stumped by technology

On our last day we get stumped by technology. Livetext is under maintenance so we are unable to to present our individual class portfolios. I am going to miss the class and the interaction we had. Have a happy holiday.

I know it's a little late, but I hope you had a good birthday Dr. Rivera!

Possibilities Beyond D.I.

I loved the way Dr. Rivera embarked our class on such a positive mode today. And thank you for the wonderful PEA comments! I honestly believe that all of your observations were indeed accurate, so before I get carried away, let me just get straight to the point. I thoroughly enjoyed everyone's literature review presentation tonight. Everyone did a terrific job in imparting literacy learning information whether the selection was on Success for All, Four Blocks, Adult Literacy, Sally, Dick & Jane Series, Guided Reading or Jolly Phonics. After everyone presented, I felt rather jolly and relieved that we only have one more week of class to go. But somehow, the word "parsing" was still on the back of my mind. Seriously, the word parsing stumped my mind all the way home so (despite sundown), I decided to broaden my horizons. As soon as I got home, I reached out to my most convenient source. According to my most accessible guidebook - The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, parsing basically means, "...to give a grammatical description of a word or a group of words." What an opportune time to ask Santa for one of those dictionary gadgets for Christmas - like the apparatus Barbara brought to class for our inspection? Until the next time we meet, be good and don't forget to include the device on your wish list. Adios!

Who knew?

Who knew there were so many wonderful reading programs out there?! You have all opened my eyes to the many different programs to teach reading...although most of us can't touch them, it's nice to know that there's something OTHER than DI! Everyone has done an awesome job on their presentations. It's unfortunate that we can't do any of them in our public schools, but at least we have an idea of what's to come after! Again, kudos to everyone!

Let Freedom Reign

I really benefited from the paired reading activity that we applied in class today. Combined with the transactional response activity, as well as the masking reading strategy in the past, it is these types of experiences where I find learning in Language and Literacy Development to be very meaningful and practical.

By the way, the butterflies symbolize the freedom we will soon be (wholeheartedly) experiencing, as we get closer to the last day of class. I am so grateful for having such supportive and wonderful colleagues in this class. All of your constant encouragement has persuaded me to latch on and persevere during these past months. Now that we are near the end of class, I am even more determined and appreciative for heeding your good advice. Thank you!

I'm thinkin' 'bout thinkin'!

Today we turned in our papers on Metacognition. I was a little worried because I walked into the lab hearing about presentations. I'm glad it wasn't something I missed in the syllabus! Our activity on Paired reading was refreshing because it was...well...not DI. I have absolutely nothing against DI, but it does cut from a lot of other activities I used to do with my students. This can be used when a student is having difficulties passing checkouts and they need remedies, especially with fluency. It just might work. :o)

Paired reading

Paired reading of a student and teacher. When the student stumbles over a word, the teacher reads the word correctly. Then the pair resumes reading together. When the student gets comfortable reading alone, the student will tap the teacher to signal that he/she can go solo. This strategy seems appropriate for a beginning reader. While doing the activity I keep thinking of how I would apply it to adults who are in remedial reading.

APA style website

Hey all! After all our Halloween hoopla, I have finally remembered at 2am to blog the web address to the APA style website I usually use to do my papers. ALl you need to do is scroll down to find what you need...at the wayyyyy bottom are links to the other formats and styles(still within the website). Hope this helps! http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/