Chapter 7 Reflection

This chapter of “Strategies that Work” discussed how students make different connections to the things they read and how teachers can facilitate a students ability to understand and make more meaningful connections. The chapter discussed how students could connect the new to the known, text to self, themes between authors, and make personal to world connections. As an avid reader I found it interesting to review these connections. When I’m reading a book I make hundreds of these connections but never acknowledge to myself that I am doing so. At this point in my life making these connections is sub-conscience, they are filed away and seldom spoken out loud. Since the majority of my reading consists of textbooks and articles for classes I tend to make connect the new to the known. This information is generally filed away until I need it for a test or essay. It can be easy to forget that we are not born with these connection making skills and that as teachers we are the ones responsible for assisting students in developing these connections. I don’t have any distinct memory of ever learning to make these connections but I must have at some point because the skill is there. I don’t remember using the coding system in elementary school. I had one teacher in middle school who asked us to use sticky notes to code books but the technique didn’t stick with any of the students. I love the idea of using sticky notes to jot down connections and other notes as I read but I feel like I would get annoyed having to categorize each one. Maybe this annoyance comes from being a skilled reader with connecting skills already in set in my sub-conscience. When I teach these techniques they will most likely be brand new to my students. The technique that I will be most excited to share with students is “Distracting Connections” (pg. 95) When I re-read books (which is something I do a lot) I often make more distracting connections than when I’m reading a book for the first time. I think a fun way for students to connect with me and save themselves from destructive distracting connections would be to do the example read-a-loud. I could pick a passage from my favorite book and while reading point out the parts where I start daydreaming, making sure to instruct students in how to get back on the right track. I think it’s always important to let your students know that you enjoy reading and the daydreaming anecdotes are a fun way to connect with students. I could even ask students to share some of the times their mind wandered away while reading. This technique dealing distracting connections will come in handy when students in older grades start reading more textbooks and the text starts to get more and more dense. Daydreaming tends to occur more often when reading dense text. It would be easy for students to cross over this language arts skill into a subject like history. Many of the connection making techniques will become second nature to students and will be able to be transfered between all subjects.

France VII

This entire past week was dedicated to Excursions. We went to Normandy, St. Malo and Mont St. Michel. While at Normandy we were able to visit Point Du Hoc and see the craters and bunkers from D-Day. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we got there, the area was so scenic that it was almost impossible to image that a war was ever fought here. The craters that were created from air bombings almost looked like a natural occurrence. The ocean was so beautiful that I felt like jumping in for a swim! I tried my best to picture the military men advancing and defending. My father is an Air Force enthusiast and museum curator so I grew up hearing war stories and watching war movies. When we went to the American Cemetery and Omaha Beach I was once again taken a back by the beauty in everything. The French did a superb job keeping the entire place pristine just the same as with their enormous gardens. I had heard the stories and seen the movies but it all seemed like an elaborate lie when I stood on Omaha beach and had the crystal blue water wash over my feet.

Staying the night at St. Malo with a hotel right on the beach was the perfect way to relax after our long day at Normandy. I was one of the very few who ventured a swim in the freezing english channel. We ended up having a sort of picnic dinner of the beach and watched the sun set over the beautiful ocean. The next day we headed to Mont. St. Michel which is an incredible cathedral on top of a mountain which is mostly surrounded by water. The walk up the stairs was grueling but the tour of the Cathedral was the best tour yet and I am so glad we were able to visit it.

France VI

During this weekend Angers had a huge music festival in honor of Music Day which is celebrated nationally. The city of Angers is a small city, probably as large as New Braunfels but with more of a metropolitan area. I was surprised at the number of people that gathered for this night long event. People seemed to appear out of no where. I stepped outside of my building and all of a sudden there were people all over the streets, bands around every corner and no way to escape the music (not that I wanted to). The atmosphere started to remind me of SXSW in Austin with one difference. People were wandering the streets with alcohol in hand. It was easy to tell that a lot of people were taking advantage of the night and having a good time. I soon found out that when the French party, they do it right. The music did not stop until the morning and I know this for a fact because I woke up at 5am to the sounds of dubstep outside my window.

I thought it was very interesting that they had a Music Day in general. I know that in the United States we have unofficial national holidays like Talk Like a Pirate Day and National Ice Cream Day but we don’t put much stock into those. It’s usually the pirate or ice cream super fans that really go crazy for these days. There is also another large festival happening outside of Angers this weekend and already people are putting on displays and small shows around the Angers square to promote it. I figured that the French take their holidays seriously.

France V

Chateau Villandry was a gorgeous and amazing experience. I think that it has definitely been my favorite part of this entire trip. Villandry is a beautiful castle with enormous gardens surrounding it. These gardens are so well kept that some people compare them to the gardens at Versailles. Simply walking around the gardens was incredible. I was stunned by the detail that went into keeping up the grounds. The shrubbery was perfectly trimmed and there was not a speck of trash in sight. The flowers were gorgeous and in perfect color. I could really see the French pride emerge through these gardens. Now I try and think of any garden in the US that compares to this and I honestly can’t think of a single one. These plants were so well kept and I imagined all the hours of work that went into keeping them that way. I know that in San Antonio our Japanese garden is always lacking in refinement. There are no patterns in the shrubbery and no perfectly positioned flowers. When I think of gardens and wildlife in Texas I think of overgrown and flowing vegetation. When I think of Texas I think of camping in the woods and when I think of France I think of ornate castles with perfect gardens. Do people in France go camping in the woods like we do? I fell so in love with Chateau Villandry and all it’s perfection and beauty that I could have spent the rest of my life amongst the flowers. I didn’t want to leave.

France IV

Our final day at Jean Villar was both exciting and heartbreaking. I couldn’t wait to see the students present their final projects in front of everyone! I was eager to see if parents were going to show up to watch their children present and at the same time It was saddening to know that I was never going to see these students again. Everything about the projects turned out to be perfect. Most of the students had no trouble going up and speaking in front of the audience. There were one or two girls that were extremely nervous, though, and covered their mouths while giving the presentation. I was also pleasantly surprised to see at least three parents and even a couple siblings show up for the presentations. We were worried that no one was going to be able to make it since it is a poor neighborhood and many of the parents have work. I’m glad that these parents were able to be there for this exciting experience. I even noticed one or two of the moms laughing at the photos taken and giggling out of embarrassment when photos of themselves came up on the screen. Once the presentations we started handing out gifts. I personally had brought a bunch of U.S. quarters, most of which were Texas quarters. The students were fascinated with our currency and were trying to figure out how much it was worth. We tried to explain but I don’t think many of the students understood. After everyone had given their gifts and lots of pictures were taken, the bell rang for class and I frantically wrote down my address. I gave it to one of my students and quickly tried to explain that he could send me letters here and we could be pen pals. I gave my address to Mr. Leboudic too. I one day I’ll be pleasantly surprised with a letter from one of our French friends.

France III

The school of management and business came with us to the Jean Villar school. It was interesting to have this large group dynamic. We also had digital media management students there filming us with the kids. I could tell that some of the students were overwhelmed by the amount of people there and I could see that their teacher Mr. Le Boudic was a little nervous about being on camera. When we handed the students cameras for the project many of the students had admitted to never using a camera before. This camera crew was something they had never seen before.

Another interesting thing I noticed about the kids is their individual reactions to certain people in our group. As soon as the digital media boys walked in the door to film the girls started smiling and giggling and turning to each other. It seemed that the idea of an American boy intrigued them. I also saw that a lot of the girls gravitated toward Brantly because of her blonde hair. The girls would touch it, admire it and compliment her on it. Brantly joked about it later on yet it’s interesting to see that they are so fascinated with her blonde hair. In the United States we’re very used to seeing blonde highlighted hair yet when I think about it I haven’t really seen anyone with that color hair here in Angers.

France II

Teaching in a foreign country is an experience I wish all future and current teachers could have. Walking in to the Jean Villar school building feels almost like walking into any other low economic school in the U.S. The difference comes with the students and faculty and the dynamic between them. When we first went and observed the S.E.G.P.A. class we didn’t know what to expect. These students were labeled “special education” students yet that could mean something completely different in France than the United States. We found out through a meeting with the S.E.G.P.A. director that these students that we were going to be working with are students that have learning disabilities or have been held back multiple times.

While we were sitting in the classroom observing these students it was nearly impossible to            see that any of these students had learning disabilities. Yes, for these “6th grade” students some of the english worksheets they were working on didn’t seem grade level appropriate yet that is expected when learning a new language. No student will start learning a new language at the level they are at in their native language. These students come from a low economic background and there quite a few immigrants in the class. I think that plays a lot into the fact that these kids fail grades and are forced to enter this S.E.G.P.A program. I was very surprised that the students knew as much english as they did and that they could actually pick new vocabulary from the worksheets they were working on. I had such a new respect for ESL teachers after coming back from working with the kids this first day.

France I

When my adventure to Paris first started I was quite scared. I arrived at the airport two days before everyone else. it was my first time in Europe and I was alll alone. The language was so foreign and I was unable to understand a single word. It was a complete shock to me. Growing up in a bilingual city like San Antonio, I was used to hearing foreign languages spoken around me, yet this was completely different. When people spoke French there was no possibility of me understanding it.

While I waited i the airport I started to think of myself as a FLL student (French Language Learner). I pictured what it would be like to have to go to school and learn content while not understanding anything anyone was saying. Here I was sitting in the airport fluent in English, Proficient in Spanish and totally excluded from the communication that surrounded me. Even when the speaker over the airport intercom spoke English the accent was so thick that I had difficulty understanding them. I knew before I had arrived that communication was going to be a barrier to overcome yet I had no idea that I would feel this lost. When I pictured myself traveling to foreign countries I never envisioned this feeling of isolation that would come with the language barrier.

Blog Post #4

Technology is a large part of our present and of our future. I don’t think we even know how important technology will be in the future. I believe that it is extremely important for future generations to be able to understand technology and it’s benefits. As a teacher it’s my responsibility to expose them to as many different types of technology as possible.Now a days almost every teacher is required to have a web page that parents and students can access. The problem is that most teachers do the bare minimum because they aren’t comfortable with technology and the web page becomes useless. When I have my own classroom I will make sure to have my own teacher web page even if it is not required. I will not only have the minimum like the class schedule and contact information but I will have regularly updated notes and videos on what we worked on in class so that students can access it when they are struggling with their homework. My web page will have places for students to display their work as well. Another way that I will integrate technology into my classroom is by assigning projects that require technology use. Video and research projects will allow students to be creative and explore these areas of technology on their own. I have also noticed that this new generation of students are more eager to do work that includes technology. They understand how to use it and are sometimes more knowledgeable than their teachers. The sad part of all this is that there are teachers out there who have over thirty years of experience teaching yet have no clue how to use or integrate technology other than the most basic of things like power point and playing videos. It’s the students of these teachers that are going to suffer for it. Sure, they will most likely be able to be exposed to technology in many other ways but it would be even better if they were exposed to it every year in their classroom. The good part is that all the new teachers going out into the workforce and many of the younger teachers out there are already on the technology bandwagon.

 

Reflection 3

I thought that the reading had a lot of very good points. There were actually so many interesting ideas that I can’t remember half of them. But a small idea that stuck with me was the idea of having this sort of way to enable students, their peers, teachers, parents and administrative to all collaborate on a student’s activity. Students should be able to share work with their peers. Parents who wish to be more involved should have that ability.If classrooms could set up some sort of website that was able to incorporate all these ideas I think it could be very beneficial for the class. Like the reading said, technology is our future and students are the ones that have lots of experience with technology already and using blogging and social media sites. If you could take the principles that blogs and social media sites have and transform them for classroom use then you would be one step ahead of everyone. The only difficulty with this is that most teachers are no where near as tech savvy as their students so these types of things will only start happening with the new generation of teachers and leave the one’s who have been there the longest to struggle to learn quick.