Blog #5

So far, during my placement for student teaching, I have witnessed very little effort to incorporate content literacy into the classroom. My host teacher is a very diligent and impressive teacher,but he makes very lttle effort to enhance the lessons with anything that is "extra". While he is very gifted in explaining the content, he does not seem to believe that implementing literacy is very important. I believe that the reason behind this particular teacher's approach is that he believes that the students are very capable of seeking out information for themselves. This teacher has very high achieving students in his classes and, for the most part, the students do perform on a very high level on their own. I do wonder how the class would improve if there was more of an eort to enhance literacy in the class.

While Readicide is a very dense read, it is also very informative. While it is so important for literacy to be improved, it can also be dicsouraging to think about the statistics presented in Readicide. As I consider the daunting task of covering all of the required standards, it is little more discouraging to think about also trying to implement meaningful literacy. I think that what we can take from this book is the importance of working literacy into the content areas as an improvement to our content rather than an obstacle. As daunting a task as it seems, it is important that we keep trying to find ways to encourage an interest in literacy among our students.

I am very interested in learning how everyone's placements have been going. I am wondering if the host teachers are all very similar to mine or if there are some teachers who make more of an effort to implement content literacy.

So far, my progress in my inquiry project has consisted of a literature review. I have simply looked over professional journal articles that pertain to my topic. There are many articles that references vocabulary in general. My only struggle that I have faced so far is the fact that many of the articles do not include strategies that can be easily implemented into Math.

Blog #4

I am excited about the possibilities of implementing literacy in my classroom. I can feel myself becoming the type of person who is constantly on the look-out for resources for my classroom. In the past, I have generally felt a little discouraged about adding anything to my lesson plans that would require me searching for more supplies, spending more money, or pulling together more engaging activities. Now though, I am starting to notice that need to scavenge for resources that may become useful to me in the classroom. I have become very aware of literacy. I am starting to see that a teacher's job is never done. I am starting to truly buy into the idea that literacy explorations for me will mean simply keeping my eyes and ears open to the world of literacy and to truly think like a Mathematician. After all, this is what I am asking my students to do, why shouldn't I become more attentive to the literacy connections to Math in the world around me?

I think that the numerous statistics that are offered in Readicide are the most shocking. Before, I know that literacy was definitely a concern, but I truly was unaware of how much of a concern. When I consider that students are simply test-taking machines rather than learning to become critical thinkers, I am very concerned. These statistics are convincing me that I must become very intentional about presenting my students with meaningful literacy opportunities.

As I consider the fact that many students are losing their love for learning, I am both encouraged to include more relevant literacy opportunities into the classroom and discouraged about the discrepancy in meeting standards and producing individuals who will be able to contribute to society. In other words, I am nervous about trying to both teach students what I would think they need to be successful and also meeting all of the standards.

On a positive note, I feel more connected to the literature in my content than ever before. I have really learned so much about how to find resources for Math. I am starting to collect literature that may become meaningful to me in the future.