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Nakia Levi: Readerly Exploration #8

Due Date: October 22, 2018

Title of Reading: “The Pine Cone Wars: Studying Writing in a Community of Children” by Anne Hass Dyson

Main idea: After reading Dyson’s article, I have concluded that the author’s main idea is that there is an apparent connection between the official world (created by teachers at school) and the unofficial world (child created) which is evident in studying children’s writing in the classroom.    

Nugget: Here is an excerpt from the reading that caught my attention: “So, although Mrs. Kay aimed to model the basics, the children attended to her practice- to what she was saying and doing and, therefore, what they might say and do.  Like her, they aimed to produce ‘true’ narratives about fun times . . . but with a potential difference.  They invented or tried out being somebody who invited others to a birthday party, went on a stay-in-a-hotel trip, or took powerful or at least clever action in a battle of wits and weapons and won” (Dyson, 2008, p.312).  This quotes emphasizes the perspectives of the students in their pursuit of following the teacher’s practices, however, their ways greatly differed from the kinds of desired responses, which was unknown to the students.   

This article, of any that have been assigned so far, was the most challenging for me to comprehend.  I think the main reason for this was that I was unfamiliar with many of the terms used in the article, and had to look them up in order to make meaning.  Once I finished reading through the article once, I thought it would be beneficial to re-read to make sure that I understood the main idea as well as additional details essential for understanding the purpose of the study.   For my readerly exploration, during my reading I highlighted portions of the text that reinforce the author’s purpose.  Here is my readerly exploration formula: Engage in the reading process to increase the likelihood of text comprehension (pre-reading, reading, responding, exploring, applying) + As you read, highlight excerpts from the chapter that reflect the author’s purpose.  

Below are just two of the excerpts that I highlighted!!

“The focus herein is not on preschoolers’ entry into educational institutions, but on young children’s entry into institutions’ efforts to make them literate.  Young school children are growing up in a time when literacy practices and textual productions are in flux, and they bring to school a range of textual experiences and symbolic tools.  At the same time, instructional approaches are becoming more standardized, more fixed on narrow definitions of what children write and how their writing should be evaluated . . .” (Dyson, 2008, p.306).

“The talkativeness of the children and the intensity of their interest in each other’s activity led me to wonder how they were responding to the official curriculum.  What did they regard as relevant linguistic, textual, and experiential resources for participation during writing?” (Dyson, 2008, p.306).

Completing this readerly exploration encouraged greater comprehension, as I was intentionally searching for passages that aligned with the author’s main purpose and investigation of the study! Once I highlighted all of the excerpts that I believed should be classified as such, I was able to reread them in order to reinforce the article’s meaning and the author’s main points and takeaways!

This photo was taken to capture my highlighting process of main idea supports while reading!!

                                                     Reference

Dyson, A.H. (2008).  The pine cone wars: studying writing in a community of children. Language Arts, 85(4), 305-315. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org.ezproxy.messiah.edu/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/LA/0854-march08/LA0854Research.pdf  

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Nakia Levi: Readerly Exploration #7

Due Date: October 19, 2018 

Title of Reading: “Talking back and taking over: Young children’s expressive engagement during storybook read-alouds” by Sipe

Sipe’s main idea rests in the premise that student’s expressive engagement during story book read-alouds in the forms of dramatizing, talking back, critiquing/controling, inserting, and taking over should be encouraged by teachers rather than regarded as disruptive, because this meaningful interaction allows students to make stories their own and display their passion.

An interesting nugget of information from the text is based on the idea that children want to take ownership of stories, as, “Children who make such responses seem to view stories as invitations to participate or perform.  Stories are understood not as fixed and rigid but as changeable texts, and the reader’s role is not simply to understand but to actively control stories” (Sipe, 2002, p.479). 

As I record my metacognitive process of reading this text, I can honestly say that I did not experience any challenges or roadblocks in both reading and understanding this article, as the language and organization were easy to follow and digest.  This readerly exploration was particularly interesting for me, as I chose a task that I had been waiting to select all semester! The formula that I used for this exploration was: Read a wide variety of genres and formats of texts to grow in their knowledge and experiences as a reader + Identify a song that communicates the same or similar big ideas of the assigned reading and choose an excerpt that represents those shared ideals.

In carrying out this readerly task, I consulted YouTube to find a song that would appropriately address the main idea of this article.  For the purpose of selecting a main idea that would translate across to the musical realm, I decided to simplify the author’s main idea.  Therefore, the main idea that I used in my song research was: “Making it your own.” In summarizing the main idea of the article even further, I was able to better understand the core of the text.  The song that I chose that I thought encapsulated this idea is by Mama Cass Elliot, and is called “Make Your Own Kind of Music.” The lyrics that best represent this connection to course material are:

“Nobody can tell ya; There's only one song worth singin' . . .

But you've gotta make your own music

Sing your own special song,

Make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along.”

Here is the lyric video of “Make Your Own Kind of Music” from YouTube!

                                                     Reference

Sipe, L. R. (2002). Talking back and taking over: Young children’s expressive engagement during storybook read-alouds. Reading Teacher, 55(5), 476. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.messiah.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=5982383&site=ehost-live&scope=site

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Nakia Levi: Readerly Exploration #6

Due Date: October 17, 2018

Title of Reading: “Shared Book Experience: Teaching Reading Using Favorite Books” by Don Holdaway

Main idea: After reading and processing this highly thought-provoking article, I have concluded that Holdaway’s main idea is that reading instruction should be redirected from the current model that suppresses student’s enthusiasm and joy for learning to an approach that is meaning-centered and founded on the processes of learning spoken language that can be effective in the classroom through using children’s favorite books to stimulate motivation, promote joy, and achieve success.  

Nugget: The opening of this article contains many noteworthy quotations that are useful for myself to keep in mind as a future educator in the primary grades literacy classroom.  One of these such quotes states: “For the work of learning to read we attempt to motivate the children artificially and reward them extrinsically, neglecting the deep satisfactions which print naturally from a proper engagement with books of high quality.  We accept the structured materials provided for instruction without questioning their lack of intrinsic interest or worth” (Holdaway, 1982, p.293).  

The essence of this statement will be adopted into my teaching philosophy, as it is crucially important for educators to be intentional about the ways that we promote learning connected with reading, as the goal is for students to “take on” their own learning by making it personal.  We also need to encourage our students to be driven by their own desire for meaningful interactions and understanding that will transfer beyond an isolated classroom context. 

Reflecting on my metacognitive process of reading this article, I can honestly say that I struggled in the beginning to identify main purposes and supporting details, as I was beginning this assignment late at night and was not entirely focused.  However, after revisiting the article the following day, I was able to make meaningful conclusions and locate important ideas.  It was helpful for me to write in the margins of the text in order to summarize paragraphs for the purpose of reviewing the article after I finished reading it.  In addition to making these notes in the margins, I highlighted unfamiliar words throughout the article for my readerly task! For this reading I used the following formula: Engage in the reading process to increase the likelihood of text comprehension (pre-reading, reading, responding, exploring, applying) + Before you read, skim the assigned course reading(s) for unfamiliar terms. Then, take the time to look up the definitions of those terms.  In completing this task, I only came across three unfamiliar terms in the text. Below are these three terms with their definitions:

1)    Avail: “to be of use or advantage” (“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster,” n.d.)

2)    Contingencies: “an event (such as an emergency) that may but is not certain to occur” (“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster,” n.d.)

3)    Eclecticism: “the theory or practice of an eclectic method” (“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster,” n.d.)

Doing this particular readerly exploration allowed me to more effectively understand certain aspects of the article, as I was able to define terms that were crucial to sentence meaning.  This strategy proved to be effective, and therefore I will adopt this practice into my future readings in and out of the classroom. 

This is a photo of one of my highlighted unfamiliar terms!

                                                   References

Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: Americas most-trusted online dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/

 Holdaway, D. (1982). Shared Book Experience: Teaching Reading Using Favorite Books. Theory Into Practice, 21(4), 293. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.messiah.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=5200664&site=ehost-live&scope=site

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Nakia Levi: Readerly Exploration #5

Due Date: October 15, 2018

Titles of Readings: Richardson Introduction & Richardson Chapter 1

The introduction: The main idea of the introduction is that guided reading is an effective classroom practice, and that teachers should adopt it into their classroom in order that students may achieve reading success.  In doing so, Richardson identifies the goal of guided reading and explains the principles of how it works.  This chapter also outlines the structure and provides a specific framework for the text. The following is something I found particularly thought provoking (“a nugget”) from the reading: “They [students] know they are becoming better readers, and they’re excited about it” (Richardson, 2016, p.7).  This quote highlights the author’s enthusiasm and belief in guided reading, and the positive effects she sees as a result of implementing it.  

Chapter 1:  The main idea of this chapter surrounds the distinctions among guiding reading and other literacy practices.  In addition, there are many effective literacy activities presented for students not involved in the guided reading group.  A nugget of interesting information from this chapter: “As you prepare your students for guided reading, you will need to establish firm routines for working independently or in small groups. Explicitly teach procedures for the literacy activities they will be doing while you teach a guided reading lesson. Students will need to solve problems without asking for your help” (Richardson, 2016, p.16).  This quote reinforced other assigned chapters from Debbie Miller’s text, as she advocates for teaching classroom routines in the first few weeks and months of school.  This type of teaching is essential for the effectiveness of the whole classroom as well as specifically the practice of guided reading and literacy activities aside from the guided reading groups.  On this same point, I had a conversation with my mentor teacher last week surrounding the importance of this preparation at the beginning of the school year, and how it makes “a world of a difference” for the remainder of the year with the students.  

Metacognitive process of reading:  My metacognitive process of reading the introduction and first chapter of this this text was overall very smooth and enjoyable.  In reflecting on this process, I had no troubles with the content or the vocabulary presented in these chapters, as it was easily understandable and straightforward.  It was a particularly enjoyable process due to the short length of the reading.  

Readerly Exploration: The formula for this readerly exploration is: Read a wide variety of genres and formats of texts to grow in their knowledge and experiences as a reader + Choose an excerpt from your assigned course reading(s) and reach out to a former teacher to get his or her insight and perspective on it

The task that I chose allowed me to reach out to Mrs. Janusey, from my Christian elementary school who currently teaches kindergarten. The summer after my freshman year of college I did an internship in her classroom while the students were still in school!  The excerpt below is the text I sent her to reflect upon . . .

“I love guided reading! It makes me smile to see children lean over a table, dig into a book, solve problems, and construct meaning.  Why? Because these precious children are experiencing a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.  They know they are becoming better readers, and they’re excited about it.  I’m convinced that there is no instructional approach more powerful than guided reading.  What an honor it is to see lives changed forever by the simple yet profound joy of learning to read!” (Richardson, 2016, p.7).  

Mrs. Janusey holds that the second best thing about teaching (other than being able to teach God’s Word at a Christian school) is teaching her students to read.  She believes that it is her job to provide young learners with the decoding skills necessary to read.  She says that seeing children use these skills to read CVC words, simple phrases, simple sentences, and then finally short stories is an absolute joy (just like Debbie says!).  She loves seeing her students get excited about reading along with their parents. Mrs. Janusey acknowledges that students’ progress at their own rate, which makes for continued progress throughout the school year.  One of the most profound statements from Mrs. Janusey is that as a teacher, seeing students’ success with reading never gets old!

Through my conversation with Mrs. Janusey (via email), it is evident that children are generally enthusiastic about learning to read, and the results they see as they are guided to read!  Guided reading seems to promote this kind of excitement that both Richardson and Mrs. Janusey allude to.

This screenshot is a picture of the email that I sent Mrs. Janusey asking for her perspective!!

Reference:

Richardson, J. (2016). The next step forward in guided reading: An assess-decide-guide framework for supporting every reader. New York, NY: Scholastic.  

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Nakia Levi: Simulation Journal #2  Due: October 5, 2018

Part 1 Prompt: Describe how you have felt “giving it a go” when you know there are very real expectations (deadline from your fictional principal and grades from your real professor) and share some things you’ve learned about yourself as a professional as you’ve undertaken this task.

Although the process of learning and creating parts of instructional plans has been quite frustrating at times, it has already been an experienced marked my growth.  Working in and out of class with my group has allowed me to think and create in new ways as I see and understand others’ perspectives.  As a simple example, while working on instructional goals, my group helped me to refine a goal that I classified as procedural but should have been declarative.  With this said, some of my questions that I had working outside of class that could not be directly answered in that moment by the professor were answered by my group members, which was very helpful for me and has lessened the stress of deadlines! In addition, the in class discussions regarding the flexibility of deadlines has allowed me the time to produce quality work.  I have learned that collaboration is so much more important than I ever recognized before. As a professional, especially as a future educator, it is crucial to establish relationships with colleagues –especially grade level colleagues in order to effectively communicate and work toward goals together.  Additionally, I have learned that I need to have persistence in working on a task that may seem daunting, by allowing for trial and error.  Being a professional does not mean being a perfectionist, so I need to practice allowing myself to make mistakes and learn from my mistakes rather than accept them as failures.

Part 2 Question: How does reflecting on our simulation in this way help you think about our course driving question differently? (Driving Question: How can teachers create effective instruction that is good for children and maintains the integrity of their philosophy within the constraints of administrative and other external mandates?)

Throughout this past week especially, I have had the opportunity to really “feel” the pressure of the expectations and demands.  In these moments I can see how it could be tempting to “take the easy way out” and compromise the integrity of instruction because of many constraints.  In these moments, as a teacher I think it is important to fix my focus on the students, as they should be prioritized.  With that said, this week was definitely the first time I was forced to think about this driving question while the work was in action. For example, in class we discussed the importance of consistency in our goals and assessments, which ultimately points back to the question of what is good for children.  Taking the extra time to ensure that instructional plans reinforce the initial learning objective ultimately produces effective instruction and in turn the product of student learning.   

This video was just a fun reminder for me this week to keep plugging through in my journey to becoming a teacher (which includes tackling instructional plans!!!)

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Nakia Levi: Readerly Exploration #4

Due Date: October 3, 2018

Titles of Readings: Miller Chapter 2: “In September, Part One” and Miller Chapter 3 “In September Part Two”

Chapter 2 main idea and nugget: In Miller’s second chapter, she gives insights to teachers about the importance of the first month of school as the focus should be primarily building relationships with students, establishing themselves as readers and encouraging those readerly habits that are necessary for learning throughout the year. Essentially, she says that it is all about fighting the temptation to jump into content, and instead taking the time to engage students with their own individual and collaborative readerly identities.  Something that stuck out to me in this chapter was a very short yet meaningful quote: “[l]earning to read should be a joyful experience” (Miller, 2013, p.30). This statement reminded me of the great privilege and opportunity we have as teachers to shape the perspectives of our young learners and introduce reading as an exciting adventure.

Chapter 3 main idea and nugget: This chapter captured the idea of teachers allowing children to take an active role in making reading and progress their own from an early age.  Early on in this chapter, Miller discusses motivation for reading, and ultimately connects the teachers’ motivation to that of the students, as she says, “[w]hen I read aloud a favorite book to children, I’m doing more than reading a good story.  I’m showing my love and enthusiasm for reading and learning, I’m sharing my thinking and inviting children to join me, and I’m encouraging and expecting students to do the same in their reading” (Miler, 2013, p.54).  This message is especially important because sometimes as teachers, we don’t realize how much our words impact the thoughts and attitudes of our students, however, if we remain positive and ourselves take on the persona of a learner, we will enable children to in turn have the right mindsets to learn to their full potential.

Thinking on my metacognitive experience reading Miller’s chapters, I realized that I accidentally started reading the second chapter first, and caught myself a few pages in, as I was distracted by my surroundings, doing my homework in an unfamiliar setting.  I read one chapter at a time, about an hour apart as I took a break in between.  Both chapters were extremely thought provoking, and presented the idea of the first month of school being primarily important for learning reading habits, procedures, and practices more so than focusing on the learning that results from reading.  To further engage with the text, the following formula explains what I did during this readerly exploration:  Explore relationships with other people through reading by using texts as a shared experience with another person/other people or to gain insight into the perspective of another person + Choose an excerpt from your assigned course reading(s) and share with a family member to get his or her insight and perspective on it.  After I finished reading, I chose the following excerpts to share with my mom to see what she thought.  Overall, hearing her opinions on these portions of the text solidified my own perspectives and reinforced just how important Miller’s ideas are both about relationship building and children’s reading levels:

Chapter 2 excerpt: “The tone at the beginning of the school day has a relaxed, social, ���I’m glad you’re here’ sort of feel.  It’s very similar to the way I begin my own days; I can’t imagine walking into the building, striding down the long hall to my room, unlocking my door, and immediately creating a chart or reviewing the day’s lessons.  First I need to feel connected in some way to the people I work with, whether it’s asking Sue about her new baby girl, talking with Barb about the class we teach together or stopping in to check out Michelle’s tadpoles and chat about why hers are again twice the size of mine.  I need to take the time to light a candle, put on a little Eric Clapton or Keb Mo, and ease myself into the day” (Miller, 2013, p.35).  

Mom’s thoughts: My mom believes that one of the most important aspects of life is intentionality in connecting with others and building relationships with those whom we interact.  She explained that the need to “feel connected” is a primary component of personal happiness.  She agrees with the writer’s philosophy of “easing myself into the day” by taking the time to engage others and perform simple tasks that set the stage for an enjoyable day!

Chapter 3 excerpt: “I believe children need to spend their time reading text that is ‘just right’ –and I believe we need to broaden our definitions of what ‘just right’ means . . . So what do you think? Can the term just right be fluid? Could the term just right depend on the reader’s purpose, interests, motivation, background knowledge, and level? Consider these questions: Could a book that’s easy to read be just right for a child working on fluency? Could a book above a child’s level be just right if he or she has extensive background knowledge about its content? . . .” (Miller, 2013, p.56).

Mom’s thoughts:  My mom does not think that children need to spend their time reading only text that is “just right” because she believes that it is important for them to be stretched in order to experience all facets of reading.  However, she says that text that is entirely over their heads or that is so technical that it confuses the reader, is not appropriate or effective. She made a good point in saying that reading derives its importance from the result that is achieved by reading – i.e. if a child cannot either gain knowledge or simply enjoy the reading experience, it can never be “just right.” 

This photo was taken during the FaceTime call with my mom when we discussed the two excerpts from Miler’s text!

                                                     References:

Miller, D. (2013). Reading with meaning: Teaching comprehension in the primary grades (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. 

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Nakia Levi: Readerly Exploration #3

Due Date: September 28, 2018

Titles of Readings: “Building Language and Literacy Through Play” by Bodrova and Leong, “Why Children Need Play” by Bodrova and Leong, and “Enriching and Assessing Young Children’s Multimodal Storytelling” by Wessel-Powell, Kargin, and Wohlwend

After reading “Building Language and Literacy Through Play” by Bodrova and Leong, I have concluded that the authors main takeaway is that teachers need to be proactive in creating and encouraging an environment that promotes play in order to further children’s literacy and language progression.  A “nugget” from this reading that stuck out to me comes from the following quote: “Symbolic props incite children to give more detail about their pretend scenarios” (Bodrova & Leong, 2003, p.4).  This statement reinforces the fact that play prompts literacy and language development as children are not only making cognitive decisions about their choices of symbolic props, but they are forced to articulate this decision to other children. 

Secondly, these same authors also wrote “Why Children Need Play” with a similar main idea, that productive play has many benefits primarily cognitively and socially.  Although this article was fairly short, I had quite a few personal takeaways from the reading, one being, “Today, many children do not have enough play opportunities at home because of TV, videos, and the computer.  They interact with toys that are not conductive to building imagination and interesting dramatic play themes.  In many instances, pretend play with siblings and neighborhood children is not available” (Bodrava & Leong, 2005, p.2). In other words, children are not getting the necessary social interactions necessary for learning to occur.

Thirdly, Wessel-Powell and Kargin’s main takeaway is based on encouraging teachers to assess students using multimodal means, to capture their true strengths that otherwise may be overlooked.  The following is a nugget of information from this article that I found particularly thought-provoking and captures the purpose of the article: “We believe these multimodal stories should be recognized and honored by teachers so off-the-page storytelling is acknowledged alongside written stories in school” (Wessel-Powell and Kargin, 2016, p.1). This statement along with the whole essence of the article points to the idea of new literacies, and limiting restrictions on how children express and interact with literacy.  This article broadens the horizon for truly capturing students’ abilities to outwardly demonstrate their knowledge, and can be extended beyond literacy to other subject areas as well.  

As far as the metacognitive process involved in reading these articles, I found the content easy to comprehend and fairly familiar.  I read all three of these articles and highlighted the main ideas and purposes, which helped me make connections among them.  Many of my classes up to this point have directly associated play with positive learning experiences, so this idea was not new to me.  I specifically recall one of my classmate’s presentations from last semester on the benefits of play, and many of her focuses were also captured in these readings.  After reading the assigned course content, I was inspired to visit a place that I believe sums up the main ideas of these articles.  Therefore, the formula that follows describes my readerly exploration process: Explore the world through reading by using texts to answer questions about the world or generating new questions about the world from texts that are read + Take yourself on a field trip to a place on campus that connects with the big ideas of your assigned reading(s).  Since the common theme of these readings is the benefits of play in enhancing learning, I took myself on a field trip to the Early Learning Center’s outdoor playground.  I chose this place because it is an obvious symbol of child to child interaction in a play setting.  As I stood outside the fence of the playground I first began to recall my experience observing children at play for my child development class, in which I had to record child to child conversations.  In remembering some of the specifics of these instances, I could identify how these interactions fed their imaginations.  For instance, children demonstrated symbolic play as they used toys such as jump ropes as horse reigns, and pretended to race one another.  This field trip allowed me to more deeply understand the course content as I began to pull first hand memories from my mind that would reinforce the idea of play as a means of learning, growth, and development.

This photo was taken at the ELC outdoor playground during my readerly exploration on campus field trip! Date: 09/27/2018  

                                                   References:

Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2003). Building Language & Literacy Through PLAY. (Cover story). Early Childhood Today, 18(2), 34. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.messiah.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=11100928&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2005). Why Children Need Play. Early Childhood Today, 20(1), 6. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.messiah.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=18179438&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Wessel-Powell, C., Kargin, T., & Wohlwend, K. E. (2016). Enriching and Assessing Young Children’s Multimodal Storytelling. Reading Teacher, 70(2), 167–178. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1491

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Nakia Levi: Readerly Exploration #2

Due Date: September 21, 2018

Titles of Readings: “Reading with a Crayon: Pre-conventional Marginalia as Reader Response in Early Childhood” by Fischer, and Chapter 1 of Reading with Meaning, “Guiding Principles” by Debbie Miller

From Fischer’s article, I want to highlight an excerpt that I believe sums up the main idea of her research: “[T]oddlers and preschool-aged children can understand books as distinct and pleasurable artifacts in their immediate environments . . . the marks they make in their picturebooks are evidence of reader response . . . the act of drawing enables them to engage in a fictional landscape, and . . . pre-conventional marginalia can provide us with insight into very young children’s earliest aesthetic responses to texts” (Fischer, 2017, p.3).  Fischer’s point encourages the development of children through their first explorations and interactions with books.  In addition, I found this piece of information interesting from Fischer’s article (or as we called it, a “nugget”): “By studying pre-conventional marginalia in the context in which it was created and in light of what we know about children’s orthographic and artistic development, we have a unique opportunity to gain new insights into this phenomenon” (Fischer, 2017, p.6).  The importance of this quote is its explicit reference to “context” which is critical to studying children’s development through marginalia. 

From Miller’s chapter, I concluded that the main takeaway is reflected through this quote: “There are many effective ways to teach children and live our lives.  No one has a patent on the truth.  Find yours.  Read. Reflect.  Think about what you already know about good teaching and how it fits with new learning.  Read some more.  Think about the implications for your classroom.  Collaborate with colleagues.  Try new things and spend time defining your beliefs and aligning your practices.  Once you’ve found what’s true for you, stand up for what you know is right.  Live it every day, and be confident and clear about why you believe as you do.  People will listen!” (Miller, 2013, p.11).  Miller is alluding to the importance of establishing and upholding your own teaching philosophy as it is crucial to success in the classroom both professionally and personally.  Additionally, my favorite idea (or again, “nugget”) from Miller’s chapter reflects the heart of the teacher: “Showing children we care about them and love being their teacher is an important first message.  And at the same time, I’m modeling for children how to show someone you care about them; I’m modeling how you go about creating lasting friendships” (Miller, 2013, p.21).  This really hit home with me, as I believe that many teachers get so caught up in what they are “supposed” to do, they forget what it really is all about – loving students inwardly and showing that love outwardly. 

A few days ago, my classmate and friend, Hope Webber, asked if I would want to collaborate on our reader explorations by sharing our responses and insights of the course readings.  Therefore, below is the formula we used!

Reflect on the contributions of reading experiences to reader identity in an effort to better articulate who he or she is as a reader + Talk to one classmate about what stood out to him or her in the assigned course reading(s) and share how your reading process was similar or different

For this readerly exploration, I met with my classmate Hope Webber and we discussed our thoughts on the course readings.  Particularly, we expressed and articulated a similar reading process, as we both genuinely enjoyed the “doing” of reading both of these articles, and similarly reflected on the information.  We both read the articles prior to meeting and we annotated our copies as well to give us the baseline for what we wanted our conversation to look like.  We met in the library with our resources at hand, and our conversation naturally flowed as we had many interesting points to share with one another.  Below are some of my main takeaways from my conversation with Hope!

We both appreciated the background information presented in Fischer’s research article, and how organized and clear it was to read and understand.  We agreed that this information was helpful in setting the stage for the actual information on the study that was conducted.  Hope voiced that she found the mention of parents/teachers or other adults getting upset when children scribble and draw in books to be an issue of control.  She expanded on the idea that it’s not right for adults to give up control of items (such as books and toys) and then express disapproval of children’s authentic interactions with them.  In addition, the point of how a child’s play can be associated to their response to a story stuck out to Hope as something she had never really thought about before. Miller’s chapter sparked great conversation as well, and it was interesting and rather funny to hear how, as Hope was reading, she caught herself skimming a section that focused on the importance of metacognition during the reading process.  Additionally, Hope mentioned the importance of classroom community and relationships, and how this goes much farther than just having the students fill out surveys on their interests, and hanging their artwork in the hallway, but extends to outside the classroom and involves intentionality of the teacher. Hope also mentioned how important workshops are for students as they have the opportunity to do the learning on their own.  She also highlighted the idea of gradual release of responsibility and how crucial it is for the teacher to practice in order for real raw learning to take form.  Overall, this readerly exploration allowed me to think in novel ways through hearing Hope’s insights.  This task proved the importance of conversations between readers, and was extremely helpful as we both clarified points to each other that were not as concrete in the readings for us individually.  Interacting with the reader community is such a critical practice to adapt, and I will continue to have these important conversations in the future!! This task allowed us to mutually come to the conclusion that the theme that all of our discussions in literacy class and the outside readings have really hit home is the idea of student outward participation and engagement in learning.  Therefore, I was able to gain greater meaning related to the course content because of my interactions with Hope in the reading process!

After conversations with Hope, I was eager to “see” this marginalia in its realist form, so I asked my friend so send me a picture of “scribbles” in her daughters books.  This photo reinforces the importance of context in “decoding” marginalia, as it is hard to decipher what the child may have been thinking and doing while these marks were created. 

                                                   References:

Fischer, S. (2017). Reading with a Crayon: Pre-conventional Marginalia as Reader Response in Early Childhood. Children's Literature In Education, 48(2), 134-151. doi:10.1007/s10583-016-9292-4

Miller, D. (2013). Reading with meaning: Teaching comprehension in the primary grades (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.  

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Instructional Design: Simulation Journal 1

Nakia Levi DUE: September 14, 2018

Part I.

Now that you’ve made it through your New Teacher Orientation in our simulation, talk about an instance in which what is expected of you in this district might be at odds with your teaching philosophy and/or an instance in which what the district says they believe might be at odds with how things are actually run.

           Throughout the beginning of the simulation during New Teacher Orientation, I can recall two instances in which Principle Fletcher presented information/expectations that were at odds with my personal teaching philosophy. The first of these examples surrounds the idea of test scores driving teacher evaluations, which made me feel very unsettled because of my definition of success in the classroom, both for students and for me as their teacher.  I believe that while it is important for teacher effectiveness to be determined in part by student performance, it should not be THE determining factor in this process.  Placing high stakes on students’ test scores may actually hinder a teacher’s ability to focus on individuals’ progress which may not necessarily be reflected on students’ assessments.  My teaching philosophy encompasses the importance of true learning over the importance of assessment data, without disqualifying the legitimacy of the data.  Secondly, there has been much discussion surrounding the standards for which the teacher must teach.  Standards are most definitely a priority, but I believe that as a teacher, incorporating creativity that extends beyond the standard being taught is an essential component to “good teaching.”  I think it is just as important to cover all the required grade level standards as it is to incorporate teaching style to eliminate rigidity in the classroom dynamic and environment.                 

Part II.

How does reflecting on our simulation in this way help you think about our course driving question differently? (Driving Question: How can teachers create effective instruction that is good for children and maintains the integrity of their philosophy within the constraints of administrative and other external mandates?)

           After reflecting on two discussions from the class simulation that required further thought and evaluation, I would say that it made the driving question more personal for me, as I had to look inward to communicate my own philosophy and to compare that to mandates and constraints set by the administration in the Messiah school district and the state.  Now I no longer view the driving question from a removed perspective, but I can insert my own teaching beliefs and philosophy into the question.  It also allowed me to deeply think about the word “good” and to use my own judgements of what really is “good” for children.  I believe that anything “good” for children encourages learning and promotes growth.  With that said, the two areas that I discussed in Part I challenged my definition of what is “good” for children, and therefore helped me sharpen my teaching philosophy. 

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Nakia Levi Readerly Exploration #1

Due Date: September 14, 2018 

Titles of Readings: “Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning: Twenty years of inquiry” by Brian Cambourne, and “Building a Literacy Community: The Role of Literacy and Social Practice in Early Childhood Programs” by Susan J. Britsch and Daniel R. Meier

Cambourne’s main takeaway: Certain conditions that promote oral language acquisition can be adapted into the literacy classroom to similarly prompt literacy learning.  At the heart of these conditions lies student engagement, which is the essential component to literacy success.

Cambourne nugget: “How could a brain which could master such complex learning in the world outside school be considered deficient with respect to the kinds of learning that were supposed to occur inside the school?” (Cambourne, 1995, p.183).  I found this quote and discussion surrounding Cambourne’s statement fascinating, as he related this disconnect in learning to the way in which things are taught in different “settings.”

Britsch and Meier’s main takeaway: Literacy learning must involve active student participation.  It is important for teachers to stray away from rigid instruction and strive to make literacy a creative and proactive process for students to achieve ownership of learning.

Britsch and Meier nugget: “…literacy becomes more than simply encoding and decoding print on the page; it makes literacy into a ‘life world’ where children matter” (Britisch & Meier, 1999, p.214).  This quote that concludes the article was really a game changer, as it encompasses the whole purpose of the text.  It helped me to rethink the goal of literacy instruction and refocus it from an inward understanding to an outward expression of understanding, where thoughts and insights are shared within the class community for the benefit of all students.

Pre-reading author research:

About the author of “Toward an educationally . . .”

Brian Cambourne: “He has since become one of Australia’s most eminent researchers of literacy and learning . . . Brian devoted his research to literacy learning and teaching. His major interest is in professional development for literacy education and he is committed to the idea of co-learning and co-researching with teachers” (Cambourne, n.d.).  

Having no prior background knowledge of Cambourne and his work, I quickly realized that he is highly recognized in education for his literacy research.  Gaining this insight before reading his article allowed me to appreciate its credibility, and it also built excitement and anticipation to learn his perceptions and conclusions regarding teaching and learning literacy in the classroom. 

About the authors of “Building a Literacy Community. . .”

Susan J. Britsch: Britsch is a professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at Purdue University and has done a significant amount of research, including, but not limited to the topics of English Language Learning and visual literacy.  She has several publications surrounding these topics, and more!  In addition, many of her project focus on literacy in some way (Purdue University, n.d.).  From this information, it is evident that Britsch is well qualified and educated in the area of literacy, which results in a very relevant text.

Daniel R. Meier: Dr. Meier is an Elementary Education professor at San Francisco State University and “[h]is research interests are in young children's multilingual and literacy development, narrative and memoir, early childhood international education, and teacher research and inquiry” (San Francisco State University, n.d.). 

It is helpful to have this context and biographical knowledge about Dr. Meier as it allowed me to see the personal connection between his field and passions and the research which he conducted.   

This was my first readerly exploration, so I chose to begin with a task that would better prepare me for reading the text.  The author information above was the result of my pre-reading author research.  The formula I used for this exploration was:

Engage in the reading process to increase the likelihood of text comprehension (pre-reading, reading, responding, exploring, applying) + Before you read, learn something about the author(s) of the assigned course reading(s) and note how what you learned impacts your motivation and/or your purpose for reading

As stated above in the formula, I began the process by doing some background research on the authors of the texts, in which I included the most relevant information that would be helpful in adding meaning to my reading.  Since the main idea of these articles centers around learning literacy, I used this as my trigger word in my pre-reading author research.  I included to the best I could any information regarding accomplishments or titles that dealt with literacy teaching and learning.  Doing this research allowed me to tap into the minds of the authors in order to better understand their motivation and passions behind literacy, and to put a face and context to what were only names in my mind.  After reading some background information, I preceded to read the articles and highlighted main ideas and results.  The reading itself was not challenging, as it was very interesting and though provoking, however, I did initially struggle to find the key connection between the articles.  In the search for this essential connection, I skimmed the articles and reviewed my highlighted information to draw conclusions about the two pieces.  I concluded that the one main idea presented surrounds the truth of student engagement in active literacy learning, and the importance of the bigger picture of literacy in the lives of children. Something that I will strive to implement into my future literacy classroom is the promotion of an environment of outward learning – where students take initiative and participate actively with their own thoughts as well as those of their peers.  Overall, these articles and knowledge of the authors enhanced my understanding of both the student and teacher roles in the literacy classroom, as well as demonstrated a successful means of thinking about and doing literacy in the classroom and beyond.  From incorporating this particular readerly task into my reading process, I realized how beneficial it is to have some sort of author background prior to reading a text, and I will continue to adopt this practice into my life as a reader.

This photo was taken to capture a moment of pre-reading author research!

References

About Brian Cambourne. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cambournesconditionsoflearning.com.au/about-brian-cambourne.html

Britsch, S. J., & Meier, D. R. (1999). Building a Literacy Community: The Role of Literacy and Social Practice in Early Childhood Programs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 26(4), 209-215.

Cambourne, B. (1995). Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning: Twenty years of inquiry. Reading Teacher, 49(3), 182.

Daniel Meier. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://edd.sfsu.edu/content/daniel-meier https://edd.sfsu.edu/content/daniel-meier

Susan Britsch //. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://collaborate.education.purdue.edu/edci/britsch/default.aspx