Laura's Corner

This reminded me of Deb and how she would find books tailor made for specific students and would give book recommendations. These made the students feel like she cared about what they were interested in and had some special book she wanted to share with them. This is also a reason that using pop culture in the classroom and giving children shared experiences is so important. Pop culture and shared experiences such as field trips provide something that every child shares and can be referenced in instruction. It makes the learning more relevant to the child and gives them a foundation to build upon. It allows for children to have the same schema for understanding a new concept. Through using what they already know and enjoy, teachers can truly reach each chid and make learning relevant. 

I chose this quote because it relates to the child I work with during our reading time. Bert struggles with longer words or words he does not know and it is very easy to see when he is tired of this. He obviously has reading experiences like this at his school all day and so by the time he comes to us he is tired of struggling to understand things. With the first book he reads he will really try and sound every word out but after that one he shows signs of distress. He starts quickly flipping pages, sighing, and looking around the room. When he tries to focus on each word he does not pay attention to the story or what is happening in what he is reading. As talked about in the article, this comes in part from him having to work so hard to both pronounce what he is seeing and to translate it into something he understands. The extra step of translating is physically and emotionally draining so he tires easily while reading with us. 

This quote reinforces the idea that reading invokes a different experience for each reader based on the schema and experiences that have defined their life so far. If the reader were to read the same book at a different point in their life it would be a different experience and would not garner the same reaction or emotions. In the same way that rereading a favorite book does not instill the same wonder or surprise, reading a book later in life changes the meaning taken from the story. The meaning has evolved with new information. The story has been assimilated or accommodated to fit with or challenge current thinking. Rereading can reshape the emotions connected with the literature and provide cognitive dissonance, challenging previously held beliefs. Just as the mental image of a book character changes after seeing the movie and vise versa, mental images are unique and change with the experiences and prior knowledge of the reader. A book has the potential to be exactly what the reader needs to hear at that point in their life and can be directly applied to the current understanding of the reader. This potential is captured in this quote. 

I liked this quote because it emphasizes the fact that you can look way out ahead and say I want my kids to know this and be able to do that but it's okay to recognize that you have no clue how you are going to get there. Plans get thrown out the window, or should, because they are planned for an imaginary group of kids. When the real kids enter the classroom, they come with all kinds of prior knowledge, baggage, self doubt and patterns of behavior, and hopefully some excitement for the journey about to begin. If we as teachers don't plan our curriculum around them, we definitely aren't reaching some kids and we might not be reaching a lot of them. This quote goes back to how we have been talking about having a permeable curriculum. We have all kinds of goals and aspirations, and the way we get there wanders and flows. If we base the class learning on the kids, it can promote a love of learning and can take us on an adventure that no one planned for.

Instead of figuring out how to get kids to stop talking about teenage mutant ninja turtles we should be figuring out how to use teenage mutant ninja turtles to help teach content. In the practicum site i'm in now it seems like every kid is obsessed with the teenage mutant ninja turtles. There is this one little boy who draws them everyday during center time and comes up to me and wants me to draw them for him and label them. He could tell you everything there is to know about each turtle, yet he rarely offers answers in class and struggles with his basic counting skills. If a lesson included the TMNT I am sure he would latch on to it and become invested in learning. Inspiration for how to engage with students can be seen everyday through the pop culture talked about by children and shown through their choice of clothing and materials. Teachers need to take the time to get to know students and what they are interested in so that they can present engaging lessons and so that they can recommend materials specifically chosen for the child (like when Deb Miller gives book recommendations based on ability and interest). This acknowledgement that what is learned and seen at home matters and is a part of learning in the classroom respects the child, their culture, and fosters a sense of worth in the classroom.

This quote really sparked my interest because she asks for input from the kids as to what can be tied together. She is getting them to think critically and make connections while encouraging lesson development that involves the children's current schema and interests. When they are involved in making the lesson, their interests are already piqued and it evokes a sense of pride and accomplishment to know that the teacher listened to their ideas and is acting on them. This way of developing lessons is not one seen often in education textbooks but it is one that emphasizes the relationship between child and teacher built on respect and trust.

This article is all about workshop. It describes a model of workshop built around choices in reading and writing. Students are given opportunities to pursue reading materials that interest them as well as write about topics they enjoy. The choices built into this model along with the potential for personal growth in topics that interest them is key to fostering a love of reading. By not forcing a book on students, the teachers allow them to become immersed in texts and willing to communicate about what they notice or connect. Like Daniel's model of literature circles, there is time and a willingness to participate and discuss because the materials are personalized to interests. This model for learning is constructivist in nature because it allows students to build upon their own knowledge. The sharing and reflecting aspect of coming together as a group is what pushes thinking to the next level because students can reflect on what they read, what strategies they used to read, and what they learned about reading and from reading.

The miller chapters invoke a sense of community, reflection, and sharing. The author interacts daily with each child to build a relationship that can be expanded upon to foster learning in every interaction. She teaches children in the first weeks and month of the year how to act like readers and how to ask questions that spark conversation. These conversations are what guide learning and because the teacher has a personal relationship with each child, she can encourage them to share things they learned during reading time. I enjoyed the part about developing relationships with each child because this is how I believe the classroom culture and community should develop. In the classroom I am currently in, the teacher does not make this effort to get to know each child and they do not seem to want to share with her important aspects of their life because of her attitude towards it. She does not allow much talking between students and she doesn't greet kids when they walk into her classroom. The friendly dynamic that accompanies this daily interaction is one that I feel should always be present in the classroom. Through this dynamic in the reading, the teacher is able to talk with each child about their reading and they want to share with her and the class because they understand on some level that she respects them and what they have to say. I enjoyed reading about how the class comes together to reflect on their reading and to ask questions that become the basis for instructional strategies and critical thinking.

This is from the Talking back and taking over article and it reminded me of how we have been talking about becoming immersed in literature. We have seen videos of teachers involving children in the actions of the stories and the what if questions that spark invigorating conversations. This article takes interaction to a new level and expands on what is acceptable and even encouraged in the classroom. In the classroom I am in the teacher only allows them to talk during stories if she asks a question and they are only allowed to raise their hand. This is a kindergarten class and there is always someone with their hand raised but she will not call on them unless she asks a question. I prefer to specify if I want a single student to answer by asking them to raise a quiet hand. Otherwise, any question I address during story time is understood to be answered by the class and through discussion and comments are welcomed. The book I read to the class this past week was chosen by a student and it was about being angry and it was in the format of if you're happy and you know it. When I would say if you're angry and you know it do this or that the students all together decided what action they would respond to. One action for example was to say "i'm angry!" and so they all said "i'm angry" together. This type of reading aloud is what I love to do. When a child wants to interact with the story you know they are engaged and are deriving more meaning than if they were asked to sit still. This kind of active engagement is something I can clearly see is desired by the kids in this classroom and is something I wish the teacher responded to more.

This comes from the Reading Like Behaviors article and it stood out to me because at the stage of development described by this article, children focus on the meaning of stories rather than the format. They aren't distracted by making sure their finger has one to one correspondence with the words on the page, or that they can pronounce every word. At this point stories are still magical and by inviting them to participate in the storytelling they are able to become a part of that magic. Once we insist that they read each word on the page their understanding diminishes and as we have already discussed, they ignore messages about the story from pictures. By keeping them involved in critical thinking about the story and by involving them in storytelling, we can hope to keep the magic alive and foster a love of reading.

This chapter of kidwatching reminded me of an article we read for 342 by Tim O'keefe about kidwatching and specifically about how he listens to each child reading in his class and takes notes on miscues. His system involves writing down codes in much the same way as described by the kidwatching chapter. An example is if there is a miscue that is self corrected he would put SC for self corrected. This in depth analysis of miscues allows the teacher to understand the current reading abilities of each student and enables them to provide individualized support to foster this growth. On a larger level, it allows the teacher to understand patterns within the classroom that may indicate that there needs to be further instruction on one aspect of reading or a strategy that a large group in the class is struggling with. Kidwatching is all about providing a basis upon which teachers can understand their students' development and provide the best practices for each child on an individual level.

This just reminded me of a girl in one of the dance classes I teach. This is in a tap 2 class and so she is around five. I was describing a step and I usually say brush and squish it (you brush your shoe on the ground then put it down on the ground) and we pretend that we are squishing a bug with our tap shoe. This little girl decided that she would say "flush and squish it." Just like i used to say the pattern in my head in tap, this little girl has to say it aloud every time she does the step so that she can gain meaning from the phrase and translate it to moving her feet. Every time she does the step she says flush and squish it, flush and squish it....and it's adorable and if that's how she wants to think of it, that's how I remind her of what the step is.

This reminded me of how children construct knowledge and build schema based on the experiences they have and how they interact with their environments. We have already talked in other classes about how children use dramatic play to act out things they see, things they are told, etc. so that they can understand them and sort through the information in a way they can understand. Language is described much the same way in this chapter as developing internally but absorbed from external influences and exposure. Once they hear language they must manipulate it and play with it until they can form an understanding of how it connects to them and what they already know.

I liked this quote because I felt like it encompassed what it means to be individually responsive to the learning needs of each child in your classroom. It celebrates the need for constant evaluation and rethinking of the curriculum to support areas that are not as understood or foggy to each child. When teachers are not responsive to the needs of their students on an individual level they are failing them. They are restricting their learning to what can be learned from one method of teaching rather than adapting to what is needed for true understanding. I see it as putting up a wall for that child between what is learned and what the potential for learning is. What is learned may only be in one area and may not be all that was intended in a lesson plan whereas potential learning has exponential possibilities for what could be learned.

In this quote, the author describes how the children have taken over the role of teacher in small groups immersed in literature. Although the teachers initially had a different role in the learning and conversation, the evolution of learning in the classroom adapted into something new and exciting. The learning in the classroom is now led by the students who are excited and interested in what they are learning and the teachers are now just the facilitators. This reminded me of Daniels literature circle piece and how they are led by students talking about topics that interest them in their books. They are involved in this shared reading experience and the input from each student brings the conversation and the level of understanding up to a new level. This article also reminded me of how Paley describes her classroom's obsession with Leo Lionni and how it shapes the curriculum. She seems bewildered by how the class has developed and excited to see where it goes. 

This quote reminded me of our discussion of visual literacy and how children first read books by gaining meaning from and reading the pictures. Like we did in class, children can follow the story line of the pictures and do so with much more fluidity than when they start reading the words on the page and are so focused on them that they lose their meaning. When I read something and I am not focused on it, the meaning does not stay with me. I will sometimes have to read it again or a third time to understand what I just read in terms of what is being said rather than what words are grouped together. The fact that we get so much meaning from books is amazing and it is their ability to spark other thoughts and evoke emotions that makes them magical. With children, when we force them to rely on the words themselves when they are just starting to associate meaning with these jumbles of letters, it takes away the power of language and writing. The pictures that once held this power and story are rejected for words that hold so much less meaning to the child and that don't force them to connect what they see to what they know and feel. Only by relying on both the words and the pictures can children gain an understanding of the story, and of the writer's way of presenting the story through words.