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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Entry #5

Dear Dr. Jones,

It is now well into the 6th week of class, and so far much has been learned and accomplished. I am taking something from every class session, and am able to reflect and generate new ideas of thinking. I love that you have established a comfortable classroom environment, for all of us to learn and grow as future educators. I feel comfortable sharing my ideas, knowing that I will receive constructive criticism from you as well as my classmates.

The connections I have made between reading and writing have allowed me to think more critically about literacy. I have always believed that reading and writing should both work together as one, but after taking this course, I have gained addition knowledge that will continue to help me down the road. We have put much emphasis on digital writing within literacy, and I believe that knowing more about it can allow me to become open with using it in my classroom. So much now is technology based, and from what we discussed in Hicks(2009) chapter three, I was able to see what others had to say about blogs, wikis, and word processor as tools for writing, and how they are beneficial.

I think I have begun to really think critically about my writing thus far. During writing workshop in class, I have been really honing in on the process of writing, and understanding what I am writing, the purpose, and my audience. The first and third grade class I'm with at Victor have been emphasizing discovery, questioning, answering, clarifying, reflecting, and conferencing. I am able to sit and see how students are working through the writing process, and how they are able to tell me their thoughts behind their pieces. This is very important when writing, and reflecting upon writing.

During writing I am always thinking in depth about my topic or idea. I have always loved writing, because I am able to be creative and expressive. Who wouldn't want to think when they are writing about something personal to them? If there was one thing I could change in order for me to fully engage while writing, I would make sure I am revising to the fullest. Sometimes I rush through the revising stage of writing, and it can bite me in the butt if I'm not careful.

After reading the Kucer and Rhodes article and participating in the Card Strategy activity, I would definitely use it in my classroom. I thought this strategy was easy to use, and allowed for some great brainstorming and thinking to occur. I found it much easier to formulate ideas about my genre piece project, and feel that it could have the same results on students.

So far I don't feel that I am struggling by any means in this class. I think I am learning something new every day, and am loving the new strategies and learning activities which I am applying to reading and writing.


Sincerely,

Lindsay

1 comment:

  1. Lindsay, it sounds as if you finding aspects of this class very useful. I hope you continue to meet with the same level of success in the coming weeks.

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