Summer Happenings

I promised Dr. Duncan that I would post over the summer, so here is my first blog of the summer! May is just about over, and I am almost halfway done with my summer class. I LOVE having one class for four days a week. I am taking my science in society course which is required for Gen Ed.

Let's see . . . In the past few weeks, I have received 2 awards at school. I received part of the Anne C. Dahle Scholarship, and I received an English Leadership Fund award. I had no idea I was going to get an award for the English dept! I feel very blessed to have gotten these awards.

As for my kids, I made 3 doctor visits within 3 weeks. My 15-year- old daughter had female issues. My 9-year-old son had the flu - NOT the swine flu. My 12-year-old son had developed eczema. I do not want to go back to the doctor for awhile. I believe I have seen the office enough.

Not only am I taking a summer class, but I am also doing summer research. Things have been moving along, and I am learning so much more than I ever thought I would.

I am done for now. I will post again later. I hope everyone is having a great summer break!

Final Post for the Semester

Let me start by saying how much I am going to miss this class. I have enjoyed getting to know all the ladies in my class and have enjoyed sharing many things with you all.
As far as the blogging idea, I may try to continue to post to my blog. I am in the process of forcing myself to do this because I think it really may help me. It may be easier for me to simply write whatever I am thinking versus having to respond about something from class or readings. No offense, Dr. Duncan! Let's see how this works out during the summer. Hopefully I will still be blogging in the fall.
I believe every student in my class will be a great teacher and I look forward to hearing about your adventures in teaching. Hey...I think I just came up with a new name for my blog: Adventures in Teaching, or Becky's Adventures in Teaching!
Thanks to the entire class and Dr. Duncan for the past semester. Please keep in touch.

Response to class

First, I must say that Freedom Writers is my favorite movie! Every time I watch this movie, I go through so many emotions ranging from anger to sadness to fear to comfort. Before I saw this film, I read Jonathan Kozol’s book, Shame of the Nation. I was so disgusted by the descriptions of the physical school environments and the lack of resources in the lower-income schools in New York. I was appalled when I read how a young black female felt that if the students, including her, died, they would not be missed. The overall feeling among these young kids was that they don’t really matter or even exist. Because I was reading this for my Foundations class, I immediately ran to my computer and wrote a personal letter to Dr. McKinney. I poured my heart out to her about how I wanted to do something, but I never knew what to do. I still feel helpless because I simply have not done anything.

Although I do not know where I will teach once I graduate, I do know I want to teach in a lower-income area school. I am so passionate about all kids feeling as if they are very valuable in this world. My classroom will be inviting, comfortable, safe, and every student will learn he/she is worthy of living and learning.

As for the "magic talk" idea, I LOVE it! I will definitely use this active learning strategy in my future classroom.

Listening

Listening is a very important language arts skill. As future teachers, we must model active listening to our students. As stated in our textbook, Language Arts: Patterns of Practice, Gail Tompkins (2009) provides strategies for teachers to help all students benefit from listening. One idea that I really liked was reading aloud and then pausing to “ask students to identify the idea[s] being presented” (Tompkins, 2009, 225). While students are responding, “teachers list […] responses on the chalkboard,” which helps visual learners too (Tompkins, 2009, 225). I believe so much can be conveyed or understood through listening. For instance, listening to Dr. Duncan read Sahara Special in class is so much fun to me. I love to hear the inflection in her voice as she reads the different characters. When a student reads the same book to herself, who is to say that the same context will be conveyed?

Propaganda is a huge topic. I love those days when my kids decide to turn the television off and listen to the silence. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, I am amazed at how much fun we all have. Turning off the TV and the radio means there are no commercials or advertisements being thrown at my family. I understand that these ads help pay for the music we hear or the shows we watch, but I feel it is crazy by how these ads can influence most people. For instance, my nine-year-old son, Kieran, can watch something on TV and he would call me to come see a specific commercial. He would say “Hey mommy. We need to get that OxyClean or the Wonder Putty!” The amount of commercials Kieran saw seemed to increase over time, and I figured that I needed to break the news to him: we cannot always believe what we see on TV. Kieran even had to purchase the infamous Floam and the Blendi-Pens, with his own birthday money, only to later find out this stuff was useless.

Free Post on School Visits

My field experiences have been great! Because I have been observing/participating in my cooperating teacher’s room, I have been able to establish a better relationship for when I take over her class in the fall for student teaching. (FYI-I am in a 6^th grade Language Arts classroom.)

I do not have one favorite visit. I LOVE all of my visits. I LOVE going into the school environment. I LOVE walking into the Sixth Grade Building and seeing all the students. I am sure my overwhelming excitement shows through to the students.

I am learning new ways to deal with middle school students on a daily basis. Although I do not agree with all of the teaching techniques my teacher uses, I am gaining a different perspective as to why she does certain things. This learning experience is very necessary on the road to helping me become a great teacher in the future.