Teaching Practices

There are two different kinds of teaching; there is direct instruction and indirect instruction. Direct instruction is when teachers teach mini lessons. I like this style of teaching because it introduces the information to the students, then they are given an opportunity to practice it, and then they can apply. I like how mini lessons work because it allows the students to apply what they have learned and still have the teacher’s guidance. Indirect teaching is more of an on-the-spot lesson. These can take place in a whole group or small group activity. I really like this style of indirect teaching because it is something a teacher can do when they realize the students may not be grasping certain concepts or need a brief reminder on a particular topic.

Something I believe all teachers need to realize is that all students are going to vary in how they learn, and what their interests and motivations are. Differentiation is very important to implement into the classroom. Students are going to have differences in their background knowledge and prior experiences. Our text does a great job of giving five examples of how differentiation can be applied in the classroom. I really like the example that talks about offering the students choices. This is a great way to differentiate because it allows the student to pick something, like the topic they want to write about and allows them to write based on their prior knowledge and feel comfortable writing because they are writing on their level. To me differentiation is not making things easier or harder for students but allowing them all to be successful on their own level. Our texts sums up the idea of differentiation the best by saying, “Teachers are able to differentiate instruction when they implement the patterns of practice in their classroom.”

Ralph Fletcher

Ralph Fletcher states, "In order to have an affect on someone else, you must first allow him to effect you." His words play a role in creating and developing a writing community. No writer is going to write the exact same way or about the same things as another writer. Also, many different writers have different views and opinions that can affect a reader. I think Ralph Fletcher’s words in the writing community would say that we should be opened minded to other author’s writings and see the kinds of affects it can have on us. If we allow ourselves to read other author’s writings and allow them to affect us, then we too can affect them.

I also see how Ralph Fletchers words can play a role in the teaching community. I once had a teacher at Meredith that told us a good teacher will know her students well. I relate that statement to Ralph Fletchers words. If we know our students well and get to know who they are and what they are capable of then we are more likely to let them affect us. We have to be able to engage the students in what interests them and make an outstanding impression on their lives. However, without knowing them and allowing them to affect us, then we as teachers are less likely to affect them too.

Writing really is worth reading!

I think it is important to read writing for a couple different reasons. When we read writings we are able to choose readings that are interesting to us. With these readings we can learn and find out new interesting things. As future teachers it is very important to motivate students to want to write and read their own writings, as well as other people’s writings. We should also motivate our students to read things that interest them. I think that if a student reads something that really strikes their attention, they may be more likely to write their own story about a similar topic.

It is also very important to read writing because it helps us to become a better writer. We can learn a lot from reading other peoples writings and we can also gain new views and ideas we may not have thought of before. Reading our own writings also help to identify the mistakes we make while we write and therefore learn from them. We become better writers when we read our own work and other people’s work too.

Learning to Read

I would have to admit that I really do not remember how I learned how to read. I think I probably had a mix of phonics and whole language. I do recall sounding out letters to make words but I also remember taking apart words to read a bigger word. I remember being in reading groups that was more so based on phonics. We would sound out letters and we also used a lot of rhyming words. I remember reading the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham. This was one of my favorite rhyme books when I was younger. It is a longer read, but very easy since it uses rhymes.

In my future I think it would be most effective to use both phonics and whole language. Some learners learn differently and I think incorporating both styles would be most effective. I think part of the reason I can not completely remember how I learned to read is because I had a mix of the two methods. I feel using both styles of reading to build off one another would be most effective for teaching children how to read in the future.