SWITZERLAND!!

I cant talk much because people are waiting for the computers! I love it in Interlaken. Yesterday was pretty much horrible. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Trains were late or broken. We didnt get to our hostel until 12 30 so we were pretty tired. we left at 845 in the morning. Today was really relaxing and i loved it. everything is so beautiful. Well I just wanted to let everyone know that i was okay. Oh, my eye has been swollen three different days and my lip once. i woke up yesterday with the biggest swollen eye yet and it still hasnt gone all the way down. I have pics documenting this and it is hilarious! well Ive got to go. I am sorry for the lack of punctuation.

Only 2 and a half more weeks

Hello everyone. I guess it has been a week since I last posted. We have had a rather low key week here in Sansepolcro. I don't think I finished talking about Rome but I am just going to move on. Rome was fun but exhausting but we managed to see what we wanted to see. If you need to see Rome in a day..talk to me and I can tell you how haha!
It has been very relaxing being back in Sansepolcro. We had our second family dinner and I was with a new family. I LOVED them. They had a 20 year old son and a 13 year old daughter. The dad was the funniest man I think I have ever met. He did not speak English very well but he loved trying. His kids just laughed at him but he didn't care. I loved getting to know them and the food was delicious. The thing to do here in Sansepolcro is to walk to main street. On the weekends in the evening the street is packed. We went with our host dad...he drove us to the main street in his Crystler CONVERTABLE! Mom, you and Leslie would have loved this guy and his ride. He kept making fun of his daughter and how she was getting ready to walk to streets. He bought us gelatto which Maggie and I LOVE! I eat gelatto at least once a day...usually twice. Just so you arent shocked, I may be a good 20 pounds heavier when I get home. Our host dad knew EVERYONE. It was just like being at church on Sunday and never getting to go eat lunch because your mom keeps talking. We ended up walking with the daughter and her friend because they didnt want to wait for their dad. A group of boys kept following them around and while Babbo (Dad) was around the girls stressed that the boys were JUST FRIENDS. As we walked with the girls they told us that the two blondes were their boyfriends. They only like blondes aparently. It was funny because they never spoke to the boys they just wanted to walk by the boys...just like 13 year olds in America. Some things just are the same no matter where you live. Family dinners have been my favorite experience so far.

Lets see...we have had a lot of classtime this week. It is crazy though because we leave Monday for Venice and when we get back, we only have 3 more days of class. Tuesday we went to a jewelry show and all of us got cute things. Only at Meredith do a group of students take an excursion to a jewelry show. The people were so nice and have been having MC students over to their house for years now. The daughters make the jewelry and it is beautiful. Wednesday we went to Assisi and Perugia. Assisi was beautiful and Perugia was nice too. It was a long day though and we were realy tired when we got back to the Servi.

Well, that is it for now. I hope all is well in America. I cannot wait to get back and go to the beach and river!!! See you in a little over 2 weeks!

Back in Sansepolcro

I hope no one judges my writing skills based on this blog. I just read over the quick one I wrote yesterday and it was the most choppy thing I have ever read. I am always rushing when I post because I have to pay at the internet cafe and the computer at the Servi is horribly slow and everyone is waiting for it.

As I said yesterday, Rome was a lot of fun. We traveled from Arrezo to Naples and then caught a local train from Naples to Sorrento. The Naples train station left quite a bit to be desired. We heard a lot of bad stories about Naples so I think all of us were on guard. The local train from Naples to Sorrento was very interesting. We were packed in for the first half of the trip. We had on our packs and just had to stand for a while. The train made a lot of stops so people kept getting out and had to climb over us because so many people were in the way. I saw some people get up from a seat and I went to sit down. Unfortunately some Italian teenagers saw the same three seats open up. I sat down but then I got wedged against the window. I sat next to a very affectionate couple (this tends to be the trend in Italy). She sat in his lap and their friend sat across from them. Not only did they kiss, they also smelled horribly. It was not a fun train ride to say the least! We finally made it to Sorrento and our hostel was pretty nice. All of us had a bed but it was definitely a squeeze. It worked thought because we were only in there to sleep and take a shower. We went out to dinner that night at the cutest little place. The hostel recommended it and because we were staying at the hostel, we got 10 percent off! We split a bottle of wine and got dinner. It was delicious. It was nice to sit and relax for a while.

The next day we went to Capri. We woke up early to take a ferry over to the Island. It had stormed the night before and it was pretty cloudy that day. When we woke up it was raining but it turned out being an okay day. It only sprinkled for a bit in the morning. Because of the weather though, the seas were a little rough. We got on this big jet boat to take us to the island and we got a little seasick. The boat looked like a really nice, wide airplane on the inside. We could see crew members running around with bags because aparently, we were not the only ones feeling sick. I fortunately did not get sick. I thought Sal was going to beacuse she was completely white when we stood to get of the boat. My friend Katie who had been fine the whole trip stood up and started to feel sick. We had to go down a flight of steps into the bottom of the boat and on the way down, Katie felt it coming. The crew member grabbed her and stuck her head outside of a little door onto the outside deck of the sick where she vomited her breakfast. It was pretty funny because she felt fine right after. The crew memeber was so nice and rubbed her back as she vomited down the side of his boat. We had to wait in the bottom of the boat as they got ready to dock and we watched as another crew member brought a hose to clean it all up. I just thought you might enjoy that story as much as I did.

Capri was beautiful even though it was cloudy. We took a chairlift up to the top and it was amazing. It was like a ski life but you were in a chair by yourself. It takes 12 minutes going up and then you get off and get to see the most beautiful views ever. The top of the mountain was freezing.

I would tell you all more but I have to run to my Family dinner!!! I am pretty excited. Hope all is well in good ole America.

Back from Capri and Rome

I got back a little while ago from Rome. We had a good time be we are exhausted. Capri was absolutely beautiful but it was chilly and windy. We still had a great time. We did a chairlift up the mountain in AnaCapri and saw the most amazing views. Traveling was tiring but we managed. Rome was packed in with tons of stuff. We went to see the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Collosium, Roman Forum,Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and we ate at Hard Rock Rome in one day. TOday we went to St. Peters Basillica.

It was a lot traveling with 7 girls. We had fun but we had our moments too. 7 girls sharing 1 shower and 5 beds gets tight. Well I will go into detail later. Bye

Leaving for our travel break!

Okay I am going to try to tell you what has been going on very quickly.

The other night we went to our family dinners. It was sooo much fun. The mom came and picked us up and took us to her adorable house...it was really modern and it kinda surprised me. She had the cutest little boy named Fillipo. He reminded me of my cousin Will. Filipo was playing with Bakugon balls just like will does. It was so starnge not being able to communicate with a little kid. He was 6 and very smart. We asked him a few things in Italian but her would talk back to us sometimes and we had no idea. It was funny because he would get frustrated. He watched a DVD and his Dad made hime watch it in English for us. I thought it was sweet. The dad didnt know much English at all but the Mom was pretty good. We had so much food!! After dinner we had the most amazing Gelatto. It was kind of like neopolitan and she also had strawberries to put on top. She had soaked them in Lemonchello and it was delcious. The people at the Servi aparently soak them in vinegar and sugar (I sugest trying it beacuse it makes tham sooo good).
Saturday we went to Anghiari and Arrezo. You should google ANghiari (sp?) because it is beautiful. It is a small town but I think it is my favorite so far. WE went through some museums and then caught the bus to Arrezo. We saw the famous frsecos of Pier della Francesca (I have no idea off the top of my head how to spell it.) He is on of the most famous painters and lived here in Sansepolcro.

Today it has been raining which kind of stinks. We arent able to get out and about as much. My favorite place at the Servi is the outside garden and I cant go sit there to do my work. I have fallen asleep a few times while trying to do my homework. TOmorrow we get out of class early at 10 30 so that we can catch an 11 00 bus to Arrezo in order to catch the train we need to get to sorrento. I am a little nervous about traveling but I think we will be fine. We are going to do a day trip in Capri and then go to Rome for the other two nights. When we get back Thursday we will be half way done with the Italy part of the trip!

Well I think I am going to get some Gelatto. I guess I will blog again after Rome!

Florence

Hello!
My Florence trip has already come and gone. We left Sansepolcro on Wednesday around 12 45 and then caught a train from Arrezo to Florence later that afternoon. The trip didn't take much time at all. We took the bus to Arrezo and that took and hour and then the train into Florence only took an hour. When we got off the train in Florence I was pretty nervous. Our profs had really freaked us out about people getting mugged so we were all prepared. I had on my ever so fashionable money belt the whole time I was in Florence. Even though I had my money belt on, I never really felt threatened. I just kept my purse on my shoulder and I was fine. No one in our group had trouble with muggings.
We went walked from the train station to our hotel. It was a really really long walk but we finally made it. The hotel was nice but it was on a busy street. We dropped off our book bags and then went as a group to the main square and the Duomo. Florence is BEAUTIFUL! It was a little dirty because it is so busy all the time but it was gorgeous. THe views from the bridges over the river were spectacular. I took tons of pictures. We went to the leather market and bought a few things there. The hotel provided a dinner for us and it was wonderful. The next day a few of us got up really early to go to the Academia to hopefully see David. We thought that there would be a long line but we were able to walk right in! It was unbelievable. I heard that you have to see it in person to really appreciate it and now i understand why. David is so much bigger and impressive in person. You can see every vein in his body. We ate a bug breakfast later on that morning. We actually were sitting beside some big Italian politician. A news crew came and interviewed him right beside us. Before we knew he was famous, his waitor accidently sprayed us with his bottle of champagne. The story is really funny but I will have to tell you in person so that you can get the effect. We wandered around until we went to the Ufizi. It was huge and a little overwhelming. Then it was time to head on back. We had to figure out how to get back without the profs leading us but we did fine. I was glad to pull into Sansepolcro that night. Florence was nice but I dont know if i cout handle that pace for a long time.
Today we went to an Italian school! They were so cute and I loved my visit. I could write so much about them but I dont have time ebcause tonight we have our dinners with our host families. I am excited but also nervous. I will write again soon!

Sorry for the mistakes..I am not taking the time to look back over what I have written!

Ciao!

Beautiful Italy

So I learned since I sent my first blog that I mispelled ciao so please forgive me. I have some mixed emotions about Sansepolcro. It is gorgeous and I am having a good time but I also have a few things I dont like. The most surprising thing has been the lack of welcome from the locals. I thought that they would be really nice and friendly but aparently that just isnt Italian culure. Im used to the South where a friendly smile or wave is expected. Some people here are very nice but its obvious that some people arent too thrilled about us being here. I wish I knew Italian better so that I could communicate and hear what they were saying about us. I also miss AC. These past few days have been pretty hot. It isnt too bad in the Servi but it would be nice to come back from a walk and enter into a really cool building. Well now that I have gotten a few of my complaints out of the way, I will tell you about the exciting things that have happened.

All of my days have blurred together so forgive me. We went to church on Sunday and we started classes. WOW! Church was an experience. I thought the Catholic church here would be very formal but it is not at all. People come dressed in whatever and go and come as they please. Children run wild and it is really distracting. I guess it is just normal for them but this would not fly at High Street for sure. ONe little boy was in a stroller infront of us and he was adorable(His Dad was pretty cute too) but they let him just kinda roam around after he got fussy in the stroller. He ran down a ways and no one said anything. Other children were walking around too. People would stand at times or if everyone was standing, people would just sit down. It was so different from my church. We had classes that day which went well. I am enjoying what we are learning I just wish we didnt have readings and assignments to do because I want to get out and enjoy Sansepolcro.
Today we went to Casa Buitoni! You should google it and see if any pictures come up because it was AMAZING. I took pictures and will so them to everyone when i get home. It is a huge Villa up on the moutain overlooking SAN. We lived like princesses for a few hours. It was a hike up to the casa and down but it was well worth it. They greeted us with drinks and refreshments---the best strawberries I have ever had. Then they took us on a tour of the facility. It is owned by Nestle now and that have conference rooms and a state of the art kitchen to test new foods. Google it. Then they served us lunch...WHAT A SPREAD! After this wonderful time, we had to go to class. Now we are running errands around town. Hope all is well at home!

Life in Italy so far

Chao from Italy!

I dont know where to start talking about this trip so far. The keyboard are a little different here so please excuse the lack of certain puncutaion marks. The flight to Rome was pretty long. We went from day to night to day all within 8 hours. My sense of time was completly thrown off because of the time change and the flight. I didnt really sleep much on the plane...I just couldnt get comfortable. We arrived in Rome and a man was waiting for us with a charter bus. We took a 3 hour bus ride to Sansepolcro. Most of us fell asleep on the ride since it was about 3 in the morning in America. We finally arrived here in the beautiful San. around 1. The lady who fixes us meals had a light lunch prepared for us. She made these sandwiches and I was not the biggest fan of them. It had been a long day and a half of traveling and I had been a little queasy so I didnt want to test myself by trying something i wasnt sure about. We got settled into our rooms...I am in a 3 person room on the top bunk. The rooms are pretty nice and each one has a sink. The bathrooms are a little different but they definitely will work. We have 3 showers between 23 girls! AHH. I am sure it will be fine though. LAter we went to the PAM which is a grocery store and they showed us a few places in town. Sansepolcro looks just like a postcard. We got back and had a little while before dinner at 715! By dinner, I mean fest...THREE COURSE MEAL! They served Pesto pasta and it was wonderful. Being silly Americans, we thought the pasta was it but then came chicken and peas, a salad, and dessert. It was awesome. THe wine was pretty intense. Today at lunch they served white wine and that was better. Some girls went out last night but I decided to stay in because I wanted to be well rested. I coulndnt fall asleep though and I got a little homesick. I went to talk to my roommate from school and I just broke down. I was fine but I had just worked myself up lying in bed for like 2 hours. I eventually fell asleep and slept like a rock.

This morning we ate breakfast in the Servi and then most girls went back to sleep. We had all morning to ourselves which was nice. We ate lunch at 12 30 and it was another wonderful spread. We had rosotto (sp?) and meatballs and FRENCH FRIES! After lunch Sally and I went into the square and got a Coca Cola (God Bless America). I think Italy is beautiful but I do miss somethings about America a lot. It is so similar and yet so different here. I miss ice already. They dont use ice in their drinks. They do have GELATO though. After lunch we had an orientation and went over some stuff about the upcoming week. Then we went on a walking tour of Sansepolcro and we went into a beautiful church. Now I am eating Gelato and using the internet at a cafe.

Classes start tomorrow and I am kind of glad. It will be nice to have a routine and get used to how things work. Monday we are going to Casa Boutoni which sits on a hill outside of Ssan. I hear it is beautiful and usually only high power execs get to go. THey are serving use lunch on the terrace over looking San. Wednesday we go to Florence for a night and day. Saturday we take a trip to two small towns close by. Monday is our first travel break and I am scared out of my mind. Hopefully we will be able to figure it all out when we go as a group to Florence and the other towns. I am sure I will be more confident at that point.

Well, I guess that is it for now. Sorry for giving you the play by play on everything so far. I am sure as I get more busy, I will be more broad in my blog. I miss everyone back home already.

I'm going to Italy!!

I started this blog this past semester for one of my education classes. Now that I am going to be in Italy, I thought this would be a good way to let people know what I was up to everyday. I will try to update this as much as possible, but I can't promise anything. If you want to email me, my address is rebeccarbs@yahoo.com! I might try to send pictures to my mom from time to time and maybe she can send them to other people.

It is the eve before I eave for Italy and I am in a hotel room in Raleigh. I have to be at the airport tomorrow at 8:30. We fly out of Raleigh to JFK and then to Rome. It has been interesting trying to pack in just one backpack! I definitely stuffed things into every nook and cranny of my bag. I am getting really excited about the trip. I have definitely gone through phases of emotions about the trip. I have always been excited about the trip but sometimes I get a little sad and nervous. While I think five weeks is a long time right now, I have a feeling that it is going to FLY by when I am in Italy. Well, that's it for now. Next time I post, I will be in ITALY!

This Semester

I have learned a lot this semester in all of my classes. After taking this class, I feel that I have a much better understanding of language arts instruction. I knew what language arts was but I didn't know the specifics. What I knew about language arts was from what I remembered from when I was in elementary school. It was interesting to learn which aspects of my language arts experience were beneficial and which parts were not as effective. I now understand why certain things are done in language arts instruction. I also have many ideas for my future classroom. The field experiences really allowed for this process to be complete. We not only learned about language arts instruction, we learned how it is applied. I will take a lot away from this class. In addition to learning how to teach language arts, I also became a better writer. The book project made me think about the writing process and I will use that knowledge for other projects and papers. This class made me think about my writing instead of it just being a habit.

I would definitely use blogging in my classroom. I think it is a cool way to have kids journal. Children love computers so they would be excited about journaling in a new way. The only concern I have is access. Some kids don't have computers at home so I couldn't assign blogging for homework. If I only had one computer in my class, it would take a long time for every student to blog.

The Importance of Talk

I thought our magic talk exercise was really interesting. It allowed for people who may not feel comfortable talking in front of people to participate. It was interesting to see how we had a discussion without ever speaking a word. It shows how important communication is, but how it can come in different forms. Talk doesn't have to be actually talking and I thought this exercise demonstrated that idea.

I love the movie Freedom Writers. If you don't come away from that movie inspired, then something is wrong with you. I think it just shows how far caring for your students can go. Just by listening and talking to her students, she was able to connect with them. Her students were able to learn because she connected her lessons to their lives. I have no idea what it would be like living in such horrible circumstances. It makes me mad that they are so rude to her but then I then I realize that they don't know anything else. All of their teachers have talked down to them and did not have any hope that they could succeed. Teachers can change lives and this movie makes that so evident. I also think this movie does a good job at showing how sometimes a teacher can't just go in to the class and teach her lesson plan. A good teacher needs to talk to her students and find out where they are from and what they think. This movie breaks my heart and inspires me at the same time. It amazes me that in this day in age, students are still not getting equal educations. A good teacher can completely change a child's experience in school.

Listening

I think aesthetic listening is very enjoyable. I do not enjoy efferent and critical listening as much but I think all types of listening are important. We definitely take listening for granted. I think it is important to understand the importance of listening as a teacher. Not only do we need to listen to our students, but we also need to realize if a student is listening or just hearing that we are talking. If a student can't listen, they are going to have a very difficult time throughout life. Listening is important in a school setting but also in life. It is important to be able to listen to others in order to be a good friend and build relationships. I struggle with listening sometimes and I think many children do as well. It is easy to listen for the purpose of aesthetics because we are more than likely interested in the subject. So many people (including myself) zone out during lectures and instruction and miss valuable information.

We talked about propaganda and persuasion in class. I think it is important that people realize what they are listening to. Sometimes if we don't pay attention, we may not realize that we are being tricked or fooled. It is important to train students to distinguish between biased and unbiased information. Children are even more susceptible to persuasion because they are so innocent. I thought the activity we did in class was a great way to identify examples of how propaganda is used. I would definitely use some variation of this activity with my future class.

Field Experiences

I was not excited about my field placement when I first found out that I would be observing in a fifth grade classroom. To add to my disappointment, I found out just how far away Wildwood Forest is from Meredith. I really wanted a first or second grade placement and I was not looking forward to this placement. Surprisingly, I love fifth grade. It has really made me rethink which grade I want to teach. I loved observing in this class and I really looked forward to Wednesday mornings when I got to go see Ms. Palmer's students. This was my first time actually observing the same class throughout a semester. It was fun getting to know my teacher and the students in the class. I know a lot of her students by name and I have a sense of their personalities. It is funny what you can pick up on when you sit back and observe. I was able to notice things that Ms. Palmer would never see because she is teaching. I think those little things I was able to notice will help me when I am a teacher because I will understand what is going on in the class without actually seeing it. They were excited to see me and I was excited to see them each week.
I like how independent fifth graders are. They are funny and can joke around more than a first grader can. This has really caused me to rethink what I want to teach. I love the books that her class is reading. Many of them are favorites of mine from when I was in fifth and sixth grade. I really enjoyed observing the different reading groups. It connected so closely with what we had talked about in class and I enjoyed seeing how students interacted within those groups. I also enjoyed the class when they made their reading cubes. It was such a cool project and the students were really proud of their work. One boy drew the most amazing picture on his group's cube. I was really impressed because it was much better than I could do. He was so proud of it and I was glad because he is one of the slower learners in the class. This gave him the chance to excel. One group made paper cranes to hang from their cube and they gave me one to take home. It was really excited!

I learned so much from these observations. Most of the concepts were not new to me but I learned how to implement them into a classroom. If I do end up teaching fifth grade I will definitely have some strategies and ideas that I will be able to use. I really enjoyed these observations and they made what we learned in class come to life. My teacher was so helpful and welcoming. She answered any questions I had and I learned a lot from her.

Planning for Reading and Writing Instruction

I am not entirely sure what grade I want to teach. I used to really want to teach lower elementary but I am really enjoying my placement in a fifth grade classroom. If I were to do a lesson for an upper elementary level I would want to incorporate a historical fiction novel. These were always my favorite books when I was growing up and I think it can be a neat way to learn about history. I would use a book like Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry or Caddie Woodlawn. These books have so much information about certain time-periods that could be interesting to kids without having to read it in a text book. I think these historical fiction novels work perfectly for a thematic unit and integrating subjects. If in Social Studies a class was learning about frontier life, Caddie Woodlawn would be a great book for Language Arts because it would tie the two together. I think these lessons could work well as a literature focus lesson as well.
Students could do research on the time period and look up specific events that happened throughout the novel. They could also dress as a person would from that time period. I could ask questions like: How is what happened in the novel similar to what actually happened during this period? How is it different? Students could write a letter from the perspective of a person from that time period.
In the class I observe in, the students are in literature circles and some of the books they are reading have historical elements. Even though the teacher is not using a thematic unit, she makes references to what they have learned in Social Studies. I think it is a great way to connect the ideas and make history come alive.

Where do I begin?

As I was reading other people's blogs, I noticed a common theme. It seems that most people in the class are stressed out with all of their classes and worried about their future. I guess because I am just a sophomore, I am not stressing too much about my future yet. I think about it often but I am not all that worried. The thing I don't understand is where I will go after college. I am sure I can get a job but where? After high school, I knew I would go onto college wherever that may be. Now I'm not sure how it works. I could go anywhere I wanted and that is intimidating to me. Do I go back home? Do I stay here in Wake County? Do I get my Masters right away or should I wait a few years to make sure teaching is for me. I got through phases when I worry and then at times I am so excited. I definitely think about my future but I am not stressing about it yet. I guess that time will come before I know it because time really does fly. I cannot believe that I will be halfway done with my college career soon. It seems impossible to me.

I am studying abroad this summer in Italy and Switzerland. I am very excited about it because I have never been abroad but I am also very nervous. I went to a meeting Sunday and they pretty much outlined everything that could go wrong. Now, I am terrified. I am not going to smile at any man while I am in Italy because apparently it is an invitation. I'm also going to cling to all of my money and valuables because they are going to be stolen. I am sure everything will be fine but the meeting did scare me a little bit. I am so excited to be studying abroad but I am definitely going to miss the time spent at home. I try to stay at school most weekends so going home is a treat for me. I loveee Franklin and I hate that I won't get to spend much time there this summer. A lot of people live at the beach for the summer but I don't have much time left to live at home. I want to take advantage of the time I have left to live at home. I can't believe in two years, my house in Franklin won't be my home anymore. I will be out on my own and have my own place...even if it is just an apartment.

I could talk about nothing forever so I will stop here.

Stages of Spelling, Writing Process, Personal Writing

I definitely remember going through some of stages we talked about in class. In first grade, my reading teacher made us write in a journal everyday. At the beginning of the year I wrote sentences like, " I like school". They were very basic and so many of the words were misspelled. At the bottom of the page we colored a little picture about what we said. I still have my journal and it is really interesting to look back at it. I progressed so much throughout my first grade year and it was very evident by looking at my journal. Some of the words I misspelled, it was obvious that I had some thought behind why I was spelling it that way. I remember I spelled the word mine as "myn". It is definitely incorrect but I understand why I did it.
I really enjoy blogging but not necessarily blogging about school topics. I do like blogging as opposed to a formal paper because it allows me to put my thoughts down without worrying so much about the organization of my thoughts. I really do enjoy writing and I think this class has made me realize it. I don't like writing papers and having to make sure that everything is perfect. I would really like journaling just for my own personal enjoyment instead of having to turn it in.
I have had a really hard time deciding what to write about. The one topic that I think would be interesting and easy to write about is kind of personal so I was worried about doing it. I have decided to do this topic anyway. My younger brother was killed in a car accident my Senior year. I am just going to talk about my life before the accident and then talk about how so many people came together to help my family. It is definitely a sad story but it is also amazing to hear how people can come together to get through things.

Sahara is a fascinating young lady. She seems so bright and intelligent but she does not seem to know how to share her gifts with others. Sahara has a lot of trouble with social skills and really struggles to make friends. I think many children struggle with the same types of issues. Sometimes children may be really intelligent academically but do not have any social skills. Sahara's lack of social skills seems to be holding her back from shining in the classroom.
I think many kids that struggle in the classroom are often very shy. If a child does not succeed in the classroom, they are going to be lacking in confidence. I believe some kids cover up this embarrassment by being funny and making jokes. So often the trouble makers are either the really intelligent children or the kids that are behind. The children that have trouble in the classroom don't want to sound stupid so they do not speak up. I have definitely witnessed this throughout my years of school. I went to a small public school and many of the children were not as lucky as I was. Both of my parents went to college and they knew how important it was to read to me as a child. Many kids at my school came into elementary school with no knowledge of books and reading. Even though they got an education at school, most of the kids did not have the parental support when they got home. I feel like those kids as well as the kids with learning disabilities did not willingly participate in classes. The teacher had to pull answers out of them and beg them to participate. I also think that those kids were shyer in social situations as well. If they were with a close group of friends, I think they were open and talkative but when placed in a situation where they had to talk to people outside of their little group, they were always more shy.
It seems to be the opposite for Sahara. I don't feel like her academics are hindering her social situation but rather her social issues are affecting her academics. She is scared to put herself out there for everyone to see. I think she just hides behind this wall and allows people to think she is stupid so she won't have to do anything. I am hoping that this new teacher will help Sahara show how intelligent she actually is.
I think teaching social skills to students is very important. It really has an impact on how students work with others and on everything that the student does. A teacher is not just there to teach academics. Social skills are so important and it is the teacher's job to help the students improve these skills. I almost feel that social skills are more important than academics in some circumstances. If a child is unable to communicate appropriately with others, it doesn't matter how much they know. I think a teacher can implement these skills into other academic lessons. I feel that group work is an important tool that should be used.

The Reading Wars

I learned to read by the phonics approach. I had actually never heard of the whole word approach until this class. It seems impossible to me to teach children to memorize thousands of words. I definitely think after a while, we do memorize a lot of the words but I don't know how children learn to read without initially having to sound out words. I remember having a new letter each week in Kindergarten. We listened to songs about the letter and practiced writing that letter. I just can't imagine teaching in any other way. Learning a few sounds seems so much easier to me than learning thousands of words. I think there is some use for the whole language approach. Some words don't fit into phonics because they are exceptions. When words are exceptions to the phonics rules, I think it is useful for a child just to recognize the word. I don't remember if we did this or not when I was learning to read. I do remember in upper elementary and middle school having questions about things because they were exceptions. I think my teachers usually responded with, "You just have to know it, there is no rule". I guess I was definitely "Hooked on Phonics".
I think we do create sight words automatically and I think a lot of times teachers encourage it. The more we read, the more we are able to just recognize words by just the first and last letter. We don't have to think about sounding out words at all. When I observed in a first grade class, the teacher had a list of instant words. She taught phonics but these words she felt the kids should know without having to sound out at all.
I think symbols impact literacy learning because it allows for students to make connections with the word and the meaning of the word. Symbols also give students a clue about what the word is if they are struggling. Eventually they will no longer need the symbol but at first it I think it would be very helpful to a student.

What makes writing worth reading?

What makes writing worth reading? I think this is a really complex question to answer. I guess the main reason it is worth reading is because it is how we learn. We can learn without reading, but writing makes it so much easier and accessible. Writing is worth reading because we haven't always had a form of written language. Stories and lessons were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. Now that we have writing, everything is more accurate and we are able to remember details that at one point would have been lost. So many great lessons can be learned from reading.
I think certain writings are worth reading over others. I have different opinions on what is worth reading than other people. I think placing worth on writings is a very individual thing and I think that is part of the reason writing is worth reading. Everyone can write about what they feel is important and people can choose to read what they think it worth reading. Although I feel that certain works are more important to read than others, some people may disagree.
Even though I might not think something is worth reading, it was worth it for someone to write it, and that counts for something. I think all writing is worth reading because someone took the time to write it.

The Reading Process

Reading for the purpose of entertainment is called aesthetic reading. When someone focuses on the emotions they have while they read instead of the information, they are reading for aesthetic purposes. The other type is called efferent reading. When someone reads with the purpose of obtaining information, the reader is considered and efferent reader. I definitely prefer aesthetic reading over efferent reading. I employ both types of reading but at this point in my life I am more of an efferent reader because of school. I have so many articles and chapters to read and many of them are not very interesting. I find myself reading and just trying to remember the information. However, some articles are interesting and I find myself becoming an aesthetic reader. Once I am out of the school, I think I will mainly be an aesthetic reader and read for pleasure.
There are five stages in the Reading Process. The first stage is Prereading. An example of a prereading activity is to have students do research on the background of the book. If the book takes place during the Depression, the students could research the Depression and the hardships people faced during the time. The second stage is Reading. Students actually read the material in this stage. People can read in 5 different ways: shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, buddy reading, and reading aloud to students. An example of buddy reading is two students alternating pages in a chapter book. The third stage is Responding. An example of this stage is having the students write in a reading log and write their reactions and thoughts to the reading. The fourth stage is Exploring. An example of this stage is focusing on new vocabulary words within the text. The fifth stage is Applying. An example of this stage is having children turn in a project such as a book review.
The four factors in developing capable readers are: word identification, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Children can read in 5 different ways: shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, buddy reading, and reading aloud to students. The reading process offers a variety of ways to read and learn in the classroom.

The Six Language Arts and Sahara

I never really thought about how many different components made up language arts. I had always just thought of reading and writing and had never thought about talking and listening. I knew that listening and talking were involved in language arts, but I never realized that they were actually one of the main components. I think viewing and visually representing should be a part of this list. Times have changed whether people like it or not and I think we should be using the technology we have. If kids are excited to learn through viewing and visually representing, I don't think we should deny them those opportunities to learn. I don't think there is anything wrong with bringing technology into the classroom. However, viewing and visually representations should not replace other ways of learning.
As a child, I remember more emphasis on the reading and writing aspects of the six language arts. I do remember one teacher middle school teacher reading aloud to us and how much my class enjoyed it. I wish the listening aspect had been brought into more of my classes. I don't really remember the viewing and visually representing aspects but so many professors use them in my classes now. I think they are very helpful in showing examples and I really enjoy them. At one point, I did not like to read because it was such a chore. Now I enjoy reading but not necessarily for school. I think as time goes on, I will enjoy reading more and more.
I really liked the first chapter of Sahara Special. I could not relate to her because I was pretty much always a good student and did not have to deal with as much as she does. I do remember kids being pulled out of class to have special help but I never really thought about it. Sahara seems like a really smart girl and I think she will eventually show everyone what she has been hiding. I really hope she begins to do her work because I think so many people would be surprised at what a remarkable person she is. I'm excited to see what will happen.