Final E339 Blog

So the time has come for us to depart.  Well almost anyways.  This whole language arts cluster has been a journey, especially with the added X460 class (another literature class).  Language arts is not my strong point, so there have been some days this semester where I have been completely overwhelmed by assignments and wanted to quit, I still cannot wait for the day its all over.  But I feel that I have learned tons of material that will better help me make educated decisions on what to do in my classroom, although I still have a lot to learn.  Our practicum hours have definitely helped me see how the practices we read about look when implemented in the classroom, and is an extremely valuable part of the cluster.
I am sad however, that our time with the students have come to an end.  You get so used to working with them and seeing their struggles and accomplishments you get kind of attached to them, at least I did.  One of the students I have been working with all semester finally warmed up to me and started talking more just a few weeks ago.  I feel horrible for having to say goodbye just after he finally started to feel comfortable with me.  But all good things must come to an end eventually, and I am excited to begin working with another group of students next semester.
BUT, one thing I am looking forward to on the last day of E339 is the presentations of everyone's finished piece.  If like me they have put countless hours into it, I'm sure they will all be great and interesting.  I am excited to see what topics everyone did and how they decided to publish them.  I have even decided to give my finished piece as a Christmas gift.  I figured if I'm going to put all this time into it I might as well use it.  But I know when the time comes to parting with it, it's going to be a little hard because it has become my baby, my masterpiece in the making because of all the time I have dedicated to it's production.  But I also believe that the receiver will love it, so that makes it a little easier.  Although, I will still take pictures to be able to share with my future class so they can see what I did for a published piece when it comes time for them to publish one of their own.

Seed Idea Development

This week we had to pick out a seed idea and discuss our ideas for it with our partners.  I picked a seed idea, but I'm still not sure if it will be the work that I want to publish at the end of the semester.  I think it has potential to be good, but it is just going to take a lot of time to develop a piece worth publishing.  However, I'm still excited to see the end product.

This week we also looked at photographs and how they can be used to examine and teacher about community social issues common in the student's lives.  But along with that, I think it also lends itself to the exploration of stereotypes because one needs to have some knowledge of what a situation looks like in order to begin to understand what the picture may be suggesting or showing the audience.

The digital story The Wrinkled Heart was an excellent way to present the lesson that the teacher shared with her students because it allowed for us to see the visual, which is what made the activity so powerful to begin with.  It really showed how the little comments are the things that slowly creep up on people and wear on their hearts, often going unnoticed until it's too late.  And that even the apologies do not make everything better because the scar still remains.

This week in field experience, we had to make up raps about what happened in our classrooms.  It was something different that got the class laughing.  It was a fun activity to end the day with.

Gallery Walk-MGRP Presentations

This week we had a gallery walk style presentation of our MGRP topic and artifacts.  We even had snacks to set a casual, laid back mood in the room.  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the variety of topics people decided to research.  One that seriously intrigued me was Jordan's presentation on Kendra Wilkenson.  She was very knowledgeable on her research topic, and had lots of interesting facts to share about Kendra's life.  She even satisfied some of my curiosity surrounding life at the Play Boy mansion.  And what was even better was that Maia, stationed next to Jordan, was presenting over Hugh Hefner.  So from her presentation I got to see another side of Hefner that is often overlooked.  Even learning that he had kids, two in their fifties and two about our ages.  But what was really nice about the opportunity to see the different presentations was the opportunity to get to know my classmates better.  From walking around and observing I got to learn what was important to or interested my fellow classmates, something that I would not normally find out because of my reserved and quiet nature.  I feel like this would be something that would benefit a class when they are in the process of building a community because of the insight one gains into classmates interest, although probably not a project suited for the beginning of the school year.

Failed Attempt

This past week I attempted to do an interview with my Kid Watching Kid on his interest and thoughts over reading and writing.  He is a second grader that comes to the ENL classroom for forty minutes a day.  I've been working with him and another 2nd grader in a small group since the first day of our practicum.  Prior to last week he had been quite reserved, and frequently ignoring questions when asked by me.  But last week he made attempts to converse with me and asked me for helping spelling words he did not know.  Since his first language is not English, and he has only been at University for less than a year, I figured his English was not that great.  My thoughts were confirmed, so I thought, by his little attempts to communicate with me.  But despite all this I attempted to perform the interview, only to meet a wall that I did not have the skill to climb.  The majority of the questions I attempted to ask he did not have the English necessary to understand or respond.  So we began a clumsy dance of communication that showed both our two left feet.  It was a slight discouragement to not be able to get any answers to my questions really.  And the ones I did get I he mostly just responded affirmative when I reworded the question or asked specific questions.  But after talking with Carmen I was reassured that we could work around this, and that she would help me modify or complete throw out some questions.  But what is most intriguing, is that he is a good writer for his age and English proficiency, even his spelling is right on if not close to the actual spelling of words appropriate for his grade.

Poetry Invitations

This week in class we got to experience what a poetry invitation would be like, and I know that myself and several others I saw were excited to do something different in class.  I really enjoyed seeing what others produced, especially those that made illustrations to convey the meaning they got from the poem.  Some of those pictures were really awesome.
In my field experience today with the fourth graders we were working on mental images, which I thought was quite coincidental since we had just read and discussed a chapter over mental images in E340 on Monday.  The student I had was struggling to describe his mental images, if he had any at all.  He simply summarized or listed back to me what had just happened, but did not show me what he saw.  I think part of it has to do that when he reads he does not pay attention to what he is reading, not that he cannot comprehend, because he is very capable, just he only reads for surface value instead of making connections and attempting to understand what is happening.

Docu-Drama and Writer's workshop

This past week in our field experience class we got to observe and participate in a fourth grade class' writer's workshop.  For the sake of privacy we will call the person I worked with Benji.  So each of my classmates sat by a student to work with during the workshop.  We first began with a hello, and the fourth graders gave us a special welcome.  It was something like a wolf greeting, they made pointed ears with their hands and howled hello.  Then we did a two minute quick write where we were to write about brushing out teeth, but make it a big event in our writing.  Which we then shared with our partners.  After that we went to the meeting area to find out what we would be working on that day.  And the task was generating a list of first and last time experiences that we could explore and make bigger just like the author of Eleven, the piece we were modeling our work after, had done.  After a little bit of carpet work we spread out and worked with our partners on generating ideas.  Adam had just moved to the United States a few years ago and picked some first times doing things in America.  One of the first experiences he chose to wrote on was his first time trick or treating.  I really enjoyed the writer's workshop experience, it gave me a clearer picture than just reading about it had.  And other much planning and organization goes into the units of study, the structure is very simply and has a natural flow.  And as we were leaving we gave high fives to our partners and said you're awesom since that's how they do it in their class.
Back in class later that day we watched a docu-drama an elementary teacher had done over the life of a water molecule.  It was a very creative way of illustrating the process, entertaining yet full of information.  It was a new concept I was introduced to, a docu-drama I mean.  I can envision the work it requires to create a great one that is both entertaining and informative.  But I also see the potential for much student learning.  If each group of students is given a subject to do one on, they would have to do a lot of research and creative thinking to get it all to come together.  Eventually presenting something that would be entertaining so the other students would want to watch and would in turn be learning lots of new facts about a subject.  And the students who produced it would have lots of fun too because they can be as creative as they wish.

Multi-Genre Research Paper

This week in class we focused on our major assignment coming up, our multi-genre research paper.  I had a semi solid idea of what I wanted to do it over, the book After Tupac and D Foster.  I had already started creating a list of possible artifacts and where I wanted them to go, how they would be an extension of the book and characters.  I had even begun creating some rough drafts of the artifacts.  But I was struggling to decide what aspect of the book I would focus on and was concerned with my ability to find resources and the availability of resources over topics in the book.  But we did a class activity that helped me pick the topic I wanted to do.  Yet even after the question writing and exploration, when I began researching my topic took a slightly different perspective than I had initially thought.  And although still underdeveloped I believe it will result in a better paper and connectedness to the book than where I had initially been thinking of taking the two.

This week in our practicum hours I was able to stay a little over time in the class I observe to see the first graders and kindergartners.  Like with the other grades the other girls and I were paired off with one or two students to assist them individually.  In this class there were two first grade girls who were recent immigrants from Korea, and seeing as we had a future teacher who spoke Korean our teacher took advantage of her presence and paired her with the two girls.  Their facial expression was priceless when they realized that their helper was Korean.  The little boy, who also happened to be Korean, was quite jealous of this fact.  And frequently pointed out that the two girls had a Korean teacher.  When I asked if he wished he had a Korean teacher he said yes.  Younger children are so entertaining.  The boy I worked with was quite the character, as I had been warned previously, but he has very intelligent and witty also.  I wish we were able to stay and help with the first/kindergartners every week.  That would be a really treat.

Teaching Experiences

So this week in class my writer's notebook conference went better than last.  My partner and I found some things to talk about and discussed some things we would like to try this week in our journal.  We also had a mini-lesson on non-fiction and saw how hectic it can get when examining such a broad topic to begin with.  I think it would be easier to examine the different types of non-fiction structures independently and then compare them at a later date.  Non-fiction just has such an array of formats, many of which are distinct from fiction but some of which are similar.
We also learned about our MGR paper we will be working on for the next couple weeks and I must say that I am kind of excited about the potential this project has.  And excited about the creativity we will gt to explore as a result.  I cannot wait to see where this project ends.
This week and last week (I believe) we had to teach mini-lessons to a small group of peers.  Both times I found that my group ended up discussing our lesson plan, what we hoped to accomplish and how we would present it to our students, than actually teaching the lesson to one another.  It's just so odd to peer teach.  But from finding a topic and materials to accompany the lesson, I discovered that I am a little indecisive.  It took me forever to figure out what I wanted to teach.  And then once I figured out what I wanted to focus on, poetry, there were so many topics within poetry to teach that I was unsure what I wanted to look at.  In the end, I went for what I thought would be more interesting to learn about.  I find that I often skip over what I feel to be boring, or attempt to make everything as fun as I can.  Like last week I used a Captain Underpants book to teach about dialogue and talk bubbles.  Whether this is a good or bad thing is yet to be decided, however it is probably a mix between the two, leaning more toward good I would hope.  But I definitely learned that I have a hard time teaching something I am not passionate about, interested in, or find fun, which will definitely present some problems in the future.

Punctuation ...! ? : ; ( ) -

This week in class we did a punctuation inquiry.  We looked through books to locate uses of punctuation and then using context clues, determined their purpose in the situation.  Through this lesson, I learned of the benefit of self exploration by the child, as well as determining a working definition in ones own words, which makes it more meaningful and memorable to the person.  I learned the name for "...." an ellipse as well as its uses, and also a dash or hyphen.
We also did a read aloud where we had to participate in the reading.  At first it was awkward, but then we kind of got into the story and participating and it was actually fun. 
This week we had our first writer's notebook conference as well, and I must admit it was strange.  My partner and I had no clue what to talk about or record.  Hopefully we figure it out soon and become comfortable with one another that we are both able to benefit from the conferences.
In my classroom at University this week I got to observe and participate in some interesting work with students.  I was working with a girl who needed help determining an invention to produce for the Invention Convention project for the sixth grade class.  It was interesting to see how we had to give her hints about possible topics, while not picking them for her as well as guiding her away from insufficient projects.

Inquiry Learning

This past week in class we did the inquiry learning activity discussed in our readings in class.  Through the activity I feel that it really helped enforce the usefulness of doing these activities with students.  As we examined each short passage, each individual was able to bring their own knowledge and keen eye into the discussion, pointing out aspects of the writing that I might not have other wise noticed on my own.  As a learner at any age, it is beneficial to see what other people see in a text, especially as we get older because we have been conditioned from years of the same practice to only notice certain aspects of a text.  But working in a group, it allowed each person to bring to the table something that someone else might not notice because of their unique lens.

Week 2

The whole purpose behind the first few chapters of About the Authors is kind of counter intuitive to our normal thinking.  Why in the world would we have students writing books, such an apparently daunting task, before they can even write?  The answer, because writing is both a noun and a verb, and the first definition of the word write in the verb sense is to "form (as characters or symbols) on a surface with an instrument" (49).  In this sense, from a very young age most children are capable of writing when given the opportunity.  But the book also stressed that when we want our students to really become fluent writers they need daily opportunities to practise and engage in the art of writing, the process of it all.  Once we begin allowing them to explore the writing process, they learn to look at things from a writer's perspective, seeing the technique behind pieces of work and how they can apply that to their own writing.  They begin thinking like a writer and are allowed to practice doing so in a safe place free of ridicule, without being told that they are insufficient in the skills necessary, but allowed to develop at their own pace with guided writing instruction incorporated throughout the entire day.

The only issue that I have yet to seen addressed in the book, is how to go about evaluating the process in ways that so many desire, grades.  I do not feel that we should be grading the picturebooks created during writer's workshop if we are truly to allow the students to explore and experiment without the risk of assumed failure.  However, I really like the idea of allowing students to engage in the process of creating something thing, I feel, like the authors stress continually, that presenting the writing as something they make, is what gets children so highly involved in the whole process.  Even if we are not completely comfortable with the setup of this writing workshop, I feel that at least some valuable components can be incorporated in a comfortable way that suits each individual teaching style.

And just as a side thought, I am excited for our placements tomorrow.  Although not excited about having to meet up at 8 in the morning for a group meeting. 

First week of Class.

The first class readings from The House on Mango Street and Never in a Hurry I felt were great ways to start off the first class.  It was a different way of getting students to introduce themselves by discussing the history and meaning behind their names to others around them.  However, I still have to look up the meaning to my name since I could not remember it, although I have looked it up multiple times in the past.  I am so excited about the writer's notebook being an assignment.  In the past I have kept writer's notebooks without consistency and without knowing that that's what I was doing.  In my past journals I have pasted petals and notes, put poems and writing assignments I liked and wanted to remember in there.  Also I have put down my daily happenings and emotions, pasted tickets and kept list of things I wanted to see.  I have always enjoyed rereading my journals and traveling back in time to when I first wrote or put something in.  Remindind me of events that had gotten pushed back into the dark recesses of my memory.  After reading Fletcher book I have some new ideas that seem like they will be advantageous to record, such as conversations and weird or new sayings I hear, as well as things that I would like to remember professionally.