Initial Post Week 4

January 27, 2013


Thus far in my field placement I see a lot of the traditional I-R-E (Initiate-Respond-Evaluate) recitation features.  My mentor teacher is reading a chapter of a book about the events of 9/11 to the class everyday.  While reading this book, she stops at particular points to review facts, ideas and events.  There are some points in which she scaffolds the students responses in order to get participation, but other times there are multiple students raising their hands.  She uses these questions as markers for the students attention levels, rather than their comprehension and discussion abilities.  Since the topic and events of the book are prior to their birth it can be difficult for them to understand the tragic events of that day.  My mentor teacher is using this book in collaboration with other resources to deepen their understanding and show that these events actually happened, in a way it is a history lesson as well.  There are many students who do not like to participate in the classroom, especially in large group settings.  These students can be tricky, since some are shy in smaller settings as well, you need to find that balance and begin them in groups that they feel comfortable with then continue making small adjustments to the group.  I think my placement classroom could benefit from more class discussions.  Discussions really facilitate classroom learning and student control.  However, I think it can be difficult for teachers to give control to their students and trust to take it seriously.  There was one instance while reading the 9/11 chapter book that a small discussion began and a student made a joke about the event-it seemed as if making a joke about the event offended my MT and the discussion was quickly ended.  From that moment I think it can be difficult sometimes to have a serious discussion and properly facilitate without stepping in when not all students take the task seriously.

Initial post 1/16/13

1.16.13

         In my classroom, literacy is included in ways that are both relatively mundane and  There are times when my MT will read the entire class a book and then use that book to tie in to other concepts she wants to teach the students (a recent example would be using a book to introduce the concept of story parts like climax, resolution, etc). She also has reading/writing centers that the students rotate through, with one of the centers being buddy read (students pair up and read to each other), silent reading (students pick a book and read to themselves), and a really cool station where students put on headphones, listen to a book on tape while following along with paper copies, and then write a few sentences to explain different aspects of the book they just read. Most literature that my MT uses is literature that appeals to all children (like stories with animals) or stories that are culturally relevant and apply to her students everyday life.

        Right now, my MT is really focusing on just getting her students to read; she is starting to focus on characters, plot, overall idea of the story. Basically she wants students to improve their reading skill and their reading comprehension. 

The readings we did last Tuesday has made me consider how I would adopt literature into a curriculum. For me, my biggest thought would be to make sure to include reading materials of all different genres to appeal to all tastes and reading levels, but to also try and make sure the books I read to the entire class were culturally relevant to my students so that they can connect with the story and therefore be more engaged in the reading and other literature.

Week 2!

·       Who are “diverse learners”?

o    Everyone is a diverse learner. Each person has specific needs, learning styles, academic strengths and weaknesses. Students respond independently to the teacher’s curriculum methadologies.

·       What types of support do diverse learners need to participate fully in the learning community?

o    Meaningful learning, practice, social interaction , and collaboration .Authentic activities will aid the student in connecting the material and its relevancy in their society. Most of all a teacher must scaffold their students in a positive meaningful manner that allows students to construct meaning and build upon knowledge.

·       To what extent is good teaching for ELLs good teaching for everyone?

o    Gibbons spoke a lot about collaboration, explicit instruction, and scaffolding. A teacher that acknowledges that students are not homogenous learners, provides authentic activites, and integrates language support (as well as academic) across the entire curriculum will contribute to good learning (as well as teaching)

·       What are ways to learn about students from multiple perspectives?

o    Authentic activities that incorporate individual contribution in regards to culture, personal  preferences (likes/ dislikes), and prompts that encourage multiple perspectives from reading and writing activities.


I would love to teach in an urban setting. A lot of future and current teachers want to avoid these settings for reasonable reasons but the student cannot control where they are raised. I do feel nervous about it but i feel that urban areas need the most care and meaningful  teaching for them to exceed expectations ( and opinions of others). I suppose you can say I want to give those students a fighting chance against districts that have more resources and prepared teachers. I prefer to work with younger students but i am open to teach any age  (as well as learn from them)

Week #2

   TE.402 is going to challenge me in the best possible way. Last semester, I was able to focus on my favorite subject, Social Studies. I feel I could create an engaging lesson for any group of students as long as I was addressing some branch of social studies. This semester, I should be able to rely some on my TESOL training to make connections with ELA. However, if there are two subjects that I am unsure of my teaching skills, they are ELA and math. With that preface, my goals are:
 - Discover my ELA and math teaching skills
 - Learn effective strategies for instruction
 - Use new information and details to help me expand my repertoire

• Type of school community = rural or urban
• I want to learn = how to bring students up to and beyond their reading level
• Type of teacher = I read Lester and Fleming because I see suburban life as boring and I wanted to learn about teachers who had experience in my communities of interest. I read these articles nearly word by word because I was so interested in the content. These articles helped me realize that I want to be the teacher that makes school interesting. These articles both suggest that to keep students engaged and interested, the content needs to be relevant to them. I need to be the teacher who recognizes students' interests and actively includes these interests in course material. This is just one step, but I feel it is crucial to relate to students on a personal level so they understand that I am there for their sake and that I value the students as human beings.

Week 2

Jessica Matthews

Goals for the Course/Where I see myself

•  Learning new strategies to help students enjoy learning how to read.
• The integration of technology into my teaching is a sub part of this that is important as well. 
• Keeping up with new technology and finding new ways to integrate it into my lessons.
• Finding methods of teaching that will encompass national standards but also to tailor the methods to be effective with the students I am teaching.
• I want to learn about myself and ways that I can assess not only my student's work, but my own as a teacher, colleague, and mentor, and ways I can continually improve the work I do. 

         I hope to teach in a rural or suburban setting; I admire and greatly respect teachers with the drive to teach in urban schools, however I feel that I am not one of them. I hope to teach upper elementary or middle school (science major) since I feel that I connect better with older students. I really hope I am in a community where I can involve the parents in teaching; arranging a reading group or other parental activities. When parents get involved, children have a higher chance at succeeding. I hope to learn several things about literacy instruction to help me reach my goals- ways to involve parents, teaching strategies to get the students interested (both new AND old ways, especially if effective), and teaching strategies for different 'types' of students.

         The articles I read today (Risko & Walker-Dalhouse, Lester) helped me realize several things about the students I will be teaching. Risko & Walker-Dalhouse mentioned using subject areas that correlate with students prior knowledge and patterns in their home and community to help engage and teach. It helped me realize that not only will I have students whose backgrounds are nothing similar to mine, but that an effective teacher must know more about a child than just what they display in the classroom- an effective teacher is one that is able to incorporate all aspects of a child's life into their learning. Lester also talked about bringing a student's life outside the classroom into use when teaching them inside a classroom- but she mentioned also that a higher percentage of rural students are a part of families at or below the poverty line. There are special considerations that need to be taken into account, and their location far away from many museums mean that it would be harder and more expensive to take students on field trips. That is why Lester mentions the use of technology to take students on virtual field trips so they can gain experiences without the expenses. It brings to light several issues I had not before considered, and will now be part of my planning process in the future.

Week 2

Brieanna Mershman

Week 2

Goals for learning in the course:

• Learning new fun and interesting ways to integrate subject matter
• How to make the fundamental concepts interesting and engaging for students
• example: typically learning the parts of speech is "accomplished" through busy work
• Integrating technology with appropriate "old fashion" techniques

School and Community Context:

All learning environments have possible pros that I would be interested in teaching in

• I grew up in a suburban environment and have done most of my observations in the same/similar environment so I am comfortable in this type of environment.
• I enjoy being challenged so I would like to experience a different environment.
• It would be fun and engaging to teach in a technology rich environment, but not always necessary.

Readings:

• Learning students backgrounds and home life styles are key to teaching students
• Understanding students prior knowledge and cultural backgrounds will be beneficial to engaging the students.