Teacher's View

This week we had class differently, but I learned more about vocabulary and language in general. From chapters 4 and 5, the stages of spelling was explained. I had previously touched a little bit about the stages in another education class, but I am glad to be reminded of the four stages: Precommunicative, prephonetic, phonetic, transitional, and conventional. I think in my experiences I have seen each stage from working at a daycare to working with elementary students. When I was younger, my mother kept several of my writings and school projects and I remember looking through them and seeing my spelling improve throughout the years. Does anyone still have any of their childhood writings still? During my student teaching experience, I noticed that vocabulary was taught differently than when I was in school. I remember having to write my words out a certain about of times and looking up the definitions in a dictionary. Now, many schools used word study, which is something I really e...

Word Walls. I think Word Walls add on to the classroom especially in an elementary school setting. From Kindergarten where they start learning how to spell words.....  (Pinterest.com) (firstgradenest.com) To even high school where a teacher teaches a certain subject only.   (pinterest.com) Words walls are useful for all ages. It is available information for students to use. Word walls are there to increase students' vocabulary throughout the school year. Once I get my own classroom, I do plan on using word walls. I have seen my cooperative teachers use creative kinds of walls and it seemed that students enjoyed them. Word walls can also help students with their spelling because the vocabulary on the wall are typically the words they will use in everyday basis.  I also think it would be helpful in reading. If they know what the "sight word" or "word wall", they will be capable of increasing their reading level. I have also seen te...

Ahhhh! I almost forgot to blog this week! Well, Week 2 just showed how as a teacher, you have to have a Plan B because there will be times when things do not go as planned when using technology. I have learned you can not solely depend on technology in lesson plans. Just keep calm and move on or make some adjustments when needed. Reading through the first three chapters, I saw familiar terms, but also terms there were new to me. One was constructionist. I know now that it is define as a point of view where readers, who are typically students, process the language through their own experiences. I would use this kind of approach to teaching and encourage students to create connections while they are reading to reading. Anecdotal record keeping was one that I was somewhat familiar, but once reading about it, it came back to mind. This is tracking of a certain student's development and I also think it would be useful in my classroom because I can see progress or no progre...

Tonight was the first time we "met" and feeling overwhelmed! I only had a week off in between student teaching and this class, so mentally I was not ready for more work. However, I am keeping in mind this is my last class and can finally receive my certification!  I am very happy with how class went today. Compared to some online classes I have taken in the past, students were never given time to work on their assignments during class. Today, students completed the first two discussions which required to explore two sites with teacher resources. I really liked those sites and saved the links just in case I need some help with lesson planning.  Thank you Dr. Steffes for letting class have time to work on first assignments and answer questions. Going over and clarifying assignments from day one, gives students an idea on how much time they have and what is to be expected. I dislike when professors wait until the end of the semester and give out projects.  Overall...

Hello everyone! My name is Sandy Chaidez. I am a first time blogger and looking forwarding to blogging this semester. There are three interesting facts about me including: 1. Columbia College is the only college I have attended. 2. I have traveled to more than one country in Europe. 3. I am in the first woman in my family to graduate college. Among those facts, there is a lie. Which one is it?