Entry #8

 I would first like to say that reading these blog entries makes me feel more confident in my own ideas. This sharing of concepts and ideas really allows us to see things from different perspectives. In my opinion it also sparks questions that maybe weren't asked before. Reading other peoples posts have also given me a little more confidence in writing my own posts. To know that there is a connection between my ideas and other peoples ideas is always something that has been very important to me. There is something about the validation of having new or similar ideas to your peers that makes you more confident in your work. This also got me thinking about why collaboration among teacher is so crucial and beneficial.

Bless

I would first like to bless Matt for his mentioning of early writing before the written word and making connections with the text by mentioning the things he was missing before. I really resonated with this piece of the Deeper Dive as well because I thought it was very interesting. When I grew up my mother would always tell me when children write or blabber they are actually trying to say something. When children "read" stories they "write" that look like scribbles and then they recite the stories I always thought they were just pretending. I knew that there was a want to write within the child but I never made the connection to this piece of scribble actually being a form of writing. I knew that children learn by watching and copying what adults do but I honestly thought that's all that it was; copying and not truly understanding what it is they were doing.

Address 

When Matt was discussing the early signs of learning to read and write I began thinking about how the progression of this learning would change do to the interaction the child has with the adults they are learning from. If we don't acknowledge their "scribbles" as writing and become engaged with this play based learning, will this change the progression of learning phonics, phonemic awareness, learning to write, and read?

Press

Matt mentions that Tompkins discusses the formation of letters and the making of "words" during his entry. I wonder if he thought of the part in Tompkins that discusses the activity where children make their own words with their own meanings. Is that healthy for children to do? Is that an appropriate way of learning to read and write? Should we just stick to letting early learners make "letters" and then correct them over time as they learn their alphabet and to read and write?

This weeks Deeper Dive readings discuss fluency in reading and writing. How does the early learning formation of letters, reading, and writing evolve into fluent reading? As discussed in Tompkins and last weeks readings we understand that phonemic awareness and phonics are large contributors to this. Tompkins and Rasinski's article deepened my understanding of what fluency truly is. I originally thought fluency was to be able to read without a stutter, clearly, and without hesitation. Come to find it is so much more than that. Fluency assesses the students ability to spell words, read words, read and write in a timely fashion, AND use expression. I knew that words and speed were a large contributing factor but I had no idea that expression was a contributing factor to a person being fluent in reading and writing. 

As a child I felt very stressed about the way I read and wrote. I was always feeling behind because I was never able to read as fast as the other students. When I would take tests I would always feel rushed and I was told to work on time management. I wanted to be right when I read words and sentences so I was mor concerned with that than reading fast. I also wanted to understand what I read which I was never able to do while reading fast. This article and Tompkins chapter made me realize that we can take this process of becoming fluent and teach students ways to become fluent. I feel as though we always worry about finishing something because THAT is the goal but students need to be confident in their reading and that begins in the early learning stages with those scribbles that mean something to the kids. This week's readings and Matt's post made me think about how I will treat the process of my students becoming fluent in my classroom. I think it really is important to hold students to the same expectations but to also acknowledge that they each learn at a different pace and in different ways. So they may be reading correctly and with confidence and know all of their words but maybe they don't know how to be expressive when they read. Maybe they have a hard time reading at a good pace because they feel like they racing the clock.

Tompkins, G.E. (2017). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (7th Edition). Boston,    MA:Pearson.

Entry #7

In Tompkins chapter five phonemic awareness and phonics are discussed and how to approach teaching them. In reading the corresponding article, Everything you wanted to know about phonics (but were afraid to ask) I began to think about how teachers teach in different ways such as mentioned in the article when discussing teaching whole language versus basal reading. As we are learning about all of the ways to teach phonics and phonemic awareness we are looking to do it in the most effective and efficient way possible. However, we are all new coming teachers and we are all learning this but not all teachers may have learned the same thing. If we are teaching these lessons throughout the year, that is only one grade; one year. What happens if the teacher in the following year focuses on only one way of teaching their students or doesn't read to them much? What if I am the teacher who gets the children from a classroom that only taught phonemic awareness and phonics in a certain way but didn't make it engaging for the students so now they are disengaged? Will I still be able to provide that joy in a classroom when I am building on a less positive learning experience?

Further analysis on the readings made me realize that students learn phonemic awareness and phonics in a sequential manner. I think before I was overthinking the idea that not all children will come into my classroom at the level they should ideally be at. The article and Tompkins gave me some incite in how to address this. At the Kindergarten level I will definitely have students coming in from all different places in their education in general, however by the use of repetition, games, practicing, and a variety of teaching methods, the children can all get to where they need to be. As educators it is our job to get the students where they should be at the end of the year. Phonemic awareness is the first step. Children should be able to understand the sounds of letters. With an almost stepping stone approach, students will use what they know and continue onto the next part of learning how to read and understand the words they are reading. 

Before reading the article and the chapter in Tompkins I became stressed when thinking about phonemic awareness and teaching phonics. The words themselves seemed so complicated to me. The idea of teaching children to make sense of words and build their reading and writing skills gave me anxiety because it was hard for myself to learn that as a kid so it seemed even more difficult to teach. i think the one thing I got out of this Deeper dive the most is that I know that I shouldn't be teaching everything at once, this is a gradual learning process that builds upon each other. I worried about having to do it all as an educator and I know now that it isn't even good for children to have so much thrown at them at once. The methods mentioned to teach phonics and phonemic awareness made me start to think about what I can do in my classroom. I can incorporate play, movement, games, activities, etc. to get my students engaged in the learning of this piece of their education. I got nervous originally that I would have to teach the lessons strictly with a pencil and paper like i had to when I was a kid but I was relieved to learn these new ways that can engage the students in ways the paper and pencil wouldn't.

Tompkins, G.E. (2017). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (7th Edition). Boston, MA:          Pearson.

Stahl, S. A., Duffy-Hester, A. M., & Stahl, K. A. (1998). Everything you wanted to know about phonics (but were afraid to ask). Reading Research Quarterly, 33(3), 338–355. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.33.3.5 

Entry #6

 

The quote from Tompkins, “Teachers regularly observe children as they look at books and reread familiar ones to monitor their developing knowledge about written language concepts” (Tompkins, 2017, pg. 119) got me thinking about the change that is happening with how we evaluate our students. I know that there is the standard grading that we have been doing for years that evaluates students ability to learn skills and recite information. Participation is based on who raises their hand and speaks during the class discussions. Is this the best way to evaluate what the students are learning or are we just teaching them to retain information? Is this active learning? The evaluation methods are changing so that we are looking at each of the childrens successes as well as areas of growth. Tompkins states, “Teachers also create .....

Tompkins, G.E. (2017). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (7th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Entry #5

 Dear Dr. Jones,

This is the first semester that I am officially in the Inclusive Early Childhood Education program. I would say that so far it has been a success and I believe that I am doing well in this class. I wasn't sure what to expect from any of my masters classes because I had not yet been in the program but it is a lot different than I am used to. It has been very different from my bachelors but a good different. I am surprised about the way we our learning in the sense that the work is generally discussion based with outside readings involved. 

This class has not only increased my awareness about my own literacy but also of others as well. I am understanding the range of capabilities of literacy and teaching it as well as evaluating it. By using methods such as SQ4R and close reading strategies I realized that I tend to skip over words or miss pieces of information but finally catch them after the third read. I tend to notice the general ideas but also the small details in a text and it also takes me a while to read a text. I also learned that discussion helps me think about what I already read in a different way and gives me ideas on a new perspective.

The Liz Kleinrock presentation was amazing and really focused on communication, speaking up for the oppressed and adding to the teachings we already are doing but shifting our mindset. From what I am learning about literacy development I believe that the work we do in class with introduction to books is how we are going to successfully teach an anti-bias approach to literacy. Like Liz said if we use what we already have and expand on it then we have the support of the original foundations of literacy. 

The only struggles I feel like I am having in this class is with organization. For some reason I feel like I am all over the place when I am learning in this course. I don't know exactly what it is, maybe the structure is different than I am used to but I am trying to get ahold of it. I am just focusing on making sure I am writing everything I need to get done down.

Sincerely,

Kaya Lani Panneitz

Blog #4

 3 Ideas To Ponder...

To effectively teach is to be aware of the way that the individuals in your classroom learn and then plan your lessons accordingly.

You must understand your own identity before you can teach others.

Literacy can be engaging when taught by connecting the student to being a writer and reader. Leave the learning to the students instead of telling them what to do and how to learn.

2 Comments That Inspire Me.....

"Teachers engage students with experiences so that they construct their own knowledge." (Tompkins, 2019, pg. 7)

Tompkins, G. E., Smith, C., Campbell, R., & Green, D. (2019). Literacy for the 21st Century: A balanced approach. Pearson Education Australia.

I chose this quote because there is significant importance in allowing their students to find their own path while learning. Too often children are losing interest in their own education because everyone tells them how to learn and what to learn instead of the children wanting to learn it for themselves. For a long time schooling has been competitive and test based and it has taken the joy from the children's learning experiences.

"This historical narrative sharply contrasts with what I see in schools today." (Muhammad, 2020, pg.37)

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic. 

I chose this quote because it really resonated with my experience as a student and as an educator. While I was in school personal histories and identity was not very prominent but it was talked about occasionally. However, as I have worked in areas of education recently I have been seeing small shifts of inclusion of subjects such as religion but not necessarily what Muhammad talks about in her book. This inspires me to help be the change to help create a learning environment that sparks something within our students that makes them confident, want to learn, get excited about who they are and who their peers are.

1 Commitment I want To Make For My Future Students....

A commitment I want to make to my future students is that I will put them first; pay attention to each students as people and to include individual culture and views into our classroom.

Entry #3

 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Brcq3laa52AnrAhs5KsqTR0gcYkoV0Y9Ox4Wwha7Hxw/edit?usp=sharing 

Entry #2

This week we focused on the use of SQ4R, a reading strategy which allows an individual to break down an article or piece of writing in multiple ways in order to achieve a greater understanding of what we are reading. During the process of using SQ4R I found myself constantly finding more information and things that I missed after every time I read. It was as though my first time reading was just the surface and after every time I read it again and took more notes I kept deepening my understanding of what I originally thought that I read and understood. I not only became aware of the content of the article but I also began to understand how I read. When I read pieces for the first time I tend to miss key details or misinterpret what the article might be trying to say. When I keep going back through I begin to be a little bit more thorough each time and I put more of the pieces together and understand the article a little bit more. I begin by seeing the information as pieces and by the end of it I see the message in it's entirety. 

Using the SQ4R method helped me understand the articles in more depth allowing for a richer conversation with my peers. The idea is that if we deepen our understanding of what we are reading then we can develop our ideas and connections further allowing us to enrich our classmates in a flowing conversation of questions, responses, ideas, and perspectives. Knowledge is power and using this power to generate good conversation is strength. I think it is important to first note though that each of us individually have things to learn from each other. 

Moving forward, I think that having habits of asking even more questions or even reading the article in a group for the last read would be a good idea to get a variety of perspectives when reading. I think having that variety of people reading something also opens up more questions and ideas because everyone has their own background like Kucer said and it's important to note the importance of including and welcoming those different perspectives. I think that having more ownership would consist of me being harder on myself when asking questions, for me to really think deeply about it. To be a creative reader I think it is important to take a break and look at things from different points of views before I continue to judge a piece. I think that I could make the habit of having specific questions and points that I could bring up to my peers in conversation. Making note of perspectives I would like to hear from others. This in turn will spark creativity in all of us, new ideas, perspectives, and likely a newfound appreciation for each other. Sharing these inner thoughts is very valuable and can make us vulnerable at times. Sharing that vulnerability with others can actually bring people together and create something beautiful. This will be a good foundation and opening to conversation.