Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Living Life in the FAST lane*
OH OH OH...MY BUSY BUSY LIFE I HAVE! Well here we go again. Now that I have started my new job, working at La fiesta its is all catching up to me. I have been very busy and stressed about everything that is going on. I have not been able to spend much time with my family and friends lately because of school, work, and the lack of sleep. When I work, I usually do not get home until around 11:30 every night and then I will have to shower and do my homework for the next day. On top of all this, I decided that I needed to join a gym and get back in shape for summer time. I have been so busy, I have just been eating and snaking on the wrong things and it is slowly creeping up on me. When I joined, I also decided to get a personal trainer to help me learn to do the right things and to motivate myself to reach my goal by a certain time. I have been doing really good about working out and eating correctly when I am on the run. Working at a mexican restaurant (which is my fav. food) is such a hard challenge for me to be around. I am always tempted to eat just ONE chip. But I have quickly learned that one turns into many. The only thing that I can think about though is that this semester is almost over. I have really enjoyed all of my teacher and everything but it is just that time of year that we have to wrap up and everything is due all at once. With me working so much and having so much on my plate, it is going to be very hard for me to get everything turned in and completed on time, BUT I will make it happen no matter what I have to do! I am going to show myself that I can handle everything and I just have to disciple myself and stay motivated. I finally can SEE the light at the end of this long tunnel that I have been walking and waiting to find.
Monday, April 11, 2011
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
My life is in a whirl wind...
Lately, I have been very busy and stressed about life in general. I have had so much going on these last couple of weeks, it has been insane. I feel that I have not only been busy with school stuff, but with just everything in my life.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to Florida for the first half of Spring Break. I went with a couple of friends from high school and then also some from college. We had a great time and shared some wonderful memories that I will never forget. The day we got home from the beach, I had dinner with my family. This was a great thing since I had not spent much time with them in a while and I missed them terribly. Me and my family are very close and open with one another. Once I was home for a day or two, I decided to meet up with my friends at the local mexican restaurant in my town. We were all sitting at dinner and we decided to hurry home and pack a bag and head to Savannah for St. Patrick's day.
We all jumped in the car and went to Savannah for the last half of our Spring Break. We got done there in the wee hours of the morning. We slept for a short period of time and then woke up went to eat breakfast, and headed to St. Simon's to the beach for the day. There was a fair amount of people on the beach that day. It was really relaxing and fun just to be on the beach soaking up the sun. Later that night, we went to the store and got food so we could grill out. We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. It was yummy! We got ready for the night and went to downtown Savannah for the all green Savannah to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. This was all of our first time being on River St. on this crazy holiday. We all had a great time.
Early the next morning we had to come home and get our lives back in order and ready to start the real world again. I thought that I would never be able to catch back up on sleep after this long week and weekends. We all had such a great time and I would do it again any day. I have now caught back up on sleep but could always use more time and I need more time in the day than I have :) Don't we ALL???
A couple of weeks ago, I went to Florida for the first half of Spring Break. I went with a couple of friends from high school and then also some from college. We had a great time and shared some wonderful memories that I will never forget. The day we got home from the beach, I had dinner with my family. This was a great thing since I had not spent much time with them in a while and I missed them terribly. Me and my family are very close and open with one another. Once I was home for a day or two, I decided to meet up with my friends at the local mexican restaurant in my town. We were all sitting at dinner and we decided to hurry home and pack a bag and head to Savannah for St. Patrick's day.
We all jumped in the car and went to Savannah for the last half of our Spring Break. We got done there in the wee hours of the morning. We slept for a short period of time and then woke up went to eat breakfast, and headed to St. Simon's to the beach for the day. There was a fair amount of people on the beach that day. It was really relaxing and fun just to be on the beach soaking up the sun. Later that night, we went to the store and got food so we could grill out. We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. It was yummy! We got ready for the night and went to downtown Savannah for the all green Savannah to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. This was all of our first time being on River St. on this crazy holiday. We all had a great time.
Early the next morning we had to come home and get our lives back in order and ready to start the real world again. I thought that I would never be able to catch back up on sleep after this long week and weekends. We all had such a great time and I would do it again any day. I have now caught back up on sleep but could always use more time and I need more time in the day than I have :) Don't we ALL???
Monday, March 21, 2011
Unit of Study in WW!
I enjoyed reading chapter 12 from The Writing Workshop. I have learned so many new things that I didnt know before I began engaged in this book. I used to think that I would dread writing unit, but I think I will end up enjoying them in the long run. Chapter 12 gave examples of different ways to study and different topic during Writing Workshop. I have always known that unit plans are very tedious work and hard to do but after reading this, I think that it is going to come easy and interesting to me from now on. I have never had to write a unit lesson plan until this year. I have not had to write my unit plan yet for this semester but I am about to have to turn mine in. This chapter has motivated me and made me want to complete this unit to see how it is going to turn out in the end.
My mentor teacher gave all of the students a composition notebook and they have began to write poems and anything that they want to about life in general. I think that this is such a good idea for the students to be able to express their thoughts and is can be personal if they want it too or they can share with the class as a whole. I have been working with some of the students in small groups and letting them read aloud to me about what they are feeling and writing in their journals. I had a writing workshop period with my last mentor class but it was nothing like this semester. This is so much more organized and the students are able to be more free and are allowed to "just write" their thoughts and things that they have on their minds. Being able to share with the class is a positive thing. Just from me being in the class for two days a week, I have learned so much about all the students that read their journals out loud. I think that by doing this, I get to know the class more as a whole and each individual student personally.
My mentor teacher gave all of the students a composition notebook and they have began to write poems and anything that they want to about life in general. I think that this is such a good idea for the students to be able to express their thoughts and is can be personal if they want it too or they can share with the class as a whole. I have been working with some of the students in small groups and letting them read aloud to me about what they are feeling and writing in their journals. I had a writing workshop period with my last mentor class but it was nothing like this semester. This is so much more organized and the students are able to be more free and are allowed to "just write" their thoughts and things that they have on their minds. Being able to share with the class is a positive thing. Just from me being in the class for two days a week, I have learned so much about all the students that read their journals out loud. I think that by doing this, I get to know the class more as a whole and each individual student personally.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Chapter 7, 8, &19
Chapter 7
While reading chapter seven, I learned that it is very important to have strong teaching presence in the classroom. It takes alot of time and effort to work and prepare a writing workshop for my classroom. Not just writing workshop but all of work and lessons that we as teachers have to plan. After being in the classroom and in this program, I have learned that teaching is not that easy. We don't just get to go in a classroom and teach students materials. We actually have so much work to do in and out of the classroom and it takes so much more time than most people expect. I have learned that I have to manage my time so much different now that I have started to have to actually plan for my mentor classroom. I think that it is crucial to allow the students to be able to work in different areas in the classroom and work as groups throughout the day. I know that i get bored and loose concentration after sitting for a long period of time much less an elementary school child. Having quiet spots and corners are a great idea. I will definitely have this in my classroom. This allows students to be able to have their own personal time and think about things if they need too. If I have a lot of things going on or just need to be alone for a little while, I want to be able to go to my room or somewhere that is comfortable to relax and just think.
Chapter 8
I thought that chapter eight was interesting. I never knew that they actually had writing workshop kits. I do not think that I like this idea because I personally think that students should be allowed to pick any topic that is appropriate to write about and not have to be instructed to what to write. In my opinion, this is a cheap way out of teaching the students the correct way and as a teacher not having to put any time or effort into planning and preparing for the workshop. Being told and the kits are so structured would make me think that the students and teacher both are missing out and not able to write like they would if it was a long throughout lesson.
Chapter 19
I learned many new things while reading chapter 19. I found this chapter to be really helpful and informational. In my opinion, I do not think that it is fair to give students a deadline on when their writing should be done. Yes, the students writing should be checked and read over by the teacher, but someone's work could always be better and more thought out. The whole "publish or perish" is a little too much for elementary school students. Writing is something that someone should enjoy doing and express their thoughts and feeling, not to be drilled and told dates that it HAS to be completed by this day and time. Students should be monitored and made sure that they are actually doing their writing and making progress on a regular basis but not an everyday thing. If we as teachers were required to do this in our classrooms, I would et my students share their work with their peers and maybe even as a class periodically. This way, none of the students are nervous or afraid when their work is actually published to everyone. I liek the fact that Ray mentioned that it is a celebration when students works have been published. This could be a good thing because students could set goals for their writings and finally when completed they can be proud and know that they reached their goal they had made. This chapter had many great and useful ideas throughout.
While reading chapter seven, I learned that it is very important to have strong teaching presence in the classroom. It takes alot of time and effort to work and prepare a writing workshop for my classroom. Not just writing workshop but all of work and lessons that we as teachers have to plan. After being in the classroom and in this program, I have learned that teaching is not that easy. We don't just get to go in a classroom and teach students materials. We actually have so much work to do in and out of the classroom and it takes so much more time than most people expect. I have learned that I have to manage my time so much different now that I have started to have to actually plan for my mentor classroom. I think that it is crucial to allow the students to be able to work in different areas in the classroom and work as groups throughout the day. I know that i get bored and loose concentration after sitting for a long period of time much less an elementary school child. Having quiet spots and corners are a great idea. I will definitely have this in my classroom. This allows students to be able to have their own personal time and think about things if they need too. If I have a lot of things going on or just need to be alone for a little while, I want to be able to go to my room or somewhere that is comfortable to relax and just think.
Chapter 8
I thought that chapter eight was interesting. I never knew that they actually had writing workshop kits. I do not think that I like this idea because I personally think that students should be allowed to pick any topic that is appropriate to write about and not have to be instructed to what to write. In my opinion, this is a cheap way out of teaching the students the correct way and as a teacher not having to put any time or effort into planning and preparing for the workshop. Being told and the kits are so structured would make me think that the students and teacher both are missing out and not able to write like they would if it was a long throughout lesson.
Chapter 19
I learned many new things while reading chapter 19. I found this chapter to be really helpful and informational. In my opinion, I do not think that it is fair to give students a deadline on when their writing should be done. Yes, the students writing should be checked and read over by the teacher, but someone's work could always be better and more thought out. The whole "publish or perish" is a little too much for elementary school students. Writing is something that someone should enjoy doing and express their thoughts and feeling, not to be drilled and told dates that it HAS to be completed by this day and time. Students should be monitored and made sure that they are actually doing their writing and making progress on a regular basis but not an everyday thing. If we as teachers were required to do this in our classrooms, I would et my students share their work with their peers and maybe even as a class periodically. This way, none of the students are nervous or afraid when their work is actually published to everyone. I liek the fact that Ray mentioned that it is a celebration when students works have been published. This could be a good thing because students could set goals for their writings and finally when completed they can be proud and know that they reached their goal they had made. This chapter had many great and useful ideas throughout.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Chapter 14, 15,&17: Conferencing, Sharing, and Assessment/Evaluation
I think that the section about conferencing very interesting and important. I like how they let us know that sometimes conferencing can be really complicated and stressful. I have see this is my classroom already this semester and a little from my previous placements. My mentor teacher is a male from Porto Rico, so he speaks Spanish as well as English. This is a great thing because many of the students in my classroom are hispanic, so he is able to communicate not only with the students but also their parents or guardians. I consider myself to be outspoken and able to say what I am thinking. I do not think that conferencing with students, parents, or administrators will be a problem for me. Being able to sit in and listen to teachers, parents, and students have meeting about their work and behavior has helped me and shown me how it actually work and the things that may come up in the meeting. I think that knowing that Ray keeps her conferences a short as possible was a helpful tip to remember. In my mentor class, when we write, I feel like when I walk around and help students or read their work during writing workshop that I am getting to know the children on a personal level and getting to know them better. Being able to help the students on a one-on-one basis and communicating with each student individually makes such an impact on the students and their writings. The four components mentioned in the text are very important to know and follow.
Having the students talk during reading workshop about their work is something that every teacher should make sure that their students do. Ray thinks that this is also a very important thing to do. In my mentor classroom, there are not really and children that are not talkative or shy/embarrassed to speak out and voice their opinion or share with their classmates. Even though I am not shy at all and will talk to just about anyone about anything, I would sometimes get nervous or embarrassed when I used to be called on in class to answer a question. I would always be afraid that if i answered the question and it would be wrong, my classmates would make fun of me and laugh. I finally grew out of this and learned that if you don't step up and say what you are thinking, then you will never learn and more than likely someone else in the classroom is thinking the same thing as I was but they were also just afraid to speak up. Sometimes I like getting called on now and getting an answer incorrect because I learn from it and I will always remember the answer now that I got it wrong. It is a great thing to be able to speak my mind and being able to share with my classmates and I will encourage all future students to not be shy to speak up and making sure that they fell like it is okay to get something wrong and ask questions. NO one in the world is perfect and we all make mistakes sometimes.
Personally, I do not think that I will be very good when it comes to assessing my students. I think that it is going to be challenging to me to be able to assess students writing because writing is a personal opinion and my opinion may be different and I may not agree with the things that some of my students write about. I believe that we should not have to assess students and their writings but we should with their reading and reading comprehension. The is a right and wrong answer to something like this but not with a child's actual writing. I can see that its fair for deducting points from students work for sentence structure, spelling, or misusing of words and their content. If students always get punished for their writing and never getting positive feedback, then the students will eventually start getting worse while writing and not trying their hardest because they won't have anything positive to look forward too.
Having the students talk during reading workshop about their work is something that every teacher should make sure that their students do. Ray thinks that this is also a very important thing to do. In my mentor classroom, there are not really and children that are not talkative or shy/embarrassed to speak out and voice their opinion or share with their classmates. Even though I am not shy at all and will talk to just about anyone about anything, I would sometimes get nervous or embarrassed when I used to be called on in class to answer a question. I would always be afraid that if i answered the question and it would be wrong, my classmates would make fun of me and laugh. I finally grew out of this and learned that if you don't step up and say what you are thinking, then you will never learn and more than likely someone else in the classroom is thinking the same thing as I was but they were also just afraid to speak up. Sometimes I like getting called on now and getting an answer incorrect because I learn from it and I will always remember the answer now that I got it wrong. It is a great thing to be able to speak my mind and being able to share with my classmates and I will encourage all future students to not be shy to speak up and making sure that they fell like it is okay to get something wrong and ask questions. NO one in the world is perfect and we all make mistakes sometimes.
Personally, I do not think that I will be very good when it comes to assessing my students. I think that it is going to be challenging to me to be able to assess students writing because writing is a personal opinion and my opinion may be different and I may not agree with the things that some of my students write about. I believe that we should not have to assess students and their writings but we should with their reading and reading comprehension. The is a right and wrong answer to something like this but not with a child's actual writing. I can see that its fair for deducting points from students work for sentence structure, spelling, or misusing of words and their content. If students always get punished for their writing and never getting positive feedback, then the students will eventually start getting worse while writing and not trying their hardest because they won't have anything positive to look forward too.
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