Reflections on the Course

Looking back over the course of the semester in language arts I was able to learn a lot of useful material. I was shocked at how little I remember from elementary school. Having this course was a great refresher that was much needed in order for me to effectively teach language arts to my future students. Simple refreshers such as the reading and writing process is valuable information. I also thoroughly enjoyed the teaching on literature circles because I find them to be extremely effective, but I never had them in school. I am disappointed that as a child I did not have the experience with literature circles for whatever reason. I cannot wait to use them in my classroom! I love that in literature circles every child can contribute and bring something special to the table. One thing I will not do in my classroom is making it boring because there are so many ways to make it interesting that I learned this semester in class. Language arts can be made into relay races and many other things. I want to also use chalk talk because it is something that is not traditional and it opens many doors for expression in the classroom. I cannot wait to have my own classroom to incorporate language into everywhere!

Field Experience Feedback

This is a very interesting blog for me because I had a negative experience. I was excited to observe in the classroom, but my kindergarten classroom that I was placed in only did language arts during my class times. Unfortunately, I was only able to attend my assigned school once, but was able to carefully observe the language arts instruction in another school I was observing in. I really like my originally assigned teacher and would have loved to learn from her. This experience taught me that not everything will work out every time, but I have to do whatever is necessary to gain knowledge anyway. I was not truly impacted by the experience because I was never able to witness much in an elementary classroom. When I was in the kindergarten classroom for the day, I liked how she used technology such as the Smart Board to teach language arts. Language arts can be very exciting and there are many opportunities that can be taken in order to teach it effectively. There is no reason for language arts to be a boring subject anymore. I believe it is necessary to incorporate many different learning styles into the classroom!

Edits and Revisions

This past week I worked with two peers to edit and revise my narrative story. I like that I was able to have two people work on my story because then I have more confidence that most mistakes or shortcomings have been brought to my attention. I gained a lot of valuable information from the feedback. One thing that I found to be difficult while working on editing and revising my peers narratives was that my natural tendency was to write changes directly on the narrative and not on the sheet given. The questions on the sheet give a good guide for things to look for when revising and editing because then the process is thorough, but it is hard to write in all of the blanks. I also learned that it takes reading the story multiple times in order to edit or revise thoroughly because the first time the reader is distracted by the narrative in itself. Having a guided editing and revising process will be very beneficial in the classroom. I remember in elementary school having to edit and revise peer's papers and there was no consistency because we did not have a set of questions to look for. I will use this guided process in my future classroom. I wonder how you handle how to pair children? Do you allow them to choose or pair the children for them? It gets hard because not every child knows how to edit and revise well, so it is helpful to have multiple readers to combine all of their strengths. I look forward to using this approach in my classroom!

Experience with Literature Circles and Writer's Workshop?

Honestly, I did not experience any of these in my elementary grades which is shocking to me. I had never heard of these before I switched schools in 8th grade and heard my friends talking about them from when they were younger. The private school that I went to during my elementary years was not very good now that my family and I look back on it. I made good grades, so we were unaware that I was missing out on so much until later. We mostly only did language arts games and worksheets, nothing creative whatsoever. Now that I am learning so much about these options I wish I had experienced them, but the children in my classroom will definitely have these opportunities. I love literature circles now that I have learned about them because they offer so much to the children and the children do not get bored. They are such a good and effective way to have every child's participation and have every child feel important. Every child has the ability to contribute something and this method guides that. Writer's Workshops are also a good way to break up the mundane and focus strongly on writing. I want to use different approaches as much as possible to ensure that every child's learning needs are being met. Reader's Workshops are also a fun time to focus in on a book and explore the book deeply with the children. I cannot wait to use all of these approaches in my classroom to teach language arts!

Assessment

Assessment is the teacher finding out what the students know and if the child can actively use that knowledge. Overall, I have always done pretty well on assessment because I had good grades in elementary, middle and highschool years. When I think back on being assessed, I tend to think about tricks. I feel like many times teachers are deceptive in writing multiple choice question. When I am a teacher, I do not ever want to be testing children just to trip them up. I feel like many people, myself included, would loved to be tested to show what I know, not what I don't. I am glad that I had good grades as a child and teenager because now I am not afraid of assessment. Because of my experience in the past, I am able to confidently approach assessment and not be intimidated by it. As a teacher, I will assess my students often, but I will use different formats, so that every child can benefit.

Future Classroom!

I would want to use "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in my future classroom! All of my little cousin's and children in my church love this book. I would like to use the book first all because it is cute, but is all packed with information. The book can be used as a science lesson because of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly and can be used as a health lesson because all of the junk food makes him sick. Also, can be used as a math lesson because of counting the food items. This book provides many opportunities to decorate the classroom and such. We could have a brainstorming time about a time when a child got extremely hungry. When did the child do? What did the child eat? Was it a healthy option? There are many routes to take with this fun book and I cannot wait to use it in my kindergarten classroom! :)

What Makes Writing Worth Reading?

This is a question that I have never consciously thought about before. Writings are worth reading when one can tell the writer prepared. I do not like reading when I have no idea where the paper or book is going because it has no clear direction. The writings needs to be clear of grammatical errors and everything must be spelled correctly. Personally, I choose to read things that share insight into the author's life. I like to see a glimpse of the author in his or her writings. I do not expect everyone to be able to write perfectly, but in order for me to take my time to read it, I must feel that the writer honestly tried for perfection. I hope to make my published story worth reading because I want others to be able to relate and reflect on their special family memories throughout their life.