I have to say that I was very nervous about Methods. I heard some great stories about the class, but I knew it was going to be very challenging. I, then, kept going back and forth in my head asking myself, "Am I even going to be a good teacher?" and "Am I even cut out to be a teacher?" These questions were making me so paranoid for the class. However, I am enjoying the class and even though it has challenged me already within the first few weeks, I have enjoyed the challenges a lot.
First off, the texts that we have read so far in class have been very enlightening. In all my education classes that I have taken over my four year in college, the textbooks that you have picked for this class (as well as the History and Structures) have been the most useful and also entertaining. The material is not dull or a struggle to read. Smagorinsky's text is great! He has such a great feel for education AND students. The ideas that he has put in are great and ideas that I will certainly try to incorporate into my future classroom. The activities such as the open discussions or the memory box for novels are just a few ideas that he discussed that are incredible learning tools for students of all ages. My second co-op is a huge supporter of activities and games in the classroom to get students involved and grab their attention. I am so thankful for this book, because of all the great ideas. I actually cannot wait to bring in the textbook to his classroom and try some of the activities out with the kids! Readicide is also another novel that is great. Like I said in my last post, a teacher a few years back told me that reading this book would completely change the way I would teach a classroom and he was right. It has definitely opened my eyes to new ideas and thoughts about how our education system is working and trying to run.
Along with the texts, I also have really enjoyed learning about Prezi. Even though I am still super frustrated trying to figure out how to exactly make the Prezi work properly, I have started to use it more frequently and Powerpoint is now a thing of the past for me. I am actually trying to incorporate Prezi into my lesson plan for Tuesday, so we will see if it works correctly! :) I really liked how you made us use and try Prezi within the first few weeks of class. By allowing us to try something new like an online PowerPoint, it gives us many opportunities to gain knowledge about how to use other resources and not just a PowerPoint which most teachers now use. Again, I cannot wait to introduce a Prezi Presentation to the 8th grade students at Mechanicsburg during my lesson on irony! Hopefully they will enjoy it as much as I will enjoy creating it!
Our class discussions have also been a great time to get ideas and thoughts out. Our last discussion on Tuesday was very interesting to me and really got me thinking. Glory was talking to the class about the fact that she has not come across a novel yet that she would teach in the classroom. To be honest, I has not given much thought about the type of novels I would teach in class. I mean, I know what I would like to teach...novels like The Catcher in the Rye, The Color Purple, and The Kite Runner have always been in my mind of novels that I would love to teach. However, when she brought up the points about the material being taught in the book, it made me wonder what parents would think about it. The raping in The Kite Runner, the language and sexual material in The Catcher in the Rye, and the all around material in The Color Purple would cause many parents to question why I am teaching this type of material to their children. However, I am a firm believer in literature and the power that it can invoke upon readers. I do not believe that reading a novel would cause any child to become a bad person or anything along those lines. It would open their minds and hearts in my opinion. I know those three novels completely changed who I was when I read them in 12th grade. I would really enjoy discussing this topic again in class. I can truly only see how novels and literature can help and assist children. I cannot imagine a novel or a piece of literature harming a child.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Readicide Chapters 1-2
When I was a freshman in college, I shadowed a teacher who told me that I needed to read this book, because it would completely change how I thought about education and teaching. So finally, in my senior year, I am reading it. I can see why he was so passionate about the novel too. It is wonderful! I have many pages marked already, underlined, and marked up! There is such a crazy amount of good information. Where do I even begin talking about what I have read?
Even within the first page, I have highlighted a few key phrases which I want to point out. "Valuing reading is often a euphemism for preparing students to pass mandated multiple-choice exams." This causes what we know as readicide. Schools are working AGAINST developing good readers, because we are developing test takers at the expense of readers. Wow. Now that is something to really sit down and think about. Several teachers that I have spoken with are always saying the same thing..."We teach to the test. We have to teach to the test." However, Gallagher says differently. It IS important to teach to the test. She gives an example. At the beginning of every unit she does, she gives the students the final exam question. This makes her students more focused and determined readers. "Teaching to the test is not the problem. The problem occurs when we spend most of our time teaching to a shallow test." Shallow tests are what most standardized tests are...it's a mix of multiple choice questions. We are not giving our students the opportunity to become "active and engaged citizens [of reading]. We want them to be creative, have common sense, use wisdom, ethics, honesty and teamwork. How does standardized testing do this? "We are getting higher test scores and lower thinkers." How does this seem right?
It is also interesting to think about how states and schools gives incentives to administrators and teachers. When this happens, there is a greater chance of cheating. This is exactly what happens too. Again, what does this teach our students and future leaders of America? Nothing. Then if and when the students perform poorly on the exams, we respond by giving them an intensified dose of ineffective treatment. Personally, I know how this is. My junior year of high school I scored above average on my PSSA in the reading and writing categories. However, I was below basic in math. (Big surprise...) I spent my senior year in a room with other kids who also performed poorly. We went over worksheet after worksheet so that when I would retake the exam, I would perform well. This was not the case. My score stayed the exact same. I believe this just proves that forcing students to take these exams and then afterwards making them practice over and over again with worksheets that are not truly teaching them anything. It is beyond frustrating...I am actually getting very upset while I type this!
On page 29, Gallagher discusses how our students are in desperate need of large doses of authentic reading which is reading newspapers, magazines, blogs, websites, articles, ect. We are only teaching our students to read through one window when there are THOUSANDS of other windows. Many students are completely oblivious to the world around them. The al Qaeda story was a perfect example of this. Why are students not reading articles in history class or English class about events happening around the world. Integrating different texts are so important and vital. I am beginning to realize this as I plan out my rationale and unit for this semester. I did not have the opportunity in high school to read outside of novels or textbooks, so I know as a teacher that I will try my hardest to incorporate as many authentic pieces of writing as I can.
Also, what I found interesting but never really considered as the point Gallagher made on page 37. Experiences can completely shape how a person takes an exam. Looking at the students from Wyoming and the students from Southern CA, obviously their experiences growing up are very different. This could change the outcome of a test almost automatically.
Another thing that just blew me away was the fact that schools are actually removing novels and books out of their schools. They do not have time for novels! What?! By removing novels, this provides students and teachers with more time for test preparation. Well thank God for more test preparation. I mean, lets test kids on novels and books and how to interpret and read when they don't even know how to read! Gahh, it is so frustrating.
While I did focus on all the negative points that I read about during the reading, I did enjoy his great ideas about getting students involved and how he incorporated reading and discussion into his classroom.
Even within the first page, I have highlighted a few key phrases which I want to point out. "Valuing reading is often a euphemism for preparing students to pass mandated multiple-choice exams." This causes what we know as readicide. Schools are working AGAINST developing good readers, because we are developing test takers at the expense of readers. Wow. Now that is something to really sit down and think about. Several teachers that I have spoken with are always saying the same thing..."We teach to the test. We have to teach to the test." However, Gallagher says differently. It IS important to teach to the test. She gives an example. At the beginning of every unit she does, she gives the students the final exam question. This makes her students more focused and determined readers. "Teaching to the test is not the problem. The problem occurs when we spend most of our time teaching to a shallow test." Shallow tests are what most standardized tests are...it's a mix of multiple choice questions. We are not giving our students the opportunity to become "active and engaged citizens [of reading]. We want them to be creative, have common sense, use wisdom, ethics, honesty and teamwork. How does standardized testing do this? "We are getting higher test scores and lower thinkers." How does this seem right?
It is also interesting to think about how states and schools gives incentives to administrators and teachers. When this happens, there is a greater chance of cheating. This is exactly what happens too. Again, what does this teach our students and future leaders of America? Nothing. Then if and when the students perform poorly on the exams, we respond by giving them an intensified dose of ineffective treatment. Personally, I know how this is. My junior year of high school I scored above average on my PSSA in the reading and writing categories. However, I was below basic in math. (Big surprise...) I spent my senior year in a room with other kids who also performed poorly. We went over worksheet after worksheet so that when I would retake the exam, I would perform well. This was not the case. My score stayed the exact same. I believe this just proves that forcing students to take these exams and then afterwards making them practice over and over again with worksheets that are not truly teaching them anything. It is beyond frustrating...I am actually getting very upset while I type this!
On page 29, Gallagher discusses how our students are in desperate need of large doses of authentic reading which is reading newspapers, magazines, blogs, websites, articles, ect. We are only teaching our students to read through one window when there are THOUSANDS of other windows. Many students are completely oblivious to the world around them. The al Qaeda story was a perfect example of this. Why are students not reading articles in history class or English class about events happening around the world. Integrating different texts are so important and vital. I am beginning to realize this as I plan out my rationale and unit for this semester. I did not have the opportunity in high school to read outside of novels or textbooks, so I know as a teacher that I will try my hardest to incorporate as many authentic pieces of writing as I can.
Also, what I found interesting but never really considered as the point Gallagher made on page 37. Experiences can completely shape how a person takes an exam. Looking at the students from Wyoming and the students from Southern CA, obviously their experiences growing up are very different. This could change the outcome of a test almost automatically.
Another thing that just blew me away was the fact that schools are actually removing novels and books out of their schools. They do not have time for novels! What?! By removing novels, this provides students and teachers with more time for test preparation. Well thank God for more test preparation. I mean, lets test kids on novels and books and how to interpret and read when they don't even know how to read! Gahh, it is so frustrating.
While I did focus on all the negative points that I read about during the reading, I did enjoy his great ideas about getting students involved and how he incorporated reading and discussion into his classroom.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Prezi Presentation
http://prezi.com/vsfwv5oekbtb/text-satellites/?kw=view-vsfwv5oekbtb&rc=ref-29325157
Here is the link to my Text Selection Prezi featuring No Country for Old Men.
-Tricia :)
Here is the link to my Text Selection Prezi featuring No Country for Old Men.
-Tricia :)
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