January 30th class

Hey everyone! I'm not going to make this very official...because most of my blogs aren't. But anyone, I'm just going to give everyone a quick summary of what was discussed and said during class yesterday.

We started off the class yesterday by reflecting on what we learned while writing our essays. There were some excellent points brought up during this discussion. Among them were the following: We should not expect our children to be able to sit and write a paper well in a twenty minutes period. One person had said that if they aren't able to write that way, how do they expect students to do it? Some of us expressed struggle in breaking down our thought processes and then putting them on paper. Others of us talked about how we need the pressures of procrastination to write acceptable papers. We were asked a very interesting question: did the fact that it was a draft take the pressure off of us as writers? Some of us said they still felt pressure to write well because they knew the teacher would be looking at it. Others thought it helped relieve pressure and made the writing experience enjoyable for several reasons. Some really enjoy hearing feed back from Missy and feel that it makes writing a paper more of a learning process. Another important topic that was discussed was the use of rough drafts, are they or aren't they a good idea? Some feel that using drafting is like punishment. They just want to be done with the paper when it has been written once. Others think it is a great idea because the children have a chance to learn about their mistakes without being punished for what they have done wrong.

We also discussed the readings of the week, the first being Language Across the Cirriculum. The question everyone wants to know, is language across the cirriculum an effective and important way of teaching? I think many of us agreed that it was a good idea, but were a little intimidated about approaching other teachers with the idea. A common misconception is that we are the experts of this concept and should, therefore, put all of our time into making it work. It was brought up that it is important t make parallels for the students in several classes, incorporating what is being learned in other classes into your class and visa versa. Doing this helps the students make important connections about real life situations. As for suggestions on how to promote language across the cirriculum, be expected to run into people who are resisting change. It is important to approach them in was that make them feel comfortable with the idea of change. We also talked about the implicit rules they had in the book and how many children really have that experience in school. The next reading, Understanding Composing: I know what it is, addressed this idea of being able to feel when something is right or wrong. How do we explain this feeling to children and help them understand this concept of feeling the difference? Does reading out loud help the student feel the difference? Another issue we will discuss later on in class is the idea of students greating on their personal improvement or on a set scale. The last reading, No Smoke, No Magic, we talked about the idea of control in the classroom. Is it better to have a well organized classroom but have the students dreading school or a classroom with complete chaos in which students interact and actively learn? There is also the idea that writing something wrong makes it permanent in the person's mind. Is that true? We also focused on how there is no black and white in Language Arts. It seems that there is only gray. Do we focus on the content of writing or grammar and mechanics?

I'll keep my opinions to myself for now. I really want to learn more before I decided what I think the answers to all these questions are. Have a great weekend everyone!