Plays - 10/20/10

Today, we acted out our fractured fairy tales. The other groups plays were hilarious and really clever. Ours was kinda lame. But it was funny to see everyone else just let go and be crazy and act out their fairy tales. I think kids would love acting out their plays, and dressing up. However for me, I don't like acting things out so I didn't like it. But with little kids it would be a great activity. We also talked a little about our Micro Teachings which are coming up in a couple of weeks. At the end of class we played a game to show how writing pitfalls are connected and how they hinder our writings and how we have to work out strategies. I think this was a good activity for visual and kinesthetic learners and would work for kids as well.

Fractured Fairytales - 10/18/10

Today we didn't do too much in class. We spent time discussing our Writing Research Presentations, which our group had already split up the work so that was a waste. Then we worked on our Comic Life, which I didn't bring my computer because I can't get internet access on campus, so that was also a waste. After that we watched a scene from the play Into the Woods. I'd actually never seen or heard of this play and it was pretty funny so this was interesting to watch. This kind of got us into the mood to plan out how we were going to act out our fractured fairy tales on Wednesday. We picked Tabatha's fairy tale to act out. I think hers was the best so I'm glad we chose it. Listening to the other groups work on their presentations made me excited to see them acted out on Wednesday because they all sounded funny.

Comic Life - 10/12/10 & 10/13/10

This week we read fractured fairy tales, and then created our own fractured fairy tales. As a group, we expanded on each persons fairy tale adding our own twist. I think fractured fairy tales are cool so I liked getting to read them. It was also fun creating our own and adding onto our group members because we were each surprised by what our story turned into by the time we got it back at the end. On Wednesday designed our fractured fairy tales on Comic Life. I've never seen, used, or even heard of Comic Life before but I thought it was really neat. It's something I could see both kids and adults enjoying. I had a lot of fun making my story into a comic strip with word bubbles, thought bubbles, and then adding color and illustration. Next week we are going to pick one fractured fairy tale out of our groups and act it out for the class. I'm not to sure about this part of the unit but I think this whole unit would be great for kids. All the activities cover the different parts of L.A. (reading, writing, listening, speaking). I could definitely use this in my classroom! :)

Teaching GR Lesson - 10/6/10

Today we taught our GR lessons to our groups. I felt really prepared going into the lesson which was nice because sometimes I feel unsure about the quality of my lesson when I teach. I like how we taught the lesson in small groups, as they would be taught in an actual guided reading lesson. I liked getting to see and participate in some of the other lessons because I got a lot of great ideas from the other lessons I saw. I think it's important to learn from other people's lessons because it gives you ideas that you would have never thought of. I think my lesson went pretty well overall. I needed to refer to my notes a little because I had never done a guided reading lesson but overall I was able to do my lesson off the top of my head and build questions based on students responses to my questions and parts of the book. This was my first time doing a running record beside the ones we'd done in class to I had to refer to my notes for symbols, etc. but I feel with more practice I will become more familiar and it will eventually come natural (as will teaching GR lessons). I thought today's class was fun and went by quickly and I'm glad we got to practice GR by actually teaching a lesson (even if it was just to our peers).

Word Scramble - 10/4/10

Today in class we worked with letters. We played a word scramble game where we used 14 letters to make different (small) words and then at the end we found out what the 14 letter word was. I liked this activity because we were able to see how many smaller words we could make out of a large word. Also, we made new words by slightly changing a letter or two from the previous word. At the end we put the words into smaller lists based on their similarities. This is a visual way to show kids slight differences in words.
We also started playing a game in LA today called Keys to Comprehension. This game was geared for children (probably upper elementary) and tested kids on their comprehension skills with context, order, conclusions, etc. Although we didn't spend too much time on this game I think students would like it and it would be a fun alternative to worksheets or paper and pencil practice. I would like to use this kind of game in my classroom if it was appropriate for what my students were learning in LA.

Guided Reading/Writing Research Project - 9/27/10

Today in class we went into further discussion about Guided Reading. We watched two videos with examples of guided reading lessons. I liked how the exampled used fiction and non-fiction books to show how to change your GR introductions based on the type of book. These videos helped me to see what a picture walk is, and gave me other examples of things to discuss with my students before having them read their book. I didn't know we could tell a summary of the book and go over vocab words the students may not know so this was helpful to me. After seeing these videos, I decided I may change my book because it is a folktale. The vocabulary in this book may be a little hard for 2nd and 3rd graders and my book is pretty long so I don't know if I would have time to discuss all these things in my 5-7 minute intro.
In class we also got together with our groups for our writing research project. I'm glad Dr. Poehner brought up this project again in class because I had completely forgotten about it and it is due in a few weeks. Our group is getting our information from Skye a former LHU student who is now teaching in Florida. She is sending us a packet of the information so we couldn't discuss much about the project but at least we know it is coming up and that we should be working on it as soon as we get the packet.

Running Record - 9/27/10

Today in class we reviewed running records. I had actually never done a running record before and although I kind of knew what they were, for the most part this was all new to me. I found running records to be pretty easy, and realize with practice they will become second nature. I can see why Dr. Poehner says not to do more than one person in a group per day because RR's take concentration and it would get tiring and repetitive after a while and then the last student may not get your full attention/concentration.
In class we also went over the requirements for our GR lessons. This helped me out a lot to clarify exactly what needs to be in each section of our lesson and how much time to spend on each of these activities. After going over our lessons I feel a lot more comfortable writing my LP for GR.
So far I like guided reading and think I will use GR and running records in my classroom.

Guided Reading - 9/22/10

Today in class we began discussing Guided Reading and took a look at some GR books. I don't recall ever seeing GR used in a classroom so this was all new to me. I like the idea of GR because it allows the teacher to address all students reading levels. This is essential in today's classroom because students are on all different levels in reading and with a program like GR the teacher can keep track of each individual student and mark their progress as they improve their reading skills.
Although I look forward to getting to use GR in an actual classroom, I am worried about finding educational activities for my other students while I am working with my GR groups. I am glad we will be spending 2 weeks on GR and that we will get to see how it works first hand, because I hope this practice will help us to feel more comfortable using GR in our classrooms, and show us ways to keep all students busy and learning throughout the LA lesson.
Although we only took a quick look at the surface of GR in today's class, I already prefer using GR over basal books. With basal there is only instruction for low, middle, high readers however you may have students in between. With GR there are levels (almost like stairs) and students are able to climb these levels without skipping any steps (as they may with basal because there are only 3 levels). Sorry for the corny metaphor :-p

India - 9/20/10

Today we activated our prior knowledge and discussed what we knew about India. First we wrote individual lists, and then we shared our lists with our group members and compared what each person knew about India. Then we wrote a list about Indian culture, foods, entertainment, etc. While making our group lists we also walked around and looked at Indian artifacts such as books, spices, and jewelry.
I really liked this activity and I'm glad the topic was India because I love Indian food and I'm interested in India's culture and music as well. I babysat for an Indian family a few summers ago and every day the mom would cook delicious Indian meals and leave it for us to have for lunch. While making my individual list, I thought back to some of the things I had learned about India from my experiences with the family.
I think this is a fun experience for children to learn about different cultures, and although this could be a Social Studies lesson, it also worked as a Language Arts lesson because we were making lists and concept maps about India, and also given the opportunity to look at books to learn more about this country and their culture.

9/15/10 - Basal Peer Editing

Today our basal critique's were due. When we got to class we found out that we were going to peer edit each others papers before handing them in. I was glad about this because I hadn't gotten a chance to have anyone read over my paper after I had written it so I was a little nervous turning it in how it was. During the peer editing, I noticed how hard it is for teachers to do this for 25-30 students. Not only is it time consuming but I found myself unsure of some of the correction suggestions I was making for the paper I was reading and I didn't want to have them change something incorrectly, or change something that there was nothing wrong with in the first place. However, I was glad that we did the peer editing because when I got my paper back I saw there were corrections that I needed to make on my paper and I had missed these when reading over my own paper. I also got good feedback from the person who had edited my critique about the quality of it and it made me feel better about handing it in next class.

9/13/10 - Basal Discussion

Today in class Dr. Poehner went over what she expected us to include in our Basal Critique. I'm glad she went over the assignment again because it gave me a clearer understanding of what to put in my paper. I'm also glad she went over the spelling of basal because I had been spelling in "basil". After class I felt a lot better about writing the critique and realized it wouldn't be such a hard task.

9/8/10 - BioCube and Quick Write

Today we shared our bio-cubes with our groups. I thought this was a neat way to get to know a little more about each other. We also did a quick write today. I didn't really like this activity because Dr. Poehner told us to write about anything we wanted. For me, and many others in the class this was a hard task. It took me awhile to think about a topic to write about. Having us do this quick write showed us how frustrating it can be for students when a teacher tells them to sit down and write for 20 minutes about "anything". As a teacher I will try not to do this to my students because I saw first hand how hard it can be for them.

9/1/10 - Metaphor

For me, the process of finding a metaphor of my experience with language arts was not too hard. My metaphor was a budding flower. I believe that I have a lot of knowlegde in the subject, however throughout the next 2 semesters of block and student teaching I expect to learn a LOT more of not only the subject of language arts but also how to teach and implement it into my classroom. Hence, "blossoming" my knowledge and experiences.
It was interesting to hear my classmates metaphors. I learned that although many classmates felt strongly and positively about language arts and reading, there were also a good amount that didn't feel confident in the subject, or particularly like it. I found that interesting because as we've learned the way a teacher feels about the subject and treats it in his/her classroom, reflects on the students attitude toward that subject. In this class I hope that all my classmates learn to love, or at least like language arts so that it is presented in a fun and positive way to their future students. I also hope for myself to learn more about the language arts because there is a lot that I feel I need to learn and brush up on before I am ready to teach it to children.

About Me

Hello, I am Felicia Castellanos and I am a Senior at Lock Haven University. I am majoring in Elementary Education, with a concentration in Middle School math. I live off campus with my 3 roommates Rachel, Kirsti, and Melissa. I come from Levittown, Pennsylvania which is about 3 hours southeast of Lock Haven. I have an older sister, who is going to grad school in Boston, and a younger brother who just started his junior year in high school. In high school, I enjoyed running track and playing soccer and field hockey. Although I no longer play any sports, I enjoy going to the beach, reading, (attempting) to cook with my roommates, shopping and spending time with friends and family.
I'm both excited and nervous for my senior year. I am excited to graduate and get my teaching certification and have my own classroom. However, I am also nervous about the workload and enormous commitment of block and student teaching, as well as "being out in the real world" once I graduate. I look forward to all the knowledge and experience I will walk away with at the end of this year, that will help me to becoming a better teacher!