Honey Graham

The End is Here!

2006-03-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

I can't believe class is over!!! Time always seems to go so quickly second semester. Sigh... :) Today's class was fun. I especially enjoyed hearing all the poems. I loved how each poem fit the person so well and how there was SO much variety! It's always neat to see what people come up with.

I've really enjoyed this class throughout the semester and all the incredibly helpful tools we've been given. I'm so anxious to put it all to use and see how it actually works in the classroom. I just can't get over the fact we're done with college classes (well, after tomorrow)... Yay for graduation! :)

Capitalization Day 2

2006-02-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well, Day 2 of capitalization went much better than Day 1. I brought a stuffed monkey to help get their attention and it worked wonderfully! :) Yay for stuffed animals! It also helped doing more group work and less individual work, but even then their attention spans were very short. But, my big moment of the day was with Julia, the student who straight up defied me the first day. After Day 1 I kept thinking about how she told me no she wasn't going to do her assignment and how I had absolutely no response to give her to make her do her assignment. So, I came to class ready for her challenge. If she told me no today I had choices ready to go. I walked by her desk and saw that she was working. That was exciting in itself. Then she stopped for a minute so I looked at her paper and praised her for doing good work and then she says, "Thank you for making me do my work." I was like - huh? I didn't do anything!!! So, I guess it was just her day or something, but I found it so interesting how her attitude switched from one day to the next. So, as I prepare for student teaching with this fun and energetic class, I will be focusing on management strategies and attention getters for their age level. I have no doubt that this will be a growing experience!

Capitalization with First Graders

2006-02-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

The first day of teaching capitalization to the first graders didn't bac, but I wouldn't say it went extremely well. I was all prepared with my lesson and activities, but what I wasn't prepared for what the energy of these kiddos! It quickly became clear to me how inexperienced I feel when I'm put in charge of 24 first graders. I presented the lesson and it went ok and then the students began working on their own. I walked around the room encouraging students to stay on task and praising those who were doing an excellent job. Then I came to Julia. Julia had absolutely nothing written on her paper. I stopped by her desk and asked her if she had questions. She didn't. Then I asked her to show me how to make a capital I on her paper. Her reply caught me so off guard! When I asked her to begin working and show me how to write her letters, she replied, "No, I don't want to. I'm not going to." I just stood there shocked that a little first grader was straight up defying me! I tried to encourage her to still do her work, but all I got was a resounding no. Sigh. . . Then i came to the next student who had decided to make his paper into a paper airplane. :) Let's just say this was a learning experience for me. I'm pretty sure I will have my hands full when I begin student teaching. I was dreading simply going back to teach the second day of capitalization! So, for now I need to work on keeping the attention of six year-olds and come up with choices so I'm ready for the next time one of them tells me no. I'll be ready now! :)

Grammar Micro-Teaching

2006-02-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ah, the joys of micro-teaching! Well, to be honest, I don't really enjoy micro-teaching. I feel so fake and cheesy - even when we make it "real." The lessons went well and it's always fun to see what our classmates come up with in creating lessons. I do enjoy that part. It's fun to see all the creative ways to teach grammar. I really like grammar, but I don't think that's common. I get all excited about diagramming sentences and identifying parts of speech. For me it's enough to just do stuff out of the textbook, but I know that teaching like that would be highly unsuccessful. It's neat that there's so many hands-on activities and rhymes and jingles that can be used to add to the lessons so that it's more enjoyable and effective for all students.

Delivering the Valentines

2006-02-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Delivering the Valentines to the residents at Union Manor last week was exciting. The two students Mr. Adams chose to deliver them were pretty shy at first and didn't know what to say to the residents. We went over a little script they could use and their confidence built with each door they knocked on. We included jokes and riddles on our Valentines, and I honestly wasn't sure how the residents would respond to them. Because of this is was thrilling to see their faces light up and a smile cross their face as they read the cards. The students were happy they went as well. . . especially when one of the residents gave them candy. :) I forget how much of a difference the little things make. I'm really glad we participated in this activity to brighten the days of others!

Valentine's Activity

2006-02-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

Presenting the Valentine's Activity with the seventh-grade class was fun. Overall I felt the lesson could have gone better, but I'm not exactly sure how. When I first arrived at the classroom, the teacher was M.I.A. Turns out he had to run an errand while the students were in Library class, but he didn't quite return in time. So, I wasn't sure if I should just "take over" his class since it was 10 minutes early. I just kinda stood there looking like an idiot and trying to make small talk with the students, but yeah...it didn't go so well. Then the teacher arrived, finished their vocabulary lesson, and turned it over to me. The students were excited to make the valentines, but they were more excited about their Greek Olympics that were taking place that day. Several students finished very quickly so they could get their outfits ready to compete. So, I guess overall it went alright, but I'm pretty sure that next time I'd do it differently. That's what teaching's all about though - you learn and make it better next time. :)

New Curriculum

2006-02-08T07:56:00.000-08:00

hearing the speaker talk about the new language arts curriculum was SO exciting!!! it made me really anxious to get in the classroom and start teaching with it! i've been thinking about what grade level i would like to teach and just hearing about the curriculum made me reconsider wanting to teach the older grades since it will be a few more years before that curriculum is finished. i think the daily lesson guides look amazing. . . very helpful! i also love that the stories seem new and fresh! i think this will be an excellent upgrade and definitely improve the language arts education in the sda schools.

First Grade and the Captial E

2006-02-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to be in the first grade classroom today! The kids are SO cute and full of so much energy! I arrived a little early so I got to just observe the students for a couple minutes and it made me really excited to student teach with them. There's so many of them! Last semester I had only nine students and I counted about 24 in class today. It will definitely be a change! But, back to handwriting. . .

As I began the lesson, I got a few strange looks from the students. I'm assuming their looks of "What are you doing?" stemmed from the fact that I was probably doing things a little differently than their teacher. This is to be expected, but in general the students just kinda looked at me like, "We already know this." So, I continued on with my lesson keeping them engaged, etc. only to find out as I was walking around that they pretty much wrote their letters however they wanted. I described the steps and we practiced together, but then as soon as I wasn't looking they would form their E's in a different order of steps. I guess the important thing is that they can make and E that looks correct, yet it leaves me wondering - How important is it to follow the exact steps in forming a letter? Does it matter if you put your top middle or bottom line first?

Another interesting factor was the students who got distracted from their handwriting by playing with various things like silly putty, erasers, etc. The concentration level just wasn't there. If handwriting is that challenging, I can't imagine what the main subjects are like!

Overall it was a good teaching experience though. It definitely felt good to be back in the classroom. I find I'm more confident each time I begin teaching. I'm excited to get more experience with the younger grades. They're so cute you can't help but love them! I'm glad we get to apply what we're learning by teaching these lessons instead of waiting until student teaching again. It makes our class seem more practical and makes it all real. Yay for language arts! :)

Fun with Handwriting

2006-01-30T16:05:00.000-08:00

Handwriting has always been something I've enjoyed. My first memory of handwriting is from first grade when I would carefully put my finger between each word to make sure that the spacing was just right. I remember being thrilled to learn cursive writing, but once I learned it the fun was taken away when we were required to write EVERYTHING in cursive! I tried to make my cursive express my own personality (like we discussed in class) but my teachers weren't very appreciative. I think the fact that I was "restricted" in writing the proper way made me dislike handwriting class even more. So, as I grew older I still enjoyed writing, but I made it my personal goal to make my handwriting unique. In reality, everyone's handwriting is unique. I think I just put more time into practice making letters various ways, etc. Maybe I had too much time on my hands...

However, I see myself looking at handwriting quite differently when I think about it from a teacher's perspective. I think that it is very important that handwriting be very neat and legible. The best way to ensure this is to stick with a consistent method of teaching it and requiring students to write the "proper" way. Based on my own experience I didn't think I'd ever have a strong opinion about not letting students write however they want, but now I see the importance. My eyes were opened to the importance last year as I taught my fourth-graders handwriting. Well, actually, I didn't teach them handwriting. I tried at the beginning, but they just stared at me like I was an idiot and informed me that they already learned how last year. So, I basically wrote the assignment on the board and they completed it. (I realize that wasn't the best teaching move...). Yet in checking their assignments, I began to understand why they still have handwriting in fourth-grade and how continuous practice really does make handwriting improve. It is important to first understand the correct way to write and then practice it that way. I like the idea of allowing students the freedom to express themselves with their name though. I think that's a good compromise.

As for how I would like to teach handwriting in the future, I'm still not entirely sure. At this point I would say I'm leaning towards the D'Neilian method because of the easier transition into cursive. I don't remember which method I was taught with, but in looking at my manuscript handwriting today, I'm guessing it was the Zaner-Bloser "ball and stick" method. Unfortunately I can't compare this to Einhorn's because I don't know who Einhorn is. (Sorry if I missed that in class or in the book - I double checked our papers from today, but I didn't discover his name...) It was very helpful discussing the different methods today in class. It is interesting to compare the pros and cons of each and consider which is the best one for the classroom. I also liked the examples from the website that had all of our names on them. Those were fun. :)

As I looked over my lesson plan for Wednesday, I am convinced that I'm definitely going to need some more handwriting practice myself in order to model correctly on a day-to-day basis. Even the simple steps of making a capital E for first graders are different than how I write. So, I guess it's a good thing I like handwriting. I think I'll go practice now. . . :)

Drama in the Classroom

2006-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Drama can be a very fun form of language arts. I thought it was really interesting reading about it in the textbook because I guess I haven't given it much thought previously. It makes sense that drama helps the students understand the material better by allowing them to become the character and portray their actions and feelings. I really appreciated how the book gave ideas for incorporating drama into each grade level.

The examples given in class were also very helpful. I loved watching/hearing everyone read them out loud and just seeing the personalities of all of us shining through. (We have a fun class! :) ) I'm excited now to find more examples of drama in the classroom and work to implement them in the classroom. It just makes it fun! :)

2006-01-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed class today, especially all the discussion about incorporating diversity into the classroom. I love diversity! I wish that I was more knowledgeable about various cultures. I think I will make that my personal goal - to become more aware of as many cultures as possible. I keep thinking of my students last year and all the different cultures they came from. We did a few activities that highlited the uniqueness of their backgrounds, but I could have done SO much more!!!

The information presented in the textbook is also very helpful - the different stages of development, how to reach out to ELL learners, all of it!

I'm thrilled to have a copy of everyone's multicultural book report. I love books and it's so helpful to have a list of activities we can use for all the different diversities. Good stuff! :)

2006-01-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

Today the first part of class was a presentation given by Karen Saunders, a curriculum specialist for Lincoln Public Schools. She was very knowledgeable on the subject matter she presented and I learned some new facts about the language arts curriculum in Lincoln Public Schools. Since I student taught in a different school district I haven't encountered the specific curriculum they use in the Lincoln Public Schools. It seems very organized and efficient though. My favorite part of the curriculum is the extra trade books that are optional, but organized by reading level. I just love books though so it would be exciting to me to have such good resources.

I really enjoyed the second half of class on the topic of students with special needs. After having taught last year I could just picture my students that fit into each of the categories. My students had a lot of special needs! :) I had some pretty eventful days - one girl threw her entire desk skattering all of her books and papers, another boy kicked his shoe and broke the window, screaming and crying students, the list goes on. I'm pretty sure I had no idea how to handle events like this. . . but somehow I did. Sometimes I would just watch in awe of what was taking place. I think it's very helpful to discuss behavior problems and learn the modifications that can be used in preventing and dealing with them. I used to think that I wanted to continue on and get certified in special education. However, after having several students with behavior problems last year, my energy for that direction was temporarily drained! Behavior problems can be found in any classroom though so the information shared in today's class was very helpful!

2006-01-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

It was really fun observing third grade reading class today! It was really interesting watching the teacher explain how to decode words. I kept thinking, "I wish I would have explained it like that to my students last year in Palau!" It just reminds me how much I still have to learn and that I'm excited to be a more effective teacher!

The most interesting part of our class discussion today was in talking about the viewing aspect of language arts. I hadn't previously thought about all the visual media children are bombarded with in regards to having to sort everything out. I just thought pictures help make words more visual...Now I see the importance of actually teaching students how to use visual aids in their every day surroundings. The other four areas of language arts (listening, talking, reading and writing) seem like the basics. I like that the viewing and visually representing areas are included as well because they really are important in communicating.

I'm a bit torn between the constructivist model and direct teaching method. The right answer seems to use some of both - like half and half - in the classroom, but in looking back in what I've taught so far I think I've used more of the direct teaching method. I think it's good to have a balance. . . Now the trick is discovering how to develop that balance practically. :)

2006-01-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

Today we had the opportunity to learn about Language Arts in relation to the Lincoln City Libraries. Carol Swanson presented us with information about specific services the libraries in Lincoln offer, why Language Arts are important, and resources we can use as teachers in the classroom.

Within the library there are many forms of media to promote Language Arts. Some of these forms can be seen as soon as you enter the library, while others you have to look a bit harder. Books, magazines, videos, DVDs, CD's, cassettes and computers are the obvious forms of media that can be seen initially. However, when you look a little deeper you can find posters that promote diversity and many different types of people that also provide for a multicultural setting. Some of the forms of media that aren't seen as easily include the internet and other resources available on the computer. The Lincoln City Libraries provide many services other than the forms of media including story hours, homework help for students, group tours, and helping others use the library successfully.

Language Arts are important in order to help students get the most out of literacy - to open peoples' minds to creativity and imagination. One challenge our speaker encounters is keeping literacy exciting for middle to high-school students. It is important to develop a strong love for literacy, as well as overall Language Arts, in children when they are young so that they will continue to use the resources available to them as they get older.

The Lincoln City Libraries provide several resources for teachers to use in their classroom. For preschool age students the library has treasure bags. Included in the treasure bags are books, puppets, games and sometimes a flannel board in order for students to experience the story in many different ways. Teachers can also check out large quantities of one book in order to read the book as a class. The Lincoln City Libraries participate in "A Books for All Kids" where third graders in different schools have the opportunity to read the same book available from the libraries. Another resource within the libraries includes books for teachers on topics such as effective lesson plans. While the Lincoln City Libraries have much to offer, our speaker pointed out that it is also very important to keep close contact with your school's Library Media Specialist and local Educational Unit to discover what materials are available.

This presentation about Language Arts in relation to libraries was very informative. It is helpful to know what resources are available nearby and how other organizations besides school help promote Language Arts. Language Arts truly are all around.