Education Issues: Reading Problems

When I was reading through the education issues, I found a section about reading problems, specifically in middleschoolers. It discussed the problem of students being unable, or having a lot of trouble reading. In fact, many students are below the 30th percentile in reading. This problem with reading is a key contributor to many students' lack of interest in school. This is definitely a problem that needs attention, and this article suggests that technology may be used in a positive way to effectively help these students who are struggling. Since the traditional methods of teaching has not worked for these kids, the internet may be a useful tool in getting kids more interested and involved in reading. There are many reading software programs that can be used for this purpose.

I think this information could be very useful in my future French classroom because if students are having trouble reading English, they are going to have an even harder time learning to read French. I could use online and reading software programs to get my students to be more interactive in reading and make reading more exciting for them. I could also try to find 0nline programs that would assist students in learning to read French as well. This would help them to learn more outside the classroom as well.


~Hayley


The link to this information can be found here: http://oc.course.com/sc/tdc5/index.cfm?action=issue&chapter=3

Education Issues: Wikis and Education

For the second part of this assignment, I chose a subject under Education Issues. Wikis and Education discusses the importance and detriment of Wikis. Some Wikis have only a few editors and are on specific topics while others, such as Wikipedia, have throusands of editors and encompass many topics. These can easily have fraud, as anyone can edit the content. As a teacher, I would not allow my students to use wiki sources in research topics. I know that as a student, I often go to wiki sources for information, however, whenever my teachers do not allow this, I often find a greater amount of information becaue it forces me to look at several different sources. Although wiki sources are somewhat helpful and can provide great information, they are not always completely reliable.

Liz

"Reading Aloud: Is It Worth It?"

This article discusses the advantages of reading aloud to students. Nancy Lacedonia, a teacher in Massachusetts, created a survey to gauge the effectiveness of reading aloud in a classroom setting. The findings show that classroom reading can enhance a student's reading ability and can create an interest in literature. Students who learn to appreciate literature are often more successful in school, and are often more likely to go to college.

I think that this topic is relevant to my future classroom. As an English teacher, I will be exposing my students to a variety of literary works. By introducing these works aloud, I can help the whole class to participate, and this will encourage class discussion and group learning. Reading aloud is a good way to bring the class together.

Integration Corner

While I was browsing through the integration corner, I found a website about writing activities for the web specifically for the use of foreign language teachers. Since I am a French education major, I found this to be very interesting and potentially very helpful for the future.
The World Wide Web is a very useful tool that can aid students in the mastery of a foreign language. It is useful especially in a foreign language class because it is very easy to find cultural documents and information. Foreign language teachers at the Technology Workshop of the Summer Institute of the California Foreign Language Project created web pages for all levels of students that are great examples to go off of in creating your own web activity. Also, since beginning level students often have trouble with reading assignments, these websites give reading strategies that can help the students in comprehending what they are reading. This can be much more beneficial to the students because they will be able to get help online from the website when they do not have a teacher available to ask for help.
I think these web activities could be very useful for my future French classroom. It will allow the students to be more interactive and they will be able to gain more knowledge, especially culturally, than just simply through in-class activities.


The link to this website can be found here: http://www.clta.net/lessons/writing.html

Integration Corner: Reading/ Language Arts Corner

Spencer and Hayley,

I chose to look at the Reading/ Language Arts Corner since there wasn't a specific English Corner. One aspect that I thought was pretty neat was the discussion on reading aloud in the classroom. A few people i nthe article commented on reading aloud in their own classrooms, one who teaches at the graduate level! Reading aloud helps students to focus and get settled before the lesson begins. In an elementary classroom, reading aloud helps give a visual thatwill later assist students as they learn to read on their own.

I will integrate this into my future classroom as an Engilsh Secondary Education instructor. I will make an effory to read aloud to my students at least a few times a week. If we are working on a book in class, I might choose to read portions of it to them. As we read, I will stop to ask thoughtful questions to keep the students engaged and thinking about the work. If we are not currently working on a book, I will choose either interesting and applicable articles, or a novel that will possibly intrigue the students.

Liz

It's a Delicate Balance

I have to agree with you, Spencer. I have been frustrated by computers malfunctioning so many times. I also think that too much technology in the classroom can become a bad thing if teachers start to rely solely on technology rather than their own creativity for lesson plans. It is important for teachers to continue to interact with their students and not use technology for everything. There needs to be a good balance of using technology effectively and using the "oldschool" methods of pencil and paper.


~Hayley

Not All Technology is Flowers and Sunshine

Computers crash. Hard drives are wiped out. Batteries die. Viruses destroy programs. CDs break, flash drives are misplaced, and documents disappear into the vastness of cyberspace.

Needless to say, technology has its disadvantages. Any teacher that relies exclusively on technology will be ineffective, and his or her teaching abilities will be drastically limited.