National Teacher's Academy Community Walk

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Strategies For Teaching Language Arts

Common strategies for teaching language arts:

1. Guided reading/literature circles
2. Reading comprehension (inferencing, questioning, summarizing, etc)
3. Writer's workshop (6 + 1 traits of writing)

Letter Writing

Letter Writing As An Effective Form of Communication

Summary of Curricular Context: Letter writing is a very important real world skill. As a result of processes like texting and Facebook, students have become accustomed to a form of “slang” writing. Students are provided with a variety of writing opportunities however their writing often lacks formality. This is the problem that this learning experience will address. My potential solution to this problem is to introduce the students to various forms of letter writing and to allow ample opportunities for them to practice/develop their writing using these formats.
Students must have a foundation of knowledge in reading and writing, including a basic knowledge of the rules of capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Students must have basic computer skills and be familiar with Microsoft Word. Students must also have experience working with peer evaluation.

Standard / Objectives for Unit or Lesson:
CC.8.W.4 Production and Distribution of Writing: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Lesson Goal: Students will be able to write a friendly letter using the traditional format (heading, greeting, body, and closing).

Enduring Understandings
Understand that letters can be used as a form of communication
Understand that various types of letters can be used in different situations
Understand that effective writing is a result of organization and planning

Essential Questions
What makes for effective communication?
Why is effective communication necessary in our lives?

Knowledge
Friendly letter format
Rules of capitalization and punctuation
Rules of grammar

Skills
Reading
Using a variety of sentences within writing
Writing clearly and cohesively
Peer editing

Dodge Renaissance Academy

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Teacher Identity: Mr. Holland's Opus

For those of you who have not seen this movie, Mr. Holland's Opus is a film that depicts the career of high school music teacher Glenn Holland. Mr. Holland left his career as a musical performer to become an educator. He quickly faces a great deal of oppression from other faculty members and resistance from some of the students. As a result of his stressful profession, Mr. Holland's home life begins suffer. I think that although Oregon is much different than inner city Chicago, some of the issues in this movie are one(s) that we can relate to.
The clip that I have chosen as my teacher identity piece is an excerpt from the movie when one of Mr. Holland's students has chosen to quit the clarinet after she experiences great frustration with the instrument. I am inspired at how Mr. Holland works with this student one on one and helps her to see music from a different perspective. In addition, he holds her to a high standard of performance all while encouraging her with positive feedback. He finds the musician in her that she wasn't able to see on her own.

Gagne's Events of Instruction: Finding Exact Locations

Here is the link to the nine events of instruction I have used to design this "educational experience." (The scoring rubric is located at the bottom of that document). Any feedback, positive or negative, is appreciated :)

Analysis: the First Phase of ADDIE

My Educational Philosophy

Looking back on the philosophy of education that I wrote while doing my undergrad, I have realized how much I have changed as an educator within just a short amount of time. I have come to believe that the role of the teacher in the classroom is merely a guide, someone to steer the students in the right direction. I believe that the teacher should support the students in all that they do while continuing to challenge them to do their best. I think that the role of the teacher within the classroom is to inspire young minds and to promote lifelong learning. Ultimately it is up to the teacher to set the standard.

Effective teachers have a smorgasbord of qualities. Foremost they have a passion for teaching and learning. They are passionate about each and every student. They are determined to help their students achieve success. They are organized and very mindful about planning however they are also patient, especially when things don’t go as planned. Effective teachers are creative and possess the ability to execute engaging lessons that promote a deep understanding of the material. The same teachers are open-minded to new people, places, things, and ideas. Effective teachers are selfless. They truly have the students’ best interests at heart and are willing to do whatever it takes to push each student to their maximum potential.

When I was growing up I never liked school. It wasn’t until later in my life (after I had taken several twists and turns) when I discovered that I wanted to be a teacher. I realized that as an educator I had the opportunity to change all those things about school that I never liked! I have quickly learned that teaching is not easy. I have also learned that the challenge is one of the things about this profession that I enjoy the most. I challenge myself each and every day to make learning fun while motivating kids to be better students and people.

My First Post

Twenty pieces of uncooked spaghetti. One meter of tape. One meter of string. One marshmallow. If only we had more time to work on our tower...