Learning vs. Acquisition

This is a topic that I have posted about previously, stating that in my classroom I strive to have my students write through process writing or an acquisition of skills in writing. I feel as though students who are given an explicit task such as exercises or drills are just trying to learn a new skill. For example; look up words in the dictionary to write definitions, read in round-robin fashion or listing vocabulary words. Students at the high school or college level are often given these types of tasks. 

In my classroom I try to use acquisition tasks such as; making a Venn diagram to compare two stories, identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound, or write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound. By doing activities such as these my students are learning and practicing skills but they are embedded in fun, engaging and entertaining activities. They often are learning and acquiring new skills without even realizing. 

These are both of the ways that a child or an adult can develop a second language skills as well. They could emerge themselves in acquisition activities such as traveling abroad, visiting a restaurant or playing a game. The other option is the learning approach where you complete drills or task based activities to learn the skills you need to speak the language. I know what I would choose if I needed to learn a second language, but I suppose everyone learns in different ways! 


Freeman, D., and Y. Freeman. Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach: reading, ESL, spelling, phonics, grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Making Meaning in Difficult Situations

I recently went to one of my favorite websites and found that I had pressed a button to translate it to another language. I was caught very off guard and wasn't immediately sure how to change it back. I realized how our student's must feel when looking at a difficult piece of text. I decided to use my context clues to help me navigate the webpage. The visuals were more helpful than ever before! I was using those clues to help me navigate around the webpage; just like our students must use the visual clues in our classroom to help them navigate through our instruction!

I found that there was very little I could comprehend without support. I needed a strategy to help me. I decided to search some of the words online to try to translate them! That was a big help! I also asked a friend who was working near by to see if they knew the meaning of any of the words in the heading. She was able to help a little. Using a friend and an online resource were both helpful and enabled me to find what I needed to translate the webpage.

Being put into this situation, although frustrating, was inspiring because it allowed me to step back into the role of a pre-reader. To feel their frustration and angst will help me to be more patient with my students in the future.

Diversity in the Three Little Pigs

In kindergarten this week we are learning about the Three Little Pigs. I love reading this text, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka. It is so fun for them to hear about the story from a different perspective. It is always fun to read it and then have them discuss whose side of the story they believe. It really helps to give them the power to make their own decisions about their reading. 

When thinking about our students and their different backgrounds, there are often so many different ways to tell a story. No one way is the best way or the most traditional way to our 21st century students. 

Are your students talking more then you?

In my readings for my graduate school class this week I read about something called the "two thirds" rule (Edwards and Mercer 1987). This refers to the fact that the teacher is taking up far more of the talking time in the average classroom then the students are. Most of the time, or 2/3 of the time, the teacher is lecturing or asking questions. A classroom program that supports more diverse learners would create more opportunities for varied and organic interaction patterns to occur (Gibbons 2002).

Therefore my New Years Resolution in my classroom is to turn the tables! I hope to have my students talking two thirds of the time and to limit myself to only taking up one third of the talking time. I hope that I can encourage my group of diverse learners to be working and talking more then me!

Writing in a Kindergarten Classroom

In my classroom there is a acquisition perspective to the writing process ( Freeman 2004). What this means is that students will produce writing as they are developing the skills needed to write. The teacher is constantly creating authentic conditions for students to express themselves through writing and classmates as well as the teach as helping students to correct their writing. The teacher gives mini-lessons on all areas of writing and help students to keep focused on the content of what they are writing, not just the form (Freeman 2004).
In my experience this style of teaching writing leads students to be creative with their writing and not limit their ideas because of their ability to write or spell a word. It also leads to a lot of sharing and group work which is very fun for young students. Kindergarteners, first graders as well as second graders are so eager to share their work with peers, parents or teachers.

Starting the New Year

To start the year off our staff had a number of professional development sessions to get our New Year off on the right foot. I was able to have some powerful conversations with a few of my lower elementary teammates about their teaching philosophies. It was interesting to learn more about our different approaches to planning, project-based units and assessments in our classrooms. 

Another kindergarten teacher and I were able to have a great discussion about our use of our literacy block and how we reach all of our learners. We discussed some of the changes that we are making at the start of the New Year to make sure we are accommodating all of our students. We are both going to adapt our Daily 5 model in order to make it a little more kindergarten friendly. We are going to practice read to self and read to someone in a whole group setting in order to build stamina with these difficult tasks. We also talked about different ways to have the students practice these activities. Then we thought we could build in some different choice centers during the daily 5 block that they would be really excited about. 

It was so nice to have the time to collaborate with my teammates. It makes me feel ready to start the New Year off on the right foot! 

Introduction

This is a blog which I will be posting reflections from my teaching and work with diverse learners. I appreciate any comments and feedback!