Chapter 4: Toward a Balanced Diet of Reading

            The chapter, “Toward a Balanced Diet of Reading”, was interesting and made me think about the kinds of reading materials I want to offer my students in the future. What I found really interesting was the section on David Bodanis’ book A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation. I do think it can hard for students to fully understand complex concepts, such as Einstein’s equation, by just reading a few paragraphs in a textbook. Also, if they do understand what they read, it sometimes is only for the assessment they’ll have in that class. Bodanis’ book elaborated on Einstein’s equation and told a story behind what each component of the equation. In this chapter, the authors describe this book as being very engaging and informative. I believe that this is more important because students usually remember topics and concepts that grabbed their attention. This book is also described as a “page-turner”. I would think students will remember something that they wanted to read rather than a textbook they are assigned that can sometimes be confusing or boring. If a teacher does assign these kinds of readings to their students they will have to make the time for the student to read more. I still think reading a more engaging book on one important concept is more beneficial to the student rather than reading a textbook that may not get the whole picture across.

            Another component that I liked about this chapter and that I still question is, what is a balanced diet of reading? As a future teacher, I would like to learn more about what I should assign as readings in my classroom as I obviously would want my students to want to read and to actually read the material assigned. The author went off of two theories about what students should be reading. One was a more classic list that included books that were much older and the other was a list of more modern books. I think I would like to assign some of both, but carefully choose the texts from both areas to make sure they are engaging to my students. I still would like to do some more research on what is more successful in a secondary education classroom.

            My favorite part of the chapter was the section on building a classroom library. I found this part to be interesting because it is something that I did not see in the majority of my high school classrooms but I do think it could be very useful to students. A classroom library provides easy access to different kinds of reading material. Also, it is something teachers don’t have to spend too much money on and if they buy a few books/magazines/etc. each year the cost of the materials might not seem so bad.  I think it is good for students because they can choose what to read and they can use it as references for research papers or lab reports. Also, having books such as the Guinness Book of World Records can provide the students with little facts to broaden their knowledge base. A classroom library is definitely something I would also like to look into and use in the future.

Scavenger Hunt

            On Tuesday, Laura and I took a journey around CF to complete the scavenger hunt as instructed by Dr. Horwitz. It was a cold and snowy day but it turned out being a lot of fun. It wasn’t like any other assignment we’ve had in this class. Actually, I wouldn’t even consider it an assignment. It was a fun learning experience.

            Laura and I drove to and around CF but it was different than the other Tuesdays that we took the trip. I was really looking around at my surroundings. One of the first things I noticed were the restaurants. On one of the main roads there were a lot of independently owned Mexican or Chinese restaurants. I didn’t see any chain restaurants. I also located the police and fire stations, which were right next to each other and right near the high school. That park next to the high school, is Jenks Park and is a place where there are local sporting festivals or activities. After driving around in a few circles and trying to count the number of schools we could find we looked up and read that there were six public schools in CF (including pre-K schools). That seems to me like a lot of schools for such a small city but there is one pre-K school, a kindergarten school, two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. It’s a lot of schools because students transition at different grades than what I am used to. I wonder why the CF school district does this and I wonder what determines the grades at which the transitioning occurs. Well, on another note Laura and I visited the library, the Adams Memorial Library, but it was not open due to the weather conditions.

            I saw a few historical places in CF. The whole time I kept thinking that it is so amazing that there was so much history in such a small city. There were still other historical places that were on the handout given for the scavenger hunt but one of the monuments Laura and I visited was located in the Moshassuck Cemetery. It is a Civil War monument and is placed right in the center of the cemetery. The monument was a gift dedicated to the bravery of soldiers in the war and has stood there since. Aside from that history, the little bit of fame that associates with CF is that there are three Major League Baseball players. They are Max Surkont, Charley Bassett, and Jim Siwy. That’s a lot of baseball talent to come from one small city.

            One of my favorite things I saw Tuesday was the Chocolate Mill Overlook that overlooks the Blackstone River. The Chocolate Mill is even older than Slater Mill but was unfortunately demolished in a storm in the early 1800s, so there is an overlook in its place.

            Learning about the history of CF was a lot of fun. Like I said before, it was crazy to think about the amount of history such a small city has. I wonder how many people know about this. I sure didn’t know any of this before completing the scavenger hunt. As a future teacher, I think it is extremely important to know the history of the town or city that I will be teaching in. It is important for students to know about this because it is something that not everyone is aware of, even if they have lived there their whole life. Overall, this was a great learning experience and I am glad to have gotten it done before the snow really started coming down!

Tuesday, February 4th

            This week in class was very interesting. On Tuesday, February 4^th the class was broken up into smaller groups and we went on a “Walkthrough” to other classes. I was excited, and not nervous to go observe the classes even though this time the principal was not guiding us. One of the hardest parts actually was finding the classrooms on our own. We had a map but it took a while to find our first class.

            The first class we observed on our Walkthrough was an art class. The students were working independently on their drawings. Well, some students were working. Others were listening to music or playing on their phones. The teacher was walking around the class coaching the students who wanted to learn how to make their art better. This reminded me how my art classes were in high school. It was more of laid-back environment and although it was still a class that received a grade there was not as much pressure as there was in my core classes. As long as the assignments were turned in by deadlines, then the students would receive a passing grade.

            Another class my group and I went into was a psychology class. From observing and speaking with the students I can confirm that they were doing research on Lawrence Kohlberg and making a brochure. There were some questions on the board in front about his studies that I think were supposed to be included in the students’ brochures. Many of the students were talking and one was making rude comments regarding the teacher. The teacher was nothing but welcoming to us and was walking around the class monitoring and helping the students. When we discussed this in class other members spoke about how that they had a completely different experience in that classroom. This proves that getting a five-minute snapshot is not always the best and I would like to return to that classroom in the future to compare observations.

            In the classroom, a panel of teachers gave us advice on our first year teaching. We received advice such as get to know the students, ask other teachers for help, set goals and break down goals into smaller accomplishments, celebrate accomplishments, be a learner myself, and be willing to improve as a teacher. These are my personal favorites and are quotes that I would like to keep in the back of my mind for my first few years teaching. Taking advice from many educators is very beneficial because, like I did so here, I can take what I think are the best pieces of advice from each teacher.

            I learned a lot this class and so far it was my favorite. Getting into the classrooms with a small group and even speaking with some of the students was not only fun, but taught me about their experiences in the classroom. Also, listening to the teacher panel was taught me about what to do in my first year as a teacher and the attitude I will have. It reminded me that everyone was once a beginner and for now, I am not as nervous. I would really like to speak with other teachers about this topic and to also take more Walkthroughs to other classrooms in the future.  

Subjects Matter-Chapters 1&2

The first two chapters of Subjects Matter were interesting to read. Sometimes reading a textbook can be boring and I was happy to find out that this book is not boring and is an easy and very informative read.

The first chapter, Reading for Real, opened up the textbook and explained what the book was going to be about. I really liked the first story that was about the two students who go into the McDonalds protesting because of what they read. It opened my eyes and showed me that people can be really affected from what they read. These students could have read textbooks about E. Coli and how it affects the human body but instead, the students were able to read magazines, articles, and other texts that the students found more interesting. I think because the students can relate more to these types of texts they want to find out more information. The key word there is want because a lot of the times students read because they have to. Also, I found it very interesting that in this method used at the Best Practice High School students were still required to look up information in textbooks on the topic they were researching. I think the students didn’t mind looking up research articles or reading textbooks because they were already hooked on their topic. This information will most likely stay with these students more than if they just read out of a textbook as a homework assignment. This method is something to keep in mind and is something I think can be incorporated in a school curriculum if the teacher plans accordingly.

            The second chapter, How Smart Readers Think, contained useful thinking strategies that students can use while reading. This included visualizing, connecting, questioning, inferring, evaluating, analyzing, recalling, and self-monitoring. This is something that not all students, including myself at times, do every time they are reading. This is something to keep in mind, as a future teacher. It is important that the students are engaged. However, if what the student is reading is not interesting to them they may not do this effectively. A technique to keep in mind when students are assigned reading is to have good in-class activities that can aid in keeping students engaged. This will also develop a student’s schema on the topic that they are assigned to read about. If the student does not have any background information then what they are reading about won’t be useful. This was seen in the examples in the book when we were asked to read the paragraphs on the various topics. Once the topic was introduced re-reading the paragraph was easier. This proved the students need to be accustomed to the topic before reading.

            So far I like this book and I think that it will be very beneficial for my future. Reading isn’t easy for everyone. I am not a great reader and I think that I might be able to learn some things about my reading skills when reading this book. Readers are constantly growing and it is something to always keep in mind. As someone who will not be an English teacher this book will be useful for my future because reading is something all students need to do.