Final Blog.

When I came into this class, I wasn't sure what we would be doing really. I thought we would just read in class, and do things such as discussions. But from taking this class, I have learned the proper definition of literacy. I thought literacy just involved reading. It didn't occur to me that it had other parts. I knew before hand that a teacher must not just use the textbook, but also other learning tools. One must use technology for instance. It is everywhere, from the moment we wake up, we check our emails, we turn on the television and see what the weather is or what is going on in the world, check our messages on the phone and so on. It was good to go into that in more detail. I liked how we were doing the reading on line for that one article in class, and the discussion we had about that vs. a printed version. Technology is important in learning and everyone should use it. I also learned to have essential questions, and how to incorporate more critical thinking questions into my curriculum and lesson planning. I really liked how the class was student oriented in discussion, with Dr. Dana being the facilitator.

Final Post

What did I get out of this class? I feel as though I am better able to define what literacy means to me. I also feel as though I learned alot about how to think critically. I think I will be able incorporate literacy in many ways into my teaching when I enter into the teaching world in the next year. Overall, I think this class was a great experience for all involved. There were several thought provoking classes that I am glad to have been a part of.

Last post...

As an education major here at Montclair we are taught to actively incorporate literacy and critical thinking into our lessons. As a physical education major at first glimpse at these topics everyone's response is how can that fit into PE...you're not supposed to learn in that class. Well you are! We are given a basis in our classes about how we can begin to incorporate these things into physical education but it is classes like this one that make us take our basis of knowledge and run with it. This class opened my eyes to this not only by the teachings of Dr. Dana but also by my fellow classmates and the idea's they presented to the class no matter what content area it may have been. It made me explore the vast definition of literacy and how it is applied to all areas. Also as much as I am the type of person who does not like to read unless it is my own personal choice of topic, I really enjoyed reading Teacher Man. It is comforting as a future teacher to hear the stories of the trials and tribulations of teaching....some that scare you, and some that bring a smile to your face.

There is only one comment I have to make about a class like this. I learned A LOT from the students in the class who were of different majors. However, sometimes especially in physical education I wish there was more information. It is difficult to find books that even present the thought of literacy in physical education. Yet, I thank Dr. Dana for incorporating physical education into the class because some teachers lack the information in that area so they totally disregard it.

What I Did or Did Not Get from this Class

What did you get from this class?

Having taken this class, I now have a better understanding of what the term “literacy” means. Originally, I had thought that literacy was comprised of reading and writing skills only, so I was surprised to learn that speaking and listening skills were also part of the equation. Another thing that I learned from this class was how I can better support struggling readers. The textbook for this class offered a lot of new and innovative techniques (e.g., anticipation guides, bookmarks, double-entry journals, etc.) that I will definitely be incorporating into my own teaching repertoire. Since Dr. Dana is also really interested in technology in the classroom, I also learned new ways to teach content through technology. In particular, I thought that using iPods to give lectures or to give pronunciation drills would be great for my ESL kids. Before I had thought about teaching students language through music, but I had never really thought about using the iPod for anything other than music. Finally, this class helped me to shape my own personal definition of literacy. I realized that it’s not shameful to have magazines, comic books, and other less prestigious reading materials in the classroom. While I had planned to use these materials to teach literacy before, I had thought that most administrators and other educators would dismiss this idea and that I wouldn’t have the conviction to support it further. Now that I’ve heard other people confidently vouch for these materials, I feel more confident in their usage as well.

What didn't you get that you wanted to learn?

One thing I think I did not get from this class was feedback, and it drove me nuts. I am not a very confident person, so if people don’t tell me I’m doing a good job, I’ll think that I’m not. I never really knew where I stood in the class or whether or not I should be changing anything. In particular, I really would have liked if we could have had workshop days in the class for the unit plan. In other classes, I’ve had teachers review my lesson plans and then give me feedback. They helped me to write better lesson plans by keeping an open dialogue with me. Since I don’t feel like I got that from this class, I don’t know if I wrote lesson plans that really emphasized literacy. I just have to hope that I did. I also would have liked to learn more about the signs that indicate struggling readers. I don’t think we really covered this in this class, and I think it would have been beneficial to do so.

Last Blog of the Semester

With the semester wrapping up, I actually took a lot away from this course. Beginning with the first articles we were assigned to read, I learned about tips on how to be a successful reading and on how to read more. I also learned about literacy, which I always knew what it was, but I did not know of all the components such as application, interpretation, comparision, etc.. and how it applies to everything in life because you need to be able to read to pretty much do anything. One of the most important concepts I learned through this course was the idea of moving away from the textbook and incorporating other sources. As a social studies major, this concept applies greatly to me because social studies is always learned through a textbook, but there are so many other ways to teach students such as primary documents such as articles, videos, pictures, books and whatever else. From this course, I also took away from it on how to use preparation activities in the classroom like the KWL charts, Double Entry Journals and Mapping. Before this class, I did not realize how important it was to use them in the classroom.

When I took this course, I did not have any expectations coming into it because I did not know what to expect. I was not really sure what this course was about and all I knew it was a requirement. I believe I walked away with plenty of information that I will use in the future both in and out of the classroom.

What I learned in Read 407

Along with taking our Reading Theory class this semester I was also enrolled in Teaching Writing; both classes were most helpful for they explored the thinking process that students go through when they read or write. I already knew that reading impacts one's writing ability, and I am sorry to say that I learned more in my Teaching Writing class than I did in our Reading Theory class. I already knew the reading process for I had to discover the process on my own when I was only four years old. Our Reading Theory class only reinforced the information I learned when I was four.

My Teaching Writing class was more helpful for one because I was required to tutor students in their writing skills. I worked as a tutor for fifteen hours in Mt. Hebron Middle School this semester either reading a student's draft and then discussing what they wrote, pin pointing what i liked, what they might want to change, and what I would like to know more about so that they could rewrite their draft; or sitting in an office and reading the papers that the students wrote and filling out a response sheet that allowed me to explain to the student in writing what I liked about their paper, what I would like to know more about, and suggestions I might have for their revision process.

I know how helpful my tutoring experience was for me in understand the student's writing process and perhaps if the Reading Theory class also required that we tutor students in a school on the reading process that we could better understand the reading process that students go through and where they struggle the most when they read, what factors are an issue for the student, for each student processes the information that they read differently and different factors upset the understanding the student has about what they just finished reading. When I took my Grammar for English class we were also required to tutor students in reading and writing on the elementary school level, and learned a lot with that experience as well. I know that I could have drawn on these experiences from my past and incorporate them into our Reading Theory class, but it is easier to learn when you are allowed to apply what you learn at the time you are learning the information.

I did learn the difference between phonics and phonic awareness and was able to explain the difference to another English major that was having difficulty understanding those concepts. Also, I was able to have the opportunity to write and create my dream unit on teaching Romeo and Juliet and I know if I didn't take this course, that I would not have had the opportunity to create the tragedy unit that I will be teaching next semester.

I wish that I had learned more about the reading process, why people read and interpret information differently, why do students misunderstand what they read, how to improve a student's thinking and interpreting skills, and how can I as a teacher reach my students if they are all at different reading levels. I think I could have gotten more out of the class if I was able to research what I was interested in learning as an English teacher trying to improve student's literacy skills.

My Thoughts on Read 407

I don't think I knew exactly what to expect from this course. I knew that reading and writing were important elements of school and encompassed all the different subject matters, but I didn't see why a whole course was necessary on it. Throughout the semester the idea of literacy, what it means, and the depth of its use were of constant focus. It began to occur to me how narrow my scope was on what literacy actually was. I too often made the mistake of looking at reading and writing as basic parts of learning that all students should have mastered during the early years of their education. I realized I took forgranted that many students, while being able to read, might not understand the content or meaning of material, or while being able to write, might not be able to do so effectively. This course really helped me to realize how challenging literacy can be for many students and why it is so important to incorporate it in ways that help as many students as possible. I had previously known that literacy would play a huge role when I taught social studies, but I neglected to think of all the ways in which assignments might be confusing or ineffective for who students who struggled with literacy. I believe above all else this course has taught me to be more aware of how I use literacy in my classroom and to be more conscientious of the kinds of problems students might face with literacy (and also that literacy is not just reading and writing!).