What Have I Learned?

During this semester of EDU 300, I feel as if I have changed somewhat. I like language arts a little more now and I found out that if I apply myself to something, I can accomplish it no matter what it is. For example, when I first read about the book project in the class, I was a little upset. I had never written a book before and I was definitely not a writer. I had a hard time envisioning myself writing an entire book. However, once we got started on the project and working with the writing process, I realized that it wasn't going to be as hard as I thought it was going to be.

I am definitely going to apply some of the things I learned in EDU 300 to my future classroom. For example, I am going to try to implement the reading process, and also activities like the book project in order to help teach my students about the writing process. I also will try to implement the read-aloud that we got to be a part of this semester. I think that is a great way to teach students about inflection, and it is also a great way to help the students relax at the beginning or end of a class.

Over all, I really enjoyed being in EDU 300 this semester. It was a lot of fun and it has taught me a lot of helpful tips to use in the future.

Band Aids...

My favorite poem would have to be Shel Silverstein's poem called "Band-Aids." This poem is great. I love it because it is a funny poem that relates to children. I remember when I was little I would play doctor with my dolls. I would use all kinds of band-aids to help "fix" the doll. I remember my little dolls being completely covered in band aids all over. I think that I related to this poem and that's why I liked it so much.

I could use this poem in my classroom when I'm teaching poetry to show rhyme and to discuss what makes a poem. It would be a great poem to use to keep the students interested and also it would just be a silly poem to read.

Overall, this was one of my favorite poems growing up. It would be a great poem to incorporate into my future classroom and I can't wait to do so!

Magic Talk...

Participating in the magic talk activity in class was really helpful to me. However, it was also quite difficult for me. I love to talk and not being able to talk was really hard. The activity was interesting to participate in because it showed me that it can be done. It was a great learning experience for me.

Magic talk is a great discussion tool for all ages. Students can use drawings, words, or phrases to keep the discussion going. I like magic talk because it is a different way to lead a discussion and complete an activity.

Overall, I enjoyed the magic talk activity in class on Monday. I thought it was helpful to me as a future teacher and I hope to be able to utilize it in my future classroom.

Helpful, or not helpful...that is the question.

We recently had peer conferencing for our books that we are writing in class. I thought that these peer conferences were extremely helpful because the peers that I conferenced with helped me with comma errors and any other grammatical errors they saw. I'm horrible with grammar so having someone to help me look out for these errors was very helpful to me.

While this was very helpful to me, it is not a common practice for me to allow other people to view my writing and correct it. I've learned by doing the peer conferencing in class, that I probably should allow people to look over my writing beforehand.

There are some pros and cons to using peer conferencing in the classroom. Some of the pros are that it is very helpful to have a new set of eyes read your work. It's also helpful to have someone look over your paper to check for grammatical and spelling errors. Doing peer conferencing can help you get a better grade and it can also make you see things that you might not have seen on your own. A couple of cons of peer conferencing in the classroom would be that some students don't like to share their work with others and peer conferencing forces them to. Another con would be that peer conferencing is a time for polite and helpful criticism and some people don't take criticism well.

All in all, I think that peer conferencing is a great way to help students with their writing. It's really helped me through the process of writing this book for class.

Writer's Workshops and Literature Circles.

When I was in elementary school, I do not remember participating in writer's workshops or in literature circles. I remember doing the Accelerated Reader program and keeping a journal. We had to go home every night and write something in our journal. Sometimes we would have a prompt and at other times, we could have a free write.

However, I do remember the literature circle I participated in in EDU 255. I really enjoyed doing the literature circle because I really liked being able to switch roles each week and report back with something new from the story. The literature circle allowed me to better understand the book because I could hear other people's viewpoints and if I didn't understand something, most likely one of my group members did and could explain it to me. I loved doing the project with my group at the end of the literature circle because I liked hearing about all of the other books that the groups had and I also liked telling others about the book I read.

I think that literature circles are a very good element to add to the classroom. It allows students to work in groups and it also helps them become more tolerant of others. Literature circles are extremely fun, and for a student who doesn't really like to read, literature circles help make reading more interesting.

Dr. Seuss

I want to be either a kindergarten or first grade teacher when I graduate. Therefore, I think using any of the Dr. Seuss books in my classroom would be a great idea. These books would help with teaching the alphabet and spelling. Dr. Seuss uses every letter in the alphabet in his books. This would be a great way to get students to identify the letters and to work on the letter sounds. Dr. Seuss is also wonderfully illustrated which would keep the students interested and paying attention to the lesson we are using the book for. After reading the story to the class, I could ask questions about the setting and about different things that happened in the book. This could also help with reading comprehension in my classroom. Dr. Seuss books are fun, interesting, and children usually love the rhymes and made up words in the stories. His books would be a great way for students to learn the alphabet. I could have the students each pick a Dr. Seuss book and look through it and identify at least one word with each letter of the alphabet in it. So essentially the students would pick out 26 words in their book. Each word they pick focusing on a different letter in the alphabet. If there is a letter they simply cannot find in their book, they could look on with a friend or skip it and we could talk about it in class.

Blogging: Yes or No?

I have never blogged before this class. I would never have started a blog on my own without having been told to do it for a class. I enjoy blogging for the most part because it gives me a chance to give my opinions and thoughts on different topics. One thing I don't like about blogging is I forget that I have blogs to do sometimes because I have never had to blog before. So far, I have liked all the topics for our blogs in this class. However, I need reminders to help me remember to blog.

Teacher Roles

When a teacher, there are many roles that one must fill. Each and every role is very important in its own way. Organizer, facilitator, participant, instructor, model, manager, diagnostician, evaluator, coordinator, and communicator. All teachers need to work hard to fill these roles in the best way possible. I work at a daycare in Youngsville and I have to fill these roles everyday...or at least some of these roles. I believe that I have had very good practice at these roles and I believe that my experience working in a daycare and also at the YMCA will allow me to better understand each and every one of the teacher roles, and I also believe that it will help me to become a better teacher. I have had five years of experience working with children. I think that practicing these teacher roles before I become a teacher will help me improve what needs improving before I become a teacher.

Ralph Fletcher...

"In order to have an affect on someone else, you must first allow him to effect you." These very wise words written by Ralph Fletcher are very important to the writing and teaching community. In the teaching community, I believe that a teacher must be involved in his/her student's lives. In order for a teacher to have an effect on the students in his/her classroom, the teacher must interact with the students and show the students compassion and understanding. A student is more likely to learn from a teacher or from an adult in general if the adult or teacher seems interested in what the student is doing. Likewise, a teacher must be open to his/her students in order for the students to feel comfortable in confiding in the teacher.

In the writing community, there are many different types of writers. Most writers have someone proofread and edit their writing. By doing this, the person editing the paper may be affected by something that the author has written and this influences their writing. For example, I proofread my roommate's writing all the time, and I can honestly say that some of the things she has written have affected me and influenced my opinions and writing. In this way, Ralph Fletcher's quote comes to life in the writing community.

Why is wrting worth reading?

Why is writing worth reading? This is quite a question to think about. To get me interested in what I am reading, I like the book, article, or whatever I am reading to be funny, interesting, and to use correct grammar so that it is easier to understand. I like to read childrens books which are a perfect example of what gets me interested. They can be quite comical and they have great illustrations to keep me interested.

When I write, I try to stick to those things that get me into what I am reading. I try to put in an aspect of humor and focus on topics that are age-appropriate for my audience. I also try to make the reader feel as if they are in the book with the characters. I want to get the reader involved and keep them involved through out the entire book.

How I learnd langauge...

To be completely honest, I don't remember how I learned language. I remember sitting on the front porch many days with my parents and listening to them read to me. They also helped me read to them. They would sit right next to me and help me sound out the hard words that I didn't know yet. I remember asking my parents for Hooked on Phonics but they wouldn't get it for me. I remember being sent home with word lists for the week and having my parents help me sound out the words and understand what they meant. We used to have spelling tests at the end of every week to make sure we were learning our new words.

I have always loved reading so I want to build a positive environment in my classroom for my students to feel comfortable reading in. I don't want my students to feel uncomfortable reading aloud in my class even if they stumble over a word or two. When I was in elementary school, I remember first grade teacher being very encouraging and always helpful to me and all my friends in her class when we were reading. I love children's books and I want my classroom to show that love and appreciation for reading. I hope that when I become a teacher, I can help all of my students to fall in love with reading just like I did. I know that encouraging and praising one for their accomplishments is very important to children especially when a child is first learning how to read. I hope to share my love of books with all of my students.

Sahara's Special

So far I am really enjoying Sahara's Special. The book is a very interesting book geared towards children. I think that having the book written in Sahara's viewpoint makes it very relateable for children. Sahara has a very special personality all her own. She is very outspoken and she speaks her mind. I think that Sahara should share her writing with others so that they can see how talented she really is at writing. If her teachers read her writing and could see how truly talented she was, I think they would take her more seriously and not assume that she needed to have a special education teacher help her. The teachers and principals also need to remember what she's going through and that she doesn't have a father figure at home for her to talk to or to be disciplined by. I'm very excited to finish reading Sahara Special. I can't wait to hear what happens to Sahara and to her hidden writing behind the books in the library.

The 6 Language Arts

I was very surprised that viewing and visually representing were a part of the six language arts. I believe that they should and should not be a part of the list because because there are pros and cons to both viewing and visually representing. Some cons are that it can hinder language development and impair one's ability to speak eloquently. If things like texting and the internet are always used, then that eliminates a lot of use of speaking and language. Also, many people have begun to confuse their texting "slang" and the way they should be talking to someone. I know we talked about code switching some in class and this can be a problem. For example, if you are talking to one of your professors and you say something like "I ain't had time to do that project," this makes you look unprofessional.

Reading and writing stand out more in my academic career than any of the other six language arts because I use these two langauge arts more than any of the others. I have reading for my classes to do every night which I do independently. I don't really use the stages of writing much anymore for the simple fact that it is not required. In elementary school, I remember having to sit down and make a web before I could actually write my stories. As I got older, the requirement of having to use the stages of writing slowly disappeared until I didn't even think about them anymore. However, writing is still a major part of my academic career.

All in all, I believe that my language arts preferences have stayed the same throughout the years. I have always liked to read. I would much rather read for pleasure than for school work, but I still enjoy reading. I feel like my preferences will probably always stay the same because I have been this way for so long that I don't think anything can make it change. Reading and writing are a big part of my life and my academic career. I use them in everyday life and I will continue to use them even when I'm out of school in my career of being a teacher.

First Blog!

I'm so excited to be posting my first blog! I've never blogged before and I know that this will be a good way to look back and remember and reflect on school and on teaching in the future. I want to be a kindergarten or first grade teacher and I am very excited about that. Teaching is a very rewarding job and I can't wait to be a part of that.