Classroom Discussions

This week’s reading was very interesting. I always knew how important classroom discussions were, however I did not know how much a students interpretation of a text could have on other students thoughts and ideas. In my classroom I have not seen much discussion of text, but the times I have heard students talk about what they have read many of them need guidance from the instructor to formulate their thinking. There is much scaffolding that takes place in order to get the students to discuss. The teacher usually begins with general questions like, who is the main character, or something obvious that students can easily find in the text. This is considered traditional discussion. Some students get involved in the discussion because they can find the correct answers if they read the text. I believe that this is a good form of discussion for students in lower elementary because it teaches them to use their text as a resource for information, however students are unable to construct meaning form the text. There is nothing for students to interpret because the answers are either right or wrong and most times Mrs. Henderson corrects the students immediately when they are wrong. Even though they use a traditional style of discussion the teacher can still turn it into a rich conversation by asking students why things happen a certain way, or how things could be different.

There is one student in my classroom that is a struggling reader; therefore he does not participate often in the class discussions. This is probably due to the fact that he is unaware as to what has happened in the story. In order to promote a more response-centered talk with students, I think that Mrs. Henderson should ask question that does not have a right or wrong answer. Instead she should ask open-ended questions that allow the students to come up with their own ideas of the answer. This will allow the students to reflect on their personal experiences. This will also give the students more responsibility in the discussion and the teacher can gain more information about how students think. 

Literacy Instruction

I observe a 5th grade class that has reading time everyday. Each child picks a book and fills out a worksheet each day pertaining to the book they chose. I am unaware of what is exactly on that worksheet but I do know that they have to identify the genre and turn in their worksheets at the end of this week. The students are free to choose any book they like from the class library which has books of all genres; biographies, short stories, historical fiction, etc. There does not seem to be any sort of limit or rule on how many books in one genre the students are allowed to read, which does not prevent students from choosing picture books every time. The students also have a free write which is also due at the end of each week. Mrs. C believes writing is extremely important and has the students "publish" their writing onto nice paper after a rough draft. It is imperative to her that the students receive exposure to various genres of writing such as narrative, expository, etc.
While the students are asked to read each day, Mrs. C. does take one reading group at a time to help with the decoding many students have trouble with. There are 8 special education students in our class who read at a lower reading level so Mrs. C feels it is imperative to give the students who need more help the practice they need to at least be able to read through literature. She realizes that without the basic knowledge of decoding, it is difficult for students to further develop their literature skills and form personal connections to reading and writing.
I really enjoyed how Leland focused on the importance of exposing students to critical literature at a young age. I would also implement critical literature into my classroom to open students up to social issues. From Kim's experience, it is obvious that this triggers much more involvement from students. This is a great way to help bring students out of their norm and question society. As a child, it is not surprising to have your parents' mindset, but literature is a great way to help us form our own ideas and question our beliefs.
Not only is it important to involve critical literature into the curriculum, but writing is also imperative to help students develop their skills. In elementary school, we spent a lot of time writing grammatically correct sentences, spelling words, or writing random words in cursive. This does not seem to help with the development of writing skills. By involving creative writing, this could really bring out ideas in a different way. Writing can be an indirect way of evoking one's thoughts and can be a great media for students to ask and answer questions about social issues. By providing students with various creative reading and writing activities, it enables students to see that different interpretations are expected. One great way to help students realize this is the "thought-tappers" idea from the Langer article. This term can help students recognize that answers and questions to literature are not always right on the surface and straight forward; they can involve deeper thinking.

Literacy Goals

(Hey everyone! I told Valand I'd write the initial post for this week since she was SO nice to make the blog!)

My goal as a future teacher is to teach in a diverse community, unlike the type of community I grew up in. While reading the learning goals I connected to one in particular, the developing standard based learning. I am a social studies major so my main concern is being able to gain the confidence I will need as an educator of Language Arts. After my TE 401 course, I realized that my ability to produce lesson plans based on the GLCE’s was much more difficult than I thought. However, over the course of the semester I was able to develop and learn constructive strategies through course work and observations in my placement. I believe in this course, TE 402, I want to not only be able to develop teaching strategies but also gain a deeper understanding of the content in the Language Arts subject matter.

            Through this course my goal is to be able to not only learn more strategies but also to gain a greater understanding of how to incorporate and integrate the standards that are in place for the school community I am teaching in. Due to the fact that I am a social studies major my goal this semester to be able to feel more confident in my language arts teaching ability through our course and also through observations in my MT’s classroom. This learning goal also relates to the other learning goal, being able to develop a pedagogy. Through this course I want to develop the ability to plan, and integrate a constructive lesson plan that enables all students to contribute and learn about Language Arts in a way that accommodates all learning styles. I believe being able to practice creating lesson plans, communicate with colleagues and our instructor, along with continuing my observations in the classroom, I can establish a stronger confidence in my Language Arts pedagogy.