Unleashing The Myths That Bind US: Critiquing Cartoon and Society

This article and the proposal to critique cartoons and society in particular Disney movies is a double edge sword for me. This situation reminds me of last spring semester when I was in Children's Literature and heard the real fairy tales for the first time. I am glad that Disney changed the ending to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" because the ending is too cruel for a young child to see or read about in a story. The issue of this "secret education" that a child gains from a Disney movie is not preventable and is not all that bad. I am the perfect example of a child who went to Disney World about 7 times throughout my childhood and found that it brought my imagination to life! I am a kid at heart or my family and friends would tell me to grow-up. Cartoons and society's portrayal of characters is harsh, but stories will everyone equal does not sell and is not history. These stories were an escape for the time period because the child during the time of these original fairy tales was thought to be a mini adult. Having literature that is designed for children and their thoughts is a great starting point, but hopefully Disney books get them reading and them they discover "Bridge to Terabithia" and create their own world.
A child's impressionable minds can be molded, but it is for the parent to have discussion and the child to exchange the roles of being the villain verses the princess when playing barbies or real life dress-up etc. I do see the harm in say Cinderella's gender roles and lack of education which is a common theme for women in Disney movies (besides Belle in Beauty of the Beast). But, Disney is a fantasy, an imaginary world that a child enters without needing to know the right from wrong so critiquing this should occur later in life. This is not to say that parents or family friends should not have discussions of the reasons of being a princess and give them a taste of real princesses. I would definitely discuss and question Cinderella's feelings in terms of being locked up, not being able to stand-up for herself as an individual that possess selfworth (as an advocate for herself), and why does she requires a prince to save her or not a princess or anyone at all. I recognize that I have been manipulated by media and other cartoons, but hopefully the media that is introduced is not all from one sources and the home provides a variety of outlets to explore media.
As a young child my favorite movie to watch over an over again was the black and white film "HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME" (1939). My dad and I watched black and white films and I would request them over Disney movies in some cases. The "secret education" that cartoons and our society form is and will always be there. As an informed viewer and reader you must lead discussions and introduce a variety of media to counteract a saturation of misleading Disney character ideals and society's social inequalities. In terms of my favorite Disney film it was "Sword in the Stone". I enjoy the boy learning how to survive without a strong family. He also discovers his own power with in to remove the sword. Also, the issue of not wanting the sword after getting it demonstrated being humble and not desiring fame. The two wizards during the wizards dual is marvelous because a child learns that your actions do have repercussions, but they might not be visible. This invisible repercussions and be explored deeper in Disney films and can be discussed in terms of visible or not and are the two as hurtful or is one worse.
Now the Help Me Syndrome is say Popeye as the article points out is true. But, that is a stage that children go through as they develop and get older. As child who once again watched cartoons with my dad every morning before he went to work for about two hours I was manipulated by media under his watch. Fortunately like Olive my dad or my family rescued me during my mistakes or moments of weakness to see that if I want something I have to get it done. Popeye is a unique character because he has a speech impediment and was abandoned by his father who in some cartoon stripes or cartoon films just chooses to not be a part of his life. Also Olive is not attractive like the princess's in Disney films or stories. She has her own job as a waitress and supports herself. I like the idea that you don't fall in love right away like in the Disney films. My parents would say they fell in love over time and my dad had to prove himself and work to show his love like Popeye. Anyways I see the point this article is getting at, but I would not enter this discussion with children because I think other sources are more appropriate to target these issues. I would hope in this life own childhood stories can stay happy and have happy endings! Life is not about happy endings so why rush into that reality. A child learns that, but finds hope in their imagination, which I still imagine all the time about my endings and hope that others still possess the ability to imagine and dream.

Igoa and Hill reading for November 15th

Igoa:
Two summers ago I was a teacher's aid in summer school here in Monroe County School Corpration at Clear Creek Elementary. I was working with a young lady who had recently moved here from South Korea and it was extremely difficult to help her advance to he actual grade which was 6th and to compensate for the culture shock she was placed in a fourth grade class. I think it is unfortnate that I was not able to help her feel confident in terms of her use of english literacy. I assume if she was able to use multimodel forms of literacy she would feel more confident in her work!


Hill:
I really liked the Little Red Riding Hood and other fairy tales projects explained by Hill on page 54. I am 100% that this multimodal project is definitely an activity that I will do in my classroom. As I said in the previous post on Evans my MGRP used many of these themes discussed in these reading. My inspiration came from a digital story of Little Red Riding Hood for my MGRP. Having students write their own version of Little Red Riding Hood similar to the Stincky Cheeseman 's book is very fasinating to see students creativity and use of an alternate ending. Also by using technology I think that will enhance students engagement in the project and reach more students in a variety of ways as Millard's isx aspects descibes to be essential when implementing a new approach to literacy. Using literacy in the form of multimodal texts if will encourage the students to see the opportunity of past print text and how it can be updated to the 21st century using a nonlinear approach. In conclusion photostories and multimodal texts supported student centered learning and was able to be used as a scaffold and build confidence in all students.

The Changing Nature of Literacy in the Twenty-first century by Janet Evan

This introduction by Janet Evan's would have been amazing to read in regards to my MGRP paper and genres pieces. At the school at which I am observing I am seeing this transition of literacy in the 21st century becoming multimodal and teachers bridging the gaps between children's popular culture interests and school requirements. The past couple weeks at my school the students have been discussing Star Wars and videotaping the circle discussions and translating it into stories and pictures during writer's workshop. I enjoy seeing the students completely engaged in the discussion and their writing because it pertains directly to their personal interests. The main concerns that Lambirth (2003) points out is the ethical struggle that former teachers have with encompassing popular culture in class becasue of the linear model of education is highly focused on the past methods of teaching. A teacher might "say they get enough of that at home; why should I use it in my classroom?" But if you look at it in the eyes of a nonlinear model of education and as a student centered learning model - one would recognize that this opportunity will open educational doors for a student who typically might not engage in the learning activity. By using these digital literacy or technology literacy frameworks teachers will begin to see the curiosity to return to their students thinking and classroom engagement, will increase their ability reach the 21st century learner through multimodal texts, and will prepare their student for their future career paths that will involve technology!
I also like Gunther Kress's explanation of "different reading pathways between designed or displayed text and continuous print as the different between showing and telling," which highlights the use of and ability to navigate technology without proper instruction and experience (Kress 2003, 152). Students, teachers, and 21st century readers in general are experiencing the lack of continuous print and a need to read flexibly in a variety of texts as information is becoming so diversity in its representations and forms. By teaching students how to navigate the 21st century literacy model using a nonlinear approach, you as a teacher will see remarkable understanding and transformation of students confidence and ability to communicate. Students will formulate thoughts, ask questions, and begin to discover their own prefer forms of communicate in this diversity selection of options in today technological advanced literacy world!

Reflection

The MGRP I got me to look deeper into our first assignment about literacy signs and apply my new definitions of literacy. This project was at first difficult to see the direction of my overall project in terms of genre pieces and how it would come out. Overall, I am very pleased with my finished product and look forward to our gallery walk later today.
Once again my psychology interests came out in the process of researching my topic for the MGRP. I fell in love with Eisner's philosophy of literacy! This quote sums it up, "As long as schools operate on an essentially linguistic modality that gives place of privilege to a kind of literacy, logical, or mathematical form of intelligence, school limit what youngsters can learn (Eisner quoted in Leland and Harste, 1994, 339)." Through my research I discovered how technology can change those limitations of what students can learn and the restraints the teachers feel in regards to traditional educational linear model. By using Millard's six aspects I was able to identity how a teacher might go about assessing tools to add to his/ her repertoire and alter their current educational linguistic linear model to a nonlinear model to adapt to the changes in this digital age.
I assessed audio books, personal computers, and composing products. These tools are just a few there are many more, I just had to set a limit or my paper would have been a good size book.
I was fortunate to read about interesting cases of how technology transformed a classroom by fusing new times, new teaching, and learning with new technologies. A couple examples are the digital storytelling, the multiple ways of knowing using Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, podcasts, webcasts, learning mats, and new composing programs to name a few. I am very excited to try out some of these tools in my future classroom after accessing my population of students using Millard's Six aspects. The six aspects will allow for me to gauge the tools I would be selecting and determine their access, arena, agency, affordance, appropiateness, and holding myself accountable for my child-centered learning approach.
I learned that inquiry based curricula is the ideal to strive for and use in majority of all content areas. Also that writing is everywhere, I use the genre piece of bar-codes, because it is a sign system that I found myself using multiple ways of knowing. This came about in deciding my genre pieces and I like the ideal of the bar-code. A bar-code is a sign system and label that might seem constant, but is constantly changing as the student and the application of the appropriate tool that offers the best affordance will vary content to content, day to day. The artist Scott Blake presented and interesting sign system that is present in our daily life that we currently navigate and I am inspired to continue looking for these sign systems and how I can transmediate them into new meaning for expanding my definition of literacy and express my full potential as teacher and a student.
As a student how uses a variety of technology to achieve my personal understanding of different contents and express my understanding of those contents, I plan to have technology in an arms reach at all times. Technology is a challenge, but I am willing to teach myself and take the time to use various modes knowing that one mode might offer more affordances for one student than another. Throughout the beginning of a year and getting familiar with my students I would hope to know what tools are appropriate for what students and be able to hold myself accountable in fusing new literacy in my teaching of my students to be their own agency and see their flexibility in navigating all sign systems to transmediate their understanding in the digital age.

What a character: Bringing Subjects to Life

As I read this chapter I kept thinking about Nathaniel Hawthorne style of writing because it is very descriptive and the characters are explained in fine detail. But, the more I read about the key idea of showing not telling made me wonder about what writer I knew who did an amazing job of that for a younger readers. I decided it would have to be Katherine Paterson who wrote Bridge to Terabithia. This excerpt is a great example of strong verbs like on page 65: "Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity—Good. His dad had the pickup going." I like the description of sound and many readers can relate to the start of a beat-up truck.
Although, I am not sure about page 66 Kill Cliches. I have been told by some that I tend to be a flowery writer, aside from when I am writing a typically research proposal or critic in psychology, which is not always a bad thing. So if I was using a cliches, it might be a great lead or closer to a thought. I would hope at least to see some cliches in a draft one of my future students because it reminds one of what kind of description they might to elaborate on in that section. In terms of the different drafts, I hope to see this kind of writing occur within the younger grades. I can't remember ever writing drafts unless it was a large paper that my family was working on with me for a school project. Writing drafts needs to be looked upon in a light that is honing in on exactly what happened or what one felt, heard, smelled, tasted, remarked, etc. like when you are on trail as a witness. The witness needs to be concise, but descriptive to recall the event for the jury and the judge. This might be an intimidating concept, but it also adds importance to the concept of their writing. I struggle with getting my point across and love to go off on tangents! So to reminding myself there is a direct question that I am answering like during the trail I am more likely to redirect myself! When a witness is being crossed examined it emphasizes the importance of reliving the event and being concise so the judge and jury can understand so the decision that is made is based on facts of the event as it really happened.

Seedfolks

The book Seedfolks reminds me of The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, as the beginning starts with an Asian child wanting to please her family, in particular her deceased father, by planting Lima beans. As a child myself I grew-up out in the country and we had an one acre garden which I learned quickly built my character. I have many memories from working the garden every summer and wishing I could do as I pleased, but was told the garden must be weeded and the vegetables and fruits picked before I could have my time for myself. The book Seedfolks focuses on the work aspect by pointing out the issues of water and the heat of the day was not a desired time to work. Although, if you were me and was attending tennis camp each morning and open gym, the heat of the day was the only time left to have it done before dad got home! I appreciate the strict garden rules and how it was a form of punishment, but when we would get to sell our vegetables and fruits my sisters and I were overjoyed to finally reap the benefits of our labor. My character Leona is a man who knows if you want anything done, you have to get up and do it yourself. As the oldest child, I had to demonstrate to my sisters how to work in the garden and to take little breaks in order to be praised for our work rather than being scolded for our lack of effort. If I ever wanted them to work in the garden for me or if we all wanted to go swimming that day the garden was collaboration that required no arguing just working to get the job done. Leona realized if he wanted the trashed removed from the vacant lot, it was up to him to make it happen as the smell of the trash spoke loud and clear for all the Public Health Department to recognize there was an issue.

Van Sluys Chapter 3 "Setting Up Invitations"

Receiving an invitation to a pretend office Christmas party, a relative's birthday party, and an alumni banquet all have different approaches but all included the main information of when, where, what time, and the event. Following along with Van Sluy's process of setting up invitations, the school I am placed at this fall kepts coming to mind. The teachers at my school invite the students to be mathematicians, writers, inventors, etc. which extends the proposal to the students to take on that role. I find that the role of being a mathematician in k/1 is interesting because they are learning that at any level one can be a mathematician. Being invited as writer, an inventor, a philosopher, a scholar, a scientist etc. all create a willingness for the students to accept that invitation in that present moment. Then the students attempt the so-called activities and through overcoming struggle a student will then label oneself a mathematician (etc.) because of their success. Invitations are definitely a positive motivational approach to learning.
As in chapter 3 some students were curious about ebonics. The teacher jumped on that invitation and the class pursued their interest in ebonics. In the invitation of ebonics the students discovered many issues: the difficulty of the material, the lack of kid thought on the topic, and questioning the authority of the research. A small invitation in one subject can be a lifetime practice that will invite others to expand their understanding and willingness to attend.

P.O.E.M.S (Potential, Oral, Emotions, Meter, & Stanzas)

When poems are introduced into my present classes, I am transported back to the fourth grade when my school had poem week. Each day you had a different poem memorized or you could have them on hand and would orally recite them as beginning introductions. Students would recite them to friends, teachers, school staff, bus drivers, pretty much anyone who would cross your path. I was nervous about this week because I was not a strong reader, but in the fourth grade I discovered the poem Sick by Shel Silverstein. Because I thought that poem was so interesting, for the first time I picked a poem I actually liked not based on the least amount of lines in the poem.
Poetry is very insightful, but if not introduced over the years it can be a challenge to interpret like Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." I find poetry to be very releasing and connective, but for some it will just seem strange. I can see starting out with acrostic poems like I did with the title POEMS above. In my after-school programs in past I had students create them with their names and it provided insight into their personalities and was not overwhelming to try.

Donut House

The Donut House reminded me of PBL: Project Base Learning. PBL is the concept that student go out into the community and learn about a business and create it in their classroom by bring it to fruition. The concept of PBL came to life in Mrs. Davidson Kindergarten class as her student obtained the applicable knowledge of everyday skills like getting a building permit, running a business, marketing, hiring and firing, and many other components. I was a part of a PBL project that had students build the new city pool and all the steps that would go into that business project. I introduced the project to freshmen and sophomores by the beginning letter requesting their input; which can be real to a degree or be complete real! It is easy to kindly ask business individuals to explain a typical project and how they might want outside resources or opinions ie the students. By giving students a chance to design a business or project that is applicable to the real world will increase their motivation and comprehension about content that is mixed into everyday occupations.

Writers Workshop in practice

This past week I was able to participate in writer's workshop which was an interesting experience to see the varying abilities and thought processes unfolding. Some students read their work to me, others visually explained their writing through their pictures, and a few were imitating the process of writing and only labeling. I found the imitating and labeling group to be the most difficult to work with in terms of guiding their writing during the writing process. I thought about two students in particular all day long and kept going back to their ability to communicate their ideas. I knew the students could express ideas, but I was unsure on how to open that dialogue and properly get it into words. Then during free time I saw an issue that one of the students was having with letter recognition and sounds. I am not sure how this impromptu game was created, but using a pointer and the alphabet on the wall, that student would physically touch letters to spell and other students noticed it and joined in. It was a positive experience for the initial student because it was empowering to know how to create words and have others understand the words you created. In a short period of time letter recognition was improving and the stress of writing was alleviated which was not seen by the student as writing, but the letters that were tapped did spell words and the order created a dialogue that sparked other students' interest. I was happy to end the day knowing that the imitating and labeling writers could express more using more writing materials like physical letters and not creating them from memory made them experiment more and try other letters that would otherwise be forgotten.

Steps to Conferencing

When conferencing begin by reading the piece of work and pointout what the writer did successfully. Be specific in terms of what was done well in their writing peice. Then find something that will help them improve their writing immediately during the conference. Next, have the student repeat both back to you: 1) what they did well and 2)what they could improve on. Give the student a few mintutes to try in with you present. Follow-up with how the current writing sample worked in terms of did they understand and did they actually apply what you suggested in their writing. To sum up this expereicne have a running record of what your students are doing during conferencing, what direction you see them going in the next conference, and are they making progress only during conferences or also outside the conference time. Finally, check on what the student has accomplished in terms of the mini lesson and evaluate your mini lesson.
I am excited to try out conferencing, but I am more excited to watch it in action tomorrow morning. I am curious on how the teacher knows what area to focus on in a particular students writing. I am lucky to be in the primary grade so it should be more obvious to make appropreiate suggestions. However, I am very concerned on how I will know what direction to take their writing, if I am in the upper elementary grades.

Craft Writes Part 3

In terms of my previous post I would like to look at Ashley again in terms of her successes. Fortunately, I can easily embrace the notion of learning to act as a reader and a writer. I am sure I am still acting as both now, but my skills are improving. I can sympathize with Ashley on how difficult it is to not be with your peers and know you are behind, and not see how you will catch-up. Having a teacher who encourages you for what you know or what you did do right on the test does improve your confidence and willingness to try again. When the teacher pointed out that you cannot say you are smart or you can do it is not enough in many situations. Trying to focus on the part that the student did understand or did absorb is extremely important. I am thankful for my first grade teacher who did that for me.

Dilemmas and Discourses of Learning to Write: Assessment as a Contested Site By: Karen Wohlwend

I was surprises by some of the social, cultural, and political activities that impacted the kindergartners' writing in just a short amount of time. In particular, Ashley (one of the pseudonyms) a five year old, experienced in my mind some common and helpful remediation and retention recommendation from the "Teacher Assistance Team," to Diane the kindergarten teacher. Ashley was able to receive one-on-one attention from parent volunteers and other teachers which seemed logical in terms of RTI. The goal of RTI as I understand is to pinpoint children who need some assistance at some level to get caught up, prevent labeling, or provide a challenge. I can see both sides of Diana's dilemma about removing Ashley or leaving her in the social environment. As a student who was pulled out of class for reading from k-4rd grade I like to think that my teachers had some plan to get me back on track. The writing trade-offs a teacher is faced with are difficult to decide, but do require immediate attention and action.
As a student who did experience first-hand some of the side-effects of removal or remediation, I am glad I was spotted to receive any one-on-one attention. The social environments in a classroom writing setting can be found in preschool settings or enrichment classes. In terms of Ashley, her social status and experiences with peers was lacking therefore removal would not have been a first choice of remediation. However, when considering the teacher's issues of not producing outcomes by the designated benchmarks can be the final straw in the decision making process. This highlights the social, political, and cultural dilemmas found in this classroom and many more.
Although, Ashley's removal was a detriment to her socially, she did begin to meet the required benchmarks. I am unclear as to when writing and learning to write are different components in kindergarten and 1st grade. When Diane raises the issues of Ashley not "inventing spelling or producing a text to suit her own purposes. Diane's educational coursework incorporated intentionality discourse that celebrates what children can do and value their intention to create social messages over their accurate mimicking of conventional forms (Wohlwend, 345)." In order to teach writing, letter recognition, and in particular their name mimicking the prescribed outcome is a good start. As some children obviously come to school not knowing their name or the alphabet, we as teachers jump right in and help those student tread water and race others who are already writing using the conventional forms. Should we praise the child who is using conventional forms or question their use of them? I think at 2, 3, or 4 you question and praise their use of inventing their own purposes. But, when it comes to young students learning to communication through pictures, words, or through their body language we should guide them to our conventional norms. Do we want children to communicate in an obscure way longer than normal because we are happy they are creating their own inventions? I can see with the children who are developmentally at a 3 or 4 years old to praise them with their inventions of writing, but they require intervention which I see as RTI. In terms of the constructivist psychological theories in particular Piaget, the schemas are the basic units like in math that construct one's understanding of their current and past knowledge combined. This process of combining occurs using either assimilation or accommodation to reach the coined term equilibration. Ashley is a student who I see needs more accommodation than assimilation. However one can argue she does not possess the basic units in order to build a schema so both assimilation and accommodation are useless. I am a person who looks at the world half full so Piaget's idea of building schemas is one learning theory to embrace, but I like to combine Ausubel's and Bandura's theory too.

Craft Writes Part 2

In the beginning of chapter seven, I found these couple of sentences to be very profound and comforting: "Expertise in a subject matter is not always the key to giving good lessons. You do have to know something about the subject you're teaching. You just don't have to know everything." pg 96 Hale. As Hale encourages us as teachers I seem to be understanding the purpose of writing in a different sense that will help my audience feel at ease with these new elements in writing as discussed in chapters 1-6 and the structure of writer's workshop.

Writer's workshop has four components
1. Mini lesson
2. Try-it
3. Independent Writing
4. Share

Together these components create a structure of writing that allows for student freedom in writing. During one of our visits, one of the teachers did an excellent job demonstrating the flexibility the teacher and students have with this writer's workshop structure. Yes there are four components, but they can be repeated and can take place in different locations in the room. This type of flexibility is critical to learn at a young age so that you discover best where you can work in terms of writing or other subjects too and how to overcome change.

The lesson we observed began with a direct modeling of the teacher's diary which was used as the mini lesson to start the writer's workshop. As Hale points out, the mini lesson is not always a lesson, it is more like an activity that demonstrates a particular craft. The teacher wanted to convey the different types of diaries, the idea of writing can be in different forms, and the purpose can be useful or just an idea to ponder. Some of the teacher's diary entries actually came to fruition, but not all. I liked that aspect, because having a diary, journal, or even a blog has that unwritten notion that it will work, make emotions at ease, or the solution will appear following a long entry (etc.). As a young writer I wish that notion of writing for writing's sake would have been explained so that when I wrote in a diary I didn't feel so intimidated to write.

Next, the teacher had her students try writing something in their journals that interests them in some way. The teacher allowed the students to leave the circle area and spread out around the room. Then, a few kids read their progress and went back to independent writing after seeing what a peer wrote, giving the others a direct peer model.

The writers workshop structure and design layout makes so much sense and I believe it highlights what Hale wrote in the beginning, that being the teacher doesn't require expertise, but only needs a well-rounded knowledge base. As the teacher you will be able to start the writer's workshop and the writing ball will hopefully begin to roll so the teacher and students can learn from each other.

Crafting Writers K-6 by Hale

In the reading of Crafting Writers I enjoyed the chapter of categories of specific crafts. I found that when reading I really enjoy the process more when I can use my five senses and describing of the environments (backgrounds). THE TELL-TALE HEART
by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843 demonstrates many categories of specific crafts. I realize now reading needs to more interactive for me, therefore using the five senses keeps me engaged and picturing the environment so I can imagine myself in the setting while reading it.
Chapter four is divided into five main topics: the five senses, show not tell, dialogue, sentence variety, and word choice. In my own writing rather than reading preference, I become very stuck on making sure I do not repeat myself, begin with different words, and seem to miss the purpose. Word choice is a difficult concept for me to apply because I find that I feel limited in what I want to convey to the reader. Now after reading this chapter I feel more equipped to try some of these new strategies which I might have known at one point but have forgotten.
Chapter six was a good tool for our assignment in looking at our student's writing samples. I had trouble gauging where to make the cut off on what the student should know and what could be demonstrated in their writing sample. Seeing the three parts of the primary level: drawing, writing words, and basic craft was a great foundation to build up my students writing sample. I had the cheetah topic sample and the student most likely not a primary level. Therefore, requiring some of the primary elements to be present is necessary. In class the second part of the cheetah writing sample gave both groups difficulty in comprehending what the student intended to convey to the reader. The drawing component was the key hint to the reader because the claws where huge compared to a typical cheetah's claw. Once Professor Wohlwend told us it was retractable claws it all made sense. This student was filling in their gap of weak writing, by enhancing the picture which still demonstrated the student's willingness to write something that he/she did not know how to spell. I see this book as an instrument to use in identify students writing styles and creating and enhancing their writing crafts.

Trying out new spelling strategies

This past week on Monday in class when we discussed spelling as it sounds and spelling as it looks, I quickly realized I used only one strategy typically. I decided to test out the spell it as it sounds and it was amazing and produced confidence and willingness to be wrong. I have a little sister who I was matched with int he Big Brothers Big Sister program here in Bloomington. Our car rides are a good time for us to talk through writing because I am driving obviously : ) I asked my little to draw animals and then spell them. At first she was very concerned and demanded I help her correctly spell the words. Thankfully, with patience and willingness to try she experienced with spelling bunny using how it "sounds". The result as "bune" and I was so proud! Immediately, I encouraged her and told her great job and yes that is how it is spelled. I was worried about this decision, but I knew it would pay off. So she continued silently as I drove us to my home. When we arrived to my surprise she spelled horse and frog correctly and tried turtle and fish. I was happy to see her believe in her ability and not rely on me for the answer. This is a completely new philosophy for me and I am still working on how it applies to me.

Sound Systems: Anna Lyon and Paula Moore

In the book I found the information to be overwhelming at the beginning and hard to recall my introduction to letters, sounds, and words as a child. As a teacher I hope to use more multisensory, sequential, Dibels, and word boards. However, a couple years ago I was introduced to the Orton - Gillingham approach. Orton - Gillingham is based on patterns and sounds through language-based, multisensory, structured sequential and cumulative, cognitive, and flexible teaching methods. The sound systems is just a basic outline of teaching phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics through linguistic concepts. However, on pg. 14 figure 2.1 I struggle to believe that chart because as a late reader the different stages to be so start to finish. The emphasis of looking as well as hear is difficult because not all see the same thing and can be interpreted differently. I am not sure all children have the innate working memory to memorize sight words, but that predictor can be false for a student to be a successful reader. I know that children can memorize words, sounds, etc. but the meaning is left out. In the section of Learning to Look as Well Hear: points out that children have this ability to call upon phonics associations to apply to unknown words once at-least 40 sight words are built up in their repertoire requires some examples and explanations. If a child has a reading disability of some kind sight words can be memorized, but the key tool of phonics associations can be jumbled or lost. I would like to understand more about phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics to find gaps in childrens' reading development.

A couple years ago I was lucky to work for CEEP the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy to perform some evaluations for Reading First using DIBELS. I find DIBELS to be a great tool that sound be used in all classrooms to track reading progress. I hope wherever I am placed within the next three semesters I am introduced to the teacher's side of DIBELS and other tracking methods.

Cusumano: Writing Workshops, Newsletter, and More

In Cusumano's article "Every Mark on the Page: Educating Family and Community Members about Young Children's Writing," introduces the writing workshop and how it can be used in a classroom and at home. Analyzing a kindergartner's writing in such depth is new concept, as I found this student to be ahead of most of her peers. The ways we looked into this child's topic, style, spacing, spelling, and more I became even more impressed with this particular child's ability and creative thought. In early writings such as this student's the use of pictures can be worth many words. This student's picture of the American Flag was the more significant aspect of her writing. She was able to write from left to right around the picture and still convey a story.

Having a writer's workshop is seems to be a useful process and interesting as to earlier teaching methods. I think I would have found writer's workshop helpful and useful to gauge my progress. Seeing the grade below and the grade above's writing would be useful to understand where one needs to be and can go in a single year. I find and still think writing is difficult to rate and this would have been a useful visual tool to mark general progress and parental awareness. Teaching parents the rules to writing like not correcting all spelling errors or having the child rewrite their paper to have not errors is a false way to encourage writing skills. I find this article very difficult to comprehend because as a child who was forced to rewrite papers and correct spelling this is a completely different learning style.

The Crown Jewel: Bloomington

Curiosity filled the air on Saturday September 4th, 2010 in Bloomington, IN as the annual 4th Street Festival was underway. There were white tents that lined 4th Street starting at Indiana all the way to Lincoln. As I focused on the intersection of Grant Street and 4th Street my microscope's lens revealed behind the scenes conversations to artists' current happenings. As the people scurried across my lenses I notice common themes of parents with strollers, children hand in hand with their parents, dogs leading their owners, people laughing, dancing, singing, and buying to the tune of Here Comes Your Man. As an outsider, I took notice of the lookers, consumers, and the returning collectors as they truly embraced this artistic community of selected artists. Knowing there is an application process for the Bloomington 4th Street Festival: of the Arts and Crafts enhanced the breadth of knowledge that was displayed in each tent and corner. As one artist's partner remarked, that Bloomington is the "crown jewel" to celebrate your art or craft, which brought us to settle here.

The life of an artist was mentioned, by their financial struggles to their successes since September 11. Some artists' have found their income to be congruent with past years, where as others have seen drops or rises do to public shifts of interest. It was pointed out to me that arts and crafts run the 4th Street Festival; not the music, ads, the town's motive, or some other commercialized force. Some art fairs on the other hand have an absent heart as the local community view this as a perfect opportunity to promote to the consumer while still entertaining with some arts and crafts. The 4th Street Festival's heart is rooted to the artists and either their art or craft that is celebrated by this Hoosier state's crown jewel of Bloomington.

Certain tents had an audience in mind, such as WonderLab. WonderLab sponsored the children's tent where you could hear words of encouragement, praise, and joy from a child who just put on a finishing touches. I heard someone say, "If you have any artistic or creative children send them our way;" words of planting a seed that could be nurtured in this great community of Bloomington. Muddling through the various vocabulary strained my mind to even think of another environment where words such as: hymnody, cast blast, diamond blast, fritting, sky-shooting, and many more would all fit together as they did this past Saturday. The unique discovery that came about from this literary analysis was the lack of words or reading necessary to navigate through the 4th Street Festival. As a child would and did, the five human senses of smell, taste, touch, sight, and hearing were all interchangeable tools for navigating through the tents and beyond. Once one's interest of smell was caught by some kind of noodle, the hunt was on for that particular aroma to satisfy their hunger. Similarly, one would find that a fascinating picture evoked a personal emotion or a piece of jewelry reminded them of a loved one. The 4th Street Festival had more to offer by the common ways of words or literacy, but through the sensual experience that brought out a community to embrace artists through a friendly gathering to share one's art or craft's passion.

What's online writing in the form of a blog?

     Online writing in the form of blogging is a new concept and experience for me. This brings me back to last summer when I was introduced to moodle an online resource for teachers to share information and create lessons. Especially, for project base learning which was the drive behind creating moodle.  Moodle integrates the teacher world and provides a technology component for lessons.  I was fortunate to create a lesson and then teach it new philosophy school that is based on technology.  Once again a class is prompting me to create a new online apparatus that I question its purpose and validity.  I am warming up to the idea and enjoy reading friends blogs that are created for study abroad trips etc., but my own personal use has not yet been a high priority.