Steps to Reading a Video Vignette

By converting my Literacy Vignette to Video, I realized the importance of knowing how you are communicating with your audience and what works best. As humans we can remember a visual image way better than a text but, after about ten minutes of looking at something we can easily loose interest. (For more information check out Brain Rules by Dr. Medina). Photostory3 which is a free software downloaded from Microsoft can be used to help students learn this difference in communication and how our medium can evolve by doing an assignment similar to converting a written story to digital form.

2 out of 5 or 3 out of 5

In the blog, On the Shoulders of Giants had a post titled "Great Expectations and the Disheartened" focusing on a report titled "Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today" in which it was emphasized that 2 out of 5 teachers are disheartened in their profession with other choices being content or idealistic. This to me is not a bad thing. As a pre-service teacher I see this as uplifting and commented so as it means that 3 out of 5 teachers are NOT disheartened, either being content or idealistic about their profession. Moreover I appreciated seeing that even after many years of experience a teacher is still thinking about how she can be a better teacher for herself and her students. This verifies my idea that there is no perfect lesson and as teachers we need to be constantly changing our lesson plans/ideas to fit the needs and development of our students.

In self evaluation as teachers we can add another level to our profession I think, of respectability and accountability not to mention just over all good for our students and ourselves. Furthermore when we self assess AND share (through blogging!!! woohoo!) it can build community between teachers in our profession not limited to only our classrooms, schools, or districts. This kind of community can be very powerful and uplifting for teachers in building a voice in the world of education, as a part of building a professional community.

Death by Powerpoint

Brain Rules for PresentersThis video is great! Not only does it tell us how to use our brains better to communicate (throw away the power point with tons of text!) but it also applies to teaching. If people learn better and remember more through visuals than why in the world as a teacher would I load my power point slides up with text. This is only one application for educators from this slide show embedded from Glen Malone's blog Almost Monday adapted from Dr.John Medina's book Brain Rules.

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Social Context in Literacy

Karen Au writes in Expanded Definitions of Literacy that, “reading and writing are used in ways appropriate to the requirements of a particular social context” (1993, p.24). This made me think of the social context in the classroom and the importance of building a welcoming and accepting environment that is safe for all students. The social context at home may be different at school in terms of which literacy skills are used. This can hinder or help students in their development but also reminds me of the reasoning for differentiation when teaching so that all students no matter how they communicate at home are supported in their strengths of either reading, writing, speaking, or listening, or develop the weaknesses. As the teacher I think it is my responsibility to help each student develop in all areas of literacy.

Furthermore in the section Critical Literacy she writes, “literacy requires not just that teachers accept students’ experiences but that they help students of diverse backgrounds understand their own experiences, as well as the experiences of others in terms of the dynamics of the larger society” (1993, p.33). This really resonates with me in supporting a democratic classroom and helping students to learn about cultures outside of their own and not just that they learn but that there is a level of understanding and acceptance. Social Studies is not the only subject that can help promote the idea of acceptance and understanding for all peoples and cultures. Literacy can do this too. Not only through reading about another culture but exploring our own personal cultural within school, home and the community through writing, I think, would be very beneficial to students.

In conclusion the acknowledgement of social context and what is necessary to communicate is integral to the development of literacy. To ignore this as a teacher would be a grave mistake.

Assessment

In Ranking, Evaluating and Liking: Sorting Out Three Forms of Judgment by Peter Elbow, he states that,”Evaluation requires going beyond a first response that may be nothing but a kind of ranking (‘I like it’ or ‘This is better than that’), and instead looking carefully enough at the performance or person to make distinctions between parts or features or criteria.” This quote defines for me the dilemma I as a teacher will face with assessment. I want to set standards and expectations that are upheld, but at the same time I need to make sure in my assessment of student work and thinking especially with writing that there is room for creativity. The 6 Traits of writing is a great guideline for evaluating students work but this evaluation should be ongoing and congruent with the development of the student.

Also I think as the teacher which ever “ranking”, as Elbow would call it, students may receive should not come as a surprise to the students. Assessment should be a combination of their own evaluation on their writing through a variety of communications through formal and informal conferences as well as a graded rubric of expectations. What kind of teacher would I be if I handed students expectations, a rubric, for an assignment but did not guide and support them to reach those expectations?

E and His "Just Right" Book

I met with E today and his "just right book" was way to easy. We read over 1000 words. He only made three errors. It is important to have student autonmy in the classroom but students still need to be challenged. When do is it ok for E to have a "just right book" and one that he is more comfortable with? The challenge is to find this balance so that students are still challenged yet have choice in the classroom. Will I be able to know my students well enough that all have a just right book but at the same to have books that they can read and just enjoy and be comfortable.

I know for myself I need to pick up a $6.99 romance novel that can be read in three hours which I don't have to use any brain power to read, after reading academic texts and informative articles throughout the quarter. Should students in the classroom be given this "time off" as well?

The Joy of Sticky Notes

Routman, in chapter 9, Writing Essentials, has a list of things that make a conference between teacher and student on writing productive and successful. At the far end of the list she put,"Don't write directly on the writer's paper. (Use sticky notes.)" YES!

At my dyad placement the master teacher has students use sticky notes for an array of different things. Specifically for literacy she has them use sticky notes to mark a place in their own books that they read on their own in the class and out the literary concept they have been talking about in class. For example if students are learning about plot summary they would then as they are reading their own book use a sticky note to mark a main event that happens in their story AND why they think it is a main event. Once students are done with the book they back and use the sticky notes as a tool for writing their plot summary. This was also used when I taught about character change. When students thought their character changed from an event they would mark it with a sticky note and write why on the sticky note as well.

Once students are done they leave their note book with the summary or character change or which ever literary concept was focused on opened on their desk before going to recess. The master teacher then goes around and checks their thinking and understanding responding back on the sticky notes they used in the beginning or getting a new one if needed. (Sticky notes are never at a low as their is a basket at each cluster of desks with sticky notes in it.)

The use of sticky notes as a form of communication with students on their writing is a version of the "simple" conference that Routman was talking about. This technique also seems to correlate with the direct instructional model as well! Their journal writing focusing on one literary concept is part of the guided practice when the teacher responds and part of their independent practice when they are showing their own thinking and reasoning behind their decisions on what to write about. I like the progression the journal and sticky notes provide by following the class reading a book together and focusing on the same literary concept with sticky notes as they read as a group.

This activity also creates a bridge between reading and writing by students having to write about what they read but in their own words. This reminds me of how sometimes to learn how to write well, we need to start with someone else's story before we can make our own.

Moreover because students need to be metacognitive when they are reading, I think it helps students to move away from learning to read and reading to learn, which in my opinion is one of the main reasons for teaching literacy; to support learning.