List of my goals for my learning during this course:
1. I want to learn more about children's literacy and how I can better teach it in my future classroom
2. Obviously I would like to learn a lot. I especially would like to learn about material that I can use in my classroom and apply to my future students.
3. I would like to do well on all of my assignments. I take my grades very seriously and would like to continue doing well in my education classes.
4. I enjoy receiving tips or advice from people who have been in the education field. It can be tips about classroom management, how to improve lessons, how to be a better teacher, anything. I take those tips very seriously and have maintained a list to reference when I have my own classroom. Any pieces of advice is always welcome.
5. I would like to learn more about myself as an educator and to see how I can improve my teaching or ways I would like to adapt.
6. I would like to stay organized. This course seems to be quite overwhelming, so I want to help myself however I can to not be overstressed about it.
In what type of school or community I would like to teach in:
My major is Special Education, with the focus on Learning Disabilities. My subject area major is social studies and I also have a minor in English. My ideal teaching job would be an elementary resource room teacher. I have shadowed different Special Education rooms and have found the resource rooms to be my favorites. I have really enjoyed my placement in a general education first grade classroom this school year. I have been finding that since they are learning math and beginning to read I can use some of my Special Education knowledge to help them. I would not be surprised if at some point during my career I teach something such as that.
What do I want to learn about literacy instruction to help me reach my goals?
I really enjoy children's literature. I would like to know more about how to select a good book for students. I would also like to learn more about how to get students who resist reading, to read. I would like to know about what appeals to young readers and how to get my students engaged and excited about reading. Learning about those would help me become a better educator. I think learning how to give my students good literacy instruction is the main aspect that would help me reach my goals.
How does the jigsaw article I read help me think about the kind of teacher I want to be?
This week I read the article about ELL students called, "Assessing English-language learners in mainstream classrooms." As a Special Education teacher I want to support inclusion and help my future students however I can to participate in general education. A significant part of this article was how to keep ELL students participating in general education classrooms and how to help them be successful. I liked the part in the article when the author said that an educator should find out what the student can do, not just focus on what they cannot. As a Special Education teacher I think that statement is very true and will remain a focus of my career. It also emphasized that students have various backgrounds and it is crucial to understanding the students needs. That can especially relate to what a student knows and how they view education. As a teacher I want to know my students well enough to understand their backgrounds and see how that shapes/affects their education. As a Special Education teacher I will be working with students who are diverse. This article helped me see how I can assist each of those students and their educational needs. It also helped me understand how some students need different types of assessments and different educational plans. It helped me re-enforce that I would like to be an effective teacher to diverse students.
After reading your post I’m quite envious of your classroom. Unfortunately in my placement there is not much literacy instruction, instead the teacher will stand in front of the class and read chapters from a book or the students will silent read.
ReplyDeleteWhen you talk about the “book bag” that contains 3-5 books at their reading level do you know if they had to take a test to determine their reading level? Also, are these books rotated every week? That is really awesome that your teacher has a ton of books and uses them to accompany her other lessons. As Kayla mentioned in her post, I am also curious about this at home reading reprogram. I love this idea and unfortunately my mentor teacher seldom allows the students to take any of her classroom books home. Several of the students have even shared that they do not have books at home which is very unfortunate. Since these are first grade students do parents sign off that their students indeed read at home, are they required to answer any comprehension questions, or provide re-telling details or anything so the teacher is certain the students actually read? Again, as Kayla mentioned, I am curious to know how this reinforcement system works and if it seems to be working with those students.
I loved hearing about the Tier literacy classrooms. Do you think that the other students know about the different tiers or levels? In my fifth grade room there are two different spelling tests given every Friday. List A is for more advanced students and list B is for those students with special needs, who are ELL, struggle in this content area, etc. and when questioning other students about these lists (during my first week) several students said that list A is for the "smarter people" and list B was for the students who struggle in this area. Again, I think the 4 different classrooms that can focus on the students needs more individually is important.
I also really like how the students are given an hour of computer time every Thursday but it does raise some questions. First, you mentioned that 40 mnutes was spent with them reading online stories from a program and taking a quiz on it. For the last 20 minutes are the students able to use other software or programs on the computer? As first graders I’m curious to know if these students can even functionally use the keyboard or if they have a “computer” special during the week and have additional time outside of this literacy computer time on Thursdays. Using the computers in my fifth grade classroom is a big deal and the students enjoy working on them.
The digitial denizen that best represents me would be a cross between a digital immigrant and a digital native. As technology becomes a bigger part of our everyday lives I have began to use more of it as an adult. However, I’m still unfamiliar with the full potential of various electronic tools, especially within the classroom (smartboards, the elmo, etc.). I didn’t even have a cell phone until I was in eigth grade and the phone was large in size and could only make and receive calls therefore it did not have internet or text messaging. In my fifth grade classrooms the students talk about their phones, iPads, tablets, laptops, etc. and it is scary to think about the future and the role technology will play.