Free Write for EDU 414

                This is another free write for my EDU 414 class. In an attempt to get all my work done on time or ahead of time, I am writing this blog post now, even though I just completed my free write for EDU 307! So this time I think I will talk about the actually work I need to get done at my job before I leave on my trip to PhiladelphiaUniversity!

                As many of my friends know, and maybe even you already, I work at the YMCA in Branford,CT. my job position there is a Child Watch Attendant. So on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and some Saturdays, when I am not in class, I am at work from 9am-12pm. My job during this time is to care for children that range from the ages of 3months to 9 years. In the infant room where I usually work on Mondays and Wednesdays, I take care of the children aged 3months to 2 years. In the preschool room where I usually work on Fridays I play with children ranging in the ages from 2 years to 6 years (if they are not in kindergarten yet). There is also a school aged room that is opened at night for the 4:30-8pm shift (which I don’t work during the school year) where we watch over children from 6 years of age to 9 years. When children turn 10 then can sign themselves in and out of the child watch areas and we do not have to watch them.

So for this week before I go on my mini vacation I still have to work, and I even am picking up extra shifts to help out a co worker! I worked Monday morning and I still have to work Wednesday morning, Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday morning. Usually I do not work night shifts during the school year because I have class times that run into the shift times, and I do not work these shifts in order to have time to complete school work. I am fortunate enough to have amazing co-workers that I enjoy working with and who are extremely accommodating to my school schedule and to me, when I need to switch a shift, especially on Saturdays. Luckily I wasn’t scheduled to work this Saturday so that turned out well for me.

So when I finish work on Friday I am heading out! At 12 I will leave work, probably fill up on gas (don’t want to run out of that), go pick up my friend and head out on my road trip to see my other friends. Although working all my shifts and some extras this week adds more stress and less school work time into my schedule I do not mind. The co-worker I am covering helps me out whenever she can so I am glad I can do my part to help her.

Well, now that everyone is filled in and I have talked about school work and my actual job schedule, I think I have talked on long enough to bore some people. Anyway I am really glad to be able to help someone and to still be able to get away for the weekend.

I wish everyone else a good upcoming weekend as well, may it be filled with more fun than work!

Free Write for EDU 307

                For this free write I am going to discuss everything I have going on this week. I am so busy getting ready for the weekend, I think that sharing what I have to do and writing it all down may help me to relax a little, and help to focus myself and prepare to get all my work done!

                Taking 6 classes in one semester is quite a task, especially when two of them are W (writing intensive). Because of this I don’t often go away on the weekends like I used to in the previous semesters. Usually I spend my weekend working and trying to fit in some relaxing time, last year and previous years I went to visit my friends at their schools, like Keene State, or University of New Hampshire, or even just taking trips with friends to places like Washington D.C. So this weekend I decided that I wanted to change my pattern and get out of the state for a few days, some change is always good. This weekend I have decided to go visit my friend at Philadelphia University. In order to feel okay about doing this and to be able to relax I have had to take on the task of getting all my regular work done and most of my work for next week due on and ahead of time. So that is what I am doing all week.

Currently I am working for EDU 307, but I also have to read for SED 365, read and do work for EDU 414, research and write papers for SED 335, and read for Psych 370. While I have just generalized the work I have to do and it may not seem like so much, keep in mind this is just an overview, this work will most likely take me all week to finish. Sometimes it just seems like there are not enough hours in the day, especially when I try to balance all this school work with work, the gym, and classes.

Overall even though all this work will take me a good amount of time, it is totally worth it. I usually only see friends on vacations now, and I miss going on trips. I am someone who really loves to drive places and see and do new things, so I have really missed making trips to see people and places. Even though I have a ton of work to do that will take many hours, all this effort is totally worth it. So for now I am going to wrap up this free write and continue on with other work I have to complete.

Happy Working Everyone!!

Writing about Writing for EDU 307

                When I think of writing, many things come to my mind. I usually enjoy writing, but there are also some times when I could really find better things to be doing that spending my time writing. I believe based on the topic and the teacher is where my motivation, good or bad, for writing comes from.

                When I have a good teacher for writing I look forward to doing assignments. This “good,” teacher is supportive of me and my writing. By this I mean that the teacher gives me a clear understand of what I am writing about. This teacher also provides good feedback on what I have already written and presented to him or her. This teacher also provides constructive criticism in a way so that I feel that he or she is helping me and actually out to improve my writing and what I have to say rather than to just put me down, and to make me feel like I am writing only for a grade. This “good,” teacher seems to like what I write and only focuses on a few things at a time for me to improve on and doesn’t expect something perfect on one shot. I have been fortunate enough to have many more “good,” writing teachers in my life than “bad,” ones.

                When I experience a “bad,” writing teacher, it really becomes a process for me to write anything, even a sentence, because I struggle with every little word I write, wondering if it’s good enough for this teacher. A “bad,” teacher to me does not give me a clear idea about what he or she wants, and picks on everything I have to say without providing any positive feedback, even if I do write something good. This sort of teacher makes me feel like I am writing for a grade and the grade will reflect if he or she approves on what I have to say, it makes me feel as if he or she is not interested in even helping me improve one thing about my writing and that he or she doesn’t care what I have to say. It discourages me and makes me not want to write anything, which is unfortunate because I do like to write and I consider it to be something that I am pretty good at; although we could all use some improvements.

                I really enjoy writing because writing gives me a way to express how I feel about a book or anything really, in many different ways. There are poems, creative stories, essays, and more to explain how I feel or to portray something about a book. Writing is something that is fundamentally important because it is used everywhere. As a future teacher I strive to be the “good,” kind of teachers who supports and encourages her students to enjoy writing. I want my students to enjoy writing and not dread their writing assignments. Because of this I plan to set few and small attainable goals specific to each student. I want my students to reach these goals and be proud when they do.

                Overall I really enjoy writing, and I want my future students to enjoy writing as well. I want to incorporate many types of writing within my classroom and to have students look forward to writing. Writing is such an important skill and I believe that it is something that needs to be important to ourselves and to children. Writing is a great way to express oneself and to let out how he or she may feel. Writing can be an important outlet of ideas as well. As a future teacher I take on the task of making my students enjoy writing as I do, and I look forward to reading their writing and helping them develop into the best writers they can be. Writing is fun, an outlet, and expression, and most importantly writing is writing, an immeasurably important skill to have!

Collaborative Learning Supports Literacy

I believe that collaborative learning can and will support literacy. Through collaborative learning students get to share their ideas and listen to the ideas of others. They can come up with projects together and help each other to understand something that may not be clear to them. Collaborative learning will absolutely be a part of my classroom in the future.

            When I think about my collaborative learning experiences, I think about group projects and friends. In collaborative learning I can split children up into groups and have them experience other learners and how they work. Not only does this show children that each person is an individual who does a different kind of work to come up with a different product, but it also familiarizes children with each other. I think this is very important because it can help children to become comfortable with everyone in the classroom. You must be comfortable to work with someone and collaborative learning is a way to do that. Perhaps going into a project some students did not really know others. Through collaborative learning students will have the chance to meet and talk to each other and become comfortable with one another.

            So how can collaborative learning support literacy? I think by having children read a book together in groups is a brilliant way for collaborative learning to support literacy. Students can take turns reading different parts of the books in their groups. When they get to a part they do not understand or a word they cannot pronounce, one student may be able to clarify what just happened in the book, and another may be able to help the student pronounce the word he or she is having trouble with. Children together in their groups can predict what might happen later in the book, and can talk about the plot and the characters and how they are changing throughout the story. It is always fun to share what you are thinking with others, and it helps others to think about things in a way they may have not previously thought about.

            Collaborative learning can support literacy. Children can have fun in groups learning from one another, and talking to one another. As long as groups are kind to each other, listen respectfully, and use constructive criticism to defend their own views, collaborative learning will support literacy. I will include this practice in my own classroom in order to help my students learn about one another and to learn about the materials they are being presented with!

Free Write for EDU 414

For this week in EDU 414 I can free write about anything I want. However I’m not sure I have that much to share.

Recently I feel like I am being overwhelmed with work at school. I didn’t even realize we were already into the 5^th week of the spring semester! It really is crazy how time seems to fly now. Like recently tonight, I started doing homework at 6:30pm and now it’s already 9:30pm. Did it really just take me 3 whole hours to read and write a summary for class? YES! All this work piles up on top of everything and it gets so crazy. I hope teachers can see how much effort I put into my work because I certainly do.

One thing this year has really taught me is that it really is tough to take 6 classes at a time. I never would have thought that adding one more class to make 6 classes instead of 5 would have added so much stress and work, but it really does. However somehow I still manage to work about 12 hours a week, go home and walk my dog, and get my work done, although it kind of comes at the cost of a slow social life over the semester. But when I put things into perspective it all makes it worth it. I am very lucky to have a good job with great coworkers and I am extremely lucky that my family supports me as I continue through school. Also the best part about it is that, even though I’m super busy, and have a slow social life because of it, I love the work I am doing. It really makes me know that I have chosen the right path that I want to be on. If I didn’t enjoy doing the work, then it would make no sense to be struggling through it on some days. However all the stress and work makes me know that I really do want to be a future teacher!

I think it is tough days like these where I can still come out with a smile on my face that makes me know this is the way to go for myself. I also believe it is tough work and semesters, and working through everything that will help make me and the rest of us who work so hard great teachers. It really shows how motivated we are to work and make progress to make ourselves better and to become the best we can for our future students. This is an important thing for us to have, passion. This passion will drive us through our remaining years at school and into our future classrooms where things are more likely than not going to be even more stressful than school work! But in the end it is all worth it, because after all the time and effort I still love every second I get to spend helping and teaching children.

I guess tonight I’m feeling inspired in a way. I am glad to be a hard worker and I am glad that others in my classes know how it feels too; I know I am not alone. I am inspired to work my best and get through the tough school times so I can be the best future teacher I can be! It also feels good to have passion within myself; it gives me the will to keep working through all this work.

So I guess, keep working everyone! All this hard work will undoubtedly pay off in the end!

Family Memory in Relation to School for EDU 414

            There is one memory that sticks out the most for me when I think about a family memory that also has to do with school. This memory comes from all the way back in kindergarten, the good old days when we still went on class field trips and all that fun stuff. My parents were very involved in school activities, and I loved every second of it. We always needed chaperones on their field trips and my mom would always be there, if she couldn’t be my dad would be there instead. I loved the times I got to share with my mom and dad during school activities. Not only was I having fun and learning but I got to do it with my family. So what is this favorite memory that has to do with my family and school you may ask, since I already said I have so many? Well this memory includes a kindergarten field trip, and on this particular field trip we went to my own house!!

            When I was in kindergarten I lived in Alabama still. I attended Glenwood School at the time. I’m not sure if we were working on a specific unit, or working with a theme or anything but for some reason we went on a class field trip to my house. My home in Alabama was like a farm. We didn’t grow crops, but we did have a lot of animals. We had four horses and my own pony. I had two dogs and anywhere from two to three cats. We also had some cattle. I know that sounds like a lot, and it was, however we had a ton of space. When you picture Alabama I’m sure some people think middle of nowhere, cotton fields all around, no neighbors for miles. Well you would be partly right on thinking that for my house. I lived an hour away from the city where I went to school, our neighbor to the right grew huge fields of corn, and our neighbor to the left was pretty far away from our house, you could barely see their home. We had about 12 acres of land where I lived. So even though it sounded like a lot of animals we had the space for them all.

            My dad had built an area to practice barrel racing on the horses and also to practice roping. He used to be really into doing rodeos. I’m not sure if anyone has ever seen one but they were a lot of fun to go to. I even have awards from being the fastest pony racer. But that was a long time ago!

            So to my house my class went. While on the field trip my dad talked about how to take care of all the animals we had and how much work it was. My dad showed everyone how to saddle and get the pony and horses ready to ride. My dad also did a demonstration of cattle roping and barrel racing for the class. When that was over my dad saddled up my pony (Black Beauty), and let every kid of my class have a ride, while he led them around the arena.

            When we got back to school we had to draw a picture about our favorite part of the day. I can’t remember what I drew or what anyone else drew, probably because I was so excited from the day spent at my house.

            Overall I don’t need to remember why we went on the field trip or what we did after to reinforce what we had learned. Overall I have the best memory of that day, a memory of spending the day being with my family and friends and learning at the same time. I believe it is times like these that are essential to all children in school. Children need to have memories that they can look back on and be happy about. Also they need to be happy learning. By including children’s families in the learning process it can make things more fun. It can make children more willing to participate. I think it is essential that parents be a part of the learning process by helping their children with school and being as involved as they can. When parents are involved they know exactly what their children are doing and what they need to learn. When parents model good things for their children, the children will pick up the good habits. Family is an important support system not only in life but in school as well, and these memories will last a lifetime, they are something all children should have a chance to experience.

EDU 307 Readers Workshop Post

Readers’ workshop is something that seems to be becoming increasingly popular in classrooms as the days, weeks, months, and years progress. As a future teacher not only do I find it interesting and informative to read and understand about how readers’ workshops function and what kinds of activities are included, but I believe that these are necessary, very important, pieces of information for me to pick up and understand before I enter a classroom and am expected to teacher future children how to, not only read and write, but to enjoy the reading and writing as well. So, how do I envision readers’ workshop?

The first and one of the most important things I envision in my readers’ workshop classrooms of the future, is joy. I want my room and spaces for reading to be inviting and comfortable for children. I plan on having a bright, colorful, open classroom, to encourage children to be happy, and comfortable when working within the classroom with myself and their peers. Next I envision my readers’ workshop to work mainly like the article, “Organizing for Effective Instruction The Reading Workshop,” describes. However I would like to differ from this model as I learn more through experience and as I learn what the children in my classroom need specifically. For the first part of sharing time I see myself introducing group reading books, that I will assign to children, and I envision sharing different themed books to spark new interests, like mystery books, or fiction, and so on, that children might be interested in to read on their own as well as in groups. The mini lessons are next. In mini lessons I see myself addressing issues on how to be good effective readers and how to get the most out of the books being read. The role of mini lessons within my classroom will be to address the issues and concerns that arise as lessons and books come and go. I want each mini lesson to be individualized to what is being done in class on that day or during that week. That way I can specifically address questions or difficulties students are having, while we are doing the activities. I also want mini lessons to be a time to address and do activities that the curriculum requires because regardless of everything, there is always some part of the curriculum that must be followed. Overall I see mini lessons as little pieces of the puzzle that help children learn to read and write and enjoy it at the same time, I see mini lessons as ways to quickly address problems, needs, and concerns as they arise.

Continuing with the readers’ workshop model presented in the article, I like the idea of State-of-the-class, however I would probably implement this type of instruction differently. Overall I would not have students sign up on their own or as they needed. I would personally like to observe children while they doing their readers’ workshops and make appointments as I see necessary, of course I will make a point to meet with every single child. However there are always some children who may need more individualized time than others, and it may be important to recognize and provide this. It will also be important to meet with each child about the same number of times as others though to ensure that no one is being left out or that others don’t take notice if someone is getting more individualized time than others as it may create bad attitudes towards myself or the child receiving the time. It is my goal to treat all children equally and fairly and to make them feel as if they are being treated that way as well.

SSR I would love to have in my class as appropriate. I would defiantly implement this by having reading logs to see progress and to make sure children are reading and doing the work to ensure they aren’t goofing off or doing other work. I would also love to have them do some responses in reading notebooks or something like that to see what they think about the book and to see if they understand what is going on with what they are reading. And finally sharing time is definitely a MUST at the end of the readers’ workshop. Not only to I want to hear what the kids thought of their books and what is going in the stories, but I want the other children to hear and share what they have a well. This way the children can all relate and know what is going on with each other. All children can be involved and it will be something enjoyable to look forward too after successfully completing their work.

All in all I envision readers’ workshop as bits and pieces of what others suggest and what l like and what fits the needs of my students. A sure thing that I realize now and I’m sure it will be confirmed in the future is, readers’ workshop is a necessary part of the classroom. it is my job to integrate it into my class in fun and enjoyable ways, and I look forward to learning more about readers’ workshop and making it a part of my fun future classroom!

My Choice for EDU 307

Hello Everyone!!

                So this blog can be about anything we want. It is a free write! While some people hate having these I must say I enjoy having them assigned when I actually have something to talk about or to say. I guess I will just talk about what I did this weekend and what I plan on doing with the rest of it, even though it’s Sunday night already!

                This weekend I finally didn’t work on Saturday, which was great because I feel like I’m always running around 24/7 with no break in-between. If I’m not at work, I’m at school. If I am at work, I do that until it’s over go to the gym then go home to walk my dog and then come all the way back to New Haven to probably do some school work or even to go to night class. It’s so exhausting. I feel like I never have time to just relax, so that’s really what I wanted to do this weekend. Overall I feel like I did relax, some.

                I brought my dog Lyla home with me this weekend. Needless to say, she has a lot of energy. She woke me up at 7am Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, to go for a walk in the morning. I guess it didn’t really matter since after her walk we came back and slept in! It was nice to have her here with me, because even though I want to relax and do nothing I tend to get bored very easily and she provided some good entertainment. Although while she slept most of the day away I got some homework done, and it was nice to do it at a slow pace and not worry about rushing through it to get to the next thing I had to do.

                I also had a chance to repaint my nails! This week I decided to paint them with a new color I got a few weeks ago called Rainbow in the S-Kylie. Yes, I admit it; this color is from the Kardashian Kolors. I admit I do enjoy watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians and the other related shows! I love how the sparkles on my nails came out. They kind of remind me of something I would have loved when I was 5, but I thought that was appropriate since I really want to work with 5 year olds. Sometimes we have to learn to enjoy the simple things in life. Everything is always complicated and hard now, and I bet it is only bound to get tougher, so I figured I would appreciate the crazy sparkles on my nails. Also I chose this color because my best friend, Taylor told me to!! Good choice Tay!!

                Really that’s all I did with my weekend. Did some homework slowly, hung out with my puppy, and did my nails. That may sound boring to some or crazy since I didn’t go out much, but it was relaxing and now it’s already Sunday night, and I have no idea where all the time went!! So with the rest of my weekend I’m going to finish up some homework, try and catch up and get ahead maybe. I think I might go grab 5 Guys for dinner before I start working out again this week, and of course I will be tuning in to watch the super bowl!!

Have a Great Night & Hope Everyone Enjoyed their Weekend like I Did!