Chapter 12

First, I would just like to say that this semester has flown by. I have really enjoyed our class and our many interactions with each other and I would like to wish everyone luck in the future!

Okay, now on to this week's reading; Chapter 12. A few things stuck out to me while reading the thing I kept go back to was the idea of giving students a choice about what they read. I understand that there are select literature that teachers have to assign, but I do agree that students will learn to love reading if they get to read something they have an interest in.

I have always loved reading but I really did not appreciate certain genres as much as others. I recently spent time with my younger cousin at an Family-Easter-Fun-Time. My cousin is in middle school and he was telling me about the Accelerated Reader program. Each quarter students are required to participate in outside reading, they need at least 20 points and it counts as a quiz grade. My cousin admitted he didn't participate in AR this past quarter because his teacher required all books to be Classical Literature. He is excited for 4th quarter because the required genre is SciFi. So this has me asking; why can't we give students more of a choice? Especially with and outside reading program. I know that my love of reading came after I starting reading about things I had a personal interest in.

Ps. I gave him a copy of this, it's not SciFi, but he keeps texting me how about how funny it is.

This week's reading was a quick and easy read for me. I am not sure whether I have read ahead at some point or if I have just heard some of the reading tips D&Z mention in Chapter 11 before.

Oh well, Chapter 11 still had valuable tips on helping students with understanding what they read. While I was never a struggling reader growing up, I can totally relate to the idea of reading a passage and after finishing having no clue what I had just read.

So when I see students, through my observations, struggling with a reading assignment I can relate. I have observed students reading something and look up quizzically and ask, "What's a [blank]?" or "What that mean?". So when D&Z mentioned that some students are just not familiar with the content in a reading that really made a connection for me.

Another thing that really stuck out to me in this week's reading was the idea of supportive relationships. Struggling readers are frustrated and their confidence is low, which may led them to just give up. If they have a teacher who they trust they will be more likely to keep at it because they know that you have their best interest in mind and they trust you.

While I was reading Chapter 11, I kept making connect to my observations at North Providence High School. I have observed my cooperating teacher using similar tips that this chapter talked about in his own classroom. I really am happy to have such an awesome cooperating teacher and have already learned a great deal from him.

D&Z Chapter 5&8

I have said to begin every blog about D&Z and reading Chapters 5 and 8 proven to have yet again been an enjoyable read. This week's reading were interesting not because they wrote about radically new ideas I have never heard of before, but because they make me see things that I have already heard of in a new way.

For example in Chapter 5 what they called gradual release of responsibility reminded me of creating a lesson plan around Direct Instruction for my Micro teaching I in SED 406. How Daniels and Zemelman discribe gradual release of responsibility goes way beyond a 50 minute class period. I believe that the gradual release could be helpful because more often than not we will have students understand and grasp concepts at different speeds. I also like the idea of gradual release because students can go back if they need to or work without support if they are are ready to move along.

After reading Chapter 5, I realize that I will not be selling this book back. It just has so much valuable information, it would be silly to sell it back for pennies. Aesthetically speaking, the teacher strategies are well organized which makes for easy understanding. I really liked the turn and talk strategy (which we also do in class all the time). I like that it allows shy students to participate and the daydreamers on their toes. It also feels like a momentary break of having to sit silently among 30 students while the same three students do all the talking.

While trying to find a picture that perfectly embodied the turn and talk strategy, I stumbled upon a Pintrest full of funny, teacher oriented memes. Here's one:

D&Z Chapters 6&7

I am pretty sure I say this every time I blog about Daniel's and Zemelman's Subjects Matter, but I really enjoyed it! The way the book is written just makes for an enjoyable and interesting read. I love how they emphasize different ways that we, as teachers, can use the textbooks we are provided.

I know we've all had a teacher (or more) that we knew they're lesson plans before we even stepped foot in his or her classroom. It was not because we were teenage mind readers, but because Mr. So-and-So did the same old thing day after day. We would chat about a topic for about half the class and the rest of the time read a few pages in a textbook and answered the questions at the end. By June of Mr. So-and- So's class I am pretty sure we read that textbook cover to cover, but I could not tell you much about what I really learned.

So, I was happy to see that one of the first things Chapter 6 touched on was being selective with what we have our student read or what we assign from the textbooks. Focus on things or reading that really matter with help with student retention. I really liked the four filters they included, to help teachers decide whether we should include it in our lessons.

I think I would use these filters in the future, because even if I have a less than impressive or out dated text I still think using the filters would help me find useful resources or readings.

D&Z: 3&4

Once again, I really liked this week's reading assignment. "Subjects Matter" is just a really informative and easy read. I really could relate to Chapter 3 "Why Textbooks Are Not Enough", throughout grade school I remember, for the majority of my classes, having one, very dated textbook. There were the exceptions though, most of my English teachers required additional novels, short stories or poetry and I even had a Social Studies teacher that required us to read Orwell's Animal Farm. In high school my Sociology teacher made sure each of her students got a weekly copy of Newsweek and Time. 

But for the most part I was taught from a heavy, outdated textbook. I grew up in Cranston and now substitute in the same district and from my observations, things have not changed. Recently, I was subbing for a middle school science teacher and when I opened the book I was surprised to see my friends name written on the front cover (along with the year it was loaned out; 2002-2003). Just like they state in D&Z, textbook companies work very hard to stay current, up to date and correct, but it is very hard to do so. In certain content areas current textbooks are important.

I understand why schools keep and reused textbooks decades after their original publication; they are very expensive. In the future if I am given outdated text, I will probably be that guy in the copy room making copies for my students of updated text.

UbD Reading

Before reading any of the chapter this week, the pre-writing assignment that we did in class last week had me thinking that I was not familiar with anything that had to do with this week's readings. I was wrong because once I started reading Module A I was immediately brought back to my 406 class with Dr. Kraus. I remember the day he passed out the blank lesson plans sheets and we had to fill in the  blanks. I remember think that this whole working backwards thing was difficult.

After doing the reading this week I have changed my mind. I makes sense when I started to think about it. Just like when you make plans with a friend or family member to do something; don't you have an objective of what you want to do. You don't just hop in a car a drive around aimlessly.

As a teacher I need to set a goal of what I want my students to learn and then create lesson plans working toward that big idea. Breaking lessons up into smaller pieces in order to achieve the main goal.

So I may have been skeptical about this process a semester ago, I really do not have a problem with it anymore. I also really liked how these readings were organized, it helped make difficult concepts much easier for me to understand. I could not find anything I really did not agree with or stuck out to me as being a bad idea.

A little bit of backward design could have saved this boy a lot of trouble.

D&Z: Chapter 1&2

Daniels and Zelmelman’s “Subjects Matter” is a surprisingly interesting and enlightening read. In Chapter 1 really liked the contrasting stories of Mr. Cosgrove and the young men at McDonald’s.  Obviously, the first story, the McDonald’s story is the more favorable way of teaching reading. Unfortunately, I think the Mr. Cosgrove story is an exaggerated way that most of us have been taught through the years.

In Chapter 2, I really liked the section where the authors mention that “reading is more than decoding”. It reminds me of the small groups discussion we had in our last class. As a group we couldn’t come to a conclusion whether or not simply saying a word (or decoding a word) was reading or not. This section of the chapter cleared things up for me.  Reading is not just receiving a message, a they put it, it’s much more than that. Throughout the chapter I found my self stumped on the sample reading passages. I love to read, but those passages had me scratching my head. But it was a great and effectual way to show us how our future students may be reading text that we supply them with. We can’t just be like Mr. Cosgrove and assume that our students read the assigned text, understood and have mastered the subject matter. As future teachers, it is our job to make sure our students are active readers and not just merely decoders.

It's a Good Thing

            I refused to go to summer camp that year. I protested the thought of signing up for the summer basketball league. No, I was eight years old and had just survived a grueling year of memorizing multiplication tables and I was in desperate need of a summer full of rest and relaxation. My parents eventually gave in and did not sign me up for extra curricular activities, but they were concerned about adequate childcare for when they were at work. The idea of spending the summer with my usual babysitter, the old lady from across the street, made me want to sign up for sleep away camp. That’s when my newly thirteen-year-old brother offered his childcare services. Skeptical, but desperate my parents agreed to the arrangement.

            The first day was a trial run; my brother and I were on our best behavior at breakfast. My brother showed off his care taking skills by refraining from stealing my pancakes from my plate. I exuded maturation by only kicking him a handful of times under the table; when my mother wasn’t looking. We are on our way to complete freedom if we could just keep the act up for a little longer. Mom gathered her things and with her hand on doorknob said, “Oh, remember no adults, no pool. Have a great day!”. We were blindsided; what was there to do if we couldn’t go in the pool. My brother obviously had a back up plan, “I’m going to Ant’s for a little”. With no pool and no supervision I was left to my own devices. I guess I wasn’t too much of a wild child because after my brother walked out the door, I turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels and I landed on a show called Martha Stewart Living. Martha instantly intrigued me; she could do it all. She had a lovely garden and an impeccably decorated home, but it was her cooking that really caught my attention. Every thing looked so good and she was using words that sounded foreign to me.

From that moment on I have had a love affair with Martha (just, Martha) and cooking. That summer I spent a lot of time practicing different skills and techniques that Martha would teach me through her TV show. On too many occasions my mother found evidence that I was using the stove so that, along with the pool, was banned while she was gone. She was still encouraging though, so after work we would create something together for dinner. My interest in cooking grew and as I got older I began researching more advanced skills and recipes. I now have a good understanding of cooking specific words. I know how to julienne a carrot, deglaze a pan, and properly zest citrus. Give me a whole chicken I can butcher it, roast it, and make a broth.

Unfortunately, none of my close friends share my love for Martha or cooking. I still try to push it upon them by buying them cookbooks and cookware as housewarming gifts. Yet they still see the act of cooking as a chore and time consuming. Understanding and acknowledging that people have different interests will help me in the future as a teacher. I need to know my student’s interests and hobbies so I can plan my lessons accordingly. If I am able to get students to gain knowledge and understanding by using a variety of different non-school literacies to pique their interest I will. I know that some students will have their own preconceived notions about English class or their abilities before they even meet me. If I can relate English class to a hobby that they enjoy I might be able to help them thrive and that, as Martha would say- it's a good thing.

PS. Martha was once a total babe, way before Camp Cupcake.