Blog 3

It's important for students to respond to the text that they read. Reader's response can help assess and develop reading abilities and it can also help the teacher determine what guidance in instruction is needed next. Reading and comprehension go hand in hand, although both very different concepts. Reader's response is an opportunity for students to share their thoughts, feelings, reactions and questions about what they are reading.

There are many ways to respond to reading, such as a response chart, journal, blog, webs and even the type of activities that we did in class...that was fun!

My favorite book was Great Aunt Arizona. I could relate to her and in a lot of ways we are the same. My least favorite was The Amazing Bone. It was too wordy.

Blog 2

Idea development doesn't need to be as hard as I make it some times. The activity we did in class with writing a story with the given title to use was a great way to generate ideas and yet such a simple way to do it. Each group came up with such unique stories. Listing character traits about oneself and turning them into sentences was a wonderful idea to get a jump start on our song writing - although I'm still having a tough time turning it into a "song."

Five words to describe me would be: outgoing, fun, determined, independent and responsible.
Responsible - I have priorities and I do my best to keep them in order...otherwise I go crazy!

Blog 1

I think what we learned in class on Tuesday was interesting. A lot of new vocabulary words for me, but when it all comes together it makes sense. Our brain is capable of so much, even more than we know. The way Dr. Harris broke down the learning process was easy to understand. I like how she pointed out that we learn and process in stages. We really never do stop learning. The 5 general learning strategies are great and the more I think about it, the more I can see that the teacher I work with uses these strategies for our students. Metacognition sure is something to grasp - and to think - as a teacher I will play a role in developing this skill. I agree that children learn in a social environment. It's hard to imagine handing a child a book and expecting them to learn what's in it just by reading it or having it read to them without any engaging activity to go with it. What we discussed on Thursday made me think back to the classroom I work in. The teacher I assist uses this reading process. I feel excited for this coming school year, because I will be able to recognize a lot of the strategies we are learning in the classroom. As a future teacher all of what was discussed is important to me as I will be able to apply it in my own classroom. : )

First Blog Ever!

Ok, so here's my first blog ever! I started this for a course I am taking at Texas A&M, but I've always wanted to do this. Looks like fun!