Engage in an online literature discussion group on our class blog. Please read the rest of the book and make four entries 1)propose “meaty” fat questions to discuss, 2) make connections to your teaching and work with students, 3) make connections to your work as a writer. 4) Consider how what you have learned from this book might support the work of your integrated language arts unit
Please respond to one or more of your classmates’s entries in your study group.
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Pg 59. I think the answer to the question: Why do we need professional development in writing? Should be analyzed, because we know teachers around the world are professionally prepared to teach, educate and guide students to be successful and productive citizens in the future, but we also know that educative system has continuous changes based on science and technology advances; therefore, teachers need professional development to update their general knowledge and look for new and modern teaching strategies through computers ,which is the modern , essential and useful tool for teaching students nowadays, from Elementary school to University computer science has developed enormously. I think many school teachers like me are not so experienced in using computers in a proper way to help students learn all content areas, especially literacy. In order to improve students’ learning in our schools, every teacher needs to update their knowledge using technology , first of all, for their own purpose: writing, communicating, lesson planning, etc., and then to make extensive that technology they learned in classroom . Does this answer have logic?
Absolutely, I agree with you Norma. Education grows and changes very rapidly. Therefore, it is crucial to always have updated information. Teachers need to be lifelong learners if they want their students to be.
connections to own teaching- As I was reading the section (p. 60) about the changing of and diverse student population, I couldn't help but think about a culturally responsive classroom workshop that I attended. It was mostly about how to reach/teach your diverse students. There are many different cultures in America's public schools and we as teachers need to address the varying needs/learning styles. The book states, "teachers need to keep learning new techniques and instructional strategies, including supporting the literacy needs of English language learners." I think this is true for teaching all different cultures and approaching them with different teaching techniques.
fatty question- I loved reading the section, Teachers Teaching Teachers. Is this an effective strategy for professional growth? I had professional development a few weeks ago about a new math program that we adopted in my district. It was given by a teacher that has used this program for 3 years. She happened to be a kindergarten teacher like myself. She not only had the expertise in the math program, but she had the expertise of implementing it into a classroom. She spoke from experience, which I found to be extremely important. I feel that it makes such a difference to learn from someone who can speak from experience. I find workshops that give you the information but the people have no clue about implementing it into a classroom are not meaningful.
connection to self as writer- Writing is a difficult thing to learn, let alone teach. I struggled with writing growing up. I had very little confidence in my writing when I entered college. I didn't feel prepared. My writing has much improved since then, as well as, my confidence. This is because of education/professional growth beyond those years. Since being a teacher, I have learned how to be a better writer myself. I think that is important if you want to teach your students to become successful writers. As Norma stated, "teachers need to learn for their own purpose as well." I couldn't agree more.
support with integrated language arts unit- I think one of the most important messages in the last half of the book is "Real school reform can happen when teachers come together regularly thoughout their careers to explore practices that effective teachers have already proven are successful in their classrooms." This will be in the back of my mind when I'm planning for my students. What teaching methods are effective for kindergarten and have been proven to be successful? Hands-on, minds-on activities, background knowledge, varying needs/learning styles,etc...
nana said:to my own teaching by reading the book i have relise that by knowing the content of what you are taching is very important.new teaching srategies could also be learned though in -service training for teachers.also the use of technology in our classroom is vital in this day and age,for example in my prek classroom whenever i uses computer for any activity the students participation is remarkable. that is why we need professional development.
nana said ;fatty question:on [page 104]'if students are to learn they must write' i think this is my favoirate qoute in the book because that is one way we can know that the children we teach turely understands what we've taugt.writing is very essential in our teaching and learning process.
connection to me as a writer,this book have given me new approach to writing as writer and also as a teacher.as i said in my earlier response learning english is not easy for let alone writing it. it has lifted me to the level that it is a process and if you pay attention to what you put on paper you can make a differnce in your life and others.
response to leigh: i do agree with you friend that our schools are made of students from diverse background through professional development we learn about how to teach english learner in our clssrooms .And also on peer teaching is the best class you could ever ask for it so personal and the experince is awesome. i like teachers teaching teachers because the example are are practicable and easy to impleament.
nana said ;this book have given me stategies to integrate language arts in my evryday teahing in prek. now every lesson i plan i try to integrate .for example in a science class teaching on bugs we read the book IKCY BUGS.
PG. 73. Meaty fat question - “The No Child Left behind Act (NCLB 2002)” requires that states have rigorous content and performance standards in place. In 2005 all fifty states have established academic standard for their schools”. I think this issue deserves to be observed in order to improve the quality of education for our students; future citizens of society. Debates over quality of education still continue are the state standards too high or too low?, and how they would affect teaching and learning. Obviously creating high or low standards alone is not sufficient to achieve student’s performance. In most elementary schools there are students with diverse learning problems which are influenced by multiple factors including cultural, social and economic situations, it happens in every school around the world; therefore, teachers cannot achieve the goals of the State on a hundred percent in their students, but according to The No Child Left Behind Act, all students have to pass to the next grade . What happens with students who couldn’t achieve the content objectives in a successful way? Is The No Child Left behind Act affected by the quality of education in public schools? I think the State in order to improve the quality of education should review and modify the rigorous content standards or create additional programs for the students who have learning problems . I remember years ago when I was working in my country we had a lot of children in elementary school with learning problems, they were separated in additional classrooms called “recovery classrooms” where they were leveled out basically in literacy and math according to their learning capabilities in different grades. Those programs helped considerably to improve the student’s low performance. Is there some schools that have specific programs to improve student’s learning problems excluding disabilities?. If yes, I would like to know about it.
Pg.87-89 Connection to own teaching: In my teaching experience, I always considered that parents participation and that principals supporting teachers is very important in students learning. This chapter describes how school administrators responsible for implementing curriculum reform can play a vital role working together with teachers in order to get an effective writing program at Hudson public schools in Massachusetts and New York schools. They used a variety of strategies for their purpose, but two of the most interesting strategies were to make aware to all school communities including staff, parents and students why the entire school and community should focus on improving writing and make long –term plans to get successful results . I think implementing specific writing programs like the ones mentioned in case studies of this book could improve writing skills in our students too, so we need to join our effort together including superintendents, principals, staff and parents to get a successful result in teaching writing in all public schools .
Support to my integrated unit - Through reading this Nagin’s national writing project book, I have learned important issues about teaching writing: for example, writing is a complex process that needs multiples strategies and frequent supportive practice, also how important professional development is for the teachers to update our knowledge and learn new strategies according to science and technology advances to improve writing skills in our students. This book, through its case studies shows us diverse strategies for teaching writing. I will consider two important strategies in my unit which are: giving more time to students to practice writing and suggest different topics related to the unit, but letting them choose one of their own interests.
Nana,
I agree with you on how important it is to integrate language arts. I find that especially important for the younger grades in order to build background knowledge and develop new. I think bringing literacy into other content areas helps children to understand concepts. We learn from reading, writing, listening, and speaking, right????
Norma,
This is in response to your "No Child Left Behind" blog. I feel in some ways it's good. I think that teachers are forced to differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of their students. I think the idea of inclusion and mainstreaming has a lot of positive gains for those students with special needs and regular ed. students. However, as a classroom teacher, it can get very difficult when there are a lot of adults in and out of your room. I have the speech pathologist, the occupational therapist, special ed. teacher, tutor, paraprofessional, social worker, etc. It can be very distracting. Sometimes, I feel the students benefit more from being removed from the class and working one-on-one or in a small group (in a quiet, segregated area).
Leigha,
This is in response to your "Conection to self as writer" blog.I agree a hundred percent with you, Leigha. Writing is important for teaching if we want to teach students to become successful writers. Honestly, I am not really a good writer yet, I need to improve more my writing skills if I want to prepare good writers. By reading this book I have learned many important strategies to improve writing, which are going to be very useful for both myself and for my students.
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