Reading was always an area that I have always enjoyed as a young child and even now as an adult. As a young child, (Kindergarten) the type of text that captured me were picture storybooks with strong storylines. I liked rhyming books because of the repetitive sounds. I also liked fun-toy like books that had pop ups, lift the flaps or pull outs.
I always went after books that were large in size, had bright colors and pictures on the front covers. The photographs had to be not only on the outside but on the inside of the book. I liked the photographs inside the book because they helped me to comprehend the story better. When I first began to read, I liked reading text that was simple to read with large print and had spacing between the words. As I got older the books had to be a topic that I was interested in reading. I enjoyed reading books by Dick and Jane and the Little Golden Books.
Something positive I remember about reading ...... I always remembered being so interested when my Kindergarten and first grade teachers read a story. I always wanted them to read multiple stories (one after the other) because I enjoyed them so much. The other thing I liked about reading was when my teachers use to act out the stories or use "expression" when they were reading. I don't know if anyone remembers the "bookmobile". The bookmobile was a large van filled with books that use to come on the school grounds once per week. Students use to be able to borrow books from this vehicle. I looked forward to choosing books from the bookmobile because my library did not have the greatest selection of stuff. I was a very fluent reader and my teachers always called upon me to read aloud in the class. I felt like a star.
A negative experience was that I always had trouble with comprehension and some problems with vocabulary. I could not stand it when I was unable to comprehend and it frustrated me a lot. I could never figure this out because as you can see I really enjoyed reading.
Teresa Duardo
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Expand Your Knowledge
I feel there are many ways to expand knowledge about other racial/ethinc groups. You need to start early if you plan on teaching young children. Exposing children as early as Pre K allows children to appreciate different cultures and identify bias early on.
I think since students spend a lot of hours inside a classroom I feel that the room itself should have signs, banners, posters and bulletin boards that show diversity. It is important that a classroom envioronment be a welcoming and accepting envioronment for all types of racial/ethnic groups. I also think that a classroom library should have a variety of books about different racial/ethnic groups regardless of what district/community you are teaching in. Children's literature and Social Studies are great subject to expland knowldege about racial/ethic groups because they deal with real life issues and people.
Another way to expand knowledge about racial/ethnic groups is to have parents and family members of the students come into the classroom during a holiday and share with the class about their practices. Guest speakers are a great sources for teaching diversity. My mom actually did this when I was in elementary school and she talked about how important Christmas Eve is to the Italian culture. It was a wonderful experience for my classmates and the teacher to learn about the Italian culture. Field trips to local museums are also another great way to expand knowledge. A change of scene can help open students minds more.
The one experience I had that taught me about my own bias was the school observations we did in the Abbott District. Before I observed the Abbott District I thought to myself, " I would never go back to my roots and teach in an Abbott District". In fact, this was a false belief. The more and more I observed I now feel very strongly about teaching in an Abbott District. The schools in these areas are nice and more importantly appear to be more on the ball and on top of everything.
I think since students spend a lot of hours inside a classroom I feel that the room itself should have signs, banners, posters and bulletin boards that show diversity. It is important that a classroom envioronment be a welcoming and accepting envioronment for all types of racial/ethnic groups. I also think that a classroom library should have a variety of books about different racial/ethnic groups regardless of what district/community you are teaching in. Children's literature and Social Studies are great subject to expland knowldege about racial/ethic groups because they deal with real life issues and people.
Another way to expand knowledge about racial/ethnic groups is to have parents and family members of the students come into the classroom during a holiday and share with the class about their practices. Guest speakers are a great sources for teaching diversity. My mom actually did this when I was in elementary school and she talked about how important Christmas Eve is to the Italian culture. It was a wonderful experience for my classmates and the teacher to learn about the Italian culture. Field trips to local museums are also another great way to expand knowledge. A change of scene can help open students minds more.
The one experience I had that taught me about my own bias was the school observations we did in the Abbott District. Before I observed the Abbott District I thought to myself, " I would never go back to my roots and teach in an Abbott District". In fact, this was a false belief. The more and more I observed I now feel very strongly about teaching in an Abbott District. The schools in these areas are nice and more importantly appear to be more on the ball and on top of everything.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Creating Community In The Classroom
I feel a way of creating community in the classroom is through writing. There are plenty of writing samples in Walking Trees showing how students express themselves through writing. I liked the Half Autobiography story that was written on page 120 in Walking Trees. When students write autobiographies it can serve many purposes. First, students will get to know themselves better, second, they will have the chance to learn about each other. Writing gives students the opportunity to talk about their families. It will also give them the chance to talk about what is important to them and what they value. This leads to community building, students create a place in the community to which we belong. By sharing autobiographies, it allows others to hear and understand who we are in ways that support the view we have of ourselves. For a teacher, reading students writing can help you learn about students' interests and structure the classroom around them. In parent teacher conferences writing shows parents that you value their child's individual needs.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Lessons We Learn From Children
From experience with my own daughter, I have learned that you have to give a child credit for the good things they do. Some teachers are not good at recognizing the good in students.
In "Walking Trees" (pg.65-66) Ralph was working with the teacher, Florence Smith who has nothing but negative comments about a particular student. Florence comments about her student and says, "fifth grade and can't use quotations right". Ralph does not agree with this teacher and instead he points out the positive qualities in the students writing. Ralph also points out that even though the student has not used quotation marks correctly the student has taken a risk to try them in their writing. Ralph continues to say that at least the student realized that quotation marks are lined with spoken words. I think Ralph did a great job at looking "deeper" into the good qualities of this particular students work. I think that many teachers are quick to respond negatively toward students work. Children pick up on the teacher's negativity which causes other types of problems in their students, behavior problems, lack of motivation, low self esteem etc.
I will share a similar example that I had with my daughter's Pre K teacher. When my daughter was first learning to write she was using all capital letters in her first and last name. As a parent I thought to myself this is fine for now because she is only just learning how to write her full name and that she will eventually learn how to use upper and lower case letters. As time went on my daughter was criticized by her teacher. The teacher told my daughter, "you must learn how to use upper and lower case letters in your first and last name". She put my daughter down a lot. My daughter at the time understood that upper and lower case letters were used in her name and she had been practicing this at home with me. The teacher repeated it all the time to her and put so much pressure on her. My daughter would come home and repeat to me the things her teacher was telling her. The comments eventually got to my daughter and she came home one day crying about it. It made me furious to know the teacher had made my daughter that upset so I decided to put an end to it!
I confronted the teacher and held my daughter's work out to her and said, "can you point out anything good in my daughter's work?" I said, "Do you even recognize how neat and clear this child writes her first and last name?" "Do you realize that she can print her name straight on a plain piece of paper?" I also pointed out that my daughter knows how to write all of her ABC's. She refused to acknowledge anything I had to say but continued to tell me that she does not know how to correctly use upper and lower case letters. I acknowledged that she did not know how to correctly use upper and lower case letters but I pointed out to her that she had been practicing at home and that she would master it in time. I told the teacher to give the her a chance and to stop all the negativity she had been placing in my daughters head. I said, "do you realize that the negativity is preventing my daughter from learning?" The following day I had to address it with the principal who ended up talking with this particular teacher.
The point I am making is that this particular teacher made my daughter obsessive about her writing now. My little one is so critical about how she writes and her Kindergarten teacher now points this out to me. All of us as future teachers have to remember to look "deeper" into students work just like Ralph did in the book. It's important to look for positive qualities in your students. Also remember that making negative comments and not saying anything positive leaves scars on a child. All students make mistakes but students need to understand that they will learn and grow from their mistakes.
Teresa Duardo
In "Walking Trees" (pg.65-66) Ralph was working with the teacher, Florence Smith who has nothing but negative comments about a particular student. Florence comments about her student and says, "fifth grade and can't use quotations right". Ralph does not agree with this teacher and instead he points out the positive qualities in the students writing. Ralph also points out that even though the student has not used quotation marks correctly the student has taken a risk to try them in their writing. Ralph continues to say that at least the student realized that quotation marks are lined with spoken words. I think Ralph did a great job at looking "deeper" into the good qualities of this particular students work. I think that many teachers are quick to respond negatively toward students work. Children pick up on the teacher's negativity which causes other types of problems in their students, behavior problems, lack of motivation, low self esteem etc.
I will share a similar example that I had with my daughter's Pre K teacher. When my daughter was first learning to write she was using all capital letters in her first and last name. As a parent I thought to myself this is fine for now because she is only just learning how to write her full name and that she will eventually learn how to use upper and lower case letters. As time went on my daughter was criticized by her teacher. The teacher told my daughter, "you must learn how to use upper and lower case letters in your first and last name". She put my daughter down a lot. My daughter at the time understood that upper and lower case letters were used in her name and she had been practicing this at home with me. The teacher repeated it all the time to her and put so much pressure on her. My daughter would come home and repeat to me the things her teacher was telling her. The comments eventually got to my daughter and she came home one day crying about it. It made me furious to know the teacher had made my daughter that upset so I decided to put an end to it!
I confronted the teacher and held my daughter's work out to her and said, "can you point out anything good in my daughter's work?" I said, "Do you even recognize how neat and clear this child writes her first and last name?" "Do you realize that she can print her name straight on a plain piece of paper?" I also pointed out that my daughter knows how to write all of her ABC's. She refused to acknowledge anything I had to say but continued to tell me that she does not know how to correctly use upper and lower case letters. I acknowledged that she did not know how to correctly use upper and lower case letters but I pointed out to her that she had been practicing at home and that she would master it in time. I told the teacher to give the her a chance and to stop all the negativity she had been placing in my daughters head. I said, "do you realize that the negativity is preventing my daughter from learning?" The following day I had to address it with the principal who ended up talking with this particular teacher.
The point I am making is that this particular teacher made my daughter obsessive about her writing now. My little one is so critical about how she writes and her Kindergarten teacher now points this out to me. All of us as future teachers have to remember to look "deeper" into students work just like Ralph did in the book. It's important to look for positive qualities in your students. Also remember that making negative comments and not saying anything positive leaves scars on a child. All students make mistakes but students need to understand that they will learn and grow from their mistakes.
Teresa Duardo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)