After reading chapter 7 in Routman, reading conferences do not seem as hard as I thought were originally. I really like the idea that it can be an informal thing but a good assessment of the student’s reading ability can be gained from it. I have seen my master teacher do informal reading conference and it works so well! She just explains to the kids that she will be asking a few of them to come talk with her about their book that day during independent reading time. She really makes sure they understand that it is just a conversation and NOT an assessment!
With my Juanita buddy, I think I will follow Routman’s guidelines exactly. I think it is important not only to make sure a student understands the book they are reading, but that they think about their choice of book. Asking them to rate the book on how hard it is for them is fantastic! In my main placement, I talked to a girl who chose to abandon her book because she knew it was too hard for her and she didn’t understand what was going on. I think it takes courage to admit that to a teacher! I also agree with Routman when she says that sometimes a short reading prompt is not a good measure of a student’s reading ability. It is much better to sit next to a student with a book and ask them to read aloud while you take an informal running record. Their interest level in the material can really play into how well they read and how hard they are willing to try to understand what they are reading.
I think the overall key to reading assessment is to keep it as informal as possible. There will always be times when a formal district assessment is necessary, but until that time comes, the less pressure there is on a student the better they will do on the assessment.
Templeton and Morris: What aspects of spelling instruction mentioned in this article do you see playing out in your placement? Pick one aspect to describe and discuss how it works with children.
In my placement I have seen students doing word sorts with their spelling words. From what I can tell they are closed sorts because the teacher has given them certain categories to sort their words in to. Students are in three different groups which are based ability level. However, I don’t think the kids know which level they are at because each group is working on different spelling patterns. One group’s words aren’t necessarily harder than another group’s words, they are just different. They do the sorts on their own and they also do them with a partner where they test each other for speed. Also during the week, they pick about 10 words to write in sentences. This helps them learn the meaning of the words and gives them more practice writing the words. When Friday comes and they have their spelling test, the teacher randomly picks about 15 words from their lists plus some words not on the list but that have same pattern they are learning. I like this method because it eliminates the potential for memorization and regurgitation. Students really have to learn the spelling pattern and how to apply it.
Out of all the readings this week the idea that interested me most was Routman's talk about genre. I was taught (as I am sure many of us were) about each genre in isolation, learning all the characteristics of the genre and writing to fit them. I really like how Routman in Ch. 8 talked about just teaching good writing and the different genres would happen more naturally. She also mentions that as teachers, we need to nurture students and give them what they need in terms of writing. If a student feels she needs to express herself with a poem, that would be a good moment to give her a mini-lesson about poems. In Writing Essentials, Routman said that, "The purpose for writing determines the genre or form the writing takes, not the other way around" (194). I completely agree! I have seen it done the other way around and seen kids struggle through an assignment just to get it done. They had no investment in the assignment whatsoever. I think the important point to take away here is that all we need to do is teach good writing and the rest will follow.
In Elbow he mentioned that not every writing assignment has to be graded and Routman pointed out that like reading, becoming a good writer takes practice. I think these two ideas go hand-in-hand. Grading everything students ever write is not only time consuming for the teacher, but also sends a message to the students that they need approval.
I think that writing workshop (or something similar) is a great way to integrate writing time into the classroom. I feel that writing is usually done in spurts and are usually fairly substantial assignments. Writing every day is the only way that students will become better writers. This also means that students need to be free to write about whatever they want. That's not to say that there can still be assignments where students write about specific things (something has to be graded to show their progress!) Giving students that time every day just to write is necessary. It also means that teachers would have an overwhelmingly huge amount of grading to do, therefore, don't grade every piece of writing!
This was an amazing video! Not only did it send a great message but the way it was done looked really cool! I agree that we need rethink a lot of things because of what the web has become and what technology has become. Seeing all the things we are capable of doing with technology made me realize that I still have a lot to learn.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally This was a neat article! There is so much happening in the world of technology and bringing it into the classroom. This definitely requires students to learn an entirely new set of skills. This article brought that to light for me. Re-working Bloom’s Taxonomy and including all the verbs that have to do with technology made me realize how much you need to know to survive in our blooming technological world.
New Versus Old: Which is the Way to Better Learning? Again, another great article! I have seen a similar situation first hand. I have had experience this year with older teachers who resist using technology because they don’t want to take the time to figure it out. These are the classes that seemed boring, even to me. I think it is important to teach in a way that students are going to learn best. If kids today are good at multitasking, are good at using technology, then I think that is how teachers should teach. The study in this article seems obvious to me. Of course students who are being taught in the way they learn best are going to do better on the test! I don’t want to imply that “older” ways of teaching are bad, they are not; they are just different. At the same time, I also think the older more traditional teacher should talk to other teachers who are comfortable using technology and learn from them. Maybe then they wouldn’t feel so intimidated by it.
Chalk Up another One for Blogging I have to admit, I am not a fan of blogging… But, after reading this page about why Dan Meyer blogs, I can at least see the benefits of it. I think I resist blogging right now because it is an assignment and we have to blog about certain things which takes me longer than if I were writing about something I want to write about. If I were teaching and choosing to blog about what I am doing, then I may have a different opinion. I could see using a blog as a form of communication with students and even parents. It is an open, public, form of communication, which may have its limitations, but it at least could be used to keep parents informed about what’s going on in the classroom.
Getting the Word Out: Slaying Myths about Video Games As I read this article, I couldn’t help thinking about the argument that chocolate is a vegetable because it is made from the cocoa bean. I’m not I agree with the idea that World of Warcraft is educational… My brother plays that game for hours at a time, completely cut off from the outside world with his headphone and mic. I think that games can be educational only if that was their purpose for being created. Sure there are games out there like WoW that can teach strategy skills or if we stretch it farther, communication skills, but there is NO way it would ever be approved to use in the classroom to teach those things!
Orchestrating the Media Collage This article talks about a new kind of literacy; about being able to read and write in different types of media as well as being able to create something using different kinds of media. This article was harder for to follow and understand than the others… I don’t really agree or disagree with anything in this article. It seemed to simply present the facts about how technology is changing the definition of literacy.
I haven't done a post about Bird by Bird yet, so that's what I decided to do this time. As I have been reading the book, I was first looking for quotes that I liked for whatever reason. When I read back through those, I didn't see any connection to how they would help me as a teacher. From then on, I have only marked passages that I could apply to kids (which are few and far between, but really great ideas!)
"If you write a long piece, and it is your first, and you are wondering if it's publishable, and it isn't, even by a long shot, someone should tell you this in a way that is gentle and yet not patronizing, so that you are encouraged - maybe not to pursue publication, but to pursue writing. Certainly this person might suggest you get a second opinion. But if he is too strident or adamant, ditch the sucker. Would you stand for someone talking this way to your children - for instance, telling them that they are not a very talented painter and shouldn't even bother? Or that their poetry is not very interesting? Of course not. You'd want to pay this person a little visit with your flamethrower" (Lamott, 169-170).
This idea directly relates to what my vignette is about. It is a teacher's responsibility to help kids learn to write. If they are harsh and say ideas are not good or that the child is not a good writer it will completely defeat them! Of course you want to point out what needs to be fixed, but it needs to be done in a way that is constructive; a way that is also a learning opportunity. This passage also relates to what Routman says in Chapter 9 of Writing Essentials. The chapter is all about conferencing with students and teaching them how they have the tools to be good writers. Children need encouragement in order to feel comfortable taking risks; however it should not get to the point where they are so dependent on it that they need approval at each little step along the way. Showing children that you value their efforts and letting them know gently when something needs to fixed will help develop strong, confident, young writers.
What a fantastic idea! This is a great way to give each student privacy but at the same time get them listening to how their writing sounds. I may "steal" this idea in the future :)
