Stages of Spelling, Writing Process, and personal Writing

I have really enjoyed this class so far and I have learned a lot that I did not realize before and also regained knowledge that I forgot. I have found it very beneficial to work in classrooms and see the different stages that children go through. I have been able to see students working through the writing process. I have also seen how kindergartners start writing and using inventive spelling.

I have been enjoyed blogging this semester. It is a new experience and find it interesting to keep track of my thoughts and ideas. Blogging kind of reminds me when I was a child and I would write in my diary.

I am a little unsure about the book assignment. I know that we are supposed to make an adult book, kinnda like a children's book but for adults.

Social Skills and Language Arts

Sahara has a talent of writing and she hopes that one day she can become a writer. However, Sahara decides to not demonstrate her writing skills at school. She stopped writing anything at school, including her homework. The school feels that because of her lack of motivation and inability to complete her work that Sahara needs special education. Her mother feels that Sahara does not need to be in special education. Sahara is then sent back to the regular classroom where she continues to not complete her work because she does not see the point in working hard. She feels that if she does do her work it will just end up back in the counselor's office with the rest of the letters that she had written to her father where taken. Sahara is also having difficulties with her social life and home life. She often does not understand social cues from her peers. I think that instead of Sahara talking to others about her problems she keeps them inside which makes her quieter and keeps more to herself. I think that Sahara is lonely and longs to make friends but does not quiet have the social skills necessary. I also think that kids who do not complete their work and are often in trouble are less popular and have a harder time making friends with others. Even though Sahara has a talent for writing she does not feel worthy enough to share her abilities with others.

I think that in many situations students that are dealing with a disability or delay in reading or writing often have troubles with their social skills. Many students feel they are not as smart or capable as students that are not struggling like themselves. These students might act out to get attention or withdraw and go unnoticed.

I have been in many situations where I have seen kids that were struggling academically. In a lot of the situations I could tell that the students who did not complete their work or participate in the class often had socially issues and did not have have alot of friends in the class. But I also know personal friends of mine that have a learning disability and have a lot of friends and do well in school, but they just have to study a lot.

As a teacher I think that it is very important to have a variety of activities that require all the students to work in different groups. I feel that this will give the children an opportunity to work with each of their peers and get to know them better.

Reading Wars

Until now I did not realize how big of a debate there was between children learning phonics and whole language. I think that all children learn differently and one approach such as phonics might work better for one child but not for another. However, as a child I grew up learning phonics. I remember sounding out different letters and blends such as th, ch, and sh. If I notice a student that is struggling reading, because he is stuck on a word, I tel him or her to try and sound out the word. I feel that almost always the student will be able to figure out the word.

I believe that we naturally create sight words. There are just some words that people have trouble spelling because the word is not spelled the way it sounds. Just memorizing how to spell the word is easy for myself then trying to remember an exception. Once I spell the word over and over again I don't have trouble again.

I think that symbols impact literacy learning. There are symbols and letters everywhere. Especially for toddlers, learning symbols and letters are important early learning skills. It is important for young children to know different symbols and their meanings.

Writing

There are many reasons why writing is worth reading. Writing is important because it is a way for one to express themselves and allows others to know more about someone. Writing is an important communication tool that we use everyday to communicate with others, express our opinions, and find out new knowledge. Writing has forever changed history, defined communication, shaped our society, honored our ability to speak, and helped to shape the future (Kelley). If no one wrote think about how different our society would be. We would not know as much about the world and major historical events. Many major events have been recorded and written down for others to read. Billions of people all over the world read the newspaper to find out what is going on around the world. Before telephones, radios, and televisions people primarily communicated by print. Men in the war would write to their loved ones telling them how they were doing. Doctors write important things down on people's medical records so that they could look at them later on. Everyone can learn more by reading others writings.