Presentation Reflection

I gave my presentation on using guided worksheets with a BDA included for a short story unit. This worksheet focuses on characterization and is used after the class has been introduced to lit circles. I feel the presentation went well and that I accurately described how useful the worksheet is in a classroom.What I should have told the class during my presentation is that the evidence I gave on the True Story of the 3 Little Pigs would have been written during the class. It would have been modeled for them instead of having it finished when coming to class. 
I used this worksheet as part of my lesson plan during my field experience at Johnson High School. The students responded well to it and were able to apply the worksheet to the analytical paper they wrote at the end of the unit. This worksheet is helpful for them because it focuses on a specific part of the short story and forces them to give evidence for their findings. It is also a good reference when returning to the story when writing a final paper.

Reader Response 10

Reader Response #10

Learning with new literacies is a topic that I am a little nervous about executing in the classroom. I am not all that tech savvy and I am a bit behind the curve on knowing where to go to find great online sources. This chapter helped ease me in to using technology and online resources in the classroom. I felt the main idea in this chapter is that the students have access to the information and as teachers we have to show the students how to apply the information in the classroom. How do students take all this information that is readily available to them and use it to actually learn something? Reliability, bias and distinction are all important when using the internet. I think most students would be able to spot a hoax as blatant as male pregnancy, but I doubt they realize that not everything on Wikipedia is honest or factual. After going over the rules on evaluating websites the internet becomes an indispensable teaching tool. Group learning is such an important part of school because teenagers are social and learning socially creates so many opportunities for greater critical thinking and collaboration. Webquests and other internet inquiries are both strategies I could easily apply in the classroom. I really like the idea of the students creating Webquests, having groups exchange Webquests and then reporting on the findings as a final assessment. The part I think I will struggle with is balancing technology with traditional methods. As long as standardized testing is used time will have to be spent on teaching to the tests. Most schools do not even take standardized tests on computers, it is still done on paper filling in bubbles. We are stressing technology in schools, but very rarely give students the opportunities to apply these strategies.

I like the way the chapter stresses how new literacies are considered nonlinear. The elements of new literacies are so different from print format. Each reading experience is different for every reader; even the same reader twice. The information is updated faster and access to sources is readily available. As the chapter states, this is a great opportunity for scaffolding information. Using audio recordings, definitions, hyperlinks, graphics, videos, interactive exercises and other background and foundational knowledge that is already imbedded in the text is an easy way to fill in gaps for students. The chapter calls this “branching options” and stresses the importance of these functions. When used appropriately these learning extensions can help struggling readers understand not only the reading, but the concepts as well.

After reading this chapter I feel a little more confident about using technology in the classroom. I just hope I have the opportunity to apply it.

Reader Response 9

Reader Response #9: CAR Chapter 5, CAW Chapter 10

Chapter 5 focuses on lesson planning and instruction. The quote by Eisenhower at the very start of the chapter is one I have heard often and being the spouse of an Army officer it is a quote I have seen in action. This chapter brought attention to the idea that planning is the most important part of teaching. Plans can sometimes fail, like we saw in the video in class, but a good teacher has contingency plans. The beginning of the chapter is all about modeling, scaffolding and guided practice. These strategies are a way to ensure that lessons are going to be successful. The chapter also talks about B-D-A centered lessons being key to ensure students are comprehending and learning the material. B-D-A is a good assessment tool and a way to check in with students to be sure everyone is learning and comprehending the material. The teacher is able to quickly look at where everyone is and can then decide where to go from there. Unit planning is one of the most difficult parts of lesson planning. Taking a concept and breaking it down in to parts can be difficult. The chapter stresses making sure to have objectives laid out clearly for yourself and for the students. These objectives guide the lessons and help the students know what to look for and what to focus on. The rest of the chapter focuses different learning strategies. I especially liked the section on collaborative learning. I want to be the teacher that talks less and listens more. I want my students to think critically and discover answers instead of me giving the information. All the group strategies mentioned in the chapter are all helpful. Learning as a group helps facilitate individual learning. Once the cooperative learning happens it is easier for the individual to take the strategies learned in the group and apply it to his or her learning process. The biggest take away I got from this chapter is that the teacher is the facilitator and guides learning, but there is a lot of preparation and planning that goes in to this type of learning.

Chapter 10 is all about writing assessments; both the students writing for assessments and the teacher writing the test. After my experience at Johnson High School I have found that the classroom has such a wide variety of skill level when it comes to writing. The teacher I have been observing has to cover all these different levels when giving tests and when teaching writing. She has a great ability to work writing into every day instruction. She told me that it took a lot of time for her to be able to seamlessly integrate writing into her curriculum. Students are reluctant to write when they are given writing assignments, but they are more enthusiastic when writing becomes an on-going process. An end of quarter analytical paper was worked on throughout the entire quarter beginning with reader response questions, outlines and focused free writing. The paper was then edited over and over again until a final draft was finished at the end of the quarter. The final draft happened without most of the students realizing they had been in the process of writing it the entire quarter. The teacher used scaffolding and took each new writing skill and developed them into a finished product. I saw in action what this chapter was discussing. It will take lots of practice and some trial and error, but I know it will create better writers.

Chapter 8: Building Vocab

Reader Response #8

Vocabulary is the key to reading comprehension. A reader needs a deep vocabulary to understand what is being read. As students encounter new vocabulary in content areas he or she begin to struggle if they do not have the strategies to decode new words. As we have discussed in class the traditional strategies for teaching vocabulary do not help a student long term. Not only do students have an overabundance of what they need to learn over the course of the day, teachers are competing with each other for that space in the students’ brains. The main point I took away from the textbook and the class discussion is to decide what words need the most in depth, direct teaching. These are the words we want to carry over from year to year and be able to use and understand without fail. These are the words that are part of a broader concept we need students to understand and apply to the content area. The textbook gives some very good strategies for vocabulary instruction and reading comprehension.

Graphic organizers are an uncomplicated way for students to learn vocabulary and apply it to a main concept. Graphic organizers help visually enforce making connections between vocabulary and concepts. It helps students find what is important and leave behind what is filler. I use graphic organizers in my notes when I am discovering a new concept or subject. It helps me organize my thoughts and is a good tool to go back to when I need to refresh or study. What I like most about graphic organizers is that they can be as simple or complex as needed; there is variety and each student can personalize them. The other types of writing to learn strategies mentioned in the chapter, word exploration, brainstorming, list-group-label, word sorts, and knowledge ratings, are also simple ways to form connections between the content and vocabulary. They can be executed with little preparation and do not take much time during the lesson, but go in depth.

The other vocabulary strategies mentioned in the chapter are a little more complex and take much more time than the previously mentioned strategies. I feel that they would work better for students who are already good readers and have a strong background in the content area. They seem to be better for in depth analysis of a concept; incorporating the vocabulary into the analysis instead of learning vocabulary first and then exploring the concept. I was overwhelmed by the magic squares strategy and could not see myself using this method. I see how it would be beneficial, but it felt too complicated for some of the students I have worked with. I can see spending more time explaining what they are supposed to with the squares than actually applying the strategy to vocabulary. The limited time in class would be better spent using a simple strategy that does not require a lot of time giving directions on how to use it. As a student I would immediately tune out because it is not the way my mind works. The concept circles, on the other hand, give as much in depth meaning to vocabulary as magic squares, but are so much simpler for students to use. There are many ways to use them and can be used individually, in groups or in a whole class.

Using context to decipher vocabulary is a skill that is being taught in elementary schools. My first grader already knows how to look for clues to words he does not know by looking at the words and sentences around it and looking at the pictures, if there are any. The chapter gives more complex strategies for context clues, but the idea is the same. We use what we already know to figure out what we do not know.  Depending on the skill level of the reader, different strategies can be used. I would think a student reading three grade levels below would be able to find meaning looking at the Latin root of the word, but they could break down a longer word into smaller words they already know.

All the strategies discussed in this chapter are helpful for all reading levels and can be used to help a struggling reader or an accelerated reader.

Culturally Responsive Instruction

Reader Response #7

Culturally responsive teaching is an area that has become very important in education and most schools seem to be struggling with incorporating it into the curriculum. Most teachers use supplemental materials to create a more diverse curriculum. I have been doing my field experience at Johnson High School in Saint Paul. It is a very diverse student body comprising of African-American, Asian (mostly Hmong), Latino and Caucasian students. The teacher I am visiting has a textbook, but does not use it except for choosing certain short stories or poems from it. She mostly uses trade books and professional journals to find stories that the students can connect to. She says that the textbook has very little in it that the students can relate to, especially with such diversity in her classroom. It does not seem very difficult for her to find material that the students are intrigued by and challenged by, but for whatever reason the curriculum that is planned out for her is lacking in this area. We are told that to get students excited about reading we have to hook them and activate their prior knowledge. This is impossible if they are reading something they have no connection to. This chapter has great ideas to help teachers be aware of the holes in the curriculum and how to fill those holes.

The biggest challenge for me will be figuring out how to actually teach to each culture to make sure all my students are learning. The textbook says that we have to adjust teaching styles and assessments to accommodate the different cultures in our classrooms. The textbook also tells us to learn the background information and cultural expectations to motivate the students. What I take away from this is that we have to know our students to become effective teachers. This understanding will also help teachers know what these cultures bring to a learning situation. Every culture can be tapped to enhance what is being learned in the classroom because each culture has different values.

I anticipate that my biggest challenge will be having ELL students in my class. This is a very unfamiliar situation for me because I did not go to school with any ELL students until I was in college and most ELL students are no longer struggling when they get to college. This is an area I will need a lot of guidance in and I am hoping my school is adequately staffed to help me in this new position.

This chapter helped me know what to look for in a classroom, in my curriculum and my students to help me become a culturally responsive teacher. I want to be a teacher because I want to experience learning with my students, all my students. I believe every student is capable of learning and I want to include all my students in the learning experience.

How to Create a Successful Reader

Reader Response #6

My biggest take away from reading Chapter 10 and the article “A Focus on the Essentials of Reading Instruction” was that reading is supposed to be an active experience, not a passive experience. Once this idea takes root many new options and activities are available to keep readers engaged in the reading experience.

In Chapter 10 the focus was on how to use the existing text to the advantage of the reader. When students understand how the text is structured it is easier to find the meaning and understand what to read. The textbook focuses on how to use the text to “facilitate” reading. The purpose of the textbook is no longer to copy the information from it and fill in blanks on a worksheet. The different ways to organize the information in the text to find the meaning are explored in Chapter 10. The graphic organizer that was used when I was in school was the linear outline form. This is not as helpful as other ways to organize the information found in the text. It is much more beneficial for students to use a graphic organizer to understand the text patterns. These graphic organizers ask an exploratory question and then must read the text to find the supporting information. I liked the problem-and-solution outline in figure 10.3. I thought it was an easy way for students to put their thoughts down and organize the ideas in the text in a way that makes it easy for them to connect the dots.

Note taking has also evolved since I was in school. It is no longer about copying information from the text, but used to summarize text in the students’ own words and ideas. It is used to respond to the text. I thought the reading logs, T-notes and Cornell notes were helpful tools, but I did not think the annotations are all that helpful. Instead of having set symbols for every student to use, I think it would be more beneficial for the student to come up with their own symbols. Otherwise, I think the student would be too caught up in the symbols and not really absorbing the information. The graphic set up of study and reading guides have also evolved since my time in school. The use of questions to force the reader to actively look for an answer is much better than having them copy facts from the text. Now the questions ask for critical thinking instead of just reciting information. If used correctly study and reading guides can be used to help with a final assessment of the text. The main ideas of the text and the student response are all there for the student to refer to. The suggestions in chapter 10 can be used to help motivate students to read; which is the first part of becoming a successful reader.

The article, “A Focus on the Essentials of Reading Instruction” summarized what we have been discussing in class on the best practices of active reading. I liked how they graded each practice. As teachers, I think we are all a bit of overachievers and we don’t want to get anything less than an A. We are motivated by the success of our students and the practices discussed in the article gave a good overview on how to successfully create readers in our classrooms.

Reflection on WTL Demo

Post Demo Reflection

The write to learn demonstration was a very good experience for me. I chose biopoems because I liked how you could be as creative as you wanted to, but it could be very analytical and used in many different content areas. When preparing for the demo I wanted to focus on the technique, not on what we were reading. I decided to use the Harry Potter example because I thought it would be a universal topic that most of us could identify with and require little background knowledge. I chose the first chapter of The House on Mango Street because it is part of a novel, but it is almost like a short story where it can stand alone. This made it easy to get a lot out of it without having to talk about it first. I thought my examples worked well, but it would have been better to demo it with more time. If I had more time I would have had the students pair up and write a biopoem about a character they both knew about, like a character in the last novel or short story we read. After I would have had everyone share their biopoem with the class. It would be interesting to see the different biopoems about the same character. Next, I would have the students read the first chapter of The House on Mango Street and then the students would write a biopoem. I think it would be good to have them do it in pairs again. Once they feel comfortable with using biopoems I think it would be a great tool to use in preparing to write any kind of paper and to help them with any kind of character analysis. I think it would also be a good starter for an entry in a writing journal or a prompt to use in the beginning of class. Using it as a reading break without making in to a poem would help assess comprehension also. I think my classmates took away that it is something they can use in any content area and it can be tweaked to use for their content area. It is flexible and gives the student control over how creative they want to be, but still comprehend the information needed. 

Chapter 6

Reader Response Chapter 6

After reading about how to motivate my students all I can picture in my head is a room full of surly teenagers who don’t want to be in my classroom and are staring anywhere but at me or their fellow classmates. I have a hard time connecting to a student who is unmotivated because even if I didn’t like a subject or teacher I was motivated by my GPA. I wanted to do well in a class because I wanted to do well in school. There were times I did the least amount of work needed to get the grade I wanted, but I always tried. I am now terrified to walk in to a class and see a mass of blank faces looking back at me.  After reading this chapter, I have come to the conclusion that even if I don’t have students in love with my subject, I can at least have a room full of confident readers that are willing and motivated to tackle my subject.

The section on arousing curiosity reiterated activating background knowledge as one of keys to making connections to the text being read. It is the best way to get them engaged in the reading because they are already thinking about what they know and how to apply it to the reading. Using story impressions is a great way to get kids interested in what they are reading. The example using Gulliver’s Travels was interesting to me because I could visualize kids using it in class. Using the chain of clue words helps kids anticipate what is going to happen and what the story is about. It helps them focus on the story and know what to look for before they read it. The prereading exercises discussed in the text are relevant in all content area because they provide time needed for the students to raise questions and find solutions before they begin reading. They are no longer going in to a text blind, but instead are prepared to get meaning from what they are reading. I thought the anticipation guide for preconceived notions (figure 6.9) was not as helpful as the other strategies. I could see this being a setback for certain students, especially those who do not like to fail and feel the need to be perfect. It has the potential to make students feel stupid. It could be useful for more objective materials, but for objective content it has the potential to create pushback toward the subject.

The section on ReQuest was very helpful in understanding how to guide struggling readers to ask questions about what they are reading. I think most students, not just struggling readers, have a hard time determining what is most important when reading. Modeling how to ask questions after reading and then having them practice it with a partner or small group is beneficial for all the students participating in the strategy. I can see this being time consuming and difficult to do with every text, but once it is learned it would not be as time intensive. This strategy can be modified to fit the content and the classroom.

Writing to Learn and Lesson Planning

There was a lot of information to absorb and sort through in chapters 5 and 9 of Content Area Reading.  There were many useful ideas and information to use in the classroom, but I want to focus on the two I was most engrossed in; using a wide range of texts in a thematic unit and writing to learn activities.

During my time in junior high and high school I would often get bored with reading the same things over and over again. I enjoyed reading novels, short stories and poetry, but in other classes all we ever read were textbooks. I think my interest in science and math would have been more if I would have been able to read something other than the textbook. I got good grades in both subjects, but I was never really engaged except when we did hands-on lab work in science classes. As an English teacher I know I have an advantage because there are a wider range of texts that are more readily available than in other content areas. I am eager to use the sources available to me like digital texts, video and other technology based formats. Using all these available sources helps create a learning environment for all types of learners and allows students to show their understanding of content in a way that is as creative as they are.

I came away with so many ideas after reading about the writing to learn activities in chapter 9. I have often seen that writing assignments in classrooms are not designed for creative thinking or reflection, but restating information. It is often busy work that students do not get a lot out of. Microthemes, POVG's, unsent letters, biopoems, admit and exit slips, journals and learning logs all force the student to process the information and think about what they actually learned. These activities also help the teacher gauge where each student is in the learning process and where more time may need to be spent for further understanding. The section on biopoems was really interesting to me because it is something fairly quick and easy for a student to use as a starting point for an analysis paper or research paper to gather their ideas and start to organize those ideas into something cohesive and persuasive. All the activities in this section will help a student think critically and creatively instead of just reproducing information found in a text.

Using Trade Books in the Classroom

How Do I Add More Trade Books to a Literature Class?          

As a future literature teacher I will be using lots and lots of fiction trade books in my classroom and few textbooks, if any. I want to focus on using more nonfiction and other fiction genres in my classroom to enhance the fiction that will be read. The best way I can think of to use nonfiction is for background knowledge before reading a novel. There are times when knowing what was happening in society at the time a novel was written is helpful, sometimes necessary, to understand the novel. Or, other times it is helpful to see how a novel changed society after it was written. I know using other modern genres, such as comics, graphic novels and even electronic media, can show how a novel influenced these genres. Having small children I know picture books are not just for kids. I often enjoy the books I read to my kids even more than they do. We have many, many picture books in my house and I work in the children’s section in a bookstore and I do not see many that focus on literature. I can see different genres of literature or time periods that have influenced the picture books, but besides Shakespeare I see very little picture books that focus on an author or novel. I think they could be used for other purposed, but depending on the novel or topic it could be difficult to use one to enhance a lesson.

I agreed with most of the problems with textbooks discussed in chapter 11. I remember having teachers in school who rarely used the textbooks because they were so lacking and other teachers who relied solely on the textbooks. You can probably guess which classes I enjoyed more. I was struck by how blunt the authors were about the problems in relying so heavily on textbooks in classrooms when they said students come out with a superficial knowledge of many topics, but little to no in depth knowledge of any topic. They broke down the issue into four parts, inconsiderate texts, inaccuracy, inappropriate reading level and negative student reactions. I have personally had these issues with textbooks as a student. I remember saying in high school that we were swapping out one useless book for a different useless book during our time between classes.

I felt they did a good job describing why trade books are beneficial in the classroom. Trade books focus on capturing the reader instead of just giving the reader information. When the writer is passionate, the reader often becomes passionate. Since there are an abundance of books on singular topics it is easy to find books for all readers at all levels. I liked how the authors stressed that kids do not know how to read to learn because they have only been exposed to textbooks in schools. This causes kids to not want to read on their own. When exposed to trade books they become enthusiastic about a topic because the trade book is written with them in mind, for them. Pairing the nonfiction with fiction is a great suggestion. I think teachers get overwhelmed with the amount of information and feel it is too daunting of a task to introduce so many other books in the classroom. However, you don’t have to read the entire book to get information to your students, or use books at all. There are so many articles, videos, podcasts and other formats out there besides books.

The section on creating classroom libraries and text sets was difficult for me to get behind. In theory it’s a great idea, but with the budgets and focus on standardized testing it doesn’t seem realistic. It would be ideal, but I think it is more realistic to think of ways around a class library. We might have to look at electronic sources and get used to students sharing. I felt the section on SSR was similar to the section on classroom libraries. There are so many outside factors involved in making it work. The part about having the entire staff on board and administrative leadership seems far reaching. It is difficult to get every single person on board no matter how great the topic or solution is. I discovered many great ideas in the sections on read-alouds, group models, reader response strategies and the topics that followed these sections. All of these strategies are great as long as there is a clear purpose and focus for the students. I feel sometimes these are used as busy work for kids and taught without giving the kids the skills needed to be useful for them. I think the sections that discussed dramatic responses should be used as optional or a choice because those assignments can be terrifying for some students while other students would learn more using them. It is one thing to push our students to step outside their comfort zone and another to terrify them. I really enjoyed the section on idea circles. It can be used in so many different ways with different sized groups. It is a collaborative process that every student can benefit from. This is a successful model as long as there is a clear set of instructions and everyone is clear on their roles. Students do not often get the chance to write or discuss topics with their peers as the target audience. Most of the time teachers are the audience and ideas can flow freer when they feel less pressure from their peers.

 

Chapter 2 in Content Area Writing was a short chapter but had lots of information. My biggest take-away was seeing the clear differences and purposes between writing to learn and public writing. Writing to learn is focused on free thinking. There are no correct answers, no correct format, just something to get the ideas flowing so they can be formed into a structured assignment. The focus is feedback and discussion, not grading. What stood out to me was this line, “To get learning power, kids need to grapple with ideas, transform them, and put them in their own words.” This, for me, is the purpose of education.

Reader Response #2: Does being a teacher require you to be a statistician?

Assessing is the main focus of Chapter 4. I have thought a lot about assessments as a future teacher and a parent. I have always thought standardized testing is more detrimental to education than helpful, especially after NCLB. This chapter reaffirmed my opinion that federal government has overstepped its boundaries and has put in place a traditional, formal assessment that is not helpful for students or teachers. I understand the need to be able to measure students’ proficiency; as a teacher you have to test the information learned in a classroom. However, the conditions attached to the outcome of standardized testing are absurd. Losing funding because federal standards are not met is not helpful to schools or students. If standardized tests are needed to assess students and teachers it should be done on a state and local level. Teachers begin teaching to the test and curriculum is narrowed to prep for tests. Students are not learning to apply knowledge, but are focused on memorizing information. Money that is spent on teaching to test could be spent on actual curriculum and other resources to help students learn instead of take a test. I want to teach in a private school where federal tests are not the teacher’s sole focus. Standardized testing also ignores background information a student may need to succeed and can ignore minorities and low income students because of it. The author uses the term “coerced” when discussing NCLB and it seems to me to be a fitting term to describe how our federal government gets states to meet their requirements. Education has been taken out of the hands of educators and parents and put into the hands of politicians who answer to more than their constituents.

 

After reading the section Standardized Testing: What Teachers Need to Know, I was thoroughly confused on how to interpret scores. I felt I needed to hold a stats degree to decode how the scores are transformed. It felt to me that any score could be twisted and molded to fit any outcome. The author listed reliability and validity as two important characteristics of standardized testing. I agree with this idea, but I am curious who gets to decide validity and reliability. As educators and legislators, we might have very different ideas on what comprehension is and how to measure it.

 

The quote, “In a high stakes approach to assessment, the test is the major tool; in an authentic approach, the teacher is the major tool,” really stayed with me. I think this idea is what is argued over in education today. People tend to look at test results as being indicative of a good teacher, but this is not always true. Good test results are not necessarily the outcome of a successful teacher. Almost anyone can teach test prep, even a poor teacher. If all we are looking at is test scores we could be rewarding subpar teachers and disciplining exceptional teachers.

 

I had a lot of questions about the frequency observation form for bad behavior. When I looked at it the items being tracked were behaviors that I didn’t necessarily find as being classified as bad behavior. Most people, not just kids, tap desks, hum and make other “unnecessary noises” without realizing it. I know I click my pen persistently while thinking and most of the time I don’t even realize I’m doing it. If we are labeling kids as ADHD because they move out of their seats, drop things and make noises nearly every child would be labeled ADHD. I know I can only sit still for an amount of time before I start fidgeting. Also, maybe we need to look at the material we are covering in class and the lessons we are teaching because maybe the kids are bored. It is possible to lose a child’s interest. I felt this form to be lacking and the need for it as something to simply show a parent who wants to see proof their child is behaving badly. Have we gotten to the place where we expect kids to no longer act like kids?

 

The section discussing the portfolio assessment was very helpful for me. I took away a lot of idea on how I could utilize this in my classroom. I especially like the aspect of the students having a say in their educational plan. Expectations are raised by making the student be a part of how they are learning and giving feedback on what works for them. It is always a good idea to have someone be a part of how they are learning and forcing them to think about what their goals are. This is beneficial for both student and teacher. It does seem like it would take up a lot of time, but even if the portfolio isn’t used every day in its entirety, pieces can be used throughout the year or the whole can be used over the course of one lesson plan. The portfolio can be useful as a tool to help students understand how they learn and how they can apply it in all classes.

 

This chapter gave me much to think about and helped me understand assessments in the classroom.

Reader Response #1

Reader Response #1

The main idea I took away from Content Area Writing is that today’s students write more than any other generation because of their access to technology. However, what they struggle with is writing to learn and the need to know how to appropriately write in different environments. Today’s students have difficulty writing to learn, but their ability to write publicly can be used to improve on their writing skills in the classroom. Teacher’s need to ask themselves if what we are teaching is engaging to students before we can teach them to become better writers. Asking students to take notes while a teacher lectures or write the five paragraph essay is no longer effective teaching. The author says that writing is needed in education because it helps students be more actively engaged in the subject matter, but techniques need to be improved on. I like the idea that teaching content writing is not added work, but an alternate process. Many of the techniques used in the classroom create quiet compliance not active participation. The reason I want to teach is because I want to engage my students to critically think and have ideas. Writing is a way for students to communicate their ideas and if their writing is clear and concise so will be their ideas. Ignoring and downplaying the amount of writing students do in their social lives is a mistake some teachers make.  We can create better, more effective learners by taking the writing skills students already possess and building on them. One of the problems addressed in this chapter is that students forget most information taught in the classroom because we teach them too much information. It is difficult to be clear in your ideas if there is too much information to sort through. The idea of deeper not wider curriculum stuck with me. The author discusses selective curriculum with active engaged learning activities to replace the stagnant current curriculum. I find this relevant as a new teacher because there could potentially be a lot of push-back from administration and other teachers if I want to change how my classroom works.

After reading Content Area Reading I was reminded of the amount of testing standards that schools and teachers are held to. These standards, which are outlined by the state and federal governments, are hindering teachers and are forcing “standards based instruction” on our schools. Teachers are teaching to test instead of teaching to learn. Curriculum has turned into students repeating information instead of critically thinking and understanding materials. This current way of teaching has not helped our students’ reading abilities at all. Teachers use textbooks to assign reading and then have students tell them what they read by way of questions at the end of chapters. There is not engaging students in what they are reading and comprehension is no longer a priority as long as students can find the answers by skimming the chapters read. The most relevant part of the reading for me was the different types of literacy discussed in the chapter. With access to technology literacy has expanded to include computer literacy, digital literacy, information literacy, media literacy and health literacy. Students are no longer tied to books or other printed words, but information is coming at them from all directions. This idea forces teachers to look at their content area in a new way and look at alternate ways of teaching students how to read and comprehend the materials. The idea that stood out the most to be was how we need to exploit technology instead of ignoring. I have often gotten into discussions with other parents about the use of technology in schools. Some parents feel it shouldn’t be brought into schools and that we should continue with the tradition tools we use in the classroom. I feel this is a huge mistake. Technology is part of our culture and it is a skill that is need in college and then in the professional world. As long as we teach responsible use of technology I feel technology can only enhance the educational experience for teachers and students. The author builds on this idea by pointing out how reading in print and digitally is processed differently. Text is read in a linear way, while digital reading can be non-linear depending on where a person starts and stops reading the information. This requires a new set of knowledge for students and new way of teaching for teachers. The authors also touched on schema which is something I have come across many times in classes discussing reading comprehension. Students must have vocabulary knowledge and background in the content area they are reading about to understand what they are reading. This is a concept most assessment tests miss out on and students are improperly evaluated. Overall I felt the messages in the first chapter were enlightening and thoughtful and I am eager to discover what techniques will be discussed in future chapters.