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.