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!