Adolescent Literacy chap. 12-13 Reflection

I teach Spanish to the point where I know each student has understood. I had a hard time learning different concepts during my education and I want to always make sure everyone is understanding. One common phrase I always use is, "You know?" Because of this I am a good teacher, I love my students, I love my job, and I love to be involved, but I am a poor writer. Does this mean I am a poor teacher?

Adolescent Literacy chap. 11 Reflection

"Imagine yourself at your kitchen table, in your pajamas. Imagine one person you'd allow to see you that way, and write in the voice you'd use to that friend. Write about what makes you different." (Sandra Cisneros)

Writing is difficult for me. I always tell people that English was too hard so I just learned Spanish. (I am a Spanish teachers.)

I feel completely incompetent when teaching a portfolio piece. I did graduate from college, but I still feel that it is a weakness for me. I sometimes like I am in the same confused state as the students. They are so self-conscious about their writing that they are always asking, "What should I write here?" or "How can I re-write this sentence?" To them I act like they should be thinking on their own, and come up with their own ideas, but truthfully I am just as self-conscious as they are.

This statement made by Sandra Cisneros sounds great, in fact I would love to write like this, I would love to instruct my students to write like this, but is this going to get them to pass their Senior portfolio?

Book Trailer

Now, what is a book trailer used for, to introduce a book to students or should we be having the kids do book trailers for the books they read? I could see where having students do them would be awesome. We have Drop Everything and Read at my school and we have to provide the books; a lot of my kids do not know what to read when they head to the back of my room for a book. I could have each kid read one book and then create book trailers to advertise that book to the rest of the class so that they get excited about DEAR and get ideas about what to read. However, I also feel that would be so time consuming and not geared toward my content. The books in my room are supposed to be books kids would like to read, not necessarily anything to do with my content, but I guess if I am going to have to put my efforts into DEAR once a week then creating book trailers will be less time consuming than waisting one day a week for the entire year.

Adolescent Literacy Chapter 17 Reflection

As I reflect upon my own experiences with testing as a student and then as a teacher, I go from, "what is this crap? I am not even being graded on it," to "I get it, we need to test kids, but hopefully it is still in the beginning phases and it will adapt through time to become better."

I remember thinking in high school, "I am so tired, thank goodness, this does not count for anything." Now, I realize my teachers were probably hoping I would help raise the scores for their school, and here I was...tired.

As a first year teacher I remember thinking, "These kids could care less, I have one who doesn't feel like doing anything today, and all I can say is, 'Do your best.'" This past year we had a kid diliberately take the entire test in one (20 minute) time frame. He said he didn't care how the school did and that he was tired and ready to go home. He spent the next 5 days at home for suspension, but hey that is what he wanted in the first place. Congratulation kid on a job well done; you went for something and you got it.

I just am hoping for change, and soon.

Adolescent Literacy Chapter 16 Reflection

"To you I might just be another child lost in society's universal negativity.
I suppose now is the time for heads to turn away and shoulders to shrug.
Know this...
Stereotypes can only go so far,
Last so long, and mean so much."

I know it is highlighted in the book, but I just wanted to put it on my blog so that I can remember it and so that others who might read it might take a second glimpse inside of a child's mind. If only I could fastforward them into the future to see what life is like so that they would be able to put those stereotypes away for themselves and live a life all their own.

Springfield Vocabulary

I loved the idea of using vocabulary in skits, which have been recorded on a podcast and posted to their class blog. It provides students with tutorials for words for when they are at home or are doing homework in the library. I would love to do something like this with Spanish. Maybe, have our vocabulary list on there and then have the kids make scripts using an assigned word. Instead of giving them the definitions I could have them go to the blog and listen to the different sentences by each group and have them come up with the definition by themselves.

One problem I see with this is access to a computer at home. We could do the recordings in class but having the students go back and listen to them in class would take too much time, seeing that we would have to go one by one.

Through all of the content we have learned in our 2nd year alt. cert program I am still seeing one underlying problem, access. I see me using a lot of these ideas and technology applications but I do not see me being able to allow the students to use these applications, which is sad. Anyway, that was a tangent, but I love the idea and hope to use it in class.

"Chew on This" Reflection

Will I ever eat meet again?

After having a restless night thinking about chickens being stomped on, cattle being feed other cattle, and unlimited amounts of "shit" smoking, I have asked myself, what can I do? I feel that the actions in this book are due to the fast pace of our society, one that talks on the phone instead of greeting other people on the street, one that depends on fast food, to the point that even knowing this information still does not impact McDonald's drive in, and one where a person could live weeks/years never actually seeing or speaking to another person due to the internet. I asked myself last night, is doing nothing an option, can I be a vegetarian, can I possible eat a chicken nugget without thinking about the chicken who got scalded ALIVE?

I belive these to be my options:
1) Become a vegetarian. Would that mean no dairy at all?
2) Never eat at a fast food restaurant again. What about when I don't have time to fix anything to eat?
3) Buy meat only from a butcher and never eat at fast food restaurants again. Where do butchers get their meat?
4) Eat wherever and whenever and forget about thinkless animals. Will the vision of smoking crap ever get out of my mind?

I feel like I know what to do, but give up steaks? hamburgers? pork chops? I want to ask what others feel like I should do, what WE should do, but I also want someone to tell me that this isn't true.

Adolescent Literacy chap. 5 and 6 reflection

Chapter 5: "And so the schools, particularly the English language arts teachers, need to accept that responsiblity and make the teaching of discussion a significant part of the curriculum."
This quote is extremely important to those teachers that feel instruction only comes from the teacher; think about how much information can/is taught by a student's own peers. However, I disagree with the statement, "particularly the English language arts teachers;" the art of discussion can be taught and used in any content class. Think about how important it is for teachers to themselves use the vocabulary in order for their students to use it. Talking is too important to not allow.

Chapter 6: I have never been a big fan of comics, occasionally I would read the "funnys" section of the newspaper, but as for true comic books, I have never reached a high level of interest. However, after reading the book Mouse (or however it is spelled), I have gained a new respect for comics. Now, I know graphic novels are completely different than comics, but have comics not driven a path for the acceptance and love for graphic novels? I have a wide range of abilities present in my classroom, and I am always looking for ways to provide multiple opportunities for all students to learn; using graphic novels, and manga novels are an excellent way to provide those opportunities.

Adolescent Literacy chp.s 4 and 15 reflection

Chap. 4: One of my questions on my index cards is, If I were to ask high school students what it means to understand and/or comprehend, what would they say?
I wonder if they, themselves, would understand what it actually means to understand, or have they been in a system defined by a student's lack of understanding that they would not truly know what it means "to understand."

Chap. 15: When discussing "flow," I find that the concept is easy "to understand;" how could teachers not understand this? However, I don't necessarily believe that it is a teacher's lack of knowing this, but rather a "how to do this" question. Students and teachers differ in flow. What is flow for one person may not be flow for another. A Spanish teacher from Spain at my school could not understand when the students told her that they felt she jumped around from topic to topic to much, in essence they needed flow. She, however, felt a natural flow to the lessons that the students could not feel. What does it mean "to understand" "flow"?

Adolescent Literacy chp. 10 reflection

When looking at the "Focusing on the Skills Needed for the "Flat" world", I think how this is going to change instruction in the future and how it needs to change now. And, however daunting that may sound, it is actually SO EXCITING!! How many of us educators have tried to come up with a new and exciting way to teach something so repetive and boring as verb conjugations the night before the lesson and have sat with our mouths open and our pen down just thinking...and thinking...and thinking....And now look at this!! IDEAS!! Imagine having my Spanish classes design signs, community broadcasts, or a community resource directory IN SPANISH for our Spanish community, that as of right now can't be involved because of the language barrier. Now instead of repeatedly asking them to conjugate verbs on a piece of white paper, I can ask them to create a personalized broadcast to be published for our Spanish community (and they will be conjugating verbs in order to do this activity!!) As a third year teacher I can honestly say, teaching is just getting better and better!!

Adolescent Literacy chp. 1 reflection

1) Do I agree with this chapter? Of course, however, simply writing about it in a book helps no one! Now, writing about it and doing something about it makes a difference.

2) Who doesn't already know that education needs to move into the 21st century, but tell me how to do that. Reaching students like Collin is every teacher's dream, but how, when, where, with what? Between reveiwing for CATS, in the library with a classroom already taking place, and with the 25 state-of-the-art computers in ....your classroom??

3) Should the test not reflect what the students are learning and need to learn in the 21st century? Does the test not change with the times?

4) I don't need a chapter to tell me the downfalls of our education system today, I need a chapter that promises change, and points me in the right direction to make those changes.