Looking Back

Looking back on the course of Literacy and Learning III my eyes have been opened to a whole new world of literacy. Prior to this course my thinking was literacy equals words on page and that was it plain an simple. However literacy takes shape in many different forms. There are so many ways to use literacy in your classroom to reach your students. SO DO IT! In the world of the 21st century the opportunities are endless. With technology we as teachers have the knowledge of the world right at our fingertips. We must branch out of our comfort zone and find ways of incorporating technology into our literacy. Guess what you might fail a few times but hey, as I always say that IS LEARNING!

As I move forward in my education as an educator :) I hope that my knowledge and understanding of literacy only continues to grow. Literacy is such a vital part of learning. To read and write allows my students to communicate their thoughts and opinions with the rest of the world! This is one of my highest hopes for all of my students! I want them to go out and become successful and productive members of society. They will do this by giving their words and thoughts a voice!

I hope that you all have enjoyed reading my blog of Literacy and Learning. As I move forward I hope to keep these posts up. I want to share my findings with all of you about the crazy world of teaching. For all of you teachers out there keep up the good work! You are all amazing and despite what some say, teaching the future may be one of the single most important jobs out there! You are all role models to us future teachers and most importantly your students! Teachers truly make a difference!

Here is another link to Kid President A Pep Talk to Teachers and Students. Enjoy, make a difference and BE AWESOME!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwlhUcSGqgs

Technology in the Classroom

I will be the first person to admit that I am maybe the least tech savvy person on the face of the planet. Just earlier today I was ready to smash my computer into oblivion trying to download a program for a class! The good news is my computer is still in one piece the bad news is the ITS help desk is not open until tomorrow! Anyways whether you are tech savvy or are like me on the other end of the spectrum one thing is true. Technology is all around us and it is our job as teachers to refrain from smashing our computers and learn how to be technology's friend...something I have a hard time doing due to its stubbornness at times, but hey I'm trying!

Technology has a tremendous amount of benefits to be utilized inside the classroom. We as educators are now dealing with 21st century learners and need to learn how to accommodate them. Using technology in the classroom is not only an amazing way to engage students but it also holds a wealth of knowledge that we ourselves cannot provide. So many of our students are now coming from a background where technology plays a key role in everyday life that technology helps students relate their learning to their real lives, solving the old question of "when am I ever going to use this?!"

In my practicum classroom I try to use technology as much as I can. The SmartBoard has become a key element in many of my lessons. The SmartBoard is a way to get students up and moving. I always try to incorporate activities that require students to come up to the board and move or drag something to a new spot. The SmartBoard if I could only have one element of technology in my room would be my first choice. There is so much to do with it and it incorporates so many different aspects of technology all in one spot. I love using it and I am still constantly trying to learn new ways to better my instruction with it.

A major aspect of technology I am looking into is how we can use technology to differentiate our instruction. Classes are becoming mainstreamed more and more all the time. Technology is the key to helping students with mental and physical disabilities succeed in the classroom. There are so many programs to help these students learn that we are unaware of. I think it is important that all teachers strive to meet everyone's needs in the classroom and technology is becoming a great way to bridge that gap.

Technology in the classroom is definitely an element of teaching that I am working really hard to learn more about. I feel it will be vital for me to be able to succeed in my future classroom. I look forward to learning more as I move forward in my classroom experiences.

Here is a youtube clip of students sharing their own thoughts about technology in the classroom. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lSscbqRZVM 

Instructional Conversation

Instructional Conversation? Isn't that what I do everyday with my students? This is what I thought prior to implementing planned instructional conversations into my literacy groups. Truth is that just because you as the teacher are speaking and instructing does not make it an instructional conversation! I know who would have guessed right? But instructional conversation means that there actually has to be a conversation between not only you the teacher and the students but also between the students. An instructional conversation is intended to facilitate a discussion where the students are open to proposing questions and challenging each others thoughts and opinions in a productive manner.

Here is how I set up an environment where all of my students are comfortable expressing themselves. When students have a new idea to add to the conversation they make a thumbs up sign. When they have a comment that correlates and adds to the previous persons comment they make a plus sign. The differentiation between the new idea and the adding to someone else’s idea has been incredibly beneficial. The two signs allow me to ensure that I am calling on all students who have a similar thought before moving on to a new idea. And lastly to cut down on the “me too comments” students make a circle with their thumb and pointer finger with both their right and left hangs then interlock the two circles to make a silent connection. I decided to do this because I wanted all students to actively be engaged during group. I feel that the hand signals allow students to share their thoughts with each other and make connections to what another student has said. This not only cuts down on students interrupting each other but helps students to feel that their thoughts are truly validated by both me and their peers.

This is an example of how I used the story Half Chicken to create an instructional conversation. The students were asked to determine what the moral of the story was. I focused on the moral because it not only teaches the students a good lesson but it also it up for debate. The moral of the story is something that students could all agree with or something that their opinions might vary on. I asked the moral of the story in a very open ended way. What it is? The students came up with two different ideas. The first idea one student said was “If you help out people when they need it. Then they will help you back when you need it.” This was something that all students made a silent connection with they all agreed. This was also the moral that I had in mind. Half chicken helps the water, fire, and wind. They then in return for his help, help him escape a dangerous situation. After we discussed that moral another student gave a thumbs up sign for a different idea. I was surprised because I honestly had really only thought of the one moral so I was very excited to hear what she had to say. She said the moral was, “just because you may not look like everybody else does not mean that you can’t do good things.” She was really right this was definitely a moral to the story. All of the students began to verbally agree with her then quickly made plus signs. They then all gave a time where they had helped someone. The students really got what I was aiming for. With the instructional conversation they were able to determine the moral of the story but also connect it to their own lives, which is one of the most important things a student can do.

An instructional conversation is a great way to get students to be a leader in their own education!

Assessing Writing

Why do we assess? Assessing our students is one of the most important things we as teachers can do for our students. Without assessing our students we are unable to identify our students strengths and weaknesses. Identifying these strengths and weaknesses allows us to create our instruction. We must assess to find out what our students know and what they still need to know. When we learn this we are able to form whole group, small group, and individual lesson plans for our students. 

My second grade students next week are completing the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). A great deal of this assessment deals with reading comprehension. The test asks students to read a piece of literature and then summarize the text. The summary should consist of the key events and important details rather than the student trying to recall every piece of information they just read. To aid students in preparation for the test I created a lesson plan to work on summarizing. The lesson “The Sensational Summarizer” was given to two different literacy groups in a second grade classroom. Group One is a below grade level reading group and group two is an at grade level reading group. Each group read one chapter and filled out a sensational summarizer worksheet. The worksheet gives students the words first, then, next, and finally followed by a blank set of lines. They then fill in the lines with a summary of that section of the chapter following one of the words. This lesson plan took place over the course of a week. 

Across the board the lesson went fairly well for all of the students. In every lesson there is bound to be both strengths and weaknesses. For both groups in general I believe that a major strength was the organization of their summaries. All of the students had a firm grasp on the understanding that their summaries needed to be in chronological order. All of the students put their summaries in order of what happened first to what occurred last in the chapter. This strength will aid them in their comprehension retelling of a story but will also help them in future writings. Second grade writing can often be random in order and difficult for a reader to follow and understand. The more students practice having a first, then, next, finally order their writing will improve in structure. This strength will help them communicate with an audience. An example of this from the students work could be seen in all of the students writing. An exceptional example of this would be student A's writing. She filled in the summary worksheet in chronological order. She uses each section to tell the audience what important events occurred in the chapter. She uses each transition to move to the next key event in the chapter. Another strength seen in the groups was writing for an audience. This strength was further developed in group two but it was clear that group one was progressing in the right direction to writing for an audience. The audience for the purpose of this lesson was a friend who missed group and they were filling them in on what occurred in the chapter or a friend who might be interested in reading this book. They used their writing to pick out key events to inform a friend of what was happening in the book. 

An example of this in group two is student B's writing. She wrote first they went into an empty room and saw the “clone” then they got caught by the guards, next they were locked in a room, and last they found the president. Her writing is to the point. She writes to inform her audience of only the important things in the chapter. She does not include a great amount of detail that would be irrelevant to someone who has not read the chapter. An example from group one would be student M’s writing. She follows a very similar format to Lilly’s writing. She also only includes important events in the chapter. Something that separates her writing from others in her group is that she did include some detail that the audience would need to know in order to understand her writing. The others in the group take a key event and only write down what they themselves need to know. They do not include they why aspect in their summary.  

All of these observations are something that allow me to determine what I can do for my students in the future. I take away important information about my students and how I can differentiate my instruction to help all of my students learn at their fullest potential. It is important that we are constantly assessing our students. It is vital that we are setting our students up for success so that when it does come time for that DRA or whatever test it might be our students are ready because we have been guiding them all along. 

 

Failure! What is so bad about that?

Fail, we hear the word and our minds are flooded with thoughts of that paper... you know  the one that you worked so hard on to only see it returned with a big red ink F. Your palms began to sweat and the walls closed in around you. You were doomed! Your parents were going to ground you and your grade for the class...well it was history never to be recovered. And right after the fear of  the parents settled your next thought (or at least my next thought) was well...I'm not going to try in that class anymore because I'm only going to fail! But why did I think that? What is so bad about failing? Why would failing discourage me rather than encourage me? Well in my school days it seemed to really be the end of the world. But for me now as a teacher I want failing to mean something different! I am determined to teach my students to embrace the F!

I strongly believe that failure in a classroom is the most beneficial learning tool that there is. Why? Well without failure what are our students learning? If every student walked into a classroom and made no errors and never failed then why would they be at school? What would be the point? They would already know everything there is to know and in that case should be out campaigning for the next presidential election! But their not! Their in our classrooms to LEARN. And guess what folks learning is a trial and error process. Our students must make a mistake to learn from their mistakes. So how do we get kids to not fear failure. Well I will give you a clue PUT THE RED PENS DOWN!!!! We need to encourage students not send them running for the hills. If we were to create a classroom where students were not afraid to fail the results would be extraordinary. I would rather have a student try so incredibly hard on something and fail miserably then have a student timidly attempt something and just slip through the cracks of passing. But when that student that fails miserably receives that F, that can not be the end of it. We have to take the time to scaffold them. Go back with them find out what their goal was. Help them get there! Sure it may take a little more time for you and the student but won't it be worth it to see that student's triumph smile when they tackle a task that seemed way over their head from the start! I sure think so.

Not only will failing help our students learn inside the classroom but also outside in the REAL WORLD. I don't know if your parents ever told you this but guess what not everything in life is fair or perfect. You're going to fail. You're going to make mistakes. If our students make a mistake in the real world are we going to teach them to bury their heads in the sandbox or teach them to go back out their and try again. I know what I want for my students. I want them to be fighters in their lives. I want them to never give up. I want them to get knocked down and get up again. By teaching them to be okay with failing to be problem solvers they will become productive members of society. If my students walk away knowing that it is okay to fail and take that failure and turn it into a solution I will have done my job. They may not know the square root of 4658365 but they will go out and take life by the horns and accomplish some pretty great things. And who knows one of them might be out their campaigning for president someday...(hopefully with the intent to raise teacher wages!)

Wow well that was quite the rant but I hope it has inspired you to go out their and be the change that our students need so much! Here is a little video to get you going, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

The Think Aloud

      Some of you are wondering what is a think aloud? So let me tell you. A think aloud is when you take a group of students and read a text aloud to them and think aloud while you do it! Okay so there is more to it than that but that is the general idea. A think aloud has the teacher begin reading a text. The teacher has a skill that the students are working on and every so often the teacher will stop and think and evaluate the text in response to that particular skill. It is then the teachers responsibility to guide the students in the process. In the process there should be a gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to the teacher and student working together to lastly the students doing it on their own. The think aloud if used correctly can be a valuable tool in any classroom but if you never release the responsibility to the learner than guess what...They are NOT learning!

      I did a think aloud in my own classroom. The skill we worked on was making predictions. I started  off by having a very short mini lesson on just exactly what a prediction is, why predict, and how making predictions aids us in our learning. The students were spot on in knowing how we predict but not so sure on why we predict. I thought that this was kind of funny. Why are we teaching students a skill and never teaching them why it is a good skill for them to use in their own reading! I thought to myself this happens way to often in the classroom and it is truly disappointing not only to me but to the students who don't know WHY they are learning! When I realized this I told myself that during my think aloud I would need to really push for helping them understand why predictions are helpful.

       For my think aloud we read our book that we were already working on called Clementine by Sara Pennypacker. I did not chose a different book because I wanted them to see how we can use predictions and think aloud strategies in all of their books! So instead of choosing a short book we chose to read a short chapter. I started off the think aloud by reading. I would stop and ask myself hmm...why would Clementine do such a funny thing like write on her arm or pretend to be Lily and then I would predict how this might affect Clementine and how this will impact what happens next in the book. I would then make a point to say what happens because of this will be something I am going to keep my eye out for late.

      As we worked through a few predictions together I could see how much my students were getting it...a lot quicker than I had imagined! I had pre-written out questions to ask on sticky notes and we were flying through them. Everyone was able to make a prediction about what would happen next some right and some wrong. I noticed how bummed out some of my students were when they predicted wrong. I saw this as a major teaching moment and gabbed on to it. I wanted to teach my students that failure is okay and that is how we learn! Without making a wrong prediction or having a wrong answer to the math question there would be no need for school. The world would be boring if everyone knew everything there is to learn. My students really liked this idea and I could tell in there answers. They wanted to predict more and more. They had multiple predictions for everything they wanted to share them and most importantly they were looking for the answers while they were reading! Which is the point of predicting it helps us read with a purpose. 

      When my students were thriving I began to take myself out of the picture. I let them run the show and what they came up with was amazing. The students were stopping each other to challenge prediction questions. What happened when I took myself out as a leader really made me think. Why don't we as teachers do this more often. Sometimes I think we get so caught up with running the show that we fail our students. We can learn a lot from them and they can learn a lot from each other but only if we let them! We need to look at our students as potential teachers as well. As teachers it can be hard to give up the reins sometimes but what happens when you do can be truly amazing!

      This think aloud went great! My students were making predictions like crazy but most of all they were reading with a purpose. It was not about reading the words on a page one by one without making a mistake it was about making connections and looking at the words all together to form a story. I could not be happier with this think aloud and to use it again in my own future classroom!

Project Based Learning Inquiry

So what exactly is Project Based Learning (PBL)? To be quite honest I am not quite totally sure just yet myself... I mean why else would I choose it as an inquiry project? However I can say that I am aware of PBL and the amazing results teachers everywhere are experiencing in their classrooms.

So let me tell you what I have learned in a nutshell. Project Based Learning is taking a real world problem/situation and letting the students figure it out. It is cross curricular and encompasses one over arching idea into every subject. So who cares why does this matter? Well I can tell you what I think. As a student myself and a future educator I often don't see the point in learning if it can not be applied to the real world. After all my job as a teacher is to prepare my students for the real world right? When students learn about a problem or situation that is applicable to their lives they are more likely to be engaged, and when students are not engaged then we all know that they are not learning. Also I would like to stress the importance of PBL being cross curricular. I think that helping students see how what they are learning about in one subject connects to another is important. Establishing those connections is how we truly know that one has grasped a concept. Making and interpreting connections is something that students will do for the rest of their lives and if you ask me is a pretty important skill to have!

So why am I on this Project Based Learning rant one might ask. This is the topic I have chosen for my inquiry project. I will be composing a Pinterest board of what Project Based Learning means to me. I hope that my board will be able to help myself and others all learn the true meaning of PBL and just how it works in the classroom.

Sorry for the short post I am still a learner on this topic. I will be revisiting it again soon to share my new knowledge on the subject at hand!  

Here is a short clip on what Project Based Learning means to one school.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waKZQ9gaBkI

Miscue Analysis

    This week I had the opportunity to work with one of my students on a miscue analysis. I have completed one of these in the past and was never very fond of it. They seemed to take a lot of work and time and not really give me the information I valued most. However for this analysis I used an over the shoulder technique and found that it takes less time and gets down to the essentials of what I was trying to get out of the miscue analysis. I think that this is really important to keep in mind for teachers. A teachers day is pretty jam packed so doing a forty five minute miscue is not really practical the over the shoulder miscue is one that a teacher could complete multiple times a day!

    The miscue for the most part went very well. The student enjoyed the book and really had a grasp on comprehending the information. By doing the miscue I was able to understand more about my student as a reader. I think it is important to get to know each and every student as a reader.

    By completing the miscue I was able to see the variety of strategies a second grader will use on a typical reading session. I was surprised to see how many different strategies were used. My student relied heavily on chunking, pictures, and context clues. All of which are great strategies for a student to be using. My reader I would say mainly focused on using chunking. He would break the word apart and then sound out each individual part then put the word back together. I think that this is an awesome strategy for students and one that I honestly still use myself! I on the other hand get weary about students relying to heavily on pictures. I think that the more strategies we can give a student the better to eliminate the crutch of using the pictures. One day those pictures will not be there and we need to arm our students with the right tools to use when the pictures disappear.

    Overall I feel that I learned a great deal by doing the miscue analysis. I think that it gave me insight to who my student is as a reader and also just as a student. I know that a miscue can take time but it is time that will not be wasted. The more a teacher can read with and learn from his or her students the better. I think that it is important to help our students in their reading and know that we want them to succeed and are going to help them do so!

Classroom Spaces

    I believe that the classroom is an important part in making or breaking how students feel coming to school every day. The classroom should be a safe space where all students feel comfortable learning. There are many ways a teacher can create a classroom environment that will facilitate all different students learning. How is a teacher supposed to be able to do all of that just by setting up a classroom one might ask? In this post I hope to answer a few of the many ways a teacher can achieve creating a space that their students will be eager to come to and excited to open their minds to learning. 

    The first thought that I have about creating an environment for students to learn is by giving them a sense of ownership over the room. Many teachers might feel that on the very first day of school their walls have to be covered in fun colorful bulletin boards. But why not leave them all blank? By leaving the walls blank it gives the teacher and students and chance to discuss what they want on the walls. On the first day have students create something that will be hung up in the classroom. This will give students a sense of ownership. This is their classroom and their work is important and should be displayed. I think that this really gives students a chance to be proud of their work and will often encourage students to work harder if their work will be going up around the classroom. 

    I also believe that all students have the ability to learn. So how should I set up a classroom that facilitates learning to all? I think that this can be challenge at the very beginning of the year but as a teacher get to know their students better they can always be changing the room to facilitate to all types of learners. All students learn differently so what works for one may not always work for others. A classroom should be set up for all to learn successfully. Teachers might post classroom material for students to read or have a focus wall with pictures for visual learners, a station where students can listen to classroom material, and an interactive station where students can touch and manipulate what they are learning about for the kinesthetic learners. As teachers learn more about what type of learners their students are they can fill their classroom with material that interest the students and present it in a way that that particular students learns best from. 

    Lastly it is most important for students to feel safe in their classroom space. It is important for teachers to set up the classroom so students feel safe otherwise they will not open their minds up to learning. Teaches can create reading nooks in the corners so students feel safe, set up their desks in a manner that their desk is their desk it is their home in the classroom, have a comfy rug or bean bags for students to relax. I think the most important part of setting up the classroom so students feel safe is just by having the students aid in classroom set up. This way they can discuss what they need to feel safe. It is important to help students understand that the classroom is a safe place where they are not going to be judged or criticized. 

    I believe that the most important key to keep in mind when setting up a classroom is what works for one may not work for all. Let the students be a part of set up so they can aid in letting the teacher know what they need in their classroom!

For more info about classroom set up here is a link a website about Debbie Miller she has a ton of great information on how to make students comfortable in their learning environment!

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-popular.php

    

Teaching Beliefs

Along the road of my education I have learned a great deal about the teacher I aspire to be. With every class that I take I find out a little bit more of what I find to be truly important. What I have found is that before I can become the teacher that I want to be I have to create an environment where the students know that who they are and want to be is important to me. To be able to create this environment I have come up with a set of beliefs that will help me to achieve that environment. 

My first belief is that all students have the ability to learn. It will be my job to bring that out of each and every one of my students. To do this I will have to find new and interesting material that inspires students to learn and inspires them to want to continue to learn. 

Next I believe that the classroom should be an environment where all students feel safe and accepted. I will do this by creating this environment starting on day one. Many students bring in a great deal of baggage from home with them every day. I will let my students know that they are at school and they are free to drop the stresses from home at the door. School is a safe place for them to be themselves. I also feel that it is important to facilitate classroom discussions where students get to know each other and can find a mutual respect for each other. By creating this environment I believe that students will be able to be comfortable and focus on their learning. 

Another belief that I feel strongly about is knowing how important my role is in a students life. I want all of my students to know that I have an open door policy and I am always there to listen. As a teacher my main goal will be to get to know my students so that I can aid them on their journey to becoming lifelong learners. It is my job to help my students become young productive members of society. 

My last belief is that my beliefs should always be changing. Every day that I learn something new it will be my job to apply to that to my classroom. I believe in practicing what you preach. I can write these beliefs down but unless I implement them into my classroom what is the point? How will I grow and change my beliefs without leaning what works and what does not?

The Dog Ate My Homework

 

"The dog ate my homework!" Teachers everywhere have heard just about every excuse in the book regarding why their students were unable to complete their homework. While there really could be a million reasons, I believe that the main issue often falls back onto the teacher. The teacher plays a big role in creating an atmosphere where students feel that their work is valued and important. Its not just about homework but all student work in general. What can I do to help students feel confident in completing their work? What can I do to make student work fun and engaging? What can I do to help students feel that their work is important and relevant? What can I do to help my students learn something new each and everyday?

While I have posed a few questions to my future teacher self I would like to dedicate my blog to finding out how I can answer those particular questions. As I journey through the class of Literacy Learning and Teaching III, I will be keeping these questions on my mind. My focus is to look deeper into readings about how I can use what I have learned to benefit my students. I hope to learn how I can answer those questions and many more that pop up down the road of learning about literacy.