No student likes taking tests. However the textbook brings up some very interesting ideas that made me think more about them. For example, I never really realized how students write their responses to teachers, but now that I have read that, it is definitely true. Just last semester I had to "write a letter to a congressman" and I definitely doctored my letter so that my professor would approve. I like the idea of doing oral presentations in order to combat this limitation. I think that would be a good alternative assessment. I think the way tests are designed are very important. I agree with the authors of the textbook who say we should focus more on the big ideas that should stay with students for a long time. I think this is very applicable for history class especially. I always appreciated when teachers did not expect you to list dates, but wanted to see that you get a big concept as a cause and what the various effects of that particular event were. I'm not sure I am completely sold on the idea of take-home tests. I always saw those as a gift from God as a student, because I knew I could get my mom or dad to help me if I was in dire need of it. It is important to keep in mind that take home tests may incorporate some knowledge that is not unique to the student, so personally I would prefer to make a test shorter, but allow more class time to complete it.
Many of the graphic organizers that are given in chapter 8 can be very useful. I think not only useful for definitions of words, but definitions or explanations of events as well. From a history stand point I could easily use something like a CD word map for students to show me what events like Watergate or the Battle of Gettysburg are. I think these graphic organizers can also be helpful in a history classroom if students are reading some kind of primary source text where the vocabulary is a little strange because it is an old text. These tools can be a way for students to learn what they mean on their own so that they can get a better understanding of the meaning of the word itself as well as the context it is being used in.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
New Literacy and Public Writing
With the current "technology age" we live in, it is very common for the youngest of kids to be astonishingy tech-savvy. For example, over spring break I saw my four year old cousin successfully operate an ipad on his own to play angry birds or something like that. As teachers, we need to be aware of the world of technology and how it effects our students. Even right now, who would have thought that we would be doing homework via blogging? We need to be aware of the many options out there to make learning fun for students. One thing I really noticed in my field experience was how excited students got when the teacher would use the smart board. It almost seemed like these students would only choose to participate and interact with the material if some form of technology was used. One thing I thought was interesting from the chapter was that students always say they want to "read books on paper" but there is a decline in the amounts of reading on paper for adolescents. I find myself saying that frequently, but I actually do prefer to read things on paper. I always print articles from the internet out rather than read them on the screen. I wonder if print-based texts will be extinct in the not so distant future, but it is understandable that with the growing age of technology there would be expectations for students to be techno-literate for their future careers.
Writing I feel is one thing that will never change. Whether you're hand writing or typing, people will always write. I really agree with the textbook here when they talk about how the "wow" factor that comes out of a students' writing. Even when I edit my friends' papers I experience that feeling where you can't believe that guy wrote something so well. I think the classroom factors are important for kids to write that includes providing some kind of choice, time to write in class, and response to the writing. I love writing, but don't like when I am forced to write on a specific topic. Taking time in class is important as well because it allows students to stay focused on the material, and not drift off to looking at facebook or staring off into space. Response is important as well because students need to be reaffirmed with their writing or else they could give up. I did not really realize what "good models" for writing would be. I expected them to say classic works of literature or reading a "great" textbook (as I have heard from many teachers). I did not expect the authors to consider good models being public articles like Time or Newsweek. I thought that was very surprising.
Writing I feel is one thing that will never change. Whether you're hand writing or typing, people will always write. I really agree with the textbook here when they talk about how the "wow" factor that comes out of a students' writing. Even when I edit my friends' papers I experience that feeling where you can't believe that guy wrote something so well. I think the classroom factors are important for kids to write that includes providing some kind of choice, time to write in class, and response to the writing. I love writing, but don't like when I am forced to write on a specific topic. Taking time in class is important as well because it allows students to stay focused on the material, and not drift off to looking at facebook or staring off into space. Response is important as well because students need to be reaffirmed with their writing or else they could give up. I did not really realize what "good models" for writing would be. I expected them to say classic works of literature or reading a "great" textbook (as I have heard from many teachers). I did not expect the authors to consider good models being public articles like Time or Newsweek. I thought that was very surprising.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Historical Vocabulary
Colony
Revolution
Expansion
Civil War
Abolition
Industrialization
Depression
Communism
Cold War
Containment
With the exception of one word listed above, all of these words not only pertain to United States history, but also Modern World History. Knowing the definition of each of these words can help guide students to a better understanding of the cause and effect of history. About half of the words above are causes and half are effects (I did not notice that until just now). For example, the Cold War led to a policy of containment, and colonies often time lead to colonial revolutions. For U.S. history, these words are the main ideas or main issue of an era in the U.S. Without understanding what these words mean, students would not be able to understand anything in that era. For example not knowing what a colony is would make understanding the American Revolution virtually impossible. It was difficult to only choose ten words, but I feel these are the most important because they can be applied to all kinds of history, not just American.
Revolution
Expansion
Civil War
Abolition
Industrialization
Depression
Communism
Cold War
Containment
With the exception of one word listed above, all of these words not only pertain to United States history, but also Modern World History. Knowing the definition of each of these words can help guide students to a better understanding of the cause and effect of history. About half of the words above are causes and half are effects (I did not notice that until just now). For example, the Cold War led to a policy of containment, and colonies often time lead to colonial revolutions. For U.S. history, these words are the main ideas or main issue of an era in the U.S. Without understanding what these words mean, students would not be able to understand anything in that era. For example not knowing what a colony is would make understanding the American Revolution virtually impossible. It was difficult to only choose ten words, but I feel these are the most important because they can be applied to all kinds of history, not just American.
Culture
Chapter 3 from Content Area Reading brought up some very interesting ideas that I have to say are things that I have not really thought about. Growing up, I did not really experience much diversity in my classroom because I went through Catholic schooling my whole life, and it was predominantly white. I do think that it is very important for teachers to be aware of the different cultural background each individual student comes from. Having a good understanding of other peoples cultures could greatly help teachers understand why some students may act the way they do. One part of the textbook i found interesting was the section about integrating multicultural literature in the classroom. I think it would be a good idea to use texts from different cultures especially in a history class. By choosing multicultural texts it could provide a much different side of the story in a history class. It is important to recognize different perspectives on issues when studying history, and using these types of texts could offer students that opportunity to earn these different points of view. Another part of the chapter I found interesting was the section on Linguistic differences in schools. This is important because communication is one of the most crucial things a teacher must be able to do, if not the most important. I also found it interesting that immigrant students who maintain a strong identification to their culture tend to do better academically. It is important for teachers to recognize that just because a student has a hard time understanding or speaking English, doesn't mean that they are incapable of learning. The text talks about this as being able to recognize a language difference vs a language deficit. As future educators, we all need to be aware of this distinction.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
demonstration reflection
I think that my demonstration had its up's and down's. For some reason I was really nervous to present, which is very unusual for me. This kind of caused me to freeze up a bit and I forgot a lot of what I had practiced, so I felt a little unorganized. I do think I did a good job demonstrating the strategy, but I might have been more specific in my directions. I also think that it was a good idea for me to include pictures while the students continuously wrote. I think this was a good way to get the students' memories going to make writing for 2 minutes a little more manageable. In order to include more scaffolding during strategy, I could have had the class time me for 30 seconds or so so that I could demonstrate how a non-stop write works. Then I could have read it allowed. I still am not sure of the best way to assess a non stop write, but I think grading for relevant topics would be a good idea. Especially if this strategy was used at the end of a reading, movie, or lesson. Otherwise if it was used before a unit to get the memory going, a formative assessment may be reasonable if I was able to use a clicker quiz or something similar to see what the students knew from their non-stop writes.
Organization is key
The overarching theme that I was able to get out of the chapter was that it is important to stay organized when reading and studying text information. I really think that the textbook does a great idea listing and explaining different strategies that can be used to ensure that students can get as much important and relevant information out of readings when they are studying or reviewing. I really liked the examples given on organized note taking. I think this is important especially in my content area, which is history, because many of the strategies that are listed in the book are incredibly common in a social studies classroom. One in particular is the T-note system. I could not tell you how many times I have had to use this strategy in class, and how many times I have used this strategy on my own when I am studying- even to this day. It is an excellent way to to compare and contrast two different ideas, and lead to a general conclusion about the two. For the purposes of comparing events or ideas in history, I feel that this is the best strategy that can be used. That's just my opinion. The double-entry reading log is another idea I really liked from the textbook, and I used to use a modified version in middle school. We kept two column notes-one for the book and one for class. I think the double entry reading log is great for keeping track of challenging terms or vocabulary like the examples show. I think using these types of organizational methods can greatly increase a students learning, and I hope to put some of them to practice in my own classroom.
I think the rubric and "grade scale" used to grade the different reading strategies listed blackboard article does a good job pointing out that not all of the widely used reading strategies in classrooms are useful. For example, I used the round robin method all the time until late middle school. I know for sure it was very prominent in my fourth and fifth grade classrooms, so it was very interesting and pleasing to see it ridiculed in the article by saying it was closer to malpractice than effective practice. The highest grade strategy that involved the students in "critical literacy". The teacher must be able to not only be aware of the students' learning environment, but also relate the text to a broader concept so it is easier for the students to understand. What I take from this article is that reading is not a "hands-off" classroom activity where either the teacher does all the work, or the students. Both the student and the teacher have parts to play in classroom reading.
I think the rubric and "grade scale" used to grade the different reading strategies listed blackboard article does a good job pointing out that not all of the widely used reading strategies in classrooms are useful. For example, I used the round robin method all the time until late middle school. I know for sure it was very prominent in my fourth and fifth grade classrooms, so it was very interesting and pleasing to see it ridiculed in the article by saying it was closer to malpractice than effective practice. The highest grade strategy that involved the students in "critical literacy". The teacher must be able to not only be aware of the students' learning environment, but also relate the text to a broader concept so it is easier for the students to understand. What I take from this article is that reading is not a "hands-off" classroom activity where either the teacher does all the work, or the students. Both the student and the teacher have parts to play in classroom reading.
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