Blog #4 Ch. 1&8

As I was reading through these chapters, many of the things that I was reading sounded very familar to me. All the strategies and building metacognition were things that I have done and read about multiple times. It's very reassuring to know that things were are learning in class are things used more than just at the moment in time. Although, there were many things that were familar that wre also a lot of things that I knew nothing about. It's very exciting to know that just when I thought I had learned everything I needed to know I see something new that I would have never known. There were multiple things in this chapter that stuck out to me and I would love to explore more and learn as much as possbile.

In Chapter 1, it talks about shifting responsbility from the teacher to the student. This is a topic that I feel I know a lot about. Many things that were outlined in this sections were things that we went over last semster. One way that we learned about shifting responsbility was building on students metacognition. Helping your students know themselves as a thinker and learner, and what works best for them in the learning process. As it was described it the chapter students need to focus on what they are about to read and their purpose for reading in the first place. During reading, if they have accomplished all their goals and if they are retaining the information they are reading. Lastly, after reading if they retained the informaiton and did I understand the information. Many of these things I knew before reading this chapter but it also gave different situations and strategies to use. I really liked how this chapter talked about how making learning more hands on and helping students discover. I think this is a great move to make in the education world, in my opinion hands on learning is the best type of learning there is. If students know what type of learner they are and have a hands on experiencethen they have the best of both worlds. I really enjoyed all that this chapter had to say!

Ch. 8
In chapter 8, it discussed writing to learn with adolescents. In my opinion, students need to write as much as possbile. Writing is such a wonderful gift for students to experience and they should do it as often as possbile. In the beginning of the chapter it talks about the writing process in general. It goes the throughout the entire writing process as general. Although we think we know everything there is about the writing and drafting process there is always more we can learn. In this chapter it discusses adolescent literature-powerful pins. First it discusses writing to set a purpose for what they are learning. It makes the students draw on prior knowledge and a great way of reviewing what they have just read. This is a great way because it allows students to draw on prior knowledge and expand on what they have just gone over in class. As I was reading this article, I couldn't help but think back during Junior High and High School and thinking of how boring it was that our teacher make us write all the time. I know now that it was very helpful because it has made me the writer I am today. I wonder if students today are still going through this writing process? I know this seems like a dying process but really its the best way to learn! With technology increasing more and more everyday, I wonder how I can use this process in my classroom?

I really enjoyed going to the think center the other day. That place was wonderful and something I think everyone should experience. Dr. Price gave a wonderful presentation and I really enjoyed it, it was very relatable. Her powerpoint was excellent, I wish I knew how to do that. I am very glad we went there, I would love to go back again!

Content Area Literacy in Elementary Classrooms

I really enjoyed reading this article, like the last one we read it was very informative and interesting. As I was reading this article, I couldn't help thinking back to my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Simms. I knew Mrs. Simms was very smart, but it's like she could see the future. She was very artsy and painted her classrooms many different colors, but on her back wall she painted it to look like the beach. We had to go to the "beach" once a day to pick an informational book that we would enjoy reading. She knew that we may not always like reading these books like we once did when we were little but if we could go to our "happy place" at the beach then we would enjoy it more. Thinking back on all of this I k now that Mrs. Simms was exactly right. When your younger it is so important to become exposed to rich text that enhance your information about the world around you. But, when you get older some students lose their interest in things they once loved when they were younger. Reading about lions and witches is so much more fun that reading about the life cycle of a frog. Throughout the text, it stressed how students are exposed to texts at an early age(k-3), but these texts need to increase as the students get older. One problem that may seem challenging for both students and teachers is to teach their students how to digest the information and retain what they have just read. I know it is also hard for parents to try and interst their children in something they might actually want to read.
I know that from taking Dr. Boyce's class last semester that incorporating informational texts into your lesson is vital. We learned many strategies on ways we can incorporate these texts into ways that the students may find more interesting. I know that much emphasis has been placed on standardized tests and scores and improving childrens interests and comprehension on informational text would be key to helping improve these scores. Exposing children to informational text is not only vital but a way of the future. This is where standardized tests are going as well as properly preparing children for the adult world. As technology and students are becoming more complex we owe it to our students to give them very oppurtunity to succeed in the future and exposing them to expository text is a GREAT way to do it!



Henry and Kamery. Two Pre-k students at Sacred Heart school, where I work!



Students at the school! I love them!



Blog #2

I really enjoyed reading through my classmates blogs, I know everyone in class but reading their blogs gives me a much more personal sense of who everyone is. The first person I chose to write about what Blair. I have loved having class with her, she is such a wonderful person both inside and out and I hope to get the chance to get to know her more. I loved that she talked about her cat Prissy, although I am not a big animal person, my mother has a cat named Prissy and this reminded me of her. I too want to have a family one day and I know that by being a teacher I will get the best of both worlds! Just by reading her blog, I can tell we have a lot of things in common, I look forward to getting to know Blair much more! The second person I wrote about was Logan. I have had several classes with Logan but I haven't really gotten the oppurtunity to get to know her. I knew that she was from Alabama but that was really all I knew. It seems that everyone I want to learn more about has a cat! I like Logan have an english endorsement and would feel most comfortable teaching that subject. Although, I never coached a swim team, I have been around children my whole life and this is when I knew I wanted to be a teacher. She helped her students win the races and I have helped children in dance and gymnastics. Helping students accomplish a goal is a very rewarding experience and I knew this was when I wanted to become a teacher.

I found the article"Writing to learn across the curriculum: Tools for comprehension in content area classes" to be very helpful and interesting. I think this articule is something all future teachers should read! One thing that I found interesting was how this article discussed the issue of writing to learn. Witing to learn gives the students an opportunity to recollect, clarify, and question what the already know and what they would like to know about a subject. I couldn't agree more about what this article says about writing to learn! Throughout the articule it gives different strageties on how students can actively write to learn in their classroom. When students are writing to learn, they are discovering for themselves what they have been learning about. All teachers should strive towards this type of learning because it enhances the students higher order thinking skills. I think it is very important for teachers to prepare their students everyday for the learning that is going to occur. One strategy that the used in the article that I thought was great was the think-stop-and write strategy. This allows the students time in between what the teacher is saying to gather their thoughts and write what they have just learned. This would have been very beneficial to me as a student if I could have used it. Doing any of these strategies would be a great way to get your students involved in what you are doing each day. Opening up your class with a quick write was something my teachers did in Elementary School. I think this is great because its allows the students to get their minds ready for what they are about to read. I loved the bio-poem activity that we did the other day in class. I think that is a great way for students to actively listen while the teacher is reading or pay close attention to whatevery book they are reading. Reading about this in the article was very helpful as well, it gave me much more insight to what we did in class the other day. This article was very helpful and useful! I would love to read future articles if they are anything like this. I will definitely try and implement many of these strategies and ideas that were discussed in this article.