'Life of a Student' by Shavel Swan

I created a podcast entitled 'Life of a Student' to express my feelings towards school. The link to this podcast is- https://anchor.fm/shavel-swan/episodes/Life-of-a-Student-by-Shavel-Swan-enunbt

Poetry Gallery

(Sticker Mania, 2020)

Just ‘Wow!’ This was the only statement that came to my mind on Wednesday 25th November 2020. As I walked through the classroom to view the poetry pieces I was amazed by how Mrs. Gillian Lazarus uses her reading strategies so effortlessly. One (1) of the strategies is the Poetry Gallery. You may be asking yourself ‘What is a Poetry Gallery?’ A poetry gallery can be easily defined as a strategy where the teacher pastes pieces of poems on the wall for students to view and examine.

As a preservice teacher, I analyze the teacher's every move. I analyze the teacher’s deportment in the classroom to the strategies that they use. I do this since I know that my lecturer is modeling the acceptable ways of a good teacher. Before beginning the gallery walk my teacher gave us a question to guide us as we moved from poem to poem. As I moved from poem to poem I discovered that every poet has their own way of expressing their ideas and feelings. The way in which the poet expresses themselves should appeal to some sort of emotion in the reader.

As a future teacher, I aspire to use this strategy in my classroom. I now know that the students do not necessarily always have to be sitting down to do sit work activities. Students should be allowed to move to be engaged in the learning process. This constant movement does not only bring about student involvement but they will also be interested and motivated to learn. I also see the importance of planning as a teacher. When a teacher plans the lesson transitions smoothly and the students are not left ‘lost’ and unsupervised. I also learned that the teacher should guide the students as they engage in activities so they would not be confused.

 

References

Sticker Mania. (2020). Retrieved from https://mystickermania.com/sticker-packs/adventure-time/adventure-time-amazed-jake

 

Application of the 6+1 Traits of Writing

 

(Pinterest, 2020)

The day was Friday 20th November 2020. The day I felt like I finally understood the reason why we completed the topic the 6+1 traits of writing. When we finalized the topic 6+1 Traits of Writing, I never really understood the reason why we did this topic. I thought that this topic was only done since we needed to complete the course outline. Then the time came when we had to analyze a child’s writing piece. When we had to complete this task I grew confused because I cannot analyze my work so how can I analyze another child’s work. After having numerous ‘drills’ on how to analyze the child’s work I realized that the strengths and weaknesses we were coming up with were from the 6+1 traits of writing. As a result of completing this session, I realize that you need to use the 6+1 Traits of Writing to analyze students' work. I can also use the 6+1 Traits of Writing to analyze my writing pieces. I found it quite difficult to remember the 6+1 traits of writing so I have developed a mnemonic to memorize it. This is ‘Idle oranges voice words to create sentences perfectly.’ Idle-Ideas, Oranges- Organization, Voice-Voice, Words- Word Choice, Create- Conventions, Sentences- Sentence Fluency, Perfectly- Presentation.

I must confess that I still do not feel like I can analyze students' writing effectively. To give myself practice I will help analyze my siblings writing pieces as well as my community children’s work. I will also seek assistance from my more knowledgeable peers.

As a future teacher, I will use a rubric for the 6+1 Traits of writing, to help me to analyze the students work to give students corrections. I will also use the 6+1 Traits of writing rubric to help assist me in correcting my pieces for my writing portfolio and when I decide to write more pieces.

 

References

Pinterest. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/393290979929176397/

 

My Flaw in Creating Activities for Narrative Writing

 

                                                             (SCOO NEWS, 2020)

The day was Tuesday, 10th November 2020. On this day, I learned how I can use my Narrative piece to create activities for students to be engaged. While being a preservice teacher, I lack the abilities to be able to guide students properly to complete tasks. I learned that the instructions given to students must be explicit so students may be able to complete the activity to the best of their ability. Though I still feel incompetent to create activities so students can be involved in after the writing piece is read to them, I plan to seek assistance from my peers for guidance and assistance. 

 

References

SCOO NEWS. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.scoonews.com/news/poster-making-competition-for-grade-6-organised-at-jayshree-periwal-high-school-1669

Do Not Only Describe to be Descriptive!

 

                                       (Teachers Pay Teachers, 2020) 

Have you ever wondered what you can do to improve your Descriptive Writing?

If so, you have come to the right place.

When we think about Descriptive Writing we normally think about the use of adjectives. Descriptive Writing is not only about the use of adjectives! In order for the writer to describe vividly, the writer needs to paint a picture of a person, place, thing, or event in the readers’ mind. Hence, the reader needs to see, hear, taste, feel, and even smell what the writer is trying to say. This can be done through the use of sensory details, Figurative language, Dominant impression, Precise language, and Careful Organization.

When I thought about Descriptive Writing, the only thing which came to my mind was the use of adjectives to describe the nouns. This misconception was a result of what my primary school teachers told me. As a future teacher, I plan to not only tell the students about the use of adjectives but the use of the different elements to create a descriptive piece. As a result, students will not think Descriptive Writing is only using adjectives. This will in turn make them better descriptive writers. This is a video I have come across to help you improve your Descriptive Writing. 

 

 

Reference

·         Teachers Pay Teachers. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Writers-Workshop-586661

The Balanced Literacy Approach

As we draw closer and closer to Teacher Practice, I can feel myself getting more and more anxious. These frequent ‘anxiety attacks’ is as a result of feeling like I don’t know how to plan a proper Language Arts lesson and execute it. 

(Slide Team, 2020)

         The session which decreased my anxiety levels was when Mrs. Marilyn Munroe-Francis came and taught us ‘The Balanced Literacy Approach.’ I usually hear my colleagues speaking about a Language block. When I asked about it I felt the once assembled papers in my brain, scatter all over the place. After being taught how to write a lesson for Language Arts in previous courses, I thought the lessons had to have introductory, developmental, and culminating activities, whether it be a part of the Language Arts components: Spelling, Grammar, Composition, Word study, etc. Hence, I would have written lessons with every component, including an introduction, developmental and culminating activities without knowing how to format the activities while still using the modes of Language Arts. Now I know what approach I should use to come up with activities. This approach is the Balanced Literacy Approach. This approach comprises of seven (7) different components (daily). These components include a Read Aloud, Shared Reading, Word Study, Independent Reading, Guided Reading, Shared Writing, and Independent Writing. All of these components are a part of the introductory, developmental, and culminating activities.

As a result of learning the components of the Balanced Literacy Approach, this anxiety is slowly changing into excitement.  Though I don’t feel comfortable creating a lesson plan much less teach one, I plan to do certain things to assist myself. In order to feel more equipped, I will research more on the ‘Balanced Literacy Approach’, seek help from my colleagues, and write more lesson plans using the approach. While beginning my search, I came across a video on YouTube. This video can be used to further aid your understanding of the ‘Balanced Literacy Approach.’

 (Youtube, 2020)

 

 

References

·         Slide Team. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.slideteam.net/3d-man-confused-with-question-marks-ppt-graphics-icons-powerpoint.html

·         Youtube. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibAYZRv2oLM

Persuade the Audience

 

Did you ever have an idea and wanted individuals to side with you? This idea is known as persuasion.

(Australian Curriculum Lessons, 2020)

Persuasion is the art of gaining favorable consideration for your point of view. When doing this you should lure the audience so that they can reconsider their own ideas. Me and my siblings usually argue about whose turn it is to do certain chores. When learning how to write persuasive essays my points will be stronger and I will in turn win arguments. This will not only pertain to my personal life but my academic life as well. This is a link to one (1) of my colleagues’ blogs. https://gawjussjael.blogspot.com/ At the end of the blog is an image entitled ‘Writing to … Argue or Persuade.’ This image has various Persuasive Techniques which can be used to persuade the reader.

When writing a persuasive essay, you should ask yourself:

-          Is the topic sentence stated clearly?

-          Is it linked to my thesis statement?

-          Are my details convincing?

-          Do the ideas flow smoothly?

-          Does my final sentence: restate the topic sentence/ link to the next paragraph?

 

Writing persuasive pieces is a crucial aspect of a child’s academic career. As a future teacher I will ensure that I give my students sufficient time to plan when writing persuasive essays. I will also give the students a checklist so that they can stay on task while writing a persuasive essay. While teaching persuasive writing I will use the OREO Strategy. When students use this strategy they will be more willing to write.

(Scholastic, 2020)

This is an example of the OREO template.

 

 

References

Australian Curriculum Lessons. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculumlessons.com.au/2012/09/05/persuasive-writing-techniques/

Scholastic. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/graphic-organizers-opinion-writing/