Guided Reading Critique

It is always beneficial to learn strategies to motivate students to enjoy literacy. This is a good skill that teachers must have because once students are interested in a particular topic, they can perform to the best of their abilities. Reading comprehension and making connections with the text can be definitely guided by the teacher. Guided reading involves helping students to analyze stories, understand their components and making sense out of it, so it can be meaningful. In the case study of the book The Giver , students were able to understand the story in a deeper level. We as teachers need to make sure that our students are understanding, analyzing, and making connections as their love for literacy is encouraged.

Guided Reading Lesson Videos

I liked the way teachers conducted the lessons with students. They emphasized predictions by allowing students to predict what they thought the books were going to be about, and also by allowing students to make a connection between the text and their personal experiences. Choices were also important in the classroom as a way to engage them in reading the books they really enjoy, and learning whether the book is just right for their reading level. I liked the technique the second teacher gave the children by reading any page in the book and count how many mistakes they made, that was a good indicator of their reading level.

My Access Report Reaction

After reading information about all the things students are able to do with My Access I came to the conclusion that it is an excellent program to use. It provides them with opportunities to assess themselves, by using the scoring system, which provides instant feedback. It is an excellent tool that should be used in our schools because teachers can also rely on this system to assess student learning. Sometimes it is hard for us as teachers to grade all the paper work and submit it on time .
Our work would be easier if a system like this is implemented in our districts.
It is also important to mention that ESL students benefit greatly from the program because it encourages them to revise, and positively criticize their work . Online portfolios are also included in the program, where students, teachers, and administrators have unlimited access to assignments to monitor students progress. I would love to learn more about this program to use it in my classroom for specific assignments.

My Access! Writing Program Video

This program is great. It allows students to register online and take advantage of this excellent tool. As the principal stated in the video, this invites students to learn in many different ways and at the same time it integrates more writing in the curriculum. Students can use self-assessment techniques, and like some of them said, the program is highly motivating, since children love to use computers. This program is a new tool for teachers to teach writing in a different way and engage students in a journey they will enjoy.

iPod Article Article

My reaction to this article is positive. I think we should use technology in education because it is what students are being exposed to. In order to keep students interested and engage them in the lessons we teach, we should look for topics and things that they want to learn about and use. iPods are being used everywhere and I strongly feel that we as educators can give it a positive use. There are many skills that can be improved with the use of iPods such as reading and writing, being the last one mentioned by the author. Teachers need to prepare students for the era of technology and that means integrating new techniques and implementing new ways of teaching.
I think that teachers should look at specific activities children can work on while using their ipods, such as a group project. I also see it as a way for teachers to learn more about technology and the different activitities that can be done with technology.

Power Point Helper Video

This was a good video. I think the factors he went over are important in developing a good presentation. The one that I had a problem with was with the background. I understand what he mentioned about focusing on the message of the presentation, as opposed to focusing on the background, text, pictures etc. Great things to have in mind when developing a power point presentation!

My Pumpkin Story Lesson Plan

Interesting Lesson Plan for Halloween. I loved the format of the My Pumpkin Story lesson plan, because students will be able to accomplish different tasks and have fun while doing the activities. In my case, since I teach kindergarten that will also serve as a way for students to realize that steps take place in a sequence, and encourage them to illustrate and read their stories to the class. I also like the games the website has, and I will definitely play with my students that day. HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Crazy Professor Reading Game

This game seems to be very helpful for both students and teachers. Students learn to express their understanding of the reading by using gestures, and teachers get an idea of how students feel about what they are reading. This game is also excellent to foster cooperative work, since students are encouraged to work with partners and discuss what they are reading with them. I believe this game also attracts students attention to literature and the importance of reading, because this activity makes learning fun for them. I think it is a good game to try in class.

No Child Left Behind

I have changed my opinion about The No Child Left Behind Act as I read and talk more about it. Although it seems like a good law because it targets improvement, and demands teachers and students to work hard, there are other factors to consider that might affect student's education and the way we as educators teach. One of the most important factors to me is the fact that some teachers are "teaching to the test", meaning that they focus more on teaching how to become excellent test takers instead of teaching the aims of the curriculum. If students are taught strategies to become good test takers they will not know how to apply the knowledge they received in school in their real life situations. Although learning how to take tests is also part of learning, I think we should focus more on preparing students for the the upcoming changes (such as technology), and not focus so much on the test-taking strategies.

Another factor is that they goal seems to be unrealistic, taking in consideration that students have different learning styles, therefore this law will become a challenge for some of them. Of course there should be some improvement every year, by which teachers, students, and parents, are encouraged to work more to improve childre's academic skills. But it is not reasonable to compare nor judge schools that have different population, groups of students with different learning styles and mental disabilities.

7 Ways to Reinforce Spelling In Your Class Video

I think the tips given by the teacher in the video were really helpful. I already had implemented some of them in my classroom, but I think steps number 5 and 6 are very important (spelling journals, and parental involvement), because like he said students can carry their spelling dictionaries all around and at the same time parents are getting involved in their children education. Excellent steps that every teacher should keep in mind to reinforce spelling in the classroom.

Starfall

Every child, parent, and educator should take advantage of this wonderful website. It contains excellent mini lessons for preschoolers, and they vary from words to sentences. Kids would love it! As we learned in chapter 3, the more children are exposed to reading and writing, the better readers and writers they will be in the future. Starfall makes reading and writing fun because of the excellent animation and games that will attract children, parents, and educator’s attention. This website was very helpful to me because as a kindergarten teacher I am truly concerned with fostering emergent literacy in my classroom and I could get millions of ideas every day to enrich my lessons. Thank you!

Letter Writtig Lesson Video

I loved this lesson! I am definitely trying it with my students. I think it is an excellent way to expose them to feel the writing of the letters and to assess them by seeing what they interpret. It was curios how they each obtained different interpretations of what the teacher wrote at the beginning. I liked this lesson because this is also another approach to teach writing, instead of the teacher writing on the blackboard or having students practicing how to write from their desks. This encourages students to try new learning techniques and to realize that learning how to write could be fun. This was a very creative lesson because it also emphasizes team work and previous knowledge about letters.

ReadingA-Z.com Article

The article provides good information and techniques for us as teachers to foster the development of literacy in our students. It teaches us how to make developmentally reading resources available in our classrooms so each child's instructional needs are met. I agree with the fact that there should be a reading foundation in early childhood since alphabet recognition and phonemic awareness are indicators of early reading success. Parents and educators should work together to expose children to new vocabulary words (important, useful, difficult ) that will help them enrich their language and reading skills.
I also found the strategies and methods to teach reading such as asking questions to guide student's understanding so they can generate their own questions about the reading. Students being able to generate questions on their own is a good sign because it means that they are understanding the main idea of the reading, and that they are being able to make a connection between the reading and their experiences. Other important information were the educational resources such as ReadingA-Z.com, RAZ-Kids.com and others, that are extremely helpful to teachers to widen our knowledge and performance in the literacy world.

Chats in Elementary School?

I think we should use technology in our classrooms , and chats could be an excellent idea to get students involved in the class. Students will feel motivated and excited to learn, therefore they will complete the work in a comfortable environment doing something they are familiar with, and at the same time it will help those people that are very shy to be vocal in the classroom like everyone else.

Education Today and Tomorrow

Excellent video! I agree with the message this video is trying to send because it is so true, our students live in a totally different world and that world is ruled by technology. We should be preparing them to be competent in that world full of instant information, entertainment, collaboration, and communication. This means that we as teachers need to be prepared as well, so this video is also an invitation for us to embrace technology. We should embrace it, to better prepare the students of today and tomorrow.

Pay Attention Video

I loved the Pay Attention Video. It made me think and realize that the children that we teach probably know more than us about technology. I believe that before a teacher could get to the student's mind, he or she must get to their heart, and this means that we must talk about their interests. Students will be motivated to learn more in our classrooms and participate if we incorporate in our system what really interests them: technology.

Educational Blog Article Critique

I think this article is wonderful! Not only does it give educators many ideas of how blogs can be used: to post rules, assignments, or suggested class activities, but it tells us why they should be used. Students of these days are exposed to technology everywhere, and blogging is an excellent opportunity to make school meaningful to them. Instead of being a formal lecture, blogging takes the shape of a conversation, because it is their way of expressing their opinions, feelings, and ideas.

This is probably the reason why so many students are into blogging. Several educators from different schools mentioned that once they introduced it to the classroom almost every student started to participate. In the events of September 11, 2001 blogging was also an excellent source, since it provided information and it was as if people were part of the event.

Blogging provides many opportunities for the educational world. For instance, it implements the emergence of a learning community beyond the walls of the classroom, posts could be read by anyone, and reactions/suggestions/ideas could be posted in response. Even a student who is shy and therefore, struggling to participate in a traditional classroom has his or her own space, and it could be as vocal as any other student in the classroom. This also offers an opportunity to improve student's writing skills, since most of them double check their spelling because they know their posts could be read by anyone, therefore putting a situation of equity in the classroom. Definitely it is something that we as educators can use to teach our students!