What I learned in this class...

This class has taught me a lot. One of the most important things I learned in this class is the significance of literacy. It is apparent everywhere, in everyday life. We as teachers must stress this and incorporate literacy as much as we can in our lesson plans and activities. I also realized that my content area, art involves much more literacy than I had previously thought. After realizing this and creating a unit plan, I will use this knowledge to incorporate literacy in all of my teaching. The unit plan was definitely a new experience for me. Although, it was kind of a pain, I have definitely benefited from it and hope to someday use in the classroom.

Final Post

What I didnt get that I wanted to learn was how to encourage kids to build their literacy while competing with all this audio/visual technology in their lives. In regards to reading... computers, movies, tv, ipods, iphones, video games, etc. are all other (more appealing) options/distractions for kids. They all have visual, interactive, and/or tangible elements that reading lacks. Kids would much rather do these things rather than read nowadays. Call it a sign of the times, but that is still a lame excuse.
I think we did touch on this matter briefly, but I wish we could have learned about it a little more in depth. What specific techniques are there? Yes, have them read things that really interest them. But for some reason, I feel it is a lot easier 'said than done'. I am a huge advocate for reading (and building literacy) and I am going to want to preach this to my students, but how the hell will I be able to compete with all this stuff. Maybe it will all 'click', maybe not. Anyone feel me?

One specific thing that I liked in the class was the lesson Dr. Dana gave when we listed things that came to our heads about "school," in general. We all listed things that were mostly negative experiences - when really, there are plenty of great positive things that were should keep in mind as teachers. It was interesting. For some reason that example really stuck with me.

There were good ideas in the textbook. Plus, the unit plan was a pain in the ass, but looking back, I realize how worthwhile it was. It was good experience. And it is something we can put into a portfolio - along with our philosophy statement (that was a good idea too).

Final Thoughts

Not trying to be a dork but this was my favorite class of the semester, because it wasnt just all lecturing but learning different teaching stategies. I feel like i learned more from this class than my methods for teaching class. I feel the book has some great ideas that everyone can use no matter which subject area they are.
I was really afraid that this class was just going to be about reading, and mainly for english majors but it really wasnt. Even though it is a required class i would recommend it to other students because it was a fun class and as a teacher you were very easy to talk to and to communicate with which is more than i can say for the majority of the teachers at this school.

Literacy and Education

For me, taking this class was a no brainer. I am an English major and in my mind and what I have been taught here at MSU, English IS Literacy. English IS reading. So I completely understood that I needed to take this course. I however never knew that so many other majors could be integrated through literacy into my major and vice-versa. I learned from the PE majors as much as I learned from the History majors and I hope that they took something away from me too. This for me was the most valuable thing that I took away from the course but I also really appreciated th text book. I plan on keeping the book to use some of the literacy ideas in my future classes. I already have used some of them for lesson plans I intend to teach next semester while in student teaching. This class was the first time I was introduced to KWLs so I am greatly appreciative that I learned about them as I think that they are an amazing tool not only for the teacher but for the students to gain perspective on their teacher as well. I really do feel confident that many things I took away from this class will help me in the upcoming months as I begin my teaching experience.

Class Reflection

Since English is my content area, I wasn't baffled as to why I had to take this class. Literacy IS English. Probably the most valuable thing I am taking away from this class is the textbook, because that one section with all the different ideas for lesson plans and literacy is going to be really helpful throughout my teaching career. I already have been using KWL's left and right (not really... but this class was the first time I was introduced to them and I think it's a great idea to start any unit... I'm using it for my Methods class unit plan.) Most of the strategies the book presented seem really useful for the classroom and I will definitely use them as a reliable resource. Other than that, this class was all right--I'm glad we had the opportunity to work with other people on the inquiry unit plan; I worked with two other people and I feel like we each complimented each other's ideas and brought something unique to the unit. The book group project was interesting, too.

Coming To An End....

This semester has brought up the importance of literacy in any subject field which has definitely taught me something. I never really thought of how literacy was used in any subject other than reading and writing classes. This class has discussed what literacy was, what components made up literacy, and helped me look for it in my own field.
Learning the significance of literacy has taught me that I should integrate it as much as I can in my lesson plans. When using different components of literacy in health and physical education, I have found it to be affective in different ways. Instead of just teaching how to play a sport, I could have my students read about it and talk about it in groups. This is just one example of how literacy can be used in a variety of ways.

Finally...

I finally figured out why we were supposed to take a "reading" course! Since I started the Teacher Ed program, I've been wondering what good a reading class could possibly do for me, a math student. This class showed me that not only is reading a very important aspect of any class, even math, but it can even be expanded on to reinforce what math teachers are already doing. I also really liked learning about literacy, and realized through this course that there are different kinds of literacy, and that teaching to math literacy is a logical thing to do, since it means that students will be able to take their knowledge from math class and apply it outside the classroom.

Thanks for clearing that up!

This semester....

This semester helped me see how important it is to incorporate literacy into every subject area. While I know literacy needs to be incorporated, I'm not sure I've discovered how to make it a big part of the chemistry classroom. While working on the unit plan, I didn't really see any big oppertunity to bring literacy in. The main way literacy worked into my unit plan was through reading the text and labs. I feel like there must be a better way to bring it in.

What I learned

One of the things I learned this semester was to appreciate literacy a little more. Before entering this class, I thought that literacy was just reading and writing but it a lot more then that. It encompasses speaking and listening as well. One of the responses by I has hesitant entering this class was because I thought or reading and writing skills would be heavily weighted but you gave us the opportunity to just write, type in a continual stream of consciousness in our blogs. By doing this I felt that you learned more about me if their was a ridged stretcher, and that is what I will take with me into my professional career.

What I Learned..

One of the things that I learned about this past semester was that literacy is really an integral part of the classroom It would be beneficial for us all to really work on developing more literacy into our lessons. Also, the whole blogging for class was actually a new experience for me. It was pretty cool to see everybody's ideas and thoughts about this class all semester. That could possibly be something I want to use at some point. Another thing I learned were the various reading strategies. Some of them I was familiar with, and others I was seeing for the first time. They were all very helpful strategies that really make the students use more critical thinking. Honestly, I can't say that there was something that I didn't get out of this class because I actually got more out of it then I thought I would. It was a very enjoyable experience to take this course.

What I Learned....

In my opinion, I never realized how much literacy played a role in my subject area. First of all, as an educator I realize in the world of physical education it is very easy to fall into the "roll out the ball" trap. Incorporating literacy and critical thinking into physical education can provide my students with a better opportunity to process the skills and information while having the ability to retain and use the information later on in life. Also, in taking this class I have learned a lot about the student's point of view. There are many different types of learners, and having a teaching style that only caters to one type of learning is never going make me a successful teacher. In recognizing how students learn, I will be able to see what they see, and hopefully in turn make any lesson I teach challenging but achievable to all my students.

What I learned

This class was one of the most interesting and relevant classes I have taken at Montclair. I never thought about literacy as it related to other subject areas. As an English major i thought it only pertained to reading and writing in my subject area. The information I learned will help me bring in other subject area techniques in order to help reach the students who may not be so interested in literature in the conventional way. It also made me more sensitive to students learning disabilities or past experiences which may leave "learning baggage."
I want my students to succeed in all of their classes, not just mine so therefore I think its crucial to be understanding of the demands in all content areas.

What I learn from this class...

In this class, I learned the importance of the literacy in my subject. Literacy plays many roles in every subject. In art, literacy is the reading, writing, and speaking. It helps students to learn about art history, talk about an artwork, and write about their artwork and opinions. Students can also apply their vocabulary words and artterms to critique an art piece.
Without literacy in artclass would be like doing scribbles of drawing with no intension of studying art. Literacy in the subject helps students to learn about and study about the art. It is basic step for student to contain deeper learning in each subject.

What i got out of this class pretty much parallels other posts. I know that literacy is everywhere and not just in your English class, but i guess this showed me even the little aspects that it is seen in; places you wouldn't originally think literacy could tie into, it can. And it showed me if it is not apparent, there are ways to tie it in. I guess i would like to have a little more application of where specifically it could be tied into with my content area. I know where i could fit it in more now, but i guess just would like to further that development. Literacy doesn't have to be "in your face" for it to still be there and i think that is the biggest thing i took from this class. It's how you can find it and how easy it is to detect with little things you can do.

What I learned from class

I think the main idea I learned from this class was that literacy does not only exist in reading/english areas, but it is definitely in mathematics. I learned that literacy is very important in my content area of math: it is in the symbols, math vocabulary, word problems, and application of knowledge into situations. When we constructed our unit plan based on an essential question, we kept the idea of literacy in mind, and picked that topics that displayed a student's literacy in math when they need to use math in everyday life. It was so cool to me that we could construct an entire unit solely based on an essential question. It really seemed like a great way to get the students energized about their upcoming lessons, because these were questions that they actually "wanted" to know the answers to.

Honestly, there wasn't really anything that I didn't "get" that I wanted to learn in this class. Going into this class, I had an idea that it would be boring and not really apply to my content area. However, I was pleasantly surprised, and found all of the classes fun and interesting. Also, the way that the class was taught forced us to seek information from many different mediums; not just from books, and this was really interesting, because I had never used things like online journals or blogs before. Overall, I am very happy with this class.

Final Post

I learned a lot in this class. Reading can be fun if we all use our imagination, a number of strategies and the appropriate literature. I also realized that we all mostly pay interest to what we like to read or do, so I will be careful when I am in class to have my student select their own reading so they will feel more responsible to do the task on their own and make progress. some of the reading strategies used in class such as brainstorming and the higher order thinking have been helping me to develop my critical thinking. The worksheet to outline our unit and the calendar made easier for me to plan my lessons. What comforts me is that I tried to do my best.
I wish we could have had more time to review new reading strategies that we all can apply in the classroom. I wish i could have had more time to read the other two books, but I think i will read it during the summer. I am sorry we did not get to use much of the book. It was probably timing. I was thinking if you can give us some good references to look up and use in our future classrooms. Reading is important. I think we just need to combine interest and appropriate material.


Thank you.

one thing that i got from this class was a greater knowledge about the technology that can be used in a classroom. to be honest i really hadnt heard about "blogging", probably because i am totally computer illiterate. i thought this was a pretty cool way to do assignments, namely because you could see what other students were writing if you were confused about anything. this also made it more personable, because we got to know a little about the person and their writing style. going to the lab downstairs was really interesting too, because that interactive flatscreen thing was really cool to watch a lesson on. however, it was a little hard to pay attention, it was like giving a toy to a kid and telling him not to play on it! ha. another things i got from this course was a better understanding of what literacy means and how it can be used in the classroom. i came away with alot of literary terms and concepts from the one textbook that i hope will be beneficial to me in my future. coming into this class i expected ALOT of reading so i was happy that was not the case. i cant say that i like to read more because of this class, its just something that i dont think i will get in to until i am older, but i did come away with an appreciation of its importance. I liked the idea of short readings and responses, and thought that all the assignments were fair. overall i enjoyed the class, i think that your style of teaching went well with it just because you took time to relate things to us and you have a open personality. so to conclude the biggest thing i took from the class was a number of different ways to not only intergrate literacy into the classroom, but also different methods to use in lessons i teach.