Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas January 27, 2010
While reading Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas I liked the idea of the Double-Entry Diaries. I feel like students can benefit a lot from this especially having the teacher model it at first. Some quotes or even definitions are hard to make sense of and by doing this students can find ways to relate to it and make a definition which they understand. I think that this is a great tool for studying so students are studying information that they understand and not just reading something they don’t understand. Sharing this information with other students in the class is also so beneficial because they can learn it better. When I was in elementary school I sometimes learned more by writing my information down and sharing it with others as oppose to reading it straight from a book. I also think that the Data Retrieval Chart is another tool that is engaging for students to use while researching. When I would hear the word research in elementary school I would automatically assume copying information down from the encyclopedia to summarize and it wasn’t fun. However, having students use fun tools is a great start. The Double Entry Diary is another great tool to use for vocabulary and studying as well. I feel that students will be very engaged in the lesson while using these tools.Swa
Love That Dog, Brown Angels and All the Small Poems! January 22, 2010
It was interesting to read and compare the similarities and differences found in each poetry book. I liked how they all contained examples of various types of poetry. I enjoyed seeing how “Jack” in Love that Dog grew as a writer from the beginning of his poetry until the end. I hope to ensure that my future students gain knowledge of strategies to comprehend and enjoy poetry. There are various ways to make writing and reading poetry interesting and engaging for students to learn. I believe the poetry writing should be intriguing and stimulating for students as opposed to how I learned poems with memorizing and other tiresome methods. Poetry became stressful and frustrating for me to read or compose. I don’t recall having the opportunity to read engaging poetry books such as these books. They were entertaining and children can relate to them. I truly believe that reading poetry to children daily would be a great enforcement for students to realize what poetry is and how they can begin to write and comprehend it. Seeing how “Jack” loved the poem “Love that Boy” because he could relate to it was a great way to show students that poetry can be something they can connect with. I have enjoyed reading these books and plan to implement them in my future classroom.
Meaningful Items January 22, 2010
My laptop is meaningful to me because when I went to look for one to purchase my grandma decided she wanted to buy it for me. My grandparents live in Miami, Florida and I don’t get to see them as often as I would like to. I miss them deeply and it means a lot to me that she bought me the lap top I use daily. Without my laptop I wouldn’t know how to live my everyday life.
Every since I was born my parents gave me a little pillow to sleep with. As I grew older I continued to sleep with my pillow and it naturally became a favorite item in my life. When we would go on vacation it would always be the first thing I would pack and when I would spend the night at my grandparent’s house they had one there for me. Till this day I sleep with a little pillow and can’t sleep comfortably without it.
Notebook Know How page 15-34! January 21, 2010
I learned various strategies for teaching writing while reading the rest of this chapter. I plan to implement the methods to ensure my future students have different strategies to construct their own independent writing. I learned it isn’t an easy task to brainstorm and write without a given topic. I now understand the difficulty some students may have while the task is easy for others. Considering that I am planning to implement writing notebooks in my future classroom, it is beneficial to know how to launch the journal. I realize that easy strategies would be to help students construct list about what they like, dislike, 10 favorite things that has happened to them and 10 bad things as well. This helps guide students in creating their own list and help start struggling students. I feel students will have difficulties finding a topic at some point especially when they are to write every day. Insuring students this notebook can be scribbled on and not to erase anything on it is very important so that students loose the fear of being wrong. This can take some time especially if you have perfectionist in the class. I believe modeling that you do is a good example. I think for students who absolutely don’t have anything to write about it would be a good idea if they draw something they like and then briefly describe what they drew. This can eventually lead to writing for students. I love the idea of the students keeping a writers notebook because they not only get to express their feelings, but they can look back and reread the notebook and see their progress throughout the school year which is always a great thing to see.
History of my name! January 21, 2010
Throughout my life people have always responded with how unique they think my name is and I have to agree with that as well. I have always liked my name even though everyone calls me Bely. I received this name because my mother’s name is Belinda as well and ever since then I like for people to call me Bely. When my grandparents found out they were going to have a baby girl my grandpa immediately said her name was going to be Belinda. My grandpa was in love with the movie Jonny Belinda and always said when he had a daughter her name would be Belinda. My mother then was pregnant with me and he of course wanted my name to be Belinda as well. He said it was such a good name and it would fit me perfectly. My grandpa is sure to remind me about the movie and how it won several awards. The movie took place in 1948 and won several awards. I enjoyed watching the movie and thought it was great to know why I was named Belinda. I have never encountered another Belinda Marino in school or any other place. A lot of people relate my last name to Dan Marino because he was the only “well known” Marino. Everyone wants to ask if we are related because it is an easy association. After researching my name on the website I found some interesting facts about it. One thing that took me by surprise was there is 90,983 people in the United States that have my first name and 35,139 people in the United States that have my last name. This was shocking because I have never seen this in person other than my mom. It was interesting to see that there actually were a lot of people with my first name. However, only 10 people have my whole name. I thought my name was really unique and if you take away my mother it is 9 so it still is less common.
HOT Blogging January 18, 2010
Blogging is a great form of utilizing a webpage. It is easy to add new shared information with others. I find it easy to work with as opposed to an online webpage creator. I have had word press for two semesters now and have enjoyed working with it. I also agree with the article that blogging is a great way to share your work and the students work to their friends and family. I plan to use blogging in my future classroom to have students post their homework on or use as a means of discussions. If students don’t have internet access they can turn it in on paper. I feel this is a great motivation for students and fun at the same time. It is also great for classroom and school updates and information to let parents know what is going on in their child’s classroom daily. I look forward to using my blog in my future classroom and think that the students will benefit from it. This is also a great thing for students to develop throughout their school years and look back at their work as references and see how they have grown from one year to another.
Notebook Know How January 15, 2010
I have always thought writing was really important for students especially in the lower grades. Reading the first chapter in the book made me think about different strategies to have students write throughout the day. I thought in the morning while the students are coming in they can have time to write in their journals. It is also very important to find ways to guide students to find topics to write about instead of giving them a topic. Students should be able to construct their own writing and just have guidance at times. Looking back at my elementary school years writing was one of my favorite subjects because I had the chance to write about whatever I choose. This can benefit students in so many ways and is very important to become proficient in teaching the subject.
Intern #6 December 1, 2009
It was sad to say bye to the kiddies it being the last day. The students were engaged in their work today and had a lot of extra energy after lunch since they couldn’t go outside because of the rain. They read a new book and had new words. By this point they are becoming familiar with their reading activities and seem to know what to do. I had a great time being in the classroom and most defenetly learned a lot. I hope to learn more as time goes on and take this knowledge into my future classroom.
Intern #5 November 30, 2009
This week was a short week for the kids as well. However, they were full of energy. The students did the same vocabulary words and reviewed their shapes for math. You could definitely tell that they were ready for thanksgiving break. The teacher did a turkey with shapes which the students learned from and enjoyed. They also did a text talk with a thanksgiving story. The day was based all around reading books.
