EDunite

A future educator wanting to change the future of education

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Final Thoughts 4/15/14

The End is Near

Well, my time in this class is coming to a close. I have learned not only a lot about content literacy, but also ways to incorporate it into my future classroom. Tovani's text has taught me a lot on how to handle situations and some great solutions to overcome them. I learned not only more about teaching in this course, but also a lot more about my classmates. I love how we are so passionate about teaching and the kids. I am excited to see where education takes the next generation. I feel like there has been so much advancement in material and the children are being taught things at a younger age than in the past. Everyone and everything is growing at such a quick speed, I wonder if we will be able to keep up or just pile on more and more information for students to learn. It is a little scary to think about. I hope,as a teacher, I really focus on my students' needs and their learning more than how education is changing. I think that is a huge point in teaching, that honestly some teachers forget. They forget what matters the most, and that is their students.

New Beginning

I start student teaching next year and I am very excited/nervous. I'm excited for the learning process and how much I will grow from it, but I am nervous about how well I actually teach. Because we all know there are teachers who are very knowledgeable of information, but not so good at explaining it. I just really hope I can teach in a way my students can understand me and want to know more. Teaching is a scary profession because we have such an impact on students' lives. We can direct them towards finding what they are good at or completely opposite to where they feel like they can't do anything. But I am one to care so I will try my best to not let that happen. I want to be able to push my students to see that they are all very smart at something, even if it is not the subject I teach. Students need a motivation and when they find something they are good at, you can build off of that into your own teachings. I am excited to see where teaching takes me and how much I grow from it. They always say, teachers end up learning more than their students do and I expect to learn A LOT!

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Group Projects & Assessments 4/6/14

Group Work Roles for Students

Group projects. Some people love them while some people hate them. I personally am on the border with group projects, and that all depends on the people who are in my group. In Tovani's text a student writes, "I don't like being in a group in which some people slack off and don't do their share of the work." I can easily relate to this. I am close to a perfectionist when it comes to work and when I am put with people who could "careless", I get a little frustrated. Students should all be held to the same standard when participating in group projects and no one student should be left to do the project alone. Unfortunately, a lot of times that seems to happen in this setting, even up to college. Some students choose to put in a lot of work while some rely on other group members to pick up their share as well. And the sad thing is one bad involvement with a group project will cause you to resent/be timid about them forever. And that is from personal experience. 

Group Work Roles for Teachers

While students have a major part in group projects, teachers are held accountable for the grading process. Teachers should allow the members in the group to give a peer evaluation of each other so a fair grade can be given. It is hard for a teacher to keep up with who does what in the group projects, but if they allow students to express themselves about the experience, they can get a fill-in on what happened. Group projects should not be given as a group grade either. In my opinion, that would be like distributing a test, taking the average, and everyone getting the average for their grade on the test. Clearly, there will be those people who studied a week for it and then there will be those who didn't study at all. It just does not seem fair for either parties. I understand group projects are important and it allows for students to cover larger topics, but I think the grading of the projects should not be taken lightly or as a whole. Good grades are earned just like bad grades are depending on the amount of work the student chooses to put in.

Assessments and Their Purpose

Assessments are beneficial, not only for students, but for teachers as well. And what most people do not think about is that assessments are not given in just test form. They are made constantly throughout the class period. When a teacher asks a question in discussion, that is an assessment. When students have to write responses or "tickets out the door", those are all informal assessments. When Tovani states, "One-shot assessments such as chapter tests don't help me teach. They measure finite knowledge, but don't give any information about the way students think. And they don't help students see how they can use the knowledge", I really thought of the education system in general. We focus so much on core content areas and intensifying that knowledge further and further. While at the same time, not applying it to anything they can use in life. I think we should take a step back from the material and take a step toward life lessons. Students can take as many tests as they want, but their real assessment of their knowledge and character will be when they step into the real world and become an adult. I want to be a teacher who can prepare a student for that.

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Thoughts on Thoughts on Thoughts 3/30/14

My Thoughts on My Classmates' Blogs

This week, we are supposed to read several of our classmates' blogs and find something interesting in each that we would like to discuss a little more about. I think this is awesome to be able to do because if you haven't read some of my classmate's blogs, they are awesome as well. Being able to relate and connect with your fellow colleagues is such a big factor in any work force, but especially in education. Building off each other's ideas and finding deeper meaning to things all for the glory of educating future generations. So enjoy my thoughts on my classmates' thoughts on well known educators' thoughts! (Hence the title.)

"Who decided that 50 multiple choice questions was the “fairest” way to judge the competence of our students? And how is picking ABCD showing complete understanding of something?"

                   Source: http://piapplepi.tumblr.com

I think all educators would strongly agree that multiple choice tests are not the BEST way to see what our students have learned, but I also think that most would agree that they are the EASIEST way. So when does it become okay to sacrifice students' knowledge with teachers' effort? I am by no means "downing" multiple choice tests because I will most likely use these types of tests in my own classrooms. But saying multiple choice tests are not the most reliable way of measuring our students' actual knowledge, I will agree on.

"Recitation, as Finley describes it in his article “Rethinking Whole Class Discussion,” is where the teacher asks the questions and then evaluates the students responses. I view class discussions differently than recitations."

                 Source: http://peachyteachy123.tumblr.com/

I would agree with this statement about recitation and discussion within the classrooms. Recitation is more of a way for the teacher to see how well she has taught the material to her students and how they understand it. While discussion is more involving students' responses and building off one another. A class discussion should almost have no boundaries. There is such thing as getting "too off topic", but if the student has a question that seems off subject, there is a reason that he/she thought of it. And that thought may help other students think differently about things as well. While recitation is good in the classroom, I think class discussion is much more valuable.

"I think too often in my content literacy class, I only relate the things we are learning to science, because it is more natural for me to think of ways to apply content literacy to that subject. But we cannot forget about math."

                 Source: http://teachingfortomorrow123.tumblr.com/

AMEN! Science and social studies are so much easier to relate to content literacy because it seems there is so much more out there to just read. There are not many interesting articles on math problems that could help students understand material better. But I think the most rewarding thing math teachers can teach to students is not things from other materials, but simply HOW TO read a math textbook. If teachers give a little insight and hints on what to look for in math textbooks, students might have a little easier time comprehending information.

"Without being in my content literacy class I never would have been able to apply this type of knowledge to a real situation because it would not have ever crossed my mind that some of my students my not have had much practice with listening."

                   Source: http://gneissteacher13.tumblr.com/

I feel as if listening can be described in two ways. One being listening and applying, while the other is the old saying "in one ear and out the other". I think people confuse the words listening and hearing. Most students can "hear" fine, but are they really listening to you? I, myself, would have never really thought of the difference between the two until this course and what a huge difference it would have been in my own classroom. Having your students actually listening to you can have such a big impact on how you teach and how they learn. Teachers need to be more aware when their students are not listening and think of another way to draw their attention.

"Reading is already hard, but understanding what you read is even more difficult.  Students need strategies to help them think."

                  Source: http://teachertalesblog.tumblr.com/

I think teachers underestimate how hard it is sometimes to read something that is difficult to understand. This applies especially to content area teachers. The material you teach is almost second nature, so a lot of times you are confused when students do not understand it as easily as you do or did. Students need help when understanding texts, especially those with a larger vocabulary. When there are so many words in a text that they do not understand, giving up is usually what happens. We, as teachers, need to help our students find what works for them and help them be able to not only read, but understand what they are reading.

That is all for today! Hope you enjoyed reading an excerpt of some of my classmates' blogs!

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Teaching Students How To Read & Remember Text 3/23/14

Students Becoming Active & Independent Readers

This topic can become a tough one for teachers who are not designated to teach reading. However, all teachers should be equipped to help students understand their material, and that includes the concepts and information within the text. Katie McKnight talks about strategies that can help students become better readers in other content areas. She suggests where students can listen to the text, rather than try to read it themselves, so they do not get stuck on difficult words. The worst thing teachers can do is leave students alone with their textbooks. Teachers should be providing countless number of assisted texts, giving assignments that will further their thinking on the material, and allowing time for students to ask questions and make sense of the text with the teachers' assistance. Students do not become independent readers independently, they need the help of the teacher and other sources to achieve this goal.

http://vimeo.com/channels/477294/54482724

Reading But Not Remembering

A lot of times, even in my college courses now, I will read information in my texts and feel like I have a good understanding of it. I come back several weeks later and all is lost in my mind. If a college student is struggling, it is highly likely that a fourth grader is struggling as well. Teachers need to not only teach the material, but teach the students in a way they will remember it. In grade school, almost all of the material being taught is built upon for years to come. And even more often, that material is having to be revisited and retaught because students have forgotten what they have learned. If teachers spent more time on ways that students will remember the information, less time will be spent on having to reteach it in later years. In Tovani's text, she talks about leading students to this kind of thinking and processing information so they will remember it. Just reading through the text and having the students study the information for the test at the end of the week is not enough. (Trust me, I have done that all throughout school and I still am so forgetful of information.) We need to dive into how the students are thinking about the text with double-entry journals, which I blogged about earlier this year, with classroom and small-group discussions, and applying it to the students' lives in the best way possible. It is going to be difficult and even awkward in the classroom at the beginning, but from Tovani's examples, it is worth the time.

Tovani, Cris. "Chapter 6: Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse." Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2004. 67-87. Print.

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Keeping Up With Content Literacy 3/18/14

My Understanding of Content Literacy

When most people hear the words "content literacy", their thoughts usually immediately go to books and/or reading. That was my initial thought when I had to register to take this class. I thought it would be a lot of readings and ways to incorporate reading into other subject area classrooms. And even after being in this class for several weeks, my mind still stuck to just books/magazines/articles etc. I never really thought of using technology (besides online articles/websites that included more readings) to help with content literacy. But then I thought about fun activities like computer games or virtual assignments that could help them better understand material and connect to the text. With technology being such a big part of this generation, we should be able to find ways that students can use to help them learn.

Content Literacy & Technology

http://www.teachthought.com/featured/21-literacy-resources-for-the-digital-teacher/

I found this website that provided many ways (21 to be exact) to use technology in your classrooms to help with implementing content literacy in your classroom. It provides examples of online dictionaries/thesaurus', websites to make virtual flashcards, games, activities, and so much more! This list can help with teachers who are do have the advantage of being able to use technology in their classroom and to keep up with the latest trend of this generation. 

Making Technology Fun

http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2014/feedback-from-computers-doesnt-have-to-be-boring/

In the link above, Dan Meyer talks about a challenging, yet entertaining way to help students think about graphs. Carnival Function is the name of the game/site and it helps students predict what a graph will look like from watching a carnival ride. This seems a lot more fun than just telling students what to graph or giving them a handout with instructions. It allows them to enter a "virtual world" and help them better understand why a ride may have that graph. Now, although Carnival Function is strictly for math and graphs, there are many other activities like this that could apply to other subjects as well. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and step in to what could make teaching a lot easier for you and something your students will remember and learn from. Technology is growing daily, we need to accommodate our teaching methods to this generation!

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What's the Purpose to This?

Purpose for Content Literacy

I am still in my content literacy class and am learning more examples of how to incorporate content literacy into my future classroom. I blogged in an earlier post about how my first reaction to having to take this class was "Why do I need to take a content literacy class when I am going to teach math and science?" Some students might say something similar to this in your classroom about something they are learning as well. My professor has provided many reasons why this class is important, so now I am convinced that there is a purpose to this class. We need to teach this same "purpose" in our own classrooms.

Providing a Purpose for our Students

In chapter 5 of Tovani's text, she states that we need to tell students the purpose of why they are reading a certain text and even limit their thinking to primarily, what a teacher expects. A lot of teachers do not like that idea because it doesn't allow for the student to think on his or her own. However, I have to ask myself how many times I have read through something with no intended purpose and forgot what I was reading halfway through. Students need to have a guide for what a teacher is looking for. When they have that guide, they have that purpose for why they need to read the text. It is up to the teachers to decide what they think is important to learn and focus in on and build off of that when teaching the material to the students. Providing a lot of information in a little amount of time can be overwhelming. However, if you scale it down to cover the bigger topics for students to understand, they might not be learning as much information; but they will learn a lot about that specific topic, in hopes to make inferences about similar topics.

Tovani, Cris. ""Why Am I Reading This?"" Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2004. N. pag. Print.

Order Has a Purpose

I read a post from "Math with Bad Drawings" about Permutations and Combinations. This website is interesting because the blogger teaches math antics using what he thinks are "bad drawings", hence the website name. But I thought this blog post followed along with why providing a purpose is so important. The difference between permutations and combinations is that with permutations, the order of the numbers does not matter, and with combinations, the order does matter. As you can see, if you do not know the purpose of these two, your calculations for a problem can be completely wrong. For a math teacher, showing this example to your students would be a good indicator that the purpose does, in fact, matter. Everything we teach has some sort of purpose behind it, or we would not teach it. When we provide that purpose to our students, it is like providing a hint to a riddle. We are not giving them the answer, just a little more insight behind it.

http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2014/02/17/permu-combi-what-now-or-the-mathematics-of-my-wedding-playlist/

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Fraction Text Set

My History with Fractions

Throughout my past couple of semesters of being in my cohort, I have learned A LOT about fractions. I have learned to show them visually with strip diagrams, double number lines, tables, shapes, and pretty much any recipe you can think of. However, looking back on when I was first learning fractions, it was not the easiest to learn. Students, for some reason, always tend to believe that dividing numbers makes them smaller, and multiplying numbers makes them bigger. However, for all of my math friends, that is not the case for fractions. And even just adding and subtracting fractions can be difficult task for them with finding common denominators and what number can you multiply by this number to get a least common multiple, you get it. This text set can be used for students who are just being introduced to fractions, students who are struggling with fractions, or as a review of fractions! Hope you enjoy!

Fractions with a Hershey's Bar and Book

Pallotta, Jerry, and Rob Bolster. The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book. New York: Scholastic, 1999. Print.

Okay, if your students do not get excited about getting to work with chocolate in class, that is a HUGE concern. Not really, but who wouldn't want to learn using a yummy treat?! This book provides illustrations of parts of a whole, adding fractions, finding equivalent fractions, and even dealing with mixed fractions. This would be a great book to use once students have worked with fractions for the younger ages or as a review for older students. Regardless of a students' age, I think they would enjoy this book and the activities that are in it!

Fractions with Origami

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Primary_Mathematics/Fractions#Origami_and_Fractions

I bet some of y'all (excuse my southern terms), have never thought of teaching fractions by introducing Origami. And the best part is, you do not have to be artsy to do this kind of origami! That is good news for me, at least. And it does not require a lot of materials to get students involved with a more hands-on activity and visualization of what fractions really look like. Students will be more interested when you refer to this activity as "Origami" instead of "Hey, we're learning fractions again." It's all about engaging them from the beginning! This link provides multiple ways you can show students how to fold pieces of paper and what fraction of the paper that is! Isn't that neat!

Fraction Action Satisfaction

Leedy, Loreen. Fraction Action. New York: Holiday House, 1994. Print.

This is a short chapter book that you can read as a class to help with your students' understanding of fractions or you can use some of the activities in the book for your classroom. The book covers  the use of prime numbers to visual representations of how fractions look. Regardless of how you use this book in your classroom, it would be a great help to students of all grades learning about fractions!

Pictures & Fractions

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Primary_Mathematics/Fractions#Multiplying_Fractions_with_nice_pictures

Pictures are a GREAT way to show students how fractions work. Whether you draw them on the board or students draw them on their own sheet of paper, they can visually see how fractions work rather than just trusting the equations, which has been the norm for teaching math for decades. I liked the example this page provided because it provided a fun story line that students could relate to.

When Fractions Cause Trouble

Mills, Claudia, and G. Brian Karas. Fractions = Trouble! New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011. Print.

This short story book is more geared toward students struggling with fractions. This book could help a student with a learning disability or any student who is having a hard time. The book is based on a young boy struggling with fractions so the student or students can relate. It provides examples of how he came about solving fractions and provides hope for your own students.

Advancing Fractions

Stienecker, David, and Richard Maccabe. Fractions. Tarrytown, NY: Benchmark, 1996. Print.

This book is to advance students' thinking on fractions. So after you as a teacher, feel like the class is doing well with fractions, pictures with fractions, and visuals, they can move on to more advanced situations involving puzzles or deeper connections with fractions. This book is not an instruction book, however, it is a book with more difficult games and not so easy to solve problems. This could be used for an advanced math class or for a student who seems to be understanding fractions faster than the rest of the class.

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Relating Accessible Texts & Real Life Problems

What is an Accessible Text and Why Are They Important?

When looking at the title of chapter 4 in Tovani's book, Real Rigor: Connecting Students with Accessible Text, I had to ask myself, what is an accessible text? I have heard of alternative forms of text, but not accessible. While diving deeper into this chapter, I now have a better understanding of what an accessible text is and how I could apply using this method in my classroom. Accessible text can help students make that connection between the material they learn in school and their own experiences or real world problems. Students seem to understand material better and even enjoy learning more when they can make that connection because now the material has meaning. Whether it be something that is going on right now or something they have experienced in the past, they can see how what they are learning can apply to real life.

Tovani, Cris. “Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode.” Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2004. 37-49. Print.

When Are We Going To Use This in Real Life?

This is a response I'm sure every teacher has heard to at least one lesson they have taught, no matter the content area. Math is a high contender for these types of statements because students are always wondering when am I going to use the quadratic formula, the Pythagorean Theorem, or even how much money am I going to need to buy 87 watermelons? And yes, I even ask myself, who in their right mind would buy 87 watermelons?But when these formulas and questions are asked with context and meaning behind them, the students can relate better. Dan Meyer posted a great blog about connecting the infamous snow days the south suffered from the past couple of weeks with a linear math problem. Students were allowed to ask questions and information they would need to know then solve the problem by figuring out the variables. They were so involved in work that they did not even realizing they were solving a math problem. Students make better connections when they realize that this can apply and help them in life.

http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2014/confab-snow-day/

Real Life Problems for A Future Teacher

I have fears and doubts about my future teaching plans, as I'm sure other future teachers and even current teachers have now. I'm not a fan of failure, so I try to plan out everything so it all falls perfectly. Unfortunately, that is not the ideal lifestyle a teacher has. Some lesson plans may be a complete bust, but I have to keep reminding myself that it was only one lesson plan and one day lost. I also find fear in setting a good example for my students. Teachers have such an important role in student's life and I want to be a good role model to them in my classroom. I'm not so necessarily focused on being the "cool teacher", but I do want to be known as the teacher that cares. And of course, the question arises, "Why should I care what a bunch of middle school aged kids think about me?" But the better question is, why should you not care? How a teacher acts in his or her classroom and handles students has a huge affect on them, whether it is immediately or later on in life. Students remember the good and the bad teachers they have throughout the years, and I want to be remembered as a good one.

-EDunite

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Thinking Aloud

Hello fellow bloggers!

I am now onto my 5th blog this week and I feel like I keep learning more and more information each week that I would like to share with everyone. Recently, in my content literacy class, we have been talking a lot on thinking aloud and how teachers can implement this in their classrooms. A lot of teachers might wonder how this could be helpful to their students, but it actually is an example of content literacy in the classroom. However, it is the teacher's job to be the pilot when demonstrating a think aloud.

Think Aloud Demonstration

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=116101

If you take a look at this video, this teacher provides an example of how he "thinks aloud" while reading through a passage or text. He starts by looking at the headliners and bold texts to see what the passage might entail, then asks questions out loud. He predicts the answers to his questions and tries to connect some of the terms in the text to other things as well. However, it is not only the teacher's job to demonstrate this think aloud, but he or she needs to pick a reading or text that interests the students and relates back to the necessary information that needs to be taught. I think by seeing how this teacher portrays a think aloud in his classroom can help other teachers think of ideas on how they can use it in their classrooms.

Quick-write in Content Areas

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1419

During this podcast, Penny Kittle talks more on the importance of content literacy in the classroom. And I know from all of my blogs you are thinking, "Okay, we get it, you think content literacy is important in classrooms." But I don't think it is something we, as teachers, should just put it aside. Students need that guidance to help them better understand texts. Kittle provides an example that could be used called "Quick-write". It is allowing students to read the passage/text and think about their ideas with their partners. Then they are to write about the information to support an idea, and finally they are to revise it to make it stronger, then share and talk about their thoughts. It's a quick and easy way to get students really thinking about what they just read. Instead of having the teacher tell the students what they need to write about, it allows them to think on their own and really broaden their thinking. Finally, Kittle mentions how teachers need to make sure students have the skills to write in a variety of forms, including using all of the technology that is available to us. 

Can We Do Better?

http://www.crazyteacherlady.com/7/post/2013/12/i-think-we-can-do-better.html

If you take a look at this blog, it shows a picture of homework problems from an Algebra 2 textbook. I immediately thought back to my high school days doing pages upon pages of problems just like these. And now looking back on them, I never asked why we worked those problems, I just did what I was asked. I agree with the "crazy teacher lady" though. I think teachers can do better and provide meaning to our teaching. And this can apply to all subjects and can also go back to, yes you guessed it, content literacy. Providing a more descriptive and personal meeting of doing these math problems can help with students better understanding material.

Taking the Time to Plan

Using these examples such as "Think Alouds" and "Quick-writes" is not something that is just going to come naturally to teachers. It takes practice and a lot of planning to really make it flow in your lessons. Of course, there will be times that it may not work out, but how many times does a lesson go perfect in a classroom? I think if teachers take the extra time needed to plan these types of activities, they will see the difference in their students' understanding of texts and how they read  difficult information.

I hope this blog might have helped teachers with content literacy and provided a couple of good examples on things they could use for their students. My goal is to be able to provide more ideas and examples for teachers and how they could plan content literacy activities into their lesson plans.

-EDunite

[gneissteacher13]

To begin I would like to start with a slight rehash from last week about my definition of content literacy. Last time I said that to me it meant, “Content literacy is the ability to read, write, speak, and listen in all disciplines through a variety of media.” I do still think this is a good...

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I like how you put in the examples we used in class! Makes it easier for others to understand how a double-journal entry can be set up!

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Reading: Are You Excited?

Hello again!

I am now into the fourth week of my content literacy class and boy have I learned a lot! For teachers who are struggling to structure reading or not sure how to implement it into your content area classroom, I HIGHLY suggest you purchasing Do I Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12 by Cris Tovani. She really puts everything into perspective on how to teach reading in every content area. I just read through Chapter 3 and found it very helpful because it was an example from a math classroom she visited, and I am planning on teaching math. I have heard numerous times that those that are naturally good or have picked up on something pretty easily have a harder time to teach it. They didn't seem to have those "struggles" that others might go through in trying to understand material. So those trying to teach might go at a faster pace because the things they skipped or skimmed came easily to them. However, everyone is not the same so people learn differently. Teachers (and this could apply to coaches as well) need to really focus on slowing down what it is they are teaching because some students need that extra information for it to finally click. Tovani talked about how she walked into this math class, not knowing what they were learning, opened the book, and tried to learn the information. She thought aloud and wrote down questions that she had about the material. The students saw how she was trying to interpret the text and really picked up on her style of learning. They were taught "how to read" a math textbook if they did not understand the lesson rather than just "to read" the math textbook. I thought it was a great example because usually texts are not easy to read, or really not that fun to read either. But if students are taught things they can look for in a text to help them better understand material, they will more than likely look at the text for help. 

Tovani, Cris. "Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode." Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2004. 23-35. Print.

I also listened to a podcast concerning boys' and girl's achievement in reading. Evidence has proved that boys seem to fail to meet that proficiency level that girls tend to meet. We are certain there is a gap between the two genders, but we are not sure why. Bill Harvey of Reading Radio interviews and talks with William G. Brozo about the concerns of the gap and what he thinks teachers can do to better boys' reading skills. Brozo states that to begin to like reading, one must be interested in what they are reading. It seems that boys are surrounded by a female figure most of their early childhood because normally elementary school teachers are female and a lot of times, the mother takes on more of the "teaching" role in the family. Because majority of these role models in the boys' lives at this time are female, the readings and books they are supposed to or encouraged to read lean more towards a female audience. At this moment, boys tend to stray away from reading because it is about subjects that do not interest them. We need to find readings that will interest them! And not only do we need to find readings that interest boys, but we need to show them positive male role models that enjoy reading as well. Today, our media is plastered with male role models, and boys really do look up to them. However, it needs to be known that it is a good thing to live an active life, but have quiet time to enjoy reading. Brozo states that it it is partially the teacher's fault when boys are not excited about reading. Instead of thinking of this as a problem, teachers need to think about it as a resource. This provides them with an opportunity to find out what they are interested in and be able to supply them with books that will enjoy. Lastly, surround the boys with books. If books are in a boy's environment, eventually, they will open one up and hopefully increase their interest in them.

podcast no. 8 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/critical-link-between-literacy/id357933877?i=81092235&mt=2

Pre-reading activities have been a focal point for us in this course recently. I never really thought of them being crucial in the classroom, but I am now starting to realize how helpful they can be for students. Pre-reading activities can help in engaging student interest. You can take something from what they will be learning and find something that will interest them to lead up to your original lesson. Pre-reading activities can also help activate prior knowledge. Teachers can ask students to what they might already know about what it is they are going to learn about or what they might have heard. Pre-reading activities are also an opportunity to help students with potentially difficult concepts and vocabulary that will be in the lesson. Teachers can go ahead and familiarize these concepts with their students so it will not come as a shock to them when they appear in the text. These types of activities can really help students get an idea of what it is they will be learning. I know, for myself, I like to know beforehand what we will be doing. It is helpful for students if teachers provide that for their students as well by implementing one of these activities into their classroom.

For my final note, we had to come up with a "starter" or "warm-up" activity that teachers could use in their classroom. Since I will be teaching science or math, I came up with a starter that could be used in a science classroom. My starter actually goes back to an example of a pre-reading activity. Before beginning the next lesson, you could provide the students with an article or a passage that will grasp the students' attention. I chose genetics for my example. Teaches can provide a reading that explains to students that their parents' genes carry over to their offspring, which is them. Students can then write down traits that their parents possess, and traits that they have acquired from them. Then you can have a share aloud with the class about each students' traits. It allows the students to think about what makes them "them". And it also gives them an opportunity to talk about themselves, which I have found is common for adolescents. :)

I hope you have enjoyed what I have written today! I am excited to see where my knowledge of content literacy takes me!

[teachingfortomorrow123-blog]

I get asked this question (usually in a condescending tone) by people ALL the time. I normally reply with some sarcastic answer about wanting to be super rich without working very hard. However, I think as future teachers, it is important to actually think about the answer to this question. When a...

[edunite]

I love how you brought in what made you want to become a teacher! Let us into a little bit of your personal life!

[edunite]

Teaching the Reader, Not the Reading

As I enter into my third post, I am drawn back to the definition of content literacy, yet again. I haven't changed much about my definition of what content literacy is, but I have added that people need to think of knowing material the same they would their native language. For instance, here in America, majority of us speak English as our first language. We are taught how to read, write, and speak, and teach the language. That is what we need to think about doing when reading material. We need to understand the material so much that we can read more on it, write about it, speak about the information, and then possibly even teach it to others as well. It is a long process, but the likelihood of you being able to remember and comprehend what you have read is very high.

In our last class, we were introduced to a strategy called the Double-Entry Journal. For those that have not heard of it, it is where students separate a piece of paper into two columns. One column can be labeled "text" or "reading" and the other can be labeled "thoughts" or "connections". Students are asked to use this strategy while reading through material that might be confusing to them. They can either write a sentence or small paragraph from the reading on the first side and write what they thought about it, if they liked it or not, any personal connections they might have made from it, or even if they have questions about it. This strategy gets the students thinking about text in a more meaningful way that helps them better understand it. When students provide meaning to what they are reading (yes I'm a poet as well), they are more willing to be interested in the topic and hopefully desire to know more about it. I personally am a fan of this strategy and plan to implement it in my future classroom, especially if I teach science. I think this will be a great way for students to make more sense of the boring textbook they are required to learn from. They will be able to provide their own twist on the reading and apply it to their own lives, which they love to do by the way. The only downfall of this strategy is I am not sure how it would work for a long reading. In my opinion, I think the students would get bored and would feel like the strategy is tedious. So if you have a long text, but would like your students to read, maybe split it up into two nights worth of homework instead of cramming it all into one.

We were also asked to watch a podcast video this week. This time, the podcast video was placed in a classroom. The classroom was not full of students, however. It was full of teachers who taught in the Hempfield School District. They were sitting through a session called Content Literacy 101 (imagine that). Although, the podcast was over an hour long, and had technical difficulties within the actual viewing of the podcast, I learned a lot from it. And in all actuality, even some things I wish I hadn't heard as my dreams of being a future educator are still in high spirits. The class was offered to give insight and ideas on how teachers can include content literacy in their own classrooms, even those who are not language arts teachers. The video brought up some really good points on how teachers need to share with their students how they make sense of the reading and how talking about the reading with others can really advance their learning. The class watched an interview with a teacher, Kelly Gallagher, and he had some great ideas on how teachers need to teach the reader, not the reading. He brought up some of his concerns on nowadays students know that if they say they don't get something, the teacher will provide the answer for them. He states that we need to refrain from doing that and ask them to show us what they do not get to help more with students thinking on their own. That seems to be the focal point of this podcast. Teachers need to strive to get students thinking on their own and making sense of things they are reading. The teachers in this session provide another video from Kate Hough and Heather Carroll that provided ways to get students thinking out loud and helping them understand texts better. They suggested using post-its in textbooks and writing things such as "Got it!" or questions they have about the material. That way, when they come to class the next day, they can refer back to their post-its and receive help in those areas.

Podcast no. 17

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/critical-link-between-literacy/id357933877?i=81092235&mt=2

Overall, the podcast was very informative. However, it did make me see how a lot of things weigh on the teacher. For example, if a student does not learn the material, if falls back on the teacher did not do his or her job. How can it be the teacher's fault if the student refuses to do work and can careless about his or her grade? I had my practicum in a Title 1 school and there were so many students who would turn in blank assignments/quizzes/even tests! My mind was blown because grades and education have always been an important aspect of my life. And no, that is not why I wanted to become a teacher :). I talked with my mentor teacher about how she handled these types of situations. And honestly, she didn't even have a full answer. I just wonder how many teachers have to deal with this on a day to day basis and then it is their fault if the student is failing. I would love to hear how some teachers handled this in the past to see how it could potentially help me in the future. 

[edunite]

What Did I Just Read?

Hello again!

Even with it only being a week since my last post, I already feel like I have a better understanding of what content literacy really is. In class, we were asked to define content literacy in our own words and write about it in our next post. To me, content literacy is the ability to read, write, speak, and understand information. It is to have a deeper meaning of the material and really be able to make sense of it all. I think it is important for students to portray their understanding through any of those methods (read, write, or speak) because it allows them to really see if they have mastered the information. I am aware my definition is not the best for the term content literacy, but it is something I plan to develop more over the course of this class.

We were asked to listen to a podcast this week about how a science teacher can incorporate content literacy in her classroom. The podcast was an interview with Joann Deshawn, a member of the International Reading Association, and although it was only 8 minutes long, it provided many great ideas science teachers could use in their classroom. As a future science or math teacher, I was captivated by her ways that not only allowed the students to dive deeper into the material, but also in a way that fascinated them. I can't even begin to count the number of times I thought to myself, "what did I just read?", after reading an entry in a textbook. DeShawn mentioned ways that could help limit misconceptions students may have after reading material. The crazier thing being she was working with 1st and 3rd graders. She made a comment how most educators believe the examples she provided should be done in middle or high school, but she thinks that is limiting students' thinking at an earlier age. She states that in her classroom students are writing in daily journals, comparing data tables, describing the results they found, writing hypotheses, and drawing conclusions from their experiments. I was amazed at how students at such a young age were performing tasks I started in late elementary school/early middle school. Deshawn then went on saying how reading aloud is important for students' understanding of materials as well including fiction literature into the classroom. She believes involving more literature about the subject allows the students to engage themselves even more than only using the assigned text. I thought the podcast was very informative for not only science teachers, but teachers of other content areas as well.

Podcast no. 11

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/critical-link-between-literacy/id357933877?i=81092235&mt=2

We also began reading a text titled Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? (Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12) by Cris Tovani. Of course, I had the initial reaction of any college student. UGH, more readings. However, I was hooked after reading only the first page. I am always wanting to learn more about how I can become a better teacher. After reading only the first two chapters, I was already highlighting and making notes on things I could use in my future classroom. Funny thing is, that was one of the author's ideas on how to get students to have a better understanding of a boring text. Seeing how I am still a student, I can relate to those who are suffering in having to read 20 pages of information you probably could care less about. Almost like the two years of core classes you are required to take in undergrad :) By the way, I am not a fan of how the college system works, but that is another post in the making. Tovani suggests having students make connections to information they are reading whether it be from their past or things they might have seen. It allows students to make sense of the context of the material in a way they can better understand it. It was reassuring knowing that this is something majority of teachers struggle with, but Tovani allowed readers to see that her strategies are not some magical way, but something that all teachers can implement in the classroom. I am excited to read more in this book because I believe it will help me become a better teacher. And shouldn't that be the ultimate goal for all educators? I'll let you all decide.

[peachyteachy123]

I am a Middle School Education Major with content focuses in mathematics and social studies. I’m set to graduate in May of 2015 and I am crossing my fingers for a math teaching position in the southeast—math is my favorite! I am currently taking a class related to content literacy. For those of...

[edunite]

I loved how you explained a part of your childhood that helped you realize you wanted to teach! I think the blog was well written, but I would like to see more of what you think about the articles you read rather than a summary! Great job! :)

[edunite]

We're Talking Content Literacy

Hello educators across the globe!

I am a soon-to-be Middle Grades Education teacher specializing in science and math. I am attending a university in the Southeast part of the glorious United States. I am currently in a course that all content areas are required to take, regardless if you are Language Arts or not. Our main focus in this course is Content Literacy and how we can apply it to subjects other than just Language Arts. I will not deny my initial reaction to having to take this course was "why?". As I am sure a lot of my other colleagues had the same thoughts with our reasoning being, if we wanted to learn more about reading and writing, we would have specialized in Language Arts. However, I am starting to realize there is more than just reading and writing to literacy and that it goes far beyond classes with that being their main focus.

I read an article, How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? by Rebecca Alber and her main goal was to state her reasoning why it is important and also provide examples on how literacy could be implemented in the classroom. It opened my eyes more to see that learning is beyond more than just memorization and restating material. It is about students finding the conceptual reasoning behind why something is the way it is. But if you really think about it, that is something young adolescents strive to know. They are constantly asking WHY? Why is the sky blue? Why are we afraid of spiders? Why does sun shine? Would it be not only awesome for us, as educators, to be able to answer these questions, but also for them to make sense of them. That is the goal when it comes to content literacy. Students are needing to make sense of what they are learning through writing, speaking, and even reading more about the subject. As teachers, we need to make note to do this more in our classrooms so students are really understanding the meaning behind the lesson. Whether it be having the students write a summary of what they have learned, have them converse with partners about the lesson, or even read more information about the material being taught. Regardless of the way it is done, I think we can all agree it needs to be done.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance

I hope this blog was helpful in a sense where non-Language Arts teachers can agree on. The students we teach now will be the students leading our nation in the future. We need to make the most of it!