USA VS. GERMANY TODAY :)

I hope you’re watching the USA game against Germany. This is going to be a great game. I tevoed it so please don’t tell me what happens.

Chapter six, Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse.  The author starts off by talking about showing a picture of a navy seal climbing a ripe ladder to a helicopter. Coming out of the water are the immense jaws of a great white shark. She asks the students “What do you think?” until somebody answers. Finally, students start to talk about it like, that’s so fake, and I used to live in California and that’s not what the bridge looks like and so on. Her point to the class is that they read the picture. The idea is unique because the idea of thinking while you read is more complex than I thought. In a sense you think it’s just simple but tan again sometimes I’m thinking of other things but what I have just read.

I really like the idea that this author makes, when we are trying to learn something in the real world we are the ones asking questions. As opposed to the teacher asking the questions and the student answering the question.

Getting Students Started with Marking Text:

1.      Mark one quote in the text, and have a conversation about the quote.

2.       Write a question that doesn’t have a simple answer.

3.       Ask your partners opinion about your ideas.

4.       Are you copying information from the text or sharing your thinking? Share thinking!

5.       Make a statement or recommendation, based on what you’ve read. Don’t be wishy-washy.

I also have a hard time remembering what I read when the text is difficult and re-reading is a must. The idea of marking text seems easy but as a younger student it can become difficult. The authore has her students follow the following guidelines when marking text.

1.       Write the thinking next to the words on the page that cause you to have the thought.

2.       If there isn’t room on the text to write, draw a line showing the teacher where the thinking is written.

3.       Don’t copy the text; respond to it.

4.       Merely underlining text is not enough. Thinking about the text must accompany the underlying.

5.       There is no one way to respond to text. Here are some possible options: ask a conclusion, make a statement.

What I really like about the author is that the author talks over and over about how it may seem easy to us but it’s important to remember that this is new to students.

What works? “Give students something to look for and write as they read” (Tovani, p. 86). It’s important to model different ways for students to mark reading. Not every student will understand or mark the same words. Leave room for discussion, this will give the students a chance to better understand text. 

Giving purpose to our readers.

The more blogs I read the more interested I get into this world of blogging. I will never write a book or have a paper published but Miles made a comment that made sense to me. Sometimes blogging can be about putting your work out there having followers and all of this without being published. The idea is brilliant and just then do I maybe understand this assignment a little more. I hope you learn something out of the text I'm reading as much as I have already learned from some of yours. 

Do I really have to teach reading is teaching teachers how to teach ourselves. So many times I have said I can't teach reading and I may have started to believe it, but this approach has taught me that I can teach reading. The book challenges the teacher to challenge themselves with challenging pieces of text and to struggle. Sound familiar?

But why am I reading this, Chaper 5. “Sometimes our problem as adult readers is that we see too many reasons or purposes for our students to read a text” (Tavoni, p 51). This is about defining purpose before teaching.

What is your instructional purpose? (Tavoni, p. 59).

1.     Decide what students should know after reading the piece

2.     Anticipate what might cause students difficulty. Are students lacking background knowledge? Will difficult vocabulary interfere with meaning?

3.     Model how you would negotiate difficulty.

4.     What do you want them to be able to do with the information once they have finished reading?

5.     Model how the should hold their thinking and provide tools.

This list that Tavoni writes in the book is really something as a teacher we must do. Not all students will be reading at the same level so having different material for different levels will be important. Anticipate, anticipate, and anticipate, I could not say this enough. I have found myself that the hardest thing have had trouble with is having all of the answers for the students. I know this may come with time and many years of teaching but if we are selecting the right text and aligning my lessons with the readings this will help me anticipate and provide the tools necessary for my students success.

Most students are not going to reread a text and Tavoni suggests that we are up front with what we want our students to do before they read. I think this is great as her example of making her students read a novel and than ask them to write a character sketch after she felt was unfair. Why would we make our students do something we ourselves were not necessarily going to do.  

“Sometimes our students can’t see the importance of something that we ask them to read, they may just read the piece to pass the test” (Tavoni, p. 61). We must give our readers a purpose.

Today has been a good day. It's Friday, I have a job, I have so much to do for school. I hope I get to relax at least a bit this weekend and if your reading this I hope you have to.





So far my book writes "good readers reread and return to text to build and extend their knowledge of specific concepts, or enhance their enjoyment of texts they have enjoyed previously" (Tovani, p. 21).





I find it hard to truly trust this as I don't believe you have to reread and return in such a repetitive lesson. On difficult chapters of understanding it's important to return to text and read again and look up words but to do this as much as this book claims is a little much. At one point do we stop and ask ourselves what are we doing wrong.





Teaching Point: Good readers use reading, writing, and talk to deepen their understanding of content. (Tovani, P 20).





Do you agree?





How can you not I mean it seem as if it's almost common sense.





What about understanding beforehand, I mean as a teacher we must have a clear lesson for our children to work from. Some lecture is important beforehand as well.





I’m starting to understand that reading a math book, a novel; an English book, a comic book, and any other type of book all use different modes of learning. I will be teaching math and it will be important for me to make sure my lectures use the same verbiages as my text book.





Chapter 3 talks about the importance of mental modeling which I will blog a lot more on my next blog. Simply, it talks about teachers slowing down their own thinking and notice what we are doing. This is something I really have a hard time of doing. I recently did a lesson plan on strengthening our students understanding of area (this was my class not a high school). On my feedback the students would tell me that I should slow down because I kept giving them the answers. I want and need my student to struggle.

 

Well if you made it this far thank you and if you had to go back and reread it than you’re a good reader or I’m just a horrible writer J

So, I was on my way to work today and thinking about this blog. I can't help but feel like this is a reality tv show and I really want to have fun with it but try to imcorporate my reading into it most of all. I hope your week is going well.

PARALLEL EXPEREICNES TAPPING THE MOTHER LODE: CHAPTER 3

The chapter is interesting and the teacher has to work with individual departments, helping teachers see how the work that was done on thus far would apply in their discipline, math, science, english, exc;

The author could feel the tension and felt like the teachers were upset she was even there or they had to even be there. One thing that caught me was that it was truly not that they were upset about what was next but they were actually scared. I'm scared everyday thinking "will i know this" but more important understand it well enough to make my students understand.

the author writes that a man came up to her and can't do something. Later the author tries to relaate it to a real life example by asking the man if he can read a blue print, ofcourse I can read it it's a simple blue print.

Her point was made right away and its interesting to think about real life and how we are all not good at soemting at one point but later we become profecient or even experts in the matter.

I did not enter this world understanding eveything, I came into this world knowing how to cry. I learned to read, write, do math. the author talks about how valuing skills may not always be important to some but in some way they are.

So, if i can teach you how to read directions than there may be a teacher who can teach you math.

Well I believe many people are reading this same book I'm, "Do I really have to teach reading". It's actually very funny and a fun read. During our meeting today a few people were talking about some parts of the book I'm just getting to. I better stay up on my reading because it feels like they ruined the end for me J jk.

The author writes “Meaning doesn’t arrive because we have highlighted text or used sticky notes or written the right words on a comprehension worksheet. Meaning arrives because we are purposefully engaged in thinking while we read”

This author is talking about teaching the kids to be strategic readers and become more thoughtful in their reading. Sticky notes and highlighters don’t make kids better readers. It sure never made me one. I think I highlight stuff just because it makes me look like I did a lot of work. To be honest I have highlighted a book until it was fully yellow almost, but for what? We need to narrow our thinking down and the author is trying to teach us that we need to become realistic teachers and it’s not that simple.

NO EASY ANSWER.

Can comprehension strategies important to learn any discipline? The author claims that it was her fault that the students were not showed how a meaningful connection could deepen their understanding of the text. She used a double entry diary. On the left side was “quote or description from a scene in the reading” and on the right side “record of the strategy being taught”. She also had a student when asked something would always say “so what” the teacher did this to her one day and the student never said it again. They continued to make connection between their life and the story, one student had a little brother much like the one in the story and so on.

One reading about a boy who is drinking out of a tin cup but the little child in the class asked why would you do that? If you drink out of a tin cup it will taste gross. Than the teacher asked if she could think of a real life reason as to why you would drink out of a tin cup and she got it “oh the kid is poor”. She did what all good readers do she made a connection to her personal life to help understand the tex.

 

 

Do I really have to teach reading?

As I was looking for a book to read one that came across caught my eye. Do I really have to teach reading?  Going into math education I never thought about having to teach reading. However, thinking about it now it makes sense. Math is not only just numbers and understand how to read a question will be very important to my learners.

Chapter one, “I’m the stupid lady from Denver” I would like to share a paragraph with you from the book.

“As I prepared for the lesson the week before my trp. I kept saing to myself, “Whjo cares? How does the stupid chapter on viruses affect my life?” I worried that if I couldn’t get excited about it, how would I engage students I had never met? (Tovani, page 2)

She continues her story about how she needed a plan. She used a real life situation about herself in a plane were a man was sick and she would cover her mouth feeling the germs landing on her. She used this life lesson to tell a story about how her question propel her thoruhg chapters on viruses to help hear understand and learn. Stories will always be good in lessons and to help students stay interested in what you have to say.

“There is an importance of noticing what good readers do when they are constructing meaning” (tovani, page 5). Something relevant to this class as we should learn what good readers do and how they make sense of things in text. What will you get out of this reading? Maybe nothing but confusion or maybe intrest in wanting to learn more or read the book for yourself.

One thing I really agree with is the importance of teaching many strategies well. Albert Einstein said if you can’t explain it simply you don’t understand it well enough. I agree fully and this is something that scares me in teaching. Will there be something I cant do well? I’m sure there will be but I have built a community of teachers and friend a network of people I can collaborate with. This helps.

All in all the book has been funny and interesting while learning things so far like storytelling and planning ahead. It’s a great way to see how we can help model our reading process for students.

My next blog will be about supplementing ideas to use required textbooks.

Well I'm not sure where to start, it was a cold and rainy night. Not really but it sure is hot outside. I love New Mexico weather.

As I start my adventure with my first blog ever  I had to find and read 5 blogs but i was not sure where to start. So I googled Bloggs. Jo bloggs came and and fred Bloggs. I kept my research on blogs and found blogs on politics and preschooler bloggs and even some blogs that were very strange and apparently some people just have something to say. blogs can 

I found the there are even bloggs by genre, you have media, devices and even revers blogs. A revers blog is composed by its users rather than a single blogger. It was actually fun learning about bloggs becase i always pictured bloggs were peoples lives were followed like a reality tv show. 

The best blog i read was http://girlwpen.com/. It was “bridging feminist research with popular reality.” and I quote from the blog "A book should never be treated as a statement of some final Truth. Instead, a book is best put to use as moment of condensed insight that focuses and clarifies ongoing conversations" (first paragraph in the blog). It totally reminded me of what we are doing. If you have time check it out.

I never really thought of bloggs as something you can create knowledge from. Or a group of people getting together to share knowledge. What about a blogg for cancer patients who can talk about their stories. I bet you can find a blog on anything. 

Blogs can build community of educators to teach students a topic or how one teacher has a great way to teach fractions from a fractal. We can have a community school of educators sharing their knowledge with other educators. 

My only concern is that you cant trust everybody out there and you don’t know who is typing what. There are still risks when it comes to social networking and we must be diligent and aware. 

I don’t really know what tones or voices a blogg uses but you sure can YELL!!!! if you need to. I guess the story and the words used can make you understand what somebody is feeling or trying to say. 

I don’t like reading long blogs I like the shorter ones maybe even short quips and quotes are my favorite. I have yet to read anybody's blog yet but I'm sure looking forward to reading about their books that i have not read yet to see if I can learn something from it. I find this to be a very interesting idea and I hope its something I can maybe use in my class. Maybe start a class blogg were students can collaborate on mathematics and problems they are having. Sometimes its even easier to write what you are trying to ask and you may be less shy. 

Anyway I don't know how to end a blog or even begin a blog so for now I will say goodbye and until tomorrow ill write again.