I have posed a question related to this topic on Twitter last week, but it is still on my mind and requires further investigation. Is it appropriate for teachers to allow parents to opt out of parent teacher conferences if their child is doing well in school and has successfully completed all the required work? At least one teacher that I know believes so.
Although it saves precious time for the educator and the parent, this view of parent-teacher conferences is problematic in the sense that its sole purpose is to inform parents of the work that their child has and has not done. If that is all conferences are for, then of course it does not make sense for parents to come in to meet with the teacher if their chidl has completed all the work and is doing fine in class. But I think our obligations and goals as educators require more of us than that.
As discussed in our Issues in Education class, teachers, parents, and students all have a role to play in education. The parent-teacher relationships that one builds during the school year significantly impact the progress of the student. It is the parents' role to support their child in his or her education and to communicate with the teacher what the student's individual needs are and ask how their student can be supported at home. It is the teacher's role to communicate to parents how the child's education can be supported at home and to ask parents what the student's personal needs are and how the teacher can meet these needs in the classroom. Conferences provide a wonderful opportunity for this type of dialogue and allow parents and teachers to work together to benefit the student.
Even if a student is successful in the classroom, it is important for parents to hear this from the teacher. Conferences can be an opportunity for teachers to ask parents why they think their child does so well in school and to ask what things are happening at home to foster education. This information, in turn, can be used to help families and students who struggle to support education in thier household. Conferences can also be a valuable time to discuss with parents how we can help the successful students excel even more in the classroom. These students deserve just as much attention and time as those who struggle and deserve to have their parents involved in their education.
Relationships with parents are simply too important to neglect or consider optional for some students. It is arguably even more necessary at the middle school level in which adolescents are struggling to find acceptance from their peers and parents simultaneoulsy.
This blog is merely stating my opinion and I have only stated one side of the argument; I am open to hear different viewpoints on this issue. If anyone has any positive arguments in favor of letting parents opt out of conferences if their child is doing well, I would love to hear them.
Thank you for reading my post!
Courtney B.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
PLN Reflection
The Professional Learning Network that has been established in our Mid-Level course has been a beneficial experience with minor drawbacks. Halfway through the semester, it is important to reflect upon this experience of using blogs and Twitter. One of the many benefits of the PLN is that it allows opportunities for us to share our insights, ideas, and resources that cannot be discussed in class due to time constraints. It allows us to extend our lessons and carry them outside of the classroom. It allows us to interact with our peers and see one another as colleagues and valuable resources. Some challenges that I have faced during the PLN assignment thus far include commenting meaningfully on others' blogs and establishing my twitter account and following everyone that I need to. As the semester went on, I realized that when I would comment on other people's blogs, I would basically be saying the same exact thing on each comment. I felt very repetitive and that I was not providing as personal and purposeful comments as I would have liked. It was difficult because the blog topics were the same for every student every week. I also am challenged in setting up my twitter account. I have set it up successfully but am still struggling with how to operate the site. I am finding it difficult to find followers, not only my classmates but professional tweeters as well. It will take time to get used to and with experience, I am confident that I will be able to successfully operate my twitter page.
The five professional blogs that I subscribed to are...
1. Free Technology for Teachers: this is perhaps my favorite professional blog. It provides a plethora of free resources and helps educators incorporate technology into their classrooms.
2. Jen Robinson's Book Page: another helpful blog that provides a plethora of literary works to use in your classroom. She shares recent titles of new books and provides reviews.
3.Resources for Teaching Reading: this blog won the versatile blogger award and is another beneficial resource for me as a future educator. There is plenty of information but the page is difficult to navigate since there is so much there. It is a little busy, disorganized, and crowded as far as format and ease of accessibility.
4. The Class Struggle: another informative and insightful blog. However, there has not been too many posts recently, which is a downfall to this blog.
5. Two Writing Teachers: this blog follows the collaboration of two writing teachers, working together to become better educators. In the process they are helping subscribers become better educators as well with the wealth of knowledge that they share.
The five professional Twitter accounts I follow are...
1. Marie Sontag
2. Liz Lovell
3. Steve Olivo
4. David Dale
5. Kate Messner
As mentioned previously, I struggled with finding appropriate professional twitter accounts that would contribute significantly to my PLN. I have not had sufficient time to explore these tweeters extensively yet, but in my limited exploration I found these people to be knowledgeable and resourceful. They are experienced teachers in the ELA field. Kate Messner is even a published author. David Dale writes short 299-word novels and I was intrigued by the unique way in which he writes and plays on words. Overall, these accounts were filled with resources and links to other helpful sites that can aid me in my journey to becoming a better educator. I am looking forward to learning more and explring more through my continued experience with Twitter.
The five professional blogs that I subscribed to are...
1. Free Technology for Teachers: this is perhaps my favorite professional blog. It provides a plethora of free resources and helps educators incorporate technology into their classrooms.
2. Jen Robinson's Book Page: another helpful blog that provides a plethora of literary works to use in your classroom. She shares recent titles of new books and provides reviews.
3.Resources for Teaching Reading: this blog won the versatile blogger award and is another beneficial resource for me as a future educator. There is plenty of information but the page is difficult to navigate since there is so much there. It is a little busy, disorganized, and crowded as far as format and ease of accessibility.
4. The Class Struggle: another informative and insightful blog. However, there has not been too many posts recently, which is a downfall to this blog.
5. Two Writing Teachers: this blog follows the collaboration of two writing teachers, working together to become better educators. In the process they are helping subscribers become better educators as well with the wealth of knowledge that they share.
The five professional Twitter accounts I follow are...
1. Marie Sontag
2. Liz Lovell
3. Steve Olivo
4. David Dale
5. Kate Messner
As mentioned previously, I struggled with finding appropriate professional twitter accounts that would contribute significantly to my PLN. I have not had sufficient time to explore these tweeters extensively yet, but in my limited exploration I found these people to be knowledgeable and resourceful. They are experienced teachers in the ELA field. Kate Messner is even a published author. David Dale writes short 299-word novels and I was intrigued by the unique way in which he writes and plays on words. Overall, these accounts were filled with resources and links to other helpful sites that can aid me in my journey to becoming a better educator. I am looking forward to learning more and explring more through my continued experience with Twitter.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Critical Literacy
Critical literacy. For me, it was one of those terms that I knew I had heard of before but I couldn't quite remember what it meant. I knew it was important because it had been spoken about in my previous education courses and I knew I had read about it somewhere before. But for the life of me, I could not remember what critical literacy was. I was anxious to read about it and re-learn what critical literacy was all about.
From the readings and class discussion, critical literacy can be defined as empowering students to change their world. It is not reading a text and summarizing what it said; it involves much more than that. It takes comprehension one step further and requires students to critically analyze a text and the social constructs found within the pages. It requires students to ask questions about the author, the context, the biases found within the text. Critical literacy is closely related to Vygotsky's social constructivist theory of learning in which all knowldege and meaning are socailly constructed as we interact with others and with the world around us. It is also closely linked to reader-response theory in which readers respond to text aesthetically and efferently. In the Behrman article, the author gave practical ways in which to implement critical literacy into the classroom. The first approach is supplemental texts in which additional texts are provided to supplement the traditional text. Multiple texts that portray a variety of different viewpoints is a second approach. Having students read from a resistant perspective or different identity than their own is a third approach. The fourth approach is producing countertexts or having students re-write a text from a different perspective. The fifth approach is conducting student choice research projects in which students use issues from their own lives to form research projects on social issues. The sixth approach is an extension of the previous approach and entails social action.
Perhaps the most significant benefit of critical literacy is that it can be applied to any subject matter. It can be used in ELA, social studies, science, math, music, and art classrooms. It is important for students to practice critical literacy skills and ask critical quesitons as they read and the more disciplines this theory is integrated into, the better they will be become. Despite critical literacy's numerous benefits, there are criticims and concerns surrounding this theory. One of my concerns is the amount of time spent in planning and implementing critical literacy activities and lessons. Although I understand that it is time well spent, how can you simultaneously teach literacy skills and basic comprehension strategies in order to meet the content standards?
Any insights into this issue regarding critical literacy would be very much appreciated. I look forward to reading your blogs and learning about your personal thoughts about critical literacy!
Thank you for reading my blog post!
Courtney B.
From the readings and class discussion, critical literacy can be defined as empowering students to change their world. It is not reading a text and summarizing what it said; it involves much more than that. It takes comprehension one step further and requires students to critically analyze a text and the social constructs found within the pages. It requires students to ask questions about the author, the context, the biases found within the text. Critical literacy is closely related to Vygotsky's social constructivist theory of learning in which all knowldege and meaning are socailly constructed as we interact with others and with the world around us. It is also closely linked to reader-response theory in which readers respond to text aesthetically and efferently. In the Behrman article, the author gave practical ways in which to implement critical literacy into the classroom. The first approach is supplemental texts in which additional texts are provided to supplement the traditional text. Multiple texts that portray a variety of different viewpoints is a second approach. Having students read from a resistant perspective or different identity than their own is a third approach. The fourth approach is producing countertexts or having students re-write a text from a different perspective. The fifth approach is conducting student choice research projects in which students use issues from their own lives to form research projects on social issues. The sixth approach is an extension of the previous approach and entails social action.
Perhaps the most significant benefit of critical literacy is that it can be applied to any subject matter. It can be used in ELA, social studies, science, math, music, and art classrooms. It is important for students to practice critical literacy skills and ask critical quesitons as they read and the more disciplines this theory is integrated into, the better they will be become. Despite critical literacy's numerous benefits, there are criticims and concerns surrounding this theory. One of my concerns is the amount of time spent in planning and implementing critical literacy activities and lessons. Although I understand that it is time well spent, how can you simultaneously teach literacy skills and basic comprehension strategies in order to meet the content standards?
Any insights into this issue regarding critical literacy would be very much appreciated. I look forward to reading your blogs and learning about your personal thoughts about critical literacy!
Thank you for reading my blog post!
Courtney B.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Comprehension as a process, not a product
Many agree that comprehension is the main goal of reading; finding meaning in the text and interpreting the message that the author is communicating is the ultimate purpose of reading. If this is the ultimate purpose of reading, we must be good at it in order for us to have any motivation to read. Now the question remains, how do you become successful at reading comprehension?
Throughout this course, I have come to learn that comprehension of a text is a complex process, not a product of simply reading the words. Beers explains in her text that although many educators and students believe that comprehension is complete after you are done reading the text, meaning can still be derived from the words through a variety of strategies. Many educators carry the misconception that comprehension is a product rather than a process and allow this misconception to guide their instruction. Traditional reading instruction includes assigning a text, having students read the text, and then answer questions about the text to assess understanding. New theories and ideas have emerged, however, that have introduced effective changes to how educators teach reading.
If we choose to look at reading comprehension as a process rather than a product, we are forced to examine our traditional methods and revolutionize them. If we understand that comprehension continues after we are finished reading and we can continue to expand our understaning as we re-read, we can implement various strategies that allow students to understand this as well. As Kylene Beers says so succinctly, "[J]ust closing a book doesn't close off the thinking that shapes our understanding of a text" (139).
The following is a list of practical post-reading strategies taken from Beers that help students extend the meaning of the text.
1. Semanticdifferential and likert scales: helps students compare and contrast characters and form opinions and values based on evidence from the text.
2. Somebody Wanted But So: helps students summarize a text in an organized manner.
3. Retellings: helps students orally summarize the text based on setting, characters, conflicts, etc. in an organized manner.
4. Text reformation or story recycling: helps students reformat a story in a different but familiar pattern.
5. It Says-I Say: helps students see how to think through an inferencing graphic organizer.
6. Sketch to Stretch: helps students interpret the story in their own way through symbolic sketches and written explanations.
7. Save the Last Word for Me: helps students participate in small groups through the sharing of passages that each student wrote down on notecards (quotes, words, etc.).
8. Most Important Word: helps students determine the main points of the text through their exploration for the most important word or words in a text and provide justification.
These strategies allow students to think beyond the text and explore their understanding of the text more deeply. Some strategies work better for different types of texts and there are many more strategies avaiable if these strategies are not proving effective in your particular classroom. I recommend the Reading: Post Phase website. Check it out for more strategies and graphic organizers that can be effectively utilized during this last phase of reading.
Throughout this course, I have come to learn that comprehension of a text is a complex process, not a product of simply reading the words. Beers explains in her text that although many educators and students believe that comprehension is complete after you are done reading the text, meaning can still be derived from the words through a variety of strategies. Many educators carry the misconception that comprehension is a product rather than a process and allow this misconception to guide their instruction. Traditional reading instruction includes assigning a text, having students read the text, and then answer questions about the text to assess understanding. New theories and ideas have emerged, however, that have introduced effective changes to how educators teach reading.
If we choose to look at reading comprehension as a process rather than a product, we are forced to examine our traditional methods and revolutionize them. If we understand that comprehension continues after we are finished reading and we can continue to expand our understaning as we re-read, we can implement various strategies that allow students to understand this as well. As Kylene Beers says so succinctly, "[J]ust closing a book doesn't close off the thinking that shapes our understanding of a text" (139).
The following is a list of practical post-reading strategies taken from Beers that help students extend the meaning of the text.
1. Semanticdifferential and likert scales: helps students compare and contrast characters and form opinions and values based on evidence from the text.
2. Somebody Wanted But So: helps students summarize a text in an organized manner.
3. Retellings: helps students orally summarize the text based on setting, characters, conflicts, etc. in an organized manner.
4. Text reformation or story recycling: helps students reformat a story in a different but familiar pattern.
5. It Says-I Say: helps students see how to think through an inferencing graphic organizer.
6. Sketch to Stretch: helps students interpret the story in their own way through symbolic sketches and written explanations.
7. Save the Last Word for Me: helps students participate in small groups through the sharing of passages that each student wrote down on notecards (quotes, words, etc.).
8. Most Important Word: helps students determine the main points of the text through their exploration for the most important word or words in a text and provide justification.
These strategies allow students to think beyond the text and explore their understanding of the text more deeply. Some strategies work better for different types of texts and there are many more strategies avaiable if these strategies are not proving effective in your particular classroom. I recommend the Reading: Post Phase website. Check it out for more strategies and graphic organizers that can be effectively utilized during this last phase of reading.
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