Week 4- First Conferences!

Today in class we had our first peer conferences with our journals. I have to admit that I was nervous! Jenn and I shared what we wrote in each entry and then talked about ideas we had for future entries. I feel like this will be a good way for me to get to know my conference buddy throughout the semester, but also to grow as a writer. I like that we get to share ideas we have for our journals because Jenn might come up with something I wouldn't have. I can't wait to see where this takes us throughout the semester!

Also in class, we presented our craft lessons to a small group. I brought in a book called The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens. The book starts off with a dog dropping his tennis ball down a mole hole. The moles marvel at the ball and have to decide what to do with it. The book is GREAT for teaching children about using colorful verbs to improve sentences which is what I presented as my craft lesson. I would highly recommend looking at this book. It was fun and can be educational when learning about writing.

Lastly, I would like to shed some light on a book Linda brought in for the class to read. It was perfect considering we were learning about teaching children punctuation. The book is called Eat, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. It has a brilliant and hilarious way of showing kids the job of punctuation and how commas can change the meaning of a sentence. It had me cracking up!

Week 3 First Week at University Elementary!

Today was our first day observing at University Elementary School. Lauren Austin and I have been placed into a first grade classroom together. As we walked in I was super nervous! After getting situated I started to feel more comfortable. The kids were definitely excited to have new guests in the room. One girl complimented me everytime she walked by smiling. "I like your hair." Ten minutes later... "Your shirt is really pretty." Five minutes later... "I like your shoes." She was too cute!! She definitely made me feel good about myself :). During class we got to observe them during spelling. They would clap, snap, and dribble an "invisable" basketball as they spelled each word together as a class. I thought that was a really easy and fun way for the kids to learn and practice their spelling words. We then watched them during literacy groups. During literacy groups, they read aloud what seemed like books for their specific reading level and the teacher kept a running record as they read. I can't believe that in two years I will be the teacher facilitating this kind of stuff. Overall, it was a really nice day at University Elementary School and I can't wait to get to know the kids as the semester progresses.

Semana Numero Dos!

Week two of class was a lot of fun! My favorite part was when we cut out pictures from magazines to put on our journals. I love how my journal is coming together and now has a personality :) I foresee the pictures I put on my journal being the inspiration for many future entries. I already have ideas! Finding pictures was a nice and relaxing way to wind down from the first week of classes and to just get to know my classmates whom I will be with all semester. I found that I had a lot of similarities with the girls sitting around me.

Another part of class I really enjoyed was learning about affective ways to teach spelling. Last year for my P251 field experience I was in a first grade classroom during their Writer's Workshop time. My cooperating teacher had me help the children in the editing phase where I was to revise spelling and other grammatical errors. There were many, many misspelled words. At that point in time, I had no clue how to effectively explain how to spell a word to a 7 year old... with the exception of helping them sound out the word. Figuring out whether a child is a visual or auditory learner will really be helpful to me as a future teacher to help troubleshoot where they are having a hard time.

First Class!

After finishing the first day of class, I was relieved to find that a near 3 hour class was not as bad as I thought. Time seems to pass much faster when learning about something I am passionate about.. learning effective ways to help children become enthused about reading and writing. Although I am not much of a reader... or writer, I have a feeling this class will bring out the inner reader and writer within me.

The only time I could remember keeping a journal was elementary school. After reading the Dear America books, I was so enthused about keeping a diary... which lasted for about a month or so. In class today, we read two short excerpts from "The House on Mango Street" and "Never in a Hurry", two stories about the origins and meaning of names. Afterward, we were asked to write in our journal about our own name. I was stumped! What is so interesting about my name? After a while, I had to remind myself that there is no right or wrong thing to write. In the end, I came up with a poem of which I was very proud. :)

I am about finished with the book "A Writer's Notebook", which is assigned for next class. I have found the book to be very inspiring. It has made me very excited to start my own journal. Throughout the book, I have realized that writing doesn't have to be so complex. Focusing on the simple aspects of life can be very interesting on paper.