How I intend to implement my new understanding There are several specific programs I would like to implement within my classroom in order to achieve the things I have come to believe about language and literacy education.
The first is to create opportunities to look critically at the consumer world. Some of the examples that Evans includes in her book, Literacy Moves On, are surrounding beanie babies and Pokemon to illustrate how effective the general concept of analyzing marketing campaigns and redesigning these campaigns can be in encouraging children to be critical of their surroundings. I think that children should become active agents in their own learning and that "good" literacy practices should not only be decided by teachers and parents, but should be influenced by the students.
Another part of a language and literacy program that I would like to implement is something that has come from class discussions and from my observations within practicum experiences. That is, incorporating a read aloud as a daily experience in the classroom. During my grade 4 practicum experience I felt that the read aloud experience was missing from the classroom and on days where it did occur I noticed a dramatic change in the students. The particular grade 4 classroom that I was in was a very traditional class (desks in rows, mostly lecture style teaching) and I found that the students had a very negative attitude toward their learning and often were disengaged. The exception that I found to this was during the limited read aloud times that the teacher did include where students were much more inquisitive and active in their learning.
This picture shows myself in my kindergarten practicum class doing a read aloud of a text that we created as a class. As a teacher I feel that it is very important to celebrate student (and teacher) writing by sharing it in the classroom just as we would share other published authors.
As I believe that children should be exposed to multiple types of texts, I plan to implement an artifact audit within my classroom. (Evans, pg.144) I like this particular artifact audit because it addresses texts available in the classroom as well as the types of texts that the class as a whole is creating. Some of the questions that I have taken from Evan's text that I find would be particularly effective to keep in mind at all times in the classroom are: "What texts are produced in this classroom?" "What kinds of texts are children learning to be producers of?" "What texts are children proud of? Which ones would children want to show others/keep/reread and review?" "How does the production of classroom texts involve children in assembling new knowledges?" "To what extent are children able to consider their own texts as cultural artifacts with specific local effects?" (Evans, pg. 144) This year in my kindergarten practicum I had the opportunity to witness the use of writer's notebooks. I found the notebook to be a really good entry to writing for the students in the class and gave us the chance to conference with students one on one about their writing. This is something that I would definitely incorporate, with a few modifications, into my own classroom. The modifications that I would make to what I have seen used in the classroom would be to put a larger emphasis on who the audience of their work will be and to give the students more responsibility for completing their own writing (regardless of their ability level) instead of having a teacher scribe all writing for them. The following was an activity that I did with the students in my kindergarten practicum class as a response to some of the stories we had been reading during our gingerbread theme in the month of December. It illustrates the capabilities of the students and how important it is to support them in their invented spellings. I would like to start transitioning this into our writers notebook sessions and really develop their literacy by encouraging them to write down as much or as little writing as they are capable of at this point in order to give them more confidence as writers.
In order to create the type of classroom that effectively engages students in texts I will pay particular attention to the physical layout of the room. To achieve this type of classroom I would work together with my students to create comfortable spaces for reading and writing as well as places to encourage and allow for student collaboration. It is important to me that I provide many different texts and opportunities for students to engage in them, and I believe that this is greatly impacted by the classroom layout. (Miller, ch. 1-4)
The following is a classroom layout (based on a classroom in which I was privileged to visit in Constable Edward Finney School during my first year in the faculty of Education) which I feel exemplifies many of my beliefs about a classrooms physical structure. I found that the classroom was supportive of student and teacher collaboration by providing distinctive spaces to gather, as well as providing a large central meeting space where the class could come together as a larger community of learners. In addition, I found that the selection of books and texts (including those on tape) were very thoughtfully chosen and well distributed throughout the room. The choices in seating (including a low set table with cushions to sit around it and many other comfy cushions around the room), along with the natural elements in the classroom, really encouraged children to relax and enjoy whichever text they had chosen.
As I am a life long learner, click here to see some of the things I am interested in learning more about or developing further.
There are several specific programs I would like to implement within my classroom in order to achieve the things I have come to believe about language and literacy education.
The first is to create opportunities to look critically at the consumer world. Some of the examples that Evans includes in her book, Literacy Moves On, are surrounding beanie babies and Pokemon to illustrate how effective the general concept of analyzing marketing campaigns and redesigning these campaigns can be in encouraging children to be critical of their surroundings. I think that children should become active agents in their own learning and that "good" literacy practices should not only be decided by teachers and parents, but should be influenced by the students.
Another part of a language and literacy program that I would like to implement is something that has come from class discussions and from my observations within practicum experiences. That is, incorporating a read aloud as a daily experience in the classroom. During my grade 4 practicum experience I felt that the read aloud experience was missing from the classroom and on days where it did occur I noticed a dramatic change in the students. The particular grade 4 classroom that I was in was a very traditional class (desks in rows, mostly lecture style teaching) and I found that the students had a very negative attitude toward their learning and often were disengaged. The exception that I found to this was during the limited read aloud times that the teacher did include where students were much more inquisitive and active in their learning.
As I believe that children should be exposed to multiple types of texts, I plan to implement an artifact audit within my classroom. (Evans, pg.144) I like this particular artifact audit because it addresses texts available in the classroom as well as the types of texts that the class as a whole is creating. Some of the questions that I have taken from Evan's text that I find would be particularly effective to keep in mind at all times in the classroom are:
"What texts are produced in this classroom?"
"What kinds of texts are children learning to be producers of?"
"What texts are children proud of? Which ones would children want to show others/keep/reread and review?"
"How does the production of classroom texts involve children in assembling new knowledges?"
"To what extent are children able to consider their own texts as cultural artifacts with specific local effects?"
(Evans, pg. 144)
This year in my kindergarten practicum I had the opportunity to witness the use of writer's notebooks. I found the notebook to be a really good entry to writing for the students in the class and gave us the chance to conference with students one on one about their writing. This is something that I would definitely incorporate, with a few modifications, into my own classroom. The modifications that I would make to what I have seen used in the classroom would be to put a larger emphasis on who the audience of their work will be and to give the students more responsibility for completing their own writing (regardless of their ability level) instead of having a teacher scribe all writing for them. The following was an activity that I did with the students in my kindergarten practicum class as a response to some of the stories we had been reading during our gingerbread theme in the month of December. It illustrates the capabilities of the students and how important it is to support them in their invented spellings. I would like to start transitioning this into our writers notebook sessions and really develop their literacy by encouraging them to write down as much or as little writing as they are capable of at this point in order to give them more confidence as writers.
In order to create the type of classroom that effectively engages students in texts I will pay particular attention to the physical layout of the room. To achieve this type of classroom I would work together with my students to create comfortable spaces for reading and writing as well as places to encourage and allow for student collaboration. It is important to me that I provide many different texts and opportunities for students to engage in them, and I believe that this is greatly impacted by the classroom layout. (Miller, ch. 1-4)
The following is a classroom layout (based on a classroom in which I was privileged to visit in Constable Edward Finney School during my first year in the faculty of Education) which I feel exemplifies many of my beliefs about a classrooms physical structure. I found that the classroom was supportive of student and teacher collaboration by providing distinctive spaces to gather, as well as providing a large central meeting space where the class could come together as a larger community of learners. In addition, I found that the selection of books and texts (including those on tape) were very thoughtfully chosen and well distributed throughout the room. The choices in seating (including a low set table with cushions to sit around it and many other comfy cushions around the room), along with the natural elements in the classroom, really encouraged children to relax and enjoy whichever text they had chosen.
As I am a life long learner, click here to see some of the things I am interested in learning more about or developing further.