I've been thinking a lot about teachers and what makes them think whether a child is a failure or not. Shouldn't the question for them be, "Have I failed a child today?" Does failure occur when a student doesn't pass a standardized test or is it when a student doesn't go beyond what you know they are capable of, yet they stay at grade level, so it's OK?
For some reason these are things I began to think about when reading Regie Routman this week. I loved how she said that, "raised expectations mean that students learn what it means to explore writing in depth" (p54). I think this would go for any subject if a teacher gave high expectations in it and to their students by asking them to explore more. No matter where a student lives, has advantages or disadvantages, they don't need different instruction, they just need more good instruction, high expectations, and support from their teachers.
Literacy is a lifelong skill so by having higher expectations and getting students to "explain their thinking" can only make a student more successful. Yes, Routman uses all of her examples in literacy (writing), but it really does work for everything else too. She continues that, "unless we spend lots of time doing the task with them" (p.76), students will not only master the skills but become confident in them and then become an independent learner.
So share! Share your work, share your ideas and most important share your own failures. this in turn will gain your learners trust which is the most important thing you can do. If you can accomplish that, then you haven't failed a child.
This is something my dyad teacher does. He is an amazing teacher!! Every student in his class is important, every student feels important and every student knows it and believes it! He is truly developing strong readers, writers and mathematicians. He allows a student to voice an opinion and to know that what they say has been acknowledged.
When it comes to reading and writing, he never uses the "usual" writing prompts. His prompts usually go with a book that they are reading together. He gets them excited for the book and the writing. This past week after reading the beginning passages of "How to Eat Fried Worms" he got the class into a great conversation about whether they have ever been dared to do something or not? He listened to all of them as they shared an experienced. The next day the writing prompt was on the board, "have you ever been dared to do something? Well I have. Let me tell you about it". These students were so excited to begin to write that I honestly don't think they even realized that they were doing an assignment!
So, yes, get students excited, get them to share their everyday happenings and get them to want to learn by expecting great things from them!
The other thing I was thinking about during this weeks readings in Fox were phonics and vowels. I still struggle with an ELL student being able to "hear" the correct sound when they are unable to pronounce it correctly. I sat with 4 students in my main placement where my job was to teach them their vowel sounds. All students, while speaking English well, only a slight accent, still had trouble hearing the short "e", "a" if they said the word. However, if I said the word they understood. Just something to think about when working with students who speak a different language, a 2nd language or has an accent.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Literacy- Week 3: Excited to get Kids to Write!
Could there possibly be a better book out there on how to get students to love writing, than Regie Routman’s, Writing Essentials? I love to write, I’ve never thought myself particularly brilliant at it, but I love that I can get my thoughts down on paper and reflect on those thoughts at a later time. So, the question always comes out, “How can you get a student to come to that same realization and make them see the benefits of writing?”
Routman says that too many teachers are either not confident in their own writing or teach writing based on test scores only. They have come to believe that the published programs on writing (curriculum) is the best to teach and have forgotten the fact that if a student is taught to love writing first, then they will do well on the tests. But how do you do that? How do you teach writing so that all students become effective and joyful writers and communicators?
Routman has her 12 writing essentials that lists such things as “write for a specific reader”, “create engaging leads”, and “craft authentic voice”. Apply correct conventions and form is listed as number 10. It was after reading this that it hit me! Teachers are doing it all wrong! We should be helping students find their voice first, we should be celebrating their “risk taking” by helping them find writing topics that they can relate to, and most of all, we should be encouraging them, even if there is only one sentence written in a 30 minute class.
I liked how Routman said that teachers should model writing in front of their class. Explain you should be your heart on the page when writing. Show them how to take a topic that is interesting to them, or an everyday happening, and begin a “list” of things to talk about. It can be a small list written on a post-it note and build on it from there.
Routman’s one line that affected me the most? “Kids enter kindergarten loving school and full of the promise of possibilities. They see themselves as writers…they want to write. It’s our job to ensure they don’t lose that positive, I am a writer spirit” (p. 20).
Isn’t this what it is all about? To make kids love to write! I know that after reading these first three chapters I am ready, and excited, to teach it!
Regie Routman's website:
http://www.regieroutman.com/
Routman says that too many teachers are either not confident in their own writing or teach writing based on test scores only. They have come to believe that the published programs on writing (curriculum) is the best to teach and have forgotten the fact that if a student is taught to love writing first, then they will do well on the tests. But how do you do that? How do you teach writing so that all students become effective and joyful writers and communicators?
Routman has her 12 writing essentials that lists such things as “write for a specific reader”, “create engaging leads”, and “craft authentic voice”. Apply correct conventions and form is listed as number 10. It was after reading this that it hit me! Teachers are doing it all wrong! We should be helping students find their voice first, we should be celebrating their “risk taking” by helping them find writing topics that they can relate to, and most of all, we should be encouraging them, even if there is only one sentence written in a 30 minute class.
I liked how Routman said that teachers should model writing in front of their class. Explain you should be your heart on the page when writing. Show them how to take a topic that is interesting to them, or an everyday happening, and begin a “list” of things to talk about. It can be a small list written on a post-it note and build on it from there.
Routman’s one line that affected me the most? “Kids enter kindergarten loving school and full of the promise of possibilities. They see themselves as writers…they want to write. It’s our job to ensure they don’t lose that positive, I am a writer spirit” (p. 20).
Isn’t this what it is all about? To make kids love to write! I know that after reading these first three chapters I am ready, and excited, to teach it!
Regie Routman's website:
http://www.regieroutman.com/
Friday, October 22, 2010
Move Over Johnny Appleseed, There's a New Girl in History!
I decided to read to them "Wangari's Trees of Peace", because I had come across the book last year and had not had the chance to read it to a class. I kept going back and forth on the content because it does have a couple sentences about Wangari being clubbed by soldiers and thrown in prison. But I felt so strongly that the message in the book was too important not to share with the students. Basically, that Wangari kept doing what she knew was right and didn't let anyone stop her. After reading the book the class and I had a fabulous discussion on Wangari, her beliefs and how one person can really make a difference.
One girl brought up learning about Johnny Appleseed in the 1st grade and that he "kinda did the same thing". This got me to thinking that Wangari is much more of an inspiration than Johnny Appleseed and I asked the kids if they had a choice, who would they want to study. They chose Wangari. Mostly because she is a recent person in history. For me, it is because she is a woman, in Africa, who followed her heart and her head and didn't let anyone stop her!
I then showed this video to the class, explaining that the power of one can go far and that you should never give up on what you feel is right and believe in. It was a great day!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wisdom from the math professor
- Again everyone solves a problem differently depending on how they see it.
When you see the problem 15 + 19, does your mind solve by:
15
+19
or 15+20-1
or 15+19=14+10
- "Get into the habit of writing addition and subtraction problems horizontally (46 + 37) this allows the students to give meaning to the numbers as 10s and 1s"
- "Help students figure out how to turn a math problem into a friendly problem. One that they can solve easily"
ex: 46+37
40 + 30
6 + 7
70 + 13
OR: using doubles
ex: 25+28
25 + 25 + 3
- When a student shows you a way to solve a problem that you are unfamiliar with, or if their process isn't what you want, say, "Oh, I thought about it so differently. Show me your thinking"
- If a student is unsure about sharing their process in front of others say, "We're in a place where we all share our thinking"
When you see the problem 15 + 19, does your mind solve by:
15
+19
or 15+20-1
or 15+19=14+10
- "Get into the habit of writing addition and subtraction problems horizontally (46 + 37) this allows the students to give meaning to the numbers as 10s and 1s"
- "Help students figure out how to turn a math problem into a friendly problem. One that they can solve easily"
ex: 46+37
40 + 30
6 + 7
70 + 13
OR: using doubles
ex: 25+28
25 + 25 + 3
- When a student shows you a way to solve a problem that you are unfamiliar with, or if their process isn't what you want, say, "Oh, I thought about it so differently. Show me your thinking"
- If a student is unsure about sharing their process in front of others say, "We're in a place where we all share our thinking"
Monday, October 18, 2010
Needed: A website to keep track of my websites
Today I became overwhelmed with my tech life. I also realized that I need to invest in some glasses because my eyes, and then my head, begin to hurt after a while of being on a computer all day. I'm fascinated with the tech life and all that is out there, but today I wanted to throw it all away because I can't keep it all straight.
It began in class when I was trying to remember which group I was in for a certain assignment. We talked about posting things on Google.docs and I found out that I had posted the wrong thing to the wrong group. I have three different groups right now and I can't keep them all straight as far as what "site" I need to work on for that group.
Below is a list of the "sites" that I check into everyday! At night I go to bed worried that I have forgotten to check in somewhere.
Right now I belong to in my UW life:
3 Google.docs
2 Blackboards
a bunch of blogs (including my own)
3 wikis
For my intern life I belong to:
a few different websites
a Smart board "how-to"
At home I belong to:
Moodle (for my older daughters school)
Juneau website (for my younger daughters school)
Scoutlander (for girl scouts)
Not to mention my everyday stuff that I check into:
Facebook
NY Times
Seattle Times
Everett Herald
more blogs
3 different e-mail accounts
I need a calendar to help me run all this... so if you are aware of a "site" that does this, let me know will ya?
It began in class when I was trying to remember which group I was in for a certain assignment. We talked about posting things on Google.docs and I found out that I had posted the wrong thing to the wrong group. I have three different groups right now and I can't keep them all straight as far as what "site" I need to work on for that group.
Below is a list of the "sites" that I check into everyday! At night I go to bed worried that I have forgotten to check in somewhere.
Right now I belong to in my UW life:
3 Google.docs
2 Blackboards
a bunch of blogs (including my own)
3 wikis
For my intern life I belong to:
a few different websites
a Smart board "how-to"
At home I belong to:
Moodle (for my older daughters school)
Juneau website (for my younger daughters school)
Scoutlander (for girl scouts)
Not to mention my everyday stuff that I check into:
NY Times
Seattle Times
Everett Herald
more blogs
3 different e-mail accounts
I need a calendar to help me run all this... so if you are aware of a "site" that does this, let me know will ya?
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Phonics: Week 2
Fox writes that when the teacher is familiar with, “the stages and understand the knowledge and abilities that underpin the use of strategies in the different stages, you can make decisions that will help children move from one stage to the next” (Fox p. 20). As I read this I couldn’t help but remember when I sat with 4th graders from my main placement school to give them a test that dealt with writing words with certain vowel sounds.
Now these students are smart! As we went over the vowel sounds and I asked them to give me examples, I was surprised that they were not able to. I wouldn’t consider them at the “low” end of their reading or writing skills, but these students did come from homes where another language was spoken. It hit me then that for them to use phonics would be harder and that it was probably easier for them to “memorize” the spellings of words then to sound them out. I believe they have phonemic awareness (awareness of the sounds in words) but did they really know the phonics part?
Yes, phonics is one of the basic skills that supports oral reading and also helps children learn new words, develop a larger reading vocabulary, contributes to fluent reading and helps them to become independent readers but when you are teaching an ELL student you have your work cut out for you. Which leads me to ask do students not learn to read or write if they aren’t able to pronounce vowels properly?
When my youngest daughter was in second grade she was having trouble with some of the testing in phonics. She was a bright student and could read and write quite well, her problem was that she had developed an accent and couldn’t sound out her letters properly. The school referred her to a speech therapist because the teacher felt it was harming her performance in phonics testing. When her father and I came to the speech therapist for a meeting, they soon discovered that her accent was a New York one, one that she had picked up because her father talks with an extremely thick Bronx accent. We placed her in speech therapy for a few months, but then withdrew her from it because we didn’t feel her reading/writing was being affected due to her accent, only her phonics tests were.
I guess my point is that while I think teaching kids to read and write based on phonics is a great way to do it, I also think we have to keep in mind those students that have accents or come from ELL homes and don’t pronounce words the same as the school community does.
Now these students are smart! As we went over the vowel sounds and I asked them to give me examples, I was surprised that they were not able to. I wouldn’t consider them at the “low” end of their reading or writing skills, but these students did come from homes where another language was spoken. It hit me then that for them to use phonics would be harder and that it was probably easier for them to “memorize” the spellings of words then to sound them out. I believe they have phonemic awareness (awareness of the sounds in words) but did they really know the phonics part?
Yes, phonics is one of the basic skills that supports oral reading and also helps children learn new words, develop a larger reading vocabulary, contributes to fluent reading and helps them to become independent readers but when you are teaching an ELL student you have your work cut out for you. Which leads me to ask do students not learn to read or write if they aren’t able to pronounce vowels properly?
When my youngest daughter was in second grade she was having trouble with some of the testing in phonics. She was a bright student and could read and write quite well, her problem was that she had developed an accent and couldn’t sound out her letters properly. The school referred her to a speech therapist because the teacher felt it was harming her performance in phonics testing. When her father and I came to the speech therapist for a meeting, they soon discovered that her accent was a New York one, one that she had picked up because her father talks with an extremely thick Bronx accent. We placed her in speech therapy for a few months, but then withdrew her from it because we didn’t feel her reading/writing was being affected due to her accent, only her phonics tests were.
I guess my point is that while I think teaching kids to read and write based on phonics is a great way to do it, I also think we have to keep in mind those students that have accents or come from ELL homes and don’t pronounce words the same as the school community does.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Random Math Thoughts
Some things I have learned about Math this week:
- Architecture, nature, geometry, art and more consist of The Golden Ratio.
- teachers want to promote genuine math discourse within a community of math
- children and adults approach a math problem very differently, depending on what type of learner they are
- before children are taught strategies, they invent them
- when doing timed tests, have students write "I can do it!" at the top, then give them a goal to do better than last time instead of making them feel they have failed when not finishing all 100 problems in 5 minutes.
- that no matter what age you are, when math manipulatives are placed in front of you; you can't help but build things with them.
- Architecture, nature, geometry, art and more consist of The Golden Ratio.
- teachers want to promote genuine math discourse within a community of math
- children and adults approach a math problem very differently, depending on what type of learner they are
- before children are taught strategies, they invent them
- when doing timed tests, have students write "I can do it!" at the top, then give them a goal to do better than last time instead of making them feel they have failed when not finishing all 100 problems in 5 minutes.
- that no matter what age you are, when math manipulatives are placed in front of you; you can't help but build things with them.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Read-A-Loud Promotes Knowledge
When my oldest daughter was in pre-school we bought her an easel to do art on, but what actually happened was she began to “write” on it. When I asked her what her picture was of, she commented that it wasn’t a picture but a list of all the names of her stuffed animals. My husband rolled his eyes and commented something about her turning into her mother (me). This is because I constantly make lists and at that time was constantly telling my husband to “put it on the list”. I then realized that this is what my daughter was doing; making her lists and that this was the beginning of her literacy construction.
This was discussed in the article by Teals and Sulzby on how “the link of literacy with experiences and the active use of language is stressed” (p. 6). I fully agree with this statement because you can’t sit a child down and teach them how to read and write without them having the understanding of how it is used in every day life.
My husband and I set up our home with books readily available to our children as they grew up. We felt it important that they know how books, and reading, are. That by reading a book to oneself can take you on a fabulous adventure or that you can learn something new such as a fact that was unknown to you before.
Reading books aloud are also important to us because it shows a child how a book is suppose to be read and enjoyed. In kindergarten my daughter’s teacher read, Caps for Sale daily to the class. When we purchased the book for our daughter she asked my husband to read it, who, according to her, did it all wrong because he forgot to use “voices” when reading and he didn’t stand up and stomp his feet like her teacher did when acting out the story. This is yet another sign of an emergent reader who is, according to Teals and Sulzby, building listening and comprehension skills, building vocabulary, improving memory, and many more skills. Or as Ivey has written, “Engaging students with you as you read to them not only helps them think about the text but also tips them off to how they can read more thoughtfully on their own” (813).
Jump forward seven years to where my daughter is now in the 7th grade and her teacher is reading a loud to them Huckleberry Finn. A controversial book? You bet! The Council on Interracial Books for Children writes that children are exposed to certain attitudes regarding race and sexism that distorts perceptions to where we have stereotypes and sexism. They continue to explain how to look for stereotypes in books. Huckleberry Finn could be considered a stereotype but it is also a book that is so full of history that it has done amazing things to our daughter. It was introduced to her as a book that is on the list of books to be banned because of the stereotypes that is in it. Her teacher reads it to the class to make sense of the content and to allow discussions that may not happen otherwise. As Ivey writes, “reading to students helps them to experience a sophisticated text the way the teacher experiences it” (813). This holds true for our daughter for she now is able to finally understand the stereotypes of race and why certain words are not to be used in today’s society, or should never have been used in the past. But most of all this book led her to want to read more books that have been “banned” so that she can make the informed decisions on what is right vs. wrong and this has led to some great conversations in our home.
Overall, I agree with all articles on the benefits of a read-a-loud and its benefits it has from the emergent reader stage all the way through the middle school years. I have seen this first hand within my own children and am excited to continue with my own classroom.
This was discussed in the article by Teals and Sulzby on how “the link of literacy with experiences and the active use of language is stressed” (p. 6). I fully agree with this statement because you can’t sit a child down and teach them how to read and write without them having the understanding of how it is used in every day life.
My husband and I set up our home with books readily available to our children as they grew up. We felt it important that they know how books, and reading, are. That by reading a book to oneself can take you on a fabulous adventure or that you can learn something new such as a fact that was unknown to you before.
Reading books aloud are also important to us because it shows a child how a book is suppose to be read and enjoyed. In kindergarten my daughter’s teacher read, Caps for Sale daily to the class. When we purchased the book for our daughter she asked my husband to read it, who, according to her, did it all wrong because he forgot to use “voices” when reading and he didn’t stand up and stomp his feet like her teacher did when acting out the story. This is yet another sign of an emergent reader who is, according to Teals and Sulzby, building listening and comprehension skills, building vocabulary, improving memory, and many more skills. Or as Ivey has written, “Engaging students with you as you read to them not only helps them think about the text but also tips them off to how they can read more thoughtfully on their own” (813).
Jump forward seven years to where my daughter is now in the 7th grade and her teacher is reading a loud to them Huckleberry Finn. A controversial book? You bet! The Council on Interracial Books for Children writes that children are exposed to certain attitudes regarding race and sexism that distorts perceptions to where we have stereotypes and sexism. They continue to explain how to look for stereotypes in books. Huckleberry Finn could be considered a stereotype but it is also a book that is so full of history that it has done amazing things to our daughter. It was introduced to her as a book that is on the list of books to be banned because of the stereotypes that is in it. Her teacher reads it to the class to make sense of the content and to allow discussions that may not happen otherwise. As Ivey writes, “reading to students helps them to experience a sophisticated text the way the teacher experiences it” (813). This holds true for our daughter for she now is able to finally understand the stereotypes of race and why certain words are not to be used in today’s society, or should never have been used in the past. But most of all this book led her to want to read more books that have been “banned” so that she can make the informed decisions on what is right vs. wrong and this has led to some great conversations in our home.
Overall, I agree with all articles on the benefits of a read-a-loud and its benefits it has from the emergent reader stage all the way through the middle school years. I have seen this first hand within my own children and am excited to continue with my own classroom.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Differences in the Districts
So as I was observing at my dyad (or triad) in the Northshore District on Thursday, I couldn't help but think about the BIG differences between school districts. There is exactly 6.8 miles between the two schools of 4th graders I am in; one is located in the Everett district and the other in the Northshore district. I wouldn’t consider one school poorer than or richer than the other. Both classrooms have a nice diversity of culture and special education kids. Yet, the differences in class size and resources are amazing.
The Everett school has 27 students, one teacher, two computers and two whiteboards. The Northshore school has 17 students, one teacher, one fulltime aid, 8 computers, and a Smartboard. Not only that, but most of the teachers in this school also have a Special Ed endorsement. So, these differences really got me to thinking about all the Education Reform we have been reading about lately and what makes a good teacher. This led me to realize how different it is to teach from one district to the next and that maybe this is also part of the problem, the resources that are available to a teacher. Maybe this is where we should start, by trying to figure out how to make two schools that have a 6.8-mile difference between them more alike in resources and that this would help in the education gap. I don’t necessarily mean more computers and a Smartboard, but more the smaller class size along with a fulltime aid is huge!
I also started thinking about the special ed endorsement that these teachers have and it does make sense. With more and more students with special needs and IEP’s being mainstreamed into the classroom, teachers should be receiving the special ed endorsement within their certification process. Wouldn’t that help make teaching easier and more successful too?
The Everett school has 27 students, one teacher, two computers and two whiteboards. The Northshore school has 17 students, one teacher, one fulltime aid, 8 computers, and a Smartboard. Not only that, but most of the teachers in this school also have a Special Ed endorsement. So, these differences really got me to thinking about all the Education Reform we have been reading about lately and what makes a good teacher. This led me to realize how different it is to teach from one district to the next and that maybe this is also part of the problem, the resources that are available to a teacher. Maybe this is where we should start, by trying to figure out how to make two schools that have a 6.8-mile difference between them more alike in resources and that this would help in the education gap. I don’t necessarily mean more computers and a Smartboard, but more the smaller class size along with a fulltime aid is huge!
I also started thinking about the special ed endorsement that these teachers have and it does make sense. With more and more students with special needs and IEP’s being mainstreamed into the classroom, teachers should be receiving the special ed endorsement within their certification process. Wouldn’t that help make teaching easier and more successful too?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Smart Board
Today I began my dyad, or in my case, a tri-ad, since there are 3 of us from my cohort in this 4th grade class. We are here for the next two months, basically to give us a view of a different school district and how it is run. My assigned main placement is in the Everett District, for my tri-ad I am in North Shore District and let me tell you.... there is a big difference!!
While I noticed a lot of differences, the main one is the use of the SmartBoard! I had not seen this in the actual classroom and I was amazed! It made me realize how the children of today have such knowledge of technology and can interact so easily with it. The students were so engaged and they want to learn!!
Although, when talking about these Smart boards to a professor it was mentioned that yes it is amazing, but for the same amount of money, if not a little less, wouldn't it be great for each kid to receive an iPad instead? That way everyone in class could interact with technology instead of watching just the teacher interact with the board? That really made me think and I have to say..... I agree!
Here's a little link in case you've never seen the Smartboard.
While I noticed a lot of differences, the main one is the use of the SmartBoard! I had not seen this in the actual classroom and I was amazed! It made me realize how the children of today have such knowledge of technology and can interact so easily with it. The students were so engaged and they want to learn!!
Although, when talking about these Smart boards to a professor it was mentioned that yes it is amazing, but for the same amount of money, if not a little less, wouldn't it be great for each kid to receive an iPad instead? That way everyone in class could interact with technology instead of watching just the teacher interact with the board? That really made me think and I have to say..... I agree!
Here's a little link in case you've never seen the Smartboard.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Blogs: The New Power
In watching "The Machine is Us/ing Us" it made me realize how far technology has come and how important it is. The fact that so many people click on the web many times a day is proof of this. I know that I do everything on the Web from reading the NY Times, to ordering groceries at Safeway.com, to Facebooking, it helps me feel connected to many and helps me in my everyday needs. What would we do without the Web? I find it all quite fascinating and it excites me to learn all that is out there. I have loved video games ever since my parents came home with an Atari and we would play Pong for hours and it was a celebration when we got Space Invaders! Now I look at my own children who Facebook, Moodle, Wii, Smartboard, iPad, Autodesk Inventor, YouTube and so much more!
Which brings me to blogging. Why blog? I know that I have read many blogs over the past year and kept thinking that I would love to have one. What stopped me? Basically not knowing how to set one up. That can’t be an excuse any more; it is too easy to set up. Hooking up my wireless connection in my home was harder then setting up a blog. It keeps you connected to others who may share your views, helps you see another person’s views, and gives you the support you need when trying something new. After all, in this day of technology, isn’t the first thing you do when wanting to know something is Google it? Then you have all these choices to click on. There are the facts and there are the opinions. But what is nice about bloggers is that they use the word “I” so it feels personal, and sometimes you can feel the emotional response. Which as a teacher, I want to hear about their trials and tribulations on what works and what to stay away from. Yes, it’s an exciting time, one that I am happy to be a part of!
Which brings me to blogging. Why blog? I know that I have read many blogs over the past year and kept thinking that I would love to have one. What stopped me? Basically not knowing how to set one up. That can’t be an excuse any more; it is too easy to set up. Hooking up my wireless connection in my home was harder then setting up a blog. It keeps you connected to others who may share your views, helps you see another person’s views, and gives you the support you need when trying something new. After all, in this day of technology, isn’t the first thing you do when wanting to know something is Google it? Then you have all these choices to click on. There are the facts and there are the opinions. But what is nice about bloggers is that they use the word “I” so it feels personal, and sometimes you can feel the emotional response. Which as a teacher, I want to hear about their trials and tribulations on what works and what to stay away from. Yes, it’s an exciting time, one that I am happy to be a part of!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Ayers
As I begin this journey of mine into the world of teaching I am reminded of Ayers and some of the wisdom he has shared. He inspires me with the most simple sentences of, "as a student walks into your classroom they are asking themselves, 'who am I in the world?' and that my classroom should be a place where I am, "opening up a space for where their choices become richer, broader, powerful and more important."
Friday, October 1, 2010
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