Most DEFINITELY...

Wow, what a semester. It is hard to believe that this semester has come to an end and how much I have learned and changed throughout this semester. I had not realized how much my ideas of Language Arts could change through the semester, but they did. As a student going through school, I always liked Language Arts, so I knew that I would enjoy this class, but now my ideas have changed because of all the knew knowledge that I have gained about teaching language arts. I have realized that language arts is more than just reading and writing, it is also listening, visually representing, and the other arts included in the 6 language arts. Overall, I loved this class, in part because it was an education class, as well as the fact that I have always been interested in language arts. One of the implications of what I have learned this semester includes the fact that I may get consumed with following "by the book" to teach language arts, rather than in just incorporating what the book says with what I know and want to do with my students. From my own experiences in Mrs. Banks' classroom, I have been able to see all of these topics and things that I have learned this semester put into action which makes learning these topics even more real and understandable because of seeing in put to action. Things that I will definitely do in my classroom in the future includes doing read alouds with my students, using the entire writing process, and use mini lessons to help remind students of a topic previously learned that may be troublesome, or just to do a quick recap. At the moment, I don't know of things that I will definitely not do, but I'm sure that with experience and future observations, I'm sure that things will arise.

Thank you so much for a great semester and Merry Christmas!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Thinking back to my elementary school years, I loved just about all types of poetry and writing because I got to be creative and use my imagination. Now, the more that I think about it, the more that I like Free Verse type of poetry. While I do like other types of poetry, I like that fact that in free verse, there are not many boundaries as to how many syllables or words you have to use on each line and how many lines you have to have. With free verse, you are telling a story and rhyming without many other limitations.

In my own classroom, I will teach my students all types of poetry and have then practice each type, but I will probably enjoy free verse the most. Putting limitations on students is not always a good thing because it does not necessarily allow the students to show you their best work because they are to consumed with the limitations that are set before them. In the end, it comes down to what each student enjoys the most and what they can be the most successful in.

Talk...

Talk and communication are very powerful tools used in a classroom on a daily basis. Both the activity that we did in class today, Chalk Talk, as well as the movie clip from Freedom Writers, were both good examples of this fact. I liked doing the Chalk Talk activity because it allowed us to realize how important talking really is to us because we could not talk. And the communication barriers that were broken in the movie clip allowed us to see students felt towards their teacher because they did not feel as if she understood them. By letting the students speak their mind towards her and the other students, they felt more as if she was making an effort to understand how they feel. Being able to have these open communication lines with students allows them to feel valued in the classroom. While talking is not the only way of communicating, it is one of the best ways for thoughts and feelings to be expressed. In the future, I hope to find a way to incorporate this activity, in some shape or fashion, into my classroom!

Peer Conferencing

Overall, I really enjoyed the peer conferencing session that we participated in this week. This is one thing that I do not normally do in writing, but something that I wish I did more often. Sometimes, I do complete a rough draft and have my mom or someone nearby read over and look for errors or places that could be made better. It doesn't matter how many times I read my own writing, there are still things that I will not see. For example, in some of my past writing experiences, I will reread something multiple times, but I will still miss something! So, having someone else read it behind me allows another set of eyes to catch something that I did not originally see.

In the classroom, it is very good for students to participate in peer conferencing for many reasons. It allows students to communicate with their peers and apply what they have learned about the writing process. While there are many pros of using this in the classroom, it can also been see as a negative. For instance, if a child's writing is not "up to par" they may feel hesitant about sharing their writing with other peers. So, while there are positives to peer conferencing, this is also a place that needs to be thought about before applying in the classroom.

Workshops Galore!

Thinking back over my education, the most clear memories that I have of using these different types of workshops and circle groups would have to be our Literature Circles in EDU 255. I really enjoyed doing that, not only because I had a WONDERFUL book (Al Capone Does My Shirts), but I also really liked the idea of doing this, with any age group! This is a really good way for students to read the book and then discuss the book while also gaining knowledge about the book from different aspects because of the different jobs that are brought to the circle meetings. I would say for 2nd graders, the grade I will be student teaching in, that I love to do this because that is a great age for discussion and having students responsible for different "jobs".

The more and more I think about it, I have probably participated in Writer's Workshops, Reader's Workshop and others, but I did not realize that until now. I can now see how my teachers had the class set up to incorporate these things into the class and I never even knew - teachers sure are sneaky like that!

Overall, I really like the idea of incorporating ALL of these into my classroom one day because they are a different way of teaching - they allow the students to almost teach themselves and others. This creates for a great learning environment that is not so monotonous with the teacher standing in the front of the classroom and blabbing all day long - it allows the students to move around and get comfortable so that they can learn the best way possible!

In my classroom...

One of my favorite books that incorporates history into the classroom is "John, Paul, George, & Ben" by Lane Smith. I got this book a couple of years ago when I visited Monticello and it makes me laugh in a different way every time I read it. The general theme of this book is to learn about how John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin all became famous. Some of the tales that we relate to them are brought to life in this book. The main story element that is exemplified is characters because they are an integral part of this book and the main point of the stories. Some activities that could expand students' knowledge would include:

*Have the students create more stories about each of these characters that differs from that in the story

*Have the students research about other famous individuals in history and write a short story about how they became famous

To blog or not to blog..that is the question

Having completed the first half of this semester, I have pretty much enjoyed blogging. It gives me time to just type and think about how I feel about different ideas and topics. It is stressful sometimes because I don't want to type too little and on a few occasions, I didn't know about the blog assignment until the day it was due, so I felt as if I didn't put as much effort into it because I was just trying to complete the assignment. Having time to think about it gets much better answers. Overall, I have enjoyed blogging and I hope to one day find a way to incorporate it into my classroom curriculum!

Oh, the many roles of a teacher...

Looking at this list of the many roles of a teacher, I see all that I am going to have to juggle on top of having to make sure that my children are learning and enjoying school. These roles that are presented are mainly for Language Arts Instruction, but I can also see these roles spilling into other subjects and areas as well.

Teachers organize their environment so that students will feel welcome, comfortable, and wanting to learn.

Teachers facilitate in the classroom to help all students learn through different means if necessary as well as learning through ways other than just reading from a textbook.

Teachers participate with their students in the classroom so that their students will see that learning is a lifelong experience and that their teacher is interested in seeing them learn the material.

Teachers instruct their students about the material at hand as well as others strategies, skills, and concepts.

Teachers model the material to their students through different strategies.

Teachers manage the classroom through expectations and responsibilities set by the teacher and the students.

Teachers observe and diagnose their students based on their strengths and weaknesses.

Teachers evaluate their students progress and help their students to also assess themselves.

Teachers coordinate with others outside of the classroom to help their students get the most of learning through experiences that take them outside of the classroom walls.

Lastly, teachers communicate with their students to understand and share with their students what is going on in and out of the classroom.

All of these roles are important roles of every teacher - whether it be the main classroom teacher or the music teacher - these are roles that ALL teachers should possess because if they possess these roles, then their students will get the most out of their learning.

Affect and see the effect...

"In order to have an affect on someone else, you must first allow him to affect you." -Ralph Fletcher

What a powerful statement and a thought, that at first, is rather confusing. When I first read this statement, I had difficulties understanding its meaning, but after more thought, I began to realize how it could apply to me in the future, in both a writing community, and a teaching community. In a classroom community, I have to learn who my students are first and then I will be able to help them flourish. So, first I must allow them to have an affect on me and through that, I can learn who they are and then I will be a better teacher because I know my students better. So when it comes to a writing community, I better understand my students' strengths and weaknesses as well as their interests, so I am able to help them where they need help and help them grow. This also applies to a teaching community as well, with both students and other teachers. Teachers help teachers in almost every school, so if I apply this idea to my interactions with other teachers, then they can help me, but they too can help me!

What makes writing worth reading?

What a confusing yet interesting question! To me, I want to read something that is interesting, clear, and grammar-friendly. So, when I am writing, I try to make my writing something that someone else would find interesting and would want to read.

Making your writing worth reading also has to do with your audience. If i am writing for younger children, I am going to make my writing more expressive and inviting and intriguing so that the child(ren) will want to read the text because they find it interesting and want to imagine the world that I have written about.

Learning Language

As a child, I think that I mostly used phonics to learn language. I vividly remember spending a countless hours on the computer playing Reader Rabbit. It was so much fun and I loved all of the noises that the game made while I was playing. I had several levels of this game and enjoyed getting to pass this game on to a boy that I used to babysit for him to use. Games like this get kids to learn while having fun and that is something that they greatly enjoy.

As a current pre-service teacher and in the future, a classroom teacher, I think that my previous learning experiences of learning language will inhibit me in some ways because I learned through using phonics rather than other methods. So, when I am trying to teach language to my students, I am probably going to begin by teaching phonics because that is what I know and that is my first instinct. So, I am going to have to learn the other ways of learning language so that I can teach my students how cannot learn through phonics for different reasons.

Sahara's Special

So far, I am enjoying Sahara's Special by Esme Raji Codell. Sahara is truly a special character and the way the book is written, children her age could relate very easily to some of the scenarios and feelings that she expresses throughout the text. My favorite character is probably Sahara in part because she is the main character, but she is also has quite a personality that not many others see because of their own life stresses and dealings. I don't think that her teachers and principal take her seriously and just want to make their own lives easier by handing her off to the special education teacher. I think if they would help her in non-academic ways that her academics might improve. I love the fact that she is storing papers in the 940's section, not only because that is a less-visited section but also because of the fact that it relates to her own life and dreams. I do hope to see someone find those papers and see how that turns out for her. I am looking forward to see how the rest of the book turns out!

There are really 6!

In a way, I was somewhat surprised that there were 6 Language Arts. I had not ever given it much thought before, but the more I think about it, the more I can see the 6 showing through in my past Language Arts experiences. Even though Language Arts is considered one subject, it is interesting to think about the fact that there are actually 6 subjects that teachers have to cover when teaching Language Arts.

When thinking about if viewing and visually representing should be included as part of the 6 Language Arts, I would have to say that they should be included. In my elementary and middle school years, visually representing was probably my favorite part of the Language Arts curriculum. I have always been a creative person and love to represent my knowledge through visuals rather than always writing a paper to show my understanding. With our increasing knowledge, understanding, and accessibility to technology, it is important to not only offer students another way of showing their knowledge on a subject, but it is also important to help them see what is out there for them to use.

As mentioned previously, I have always enjoyed the visually representing art of Language Arts because I like to use my creativity to show my understanding. I am a scrapbooker (when I have time) and I love to show my memories rather than tell them all. My Language Arts preferences have always been the same and I expect, at this point, that they will remain the same.

Hello Junior Year!

It is very hard to believe that I have now started my 3rd year at Meredith and I am finally a Junior. It seemed like this year would never come, in part, because of the anticipation of getting my Onyx...and now it is here!

Well, today is day two, and it has not been too bad so far, I am sure that this time next week I will be beginning to stress with everyone discussing everything that is due at some point during this semester..and all of that info makes me want to pull my hair out! But at this point, I am trying to enjoy the "calmness" of only taking classes and not having observations and everything of the sort added into the mix. Tomorrow is my birthday..20..yay..and I am excited about going out to eat with friends tomorrow night and going to the movies!