This does take some getting use to, so far I have design a blog page , designed a wiki, commented and edited a wiki, and now I am adding another blog to my page , this has happened all in the space of three weeks. The speed of technology is amazing. These activities are really fun, I now admit, but they take a while to really get a handle on. Could you just grasp the idea that my kids in school really doing their work via the internet? They would never want to see a copy book or a pencil again. I can't really blame them wikis' are so interactive . I write something now and it can be edited by one of my peers as soon as I am finished. I think my struggling readers would really get a "kick out of this". My one concern , however is the ability of the present school system to use this technology to their advantage, I hope this opportunity to enhance our children's learning is not placed in the background and forgotten, for it would be a real "shame."
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
READING 101
I am currently a teacher at Belmont Boys' Roman Catholic School, where I am assigned to the senior department, usually the S.E.A. class. My interests are music, , love soca, sport mainly cricket , football and basketball. I was recently introduced to baseball by my husband, at first it seemed like a difficult sport to understand , but I getting a handle on it. I love a "good trini lime" It does matter if it at home, at friends or simply "hanging" at any one of the local pubs. .
At work I am know as the "Planner" I simply love organising fun activities for the pupils and staff at my school. I believe its so important that children see not only a long term goal to their learning, but they must experience some immediate reward for the work they are putting in. I mainly organise competition, where the houses compete either in the academic realm or sporting arena for the coveted prize of "House of the week". This not only encourages the students to be more active in their school work , but it also encourages the staff to work harder as welll since they too see the fruits of their labour. this is one of the many reasons for which I have chosen to become a reading specialist, I believe that children who find themselves under performing within our system of education are not unable to learn , rather they simply learn differently. It is therefore up to us the educators to devise various strategies in order provide new routes in which these children can learn. I believe that I can indeed be a part of that transformation that is sorely lacking in our system today.
Reading as an art.
Too many teachers look to reading as simply the calling of words in a rapid succession, for many this is the standard by which many a reader would be judged. The time has come for reading to be seen as art. Teacher s must understand that like an artists children must be taught the fundamentals of reading. One may ask what are these fundamental or basic skills? In order to answer that we must look at the processes involve in begging reading, One it impossible to teach reading without introducing students to the alphabet. The English alphabet is made of 26 letters, puipls are taught the sounds associated with these letters (about 44 sounds). When these letters are combine they form words, pupils are taught in some cases to recognise the words on sight , while other s they are taught to "sound the letters out" in order to state the specific name of the word. As a beginning reader the ability to understand and perform this function is most basic to the art of reading.
As teacher it is important that children be taught these basic steps in a comfortable encouraging environment, where the instructors is well versed. It is important that the above condition be adhered to, since the outcome may impact negatively on a child's ability to become a competent reader in the future.
At work I am know as the "Planner" I simply love organising fun activities for the pupils and staff at my school. I believe its so important that children see not only a long term goal to their learning, but they must experience some immediate reward for the work they are putting in. I mainly organise competition, where the houses compete either in the academic realm or sporting arena for the coveted prize of "House of the week". This not only encourages the students to be more active in their school work , but it also encourages the staff to work harder as welll since they too see the fruits of their labour. this is one of the many reasons for which I have chosen to become a reading specialist, I believe that children who find themselves under performing within our system of education are not unable to learn , rather they simply learn differently. It is therefore up to us the educators to devise various strategies in order provide new routes in which these children can learn. I believe that I can indeed be a part of that transformation that is sorely lacking in our system today.
Reading as an art.
Too many teachers look to reading as simply the calling of words in a rapid succession, for many this is the standard by which many a reader would be judged. The time has come for reading to be seen as art. Teacher s must understand that like an artists children must be taught the fundamentals of reading. One may ask what are these fundamental or basic skills? In order to answer that we must look at the processes involve in begging reading, One it impossible to teach reading without introducing students to the alphabet. The English alphabet is made of 26 letters, puipls are taught the sounds associated with these letters (about 44 sounds). When these letters are combine they form words, pupils are taught in some cases to recognise the words on sight , while other s they are taught to "sound the letters out" in order to state the specific name of the word. As a beginning reader the ability to understand and perform this function is most basic to the art of reading.
As teacher it is important that children be taught these basic steps in a comfortable encouraging environment, where the instructors is well versed. It is important that the above condition be adhered to, since the outcome may impact negatively on a child's ability to become a competent reader in the future.
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