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Importance of Increasing Student Engagement
Importance of Increasing Student Engagement
The importance of Grammar in Language Teaching
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This was the first lesson I have taught at CMS and I think it went reasonably well for a first attempt and considering my nervousness. There are, of course, things I would do differently or things that I would have implemented if I had the luxury of a follow up lesson the next day. I felt relieved to have taught this first lesson and now know what to expect for my second lesson with regard to how willing the students are to respond and participate in the lesson and how to pace myself. The first part of my lesson was presented as a whole group direct instruction and then I dismissed the students to practice independently. The third-grade classroom is extremely small and the space for group instruction is limited. In order to get ready for …show more content…
This is the area which is hard to plan for, as so much depends on the connections the students are making with the text and how they are interpreting it. In this respect I had to make small adjustments to the places I had planned to stop in the text based upon what the students were inferring. I also realized that they were thinking at a higher level than I had anticipated and had to make my questions to them more challenging in order to raise the bar. Once I had finished reading the mentor text, I reviewed with the students what they had already learned about finding a thesis statement. This was done by asking the students to explain the process in their own words, and where necessary I made adjustments to their comments to make sure the points they were making were clear. I wrote their responses on the chart paper. When they were clear on what the objectives were, I explained what their writing task would be during independent practice and I modeled how they should use the graphic organizer I had …show more content…
I would use a document camera, as the illustrations in the text were as important as the words for exploring ideas for a thesis statement. It was hard for the students to see all the detail in the illustrations.
My cooperating teacher’s feedback gave me a confidence boost. She was pleased with how my lesson had proceeded and did not suggest any changes. I would, however, make some changes based on the work I took up from the students. Some of them did not follow the directions and so I would be sure to go over any instructions possibly twice next time, or have the students repeat back to me what the directions are.
My contribution to academic standards was accomplished through modeling how I wanted the students to complete the work I had prepared for them. Academic standards were also presented through group discussion that was carried out following questions I asked of the students regarding the text. My questions allowed for the students to make inferences, to apply what they had heard in the story to that point and make connections. Intellectual discourse raised the level at which the students
Thinking about a topic to write about is not always easy, and sometimes the process of writing can end up being difficult. Jennifer Jacobson discusses strategies to overcome the struggles that young writers can encounter while writing. I was interested in her book No More “I’m Done!” Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades because I feel like as a future teacher this could be a frequent problem among students. From reading this book, I hoped that I would learn useful strategies that I could use to help students overcome their problems with writing. After reading this book, I do believe that Jacobson has provided me with plenty of methods to use. I was surprised at the depth that she goes into in her text. There is a vast amount
Academics concentrate their emphasis on reading and less time on writing, but Elbow writes more in order to “coach” his students to approach their writing with “various concrete practices and techniques” (74). Students should be given a variety of texts to read including work from their peers, however, significant texts in the classroom should not be treated like “pieces behind glass”, but rather be used as tools to talk about or “borrow off of” because it engages the students with the text (74). The conflict of control over a text is a common issue between the writer and the reader because they both have their own perspectives. He points out how teachers take away the ownership of their students’ writing by determining meaning of the texts, even though, as academics they keep the ownership of their own writing as teacher, academic, and lecturer. As the teacher, it is important to understand that the student writer knows more than they can articulate (77). He attempts to show a trusting attitude towards language so that the students will focus their energy on their own thoughts and what they are trying to convey in their writing, instead of thinking language is unclear, political, and one-sided. Elbow wants his students to view their writing as “dialogic-parts” of a conversation by including their writing in peer discussions, which allows for both “monologic and dialogic discourse” (79). Student writers should be encouraged to write with more “authority” rather than an “Is this okay?” approach to their writing because it gives them more freedom to write with their own creativity and knowledge (81). The role of academics and writing go beyond the first year students’ classroom because both are important roles in
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
The class’s main goal is to help improve our writing ability and help prepare us for upper level writing. As freshman, most of us have never had to write a huge research paper, some of us have not even had to write a research paper at all. Whenever I began this class I viewed it as a waste of time. I thought that I would never learn anything new and I would just continue writing the boring old papers that I had to write all throughout high school, but I was very wrong. The first paper we wrote was a synthesis of three given authors, all scholars in their specific field. The author’s names were Swales, Gee, and Porter. They all had varying opinions on what a discourse community was to them and how they distinguish one fro...
Intellectual quality is embedded through the elements of deep knowledge and understanding and substantive communication (NSW DET, 2003, p. 10). Throughout the lesson, focus is sustained on key concepts such as cursive writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Students are then given opportunities both orally and written, to express and demonstrate their understanding and competency. Extension options are also available for students where they can use digital technologies to publish their work or write in calligraphy once the set task is completed. (NSW DET, 2003, p. 11). For students to achieve higher quality outcomes, they need to be highly engaged and willing to participate (NSW DET, 2003, p. 10). This can be achieved through establishing challenging learning goals within each students’ proximal development and providing work that is intellectually stimulating, relates to real life and meet the needs of each student in order to gain confidence first (AITSL, 2011; Berk, 2013, pp. 267-268).
The administrator and myself entered the classroom after the warm-up. We observed the lesson using a form that recaps the five standards of the McRel Evaluation Tool. I began by simply recording what I was observing in the classroom. For example, I took notes on the activity, the explanations to the students, and the transitions from one activity to another. In addition, I observed the classroom environment, the set-up of the room, the visuals, decorations, and the procedures that were established in the classroom. I also observed the relationship between the teacher and the students.
...ragraphs that support the argument. The easiest part of this component was actually inserting it in my essay after I understood the purpose for it, because at the beginning I was confused on the whole thesis concept. The thesis was the most challenging because I kept asking myself "Can I really argue this for five to six pages?" and also "Is this even considered a thesis statement?" I noticed that I can speak and write more effectively when I'm thinking critically and intellectually. My sentence structure has always been strong and I feel it has grown because of the practice we have had in class with finding thesis statements in our readings. My overall issue with this component of the writing process is using a justifiable argument and remembering to support my argument with claims and trying not to put unnecessary points in my paper while maintaining my ethos.
Responding to student writing is rife with potential — potential to help students improve their writing, potential to encourage a writer to continue, and potential to make the student feel like a failure. The written text used to responding to student writing, the end notes, the marginalia, is hugely influential to student writing, but largely ignored. John Swales might identify this kind of text as an “occluded” genres—texts that are produced on a very regular basis in a composition class (including syllabus, assignment prompts, etc), but are largely ignored or viewed as inconsequential. The result of this kind of ignored text is that responses to student writing vary greatly and, when scrutinized, generally demonstrate very little substance and very little direction for the writer. In addition to ostensibly useful feedback such as guidance, praise, and corrections—comments that effectively lead students to improve their writing, the marginal comments also include negative and seemingly useless remarks ranging from non sequiturs to failure, meanness, and cruelty.
The stimulations were really eye opening. I was able to see through the eyes of a child with a learning disability in different areas. I always understood that children who have learning disabilities learned differently, but I didn’t imagine how extreme the difference could be. The problems were hard for me and became frustrating. I now know firsthand how frustrating it can be for students who have learning disabilities in different areas. It’s amazing what extra time or shorter questions can do to help increase understanding. I realize that some things that come naturally to me may be extremely difficult for someone who learns differently. As a new teacher, I will make sure to teach children strategies and develop assignments that increase student understanding.
Looking back over the course of the semester, I feel that I learned many new and interesting uses for technology within the classroom – both for classrooms that have a lot of technology and for classrooms that are limited with technology. For the majority of the class, we utilized William Kists’ book The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age (2010), which provided multiple modes of instruction that both utilized and/or created technology. One of the first things that I remember, and consequently that stuck with me through the course’s entirety, is that individuals must treat everything as a text. Even a garden is a text. The statement made me change the way that I traditionally viewed Language Arts both as a student and as a teacher, as I very narrowly saw literature and works of the like as texts only; however, by considering nearly anything as a text, one can analyze, study, and even expand his/her knowledge. Kist (2010) states that society is “experiencing a vast transformation of the way we “read” and “write,” and a broadening of the way we conceptualize “literacy” (p. 2). In order to begin to experience and learn with the modern classroom and technologically advanced students, individuals must begin to see new things as literature and analyze those things in a similar manner.
Boy was this week a whirlwind! I was the group reader for both days. I was extremely lucky to have Dr. Weill in session 1 and Dr. Abendroth (if only y’all can whisper in my ear every session what needs to be done! Or not done!) in session 2 demonstrated what I should do. I felt that I learned a lot with this. I need to slow my pace in and interact with the children more. Also, the old lady tended to scare the kids. I also feel that I have been setting up joint attention better. On Wednesday’s session, I demonstrated turn taking and the appropriate schema for the sensory box. The sensory box was a massive hit! My client played with that for almost the entire individual session. I was able to build off with the sensory box.
Cooperative learning and feedback are also key strategies within this instructional unit. Students will use rubrics, a form of feedback, to observe each other’s performance. Students will then discuss the rubric with the peer observed in order to praise correct techniques demonstrated. Likewise, the use of this peer observation will allow students to have an insight the techniques they are displaying that are improper and offer advice on how to correct these errors.
Everyone has a different view on how they learn and learning itself. First starting in EXP 105, my understanding of learning was new knowledge and becoming wiser. Taking EXP 105 has truly increased my knowledge of what learning is and the process of it. The most important thing I have learned about learning is that you observe the world around you, make sure it is understandable, and figure out the right way to respond. Learning also provides critical thinking skills. Everyone have different ways of learning and those ways are based on four different learning patterns. The four different types of learning patterns are Sequence, Precision, Technical Reasoning, and Confluence. Learning patterns are very helpful when it comes to everyday life, school work, and your job. Knowing your learning patterns and which ones you should use make
As I reflect on my past assessment process, I realized how much my assessments have changed over the years. In my early years, I used tests for informational recall as my assessments. I felt these were appropriate guidelines in which I needed to follow in order to substantiate a student’s grade. Every assignment or tests was given a point value and then based on the amount of points, a grade was given. Every student’s assessment was exactly the same, and the assessments did not contain any subjectivity. I felt confident in giving the grade based on a valid point system. However reflecting back, I see that I did not include any performance-based assessments or individual learning styles in my early assessment. I also did not take into consideration the individual needs of my students. My assessment approach was awful. I am embarrassed that I use to assess students in this manner.
At the end of the day or beginning of the school day, I communicated what I did with Ms. P to plan out better activities or lesson plans to meet each individual’s needs.