Farewell

Since we are approaching our last week of class, I wanted to thank everybody for their input on my blog and for their interesting comments on their own blogs. I really feel that I learned a lot of information from my classmates and I feel that the interactive nature of an online environment has really contributed to my learning. In addition, Dr. Luongo, your assignments, structure of the class, and the constant, relevant information that you list on the main blog has been a wealth of information for me. I know that the information that you taught and provided will benefit me for years to come in my teaching career. It's been a pleasure and good luck to all of you! Happy Holidays!

Guided Reading Case Study Critique

I thought that the case study was really helpful. It actually gave access to concrete lesson plans and assessments. I find that I really learn and absorb material better when I actually see "theories" or "teachings" applied in real situations. This case study did that for me. The assessment of the "Billy Goats McGruff" enabled me to really see how a teacher formally assesses students. Also, for "The Giver", the detailed, very detailed, extremely detailed, lesson plan showed me how much organization and detail is needed to truly have an effective lesson. I thought that activities that went along with this unit were intensely thought out and very relevant to the lesson. I'm glad that the teacher stressed several times that the book was for very advanced readers because after reading about it, I thought that the subject was really advanced and possibly disturbing for 6th graders.

Guided Reading Lesson 2 Video

I liked the approach taken in this video. First, I thought that the teacher's "5 Finger Rule" was very helpful to children when deciding if a book was at the appropriate reading level for them. Also, it's an easy trick for students who are young. Second, I liked that the teacher reviewed the pictures and hard words with the students before asking them to read the book on their own. This gives them an idea about the book and keys them into the vocabulary. Lastly, I liked that the teacher took special time with each student and listened to him/her read out loud to determine progress, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Overall, this was a good video and it gives me a clear picture of what to do when I become a teacher.

Guided Reading Videos

I watched 2 of the Guided Reading videos, the Introduction and Lesson. I thought that the Introduction video gave a comprehensive overview of the program. The overview was organized well because it was separated into 3 main steps: before reading, during reading, and after reading.

I thought that the Guided Reading Lesson video was very helpful. Since I am a visual learner, I like to see concepts put into action, so this video was great. I thought that the "before" and "after" segments of guided reading were extremely helpful. The "before" gave students a purpose for reading. The "after" segment reinforced the guided reading techniques, checked for comprehension, confirmed the purpose for reading and either proved or disproved facts that students already knew.

I had mixed feelings about the "during reading" segment. Two positives were that children were focused on their reading and had a purpose and the teacher was available for questions. One aspect that I didn't like was that the teacher was really engaging one reader and asking him a lot of comprehension questions while the other students were trying to read. I would think that this would be very distracting for other readers. If she needed to focus so intensely on this student, I think she should have pulled him away from the table for further discussion, in order to give the other readers a bit more "silent" reading time. I don't have an issue with her questioning this student, possibly he needed more help, I just didn't like that it was done at the table where the others were trying to concentrate. And if this was her method of ensuring that her students were comprehending what they were reading, she should pull each reader from the table for a few moments while she is doing this. I just thought that it was too disruptive.

My Access Report Critique

I was really impressed with the My Access program. After reading about it in the report, I found four major advantages of using this program. First, I liked that My Access could further assist ESL students because feedback is given in either Spanish or Chinese. This is an aspect that probably couldn't be matched in most school districts because most teachers would not be giving feedback to students in their native language.

Second, the tools available to the students and the adaptability of the program provided a lot of advantages for both students and teachers. Tools like Spell Check, Word Counter, etc. are advantageous for students. The ability for the teachers to turn these tools "off" and "on" provide flexibility for the teachers.

Another signficant benefit of My Access is the accuracy of scoring. The fact that the computer scores the writing about 100% within 1 point of teachers' scoring is truly amazing. Teachers can be assured of the credibility of the program while students can strive to increase their score, as if they were "competing" against a video game.

Lastly, the success of My Access is impressive. All of the statistics showing the significant increase in students' writing scores is remarkable. My question to those school districts that are not using this system is -- Why not?

One point that should be included in the report is the cost of My Access. I would love to know this. Does anybody have any information about the cost? Also, do entire schools implement this system, or just certain classes? For example, if I taught 4th grade and my school didn't use the program, could I, as a single teacher order it and use it for my class?

Learning Page.com

Thanks to Prof. Luongo for posting so many helpful websites. When I actually begin teaching, I really feel that I will be well informed about all of the resources available to me. Prof. Luongo posted LearningPage.com on her website. It's aimed at new teachers, so I checked it out. I thought it was really helpful, so I joined the site, especially since it's free. So far, almost every website that Prof. Luongo has recommended, I have added to my "Favorites" tab on my home computer. Even though I might not join some of these sites until I actually become a teacher, I have at least stored them in an area that I will remember and can easily retrieve them. Kudos Prof. Luongo!

My Access Writing Program

I watched the video about "My Access" Writing Program and I thought that it was pretty good advertisement, with no information for me as a teacher to decide whether it was a tool that I wanted to use. Since I received no "real or relevant" information from the short video, I went to the "Demo" tab on the webpage, hoping for more specifics about the program.

I did receive more specifics and I thought that My Access seems like a great tool. I love that students write on the computers, the computers can grade the papers, give a summarized report to the teachers about students' or a student's strengths/weaknesses, and parents can view their childrens' work online. I also thought that the vocabulary building tool would be a tremendous help for students, especially since it uses a lot of the words found on standardized tests.

From a real world application perspective, this tool is very appropriate. Coming from the businessworld, workers and leaders use systematic tools and reports like this all of the time. Giving students exposure to this prepares them for experiences and skills needed for "real world" careers.

iPod Article

I thought that the iPod article was really interesting. Using iPods to teach is a great idea. Personally, I am all for using technology, any type of technology, to teach. After all, isn't one of the benefits of technology to be used as a life enricher? Usind an iPod to access and complete school work at any time convenient to the student is a huge advantage. Using an iPod can actually help students work faster, smarter, and more conveniently. Why should education be limited to certain hours, like 9-3 school time? Why shouldn't I be able to access lessons, learning, etc. on a 24/7 basis, 7 days a week, if I so choose? We do it with news, shopping, entertainment. Why not do it for education?! I particularly liked the part of the article that showed that students claimed that the iPod exceeded their learning expectations, allowed for more in-depth learning, was convenient, AND forced them to do more work. They didn't seem to mind the fact that the iPod caused more work because they actually enjoyed the work and experience of using the iPod in a whole new way.

Crazy Professor Reading Video

This video, in my opinion, is a lesson in what NOT to do when teaching children to read. I just thought that the activity was too chaotic and too loud for any real comprehension to actually take place. I would have liked to see the teacher ask the students questions about what they just read. I can't imagine that the majority of them really grasped what they just read with all of the noise and activity going on. It would have been interesting to have hard data about this method. Does it actually work?

I think that this video is proof that you can put anything on the Internet. However, as a teacher you must use discrimination. Just because the video is there on the Internet, doesn't mean that you should actually follow it as a good example. I wouldn't use this method when I become a teacher.

7 Ways to Reinforce Spelling

I watched the "7 Ways to Reinforce Spelling in your Classroom" video on Teachnology and I liked all of the tips given. Although most tips were activities that most teachers use already, I found one particularly refreshing. One rule referred to what steps a student should take if s/he is having difficulty with a word. First step, try to sound it out. Second step, look up in dictionary or around the room to see if it is posted anywhere. Third step, ask a friend. Fourth step, ask teacher. I like this progression because it teaches kids responsibility, to rely on themselves first. However, it also teaches team building and collaboration by having fellow students help out when needed. Good idea!

Local Newspaper Helps Literacy

I went on my local newspaper, the Home News Tribune's website and found that they had a whole section dedicated just to NJ education. There is a lot of helpful information there. Posted below is just one of the items listed at http://www.app.com/static/nie/hntnie/

100 Ways to use the Home News TribuneLearn how your local newspaper can be used to teach students.

Kindergarten--Second Grade Activities
Look through the newspaper and find pictures of ten things you have in your house. Cut out these pictures and paste them on a piece of paper. Label each picture.

Cut out letters of the alphabet from newspaper headlines to spell your first and last name. Paste them on a piece of paper.

Find pictures of appliances that run on electricity. That means they need to be plugged in. Cut them out and paste them on a piece of paper. How many did you find? How many of these do you have in your house? Can you write the names of any of them?

How many happy people can you find in the newspaper? Cut out pictures of happy people and paste them on your paper. Do the same for sad people. Why do you think these people are happy or sad?

Look through the newspaper and cut out all the letters of the alphabet and paste them in alphabetical order on your paper. Then find a word from the newspaper for each letter of the alphabet and paste it on your paper next to the letter the word starts with.

Letters and numbers come in many sizes. Make a display of some of the letters and numbers you find in the newspaper.

Draw three circles the size of dinner plates on your paper. Using the newspaper, cut out food you would eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Group the foods by meal and food group. Paste the foods you have cut out onto the correct plate.

Some people live where it is warm all year long. Cut out four pictures of clothes you would wear in warm places. Now, cut out four pictures of clothes you would not wear in warm places. Write a sentence about whether you would like to live in a warm climate.

Look at the food ads. Find the names of eight things you can eat or drink. Cut these names or items out of the newspaper and paste them on a piece of paper. Put a happy face on your favorite food.

Cut out five pictures from a newspaper. Paste these pictures onto a piece of paper. In each picture, see if you can find: squares, triangles, rectangles, circles, ovals. Use a crayon to go over any shapes you may find.

Find and clip numbers of the same size in the newspaper and paste them on a paper plate to make the face of a clock. Make and attach hands for your clock. Find different times listed in the paper and practice positioning the hands of your clock to represent those times.
Find sets of pictures and words in the newspaper. Create a collage for each set.

Find long words in the newspaper. Cut them out and alphabetize them.

Cutout two comics from your newspaper. Paste the comics on a piece of paper and erase the words. Write your own words in the balloon. Have a friend read your comics.

Find pictures of forms of transportation in the newspaper and cut them out. Paste them on a piece of paper and label each picture. Can you think of any other kinds of transportation? If so, list them and draw pictures of them.

As part of a lesson on safety, clip ten newspaper pictures of things that can be dangerous such as: scissors, knives, ropes, power tools, etc. Write directions for using these items safely.
Look through the newspaper and cut out as many words as you can find that describe size. Paste these onto a piece of paper in order from smallest to largest.

Look through the newspaper and find one example of a long vowel and short vowel sound for each of the five vowels. Clip these words from the newspaper and paste them onto your paper.
Classify comic characters as young/old, male/female, animal/human

A Shout Out to All Experienced Elementary School Teachers

After reading our text and trying to wrap my brain around all of the responsibilities that an elementary school teacher has, I have a few questions that I thought some experienced elementary school teachers might be able to help me with.

1. Do you actually assess students for the first time when assigning them to a reading level or does the school's reading specialist do that?

2. There is such a wealth of resources out there. Does your school designate which books/basals/textbooks you are required to use, do you select your own, or is it a combination of both?

3. How much budget money is a teacher usually given to spend on "items/activities" that they might want to use to teach or reinforce lessons?

Critique of Article for Differentiated Reading Instruction

I thought that this article was helpful. It obviously makes sense to differentiate reading instruction because children learn to read at varying levels. I liked the idea of using online reading guide sites to help with lesson planning for the various levels of readers contained within the class. I especially liked the idea of being able to print your own books and select the topics that are relevant to your class. For example, if teaching students about American Indians during Social Studies, it would be fitting to read them a story about American Indians during Reading time. One downside though, I tried to get on the various websites that were listed in this article and I could only access them if I paid the yearly fee. Since I am currently not a teacher, I was not going to pay the fee. However, I would have really loved to navigate through some of the websites to see for myself what they have available.

Letter Writing Video

I thought that the idea of writing a letter with your finger on a student's back and then having them continue it to another student, and then to another student who eventually wrote the letter on the board, was a great idea! It was like "telephone", without the talking. I thought that this exercise really could help bodily/kinesthetic learners.

So People Really Do Read Blogs

I have to share the coolest thing! On my blog, I talked about how I donate to RIF (Reading is Fundamental) and how I thought that teachers should make donations to organizations like this. Anyway, in the mail, I received a letter from a RIF representative thanking me for listing them on my Blog and being so supportive of their organization. It was obvious that they read parts of my Blog because the letter also mentioned that I would be a great "future teacher", so they knew based on my Blog comments that I was not a teacher yet.

I never really thought that my blog would be read by anybody outside of our class, but that scenario made me realize just how little the world is thanks to the Internet!

Starfall

I checked out the website www.starfall.com and loved it. Since I have a kindergartener who is learning to read, I think this site will be extremely helpful to her. First, I feel the website makes learning fun. The animation, movies, and games make it exciting and easy for young children to use. Second, since my daughter is a kinesthetic and visual learner, using the computer and mouse will definitely accommodate her learning styles. Lastly, I was so impressed by the website that I decided to use it as a part of my lesson plan for our Lesson Plan project due. I'm thinking about doing a lesson plan for kindergarteners learning the alphabet.

Dr. Luongo, as an aside, as a current "non-teacher" student in your class, I really appreciate all of the websites and tools that you share with us. I really feel that these tools give me a headstart, especially when I get a job as a first year teacher. I know it's overwhelming the first year (and I am really nervous about it), but I really feel that these websites will help me out tremendously!

Put Your $ Where Your Mouth Is

This is a really great website--First Book. Check it out at http://blog.firstbook.org/
First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. First Book has provided more than 50 million new books to children in need in thousands of communities nationwide.

I personally contribute to RIF (Reading is Fundamental) every year. Ever since my first daughter was born, as one of her Christmas gifts, a monetary donation is made in her name to RIF. Now that I have 2 daughters, contributions are made in both their names every Christmas.

I think it is important as teachers that we make at least one donation every year to an organization that helps educate children. After all, as teachers, shouldn't some of our charitable donations be directed towards education and children?!

Education Blog Article Critique

I thought that this article was an informative article regarding blogging. First, I thought the article was fair regarding the advantages and disadvantages of blogging. Obviously, an advantage is that students get experience with writing and technology simultaneously. A disadvantage is the "ever so popular" and entirely possible "blog slam". You know, the inappropriate commentary that potentially borders on slander or bullying. Strict guidelines would absolutely need to be implemented, discussed and reinforced with students to ensure that this type of blogging never occurs.

Another important aspect of the article was the history of blogging. It is interesting to note that some people do not consider anything that is "contrived" (like school assignments) to be blogging. This group of people tend to think that blogging should be stream of consciousness, like a diary. Therefore, school assignments, which have guidelines, restrictions, are written for a grade, etc. would not constitute blogging. While I understand this group's point, I do think that you can use the blog format for school assignments. Granted, I understand that many students would not completely "open up" for fear of teasing or not wanting to share their deepest thoughts, but they might not do that anyway with a "paper and pencil" assignment. I do think that "thrill of the blog" would excite many students to use this technology for some school assignments. Let's face it, as teachers, we would surely be deemed "cool" if we allowed our students to use this medium for some of their work. And connecting with students is a surefire way to gain their respect, which leads to a richer learning environment!

Technology Definitely Makes a Positive Impact

Technology definitely makes an impact, not only on students, but on parents. Last night was Back to School night at my daughters' school. The 2nd grader's teacher used Power Point for her presentation to the parents. Her presentation was well organized, easy to follow, and was visually pleasing. My kindergartner's teacher did not use any technology in her presentation and the difference was evident. The presentation was not as "professional", lacked in organization and did not have any visuals for the "visual learner". As a former businesswoman, who is comfortable with technology, I can absolutely guarantee that I will use Power Point in my Back to School night presentations!

Pay Attention Video

I watched the "Pay Attention " video on YouTube and agree that teachers have a wealth of technological resources that they could be utilizing to engage students. I can certainly attest to the fact that children are "tech savvy". In fact, my own 7 year old daughter taught herself how to change the stationery background on emails, change the picture on the "msn sign in screen", change the arrow cursor to other shapes (like a fireball or rocket!), and insert emoticons!

She then had to teach her mom!.............Technology point--- well taken!

Introduction

Greetings from Taran Fedor! I am a graduate student at St. Peter's University, NJ and I am pursuing my Elementary Education Teaching Certification. I am excited to begin student teaching in January and look forward to enriching the lives of children!