IV. Fisher and Frey (1 & 8)

So Chapter One of Fisher and Frey was basically about shifting the responsibility of learning from teachers to the students. I totally agree with this concept, as learning should be a more independent skill for students to have. If they have the knowledge and means to learn and study, then they have obtained important life skills. However, this does not happen overnight, and I love how the authors outlined several strategies for teachers to introduce the means of learning from sources other than the teachers. Many of these strategies we have discussed in other classes, but I like how they were organized as a way to shift responsibility. I also like how the authors included teacher reflection. While these strategies are generally accepted as fool-proof methods of encouraging more independent learning, sometimes the execution is off, or the group of students are not suited to how it is presented by the teacher. He or she must then really consider how to modify the strategy or its inclusion in the curriculum to effectively serve the students.

In chapter eight, when they got to writing about mathematics I had a flashback to to some of the first mathematics classes (MAT 210, 309, and 310 wasn't it?) we were required to take before applying for our Gold Cards. I distinctly remember having to write about doing math and explaining, in sentences, the steps we took to complete a particular problem or explain a solution. But I totally agree with this process, because writing really does organize one's thoughts -- about any subject. Also, if you can't write about it, how can you expect to speak and teach it in an effective manner?

III. Moss

I think the most important aspects of the article was what it said about using more expository texts and technology. As stated in the article, informational books can be used in order to prepare students for their future readings in text books. Literacy is more important now than ever, and at a more academic perspective, using expository text is a more kill-two-birds-with-one-stone approach. While teaching reading, you can also be teaching history, or science.

The article also brings to light that technology is an essential facet of the future that plays a part in literacy. How many text messages does an average individual send and receive each day? Social networks abound, information is shared, news is spread via internet. Using online resources can acquaint students with the internet and computers in general, and also provide a reason to teach online safety.

I myself remember reading only fiction as a child. I think that fiction was regarded as more of a motivational tool because it was closer to the stories we hear and see on television. I know that I did not want to read nonfiction at a young age because it was really confusing and I did not have comprehension skills geared towards textbooks. Fiction I understood, because it played like a movie in my head while I read, but when faced with expository text, it was difficult to imagine such a scene in my mind.

I found it more interesting to think of nonfiction as a motivational tool. At that age, I wanted a story, that 'movie' in my mind, not to learn things. I think I would have found it very difficult to learn in this new setting that is being introduced to schools.

I do see the value now of content area reading, but I worry about using it in such a way that students find it interesting. As I've said, I don't think that at a young age, I would have found it motivating, and I worry about having students with more of an imaginative mind set than a factual one. How do you effectively teach students who prefer fictional stories? If they have no interest in expository books, the value of learning two things at once (reading and content) is utterly lost and may actually backfire, since the student won't get anything at all from it. I really wonder what I could do if I were required to teach content area literacy techniques to students who held little interest in nonfiction reading.

II. Peers, Knipper, and Duggan

When reviewing some of my peer's blogs, a couple that I read were Mary Catherine's and Isha Toney's.

I love how Mary Catherine plans to teach at a hospital to sick kids to help them keep up with schoolwork. This sounds like an uber-interesting job. I can't really say it's surprising though, because while I did NOT know this, from what I know of Mary Catherine she is a very sweet and caring person. I wish her all the best in this endeavor.

I noticed that Isha comes from a family of educators. Which is really interesting to me, because I've met several fellow students whose parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles are educators. My mother runs a home daycare, which for the toddlers is like a pre-preschool, because she does a lot of discipline that preschoolers practice. She does calender and seasons, circle times, apologies and time outs (but only when necessary). Grandma (maternal) and Papaw actually taught at USM, in the department of Psychology and Mathematics, respectively. I would be interested in knowing the statistics in this regard, how many teachers have family who are also in education, like Isha and me?

~ * ~ * ~

With this week's reading of the Knipper and Duggan article, I at first thought it was going to be about some obscure idea about using Content Area Writing. However, as I read through the article, it was not as complicated as I originally thought. The authors were not talking just about big reading projects, but little strategic uses of writing, or way to outline writing.

The most important things that I will take from this article are each of the strategies described. I liked how the authors made lists according to their subcategories (preparation, summarizing, critical thinking). I noticed that a few of these strategies were familiar to me, such as the Paragraph Frames, Word Maps, Structured Note-Taking, and Quick Writes. I even think I may have done an ABC list in high school for some class or another.

The only concept I struggled with was the Micro-theme. From what I understand, it's a summary, but if we're calling a spade a spade, why isn't it just a Summary and not a Micro-theme? I'm just not quite sure of the difference and didn't fully understand Knipper and Duggan's explanation of the strategy.

My main concerns in doing writing exercises with students in a future classroom is the time it takes to do them and the student's ability to complete them at the level expected of them. Writing takes time, which is not much of a commodity teachers can afford to spare. And then there's the possibility that the students a teacher gets may not be as developed with their writing skills as their grade level demands. Alterations can be made in that eventually, of course, but of course the struggle the students face to keep that expectation they are faced with still takes more time from the lesson.

I. Introduction and Syllabi Response

Hello, my name is AnnaMarie Keaton. I'm 22, very nearly 23, and a senior at USM in the Elementary Education Program. While I am attending school, I'm staying with my grandparents. I am over 900 miles away from any other family, as I am originally from Kansas City. The plan is to move back after graduation, but my plan may be adjusted to whatever situation I may find myself in.

When not at school, I am most likely at work. I am a swing manager at McDonald's. There's not much to say about that except that it can be extremely stressful at times and requires a good amount of responsible intentions.

In the very limited free time I happen to acquire, I am often gaming. Though it may make me sound like a nerd to say it, I love Terraria and World of Warcraft. I also like to read romance novels, because they never have a sad ending. NEVER.

I have a rescue mutt named Bailey, who for all intents and purposes is my baby. See picture for his cuteness.

What brought me to education was the appeal of doing something different everyday. I love children, and want whatever I do to be meaningful and helpful in someway. Being a teacher also offers the appeal of daily intellectual challenges. I really want to teach 4th grade and up, because while I like the sweetness of lower grades, my natural inclination to "give in" to cuteness is definitely not a strong point. I like the challenges that adolescents present, as they are commonly something I feel I can relate to or at least understand.

When it actually comes to teaching, it is not so much the content I am worried about teaching, but the way in which I present it. I want to make learning easy and meaningful, where I present information in a way that appeals to my students.

~ * ~

When reading the syllabus, the things that stood out the most for me were the assignments. Honestly, they seem very valuable as a learning experience, but very time- and mind-consuming. The Service Learning Project, for example; I know I do not have the time or ability to commit to visits to Hawkins, but the alternative, the Blogfolio, seems really unclear as to how often and how much it will demand. Everything that is required of this in this course alone seems a lot to cover in the course of a semester, but maybe I'm simply over-complicating matters.

From reading about our assignments, I think a big part of this course is communication with peers, technology, and using and discovering resources available to us as teachers. Given the subject matter in which we are being taught, I gather that the subject of these discussions and reflections are going to be about (1) how our students learn and develop in multiple ways, and (2) how to teach students how to be learners through literacy, and not just acquire the content we teach to them in class.