9-17-07 - Can't wait to see our students at tibbetts. I think my group will like the book 'Mircle Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson. I like the little video excerpt of the movie 'Reservoir Dogs'. The character on the movie had so much expression that he convinced the mobsters that it was a true account. A writer has to grab the readers attention which our students have to learn. I like reading picture books because of the illustrations. I personally like to see pictures of what I'm reading about.

 

9-24-07- Still waiting. The Whipping Boy bySid Flieschman was very entertaining and reminded me of the good ol' days.  

 

10-1-07- Finally! Today we met our students at Tibbetts. They seemed like a lively crowd after you get to know them. We did are book sell and they didn't pick my book. I was heart broken. All that time reading this good book. Should have had a better book sell. The two books the class selected were 'Al Capone does my shirt' and 'Among the Hidden'.

 

The guest speaker Uma Krishnaswami was great! I had never seen an author in real life. She looked very smart. I liked the books she had displayed and read for us. The illustrations were beautifully done in the books. However, the important thing that I got out of her visit is that we as teahcers most choose our books wisely. Reason being that sometimes there are underlying messages, predjudice, etc in books. For example books that were created back when could be giving out unwanted beliefs. 

 

The picture book I read  was Wild Wild Sunflower Child Anna by Nancy White Carlstrom and had alot good words that could be reviewed after a read aloud.

 

10-11-07- Mid-term

I was really shocked when Maxine came to class. I never had a class in which there was so much creativity in a teacher. I do believe that you must think and act like a child when teaching younger children. When Maxine came he asked question after question, trying to get more. As this was happening Maxine was stirring creativity in the minds of all in the class. The teacher must help the students to think more deeper and not to have a simple 'yes or no' answer. I think it is great that we learned about different resources we can use at our local library. Like you said "A libarian is a teachers best friends". I think the tour of the libary was a bit long but it was very informing. As for the class at Tibbetts, I enjoy spending time with the children to gain more experience in the classroom. Watching the childeren interact with each other gives me more insight into what else I need to do in my future classroom. What I observe and learn now will help me later on in my career as an educator. I'm trying the best I can and I want an A out of this class.  

 

10-15-07- I guess the children were introduced to literature cicles and thats what they were ready to do. We began our books and the students were engaged. I like the fact that the students were the ones that were making conversation after each chapter. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next week.

 

 I was reading an informational book on Jupiter which was really interesting. When I was younger I used to be in love with the planets and even had a telescope.

 

10-22-07- Today went great at Tibbetts. The students listened while we read the book. The one thing that I would have changed is the need for a dictionary. I had a tongue twisting word which seemed easy. I was fortunate that my partner helped me and she had problems with it later on when pronouncing it.

 

 I like the video we watched in class because it shows that their is more to drawing illustrations for books. The illustrator has to put his all into his work.

 

 I was reading a picture book 'Stellaluna' and at the back of the book it showed interesting information about bats. I thought it was neat.

 

10-23-07-PrimeTime- I was really impressed by the amount of people that showed up at Aztec for primetime. The food was good and they story that was read was even better. I  like how the story was read with such enthusiasm! The questions asked after the read aloud also engaged the audience. I think this would be great if everyone would take their children to these types of events because it shows the children that reading is important. I also liked that they gave out gift certificates to the families that were there for all Primetime reading events.

 

10-29-07- The students that miss last week were finally here. The children seemed to be outnumbered by the Unm students in the class. It seemed like last week the students were more engaged in the activity. This week they were looking more to the Unm students then to each other. Next week we plan to demonstrate a literature circle for our group of students. The students should get a good idea of how to do a literature circle after our demonstration. We should have already done this at the begin of the book. I guess we have to learn as we go.

 

I'm reading 'The Music of Dolphins' by Karen Hesse which is very sad to me. How could man take a child away from her family of dolphins?

 

11-5-07- Today the teachers demonstrated a literature circle for the students. We did an exceptional job! The studets seem to understand how a literature circle works becasue they were in the middle of the action. I believe we are lucky that we have a group of conversational students. This group is mature which makes this active a little easier for us. 

 

I think that our presentations of literary elements is great for our sake. There are new things I'm learning from every presentation.

 

Why do people with weird imaginations write books? For example the author of the Loin the Witch and the Wardrobe. There is alot of imagination put into this book. This is high fantasy!  

 

11-19-07- Today we did a running record with the children. This was good practice because as teachers we will being doing alot of assessing. This will come in handy especially for me. Reading to many books! I did know that poetry was that entertaining. I think 'The Sawgrass Poems a view of the evergaldes' by Frank Asch was well done with the pictures and poems together.  

 

11-26-07- The children are more comfortable engaging with each other. We've gone along way from our first literature circle meeting. I filmed the literature circle and they weren't phased by the camera. I feel good about our contributions to our little group of students. I think that we have made connecitons and soon they will be only a memory.    

 

I don't know what to think about censorship. I think that every child should have the right to read whatever they want, as long as their reading. There will always be a complainers.

 

The book I'm reading is hatchet. I think that i need to take a class with the boys scouts.

 

12-3-07- Today we filmed the students again and it went fine. The students practiced their literature roles and they are really getting the hang of it. We also planned the last meeting with our children. We plan to buy pizza for the students. After our session the class meet up at the Unm center where we saw each others website. It was nice to see the hard work each of us put into this websites.

 

12-10-07- I'm so burnt out! I'm limping to the finish line. Today, we said our farewell to our students at Tibbetts. One more last camera shot of the students in action. I'm going to miss these little guys. It was good to see the students engage in conversation even though the girls were less reluctant. After our farewell tour we met at the Unm center for the last time. The genre quiz was the first thing on the agenda which was a piece of cake. Again, we proceeded with our websites which I finally presented my work of art.  Unfortunately we didn't get to play Jeopardy. Finally! We are out! I'm Out!

 

Final Reflection-

 

I so happy that it is finally over. This semester was a killer. However I have learned a lot from this class. I can't believe how many books are available in childrens literature. The many books that I have read will be a wonderful resource to me as I student teach. The website I have created will also assist me as a venture into student teaching. I'm glad that I have read many books! My eye's are hurting from looking at this cursed computer screen. Wow! I never imagined that children's literature was so exciting. I have set a storytelling time for my daughter every night. I'm improving my read aloud skills every time I read for my daughter.

 

I'm grateful to have participated in the literature circles at Tibbetts. It was a great experience for all of us UNM students. To see the whole process of creating and teaching the concept of literature circle was priceless. I just was amazed by the children intelligence and their effort to learn. These students were great and this wouldn't have been successfully if they weren't spectacular.

 

I have matured as a professional in this last semester and I want to continue to grow as an educator. I thank you for pushing me to better myself as a future teacher. I know that there is more that I have learned but I will be typing forever if that's the case.

 

 I just want to say that when I have my own classroom, I want to supply my students with plenty of books. It won't hurt to have a vast selection of books for the students in my class.

 

Also, I'm against censorship. Children should have the right to read what they want. Any type of reading is good for our children. Reading stimulates the minds of our children and that is a major plus.

 

Thank You Much!