Discussion+Wrap

= Discussion Wrap =

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What does motivation or engagement mean to you? - Willingness or desire to do something, you’re going to get some kind of reward from it - Cause for you to continue to do something, cause for you to finish - Essential for effective classroom, upper level grades lose that motivation Why lack of engagement for students in classroom? - Peers opinions change the way they feel - Home life: value education, don’t value will not see importance, not treated well or encouraged Is it important for teacher to motivate students? - Teachers have to be there to motivate them to keep going - What if don’t like subject o Making it relevant, it is something that they need o Showing them that you care how they do in the class o Show them that they can be successful in subject if they haven’t been doing well Straight from textbook/ find answers – not motivating, important for teachers to be new and unoriginal If teacher does not express on interest in what they are teaching they are not going to be motivated - They feed of their teachers - Providing energy, encouragement, providing something that the class as a whole will like - Give them ownership in their tests, let them have choice – decisions - Play upon everyone’s interests (making it relevant) Attribution Theory: - Set high expectations, but set little goals that they can reach (little successes every day) By motivating them and engaging them you are teaching them that they are in control, giving them hope. TEN TOP TIPS: - This is great, but it is not applicable…we do not live in technology driven areas (not reality in classroom) - Incorporate something similar to this in classroom? – you can, but not on same level as the tips - What matters is motivation and engaging students, if have access might be easier, if not work harder - Students who don’t talk in class might be easier for them to do things at home online - It’s all about thinking outside the box – needs to be a strength – once you stop, time to retire - Class website: have parents help fund, let parents know what students are doing in class, good for if students miss class: have their makeup work and what went on in class, could put students in charge of these things - Teachers can collaborate with other teachers/students with technology o LearnNC – teachers blog, content area blogs

BEERS: Chapter 13: - Participation, creating classroom environment where peers will not make them feel dumb if they get something wrong - Divert discussions in certain situations - Tell students flat out that you will not tolerate bullying, name-calling

Week of March 24th (Jasmine & Sarah M) :
This week in class we discussed short chapters vs. long chapters: -short chapters are a plus because they can be "digested" more efficiently -short chapters are less intimidating -for some it makes them feel more accomplished to successfully get through short chapter readings -short chapters are better/easier for reluctant readers -shorter chapters are easier to review (info wise) -there was also a general concensus that students miss out on some materials/reading because longer chapters may (initially) seem intimidating. ===In addition, there was a discussion about having a book box in the classroom and the pros, cons and precautions that go along with having one in the classroom. We also talked about how students do not want stories with a lot of characters in them, one reason being because it's simply too confusing. Dr. Akers brought up the point that young adult literature is equivalet to present issues that young adolescents deal with all the time; it provides real world examples. Students like books that use similar language or dialects to what they use themselves, but as a teacher you have to also be cautious of the language that is used because it isn't all appropriate. The class duscussed sending a letter home to parents advising them of the content of books available to the students in your classroom. Parents must understand why these particular books are in your "Good Book Box" and they must feel involved and on board. We concluded the discussion by mentioning we must all be proactive as teachers, especially in regards to knowing both the student and parent ===

Week of February 17th (Alexa and Catherine):
This week in class, we discussed Fisher and Frey Chapter 3 and 5 and Readacide Chapter 3.

We started off by discussing the last part of Readacide which discusses how students do not read for enjoyment because we as teachers chunk all the readings into sections and ask students question after question on each specific chunk of text. We don't allow students to read for a long time and be able to "get lost in a book." We talked about this way of reading texts has made us in the future have a difficult time reading through a text for a long period of time. This may be an environmental habit that we have received.

We discussed that as future teachers we need to create situations where students can all read together and "get lost in books" on their own without asking questions about the text. One of the questions discussed was if we felt like we had teachers that taught us to read for fun or had teachers that gave us suicide reading? Most students responded with the fact that they had teachers who gave "suicide" reading and one issue came up of students using accelerated reader. This seemed like a good idea but was still forcing students to read books they did not want to read and answer questions on the books instead of being able to just sit down and cozy up with a book.

We then began discussing Read-alouds and how these can get students interested and more involved in the readings. We stated that one-pagers, quick writes and journal entries are also great ways to make sure your students are reading books but you have to make sure you make the assignment so students cannot just use cliff notes.

An interesting topic we discussed in class was that the over analyzing of texts can often lead students to skepticism and criticism. The students often analyze a text differently and when told how they are supposed to analyze the text may discourage them or make them wonder, did the author even intend for the text to be analyzed that way? Teachers should see what the students views and thoughts are on a text and offer all different views instead of saying one analysis is better than the other.

Week of February 10th (Sarah G. and James):
This week in class, we discussed Beers chapter 6 and //Readacide// chapter 2.

We started off discussing pre-reading strategies to help get kids enjoy what they read. The first strategy we talked about was anticipation guides. This is when one anticipates what the text is about before they begin reading. A person may look at the cover, art, title, back description, author, etc. They may also ask other people how the book is or do research on the book to see if the book is worth reading. We discussed that this was a good strategy because it allows personal feelings and emotions get involved into what a person will read. Another strategy we discussed is the Tea Party strategy. This involves students predicting what will happen in the book and make inferences, etc.

We then started to talk about what was mentioned in //Readacide//. One thing that came up was the fact that as educators, we do not find out what student's interest are and what they would like to read. This may seem like common sense but it is almost always overlooked. Also, we discusses how putting current event magazines in the classroom could drastically help students who do not like to read, read. Students like to read about things that are going on in the world. Putting a magazine like __Newsweek__ in a classroom could help students read more.

During our discussion, we also talked about different ways to make students read more. Summer reading, paper book exchange, comic book, birthday books, getting books from craigslist and many others are ways to get different books into the hands of children.

Week of February 3rd (Adam):
In class on February 3, we discussed Beers chapters 4 and 5, and //Readacide// chapter 1.

We began the discussion on the Beers chapters and talked about strategies to use in dealing with students who are having trouble with reading comprehension. One strategy touched on was modeling. Modeling is key for helping students comprehend material. An example of this would be to think aloud when reading text to your class. This helps them see how to digest and think about what is being read to gather a greater understanding of it. We also talked about how it is important to use both predicting and analyzing when trying to comprehend text. Predicting is important to get the students thinking about what might occur due to context clues or the situation at hand. It will help them look for their predictions in the reading to see if they were correct or not. Analyzing is just as important while and after reading text to try and evaluate your predictions, as well seeing if you understood the material.

We also talked about inferences in Social Studies. They can be used to infer why things are the way they are based on culture and society. Inferences can be a way to identify misconceptions of the students, by seeing what they think about a certain event.

There was also a controversial question asked: does being a strong reader make you a strong writer? We concluded that it wasn’t necessarily comprehension that comes through in writing, but the fluidity and flow of those who are strong readers versus those who aren’t.

In //Readacide//, we mainly discussed the topic of teaching to the test. In our county and others, teachers are restricted by the state by blue diamond and pacing guides, to teach to the test. Unfortunately, the state uses it’s higher power to dictate what can be in the curriculum (teaching to the test). Some in the class also expressed how teachers are boxed in to how we teach for the same reason that is causing our students to struggle in reading. (Adam)

__Readicide__ This chapter helps us look at ways to help students like what they are reading. Our own experiences: __Under Teaching:__ Grapes of Wrath – Teacher had them read and then do a report, just got spark notes. Summer Reading – don’t want assigned readings over the summer. Had to write a paper and got graded and only talked about the paper 1 day. __Over Teaching:__ Read interesting book, but teacher took it way too far. Turned off from the book because the teacher overanalyzed it and didn’t want to see it the way the teacher saw it. Spark Notes: Teachers would read them so that the quizzes wouldn’t be able to be answered only by reading spark notes. Not fair as a teacher to assume that students will understand their reading before discussing it. Some parents don’t understand that reading in school does not require testing on it. It’s important to get students engaged about the books. Finding the balance between under teaching and over teaching is a way that we can create an active reading experience for our students. Discussing really helps us understand books. Scaffolding. Writing while reading helps us engage in our reading. By highlighting/underlining important notes from the book, we are engaging with the text. When we get a chance to talk with peers about readings, you will have a greater understanding of that text. You can also see different perspectives this way. __Sweet Spot:__ Want to get our students to get lost in a book or find the “sweet spot”. This will help us enjoy teaching more. As a teacher, it is helpful to model our own difficulties in front of our students through think alouds so that they can see that even teachers can struggle with texts. Some of the Beers strategies didn’t seem applicable to all subject areas.
 * This week in class, we discussed Readicide Chapter 4, Beers and Fisher and Frey. (Jessica and Chelsea)**


 * March 10 Readings (Aftan and Samantha)**

Negative facts about the American education system- What did you think about that? How does that make us feel? How is this going to change our nation and future? What are we going to do about it? Are policies like no child left behind really working? Why should we care about the statistics? Why standards? American students are having their creative edge taken away with testing Thought of Sputnik, we follow/catch up with others We see that other countries know our mistakes but we still are doing the same thing Society and parents need to jump in too….not just school systems Cultural difference- parents wanting to help from other countries not so much in America Parents from other countries buy workbooks, ask questions, trying to help etc China and Google-China is trying to hack in More creativity, inspire students- to help get back on track Bad tests! Leaving students out….funding all going to low level…..lowing expectations Need to set high expectations and really truly believe in the students and show them you believe in them! Nothing to do with government…. only expectations from teachers (Ron Clark) Teachers pressured to teach to the test…feel they cant have fun in the classroom Teach them to think better…..going to think better in everything Just teaching to the test will NOT teach them how to understand! Help them understand…break down test and teach comprehension! Always encourage the students!! Money not being used efficiently –computers that sit in schools not even being used-money could be used for better things Face to face talking is important….internet cannot be only resource He was on a mission (author of Readicide)….get past negativity and find out how you can use it in your classroom-BLOG about this---why should we care about the statistics?? Future kids are making our choices Do you have to use the strategies all the time..over and over again? Shouldn’t we mix them up? Teach comprehension as a //process// Your helping a student rise to his/her expectations Teach them that it takes time to learn comprehension “I CAN get there” Scales-likert and semantic Scales most easily used all around, no right or wrong answers Useful for opinions and how to support it It says-I say book compares to prior knowledge-- form opinions It says I say-hard to write summaries (can go online to get summaries) have to get them more involved-more creative ways of summarizing Text reformation Most important word-- find it and support it Re-telling used a lot….more ways now If you use them and they are effective then they think and use them automatically Giving kids a choice—but make sure students don’t //always// get to choose Using it enough that when a student is struggling-they know what strategy to use and how to use it “comes natural to them” Have to model it several times to understand it Remember….there are a lot of Georges out there!
 * Questions-Readicide**
 * Comments-Readicide**
 * Questions-Beers**
 * Comments-Beers**

**March 31 Readings (Katelyn and Joey)** __Graphic Novels__ o Seemed to focus more on the text then the pictures which lead to confusion. Took more time to analyze the pictures. o Make sure that the book is appropriate for school o Grammar/spelling was not good in all the books. § Might not be good for students who are already having trouble spelling and grammar. § At least students are reading…allow them to read it and then more to better graphic novels to help keep their interest in reading. · __Readings__

o Wiki Pages § How much writing helps reading? Is it really hand in hand? · The more you read the bigger your vocabulary, the more creative you will become. · It is important to be able to express yourself, and it is also important to be able to read other points of view. · When we write are we thinking? How does your writing show that you are thinking? o You have to be able to organize your thoughts when you are writing. § Allows you to do literature circles and not take up time in class § Makes students feel like they are speaking to someone very important (maybe author) o Graphic Novels § Good idea to bring into classroom? Is it more for fun reading? Summer reading? · Use sparingly to spark a student’s interest · Use outside of lessons, use in lessons, extension, engaging activity · Don’t be scared to use them even if you yourself are not interested § If we can teach students how to picture/visualize by using graphic novels and then help them read other books. § Have students construct comics from what they have read § Get comics from the newspaper, cut them up, and ask students to put them in order. This will help you understand what students are missing and understand their compression level. § Might prohibit a student’s visualization skills if it is all they read § Bottom Line: if this is the only thing students will read, let them! It will get their foot in the door and hopefully get them interested in different reading material. You want to get your students to trust you so they will believe you and listen to you. § Appeals to students who are very visual learners. § You read a lot to become a good critical reader.


 * Week 12 Readings (Cherelle and Stephanie)**

This week we discussed vocabulary in general and vocabulary across different content areas. The material from each reading selection this week overlapped. We all agreed that vocabulary is essential for reading comprehension. The difficult part of teaching vocabulary is finding the time to teach it and how to teach it in the classroom. In Fisher and Frey, "Chicken and the Egg", it poses the problem of how vocabulary should be taught. Should the vocabulary word and definition be taught first and then reading the word in the text or vice versa.

It was also noted that across each reading selection they stressed using vocabulary words a lot and that class time should be used. This lead to the **Question:** Should class time be used? · There was a mixture of responses o Dependent on content area o Math is a definite YES!! –need to know vocabulary words to get concepts · Suggestion of no separation of vocabulary o Ex. within notes (Math) · “Mixing it up” · “Flip Chart”—important words, examples, definitions (Math) · Use in everyday directions Some students gave problems they saw with students and vocabulary · They are taught words they are not going to use o Should use words such as //simplify, solve// · Didn’t like the vocabulary books (word, definition, antonyms, synonyms, fill in the blanks) o Not useful when you just do the work and not study · Given the words at the beginning of the week and only study (before the test) for the test that Friday. o Don’t remember the words the next week o Vocabulary Tree—Origin of words o Math o Content Circle-warm up, familiarize with words, introduce/review o Math journal o Social Studies o Vocabulary squares- active approach to learning vocabulary o Science o Frayer model-start class with introduction of words and then would hear later in class o Not everyone learns the same way o Avoid assumption about exposure to vocabulary words o Use “useful” words o Talk about words, read words, use words in discussion o Go beyond words in a vocabulary book or paper o Always have an active approach to learning
 * Question:** Best way to incorporate vocabulary words in class
 * Some strategies**
 * __Things to remember__**

Beyond Cut & Paste.. Teaching in the 21st century… Videos
 * April 14th Readings: Esther & Matt**

-The discussion starts off with an interesting passge in the text.. Our world is distorted.. it is as if we are photoshopping the world -Stats in the article were interesting in regards to electronics, internet (homework, paper)… too much reliance on computer, internet. - We could never use wikipedia growing up.. How do you guys feel about wikipedia and would you let your students use it too? -About google: would you be okay with your students using google? Homework more specifically… would you talk to your students about it?
 * terrible, anyone can go into wiki and change information
 * if you find something on wiki, look at the recourses posted
 * better to use encyclopedias
 * not good because it doesn’t tell you how to do it.. just gives answers.. maybe have students show their work?
 * using internet: cant just use one source.. have to compare and contrast with various websites

Teaching students how to search properly: How do you feel about it? - students despise books - give students a day to research but have them learn about credible sources.. - we are responsible of teaching literacy and critical literacy which may involve using the internet… start with books and work into the internet. - have students understand that internet has a lot of bias and we have to make sure we can read between the lines. - its okay to use these sources.. but again, read between the lines.. teaching to infer what is not explicit. Excellent tool to teach inference

Will the excessive use of all these accessible amenities (cell phones, internet, video games) hinder their ability to use critical thinking? - mixed feelings - everything is so easily accessible - worried as a teacher because the kids will learn more about technology than the teachers - its okay to keep in mind that we are all learners along with the students in regards to subject material and technology.

Stories of favorite teacher: - not just sit down and read, did labs.. creative activities - try and be that motivating and excited teacher… gives them more respect for you Videos: - after watching the video about incorporating technology.. should we use technology more sparingly? Or everyday? - Jobs in the future: you need to use some piece of technology no matter what job you have - Good supplement to what you are teaching - For math: good to teach basics without technology or certain types of struggling students - 21st century learns by doing.. we need to do more hands-on activities… we can incorporate certain elements of technology with this Do you think we will ever move away from books completely? - everything on the internet including books, emails, papers - yes. . eventually.. cheaper, easier, more accessible

__ Week 14 Readings - Media Literacy and Webquest (Wendy & Lisa) __ We started by talking about Webquests. There was a focus first on the application for math. Could we use this in the classroom? -Setting up a business -Real world application for math concepts -Example given for math – history of mathematicians Does Webquest give too much freedom? -Concerns about making sure students really give it their best -Presentation in front of the class often makes students want to do their best -When first using Webquest can have daily grading/review for expectations, can loosen as you go along Joey discussed that he has used in his class -When there is too much information to be taught in a short time period -Gives exposure to many different things (not concepts or skills, but general information) Webquest allows for creativity and for students to each create something different. Webquest provides preselected websites for parameters and some concerned this would limit creativity.

__ Media Literacy __ How would you teach critical skills (critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity and innovation) in middle school? Example provided for math – students must explain the process of their answer. Media literacy helps students think about the images they see. Media provides a slanted view of information. Some class thoughts about media and adolescents: -The influence of TV can be decreased by parent involvement in the lives of children -The change in what is seen on TV (nude pictures, drugs, sex etc. ) -More kids think that their peers are influenced by the media than are willing to admit they themselves are influenced -The affect of purchasing “the right” clothes -Should we wear uniforms? -Diversity on TV shows with race, sexuality, disabilities etc.