Blog Comment - Learning is Messy: Interactive White Boards

I agree that the jury is still out! I am a student teacher right now and have been in classrooms with SmartBoard and ActiveBoard. In both situations it didn't seem like they were being used to their full potential. They were being used as a surface to project what was on the computer, which could be done without the IWB being there. But at least the computer was being used! One teacher didn't even use it because she didn't want to take the time or effort to learn how.

I think that if teachers were mandated to take a class that the results would be better. Teachers would know how to create Flip Charts and use the many other resources offered by interactive white boards to engage their students in learning. One solution I have seen is that the school district hired some teachers specifically to create Flip Charts for the math curriculum. These are what my master teacher uses. She likes it because she didn't have to take the time to create them not to mention all the time she saved on not having to learn how to make Flip Charts!

Shared Writing

Writing Essentials Chapter 4:
Consider the optimal learning model Routman introduces in this chapter in terms of teaching and learning writing skills. What do the components of the model mean? What do they look like in practice? How do these connect, compare, and/or contrast to your field experiences or past schooling?

The components of the model explain the different level of involvement for the teacher and the student. It starts out with the teacher being completely in control then gradually releases the control to the student. This model reminds me of a direct instruction lesson. The steps of direct instruction are "I do", "we do", check for understanding, and "you do". The "I do" is when the teacher is in control and is directly teaching the class. There may be some student participation but they are mostly listening. This is the same as the demonstration stage of the optimal learning model. The "we do" of direct instruction matches with shared demonstration. This is when the teacher is still doing most of the work but the students are involved in answering questions or giving suggestions (for example). Checking for understanding coincides with the guided practice piece of the optimal learning model. Is this stage the student is doing most of the work and the teacher is there simply to guide. Students may be asking questions of the teacher to clarify their understanding of the topic but they are not completely on their own yet. Once the teacher feels the students have a good understanding of the topic, they move on to "you do" and independent practice. Students are off working on their own in the classroom. This stage may also where homework assignments come into play. Homework is the ultimate independent practice activity since the teacher is not at home helping the student along. However, just because students are working independently doesn't mean they can't ask for support!

Writing

Writing Essentials Chapter 1: Consider the writing essentials listed on page 13. What is your response to these, as a writer and as a teacher? Which do you think are easy, and which are challenging? Does one strike you as being particularly powerful or problematic?

As a writer this list seems overwhelming! How is someone supposed to think about ALL those things at once and still get something down on paper? As it turns out, these are things that come naturally when writing about something that interests us. We don't even have to think about it, it just happens. Looking at the list as a teacher is a little different. It is still overwhelming, but in a different way. It makes me wonder how to go about teaching these things to our students. It doesn't make sense go through each one individually because they all need to be used together in order to produce a good piece of writing. However, it is a lot to focus on at once! There has to me a middle ground somewhere...

I think the easiest one is writing for a specific reader. Depending on the type of assignment, the reader should be pretty easy to determine. If the assignment is to write a letter, then the reader is whoever the letter is written to. If the assignment is a persuasive paragraph, the reader is mom who you are trying to convince to buy you that cool new video game for your birthday. Determining the reader is easy when you give students assignments where they are writing for a specific, meaningful, purpose. I think the hardest one is embracing language. Voice is up there too, but it students are writing for an authentic purpose, their voice will naturally come through in their writing. Embracing language is something that can seem forced. For example, if a student is very concise in the way they speak and just the way they are, it will be difficult and maybe even unnatural for them to experiment with language. It's just not who they are. It's still a skill they need to learn, it just would be more difficult to master.

Writing Essentials Chapter 2: "All students, especially those who begin school with limited literacy skills, need to think of themselves as readers and writers, see the processes as meaningful, and have positive attitudes about literacy before they can successfully engage in literacy practices" (p. 34). How do you respond to this quote? What connections can you make between this quote, your field placement, and/or your own experiences?

Students need to feel confident enough in themselves to take risks. Learning to read and write are HUGE risks to take! There are a ton of mistakes to be made before becoming a fluent reader or becoming a great writer. If students do not see themselves as readers and writers and/or do not have positive attitudes about reading and writing, they will not be willing to take the risks. Above that, the reading and writing they are being asked to do must be meaningful. If it's not, they will be even more unwilling to risk learning how to do it. When writing, especially, has meaning it will give the student more confidence because they will be passionate about it and maybe won't care as much if they "mess up". I have felt unconfident about my writing many times in the past. I could never think of a good way to start anything! It had to be perfect before I could move on which sometimes led me to just give up. Even now I have to really think about where I am heading before I begin writing. My reading experience has been different. I hated reading as a kid! I would choose to do ANYTHING rather than pick up a book. It didn't help that I was (and still am) a really slow reader. Thinking back on it, I never read for pleasure. I was so busy with other activities (mainly gymnastics, then theatre) that I only had time to read the books assigned to be form school. Once I was in college and had a bit more free time, I discovered how enjoyable reading could be. I relished the opportunity to live in someone else's world for a while. Until that point, reading held no meaning or purpose for me which caused me to hate doing it.

Writing Essentials Chapter 3: Routman asks us to examine our lives as writers so that we can more authentically and effectively teach writing. She poses four questions on page 41 for us to explore. Consider these questions and write a response about your writing process and yourself as a writer.

When I write, I have to think about where I am heading. I usually have a general idea so I can get started, then I refine it sentence by sentence as I go. When I don't have another thought, I re-read what I have so far. Doing this usually refocuses my attention and the next thought comes easily. During my re-reading I revise and edit if I find mistakes or things I don't like. By the time I am finished, I have probably read my work at least 5 times already (depending on how long it turns out to be.) When I am writing a bigger piece, I do this process paragraph my paragraph. Once I am satisfied with one paragraph I don't include it in the re-reading again. Once I am completely finished, I will re-read the entire thing (short and long pieces) a few times to make sure my spelling and grammar are correct; to make sure everything sounds right and makes sense. If I am stuck on a certain part and can't quite figure out how to make it sound right, I will read it out loud an few different way until I find the one that works. In general, my method of writing is to revise and edit as I go.

Drama in the Classroom

This is my ideal job! I want to be an elementary school drama teacher. This position does not exist in very many places here in Washington, but I hope that one day I will find one.

This video is an example of what drama looks like in an elementary school. I have learned about all of these activities and was excited to find a video like this on YouTube.

Welcome to the world of drama!

Middle School Math

So many things have been happening in my current placement! I don't have the time to write about it every day, but here is a synopsis.


I was really excited to be in a new district, in a new school, with a new teacher, and a new grade level. Middle school kids are so much different than elementary school kids! There is more drama, more cell phones, and more height! Many of the 8th graders are taller than me which is a little intimidating at times. However, I feel like there is less of a connection between teacher and students...


In elementary school you get the same kids all day and there are only about 25 of them. In middle school, you get 5 different groups of kids in different grades for a grand total of around 135 kids every day! And with only 50 minutes in each period, there isn't time anything besides math. There is no time to really get to know your classes. I miss that... I have been in my placement for a total of 4 days over 2 weeks and I know only a few names. In elementary school I knew all the kids' names by the end of the first day. It makes it harder that 5 different kids sit at the same desk throughout the day. One of the ways I learn names is by visualizing who sits where and I found that technique doesn't work in middle school.


4 out of 5 of the math classes are the gifted program. These students are very smart! This plus the fact that the teacher has the desks arranged in groups and these groups work together very well means that these students do not need much extra help. This leaves me and my partner to simply watch all day. This isn't necessarily bad, it can just get boring doing it period after period. Even in the one class that is not gifted, students always work with their group members to figure out answers to their questions. I still walk around to see what students are working on but there really aren't any questions to be answered. Another major difference between elementary and middle school - the amount of self sufficient behavior.


I am conscious not to interrupt students as they are working to ask them to explain something to me to see if they understand because if they don't have a question and it looks like they are doing the math correctly, then that leads me to believe that they understand. They are old enough to know to ask a question if they don't understand and to know when they don't understand. In fact, that is part of what they have to turn in with their weekly homework packet: they rate their level of understanding of the weeks' work on a scale of 1-10. They also know that it is their responsibility to come for help during the extra period at the end of the day if they need it. From what I have seen, they actually do this! There is just not enough class time to teach the lesson, practice the new skill, and make sure everyone completely understands.


I think I like elementary school better.

Word Identification

Fox Chapter 2:
Isolating Sounds: Activity 2.22 Picture-Sound-Letter Sort
*The focus of this activity is to sort pictures according to their shared beginning sounds and identify the letter that makes that sound.
*Hold up a picture and ask children to say the just the beginning sound. Talk about the letter that represents that sound and look for other words in the room that share the same beginning sound. Have one child glue the picture into the correct column on a piece of chart paper. Write the letter of the beginning sound next to the picture.
*My assessment for this activity would be to call on each student during the group activity and make sure they are able to put the picture in the correct column. Another option would be to continue the lesson and have students do their own word sorts. In these word sorts I would also be looking for correct placement of pictures in their corresponding columns.


Isolating Sounds Activity 2.34 I Spy (I like this option because it is something that can be used as a filler if there is extra time!)
*The focus of this activity is to check for students' understanding of beginning sounds by looking for objects in the classroom with a specific beginning sound.
*"I spy something that begins with ____" Students must guess the exact object the teacher is thinking of by using the beginning sound of the object as a clue.
*Assessment for this activity is to listen for the students' guesses of objects that match the beginning sounds the teacher has specified. It's a nice bonus if they can guess the exact object :)


Fox Chapter 3:
I can see both sides of the invented spelling dilemma... It is great to encourage students to use what they know about sound-letter relationships to guess how spell a word. However, I can see a potential problem when students are guessing at blends or some long vowel sounds. For example, an invented spelling for boat may very be bot. Continuing to spell boat that way could potentially lead the child astray and they may never fully understand the oa spelling of the long o sound since they have already come to their own understanding of how to spell boat. Their own long o rule could be generalized to other words with the same long o sound. Invented spelling can only be allowed for so long. Maybe one solution could be to add the conventionally spelled words to the word wall every time you see an invented spelling that could lead to a misconception.

Emergent Literacy

Sulzby and Teale Article:
Think about classrooms you have visited. What aspects of emergent literacy have you observed in young children? How have you seen teachers support the growth of young children's literacy?

Every so often when I have a chance I will sit down and read with niece (she is now in 1st grade). For her birthday this past February I told her I was going to take her to the bookstore and she could pick out any book she wanted. She looked at me and said, "I want a book that will teach me how to read!" It was the best thing I have ever heard come out of her mouth! We found such a book, a set of books really, and she couldn't wait! When we got home she opened it up and looked at the books. She couldn't read all the words in them yet, which I think bothered her. But the set also came with a bingo game where you match letter sounds with pictures. For example, if you spun the spinner and it landed on R, you had to find a picture on your bingo card that started with an R. She could not get enough of this game! She loved it because she was able to be successful in identifying the first letter and first sound of words even though she couldn't quite read the books yet.

In the classroom have seen teachers support the growth of literacy in the form of partner reading. Last year I worked in a 1st grade class at a private school. All these students already knew how to read and loved doing it! Whenever they were given reading time they always asked if they could partner read. Two girls in particular LOVED to read to each other! Often, one of them would take the role of the teacher and read to the other one as if she were the student. They helped each other sound out words when they got stuck and sometimes even told their own stories to go along with the pictures in the books. The teacher allowed this to happen because the students ended up getting more out of their reading time when they had someone to share it with.



Mason Article:
Identify and summarize the main points of the article.
Identify a specific quote, topic, or issue for discussion with your group.

The Mason article gave examples of how teachers read three types of books to their Kindergarten students: storybooks, informational books, and short phrase books. For each type of book there was a dialogue between the teacher and students that directly illustrated different ways to introduce each type of book, to check for comprehension during reading, and to summarize the book after reading it. For the most part, the technique for storybooks and informational books were very similar. The technique for the short phrase books involved the students more directly in the reading of the story with fewer interruptions during reading.

“…kindergarten teachers use a number of techniques to foster kindergarteners’ understanding of book” (61). Just like everything else in teaching, there is no one right way to teach kids how to read. There is not one way of reading books to a class that will work for everybody because each group of students is different. The more we learn about different techniques the better off we will be because there will be more ideas to choose from when the first one doesn’t work out.