element of interactivity

"Guided reading instruction is a necessity in the elementary classroom. Through such instruction educators can meet the diverse needs of their readers as these programs allow for differentiated reading lessons. Schools that implement a guided reading program produce more confident readers. Overall, they are more fluent, accurate, and can effectively answer comprehension questions related to a piece of reading." Baier, R. J. (2005). Reading comprehension and reading strategies  University of Wisconsin Stout, Wisconsin. 

        In terms of a personally relevant element of interactivity, post it notes and mini flags have become a vital part of my literacy instruction, specifically in my daily guided reading instruction. 


         Below, is the location and color chart from this week's handout that I will use in my classroom for as long as I am teaching elementary school reading. It will help eliminate any confusion for the students to identify key elements in their reading:




Use different colors for different reasons:

• Pink - Important vocabulary

• Green - Names to know

• Purple - Picture/map

• Yellow - Dates

• Blue - Chapter questions

Position tap for various uses:

• Top - Entire page is important

• Side - Important text marked on page

• Bottom - questions requiring further study

    Laura Greenstein states in her book "What Teachers Really Need to Know About Formative Assessment" , "Sticky notes support a variety of assessment techniques involving signaling, sorting, and analysis. Students can use these slips of paper to communicate their knowledge and understanding before, during, or after instruction. 


       The purpose of using the sticky notes is to check for student progress toward the learning target. Sticky notes are a fast way to check for understanding that also involves movement, so the sticky note activities are kinesthetic and increase oxygen flow to the brain." (Greenstein, 2010)

etextbook-Bookboon.com

For free etextbooks, I selected Bookbook.com (http://bookboon.com/en/textbooks) which is a site for online textbooks that are “focused and to the point”. The site also states that the books “are all written by highly respected professors from top universities in the world and cover topics such as economics, statistics, IT, engineering and natural science.”

In terms of texts and their practical uses, I found some downloadable instructional technology texts. I am the resident “tech nerd” of my school, which is really code for “he wears a tie, glasses, and has been seen operating a computer”, and I am often called on to provide training for veteran staff members on basic programs ranging from Power Point to Word. Below are some links to books that I will be using for future training sessions.

EXCEL 2007

http://bookboon.com/en/textbooks/it-programming/microsoft-office-excel

WORD 2007

http://bookboon.com/en/textbooks/it-programming/microsoft-office-word

MICROSOFT POWER POINT

http://bookboon.com/en/textbooks/it-programming/microsoft-office-powerpoint

OUTLOOK 2010

http://bookboon.com/en/textbooks/it-programming/outlook-2010-part-i

INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSHOP

http://bookboon.com/en/textbooks/it-programming/an-introduction-to-adobe-photoshop

St. Augustine Text Set

I teach Florida history with a focus on St. Augustine. The following is a collection that I've assembled for the gifted students in my class that want to seek out further information about St. Augustine before our yearly field trip in May. 

St. Augustine Website

http://www.augustine.com/history/index.html

Cross and Sword Play

http://crossandsword.blogspot.com/2006/11/act-i-scene-1.html

American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American History

http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-070/summary/index.asp

Rene Laudenniere Journal

http://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/AJ-141.pdf

Jean Ribault Journal

http://stonecutwithouthands.com/battle_for_america2.pdf

http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/ribault/ribault1.htm

Harbor of St. Augustine Chart

http://www.heritagecharts.com/mapchart.php/45/17/harbour_of_st__augustine.html

St. Augustine Historical Society

http://www.staugustinehistoricalsociety.org/about.html

St. Augustine Graveyard Poem Book Excerpt

http://www.amazon.com/St-Augustine-Florida-Graveyard-ebook/dp/B001CAV23Q.html

http://www.staugustinehistoricalsociety.org/about.html

Old Florida Maps http://scholar.library.miami.edu/floridamaps/view_image.php?image_name=dlp00020000310001001&group=spanish.html

St. Augustine Art

http://www.florida-art-galleries.com/arthistory2.html

Newspaper Old City

http://www.oldcity.com/history-and-culture.html

Voices of St. Augustine Book Information

http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Augustine-Choice-Award-Recipient/dp/0979230454/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333244404&sr=8-1.html

eBook experience

eBook title, author, and web address

Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King (Purchased at amazon.com and downloaded to my iPad.) 

eBook review 

            The book itself is a collection of short stories from the prolific Stephen King. In between banging out epic yarns, he will occasionally put together a collection of short stories which I find is more suitable for my horribly limited attention span. In my opinion, the most moving story in the collection is "Willa", about a husband and wife trying to find their way home.

         Feelings and Thought About the Experience


        I'm officially more of an eReader than a paper book reader. As a student, I've always had great difficulty sitting and immersing myself in a book, and always found the process to be more of a chore than a treat. I had never really considered it before, but after I considered this experience with this book, I realized that if I am reading a large paper book, I am more likely to abandon it if I don't finish it immediately. However, when I read books with my iPad, I tend to allow myself more leeway to step away from a book and return to it whenever I have time.    



                Value of the Book for Education


        As a writing teacher, I think that short stories are a powerful medium for teaching, and I think that if all students were given access to eReader technology, that this would support literacy exponentially. As I previously mentioned, I can only truly use myself as an example of a student's habits, and I feel that if I had been exposed to this technology in my formative years, that my feelings towards reading would not be so bittersweet.

ESOL Class Visit

For my study, I made the long journey down my hallway at Seabreeze to observe an ESOL classroom. Typically, one classroom on each grade level is designated as the ESOL inclusion class. It is a logistical nightmare when we receive an ESOL student, because the teachers are “flagged” and required to take ESOL professional development, or face the certainty of being terminated at the end of the school year for not being in compliance.

Traditionally, we have a small number of ESOL students at Seabreeze, and in my own teaching career I have had a handful of students. I visited the classroom of Debra Bornowski, who is our designated fourth grade ESOL teacher.  What I observed was what I recognized as conventional in our building, but was a far cry from what I was taught in a college classroom.

All five of the students in Mrs. Bornowski’s class are all classified as ESOL because English is not the first language that is spoken in their homes. These students, (three are Albanian and two are Mexican) are all fluent English speakers and readers, and Mrs. Bornowski reports that these students are by far the most polite and curious students in her class. 

In my previous studies, most of the ESOL students that I observed and that were discussed in the classroom, were struggling students that required major academic accommodations just to stay on pace with the rest of the class.  However, in Mrs. Bornowski’s class, these students are high achievers that are the most proficient users of classroom technology. Dariana, one of the students stated that though her parents speak very limited English, they are extremely proficient at email and Facebook. The other students agreed that this was also the case in their homes.

Dariana rocking out on her keyboard

In terms of a next step, I think that it is significant that ESOL students and their families are using technology as a modern Rosetta Stone. It is essential for teachers to capitalize on the universal language that is technology, follow Mrs. Bornowski’s lead, and encourage these students to flourish in the classroom.

Daily Download Reading

Much like my experience with audio books, I now have a viable way to enjoy a book in spite of my workload. I previously read a story by Kurt Vonnegut, which the good people at DailyDrip would deliver to my smartphone every morning at 8:40 am. I chose this time because this is when I have my fourth graders begin their daily independent reading, and this allowed me to read along with them. After completing the Vonnegut, I have been receiving a daily sampling of the “25 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". 

The convenience of having available reading in any situation that requires waiting has been a tremendous benefit. Moving forward, I am going to have my fourth graders, who all have phones, chose a book for themselves.

Audio Book Review

            The audio book that I selected was Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell, which is the story of the Americanization of Hawaii. I have read a number of her stories over the years, but it was an interesting experience to sit back and listen to her provide narration for her own essays. Hearing her naturally nasal and sarcastic delivery of comically archaic punch lines provided a level of appreciation for her ideas and work that could not have been achieved with a standard paperback. Additionally, it was a bonus treat to hear the contributions of John Slattery, Paul Rudd, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, John Hodgman, Catherine Keener, Edward Norton, Keanu Reeves and Maya Rudolph, all of which I enjoy outside of the realm of literature.  

            The audio book is a staggering seven discs long, but I’ve managed to get through the first three discs by listening in the car to and from work, as well as the regular “cruising around” trips that I make with my family on the weekends. Overall, I would have to admit that with my hectic schedule, that audio books provide me with my best opportunity to complete a book.