Tyrrell County School System

I spent the last week in Tyrrell County, NC. The town of Columbia goes back and forth being the smallest and second smallest school system in the state. The week long visit was a requirement for rising senior teaching fellows. You are required to pick a county from a list and then spend a time getting in depth knowledge about the behind the scenes work in school systems. I hoped that my county was on the list, but took the next closest one.

I was not looking forward to spending the first week of summer break in a school system. The first day, I woke up at 6:00 so I could drive the hour drive and get there on time. I was very surprised at the greeting I got. The Director of Curriculum and Instruction was the one who organized our trip and I was greeted by her with a huge goody bag full of neat things. I found out that there was only one other teaching fellow going through this experience with me. We met and started to talk like old friends.

I was shocked at how much I was enjoying the trip. Monday we spent time in the high school and met with the Superintendent. Tuesday we went to the 4H center and Somerset Plantation. I had been to Somerset when I was younger and it was nice to visit again. Wednesday we walked the boardwalk, went to the old theatre that acts as a museum, and went to an after school program. Thursday was dedicated to the Elementary school and middle school. Friday we met with the transportation man (thats right one man) and the maintenance man (again, one man).

This school system is extremely small. The middle and high school share a campus, a media center, a gym, cafeteria, art room and teacher, music room and teacher, and vocational classes. Even though the system in tiny, it is not small on charm. Everyone there is extremely nice and helpful. I felt comfortable talking with random teachers or administrators. They all expressed a love for their small town and explained that they new all the children's names as well as their parents. The administrators pride themselves on being supportive of the teachers.

OH! I almost forgot. This little down-home school system has a SMART board in every single classroom. There are 5 laptop carts at the middle and high school campus and 3 at the elementary campus. There are 5 computer labs total between the 3 schools. Technology is not lacking!!

I believe that when I graduate college, I will definately put in an application to teach in Tyrrell County. I would love to be a part of such a tight-knit community.

Growth

EDU 300 (Introduction to Language Arts) is coming to an end. The question is, have I made growth in my ability and knowledge about teaching language arts? I believe the answer to that question is yes!

Coming into the class, I had an appreciation for picture books and their use in the classroom (from children's lit). Over the course of this class, I have learned to appreciate all forms of literature at all levels and their place in the classroom. I look forward to incorporating novels in my classroom, even if I teach a younger grade.

I have learned a more efficient way for teaching vocabulary and spelling. I have been exposed to debates about techniques and reading skills. I have been challenged to complete projects that I will one day challenge my students to complete. I have written a book, kept a blog, participated in discussions, and been read to.

I have enjoyed keeping this blog and I plan to come back to it with updates. I hope my classmates do the same and I look forward to reading their writings. I am nervous about next year and student teaching, but I know this class pushed me one step closer to being ready.

Talk

Talk Talk Talk

Talk can get you in trouble. Well, talking too much or saying the wrong thing to the wrong person can get you in trouble. It can also help you. Talking helps us communicate thoughts, feelings, information, etc.

Self-talk can help us organize lists, or plan out ideas. Talking to other people can help us spread news, or ask questions to get more information. I think talk is very important in classrooms. Teachers talk all the time in order to get information to students. However, I was told last week that students ask about maybe 10 questions a year. TEN QUESTIONS? How do they get any answers? How do they search for deeper meaning? How do they find out what other classmates or their teacher think?

I believe that students should have the majority of talk time in the classroom. The teacher should pose questions that force the students to think and talk about. The students should be challenged to talk amongst themselves and explain their answers no matter what grade. I think students should also be given an avenue to talk out their feelings. Kind of like a "soap box." I know something like that could easily get out of hand, but I think if the students were given clear rules and limits, they could handle it. They should be able to speak out about a given topic, or pick topics to talk about. School isn't always about learning material. It's also a place for learning how to express yourself and how to conduct yourself when others think differently than you.

Listening...

Listening...it sounds so easy, but it can be so hard. The ability to hear is something that most of us are born with. The question is, are we born with the ability to Listen? Some people make a profession out of listening to people. They are psychologists, operators, doctors, etc. Listening is an integral part of everyone's life. Teachers listen to their students. Students hopefully listen to their teachers. Employees listen to their bosses and hopefully bosses listen to the needs of their employees.

There are a couple different types of listening and how you listen is determined by your purpose for listening. I think many people take the ability to hear and listen forgranted. Listening allows us to gain knowledge from other people's ideas and opinions. We are able to perform tasks by listening to basic instructions. Just hearing the information isnt enough. Having the ability to focus on the information, take it in, and remember it, is a very important skill.

Propaganda is a large part of our everyday life and it plays on our ability to listen. We are subjected to the opinions of many different people trying to persuade us to believe one thing or another. Propaganda has been used for many, many years. I think it is something that teachers tend to leave out of their lessons, or just cover once a year. I think there is valuable information in commercials or ads that can be used by the teacher if he or she is creative enough. Posters can be turned into history assignments, math problems, etc.

I enjoyed our propaganda activity last class period. I think it was a good way for us to learn about the different types. Not only did we get to pick examples of each type, we were able to include examples that we liked. Being able to share our examples with the class was important because we were able to show the class our accomplishment while also showing them something about out personality.

Field Experiences

I've been placed with my mentor teacher for going on 2 semesters and I will stay with her through student teaching. When I was notified about my placement, I was not happy. I had always said I wanted to teach 1st grade and applied to get placed in a 1-2nd grade class. I decided to keep an open mind because I had heard that Ms. Holloman was a good teacher. Her class began to grow on me and now I am in love with fourth grade.

I have had a really good experience in Ms. Holloman's class. I learn more each time I go. Not only do I observe lessons that are being taught, I learn about discipline and organization. Being organized is really important in how well a classroom runs. I've learned this by being in many different classrooms. Teachers that had to take time to get things together have more problems with students' behavior. Teachers that has everything ready to go and transitions smoothly from one thing to another leaves less time for students to disengage.

My favorite visit was one in which the students were taking part in a mock-trial. They were working on point-of-view and were really excited take a part in the court trial. They worked so hard to analyze the story they were given and pulled the tinyest details out to prove their back up their arguments.

I'm not sure I have had a least favorite visit. Even a visit where the students we taking a math assessment was interesting. The students had to write out explanations for how they solved the problems and why they did what they did. I think that was a good idea because most of the time, if you can explain how to do something, then you understand it.

I'm looking forward to more time in Ms. Holloman's classroom and I am nervous, but looking forward to student teaching. I know I have already learned a lot from my mentor and will continue to learn.

Planning for Reading and Writing Instruction

As I am thinking about all the things that will need to happen during language arts time in my future classroom, I am kind of overwhelmed. I know that by the time I get there, I will have the skills I need to organize, plan, and construct lessons that will help my students reach goals, but right now, it scares me to death.

One thing I do want to make sure to incorporate in my class is a literature focus. I like the idea of centering all lessons on a piece of literature. One novel that I will consider for 3rd or 4th grade is Because of Winn Dixie. My mentor teacher and her students just finished this book. She bought them all a copy as their Christmas present and they have been reading it out loud since then. She doesn't use the book as a focus for ALL of her subjects, but bases a lot of her language arts instruction on it.

I think Winn Dixie will be a good choice because there is a lot to work with. The characters' voices are all very distinct and they all have different points-of-views. The author writes a lot of details and includes imagery that allows you to picture the scenes in your head. The family in the book is not perfect which is good because a lot of students in my class will not have "regular" families and will be able to relate to the book.

I think it will be tough to find ways to incorporate the book into other subjects like math or science, but I'm sure with a little creativity, it can be done. The characters walk a lot in the book, so maybe adding up miles walked or mapping where the characters walked would work. There is plenty to work with on the language arts/writing end. Theme, tone, point-of-view, detail, and symbolism are just some of the many topics that could be covered.

This little bit of brainstorming has me excited to think about other books and other activities that I can use in my classroom. If only I had the time to write them all down...

New Ides in Teaching

Recently, I got into the pattern of regularly reading blogs on Google Reader. I am subscribed to several blogs that deal with technology in the classroom. One surprising idea that I have found in several blogs is the idea that it is OK to use cell phones in the classroom. The blog that spoke the most to me about this topic was The Tempered Radical written by a Wake County 6th grade teacher.

Mr. Ferriter shared his responses to the topic. His blog along with others I read, opened my mind to new possibilities. As Mr. Ferriter says in his blog, most people are completely against the use of cell phones in the classroom, which is why they are banned in most classes. Most people agree that time on a cell phone is spent talking or texting to friends. Mr. Ferriter brought up the point that if students are texting in the back of the class, it is just evidence of poor teaching.

Going along the same idea, I attended a technology seminar this past Thursday. In the seminar, a 4th grade teacher from Wake County explained how afraid most teachers are of being technologically advanced in their classrooms. He explained that my generation and the generations after us are "digital natives." Digital natives have grown up with technology in their lives. Mr. Barton told us that digital natives speak a different language than non-natives. He explained that it is a crime that we take computers away from ditigal natives (which is what happens when cell phones are banned from entering a classroom). He encouraged us to find ways to make our classroom speak to digital natives in their own language.

I know this topic is really scary to some people, and others think it is simply outrageous. However, I think it needs to be brought up and needs to be thought about on a large scale. There is a lot of work that needs to be done before cell phones or other devices like them have a permanent spot in our classrooms, but there are some teachers who are already making it work in theirs. See this blog by one such teacher.

Spelling and Writing

I was unaware that there were so many stages of spelling. I obviously don't remember going through the first few stages because I was so young. I have had experience with children who are in the emergent stage. I think it is very interesting how a child can know exactly what they mean with a scribble and they go on and on "reading" it to you. The creativity they show is great and I think it is one of the reasons I love working with children so much.

I have always enjoyed writing. As a little girl, I used to try to write novels. I would get a few pages in and decide that it wasn't interesting enough. I kept a journal for a while. I got it as a present for Christmas when I was in fourth grade. I remember writing really short entries and just listing what I did during the day. Then my Dad told my sister and I that journals were for us to write down how we feel. I remember writing in my journal that day, I listed everything I did, and then at the bottom wrote "I felt happy today." haha! I eventually learned to put my feelings down in the journal and I liked having somewhere secret to share my stories.

My opinion toward writing has not changed much over the semester. As I said, I have always liked writing and thought it was important. I have learned that writing can provide an avenue for people who have no way to talk or otherwise express their feelings. Writing is a tool that everyone needs and will use through their entire life. It is one of the most important skills we learn.

I'll have to admit, I wasn't too excited about having a blog. However, it has been a lot easier and more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be. I like the idea of incorporating class material into my personal experiences because I think it will help me remember and grasp the concepts.

I am excited about the Published Book project we are completing. Like I said earlier, when I was younger I always wanted to write a novel. This will be a good opportunity for me to complete my dream. My story will be partly true and some fictional. I want to follow my journey through college and address my fear that I will not be a successful teacher. The story will end with my future. I will write about my journey into the teaching profession and all that comes with it. I think the book will be a great way for me to get out my feelings and fears about being a teacher.

Social Skills and Language Arts

Sahara is the main character in the book Sahara Special. She hopes to be a writer one day and spends a lot of time writing. Sahara has many difficulties in her social life. She does not understand social cues and isn't comfortable with simple conversations. She is introverted and only has a few people that she considers friends. She doesn't share her writings with anyone. I think her lack of social skills is the reason she is so against sharing her writing.

Similarly, I believe poor reading or writing skills can have an effect on social skills. Students who lack skills in reading or writing often feel left behind and slow. They feel like their classmates are miles ahead of them and that there is no hope. This mindset can carry over to the social aspect of their lives. Feeling "stupid" and slow can cause a child to become less confident in herself and cause her to turn inward. Students who feel like they might get ridiculed because of their delay are more apt to stay to themselves and ignore their classmates.

I have seen situations like this before. Last year I tutored ESL students. Some of these students struggled with reading, writing, or both. The students were all very shy and kept to themselves. They didn't really interact with many of the other students in their classes. This could have been a language barrier problem, but I believe it can also be attributed to the fact that the students felt behind and as a result, felt like they would be ridiculed and thought it was better to stay to themselves.

As a teacher, I think this is a very important issue that is overlooked too much. Its not only our job to teach students core subjects like math, reading, and writing, but is also our job to help students be able to be functioning, confident, citizens. We are responsible for helping students develop a sense of self and an appreciation for their abilities. Students who are having trouble reading and writing need to be encouraged. Instead of setting huge goals for the delayed students and waiting for them to reach the goal before being rewarded, I think it would be beneficial to set small goals and reward the students for ANY step forward they make or try to make. Students who feel like they are accomplishing something will gain confidence and hopefully see improvement in many other aspects like social skills. This is my plan for when I become a teacher and I hope to use it to help every student in my class feel a sense of accomplishment and worth.

The Reading Wars

The Reading War is an argument between people who support phonetic learning of words and people who support whole language learning. Phonetic learning focuses on the sounds of speech and the spelling patterns of written words. Letters sound different according to where they are placed and the letters adjacent to them. The whole language approach focuses more on the meaning of what is read. Students are encouraged to learn a number of site words. Sometimes phonetic material is presented to the students, but most of the emphasis is put on whole words instead of the letters that make up the word.

I learned how to read/spell/write with the phonetic approach. I remember going over every letter and making the sounds at the beginning of every school day from K-1. I thought it was fun! I would go home and my dad would always joke around with my sister and I. We would tell him the silly sounds we learned and we would put them together to make our own words.

Sight words are words that the reader knows automatically without decoding the word's spelling. I believe that we create our own sight words as we develop as readers. As a child, my Grandma read me and my twin the same book every night for a week. At the end of the week, she said we were reading the book to her. If she would have put another book in front of us, we wouldn't have been able to read it. However, since we saw and heard those particular words over and over, we were able to memorize them and read them back to her.

I think symbols play a very important role in literacy learning. One of the first things we learn how to do is to match a name with a picture. For example, many children have some sort of toy that requires them to match the word 'Cat' with a picture of a cat, the word 'dog' with a picture of a dog, and so on. Children learn what the words are by visualizing the meaning. Picture books are very effective for struggling readers because they illustrate the story that the reader is reading about. If the boy kicks a ball, there will be a picture of a boy kicking a ball, and the learner will be able to better understand what the word kick means. I think we are seeing people come around to this idea more. There are a rising number of graphic novels being published that allow more mature readers to still get the joy of seeing the story illustrated. I believe this is a good direction and I hope more people get on board.

Writing

Writing is something fairly new to our world. A long time ago, most people passed information by word of mouth. History was told through stories and information was distributed by people's voices. Nowadays we write. Written words have more permanence than spoken words do. Writing is a way to record what we think, know, and feel.

Reading what people write is a way to gain knowledge about any and everything. Reading can open doors in our minds that we could not find before. Writing becomes worth reading when it offers an idea that can change the way a person views or thinks about something. It is worth while when reading it will give you knowledge or perspective that you didn't have before. Writing is also worth while if reading it can cause you to feel emotion. Its amazing how reading a story about something happy or sad can make you feel those same emotions. I think anything that has been written with time, devotion, and thought, is worth reading because someone thought it was important to spend a lot of time and put a lot of effort in it.

The Reading Process

Some people find it surprising to know that there are two different types of reading. Aesthetic reading involves reading for entertainment. Reading aesthetically allows readers to live through the experience of the characters they are reading about. Emphasis is put on thoughts and feelings felt while reading. Efferent readers read in order to gain information. Examples are reading a textbook for class or reading an instruction manual. I have a preference for aesthetic reading. I love to get into the mind of the character and feel what they are feeling when they go through their situations. Sometimes I find myself lost in the world of a book, wishing I were really there. As of the past few years, I have used efferent reading more. There is a lot of required reading that comes with being a college student, so most of the time, I am reading to get information for class.

There are five stages in the reading process. The first process is prereading. During prereading, the reader gains background knowledge and defines a purpose for reading. An example of prereading would be a student looking at the cover illustrations of the book to get background knowledge and being told to think about differences between the story and their life. The next stage in the reading process is reading. Students can read together, independently, with a teacher, or be read to. One type of reading is buddy reading which involves an older student pairing up to read with a younger student. The third stage in the reading process is responding. In the responding stage, students respond to the reading in order to show comprehension and meaning. Examples include writing in reading logs or participating in group discussions. The fourth stage in the reading process is exploring. In this stage, the student explore the text by rereading, focusing on vocab words, and participating in lessons about the story. Students may add important words to a list or word wall, and may reread the selection to look for a repeating theme. The final stage of the process applying. Students in this stage are involved in completing projects that will allow them to continue to explore the reading and build on their experiences. Some examples include completing oral presentations, reports, murals, or theater scripts.

There are four important factors in developing capable readers. The first factor is word identification. Capable readers need to be able to identify a large number of words instantly. Word identification strategies allow students to quickly figure out what an unknown word is. One important part of word identification is phonics. The next important factor is fluency. Fluency is defined as being able to read quickly and with expression. Reading speed and word recognition are components of fluency. 100 words per minute is considered fluent. The 3rd important factor is vocabulary. Capable readers are able to learn up to 7 to 10 new words a day. The more capable the reader is, the more vocabulary available. Vocabulary knowledge is important because it allows students to decode words they have never heard and comprehend reading more easily. The last important factor for developing capable readers is comprehension. While reading, students simultaneously think about what they are reading and how it relates to their experiences. Capable readers are able to comprehend what they are reading and predict and visualize what will happen.

There are five different ways to read: shared, guided, independent, buddy, and reading aloud. When teachers read aloud while the students follow along it is called shared reading. Guided reading is teachers supporting students while they read books at their reading level. Independent reading allows students to choose and read a book by themselves. Buddy Reading pairs two readers together. Reading aloud can be either teachers or fluent students reading out loud to students.

Students can use the reading process while participating in a unit that focuses on a certain book. Teachers build the background knowledge and students respond, explore, and apply. Students can also participate in literature circles where they read self-selected texts. Reading and writing workshops allow students to prepare background knowledge before reading. When teachers focus on a thematic unit, students will use the reading process to read stories and informational text that center around a theme.

6 Language Arts + Sahara

I was surprised to find that listening was included in the 6 language arts. I had never thought about listening as something that needs to be taught or worked on. I was even more surprised to find out that there are different kinds of listening: aesthetic, efferent, and critical.

Viewing and visually representing are the newest additions to the list. By adding them to the list, we are condoning the digital and media influences on children. However, these influences do not have to be a bad thing. Viewing and visually representing are ways that children can improve their listening, writing, and reading skills. If these two language arts were not on the list, we would neglect the needs of many children in today's society.

I have had a lot of experience with all of the language arts. My favorite would have to be viewing. Who doesn't like watching a movie, even if it is educational. The language art that has played the most important role in my academic career is reading. Reading allows me to gain knowledge from books, the internet, and teachers. Reading has always been one of my favorite language arts. Another one of my favorite language arts is visually representing. Given the choice to write a paper or make a poster, I would choose the poster. I love being creative. I expect that this language art will always remain one of my favorites.

So far, I am really enjoying Sahara Special. I like that the author made Sahara seem like a real kid who speaks her mind. I can relate to her family issues. I remember a boy just like the one that she sat in the hall way with. I also like that the author uses details that allow you to get a picture in your head of what is happening. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.