Classroom Discussions

After reading our assigned chapters I began thinking about classroom discussion and my experiences and thoughts about discussion. While growing up and going through Elementary and Middle school discussions always made me nervous. I was a shy student and was always scared the teacher would call on me to answer the question. Me fear was that there was only one correct answer and I would not get it right. I spent most of the time worrying if the teacher was going to call on my to respond, rather than listening to others inputs and explanations. Gradually I became less nervous, though I still did not like discussion I tried to participate in High School. It was only when I got to college that I felt more comfortable in discussion. I felt that in college courses, discussions are more laid back and opinionated rather that one direct answer. Students are able to discuss what they read and how they interperted the reading. Through this discussion other classmates may agree or disagree but hear others thoughts. Now, while in feild placement I observe the students as well as my CT and notice different strategies and techniques that are used daily.

While observing my 5th grade classroom, my CT performs discussions daily. Most of her discussions are based around a question of a book she is reading to them or a topic they learned the previous day. She uses discussion to review topics already learned or to inquire minds on topics the student may not know at all. My CT usually starts out using I-R-E ( Initiate-Response-Evaluate), which means the Teacher initiates the discussion with a question, then a student is called upon to respond and then the response is evaluated. From observing last semester into the beginning of this spring semester, the majority of the discussion I see are I-R-E, though I have witnessed on occassion where the teacher poses a question to the class, and the students take over the discussion and the CT sits back to monitor the discussion. When I asked the CT about using discussion, she said that she poses questions during books when their are subjects and words students may not know. She also said that this helps the students keep on track and the students will follow along better, when they understand the text.

In the future, I hope to see more self-student directed class discussions where the CT is monitoring the discussion instead of self-directing the discussion. I unerstand the setting up discussion is difficult and a skill that needs to be practiced, and I hope that after our readings, I will try to incorporate more self-directed discussions in my lesson planning.

Noteblog Discussions

Throughout the last semester and into this one, I have not seen very much discussions in my classroom at all. When I taught my own lessons last semester, I tried to get discussions going. However, since these students had not even had much practice with recitation type discussions, they were a little unsure of what to do. They wanted to raise their hands and be called on as well as have the questions posed for them. My discussions turned into recitation style discussions. I feel that this is because in other grades, this was all they had practice with. Also, there has not been any discussions led by my CT all year, as far as what I have seen.

I have discussed this with my CT. She has told me that she does not like "controlled chaos." She said that that is what she feels discussions will turn into. She was also very surprised that I was able to handle the students working in small groups for both my social studies and science lessons that I taught last semester. She told me that although she saw learning taking place, it was too chaotic for her and that she was glad I could handle it.

As far as what I have seen in language arts this semester, The CT just puts questions on the Smart Board and has each student answer them individually. They then switch papers and correct them. This is pretty much how all of her lessons go. There is no discussion or group work, just quiet, individual work.

I would like to use more discussion in my lessons this semester. I know that I will have to start out small and make them feel comfortable talking without raising their hands or having the question posed to them. I feel that having them discuss in small groups last semester was a good start. Hopefully I can get them moving towards more of a full class discussion later on where everyone is able to give their ideas.

Noteblog 2-- Due 1/27

In my classroom, for the most part, the classroom discussion has been in the I-R-E (Initiate- Response- Evaluate) participatory structure.  I have only seen three language arts lesson thus far because it is so early in the semester.  The CT will pose a question and a students will respond.  The student's responses typically answer the question directly but do not explore the answer any further.  Occasionally a student will comment on another students ideas but that typically does not happen.  

To help the students pose their own questions and facilitate their own discussion the teacher needs to begin by asking fewer questions.  Instead of asking all of the questions, the teacher should occasionally pose good model questions for her students to learn from.  Also, the teacher needs to encourage the students.  If encouragement does not take place then the students might feel nervous to share their opinions with the class.  At the end of a discussion the teacher should give a "re-cap."  The teacher should sum up the discussion and ask for any final thoughts or comments.

There is one student in particular in the classroom that does not participate in any form of classroom instruction.  I do not think his lack of participation comes from being nervous or unsure, I think his lack of participation is intrinsic.  The student is not motivated therefore needs extra attention from the teacher or classmates.  Hopefully throughout the semester I can try my best to motivate the student to participate more in class discussion.

Noteblog Goals

I have many goals for this semester as a far as what I would like to achieve through my experiences with language arts.



1. One of my biggest goals is to learn how to accommodate English language learners into a lesson on language arts. When I first entered the TE program, I struggled with the whole concept of accommodating students of many languages and backgrounds into a single lesson. I felt like it was impossible. I have learned many strategies that work, however. I feel though, that since language arts is so English based, as a teacher, I will have to be very creative when it comes to incorporating these students into the lesson.

2. I would also like to learn creative ways to teach language arts as a lesson in itself and not as something integrated into another lesson like science and social studies. Up until this point My CT has only used the integrated method of language arts. However, we recently got a Smart Board in the classroom so she has been trying it out with activities from the Internet. I however feel like the activities she has chosen are below fifth grade level and do not cover the standards required for fifth grade language arts. My goal is to have creative strategies for teaching language arts to upper elementary students (as this is where I plan to teach in the future).

3. I also would like to be able to diagnose where a student is in his or her literacy level. We covered this in TE 301, as far as morphology, phonology, etc... so I understand the criteria that goes into this. I would just like more practice and possibly be able to give my own explanations for why students at my placement are struggling with literacy. This way I will be ready for this when I am a teacher and will make correct choices towards a student and his or her literacy goals.

Noteblog #1

After reading over the syllabus thoroughly after skimming through the pages with the class. I have thought about my goals for this semester and what I want to learn in this course. Though there are many things I want to learn, I want to focus one these three things the most, the rest will incorporate themselves in at the right time.

1. I want to learn effective and creative ways to teach and integrate language arts in the classroom. I want to learn both in class and in feild placement, to get a variety of many different ideas in teaching chidren the aspects of literacy.

2. I want to get the experience to work with a vareity of students, particularly my three focal students to learn their style and understanding of literacy and what ways they learn the best.

3. In TE 401 we did many projects and lesson plans that consisted of standards. Through the process of writing many detailed lesson plans, I learned that there is a great amount of thought that gets put into creating lesson plans, because of the amount of standards teachers need to incorporate into their lessons. As one of my goals, i want to learn more about standards and particularly language arts standards for all grades, especially fifth grade. I feel this would help me understand lessons taught in my placement. Standards are somewhat confusing in many aspects, so I want to get more aquainted to my standards theough this course.

I am looking foward to this semester. I feel that there is so much to learn about literacy and language arts. I am excited to see what this semester becomes.

Noteblog 1-- Due 1/20

After reading over the syllabus for this course, I have come up with my own personal goals for the improvement of my understanding of language arts.  My hope is that by the end of the semester my goals have been accomplished and I have a deeper understanding of language arts and different approaches that can be used to teach.  Below is a list of my goals for the semester:

1-  In TE 401 I was shown how useful literature circles can be in both a language arts class as well as in other subject areas.  I saw the different roles each member of the group was assigned as well as how to fulfill their duties and actively participate with the rest of the group.  However, other than literature circles, I want to discover other methods of group work that can be used in language arts.  Having students learn from their peers is something that I think is very important. 

2-  I understand that it is extremely likely that I will be faced with ELL students.  I want to learn different teaching methods that will both promote effective learning for both ELL students as well as students that are proficient is English.  Incorporating all of the students is important in order to create a community; therefore, I want all of my students to be included in the lessons.

3-  Up until this past year I was unaware of the multitude of standards that teachers need to incorporate into their lesson plans.  I am some what worried about having to follow both the districts standards as well as the states standards.  I have many questions- what if the two sets of standards are very different, is that even possible, and if so, which set of standards should I focus on?  Also, I want to become more aware of the language arts standards and approaches to use in order to make sure that I am teaching the material correctly.

4-  I would like to observe some effect and creative language arts lessons in my field placement.  I want to see how my CT promotes language arts and makes sure that the students are learning the material that is being taught.  I have an amazing CT so I am sure that I am going to see some very effective teaching strategies. 

I am very excited for this TE 402 class and am looking forward to reading everyone else's goals for the semester!