Goals:

1. Read one nonfiction book that fits my Education CA:

Deford, F. (1983) Alex: The life of a child . New York: Viking Press.

2. Reread materials from chapters and links to clarify confusing concepts or that stimulate my thinking. This is beyond just answering the chapter questions that are to be handed in separately.

Log:

Progress notes:

9/11 Progress note:

The more in-depth reading of the definitions of literacy helped to fully understand the whole components behind what we as teachers should know that we are always responsible for teaching our students all the literacy strategies we possibly can.

Even though I just completed the first two chapters of Alex: The Life of a Child , I am really interested and intrigued by all that goes on. Frank is the dad of the little girl Alex who has cystic fibrous. He tells the story of what his daughter's life is all about from a father's perspective.

9/12 Progress note:

Looking at the schema theory in more depth helped me to realize that it truly is the foundation for all the rules and regulation we use throughout our lives to interpret and understand the world we live in. I particularly liked the example that was given about an individual finishing another person's sentence. That happens all the time between my finance and me and I thought it was really neat how the example connected to my personal life.

On the other hand, looking at the transactional reading in more depth I realized how it is literary criticism viewed in a relationship between the reader and the text. I especially enjoyed the quote by Annie Dillard, "The mind fits the world and shapes it as a river fits and shapes its own banks." It is critical in what is says what true in how it says it. A river is free-flowing and fills up whatever it falls into, just like the mind will fall into the world in whatever direction we take it.

9/13 Progress note:

As I am reading further on in Alex: The Life of a Child I am growing more sensitive to the family and how the father tells the story of his daughter. In the section I read Frank, the dad, talks about how perfect his world was when his daughter was born and how it all changed overnight right before his eyes. This makes me think a lot about the future children I will have in my classroom that will change developmentally right before my eyes and others who will try and try again with progress of their own measures.

The readability article really showed me how important it is to use teaching methods in the appropriate manner they were made to be used for. Also it was interesting to read about how these tests have changed since they first started in the 1920s.

Looking at the cueing systems in more depth really helped me to realize how important they all are together, but yet how significant they are on their own when it comes to developing reading skills in children. They all have to be used together to make an effective reading program for children to get the full educational experience out of.

9/7-9/14 Weekly reflection:

            I have always wanted to be a teacher and loved elementary education to the core, so I especially love all the examples in the website links, the text, and the book I am currently absorbing myself in. I have learned from my experiences in other classes to absorb myself in the material I am reading even if I don't totally enjoy it, for it will pay off in the end. This is so accurate and true right now with some of the web-links I have been reviewing. I am learning to read and reread the material over and over to get the full effect and total jest of what is meant for me to take into my classroom in the future. It is working and I am loving every minute of it - the more I read the material, the more I am understanding and wanting to find more that will encourage me to keep striving for excellence in working towards my degree but also in working towards having my own classroom in the next year or two. I am getting really excited about taking the knowledge of literacy, various theories, readability tests, and the cueing systems that I have put into my working mind to love and understand and apply that to children like Alex that are special gifts from God that should have the capabilities and will to have an education like every other child in America. Even though children like Alex are fighting for their lives against diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, they still have an opportunity for someone to make a difference in their lives. I want to be that difference. I want to absorb myself with so much knowledge and compassion in my reading and teaching that I can give a child like Alex the gift of learning and having an education that is special for her.