Kerry Wright EDU7666 Journal Entries
Blog 8 Dr. Signer
Topic Heading
Last Posting
I would recommend the use of discussion boards, teacher listserv and blog as effective tools to get ideas. As stated before teaching can be isolating and these are wonderful tools to use in order to get ideas, constructive feedback, and feel connected to other teachers. I got interesting feedback and suggestions with regards to the seven continents.
When I first started the discussion boards I was overwhelmed and thought I would never use it. However, after I had report card night I was glad I had this tool to ask for support and ideas. This is a good tool to vent your emotions and improve your teaching
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Kerry Wright EDU7666 Journal Entries
Blog 8 Dr. Signer
Topic Heading
For this discussion, I went on the discussion boards under the Teacher.net, chat boards (reading first) from 11/3/08- 11/28/08. The posting was initiated by a teacher that took over a class after the previous teacher had to leave. This teacher had a real hard time handling the class. The teacher posted the comments under “desperate”. The class was out of control and the parents were also difficult.
All of the responses to this posting suggested a positive reinforcement system. Other teacher suggested investing in popcorn, stickers, and other little rewards. With this plan the teacher gives a reward for behaviors like sitting in you sit and raising your hand. The rewards would be given immediately. Then as the class improved the distribution of the rewards would lessen. This is expensive approach but all the contributors of the discussion agreed that it would be worth the expense.
One of the contributors also suggested that the new teacher redefine rules for the class. Start over like it was the first day of school. I thought that was a good idea. However this contributor also made a negative comment about these students even through the teacher didn’t know them directly. This concerned me because teachers have a big impact on child’s life. I feel it is important that teachers do not express or have negative views of students. This could have a serious consequence on the child.
Questions I posed with responses
This discussion did reinforce my belief in a positive reinforcement system because all the contributors, including myself, have used it and found it to be effective. I also found it comforting that another teacher finds the little prizes to be expensive. I agree with that because I do find I spend a lot of money on the reward box in my classroom. But this is a system that works so it is worth the money.
The desperate teacher did write back that she found a system that was working. However, she did not disclose what the procedure was even after I posted a question to that teacher.
Responses to other questions
I chose this question because I noticed that it was under a new subject on the discussion board. The new subject was reading first, which is the program I have to follow at my job. The issue of the discussion was a classroom management problem rather than a reading first issue. But effective classroom management is extremely important for any classroom. So, I found this discussion a helpful reminder of effective teaching.
Last posting
All of my discussions were on the discussion board chat room. This is an effective tool for teachers for several reasons. Teaching is an isolating job where you are in a room all day with children and no other adult. Sometimes you are also in a school where the other teachers are not friendly or helpful. Discussion boards are a way to reach out to other adults for ideas. It also gives you a wide range of opinions and ideas because the network system is country wide. Therefore, you have more selection of ideas.
On the other hand, you are also exposed to some unusual comments and views. I did come across some comments on the discussion board which I was not comfortable reading. Also, the information could be incorrect because there is no formal evaluation of the information being posted.
Overall, I do feel that discussion boards are an effective tool to help teachers and parents with educational issues. I posted a question about the expectations of second graders with regards to the seven continents. One of student’s parent complained about the expectations I had for students regarding the seven continents last Friday. Even though I have completed this project with this posting, I will use the discussion board for this issue.
Blog 8 Dr. Signer
Topic Heading
For this discussion, I went on the discussion boards under the Teacher.net, chat boards (reading first) from 11/3/08- 11/28/08. The posting was initiated by a teacher that took over a class after the previous teacher had to leave. This teacher had a real hard time handling the class. The teacher posted the comments under “desperate”. The class was out of control and the parents were also difficult.
All of the responses to this posting suggested a positive reinforcement system. Other teacher suggested investing in popcorn, stickers, and other little rewards. With this plan the teacher gives a reward for behaviors like sitting in you sit and raising your hand. The rewards would be given immediately. Then as the class improved the distribution of the rewards would lessen. This is expensive approach but all the contributors of the discussion agreed that it would be worth the expense.
One of the contributors also suggested that the new teacher redefine rules for the class. Start over like it was the first day of school. I thought that was a good idea. However this contributor also made a negative comment about these students even through the teacher didn’t know them directly. This concerned me because teachers have a big impact on child’s life. I feel it is important that teachers do not express or have negative views of students. This could have a serious consequence on the child.
Questions I posed with responses
This discussion did reinforce my belief in a positive reinforcement system because all the contributors, including myself, have used it and found it to be effective. I also found it comforting that another teacher finds the little prizes to be expensive. I agree with that because I do find I spend a lot of money on the reward box in my classroom. But this is a system that works so it is worth the money.
The desperate teacher did write back that she found a system that was working. However, she did not disclose what the procedure was even after I posted a question to that teacher.
Responses to other questions
I chose this question because I noticed that it was under a new subject on the discussion board. The new subject was reading first, which is the program I have to follow at my job. The issue of the discussion was a classroom management problem rather than a reading first issue. But effective classroom management is extremely important for any classroom. So, I found this discussion a helpful reminder of effective teaching.
Last posting
All of my discussions were on the discussion board chat room. This is an effective tool for teachers for several reasons. Teaching is an isolating job where you are in a room all day with children and no other adult. Sometimes you are also in a school where the other teachers are not friendly or helpful. Discussion boards are a way to reach out to other adults for ideas. It also gives you a wide range of opinions and ideas because the network system is country wide. Therefore, you have more selection of ideas.
On the other hand, you are also exposed to some unusual comments and views. I did come across some comments on the discussion board which I was not comfortable reading. Also, the information could be incorrect because there is no formal evaluation of the information being posted.
Overall, I do feel that discussion boards are an effective tool to help teachers and parents with educational issues. I posted a question about the expectations of second graders with regards to the seven continents. One of student’s parent complained about the expectations I had for students regarding the seven continents last Friday. Even though I have completed this project with this posting, I will use the discussion board for this issue.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Kerry Wright EDU7666 Journal Entries
Blog 7 Dr. Signer
Topic Heading
I was involved with a discussion initiated by a parent, who is also a teacher in middle school. The discussion was posted on the discussion boards under the Teacher.net, chat boards (elementary education) from 12/2/08- 12/6/08. The parent was concerned about her son in second grade. The parent was advised that her son needed speech therapy because he was having difficulty with vowel sounds. Her son was classified as gift in kindergarten but was not doing well with reading in second grade. The evaluator advised the parent that problem with the vowel sounds could be related to his reading problem.
This parent lives in a small rural district in Texas and was very stressed about getting immediate help for her son. The parent was also concerned about the accuracy of the evaluation since the parent can understand her child when the child speaks.
One contributor agreed with the speech pathologist that the speech problems can be related to the reading problems. The discussion also centered on the idea that education is a process. The skills need to develop over time. Therefore, it is more important to work on obtaining services that are consistent rather than immediate. This contributor reassured the parent getting help in January rather than December would not be a negative impact on the child. Also, the suggestion to get a second opinion was made in order to validate the information given to the parent about her child. The parent was advised in the discussion to not pay pocket expense for the evaluation or services.
The parent was also given the suggestion to start some activities at home. These activities include vowel work sheets. I had suggested investing in the leap frog pads in order to practice the sounds.
Questions I posed with responses
One of the contributors to this discussion did state that reading problems could be speech related. I never knew that speech problems could be related to reading problems. I have that have reading fluency and decoding. With these cases, I would suggest the children use leap frog pads at home. In class, I would model reading with the students. Since I was involved with this discussion, I plan to recruit help from a speech pathologist to see how I could help these students.
Responses to other questions
This discussion related to my personal life and I really understood how this parent was feeling. I have a child with a disability and I understand the fear you feel with you have a child that needs help. It has been my experience that is accessing services takes a great deal of skills and determination. I felt the fear and confusion this parent was feeling from this posting. So, I felt compelled to share some of my thoughts and lessons learned from my experience with my daughter.
I had responded as a parent and teacher to this posting, but I was so surprised that another contributor agreed with my comments. This surprised me because I realized my personal situations can help with the professional situations.
Blog 7 Dr. Signer
Topic Heading
I was involved with a discussion initiated by a parent, who is also a teacher in middle school. The discussion was posted on the discussion boards under the Teacher.net, chat boards (elementary education) from 12/2/08- 12/6/08. The parent was concerned about her son in second grade. The parent was advised that her son needed speech therapy because he was having difficulty with vowel sounds. Her son was classified as gift in kindergarten but was not doing well with reading in second grade. The evaluator advised the parent that problem with the vowel sounds could be related to his reading problem.
This parent lives in a small rural district in Texas and was very stressed about getting immediate help for her son. The parent was also concerned about the accuracy of the evaluation since the parent can understand her child when the child speaks.
One contributor agreed with the speech pathologist that the speech problems can be related to the reading problems. The discussion also centered on the idea that education is a process. The skills need to develop over time. Therefore, it is more important to work on obtaining services that are consistent rather than immediate. This contributor reassured the parent getting help in January rather than December would not be a negative impact on the child. Also, the suggestion to get a second opinion was made in order to validate the information given to the parent about her child. The parent was advised in the discussion to not pay pocket expense for the evaluation or services.
The parent was also given the suggestion to start some activities at home. These activities include vowel work sheets. I had suggested investing in the leap frog pads in order to practice the sounds.
Questions I posed with responses
One of the contributors to this discussion did state that reading problems could be speech related. I never knew that speech problems could be related to reading problems. I have that have reading fluency and decoding. With these cases, I would suggest the children use leap frog pads at home. In class, I would model reading with the students. Since I was involved with this discussion, I plan to recruit help from a speech pathologist to see how I could help these students.
Responses to other questions
This discussion related to my personal life and I really understood how this parent was feeling. I have a child with a disability and I understand the fear you feel with you have a child that needs help. It has been my experience that is accessing services takes a great deal of skills and determination. I felt the fear and confusion this parent was feeling from this posting. So, I felt compelled to share some of my thoughts and lessons learned from my experience with my daughter.
I had responded as a parent and teacher to this posting, but I was so surprised that another contributor agreed with my comments. This surprised me because I realized my personal situations can help with the professional situations.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Kerry Wright EDU7666 Journal Entries
Blog 6 Dr. Signer
Topic Heading
I was involved with a discussion initiated by a teacher on the discussion boards under the Teacher.net, chat boards (elementary education) from 12/1/08- 12/3/08. The teacher was having a difficult time getting her second grade student to organize her thoughts with writing assignments. The assignment was a paragraph for Thanksgiving. The teacher has tried the hamburger graphic organizer and had no success. The discussion centered on the use of graphic organizers. One contributor to the discussion felt that organizers are not effective for young children. However, I and the other contributors did not agree with this view. Another contributor supported organizers but felt certain organizers were better than the others. This contributor suggested using organizers that matched the writing assignment. This contributor suggested a sequence organizer for writing assignments that about personal stories.
The discussion also went beyond the use of graphic organizers. One of the contributors wrote about the importance of taking a step back to build up the student’s writing ability. The contributor had a very good plan to tack this problem. First she suggested brainstorming ideas. Ask the student questions such as who, what, how and write a list of clue words for the student. Then use a graphic organizer to put the ideas together. This contributor also wrote about the scaffolding process of teaching the topic sentence and then detail sentences.
I suggested that the student could draw pictures to trigger the words. Pictures can help to visualize the ideas and put the idea to words. I also suggested that the student read aloud the writing to see if the writing makes sense. In addition, I recommended that the teacher have the students read each others writing and make suggestions to their partner student. With partner reading the students can help each other.
Questions I posed with responses
During this discussion I had asked about what the topic was for the writing assignment. This question leads to the importance of choosing the right graphic organizer for the assignment. I realized the importance of matching the structure of an organizer to writing assignment. Therefore, I changed an organizer that I had planned to use in my class based on this discussion.
The discussion brought out the complex process of writing and the use of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a term used in many graduate classes. However, I always struggled with the meaning of scaffolding. This discussion helped me to understand the meaning of scaffolding.
Responses to other questions
Writing is difficult for young children. It is also an area I struggle with as a teacher. So when I saw this topic I immediately joined in to see how I can improve my skills. As I started writing in the discussion, I realized that I had some good ideas. This experience improved my confidence with teaching writing skills.
Blog 6 Dr. Signer
Topic Heading
I was involved with a discussion initiated by a teacher on the discussion boards under the Teacher.net, chat boards (elementary education) from 12/1/08- 12/3/08. The teacher was having a difficult time getting her second grade student to organize her thoughts with writing assignments. The assignment was a paragraph for Thanksgiving. The teacher has tried the hamburger graphic organizer and had no success. The discussion centered on the use of graphic organizers. One contributor to the discussion felt that organizers are not effective for young children. However, I and the other contributors did not agree with this view. Another contributor supported organizers but felt certain organizers were better than the others. This contributor suggested using organizers that matched the writing assignment. This contributor suggested a sequence organizer for writing assignments that about personal stories.
The discussion also went beyond the use of graphic organizers. One of the contributors wrote about the importance of taking a step back to build up the student’s writing ability. The contributor had a very good plan to tack this problem. First she suggested brainstorming ideas. Ask the student questions such as who, what, how and write a list of clue words for the student. Then use a graphic organizer to put the ideas together. This contributor also wrote about the scaffolding process of teaching the topic sentence and then detail sentences.
I suggested that the student could draw pictures to trigger the words. Pictures can help to visualize the ideas and put the idea to words. I also suggested that the student read aloud the writing to see if the writing makes sense. In addition, I recommended that the teacher have the students read each others writing and make suggestions to their partner student. With partner reading the students can help each other.
Questions I posed with responses
During this discussion I had asked about what the topic was for the writing assignment. This question leads to the importance of choosing the right graphic organizer for the assignment. I realized the importance of matching the structure of an organizer to writing assignment. Therefore, I changed an organizer that I had planned to use in my class based on this discussion.
The discussion brought out the complex process of writing and the use of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a term used in many graduate classes. However, I always struggled with the meaning of scaffolding. This discussion helped me to understand the meaning of scaffolding.
Responses to other questions
Writing is difficult for young children. It is also an area I struggle with as a teacher. So when I saw this topic I immediately joined in to see how I can improve my skills. As I started writing in the discussion, I realized that I had some good ideas. This experience improved my confidence with teaching writing skills.
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