Twitter PLN

Even though Twitter has been around for a little while now, it is a tool I am continuing to learn how to use.  I had never used Twitter before, personally or professionally, until last semester.  I took the class Educational Technology and Design, and in that class I first was introduced to the benefits of using twitter.  Since that class and throughout this Early Literacy class, I have been able to see a value in using twitter.  Although I am still in the ongoing process of using Twitter and it isn’t always the most intuitive for me, I do think that i’s a great resource to have.  I especially love the ability to follow different authors and keep up with what they are doing.  I like to also follow social activists, such as Malala, who can be inspiring individuals for my students some day.  

In my opinion, one of the greatest aspects of twitter is the ability to find new resources and tips to look at and then share.  It is also a great way to be informed about different things.  For example, I learned about National Library Week through Twitter.  National Library Week would be a really fun event to celebrate in the classroom.  It could get students excited about books and excited about going to the library.  Additionally, I was able to learn more about all of the services that libraries are able to offer.

Tweets about my blog and National Library Week

Twitter allows me to look at what other people in the field of education are doing.  It gives great resources, but it also is helpful in seeing how other people are teaching.  For example, as I am posting my blogs about my literacy tutoring each week on Twitter, I am sharing my experience with others.  People from all over are able to see what is working for me and what isn’t working for me.  This gives people the opportunity to share what is also working for them, or what I could be doing to make my tutoring more effective.  Additionally, I am able to see shared experiences with others.  One of the key components of writing is to let us know that we are not alone, and posting and sharing blogs does just that!  

Twitter is a community of learners and educators.  I did not quite expect Twitter to be such a good community when I first started using it.  Participating in my first Tweet chat, however, changed my views on who uses Twitter and why.  I was able to see Twitter as a resources for professional development and as a way to make strong connections with others.  The Tweet chat was a great experience; everyone was so supportive and excited to be able to offer help and advice to preservice teachers.  It connected me to people I wouldn’t have otherwise followed.  It also connected me to the International Literacy Association (ILA), which I have found to be an extremely useful source. The chats they offer and the tweets they tweet always leaves me with suggestions for my classroom.  

Finally, Twitter is a place that can offer inspiration to future educators.  From quotes to resources to the supportive community, Twitter has the potential to be used as a tool for success.  As I continue my education and UNI, I hope to become better at using Twitter so I am ready to use it in its best way by the time I have my own classroom.  

Oh, and feel free to follow me at https://twitter.com/missmoeller18!

Literacy Tutoring 6

It is hard to believe that I have just completed my final literacy tutoring with L!  The time has gone by really fast, and I am happy with some of the progress that has been made.  I am proud of L for all of the work that he did and for constantly showing up and trying.  During our last tutoring session, we stuck with the same format: survey assessment, reading/mini-lesson, and ABC thematic unit.  

The survey assessment this week was writing vocabulary in order to see how L writes words.  I followed the survey assessment protocol, and I started by telling L I would like to see how many words he could write.  L started by writing his name and then I asked him to write some words.  At first, I gave him the chance to write whatever words he knew, but that was too broad of an option and he didn’t seem to know what to do.  So I decided to narrow it down and ask him to write specific words.  There were a few times where L would say “I can’t” or “I don’t know,” but overall I think that he did a great job trying.  Looking at the words he knew how to spell, he could spell some two letter words pretty well.  The longer the words, though, I noticed that L had trouble writing them.  It was interesting, however, when I asked him to write “look.”  He spelled it as “lyc,” but he went through the letters and told me how he sounded them out.  Even though it was not the correct spelling, I thought it was interesting that he was thinking deeply about how he could attempt to spell it.  Overall, L wrote 7 words correctly.  Although he is still learning about spelling, I was proud of his effort.

L's list of words

After the survey assessment, we read a book. The book we read together was Bee and Me by Alison Jay.  This book is a wordless picture book.  I had never actually read a wordless picture book with a child before, but I have found this to be such a fun and fulfilling experience!  It was so great to have L help me decide what the book was about and where the story was going.  This was also a really, really great opportunity to get L to practice his conversing skills.  He did a great job!  He was very creative.  L even incorporated presidents into the story-he was making this book cross curriculum without even knowing it!  The mini lesson was for L to work on writing, so we worked with the book to create a story.  When we first started the book and I asked L to help me “write” the story by reading it, L told me that he didn’t know enough words to do that.  However, as soon as we started, I encouraged L to tell me what he thought was happening on the first page.  He seemed to feel pretty confident after that and was excited to tell the rest of the story.  I hadn’t seen L quite that excited about a book before, so this was really fun to see. 

Bee and Me by Alison Jay.  Such a fun read!

The biggest way I have been differentiating during the past 6 weeks has been with the books I have chosen.  This week was similar, but I didn’t quite realize how helpful a wordless picture book would be with an English Language Learner.  This was a way for L to tell me a story and get a chance for him to converse and use English.  It also is nice to not be overwhelmed by so many words, which I bet can get quite frustrating.  I will definitely be keeping some wordless picture books in my future classroom one day!

Even thought it was my last session with L, I encouraged him to continue practicing with sounds and combining letters.  I also wished him a great rest of the school year and summer and challenged him to keep on reading.  

Literacy Tutoring 5

This has been the best tutoring session so far.  L was so great and chatty and he was comfortable talking and telling me about some of his favorite video games.  Even thought that wasn’t the subject, I was happy to have him practicing his English skill.s 

To start off, we did the survey assessment.  This week’s survey assessment was “Hearing and Recording Sounds.”  I had a protocol sheet to follow where I stated a sentence and then had L write down what he heard. The sentence was "I have a big dog at home. Today I am going to take him to school."  I would repeat the words after saying it at a normal pace to give L the opportunity to listen and hear what was said.  L did a great job of persevering through this test.  I could see him thinking about the sounds that the words make.  L got 14/37 on this assessment.  While there is a lot of work to be done, I would like to highlight the positives as well.  L was very good at catching the initial sounds of the words.  Often he would take a moment to think, reflect, and then write it down.  He did struggle more towards the ending sounds of words, but that is something that we can continue to work on.  This assessment was not easy for L, but he continued to work hard at it, which was very encouraging to see.  

L's Survey Assessment

After the assessment, I wanted to try to do a running record with L.  L saw a few words and seemed to be scared of them, so I decided that we would try again next week.  Perhaps I will pick a little easier passage so L is more confident to read some words.  

After the assessment, L and I read a book called Apples Here! During the reading of the book, I wanted L to use his fingers to sound out words.  We did that overtime we came across the word “apple.”  We also sounded out other words, such as fun, sun, and farmers using fingers to count the sounds.  L was very engaged during this portion of the lesson.  He seemed more confident when reading using his fingers to make the sounds.  I really enjoyed seeing the confidence that L had while coming across certain words.  This is a technique that I can really see being a simple yet significant tool in my future classroom.  Besides working on sounding out words, the book provided another opportunity to ask questions and help model how to be an active reader.  L was really into this book, which was a little surprising to me because it is a nonfiction book about apples.  I wanted to try out different genres with L, and I wish I had tried out a nonfiction book sooner on!  He really seemed to enjoy learning about it.  He was also having really great predictions about where apples grow and what they are used for.  L was really involved and an active participant during this lesson, which was so fun to see how far he has come in just 5 weeks! After the book, we had a little time to work on the ABC Thematic Unit Book.

As always, the main way to differentiate was through the book I chose.  This book had a lot of pictures and fewer words than previous books, and I think that was so helpful.  Having fewer words on a page seems to help L concentrate and not become overwhelmed with all that is happening.  I also helped L with sounding out words with an “I do, we do, you do” method, and I believe that was so helpful.  L is more confident sharing when he has examples, which is very understandable.  

My main goal for next week is to go over sounds!  I think that we could spend a lot more time working on blending sounds and putting words together.  L seems to know most of his sounds, but combining them to create words is a little bit of a challenge.