My students are loving the bellringers that we are doing on Tuesdays that are centered around the question stem, "Would you rather..." It truly shows that students are more engaged and excited when the curriculum is meaningful and fun. Our district recently adopted a new curriculum so we cannot change much of it. The prompts … Continue reading Self-Study: Update #2
Grad. School
Self-Study: Update #1
My students are pretty engaged when I'm modeling and explicitly teaching. When it comes to them generating their own ideas though it can be like pulling teeth. I am making sure to use prompts and am giving them "think" time but I'm only having a couple of students participate. I wonder if it's because they … Continue reading Self-Study: Update #1
Now a Hoover Hawk!
Keeping in mind my goal of becoming a literacy coach within my school district, I have made a change in grades and schools for next year. Instead of teaching at the elementary level, I will now be moving up to middle school, teaching 6th grade language arts. I am sad to be leaving my Lowell … Continue reading Now a Hoover Hawk!
The Culmination of Our Multimodal Book Review
As the last blog post for my Issues and Trends in Curriculum class, we were asked to reflect on our book study and the multimodal book review we were tasked to create. Here's my post: During these four weeks of Issues and Trends in Curriculum, I have had the opportunity to expand my knowledge about … Continue reading The Culmination of Our Multimodal Book Review
Response to Negotiating Critical Literacies with Teachers
This week we in my class, Issues and Trends in Curriculum, we were asked to respond to our common text, reflecting on our learning through this course. Here is my post: Response to Our Common Text, Negotiating Critical Literacies with Teachers Prior to starting this course, I had thought that I would be only looking at … Continue reading Response to Negotiating Critical Literacies with Teachers
ILA 2018 Report- What’s Hot in Literacy?
Amanda Coan_Commentary #3 Each year the International Literacy Association puts out a What's Hot in Literacy Report. This report compares the topics literacy professionals deem as important along with "hot" topics, which are topics that are currently receiving the most attention from educators. This list changes each year it comes out because our … Continue reading ILA 2018 Report- What’s Hot in Literacy?
Commentary #2: Hashtag Activism
"Taking social action is an attempt to move the school curriculum to the community; to make it relevant to the lives of the students we teach" (Vasquez, Tate, & Harste, 2013, p. 15). This quote from Negotiating Critical Literacies with Teachers: Theoretical Foundations and Pedagogical Resources for Pre-service and In-service Contexts (Vasquez et al., 2013) reminds us of … Continue reading Commentary #2: Hashtag Activism
First Commentary for My Graduate Blog
For one of my current graduate classes, "Issues and Trends in Curriculum" we were asked to start a blog and respond to some of the issues and trends we're discussing in our class. The requirement was to start a blog using Blogger, which was hard for me since I already have this educational blog. My … Continue reading First Commentary for My Graduate Blog
Thesis Decided
Even though I have about a year left in my graduate program, I am seeing the finish line. I have decided I am going to write a thesis for my final paper. It will be a self-study focusing on my writing instruction for my ELL students. I have my thesis committee members lined up and … Continue reading Thesis Decided
Things are coming together…
I'm feeling a little relieved since I just finished my last graduate class for the summer. It was definitely a major feat! Now that I have a three week break before my next graduate class starts I'm focusing on getting ready for the upcoming school year. I am excited to say that I almost have … Continue reading Things are coming together…