Feb. 25, 2013 Post

After I completed this weeks assigned reading I found myself thinking back to the process of how I personally learned to read.  Like we discussed in the math section of class this past week, I feel like both the beginning stages of learning about mathematics and to read are forgotten over time once you have far surpassed them.  I personally remember that once I learned how to read I had no trouble with comprehension, however, decoding and sounding out words was far from easy for me to pick up.  In hind sight it would appear to me that as soon as I learned how to read on my own, I was passed to most basic level of comprehension, literal comprehension, and on to inferential comprehension.  I remember immediately using my own knowledge when reading along with the information presented in the text.  If I were to guess, I would have to contribute this to my parents constantly reading to me as a child, asking me questions about the books they read to me and relating different aspects of the books we read to my life somehow.

Interestingly enough, when in my placement classroom I see students with the almost the exact opposite problem of mine.  Some of the students can read a paragraph out of the book at a good pace and with no errors, but, when you ask them what they just read they have no idea.  Occasionally they can recall a main idea or some events that occurred, but I feel like my mentor teacher is constantly working with all of the students (high and low achieving) one sequencing details. 

One article we read, “Profiles in Comprehension” talks a lot about the importance of not having your students answer recitation questions, and instead using higher level thinking questions such as asking them to predict what they think may happen next in the book and having class discussions.  Although my MT asks my students to predict what they think may happen next when she is reading out loud to them, I see them answer recitation questions on work sheets all the time during individual reading time.  This I think, as the reading also explains, is leading to the students not enjoying reading nearly as much as they could.  Furthermore, I remember filling out many, many packets that were filled with recall/recitation questions though out grade school, and back then I hated reading.  As teachers we need to get away from giving students busy work with questions that are simply testing to see if our students did the assigned reading and often leads to our students to disliking reading.  We must allow our students to explore a book as they read it.             

Week 7

                 As one can imagine, Mrs. Potter’s room seems daunting for even the best teacher. Every year it is a struggle to understand how each individual child is thinking, how they process information, and what they can produce on paper. It is even more difficult to accomplish this task when there are special needs children or students with learning disabilities. Regardless, Mrs. Potter is still accountable for her classroom, much like Carlisle points out in their article. In order for learning to be accomplished successfully in Mrs. Potter’s class, there are many changes she needs to make.

                First off, Mrs. Potter needs to take a step back and realize what her job title is. She is a teacher, one who teaches. Her job is not to conquer the world or to make every child a genius. Her job is to offer unto her students the proper foundational skills in order to learn for the rest of their lives. In order to do this, it is pertinent that Mrs. Potter understands that each and every child is one that should receive some amount of her attention as in the case of Lupita. Secondly, Mrs. Potter needs to understand that if she doesn’t take the time now to address the learning disabilities her students have, then who will later on down the road? Finally, Mrs. Potter must understand that every child does not learn in the same manner. I understand these ideas seem very specific and appear as though they will work, but it is important to remember that teaching is all trial and error, and even though I believe this will help Mrs. Potter’s classroom, it may take even more work than this.

                In the case of Lupita, Mrs. Potter has the opportunity to make a true impact on this child. Lupita does not have any learning disabilities, she has a learning disadvantage. As the writing state, Lupita was raised in a different country and has not had the same level of exposure to learning manipulatives as the other students. Regardless, she can learn just as well as the other students, but this requires taking time to catch up on what she has missed. I think the most important thing Mrs. Potter can do in this case is to offer Lupita some of her attention. Even more, if Lupita is successful at putting together puzzles, then she should receive the praise she deserves. Lupita’s migration is not an ample excuse for ignoring her in the classroom or giving her any less recognition. She is not only as deserving as the other students, but as an ESL student, she needs the encouragement to succeed later on in her education.

                In the case of Jonathan, I believe that Mrs. Potter has the opportunity to work alongside of his parents, as Carlisle suggested, to truly understand if Jonathan is displaying some difficulties with reading at home. The classroom does not fully demonstrate how a student learns or what they struggle with. Therefore, I believe that it is pertinent that Mrs. Potter keep a close eye on Jonathan and see exactly where he is struggling with reading, as well as asking his parents. If his parents tell Mrs. Potter that he only wants them to read aloud at home, right there is an indicator that he does not feel comfortable and confident with something. Parents may be the most valuable resource in this case.

                In the case of Eddie, well he sounds like every other little boy. Unfortunately, Eddie may struggle with some attention issues, but that does not necessarily mean that he is deserving of an ADHD medication. Instead, as a teacher, I believe that it is most efficient to mix up the day slightly; get your students out of the everyday routine and allow them to be explorers. Obviously movement triggered something in Eddie’s brain, therefore as a teacher Mrs. Potter needs to take that knowledge and figure out how she can use it in the classroom. If she is introducing motion, have Eddie be the one throwing the ball. In the case of Eddie, if you don’t engage him, you will probably lose his attention wholly. Therefore, let Eddie be in on the action and spur his creative mind toward using his strengths to the best benefit of the classroom.

                While all these ideas may seem overwhelming, they are not something that can be done quickly, they take time and creative thinking to attempt to bring all your students to one place in the classroom. Giving up is not an option…they are worth so much more! That is why the only option then is work hard to help them in any way possible.  

Week 6

    Generally, my students are great writers. Most are very inventive and enjoy writing stories or writing about previous experiences they may have had. After collecting my writing samples, I still see this passion for writing. Their spelling however, leaves me wanting a little more. My third grade students are definitely in stage three of the stages of spelling development. They show Within-Word Pattern Spelling. The description of this stage includes that many students make small spelling mistakes such as form for from. This is something that I often see in my students writing. They often confuse their "theres" (using the wrong there/their/they're in different contexts) and frequently forget the 'e' in -ed ending words. They commonly miss just small things in their spelling, such as one student writing 'ower' instead of 'owner' or 'drumer' for 'drummer.'

    Despite common mistakes like these, I know my students are in the process of learning more about correct spelling and are in the right stage for their spelling development for their age and grade. However, I do think they could use more help in this department. By using a literacy center, my students can continue to work on spelling. My students are very used to centers, as they participate in literacy centers every morning. None of them have ever really been about spelling though. Having a center devoted solely to spelling might be helpful to my third graders.

    Because differentiating the different "theres" is something that is difficult for my students, I would consider putting together a sort of game in which the students would be given a picture and a sentence that ties to the picture with a missing there/their/they're. An example would be a picture of a family by their house. The sentence could read "The Smith family loves ______ new house." Student would have to work together or on their own to decide which there/their/they're is the correct one to put in the sentence. I would be sure to have dictionaries for the students to use so that they could look of the definitions of the different "theres" in order to place the correct one on the blank.

    Obviously, this is just one idea that could work as a spelling literacy center. So many different things could be done to help my students with their spelling and I think utilizing the centers to help them do that is a great idea that I plan to share with my mentor teacher.