My placement is really stressful for me sometimes. I get things done that I need to for class, but, my CT has me doing a lot of other things. I don't exactly like his teaching methods, but, I understand what he is trying to do. One thing I noticed that he is really good about is reading to the kids everyday. I see a lot of reading happen in my placement, however, it is not viewed as a fun thing. It seems like it is just another part of the school day. If the children finish homework early their reward is going on the computer not free reading. It is not used as a reward. I think this is normal for classrooms though. The writing process is more difficult for the kids. They struggle with putting sentences together, spelling, and making a paragraph. I see most of them attempting to write a paragraph in bullet form. They are still learning to start writing their sentences at the left of the paper and not in the middle. They have to re do their papers until there are no mistakes then they are allowed to make a final draft. For many of them this is really frustrating and they can get really discouraged. When I'm there I try to help them understand their mistakes and make the process less stressful for them. I find writing one of the most challenging things to help with.

Placement

This past week we worked on writing quite extensively. We used a form of writing workshop to finish the rough drafts the students were making about Thanksgiving and what they were thankful for. I am having a difficult time trying to find a good method of teaching writing. Its not that I can not help the students but rather that I don't know when and how to assist them. When they are stuck on ideas how much assistance do I give them? This is just one of the many questions I have about writing in the classroom. I asked my CT about his thoughts on teaching writing and how he approaches the students. He said that this is his weakest area and that many teachers struggle to find a method that works at all levels. This is something I want to learn much more about because I think it is the essential part of success later in life. Being a good writer can open so many doors in life. If you guys have any thoughts or suggestions It would be great to hear about them. 

Another experience I had this week was making a pie in class. We made a pumpkin pie from scratch, minus the baking part right in the classroom. This was a great lesson for the children and gave them opportunities that many of them don't get at home. My center was taking the seeds and skin from the pre-baked pumpkins. It was very good to see a teacher doing a activity that builds positive learning and roles in the classroom.

Hope everyone else's placement is going well. 

writing workshop - Google Videos

Group Presentation

Hey guys! Here is where we can post notes and ideas from the articles for our project. . .

New Literacies Project

I chose to create a scrapblog about my experience teaching through the arts. This is something that I am very passionate about and also, I had pictures from my experience so I thought a scrapblog would be a good technology to apply to this topic.

When I began using this new technology it definitely was an experience with a “new” technology. I very seldom come in contact with technologies that are entirely new to me, so this was interesting to feel the frustration that can be linked with learning to use and understand a new program. I think this was good because it allowed me to understand how these need to be clearly taught to students; they need to be guided through the process so they can have a positive experience using the technology.

When using the scrapblog program, the creator needs to be able to read the words and the symbols on all of the buttons. If they are like me and used the “help” section a lot then this involved reading longer paragraphs and the comprehension of this text determined if you will be able to learn to use the program. There is not any speaking or listening involved in using this technology. Viewing is an important skill because you must be able to view, analyze and figure out what you want to create next.

I am learning how to plan ahead. At first I jumped right into the creation of my scrapblog and I am now finding myself going back and “fixing” and reorganizing everything. If I would have taken time to think about my ideas first then I wouldn’t have to do all of this editing.

If I were introducing this technology to my students I might compare this to a PowerPoint or a paper scrapbook. This would allow me to activate their prior knowledge and we could even compare and contrast the two to see which technologies might be better for different types of projects. I know that this program was quite confusing and frustrating to me at times because it simply wasn’t working and doing what I wanted it to do. I might address this with my students and have us work together in learning how to navigate the program.

I think that this technology tool does not match up to what I may have considered literacy to be prior to using it. However, now that I have I think it can be a powerful tool. Although the scrapblog pages don’t call for many words portraying your ideas and feelings on a certain topic using little words, pictures, colors and designs is a skill in itself. I really enjoyed using this new technology and once I master the program and feel confident with it I think it is a tool that my students can use to make a project with.

More Reflection on My Placement

In my kindergarten placement, I am starting to doubt the effectiveness of my CT's techniques and activities. Although she is a very nice woman and works well with children her activities aren't stimulating or thought provoking. ALL of her activities are cut and paste or coloring worksheets. She has them sit at the carpet and she demonstrates the whole activity, "this is how you do it" then she sends them back to their seats to regurgitate the actions that she just did. Especially since all of these students are the lowest performing kindergarten students in the school, I worry that there is not enough creativity, stimulation, structure, etc.

...It is a constant learning process for me especially since this is my first time in a kindergarten classroom

My Placement.

I really like my placement, I am still not sure about my CT. I think he runs a good classroom and is a good teacher and role model for the students. Especially the boys. We get along good and have formed a good relationship. We are going to start co-teaching some things and I think it will be a great opportunity to get more practice leading discussion and lessons for a classroom. I have started to form great relationships with my students. I know all 27 of their names and have a unique bond with many of them. I truly can say I love what I am doing. At times I have been unsrue about my passion and ability to teach. But this year has made a great impact on me and I have disscovered its my passion along with politics.

Chapter 4

The reading this week in Gibbons regarded the growing problem for second language learners but also the gap in language development in low income urban areas. This is a problem because we ofter know that society coins people who do not speak the "norm" dumb or uneducated. There is a large gap between minority students and their white counterparts. Often we see the language used in their environments to be very different. The model according to Gibbons must be set early on and be consistent through out the year. It stated that instruction should be led though appropriate language that is consistent with cultural norm. He said this is a difficult task for teachers but can be done through corrective speech and explanations that model appropriate terms and vocabulary. The trick is to explain things in words and ideas the students can understand. This is more difficult and means that we need to be careful to fist use the cultural accepted speech then further the explanation in terms that might be more relateable. With my students in the class at Cavanaugh Elementary we see several off them with poor grammer and speeking skills. When kids talk with me I will often say the correct form of speech back in way thats not corrective but allows them to hear the proper form.

Book Club

My book, The Silent Boy, got pretty morbid towards the end. I enjoyed the book but it left me with lots of questions:

1.) Where/ How/ Why did the author write the story?
2.) What did this idea stem from?
3.) Did she develop the characters based on anyone in her own life?
4.) Was Jacob supposed to be autistic? If so, was someone in her life autistic?

I would love to read the authors biography or rationale for this book to see the answers to all of these questions.

My Placement

So far my placement has been pretty sad and frustrating. Still to this day my CT doesn't know my name even though I where a name tag and she signs my sign in sheet. This is pretty frustrating because although she is nice she seems pretty passive and doesn't take an interest in me and on Monday she gave me an activity to get ready and cut out all of the materials while she was in the room. We were in a room together silent for 35 minutes. I have tried in the past to create conversation but it doesn't carry on after I spark conversation and ask questions. I wish she would take more of an interest in my place in her classroom.

Also, as I have talked to many people about she doesn't do much with her kindergartners besides worksheets. She shows them how to do a worksheet and then they go to their seat and do it. There is no creativity, songs, movement, there is not much given to them where they can flourish and use their imaginations. This is a huge concern because all of these students are very low performers, very low, so they need things that they can succeed at and be creative and grow.

Curriculum Cycle Response

This article was not one of my favorite article but I did really enjoy the "Curriculum Cycle" and the recommendations for how to implement/go about each stage. For example to give the students background information or "building knowledge of the topic" by developing a word wall and picture and sentence making and barrier games, or watching a video and giving the students an information grid. I personally can see myself using a word wall because I think it a great tool and also picture and sentence matching because I think that this technique would really help my students. In the "Modeling the text" stage the goal is for the students to understand the overall purpose and structure of the text. I would personally like to use the text reconstruction tool where students where they sequence jumbled sentences into a coherent text. I can see this being a fun activities for the students and also very beneficial to get the students to understand the structure and organization. In the "join construction" stage the teacher will model writing a text so that the students can understand how to write a text but not have the anxiety and feel threatened to do it on their own. At this stage the text recommends that you constantly keep asking questions to make sure the students know what is happening and check their understanding. At the last stage the students write their own texts and can do this in pairs or by themselves. I personally would have them do it on their own since they have had lots of group, class and partner work and I think they are ready at this point to take on the task themselves, and be successful at it!

Serching

I think this article is really important and more so than ever. We constantly hear that we are not supposed to used google. when working in my placement i find kids who are dependent on google which is very easy to use and becoming more understandable every day. We must though work with students to give them the knowledge of good info and searching techniques. In the article it speaks about the 6 skills important to searching. These are very broad and basic ideas but must be understood. Although my second graders do not write research papers, if they begin to understand how to look thinks up on the web they will be much better writers and readings. Some of the same concepts in the article are critical to comprehension of any reading. Students must learn that we look for certain ideas when reading that help us understand an idea of concept. Using concept maps, brainstorm sheets and other things will help students to start thinking about what is relatable to there topic narrowing their search.

SEARCHing for an answer

When reading this article I recognized the students in the beginning as me. I have never been good at searching for information online. Since being in college I have improved immensely. As the article states,

"Students need new reading comprehension skill sets to effectively search for information while engaged in learning opportunities with the Internet and other ICTs."

A thing I always found would happen to me was frustration at not being able to find what I was looking for. in the article they talk about what can happen if students do not have the right skills to search online,

"... information overload can occur creating frustration with the search task and ultimately resulting in students being unsuccessful in locating information."

The six ideas for being successful in searching are;

1. Be specific- Narrow your focus.

2. Be exact- use the words or phrase you hope to find.

3. Be direct- Search for one focus at a time.

4. Be distinct- Don't repeat your focus.

5. Be succinct- Eliminate unnecessary words.

6. Be concise- Select keywords mindfully.

I agree that there needs to be some kind of instruction on how to find appropriate material for projects in school. Schools are on such a tight schedule to teach a lot of information and students do not need to be wasting time trying to search the best they can and not succeed. It will only make students more frustrated and more turned off to learning with technology.

Inquiry Based Learning

Inquiry Based Learning is a technique where the students choose a topic they would like to know more about and they research it. They are able to ask questions do research and put a project together. This can be seen in schools but maybe to a lesser degree. It seems like the students dont have as much decision. I see projects where the students are given topics to choose from. Thhis may be a better way to go.

The factors of Inquiry Based Learning are;

Student curiosity

Making inquiry visible

Importance of topics and questions

Facilitate the process of gathering and presenting information

Technology and Inquiry

These factors are important in ensuring success while using this technique.

Student curiosity is maybe the main role of Inquiry based learning. The students are able to pick their own topics that they are most interested in. This allows the student to maintain interest and not get bored in the subject. It is the teachers job to make inquiry visible. There should be examples of projects and questions available for the students to look at. The topics and questions are a key component. There are three components of the choice of topic that tend to determine the success of the project; interest in the topic, prior knowledge of the topic, and the nature of the topic. These components are a good indicator of how the project will turn out.

Inquiry Based Learning is kind of a new concept for me. It seems that it would be really successful in a classroom, but, I'm kind of skeptical about it. It would have to be really supervised and really controlled and if a student had a hard time with it, it could become a complete disaster.

Search Engines and Students

I had never realized what a complex skill using search engines was. I have been searching for information on the Internet for such a long time that it never even phased me. I was trying to think back to when I was in elementary school using the computers and if I was "taught" what words to use etc in order to get the results I wanted. I am sure that I had to be taught this skill but I can't remember. When I think about technology and my future classroom I honestly get nervous because of all of the garbage that I know is out there and partially accessible. teaching students HOW to use search engines to find information is a lesson in itself to allow them to be able to get the most from the Internet as a learning tool.

I found the bulleted/listed points that students can use to remember to get the results they want to be simple but helpful:

1.) Be specific
2.) Be exact
3.) Be direct
4.) Be distinct
5.) Be succinct
6.) Be Concise

Although these are very simple words this information needs to be conveyed and discussed with students.

As the article discusses searching for information on the Internet requires reading comprehension techniques specifically for the task at hand. Not only do students need to be taught that search engines will give very different results depending on the words used in the search but also once the results are shown students need to have an understanding of how to "sift" through this material to find what they are specifically looking for.

I think concept maps and tools that allow students to write out their ideas on paper are wonderful starting points for projects and papers. These tools allow students of all ages (I even use concept maps) to organize and see their ideas and the task in a different way. I like that the article supplied and discussed virtual organizers like these. These are wonderful tools that I will use in my future classroom. After reading this article it has helped me to understand that as a teacher I need to remember that students need to be taught how to find information on the Internet. This requires many skills and needs to be broken down so that students can really understand and make use of the Internet so that as the article mentioned various times, the student does not walk away from the computer without information simply because they didn't know how to find it.

Inquiry Based Learning

Inquiry based learning is an interesting Idea. I see this in my classroom all the time. Children and adults what to know more than just your typical what where when and why questions. The article spoke about about how our traditional research was and is still based around those questions. But with the age of the internet and new technologies we can begin to learn and research things from many different approaches. 

I have to say though I am not truly impressed by the who concept. I think that I see this idea already implemented and I don't know if elementary and middle school aged children can choose topics that really help them grow as a learner. Im not saying that they aren't cable of learning important things on their own or that learning what they want isn't a good thing for growth as a student and person. Rather I think that we must guide the learning process which in turns means also guiding the subjects students may inquire about. If students choose topics without much depth I would think it would be appropriate to re-direct them and point them down a direction where they can ask questions like how did that happen or what will it be like if? As it said in the article we know that the internet and other technology resources are not always factual that is why we must monitor are students progress when they research their inquires. I could see my self using this in the class room for several reasons. I think right now in my placement if we had the time it would be a great activity for free time away from lesson or even a possible center. Kids what to know things and share it with the world. That is what makes inquire learning so interesting, not that it is new or somewhat different from regular research questions but rather its what the student or person is interested in. 

Owens-Where Do You Want To Go Today?

Interesting Article. "Inquiry Based" learning seems like a great tool to use. I think prior to reading this I may have thought that this is something I could have done and maybe thought of it more as teaching some sort of lesson/unit and allowing students to branch off of whatever subtopic interests them. I think I did this type of "research" all throughout my school career and can distinctly remember most of these experiences simply because I was very interested in what I was researching and it made the experiences that much more enjoyable and memorable.


When the article gave the definition of inquiry based learning the end of the definition said." . . they finally DO something with it (the information) " I think not only allowing the student to pick a subtopic and chose how they may want to present it to the class: in a poem, a PowerPoint, a paper, a collage, etc. also brings the child's interest in that much more. This type of learning allows the anxiety and frustration of many pre-chosen projects to be eliminated. "When children choose a topic of interest, they tend to remain engaged during the length of the study" (407).

I think that most of the times I thought that I was choosing my own topic to study it was usually after our class had studied or been introduced to a certain topic, so essentially we weren't really choosing our topic randomly but as a student I didn't realize this and felt empowered and excited as the opportunity. " . . if children have some prior knowledge related to the topic, their inquiries tend to turn out better than if they are starting from scratch"

I am excited to give my students opportunities for inquiry-based learning and create excitement that keeps them engaged. "Teachers can foster inquiries by sparking interest in topics that students may not have even considered on their own"

This article inspired me to give my students virtual experiences that spark cognitive thought and inspire and evoke curiosity. I really want to explore the various technological tools available to me as a teacher!

Teacher-generated Questions

Teacher generated questions are a comprehension technique that allow students to think about what they are reading and therefore remember more. In the article they are called QAR or question answer relationships. This technique encourages the students to take what they have read in the text they are going through and use it to answer questions that were generated by the teacher. They are then encouraged to answer the questions using the given information. Four main question types are

"Right There answer are found in a single sentence in the text.

Putting It Together or Think and Search answers must be found across the sections.

Author and You answers require the reader to infer the meaning from the text because the answer to the question is not stated explicitly.

On My Own answers rely on the reader's experience and knowledge. "

These types of questions help with student comprehension of what they read. I find this interesting because I feel that it is essential for teachers to ask their students questions that would help them make connections between what they read and what they know in real life. The questions can also help solidify in their minds what they read so that they remember the big ideas well.

Comprehension

This weeks reading on comprehension from Stahl's article was very relevant and interesting in that the comprehension model is not focused enough by primary teachers and is often done in ineffective ways. The strategies he discussed seem to be effective if used and model correctly by the teacher. The one I liked best is when the teacher built upon Question Answer Relationships which in-turn enhances the student achievement with comprehension. I think at every level of education students need to be guided in their comprehension of text and literature alike. It is not that more than one conclusion can be had but rather that we often need help in understanding bigger ideas. This way students get the full effect of an authors intention and have a better understanding of what the text is saying. We want everyone to form their own opinions and ideas behind writing but it is also important that we understand that many need assistance in sometimes getting there. Guided reading is a great place for this concept to take place and questions like what do you think they meant by that or what do you think will happen are great ways to help build our thought process around literature and the meanings expressed in its text. The other concept I found very intriguing was the Reciprocal theory and would love to see more of this in the classroom. We need students to feel responsible for their learning and find success with that responsibility. A great way of achieving this can be done through this model. If you give young learners the concept of discussing their stories they may develop a process that is essential to their future success in both education and in life. Comprehension doesn't just stop at literacy it only begins there. We use this technique to understand one another and learn how to get by in our daily experiences. Primary school can be the base on which we teach this but it requires devotion to the methods and concepts that Stahl has described. Only then we will learn to comprehend. 

Comprehension Instruction in Content Area Classes

I thought that specializing in language arts meant that I had a pretty good understanding of what comprehension was but I was wrong. Comprehension involves so many processes:

" . . .is an active, intentional thinking process through which the reader constructs meaning . . .word level processes like the ability to identify words quickly , accurately, and effortlessly and knowledge of the meanings of words"

A lot is happening as a student is reading and comprehending a text. I found the section about what "expert comprehenders" to be especially interesting. A reader has to bring their prior knowledge into the picture, figure out how to read the text, and after they do things like summarize their reading and clarify their understanding of the information they have just read. After giving it some thought when I read a challenging article, or any text, I do do most of these things without knowing it, my mind does go through various steps unconsciously in order for me to be able to comprehend and critically think about what I have just read.

As a future teacher one of the most important ideas in the text is as follows: "It is important to note that the ability to activate and use strategies . . .does not develop for students simply by providing them with opportunities to read. Instead many students benefit from instruction that explicitly teaches them a few research-supported strategies and then, over time, helps them learn to use such strategies in a flexible, coordinated, and self-regulated fashion" (368).

I never thought about giving a student a text and teaching them strategies for comprehension. The getting ready to read, while I'm reading and when I'm done, and the visual organizer graphics and lists that the author supplied seem like very useful tool in the classroom. I really enjoyed this article because it caused me consider the fact that we as teachers shape "expert comprehenders" and by doing so we give our students one of the most valuable tools for success in their futures.

No Parent left behind

No parent left behind is a interesting article in the sense that we should start there with no child left behind. If there is no relationship between school and home it has often proven very difficult for children and students alike to succeed. In the reading it mentions that most of these parents view education as important and have a fairly good impression of the public school. It becomes negative when they are written off or given adequate resources. A great line in the article was this, " .. educators must identify a way to create "effective partnerships " with parents that match the REALITY of many households." I bold the reality for the simple reason that in many low income homes reality there is more illiterate and less resource for teachers to rely on. We have to know that many children come to school with less than most of there wealthier piers. Even in many suburban schools kids still get the amount of literacy experiences we would like them to have. I believe it was do not just last week that we talked about the number of hours that children need before they come to school. For intense in the questions that parents answered they thought that the school shared the responsibility of reading and sharing stories with children. This may be true to a certain extent but unfortunately we need parents to read everyday to young people and in some format demonstrate that reading is fun and exciting. A great way to do this is having children read to there parents and family.

Opening Quality Lines of Communication

In the article Opening Quality Lines of Communication, a teacher tries to establish communication with his student's parents in the beginning of the school year. Assigning homework to the parents is a very creative way to become closer to students as well as the parents. It can be difficult to be in touch with parents especially in an Urban setting. This article argues that the more parents you, as a teacher, can be in contact with the better off your students will be.

When reading Marcus- Gifted and Challenging I realized I had never really thought about a gifted child being both gifted and challenging. It shows a case study where a boy named Marcus learns quickly and is considered gifted. Before reading this I never thought about the challenges gifted children face. They all have different areas they are good or bad at. Each child is different. I found it interesting that he was so frustrated with school as a whole just because he didn't like writing and had a hard time staying still. Because of these two difficulties he began to dislike things he had enjoyed before such as reading.

It also seemed that his brain developed quicker than his body. This was another thing I had never considered. According to the article, "The bones of the young child's wrist do not finish calcifying and children do not gain very much dexterity in their hands until about 7 years of age." Marcus had ideas that he was unable to put down on paper perfectly as he wanted. His motor skills were not perfected yet to the extent he needed them to be in order to keep up with his brain.

As teachers, we need to be aware of gifted students allowing them to grow at their own pace while trying to help with their frustrations. Having a child, gifted or not, shut down from frustration is never ideal. It is up to the teacher and parents to help as much as possible.

No Parent Left Behind

This article made me rethink my thinking about parents and school. I initially held some of the ignorant and negative thoughts about parents not being involved because I know, as the article supported, that students who have parents that are not involved and reading with them at home, etc. suffer. As embarrassed as I am I thought these parents were lazy or didn't care to help their children at home. In reality the problem can be explained more logically that parents are, "so busy with the day-to-day responsibilities if feeding, housing, loving and caring for their children that they have little time to support school-related literacy activities at home. They believe they are supporting their children's educational development and fulfilling that parental responsibility by sending them to school. where effective teaching can instruct them in literacy." I feel that because I have never had experience in a very urban low income school I was never able to get enough real life experience and interaction with parents who are struggling to, as the article describes, simply feed and house their children. It is not that they choose not to help them with school work etc. at home it is more that they are too busy to or they feel that they are not intelligent enough to. I found the article very eye opening. When the article discusses banishing resentment towards uninvolved parents I found this to be very true. One of the struggles that teachers in impoverished schools face is creating "effective partnerships with parents that match the REALITY of their households" The word reality encompasses a lot of meaning and changed my viewpoint and made me feel ignorant and judgemental for my past feelings.



I found the way in which the authors and researchers had, in essence hunt down and contact some "invisible" parents through community members very interesting. They had to make themselves accessible to the families and parents and be careful not to disrupt their busy and stressful lives too much by coming right to their homes or the schools to interview the parents.



When the one parents was quoted saying," She talk more better than me. More talk. Why you wanna do that? She need to read" Although I am tempted to feel angered at this response when thinking about how the child of this parent may suffer because of her involvement or lack of understanding I am able to be more understanding that she doesn't know she is harming her child's growth by thinking she only needs to read not talk, she simply doesn't know. She can't be blamed for not knowing.



The following quote makes me empathetic and face the facts of the "reality" that these families face. "with nine kids and two adults livin together in a house with two bedrooms, we don't have space or time for all the kids to homework." This makes me sad but I know that this real and families all over the county and most likely in the schools that we are at have similar home situations occurring. As teachers we need to be understanding and strive to solve this problem although I don't know exactly how because the chapter ended without posing any real suggestions for teachers. . .I guess the point of the chapter was more so to present data and change the thinking of the readers.

Scaffolding in the classroom

I have only had on experience in the classroom so far. But the first thing they do in the morning is listen to two or three students talk about a story they wrote themselves. After reading what they wrote the other students are able to ask questions and comment on the story. This is great way to build language skills and interaction between students. It helps socially behind students get a great opportunity to express themselves and be forced to practice there speaking and communicating skills. The most important part is that the teacher is able to guide positive feedback from student setting the rules ahead of time about what type of questions and comments can be asked. This is just one way that we can build students vocabulary and ability to socially interact.

Chapter 3, Gibbons

In chapter 3 we read about how certain text represent certain linguistic features. Then it went on to go over four stages. The first stage was about doing the experiment. Having students perform a science experiment and then having them discuss the methods they used and result is a great way to help language develop for many students. It gives some students opportunities that they would not have had without the group interaction. The next step was to introduce new vocabulary and i thought this was a great way to keep kids interested and at the same time continue to build their language skills. Having a deep vocabulary is great and when people learn new words they love to tell others about it. Its a great way to help build interest in education and good language skills. The third stage is guided reporting, this is like any guided lesson the teacher is working with the students to help demonstrate the proper language and ideas behind what they are learning. Its important for the teacher to model appropriate vocabulary and how its is used after they have learned the new words. Finally the fourth stage is Journal writing, having students write about their experiences is a great way for them to build strong literate skills and deepen there language ability. The book spoke about the prompt, what have we learned. Thats good but just writing anything is good for individuals thought process and developing interest in writing and language.

Scaffolding

Chapter 3 talked about a structure of scaffolding in a science lesson. There are four stages mentioned in which they are helped through the lessons.

1. Doing an experiment

2. Introducing key vocabulary

3. Teacher-guided reporting

4. Journal writing

Through these stages the ESL students are able to learn a little at a time and incorporate a little at a time so as to not overwhelm them with too much information. It seems to be very effective as the students are able to do the experiment and explore the experiment before learning all the new vocabulary. This allows them to put what happens into their own words and then apply the new vocabulary in stage 2.

Stage 3 is the teacher-guided reporting. This is especially helpful to the students because they are able to put their thoughts together but also be guided in the right direction by the teacher. The last stage is difficult because it is individual. Journal writing allows the children to write down their ideas that they went over first in a small group, then with the teacher, and now by themselves. They can sort out what happened in the experiment and also add the new vocabulary words introduced by the teacher.

This scaffolding method seems very affective in an ESL majority room and it could be helpful in a general classroom where maybe not everyone is ESL.

If there is something between a digital native and a digital immigrant then that's what I think I would fall under. My generation has grown up with the different technologies around them, however, I feel like I am pretty uncomfortable with most technology. I end up really stressed out mostly with computers. Cell phones seem to be easier for me to understand.

In the article, video games are brought up. I found it interesting that it said video games are able to capture attention for so long. It really made me think about the idea of copying the ideas to maybe incorporate it into the classroom creating longer attentions spans. Anything seems to be possible with new technologies always coming out. As teachers we need to be on top of all of it or as much as we can so as to help this new generation of students reach their full learning potential.

Digital Natives vs Digital Immigrant

I think I am definitely a digital native. Although there are many new technologies out there that I am unfamiliar with, for the most part I grew up with computers, cell phones, and video game consoles. Now my generation is obsessed with cell phone texting communication, playing "wii," and checking their facebooks.

The part of Marc Prensky's article that I found to be the most interesting was when he discussed multi-tasking:

"Younger learners have been multi tasking since their infancy. Whether listening to music while studying, instant messaging while in the classroom, downloading music while surfing the web, or speaking on the cell phone while writing a paper."

I have done and do all of these things. It really makes me think about our culture and that we are able to do so many things at once, rarely am I doing just one thing ever. I think teachers have to take this into account in their teaching. The generations we will be teaching may have a much shorter attention span to "lecture/recitation" type classes. I think incorporating technology into everyday curriculum is important because although there are many forms of technology that are more of a bother to learning, there are many that can be very conducive to learning in the classroom. Also children need to learn how to use certain technologies because the rest of their lives will include these technologies. I am excited for our class project coming up where we explore a new technology because I think this will be very important in my future classroom.

Scaffolding

Cannot complete this blog about students scaffolding in my classroom because I have not had a day in my placement classroom yet.

Scaffolding Language Scaffolding Learning CH3

My initial reaction to reading this chapter was that I was overwhelmed at the thought of having all but two students be ESL students. However, I have more understanding and respect for this teacher after reading the article.

I found the learning "centers" that she used with her students to be interesting.
1. Small groups
2.Introducing Key Vocabulary
3. Teacher guided response
4. Journal writing

"This cycle was repeated several times during the unit on magnets." (p43)

The fact that the teacher used this process repeatedly with her students, shows that the repetition is effective for her students. Her students got more and more comfortable with this sequence and therefore, they were able to learn so much from this sequence each time.

"What can we learn from this example? First, we can see again how small-group work supports learning" (p44)

Further on in the chapter the teacher explains the vocabulary to the students and she uses actions to reinforce her words. I found this to be interesting because I think using actions with verbal cues in any classroom is effective.

Triplett-Book Talk

I read the article, "Book Talk: Continuing to Rouse Minds and Hearts to Life" by Cheri F.Triplett. This article brought an issue to me that I never knew existed, decreasing book discussions occurring around the country.

The article discussed how so many teachers are getting rid of their book discussions simply because, "they did not have time." Teachers said they found a different way to be the only way that time would allow, "allowed only enough time for reading the story and answering questions at the end of the story" I think although reading and answering questions might be good, the students are not being engaged and discussing the book with their peers. So, if a student did not understand part of the book and may have been to timid or embarrassed to ask they would simply be left with that feeling because the class would move on and never discuss the issue.

The most surprising thing about the fact that schools are not have discussions about the books they are reading in class, besides the fact that the book is not being reinforced through discussion in the classroom, is that studies show that these discussion are important. "There is evidence that these types of instructional conversations benefict non-mainstream, culturally diverse students because discussion more closely matches the interaction styles on non-mainstream students than the typical recitation format where teachers ask and children answer" Even now in my college course book discussions, even when I don't participate just listen, clarify my thoughts about the book we have read. Some days I have a lot to say about a text we have read outside the class, other days I do not, but I always feel more comfortable with a text after having a discussion in class. If this is the case for me now, although I cannot remember, I am sure that these discussion were even more helpful for me as a learner when I was young.

Vygotsky discusses how though and language are separate, but that this separation is one weakness. Even with young children teachers may think that students cannot engage in meaningful conversation or follow their peers conversations. As we discussed in class students can understand and cope with books on "touchy" subjects. The same thing is happening here, teachers are underestimating their students abilities.

This article made me think seriously about engaging in thoughtful discussions in not only my future classroom, but this year in my placement because most students in the school I will be at are from low-socioeconomic households and may be risk. I want to make a conscious effort when working with students on reading and literacy to spark up conversation about the book instead of simply assisting them in answering questions.

Diversity in the Classroom

Being aware of diversity is so important. I think that as the article discussed you MUST acknowledge, discuss, and value differences. Otherwise you are acting as if all of your students are the same, which is never the case.

In order to get to know about all the students and the diversity of your class I think one, it is important to simply talk with your students. Talking about themselves, their days, etc on a weekly basis is necessary for emotional reasons and to have your students bee comfortable and feel bonded with you, but most importantly so that you can understand them as people. Hopefully by understanding them in this way you can be more aware and be able to address their needs as students and individuals.

Also, I think it may be a good idea to have students "present" themselves in the beginning of the year. Just basic things about their families, their cultures, their likes and dislikes will help you to understand each student a bit more.

In order to continue learning about your students from different perspectives parent/teacher conferences or if possible home visits will be effective in allowing you to see a completely different view of your student.

Seeing Color, Seeing Culture

I loved this article. As I was reading I found almost everything that was said to cause me to question my pre-conceived thoughts.

" . . she lived children and the idea that she could expose them to new experiences" (30).
-Similar to Mrs. Gray I am so excited to be able to expose my future students to "new experiences"

I am a very liberal person and before reading this article I thought that treating children of all races, ethnicity's, and religions equally was the most "fair" and honest way. I would have agreed with what is mentioned in the article at one point, "I don't care if they're red, green, or polka dot, I just treat them all like children" (31). Now I can see that this is not a good tactic. In order to be open-minded we can't put on blinders and pretend we don't see what is in front of us. Because when we acknowledge these differences we are being aware, not at all racist, as some people may fear. As teachers we need to acknowledge and value differences.

Ideal Literacy Learning Environment and Definition

My definition of literacy is being able to read and understand, analyze and write, and ponder and verbalize a text. However, I feel that my definition will be ever-changing as this class progresses, I read more articles, and have more time in the classroom.

My ideal literacy environment in my future classroom would look like a collaboration of all of my favorite memories combined. For example, one of my favorite classroom experiences was when I wrote a story and upon getting my final copy back my teacher gave us all blank hardcover books to put our stories into print.
1.) I want my students to be able to be their own authors and write multiple stories, fiction and non fiction, and to see their story in print. By doing this hopefully they can be encouraged to write and have validation for their hard work.
2.) I want my students to feel comfortable with every piece of literature they come in contact with. First we could read a text in various ways: out loud as a class, silently, in small groups, or even as readers theatre. Then we could have a discussion and then free write on a certain related prompt. Then we could create plays out of the story in small groups with different endings later allowing each group to perform them for the rest of the class. This way taking one text we are able to read, write, verbalize, and perform it so that the students can work on all of these skills while exploring one text in various ways.
3.) I want my students to read diverse literature that addresses "touchy," "taboo" subjects and have time to analyze and form their own opinions. I feel that as the Leland article discusses, we don't always give students enough credit to think about certain issues. The earlier we expose children to various issues, with support and information, the more knowledgeable and comfortable they will be able to be. Also, this gives students more time to start to form their opinion on the topic. The only concern I have is making sure I have the support of parents while addressing these topics.