Talking...

Talking in the classroom is extremely important because it is a necessary ingredient for learning.  Teachers need to keep their students actively engaged in what they are learning so they are constantly interested and do not grow bored.  It is a good idea to always have open discussions with your students and engage in conversations about what they feel they are getting out of the lessons.  I, for one as a student do not enjoy when I am just sitting there in a class and just listening to lecture after lecture, it is more interesting and exciting when the teacher involves us in a discussion over the material.  Talking helps builds a students language proficiency and communication skills.  As future teachers we should always try and get students to participate and actively engage in activities where they can talk with their classmates.  This helps them grasp the knowledge that everyone is different and entitled to their different opinions.  Students of all ages would enjoy "Show and Tell," you can allow your students to bring something from home that represents themselves or what like to do and then have them educate their classmates on what they chose to bring to the classroom.  Children love to see and hear about their friends interest, this will help them become comfortable and adjusted to public speaking.  My favorite form of talking in the class room is reading out loud.  A teacher can let each student take turns and read to one another passages or a teacher can come up with a way where students can out the parts in a story.  Learning literature can be extremely fun, especially when talking is involved therefore we should always remember when planning a lesson to try and always incorporate it. 

Memories...

I have a picture of my son that was taken in the hospital when he was first born and that brings me so many memories of emotions! Of course, it is my precious as gold memory, because there is nothing that I treasure most in life than my son.  That specific moment in time changed my life for the better, and I could not of asked for a better miracle.  But the picture also reminds of how scared I was, never in my life had I ever felt so terrified before.  I was about to become a mother, I was only 18 and was going to be responsible for another life, it was petrifying.  Many thoughts crossed my mind:  What if I held it wrong?  What if I could not get it to stop crying?  What if I just wasn't a good mother?  What if, what if, what if...the questions of terror were endless.  This also was by far the most painful memory in my life.  Most of you who are mother's know exactly what I am talking about, OUCH!  What made it worse was the nurses were concerned that my little body frame was not going to be able to deliver an 8 pound baby natural, and they were certain I was going to need a cesarean.  I was scared out of my mind because I have a pain tolerance of zero, and then they're telling me they want to cut me open? No!  But lucky for me I was able to deliver without ever having to get cut open.


This picture means so many things to me and brings back so many memories that I know I will never forget.  

 

BLOG #3: Writing is a...

Writing is a "PROCESS!"  The 5 steps are:  

1. Prewriting-brainstorm, maps

2. Drafting-rough draft/ outline

3. Revising-Add/delete

4. Editing- conventions

5. Publishing

Ex. of Pre/Dur/Post Strategies. How do these strategies help students?

There are many strategies that can help students get interested in a book.  As future teacher, it will be our job to keep our students enthusiastic about reading, so we will have to help them and show them reading can be fun.  In doing this we will be able to use different strategies that can be helpful  in keeping the students interested.  A "Pre-Strategy" can be by just merely showing the students the cover of the book and asking questions like:  What do they think the book will be about? What do they think the title means? And have they ever read the book before?  Once those topics are discussed, you can continue on reading the book out loud to your class, or have them take turns and read the book to each other.  Take time out from reading to stop and ask the class their opinion on what is going to happen next, and or, have they ever done anything similar?  When a child can relate to a book they are able to get a better understanding of literature and stay enthusiastic about it as well.  Continue on reading the book, and then once the book is completely read you are ready to start the "Post-Strategies" by either continuing on with the discussion by asking if any of their predictions were true.  It is a great idea to try and apply the book to everyday life by asking them if they have a similar connection to the book and or main character.  After discussions, you can apply the book with different lessons such as having them organize and draw the sequence of events, have a quiz, or have them recreate the cover of the book.  

Having strategies while reading if very important, because it helps to keep everyone on their toes.  Without students even knowing they will learn how to brainstorm, predict an outcome, and make connections.  By conducting these strategies you have a better chance at keeping the students enthusiastic about what is going to happen in the story.  Not every child will as excited about literature as others, so it is important to keep conduct a mixture of strategies that will target each individual student's attention.

How do you learn?

There are many ways one can learn, I find constant rehearsal and neat organization extremely useful. Repeating something over and over works wonders for me, and when something becomes extremely challenging I've found that explaining it to myself out loud works especially well. When something is repeated over and over to a person they tend to remember it better and are less likely to forget it and for me it feels like it will be forever imprinted in my brain.  Keeping things together and neatly organized also helps.  That way if there ever is a time that I need to go back and refer to my notes they are easy to find with no complications.  Having things scattered every where can make learning frustrating.  

When I took the "Multiple Intelligence Survey" I found myself to be categorized as Existential and Interpersonal.  I fully understand how I was categorized as Interpersonal because I enjoy the companionship of others.  Having a study group is extra helpful to me when studying for something because I have the chance to communicate with my peers and ask them questions when I find myself at a dead end in understanding the work.  After taking the survey I found myself noticing how I am driven to crowds in ways other than studying.  For example, I can be starving for hours, but I will wait till someone gets home to sit or eat with me, and then once at the table I need the comfort of chit chat while I am left to finish my meal.  Or like shopping, I love to have a companion while out at the stores, just to be able to have the comfort of a conversation.  But, if for some odd reason I go alone I find myself making friends with the retailers.  I guess it's safe to say I'm a people's person who thrives for the group scenes.

In this world people find themselves motivated by different things.  I find the motivation to do the things that I do through my son because I want him to be proud of me.  He's the reason I get up in the morning, without him I do not think I would have the constant drive to want to suceed in eveything I do.  As a mother I want to give my son the world, therefore I am continuting my education in hopes to become a successful English teacher and be able to provide properly for my him. I want to set an example, and show him that through hard work and dedication anything is possible.

My Adventures in Blogging

This is my first time ever really blogging so it's all a little new to me...but so was myspace at one point and now I'm a pro, so no worries! lol I had to set up a blog site for two classes like most of you, but to make matters easier for me I have created two different sites.  This one in particular is for Mrs. Harris' class EDRG 3344.  And if you also have me for Ms. Pickett's EDRG 3321 you can catch that blog at http://marigarcia3321.blogspot.com.

I am very excited about my first year here at Texas A&M San Antonio and in the process I hope to make many friends along the way!

Good luck to all, I'm looking forward to working with everyone!