Samantha's Blog

My Students

2007-12-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

After reflecting on my time in the classroom, I learned a little about the students and their literacy needs. I saw some of the brightest students that I have ever worked with. With that being said, it just blows my mind that Glen Alpine is a Title 1 School. I had no idea until my teacher told me. I know that it depends on more than just 18 students, but I feel that school is doing something right as far as literacy goes. The teachers use centers for Reading. Most of their day is spent on reading. That is the only part that I do NOT agree with....but that's a different story. I saw that my classroom teacher was always looking for ways to bring new activities into her Reading centers. She was always asking me if I had any activities that maybe she could use. I just had the 2 lessons that I taught, but I think that she appreciated the effort on my part to contribute. It's cool to me that the students I worked with could not wait to read. When they would finish something, they were allowed to select a book to read until the whole class was finished. The teacher would make sure that they did not rush through their work. Once she ok'd their work, they could read. Their eyes would just light up when they were allowed to select a book to read. They were always trying to find a book that they could learn from. No matter what the book was about, they wanted to learn from it. This love for reading makes my heart flutter. I hope that I can instill that kind of love for reading in my students.

Last day of Block 1

2007-12-03T20:24:00.001-08:00

Today was the last day of Block 1 classes. I am glad that we had a class discussion about everything that we all observed in Practicum. It was nice to hear that we each had similar and also different takes on what we saw. And I feel like it was a very helpful conversation. I looked at my experience during Practicum in a whole new light. I learned that my experiences were more helpful than I thought they would be. As I look back on all that we learned about literacy and reading in RE 3030 and also on the experience in Practicum, I feel that I have truly learned so many ways to implement effective literacy strategies in my classroom in the future. I have also learned that it really is the teacher that matters. (quoting Dr. K. on that one!) I know that I have a long way to go, but I feel that I am better equipped to learn even more. I truly enjoyed the whole experience and I can't wait to learn more in Block 2!

Cultural Issues affect Literacy in the classroom

2007-12-02T17:16:00.001-08:00

I have 2 Hmong students in my class and I have noticed a great deal about how that one factor affects their learning of Literacy. They are smart students, but because of the language barrier, it is hard for them. They receive help from the ELL teacher in the classroom. But he is only there for a short time. Just during math. During SSR, they seem to only choose books with more pictures than words. I can see that they can read, but need help to read and actually understand what they read. From the first day of Practicum to the last, I saw some improvement. If they improved in that short amount of time, I feel that they will only get better. The teacher told me that she has to study their work for a long time in order to decipher the meaning. This tells me that they need help in writing too. I wish that the ELL teacher could help them more, but he is not able to be with them all day.

Centers

2007-12-02T17:03:00.001-08:00

I noticed that my classroom teacher is very "up to date" with her students in Literacy. What I mean by that is In the classroom, there are Reading Centers. The centers are ability grouped. While I don't particularly agree with that, I see the importance and functionality of centers. Each center has a certain activity and the teacher makes sure that each student performs each task before the end of the week. Also, the teacher knows exactly where her students are lacking and where they are succeeding and plans the activities for the centers accordingly. If she has to, the teacher will modify each activity according the students in it. I know that this should be a given in any subject and classroom, but I feel that some teachers just go along with the curriculum and not with the needs of their students.

ABC PowerPoint

2007-12-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

I loved this assignment! I really feel that this tool will help me in my classroom. This is a great way to help students understand letters and their sounds. I also thought of an activity that could relate to this. You could have the students create their own ABC book. This may only be suitable for older students because of using PowerPoint. Then you could have them share it with the class. Not only would they be learning the ABC features, but also how to use PowerPoint. I really feel that my ABC book will inspire me in creating other activities.

Word Lesson

2007-12-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

My Word Lesson was based on a book called Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely: What is an Adverb? by Brian P. Cleary and Illustrated by Brian Gable. Overall, my lesson went well. Once the students understood what to do, they were ok. The concept of adverbs was new to them. The teacher had not covered this yet. They knew what verbs were, but not adverbs. So they understood them somewhat.

Here's what I did:

I read the book to them
I gave them each one index card with one adverb on it
I had them write a sentence using that word
Then they were to draw a picture based on that sentence

A few things I liked:

The book and topic I covered: I feel that the book I used was a great way to teach the topic to the students. It was fun and functional!! The topic was a good choice because it is so closely related to verbs, I felt it was important to distinguish between the two. In elem. school, I struggled with that very concept, so I wanted to address it with my students.

The outcome: I asked the students to use an adverb in a sentence and then draw a picture based on the sentence. Their sentences were all wonderful. Based on those, I feel that they grasped the concept fairly well.

Some things I could improve on:

Time: I feel that I may have given them too much time to draw and not enough time to write.

Materials: The index cards that I printed the adverbs on. I should have printed them in all lowercase. I capitalized the first letter of the words. This gave the students the impression that they had to use the word at the beginning of the sentence.

Directions: I could have explained the assignment more clearly. They asked me several times what they were supposed to do.

Overall, I was pleased with the lesson. I am glad that I now know how to improve the lesson. I would like to use this activity in my classroom in the future.

The Last Day of Practicum

2007-12-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it's over. I learned so much from this experience. I really learned that each student has different needs as far as literacy goes. I also learned that I am developing the skills to meet those needs. I have noticed an improvement in the way that I handle all aspects of the classroom. I especially learned many strategies that my classroom teacher has in place that will help me with teaching reading. My teacher used many of the strategies that I have learned in 3030 in her classroom. One reason may be because she received her Certification from ASU! I will treasure the experience for years to come. Not just because of what I learned, but because of the students and teacher I had the privilege of working with.

Daily Oral Language

2007-12-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I did the Daily Oral Language activity with my class. The teacher does one everyday. Today, she let me do it. There are only 4 or 5 questions. This particular one dealt with correcting sentences and homophones. The sheet was on the overhead and I called on students to complete the activity. The students did a great job with it. Almost each student raised their hand for each question. They really seem to grasp the concept of homophones. There was some struggle with correcting sentences. The sentences had errors in punctuation, spelling, tense, and capitalization.

Literacy in Practice

2007-11-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well after doing my Guided Reading lesson, I have learned a great deal about my students and myself. I learned what I did well and what I can improve on. For my Guided Reading lesson, I read "The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body" by Joanna Cole. I did not have to provide background knowledge because they had just finished a unit on the Human Body. But I could have given them a quick review. I feel that I read the book to the students well. They responded to it in a positive way. They were very engaged and inquisitive. I walked back and forth so they could all see me and the book. I feel that I enunciated well and show excitement with the different characters' voices. I also feel that my lesson was a great idea. I read the book and then they wrote a few sentences about what it would feel like if they were the main character. Then I had them draw a picture based on what they wrote. I think that I could have explained the activity better in the beginning because they seemed confused and I had to explain it several times. I think that I could have focused more on the writing and less on the drawing. I did not give them enough time to write. But overall, I feel that it went well.

And after doing the lesson, I came up with a great idea for a class gift. I am going to put their pictures together in a Class Book and give it to them on the last day that I am there.

Observation thoughts

2007-11-15T15:46:00.000-08:00

As I have observed my students more and more, I have learned so much about their reading and writing styles and needs. I have noticed that all of my students are good readers. Some are better than others, but I have not seen any one student really struggling. I have also noticed that some of them seem to be struggling with writing. One student in particular. She is a great speller. She is on a 6th grade spelling list. But she does not seem to grasp how to write on a paper. She writes all over the paper and sometimes ineligibly. Other than that, she is a great student. She is very smart in Spelling and Reading, but seems to struggle in Math (reminds me of myself at that age! I was terrible in Math, but excelled in Spelling and Reading).

Practicum

2007-10-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well the first day was wonderful! I love my teacher and the students! Every student is bright and eager to learn. It was such a good feeling to know that they were so happy to see me in their classroom! And I already know all of their names!

I noticed that they have reading and writing centers. They also have Self Selected Reading. Before they got into reading centers, they listened to a book on tape and followed along in their reading books. The story was called Balto. Then they partnered up and answered questions pertaining to the story. For self selected reading, they got to chose any book in the classroom and read to themselves. I walked around the room and sat with some of the students and had them read to me. Each student that I read with was an excellent reader. I got to read with at least half of the class. It was helpful for me to see and hear how they read and react to what they are reading.

Word Lesson

2007-10-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

After doing a word lesson, I feel that it would really help my students. Lots of students struggle with adverbs. I know that I did. So that is what I did my word lesson about. I used the book Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely, What Is an Adverb? by Brian P. Cleary and Illustrated by Brian Gable. My lesson is basically having the students pick out some of the adverbs from the story and then, using word strips, I would have them construct sentences along with other basic words, such as, is, the, that, I, am, etc.

I really like this idea and can't wait to teach it to my students.

Emergent Literacy

2007-09-18T18:03:00.001-07:00

Growing up, I can remember my parents finding the time to read to me despite the fact that they both had 2 jobs. On rainy days or when I was sick, they would read to me and let me read to them. I also remember them encouraging me to try harder and to become a very fluent reader. I had so many books and I read them all at least twice. I have basically been reading, writing and drawing since before I could walk and talk. I had never heard the term Emergent Literacy until this class. And I had never really thought about it. Now that I have read about it and know a little about it, I realize how important it really is. I think that a child's exposure to emergent literacy can be a determining factor in their success in reading, writing and school in general. Some some students that come into my classroom will not have that advantage. Some may come in never having seen any print whatsoever. Some students may come from a home where their parents or caregivers can not read themselves. But just because a student is not exposed, does not mean that the right teacher with the right attitude, can't help that student succeed. While I am excited about the opportunity to help these students, I am also somewhat nervous because I know that it will be such a challenge.

Literacy definitions

2007-09-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

literacy is the ability to apply learned skills to complete a task.
reading is the act of absorbing information through print.
writing is the skill needed to express one's thoughts, experiences, and educational opinions.

My Classroom

2007-09-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ever since I can remember, I have always have a book in my hand. I love to read. And my hope is that I can give my students the same love for reading that I have. I had a teacher in Elementary school that let the students pick a comfortable spot in the room to read in. I want my students to not only like reading, but to be comfortable with it. I want to bolster their confidence in reading so that they not only feel confident in school, but outside of school as well. I want them to read for fun outside the classroom. I will do everything in my power as a teacher to see that happen.