What i want more of...

It’s overwhelming how much I have learned in this class.
I am really interested in the theory.
That is one thing I would love to learn more about.
I cannot get over how much information that one read about reading.
I am also interested in learning ways of teaching literacy. Getting your students to be interested in reading is not an easy job.
I love that Routman book.
I think it was one of the best textbooks I have ever read.
Each page kept me interested and wanting to turn the next page.
Never in my life would I think I could learn so much from an online type class, because I need to sit in a classroom with no distractions watching and listening to a professor lecture.
But now this class helped me realize there are many different types of learning.

Yet over all I def. need to research theories a little more, it was hard to grasp them all clearly in such a short time.

literacy+tech= lost communication

I think technology is so important to literacy now a days because technology is EVERYWHERE. Technology is so important because it is a part of everyday life. Kids are in front of computers, playing video games, and listening to their ipods. Technology is changing literacy because it is in all of these aspects, reading, writing and comprenhension, are used in this technologies. Even a new language was created, kids used text message language that was a way to make speaking quicker. But still text messages aren’t quick enough so they have a language to text message. I think technology helps literacy because students are reading online or reading computer game instructions. But I think it also hurts literacy because communication is suffering. Kids are so used to text messaging their writing suffers because it is not correct. Also, social I think a child suffers because communication is lacking human contact. Our society has strayed away from face to face contact that when kids have to deal with social issues they don’t know how to because they are used to typing to a computer screen.

NCLB

I am sort of over whelmed with the context of No Child Left Behind, but I guess I should get used to it because I choose a profession in education. My last class I took I had to prepare a presentation on NCLB and considerate on Standardized Testing. Honestly, if you ask me I think the CONCEPT of NCLB is great. It gives every child a chance to perform to a certain standard. But I feel the way it is implemented needs a lot of attention and reform.
First: how could you compare national results of each states children, when every state has different standards that determine their tests.
Second: what about special education students and ESL students. It is not fair that these students are tested at the same grade level when they do not understand English or they are challenge mentally. Those are two biggest challenges. That I question. But I also, question the testing because I feel not all students can show their true abilities by filling in A, B, C.
I thinking teacher accountability is SUPER important because even though it’s not a teachers fault necessarily if a student does not grasp a topic or concept. I feel there are teacher out there who do not do all that is possible to help their student. Also I feel teacher should be highly qualified, as well. Teachers should be trained as much as possible to stay up to date with new teaching approaches and theories. I mean isn’t that why we are all going for a Master.
I also like the idea that if a student is part of a low performing school, after two years in a row they could transfer to a better forming school in the district, or even that school district could e taken over.
I also feel narrowing the achievement gap is important because all students deserve a fruitful education. All scores are rising but it seems to me other subjects and the “school experience” is important.
I think there should be a link in State standards and they should all be similar. It is not until then can we see true score in achievement funding as well is one of the most important aspects but schools are still not receiving what they deserve.


I better stop, I could go on for HOURS.

Chapter 15 Rout.

“assessments must promote learning, not just measure it (559).”

Chapter fifteen was a very interesting chapter because I think a lot of the material will help with the case study project. I think an important aspect in the chapter is when the books states “assessments must promote learning, not just measure it (559).” I think assessment is so important because learning is going on all around. The student is learning and the teacher is learning about the student at the same time. Especially with my case study I am trying to keep in mind the students strengths, likes, and experiences to gain a real understanding of their ability. A lot of assessment is best done at the spur of the moment, it is hard to force a learning assessment on the spot. I had a child to do my case study but he went on vacation and will not be back till next month (you think the mother would have told me) SO! I found a child where I work. But I am happy this happened because when I did my first observation I was not sure what to look for. After reading chapter 4 and 15 in the Routman many ideas were given to me. Self-assessment is one I will use. I am going to write up a worksheet for the student to fill out. I love how creating a portfolio of the students work will help in understanding their ability as well as their range. Also, the “Me Box” is a great way to learn about your students while they get a chance to write, craw, and be creative.

One thing that sticks out in my mind from the online readings is effective assessment identifies student’s strengths. I think in today’s classrooms we focus so much on the student’s weaknesses or what they struggle with, we forget to realize what they have excelled in.

July 9th

I was not sure if we had to post for this evening, so i did just in case.

First of all i would like to say i LOVE the Routman. Last week i made the mistake of reading 5,6,7 in the Routman, before i realized it was the Lenses book. I really enjoy it. I think it really helps a person become an awesome teacher. I enjoy the fact it doesn't overload you with information on just reading, some of these assessments and activities (or even examples) could be remixed and put to other subjects.

I love the book of the week idea. The subject of the book could be endless but they students are still working on their editing skills and writing skills.

I also like ways in inspire reading in the class. I thought it was a wonderful idea to encourage partner reading because if one students feels ok with reading and another does not they could get through it together. But my favorite is the book on tape. Even i enjoy buying a book on itunes and buying the paper back to follow along with. Train rides could get noisy and it's a great way to focus (so can classrooms).

I am getting a lot of ideas from reading this text to help with my case study. Many different activities i could do with the student.

TIP Ch. 5,6,7

In chapter five i thought the stage models of reading was interesting. I was surprised to learn it was not until the 1980s that educators interested in the development of reading ability began to prose different models regarding the stages through which readers pass as they move toward reading proficiency (pg 82).
It was so hard to believe that it was not until then that people wondered how the reading process works and develops. The first stage of reading is called the logographic method, which means a child uses visual aspects such as pictures and colors to connect a word to it.
The second stage is called alphabetic stage this is when the alphabet is being learned and the child is learning to apply some letters to a word.
The third stage deals with orthographic stage which means the students is developing word families or phonograms. Family literacy was also interesting because it is thought that relationships between families and the development of literacy are connected. A home with a rich reading environment before the students enters school, helps the kids understand reading much better. Chapter five as a whole was very interesting because it defined all the important theories used in explaining a students literacy development.
Chapter six was interesting as well because it examined the social aspects of literacy. I learned a new word “sociolinguistic”. Which is a theory that uses several different theories holding social activities and interesting are the key to development of knowledge and learning. Bloom and Green, two sociolinguistic theorist, write that as a social process, reading is used to establish, structure, and maintain social relationships and among people. To these theorists, social language is the foundation in which children learn to read. I found this REALLY important when speaking on reading. Because I think about when I was younger, the first words I learned to read were the ones I spoke most frequently. When I have my own classroom someday, I feel social learning is the best way to learn not only for reading but for all subjects Because social learning especially with reading stresses the role of the persons language in reading acquisitions and reading ability. The classroom applications were interesting because it was then when the reader can see how to put worth the theory in the lessons taught. For example the social learning theory had a language experience chart based on a story that the class wrote together.
There was a question that states "what do i know about reading"? Just in this week alone i have learned so many different ways to apply theory into your classroom as well as understanding that reading is So important, but so hard to teaching. I am so excited to read more about literacy and learn more clever ways inwhich to make it interesting to my students.

How do children acquire lanuage?? how does this have anything to do with reading??

How do children acquire language? What might this have to do with reading?


Well, before this class (even though i was an English Major) i had no idea how children acquire language or how that might have anything to do with reading. But after reading this weeks material, my knowledge is on overload. In the wikipedia article on Language acquisition mentions that their is a Nativist theory that says "children are born with an innate propensity for language acquisition, and that this ability makes the task of learning a first language easier than it would otherwise be. These "hidden assumptions allow children to quickly figure out what is and isn't possible in the grammar of their native language, and allow them to master that grammar by the age of three"

Another theory stated in Wikipedia is "Chomsky originally theorized that children were born with a hard-wired language acquisition device (LAD) in their brains"

I thought the most interesting part of the article from alphadictionary is when they talk about how children acquire language. They state their is evidence that indicates children do absorb a massive number of sentences and phrases but rather than parrot them back, they abstract rules from them and create their own grammar which they then apply to create new utterances they have never heard before. Over the years from 2-7, when language is mastered, children constantly adjust their grammar until it matches that of the adult speaker population."

So taking in all of the reading materials i started to think about the questions for the blog. I feel children acquire language but being obsertvant, listening to grown up speak to them and how they speak around them. Many example come to mind like when your little cousin is around and you slip and curse. And for the next two months all that cousins says is that curse. Not really know what it means, but just because he heard you say it. Children are like a spunge at a young age. By listening to different conversations they are able to construct their own vocabulary.

Learning a language has alot to do with reading. If you don't understand a lanuage, pretty simply how will you read. But understanding a text and reading a text are two different things as well. I might be able to sound out something in Spanish and read it, but i have no clue what it means. REading and language go hand in hand. Language assistes you in understanding what you read and have the ability to recycle that text into your own interpreations. I feel this will be the hardest part about teaching literacy and reading. Sure, if i am teaching a second grade they sound be some readers in the group. But teaching them how to read and understand it is what i am scared of.