Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us.

I loved reading this article!  I am such a sucker for articles that discuss hidden meanings in literature.  It is always amazing to me time and time again that I never noticed these hidden messages.  I was aware of the message of certain stereotypes etc. because I had focused on this as one of my points in my MGRP.  It is true that most media contains white, well to do characters that are often without worries.  This issues causes lots of children and adults from other racial and societal classes to be left out and feel bad about themselves. 
I know as a child, I was always reading and watching media that enacted these stereotypes.  I loved Disney movies; I loved Popeye; and I loved Duck Tales.  Every type of media guilty of stereotyping was enjoyed immensely by me.  I love looking back at everything I loved and see just how bad they really are.  This topic often makes me think of my sister.  She always had lots of dates and hardly had a long term relationship.  She always claimed she wanted the kind of romance you saw in the movies.  The romance, she learned through movies existed in real life.  Luckily she has gotten over the idea of the "perfect" guy and married a really great guy and has children.

Week 12 Readings

We had three readings assigned this week and the Evans and Igor readings really reached out to me.  I found the Hill reading much to choppy and difficult to really get into.  The first article I read was by Evans and it was called Literacy Moves On.  In this article, Evans discusses how the format of literacy has been radically changing through the past couple of years.  It is important for us as educators to be aware of this changing literacy formats and attend to them in the classroom.  Many children are finding literacy outside of books alone.  This article fits in well with the idea of the multiple genres we created for our MGRP.  Until this class, I had never considered the idea of literacy being outside of books.  I am happy I am now aware of the large of amount of literacy available. 
Another reading I completed this week was by Igor.  The Inner World of the Immigrant Child is about a young child Dennis and how coming to a new school and new country was difficult for him.  This article discusses how the teacher reached out to Dennis and made him feel comfortable.  The idea of making a new child feel comfortable is very important in their success.  We are educators need to be aware of this fact and do everything we can to make immigrant and new children feel comfortable.  There are many mixed emotions when entering a new classroom.  A child can feel anything from culture shock to excitement or a mix of the two.  Every child needs to have their needs met and it is important for us to figure out ways to do this.

MGRP reflection

Through the completion of my multigenre research paper, I learned a lot.  I learned a lot about my topic of critical literacy as well as ways to improve my writing and research skills.  I have never really liked writing papers, but being given the option to write about anything within elementary literacy, I became much more interested in my research.  The actual research was a lot more fun than normal research and the creation of the genre pieces was tons of fun.    

After finishing my project, I feel as though I have developed a better sense of the way I would like my future students to complete research papers.  The paper itself will always be the hardest part for many children, but when given an opportunity to write about whatever a person chooses, the paper becomes more fun.  I feel as though the genre pieces could be used even by themselves without the paper in certain circumstances.  I am positive I will at least use the genre pieces in my future teaching.  I really enjoyed taking what I had researched and had knowledge on and turning it into something else.  It was a creative way to reiterate what I already knew and make the knowledge even more concrete.

Seedfolks and more on the MGRP

I was so excited at the beginning of this semester when I saw we had to read the book, Seedfolks.  I had read it a very long time ago as a child and I remember loving it.  I still love it!  I just enjoy reading about positive experiences.  As readers, we are introduced to a sad, poor, dirty Ohio city area and it is transformed by one little girls actions.  It is just wonderful to read the different characters thoughts and opinions as they begin becoming a part of the garden!
I also continued to read about the MGRP and I love the idea of showing characters and not telling about them.  I feel as though it is a writing technique that I myself should be trying to improve upon.  One thing, I guess you could say makes me disappointed, is that we didn't write our MGRP's on people.  I loved reading chapter 7 about how people dress and act out their researched person and I feel as though I would maybe get more excited about the project!  I am sure it would be very embarrassing, but I feel as though there are a lot more options for multiple genres when you are focusing on a person. 

Poetry and Literacy Invitations!

While reading about poetry this week, I was thinking back to my knowledge about poetry and what I had learned about it as a  young child.  I felt as though I could relate to Sadie, the girl quoted at the beginning of the chapter.  I feel as though it was always a topic that was brought to light for a few days or a few weeks and then pushed aside.  I know I am unable to name many poets.  I had never really thought about my lack of poetry knowledge until today.  I love all the ways Allen suggests introducing it to the children.  I really like the I am poems and the list maker poems because I feel as though they are very accessible to all students, and I feel as though anyone could feel confident writing in these styles. 
I also read about literacy invitations this week.  I had previously read, viewed, and constructed my own literacy invitation for a class this past summer.  I find them to be very neat, mind opening, projects for children.  They allow for a lot of critical thinking skills to develop and for children to almost direct their own learning.  I feel as though if literacy invitations were used when I was a child, I would have loved them.  I feel as though everyone enjoys learning about what interest them.  I am curious to know how long the idea of these invitations as been around.  I have worked in a couple of schools and sadly, I have never seen an invitation in action.  I have only seen what one looks like on paper, not in action.  I wonder if many teachers use them or if many teachers are informed about them.

The MGRP

While reading a few select chapters from the MGRP book by Camille A. Allen, I felt as though I was better able to understand what our finished classroom projects will look like.  I really enjoyed reading about how the children got so excited when assigned these projects!  It is so great when teachers can find a project for students to work on that develops both their reading and writing skills.  The idea I love most about this project for young children is that it is developed over a three month period and the children are responsible for self evaluating.  I believe that if children are serious about their work this can essentially be a wonderful idea.  Without a teacher standing over them, children will be much more relaxed and able to focus on their work.  I know when I am working on a paper, such as the one I was writing earlier, I am unable to find enjoyment in my research because I am consumed with worry about my grade.  I don't want my future students to become overwhelmed with an A and become unable to enjoy their research.  Through the readings of the chapters, I have decided I really like the idea of the MGRP because it encompasses many different skills necessary for children to develop! 

Opening my Eyes to the Importance of Critical Literacy

Through a previous class I took this summer, I learned a little bit about critical literacy and its importance in elementary classrooms.  When I was first introduced to the idea of critical literacy, I wasn't sure what it entailed.  To ensure everyone is understanding critical literacy in the way I am using it, it is literacy which causes questioning, focusing on and understanding critical issues in society and working toward social justice.  It is so important for children to read stories which cover many different social, racial and cultural issues so they are given to the opportunity to better understand the world around them.  This is why I have chosen to focus on critical literacy for my MGRP.  I want to focus on it so I can ensure I am able to incorporate it well into a future classroom. 
When I began reading the article, Critical Literacy in the Elementary Classroom, by Donna C. Creighton, she opens with a child quoted as saying, "When I was in grade one or two and my teacher would read a book to the class, I'd always imagine myself as the main character when she read aloud to the kids.  But when she showed us the illustration, the character would be White.  I was confused for a while, but I've gotten over it."   The article doesn't mention what race or culture the child is, but I can tell by his questioning, he is most likely not white.  It is very interesting to think about many of the books we read as children and read today.   Most of the stories of our childhood focus on white, middle class children.  A lot of the time these children are boys.  It is hard for children to relate with the characters when their lives have little similarities.  If children aren't able to relate to the stories they are reading or hearing aloud, how is independent reading being promoted?  It's something to think about.....

Finishing Crafting Writers!

Having just finished reading Crafting Writers by Elizabeth Hale, I feel as though I no longer need to worry about not being able to teach a successful writer's workshop.  The last school I worked in had writer's workshop and reading about it the past couple of weeks has been fun.  I knew the basics of the program but I wasn't sure the reasoning behind it all.  I was never in the classrooms when the children were writing or conferring with the teacher.  I wish I had been now!  It would be interesting to actually see the conferences in action.  Reading about them is one thing but being able to see a few would be great!
Although I didn't work in the general education classrooms during writer's workshop, I did work with a lot of children one on one with their writing and I wish I had known about Elizabeth Hale's book then.  I feel as though I would have been able to help the students so much more than I did.  I am just happy to have read about her ideas and classroom suggestions before I enter my first teaching position.  This book is a keeper!!

Continuing Crafting Writers!!

Through the readings I have done this past week, I have become jealous!  I am jealous I never had a teacher who taught writing in the way future and current teachers are learning to teach it today.  I feel as though teaching children different writing crafts and having conferences to discuss what students can do to improve their writings is such a great idea! 
There were so many great ideas to include in a future classroom and I can't wait to try to use this style with children myself!  The idea I love the most that Elizabeth Hale introduces is the idea of the Try-It section of the writers notebook.  I feel as though this is a great idea to quickly observe the students and make sure they are on the right track.  It is also a great resource for students when they are looking for ways to spice up their writing.  Many times while I was a young student, I would learn different ideas through lessons the teachers would present, and forget them as soon as I learned them.  Through the children developing a try-it section, forgetting becomes almost impossible.  It is hard to forget about a writing technique when it is placed in the back of the notebook where you produce your writing.
Through this book, I have become super excited about teaching writing to future students.  I feel as though I have become more confident in my ability to access student writing.  I am looking forward to reading more helpful, insightful pieces of literature in the coming weeks! 

Crafting Writers!

After reading a few chapters of Crafting Writers by Elizabeth Hale, I have become more aware of what it takes to make writing more of an art.  Children tend to write a lot about a certain event in their life but leave out many descriptive words and/or creative ways to describe an event. 
Many children are often excited to tell a story to the class, friends or the teacher aloud and view writing a story is the same.  When children tell a story out loud, they are not typically going to inform their listeners about the smell, visuals, or other senses that were invoked during their experience.  I believe this is the problem for many writers.  Many people sit down and write the same way they would tell their story aloud.  I think to help with the crafting of writers we need to have children begin by telling stories aloud by including how their senses were alive during the moment and try to structure their sentences differently.  If children are becoming aware of what it takes to make stories more exciting through speaking, the writing will come naturally.  Because of times constraints, it won't be a possibility for every child to speak every thing they are going to write about aloud but just having mini-lessons or conferences and having the children practice speaking more descriptively I feel will help in the crafting of an excellent writer.

Beginning and Early Literacy Education

After reading selected chapters from Sound Systems by Anna Lyon and Paula Moore along with an article entitled Every Mark on the Page: Educating Family and Community Members about Young Children's Writing by Kate Foley Cusumano, I was reminded of my first teacher's aid position which took place in four different kindergarten classrooms.  When I began working in the classrooms it was the beginning of the spring semester for the students and they had already learned the letter sounds and many could read simple books aloud without any assistance.  I was amazed at the reading and writing ability I was observing 5 and 6 year olds present to me. 
The type of phonic and literacy instruction the school was using was a program called DIBELS and the children were taught letter and chunk sounds through Tucker Signing.  I was completely amazed with these programs! The DIBELS program, which stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, is used to help children become phonically aware.  Most of the children I worked with loved the program.  The children would gather on the rug and the teachers would run through short lessons to assess student knowledge. Tucker Signing which was used in the classrooms was very bizarre to observe for the first time!   It is designed to teach children their letters and chuck sounds by designating hand motions for each sound letters or chunks make.  It was interesting to see the children use these hand motions to remember the sounds of letters and chunks to help them figure out how to pronounce words.  The teachers would even sign words to the children without saying anything and the students were able to figure out the words.  It was very interesting and I enjoyed learning it with the children!
In the article by Cusumano, I had to laugh to myself when I read about parents wanting to change words students had misspelled on their homework because it reminded me of when I first began working with the kindergarteners.  I was walking around the classroom and helping children with sentences they were assigned to write when I started to tell them how to spell words I had noticed were incorrectly spelled.  The teacher, of the classroom I was in, noticed me doing this and explained to me how important it is for children to try and sound out words.  I completely understand why, but at the time I had not even thought about how important this was for a developing writer and reader.  If we are constantly hovering over students and telling them how to spell words, we are removing the fun from writing.
I greatly enjoyed both of these readings and plan on keeping them for future resources.  It is important to be able to assess a child's writing and reading ability and be able to help them grow into stronger students.

Let's Go For A Literacy Dig In A Grocery Store!

This past Labor Day, a group of classmates and I went to a grocery store to see literacy in action.  When I first heard about this assignment I was a bit nervous.  I was going to walk into a grocery store, observe people and not feel/look awkward while holding my pen and paper?  Sure.....   Even though I was very apprehensive about the project, I am now happy to have completed it.  It seems easy enough to say literacy is everywhere but to actually be looking for its usage is an eye opener.
My role in the literacy dig was to observe and record bits of talk.  It was interesting to complete this task because I felt like an undercover spy.  I would stand in an aisle and pretend to be looking at food but in all actuality I would be listening to conversations others were having. When my group and I first walked into the store, it was pretty empty.  This allowed for a lot of the workers to be standing idle and making conversation with one another.  The conversations the cashiers were having with one another seemed like polite, simple conversations.  It was a lot of simple questions responded to by simple answers. Since it was Labor Day weekend, the discussion, between the workers, seemed to surround what each of them had done that weekend.  I am sure the workers all know each other and their conversations are much more in depth at times but this was the bit of conversation I happened to pick up on when I first entered the store.  Conversations between the workers may have been generic because a manager may have been present or because customers had just entered the store.  Whatever the reason, it is important to note the role literacy plays with cashiers.  Cashiers must be able to read the words on the register, how to search for product plu's and how to enter certain bits of information.  Without the ability to read, running the register would be impossible. 
After listening to and observing the cashiers in their roles, I ventured to the deli.  Near the deli of the store, there is a salad bar.  It is a self-serve salad bar and it was not yet set up for public use.  The workers were discussing back and forth among each other what still needed prepared for the salad bar and where each food item was to be placed.  I personally have never made my own salad at a grocery store but there was signs around the bar explaining how much a salad cost per pound.  I'm not sure if a person who couldn't read would be able to understand the way the salad bar is designed to be used.  It helped me understand the process tremendously.  The final bits of conversation I picked up on in the deli, involved customers and workers conversing back and forth.  A customer approached the seafood portion of the deli and was asked what he wanted.  The man wanted salmon and preceded to inform the worker how many portions of it he wanted.  Without being given direct instructions on how to place an order at the deli, the customer was already knowledgeable about the ordering process.  Before ordering, the man was only informed about the type of fish he was looking at and the price per pound, but this is all the man needed to know to place his order.  It is interesting how little literacy is necessary for certain processes.  I think this is because we have gone shopping with other people as children and learned how certain interactions occur, such as ordering at the deli.   
The last type of conversation I noted was on my way out of the store.  A customer was checking out and was questioned by the worker how their shopping experience had been.  After all the groceries had been totaled, the total was given to the customer and a thank you followed.  All in all, the conversations between workers and customers was very polite.  Everyone seemed cheerful and grateful for one another.  It is these types of conversations which seem common between workers and customers in any store.
Overall, I found this project quite interesting.  It was neat to see how all literacy is important for both workers and customers in the grocery store setting.  Workers need to be literate to be able to ensure the register is being used properly, people are receiving the items and amount ordered at the deli, and that customers are picking up the food needed and receiving what they want from the workers. It is important for each and every one of us to not take our ability to read for granted because it plays such an important role in everyday tasks.

My Experiences With Blogging And School Writing

Although I have never blogged myself, I frequently visit blogs written by other people.  I love to do crafts and hands-on activities and I am usually able to find great ideas from blogs.  I personally have never written a blog because I have never felt as though I have had anything interesting to write about.  I am hoping through starting this blog I will overcome my doubts about my writing. 
It has become increasingly popular in the past years for people to start blogging and it is now entering classrooms.  I believe this is a great way for children to become interested in writing.  It seems as though blogging will be seen as a fun activity for children and not so much of an assignment required to be finished.  I hope by writing my own blog and checking out other blogs more frequently, I will learn and develop ways to incorporate blogs into a classroom one day.