Confrontation Scenario

Design a confrontation scenario when student gets a bad grade, and write your response to the situation. Support with text.

A student misses a Spanish class before a test. He misses a great review session, but he has been in possession of the vocabulary list that was tested for a few weeks, and he was aware of the date of the test. His father calls, infuriated, when the student receives a poor grade. In response, I would stay cool (like a ref during a heated sports game) and validate the concern of the parent (coach). I would explain the situation from my perspective, and keep an open mind to allowing the student to make up the test, after studying, for an average of points. The author makes connections between the participants of a sports game to those involved in the lives of the student (the parent, the teacher, and the students themselves). Also, the author urges parents to get involved in the "practice" and benefit of the "player" as well as the "team". However, there is also sufficient warning to the teacher to give grace to the "coach," or parent, because the parent will always view the student as a "winner." To build upon this concept, perhaps it would be beneficial for the "coaches" to have more frequent meetings with the "refs" in order to keep everyone more fully informed in the first place?

Things To Do:

- Print the citation for your text on the photocopy
     *APA style
     * Author A (et.al.). (year). Title of textbook: Subtitle. Springfield, MO: Publishing Company.
- Choose two OR three places in the text (discrepancy)
- Use updates syllabus on ANGEL
- 5 different parts of assignment
     *Photocopy of texts with writing
     *Choose 2-5 parts that would be hard for understanding (highlight)
     *Write short narrative explaining focus on issues and why
     *Tovani Pg. 128 worksheet (saved to desktop)
     *Meaningful activity using vocab from textbook (not crossword or word search)
     *Comprehension Constructor: Overarching thing that they are going to do with the text (think synthesis                                                                                                                                       and manipulation)
-Go through reading responses and cite in texts

Tovani Chapter 6

"No one is smart enough to remember all that he knows."

    - Mark Twain

Tovani discusses the concept of holding thinking to remember and reuse. He starts the chapter by describing a drill he used in his class where he required his students to "read" a picture. Tovani begins by stating that students should begin making note of when they are thinking while reading by marking texts. While at first it can be frustrating, it is proven that students who mark their texts by highlighting or sticky notes are more likely to return to that text to reread or study it for tests. Students must be shown how to correctly mark texts in order for their efforts to be truly successful. He offers the example of Aaron, a difficult student who seemed to not even desire to put in the effort to be successful at annotation. However, after accidentally showing his paper to the class, Tovani discovered that Aaron had read the article, he simply failed to make the connection as to what he should write. Instead, he attempted to be intimidating and sarcastic. Now, Aaron has progressed greatly, and Tovani uses this example to encourage teachers not to become frustrated with students who appear to be failing. After this, Tovani offers several different ways in which teachers can encourage annotation and held thinking, without being boring or repetitive. Activities such as Whole-group thinking and double-entry diaries can encourage students to think about text in a new light. I plan on using some of the strategies that Tovani offers in my classroom someday, when students have difficulty understanding vocabulary or concepts in their secondary language.

Tovani Chapter 5

In chapter 5, Tovani discuss responses to the question "Why am I reading this?" He recommends that teachers, when choosing a curriculum, do not expect students to cover and analize huge amounts of information on the first read. He sympathizes with history teachers, because they have such a magnitude of information to cover in a limited amount of time. Tovani implies that perhaps curricula should require less information be covered at a time, so that teachers will not feel obligated to require students to "read" so much information, without actually understanding what they read. The book discusses different mental voices that students may encounter while reading material. The first is a narrative sort of voice, where the student does not truly engage, they simply recite the text in their head. The second is a more discussion-oriented type of voice, in which the student has the opportunity to engage, but must avoid the temptation to go into a distracted mindset. The author claims that students should be the ones responsible for setting the curriculum, so that they can move at their own ace and truly gain mastery of the presented material. Tovani's recommendations for ways to keep students on top of curriculum material, and away from their reciting mental voice, involve being selective about what you present for your students to read, and provide students with a projected way in which you will manipulate the information that they gain from the reading. I had the honor of studying under a teacher in high school in honors English who truly understood the concept of selective reading assignments. Because of her choices of pieces that were unusual but interesting to the students, we were all able to do more than just pass her class, but attend it with enjoyment.

Reflection On "Waiting for Superman"

As much as I would love to see America change for the better, to be entirely honest my first reaction to this film is fear. Fear as someone who wants to teach someday. Fear as someone who wants to have kids who will grow up to be successful. Why is the betterment of the entire country on MY shoulders? I feel an Atlas Complex developing... It also saddens me that the U.S. has fallen so low in the educational standing.

The Help

    I have decided to combine my choice reading blog posts into a more extensive post, because my points would have been too repetitive, and the intricacies of the connections are better expressed together than apart. For my choice reading, I have been actively reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. In this book, set in the 1960's in Jackson, Mississippi, Stockett delves into the previously unattested for lives of black maids and housekeepers in a time where equality was more of a pipe-dream than a reality, and women worked like slaves even after having gained rights just to feed their families. In "The Help," Skeeter, the protagonist white character struggling to find the balance between marriage (which is expected of her) and a professional career in writing (which is what she expects for herself) approaches all of the black maids in her home town and asks them to be daring enough to share their testimonies with her so that she may compile them into an article so hard-hitting that she might gain notoriety in the publication world. The first maid she interviews is Aibileen Clark, a black maid who is in the process of raising her seventh white child. Due to the fact that she lost her own son, the author implies that Aibileen's obvious love for her "adopted" children stems from a place of replacement, a desire to fill the holes in her heart left by loss with the love of the children she is responsible for. Due to the fact that the child she is raising, Mae Mobley, is the daughter of a mother who is neglectful as a side-effect to severe postpartum depression, Aibileen's love for her is truly that of a mother. Another central character is Minnie Fay, Aibileen's best friend and fellow housekeeper. Her unbridled tongue gets her in trouble and fired frequently, but eventually she ends up in the home of a welcoming (though clueless) woman, Celia, who's bubbly and glowing exterior acts as a mask to the tragedy that fills her life as she repetitively miscarries her children. The rough-and-tumble Minnie Fay is exactly who she needs to provide her with the knowledge and strength that she certainly cannot provide for herself. Finally, the antagonist is Hilly Holbrook, a cruel woman hiding behind a wall of empty religion, who represents everything superficial and judgemental about the segregated time. In all, Stockett crafts a masterful tale of motherhood, family, and courage that should be considered a piece of classic literature by authors and readers, alike.
     I was able to form connections to the maids in the story, as my best friend is the nanny in a home where the parents would rather not come in any sort of contact with their children at all. She feels personally responsible for rearing the children in a love that is nothing short of maternal. The relationship between her and her children reminds me of the relationship between Aibileen and Mae, although Ashley certainly is not as subdues as Aibileen. This connection is only magnified by the fact that Ashley feels that after almost five years, she may soon have to leave her job, as Aibileen is forced to leave Mae. A quote that really moved me emotionally and stood out to me as a main point of the author was the quote that Aibileen repeats to little Mae Mobley on a daily basis, "You is smart, you is kind, and you is important." Aibileen spends the majority of the book embedding this mantra into Mae's mind, as she knows the importance of instilling Mae with a sense of self-worth, especially in the face of the abuse of her mother. Some questions that I would ask would be:
1. What happens to Mae and Aibileen's relationship after Aibileen leaves?
2. Where did Skeeter find a job permanently? Did she take the knowledge she gained from her research with "the help" and instill a greater sense of meaning in her readers?
3. Did Aibileen go on to write many other works, as was her dream?
4. Was Celia ever successful in creating a family of her own?
I find myself placing happy endings on all of the loose ends that the author leaves to simulate real life experience. I suppose I am more of a romantic than a realistic reader. Also, as much as I have never really enjoyed historically based books before, I find myself much more inclined to read historical fiction when there are so many emotionally accessible characters and themes. The focus was more on the people than on the propaganda, and I believe that that is why so many people, including myself, have found this book to be so wonderful. It was easy to formulate a hatred for Hilly, because her cruelty was based out of Christianity, which is the religion I practice as well. In my heart, I dislike her because of the way she manipulates the religion, something I try so hard to project in a genuine fashion. I connect with Minnie Fay's sassiness and her ability to catch people off guard and make them laugh.

Essential Question

Q. How might you teach students to ask essential questions as they read to deepen their understanding?
A. Have a class writing assignment in which they pretend to ask they author (in letter form, etc.) questions that they might have about the story. Use those questions to recognize gaps and encourage students to use imaginations to bridge story gaps. (Author and Me Q's).

* Right There Questions...Explicitly Stated
* Think and Search Questions...Explicitly Stated
* Author and Me Questions...Implicitly Stated Clues
* On Your Own Questions...Implicit Connections

There are a few different ways in which you can foster the asking of essential questions. One way would be for the teacher to have the students list their questions, and then assist them in searching the text for the answers. Or, the teacher could lead a discussion with the class to first develop the questions.

AOW 9/21/11

Exempt: Mine and Angeline's week to present!!!

The Help & Jam With Text

*Make Inferences * Determine Importance * Synthesize * Visualize * Fix-Up Strategies * Ask Questions *  Make Connection*


Visualize
Connect-Graveyard Pics
Connect- Grandpa Military
Visualize
Determine Importance- "The Wall is for all of us..." "I'd rather have him here..."
Connect-Bad book for empathy people!
Inferences- The author seems to write from a place of personal experience. There is a great depth of emotion.

Spanish Jingle

Sung to the tune of the "Mickey Mouse" song:

Yo is I
Tu is You
El, He
Ella, She
Usted, You (Formal)
Nosotros is Weeeeeeee
Vosotros is Ya'll
Ellos is They
Ellas is They
And Ustedes is All of You!

Class Notes 9/14/11

http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/serest1.htm

Text tagging demonstrated as part of the textbook assignment:
- Sticky Notes
- Making Connections
- Application
- Personal Commentary
- Highlight
- Reread
- Turn off recitation voice
- Turn on conversation voice
- Flow Concept

Rubric for Choice Reading on Angel
- Responding to Anything: Blogs, Magazines, Books...Whatever!
- No page limit
- Recreational reading

Article Response 3

Adam & Bryanna

Things the group did in elementary school that was science related...
- Class pets
- Track hurricanes on maps
- Making putty/playdough
- Growing plants
- The MOST

When reading the article, consider ideas that elementary teachers can use to prepare students for my specific subject area to help them build their knowledge base (Spanish).

    In the class lead by Bryanna and Adam, each student was asked to recall science projects that they had experienced in elementary school. There was a range throughout the class from zero science experience in high school to much experience. However, the topic of interest was brought up that while students may have had some experience, and even remember the interesting, hook-laden experiments (such as putty making to show chemical reactions), it was infrequent that the students remember the POINT of the experiments. In the assigned article, "Young Children Can Be Sophisticated Scientists" by Kathleen Metz, the idea is explored that science education has been simplified more than necessary in regards to elementary students, who are actually capable of complex science. Despite the studies by Jean Piaget, the author suggests that in her own research she proves the plasticity of students' learning and that they are actually ready for science concepts previously believed to be over their heads. Metz gives the reader 5 science instruction principles which she developed and has actually used as the platform for her own science curriculum. The proposed pillars are as follows: 1. "Scaffold relatively rich knowledge, emphasizing big ideas that transcend the topic being studied." 2. "Engage children in purposeful scientific inquiry, with the goal of discovery and understanding." 3. "Teach science processes and methods in the context of “doing” real science." 4. "Manipulate both the size of the student groups working on scientific inquiry and the extent to which the curriculum presents the inquiry in “well-structured” form instead of asking students to undertake the design themselves." 5. "Build knowledge and responsibility to the point where pairs of students who are at the same level academically assume primary responsibility for their own investigations." In essence, the author calls for teachers who will apply scientific knowledge to extra-scientific subjects, facilitate student discovery through relevant experimentation, encourage learning through hands-on projects, structure the inquiry methods while carefully placing students in groups that may be beneficial to their inquiries, and eventually mature students to the point where they feel responsibility and pride towards their own scientific accomplishments.

Notes from Class; 9/7/11

Reading

* Translation (decoding)

* Comprehension

* Transformation

     - The Help

     - The Giver

     - Hind's Feet In High Places

     - Crazy Love

*See Tovani pg. 6 and 17 for "Fix-Up Strategies"... text labels
* Content Area Strategies
     - Reading response log/blog
     -Vocabulary flood
     -Article of the Week
     - Double-entry journal
     - We think... statements
     - Knowledge chart
     - Make a personal connection
     - Asking questions
     - Drawing conclusions
     - Using the text as evidence
     - Connection to a real person
     - Rereading
     - Use literature (Text to text connections)
      Using background or prior knowledge

Tovani Chapter 3 & 4 Response

     In the chapters "Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode" and "Real Rigor: Connecting Students With Accessible Texts," Tovani delves into several different methods for making reading more enjoyable for teachers and students. In chapter 3, the author discusses how applying different pieces of literature, such as a blueprint for an architect, can become platforms for understandable reading habits. In essence, it makes more sense to teach reading to teachers from a standpoint of literature that applies to their area of expertise. Often, they become so familiar with what types of communication they use day to day, that applying reading works that are varying from those common pieces can be difficult or overwhelming or even boring. However, teaching teachers to first learn to read using the lens of literature they are familiar with gives them a basis by which to teach students how to read effectively. Structure and context are major tools that can also play in to understanding the construction of unfamiliar literature.
     In chapter 4, Tovani describes the importance of picking pieces of literature that best fit the cultural and interests of individual students. Accessible texts are essential, because they encourage the reader to continue reading. However, in an effort to make reading accessible, teachers should not shy away from choosing required pieces that are also challenging. Students who are stretched are more likely to grow as readers. Classic works of literature, such as "To Kill A Mockingbird" have practical, culturally relevant ties, should one be willing to find them.