new understanding of my own comprehension especially. I love to read for fun, but not always necessarily for school. I do feel that some of this is because of the factors that contribute to comprehension. When I choose books out to read for fun, I obviously pick those that appeal to me and my interests. I believe part of this is because of the background knowledge I have on the particular subjects, or I possibly know I will be still be able to enjoy the book even if I don’t know everything about it. I also find myself comprehending novels better because of something I never noticed until now. I tend to predict what I think is going to happen next in the book which keeps my interest. It is said that, “As they make predictions, students often become more interested in reading because it gives them a purpose for reading” (Tompkins, 228). I can often make connections with my own life or my interests with a lot of the books I read for fun as well. With books I am reading for school, I often do not hold the prior knowledge necessary to comprehend as well. I also find myself not always being able to connect to my own life or experiences making it more difficult to understand.
In terms of teaching better comprehension to our students, I feel that teachers can easily influence the student’s ability by providing the right tools. I really like the examples of the inferences charts found on pages 234 and 235 of “Literacy for the 21st Century.” I feel that this not only guides the students, but it gives them purpose and motivation in reading the material, allowing them to look for important factors and comprehending the material better. I do also agree that it is important to show that there is an expectation of comprehension while reading. On page 240, there is a list of ways a teacher can do this. The ones that personally stand out to me as possibly being a bit more useful are, “Provide opportunities for students to talk about the books they read and the compositions they write” and “Involve students in authentic reading and writing activities every day” (Tompkins, 240). Without these two factors, it will prove more difficult for the students to excel. I also think it is important to note Figure 7-5 “Factors Affecting Students’ Motivation” on page 236 of Tompkins. I personally believe that motivation may be the most difficult part with teaching students reading and writing. If the child does not want to succeed, they won’t. I like this chart because it tells us different suggestions for what we can do in order to enhance their motivation.

What Courtney Thinks...

Lupita- in Lupita’s case, I believe one of the main issues in her learning is the issues surrounding her learning environment. Because Lupita is an ELL student, she is already working outside her comfort zone in the elementary classroom. This is clear through her shyness in class, and is promoted by Mrs. Potter’s lack of inclusion of Lupita. It is clear when Lupita is seen helping her classmates put together the puzzle that Lupita is capable of social interaction and explanations of her individual reasoning. When Mrs. Potter does not call on her in class, it seems to only promote Lupita’s lack of sense of community and comfortable learning environment. I believe the first step in encouraging Lupita to become a more active member of the class is to make her feel welcome and included. It is common with ELL students to struggle in their understandings when given merely word explanations. If Mrs. Potter were to incorporate multiple methods of instruction, such as discussions, small group work, manipulatives, and visual/sensory instruction, more students than just Lupita would undoubtedly benefit.

Jonathan- Jonathan poses a seemingly common, yet very challenging student teachers experience in classrooms. It sounds like one of the main reasons behind Jonathan’s lack of interest in reading at school is a lack of motivation. He is clearly successful in areas of personal interest to him, so Mrs. Potter’s challenge will be motivating Jonathan to read. One thing I have learned in my field placements is that motivating a student whom is already reading at a lower level than expected is extremely difficult. Mrs. Potter should encourage Jonathan to read books of interest to him before forcing him to read books he may not be interested in. Many schools and libraries offer reading programs throughout the school year and summer with incentives to reading a certain number of books or hours. Encouraging Jonathan to participate in such programs would allow him the freedom to read books of choice while he practices his reading skills.

Eddie- While Eddie may possess social skills within the classroom; it appears he lacks the attention and/or motivation to complete his coursework. The article Quick and Easy Adaptations and Accommodations for Early Childhood Students offers quite a few ways in which students with various special needs may benefit from. Some ways in which to involve students whom have a hard time focusing their attention for an amount of time is to provide plenty of visual support throughout the classroom. This clearly worked in Eddie’s case with the tadpoles, yet then he struggled to focus on Mrs. Potter’s questions. Allowing students to work with manipulatives, or smaller versions of the teacher’s resources used during carpet time, may allow for the students to explore their learning for themselves. If Mrs. Potter allowed Eddie enough time to explore the tadpoles behavior in the jar before beginning her explanations, Eddie may have been more actively engaged in learning more about the tadpoles.

Here's what I think...

Lupita: Lupita seems to lack cultural capital when compared to some of her classmates because of her lack of experience with crayons, toys, etc. I think that Mrs. Potter is wrong by rarely calling on Lupita because she lacks academic skills that the other students have. Lupita will only learn if she sees her mistakes and hears the correct answer. I think Lupita would highly benefit from small group work. It would help her to share her ideas and also hear her classmates comments back to her ideas. I also think that some partner work, with which Lupita would be paired with someone with higher academic skills, would also help her. This way, Mrs. Potter can still tend to the class as a whole and Lupita would get some help from a fellow student, while the fellow student would also get an increased understanding from having to explain something. Also, adding some arts and crafts projects to their classwork will help forward Lupita's skills in these seemingly simple areas. I think that Lupita just needs some more exposure to some things that we all take for granted. Since Lupita is good at the puzzles, Mrs. Potter could formulate a few special assignments using puzzles for Lupita to help her understanding in other areas.

Jonathan: I think that Jonathan should be exposed to books or other reading materials that involve his interests--such as baseball or piano. This may encourage his reading and cause him to try a but harder at practicing his reading. He should also be put in a reading group so that he gets specific help based on reading level, and even some individual help during a free-read time or something. Mrs. Potter may even want to speak to his parents and have them practice reading at home more often. As far as asking for help, maybe he is embarrassed that a lot of times he is confused in class. Mrs. Potter should offer the directions for assignments in different ways--orally to the class, written on the board, and again maybe individually to help get him started right away rather then giving him time to sit and do nothing. 

Eddie: Eddie seems to be a very active boy. I would offer to him a lot of hands-on activities to get his work done. Also, since he is behind on his work and seems not to try, a system should be created with him to ensure that his work does get done-- i.e. a chart that shows his work that has been completed which indicates whether or not he can go to recess, or have free time, for example. Or a system of daily notes home to the parents of what homework is for the week to make sure that the parents are actively involve in Eddie's school work and are aware of what he needs to do. 

Eddie's squirminess is probably distracting to other students. It might help to give him one of those stress balls (like the one discussed in Marcus: Gifted and Challenging) instead of having him constantly tapping his pencil on his desk. It will also help to have the class as a whole moving around the classroom so that no one gets too antsy.

What do you think?

Lupita-- I think the most important thing to keep in mind is the idea of being flexible. In “Marcus: Gifted and Challenging” they say, “Try to be aware of times when you can be flexible in how things can be accomplished or when they are accomplished” (Kostelnick, 72). I feel that especially with an ELL student, they might benefit from an extension on work or a different way of completing it. Mrs. Potter also needs to be sure to include Lupita when doing class work or conducting class discussions. Possibly pairing her with other students can help. From her reaction to the other students with the puzzles, it is obvious Lupita is willing to work with others and has strengths in some areas more than others. One idea that I came across that I feel would be especially useful for a student like Lupita is a PECS book. Since she may not be able to voice her needs or confusion, a PECS book would allow her to communicate through visuals. In “Quick and Easy Adaptations and Accommodations for Early Childhood Students,” it is stated that “One research study on PECS demonstrated the efficacy of the PECS protocol with three children with autism, the emergence of speech, and the collateral gains in social-communicative behaviors and concomitant decreases in problem behavior” (Breitfelder, 11). It goes on to explain that students with behavioral problems decrease their behavioral problems because there is less frustration from not being able to communicate. Although Lupita is well behaved, I feel that if Lupita could possibly communicate better when she does not clearly understand something, Mrs. Potter will be more aware of her and her strengths and weaknesses.

Jonathan—While reading about Jonathan, I am reminded a lot of Marcus from the article, “Marcus: Gifted and Challenging”. It seems as though they both have strong assets, but still tend to struggle with different subjects. Obviously Jonathan has a lot of strengths, but in order to achieve just as well academically, I would do a couple of different things. I feel as though since Jonathan is not asking for help, this may be adding to a negative perception of reading he already possesses. In order to work on correcting this, I would suggest what Marcus’s new teacher did. She did not force reading but instead, provided a time in the beginning of the day for the children to choose their own book and read while others became settled. For Marcus, this was a positive time and he quickly began to choose a book on his own. I feel that if Jonathan had a choice as well, and reading was not forced, there may be less pressure and he would be more apt to read on his own. Along with giving choice, I would also use visual support more often. “According to Tissot and Evans (2003) visual supports as photographs, hand-drawn pictures, graphics, or computer-generated icons actually benefit all students especially those who have difficulty reading” (Breitfelder, 3). It will help Jonathan process language better, as well as still take away some of the confusion he is feeling about reading.

Eddie—From my experience and what I read in the articles, I definitely feel that Eddie may have a case of ADHD. Since he has trouble following directions and sitting still, Mrs. Potter could offer more hands-on activities. It will be better for the student if he is up and doing something rather than sitting still struggling to concentrate. I think Eddie would also benefit from a well laid out schedule. According to Breitfelder, “Many students who have issues with behavior need schedules in place so they have a clear beginning and ending to the task at hand” (Breitfelder, 4). This is important because it allows the child to have a sense of how long they’ll be sitting or doing a certain activity. It is also important for Mrs. Potter to have manipulatives to aid in the children’s learning. Rather than sitting with nothing to do, the students could have something to do with the teacher. This is especially important for students like Eddie. If he had something to play with that aided in his learning, I feel he would maintain his attention much longer. Finally, I would assume that a behavior modification chart may help with Eddie. He may not be aware of what exactly kind of behavior is expected of him during school. The chart will allow Eddie to become more aware of what desirable behaviors are rather than negative behavior

Digital Native Or Immigrant?

After taking the online quiz regarding my digital literacy, I find that I am more so in between a digital immigrant and native. I feel that by no means am I an immigrant because I have grown accustomed to modern day technology throughout the years. This is definately most recognizable when I try to teach my mom how to text message! I was able to identify all the words on the quiz except for 'modding' and 'smart mobs' which i had both never heard before and had no idea what they were. In general, I do feel competent regarding my digital abilities of comfort level, however, in taking both this quiz and relating my digital abilities to classmates, I would by no means classify myself as a digital native. I may be competent in technology but I do not feel that I grew up on computers and video games and MTV. Such items were regulated in my household, and much of my childhood was spent with friends using our imagination! It was not until college that I was introduced to both wikis and blogs, and these are both things I do not feel one hundred percent confident in.
I believe that my digital literacy development can be very comparable to some of the issues Tompkins raises in emergent literacy. I do not feel that I would be classified as an emergent digital learner, yet I can see some similarities to when I was. An underlying factor that Tompkins relates emergent literacy learners development to is both practice availabilty of materials to develop reading and writing. I suppose that this is much like how my digital development began. We did not have a computer in our house until I was in middle school, that is when I remember learning to use instant messenger. The availabilty of technology in my house as well as my friends, allowed for more use of materials (computer/IM) to develop my digital literacy. Currently, I would not classify my digital literacy as fluent completely. While I can efficently use the internet, email, messaging, and blogging, I feel I still lack a broader understanding of the cyber-world as a whole.

Native or Immigrant?

I am not quite sure where I would fall on this scale. While I definitely do not think that I am an immigrant, after taking this quiz I am not so sure that I have reached a full digital native status. I think that I am pretty good with technology-- I can usually fix computer problems or figure programs out by myself. However, some of the terms provided by the digital native quiz were unfamiliar to me. I did not know "modding" or "smart mobs" at all. I also could not come up for a definition for "wiki", although I am familiar with what it is-- I just could not describe it. I do have to critique the quiz, however, because I do not think that based on these five terms you can distinguish whether you are an immigrant or a native.

I think that I am definitely passed the emergent stage of my digital literacy. I was probably in this phase when I was six or seven years old--maybe even younger. It is interesting to compare emergent digital literacy and emergent literacy of children because I think that there are many connections to be made. In my field placement I am in a first grade class, so I get to observe a lot of practice with reading and rhyming words and spelling. I also have parents who are emergent in their digital literacy, who call me with questions all the time. I can compare my parents to emergent literacy for children because they are beginners when it comes to technology. My dad would probably be able to define one or two of those quiz words while my mom would probably only get one, if that. My dad has asked me hundreds of questions about his cell phone, my cell phone, the internet, the computer, his laptop, etc. He is a new learner, just like my students are to their reading and writing. It is funny because when my dad asks me questions that seem so simple, I laugh with frustration and get annoyed very easily. One time I was teaching him how to post something on eBay and he told me to be patient with him. Then he laughed and joked about me being a teacher because i had zero patience to help him. After he made the joke I realized that he really just is unfamiliar with the technology and is trying to learn for himself instead of me just doing it for him. This directly relates to my students in my field placement, because they will ask me to spell a word and I will ask them to sound it out instead of just providing the answer. With my dad, I talk him through the steps while he does it for himself.

Digital Native or Immigrant-- Erin

After reading the article and taking the quiz provided by the SDSU Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, I would definitely consider myself to be a digital immigrant. Through the quiz, I only came across three terms which I was familiar with, two of which I was introduced in college. I knew what a blog, wiki and IM were,but I have never even heard of "modding", "smart mobs" or "massive multiplayer on-line games". I only know what a blog is because I have used them in classes recently, and the same with the wiki. I am making an effort to learn about new technology and I do feel as though I am a little past "emergent". If we are to compare the steps of literacy learning to the steps of achieving a digital native status, I would say I am well on my way to the "beginning" stage. It's funny to compare the literacy stages with technology because I feel that they are completely parallel. I do believe there could be three stages in technology immigration. There would be the first one where you are introduced to technology. You find out the basics just as you do in the emergent stage of literacy. For instance, just as you start to notice environmental print and begin to take interest in reading and writing, you would start to notice the different kinds of technology around and begin to take an interest in how they work and what they are used for. For the beginning stage of literacy children start to develop the ability to read by decoding sounds and they can slowly learn to read and write different words at different levels. As we learn about technology, we can begin to teach ourselves because of our prior knowledge we have already obtained. It as if we are "sounding out" because we are taking what we know to make new conclusions. I feel as though I am in this stage because I do believe I know the basics of technology, and I use what I already know to make assumptions about new technology. The final stage of technology, when one can be deemed a "digital native" would be the equivalent of a student reaching the fluent level of literacy. In literacy the child can read and write fluently. They can often read and write independently and make connections across print and reality. I feel that this ties in perfectly in with technology. I believe when you have a good understanding and achieve the level of a digital native, you can make connections between technology and reality as well as different types of technology. I feel that the interest in reading and writing grows as students rise through the levels just as peoples interest in technology rises as they begin to understand it better. It is also important to make technology available and interesting in order to receive more interest in it. Like Tompkins describes, it is important to expose students to all the different ways reading and writing are important and can be used. Although I currently consider myself to be a "beginner", I believe that one day I will achieve the "fluent" level in technology.

Listening to our classmates perform their own choral readings was an interesting new take on the subject. I was very surprised at the many ways one class came up with performing these choral readings. Some choose upbeat and cheery rhyming readings, to quirky partner readings. As my group planned our choral reading, we engaged in the GLCE Speaking (Discourse) engage in interactive, extended discourse to socially construct meaning as well as the Plan and deliver an informal presentation GLCE. As a group, we discussed possibilities of ways in which we could perform our reading focusing on the conventions which then incorporated the speaking GLCES use tone of voice and pace of speaking to enhance meaning and influence interpretation when presenting, as well as use enunciation and stress to emphasize key ideas and concepts when presenting. My group, specifically, used a variation of tone, pace and stressing certain words to add to our choral reading. The listening and viewing GLECs were also effective as the class listened to each other’s choral reading and engaged listening.
This choral reading activity, as well as comparing the GLCEs that apply, opened my eyes to the small ways in which I, as a teacher, can implement fun and simple literacy development into my classroom. When we did the activity in class, I did not consider what such an activity would be like for elementary school children. But now placing myself in the role of a teacher, I understand the ways that such readings can benefit all you students. Allowing the children to work in small groups offers the students more opportunities to share their thoughts and understandings. The students will work together in developing literacy regarding the specific readings.
As a future teacher, I hope to incorporate as much classroom talk and even choral readings into my classroom as possible. Literacy is a very important aspect of learning all subject area, so it is crucial to maximize the students understandings. Allowing children more time to work cooperatively as a group promotes a comfortable learning environment in which all student’s opinions are valued equally.

My Choral Reading Activity Experience!

Before this class, I had never done a choral reading in the way that we did with the poem "All the Colors of the Race", so this activity was rather new to me. The class was split up into two groups and each had to decide how each line would be read aloud (alternating lines between the two groups).

 I think that this activity touched on a few of the GLCEs. First, this activity included "Students will use enunciation and stress to emphasize key ideas and concepts when presenting" which is under Speaking (Convention). Each group would say the lines differently, and try to use enunciation and stress to show the emotion behind the lines of the poem. This would also classify for the other GLCE under this category, which is "students will use tone of voice and pace of speaking to enhance meaning and influence interpretation when presenting". To our class, we thought the poem was a bit sad, so we used somewhat of a somber tone to exhibit these emotions.

Each group had to decide as a whole how the lines would be spoken. A couple of people would give out differing ideas, and then as a group we would decide which would work best based on how we interpreted the poem. This idea reflects the GLCE under Speaking (Discourse), which is "students will engage in interactive, extended discourse to socially construct meaning". 

Lastly, each group had to present their lines together for a final product. This would fall under the Speaking (Discourse) for the GLCE, "students will plan and deliver and informal presentation".

I definitely felt supported in our learning community. I think when students are given the opportunity to have a discussion amongst themselves and question each other, etc., they really open up and feel more relaxed than if the teacher was using the I-R-E approach. This is described by Janice Almasi in "A New View of Discussion". It states, "Students tend to participate differently in discussions than in recitations. In a discussion, students will assume a multitude of roles..." (Almasi, 7) In the "discussion" environment, the student is the inquisitor, facilitator, respondent, evaluator, everything. This gives students the opportunity to just talk to one another, in a non-threatening way, without worrying if they answer a question right for the teacher. That's why when we did the poems, I felt very comfortable because I was able to discuss my ideas and feelings without being graded.

My personal reflections on my learning help me think towards my role as a teacher because I notice which activities I actively participate in and which ones I do not. I really like doing the hands on group activities because they are fun and educational at the same time, as opposed to sitting and listening to lecture, which is when I usually lose touch with what is going on because I lose my focus. My learning has changed dramatically through my TE 401 and now 402 class because I was asked to ACTIVELY learn, and not just take notes. Those activities are the ones I remember and the ones I enjoyed participating in. I am going to try to incorporate as much hands on activities and discussions in my classroom because I can see that I participate more through discussion with my peers and activities.

Even though I am in a lower elementary class, I am still going to try to use the idea of discussion in my language arts lesson. I have noticed already that my students love to share their ideas so I hope that it will go over well. 

Participation in Choral Readings-- Erin

In class on January 27, our group, including both Courtney and Abby read a "silly" poem to our class through choral reading. Doing this was fun, entertaining and something that I personally feel began building our classroom community. I felt that the best part of this activity was being able to put together our own choral reading. The GLCE's we covered in class fit perfectly for this activity. We were able to develop in three separate standards among speaking expectations from the eighth grade GLCE's for Language Arts. For instance, S.CN.08.02 Speak effectively using body language including gestures, posture, facial expressions, tone of voice and pace of speaking to enhance meaning and influence interpretation in narrative and informational presentations. For this particular activity, we were forced to work with our individual voice and pace in order to show emphasis at certain parts. It was funny how we practiced in our group so that we reached the right amount of emphasis and the right amount of humor for the poem. Also found in the GLCE that we practiced in this activity is, S.CN.08.01 which states, students will adjust their use of language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes by using enunciation to emphasize key ideas and concepts when presenting. This was extremely evident in the last sentence of our poem when our group was sure to emphasis on the "very, very, very, very, VERY grumbily". We were all able to read one "very" and the last "very" together to really push the point. Also seen in our reading, was the practice of S.DS.09.04 which basically asks the student to deliver an informal presentation. The group and I were able to put this reading together quickly and present it in front of the class with no pressure. It was seen as a fun activity where we were allowed to read however we decided.
When we first did this activity, I saw it as a simple introduction to poetry. The more I dissect it though, I see there was much more than that. It not only met multiple grade level standards, but it also was a hidden form of response-centered talk. In "Response-Centered Talk: Windows on Children's Thinking" Lea M. McGee explains that "... interpretations are the significant understandings that a group of readers negotiates together and commonly agrees upon" (McGee, 197). For our group to come together in agreement over what needed to be emphasized in the poem, we had to have a open-ended discussion about our view of the poem. Through our discussion we were able to agree that some parts needed hesitation while others needed a different tone. I think this activity also helped build community through the steady building of confidence and comfort of us as students. I know that the for me, the loose guidelines allowed me to read in a way that was comfortable for me. Since there was little pressure of being right, I was able to be confident in my reading with my group. I think also working in a small group helped with this. When I am a teacher I will keep these points in mind. Not only can you have rich discussion through guided talks, but also in fun activities. I will also keep in mind that without the open-ended of this activity, there could have been anxiety and pressure when presenting. The informality of this activity is something I would definitely like to carry over in my classroom. I will use a activity similar to this without a doubt in the future.

Classroom Discussions Courtney

For my field placement, I am currently in a kindergarten classroom. There is a lot of classroom talk that appears to occur regularly throughout the course of the day. Much of the talk is done as a whole class rather than small groups because of the students young age. My CT mainly implements the use of response centered talks with some discussion and recitation. The response centered talks seem to be the most effective because it keeps the students actively participating rather than just listening. My CT uses various probing questions about the text or illustrations to engage the children and activate their prior knowledge. I notice in her discussions she typically follows the IC model found in the Goldenberg article, to structure her discussions. She will provide the students with both background knowledge as well as connect the text to previous curriculum so the students can make their own connections. When she leads response based discussions, my CT actively involves as many of the students to keep them focused. A specific example was a math discussion my CT lead last week on shapes. She held an active discussion and involved the children by having them come to the board and point out a specific shape in a picture on at a time.
Throughout the course and into my internship next year, I would like to deepen my experiences with various forms of discussions in the classroom. I sometimes find myself nervous or anxious to teach because I am unsure of what to expect from the students in a discussion. I am especially concerned about keeping all of the students actively involved regardless of their ability level. How do you keep more advanced students involved and the less advanced students able to understand?

Classroom Talk- Abby

I am in a first grade classroom and I get to see a lot of classroom talk. My CT reads aloud to the class almost every time that I am there and they always have a discussion. I don't feel like I have seen much I-R-E in the classroom, which is surprising. Throughout reading, students will raise their hands to give their opinions about the book or make predictions. Also, my CT asks questions throughout to help the students to actively listen and participate. 

I have noticed that there are about four students whose hands seem to always be in the air. One of them in particular, who we will call Jamie, is especially active in classroom talk. She will raise her hand before the question is finished being said, just dying to talk to the teacher. Many times she will say off-topic thoughts but my CT does a very good job of keeping the discussion focused on the correct topic. I also notice my CT looking around waiting for more hands to go up rather than just calling on one of the first couple hands. I think that is a good way to allow time for the shyer students to get their thoughts together and be prepared to share.

I really liked the first article we read, "A New View of Discussion" by Janice Almasi. I enjoyed reading the dialogue provided for examples real discussion rather than the recitation style Q&A talk.

I think scaffolding is definitely needed for response-centered talk. If students only talk about what they liked or didn't like about a story, then no meaningful comprehension/interpretation will take place. This is when the scaffolding comes in. The teacher's role is to facilitate discussion, but not overpower it. So if the discussion isn't evolving into what it should, the teacher can throw out a question or idea for the students to think about and re-focus their discussion. In my classroom, there are some students who almost never participate. These students sometimes just need to feel more comfortable in their environment. because when they are asked to answer without raising their hands, they usually have a response right away, it just seems they don't want to share. So maybe these students would do better in smaller groups.

Classroom Talk- Erin

Being in a kindergarten class, I see very little small group talk but rather large group talks with the whole class. I would say that I observe more response-centered talks rather than discussion or recitation. I believe that our CT may use recitation more for assessing which we do not see very often. I have used recitation though when interviewing the students in order to learn about their prior knowledge for a science lesson. In order to do this I would scaffold through using specific language. When asking about summer weather, I was sure to use the word "temperature" in order to help the children think in the right terms. I feel that the way I used recitation was that of the I-R-E process McGee talks about in "Response-Centered Talk: Windows on Children's Thinking". I asked a particular question, listened to their response and then evaluated their understanding on the subject. In terms of our CT talking with the students though, there is definitely more response-centered talk. When McGee talks about this approach, she explains that the teacher asks a question or multiple questions in order to initiate a well thought, rich discussion. Usually when my CT asks a question, I may think she is looking for a particular answer but she is in fact initiating discussion on the topic. For instance, when they were reading a book about thunderstorms, she asked if any of the children had seen a thunderstorm or been in a really scary thunderstorm. At first, I figured this was just a way of getting the children involved but as the discussion went on, I realized they were sharing their ideas with each other. Our CT was able to relate their stories to others and the book in order to help the children come to a new understanding of what thunderstorms are and what they are capable of. I did notice our teacher was able to include those students that are usually shy. She made an effort to stay quiet and just absorb what each child was saying. As for scaffolding, I feel that I saw this throughout the entire discussion. When a child would either get off subject or forget what their story was, our CT was sure to bring them back or reguide them with her questions. She was able to let the students talk with each other without much interference, but at the same time was able to slightly guide their conversation in order to get the most out of their answers. Being kindergartners, the students sometime exaggerate stories. In these cases, the teacher usually interrupts with either a new question or asks for a different story. Sometimes I feel like this could hurt the child's feelings but it has never really seemed to effect the child. I would like to know a new way to scaffold the students in order to reguide a conversation if it does get off topic though. Throughout this next semester or even into my internship year I hope I will be able to observe this. I also hope to observe more discussion and possibly more recitation used for something other than assessment.

Looking Across Your Postings

Dear Abby, Courtney and Erin,
I see a prominent theme of community across your three postings and it seems that being inclusive of a variety of learners is also important to all of you. It's great to see that you have concrete goals for your classroom. As the semester progresses I would like to see you bring more of the readings into your discussion so that you are specifically considering the ideas and suggestions given. Do the seem plausible? feasible? Do they seem like the types of ideas you would want to implement and are they consistent with your own goals? The same will be true as you spend more time in your classroom--where, when, how are you seeing ideas we read about enacted in your classroom, and if not, do you have ideas about how they could be? Making connections like this will deepen your understanding of the readings and help you apply them to 'real life'. Cheryl

Courtney-My Ideal Classroom

My Ideal Classroom
The main priority in forming my ideal classroom would be the classroom’s community along with motivation. In order to best educate your students, I believe that as teachers we must provide the appropriate environment and community. The learning environment is key to the student’s comfort level not only as far as the curriculum goes, but also in forming relationships with other students as well. As far as creating a classroom community, the key point would be to include all aspects of the children’s lives from home to school. It is important to consider and take into account a child’s home life when creating a comfortable learning community for each one of your students. Including the parents in their child’s education is vital to the child’s success in school. If a student receives support from at home from parents and even siblings, they have much more opportunities for success. As Joellen Maples suggests in her article, even going as far as to assigning family homework or homework for the parents can be effective in connecting the students home and school communities. My ideal classroom would also expand upon the notion of community as just the environment of the classroom to the aura of it as well. My classroom will be full of encouragement and motivation both at the intrinsic and extrinsic levels to complete the feeling of unity among the students and myself.
I hope to take away from this course a deeper understanding as to ways to incorporate all aspects of language arts in my classroom. I look forward to a deeper insight into the methods and ways to teach language arts beyond the standard reading books and worksheets. One of my favorite features of language arts is how it incorporates into all other subject areas. I look forward to extending my understandings of ways to expand on these notions.

My Ideal Classroom (Abby)

My ideal classroom consists of a few different aspects: community, opportunity, and open-mindedness. To start, a successful and ideal classroom must have a strong sense of community that includes ALL students, regardless of ability, race, or culture. Students should feel safe, physically and emotionally, in their classroom environment, which is constructed by their peers and their teacher. The students must feel comfortable in asking questions or sharing ideas without the fear of being made fun of or being shot down by their teacher. The community should also be constructed by including and acknowledging everyone's differences and giving appreciation for each other. Next, is opportunity. In my ideal classroom, students will be given ample opportunities to get the help they need to succeed. I hope to offer many different ways to give help to students and also offer many ways to succeed, such as differing assessments, projects, etc. Lastly, open-mindedness is important to my ideal classroom. This is because I, as a leader and role model to students, need to portray a sense of open-mindedness in order to show students that it is okay and welcome in my classroom. Everyone is different and will bring different cultural aspects with them that will all come together to create our community. 

In this class, I hope to learn more ways in which language arts can be used other than the typical grammar worksheets and book reports. Although I really enjoyed this when I was young, I know that this was not a successful route for all students' learning. I think I need to be shown these different strategies in order to better teach students in the future. In the field, I hope to observe these different strategies as well. I also want to observe how my CT addresses ELL students and how she helps them keep up and learn the same information. Although in many TE classes ELLs are discussed, I am not very familiar with techniques as to address these students' special needs.

My Ideal Classroom

My ideal classroom is based solely around the idea of community. I believe that a classroom with a tight community outlook allows children to feel more comfortable in not only expressing themselves, but in learning as well. I think this is true for ESL learners as well. These children feel sometimes as being isolated from the rest of the group, but if the class is more of a whole, it gives them the chance to be more involved and learn. I would also want these children to be comfortable with me. In my ideal classroom, I would be able to understand all of the student's different cultures and backgrounds. I liked the idea Joellen Maples discussed in her article. I think giving parents their own homework will not only allow you to learn more about the children, but also give them the idea that you expect them to be involved. In my ideal classroom everyone, including me, will assess themselves often. It will help us all realize better what we need more work in. The students can share these thoughts in personal notebooks in order for me to understand how and what they are thinking. Included in their responses would also be the subjects they feel strong in. In my ideal classroom, the students will have great confidence in themselves and their ability to learn.
I realize that this classroom may seem only possible in a perfect world, but I believe with the right tools and knowledge, I could make it happen. I would like to learn in this class how to help build strong communities within a classroom. I would like to be exposed to different ideas on how to build student's confidence and how to involve parents and ALL students more. I would like to learn about this not only in the classroom but also observe it first hand in the classroom. I also would like to know more about self assessment. How exactly can we assess ourselves fairly? As it is stated in the syllabus I also expect to be taught how to recognize myself as a learner. I feel that this will help in all areas of my ideal classroom.

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