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.