Critical Literacies/ Already Ready

I thought that the critical literacies article was very interesting.  I was really thinking that the idea of have a cafe' for the children to practice the language would be a fun way to get them involved.  I think that too often we assume that children this young do not always have informed opinions.  We may assume that we, as teachers, know what is best for them without even asking them what they prefer.  I really liked that the children were encouraged to write a petition.  It is important that all children express their opinions and feel that they are being heard.

In the "already ready: article, I really liked the section on talking to students about the different parts and purposes of a book.  I think that many times young students may just look at picture and do not always understand what the rest of the book is about. In my head start room, the teacher always mentions who the author is and where the book was published.  I think that it is important that children are seeing these different sections in books. I also really liked the part where teachers would write down what the children said their pictures were. I appreciated that the teachers would write down, verbatim, what the student said.  It is great to expand on what the children are drawing or saying but we do not want to mix their words or influence what they say about a picture.

Vivian Paley- NAEYC Convention

Many people have been quoting things that Vivian Paley said at the NAEYC Convention. Paley is the author of, "White Teacher." Some tweets have read, -" Timeout chair = Awkward method of education " #naeycAC #kinderchat and  "kindergarten children need to play...and they need to know there will be time for play" -Vivian Paley #naeycAC #kinderchat - Vivian Paley.

To cover the first tweet, I feel that the timeout chair is something that should not be used in the classroom.  I think that discipline is important in the classroom, but some parents may feel that this is very invasive. I think thta another method would be to take the child away from the bad situation. Also, you could take a "spin off" of the timeout chair and offer the child an area where they can be alone.

To cover the second tweet, I completely agree! Play is so important to me in my teching philosophy. I really want to end up teaching younger children. I know that it is so hard for these children to sit down in a chair all day. I think that if we keep the children actively engaged in play with learning, then they will be more successful in the classroom.

A is for Avatar

This article was very eye opening to the ideas of technology in the classroom.  Personally, I feel that technology in the classroom is wonderful.  I feel that children must know how to use word documents and conduct internet searches. I do not remember the last time that I was asked to do a project that did not require the use of technology. The thing that amazes me is that children know more about technology than we do. As we saw in a video (in one of our classes) a baby rubbed accross the front of a magazine because babies now are part of the "Ipad generation."  I think that we, as teachers, need to be aware that technology is rapidly changing.  I feel that children need to know the basics of education and the history of education, but we need to prepare them for the world that they will enter.  This world is surrounded by technology.

Castle in the Classroom

I have really enjoyed the continued reading in Castle over the past few weeks. I really have loved the way that lesson plans are done in this book.  The author shows that she plans units out far in advance.  The thing that I really like is that there is room for flexibility.  As we have all experienced, making lesson plans does not mean that the children will actually follow them to the "T."  This also does not mean that a lesson will last as long as we may have been originally hoping for it to last.  I have persoanlly experienced this with some of our assessment windows.  I have tried to make the actvity very engaging for the child that I am working with, but sometimes he will become disinterested before I had planned.  When this happens, I have tried to move to another activty and then maybe try and come back to this later on.  I think that it is good to follow the lead of the child in this case.  We want to make sure that children are not becoming bored wit what we have planned and then force them to continue!

Book Packs

I loved the idea of doing book packs! I think that this would be a wonderful way of getting children excited about reading again.  This is also something that parents can be involved in with their children.  I really like the idea of having activities that the children can do.  I think that this is a great way of using cimprehension methods. It is very fun when the children have something that they can do with the reading. This will keep them involved and focused on the task at hand.  This is also a way that parents can see what is going on and being discussed in the classroom!

Child's Interest

It is so important in the classroom to explore literature that the children are interested in. It will be much more productive in the classroom when students are allowed to pick books that they find interest in. As they get older they will most likely start using "level readers" and will start to lose the love for reading. While we have them when they are young, we need to make sure that we are starting that loving foundation for reading.  Again, we discussed more finger plays in the classroom. I think that it would be wonderful to find texts that the children love and then make a finger play as a class for that book. This is something that will get them more interested in the book. This will also help them to burn some energy because they will be able to get up and move around in the classroom.

Finger Plays!

This week's class was so much fun! I really thought it was great that we did something creative like this. Finger plays will be a great learning strategy in the classroom. I did my finger play with a Raffi song. I had never heard the song before but I really enjoyed it. This weekend I got a chance to show my mom my finger play (she is a teacher) and she thought that it was a great idea. I think that we could really make something like this in our classrooms with children that were a little older. If we wanted to do it with younger children then they could pick out everything they wanted and then we as the teachers could glue everything on. 

Another fun idea would be to have parents come in and do this activity with their children. It would be great to have parents come in and pick a song and then design a puppet with their children. I think that it is always important to incorporate the parents in our activties. Having parents in the classroom is very important to me!