Christina's Capturing Thoughts Blog on Parent Teacher Confrences

I saw Professor Chatel's post to Anna suggesting that she visit Christina's blog on parent teacher conferences, and I decided to check this out for myself. I really appreciate all of Christina's time and effort that she put into finding this site and laying out the suggestions for all of us to see. As future teachers her blog offers a great layout of starters for how to hold an effective parent teacher conference.

This past week at Smith Elementary there were parent conferences going on as well and in talking with and as I just observed the conferences and heard from my classroom teacher about all the time and preparation that went into these conferences I learned so much. Although, I have to say the biggest thing I took away is that if you stay ahead of the game, then when the game hits head on, you will be ready to play the game, and will be prepared and ready for that challenge. 

Meeting my Cooperating Teacher for Student Teaching in the Fall

Today I had a scheduled meeting with my cooperating teacher for student teaching beginning next fall. I greatly enjoyed meeting and talking with her and we both are looking forward to working with each other beginning in the fall. The school I will be at is a new school so it will be a challenging and rewarding experience for the both of us.

Writing Prompt at Tuesday Experience March 11th 2008

This Tuesday at Tuesday Experience the children were recquired to work on a writing prompt. The question for this particular prompt had been previously designed by one of the teachers at a staff meeting with the second grade classroom teachers. The question was as followed: "You are on a playground and have found a key, what will you do with this key." 

My classroom teacher began the entrance of this prompt writing session by asking her students to generate a list of what makes a good story. The main ideas generated by her and the students were, that good stories must have a setting, and more importantly, they must have a beginning, middle and end. 

I had the oppurtunity to walk around and assess the students as they worked on their writing prompts. When and where it was appropriate I worked hard to generate thought provoking questions to stimulate the children's individual writing process. 

I was pleased to see that some of the children were very effective and creating a well sequenced story, with a distinct beginning, middle and end. However, it was also apparent that many of the students despite continued work on sequencing of stories were still struggling. 

I am pleased to see my classroom teacher working hard and continue her effort to build her students skills in sequencing, and I have seen them have practice in doing so within the classroom. I appreciate and commend her efforts to build this area in her students, and I can appreciate her struggle, as this is not always an easy task to acheive.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me that I could add to my own thoughts regarding further lessons and activities that might help those students still struggling with understanding beginning, middle and end? I am open to anything, I have thought of ideas as has my teacher, but I would love to see what my peers think could work.

How do students use journals as tools for learning in language arts and across the curriculum?

Students use journals for a variety of purposes in the classroom. There are seven specific types of journals that students use within the context of the classroom these are as followed: personal journals, dialogue journals, reading logs, double-entry journals,language arts notebooks, learning logs and simulated journals.In almost every type of journal entry that students write the primary focus is on the writer; the writing is personal and private. There are many reasons for writing journal entries, here are just a few: record experiences, stimulate interest in a topic,explore thinking,personalize thinking, wonder, predict and hypothesize, etc. Students can also use journal writing to share events, record learning in both literature focus units and thematic units.

Writing Characteristics At Tuesday Expereince

Students at my Tuesday Experience have had practice with focus and organazation in their writing. Students as a class had developed a story focusing on a begining and maiddle and during writing time they were asked to work on creating their own ending to this story. The teacher reminded students that the ending might have a problem that could be solved. During this time I worked with one particular student to develop sentences for his ending. Not all of the students were able to come up with problems in their endings and resolutions, but the teacher said she will continue to work on begining, middle, and end.

I have seem my Tuesday Experience pass back student work to be corrected. This work often focuses on correcting capitalization, punctuantion and spelling errors. Occassional I have seen papers come back to students asking for some more details, but this is less often the focus. Often when papers are returned to students to be corrected the focus is on conventions.

So far in Tuesday Experience I have yet to see focus on elaboration and support, transitions and fluency, word variety and sentence variety. I have seen my teacher and myself revising students written work focusing primarly on conventions and word spacing.

Paley's Classroom vs. Tuesday Experience Classroom

Paley's Classroom:

Paley's classroom allows her students to lead the pace and activities that will let them learn. The classroom is driven by student learning, and is not as teacher directed as the usual classroom. Paley lets her students select the direction of the learning, as well as the content to uncover. Through the use of a strongly developed thematic unit on the arthur, Leo Lionni, the students learn about very important life lessons that the teacher herself is learning about alongside her students. Paley allows herself to learn from the direction and responses of her students, and the thought provoking lessons they teach her make her question her own understandings.

Tuesday Experience Classroom: (as of the third visit)

My Tuesday experience teacher has a very scheduled classroom structure, everything is focused around the centers that student's go through in daily routine. Unlike Paley, my classroom teacher does not allow for much student directed or generated learning. The students follow the lead and pattern that has been set by my teacher, and do not question this schedule. It seems that this schedule is well understood and that the children would be unsure of the everyday structure of the classroom without in in place.  

Reading and Writing Process

So far in Tuesday Experience I have seen some aspects of all 5 stages of the reading and writing process.

Stage 1: I have seen my students prereading sometimes by making predictions or asking questions about a text they read during read aloud.

Stage 2: I have seen students in my Tuesday experience make drafts in writing and also read during read during silent reading time.

Stage 3: Students have responded some to what they read both during read aloud and during silent reading using pre designed worksheets based on what they have selected to read. Students have been observed revising dratfs they have written as a class and adding an ending to one of these dratfs.

Stage 4: Students have been observed during the writing process editing drats for fianl revisions.

Stage 5: Students have published some final dratfs of writing. Some of the students have done projects or worksheets based on readings done in class.

Paley's Literacy Instruction Inspires Me To

Paley took a risk when she began to focus on a new idea for Literacy Instruction. Although Paley in the text voices concern over her new method of teaching her class of second grader's, she loves the outcome. I think that the risk Paley has taken in the education world is an inspiration to teachers.

One thing that I find so great about Paley's Literacy Instruction is her ability to let go and allow her students to lead her in choosing what they learn, and where they go with this learning. 

Another thing that I love about Paley's teaching method is that she allows her students to teach her as well. She is open to learning from her students and is fascinated by what her kindergarten class teaches her about larger life issues from reading the stories of author, Leo Lionni.

Finally, I greatly appreciate that Paley fosters the children's creativity and natural inclination to continue to learn and discover even more. In other words, I love that the learning in the classroom never stops.

The Main Theme Is We Can Learn From Children

The Main Theme Is We Can Learn From Children. In reading pages 1-42 of The Girl With The Brown Crayon, so far we as readers, learn that children can be our biggest teachers. Already in reading this section of the assigned pages, we can see Paley, the teacher learn from her children. Paley shows us what she has learned about such pressing topics in our society as: race, greed, the need for acceptance and fear of rejection, from one student in particular, Reeny.

Paley learns another perspective on Tico's decision to give up his golden wings through listening to Reeny's interpretation. Reeny teaches her that maybe Tico made the decision to give up his golden wings not because, he had a need to be like everyone else, as Paley felt was the case, but because, he knew keeping the golden wings would cost him his friends. Reeny seems to take the position that Tico gave up his golden wings in order to not be alone. Something that is an issue children, and adults alike experience every day. Paley was opened up to a new understanding because, she choose to delve into the understanding Reeny took away from the story. (Text-Self and Text-World)

Another lesson that Paley learned from Reeny in this section of the book, came after reading Little Blue and Little Yellow. Paley gets angry at the story to the surprise of Paley. Paley learns that from Reeny's point of view the story is harsh, cruel and wrong. She becomes inragged at the idea that a parent could ever not be able to identify their own child. She also points out that in society we do not change colors if we hug another person of a different color. Perhaps she does not realize the symbolism of such a story, and just sees the concrete. When she hugs her friend who is of another color than her own she does not change color nor does her friend. (Text-Self and Text-World)

Just from reading the assigned pages 1-42 the theme that we can learn from children has been very strong in this book. Paley continues to learn and is forced to reevaluate her own understanding of such prevelant issues in our society, as race, acceptance, greed and fear of being alone through the eyes of her students, in particular one student, Reeny.  

The Girl With The Brown Crayon covers important topics that can not be learned in any college course.

The Girl With The Brown Crayon covers important topics that can not be learned in any college course. From reading the assigned pages 1-42 of this story, the reader learns to reevaluate and discover such prevalent topics in our society as: color of skin, greed, the need for friendship and acceptance by our peers and the fear of being alone. 

Reeny in the introductory chapter to this book, teaches us more about her understanding as a kindergartner of her own color. The author, and teacher Paley, describes Reeny's pain staking efforts to carefully select the perfect shade of brown for her own skin as she draws herself. She does so by consistently working to apply just the right amount of pressure to select the color that best matches her own view of herself. (Text-Self) 

Reeny and her class mates are reading series of books written by the same author, Leo Lionni. When Reeny first encounters the mouse Frederick, one of the first books the class reads, she immediatly identifies herself with Fredrick, who is brown just like her. It is not until further into the book, that Reeny relaizes not all of Fredrick is just like her, in esscence realizing that her skin color and the color of the mouse are not the only things to identify her. (Text-Self) and (Text-World)  

The concept of greed versus the need for friendship, and the struggle that we all face to balance acceptance by our peers for fear of being alone is a concept that the reader must examine in this section of our book. 

This is especially seen in the story about Tico. Tico is a bird who wishes for golden wings, and his wish is granted. At first, Tico enjoys this advantage and is happy with his golden wings that allow him to excel in society, and reach far beyond others. This mimics what we see in the inbalance of power in the world today, where those at advantage rise over the disadvantaged. However, in time Tico struggles with deciding which is more important losing the acceptance of his friends who don't approve of his new position in society or staying in his current position and risking being alone. In the end Tico decides to loose his golden wings to keep his friendship and to no longer be alone. (Text-Self and Text-World)

So far in reading the pages assigned 1-42, we are forced to reexamine our own understanding of such life topics, topics that can not simpley be learned of in college, but are lived and that we must face and struggle to understand each day. 

 

 

How do teacher's acess student's learning?

Assement of student learning in language arts is not an easy task. Assesment of students in language arts should reflect real language use within the classroom. There are many ways to acess and monitor students progress within the classroom. Ways to monitor student progress include the following: classroom observations, anectdotal records, conferences and checklists. Often times all of these methods, or a combination of these methods may be used to create a student portfolio.

On my first tuesday in the classroom, I saw my teacher implement some of these strategies to acess her students learning throughout the day. Most of what I saw the teacher doing was through observation of her students during the varoius scheduled activities during the day. At some points she would interact with students. She would do this through conferences with a small group of children or an individual student to evaluate learning. Since, it was my first day, I didn't see my teacher using anecdotal records or checklists. I also didn't see if my teacher has portfolios for each of her students. However, it is likley that she does.