I feel technology has become an essential part of my life. This class being a huge example of how we are using technology today. I would never imagine that I would be taking a class that is mostly online. I think that it is amazing that I am engaging in conversations with people from this each. I write something and they can read it right here on the Internet.
The You Tube video is an example of how we are always reading things on the computer. We can access email, news, TV shows, videos, research, and the list goes on. I have a sister that lives in another country six hours ahead of me. I think it is truly amazing that I have a conversation via email everyday with her. Once a week we chat, face to face via a computer screen. She sends news articles regarding what is going on in the Netherlands and I send her new articles about what is going on in the states.
“Many graduates started their school career with the literacies of paper, pencil, and book technologies but will finish having encountered the literacies demanded by a wide variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs): Web logs (blogs), word processors, video editors, World Wide Web browsers, Web editors, e-mail, spreadsheets, presentation software, instant messaging, plug-ins for Web resources, listservs, bulletin boards, avatars, virtual worlds, and many others.”
I feel like I am that student that started off with pen and paper, then began taking typing lessons, and then started using a computer to type all of my papers for school. Today I couldn’t imagine sitting down and actually writing a paper instead of typing it. One major reason, I hate my handwriting.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
NCLB
I do believe it this statement, “For the first time ever, we are looking ourselves in the mirror and holding ourselves accountable for educating every child. That means all children, no matter their race or income level or zip code."-- Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. I think it is very important to provide each student with the same education no matter what state, county, or town he or she lives in. I read the pros and cons of NCLB on Wiki and took away some key points from each category. The Pros: NCLB “supports early literacy through the Early Reading First initiative.” I believe it is important to teach reading at a young age, according to most of the theories we read, they explain that teaching reading early is very important. Another pro is that it “Requires schools and districts to focus their attention on the academic achievement of traditionally under-served groups of children, such as low-income students, students with disabilities, and Blacks and Latinos.” This is clearly important as I mentioned earlier every student should receive the same education.
The cons: I am not personally familiar with the standardized tests that students receive because I work in a private school for children with autism and we provide APA portfolios. I have heard from many of friends that work with children with disabilities, that their students really struggled with the tests this year. The testing also took over a weeklong and the students seemed to get really frustrated because of the tests and not being able to answer the questions. I feel that is sad for students, I remember being the student hated taking those tests. So like I sad before I don’t really know much about the tests but it hurts me to hear that the students really struggled with the tests. On Wiki, it is also stated that physical education has been cut back which is not good. Child obesity is on such a rise I don’t think it is a good idea to cut back on physical education. Many students don’t come home and engage in much physical activity so I do think it is important to keep it in schools. “Other critiques are that some students can't learn as well as others and can't do the standardized testing as well as others in their grade.” I do agree with this statement some students don’t test well and having to take a standardized test each year puts more pressure on the students.
The idea of NCLB is a good one. Every student receives the same education as the next makes sense, but I guess like most things in life there are flaws with it that need to be fixed.
The cons: I am not personally familiar with the standardized tests that students receive because I work in a private school for children with autism and we provide APA portfolios. I have heard from many of friends that work with children with disabilities, that their students really struggled with the tests this year. The testing also took over a weeklong and the students seemed to get really frustrated because of the tests and not being able to answer the questions. I feel that is sad for students, I remember being the student hated taking those tests. So like I sad before I don’t really know much about the tests but it hurts me to hear that the students really struggled with the tests. On Wiki, it is also stated that physical education has been cut back which is not good. Child obesity is on such a rise I don’t think it is a good idea to cut back on physical education. Many students don’t come home and engage in much physical activity so I do think it is important to keep it in schools. “Other critiques are that some students can't learn as well as others and can't do the standardized testing as well as others in their grade.” I do agree with this statement some students don’t test well and having to take a standardized test each year puts more pressure on the students.
The idea of NCLB is a good one. Every student receives the same education as the next makes sense, but I guess like most things in life there are flaws with it that need to be fixed.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Assessment
My thoughts on assessment:
One quote that I thought was very important and thought it really explained a lot was "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it." pg 559. I think that is really important to remember that we often do assessments just to measure or compare students, but the important thing is to make sure that students are learning. It shouldn't just be the numbers.
The chapter did a nice job explaining portifolios, it explained how and why portofolios are good for teachers and students. Routman explained that it would be great for the teacher to have an example of a portifolio one that they created themselves. I think that is an excellent idea. I not really familiar with portifolios but I now feel I have a better understanding of them and the importance of them. I think it is a great way to show progress.
I also thought the idea of student led conferences was a great one. I remember as a student loving when my mom would come to back to school night so she could look in my desk and see the work that I had done. We always did a project for back to school night and I loved that my mom would come and see it. I feel like you always like to show off you work, even today as an adult I wanted my mom to come see the school I work in and see how I set my classroom up.
I also understand how Routman explained that some parents still want that one on one time with the teacher. The parents in my school are really involved they have to be. We have meetings at least once a month at home and one meeting at school to discuss the student's progress or lack of progress.
I feel like I just went on and on. Sorry
The way Routman explained rubrics really touched on why they are important and why it is important for students to know why they are used. "If we want kids to do quality worky, they have to know what quality is." I think that is an excellant quote and one that I want to bring to my classroom. We don't use rubrics in my school because it is an ABA school for children with autism but we do evaluate them every day. I think it is important for teachers to realize that students don't really know what is expected of them so we have to show them.
One quote that I thought was very important and thought it really explained a lot was "Assessment must promote learning, not just measure it." pg 559. I think that is really important to remember that we often do assessments just to measure or compare students, but the important thing is to make sure that students are learning. It shouldn't just be the numbers.
The chapter did a nice job explaining portifolios, it explained how and why portofolios are good for teachers and students. Routman explained that it would be great for the teacher to have an example of a portifolio one that they created themselves. I think that is an excellent idea. I not really familiar with portifolios but I now feel I have a better understanding of them and the importance of them. I think it is a great way to show progress.
I also thought the idea of student led conferences was a great one. I remember as a student loving when my mom would come to back to school night so she could look in my desk and see the work that I had done. We always did a project for back to school night and I loved that my mom would come and see it. I feel like you always like to show off you work, even today as an adult I wanted my mom to come see the school I work in and see how I set my classroom up.
I also understand how Routman explained that some parents still want that one on one time with the teacher. The parents in my school are really involved they have to be. We have meetings at least once a month at home and one meeting at school to discuss the student's progress or lack of progress.
I feel like I just went on and on. Sorry
The way Routman explained rubrics really touched on why they are important and why it is important for students to know why they are used. "If we want kids to do quality worky, they have to know what quality is." I think that is an excellant quote and one that I want to bring to my classroom. We don't use rubrics in my school because it is an ABA school for children with autism but we do evaluate them every day. I think it is important for teachers to realize that students don't really know what is expected of them so we have to show them.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
What do we know about reading? Chapter 5,6,7
The reading I feel as been going pretty smooth, except for some parts, which require me to reread them. I guess I will start with a summary of the chapters and what I thought about each chapter.
Chapter 5 discussed the different theories of literacy development. It discussed six main theories. The first theory Cognitive Development believes that "the quality of children's thinking changes over time" p. 77. There are four factors that are believed to affect this. One major point that I took away with this theory was that "teachers need to understand the ways in which children think at different stages of development in order to create lessons and activities for them". Knowing these various stages can help teachers understand the child in a better way to know what they are ready for and how they will learn best. The theory, maturation theory seemed a little strange to me. It explains how you shouldn't teach a child to read until they are 6.5. That seems a little late. It explains how if you started earlier it "would cause damage to children's reading ability if they attempted to teach reading to children who were too young". I think that is extreme, but this is the start to my lessons on teaching reading. The theory of Literacy Development focuses on parents being very important in the child's learning to read. I do think that when parents are involved with their children and read to them and show them that they read it helps a child appreciate reading a little more. The stage models of reading suggest that children approach reading in different way, as they get older. It discusses the various techniques used to teach reading. The Emergent Literacy Theory explains that the development of literacy starts at birth and continues on. It also explains that children “who come from literacy-rich home environments tend to have stronger, more accelerated, literacy skills”. This makes sense to me I think it is similar to the Literacy Development theory, in the sense that parents play an important role. The Family Literacy Theory was a little confusing for me explaining that children learn to read in the home without direct instruction. I wasn’t clear if that meant that they didn’t receive any reading instruction at school? Now that I have gone on about these theories I think I should move on since I have already written so much. This chapter really stood out for me because it was pretty easy to understand.
Some things that really didn’t make sense to me were waiting until after the age of 6 to teach a child to read that seems so late.
Chapter 6 discussed the social learning perceptive. It explains that social interaction has a great deal to do with literacy learning. It emphasizes that different cultures can affect a child’s literacy learning process.
Chapter 7 takes us to the later years of 1950s to the 1970s. It focuses on the information/cognitive processing perspectives. This chapter was very confusing for me and I need to reread it but I don’t think I will have time to reread it and be able to post again to the blog with my ideas by tomorrow. It seems very technical and was difficult for me to get the important points out. I understand that it discusses the ways in which we process and how we decode things. I am sorry but I just need to reread this and I feel if I say anything about it, it just won’t make sense.
Chapter 5 discussed the different theories of literacy development. It discussed six main theories. The first theory Cognitive Development believes that "the quality of children's thinking changes over time" p. 77. There are four factors that are believed to affect this. One major point that I took away with this theory was that "teachers need to understand the ways in which children think at different stages of development in order to create lessons and activities for them". Knowing these various stages can help teachers understand the child in a better way to know what they are ready for and how they will learn best. The theory, maturation theory seemed a little strange to me. It explains how you shouldn't teach a child to read until they are 6.5. That seems a little late. It explains how if you started earlier it "would cause damage to children's reading ability if they attempted to teach reading to children who were too young". I think that is extreme, but this is the start to my lessons on teaching reading. The theory of Literacy Development focuses on parents being very important in the child's learning to read. I do think that when parents are involved with their children and read to them and show them that they read it helps a child appreciate reading a little more. The stage models of reading suggest that children approach reading in different way, as they get older. It discusses the various techniques used to teach reading. The Emergent Literacy Theory explains that the development of literacy starts at birth and continues on. It also explains that children “who come from literacy-rich home environments tend to have stronger, more accelerated, literacy skills”. This makes sense to me I think it is similar to the Literacy Development theory, in the sense that parents play an important role. The Family Literacy Theory was a little confusing for me explaining that children learn to read in the home without direct instruction. I wasn’t clear if that meant that they didn’t receive any reading instruction at school? Now that I have gone on about these theories I think I should move on since I have already written so much. This chapter really stood out for me because it was pretty easy to understand.
Some things that really didn’t make sense to me were waiting until after the age of 6 to teach a child to read that seems so late.
Chapter 6 discussed the social learning perceptive. It explains that social interaction has a great deal to do with literacy learning. It emphasizes that different cultures can affect a child’s literacy learning process.
Chapter 7 takes us to the later years of 1950s to the 1970s. It focuses on the information/cognitive processing perspectives. This chapter was very confusing for me and I need to reread it but I don’t think I will have time to reread it and be able to post again to the blog with my ideas by tomorrow. It seems very technical and was difficult for me to get the important points out. I understand that it discusses the ways in which we process and how we decode things. I am sorry but I just need to reread this and I feel if I say anything about it, it just won’t make sense.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Allison, Rachel, Pat, Laurel
These articles were all very interesting. We found the Nativist Theory to be interesting because it explains how when we are infants we learn to speak, even our noises is us learning to speak. The theory of Social-Integrationists, explains that as children we learn our language by listening and imitating what the people around of say, mostly our parents. The example that was provided in class, of the girl that says “actually” several times a day, truly backs up the idea that children learn their language by imitating the people around them. The article Mama teached me talk: explains that there is a critical period between the ages of 2 and 6 that a child learns whatever language they hear. The article also provided examples of two children that weren’t exposed to language and they never fully learned to speak.
We believe that language acquisition has a great deal to do with reading. We may first learn how to speak before we can read or write but once we learn how to do all three it becomes our way to communicate all the time.
In closing I added a few things from the article about learning another language. . We all know that learning languages can be challenging. There are so many rules that you need to follow and the rules are different for every language. They say the critical ages to learn language are before you are 6, so I guess that is way it is important to teach a second language at a young age. I am nor saying that it is impossible to learn another language when you are older my guess is it is probably harder.
We believe that language acquisition has a great deal to do with reading. We may first learn how to speak before we can read or write but once we learn how to do all three it becomes our way to communicate all the time.
In closing I added a few things from the article about learning another language. . We all know that learning languages can be challenging. There are so many rules that you need to follow and the rules are different for every language. They say the critical ages to learn language are before you are 6, so I guess that is way it is important to teach a second language at a young age. I am nor saying that it is impossible to learn another language when you are older my guess is it is probably harder.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
How do children acquire language? What does it have to do with reading?
The first article on wiki, gave a nice understanding of various theories in regards to how we aquire language. Something that I never really thought about was how when infants make noises, that is
One theory that is mentioned is Social-interactionists, that adults have a major impact on a child's langugage. Children are always listening to what adults are saying. Children imitate what the adults and other children are doing around them. One of the major example is when the person who was obeserving class on Wed (sorry forgot her name) mentioned that her daughter is always saying "actually". The daughter may not truly know what that word means but she does use it in appropriate contexts.
2nd Article: Learning Languages
I found this article interesting and something I could somewhat relate to. My sister and brother-in-law recently moved to the Netherlands, because he is in the US Army and works for NATO. They will most likely be there for three years and hoped to learn the language while over there. Before my sister moved over there she thought she should start researching the language and maybe try to learn some key words. Well they have been there for maybe a year and they have finally learned some of those key words. They try to speak Dutch to the natives and they always reply in English. When they go over to Germany again they try to speak a little German and everyone replies in English. It is interesting that the natives must know that they speak English and it is probably easier to respond in English.
This article explains how learning other languages can be challenging. Some important things to consider.
1. It doesn't always work out that you can look up a word in the dictionary and have it translate into the meaning that you mean.
2. Verb tenses are just difficult
3. Polite forms of a language, you never know what form to use when talking to people you don't ever want to offend somebody.
The third article:Mama teached me talk
Some key notes from this article for me in regards to how children acquire language. We learn our native language from our parents we hear what they say and try to copy them. Children are always repeating adults..or try to repeat what adults say. The article suggests that there is a critical period between the ages of 2 and 6 that a child learns whatever language they here. They provided examples of when two children were not exposed to any language and they never fulling learned to speak.
The second question that we have to answer here is: What might this have to do with reading? Well language I believe can be spoken or written. Children learn to speak before they can read or write. Children learn the basics of learning to speak at home between the critical period of ages 2-7. When they enter school they learn the other ways to communicate through written language. While children leanr to read they are also expanding on their language.
One theory that is mentioned is Social-interactionists, that adults have a major impact on a child's langugage. Children are always listening to what adults are saying. Children imitate what the adults and other children are doing around them. One of the major example is when the person who was obeserving class on Wed (sorry forgot her name) mentioned that her daughter is always saying "actually". The daughter may not truly know what that word means but she does use it in appropriate contexts.
2nd Article: Learning Languages
I found this article interesting and something I could somewhat relate to. My sister and brother-in-law recently moved to the Netherlands, because he is in the US Army and works for NATO. They will most likely be there for three years and hoped to learn the language while over there. Before my sister moved over there she thought she should start researching the language and maybe try to learn some key words. Well they have been there for maybe a year and they have finally learned some of those key words. They try to speak Dutch to the natives and they always reply in English. When they go over to Germany again they try to speak a little German and everyone replies in English. It is interesting that the natives must know that they speak English and it is probably easier to respond in English.
This article explains how learning other languages can be challenging. Some important things to consider.
1. It doesn't always work out that you can look up a word in the dictionary and have it translate into the meaning that you mean.
2. Verb tenses are just difficult
3. Polite forms of a language, you never know what form to use when talking to people you don't ever want to offend somebody.
The third article:Mama teached me talk
Some key notes from this article for me in regards to how children acquire language. We learn our native language from our parents we hear what they say and try to copy them. Children are always repeating adults..or try to repeat what adults say. The article suggests that there is a critical period between the ages of 2 and 6 that a child learns whatever language they here. They provided examples of when two children were not exposed to any language and they never fulling learned to speak.
The second question that we have to answer here is: What might this have to do with reading? Well language I believe can be spoken or written. Children learn to speak before they can read or write. Children learn the basics of learning to speak at home between the critical period of ages 2-7. When they enter school they learn the other ways to communicate through written language. While children leanr to read they are also expanding on their language.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Essential Questions
1. What did I get from the readings in terms of thinking about reading and literacy?
I now have a better understanding of what literacy means now. I was a little surprised to see that Asia was a region with some of the lowest rates of literacy. But I now realize that the rates are referring to Asia as a whole.
The first article that discussed the exhibits that showed how illustrators come up with their pictures for books and how pictures and words come together to tell the story was very interesting. I beleive that it is important for a child to read something and then imagine what the picture would look like but I think that is something that comes later in life. For younger readers I think the pictures with words helps a child get a better understanding of what they are reading. It is like putting two and two together.
2.What are some of the key issues that stick out to me?
In my previous class I was introduced to the idea of differentiate instruction. (I am new to the MAT program). I thought the idea that students all learn at a different level and learn in different way what could be better than differentiate instruction. When I read Open Court- I was shocked to see that people thought that this was a better way to teach reading. What was wrong with the old way? Why fix something that wasn't broken? This article has created the most emotions for me. I was shocking to hear that if teachers didn't follow the teaching style as it was excatly outlined they were threatened. Don't the actual teachers of the class know the most about their students? Was it thought that students in lower-class districts didn't need a proper education? That they didn't need individualized learning?
3. What am I wondering most about?
I wonder what has happened to that school. I wonder if any other teachers spoke up or did they feel that they couldn't speak up? I wonder what happened to the Open Court. I wonder if No Child Left Behind has made things worse in the United States? How can every student receive the proper education? Can this problem ever be fixed?
I now have a better understanding of what literacy means now. I was a little surprised to see that Asia was a region with some of the lowest rates of literacy. But I now realize that the rates are referring to Asia as a whole.
The first article that discussed the exhibits that showed how illustrators come up with their pictures for books and how pictures and words come together to tell the story was very interesting. I beleive that it is important for a child to read something and then imagine what the picture would look like but I think that is something that comes later in life. For younger readers I think the pictures with words helps a child get a better understanding of what they are reading. It is like putting two and two together.
2.What are some of the key issues that stick out to me?
In my previous class I was introduced to the idea of differentiate instruction. (I am new to the MAT program). I thought the idea that students all learn at a different level and learn in different way what could be better than differentiate instruction. When I read Open Court- I was shocked to see that people thought that this was a better way to teach reading. What was wrong with the old way? Why fix something that wasn't broken? This article has created the most emotions for me. I was shocking to hear that if teachers didn't follow the teaching style as it was excatly outlined they were threatened. Don't the actual teachers of the class know the most about their students? Was it thought that students in lower-class districts didn't need a proper education? That they didn't need individualized learning?
3. What am I wondering most about?
I wonder what has happened to that school. I wonder if any other teachers spoke up or did they feel that they couldn't speak up? I wonder what happened to the Open Court. I wonder if No Child Left Behind has made things worse in the United States? How can every student receive the proper education? Can this problem ever be fixed?
What do I know right now about reading?
When I first see this question: what do I know right now about reading? My first thought was that I am a slow reader and have always had a challenging time with reading. I often have to read things twice to understand what they are about. It was discovered in 4th grade I wasn't reading at the 4th grade level and I can thank my 4th grade teacher for discovering that. She helped me the best that she could but than I moved on to 5th grade.
I don't really know anything right now in regards to how children learn to read. I work with teenagers with autism. Two of my students are on a program called Edmark Functional Words but I feel they aren't really reading those words they are memorizing them but don't generalize them when they are in that format. Which makes me wondering why those students are still on that program because they can't generalize those words when they are written or posted somewhere else.
I hope I am doing this right. I wanted to answer this question first and now I will create a new blog to answer the essential questions.
I don't really know anything right now in regards to how children learn to read. I work with teenagers with autism. Two of my students are on a program called Edmark Functional Words but I feel they aren't really reading those words they are memorizing them but don't generalize them when they are in that format. Which makes me wondering why those students are still on that program because they can't generalize those words when they are written or posted somewhere else.
I hope I am doing this right. I wanted to answer this question first and now I will create a new blog to answer the essential questions.
Monday, June 25, 2007
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