Double Entry Journal #3

Context for Understanding: Educational Learning Theories

 

 

Adolescent Literacy by National Council of Teacher for English

 
1. How does elementary reading instruction contribute to poor literacy attainment for older children?
 Elementary reading instruction contributes to poor literacy attainment for older children because instead of teaching children how to read to look for ideas, information, and concepts, children are only being taught the processes of reading.
 

2. What reading test scores good for?
 Reading test scores are beneficial to show which students still need extra help with reading. However, instead of focusing on helping children learn to read, teachers and governement officials are only worried about raising test scores, not helping the children.
 

3. What reality about a literacy myth surprised you the most? Why?
While reading the literac myths, the reality that surprised me the most was that just because a child exhibits difficulty reading in one subject does not mean that they have difficulty in everything that they read. Just because a child can not read word math problems, it does not mean that they can not read anything else. Many students need educated in each subject content reading.
 

4. What do you know about teaching reading comprehension in the content areas? Give an example of a strategy you might use to teach reading during a science or social studies lesson.
When it comes to teaching reading comprehension in the content aread classrooms, I know it is beneficial to the students and the teachers. Reading literature is different than reading sciences and reading science is different than reading math. If a content teacher fails to teach students how to read that specific content, the students will not learn and the teacher will not be able to move to the next unit without the students understand the previous one. An example of a teaching strategy for a science class is to apple three reading strategies: before, during, and after. Before the students read the content in the science unit, have them preview headings and ask questions about misunderstandings, make predictions on what they might learn, and brainstorm. While the students are reading they can re-read, ask questions, and infer. Finally, when the students have finished reading, they can summarize and reflect on what they read.
 

5. What kind of literacy do you have that was not acknowledge in school? (Literacy means being able to use texts and technologies to accomplish one's purpose in the world.)
A type of literacy that I posess that was not acknowledge in my school was the inability to use a computer to write papers and essays. Many of my teachers throughout school wanted handwritten papers. Handwritting papers is an extremly difficult task for me. While writing, I brainstorm and begin writing something a quickly change my thoughts. When I write on a computer, it is easy for me to change my thoughts. However, when I have to hand write, I quickly begin to get frustrated and do not want to do the assignment. It takes me at least three times longer to hand write something than to type and I begin to get frustrated.
 

6. Give an example of a literacy practice.
An example of a literacy practice is to support learner-centered classroom environments.
 

7. What is a discourse community?
A discourse community is a community shares the same type of communication style only with its members. For example, if a tourist enters a discourse community, they most likely will not understand the difernty communications and techniques exhibited within the community.
 

8. What can happen if students valuable multiple literacies are not recognized as valuable in school?
If students value multiple literacies and they are not recognized as valuable, the students may begin to feel silenced. The studenst may begin viewing their multiple literacies as a negative rather than a positive.
 

9. Give an example of how a teacher might build on the extracurricular literacy practices of their students?
An example of how a teacher might build on the extracurricular literacy practices of their students is to assign weekly reading reflection journals. The teacher can allow students to choose a book of their choice. However, at the end of each week, the students must write a page reflection of the book of their choice. The students must have the entire book read by the end of that specific month and be prepared to begin reading another book the following month.
 

10. Describe a time in which a teacher in your 4-12 schooling experience employed one of the research-base strategies to improve motivation.
An example of when a teacher used research-base strategies to improve the student motivation was when I was a senior in high school. My senior year, I was enrolled in many business courses. One business class that I was enrolled in was Intro to Business. Our teacher used real-world strategies to motivate us. We were to become entrepreneurs and build our own business. We were given an allotted amount of money and had to contact businesses within our community that were similar to the business that we wanted to build to help us with different aspects of the planning processes. This strategy was extremely motivating to the students because being an entrepreneur or business-person was extremely interesting to everyone within the class (Reading in the Content Areas, 2006).
 

11. Give an example from your own K-12 schooling experience that engaged in you in multicultural literacy development.
An example of when I experienced multicultural literacy development was when I was in third grade. My class had gotten a new student who was from Germany. The child was born and raised in Germany and did not speak much English and when he spoke English, it was sometimes hard for us to understand him. So one day when we all walked into the classroom, no one was aloud to speak in English. Our teacher wanted us to realize how difficult it was for the student from Germany. He was instructed to speak in German. All of us soon realized how this student felt. We did not do this throughout the entire class but, it made us realize that we needed to take his feelings into account and help him through the instruction when he needed the help.
 

12. What do teachers her gain recognition and respect from their peer also do well on?

The qualities that teachers gain recognition and respect for include "addressing the diverse needs of adolescents whose literacy abilities vary considerably, participating in ongoing professional development, developing quality relationships with students, managing the classroom effectively and many others (Adolescent literacy)."

References

Adolescent literacy. The National Council of Teachers of English,

Bolima, D. (n.d.). Contexts for understanding: Educational learning theories . Retrieved from http://staff.washington.edu/saki/strategies/101/new_page_5.htm

 

Bulldog, C. (2007, June 23). Canadian bulldog's retro breaking news: Hillbilly jim to dedicate royal rumble win to uncle elmer . Retrieved from http://www.worldwrestlinginsanity.com/artman/publish/article_1481.shtml

 

Jennifer aniston - hairstyle. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.easyhairstyler.com/celebrity-hairstyles/&zoom=404

Reading in the content areas:. (2006, September). Retrieved from http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/12

Social and cultural capital . (2011). Retrieved from http://www.uia.no/en/div/project/study_tour_indonesia_2011/social_and_cultural_capital

Double Entry Journal #2

"As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth"

Quote

"None of us is born knowing how to talk appropriately in church, in court, in school, in a group of friends, and so on. Simarly, none of us is born knowing how to write a personal letter, a story, a science report, an excuse note, and so on (Purcell - Gates, 139)." 

Response

 

 After finishes the assigned reading, I began searching for an image that portrayed the way I interpreted the reading. I felt that the author was trying to send the message that there are many children who are not allowed the same learning opportunities as the other students. I first looked over this picture because I did not think it had anything to do with the reading. However, after looking at this picture again, I felt that it could not fit the quote that I chose any better. No person in this world is born with the knowledge or reading or writing. However, with the help of others, each and every person within this world has the ability to learn to read and write to some extent. The above picture shows a student and two adults. The student has a look of confusion on his face. Instead of the teachers looking upset or mad, they have a look of caring and helpfulness towards the student. I believe that with the help of others, each child will succeed in literary knowledge.

• What is literacy knowledge? Give examples of both print and non print literacy knowledge.

"Literacy  knowledge is defined as being the information that children acquire during preschool, during the years before the beginning of formal literacy instruction, in kindergarten and first grade, and in reading, writing, and printed language ( Purcell - Gates, 124)." Examples of printed literacy knowledge could be textbooks, reading books, newspapers, magazines, cereal boxes and many more. Examples of non-print literacy knowledge could be stories made by parents at bedtime or discussions between people.

• How do stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction?

Stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction by not allowing people to learn at their full potential. Just because a person speaks or acts differently than others does not mean that they are incapable of learning.

• How do schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in school?

 The school systems and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in the schools by not allowing students from lower-income households and student's with poor literacy learning techniques interact in the classroom like the other students.

•  What is the relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunity?

 The relationship between language, social class, and the denial of education can be described as being harmful to the education of a person. Some people believe that people from lower social classes and people who speak differently than the normal dialect of the community are incapable of learning the way they do. This is where the denial of educational opportunity comes into play. People believe that if someone comes from a low social class, they cannot learn and they are then denied the opportunity to learn in the same settings.

• What are some misconceptions about the relationship between language and literacy?

 The main misconceptions about the relationship between language and literacy is that if you speak in a dialect that is different than the normal dialects in your community, you are unable to literate. Many people believe that having a certain tone to your voice makes you unable to learn how to read and write because you do not speak the way that they do.

• What can schools and teachers do to improve literacy instruction?

The main thing that schools and teachers can do to improve literacy instruction is to include all students in the instruction process. The main purpose of a teacher is to make sure that each and every one of your students is learning at their full potential. If there are students struggling with literary techniques, the teacher can change the method of teaching to better help the comprehension of the lesson being taught.

• How do you feel about use of the term "Proper English"?

 To me, the term "Proper English" is a figure of speech. I believe that if a person is in a formal setting or writing formally, they should use formal or proper English. However, when a person is simply writing a reminder or talking to friends, they should be able to use slang without being discriminated against.


References

 Donald d. durrell reading & writing clinic. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/sedreadingclinic/about-us/

Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture and power.




"Tall Tales of Appalachia"


 Quote

"Not long ago, one of the student counselors at West Virginia University told me that the most persistent problem she encounters is a lack of self-esteem. Bright, capable, young men and women do not think they belong in college because they are hillbillies (O'Brien)."

Response






After reading this quote in the assigned reading, I felt outraged. It really mad me mad that people in the state of West Virginia are not proud of where they come from. Although going to college was always an option for me, knowing that I had the ability to prove the people of the United States wrong was enough motivation to attend college. One reason why I decided to stay in West Virginia and obtain my college degree was to prove to people that the education in West Virginia is just as good, if not better, than the education offered in other states. The image above shows the percentages of educational levels obtained in West Virginia compared to the United States. West Virginia outranks the rest of the U.S. in high school graduates and although the U.S. beat West Virginia in some college, it was not by much. It makes me feel amazing that I am an educated women from West Virginia. I was born and raised in West Virginia and I could not be any happier that I am obtaining my college degree here, too.
 
References 

O'Brien, J. (2003, May 10). Tall tales of appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html?src=pm 

 West virginia maps and data. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.myonlinemaps.com/west-virginia.php