Class on Wednesday, May 31st

Tonight during class we went over Chapters 12 and 13 of our textbook, Language Arts: Process, Product, and Assessment for Diverse Classrooms. I actually appreciate that Mrs. Steffes goes over the chapters before moving on, because many professors just assume you have the chapter down and move on. Not to mention, she includes extra information for clarity, and resources for us to utilize in our lessons. It's awesome!

From there, we went on to answer our discussion questions over Language Arts and technology, and author web sites. I found that I LOVED the researching of the author web sites! I didn't know that so many authors had so many resources for teachers. I think that's awesome! When someone mentioned the book Wonder and the resources the author gave, I wanted to smack myself because I could have researched this author and utilized those resources when I was reading the book to the class as a lesson that was observed by a supervisor. At the time, I wasn't aware of what to discuss when reading aloud, and so I was a bit of an amateur for sure. ;)

LESSON PLANS:
Tonight's discussion topic is lesson plans and what reflections we have over them. First off I would say that writing these lesson plans can seem somewhat overwhelming still, but only because I am an anxious/nervous person in general. Nevertheless, I find that when I am writing these lesson plans and unit plans I have better luck organizing and coming up with fresh ideas if I write them using pen and paper. I know, OLD SCHOOL approach for sure! And probably not a more positive approach when you think about time management, but it is what it is. :)

Another reflection I have over writing lesson plans is: The more you write, the better you become. The more you practice, the more ideas you find you can include. And that is why I am thankful that the professors here at Columbia College include the lesson plans for graded assignments. I hope to become even better in the near future, as I am hoping to graduate within the next year! :)

I would love to hear from some of you on what ideas, activities, or approaches you take when making your lesson plans! That way I can become even better at this VERY vital task for teachers. ;)

 🙂

Class on Wednesday, May 24th

Take Aways

Tonight was an interesting approach to Blackboard Collaborate, that's for sure! :)  We logged into Blackboard, and then after writing in the chat board, we logged out. After that we found the Week 4 recording our professor prepared for us. After listening to our professor, and writing notes about all of the chapters - 9 through 11. I was able to complete the discussion posts for Week 4 after listening to the recording.

A few take aways from tonight include the use of Reader's Theatre's in the classroom. I have provided an example of students performing the book, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. When using a Reader's Theatre, you offer scripts of the book you are reading, assign reading parts to each student, have students read their parts aloud, and then have students read their parts to the group. I know Mrs. Steffes mentioned having students make props during the process, and I thought that was definitely an entertaining factor to the process. Definitely a way to keep the students engaged and eager to learn!


Another class take away would be the technique of teaching discussions. I never thought about this idea before tonight, because it was never taught to me, and I thought it to be an automatic "thing" to know. Like most other subjects to be taught in the classroom, teachers are to model the way a proper discussion is held. Next, in small groups you set goals for the group to have discussions about, and then monitor as they continue from the initial goals you have set. Group should be set according to reading abilities, social interactions, and interpretative abilities.

Chapters 4 & 5 
Chapters 4 and 5 of the textbook Language Arts: Process, Product, and Assessment for Diverse Classrooms by Pamela J. Farris and Donna E. Werderich discussed words (language) and writing. The fourth chapter discussed phonics, word walls, fluency, vocabulary, spelling, and high-frequency words. Chapter five discussed Writer's Workshops, the writing process, the traits of writing, mini lessons, "honeybee" conferences, and portfolios in short. In detail the chapter discussed different types of conferences to have with students about their writing, how to utilize portfolios within the classroom, the different audiences you can write to, etc.

I believe the chapters have one of the greatest commonalities of the five strands of language arts. Without the knowledge of language, one cannot accomplish the "art" of writing. Now, what knowledge have you can gained from these previously taught chapters?

Class on Wednesday, May 17th

Class tonight included a horrendous amount of information over the reading and writing in a typical language arts classroom. I say horrendous, because it was a tad bit overwhelming for a person with no book, and who likes to write notes per pencil and notebook paper. Ha! I don't mean to put a negative aspect on class tonight, because I taught a lot of information about new books and the ways to implement them. I'm actually reading Nicholas Sparks, See Me, but after tonight's class I wanted to race to the public library and find The Watson's Go to Birmingham-1963! :)  That's what I love about Mrs. Steffes' class and her personal stories/experiences that she shares! They keep me engaged and eager to learn. Which, as soon-to-be-teachers, we all know how important those two aspects are in the classroom!

Some take aways I want to implement in the future include book clubs within the classroom, because of the way they input personal preference, engagement, and interest in books within the classroom. Students are able to find books (within reason) that interest them, books that intrigue them. I remember when I was in school that I always had suggested books that were read aloud, or book reports that went along with the books we were supposed to read. In turn, made them "stressful" (for a kid! Ha!), and time-sensitive per the due date. I was always an eager learner, but the due dates made me stress out more than they should. That's a whole other story! Back to the point! ;) The books that interested me weren't book that aligned with the school curriculum or with the lesson plan the teacher had planned in advance. So, I would take that book home from the school and read, which was a bonus! However, I was never fully engaged in the book like had I wanted to be when I had first heard about the book. (I know that's difficult to understand, hang on with me!) The books that students find interesting for themselves, are interesting for a reason. For that individual child, of course. I think with the resources some children have, we should consider allotting time for those children who have "outside the box" interests in novels.

With all of the knowledge I have received and retained from the night, I would say my only other thought/take away from tonight would be to group students into similar groups when working in Guided Reading groups. I was previously taught that we should group students with students who have "strong suits" in qualities that students does not yet have. For instance, when a student cannot sound out words as well as the rest of the group, we should group them with the student who sounds out words the best. So they learn from them when they are working together. I think that is the biggest struggle I had tonight - trying to break away from that strategy. It's not necessarily a bad strategy, but for Language Arts it may not be the best technique to implement. Let me k,now what you think! Thank ya'll!

Class on Wednesday, May 10th

With all of these crazy thunderstorms going around in Mid Missouri, we gave class a try tonight! ;) We were able to talk about chapters 4 and 5 of our textbook, Language Arts: Process, Product, and Assessment for Diverse Classrooms, and attempt a Kahoot! over the material. However, technology as it is, we were unable to start our Kahoot, but not without a few good attempts. As luck would have it, I was then booted off Blackboard Collaborate, and had to restart my whole computer before signing on again. During the latter portion of our class, we were then able to complete a few discussion posts after researching a few sites that our professor found for us. I liked the variety of resources from the first site, and the simple yet effective aspect of the second site. The next assignment, 100 Questions (of Bloom's Taxonomy), was then discussed per the rubric and Mrs. Steffes.

A "Take Away" I enjoyed when listening and engaging in class tonight, was the Fry Word List for a spelling activity. Also, using post-its during Writing Conferences to write down what students are struggling with. I thought I could add on to that by including a positive of what the student is struggling on within the note. I really liked the idea to use these post-its for Parent-Teacher Conference time! Lots to "Take Away" from tonight!! :)

Source: 
Farris, P.J., & Werderich, D.E. (2011). Language arts: process, product, and assessment for diverse classrooms (5th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Class on Wednesday, May 3rd

During class on Wednesday, May 3rd we went over the beginnings of what our class would look like, how it would run (on Blackboard Collaborate and D2L), and the details of our future assignments. At first, I felt a little overwhelmed with all of the information, but towards the middle of class we were able to take a small break, where I was able to soak it all in. Ha! Overall though, I would say Mrs. Steffes had a pretty great handle on the introduction of our course, and an even better method of organization for the course. 

I was able to write a few things down to "Take Away" for my later use when I am certified. One, was that I will use the ten questions to influence and include in my lesson plan. I have had one profess instruct me about the Madeline Hunter lesson plan format, and she never really went over that in detail. So, when Mrs. Steffes mentioned the questions, how to use them, and how beneficial they are, I was very relieved. I didn't want to miss out on the tid bit when I will be graduating next year. 

Another "Take Away" I was able to jot down was the point of the Scope and Sequence. I was only just instructed in the Early Spring session to write a Scope and Sequence for my plans to teach during a school year. To be honest, this professor tried her best, but she never put it in perspective for me like Mrs. Steffes did. I never realized what the point of the (assignment) Scope and Sequence was and how it can benefit me overall. By writing a Scope and Sequence I can plan effectively for lesson throughout the year. 

All in all, I would say a very efficient and informing class period for Education 337 - Teaching Language Arts! :)

2 Truths and A Lie

Two Truths and a Lie - 

1. I am from Mokane, Missouri, a town with a population of 187.

2. I work at a preschool in Columbia, Missouri where I teach Pre-K aged students.

3. I am a mother of a little girl, Lilly, who is 11 months old.