Web Tools 2.0

I also think that I have a ways to go when it comes to technology. I personally prefer being able to look at a piece of paper to read and highlight important information. Although technology has its perks, I still think the good old fashion methods have an important place in the classroom. I think that with today's changing society it is important to introduce young students to different uses of technology and get them used to using more non-traditional forms of work. On the same token I think that they should also be well aware of traditional forms of literacy such as, for example, looking up a word in a dictionary. In general, I think that as educators we need to find the balance in the use of traditional and non-traditional technology.

Technology vs. Print Text

I have always considered myself to be technology illiterate - I have never been good at using new tools.  I know that as a teacher I will need to familiarize myself with the tools that are available to me, and this article really opened my eyes to how important that really is going to be.  I need to start learning the ins and outs of different available technologies, especially the defference between web 1.0 and web 2.0.  I want my students to have the best opportunity to connect to texts, and that could mean iether technology or print.  As the teacher, I will need to take responsibility to evaluate my class and see whether print or technology works for my students.

Affordances and Limitations of Technology

I really enjoyed the Becoming Critical Consumers and Producers of Text: Teaching Literacy with Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 because it opened my eyes to not only various online tools and various strategies to use within our classrooms. I especially liked our in-class activity and discussion, listing possible limitations, affordances and ways we can apply negotiations to accommodate certain students. Knowing that the authors are teachers themselves are inspirational as well to understand that applying these strategies and sources of technology is realistic.

Worksheets

I thought that the class discussion on the article Pedagogy of Control was very productive. I had not ever thought about worksheets this way before - in a negative light. I think that there can be positive uses for worksheets, but in general from our discussion it seems like there are better and more creative classroom activities. My biggest fear in using worksheets as a future educator is that my students will miss the point behind the activity, and not find any meaning. I don't ever want to have a class that is just about the grade, I want my students to learn help themselves to grow into better readers and writers . If worksheets isnt the best way to do that, I am glad it was brought to our attention!

Informal/Formal

The article we discussed today really got me thinking about informal and formal ways of instruction. I think that teachers sometimes forget that there is a place for informal teaching. Although, as Dr. Handsfield, suggested formal instruction is great to use as a base knowledge. From there you can expand into different kinds of teaching including informal. I think it is important to show kids the appropriate situation to use formal and informal communications. This is a life skill that will always be helpful. Not only that but I think when you can validate informal types of communication, such as, writing, texting, and speaking you are providing the kids with a way to feel that they are valid.

Autism Article

I absolutely loved the article about autism & inclusion! I found it so valuable for not only Special Ed. majors, but for all individuals wishing to pursue a career in education. I thought that the author had a lot of valid, research-backed points as to why it is beneficial for students with autism to be included in the general classroom. I also greatly enjoyed the figures, particularly the one that told different ways to adapt read alouds for students with autism.

"Sparked by a sensitive teacher's desire to welcome and support one community member who might have been marginalized, it ended up offering everyone rich possibilities for collaborative, inquiry-based literacy learning." I adored this quote & cannot wait to become the teacher who goes the extra mile to ensure student's learning.

Johnston Readings

I also really enjoyed the readings for this week from Johnston. I think that it's so important to get students to read, and like this week's chapters talked about, spend less time thinking about if a text is exactly fit for a reader. In other words, teachers should encourage students to read what they enjoy to get them excited about literacy as opposed to limiting choices that may not appeal to them, making reading more of a chore than anything. I liked the ideas that were given about making a specific text more easy or more difficult as opposed to limiting the texts a student can read based on its level.

Shared Lesson Plans

I have really enjoyed sharing lesson plan ideas with our classmates this semester. This is the first real exposure I have have to lesson planning - and it is great to have support! Working through modeling has been eye opening for me, because before this course I would not have assumed that modeling was necessary. Making mini-lesson plans has been more of a challenge than I would have expected, and it is teaching me how important it is to fit meaningful activities into shorter time periods - rather than using a few hours to have a less meaningful experience with your students.

Directed reading

I wasn't in class this week but after the readings I was thinking of how we, as teachers, direct kids reading. I would hazard a guess that many teachers don't think about how what they let or don't let their students read has much of an impact on them, in terms of leveled reading. I would disagree. I think that limiting a students reading takes away from the basic joy of reading which is the reason so many do it for enjoyment purposes. If you are so busy trying to teach children how to read could you be forgetting about teaching them how to love reading? So how do we instill a love of reading in our students? I think that giving them the opportunity to read what they want to is a big part of it. I was really shocked when we were talking about personal literacy experiences and someone was saying that they were not allowed to read anything other then what was approved for her level in the program. I think point were allotted to those books so, reading something you liked wasn't considered a worthwhile pursuit, as it had no points attached. I find this really depressing. But I am also aware that when I teach at a school I will have to teach the program they promote. So it is up to me to find ways to give students the opportunity to self select.

Johnston chapter 6

I really enjoyed reading Johnston's views on matching students with an appropriate level book. Prior to reading the chapter, I had never heard a negative opinion on leveling text by year and month (3.1, 3.2, etc). I grew up reading text that were classified in this way, and as a kid I enjoyed it. However, that was because I was always the student at the highest level. Reading this chapter gave me a new perspective on it. I really liked the recipe for readability- I found this information to be very valuable. I also really liked how suggestions were given for ways to make a text easier or more difficult for children to read. When a teacher takes this approach the students have so much more they can choose from. The more they can choose from, the more likely they are to find something they enjoy. The more they enjoy the topic, the more motivated they are to read. All in all it's a win. :)

Lesson plans & process drama

While I am still new with writing lesson plans, I liked creating one based off of Esperanza Rising and incorporating Process Drama. It made the assignment really fun and gave me the ability to be creative, giving students the opportunity to express themselves in ways they haven't been able to do before. I took a Children's Theatre class last semester and learned a lot of Process Drama strategies but have not seen an actual connection in incorporating them into the classroom. Creating this lesson plan made me realize all of the possibilities there are to making school fun! Being able to present my lesson plan to my partner while hearing hers in return made me realize the mistakes I had made and was able to revise it. I feel as if there is no better way to learn than from the opinions of others, reflection and revision. The open communication in this class is a fabulous way to learn new things and stay engaged!

Process Drama

I think that process drama is a great addition to a classroom. It gets kids to connect to a text in ways that they probably haven't done. Of course, I also like the higher order thinking you are encouraging by presenting this type of lesson. It is also something that can easily be adjusted for different learning levels and grades. I can even see Kindergarteners doing something like this, with a different text of course.

Process Drama

I really enjoyed the reading and class discussion on process drama. I think that it is really interesting how students can connect something that they are reading not only to themselves, but to other texts. I also think that by taking on the role of a character's feelings and personality, they learn how others feel, which is so important not only in teaching literacy, but in all aspects of life. It was cool to see that in the article, it talked about my diary from here to there, which was the text I based my first lesson plan off of. It's good to know that I thought about teaching emotions of characters in a text before actually reading this article :)

Literature Exploration

There are so many meaningful ways to connect to a text other than the traditional format of a book report.  Going through a novel as a class has been extremely helpful - I did this as a middle school student, but it is much more beneficial as a future educator to talk through texts with other future educators than to simply go off of my memories. It has been wonderful to collaborate ideas about how to make this text meaningful to students; I have spent alot of time talking with Hayli and Michelle about ideas for our upcoming lesson plan. Teaching a text and instilling a love of reading and writing is much more than teaching context ans making sure students understand the summary - when you give them a chance to be creative with the text they are reading, they can claim it as their own and turn it into something very meaningful specifically to them. I hope to foster this type of learning in my future classrooms!

Process Drama

After reading the article on Process Drama, I was really excited to talk about it during class. As I was reading the article, I was having a hard time imagining what exactly process drama would look like and the clarification during lecture really helped me to understand the difference between readalouds and process drama. I also came up with a lot of ways that this could be implemented with the book Esperanza rising. I definitely have a lot more ideas for my second lesson plan than I did before! I'm really excited to see how everything turns out.

Process Drama

I was really excited to dive into the lesson about Process Drama. I took a Children's Theater class and learned about almost all of the strategies and actually had the opportunity to act them out in class and with children as well! I thought the transition from Esperanza Rising to Process Drama went together well and there is a lot that can be taught in the classroom dealing with Esperanza Rising using Process Drama to really engage the children. I was thinking that a good idea for my lesson plan would for students, after reading the novel, to set up interviews, incorporating Mantle the expert and improvisation in which the expert interviews Esperanza about either social inequalities she has experienced, belonging, growing up and other issues Anza has gone through during her journey.

Connections

I have really enjoyed Esperanza Rising so far. What makes the most excited about teaching is literature analysis. It was so fun to get into authentic literature, and practice the things that I will expect my students to do in the future. In class/Flint when roles were mentioned, I was very intrigued. I never had to take roles in literature discussion in middle school, instead my teacher had us keep literary journals. In these journals we could write anything that we thought about while reading - questions, predictions, connections, history. I think this approach is wonderful, because it does not restrain students to one avenue of thought.

Esperanza Rising

I thought it was very interesting how so many people had not had the experience of having discussion groups for literature. It seems to me to be a very easy way to promote a deeper connection with the book. When you get to hear what other people think and why it helps you to make new connections and build on already established schema. I think it can be a very effective tool especially in higher grade levels when they are starting to think more abstractly.

Esperanza Rising

Only half way into this novel, I absolutely love Esperanza Rising. It has opened my mind to a culture, language, and journey that I am not familiar with. When reading this book, mainly Aesthetic questions, ideas, and emotions came to mind. I really felt for Esperanza when her father passed away as I could not imagine how horrible of a feeling that would be. And then to lose your house, memories, belongings, and be forced to move to the United States where you will then live in poverty rather than enjoying the finer things in which you have always been used to. I think this book is a great one to expose middle school children to because it shows unfortunate events to a very blessed young girl and shows others to not take advantage of what you have and to cherish your relationships rather than material belongings.

Esperanza Rising

I have really enjoyed reading this book. It has been so nice to get away from the text book style writing and enjoy a piece of literature. One of the things that has really stuck out to me through out this text was the use of Spanish words. When the author puts in the Spanish vocabulary, it is always accompanied by the English transition. I think that this is very valuable for students to see other cultures with out being physically exposed to them. Coming from a school that didn't teach Spanish in Elementary or Middle levels, I believe that text such as Esperanza Rising can be critical to a students language development. I remember reading a book where the author took a similar approach to putting both of the translations in the text, and the words that I encountered in that book were the phrases that I can still remember.

Assessment

I found this weeks readings to be very interesting on the topic of assessment. I think that Johnston and Ray make excellent points that one, assessment is filled with social interaction and has a lot more to do with than simply giving a grade. It can affect how a student perceives him or herself as well as his or her literacy skills. I also think an important point that was talked about was the fact that as teachers, we need to look for intentionality in our students' work, so that we can praise them. Assessment shouldn't just be what one need to work on, but rather what they do well and should continue to develop. I think that this is a hard concept maybe for many of us, because it is opposite of what we have experienced throughout our years in school; however I definitely think it is an important aspect to assessment of any kind!

Poems

I really enjoyed the form poems we did in class. I am always curious to find new ways to help readers with comprehension. At first, I was very confused at how these poems worked - but creating one in class (or beginning to) was very interesting. I think, going along with Ray's discussion of writing craft, this will be a great tool for focusing on new vocabulary and how to put into use in current writing.

Reading like a writer.

This week in another class we were talking about comprehension skills in middle school. One of the big problems in middle school is that most content teachers don't focus on literacy skills. We were discussing comprehension and how children with high level skills read compared to how children with low levels skills read. One of the points was that teachers should get the students to "read like a writer." I thought it was interesting to hear this outside of Ray and in a different context. Instead of focusing on "reading like a writer" in the process of writing we were looking at using it as a tool for comprehension. Which makes complete sense. If kids are thinking about the hows and whys of authors they are considering more then just the craft of writing they are making predictions about the text itself. It was really neat to have this skill turned a different way and really made it prevalent in my thinking. After all anything that will help you multitask while teaching is I'm sure a good thing.

Pre-writing Importance

Watching the video and reading the readings this week, I really learned the importance of pre-writing activities. I always thought they were important but never realized the huge effect they have on many areas of a child's writing. I think that Ray makes a good point that when talking about a topic of writing, students should focus not only on what they are going to write about but rather, how they are going to write about it. I think that this brainstorming stage can be the most important to get students to take an idea and run with it as opposed to just writing a simple story that lacks details.

Free week

:)

Cedar Ridge

I feel like I got a lot more out of this clinical visit than last time. I observed Mr. Miles' class and as soon as we got there he let everyone go outside to learn about Phonemic Awareness. I was so intrigued by some of the activities he was doing relating to rhyming, alliterations, etc and even found myself participating and being sort of stumped with some of the words! I liked the way that he cued the class to clap to get them involved. His classroom was set up in a fun yet organized manner and even his classroom management skills were pretty effective from the short time that I was there.

Cedar Ridge

I absolutely loved the observations at Cedar Ridge this time around. I observed several second grade bilingual pull out reading groups. The teacher related her instruction very closely to what we have been reading and the "Big 5." One example was with phonetics, the teacher asked the students to write words that she said. Each student got a small white board and wrote their answers on their own board, sounding out each letter. To start, she allowed the students to do some independent reading on their own. She also did pre-reading activities in which she asked students what they knew about the book and went over key vocabulary words. After reading together, the teacher recapped the story with the students. I think the small group size and constant interaction made the group very successful!

VIdeo & Cedar Ridge

I really enjoyed watching the video about guided reading. I thought it was extremely interesting to compare and contrast the differences that I saw the class after watching the movie. At cedar ridge I was given the opportunity to see a guided reading session take place. I thought that the teacher did a very good job promoting fluency and other components of the big 5. The only thing that I didn't like about the guided reading session was that the teacher couldn't keep her eyes on the rest of the class. In the end it all worked out! :)

Guided Reading

I enjoyed watching the guided reading video tapes. I thought the kids seemed engaged but I also wondered how much of that was for the taping and how a real class room would respond. It all seemed very scripted and almost like a sales pitch. Did anyone else get this impression? Maybe I am being overly sensitive. I think guided reading could be a very useful activity for your class. I can see all the different ways you could incorporate it into your room. I thought the magnetic letters to show the variations on words was a great idea and I will definitely be using that in the future. I like that it is in small groups so it is more interactive for all those in the group.

Lesson Plans and Four resource Model

Before this class and my C&I 204 class, I have never constructed a lesson plan before. When the assignment was presented, I was a bit nervous as I had no idea where to begin. After reading this chapter in Flint and forming ideas based on the four-resource model, I now have tons of ideas that I cannot wait to incorporate into my classroom. While we know how to teach literacy to children, sometimes finding engagements for the classroom time can be difficult as we do not want to send students on their way to read a story and answer questions. Flint did a great job presenting different ideas for future teachers to use in this chapter such as Roots and Branches, Class Homophone Dictionary, DSTA, Four Square, and Vocabulary Squares.

Creating Postcards

I really liked the project idea that Flint talked about on page 243. The idea was that students make postcards corresponding to the text that they have recently read. On one side the student reflects on the theme of the text and write additional comments about how they felt while on the other side they illustrate something they remember from the material. I really liked how this project incorporated art into a reading comprehension strategy. I feel like teachers often get so caught up in teaching the materials and creating successful students that they forget that when you make the material personal to the student (ie: having them draw if they like drawing) it helps them make connections it and remember it.

Reading Exercizes Movie Clip

I thought that the video clip we saw in class about literacy instruction in the bilingual classroom was REALLY good! I love how the teacher gave the students the responsibility of making a list of ways to figure out unknown words. I think it was important that the students understood that one word can be defined by using many different ideas. I think that the reading centers and progression that Flint talks about as well is super important and an activity that applies to all students. I liked how the students progressed to working independently, only after teacher instruction, whole class group work and partners. It's a good way to have students share their ideas and aid their peers by putting their heads together. Because after all, the students all had distinct ways of figuring out the definition of an unknown word in a distinct text. This skill is so important to learn at a young age, because as a bilingual education major, this skill has been stressed throughout all my classes. It is especially important for English language learners to be able to you these skills to identify and understand unfamiliar words.
Another unrelated note: the students were so well behaved in the class and worked so well together. They were even all on task during group work and look the assignment very seriously. I hope that as a teacher I can conduct my classroom in such an organized way!!!

Sound it out

I thought this article was very informative. I saw myself in it for sure, I always tell my son to sound it out. He gets so frustrated and hates trying to sound words out so he just gives up. I never really considered whether this is a valuable process for him, I just assumed this it how it was. I am thankful I read this because not only does it point out that sounding it out is not usually a valid strategy, it also gives me ideas I can use with Hayden that hopefully won't give him anxiety. Next time we read together I will try some different things like prompting him to use visual clues.

Reading Aloud

Looking back on my younger years in school, I always enjoyed being read to. My teachers would always designate a time for reading aloud and I got a good amount of it at home as well. I loved it, as many children do. To this day, I still enjoy it when someone reads to me. I never really knew, however, the significance it held to children's ability to motivate reading independently and writing skills and proficiency. I especially liked our lessons this week on children's writing. I enjoyed analyzing the work of Nate, as I never have looked into the creation of stories by children before. I had no idea there were different stages of writing and that their scribble means something. I can't wait to go home this weekend and read aloud to my 3 year old cousin and look at all the possible things he is trying to express by simply giving him a pen and paper!

"Sound it out!"

I can vividly remember reading with my parents when I was younger and stumbling across the words on a page. "Just sound it out like we've practiced before..." My parents always prompted me with this phrase, and up until reading this article I thought that it was a wonderful approach. However, the author doesn't seem to necessarily agree. The examples provided in the article show that many times when we ask children to "sound it out" we provide different means for them to overcome the battle of figuring out the word. For example, when the article talked about the child reading about the dragonfly-- she never actually sounded each syllable out, instead she came to the conclusion by looking at the picture. After reading this article I came to the conclusion that while sounding it out may be a good method at times, we, as future educators, must also implement other strategies to help our students become better readers.

Observation at Cedar Ridge!

I had such a great experience observing at Cedar Ridge today! Ashley and I thought we were going to be late but we were actually early so we got to observe in 2 different classrooms-a 2nd grade class and a bilingual 3rd grade class. Right off the bat I was really impressed by the new school! I have never seen a layout at an Elementary school like this one. I liked how it had a common room for every grade with additional classrooms attached. During the first class, the students were doing group reading, where the teacher would take a group of 4 or 5 students aside and have them read aloud together to work on their reading fluency. At the same time, the rest of the class was to read quietly at their desks. One girl was coloring a picture depicting a book she had just got done reading emphasizing the importance of friendship. I was amazed at all of the opportunity the students had in the classroom from large desks to generous cubby space to a wide range of books in their classroom library. The second class we observed in was a bilingual classroom where all of the students as well as the teacher were Spanish speaking. I haven't had much prior knowledge about the various bilingual programs but Ashley filled me in on what they were and what they entailed, which I was grateful for. It was really interesting to see teaching and learning from a different cultural perspective. It made me really wish that I knew Spanish so I could understand and engage with the students learning. Overall, I had a great time today, I wish we had more time but I am looking forward to the next year observing and tutoring in the classrooms.

Really Reading

I found this article very interesting to read since I was raised reading AR books. When I was younger I don't think that I ever hated AR, but it was definitely a thorn in my side. The main difference I saw between myself and the kids in the article was that I still enjoyed reading. I can remember taking the AR test on Alice and Wonderland and scoring poorly. I was devastated. It lowered my points and suggested reading level. Since having the highest reading level in the class was something that we all strived for, I was very frustrated. However, I knew the reason that I didn't pass. I had read the book very quickly, skimming most of the material so that I could take the test and move on. For me, AR got to the point where it wasn't about reading books anymore, it was about beating my peers. I believe that as future educators we need to find a more engaging way to promote reading among students.

Really Reading

Reading this article brought up some bad memories about my own Accelerated Reader program experience throughout middle school. I think that a lot of what was talked about was similar to the experiences that I have had. I think that we as teachers, owe it to our students to help make reading fun. I think with programs like AR, the fun is sucked out of reading one test at a time. Students should be able to read what they enjoy without being told they can't because "that book isn't an AR book!" With little motivation to read books with new techology all around us as it is, I think that teachers should try everything they can to help engage students and to increase their motivation to pick up a book and read!

Bishop article and multiculturalism

I especially enjoyed reading the Bishop article this week focusing on incorporating multicultural literature in the classroom. I have learned about various multicultural texts in my past children's literature courses, but out of all my resources, the Bishop article touched on every aspect and controversy. Yes, it is important to incorporate multiculturalism in the classroom, but it can be a tricky task. For example, Bishop explained that there are risks to evaluating and selecting texts for a classroom. One must be aware of the book and what it has to offer. Is it reliable? Is the information valid and relevant? Where are the sources coming from? If a white teacher wrote a book on mexican culture, some of the information can be misguided considering they have never experienced that culture first hand. Yes, research may be done, but who is to say that research is legitimate? While I agree that it is important to educate students on the diversity of our world, especially our own country, we have to be careful in doing so so we do not offend anyone or give out the wrong ideas and facts.

Ray

I thought Ray's chapter on the craft of writing was particularly enlightening. I have never studied how writers write or what makes a writer stand out. I know when I am reading what I like and how it makes me feel but beyond that initial reaction there is no further analysis. To have someone break it down into chunks of information and examples of writing certainly brings a new depth of knowledge that I can apply when reading. Of course, this is not only beneficial to me personally but it is professionally important to have that knowledge base when helping students write. I also like how she suggests that teachers have a few authors that that know by heart in order to always have an example at hand.

Bishop

On page 35 Bishop writes, “Identifying multicultural literature as literature of or about “The Other”-- people other than white middle-class citizens of the United State-- helps reinforce and maintain old social patterns by setting up the American white middle class as the norm......” Through out the article, this quote kept popping up in my mind. I whole-heartedly agree with the statement and belief that when you create this separation between whites & everyone else, you are continuing to reinforce the idea that whites are on a higher standard.. but in reality, here in the 21st century, that notion isn't necessarily true anymore.

Another thought that really popped out to me was the idea that "teachers should be colorblind." After reading that on the anticipation guide, I really had to think about it. On one hand, you've got the idea that by acknowledging that there are minorities you continue to feed into the idea that white Americans have the upper hand in life. On the flip side, all cultures are different. What kind of message does it send to the student if you completely disregard their culture? As of right now, I am still a little confused on where to draw the line. Hopefully it will become more clear through out my courses here at ISU.

Bishop Article

Although this article contained a lot of things that I have already somewhat heard about, it was very insightful. I think that it is so true that sometimes, even though an author may be trying to do a good thing by making a children's book "multicultural," they are actually making a worse impact on a child of the minority group being portrayed. The article brought up some interesting points as to how one can judge whether a book is really authentic in the way that it portrays different cultural groups. I found it interesting that there are so many subtle things that children from this group being portrayed can pick up on (which others may not even see) and that these cues can affect how a child feels about him/herself and the cultural background from which they come.
I think that authors need to be very aware of the groups they will portray before they try to make a children's book multicultural. I have read several books in which I felt the idea of multiculturalism was way too stressed. Each page contained pictures of all different types of students and their classic stereotyped ways of dressing. Reading this made me laugh a little because it looked so fake, like the author thought that by just putting a diverse group of kids portrayed by common misconceptions of how people from their culture dress/act, they would make a good multicultural book. Instead they just spread stereotypes, leaving students misinformed.

Transnational and Community Literacies for Teachers

As an Elementary Education major with no prior knowledge on English-language learners (ELLs), I was intrigued by this article and everything it has to offer. While I am aware of the diversity of students among schools in our country, I was in the dark about how teachers go about teaching children who are so foreign to not only our language, but our customs and ways of life as well. I liked how the article started out with the basics, describing in stages everything there is to know about this issue for people like me who are just  beginning to learn its importance. As a teacher, it gave me ideas for when I have a student of different ethnicity or culture in my classroom: How to get them to open up, how I can learn from them, how I can get them interested in our culture while still learning about theirs, and how I can encourage them to learn about our ideas while at the same time incorporating theirs. At the same time, I was discouraged that some teachers are too scared or reserved to go out into their neighborhoods or communities to research their way of life. As I learned in the Student Teaching Options meeting today, administrators look for diversity in teachers, determination to go above and beyond to look at education from many points of view. For example, a principal is more likely to pull an application of a student who traveled to England to student teach as opposed to someone who student taught here in Illinois. The important thing about teaching is that you explore the different ways to teach and learn because there are so many changing ideologies!

At Home With the Johars

I really thought this was an eye opening article for me. I think that I have that middle class mentality when it comes to home literacy practices. There is such a big push for parents to read to their children, from the media, the education system, and for me past experience. The big message is that parents who care should read bedtime stories. This article clearly shows a family structure that does not include that and the parents in it still value literacy. What's more is the children place a high value on literacy also. It is important to realize what biases you have before you start to teach. If you can't figure out how you feel about different issues then you won't have a clear picture on why and how you react to different situations. Knowing that I have this underlying preference for reading at home by parents helps me to make a conscious effort to find out about home literacy practices of all my students. Placing value on things that might seem unfamiliar to me will help my students feel that they are valued also.

Transnational & Community Literacies for Teachers

I found this article to be interesting; however since I am a bilingual education major, a lot of the ideas that it focused on were exactly what I have been learning since I started my studies. In a way I thought that it's all common sense and that ever teacher implements these types of classroom communities. It made me realize that not a lot of teachers know how important this is for their students. I think that it is so important to bring a child's culture into the classroom, and to encourage literacy at home as well. The article gave several examples of how this can be done, such as analyzing different written texts in the child's home, which definitely brings a child's experiences to the class. By doing this, a child embraces his or her culture as opposed to feeling isolated or different. I hope that everyone can see the importance of the ideas in this article and make them common and standard in their classrooms!

Transnational & Community Literacies for Teachers

I found this article on transnational and community literacies very interesting. Prior to reading the article, I did not have a lot of knowledge on how to implement transnational and community literacies into the everyday literacy instruction. I particularly enjoyed how the article gave examples of how you could relate these practices to the state standards. I believe that it is very important to be able to link our teaching instruction to the state standards because our educational system focuses greatly on these.

One part of the article that kind of upset me was when the authors were talking about reasons that teachers may not want to implement transnational and community was due to the fact that they may not feel comfortable going into the community to gather materials. That statement really struck a cord with me because I feel like in a situation like that, the teacher is completely disregarding how the student feels when they enter an ELL classroom for the first time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this article.