Final Blog Post for the Semester

This semester has been a worldwind for me, but one of the classes i really enjoyed was language arts. This blog is not something i would start on my own, but i find myself liking it, posting the thoughts i did not want to speak in class and others i thought of after class ended. It was another thing to keep track of, and i am not sure how often i'll come back on in the future, but i know that i'll try. I like how freeing blog writing is since it's just you, your thoughts, and the computer. I would like to encourage my peers to start a blog simply for the benefits of venting out frustration or any other feelings.
For growth of language arts, i feel that putting myself in the student's shoes by participating in the writing process really helped me grow in my own writing ability. Having not done the whole process in a long time made me nervous about the book in the beginning but i realized that this is how my students will feel. Sometimes relating to the children can give a teacher the mind set they need to teach the best way. For writing, a teacher needs to write themselves in order to get students interested in it or at least attempt to like it. This can be said for reading also. Reading instruction has no right way as i learned this semester. The teacher needs to look at each class and each student as individuals that may or may not need a different approach to understand the concepts.
Reading and writing are important skills for children to learn and they need to start off on the right foot to achieve their highest potential. While a love of both would make improving the skills easier, a teacher that can get students at least like and try their best when it comes to reading and writing will be the most effective teacher. I was not sure of my ability to teach language arts before this course, but having the knowledge/background of reading and writing, strategies to teach both, and knowing how i am as a writer, i think that i can teach it in a way that all students will succeed.

Talk is a Valuable Instructional Tool

I thought that the magic talk activity was a great way to allow student participation. Students who do not have the confidence to speak up in class can use this activity to say what they want. Of course, magic talk does require students to read what others wrote so that they can respond back. This can help them practice both reading and writing skills. Although speaking can be seen as an important skill for students to develop, other forms of communication should also be encouraged. Writing, reading, sign language, and plays are great ways for students to express their ideas as compared to talking.
I agree that speaking in public is a skill students need to develop, but making them do oral reports is far more stressful than helpful. In this case, students could use props to help them tell their stories such as puppets. To give opportunities for students to speak up in a safe environment can encourage talking. Teachers need to accept the attempts students make to express themselves, no matter what from it takes.

The Importance of Listening

I think that the biggest mistake a teacher can make is to assume that students know how to listen. This is taken for granted and we get mad at students who don't listen. When any little thing can take away a child's attention, how can a teacher just expect that a child is listening? Attention skills are still developing in the elementary school years and in order for a child to listen, they need to pay attention. Listening and hearing are different things in that you may hear something but not be listening. To listen involves engagement of the child. In a world where everyone can choose to either hear or listen, to assume that listening is a skill that does not need to be taught is the worst mistake a teacher can make. Without listening, students will not understand the material because they are not processing the information.
As for propaganda and persuasion, it is very scary to think what it can make people believe. The commercials we viewed in class selling products and services prove how our society has used this tool for company and individual success. It is important for students to recognize this so they are not fooled into buying or doing anything inappropraite. This type of activity will help students realize that not everything can be true. It is important to research topics to get the facts and to hear both sides of the story before believing and/or supporting one side.

Field Experiences

For my field experiences, i was assigned a first grade class at Wildwood Forest Elementary. I mostly went during their Reader's Workshop, but did see their Writer's Workshop one Friday afternoon, which they were learning about editing. This was interesting since i was in the group that did their mini lesson on editing. I enjoyed this lesson the best because i saw the students using one step of the writing process to the best of their ability, helping their partners out. Since this was a free write, i saw many topics in the student's stories and also saw an interest from the children in what they were doing. My least favorite lesson was one in which the teacher focused on asking questions before, during, and after reading. This lesson was interesting at first as a whole group, but when the students were asked to read independently, many did not use the strategy, they just read. I had many students want to read to me that did not use the strategy even after i suggested that they might want to so they could better understand the book. Through these experiences, i learned that teaching reading and writing is a process students need to master one step at a time. I learned from my teacher that you will have students who do not like to read or write and will give you the bare minimum in an assignment. Teaching them to love reading and writing may not be accomplished in the one year you have them as a student. By giving them multiple chances to may help teachers, but the most important thing is that they have the skills necessary for reading and writing before they move on.

Planning for Reading and Writing Instruction

A book that i have always enjoyed as a child and i believe would be a good thematic unit is Mr. Popper' s Penguins. The class i observed for the field experiences was reading this book as a class and the students really seemed to enjoy it. I would use it for an animal unit in learning about penguins and birds in general. They are considered to be birds but do not fly, an interesting exception for students to observe. With reading each chapter, i would let the students free write about what they expect to happen next and allow them to draw pictures if they wanted. Since the book is about penguins living in the city, i would ask the students to write about what they would do if they were in Mr. Popper's shoes or how they would react if they were Mrs. Popper. Another activity would be to write a story as the penguin exploring a new environment for the first time. After seeing the interest in the first grade class, i know students this age would really enjoy this book and writing about it. To end the unit, i would ask the students to write about the bird of their choosing, using non-fiction books to find facts to incorporate into a story about that animal's life. I really love this book growing up and want to share it with my students.

My School Thoughts

As the semester keeps going on, I am starting to see the end of this chapter and the beginning of another. This realization came when i met with my advisor and saw how many classes i had left before student teaching next spring. This feels unreal to me because it seems like yesterday that i was a freshman just starting out. While i am nervous for student teaching, i really want to be in the schools. I am getting out to the schools more, especially for assignments this semester and i am lucky to be in kindergarten and 1st grade classes. Seeing the lessons, the students, and working with them enforces my belief that i want to be around children this age. Teaching seems the most logical place to start, but i am open to other options with my child development major. I see the hectic schedule the teachers i work with have and think " I know i can do this. The children make it worth it." I know teaching is not for the faint of heart and there will be struggles, but everything worth while is not easy and it makes you appreciate the success more.

Stages of Spelling, Writing Process, Personal Writing

My experiences with the stages of spelling come from other classes, mostly child development that review these stages for how children first begin to write. I had one project last semester where i did a case study on a child. For a work sample, she drew a picture and this was her random scribbling stage. She progressed with her second picture in which she started naming her scribblings. As for writing, i saw this process in the field experiences for this class. One writing session was spent on editing their stories. They had a editing checklist that both the writer and a peer had to use. I have never done personal writing although i was given a diary for a birthday present a couple of years back.
Having a blog has been an interesting experience for me as i am not a person that writes to get things out. I usually vocalize my feelings or keep them in. Although this was my first feeling about writing, i now see how writing things down can benefit me. I always understood the importance of developing reading and writing skills in school, but using it for personal reasons should also be encouraged for students to do. Writing things down can provide great memories and i am trying to do this now so i can look back years from now and remember certain parts of my life.
My topic for my book will be about changes. I am going to write about the biggest change that has occurred in the last 2 years - getting my first job and meeting the people there. I still work there but not in the same position. I met one of my best friends there and it baffles me that if i did not take this job, i would have never met him.