Alright, it's over it's over. I really enjoyed the research aspect of this paper, but the making up my own genre's bit was a little bit trying at times. I just sat looking at a long list of options and couldn't decide where to begin. I hope I chose the right five, I feel that I did, but I guess I will let my grade determine the effectiveness of my work.
My favorite bit would have to of been the poem I made, it was funny and I looked up thousands of idioms in order to find the right ones for my purpose. There are a lot of funny sayings out there, most of which I have never heard of but I would love to start using in my everyday conversations with peers just to see their expressions. Most will think that the I have found my way into the Elmers if I try using in an everyday conversation. But, on the other hand, some expressions are old that we use now, and our children will have no idea what they are but then their children will once again use the expression. Words are like fashion, it goes in cyclical trends but the old one day will eventually become chic again. Well, I can't see anyone using plum as an anything in the future but who knows.
If the MGRP had one hidden benefit it would be reorienting me with the microsoft sweet and formating options! I can't wait to turn this in and feel that sense of relief which I have waited so long for!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
My "messed up" teaching philosophy (off topic)
Okay, so this is an off topic post. I know that my views on education are a lot different than most in our class so I thought I would just spell out what my philosophy is and if anyone wanted to talk about it with me I think it would be great. Because, any oppurtunity to see someone elses perspective is an oppurtunity to grow in my opinion.
My overall philosophy is that students need to fail. They need to be consistently taken to the point of failure and they need to know that life goes on and failure is inneveitable if you are pushing yourself as hard as you should. This is in stark contrast to the mentalitly of most American teachers that I have come across. The idea of students making 90's or above in all of their subjects consistently is just a sad sign that they are not being pushed hard enough and they are capable of so much more.
It is my opinion that everyone is unique and special in their own way and these differences should be encouraged. Children are capable of so much more than we are currently giving them credit for. They are capable of failing and picking themselves up and being better for it, it is my experience that the parents are the ones that have the hardest time with this concept.
I know that to many it may come off as cruel to fail everyone in the class if they are not trying hard enough but to me it seems quite cruel not to. We are in a safe learning environment when we are inside of the classroom. And students need to learn what they are capable of within this environment instead of setting them up for failure once they have entered "the real world".
In many ways this is quite a hard way to teach. You have to take each student as an individual and push them to their own individual limits. no student should have to stay behind and wait for the rest of the class to catch up to where they are at, and no student should ever be expected to accept mediocraty. There are close to 6.6 billion people in this world, and each one has a unique nature about themselves, when a student is within my classroom I would like for them to learn how to seperate themselves from the masses.
The common criticism I have gotten when expressing this mindset is that I am not teaching the students to become apathetic and caring. However, it is my opinion that quite the oppposite is true. When pushing a student to become the very best that they are capable of they often find failure and shortcommings within themselves which makes them more understanding of those around them who are struggling. It is also promoting a global environment in which people the professionals are more capable and the people who shouldn't be doctors or lawyers because their strengths lie in other fields are not in positions of power just because their parents had the money to send them to nice universities.
Yes, some students are left behind. In the classroom I am in now there is a student which is holding the entire class back because of how slow he is. This frustrates me to know end, why should the one affect the many? If I was the teacher I would simply move the class on as they are ready to progress with or without him, and I know this seems heartless but it is the job of him and his parents to get him back the the level he needs to be at. I would have an easier time explaining this to one set of parents than explaining to 30 sets of parents why I did not get their children to the level they need to be at. If there was a way to provide seperate instruction for this student outside, I would gladly offer it but bar that I don't feel that it is fair that this child is getting 90's on tests because they are making the levels of tests low enough for him to do so.
My overall philosophy is that students need to fail. They need to be consistently taken to the point of failure and they need to know that life goes on and failure is inneveitable if you are pushing yourself as hard as you should. This is in stark contrast to the mentalitly of most American teachers that I have come across. The idea of students making 90's or above in all of their subjects consistently is just a sad sign that they are not being pushed hard enough and they are capable of so much more.
It is my opinion that everyone is unique and special in their own way and these differences should be encouraged. Children are capable of so much more than we are currently giving them credit for. They are capable of failing and picking themselves up and being better for it, it is my experience that the parents are the ones that have the hardest time with this concept.
I know that to many it may come off as cruel to fail everyone in the class if they are not trying hard enough but to me it seems quite cruel not to. We are in a safe learning environment when we are inside of the classroom. And students need to learn what they are capable of within this environment instead of setting them up for failure once they have entered "the real world".
In many ways this is quite a hard way to teach. You have to take each student as an individual and push them to their own individual limits. no student should have to stay behind and wait for the rest of the class to catch up to where they are at, and no student should ever be expected to accept mediocraty. There are close to 6.6 billion people in this world, and each one has a unique nature about themselves, when a student is within my classroom I would like for them to learn how to seperate themselves from the masses.
The common criticism I have gotten when expressing this mindset is that I am not teaching the students to become apathetic and caring. However, it is my opinion that quite the oppposite is true. When pushing a student to become the very best that they are capable of they often find failure and shortcommings within themselves which makes them more understanding of those around them who are struggling. It is also promoting a global environment in which people the professionals are more capable and the people who shouldn't be doctors or lawyers because their strengths lie in other fields are not in positions of power just because their parents had the money to send them to nice universities.
Yes, some students are left behind. In the classroom I am in now there is a student which is holding the entire class back because of how slow he is. This frustrates me to know end, why should the one affect the many? If I was the teacher I would simply move the class on as they are ready to progress with or without him, and I know this seems heartless but it is the job of him and his parents to get him back the the level he needs to be at. I would have an easier time explaining this to one set of parents than explaining to 30 sets of parents why I did not get their children to the level they need to be at. If there was a way to provide seperate instruction for this student outside, I would gladly offer it but bar that I don't feel that it is fair that this child is getting 90's on tests because they are making the levels of tests low enough for him to do so.
Monday, November 1, 2010
SeedFolk
Is anyone else concerned that the lot in seed folks was being used to dump dangerous chemicals and now people are eating the crops grown there?!
This story was very simplistic and the message was clear, people want to have value and worth. Even though the simplisticity of the story did come off as too stereotypical at times the idea of people wanting to actually make their own good mark on the world is something which I loved.
The story, seedfolks, started with a vietnamese girl planting lima beans in honor of her father. And it ends with her planting lima beans, once again too early in the year but we will see this as a success and not a failure of common sense. Once she planted the seeds the initial reaction was that she was up to no good. Which is a safe assumption in a vacant lot in the ghetto, but I loved the way that the accuser became the savior of her crop.
I also liked how not everyone had the noblest of intentions as they were farming. Several wanted to turn a profit such as the father with his lettuce and the kid who wanted to grow pot. However, everyone seemed to find some worth in their efforts. There is always a positive result when we try to make the world a better place. And that is what I took away from this book and even though in the real world it may not be as blatently obvious I believe this to be true.
The Multigenre part of the reading was a bit dull. I am trying to put together my stuff to hand in next week, but I am swamped with a million other projects. So, I am planning on pulling an all nighter tonight and knocking out everything that I need to do this week.
This story was very simplistic and the message was clear, people want to have value and worth. Even though the simplisticity of the story did come off as too stereotypical at times the idea of people wanting to actually make their own good mark on the world is something which I loved.
The story, seedfolks, started with a vietnamese girl planting lima beans in honor of her father. And it ends with her planting lima beans, once again too early in the year but we will see this as a success and not a failure of common sense. Once she planted the seeds the initial reaction was that she was up to no good. Which is a safe assumption in a vacant lot in the ghetto, but I loved the way that the accuser became the savior of her crop.
I also liked how not everyone had the noblest of intentions as they were farming. Several wanted to turn a profit such as the father with his lettuce and the kid who wanted to grow pot. However, everyone seemed to find some worth in their efforts. There is always a positive result when we try to make the world a better place. And that is what I took away from this book and even though in the real world it may not be as blatently obvious I believe this to be true.
The Multigenre part of the reading was a bit dull. I am trying to put together my stuff to hand in next week, but I am swamped with a million other projects. So, I am planning on pulling an all nighter tonight and knocking out everything that I need to do this week.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Poetry
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.
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.
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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