Nearly Halftime

                Rapidly, I am approaching the last days of the first half of my senior year of college education in preparation for the hopeful acceptance of a position as a middle school educator. I feel somewhat fortunate to be seeking licensure to teach both English and History at the middle school level. It really is because the two subjects so easily intertwine that I chose this program (and the hopes of looking more hirable after graduation.) I have learned to integrate literacy strategies into my lesson designs out of natural training because I am educated about incorporating literacy strategies into my teaching. Most notably, I find that giving students graphic organizers that pave part of the way for them tend to draw out students’ confidence while modeling proper spelling, punctuation and form, and doing so in an intelligible format. I like to encourage students to use their imagination with a choice of a few open ended writing prompts that if properly responded to will show their comprehension of the material that I have tried to teach them. I am also a fan of letting them garner inspiration from an experience. I have successfully persuaded students to write based upon several experience-based prompts this semester:

• ·         A creepy (impromptu) urban legend about the third floor of the school building
• ·         The production of a sidewalk-chalk map on the outdoor basketball court
• ·         Digging holes with shovels (some for the first time in their lives) for engagement with Sachar’s Holes, of course
• ·         And today by creating a nearly full-scale outline of the great pyramid using yarn, stakes, fishing line, ribbon, and three huge balloons (F.Y.I. one must notify the FAA if planning to fly tethered balloons more than 500’ or within 5 miles of an airport.)  

I think that the biggest trick when it comes to increasing student literacy is reaching students at their own levels and helping them to grow in confidence as writers. They must feel that they have something of value to communicate. In order to feel like writers, they must feel that they have a proper genre and audience (one man’s poetry is another man’s song.) Teachers are capable of providing authentic audiences for students in the form of gallery walks, oral or video presentation, online display in blog or other social media form, email exchange with another class, or any other number of ways. Students must first realize the power that they can wield by being literate through experiencing feedback from multiple sources. I will practice peer-workshops and specified real audience opportunities for my students to not only take away some of the students’ apprehensions to give them as many chances as possible to improve at self-expression and comprehension of others expression. Students might develop a greater appreciation for their education if what they learned in one class proved helpful in another class or in life, now. What a novel idea!

http://gawker.com/5992398/the-unbelievable-photos-taken-by-the-crazy-russians-who-illegally-climbed-egypts-great-pyramid

KATE was great!

This past week I had the pleasure of attending the 2014 KATE Conference along with many of my classmates and middle and high school students from around the state. It was a welcome change to finally be in rooms with a speaker and fellow listeners where I was not always the oldest person in the room. College is a young persons’ game to be sure. The conference in general had a palpable buzz of nervous or anxious energy during its opening hours as the attendees filled the ballroom for the opening keynote. All of that turned into camaraderie and commitment with the opening speaker’s comfortable and confident presentation style and message. It was clear to me at that point that we were in for something good.

The first day’s break-out sessions did not disappoint me. The first session I attended caters to my desire to keep many aspects of the classroom traditional, such as hands on art projects when educationally appropriate. Rethinking Language Arts and Crafts gave me several new ideas of ways to incorporate outside the box means of exploring literature and giving students new mediums for expressing their understanding of material. The second session I attended was Power of Discourse:  Engaging Students by Activating Their Voices. This appealed to me because I have always felt that students will take authority over their own literacy if given enough choice and the right opportunities.  I enjoyed sessions about linking music to critical thinking though analysis of lyrics and about connecting local history to our state college readiness standards. I found both of these particularly because of my personal weaknesses (music) and personal strength (history) as means of helping students to master content and develop personal connections to their educations.

On day two, the sessions I attended were equally informative and helpful as I near the beginning of my teaching tenure. One session titled Non-Fiction: Unlocking Creativity suggested methods of incorporating current event stories into class curricula. This is a topic that I feel strongly about making a part of my own teaching. I believe that students should be encouraged to know and analyze the news as future voters, politicians, parents and teachers. The opportunities will never cease presenting themselves. Some wise advice was presented by the presenter of Command Control and Conquer Your Classroom. It was reflective and contemplatively effective for me. The final session I attended; I’m a little embarrassed to admit was in hopes of attaining technological hipness. I finally learned what hashtag meant at Twitter- Not Just Selfies and Food Pics. I also learned some techniques for using Twitter and other social media as a teaching tool as well as for developing professional and personal rapport with students as people.   

I will admit that my choices for sessions were affected by my desire for comfort with classmates and familiarity in the strange new atmosphere of educated, seasoned veteran teachers with years of knowledge, experience, frustrations, successes and failures. I also ventured to sessions without familiar faces out of true interest in the material. Several times, the decisions of which sessions to attend were difficult due to conflicting scheduling. Overall it was a great experience that I hope to make a habit of attending.  I noted many websites and online resources for my future years as an educator.