Possible Assessments

For the assessments of the unit listed below, I have a few different thoughts as far as what I would like to implement.  First, throughout the reading of the book, I would like to have students journal on a question that relates to what we read the previous day, or to prepare them to begin thinking about the topic for that day.  I have not come up with the questions yet, but will do so before I begin teaching.

Secondly, during reading, I would like to have short discussions on how Esperanza’s life relates to their lives.  I am not sure if this is something that would be better to put at the end of the unit, or if I could do it intermittently.  In any case, I think that daily brief discussions is a good way to assess students’ comprehension of the material and should be used at least every-other day in order to make sure that main ideas and themes are coming through.

For the final project I think that I would like to have my students make book trailers for this book.  I realize that this will be time consuming and something we would have to spend a great deal of time on, but I would like to try it out, and I know that it made the book very meaningful to me.  This is also something that students could do in groups if they do not feel comfortable doing it by themselves.  I would then have everyone present their movies to the class.

The other idea that I have is to give students more of a choice of what they would like to do.  Some of the options include:

1.  Writing a scene that they believe should have been added to the book, and then acting it out.  They can possibly video tape it if there is a video camera available through the school.  A major theme of the book should be included.

2. Making a collage in which they include the major themes of the book, and give a brief description of their collage and how they represented the characters, setting, plot, a major theme, etc…

3. Book Trailer? I’m not sure if it would work to have this as an option if the whole class wasn’t doing it…

4. Extending the ending: Have students write what happens next in Esperanza’s life and briefly explain their choices.

5. Write an alternative Ending: What if the story did not end like this? What if the last chapter was not there? What would the story look like? Why?

These are just a few ideas that I have.  I figure that I can easily incorporate the  overarching questions into these assessments and make them more specific.  Please let me know if you have any comments and/or suggestions!

Unit Proposal

First, I must apologize for not having this posted before now.  I have been having difficulties coming up with an idea of what exactly I want to end up teaching, so even though I have a general idea of what I would like to do, I am more than willing to take into considerations any suggestions.

I am student teaching next semester in a sixth grade classroom.  The school is located in a semi-rural area.  I have a total of twenty-three students.  I have discussed with my teacher books that I would like to teach and that we have available.  I have decided, with her guidance, to use the book Esperanza Rising as the main text for my unit.  I am thinking that the unit will last about two weeks.  Does that sound about right for a text of that length?

There are a few reasons why I have chosen Esperanza Rising for the sixth grade class.  The students I have are from just outside St. Cloud, meaning a fairly rural area.  I wanted to introduce them to a text that had some diversity within it, but something that is still relatable to them.  The group of students I have is fairly homogonous and therefore they do not experience ethnic diversity and issues that come along with it, unless they venture into St. Cloud. 

Esperanza Rising has many issues that are relevant to their lives.  First, there are a lot of immigrants in St. Cloud that experience some of the issues that Esperanza and her family encounter.  I figure that we can explore these within the unit.  Second, Esperanza is twelve, which is about the same age as most of my students, making her more relatable. 

The overarching questions I am considering using are:

-What are the main themes throughout the book?

-What are the cause and effect relationships throughout the book?

-What connections can be made between yourself and Esperanza?

 o   More specifically:

 §  How does Esperanza Rising relate to today? Is it applicable even though it is set in the 1920s? Why or Why not? Give examples with current events.

 §  How does Esperanza’s life connect to your own life?

 §  Does the harsh treatment of Esperanza’s family still exist today?

The Standards that will be incorporated are:

o   6.4.2.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

o   6.4.3.3 Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Please let me know what you think and/or if you have any suggestions! Thanks!

Break: Teacher Friend or Foe?

Well, I know that I'm lagging behind on this blog post, but I for the life of me could not come up with something education related to blog about on here.  That was until I started thinking about how I should really get this done before break.  This thought process lead me to thinking about having break as a teacher.  Almost every Education student or teacher knows and thinks about break.  We know that it is definitely a perk of our job.  We probably have more days off as a teacher than any other profession.  However, are the breaks all they're cracked up to be?

As a student, I know that I enjoy my breaks.  They are a time when I can rejuvenate and gain back any lost sleep.  I also know this will be true for my future students.  Studies show that everyone needs a break at some point in their lives, both mentally and physically.  Without this time as a student, I know that I would just crash and burn into a long narrow road.  On the other hand, there are disadvantages that many students do not necessarily think about while they're spending their days relaxing and just being kids.

The breaks that we have a majority of the time are relatively short.  They last about a day or two longer than a normal weekend, sometimes extending from a week to two weeks.  These breaks are typically productive when it comes to relaxing and not being mentally challenged.  They allow students to rejuvenate and come back ready to learn.  I remember being a small child and thoroughly enjoying this time off, and I was able to do just that- come back and perform with more rigor than before.  Therefore, short breaks are not a problematic situation.  It is when longer breaks come into the picture that teachers begin to worry.

A long break, such as the typically summer three month break is definitely a perk in most teachers minds.  It is not the reason why we go into education, but we do see it as a time to sit back and relax, and also as a nice amount of time to begin preparing for the next school year.  However, many students do not do the same.  During the summer, students look at is as all play and games, and NO education.  Students who need to go to summer school to help them retain what they have learned often times do not like this because they don't understand why they have to go when no one else does.

As a result of a "free" summer, many students fall behind.  They loose their routines, and they forget to some extent what it's like to be in school.  Consequently, teachers have to take valuable time to review and sometimes reteach information that they can no longer recall because they have not been thinking about it.  Many students "loose" information and loose any gains that they had during the school year.  In essence, it sometimes seems like a teacher is starting back at square one.  On average, the first two to three weeks is spent reviewing information from the previous year and setting routines of the new school year.

There are a few different options to decrease this loss of knowledge.  The first is to have year round school where students go to school for a month/month and a half and then have two to three weeks off.  In this, students are given enough time to relax and then come back to school.  There is then less of a loss of information.  The problem with this is that the breaks for the schools do not always align, making it difficult to go on family vacations.  It is also hard to set a routine with being in and out of school so much.  There also can then be a debate on when students move up to the next level of schooling because there is no real defined start or end to the school year.

The second option is to have summer goals set for students, such as reading so much every day.  A time period of 30 minutes a day is sufficient and allows students to keep thinking.  Worksheets and online activities can be given to parents/guardians for their student to work on at home as well.  The problem with this is that there is no definite way to enforce the reading and make sure that it is being done.  Also, if students have limited resources at home, external resources must be sought out.  Although not impossible, students may be less motivated to go to the library to work on academics during the summer than if they are forced to at school.

What it all comes down to is communication with parents/guardians, students, and teachers.  Teachers NEED to emphasize how important it is to keep the information new.  If students have the resources at their finger tips, they should be encouraged to use it.  If students do not have resources available to them, the teacher/school should provide a list of ways that this student can keep learning throughout the summer.  One discussion that teachers may want to have with their students is the fact that learning is a life long process and point out different times and places that he/she has come into learning.

Another way to improve this targeted learning is to have a whole school or school district initiative where everyone is involved.  Motivation is key, so if schools can find a positive incentive for students, then it will probably work better.  Also, if it is district wide, everyone will know that every other school and student should be doing this as well.

There is no right or wrong answer, but many options.  Ultimately, the school district and state will decide, but knowing the options available is a start to creating a community of life long learners.

Technology in the classroom

Today’s students are born into a world that is technology based.  There are more means of usages of technology than ever before.  However, many teachers have an inclination to not use technology in their classrooms.  Some of the reasons are that they do not feel that it is important, others don’t know how to use it, while others think that reading a hard copy of a book is an art that will soon be forgotten.  While these are all legitimate reasons and concerns, I feel that technology is very important.  It is what the new generations will be working with in every single job.  So, instead of working against technology and the fact that our students are watching more TV than spending time reading a book, let’s work with technology and show students how best to use it.

In this new industrial age, there are so many opportunities to create images and projects with technology, whether it is with Powerpoint, Microsoft word, or iMovie.  Technology is something that students encounter daily.  A large majority of students have computers at home, and if they don’t they have access to a computer is some way, shape, or form.  There are also new applications online that help students who are struggling with reading, mathematics, speaking, etc…  It is only to our benefit as teachers that we use the technology that is available to us through different organizations.

Will using these technologies change our classrooms? Yes, of course it will, but it is a change that I am personally willing to make.  I taught in a kindergarten classroom a week ago and in that classroom there is a smartboard.  I made lessons using the smartboard, and it was wonderful because it was more interactive than a whiteboard and I could change what we were doing with the touch on the screen.  The students absolutely loved it, and probably could teach me a thing or two about how to use it.  In my opinion, we should use the knowledge our students have to increase our knowledge of technology, as well as create projects where they can show off what they know.

With the invention of the iPad and Kindell, we can include technology and make reading “fun.”  I still love to use a real book and flip the pages, but whatever we can do to get our students to read is fine by me.  I think what is most important here is to let students experience and evaluate the technology for themselves and use it as they see fit, within educational means of course.

As educators, it is our job to educate our students on the usages of technology.  We have the opportunity to help our students figure out what is the proper use and how best to use it.  We can help our students understand what is out on the World-Wide-Web and help them to learn how to evaluate their sources.  It is something that they will be using the rest of their lives, so we should take this opportunity to mold our student’s thinking of the appropriate usage of technology.

I suggest that you view these few videos.  They are definitely mind opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmz5qYbKsvM

PLN reflection

When this semester started I couldn’t even begin to tell you what in the world a PLN was.  Not only did I not understand what PLN stood for, I also had never been a part of a Professional Learning Network.  After spending a great deal of time working with them and figuring out what in the world we were supposed to do I began to get into the swing of things.  I started reading other blogs and looking for blogs that were beneficial to me.  I found that bloggers wrote about a variety of topics and that they could improve my performance in the classroom.

As far as the blogs for class go, the class PLN has had many benefits.  It extends the learning beyond the classroom, and allows us to talk to one another on different aspects that we find important or have questions about.  It allows us to take full responsibility for our learning.  The challenges of the PLN are that it is very time consuming.  I have a full load of classes, as well as a life outside of my academics that I live, which takes a lot of time and commitment.  I have felt overwhelmed by the amount of work that it takes beyond the “normal” classroom commitment.  I feel that it is very beneficial to have this experience and to be able to put something like this on our resumes.  It will definitely set us apart from other professionals if we say that we have been a part of a PLN and can help to possibly set one up for the teachers at the school we will be hired at.  Overall it has been a fun experience, and a great way to learn, but is also time consuming.

Here are the professional Blogs I am following:

The Teacher Geek: This blog gives a bunch of ideas for elementary teachers, what books to read, how to spruce up your classroom, etc… Definitely a thumbs up!

The Edublogger: This blog gives ideas of how to incorporate technology in your classroom, such as blogging! Another thumbs up!

Robin Talkowski’s Blog: Reading & Technology: This blogger writes on a variety of different topics and easy to relate to.  She talks about struggles of being a teacher, but also ways to overcome those struggles.  She also suggests to her readers a variety of resources to use. Thumbs in between.

ideaconnect: This blogger blogs about a variety of topics, but has a lot of great resources and ideas.  Definitely a thumbs up!

Live the Conversation: This blogger talks again about a variety of subjects, but talks a lot about student motivation. I give her a thumbs up.

Beginning Reader Help: This teacher talks about different reading strategies for beginning readers, or readers who are having difficulties with decoding.  I give her a thumbs up!

Twitters I’m following:

web20classroom

C Southard

CRHeitz

kiethschoch

brownsl

ac2steachk
CheekyLitTeach

FirstGrade (I LOVE this one!!!)

Critical Literacy 101

Critical literacy is the ability to take a text and dive into it, engage in the reading and make it your own.  It is the ability to understand what you are reading, why you are reading it that way, and how the author/situation is affecting your understanding.  Being critically aware is a major part of being an educated reader.  Critical literacy can start as young as you want it to start.  It is questioning, interpreting, digesting, and recreating what you have read in order to make sense of it, and give it a deeper meaning and understanding in your own thinking.

The thing that I find most intriguing about critical literacy is that it goes beyond the text.  It goes beyond the traditional way of looking at a story as a passive reader to looking at the story as something that is up for interpretation, where there is no right answer.  I feel that a lot of times students are put off by reading because when they answer comprehension questions there is often a right and wrong answer, but when you are thinking about something critically there is the option to interpret and define things for what you think they are supposed to be. 

Also, by looking at the details of who the author is, where is the author from, where is the story located, what is the background information? Why has the author chosen this character to follow that closely? What would/could change if something was different in the story?  These questions allow students to be an active reader and understand that texts have biases.  As human beings, we all have biases.  As I am writing this blog, I have a bias.  My background is different from the next persons, creating a different view of what is important in literature.  It is important to understand where the texts have come from so that we can try to step out of the box that the author has presented us.

In teaching students how to be critical analyzers, teachers are giving students the opportunity to be the author of their own reading.  In my future classroom, I think that this could be a great way to increase my students’ understanding of literature.  My only questions would be what is the best way to implement these questions for younger ages and how often should this approach be used?

Struggling Readers: Success in a Different Light

When it comes to reading, I am about the last person to pick up a book and read for pleasure.  I know this is surprising since my concentration is English and Language Arts, but that is also part of the reason why I have chosen this particular focus in my education.  I am, and have always been, a struggling reader to an extent.  Typically it takes me twice as long to read a passage as it takes the normal person.  The reason for this, I am still discovering, but I have many theories about it.  I do not have difficulties with vocabulary and decoding, my difficulty is with the rate at which I read, which is probably most likely linked to fluency and comprehension.   


I am not your typical struggling reader.  I have never been "caught" or seen as a struggling reader by teachers.  I have always gotten good grades, I had a 4.0 in high school, and have maintained about a 3.62 throughout college.  Through this class I am learning about how students have struggled, and now I can start to see myself in these different labels.  I am one of my future students.  I know the difficulties there is to reading, and I know how much effort  it takes to read a book for struggling readers.  It is not fun to look at your assignments and see that you have 60 pages of reading to do, which for the normal reader is about 2 hours, for me it takes between 3 and 4 hours to do.  I understand what my future students are going through and I know that this will make me a better, stronger teacher in the future.  It is also probably one of the reason why I am so enthusiastic about learning to work with students who have these difficulties.


Most of the struggling students who come into a middle school or junior high school classroom will have been noticed along the way.  They will have probably received some sort of extra support by teachers, and if they haven't then that's the teacher's fault.  Even though I would like to say that this never happens, the truth is that I know that it does.  There are always going to be teachers who don't want to take the time or effort into making accommodations and modifications to assignments, or even just giving extra support.  However, these teachers are far and few between, and obviously do not have a zeal for learning.


Students who are struggling at this time in their school careers will have already been to specialists, been tested, and been told that they cannot receive help, or they have received help and are still struggling.  No matter the case, it is our job and responsibility as educators to help students in whatever way, shape, or form possible so that they can succeed.  Students who struggle will more than likely have some self-esteem issues, which will not help with their view of reading.  Student who frequently say something to the effect of "This is dumb" are often the students who need the most help.  These are the students you need to watch out for and pay close attention to, because what they are really saying is, "I need help, I want to succeed, I just don't know how to get there."


When I get into a classroom, I can almost immediately pick out the students who are struggling and within a week figure out how to best help them.  It's something that I do automatically and something I love doing.  Personally, I am super excited to be able to go and help a struggling reader.  It is amazing to see a student's face light up when they do something that they couldn't do before.  Working with the struggling students is the best part of the job in my opinion, because they are the ones you can make the greatest impact on.  With a little extra help and support, and trying something in a new way a student may just finally understand what they have been struggling with in the past.  All it takes is one success for a student's academic career to turn around.  Think back to when you were in elementary and middle school- you just wanted to be like everyone else and be successful.  Motivation may be an issue in some cases, but there are ways to over come that as well.  The greatest lesson to be learned is never give up on your students, because they will then never give up on you.


As a final note, here are a list of a few goals that I have for being a teacher:
1. Believe in your students
2. Give them your A game, because then they will more than likely give you theirs
3. Confidence is key- The more you have, the better things will go
4. Everyone deserves a chance to succeed, so don't let your students down by being overwhelmed by the fact that there is not enough time in the day to get to every issue.