Teaching Children How To Write

Over the past week, I learned that writing in the classroom is not typically what you think about. When I hear about students writing, I think of a blank sheet of composition paper and a pencil sitting on their desk and the students thinking hard. However, in today’s classrooms there are many different approaches to writing. In the early grades, teachers can use a process called Kid Writing to improve the students writing skills as well as expressing their ideas clearly onto paper. In the older grades, teachers can use the Four Square method for students to make connections from their thoughts onto the paper. This is a good strategy to use for the visual learners in the classroom. Another process of writing that you can use is Interactive Writing – this program allows the students to interact as a whole class to come up with the backbone of the writing. In class, the students who presented Interactive Writing showed us an example of the class working together to write the directions to create a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This would be good for students to use in the classroom to learn to work together as a group and collaborate many ideas into one solid idea.

India Wordle!

Weekly Reflection

This week in Language Arts Methods class we learned many different things! The first thing we did was Blog! I have never used a blog before, so this was very interesting to me. I am still not very comfortable using this however - I am looking forward to using this more and more so I can someday implement it into my classroom! :) Aside from blogging, we tried to do several activities with our laptop computers and the internet but ... most of us could not successfully connect to the internet! Every mishap in the classroom, however, could be used as a learning opportunity. For instance, when all of us couldn't connect to the network, Dr. Poehner just brushed it off and went to her office and got her laptop and showed us what we were supposed to be. So in other words, when something doesn't go your way, don't harp on it -- look at is from a teacher's point of view and ask yourself how can I better my students by making this situation better?

This point leads me into the topic of the textbook learning videos. In the video that my group was assigned talked about teacher accountability. In a short summary, this video explain how we need to be accountable for all of the actions in our classroom! The teacher and principle mentioned in the video that we must always be on top of our game and always have answers stored in our mind for any type of question that may be asked by the principle, students, or parents!  

Overall, this week was very productive along the lines of learning and taking in information. For example, today we talked about different methods of technology, other than Microsoft Power Point, that we could use for our presentations. 

What does a 21st century classroom look like?

      The classroom has greatly changed since my Elementary School days! The main thing that I have noticed changing is the use of textbooks. When I went to Elementary School the main thing we used to learn was a textbook; I had one for every subject and we used the book every single day. In today's classroom however, textbooks are quickly becoming obsolete. They are being replaced by down-loadable books on to a computer. Many classrooms around the nation have personal computers for each student to use during the day. Today's classroom has also replaced the standard black and white chalkboard with a dry erase board and even the electronic Smart Board. 

     Along with the classroom appearance, the goals and expectations of the classroom have changed as well! The teachers are now focusing on using more and more technology inside of the classroom that will motivate and engage the students to the best of their abilities! By using this much technology, teachers can use stations and various learning stations so the students can have several activities to work on during one lesson period. 

      A 21st century classroom has brought the classroom from a boring old room to a very interactive area. =]