I Search Blog Post

I really benefited from having our classmates review our I-Search Papers and give me ideas on how I can revise my paper. Tracie and Tanisha were the ones to review my paper. They gave me some ideas of how I could change some sentences to make them a little clearer. They also encouraged me to add more of "my voice" throughout my paper which I did yesterday and this morning. During class on Tuesday Dr. Hinton clarified for me how to add the intro and conclusion so I went through and revised those sections as well. I also added more about my interviewee like how we met and the format that our interview was conducted. It was very helpful to have the extra time on Tuesday to discuss the paper and make revisions where needed.

Learning Blog 8

Chapter 11 had a strong focus on diverse learners.

In the beginning of the chapter, a definition for diverse learners was given: “those who might be at risk for academic failure who need special understanding and attention,” (p. 319). While I agree that diversity includes those who are at risk for academic failure, I would not say that that is what diverse learning means. Instead, I would try and relate it to the definition from Webster’s Dictionary of diversity itself: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. Therefore, diverse learners would be learners who are composed of differing learning elements. Just because we are all different in the way that we learn and accept information, does not necessarily lead to academic failure. I can be somewhat successful in learning if a teacher does not always teach to my particular learning style. While it might be harder for me to understand the material, I would probably still be able to learn something.

I was confused when reading about the Universal Design for Learning. I felt like the text was unclear in connecting this to differentiated learning (or it just might be my summer brain). Also, I wish the authors would have included more direct ways of implementing this in a classroom. It sounds great but when I have to successfully manage 24 six year olds in my classroom, it’s quite a struggle to implement all of these things without an extra pair of hands.

I felt like the text perhaps spent too much time on ESL/ELL. I definitely agree that this is an area to discuss when talking about diverse learners; however, I felt like much of what was said was redundant and could’ve been said in a more concise manner. That being said, I did like what was mentioned in the 4 misconceptions about teaching ELLs:

o   1. Exposure and interaction will result in English language learning

o   2. All ELL students learn English in the same way and at the same rate

o   3. Good teaching for native speakers is good teaching for ELL students

o   4. Effective instruction means nonverbal support

I can strongly relate to #2. I had two students this year who were ELLs and they both struggled greatly in the beginning. I was constantly looking for new strategies to reach these students and from December to March, one of these girls jumped 8 reading levels! I was so surprised! It was like something had really clicked and she was off and rolling! The other student; however, only grew 3-4 levels. This experience really taught me that all ELLs do not progress at the same rate and the same way.

Overall I enjoyed reading this chapter, especially the portions on the at-risk students & the SES students—probably because that was the most applicable to my situation :)


Video Notes:
What are some of the cultural or economical problems or concerns that students have to deal with all while trying to learn?

-They don't understand the connection between school and "real-life"
-They don't feel like they're wanted
-The high amount of military kids are experiencing different transitions than those students who are not involved in the military life
-Students are not always given adequate resources outside of the classroom (internet access, etc.)
-Effective and engaged teachers
-Lack of parental concern

What are some things that educators can do?

-I think really concentrating on the affective domain would be a great start to get students more engaged and feeling like they have a place in the classroom
-Keep pursuing parents to get more involved, whether that's through phone calls, notes, etc. Don't give up if there is a lack of response!
-Find common ground with the students and build a mutual respect












 

Learning Blog 7

Chapter 8 focused on Writing to Learn. One idea encouraged in the beginning of the chapter was to use writing in every content area. I’ve found that I do this a lot in my teaching because I feel like the students really need that extra support in learning how to successfully use different methods of writing (letters, narratives, questions, etc.). This has just motivated me to do it even more!

I found it interesting that the authors mentioned the on-demand writing strategy and how ineffective it is. I was wondering, if it does not yield higher scores on standardized tests, why do educators keep doing it? Shouldn’t educators focus on student-choice, more authentic writing? I think that in order for students to be successful in writing, they need to have a personal connection to what they are writing.

I also found it interesting that the authors mentioned the importance of using writing as a comprehension tool, not just an evaluative tool. I think I use it too much as an evaluation tool in my classroom! Using the strategies mentioned in all aspects of the PAR framework, I’ll be able to implement them as a comprehension tool.

I found the write-alouds to be very helpful! This is something that we’re encouraged to do in our school and I’ve found it to be very effective! The students really need to see the writing process modeled and the write-alouds enable the teacher to do this. I also found it helpful to read about the importance of computers as writing tools. Page 224 says, “Teachers have the responsibility to integrate technology in their writing instruction.” This is something that I really need to incorporate into my writing lessons. Next year, I’ll be sure to do this!

I enjoyed reading the strategies for each phase of the PAR framework.

One strategy that I liked in the preparation phase was cubing. I think with a little modification, I can successfully implement this in my classroom. I also liked the student-generated questions because I think it will allow the students to think critically about the things they want to learn about a given topic.

The strategy I liked in the assistance phase is the one that we’re doing in class J: the learning logs. I think it’s a great strategy to use in monitoring comprehension and it will also allow the teacher to see any problems that a student is having in comprehending the material.

In the reflection phase, I like the C3B4ME because I think students really benefit from learning from each other and bouncing ideas off of each other. It also provides them with a practical real-life skill: accepting constructive criticism.

Overall, chapter 8 had a lot of helpful strategies to implement writing to learn in the classroom and I look forward to applying them in my classroom next school year!

Quiz Questions for Chapter 9

1. If a teacher preps the students by asking them to listen for the main points in a read-aloud, what strategy is she using?

a. Directed Listening Technique
b. Listening Guide
c. Directed Reading Activity
d. ABOUT/POINT

2. Name and explain one strategy you, as the teacher, would use in the assistance phase to encourage effective studying?

Learning Blog 6

In chapter 6, the authors discussed incorporating other resources into the classroom instead of, or in addition to, the traditional textbook. I was really excited to find that the authors found this as an important topic to include in this book, which is mostly geared toward future teachers, because I feel strongly that teachers need to broaden their resources in the classroom! The chapter discussed the multimodal platforms that can be used in the classroom. It called the reader to use technology in their classrooms to encourage students to be educated citizens in the 21^st century. I think that our Learning Blogs are a great example of this. Since students are so engaged in the realm of technology, it seems unavoidable to incorporate it into their learning. By using technology and other multimodal platforms, students will be more engaged in their learning.

The chapter listed several reasons why a student might find it difficult to understand a textbook reading. Page 138 says, “It is not easy, especially for struggling readers, to make the shift from reading stories, or narrative style, to reading for information in expository text.” I’ve never thought of this before but it makes a lot of sense! If textbooks are written in a very formal tone (which most of the ones I have read are) it’s very hard for students to make that transition.

I really liked how the chapter encouraged upper grade-level teachers to incorporate more read-alouds into their classrooms. I think that this is something that many teachers often overlook if they teach middle or high school. Read-alouds, as mentioned in the book, are a great way to model fluent reading, develop interest, and help the students to understand the tone of the text. From my personal experience, I have always loved being read to! If upper-grade teachers would incorporate this more into their rooms, I think they would be surprised at how much the students become more interested in reading & literacy.

I liked the techniques that the authors presented to get students more engaged in literature. The literature circle sounds like a fun and interactive cooperative learning strategy. It would be interesting to tweak this and try to make it work in a lower elementary classroom. I think students really benefit when hearing another students’ take on a topic.

Another thing that was discussed in the chapter was how to determine the readability of a text. There were many ideas but one strategy that I really liked incorporated the students. This strategy was the cloze procedure. It’s a great tool to use in the preparation phase to determine a student’s prior knowledge. I also thought that it would be a great tool to gain extra data for those students who I am concerned about, whether they are high achieving students or low achieving students.

I appreciated this chapter because it was very student-centered and encouraged teachers to step outside their comfort zones, delve into the textbooks and remediate any problems, and encourage students to be critical learners by incorporating different text resources.

Stop after Podcasts, pgs. 183-190

                                        Teaching Vocabulary in the “A” Phase:

• The goal of teaching vocabulary in the Assistance Phase is to create independent learners that will search for word meaning on their own to extend their Academic Word Lists (p. 170).

o   Pg 184: “Using sticky notes, highlighting tape, or flags to mark difficult or interesting words in the text engages the reader in actively attending to and identifying words for further consideration.”

Context Clue Discovery (p. 185): students need to know the context the word is being used in. One way to help with this is to do a brief word association activity. Ways to help students develop the ability to develop a context:

• Definitions: authors often define a word in the sentence in which it first appears
• Signal Words: Certain words or phrases may signal the reader that a word or term is about to be explained
• Direct Explanations: authors provide an explanation of an unfamiliar term
• Synonyms: a complex term will be followed by a simpler term
• Antonyms: explaining a term by contrasting it with words of opposite meaning
• Inferences: infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word from the mood and tone of the selection
• Pg. 187: “It’s a good idea to have these six clues posted at points around the classroom or in handouts to be kept in student’s work folders”

Structural Analysis (p. 187): AKA morphemic analysis. If students know how to dissect words from their roots and affixes it is helpful for this strategy. “Morphology is the next level of word families.” A lot depends on the root of the word, ie Latin or Greek Structural analysis provides a way to examine words looking for roots and affixes as keys to unlocking word meanings.

• Pg. 188: “A morpheme can be free to stand along like lock or bound like un.”

Four guidelines for teaching morphemic analysis:

·         Provide explicit instruction in how morphemic analysis works

·         Use word families to promote vocabulary growth

·         Promote independent use of morphemic analysis

·         Enhance students’ awareness that morphemic analysis does not always work

Tools to help with structural analysis:

o   Dissect: (D for discover the world’s context; I for isolate the prefix, S for separate the suffix; S for say the stem or root word; E for examine the stem or root word; C for check with someone; and T for try the dictionary)

o   Word attack paradigms: students are given a card with a series of steps to aid them in deciphering new words they encounter in reading.

o   **Dictionaries are a last resort!**

o   Vocabulary Podcasts (p. 190): Students receiving podcasts scored significantly higher on tests of vocabulary understanding at the end of the unit than their peers in the control group.


To see more about Step 1 look at pages 170-176
To see more about Step 2 look at pages 176-183
To see more about Step 4 look at pages 193-200
 

I-Search Paper Proposal

I-Search Proposal

Topic: Boys & Literacy

Questions: When does the trend in boys becoming less engaged in reading begin? What are some of the reasons why boys become less engaged? How can educators remediate this problem?

General Resources: I have found 3 IRA articles based on my topic. I will also be using some of my colleagues to gain insight & information

People to Interview: I am planning to interview one of our reading specialists from last year who is now working in the classroom as a 2^nd grade teacher. I might also interview another one of our old reading specialists.

Titles of Articles Planned to be used:

1.      Effective Approaches to Motivate and Engage Reluctant Boys in Literacy : IRA article from vol. 66 Issue 3 of the Reading Teacher

2.      How to Maintain School Reading Success: Five Recommendations from a Struggling Male Reader: IRA article from vol. 63 (2) of the Reading Teacher

3.      Combating “I Hate This Stupid Book” Black Males and Critical Literacy: IRA article from vol. 66 Issue 8 of the Reading Teacher

Notes:

I became interested in the topic while reading through our textbook because I was unaware that this was an “epidemic.” Throughout this school year, my highest readers are boys and they really enjoy reading. I have found though, that I had trouble looking for chapter books to suggest to the boys’ parents because there seemed to be a lack of boy-oriented books being published. I’m interested to see the connections here and if there is a cycle being represented (lack of books being published = lack of male readers).

Learning Blog 5

Chapter 7, on vocabulary, started with a statement that I found very interesting on page 169: “A strong vocabulary equips students to actively participate in society as educated citizens and informed consumers.” The chapter made me realize the importance of students remembering and retaining vocabulary words instead of just decoding the word and having an understanding that does not carry with them. The chapter mentioned the decline in vocabulary scores with new college enrollees. I’ve found this to be true in my personal experience. I feel like I haven’t really been taught ways to remember vocabulary or even been taught the importance of vocabulary. I’ve always assumed that this was due to the “technology age” that our generation lives in. The chapter reinforces this idea and suggests that there needs to be a way to incorporate technology into learning vocabulary (the vocabulary podcasts is a great connection with this, found on page 190).

Another point I found interesting in the chapter was when the authors were discussing the importance of beginning vocabulary instruction in the lower elementary grades. Page 175 describes findings of 2 researches and says, “Biemiller and Boote provided evidence that limited oral vocabularies among children in early grades predict limited reading comprehension later in their schooling experiences.” Like I’ve said before in previous blog posts, I’ve found myself concentrating on my first graders decoding and reading fluently that I haven’t concentrated a lot on vocabulary. When it comes to other subjects such as science, social studies, and math, I do address the vocabulary but I do not spend as much time on it as I should.

Some of the activities that I liked in each phase of PAR are:

In the P phase, I like the word inventories probably because I really liked the precheck learning concept in chapter 3! I feel like this is a great self-inventory tool and will enable the students to be aware of their prior knowledge.

In the A phase, I was intrigued when reading about the podcast. I think that this is a great way to get the students involved in using technology but using it to increase and challenge their vocabulary instead of decreasing it and simplifying it.

In the R phase, I really liked the vocabulary illustrations! I feel like this is something that I could use in my classroom frequently. I really liked this strategy because it allows the students to reflect on what they’ve read and create their own meaning for vocabulary words. Another reason I like it, is because the students will be creating a visual representation of what the vocabulary word(s) represent to them and this will aid in helping them to remember its meaning.

I found the strategies in this chapter to be geared more towards upper grades; however, there were some strategies (as mentioned above) that I can implement in my first grade classroom. The examples/diagrams were extremely helpful in aiding me to understand the strategies being discussed. When I was confused about something, the diagram really helped me to visual it!

Learning Blog 4

I found chapter 5 to be very informative when looking to understand the “Reflective Phase” of the PAR lesson plan framework. I enjoyed how the authors started off the chapter emphasizing the importance of critical thinking. Page 108 says, “To learn, students need to be in a relaxed atmosphere where they have time to reflect on the assignment.” I think as classroom teachers, it’s difficult to give the students an adequate amount of time to reflect on an assignment due to the pressures of covering all of the SOL objectives laid out on the district pacing guide for the day. I tend to look at my data and direct my instruction based on the needs of my students; however, it can be difficult to balance the extra time spent on a lesson and moving towards the next objective. If a teacher spends too much time on one aspect of a lesson, the class will fall behind in meeting the time restraints for the district pacing guides.

It was helpful for me to read the 3 positive aspects of reflective learning so that I can truly understand the importance of the reflective phase (pg 109):

1.                     Students think more in depth about what they have learned and yet to learn about a lesson.

2.                     It helps students retain material they have read (the more students reflect, the longer they’ll remember the material)

3.                     Provides a demonstration of one’s learning through a system of informal evaluation

On page 116, the authors explain the benefits of cooperative learning and one of them was a gain in self-esteem, time on task, attendance, and ability to work effectively with others. Collaborative learning provides students with life skills needed in the “real world” and it also gives them something to look forward to when coming to school! They won’t have to sit through a “boring” lecture presented by their teacher because they’re actively involved in their own learning process!

I was relieved to see that the 16 strategies presented in the Reflection Phase chapter were much clearer for me to understand than the ones listed in the Assistance Phase from chapter 4 J. I think that there are more strategies applicable to my first grade classroom in the Reflection Phase than those in the Assistance Phase from chapter 4. I even found that I’m already using some of them in my classroom already due to the big push at our school to use Kagan strategies.

One of the ones that I use is similar to the Rallytable described on page 123. Instead of students writing their responses on a piece of paper, the students get in pairs and say statements back and forth. This is called Rallyrobin. For example, if I say “body coverings” the students will take turns going back and forth saying different body coverings and/or specific animals with that body covering. Or, if I say “compound words” they must go back and forth naming different compound words.

Another strategy that I’ve found extremely helpful is the think-pair-share strategy. We’re supposed to use this everyday in each of our lessons for each content area. The students are given a topic and must think about it, then break into pairs, and take turns sharing what they know about the topic. I’ve used this during the Preparation Phase of my lessons and also at the conclusion of my lessons (Reflection Phase). I’ve found that it’s also helpful to use this prior to a test.

I thought that the About/Point strategy would be very helpful for my students after reading a difficult passage. Also, the self-generated questions would be beneficial for my students to create after a lesson because it enables them to think critically about what they read by creating their own questions and also it holds them accountable for what they read.

This chapter was very helpful for me to better understand critical thinking and how to implement it into my classroom.