Excitement In My Classroom

This Literacy focused class has been extremely beneficial for me as an intern next year and a future teacher. I have truly valued everything we have discussed not only from class readings and scholarly articles but especially from discussions with my classmates. I feel that their experiences which are none like mine all bring something new to the table. Each one has their own individual and unique way of teaching and having their own viewpoint on literacy and education. I value their diversity and feel we are all going to bring something different to our classrooms but have gained the central knowledge as a foundation to build on so much more we will learn. This is very important as future teachers to take what we have learned and build on that in our classroom. This also hits on the idea of excitement in my classroom. I know my objective of a teacher is to teach, but how can I do it in a way that is exciting and meaningful to the students. I want my students to be engaged in what they are doing and excited. I do not want them to be bored or to have an attitude of this is pointless, stupid, not fun, ect. I know I have had many teachers who have made my learning very fun and exciting. I think it is important that we look back on what they might have done to engage us as learners. I know one big issue in the classroom is worksheets. Every student seems to hate worksheets and feels they are busy work and a waste of time. I do agree to some extent but feel that at some point they may be necessary and we as teachers need to use that as an exciting and engaging tool for our students. We cannot let one piece of paper hinder our student's ability to learn and be excited to learn. I also feel that classroom management and the classroom environment is a start of how to get your students excited about learning in the classroom. Also, I strongly feel that technology is not an important part of the classroom for students excitement but crucial. As noted in various blogs, classroom discussion, and presentations we are in a world of emerging technology. Everything is technological and as a student immersed and having the privillege of being involved with technology I feel I need to use this blessing to teach my students and use it in the classroom. We have learned so many skills and ways to use literacy and technology. I know I will take these skills learned and definitely use them.
I will take all of these skills learned and use them!

Book Clubs

For a final project/presentation our TE 402 class is participating in Book Clubs. We will explore a book as a teacher planning for a literature unit. Each book club group has received information and sources of various instructional models for literature exploration.
When given book club group time, my group members Erika and Sarah decided to use a well known children's literature book by Roald Dahl called, Matilda. As a group we all enjoyed reading it when we were younger and especially loved the movie that was based on Roald Dahl's book. We all agreed that the book was entertaining, happy, sad, and other various emotions that students in grades 4/5 would enjoy and be able to relate too. Also the book holds many themes from personal struggle, educational value one holds, parental power, teacher power, ect.
We thought doing the instructional model of reading workshops would be best for our book. Here is also what are main ideas for doing our phase 2: Thinking Like a Teacher may look like:

Book: Matilda Roald Dahl
Grade Level: 4th Grade
Instructional Model: Reading and Writing Workshops
(2 week unit)
p.414 Tompkins

Possible activities:
1. Start off as a classroom read to get students started in the book
2. Read two chapters a night for homework.
3. Set time during the day
4. Reading Logs for homework everyday
5. Time to discuss in class
6. (Books on tape/books on CD for differentiation of all learners)
7. Movie at end of unit
8. Mini lessons within unit
9. Opposites Project (Expansion project) various interpretations of opposites. Easy for kids who do not speak English, not all literary.


Mini Lessons: (Ideas..)
1. Predict and Confirm
2. Identify with characters
3. Connect to ones’ own life and world
4. Identify unfamiliar words
5. Notice opposites (Quote: “I’m smart you’re dumb, I’m big you’re small, ect…”)

Various Expansion Project: Options (can make a newsletters, poster, write a letter to administrator (activist approach), write a song, make a play, poem, ect…

We obviously are putting it together still but I am exited and eager to address various ideas for students using this book and our instructional model. I do believe our classmates will be engaged and will take a way knowledgeable information they they may use in their future classroom.

Cambourne Article

I really liked the Cambourne article, "Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning: Twenty years of inquiry". I thought it was very informational and really enjoyed our class discussion on the articles. When breaking into small groups our group chatted a lot about the concept of literacy and praise, literacy immersion, and the idea of engagement of literacy in the classroom. We felt like the article covered extremely well all of these things and gave a lot of applicable stories. My main point was the idea of literacy immersion. I think that literacy needs to be all around the classroom and students need to be experienced to literacy. This is is important because it is not one particular subject but a lifestyle of language and learning that each child needs to be immersed in.