3344 Personal Writings I Use

The forms of personal writings I use are pretty standard. I use blogs for school, text messages for quick reply, letters to my loved ones, emails to classmates and instructors, and all kinds of list to accomplish certain tasks.
Blogs area fairly new to me. I've never blogged before the beginning of this semester. I was a little embarrassed about blogging because I wasn't sure about what to say or how to say it, but look at me now. As soon as I log on the thoughts just flow. It the coolest thing.
Text messaging is a quick way to send the fewest words to some one and get your point across with out the face to face. I use text messages when time is of importance.
The only time I physically write letters on paper is to express how much I love and care for love ones. I write to my fiance and my children all the time. I never want them to forget exactly how much they mean to me.
Emails are just a part communication that is here to stay. We all need to Email either our instructors, our friend across the world, our kids teachers and even our classmates.
I use to do list to remind myself of what needs to get done and when items on the list get crossed off it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I feel like I am moving forward when my list are reduced to refuse.
I never really gave much thought about how much writing I do on a daily basis. This exercise has opened my eyes as to how big a factor writing is to our daily lives.

3321 M&W Chap. 3

I found that the information I read in chapter 3 along with Monday's lecture really hit home with the way I comprehend what I've read. Even though I was taught in my elementary school years to write out words (vocabulary) along with their definitions and using the terms in a sentence I didn't learn them as well as I did when I read them in my reading assignments. I found it easier to gather the meanings of the more difficult words by paying closer attention to what was going on in the reading which in turn increased my comprehension of the material I was reading. In regards to letting students pick the books they want to read, I believe that I was fortunate enough to have had teachers in my elementary school years that exercised the same discipline. I always knew if the book I chose was too advanced or too easy for me. Being able to relate what I was reading to my own experiences also helped me better appreciate the books I've read.
I will carry some of the exercises used in chapter 3 to assess comprehension of what my students read. I can appreciate the Read & Retell of Brown & Cambourne (1978) method, having students retell the story after hearing the teacher read aloud either orally or written. I also liked the exercise of having students retell the story in chronological order one student at a time.
When a child is able to comprehend what he/she has read and convey that back to you along with his/ her ideas then you know that their reading is purposeful.


Author Profiles suggestions

Hans Christian Anderson

The Steadfast Soldiers, and Snow Queen

3344 M&W "If I Won....?"

If I won anything I would like it to involve making my whole family better off. Now, better off, what does that mean? Well it means financially, spiritually, academically, and gaining a sound sense of well being along with having a great set of friends. In others words, happiness. What on earth could possibly be won that would grant all of these blessings. Nothing short of winning the lifetime servitude of a wish granting Genie. But then what of the genie's happiness? Would mine and my family's happiness be worth enslaving a genie and ruining any chance of him/her being happy? I think not. I believe that all it takes to be truly happy is having God in your heart. With God all of these blessing are attainable. In that sense, I HAVE WON. Arms raised to the heavens, Thank You.

!!!3344 M&W WRITING IS A PROCESS!!!

I remember the WRITING PROCESS being introduced to me at an early grade level. I don't really recall which one (maybe 4th), but i do remember it being very helpful in gathering my thoughts and allowing others (peers) to read my work without being embarrassed or afraid. I don't recall if all of the steps introduced when I was a youngster are the same as our refresher lecture. I am certain, however, that the WRITING PROCESS is crucial in producing a good writing piece.

Step 1. Pre-writing - Organize your thoughts using semantic maps like graphic organizers.
I like using the center bubble surrounded with satellite bubbles. When you have your subject in the center bubble you fill out the surrounding bubbles with things you want to include in your piece. Once this is complete you can move on to the next step.

Step 2. Drafting- this step is sometimes referred to as your rough 1st draft copy or sloppy copy.
In this step you put your thoughts gathered in 1st step on paper. It is wiser to actually
write this step in the WRITING PROCESS on actual paper, rather than computer, to focus more on content than grammar or spelling. Now your ready for the next step.

Step 3. Revising- This step of the WRITING PROCESS is where you focus changing or adding
sentences, content or ideas. Using a group of partners (3) to conduct a writers
conference/workshop. Let others in your group read and critique your piece as well as
you theirs. After the revisions you are ready to move on the next step.

Step 4. Editing- In this step of the WRITING PROCESS you check your piece for (conventions)
spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors utilizing your group of 3 with WW/WC.
Having completed this aspect of the WRITING PROCESS you can submit your piece for
the next step.

Step 5. Publishing- In this step of the WRITING PROCESS, your piece is posted on display
for example on wall for recognition and/or social justice.

Having the WRITING PROCESS fresh in my mind and my notes will help me to better write and to better help writers.

3321 M&W Chap. 2

Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom, in my opinion, would help students as well as teachers and parents get to know more about the different cultures to which their children are being exposed. This kind of cultural sharing is crucial in today's students building bridges to cultures other than their own therefor making the world a smaller place especially in the classroom. Nobody wants to be worlds away from their classmates especially while they are just inches away from one another. An idea of making a poster board with information about yourself, family, culture, and daily life is an excellent way to bring people together in similarities and curiosities about each others culture. When teachers get to know as much about their students the child feels important and accepted, which every child needs, in the classroom and in their home life. When aspects of a students culture are understood this could help steer from mistakenly recommending special education services.
Having a culturally responsive classroom would not only be very informative but would also help students understand differences in social and personal behaviors between one another. Thus making a very friendly and accepting environment in which to learn and teach.


Author Profile suggestions

Beatrix Potter

Peter Rabbit

3344 Chapter 4. M&W

Chapter four on emerging literacy was very inspiring. It lent guidance to me in delivering strong and encouraging reading lessons. I agree with interrelating reading and writing in the classroom during instruction. The concept covered in class as well as the text are some that I plan on modeling my reading lessons after. Having environmental print on the wall of my classroom that are easily recognizable is a great way to encourage students to read. All in all I found chapter four to be very informative and I will reference it in the future lesson plans.
Circular stories are very entertaining and are a great tool in catching the attention of young readers. Creating a circular story proved to be a great exercise in imagination and connecting ideas.

3321 M&W Chap.1 and Website Blog

I found chapter 1 particularly useful because I never really liked the basal texts in my reading classes growing up. I was always bored with the briefness of the stories. This chapter reinforced my wanting to use more childrens literature in lesson deliveries. Acquiring books for your class library should be a priority and could prove vital in getting kids hooked on reading, and that is why it would be a good idea to get started as soon as possible. I have always enjoyed reading books to my children as well as in the classrooms I have had the pleasure in being a part of. I found that if you read with an intense conveyance of feeling or acting kids want to read more often than not.

I found a website using Google: Authors!Authors! Children's Book Authors and Illustrators. This site has a ton of authors and illustrators to explore. Finding an author for our Author Profile should prove easy with this site. I would recommend it to everyone. Hope it helps you.