Developing Content Area Writers

Good writing to me is like drinking a hot cup of coffee in the morning. It is refreshing and gives you a warm feeling of content. What I described is the feeling that I enjoy when I read good writing. Unfortunately, I have never experienced this feeling about my own writing. I have always wished that I possessed good writing skills. I have taken countless English courses each focusing or incorporating some aspect of writing. However, I do not feel that I have ever received proper training in writing. Some people seem to have a natural writing talent. Then there is the other side of the spectrum which is made up of people like me, terrible writers. When I am assigned a writing assignment I usually go into panic mode. I have endless thoughts and ideas in my head; I just don’t know how to transfer those thoughts to paper. “You should display college level writing.” This is one of the most common statements that accompany almost every writing assignment I have received thus far in my college experience. What exactly is meant by that statement? Generally, I take this statement as meaning that my writing should display proper grammar usage, appropriate word choices, flow smoothly, and display clear thoughts. Instructors set a “college level” writing expectation because they believe that students should have received good writing education by the time they reach the college level. Unfortunately, I think there are several students like myself that have not received writing instruction that is beneficial and sharpens their writing skills. Who is to blame for this deficiency? In my opinion, I think the finger can be pointed in both directions.

Promethean Boards: Seen But Never Touched

My experience with promethean board learning has strictly been an observation experience. I have never had a hands on experience to play with the technology and figure out how it operates. I have seen it used in very limited ways in the classroom. The classroom that I observed during my clinical experience at Petal had a smart board that the teacher often used as a way to review numbers and letter with her kindergarten students. The students could play number and letter games as a whole class and interact with the board. This seemed to be a fun way to review concepts. A speaker came to my Classroom Management class last year and gave a short tutorial and introduction to the promethean board. She showed us several interesting things that the board could be used for such as classroom poles and voting. The tutorial definitely intrigued me but we were not able to have a hands on experience due to time limitations. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to gain more practice and experience with this technology before I start teaching!

Chapter 7: Activating Prior Knowledge and Increasing Motivation

Motivation and prior knowledge are key aspects in creating successful learners. We need motivation to do almost anything. I need motivation to get out of bed in the morning when I am exhausted. Motivating students is an essential part of engaging students in the learning process. Teachers should get to know their students as individuals and find their interests. Once a teacher truly knows their students they are able to easily motivate them by linking the lesson to the students interest. This is especially important for ELL learners. They need to feel included in order to further develop their language skills. I personally am not interested in a topic if it is presented to me in a boring way and I don't know a stitch of information about it or what it relates to. So, why should we expect students to be willing to learn if we never motivate them and capture their interests? Students should be excited about learning they shouldn't have to dread coming to school every day. A classroom of students represents a range in motivation levels. Some students have unfortunate past experiences in specific content areas that henders thier motivation in any content area. It is very important for a teacher to recognize this issue in students and make a point to find a way to interest and motivate the student. Helping the student to build new experiences that are positive will aid in building their motivation level in content areas.
Activating prior knowledge is a very important part of learning. Students are intimidated by unfamiliar topics that seem dull and difficult. A teacher should always activate students prior knowledge when beginning a lesson in order to create a sense of familiarity about the topic. When students can link something they know to something new they develop a much deeper level of understanding. They are able to think critically and find similarities and differences among topics. Sometimes students may have a very limited amount of prior knowledge of certain topics. In this case teachers should present information in very small amounts. Which makes sense to me. If I am learning about a topic that is foreign to me and seems way over my head I have to break it down piece by piece. The idea is to start out small and concrete and build to broader more abstract ideas. Some strategies teachers can use as a way to activate students prior knowledge include: anticipation guides, K-W-L, and PReP.