Lost in Translation... Mayday Mayday were goin down!!!

OKAY...SO..: UM??? I.. UHH!!! Well What I'm trying to say is.... ???? Exactly that. That is what I am talking about when referring to being lost in translation. I guess the challenge I along with the rest of our class of course have been given. How are we as teachers,Parents,or even friends supposed to close the gap when it comes to miscommunication.One thing that is a definite must in our endeavor will be to practice effective listening skills when we are the me that the you is trying to talk to. Visa Versa If We are trying to be the communicator, we are responsible for well thought out ideas that we present clearly and concisely to our comunicatee. I know it's not a word but it's the principle of the thing :::

Successful communication is a goal that we should all set for ourselves,especially in classroom settings. I know that when I have received instruction from a professor and I am not sure about what they have said,frustration sets in. I don't want my students to experience that. I want to make sure and be unquestionably clear in my directions to my students. I believe that communication is a step in the right direction to make successful relationships in our lives. Our children need to know what is expected from them. If there is any gray area that needs to be cleared up, I want a rapport with my students caused by successful communication. I don't want to ever move on and leave anyone behind. I also want to be cognizant of the fact that not all children catch on as quickly as others. I NEVER want to be in too much of a hurry so that communication breakdown occurs,even for one student. There has been times in my life when I was a little bit slower in the game than other students, because of that I was ridiculed. I then was hesitant to let my instructor know if I just didn't have it,and my grade began to suffer. I am going to make a vow to never ridicule ny students...even if I think they should've gotten it by now. I will make time to clarify if I am requested to do so. I will also set that as anorm in my classroom. I do not want my students to hesitate when they have a question. I am going to establish that safe and secure environment for all of my students. I will make sure to let them know that Communication is the key to all of our success!

Nov 5th Traveling Story

Soooo I had abunch of fun with the traveling story and I honestly think it would be a great way to get my students to write. It causes them to use there imagination.I also like the build a story word by word attempt,dare I say it again... I think we should have used less prepositions so we could have gotten somewhere with that gsme... Maybe we were just tired from doing the Traveling story.I think the ideas are good ones to help us engage our students. I also plan on incorporating music everytime I get a chance!

Where am I? Oct 28th 2010

Sooo when asked the ? where am I I would have to say I am just starting to formulate a plan. I'm considering seriously doing a Unit on Thanksgiving... I know original huh lol Oh well I just think that our kids these days don't have an understanding of the history of it all. I ofcourse am planning on making it fun. I want to incorporate music Maps for Geography. Math such as measurements for recipes and a Play or An activity involving turkeys ijn p.e. i WILL BE GEARING THIS LESSON TOWARD 6TH GRADERS. One of the main activities will be individually assigned recipes for the math req. This will also incorporate Home economics. I am still looking for the TEKS but according to our discussion in class today I feel I am on the right track. I'm just wondering does anybody have any suggestions to combat Senioritis! lol I know it's no laughing matter but It is a real state of mind I'm beginning to realize. I will from here on out press toward my mark Boy have I got a lot of stuff to do. My next step in this process of planning is going to be to find a set of TEKS I am able to set to my original plans. I know in school, Geography was one of my achille's heels So I plan on making that a part of the unit to try to get the kids to realize that the places that they are learning about in this unit are real and still exist. I want to bring the first Thanksgiving dinner to life for them . For that I plan on having a play I think the kids will really understand with the hands on Learning. These are just some ideas I'm tossing around I hope I'm on the right track. Happy Halloween MUAH HA HA HA !

Assessment

Assessment:the process by which information is collected in order to help plan an individual students' strengths, weaknesses, needs and wants.Assessment is also used to help an instructor understand where a student is level wise.
One example of Authentic Assessment would be a sheet like we filled out in class today. On an assessment that is authentic everything is geared for relevancy for the student that is being assessed. One such assessment would be an all about me page assessnment.

Another Authentic Assessment would an interest survey, in which the students makes the instructor aware of the things they enjoy. This can be an awesome tool when planning lessons and grouping people who have similair interesta as well asto know how to set up Heterogenous groups with students that do not find the same things interesting to give them achance to find some common ground on uncharted territory.

An essential Authentic Assessment would also into a family questionaire. This information will help teachers to be in touch and understand the student's culture or way of life. This will help with planning and building a good partnership with the family with the best interest of the student in mind.

Persuasive Vs Informative Writing Oct 8

When I think of informative writing I think of pamphlets available at clinics and hospitals to help make the waiting a little more bearable. I would more than likely distribute pamphlets to my secondary kids about the risks of promiscuous sexual behavior or drug and alcohol abuse.

Persuasive Writing is used to do just that, persuade a person or a group of people to share a view with the writer. In my class I would assign a writing assignment to the kids to think about one thing they would enjoy in class. I would them explain to them that in order for that thing to be granted to them they would have to persuade the principal to think the way they do and to then give them their request. I think that making it clear to the students that they cannot have the request unless they write a persuasive paper written well enough to convince their Principal, it would be an incentive for them to put forth their best work.

Writing is a... PROCESS :)

OK I started off Friday in TOTAL DARKNESS.( WE had a Blackouit and my room has noooo windows!) After that the whole day was like I was walking in a fog. I think it all led to me forgetting my blog! THe kids were late to school for picture day, I had to deal with my mother and her errand running for the month. I got so caught up in pleasing everybody under the sun, I forgot about everything else. I came home exhausted from the heat and remembered I had to go right back out into it. I forgot to pay my bills. Long story short, I forgot to blog... Here goes with apologies for my forgetfullness.

Writing is a process There are five steps named in the writing process. I like to remember them by the acronym PDREP I guess it is easier for me to remember that way.

The P stands for Prewriting which usually consists of Brainstorming. Idea webs and basic ideas you may or may not want to include in your writing. The D stands for Draft the first writing that is done after collecting the ideas and deciding what you are going to write about,and what will be included. The R is for Revising which is going through and taking out or adding what you want in your writing. The E is for the mechanics of it all. This is when the concerns for mispellings,rewording and punctuation come into the paper it is at that time when editing occurs.Finally the P stands for Publish that means you turn it in or put it up on the wall when the process is completed. So to sum this up Writing is a Process and I think if you think about it as PDREP remebering it will come a lot easier. :)

Am I a good reader?

The question is kind of a loaded one... I guess I have the potential to be a good reader,the only problem is that I have not yet quite exercised it. The potential I mean. It is definitely something I would like to be but I think life has kind of prevented me from it. Picture (if you will) yours truly sitting in a quiet room with no noise and no one. The minute I pick up a book whether for assignment's sake or just a leisurely read. The door flies open and I am suddenly bombarded by: Mom Can I? Mom He did this, Mom can I have? and My all time favorite Mom He wont stop touching me! Ha HA I know it sounds comical but unfortunately after all of that occurs, I find that I put the book down and am now so distracted, I don't pick it up again. I guess what I'm going to have to do is only read when my kids are miles away otherwise it seems like a moot point. I end up more frustrated and forget what I have attempted to read in the first place. On the other hand, sometimes I am just too wound up on life. I have a lot of concerns just like any other red blooded human being. The unfortunate part is that I allow all of the day to day stuff interfere with My reading performance. Now this is not to say that I don't ever read, I guess what I am trying to convey is that when I do read, rarely do I allow myself to enjoy it.I decided when I was in Mrs. Pickett's class that I am going to develop at least a like for reading. I guess I've accomplished that much, but I don't think I'll ever be able to love to read. I do however love to act and I' am going to try to put on the best performance for my students, so that they will be able to develop a love for reading, that has seemed to have eluded me.

Games to motivate

Well I have to say today in class was alot of fun. I especially enjoyed Twister. It was like we were having an early birthday celebration. It was awesome. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to come up with ideas for games. I think we are all creative when we set our minds to it, and I think opportunities like today help us all as future teachers to tap into that and gives us an outlet. I plan on using games. In my past field experience, I've always tried to incorporate some type of game in all of my lessons. If it wasn't an actual game I would always try to have the students role play, whether it would be a character in a book or film, or even a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. lol I know it sounds funny, but in the Life Skills class I was in for field experience, all of the students loved putting on the costumes while they learned how to make a sandwich. One of the games I am most proud of is one I called Syllable Soup, This game gave the students a chance to spell words from the story. In order to spell the words, different students would be given syllable cards, they would hurry to the front of the room and the students would stand side by side to spell out the word that was recalled from the story. There would be an elimination table so that after the cards were used,they would be placed there. If it turned out some of the syllables were not available,the student would try to go through the discard file to find the missing part. This of course would all be set to music,to help them enjoy themselves and maybe even move to the beat.

What is Motivation? Sept 9, 2010

Ok... So I found my old blog I'm going to have to get with someone who is well versed on blogging to help me to bring this up to date. I need to delete some of my followers and the ones I follow.For todays posting... What is Motivation ? in general Motivation is to be eager to get something done and having the energy and enthusiasm in doing it. My personal motivation is to get a degree. I want to prove to some of the nay sayers in my family that I can do this. I can become successful. I also want to make my Husband and children proud of me. Another type of motivation for me personally is to make a difference in the lives of my students. I want to help them develop a love for learning.Generally speaking again. I think you have to be motivated to go to school to make all of the above come top pass. On days when I just don't seem to have any get up and go I say I'm not motivated enough. I think there are several ways to describe motivation. These are just a few of my personal feelings that are motivating me to blog this... :)

EDRG 3321 T/R

This is the last blog I am going to do for this class. I want to say that I have enjoyed this class. I feel I've learned alot of useful information to use when I become a teacher.Thank You Professor Pickett. I hope you enjoy your holiday vacation!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Last of the Presentations T/R EDRG 3321

Today we had the pleasure of seeing the last of the class Genre Presentations. I enjoyed the Multicultural one. I think their group did a very good job and they were very creative in presenting their work. I also enjoyed the final group. I love the fact that they both incorporated music.I think the game was fun. I was really impressed with all of the different approaches the different groups took to get the message of the material across.I like the fact that we were allowed to think and plan OUTSIDE OF THE BOX!Hats off to instructors that encourage creativity and individuality! I'm glad to say that you guys are my fellow classmates. It's been a great year. I've really enjoyed this class. I hope to have more classes with everybody in the near future. God Bless you guys and have a good night!I hope everybody aces their finals!The above books can be found at this website for multicultural food books for childrenhttp://news.bookweb.org/graphics/articles/200703/fft-front-window.jpg The mystery books can be found by googling or yahoo children's mystery books. There are quite alot of them.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Everyone is familiar with The Hungry Caterpillar,I'm sure. I just became familiar with who the author is. His name is Bill Martin. He is also responsible for the young children's book Panda Bear Panda Bear etc. He works with Eric Carle and they collaborated for these works.http://www.tower.com/polar-bear-what-do-you-hear-bill-martin-hardcover/wapi/100331526

EDRG 3321 T/R Author Profile

One author that I've never even heard of is Mercer Mayer.He is a children's author who writes books for aesthetic use.One of the titles "Me Too sounds like a good book to read to my 9 year old. She can't for the life of her understand why her 5 year old sister wants to do everything she does. I plan on getting my hands on this one as soon as possible!

EDRG 3321 T/R Author Profile

I was looking for some authors to introduce and I came accross Terry Deary,the author of Horrible History. the series has been around for 10 years so it must be at least decent.I don't know what it is about but it seems like it might be humorous,to say the least.Some of the other titles are not in the series but sound interesting. These books are about Christmas. These tales are written by different authors.The three authors that are named are Gillian Cross, Gary Kilworth and Robert Swindells.Another book that I saw is Santa's suit. This book seems more suitable for younger children The website I found this book is as follows.http://www.mumandworking.co.uk/images/promos/santas_suit.jpg

EDRG 3321 T/R

Another author that was mentioned in the same blog was Catherine Mcphail.Her website is http://www.edirectory.co.uk/book_megastore/mia/d/granny+nothing+shrunken+head/pid/2895935 In just reading the first part of her description of herself, I was entertained. She has alot of funny figures of speech that she uses, She seems really funny. Iam going to check out some of her books too. She has one that caught my eye. It's called "Granny Nothing"

Author Profile 3321 T/R

Another author I ran across in my search is Vivian French.This author writes childrens books Her website is easily found by typing her name in as a children's author.She wrote the "Tiara Club"

Author Profile T/R EDRG 3321

In my search for authors I came across a lady named Catherine Forde She wrote the book "FAt BOy Swim' She seems to write books apprpriate for older students. Some of the titles are "SugarCoated"http://www.abebooks.com/author/Catherine-Forde/11130571 She may be an interestin author. She is award winning.

EDRG 3321 T R

November is gone. We are now in December. I hope everyone had a great mini vacation. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the end of this semester. It has been an experience I'm glad I've had. I was impressed today by the broken Fairy tales presentation. It was cute. It showed that each of the members put their share in. I also enjoyed the Giving Tree.Hang-man was a fun game as well. I know that my special ed kids who are in 7th and 8th grade enjoy word parts as long as it's incorporated into a game.I was looking around to find some authors. I went ahead and looked up Lemony Snicket. His real name is Daniel Handler. Here is the website. It looks like an interesting website.http://www.lemonysnicket.com/author.cfm Daniel Handler is the author who goes by the pseudoname Lemony Snicket.When I have time,I plan on exploring it as well.

EDRG 3321 TR

Today we got to do our genre presentation.. I really hope everyone enjoyed it and I hope that everyone was able to connect with it on some level.I'm so glad that the days of just doing papers is history.I hope that my time at Texas A & M will be enriched with innovative and out of the box thinking professors. It really does make our learning more fun and it causes us to remember what we learn.I think it's really neat how each person in the different group gets the chance to contribute their vision and how everything can work together to support one central theme. I really did enjoy working with my partners throughout the semester. Come to find out everybody in our group is very talented at drawing.Myself on the other hand, well I couldn't draw flies LOL. So I appreciate everyone being gracious and allowing me to share my passion for singing.I am going to post a few books on this blog just for some suggested reading. I will go ahead and try to include our anthology, if there are no copyrights involved if not I will give Katherine Patterson's website.I was surprised when I saw the number of books this woman has written.I am going to add her website so that anyone who would like to explore some of her works can
Here is one of the websites that shows a video and her books.http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/paterson I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. God Bless You. Good Night.

Books by Elise Broach

This week is Thanksgiving week and the kids are at home and already bored. I need to go to the library and pick up some books for them. I was looking through some children's authors and came upon Elise Broach She has one cute looking book called when Dinosaurs came with everything. I am going to try to put the picture of the book on the blog.Ok Maybe that isn't such agood idea. I will do this instead, She also has a book called when Dinosaurs lived in my back yard. I will copy and paste the web address for all who are interested. I think I might go get these two for my 5 year old.http://www.multcolib.org/summer/kids/covers/whendinos.jpg
Happy Thanksgiving!