dailyrap

This page is entirely devoted to daily occurrences in both my classroom and school. Sometimes I'll have good things to share, other times I won't. It's not my goal to be negative but I, like many others, learn more from mistakes than I do from successes; that aside, every time I err(yes, it does happen) I'll share it with you. I'll also fill you in on what lessons have worked and which have not and why. Who knows? Maybe we'll all learn something. And wouldn't that just be grand?

June 29, 2007 - I teach first grade during the regular school year but am currently teaching summer school for recent third grade graduates. It's an intensive reading program by the Voyager company that comes complete with all materials. My class is small, only seven students, so it has been easy to manage. The four week session concludes next week. The Voyager program is entirely scripted so it is difficult to make mistakes. My class is well behaved so it has been enjoyable thus far. Our theme is ancient Rome and the kids have had a good time with it. The biggest problem has been my inability to finish all the required lessons. Time has not been my ally. I've been forced to pick and choose. Other teachers have voiced the same concern. It's nothing new in the world of education but it never ceases to be irritating.

July 2, 2007 - I decided to have the kids finish a writing project from last Friday; as a result, I was not able to get through everything I was supposed to. I also had to spend an hour giving individual reading tests followed by a group test per the Voyager program rules. Happily, everyone improved their oral reading scores since I last gave the test on June 11. I'll let you know how they did on the group test later this week.

July 3, 2007 - Success! Every child far exceeded their initial scores on the group test. Kudos to Voyager. Today we discussed and read about Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. The class then did an etching to replicate an ancient Roman wall. They did well with their fluency reading practice and the targeted word study lesson. The power went off for 45 minutes today, too...not a good thing in Vegas. We survived, however. Tomorrow we're off and then just two more days.

July 5, 2007 - Good day today. We breezed through our fluency and targeted word study lessons and did an activity on Pompeii involving the description of various articles used by the Romans. The kids had to write down what they thought the items were, as well as telling who the items might have belonged to. I had them do it alone and then get together to discuss their individual findings. Only one more day left and I find myself still irritated that I had to skip so many lessons these past four weeks. Oh well. At least I had too much to teach instead of too little.

July 6, 2007 - Well, the four weeks are over. Summer school has ended. I actually had a few kids wishing it was longer. I spent most of the day catching up on fluency and word study lessons, as well as finishing the unit on Pompeii and Vesuvius. Looking back, I think my biggest mistake was following the Voyager tenet of not giving homework. A writing/reading assignment might have been a good idea. Then again, the kids might not have been motivated to do it since no grades are given with this curriculum. Anyway, this Monday I start a 6 day course about reading strategies for the elementary level. It runs 8:30 to 5:00 each day. Yuk. It's for professional credit necessary to renew my license. I'll let you know if I learn anything useful.

July 9, 2007 - My reading strategy course began today and most of it seems to be focused on phonics and phonemic awareness. A lot of reading and discussion about various types of research that repeats the same thing again and again: that learning to read begins at home before children even know what school is. Little ones should be read to and have books they can hold and look at. They should also see other people in their households with reading materials, too.

July 10, 2007 - Today we read and discussed more about phonemic awareness. We also watched videos of lessons being taught. Most of the videos parallel what I already do in my own classroom, but it was nice to see other teachers doing it, too. I was informed today that the English language has 44 sounds. Always thought there were a bit more. I also was reminded that youngsters have a tough time learning to write because they speak informally, as do adults, but are expected to write formally. We all speak in run-on and fragmented sentences but demand that our written sentences be grammatically correct. It can be a tough transition for kids. It might also be why many adults have a tough time with writing as well.

July 11, 2007 - An interesting day today. The high point was getting to put on a play via an activity called reader's theater. It's a fun way to practice reading. We spent a considerable amount of time discussing fluency, spelling and syllables. We also read a research article stating that most people actually scan every letter of a word before reading it aloud. Granted, it happens in a hundredth of a microsecond, but it conflicts with what I always thought: that people simply see a word and say it right away, kind of like saying aloud a color as soon as you see it. Guess I was wrong. (It's happened before.) Anyway, whenever kids and adults read they consciously and unconsciously look at words in search of patterns. Interesting. It's kind of like we do in life, huh? I'm off the rest of the week and continue with the class next week for three more days. I'll fill you in then, okay?

July 16, 2007 - A lot of vocabulary work today. How best to incorporate it into your daily lessons, what strategies are most effective and productive. Two more days to go.

July 17, 2007 - Most of the day was spent discussing and studying ways to help kids comprehend what they read. One of the more interesting methods was something called reciprocity teaching where a student would lead a group in a reading, focusing on predictions, clarification, summarization and retelling.

July 18, 2007 - The class concluded today with a seminar on differentiated instruction. For the uninitiated, differentiated instruction is making accommodations for certain kids or groups so as each can reach their potential. Sometimes you have to slow things down for these groups, other times you have to present the material in an entirely different manner. I enjoyed the reading academy class and will take from it some new techniques I hope will be useful. I start a new professional course this Monday on computer communication. I'll let you know if there's anything I find interesting.

August 31, 2007 - Well folks, the first full week of the 2007-08 school year has come to a close. I have 15 kids--8 boys, 7 gals--and a whole lot of things to teach. No major problems the first week, other than getting kids adjusted to their new teachers, rooms, routines and schedules. We worked on patterns in math and reviewed letter sounds before turning to blending practice. I seem to have an on track class but will know more when I complete individual testing next week.