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.