Holly's Week 4 Post

• In my classroom I see a lot of what Almasi's article called "recitation" because often the MT reads a book and asks questions about the reading and the students have a response to what they think the correct answer is.  The students are used to this I-R-E (Initiate-Respond-Evaluate), so the first time I saw the MT try to have a real discussion over the reading the students were confused and did not know how to respond to others.  The MT told the students that they did not need to raise their hands because a literacy discussion is when you talk to others in your class like you would talk to them about anything else in a conversation, in which you would not raise your hand then.  The teacher had to start the discussion by asking a question about what she thought of the reading and if the students agreed or disagreed and why.  This way the students would start to discuss what they thought and slowly the teacher did not have to talk any more, it was the students who were actively participating in the discussion without being told what to do or asked right or wrong questions about the reading.
• The students have not had much practice with an effective discussion, but they are still learning.  In our classroom, there are many books that students enjoy and talk about with each other.  We can use this as a model or example of how our class has an effective discussion.  This can also help the students who do not actively participate in classroom talk.  If we read a book that a majority of the students are familiar with and enjoy to read and/or listen to, then they will be more likely to want to discuss that book with their classmates.  To get the students to participate who usually don't, they need to feel comfortable in the group discussion.  That is why I thought it would be a good idea to continue what my MT has started by teaching the skills used for a discussion.  The students need to know that there is no right or wrong answer because in a discussion you will talk about how the reading makes you feel or what you agree or disagree with, not just tell what happened in the story.  Also, the teacher (MT, the intern, or me) at the time of the discussion needs to be prepared with discussion questions that do not focus on having a correct answer so that they can manage the discussion and try to allow time for everyone to share their thoughts.  It is important for the students to try to include everyone, so if it seems that one person is doing a majority of the talking than others should ask the students who have not shared yet what their opinion is about the reading. 

Hannah's Week 3 Post

• My MT works with a instructional book that uses one big book throughout an entire week.  Each day my MT scaffolds my kindergarteners to further understanding of the book and its theme.  While the first day is often spent learning how to read the basic text of the book each day after helps the students to think about how the book might relate to their life.  Students are given opportunities each day to discuss the predetermined topic.  My MT emphasizes how the books relate to the kindergarteners lives.  On the first day each student is given their own copy of the teacher's big book to practice reading.  In addition, the books have three to four empty pages for the students to complete assigned activities in connection with the book each consecutive day.  MY MT also reads multiple trade books throughout the day.  While these readings do not always include discuss with the students my MT uses these book to model good reading techniques.  There is also silent reading time everyday after lunch where students read books that our at their level.  Finally, books are placed all around the classroom for students to read and look at during their free time.

• After reading the three articles there were many different ways I am interested in incorporating literature into the curriculum.  First, I am interested in seeing how Langer's four stances of interpretation discussed in the article Understanding Literature would work in a kindergarten classroom.  "The four major stances in the process of interpretation [...]: being out and stepping in, being in and moving through, being in and stepping out, stepping out and objectifying the experience." (Langer, 813).  I feel that my class often just discusses the surface level elements of the literature they read.  I would be interested in seeing kindergarteners use higher level thinking.  The teacher would need to provide scaffolding in the form of open ended questions to begin the student's thinking process.  This would help student's to think critically about the books they are reading.  One way to help students think critically about literature would be to include more social issue books in the classroom.  This topic was discussed in the article Out of the box: critical literacy in a first-grade classroom.  Kim Huber wrote about how social issue books and changed her students "They now look critically at texts, looking for clues into the meaning the author intended.  They have examined books for hidden assumptions and have looked at how the readers are being positioned through these texts." (264)  I saw some of this from my kindergarten teachers when my MT read a story about Martin Luther King Jr.  The students discussion was longer and more in depth.  In addition, the students talked about their feelings about the book and what they want to do to make sure everyone feels included.  I would like to include more social issues book into the classroom to encourage students to think critically about social issues and books.  Finally I enjoyed the multimodal discuss in the article Theories and practices of multimodal education: the instructional dynamics of picture books and primary classrooms.  Not only are students interacting and learning from different media forms such as videos and the internet but books have multiple modes within one book.  "Each element of a picture book, then, is a mode of sorts, because all of these features are socially and culturally shaped resources that signify something." (Hassett & Curwood, 271)  I think children take meaning from the variety of modes present in today's children's books without even recognizing they are doing it.  The different modes present in today's literature allow student's to use their own prior knowledge to construct their own individual meaning of the book.  I would like to incorporate more multimodal books into the classroom because I think children find them more interactive and interesting. 

Allison Shaler Week 2 Blog

My learning goals of this course:

• Relate to all of my students
• Use effective literacy teaching strategies
• Actively engage students in the literacy curriculum
• Use many modes of literacy in my curriculum

To help me reach these goals, I want to learn the following about literacy instruction:

• Ways to actively engage students in the literacy curriculum
• Ways to make literacy enjoyable to students
• Ways to incorporate students' cultures into my classroom community
• Ways to create a classroom learning community
• Various types of literacy (e.g., with technology, book genres, writing genres, etc.)

I hope to teach in a diverse school in a suburban area.  Currently, I am placed in a suburban school, and my classroom is comprised of a diverse group of students (culturally, racially, economically, etc.).  Also, I went to a suburban school district that had a very diverse student population.  I really enjoy this type of environment, so I hope to teach in one similar to this some day.

The jigsaw articles helped me think about the kind of teacher I want to be.  The two articles I read brought up very important points for teachers to realize, and provided examples and evidence of these ideas.  Even though some of the ideas I read about were not new to me, it was important to see their value and success in teaching.  Through reading these articles, I realized I want to be a teacher who:

• Creates a classroom community of learners
• Connects the curriculum to the lives of my students
• Uses authentic literacy experiences
• Can relate to all of my students
• Is a constant learner of new information to better my teaching

Hannah's Week 2 Post

• One of my goals for this semester is to learn motivating and interesting techniques for teaching language arts.  In addition, I want to learn how to meet all of the learning needs of a diverse classroom of students with their own culture, learning techniques, and interests.  I also want to continue my dialogue with my MT about teaching, the classroom, and students.  Finally, I want to keep an open mind throughout all of my learning, reading, and discussing.
• I am open to the school community I teach in.  I am interested in what I can learn from many different types of schools; rural, suburban, and urban.  I hope to teach in a classroom with a small number of students so that I can learn more about each student and meet their individual learning needs.  I am not sure whether I want to teach in an elementary school classroom, middle school, or elementary special ed classroom.
• I want to learn about fun activities and projects that I can incorporate with everyday reading and writing.  I also want to learn more about integrating multiple subjects with literacy.  I hope by doing so I will catch the interest of all students.  I also hope this will help students to see that the subjects are not separate entities but rather things that can be combined to enhance their interest and learning.
• This first article I read was Putting rural readers on the map by Laura Lester.   I choose to read this article because I am currently observing in an urban school and am interested in learning about the differences of classrooms in different communities.  In addition, I have family who attended rural schools and wanted to learn more about how their education differed from mine.  I really enjoyed the article and thought the strategies Lester wrote about to boost literacy instruction in rural schools could be adapted to different kinds of schools.  "Place-based education (PBE) is a framework for instruction that integrates traditional curriculum-based subject matter with students' knowledge of 'place.'" (409)  By incorporating the students community into their learning you allow the students to see value in their community and gather their interest.  Student will be able to more easily see how the material their learning relates to their life.  "Virtual field trips can provide exposure to a realm of places and resources for students in an unlimited number of geographical locals." (411)  No matter where students live their are different places and experience they will not be able to interact with in person.  Virtual field trips allow students to see new place, have new experience, gather their interest, and enhance their learning.  If virtual field trips are thoughtfully prepared they can be an exciting learning experience for all students no matter where they live.
• The second article I read was Opening the dialogue: Using culture as a tool in teaching African American children by Debbie Diller.  I choose this article because I observe in a classroom where I am a different ethnicity then most of my students.  I hoped to learn more about teaching students who were diverse from the teacher.  I enjoyed Diller's real life examples and attitude that teaching is a learning experience and that all teacher can continue to develop and improve their teaching styles.  "When teachers take time to get to know their students' backgrounds and special qualities as individuals, they can avoid stereotyping and find that generalizations apply in many, but certainly not all, cases." (820)  It is important to learn about your students' cultural background because it has a large impact on the way they interact and learn in school.  Different students have different needs and its important for teachers to know that it is important to have a diverse teaching style to meet all needs.  The article also discussed many different ways Diller learned about her student.  Teachers should reach out to all of their resources to learn more about their diverse students.

Holly's week 2 notes

• My goals include: to be open to all ideas and even if I don't like the idea to try it before completely disregarding it (if it has to do with how to do something in placement), stay open-minded, talk more with the teachers/interns in my school to learn different ideas or methods for teaching and staying focused, and I'm sure there are a lot more goals that I cannot think of right now. 
• I hope to work in a smaller and close community school because then I can get to know all of the students and how they are in school and outside of school.  This will help make me a better teacher and build a relationship with the students and the people in their lives.
• I want to learn about different projects and activities that students can do with the books they read so that they do not feel like reading is just about reading aloud to the class (like was said in the Hettinger & Knapp jigsaw article).
• I wanted to read the article about "Underachieving Readers" by Hettinger and Knapp because in my placement now, I work with the "lower level readers."  The students mostly sit and listen to a book being read aloud by the teacher. Afterward, they work on different things, like phonetics, by writing on white boards.  I like that the books read aloud are interesting to the students, but they don't read books themselves because it may seem like a frustrating chore (Hettinger, Knapp).  I think it would be interesting to see if the students did as said in that article and read with more able readers because the different level readers are separated into different classrooms that are taught by different teachers.
• Hettinger and Knapp's article made me want to be a teacher that reads a variety of books to the students, but also allows them time to read with others or alone.  I do not want to focus on making students read aloud if they find it a "chore," but focus on letting them know they can succeed and help them do so.
• Also, while reading the Risko and Walker-Dalhouse article about Cultural Modeling, I learned that I want to include texts that interpret the students' lives, prior knowledge, and past experiences they have.   Books in the classroom library should be interesting to students so they can connect to the text and goals of reading/writing.