Lastly, we used children's magazines to create more detailed lesson plans, such as how to help struggling readers and writers, ESL and gifted students, etc.
Please bring your textbook to class on June 21. We will also have time to form groups and work on the lesson plan presentations.
Enjoy the great weather!
Teaching with expository texts
ReplyDeleteThis topic was very interesting to me because having done my practicum in a grade six/seven class I had to teach students methods for using expository texts. It was unbelievable how uncomfortable students were learning from textbooks. One of my units included three lessons on the steps to learning and note taking from textbooks. One useful strategy that showed to be a great success for student learning was called “THIEVES”. This is a strategy that walks students through using expository texts. It stands for title, headings, introduction, every first sentence in a paragraph, visuals and vocabulary, end of chapter questions and summary. As a teacher you can walk your students through an exercise that touches upon each part of the strategy.
Digital literacy
Arguments for and against technology in the classroom are extensive due to its prominent presence. The first discussion touched upon the use of the SMART board in the classroom. It is becoming evident that if SMART boards are present in the classroom then they are used for most if not all subjects. This technology should be used, but only to a certain extent. They should be used as they help engage learners and are a great tool for each student, but most importantly it helps those with learning disabilities. However, if these are used to often students become dependent on the constant engagement offered with technology. If there is a time when the SMART board is no longer available or is not used for a lesson students tend to disengage. Having a balance is important.
There was another conversation that occurred about using the internet to find expository texts. I think that this should be allowed; however, it should be used with caution. Before allowing students to find expository text on the web a teacher should teach the students how to identify if the source is accurate and credible. A teacher should also contact the school librarian as they often have appropriate websites where the students can find their information. For example, for the large research project that my class did during practicum the librarian came in and taught a lesson on using the internet for research and she also led them through navigating particular websites that would help for their projects. I feel that teachers should allow great time to experience digital text because students love using the computers.
Same-Sex Schools
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with the idea of same sex education. One reason I feel this way is that classrooms will be less diverse. For example, if we had a language arts class of only females, the chances of girls creating stories about love and friendships will be great compared to other topics. In a classroom full of boys and girls, the students can appreciate the uniqueness of the other gender and also be inspired. I also disagree with the idea of having a same-sex teacher. For one thing, it should not matter who your teacher is as long as her or she is capable of doing the job. Yes, I can understand that students may feel more comfortable with a teacher of their own sex, but we should be realistic. Once students graduate high school and enter the real world, they usually do not choose a male or female employer, they also do not choose who they work with. Students need to accept and learn to bear with whoever their teacher is, as this will prepare them for life. By placing a student in a gender specific school or organizing a classroom which is all female or male, we are communicating the message to our students that boys and girls are not equal and in some way we are fostering gender discrimination. We need to slowly eliminate this if we want students to accept and respect one another.
Highlights Magazine Activity
In class we formed groups and discussed how we can create a lesson plan which is also inclusive of ESL, struggling and gifted students using Highlights magazines. It is interesting that Highlights is still a popular form of children’s text, being read by children since the eighties. I also thought it was interesting how certain forms of technology grow old, however magazines such as these ones are still going strong. What makes magazines such as these so inspiring and interesting for children? Perhaps it is the uniqueness of the magazine itself. There are numerous activities and a broad selection of articles in this literary text. The magazine encourages creativity among the students as well as educates. The students can also read the responses of other children in the world, which makes the magazine real. The magazine also makes learning fun and includes activities such as crafts, puzzles etc. Another important and useful feature of the magazine is located in the first few pages. The articles are organized according to easy and advanced readers. This gives the teacher an idea of what to assign to certain students. Highlights overall, is an excellent learning tool.
Gender in the classroom is always something I have been interested in. I may very well write about something in this field for the paper. I don't personally agree with segregated classrooms. I feel as if they only perpetuate an "us vs them" mentality which can only be detrimental in later years. If classrooms are meant to build a sense of belonging and community, as I hope to do when I am a teacher, then segregated classrooms are incompatible with current beliefs. Moreover, I cannot help but wonder if they only strengthen the gender binary so many have worked to dismantle. In my opinion, children need to come to the realisation that subjects are gender-neutral; that is, math is not masculine, nor is language arts feminine. Although it certainly won't be easy, I feel this is something every teacher needs to infuse into their curriculum.
ReplyDeleteDoing the multi-level lesson plan was a very useful exercise. The reality of teaching as I understand it is that no matter where, what or how you teach, there will always be academic diversity in the classroom. This could come in the form of English Language Learners, students with learning disabilities, or gifted students, for example. The ability to cater a lesson to a variety of needs is thus an incredibly useful (I might even argue necessary) pedagogical skill. If students see that a teacher is aware of their strengths and challenges as a learner, it is safe to say that they will feel more comfortable and welcomed in the classroom environment and better able to show what they know. Multi-level lessons, in my opinion, also tell students that there are many different ways of learning that are all equally valid. In inclusive classrooms, this is a vital message.
Gender Segregation in Schools:
ReplyDeleteI found the discussion in class to be very thought provoking. There are pros and cons to having students go to gender segregated schools and I believe it is worth having the discussion. I think it is interesting that research has found the benefits of students being taught by teachers of the same sex as them, but it leaves me with lots of questions. I think it is important for children to be exposed to positive role models of both sexes, which means that there should be more male teachers in elementary schools. It is alarming to me that young boys and girls may not encounter a male teacher until high school. Children need to learn how to interact with both males and females and thus having mixed classes and being taught by both sexes is beneficial. If a girl went to a girls only school and was taught only by females, then they would most likely have a difficult time interacting with males in the workplace and in relationships. Education should mirror the real world because we are creating people of the future, so their educational experience should be as close to the real world as possible. Males and females interact in the real world and thus they should in school as well. My other concern with gender-segregated schools is that children who are questioning their sexual orientation might feel they have to hide their true self as a means to avoid bullying. If a homosexual male came out to his very “male” and testosterone filled classmates then he may face bullying. Children will go to the school that best fits them, and some may benefit from gender-segregated schools, but I believe it is important for male and female students to work together and have positive role models of both sexes in their lives.
Handwriting:
I know cursive handwriting is a topic of discussion in schools. The school I worked in for a while did not teach cursive handwriting until grade five, while I believe they are supposed to start in grade three. Most teachers I have worked with use cursive handwriting as a filler activity to pass time and do not directly teach it. This concerns me because cursive handwriting is slowly dying and people do not do it anymore. With the increases in technology, people hardly put a pen to paper anymore let alone handwrite. The main benefit I have seen regarding cursive writing is that it is sort of a rite of passage into the intermediate years and children have such pride and high self-esteem when they see they can do something that their parents do. One student I worked with had cerebral palsy and she had fine motor problems. She has a laptop to do writing assignments on, but when it came to handwriting time, she turned down her computer for her handwriting booklet. The smile she had on her face when she could handwrite her own name was incredible. I think adults take the skill for granted and do not see the value of it because of laptops and smart phones, but children still love to learn the skill. I think that as educators we can take the children’s enthusiasm to learn cursive writing and channel it into writing assignments. For example, students could be learning poetry and they may be motivated to write their own poems in cursive writing because it is new to them and something they can take great pride in.
A quick note about teaching students to use the spellchecker…
I have observed students spellchecking their work and they change everything the computer suggests they change. The spellchecker is a great tool but I believe it is more important to teach students the importance of proofreading. The spellchecker may be wrong and notice something because of other errors in the sentence. Proofreading for grammatical and spelling errors is a skill that needs to be taught and encouraged in the classroom because students are so quick to hand things in. Technology is wonderful but students need to learn how to use it correctly before going out and actually using it.
Digital texts:
ReplyDeleteI think that with the amount of information available to students via the Internet it is important that we consider incorporating its use into the classroom, not only to model that can it can be used for academic purposes, but also to demonstrate navigation techniques and where/how to look for credible sources. I think it is really important that we begin incorporating technological education into the classroom, not just the navigation aspects, but also the responsibility that comes with the use of the Internet, in terms of both the content we explore and that which we share. Students should be exposed, for example, on how to ensure others can relocate information for bibliographies to show them how to give credit to other writers. Also, younger and younger, students are getting on Facebook and other social networking sites and they often do not know the implications of posting private information on the Internet. Ideally, parents are involved and can help to teach their children to act responsibly, but this is not always the case and often times, some parents are equally or more unaware of the consequences of posting photos etc. This seems to be more of a concern in high school, but it is becoming prevalent in middle schools as well and if we can continuously educate students with the facts of what happens when they post personal information then we can help to ensure their safety. For example, anyone with Facebook knows that the security settings are often changing or being reset, so despite taking precautions to keep your profile private, it is still susceptible and it is the responsibility of the individual to ensure that their settings are always at the maximum security.
Magazines:
I really loved working with the magazines last class. I was surprised at how many lesson plan ideas can spring out of an article or two. These magazines are great way to allow children to not only exercise their writing and comprehension skills, but also to see sources of inspiration for their writing. I think that what is great about this is that it involved students in the lesson planning process. This allows students to see that they can contribute to their own learning and that when they see stories, informational texts or articles, and other pieces of writing, they can use the form to create their own writing and helps to contribute to their identity as authors who have something meaningful to communicate in their writing.
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ReplyDeleteMagazines
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed our activity last class with the use of magazines and magazine articles. What struck me most significantly about using magazines within lesson planning was that it introduces students to a whole new form of writing, one that is of an opinionated and critical perspective. Typically, this is a totally different style of writing than many young children are used to as they are quite different from the tone that usually takes place in storybooks and novels, depending on the reader's age. I believe this difference in writing styles is extremely important as students may ask themselves for the first time "Do I agree with what the authour is saying?" "Is the information written here relevant to me?" and "Is there any information missing here and why would it be missing?" Questions like this are a great way to develop a student's awareness of literature and the messages within it. Lesson plans such as the one's we produce in class were great examples of this and can work towards producing great readers and even better thinkers with respect to the written word.
Same-Sex Grouping/Schooling
No matter what positive evidence or impact I have heard about regarding gender specific grouping and school, I can't pull myself aboard this side of the debate. Sure, the potential exists for students to be able to more thoroughly exert their intellect and literary skills if they are working with someone they are more comfortable with, but what message does this send children, "In life, we will always be able to pair you up with people you work best with and are most comfortable with?" I am aware that teachers are not likely to use this gender grouping technique to the extent so that children become aware of this message. However, I am a firm believer that opportunities must be created by the teacher to remove children from their comfort zone and get them to pull themselves up to a new level of cognitive/literary skill, a stance that relates to Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. Furthermore, while I recognize this is a class about Language Arts, and developing literacy skills, but how about the social connotations of gender grouping? It is more than likely that in students in K-7/8ish range will likely spent their recess/lunch periods hanging out with their friends who are likely the same gender, should this be the case too when children are in class? No, children should get used to the ideas of being able to articulate and express themselves around those of the opposite gender. Is this to say that gender-grouping may foster a degree of social awkwardness among students, definitely not. However, does the potential exist to impact a couple of students in such a matter? Absolutely! And even that is too much!
Highlights Activity:
ReplyDeleteThis activity was so great! It is so interesting to see all the different ideas that everyone has based on just one page in a magazine. Being in groups is such a collaboration of ideas! With everybody in the group having different backgrounds and interests being able to look at a lesson in so many different ways has helped me expand my ideas for lessons. I tend to always go down the same track of creative ideas(what I'm comfortable with) so this has helped broaden my horizons.
Gender Segregation in Classrooms:
The idea of segregation of gender in school for specific classes is something that I do not agree with. I think that rather than segregating students there should be a presence of both male and female teachers. I think that is more important. In life students need to learn positive relationships with both genders so keeping them separate would not benefit them. Placing importance on having a male teacher come in for several classes a week or vice versa. My experiences have been with Elementary School. It is important for students to have role models of the same and opposite gender and I think that using that in the curriculum is more productive. Using materials and topics that show excellence or simply presence of different genders in different subject areas is one way to make it more beneficial. Something that I am still wondering about is what the research shows regarding the segregation of genders for specific classes??
Technology in the Classroom: lots of questions!
The use of technology in the classroom is still something that I question.
What I wonder about is if one teacher relies heavy on the technology and the students get used to it and then the following year the teacher does not then does that hinder students future learning?
How would you get all the teachers on board and also where would you ever get the funding from to make technology so accessible?
Having a heavy reliance on technology in the classroom is it a positive because it exposes children to something that they may not see/interact with at home...or a negative because it shows a bigger gap between those students that have access to it outside of school and those that don’t?
If you do not use alot technology in your classroom do you then put your students at a disadvantage?
Does there need to be a curriculum developed around technology for elementary school students? Is there already, I looked at the IRP’s and I was not able to find one.
I know technology is here to stay and will only get more involved in the educational setting, I need to catch up but am a bit stuck in my ways.
The issues surrounding same-sex instructors are very interesting. I am not very familiar with the literature, though I can understand why people would think it is a good idea to put children with their same sex for many of the reasons discussed in class. It seems like male teachers may be able to connect with their male students on a level that they just aren’t connecting with their female teachers in the current system seeing as so many boys are behind in literacy etc. It also seems that girls may excel for the same reasons in subjects they struggle in in comparison to boys such as math and sciences. It may be the way in which their own gender approaches the subject that makes it more accessible to them and their way of thinking.
ReplyDeleteHaving said this I also think that this is extremely problematic socially. If school is meant to prepare students for life and their professional careers how well will we be preparing students for the “real world” if they are unable to adapt to working with opposite sexes and the ways in which they think?
It would seem to me that in an ideal world children would have as many male teachers as female teachers throughout their school career all while learning in a mix-gendered class. The discussion of the sex of the teacher is a valid one; however, segregating teachers and students by the sex of the teacher is not the right direction. Boys and girls both need role models from both genders as well as many opportunities to interact with and learn from one another. In an ideal educational system children could alternate between male and female teachers annually (or mix sex job shares etc). In this way girls may learn math and science approaches and confidence in these subjects from female while also learning valuable skills, strategies and alternative approaches from male teachers (likewise for boy students with male and female teachers). This way the students have a lot of exposure to both sexes as positive role models while being able to interact on a day to day basis with both sexes. They will get the chance to learn the best from both genders. This way the social and the academic needs of both sexes is addressed in a less rigid and narrow manner…Now we just need to get more males teaching primary
Rachel said,
ReplyDeleteUSE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
“Arguments for and against technology in the classroom are extensive due to its prominent presence. The first discussion touched upon the use of the SMART board in the classroom. It is becoming evident that if SMART boards are present in the classroom then they are used for most if not all subjects. This technology should be used, but only to a certain extent. They should be used as they help engage learners and are a great tool for each student, but most importantly it helps those with learning disabilities. However, if these are used to often students become dependent on the constant engagement offered with technology. If there is a time when the SMART board is no longer available or is not used for a lesson students tend to disengage. Having a balance is important.” (Comment posted by TMB)
I would like to add additional comment for the post above. At the beginning of PDP, our module’s FAs gave us (student teachers) an assignment in which we were asked to design an ideal classroom for ourselves and share it as a group. For that project, I wrote a poem describing how my ideal classroom would look like, and I remember writing:
“…good old boards and markers, pencils and papers, pencil crayons and sharpeners, scissors and glue. No touchscreens, no text messaging, no Facebook in here…”
My perception regarding the use of technology actually has been changing over time to this day as I began to understand how positively technology could impact students’ learning today. SMART board, in particular, would be a great tool for engaging students in their learning but as TMB mentioned, I believed it is essential for teachers to determine the balance of using it while transferring knowledge to the students. I find that technology like this has many great impacts but at the same time has so many drawbacks that could lead students into confusion. My biggest concern with using technology too much in classrooms in the near future is that technology provides more information that a teacher or any person could possibly know. Therefore, students at some point will not need a teacher to learn new ideas/concepts at all. In other words, as technology engages students greatly students are likely to depend on technology more than the teacher.
HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE ACTIVITY
First of all, I really enjoyed this activity. Not only did it give me a chance to see the variety of information inside the magazine but also it made me realize in how many different ways contents can be selected and used in a lesson. I personally found it always challenging to select appropriate text and design a lesson out of it; however, through this group activity, I listened to how others in my group would use this content to meet the needs of the students – from those with special needs to those who are gifted. I believe that many teachers tend to accidentally miss these types of students when designing a lesson despite it is crucial for all teachers to keep the idea regularly in mind. Additionally, I found it very useful to hear other groups’ approaches to teaching interesting contents in the magazines they have selected. It gave me great insight of how teaching and learning does not always come from solid traditional textbooks but actually exists all around us, such as weekly magazines or newspapers. Rather than worrying about what text would be challenging or easy enough for the students in general, I learned it is far more important for teachers to allow students engage with different levels of materials and further engage in reading various sources around us.
Same Sex Classroom and Schools
ReplyDeleteLast class we discussed the idea of same-sex classes and teachers. While I understand the arguments against same separating boys and girls and having male teachers only teach boys, I can't help but wonder why people would oppose the idea if empirical evidence indicates that it leads to better reading skills and higher academic achievement. I am not suggesting that all schools suddenly change and have male teachers teaching boys, but if the influence of a male role model as a teacher has significant benefits, I wonder why more schools are not taking advantage of this. One solution, instead of having all male classes, could simply be to have male resource teachers who remove male students from their regular class for reading interventions or just regular reading lessons with a male teacher with similar interests.
Magazines
I think the use of magazines in a classroom is a great way to promote reading. When I was in elementary school I did not enjoy reading and the task of starting and completing a book was very daunting to me; however, the idea of reading a magazine and finding articles of interest seemed much more appealing to me. Magazine can play an important role in classrooms because students can read them and find a subject they enjoy reading about which can spark their interest in reading and make the idea of reading an entire book less challenging. Additional, magazines can inspire many lesson ideas, including letter writing to the editor and cutting out pictures and making collages' the ideas are endless and just depend on the type of magazine and age you are teaching.
Sonja wrote:
ReplyDeleteIn my practicum class, magazines were always a big hit with the students as the majority of them were ESL to some degree. They enjoyed magazines because they would look at photos and drawings, which would help them to understand the text a little more thoroughly. I did not end up using the magazines in any of my lesson plans as I hadn’t yet been exposed to the methodology courses as I am now. I believe that expanding the variety of texts used in the classroom is a wonderful way to encourage a love of reading. We had several Highlights magazines in the classroom which the children would read during uninterrupted silent reading period. This allowed them to extend their reading beyond the text on the page, and they would be begging me to let them do their research essays on the “Seven Wonders of the World” or on “Toucans and other colourful birds” instead of on a cultural aspect of west coast aboriginal life. Perhaps if I had take the time to find magazines on the Haida or the Coast Salish, they might have been a little bit more intrigued, which would have saved me time and energy trying to motivate them.
As for the gender role in the classroom topic, I think it’s completely subjective to the child, the teacher, and the situation. In my practicum school, another PDP student was in a grade 7 class who had a male teacher. I had the chance to observe in this classroom during my short practicum back in October, and I have to say that he is an amazing teacher. He was passionate, witty, hilarious, and intelligent. Every child, boys and girls, in his class absolutely loved having him as a teacher. In another example, I worked for an out of school care program in an elementary school for two years before starting PDP. I ran into a mother in September whose son was in my program. Her son was adorably sweet and funny and apparently adored being with me. His kindergarten teacher was lovely and kind and he felt incredibly comfortable in her class. His mom told me that he was in grade 1 in a male teacher’s class. I know this male teacher and one could not ask for a better teacher. He is hilarious, kind, and plays the guitar every day. This particular child however, was having a very hard time adjusting to this male teacher. He apparently was crying every day, lied to his mom about feeling sick before school, and stopped talking in class. This was odd as this child is a fairly outgoing child who has many friends. Her thought was that he liked female teachers better as they were more soft-spoken and gentle, whereas this male teacher had a louder voice. This child has a wonderful father so it wasn’t as though he was scared of men in general, he just preferred female teachers. In the end, the gender issue is not black and white.
Collaboration
ReplyDeleteOne of the big ideas that really cemented even deeper for me last class was simply the value of collaboration. Now I understand this is nothing earth shattering, as we had the importance of collaboration impressed upon us at every turn since the first day of PDP. However, after twenty minutes of working together on a group lesson plan, I felt like each group had a viable lesson plan. If I had been working on my own to create a lesson plan I doubt very much if I could have completed close to what we did as a group. Now I am not saying that I agreed with everything that everyone in my group suggested, and I felt like I did make some compromises that I wouldn’t have made if working on my own. That said, just the simple sharing of ideas, even ideas that I didn’t like that much, led to more ideas. It reminded me a bit of the group writing exercise that we did last week, where it was so much easier to get ideas flowing once the process had been started, even if you didn’t start it. Now I think of all those teachers sitting alone in their classrooms creating lessons in a vacuum, and think how great it could be if there was greater collaboration in the teaching community. It wouldn’t mean that there would be identical lessons since everyone has their own opinions about what would work best for them and their students, but it would definitely ramp up the creative process.
Same Gender Classrooms
It was an interesting conversation that we had about same gender classroom last week. My initial reaction was that it was definitely better to have co-ed classes and schools, but after coming home to “google” some expert opinion on the topic, I was confronted with some pretty strong evidence that academically there seemed to be some strong benefits to same gender classrooms. However, like most situations in life, this too is shades of grey. I have real concerns that all boys classes and all girls classes would be treated significantly different, and that there would definitely be a tendency to reinforce gender stereotypes. (Would we be going back to “sugar and spice and everything nice” and snakes and snails and puppy dog tails”?) Part of going to school (albeit in the implicit curriculum) is learning to socialize with other students, and this includes both boys and girls. If we wait until they are out of school to learn to socialize with the opposite gender, those who enter gender dominated fields may never get the opportunity to fully become comfortable socializing with the opposite gender. To me, this is definitely not a one size fits all situation. I would imagine that different children would flourish in different environments. Therefore, maybe the answer would be to have same gender classrooms as options for those who would thrive in them, assuming that the school system could handle it financially.
Digital literacy reminded me about a discussion I had heard on the radio. There is an Elementary school in Vancouver that has embraced the new world of technology with i Pads, i Pod Touches and Smart Boards. The school even encourages students of all grades to bring their own smart devices to class! The devices are used practice writing letters and math “with colorful and interactive applications that make learning feel like fun.” It is apparent that 21st Century Learning is all about embracing the technology and moving towards “Personalized Learning” opportunities. The discussion on the radio mentioned how some people believe eventually there will be no place for teacher instruction in the classroom because everything will be learned electronically. The radio host suggested people choosing to pursue a teaching career should quit now. This was disturbing for me to hear considering how hard I have worked to pursue a teaching career. Even though I think it is necessary to make use of technology such Smart Boards, I strongly believe there will always be a place for good old fashioned pencils and paper. Children need to learn basic writing skills because technology is not always reliable.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, we all know the internet is an extremely useful way to find information because it is so fast and interactive. However I agree when people say it must be used with extreme caution in the classroom. For instance, the SA I had for my short practicum allowed the grade 1 students to Google image search ‘sharks’ because they were learning about different kinds of sharks. I felt extremely uncomfortable because there was no way to monitor the images or links the students clicked on. So, as to be expected many of the students came across disturbing images of sharks that were dead and bloody. These students were looking at horrific images and asking questions I did not know how to answer. When the students asked my SA if the images were real she told them yes because sharks are often hunted and slaughtered for their fins. I had a hard time accepting the situation because I felt a lot of parents may disagree with the teacher’s approach. I know it important to expose children to the harsh realities of life; however I thought this particular approach was far too high risk for my liking.
Same-Gender Schools:
ReplyDeleteI found this discussion in class to be very interesting as the first 10 years of my education was in an all-girl school. Where I come from, all-boy schools or all-girl schools (grades 1-10) were common both in the public school as well as the mission school system. From grade 11 onwards, there were only co-ed schools. From my experience, I felt that each teacher had their own teaching style and that math or science were not particularly the ‘weaker’ subjects. We (students) each struggled in different subjects individually. For example, if a student spoke mainly English at home, then, he/she could have struggled with Mandarin in school. And vice versa for those students who spoke mainly Mandarin at home. All subjects were taught in English, except for Mandarin, those who struggled with the English language, in general, struggled with subjects such as History, Literature and Science. Single sex school students are free to pursue academics and other interests without distractions from dating and/or long-term relationships. Furthermore, sex-related issues such as underage pregnancies are not prevalent in single-sex schools.
However, due to the nature of the school environment (lack of exposure to the opposite sex), I feel that there is a lack of social skills i.e. poor communication skills, especially with the opposite sex. Students from a single gender school struggled with communication and etiquette when they had to interact with the opposite sex. In addition, there existed a school tradition of freshmen having crushes on upperclassmen. Fortunately, with the fully co-educational junior college system, such problems seemed to be rectified. To generalize, I think that single-sex schools are more conducive to academic learning, whereas co-educational schools offer a more conducive environment for social interaction and development of social skills.
Magazines:
I enjoyed the activity of using magazines as a resource for a lesson/unit/theme. The collaboration as a class/ group with varied creative ideas as to how an article in a magazine could be used to teach a lesson or a unit was amazing! I like the idea of using a non-fiction magazine article or the whole magazine as an introduction to non-fiction texts. Students who struggle with reading will probably find non-fiction text ‘uninteresting’. However, as magazine articles are generally shorter and have different styles of writing, I think that students (differentiated learners in the classroom) will more likely be engaged in a non-fiction magazine and enjoy reading informative texts.
Same-gendered classrooms:
ReplyDeleteFor one of our many PDP activities in 401 my partner and I taught a lesson on gender stereotypes in the classroom. From our research we learned that children as early as the primary grades are exposed to various gendered books, such as books about princesses and books about cars. By exposing children to gender stereotypical books children determine that they should behave a certain way. In the primary classroom, children are also exposed to books that illustrate traditional male and female jobs, such as teachers and firemen. However, not every little girl will want to be a princess, and not every little boy will want to play with cars. Consequently, if they are made to believe that their views to not coincide with the norm, then they may begin to feel separate from their peers. It is important for teachers to introduce books into the classroom that challenge gender stereotypes, such as The Paper Bag Princess, so that children recognize that it is ok to be different. In regards to our class discussion, having same-gendered teachers for the boys in the classroom further promotes gender stereotypes in the classroom. The male teachers will select what they deem appropriate for male students, and those selections will be heavily masculine. Although, this practice may encourage more male readers, it also sends the message that boys should read boys’ books and girls should read girls’ books. Not every boy and girl will want to read the books that educators have determined that their gender will enjoy, and as a result they will again feel that they are different from their peers if they choose something that is not the norm for their gender. Therefore, teachers should encourage their students to choose books that they enjoy, regardless of whom they may be intended for, and also express that it is ok to be different.
Lesson Planning Activity: I really enjoyed using magazines to design a lesson plan. In accordance with a blogger above, I too discovered that magazines are a good way to introduce students to expository texts because they are less intimidating than textbooks. When the students in my 405 practicum were researching for their social studies projects, I was a bit surprised that only three students went to the library to locate information, while the rest of the class headed straight for the computers. Clearly, the use of books for research is on the outs; however, perhaps if we exposed children to magazines as a form of informational text then they would use those instead of simply relying on the internet. Magazine articles are a good starting point for research. Once students have acquired basic information from an article they can take what they know and expand on it with further research .The article will help to narrow their search and give them a sense of what they are looking for during their internet inquiries. Another benefit of magazines is that they can be quick and easy to read, for the students who struggle with reading. They also contain graphics that would enable the ESL students to better comprehend what it is they are reading. There are even genres of magazines with articles that would challenge gifted students such as Time, and Popular Mechanics. That said, the activity demonstrated that magazines are a great tool for differentiated learning.
Re: Readings for June 14 class.
ReplyDeleteChapter Six gives several ways of teaching student to read expository text to retain the meaning and suggests various ways students can respond to expository text or create their own informational writings. I noticed that for all these strategies, the teaching of the strategy involves a process of “time, modeling, and guided practice before students can be expected to use (them) independently” (pg 249/250). I don’t think this process of transferring of skills in little steps and from teacher modeled/directed to student activity is emphasized enough. (Maybe I just missed the PDP days/courses where it was explained.) Because it does take so much time, it really helps that Elementary school usually allows for integration in subjects, so Language Arts time and Science time can be combined to learn the LA skills of reading and writing expository text while applying the skills to the science curriculum text book and text materials.
Curse the Cursive?
I am excited by the many ways of studying word meanings as shown in Chapter Seven, and wonder how they would work with ESL students, especially teaching root words or drawing idiom posters. But the later discussion about handwriting in the chapter brings up the debate over the value of teaching cursive writing. In one Grade 4/5 practicum, the teacher was including it but spending very little time and effort, and it was frustrating because many students were not learning to form the letters correctly and often making many more strokes than intended. To me, this was a greater waste of time. I thought the idea of cursive was speed by moving forward and not lifting the pen, but many students didn’t get the point, and resented being corrected. At the time, I read an article in a parenting magazine on the importance of learning cursive that connected cursive writing fluency with college success, because students need to be able to write quickly to take notes. At the same time, I see more laptops in class, most professors provide copies of notes, we’re expected to type most things a teacher reads (except exams), and there are tons of new devices to record information in audio and visual formats without writing. Is there any value in teaching cursive, or would that time be better spent developing keyboarding skills? Is it worse to teach cursive half-heartedly or not at all?
It seems I missed a pretty interesting class discussion on gender segregation in schools. I don't have much opinion on the subject, except based on my experience in gender segregated PE classes (Gr.8&9) and co-ed PE classes(Gr.10). Since we're more concerned about academics and literacy, PE experience doesn't count, but for the record, I MUCH preferred the gender segregated PE classes.
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ReplyDeleteWe had a great discussion on the topic if boys and girls should be taught differently. I think that boys and girls should not be taught differently as there are boys and girls who engage in activities or tasks that are not specific to their gender. They may learn differently, as every individual has their own learning style, but it doesn't mean that they should be segregated and placed into different gender - specific classrooms. By segregating boys and girls in different classrooms, I believe that they will learn and appreciate only about their own sexual identity (combination of gender - identity, gender - role behaviours and sexual orientation) and not the opposite sex. Even the research doesn't support the segregation in terms of gender. The research conducted by Angie and Chang in 41 different geographical locations brought to the forefront that there were no sex differences related to academic achievement in half of the countries. They also mentioned that the tests that supported sex differences - boys excessive abilities in maths and science and girls in reading and writing - did not take race and socio economic status in account (read it in my other educational psychology course). There are many other factors - social, structural and cultural -that play role in one's academic achievement instead of biologically based cognitive abilities. Moreover, it is not the gender difference, instead, it is the perception of one’s ability with a subject that plays role in his/her academic achievement.
ReplyDeleteEach child has its own learning style and keeping in mind, the best way to promote gender equity in the classroom is by using different teaching styles that meet the needs and learning styles of all the students, gender – free language, using texts and materials that are fair to both males and females and most importantly, encourage and build positive self – esteem, self – perception of students for a particular subject and for themselves.
Highlights Magazines
ReplyDeleteIn responding to Delicia’s post about the staying power of Highlights magazines, I would say we are somewhat fortunate when teaching Language Arts lessons because old resources can be just as relevant as new. I used a ‘well worn’ resource in my practicum, supplied by my SA, in the form of a mock newspaper with an editor named ‘Mr. Grump’. As my students read, Grump took them through the aspects of journalistic reporting and writing in a humorous way, later asking them to create newsworthy articles using the 5 ‘W’s’. Of course, with this dated resource, there was no mention of requiring photos taken with a cell phone to go with their reports (or texting their contacts about story leads for that matter) but my students loved this resource and produced creative, authentic writing with it. I also think it’s beneficial to have hard copies of materials like Highlight magazines. The portable nature of these is great for students to pass around in class and share ideas. As well, it seems that magazines are more user friendly to peruse and therefore are a good medium to develop and apply ‘before, during, and after’ reading strategies (scanning headings, posing questions, and predicting content details...).
One issue that may need to be addressed at times with older materials is the fact that they may not be tailored to meet the needs of every student - the central concern of teachers. The content may not be as accessible as it should be for all the students in today’s diverse classrooms, for instance, and the activities may need to be adapted if newer research suggests that an altered approach would optimize learning.
Root words
Of the many great suggestions for word activities in Ch. 7, the one that involves root word clusters stands out for me. I always find it interesting to learn the origins of words and how their meanings have either been maintained or largely transformed in modern language. This activity would be well worth doing with intermediate students as they may find it engaging to explore the many words that come from a common root. Although, if the aim of learning new words is so that they “become an active part of a student’s vocabulary” p291 (Thompkins et al), then it may be that some of the words in such a cluster would be less likely to be encountered in alternate contexts. Thus, these peripheral words may not be reinforced for the students nor would they show up later in the students’ genuine writing efforts. Still, I think it has potential to be a fun, background knowledge builder and could be used in an authentic way. For instance, students could use it to find words with Latin roots while doing a theme study unit on the Roman Empire.
“The Highlights magazine activity was great! I really liked flipping through the magazine and seeing that the same kinds of activities are still in there that were there when I was little. Ahh, the memories! Working in the groups was cool too. It was interesting going through all the articles and throwing out ideas that we could build on for the lesson plan. When finally settling on one article I found it was neat to hear all the different ideas in the group. We were able to plan a central lesson and it was easy to think of adaptions for children who are struggling and those who excel. I think that it is important to also let the children have a say in what they are doing and was happy that my group decided to incorporate a final activity that allowed the children to choose how they would present what they learned about the topic.
ReplyDeleteI found our discussion about gender really interesting. I have always thought that going to an all-boys or all-girls school would not be that great. I think that I mostly focused on the cons though. However, recently I have talked to a few people, one who attended a same sex school and one who has children enrolled, and I think my opinion has changed. I’m still not totally all for it but I can definitely see the benefits now. Before I thought that the kids wouldn’t get much interaction with the opposite sex which might be an impediment to their interactions after high school, but there are many other places/times where those interactions can take places- especially if the person has a sibling of the opposite sex who has friends over often or if their involved in community activities or sports, like as swim club. A benefit that I see now is that boys and girls learn in different ways and in same sex schools it would be easier to accommodate those learning styles.”
Re Quest Strategy:
ReplyDeleteAfter rereading chapter 6, I am again interested in the ReQuest strategy outlined on page 250-1. Although it shouldn’t be, the idea of letting students ask the teacher unlimited questions after reading a passage is so far removed from what is traditionally done. After reading a passage, teachers close the book and start firing questions out to students; the better the teacher, the higher-level questioning. But this ReQuest strategy is done so differently. While yes, the strategy eventually has the teacher asking students the follow-up, higher-order questions, students get first crack at questioning. I find this approach appealing for a number of reasons: 1) students will become much more engaged and interested given the opportunity to “quiz” the teacher; 2) students are held to higher expectations by not being passive receivers of questions; 3) it encourages students to think critically and ask questions—a skill I want to encourage but can be difficult knowing how to do so; 4) having the teacher ask “better” questions afterwards will eventually help students learn what good questions look like. With the pros for this strategy being obvious, I have to acknowledge probably the primary difficulty with this strategy, establishing a respectful questioning/listening culture within your classroom before the strategy could be successful.
Collaborative Reports:
Being able to work collaboratively with a group of other people is such an important skill for both university and almost any career or job. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I state that it is impossible to avoid working with others in some capacity at some point in time. For this reason, the section in the text on collaborative reports, (p.262), is so key for educators to bone-up on because we need to equip our students with these skills. In the context the text touches on, the focus is on scaffolding how to write a research report by weaning students into it slowly through divvying up the work. I would conduct this activity with a different motivation. I see its value being teaching students how to not only work together but to gently hold each other accountable, be responsible to others for work well done, extend constructive feedback and to learn how to receive and utilize feedback.
Same-Sex Classrooms
ReplyDeleteGrouping children together according to their gender has both benefits and consequences for education. It is for this reason that the issue of same-sex classrooms is so passionately debated among educators and other members of society. When it comes to debating this topic it is important to remain focused on what is best for the students involved. With this in mind, we can rationally consider the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of segregating genders. In support of gender-specific groupings, one might argue that boys and girls learn differently. As a result, teaching only one gender at a time would allow educators to focus their teaching methods and have more time for specific instruction as required. While there may be learning styles that are more common among one gender than another, there is no “one” way that boys or girls learn. In fact, it is negligent to assume that just because an individual is a boy means that they learn in a specific manner. Even if there is a group of boys that all learn one way and a group of girls that all learn another, is there no value in exposing children to a variety of teaching methods? Such diversity will allow individuals to expand their abilities in responding to instruction. With respect to social development, I believe that mixed gender classrooms provide important opportunities to interact with members of the opposite sex. These interactions help support healthy inter-gender relationships and promote equality in society. While there are many additional components of the debate on same-sex classrooms, from my experience I believe that the benefits of mixed classrooms outweigh the potential benefits of same-sex classrooms.
Magazines
Today we explored the use of magazines to develop lesson plans for the classroom. This activity was very beneficial because it highlighted the importance of providing a variety of literature sources for students to discover. As a student, my experience of language arts in elementary school primarily involved reading stories from class textbooks that incorporated compiled pieces of literature on a variety of subjects including, multiculturalism and bullying. While many of these stories were quite engaging, they provided a narrow understanding on sources of literature. Returning to the classroom as a student-teacher, I have observed the same textbooks being used; however, there is also an effort to include new sources, such as children’s news articles and online commentaries. Providing students with an opportunity to look at a variety of literature sources is essential for building an appreciation of the role of literacy in our everyday lives. Furthermore, it facilitates an understanding of the diversity in literature that exists. As teachers it is our responsibility to provide students with the opportunity to experience the diversity of literature. This involves incorporating various literature sources in our lesson plans, including newspapers, online articles, and magazines.
Class 6:
ReplyDeleteMind Maps:
I really like the idea of using graphic organizers, specifically mind maps or clusters to teach students how to organize information from non-fiction text. In reflecting on myself as a learner I have learned that the form that my notes take can either stifle my ability to make connections or can free my mind resulting in a wealth of connections. I have learned that when I write notes in a linear order I find it hard to make connections between one section of information and another. However, when I take notes in mind map form I am able to see all of the information side by side and can physically draw connections between different sections of information. When I can relate a piece of information in one sub-topic area to another I can begin to see how the main topic can be conceptualized as a whole. This in turn helps me to synthesize information which I have always had trouble doing (as I tend to get bogged down by detail). When my notes are in linear form; I have more trouble writing only the key points and picking out the most important information to summarize.
Having related the usefulness of mind mapping to my own learning I realise that there are other types of learners as well as instances where linear note taking is important and more useful than cluster diagrams or mind maps. For example, learners who have trouble focussing on information that is presented all at once may find mind maps or cluster diagrams to be confusing and overwhelming. Having taken notes in this way they may find studying off of them or using them to write a paragraph to be a daunting task because they may not feel as though they know where to start with the information. Linear notes may be easier for these students to use because there is a clearly defined order of information. When writing these notes students would have had to focus on one idea at a time letting them elaborate on their thoughts without getting distracted by other pieces of information. Linear note taking is also important when taking notes about subjects which have been described as a sequence of events. A part of understanding this type of text is in learning the sequence in which events take/took place.
In conclusion, I am excited to provide options for my students in learning how to take meaningful notes. In teaching my students how to use graphic organizers I will help them learn to use organizers which fit their individual learning styles as well as teaching them when specific types of organizers could be most helpful in relation to the type of expository text structure used by an author.