Flint6

This reading really made me think about different ways to understand literacy. Literacy is not just being able to make sense of squiggles on a page. Literacy is pretending to be a mom and dad with a sick baby and having to take it to the hospital. Literacy takes many forms. Like for the boy in the intro, his teachers though that he would not be able to succeed and yet he had some key foundations that they had totally missed, like being able to memorize songs and make sense of rhyme. Being able to follow along in singing hymns and things at church requires an understanding of left to right, top to bottom, an important skill for early readers to know. Even when kids add their own words to a story, they are trying to make sense of the pictures and create a story that makes sense to them. It is important that we praise them for their efforts instead of scolding them for not getting every word right.
Just because a student does not know how to follow along in boring leveled readers or fill out a boring worksheet does not mean that they are not emergent readers. It just once again reiterates that subject matter greatly affects a child’s chance at success and that it is important for teachers to look at the lives and interests of their students in order to pick material that will capture their interest and attention. If it hadn’t have been for Nancy Drew, i probably never would have moved away from picture books

Flint 5 Collins 2

Until my student teaching experience this year, I had never seen the guided reading model of classroom instruction. It’s amazing to me how the standard can change so much in just 10 years. I don’t necessarily like how most of the instruction is in centers but, with new curricula in place like reading street, I don’t really see any other way to do it, I just don’t know how else you can fit it all in. The thing I don’t like about centers is that, from what I have observed, students don’t really get much done and don’t stay on task because they know that the teacher is busy.
I really like this textbook. It is very relevant to what we are talking about and it is up to date on the issues that teachers are facing right now in schools, line curriculum changes! This chapter maps out the different curriculums in schools right now. I see a lot of these practices in my classroom and the book helps me to understand the ideologies behind these practices and it makes a little more sense.

collins-1 flint-4

A big thing that I like about teaching is that things are always changing and no one ever “masters” it. The readings touched on that by saying that it’s like a carrot dangling from a string in front of your face, just out of reach. I have always felt this way and the Collins readings put into words really well. It’s not just the students that are learning, the teachers have to be learning as well. Our attitude towards learning affects how our students feel about learning.
The classroom should be a safe environment for taking risks. Teachers may not think that what they say to their students sticks with them, but I can remember incidents as far back as pre-school being scolded by the teacher. I think it might have something to do with my hesitance to participate in class for fear of getting a wrong answer or feeling self conscious in front of my peers. By creating a “community” feel in the classroom students will feel comfortable instead of afraid.

Cameron Park Bubbles Reflection

Day 1.
I can see that the students haven’t received very much science thus far. They were so ecstatic about being able to do a science experiment and it felt good to be able to see them get so excited about something. They had really good answers to all of the questions except when it came to the one about surface tension and then they had questions…questions that I could not necessarily answer in 2nd grade terms that didn’t just confuse them more. Later that day we talked about it at the CCEE and I have a better idea of what it is and how to explain it in a way that they understand. I think Tina and her partner had a really good idea of how to act it out and I’m glad that they shared that.
Day 2.
Day 2 went pretty smoothly. My partner was sick so I had to go it alone but it ended up going really well. I think I was less nervous without another person there. I think the wiki sticks worked pretty well but a few kept falling apart and then the kids started blowing bubbles through their hands which was a little out of hand but they certainly enjoyed it. The questions to answer today went much more smoothly. They really understood which surfaces the bubbles would pop on and which they would land safely on. I was surprised when they understood that the bubbles would pop on just water but not on water and soap. The kids were adorable and stayed engaged the whole time which is more than I could ever ask for.

UDL

I think UDL should be in the classroom regardless of whether or not there are EC children in the classroom. No child’s brain works the same way and no child learns the same way. I myself am a very visual learner, I could sit in a lecture hall all day and not take one thing away from it unless I have some kind of outline to follow. On the other hand I know lots of people who learn just fine by hearing material. In the activity we did today, I was amazed by all of the learning styles that were incorporated. There was text on each page and the “tutors” kept kids engaged by asking them questions about what they were reading or either read what was on the page in case struggling readers were in the classroom.

In my classroom my ct uses centers as a way to incorporate all kinds of learning styles and I think it is a practice that I will use in my own classroom. All of the centers have to do with a certain skill, in one center, kids have a journal to free write, in another they have earphones to read along with a story, there are also games to help reinforce certain skills that she is trying to teach.

Fint Chapter 3

I agreed with alot of things in the chapter. When there are culturally diverse students in the classroom it is so important to make them feel included in the classroom and to choose books and lessons that talk about the student’s experiences. It was so sad to read about Bianca who pretended not to know Spanish or anything about Mexico when in fact she had a wealth of knowledge to share with the class about her interesting background. I know in a classroom at Forestview last year there was a class with a little chinese girl that never participated, but when the teacher read a book about china she was so excited to participate which was very out of character for her. Also i have seen a lot of ELL kids grouped together just because they are learning English but really their languages are nothing like each other, it is very important to acknowledge and work with these differences.

Cameron Park Literacy Reflection

For the shared reading activity I chose to read Jimmy’s Boa and the Big Splash Birthday Bash. The kids loved the story. I was concerned that the picture walk would give away the story and they would already know what happened before I read it so I chose a book with a lot going on in the pictures. This book had a lot of crazy things going on so the picture walk got their attention and they were curious to see all of the pictures explained once I read the story. After we were done, I had the students do an interactive writing activity with me where they made their own birthday invitation to a crazy birthday party. Each student took turns writing a line and choosing people to invite and describing what kind of crazy things were going to happen at the party. In the book some pretty wild things happen so I wanted them to get creative. They chose to have a party in the classroom with no teachers and to have a chair fight, they had some really good ideas. In the future I need to learn how to get the kids to self correct instead of me saying…hmmm let’s look at that again and then me fixing it for them.

Free Write

Free write
As I learn more and more about the Reading Street program I find myself asking, “HOW COULD THEY LET THIS HAPPEN!” They say that the program is flexible but only if you add stations or add extra things. There is no time for this. They say that you can choose your own reading materials as long as it has the same vocabulary, oh yeah ok, I’m going to spend hours finding a better book that uses the words sharecropping and investments.
With reading street, grammar is completely ignored. Karli uses this quiz like flip book thing to teach grammar. I feel like this program is just pushing everything back, there’s no time for teaching cursive, grammar, or writing. When are they going to learn these things? My school now is having teachers do a writing lesson once every six weeks or so. Once every six weeks is not enough to teach and reinforce and have these concepts actually stick with them. It makes me sad that kids don’t have the ability to choose their reading material and now they aren’t being given the tools to express themselves through written language. It makes me really sad. I’ll try and stay optimistic

teacher as a reader part II

The only thing I might be concerned with is whether or not these kids know who Tupac is, it’s almost before my time and I know that Tupac died before most kids reading the book were born, but I might just be underestimating his legacy. In order for readers to completely understand I might have to do a mini lesson on the life and career of Tupac.
I never really found myself lost or confused while reading the book, it was a pretty easy read that had a logical and entertaining storyline. I did however get confused about Neeka’s family, she had three sets of twins in her family and they were kind of hard to keep up with sometimes. I usually referred back to the first chapter when she and her family were first introduced to get myself back on track.
I liked how this book dealt with a lot of issues in a positive manner. Neeka’s brother is gay and went to jail for a hate crime that was committed against him, but he still managed to stay positive and still be proud of his sexuality and his friends or his “children” as he called them. D’s story is very inspiring as well, she grew up in the foster system and finally was reunited with her mom and is trying to work things out.

mid book check in

I chose to read After Tupac and D foster. So far it addresses a lot of really important issues. The narrator is a twelve year old girl who has no idea where her father is. In the beginning of the book she comes across D, another 12 year old girl who has grown up in the foster care system. The narrator is fascinated by D because she has the freedom to roam the streets and do as she pleases, D always seems to be looking for something. Throughout the book events are paralleled by the songs of Tupac and D feels like they are connected in some way.

I am really enjoying the book so far. The language is a little difficult to get used to for it is written in slang and like a 12 year old would write. Besides that, it’s a pretty easy read and it is going by really fast. I think a lot of people can relate to the characters in the book who are missing parents or people who use music to help them through hard times.