Double Entry Journal #3

Own The Word Graphic Organizers

 

1. How does elementary reading instruction contribute to poor literacy attainment for older children? Elementary reading instruction can contribute to poor literacy attainment because the emphasis on processes of how to read can crowd out attention to reading for ideas, information, and concepts—the very skills needed for literacy attainment.

2. What reading test scores good for? Reading test scores are good to show achievement. They depict what level of reading the student is at and how much the student has learned.

3. What reality about a literacy myth surprised you the most? Why? To be honest no reality about  the literacy myths surprised me. I feel like I already knew this information and I understood the realities already upon reading them.

4. What do you know about teaching reading comprehension in the content areas? I know that it is important to not read the text as a whole class; red robin reading, because within this strategy students are more worried about reading correctly in front of their peers than retaining the content.  Give an example of a strategy you might use to teach reading during a science or social studies lesson. The teacher could easily use cooperative learning as a strategy. The students would be given a task, responsible for reading the content individually, and then re-grouping as a team and each member would be responsible to discuss there task with the group. Everyone is reading, retaining information, and cooperating.

5. What kind of literacy do you have that was not acknowledge in school? (Literacy means being able to use texts and technologies to accomplish one's purpose in the world.) I learned to talk before entering school and I learned to text on my phone without school influence.

6. Give an example of a literacy practice. Sending emails or text messages could be a literacy practice because multiple literacy skills are being utilized and practiced. 

7. What is a discourse community? A discourse community is a group of communicators with a common goal or interest that adopts certain preferred ways of participating in public discussion.

8. What can happen if students valuable multiple literacies are not recognized as valuable in school? In my opinion if they are not recognized as valuable in school then most students will suffer and may never learn valuable multiple literacies.

9. Give an example of how a teacher might build on the extracurricular literacy practices of their students? A teacher could hold a spelling bee because within a spelling bee students are not just learning to spell words but they are learning the origins, definitions, correct pronunciation, and the context it is used in. 

10. Describe a time in which a teacher in your 4-12 schooling experience employed one of the research-base strategies to improve motivation. In high school technology was growing vastly, a couple teachers incorporated technology into the classroom to motivate students.

11. Give an example from your own K-12 schooling experience that engaged in you in multicultural literacy development. In high school I took three years of Spanish which definitely engaged me in multicultural literacy development. 

12. What do teachers her gain recognition and respect from their peer also do well on? In my opinion a teacher who gains recognition and respect from their peers also must get this same reaction from their students.

 Citations: 

•  Adolescent literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Positions/Chron0907ResearchBrief.pdf

• Bolima, D. (n.d.). Contexts for understanding: Educational learning theories. Retrieved from http://staff.washington.edu/saki/strategies/101/new_page_5.htm

Double Entry Journal #2

     "I knew she was ignorant just as soon as she opened her mouth!" (Purcell-Gates) I chose this quote because after reading the entire chapter I still felt it was the most important sentence within the article. I was so surprised that someone could be so judgmental over language. Where would the world be today if we judged every person based on their dialect or accent? The nation we live in today is constantly growing in population and diversity! Teachers along with others should never judge "a book by it's cover". Just because someone speaks or looks differently than yourself does not mean they are ignorant or uneducated. In this case the parents of Donny did have a different dialect than the teacher and the parents came from a lower level of education. If I would have been this teacher I would have worked even harder with Donny knowing this information instead of just blaming the parents. Donny was still capable of learning and who knows he may have felt joy in teaching his own parents if his school experience may have been more positive. Schools need to meet the needs of all students and parents not matter how different they are!

1. What is literacy knowledge? Give examples of both print and non print literacy knowledge. Literacy knowledge refers to the concepts that children acquire in their preschool years in reading, writing, and printed language. As a previous day care teacher I have experienced these following examples. One day a male student at age four decided to write his mother a letter; he created numerous letters with some scribbles; when I asked him what the letter said, he spoke a complete full sentence even though the letters did not match; the boy was experiencing literacy knowledge. Another example I have was with a young female student at an early five years old; the girl asked if she could read a story to me, of course I responded yes and she began to "read" the story; even though the words she spoke were not the correct words she looked at the words and created sentences that related to the pictures present. 
2. How do stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction? Stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction because the more lower class someone seems than people immediately think they have a lower education level. Although studies show this to be true in most cases it is not always apparent and people should never just assume.
3. How do schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in school? Schools and teachers withhold a misconception that individuals of cultural difference have deficits in education. Stereotypes that the schools and teachers have about children's communities and cultures contribute to poor literacy instruction.
4. What is the relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunity? In my opinion these three subjects all link together which causes a relationship. The language one speaks is a vital marker of class-membership and social class withholds a disclaimer over individuals' will to learn. Power intertwines all of these. 
5. What are some misconceptions about the relationship between language and literacy? Individuals believe that if children/adults do not master language first than there is no hope for them when it comes to literacy. This article shows that children learn/experience language and literacy at the same time. Although your language is not fully built yet does not hold you back from experiencing literacy knowledge.
6. What can schools and teachers do to improve literacy instruction? Teachers and schools must accept, believe, and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners, have been learning since birth, are ready to learn at any time, and will learn! Teachers/Schools need to evaluate their instructional strategies and accommodate instruction to meet the needs of all learners. What do they need to learn? Many factors can effect these procedures, but teachers need to improve literacy instruction by teaching in a way that it makes sense to each individual student.
7. How do you feel about use of the term "Proper English"? In my opinion this term's importance is dying out due to the diversity within our country now. Who determined what is proper and what is not? Just because someone speaks differently does not mean it is not proper. I believe their should still be guidance towards the appropriate way to speak towards different situations; for example a conversation between friends vs a conversation at an interview or etc. This term seems to always be evolving; "Proper English" was very different from when my grandpa was a kid and from when I was a kid. In my opinion, proper English was created to emphasize the difference in social class and cultures.

    

     "They wanted raw materials for their factories, and the mountains had them. Our mountains were covered with the largest and oldest hardwood forest that people had ever seen. The coal deposits were the richest in the world. Industrialization came here like a cyclone roaring through the mountains" (O'brien, 2003). This quote had meaning to me because this is happening drastically in the area of my hometown. Companies are coming in, taking our land, and the profit they make with it. I live in Silver Lake, Preston County which is located just a few miles outside of Tucker County. Within the last decade our trees are disappearing due to industrialization. I lived in a beautiful holler with mountains in every direction, not one house to be seen, just gorgeous trees and fields. When I was in high school a company came in from a different state and tore out all the trees on the top of the mountain in my back yard and replaced them with massive turbine windmills. They built them on National Forest and the community does not even receive any profit from them. A few years ago miles and miles were clear cutted from my county due to the placement of an enormous power-line. And now oil drilling companies are coming into my community offering people cash to drill on their land. When will it stop!? And on top of all this you have families moving out into the country cutting trees to build homes. My home's surrounding area has changed so much in the past decade and it makes me sad. I loved it there because of the nature and landscape; out of staters are ruining our land and taking the profits to benefit others. I just hope that us West Virginians, us "hillbillies" they would say, will stick together and fight for our land! I'm a friend of coal and employment for our state... Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.

     

     I chose to use the book, Tucker County, because the volume tells the story of Tucker County's history through the visual records of its communities, families, and industries. It shows and tells us stories from every aspect; it also contains great pictures! To look inside visit Amazon. If you want to learn more about West Virginia and it's people I suggest you read this book. The family's stories are my favorite.

Citations:

•  O'brien, J. (2003, May 10). Tall tales of Appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html
•  Purcell-Gates, V. P. G. (n.d.). As soon as she opened her mouth!: Issues of language,literacy, and power. In The skin we speak. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6DFAmexYq7vMGQxMjI1OTEtMjAyZS00NzJmLTg1OTUtODlmMGQ0ZDIxOTVk/edit?hl=en_US
•  Tucker county. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2283640.Tucker_County 
•  Tucker county. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Tucker-County-WV-Images-America/dp/073851800X

Double Entry Journal #1

      Inclusive education is a process where school systems, strategic plans, and policies adapt and change to include teaching strategies for a more diverse range of children and their families.  The main goal of inclusive education is to identify a child’s learning style and adapt the classroom and teaching strategies to ensure high quality learning outcomes for all members of the class.  "Every one is important, unique and valued for their contribution to the school" (Definition of inclusive, 2010). Although inclusion focuses many reform effort towards consolidating special education, bilingual, homeless, minority, mental health, and other support programs with general education, I believe inclusion is meant to benefit every student and their families. (Inos & Quigley)  
    
      Inclusive schools should contain a diverse problem solving organization with a mission to emphasize learning for all students. Due to this large mission, within inclusive schools it is apparent that teachers and other staff members work together and share the responsibility for all students. If the staff of an inclusive school did not work so closely together the mission would indeed fail. Inclusive schools also share a common value; they promote a single, coordinated system of education dedicated to ensuring that all students are empowered to become caring, competent and contributing citizens in an integrated, changing and diverse society. (Inos & Quigley)

     "Successful inclusive schools involve students as partners in the school community. As students are allowed a greater participation in the community, they become more responsible and effective in the inclusive process" (Inos & Quigley). Many strategies can be used to help students become more responsible and effective in the inclusive process; These include: peer mediators, peer tutoring, cross-age tutoring, cooperative learning,  buddy system. My favorite strategy is cooperative learning! Within this strategy the students  team up, problem solve, and work together to accomplish a given task. Although this strategy can be more difficult and time consuming for the teacher to plan and prepare for it is a very successful strategy.  

     INCLUSION ROCKS! This music video celebrating inclusive practices taking over schools was moving and honestly touched my heart! I chose this video immediately after watching it because it brought tears to my eyes; to see so many staff members, students, parents, and other community members so eager and excited about the changes made makes me wish every school could portray this positive energy... Inclusion Rocks! :)

 

 

Sources:

•  Definition of inclusive education. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.seneseinclusive-edu.ws/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:definition-of-inclusive-education&catid=41:your-favourites 
•  Inclusion rocks [Web]. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=159535
• Inos, R. H., & Quigley, M. A. (n.d.). Research review for inclusive practices. Retrieved from http://www.prel.org/products/Products/Inclusive-practices.htm