Hello Sharpest Crayons in the Box! I hope everyone is doing well on this lovely Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, I may be switching TE classes because of internship placements, but I didn't want to miss out on being the first post on this blog! The very first page of our reading states, "Writers write best about the things they know and care about" (p. 11). I absolutely agree, not only from the point of view of a teacher, but of a writer. I am an English minor and have written several papers in my day, as I'm sure all of you have during undergrad, and I know that it make it a lot easier to achieve that '10 page minimum' when the topic was something that I actually cared about. Along with the stories we heard about in class on Thursday, students are going to be effected by the world around them before they ever step foot in our classrooms, and we have to consider this when it comes to helping them learn. Although it may take time to get to know each and every student as an individual, it ultimately will make it easier for us to understand each child as his or her own person. I am unsure of the kinds of professional dilemmas that will come up this year, but I am thankful that I have a support system of my classmates who are all going through similar situations together. Whether its problems with certain students or parents, it will be nice to have everyone's opinion if/when a situation comes up.
One of the best parts about Literacy is that it can be found in nearly every other part of a school's curriculum, as well as in activities outside of the classroom. As a teacher, this acts as an opportunity to incorporate literacy lessons throughout the school day and in ways that allow our students to retain and actually use what they learn. I struggle with math, however, literacy shows up in math all the time, and I hope to 'hybridize' my knowledge of literacy within my math lessons, hopefully allowing me to gain a better understanding of the math lesson as well. Literacy has a more distinct tie to language arts, and as an English minor I hope to 'finesse' my teaching techniques within language arts because I feel it is something I am comfortable with, but could always use more practice and there are endless lesson plans that I have never even heard of. I want to make learning obtainable to my students as individual learners, and feel as though the first step in accomplishing that is by asking myself; What can I do?
I agree with Madi in that building relationships with the students is going to be imperative when the time comes for us to create our literacy lessons. Understanding that no two students have the exact same prior knowledge is a vital tool for new teachers when creating/executing a lesson.
ReplyDeleteDuring my internship this year, I know that I am going to have to “finesse” when constructing my literacy lessons. The current curriculum at my school manages to monopolize the entirety of the school day, leaving one hour for mathematics, and absolutely no time for math and science. I am confident that I will be able to follow the current curriculum and aide students in enriching their vocabulary, expanding their knowledge of phonics, and having meaningful anchored talks with them before reading a story. I worry, however, that there will not be enough time to engage the students in authentic activities that will get them excited about what's next for them each week in literacy. The readings talked a great deal about explicit instructional strategies that I would love to implement during literacy instruction, including interactive read-alouds, think-alouds that encourage students to infer and ask questions, and guided discussions (pgs. 46-48). I am hopeful that I will be able to “hybridize” and integrate these strategies into the curriculum to give the students variety and enhance their comprehension during literacy. I would also like to learn more about differentiating instruction in writing, comprehension, and vocabulary activities so that all students are constantly being challenged and exceeding the standards of the Common Core.
First of all I want to say that I agree with a lot of what you have both mentioned. I think building relationships and creating a safe learning environment for the students will make our job so much easier when it comes time to give our lesson. If a student doesn't feel comfortable in the room and with their peers, how are they going to come to you when they are having trouble grasping the material. I think that no matter how much hybridizing and integrating strategies a teacher can use to improve learning, if the student isn't comfortable there it won't really benefit them. I feel that once students know that you care and believe in their abilities, they will become more open to different instructional strategies. In the school I am at I think it will be hard for me to see how a basal reading program comes into play. I feel that really limits a lot of the creativeness teachers have had in the past in generating genuine instructional strategies. If everything is scripted for me, how can I bring some of these strategies into play?
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ReplyDeleteI also feel that math can be difficult to connect to literacy. However, I think that if you look at the larger spectrum of literacy, beyond just reading, it is possible to find small ways to insert it into math lessons, hybridizing your curriculum (Kersten & Pardo, 2007). In response to the question, “What can I do?” one place to start would be to build a literate community in your classroom. The first step in this process, I think, would be to assess your students through observation to determine whether they are tactic, aware, strategic, or reflective learners (Harvey, Goudvis, 2000). By identifying these types of learners, you will be better able to design plans that increase your students understanding of their metacognitive knowledge. This knowledge is essential not only in reading during a 90 minute literacy block, but also for other core subjects like math. This would be the first step in a series of actions that you can take that will create a solid foundation for literacy in your classroom. The next step that I would take would be to determine what I am capable of doing upon identifying the learning types within my classroom. Obviously, the possible actions that would follow would be different depending on your learners and their needs as a whole and as individuals. Do you have any thoughts about how this approach would work with your current students? Do you think that the terms “tactic, aware, strategic, and reflective” learners are appropriate for subjects outside of literacy? Finally, do you think that these actions are ones that you would be ready to take as a beginning teacher?
In my own classroom I feel the most confident in the teaching, planning, and assessing of literacy. I am looking forward to taking over the literacy aspect of my fourth graders’ curriculum and expanding upon it. One of my goals is to teach them that literacy is not just about books or reading and writing; I want to make them aware of social, environmental, media, and technological literacy etc. For example, I want to teach my students how to create and read blogs and websites. These are forms of technology and media which are continuously growing but are neglected in student’s education. Unfortunately, the dilemma that I will face throughout the internship year and beyond is that students are not tested on their technological, media, social, and environmental literacy. Most of what my students are assessed on is in literacy is based on their basal readers and Reading Street curriculum. Therefore, I think that it will be frowned upon by administrators and other teachers to focus more on these new and untraditional literacies, rather than teaching to a standardized test.
By asking myself the three questions,
1. What can I do? (agency and identity)
2. What can I do (readiness)
3. What can I do? (action)
I have determined how I can finesse (Kersten & Pardo, 2007) my own teaching practice. I can ensure that my lesson objectives align with the CCSS’s and present these lessons using the technology that I want to teach my students about. In addition, I can incorporate some of the technology that is provided by Reading Street into my lesson plans. I can effectively do this because I am a digital native and I am going to be teaching other digital natives; I am very familiar with the technology that I will be working with. This will allow me to model (do) how to interpret and understand the technology. I can also assess students by asking them to demonstrate their knowledge of the content by presenting their understanding to me via a blog, website, Prezi, etc.
How do you Sharp Crayons feel about hybridizing and finessing? I think that these methods are the most beneficial for students but could be risky actions for beginning, untenured teachers. Especially, if it takes multiple academic years to fine tune your practice. Do you agree?
Your group is off to a good start with your blogging. You are making connections between the readings and your own experiences, and I see some of you asking questions of one another so you are promoting conversation and exploration of ideas. The references to the readings strengthen the discussion because they help you express your ideas in more depth and show how you are making sense of them in relation to your own classroom experiences. Keep up the good work!
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