In Peggy Campbell-Rush’s book, Reading, Writing and Wrod Walls: Strategies to Boost Literacy Skills in All Learners, she presents many strategies that are attractive to children in Early Childhood learning how to write. She states that there are three ways writting occurs in the classrooom, which she refers to as “I do it, We do it, You do it.” The three ways are demonstation writing, where the teacher writes on a paper or board infront of the entire class and talks out her thought process, interactive writing, where the students work together with the teacher to creat a piece of writing, and independent writing, where the students work seperately with the help of the teacher where needed. This cycle of decreasing individuality is common in the educational theories studied in teacher certification programs. The goal is to have the child learn to write on their own gradually until they do not need the assistance of the teacher at all. One of her strategies that I found interesting was “Labeling The Room.” She suggests that the students go around the room and pick objects that they want to label and attempt to sound out the words on a label card. At a younger level she explains that the students simply draw a picture of the object and write the first letter of the word they are labeling. I found this interesting because almost every Early Childhood classroom has the objects in the room labeled, but I never considered having the children label the objects in the room. My only objection to this is that other students looking at these labels might learn to spell the words incorectly if the students who made the labels spelled them incorrectly. To alleviate this problem I might put the correct spelling ontop of the students spelling. Another interesting thing that Peggy Campbell talks about is using index cards to document any story that a student tells the teacher as they come in in the morning so that they can use this sentence to write about later in there journals or at any other time. She also talks about finding any real life application of writing possible. One of her examples was writing thank you notes to the custodian in their school. This method is interesting because children always enjoy writing more when they know that someone is going to read their writing and they want to convey a message to them.
Substitute Teaching is Essential March 2, 2008
During the second year of your education in a University program for teaching certification, it is recomended that you apply for a substitute teaching position. This substitution certificate is a highlighted feature when employers are reviewing resumes and applications.
There are a number of things to know when applying for a substitute teaching certificate:
1. You must be certified in the school district of your permanent address.
2. Fingerprinting is used for a background check. To schedule an appointment, gather the information from your district for the form, and register on the following website, www.bioapplicant.com/nj or by calling 877-503-5981. Make sure you bring a valid photo id to the fingerprinting location that you choose.
3. A copy of your college transcript will be needed to be sent to the district in which you are being certified in.
4. The total process of becoming certified as a substitute teacher will cost about $220.
Making Geography Fun February 24, 2008
Geography is a hard subject for most students to grasp; it can be tedious, and boring. Here are some suggestions to bring excitement to the students in your classroom.
1. Begin with drawing a simple plan of the classroom, including cupboards, blackboard, desks, chairs etc. The children color the plan using the colors from a physical map. For exampke, green for floor level, yellow for desks and chairs, and brown for the highest objects in the room.
2. Try an interactive globe for the classroom to use in small groups! This globe quizes students and provides an SmartPen, which the students can use to point out their answers on the globe.
3. Wonder World Map offers children a hands-on way to explore their world. It becomes an interactive learning station as children fill it with the 68 beautifully detailed felt animals, landmarks, vehicles, and continent, country and geography labels.
4. GeoRiddler turns your classroom computer into a realistic game show where up to three children can play at once exploring different environments, learning, and having fun.
Comics as a Form of Communication February 24, 2008
Visual Literacy is becoming more and more important in todays society. Children are being introduced to new cognitive skills involving reading pictures at younger ages. A common place in which people are using visual literacy is through comics! Many people, especially children, find it much easier to read a story with a visual aspect as in comics; there interest is sustained longer and it gives them the opportunity to think about what they are reading and find out how the pictures are connected instead of simply being told how they interelate as in a normal narrative.
A new system, Micrsoft Chat, has taken comics to annother level–using them for online communication. Many apsects of comic generation such as the structure, placement, and orientation of characters and text “balloons,” and the default character gestures and expressions are already set up for the users. The users are able to create their own characters and keywords typed in are use to form the scenes that the characters are placed in.
The program was initially released on Internet Explorer v3.0 in 1996, and was developed by Microsoft Researcher David Kurlander together with the Virtual Worlds Group.
You can download and try the program yourself on this informational site!
Comic Review February 24, 2008
After reading Mc Loud’s comic article I realized how true it really is. I especially felt a connection to the part about everything looking like a face. I thought that I was the only one who saw the expression of a car. I defiantly assign identities and emotions where none exist as Mc Loud would say. Reading this type of piece I felt was easier and more appealing then a formal essay. I think that the pictures kept my attention and as well as the text. I also like how Mc Loud asks the reader to participate in the text. He says, “Now Smile, C’mon Nobody’s Looking.” To me this really makes the text more interesting. I like that he made me feel like I was part of the story. This text over all was one of my favorites from the course.
Autistic Kids In Danger! February 24, 2008
Are group homes all they are cracked up to be? An article entitled Autistic Kids in Danger shows concerns for the safety of children being placed in group homes. Martha Quesada a mother of a 12-year old autistic child now looks for answers in the death of her son Dennis. Dennis was placed in a group home named Rainbow Ranch in Florida because his violent behavior. There he made a phone call home on May 23rd and that was the last time she ever heard his voice. Her son had been rushed to hospital later that day and she was too late her son was already dead. Agencies in Florida say that Dennis was restrained on the day he died. He was placed on his stomach in a van with his arms behind his back. The group home staff was accused but the allegations were dropped and the home has since been closed by the state. Dennis’s death has not yet fully been explained but the facts are coming forward. At least four other autistic children have died while being in the supervision of group home staff. Jane Hudson of the National Disability Rights Network believes that there is not training in many homes. Dennis Debbaudt an autism safety consultant adds that the issue of group homes is overlooked. The pay at a group home is not enough to attract well educated people who know autism so the people who take the jobs might be the worst care.
Another case involves Mike and Lisa Carey and their 13-year old son Jonathon. After trying to control their sons’ disorder they decided that he needed more. They sent their son to the Anderson School in Staatsburg, New York. Jonathon eventually came back home when his father visited him and found him naked, covered in bruises and lying in his own urine. After calling a crisis hotline, Jonathon moved into another group home called O.D. Heck Center. However in February Jonathon died after a worker allegedly pinned him down to the seat of the van. The driver of the van pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide but the worker that held him down denies any wrong doing. New York has now passed Jonathon’s Law which requires parents to be notified of reported abuse at facilities within 24 hours. Mike Carey says, “These children are the most vulnerable people in society, there’s no way we’re going to stop fighting for them.”
This article is unbelievable. I couldn’t image sending my child to a group home, thinking that it would be benefiting their needs and in reality it is literally killing them. In my opinion something needs to be done. Group homes should have to employ staff members with proper training and if that means paying more then so be it. A parent should not have to fear the loss of their child while trying to acquire the help of others. More needs to be done for the well being of these children!
This one time at camp! February 21, 2008
One time last summer, I was directly applying the written word to my fellow counselors. We had “mailboxes” aka little square boxes, where our mail was put. I loved getting mail from my friends at home, and from the other counselors. We would leave each other encouraging notes, which would always uplift my spirit. I was sitting outside of my tent one night writing notes to the counselors, and one of the other counselors popped into my head. He always said that he did not like other counselors having crushes on him, and that counselors should only be friends at camp and nothing more. Seizing this opportunity, I proceded to write him five notes that week, starting with his name, and then proceding to “will you marry me?” all on different notecards. Needless to say, this drove him crazy. He suspected it was me, but I insisted it was other counselors or his brother being funny. I was hysterical throughout the process, and only a few other counselors knew it was me. I had the best time using the written word for such humor. At the end of the summer, I told him about the one-word notecards, to which he laughed. I had a few good laughs out of the situation. Humor, when combined properly with the written word and text, can be extremely funny. At least I think so.
The written word- from counselor to camper. February 21, 2008
This past summer I was able to share the written text, the Word of God, with many different campers throughout the week. It was such an amazing experience. I loved being with the campers, and spending time with them. We ate our meals together, sat with them during service, and genuinely had a wonderful time. Each week I was able to experience a new set of personalities, all which made me so happy to be a counselor. Each night we would have devotions and throughout the day they would also have a devotional with the director or unit leader. I also let them write as well. I had a little pillow/cushion set up in a corner of my tent, so if any of my girls wanted to spend some alone time in the Word, the option was there. I also gave them note cards in which they could write to me, and write to each other if they had any questions. I was also available to talk to them each day and every night after devos, but I wanted each girl to have the option of writing. Some people feel more comfortable when they write, rather than speaking. I had a chance to bond with the girls, which of course happened over time. I still write to them via instant messaging, email, or regular mail.
Overall, the past summer was one of the best experiences of my life. I grew so much: the spiritual aspect, mentally, and physically. But most of all, I grew as a writer. I write in my journal more than I did before, and I had a chance to also express myself on paper. I took away the lesson “it is better to write than not express at all”. Some of those girls had trouble speaking in front of others, but then asked very insightful questions that I was able to answer to the best of my ability.
Semiotics- the WRITTEN/SPOKEN/TYPED LANGUAGE! February 21, 2008
The article, Semiotic domain: Is playing video games a waste of time, helped open my eyes to a new ideology of what video games are truly about. Literacy- in the academic sense is the knowledge and application of the written and spoken word. This however, in my mind, does not apply to video games. There are marginal words involved, there are mainly actions being pursued within a video game. There are pictures and images upon images of fast-acting actions and figures, with no written word in sight. Sure the article talks about “Multimodal texts” which incorporate to mediums of communication- the written word and visual imagery. But my question is this, where are the words in video games? All of the ones that I have seen or played have no literacy involved. And the actions are relatively violent in nature.
Please do not take semiotics out of context, and try to apply it to video games. Semiotics is the study of the written word and the English language, plain and simple. There may be different dimensions within the broad range of semiotics in which we can place “multimodal” underneath of the umbrella term of “semiotics”. We should not change the definition just to try and fit in another means of inter-personal communication, the video games.
‘Nonopticon? February 21, 2008
In the article, Naked in the ‘Nonopticon, it discusses how Facebook’s users had an uproar when Facebook put newsfeeds on other spaces. I have a facebook, and I personally did not have a coronary when this occurred.
1. The stuff you put on Facebook is your own personal information; and therefore, you can either have privacy settings for it, or allow the information to go all over the Internet/Facebook world.
2. It is your own choice if you have a Facebook in the first place. Be selective and cautious of the matter that you put on the Internet. Like the boy who had to move to a different place because of the video posted about him.
3. The Internet can either help us or harm us. It is up to us which one it will be, and how we can use the Internet to our advantage.
I like Facebook and Myspace. It helps me keep in contact with my friends that I do not have a chance to see very much. But I am selective of the information I put about myself on the Internet. I am selective in choosing to whom I accept as “friends”. And all of this, helps me create a more efficient, and safer online community, at least for myself.
