Miscue Analysis

     I haven't had the greatest experience with miscue analysis so I wasn't very thrilled when I had to do this assignment in fact it induced flashbacks of me begging a student to read just one page, just one word, anything! This miscue analysis was completely different though and it was much better than the formal one I did in the past. This time around I had a reader who was more inclined to read and have a discussion, where I got to empower her and show that her miscues help her get through readings.
     I worked with a sixth grade girl from my reading practicum. She is an average reader and according to my cooperating teacher usually excited to do one on one activities with teacher. My cooperating teacher said that she would be a good student to have discussion with and offered me the book series that they use in language arts. Since the class is mostly focusing on nonfiction stories I chose a story from the beginning of the year that had not been chosen for group reading. We read Agent for the Stars by Bette Frisk. I wish I had gotten to know my reader a little better because then we would have picked a different book. I believe that most of her miscues were from her nervousness (I've only been in the class 5 times) so we mostly discussed how miscues were a good thing and not bad. I talked about how I make some of the same miscues to help her feel more at ease. We mainly focused on talking about meaning and characters. We only began to scratch the surface when my student had to leave for band practice, which was quite unfortunate.
     The retelling was were I got most of my information. She was able to retell but in fact struggled with digging deeper and talk about the meaning without some prompting. A lot of this had to do with the rush time we had and the fact that we didn't really get into the meat of the story so it was hard for her to fully understand and connect with the characters. I think if I got to pick a better story or we had more time then the retelling conversation would have gone more smoothly.

This miscue analysis did bring it into a more positive light. I did not like them because of the terrible first experience I had. I think this informal method helped put me at ease and not recording the student helped her feel a little less nervous. I liked how this miscue analysis was more focused on discussion and not formal coding. The discussion allowed me to connect more with my student and share some of my reading experiences. I think this helps the student see me as a partner in their reading adventure instead of just an authoritative figure.
  Overall, I think it went well considering certain problems (not knowing my student very well and the time rush we had). I did learn a lot about the student and thought of some ideas that I would like to apply to my future class. I think this type of miscue is easy to implement in my everyday class and will give great power to my students. I hope to learn how to better my technique and be prepared for any situation that may occur with miscue analysis.

Our Classroom, Our Home

     I've fantasized about my classroom for as long as I can remember. I've thought about the cute bulletin boards that will adorn my room with catchy phrases and how my class will come together as a group (The Cyz Superstars was going to be such a great bulletin board with the kids names in stars). I can't wait to decorate a room that will encourage learning and this week something was brought to my attention. The classroom should not be my space but it should be our space. A fun way to do this is have students design what they want their class to look like on the first day and try to find ways to incorporate this into our classroom.
     In Debbie Miller's book Teaching with Intention, Miller discusses how your classroom space should somehow support your teaching beliefs. If I want students to see that I believe that are in charge of their learning then I need to show them by giving them a chance to have ownership of their learning space. I know this might be difficult to do at first but I think the idea of having a blank canvas (aka your classroom) will help your students see that you are on the learning adventure together. One idea I hope to incorporate is the idea of using the walls of the room as a timeline for the class. The students will do opening day activity such as a 10 Things About Me activity, which will serve as the beginning of the timeline and decorate one of the walls. As time goes on the class can vote on which activities in class they would like to display on the timeline. I also think I'd like to have student groups decorate some on the bulletin boards during rotation. By decorating the bulletin boards students once again are able to play a more active role in their learning because they have to come up with a way to display the learning topic to their fellow classmates through pictures and few words. I want to cater to all learning styles. I think a way to achieve this is to have stations throughout the rooms that are specific to each learning style. An example of this would be a kinesthetic station would included a table and few chairs with lots of hands on activities. A learner that is auditory would include headphones with parts of the lessons used with music or tapes that students can listen to again and again.
     Another one of my beliefs that I want to incorporate into my classroom environment is diversity. I think a great way for students to truly learn about another culture is to see and experience it. Every month or couple of weeks I want to have a board or section of the room that will be decorated to match the culture we are visiting. I think that by having the culture so interactive students will be able to relate more and get excited to learn about it. Once again after the first month students can be in charge of the area. I hope to get the class involved in a "class trip" of sorts that will give students the power to chose the countries that we will visit throughout the year. Though this will definitely mean a lot more work for me I think it will make the activity more meaningful to the students.
    I want my students to feel at home and I think a wonderful way to do this is to have a homey reading area. Not only will students feel comfortable but they will always be more excited to read, which is something I hope to instill in my students. I will make the reading area more personable by asking students their ideas to make the reading area comfortable. I also want to have book bins by theme not by reading level. I think students are smart enough to chose a book that they can understand and by sorting by theme students can explore topics that interest them not just what level they are in.

My Teaching Beliefs

"When teachers have a set of beliefs that guides our work, we know where we're going. There may be twists and turns along the way, but we always know where we're headed." 

-Debbie Miller  Teaching with Intention     

     I've been asked to consider my teaching beliefs and I think this is an interesting point to do this. I'm currently in one of my last semesters before I actually become a teacher so I'm full of experiences from my teaching classes but those experiences considerably outweigh my experiences as a classroom teacher. Essentially this beliefs are my foundations and I'm aware that once I actually begin to teach they may change so it will be interesting to have a place to see my beginning ideas and maybe even useful (for those days when I'm feeling down and stressed from teaching). 

    So without further ado, here is my foundation:

1. Diversity will be welcomed, celebrated, and accepted in my classroom.

     I grew up in two very different schools (one that was filled with minority and one where I was the only minority). While the affluent middle school I went to have many resources that my elementary school didn't have it lacked something incredibly important: diversity. I want my students to learn about diversity as I find ways to regularly incorporate it into lessons. I think by learning about diversity (even if it's not present in the school environment) then students will broaden their horizons and be able to comprehend the whole world around them. Celebrating cultures helps show my students how to respect different cultures while all seeing how cultures differ. I will show my students to be accepting of other cultures by being a role model and show how I am accepting myself. I hope students will feel comfortable enough sharing their different cultures and by doing so can come to understand their fellow classmates more and create deeper bonds.

2. My students are individuals and therefore I will respect their individual learning styles and help find ways to match it in lessons.

     Every student has their own learning style and to teach the class as if they all have the same style would not help students succeed. As a teacher if I come to understand each students learning styles then I can figure out ways to address the styles in lessons so that every student can understand. By using different learning styles then I'm also showing students that I'm not disregarding their learning and instead empowering them to embrace different ways to learn.

3. The classroom environment should welcome and be a safe place for students.

     Students spend 8 hours a day in the classroom and it soon becomes a second home. I think that students should not fear being in the classroom but instead be excited. When students feel comfortable in the classroom then they be more inclined to sit in the classroom and learn. Sometimes home life is not always the best for students and their only escape may be school; if that is the case then students should feel safe at school. I think ways to accomplish this can be giving students ownership of their classroom (this can be done a variety of ways that include name tags, student art on the classroom, student based rules, etc.), making sure there is food and water in the class for students who are hungry/thirsty, and providing jackets for some students when it get cold. When school becomes a safe place for student then they will thrive because they are getting their basic means met. 

4. All students can learn.

    Sometimes students get written off due to their reputation and they slowly begin to believe that they can not learn but that is the furthest thing from the truth. All students have the ability to learn and sometimes it just takes a little work to help the students find their passion. Students may be acting out for other reasons and once a teacher help the student solve them then a student is better able to learn.