Blog 6

This chapter reminded of the question,"What does it mean to understand something"? I think the chapter was effective in showing how students learn and the different terms for learning. I really liked the Roaf was not Bloopy' example. First of all, this would be a great activity to do with students. It would be a great way to associate meaning to words and practice their word identification skills. This example shows how we can give words meaning and also how we learn words. It ties in with the Context Plus chart. I really like this method. It is kind of like a KWL chart. Students write what they know about the words and what they think of when they see it, then they work to find the meaning of the word. The way we learn is interesting. Now we associate new things to familiar things in order to remember or learn them, like learning a new language.

Blog #5

This chapter has brought up many topics that future teachers must be aware of as they continue preparing themselves to teach. How will we be teaching our students? What does it mean for the students to understand the material? I like the Charlotte example that the author presented. I think that many teachers have a curriculum which they follow too strictly. This causes the teachers to rush through certain topics and does not allow the student to completely grasp the context. The kids in Charlotte learned and were interested when they sat in their groups and discussed a topic. When asked why they were interested more that day, one student said that he was able to remember it because he could feel it. "It has to do with emotion," he said. When teachers rush through assignments and expect kids to 'remember; and 'understand' something, do they really want them to understand it? Or is it just so they could take a test, score a C, and move on to the next topic? We have to make teaching something valuable and teach our students in a way that matters to them so they can be successful.

Blog #4

            It seems as though in many of the classes that I am taking there is this idea that as times are changing, so are our students. With the many changes in technology for example, a traditional classroom is boring for many kids. This chapter deals with how to capture the attention of our students in what they read.

            I have not read most of the books that were mentioned in the chapter, but I can still grasp the idea of the author. In my early education, I read books in school that I thought were difficult to read, but they were interesting because they made me think. I read The Giver in sixth grade and I thought it was the weirdest book, but it was different from reading textbooks, so it was fun. In seventh grade, I read The Outsiders, which was more interesting to read because I was able understand it more. My favorite class had to be my Topics in Literature class, which I took in high school. In it we read books from all over the world. I liked it because the stories were mostly non-fiction and showed us a different world. For example, A Long Way Gone is told by a boy from Sierra Leone who loses his family during a civil war and is forced to join a guerilla. IT really helped open our eyes to real life situations that we know are there, but we never talk about them. I think that as a teacher, it is important to know what students are interested in reading so that they actually learn something. I know that there are topics and books that we will have to teach, but I think we can also make those books enjoyable for the students. 

Assignment 2

This semester I am taking the instructional technology class, or Ed 295. In our class discussions we have talked about how technology has advanced so much and how much it will advance in the next years. Some of the technology we are learning about might even be outdated by the time we begin teaching. This chapter reminded me about our discussions in that class. I agree that in every field, there is always some learning that will have to be done. It does not matter if you already have your PhD in that field; there is still room for you to learn more. We live in a world where we want to make everything better. I think teachers should have this mindset too. It can be good to step away from what a traditional classroom looks like with chalkboards, books, and notebooks. If we can help students have a better learning experience by integrating technology, then we should do it. 

Assignment 1

            As a student, I have felt the same way Derek and his classmates felt about school. I would always say, “Why do I need this class if I am never going to use it in life?” I felt the same way about the state tests that we were required to take. I usually freak out whenever I take a tests and I feel I do not do as well as I would like because of that. So I felt that it was unfair that those tests determined so much. However, I can see why they are required and I understand that they do have some benefits.

            When I think about myself as a teacher, I do not see myself as a teacher who just teaches students how to pass a test. I feel like that is what many schools are focusing on, such as the Florida school. I think that is the worst possible way to run a school and teach kids. I know that my teachers helped us pass those tests, but they did while keeping us interested and being personal. Teaching about the test was just in the background. I believe they were effective. At my high school, there were better ACT scores each year. I think that when school focus more on actually teaching and impacting kids, passing those test will come automatically.