Writing: Love It or Hate It, Ya Still Gotta Do It

Writing. Such a small, but meaningful word that will make some cringe and others light up at the sight of it. It seems to me that there is no love/hate relationship with writing; you either love it, or you hate it, and these feelings are a result of your past experiences with writing. While these feelings may slightly change over time, once high school comes, the negative or positive attitudes students have towards writing are engraved in their brains.

For me, writing is not easy. It probably takes me two times as long than normal students to write a paper. However, I think this has mostly to do with the fact that I'm a perfectionist. I try my best to always turn in good work, no matter what kind of work it is. While writing has been and still is a challenge, I love it. With the amount of practice I've had with it, I feel like I've become a fairly good writer, and when you're good at something, you enjoy doing it.

Regardless of whether you like writing or not, you have to do it. There is no way around it. Writing doesn't just stop once you reach a certain age or certain part of your education or work. You need to know how to write to be a functioning member of society today. Communication at this day in age is largely through email or text messaging. In order to relay your message effectively, you need to know how to write well (i.e. with correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling etc.). I believe all this shorthand stuff like "u" for "you" and "2" for "to", for example, has got to go. With the amount of time young people spend texting, I wouldn't be surprised if many teachers have found those mistakes in school writing. It would be interesting to see if those mistakes have escalated in the past few years due to text messaging.

As a future teacher, it will be my job to instill a positive attitude about writing in the minds of my students. This will be extremely challenging, and I know there will be students that no matter how hard I try, I will never get them to love writing. Nonetheless, I will allocate numerous hours of practice time during the school year, in hopes that my students will become great and learn to enjoy it. Help me in eliminating the "hate" side of writing once and for all!

The Maze Runner: Discussion #4

My journey through Dashner's The Maze Runner has now officially come to a close. For me, it's sad to know this day is here because it means I've finished the book, a book that brought so much joy to homework for the past two weeks. Good thing we're already halfway through the semester!

Instead of meeting in person, my group discussed The Maze Runner over text for our last book club. Chapters 50 through 62 is packed full of information, and everything seemed to happen so quickly, which made it a bit hard to understand. However, my group members and I agreed that Dashner wrote in this way to demonstrate how fast everything was happening to The Gladers. Dashner wanted us, as the readers, to feel the chaos that The Gladers were experiencing.

My group also found it interesting that as soon as the boys and Teresa escaped from the Maze, the new people who shot the Creators showed up. How did these people know The Gladers had escaped? My group predicted that maybe they, too, had experienced The Glade, and were waiting at the end of the escape route to save the boys and Teresa. We also thought that these people could possibly be a part of the group of Creators, but rebelled against the others to save the boys. I wonder if we will find out who these people are for sure in the next book.

Myself as well as all of my other group members were shocked when we found out that Gally had survived. We all believed he had died when The Grievers took him! Since he was still alive, we concluded that the Creators captured him. There always seemed to be something strange about him, so I wonder if he was being controlled by The Creators the entire time he was in The Maze. Was he himself a Creator?

Although I have now turned the last page, read the last word, closed the book for the last time, I still have many unanswered questions about what has happened so far. Dashner rounds out The Maze Runner with a cliffhanger, almost forcing you to grab a hold of the sequel. I know I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Leveling Books: It's a Yes From Me!

Imagine an elementary school classroom in which every student is following along to the same book as the teacher reads it aloud. In one corner of the room, you have a student daydreaming because he's bored; the book is too easy for him. On the other side of the room, the struggling reader sits at his desk, four pages behind everyone else; he can't keep up. What benefit does this have for either of these students? You're correct if you said none.

In my elementary school experiences, the most vivid part of reading class I can remember is like the one described above. Every Monday, everyone would read the same book as a class. The only books that we read on our own were those that we checked out from the school library, and, even then, the librarians didn't help us to make sure it was a book at our reading level. Looking back, now that I am knowledgeable about different types of reading instruction, I can see how ineffective this particular method was in terms of my love for reading, my motivation to read, and my grades on test scores. I think that if I had grown up in classrooms in which I read specific books based on my reading level, my attitudes towards reading would have been positive, and I would have been more successful.

 

Leveling books means that students read books only at their "Just Right" level, or independent level. According to Mrs. Nemeth from North Street School, you can tell if a book is "just right" if "(1) you know most of the words (less than 5 unknown words on a page), (2) you can understand what you're reading, (3) you are able to tell about the book, (4) it is not too hard and not too easy, and (5) it just feels good!" (http://www.wlps.org/NSS/Class/59-nemeth/1433-Why-do-we-level-books.html). In other words, a child must be able to learn something from what he or she is reading; therefore, he or she needs a book that is challenging, but not so much so that he or she can't understand what's going on in the story.

According to Richard Allington, students need to read texts that they are going to be successful with. This means that they need to be reading with high levels of accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. If students don't understand 2-3 words out of 100, the book they are reading is too hard. Research has shown that providing appropriate books for each reading level not only leads to improved reading skills, but also increases students' motivation skills. If kids are successful at reading, they are going to want to read more.

As elementary school classrooms become more and more diverse, I know, as a future teacher, I will have to stay away from the "one-size-fits-all" method of reading instruction for all of my students to be successful. Teachers need to be aware of this. Although it is harder for the teacher to differentiate curriculum, he or she won't be disappointed when he or she sees the results of

The Maze Runner: Discussion #3

As I fly farther and farther through The Maze Runner, I can't help but wonder how anyone, even those who are not fans of this particular genre, could hate this book. The plot progresses at a steady pace, always keeping me interested. Additionally, Dashner's exceptional ability in creating suspense makes me want to read more. He seems to always end a chapter with a sentence that almost forces me to read on, so I constantly find myself saying, "Just one more chapter. It's only four pages. Oh, the next one won't hurt either. It's just five." And on, and on, and on. I'm already trying to figure out how I can get my hands on the next two books in the trilogy.


For this book discussion, my group talked about Chapters 40-49. In this section of the book, the Runners go out into the maze for almost 24 hours to find Grievers running away from them and walls unchanged. Thomas, Teresa, and others find out that the maze is a code. Thomas throws himself on top of a Griever to purposely get stung, so that he can go through The Changing. The memories that flood his mind become important tools in aiding The Gladers to safety, but Chapter 49 ends before Dashner reveals how they will contribute to the escape effort. Well played, Dashner, well played.

Thomas shows an exceptional amount of bravery and intelligence, just as he always has, by sprinting after The Grievers to get stung on purpose. He knew that he needed to sacrifice himself in that way for any possible answers to be revealed. My group wondered that if Thomas hadn't thought of doing this, would anyone else have? If the thought had crossed anyone else's mind, would he or she have been brave enough to go through with it? Without Thomas, would The Gladers have any chance of escaping? I think that without Thomas, each of The Gladers, one by one, would be taken by The Grievers.

In the Chapters preceding 40-49, Dashner had established that Thomas and Teresa have a special relationship in which they can talk to each other telepathically. While reading, my group members and I have wondered what the significance of this is. Is it so certain information that Thomas and Teresa are talking about isn't exposed to the rest of The Gladers? Would things be different if Thomas and Teresa didn't have this ability, meaning they would have to talk to each other to communicate? A direct connection between Thomas and Teresa has not yet been stated, but I can sense it coming in the next couple of chapters.

The Changing is another subject of the book my group discussed. It seems to trigger different memories for different people, but no matter how different, there is one thing in common: Thomas. Does this mean that Thomas knew all of these people before his life in the maze? Or, rather, does this signify how important he is in the success of the escape plan? Without Thomas, would The Gladers even have a chance at getting out? Regardless of the answers to these questions, I found it interesting that while all the boys who have gone through The Changing saw Thomas, not one of them mentioned seeing Teresa. My peers and I agreed that with the special connection between Thomas and Teresa, it is odd that Teresa does not appear with Thomas. What does this mean?


As you can see, just a few short chapters can raise so many different questions that make me want to keep reading. I can't wait to finally figure out some of the answers in the next couple of days, although I know I will still have questions at the end of the book, which is why I know I'll be dying to get my hands on the next book in the series.  I hope you stick with me as I embark on the final trail of my first book club journey!

All Aboard! Welcome to Collaboration Station

According to Cornell University's Center for Teaching Excellence, "collaborative learning is based on the view that knowledge is a social construct." In other words, students acquire new knowledge through interaction with their peers. Each person carries his or her own set of unique experiences, which directly influences his or her perspectives about anything and everything. H. Jackson Brown's famous quote - "Everyone you meet knows something you don't; learn from them" - rings especially true in terms of collaborative learning. Students gain deeper insights from discussions with peers. All types of collaborative learning share four main principles: "(1) The learner or the student is the primary focus of instruction, (2) Interaction and 'doing' are of primary importance, (3) Working in groups is an important mode of learning, and (4) Structured approaches to developing solutions to real-world problems should be incorporated into learning" ("Collaborative Learning: Group Work"). Two types of collaborative learning, reciprocal teaching and literature circles, fit this mold.


Reciprocal teaching is primarily dialogue-based, meaning it is a talk-based approach, that is characterized by four strategies: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and connecting. In the beginning stages of reciprocal teaching, a teacher sits with a small group of students, who all have the same book/passage in hand. The teacher first acts as a model, showing the students in the group how to properly summarize the text or segment of text, ask questions about the text, clarify anything confusing, and making connections/predictions. Then, she passes on the role of teaching to the students. Once the students have mastered the art of teaching, the teacher is no longer needed in the group, and the students lead their own discussion. Research has shown that this method is beneficial, especially for students who really struggle with reading.

In one study by Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar and Ann L. Brown, twenty four seventh grade students were chosen to be subjects. Six of these students, who were chosen based on standardized test scores and results of the researchers' test, received instruction through reciprocal teaching. These students improved dramatically in areas such as asking main ideas questions, eliminating use of detail summaries, and providing main ideas summaries. Additionally, the comprehension of these students increased by 30%-40% in just a couple of weeks! (Brown and Palincsar, "Reciprocal Teaching and Comprehension-Fostering and Comprehension-Monitoring Activities"). Collaborative learning in the form of reciprocal teaching really is effective, but problems are not inevitable.

It is essential that the teacher spend enough time in the group discussions before sending the students off to discuss on their own. Teachers need to appropriately model each of the four strategies, and then scaffold instruction accordingly, eventually providing no assistance whatsoever. Failure to proceed in this way and in too short a time frame can create ineffective student-led groups, in which predictions are made with no evidence from the text and insignificant questions are asked. Reciprocal teaching that results in these types of student-led discussions will not show student improvement.

The idea to create and implement literature circles into reading instruction stemmed from reciprocal teaching. In literature circles, small groups of students meet to discuss a certain text/passage, and each student in the group has a specific role. Some of these roles include discussion director, character analyzer, artist/visualizer, summarizer, and word finder/clarifier. Just like with reciprocal teaching, the teacher needs to model all of these roles before the students take on the responsibilities themselves. Additionally, the teacher needs to set expectations for how interaction between group members should occur. According to "Help! What Is Wrong With These Literature Circles and How Can We Fix Them," a main goal of literature circles is to "promote trust and respect for multiple voices and opinions" (21). Without these expectations, literature circles could soon become chaotic and out of control, as students may begin to disrespect their peers and never be able to get back on track. However, when students act appropriately, their reading comprehension and responses to text improve.

While I am still learning about and developing my thoughts on collaborative learning, research shows that both reciprocal teaching and literature circles can be beneficial to students. These teaching methods prove to be most effective when used with struggling readers because the strategies both types of collaborative learning emphasize have already been mastered by more proficient readers. However, it wouldn't hurt the higher-level reading students to participate in these activities. As someone who hopes to one day be a teacher in a low-income school, I will have an abundance of low-level readers in my class. Therefore, it will be extremely important for me to allocate time for collaborative learning in my classroom. Nonetheless, whether you are a teacher in an urban school or not, I encourage you to incorporate collaborative learning into your reading instruction. All classes will contain some low-level readers, who will benefit greatly from this kind of teaching. I hope you come to Collaboration Station with me!

The Maze Runner: Discussion #2

 

With every chapter, every page, every word, Dashner's The Maze Runner keeps me on my toes, wanting to know more. I am finding it harder and harder to put it down every night; it continues to pull me in, as if I am a victim to the text. I can already see myself reading the sequel, even though I'm not even done with The Maze Runner yet!

In our second book club meeting, my group discussed Chapters 16-40, which contain a large chunk of information. Thomas, Minho, and Alby become the first to survive the maze at night, Teresa wakes up from her coma, the nature of the Glade and the maze begin to change, and Gally commits suicide. The once orderly Glade has now turned into a chaotic mess due to all the sudden changes, and many characters believe Teresa is to blame. Things in The Glade became different from the moment she arrived, and have become even stranger since she woke up from her coma. She seems to know things that no one else does, but doesn't know why she knows them. For example, she wrote "WICKED is good" on her arm soon after she woke up from the coma, but she doesn't have any idea what that could mean. Are her thoughts going to provide crucial information in solving the maze? Could she know so much because she is a Creator? Did the Creators send her to get everyone out? I can't wait to continue reading to see the significance Teresa has!

These chapters showed me that Teresa has an interesting relationship with Thomas. She can speak to him telepathically, which makes me think that they were connected in some way in their previous lives. Additionally, between Thomas's unnatural ability as a Runner and Teresa's inexplicable thoughts, it seems as if the pair of them might solve the maze together. I am building so many theories about these two characters is particular, and it will be interesting to see what plays out as I progress in the book.

Thomas, still as curious as ever, has shown to be someone who puts others before himself. He displays this throughout his night in the maze, beginning with the moment in which he dashed into the maze through the closing wall of The Glade to try to help Minho and Alby. While in the maze, as the Grievers are approaching, he ties Alby high in the vines, which ultimately saves Alby from his death sentence. However, while what Thomas did was extremely courageous, he did break the number one rule of The Glade: Don't go out into the maze unless you are a Runner, and especially when the walls are closing. For this, Thomas was punished, but only for a brief period, and appointed as a Runner. My group and I discussed our opinions on the decision of the Council to punish Thomas, and we all seemed to agree that his one-day jail sentence was appropriate for what he had done.

Also while reading this section of the text, most of us began to make text-to-text connections between The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games. We all agreed that the two books were very similar to each other. In The Maze Runner, there seems to be a group of people that created the maze; in The Hunger Games, a group of people designed the arena in which the Hunger Games were held every year. These creators of the maze seem to control what goes on in there, much like how the creators of the arena control what happens in the arena. In addition, both the arena and the maze contain similarities. Both represent some sort of an alternate universe, meaning that the children in the arena and maze have different lives than those in the arena or the maze. The inhabitants of the arena and the maze are sent supplies to help them stay alive. As I read on, I will be sure to look out for other ways The Maze Runner can be connected to The Hunger Games.

As I begin to dive further and further into the text, I am becoming more captivated and intrigued. I actually want to read an assigned reading book for once, which is saying a lot due to my past experiences with reading (refer to my blog post entitled "My Memory of Language Arts" to learn more). As a future teacher, I will be sure to give my students choice in what they read, as a love of reading begins with allowing students to read about things they are interested in. I hope all you teachers out there adopt this same approach!

The Maze Runner: Discussion #1

As part of my literacy class, I am involved in a book club for the next couple of weeks. My group is reading and discussing James Dashner's The Maze Runner. While this is my first experience in a book club, I'd like you to walk with me in my journey through the novel.

From the first moment I picked up the book, I was excited to begin reading because I had heard that The Maze Runner was similar to The Hunger Games, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It was one of those books I seemed to never be able to put down. I was hoping The Maze Runner would be just as intriguing, and, thus far, it has been. Trying to close the book every night to either do other homework or go to bed is almost impossible!

In the first discussion, each of my group members voiced their opinions on Chapters 1-15. We all generally agreed that "the unknown" appeared to be a common theme. None of the boys know why they were placed in The Glade or how to get out of it. They don't know why two Newbies arrived in two days, or why no more will be sent again ever. The protagonist, Thomas, is more in the dark than the rest of them about what is going on since he landed in The Glade only a couple of days ago. However, his sometimes annoying, but understandable curiosity is assisting him in finding out more information.

Also in our discussion, we briefly talked about some of the main characters, notably Thomas. Like I said before, Thomas is extremely curious. He wants to find out everything about The Glade and the maze. However, there are questions that even his more expert comrades cannot answer. So far, Thomas also seems to be very stubborn. He has not backed down on his idea of becoming a Runner, even after he has heard all of the terrible things that have a chance of happening. The girl who has just arrived in The Glade also appears to have an important role. As of right now, there really are no traits to describe her, but I think she will have a major impact on how the story plays out. Why else would she have been sent to The Glade?

As far as predictions go, I think that Thomas and the girl will end up working together, ultimately solving the maze and getting everyone out of The Glade. The characters of the story already believe that Thomas and the girl have a connection, so I believe I will see that connection played out as the story progresses.

Thus far, I am really enjoying the book. Dashner does a wonderful job of keeping you (as the reader) engaged and wanting to know more. I hope you check back here in a few days to hear my thoughts on the next section!

I Want YOU to Choose Reader's Workshop

 

Research has shown that reader's workshop is more effective than basal reading programs. Students who are taught through reader's workshop are more engaged in their work, more motivated to read, and more successful in reading in general than those learning through the basal reading program. So make the change!

Growing up, I went to a Catholic school where reading was taught through the basal reading program. The whole class read the same books, completed the same worksheets, and took the same tests. I don't recall ever being able to pick a book I wanted to read. Because of this, I dreaded reading; it was always my least favorite subject in school. I don't want my future students to feel the same way about reading as I did. Therefore, as an aspiring teacher, I will implement reader's workshop into my classroom, so I can create students who become avid readers.

In my literacy class, I learned that there are five key components to effective reader's workshop: mini-lesson, independent reading time, conferencing, journaling, and share time. I would follow this five step plan in my instruction. I would present a mini-lesson to the class every Monday, but this would vary based on how fast the students learn a given strategy. The strategy I introduce in the mini-lesson will be what the students focus on for the week(s) when they're reading. Independent reading time will occur every day. For students to become good readers, they need to read often and at their particular skill level. Children will be able to read a book of their choice at their reading level. Conferencing will occur once a week for each student. While the students are reading, I will go up to one and listen to what he or she is reading or ask him or her questions pertaining to the topic of the mini-lesson, or about something he or she has been struggling with. Journaling will happen every day directly after independent reading time. Some days, I will give the students a topic to write about, and on other days, the students will be able to choose what they want to write about. At the end of each school day, I will make sure to read what each child has written in his or her journal, and provide feedback. Lastly, share time will also occur every day. After journaling, I will bring my whole class together as a group, and ask three or four students to talk about what they're currently reading. I see this whole process taking about 2 hours each school day.

The mini-lesson plays a huge role in reader's workshop; the way the teacher models a new strategy is how the students are going to perform. Each new strategy a teacher introduces is useful in helping students become better readers. In a mini-lesson, the teacher needs to explicitly define the new strategy he or she want his or her students to learn. After doing this, the teacher should read a story aloud to the whole class, acting as a model. This book should be below the children's grade level, so that the children are able to understand the lesson they're learning. Once the teacher shows the students how to perform the new strategy, the students need to take a stab at it. This can be done while reading aloud. For example, at the beginning of the book, the teacher would be engaging in the new strategy alone. By the middle and end of the book, the students can begin making predictions, constructing theories, etc. (engaging in the strategy they're learning). Finally, the teacher will send his or her students to their desks for independent reading time, reminding them that they should be focusing on practicing the strategy they just learned in the mini-lesson. An example of how to effectively teach a mini-lesson can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJjGKJawG8U.

As a first-year education student, my ideas about reader's workshop and the role of the mini-lesson are still developing. However, through what I have already learned, I firmly believe that, if possible, reader's workshop should be implemented into every elementary school classroom. While the teacher will sacrifice much time to create it, the effects it will have on students will be greater. What's better than seeing your students succeed, and knowing that they succeeded because of you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Choose reader's workshop. You won't regret it.