I feel like I might be in the slight minority after having read others' posts, I have always liked poetry, and this has always seemed like the easiest thing for me to teach students. When I was teaching overseas the idea of grouping together similar sounding words, which is probably the simpilist form of poetry, encourages children because they are able to compose something which actually sounds good quite easily.
On the other hand, some of the ideas presented in this book made absolutely no sense and I am looking forward to class to gain clarification. What is an I Am poem? Which songs that are popular today have lyrics which would even roughly be considered as good poetry? I know that songs do exist, and some rap is amazingly lyrical, but these songs are simply not on the radio and if they are I have never heard them.
I feel that poetry is a good way of expressing a variety of senses in a short composition. A good poem should not only tell you something, but it should make you feel something and think. I tried teaching poetry the first time after reading "Never More-by Edgar Allen Poe" this was such a bad idea! The kids did not understand the poem, and they didn't have a clue what to write when I asked them to get out their pens and paper. The second time I taught them to write Buddha Death Poems, they are simple and profound and more than that they are easy to understand, well superficially at least. This was a much better lesson and I was thinking about different things which I might take from this reading to adapt my style of teaching poetry from now on and I am at a loss. Maybe it will just take me a while to turn over the thoughts and adapt them with my own experiences, but once again, I am really looking forward to class today.
What's your favorite poem and why? Mine is Life Story by Tennesse Williams, because it makes me laugh everytime I read it.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
MGRP the process and the first readings
I officially hate my computer, or this site, or myself, where is my last post? Does everyone get that little pop up box which asks you to write what you see each time? I think my stuff only goes up half the time, it's probably some popup blocker setting I have on my computer.
Anyways, in summation of what I previously wrote. Wow, there are a lot of potential genre's to choose from. I know that I will do a comic because I found a cool site which allows you to use actual marvel character's to build a panel which I think will work out quite nicely for this assignment. But, besides that I feel, like many people, that there are too many options.
The MGRP went quite well despite changing my stance halfway through my research and having to rewrite the entire paper. But, that is the sign of good and open minded research in my opinion. When I started my paper it was my belief that slang had no place in the classroom. It was lazy speech and if children are learning to spell or use grammatical rules slang just confuses everyone. However, since slang and idiomatic expressions are a part of our everyday life it is something that every student will need to be familiar and fluent in if they are to succeed in this world.
There should however, be a clear defining line between when and when it is not appropriate to use slang. I don't really care if a certain way of speaking is the way that their parents speak. Students should not talk to one another like that in the classroom because it is not good preparation for the caliber of working environment that I would like for my students. I do not want to discredit or take away their cultural identity I just want to prepare them for being a sucessful member of society. Therefore, they will get more than enough practice at home speaking within their local vernacular. I am going to teach the "proper" way.
Anytime slang or idioms are used in the classroom it will be used to open up a lesson of what it means, why it means that, and where it can be used. To use these words carelessly just leads to misunderstandings and limits the potential for learning oppurtunities.
Anyways, in summation of what I previously wrote. Wow, there are a lot of potential genre's to choose from. I know that I will do a comic because I found a cool site which allows you to use actual marvel character's to build a panel which I think will work out quite nicely for this assignment. But, besides that I feel, like many people, that there are too many options.
The MGRP went quite well despite changing my stance halfway through my research and having to rewrite the entire paper. But, that is the sign of good and open minded research in my opinion. When I started my paper it was my belief that slang had no place in the classroom. It was lazy speech and if children are learning to spell or use grammatical rules slang just confuses everyone. However, since slang and idiomatic expressions are a part of our everyday life it is something that every student will need to be familiar and fluent in if they are to succeed in this world.
There should however, be a clear defining line between when and when it is not appropriate to use slang. I don't really care if a certain way of speaking is the way that their parents speak. Students should not talk to one another like that in the classroom because it is not good preparation for the caliber of working environment that I would like for my students. I do not want to discredit or take away their cultural identity I just want to prepare them for being a sucessful member of society. Therefore, they will get more than enough practice at home speaking within their local vernacular. I am going to teach the "proper" way.
Anytime slang or idioms are used in the classroom it will be used to open up a lesson of what it means, why it means that, and where it can be used. To use these words carelessly just leads to misunderstandings and limits the potential for learning oppurtunities.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
My research for the multi-genre research paper is going quite well so far. I have 2 excellent sources that apply directly to the research paper portion and about four more for the comics and other writings the paper should include. My topic is going to be about the difficulty ESL students face in an English classroom because of the heavy usage of idioms in daily language. I was interested in this topic because as a former ESL teacher idioms have been the thorn in the side of my students once they became students in America.
The class I worked in Wednesday isn't really writing at all yet. They were copying one sentence which they saw on the board to a piece of paper and most of the students weren't even able to do this! I am not sure what to do for writing exercises in this course, most of the students can barely read let alone write a simple word. I hope that we are able to have some free writing craft lesson with the students eventually. I would like to see each of them write out a story they are excited to tell. And it almost pains me to say this, but I would be happy if they all even used creative spelling techniques. I know I know, this goes against the fabric of my being as a hyper critical teacher. However, they are honestly barely learning a thing now, and something is better than nothing. Once they get some momentum going in the right direction then we can direct them to learning the rules. But, most of the class is at a stand still.
The science interview went quite well, the students answered the questions in more or less the way I was hoping they would and I am sure that I will be able to build a highly effective science lesson from what I know. I am hoping to include a writing and reading lesson in with the science lesson. This is quite ambitious, especially because of how far behind the class is. But, it is possible.
The class I worked in Wednesday isn't really writing at all yet. They were copying one sentence which they saw on the board to a piece of paper and most of the students weren't even able to do this! I am not sure what to do for writing exercises in this course, most of the students can barely read let alone write a simple word. I hope that we are able to have some free writing craft lesson with the students eventually. I would like to see each of them write out a story they are excited to tell. And it almost pains me to say this, but I would be happy if they all even used creative spelling techniques. I know I know, this goes against the fabric of my being as a hyper critical teacher. However, they are honestly barely learning a thing now, and something is better than nothing. Once they get some momentum going in the right direction then we can direct them to learning the rules. But, most of the class is at a stand still.
The science interview went quite well, the students answered the questions in more or less the way I was hoping they would and I am sure that I will be able to build a highly effective science lesson from what I know. I am hoping to include a writing and reading lesson in with the science lesson. This is quite ambitious, especially because of how far behind the class is. But, it is possible.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Potential real world application!!!!
Well, I am not sure if anyone feels a lot of pressure in writing a perfectly crafted blog now that we have completed the crafting writer’s book, but I sure do. Actually after sitting down and practicing using several of the craft lessons outlined in these books I’ve decided that I need to continue doing a lot of independent work with my writing. I believe I previously mentioned my admiration for the supplemental text “the Elements of Style” by Strunk and White; well, I had to run out and buy another copy this week because my previous edition has gone missing.
Our cohort has finally made it inside of our elementary classrooms, yay! I am very excited at the prospect of presenting a craft writing lesson in a real world environment, and I feel that the teacher I have been placed with, Miss Ingram, will allow me to do so. While the idea of presenting a writing assignment to a group of barely literate first graders would have intimidated me before having taken this course, I now feel up to the task. After all, they are not illiterate, I am sure that every child in this classroom can at least scribble something down which we can build upon.
I’ve taken the book the “the Elements of Style” and began to search through it for an appropriate lesson topic and there was absolutely nothing that I could directly translate into a lesson suitable for a first grade classroom. However, with the help of the book, and to illustrate what I have gained by having read this book, I believe I can use a lesson explicitly taken from the text and as I grow as a teacher and writer build my own lessons. The idea of having a student draw a picture and then write about what they drew was our first reading topic. This would work exceptionally well in a low level classroom like the one I am currently in.
Our first science lesson is going to be on the topic of melting and freezing, so I was hoping to incorporate the use of adjectives to a writing assignment. To draw a picture of their favorite season and describe what they like about it using climate related words. “I love winter because of the cold snow and hot drinks.” Or, something along those lines at the very least. I am inspired by the passages in chapter ten of this week’s reading which told of a student reliving her feelings when she wrote about a plane trip. This is exactly what we want from our students when they tell a story. We want them to feel what they write so that they are able to in turn own the lesson.
The assessment section of the book will in turn become an invaluable resource once I get to work in a real world setting. While, a lot of the concepts seemed a bit abstract at the moment, because I have not yet personally held a conference with a student in regards to their writing, I am hoping to “own” these lessons once I put them into practice.
I liked the idea of first encouraging the student by telling them what they have done write, while I sometimes find faults in Hale's examples as she translates them to her own life, the fundamental idea remains well rooted. I have this fear that the students will hear the encouraging words assume they have done well enough and become complacent. I know that when I put my first student through conference I will have to stick to the script so to speak. It is just so easy for me to tell kids that they are doing great, keep up the good work and oh by the way would you like to work on such in such for next time. The conferences given in this book often used the method of making the student tell the teacher what they have learned. This seems like such a great method! Now, the students have discovered what they want to improve upon and they are able to own the lesson. I can't wait to try this out and I hope that we are able to present at least a couple craft lessons over the semester.
Our cohort has finally made it inside of our elementary classrooms, yay! I am very excited at the prospect of presenting a craft writing lesson in a real world environment, and I feel that the teacher I have been placed with, Miss Ingram, will allow me to do so. While the idea of presenting a writing assignment to a group of barely literate first graders would have intimidated me before having taken this course, I now feel up to the task. After all, they are not illiterate, I am sure that every child in this classroom can at least scribble something down which we can build upon.
I’ve taken the book the “the Elements of Style” and began to search through it for an appropriate lesson topic and there was absolutely nothing that I could directly translate into a lesson suitable for a first grade classroom. However, with the help of the book, and to illustrate what I have gained by having read this book, I believe I can use a lesson explicitly taken from the text and as I grow as a teacher and writer build my own lessons. The idea of having a student draw a picture and then write about what they drew was our first reading topic. This would work exceptionally well in a low level classroom like the one I am currently in.
Our first science lesson is going to be on the topic of melting and freezing, so I was hoping to incorporate the use of adjectives to a writing assignment. To draw a picture of their favorite season and describe what they like about it using climate related words. “I love winter because of the cold snow and hot drinks.” Or, something along those lines at the very least. I am inspired by the passages in chapter ten of this week’s reading which told of a student reliving her feelings when she wrote about a plane trip. This is exactly what we want from our students when they tell a story. We want them to feel what they write so that they are able to in turn own the lesson.
The assessment section of the book will in turn become an invaluable resource once I get to work in a real world setting. While, a lot of the concepts seemed a bit abstract at the moment, because I have not yet personally held a conference with a student in regards to their writing, I am hoping to “own” these lessons once I put them into practice.
I liked the idea of first encouraging the student by telling them what they have done write, while I sometimes find faults in Hale's examples as she translates them to her own life, the fundamental idea remains well rooted. I have this fear that the students will hear the encouraging words assume they have done well enough and become complacent. I know that when I put my first student through conference I will have to stick to the script so to speak. It is just so easy for me to tell kids that they are doing great, keep up the good work and oh by the way would you like to work on such in such for next time. The conferences given in this book often used the method of making the student tell the teacher what they have learned. This seems like such a great method! Now, the students have discovered what they want to improve upon and they are able to own the lesson. I can't wait to try this out and I hope that we are able to present at least a couple craft lessons over the semester.
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