EDRG3321 T/R

Author profiles

After much confusion I am finally getting my Author profiles up on my blog.
The first one is that of Jan Brett, she is an American author who is also an illustrator as well. She has written books such as The Owl and The Pussycat, Town Mouse, Country Mouse, and so many more. Most, if not all of her books seem to be about animals. She says that she hopes the reader can feel as though they have been brought to a special imaginary place that she has drawn so that it feels as though it really exists. I know that when I read I like being taken to place that I feel a sort of escape from everyday life. It's nice to feel like you have that time where you can be taken away.
http://www.janbrett.com/
The next one that I found was an American Author who specializes in traditional African Folktales. Her name is Verna Aardema. What I found special about this lady was that all her stories have themes of heroism and morality. When reading I always like reading a bout a hero and I think a lot of children do as well. Most are all retold from well-known African folktales. It is a great way to introduce some diverse culture to the students, and give them an idea of what life is like in other countries.
http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/cm/africana/aardema.htm

EDRG 3344 T/R

My precious as gold memory
As I shared in class yesterday, my precious as gold memory is that of my son. He is the absolute best part of my life and the best thing I have ever done. I love my husband as well of course, but my baby, who isn't a baby anymore, has that special love connection with me. I was pregnant with him at 19 and had him at 20. I could not have been more scared than I was when I found out I was pregnant. I was sure my parents were going to disown me and my dad was going to kill my boyfriend, who of course is now my husband. Everything is fine now, and no one died thank God but there was a time when I thought it was gonna get bad.
Devon Lee was born on September 4, 2002 at 10:18 am after giving me a whole bunch of horrible pain for 17 hours and 45 minutes. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen, a full head of black hair, ten perfect toes and ten perfect fingers, but this was my baby and now I was a mom. What the heck was I going to do now? My husband was just as scared as I was but he was a huge help because I developed a mild case of post-partum. It didn't take long until I had the hang of things and he and I spent everyday together until I went back to school. Devon was 3 and a 1/2. The years have flown by way to fast and I miss the days when I would go get him out of his crib in the mornings, and just lay him on my chest and play with him all day.
He seems to surprise me everyday and makes me smile even more than I could ever imagine! Even though he is getting older and may not want as many hugs and kisses, i hope he always knows how much he is loved, and how deep my love for him really is. There really is nothing better in this world than being a mommy! It is the best job ever!

EDRG 3344 T/R

RAFT assignment

Role-Camera
Audience-Owner of the camera
Format- A letter
Topic- Please upload or delete!


Dear Wonderful Owner,
This is your shiny , sleek, and loyal Canon Power Shot Digital Camera. I am writing you today to let you know I really need some room on my memory cards. Yes, they come with lots of room on them but you have pictures saved on here from three years ago! I think it's time to cut the cord so to speak and either put some of these on your trusty computer and share them with friends and family or delete some of these pals of mine. Don't get me wrong, as I said the pictures are my friends, we have had so many wonderful memories together.
Let me begin with our trip to the beach for spring break '06, you all had the best time there. I was almost ruined in the sea, but you managed to grab me before I hit the water. Thanks, that was a close one. Then we have the trip to Colorado to visit the folks in '07, so many glorious mountains and so much snow. It looked like something out of a magazine. Then there was Vegas.... let me just say, you had the time of your life on that trip. We will leave it at that! Disney World for your son's birthday. Yes, you can have too many pictures of the mouse. Finally, let's not forget all the baseball pictures you have. Almost a card full. What a great season the team had this summer.
You and I have seen some really great sights, and I have been very loyal in capturing some really great memories through my crystal clear images. I only wish you really would take some time, buy some really pretty frames and share these wonderful pictures with everyone. I know you like sharing them on your Facebook page, you just haven't uploaded any in a year! Some of the pictures can even be erased. I mean who needs a picture of the largest ball of twine anyway? I just wanted to let you know how cramped and crowded it is in here. Please keep that in mind the next time you pull me out of your purse.
Best regards,
Canon

EDRG 3321 T/R

Chapter 3 Blog

Chapter 3 was a very long and intense chapter. It touched on some very key points that will not only be useful to us but very important as well. In my opinion the most important part of this section was the role of the teacher. We as teachers are helping to form the minds of our students in everything that we teach to them. We are not only supporting their comprehension of the content we are teaching them, we are ensuring that they have a wonderful reading experience. While I was in school I had very good teachers that helped me enjoy reading. To this day I love to read. I read all types of books, now granted it has to be stories that peak my interests. I wont sit and read Moby Dick. Not saying that is a bad book or anything it just isn't something that would grab me right off the bat and keep me interested throughout the story. I thought the Theory of Comprehension was interesting you can actually see what kind of readers you will have in your classroom and how you can adjust to be able to me their learning needs. Most people are Aesthetic readers. Most want to read for fun not because they are forced to. I am having this problem with my son right now. He has to read the required 25 minutes every night but he sees it as a hassle. Even though he gets to read whatever he wants he looks as it as a "forced issue" and he fights me on it. So I am going to try different ways to get him to have the want and the desire to read on his own and even for fun! Building comprehension is very important in order to see how much your students know about a certain topic and see where you as the teacher can build and give them even more knowledge about that topic. I thought this was a really interesting chapter that will help us understand our students better and make it to where literature in the classroom is fun and exciting and not dull and boring.

EDRG 3344 T/R Dream Vacation

It is here! The day we have waited for as long as we could remember. Our dream vacation to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. My husband and I will finally be getting some much needed alone time. We love our son more than life itself however, this week will be all about us therefore, he will spend a fun filled week with Grandma and Grandpa. Prior to getting our son off with the grandparents I had to shop for all sorts of new outfits and swimsuits for my husband and I and of course get the three of us all packed and ready to go.
The flight to the islands was quite a long one but well worth it once we could see from the plane just how beautiful the scenery was. When we landed we could see all the beautiful crystal clear water and white sandy beaches. As we arrived at The Atlantis for check-in we were both greeted with fruit drinks that were in actual pineapples. We went up to our suite to put away our luggage and to freshen up a bit before dinner. Then we took eachother's hand and walked downstairs for a fantastic night of dinner, drinks, and dancing. We knew that we had a long day of fun and exciting activites ahead of us the next day and that we were going to have to get up early so we made sure that we made it an early night.
When we woke the next morning, we were greeted to the most beautiful sunrise along with great weather either of us had ever seen. Before the two of us headed off for a day of swimming with bottlenosed dolphins and snorkeling in the ocean, we were treated to a luscious breakfast of eggs, sausage, pancakes, and wonderful fresh fruit. I could hardly contain myself as we got out onto the ocean to swim with the beautiful dolphins. My husband and I were able to hold on to their fins as they pulled the two of us around the water. When our adventure was complete the boat took us out even farther in the water where we were geared up to start our snorkeling. We were able to explore some of the most wonderful reefs. It was almost as if it was out of a book. We had never seen anything so magically beautiful. The only thing left to do to top this amazing day off was the couple's spa treatment we would receive when we got back to the hotel. He and I would both be getting a massage and facials. My husband wanted to take a nap before dinner meanwhile, I would be getting a Mani / Pedi. The most wonderful part of this vacation besides all the scenery, beaches, food, and excursions, was that my husband and I got to spend some much needed quality time alone together and every marriage needs that every now and then. We had not been alone in quite some time, it was well deserved.
Two days before we were to head back home, we received a phone call from my parents. Since it was an international call we were terrified that something had happen to our child. It was not that thank goodness. Instead they phoned to let us know we had won the Mega millions lottery back at home and would receive three-hundred million dollars! Of course we were out of our minds with excitement and happiness, we sent a plane ticket for our son and we made the choice to stay in The Bahamas and make it our permanent home where we would all live happily ever after on a beautiful tropical island in the sea.

EDRG 3344 T/R -Explain Writing

First of all writing is a PROCESS! There are 5 steps to the writing process. 1. Pre writing which is your brainstorming. 2. Drafting which is your rough draft or outline. 3. Revising which are any of your additions or deletions. 4. Editing which are conventions. 5. Finally you have the publishing. There are also different types of writing that you can do. Narrative, Persuasive, Expository, and Descriptive. Writing is all around us everyday. Signs, the newspaper, television, menus, memos, recipes...etc. Writing is everywhere, everywhere you look writing is there. I am not a fan of writing and never have been. Writing has always stressed me out during times when I knew I had to write a paper or essay. Before this class, I have never thought of writing as a process. I guess it has always been a type of annoyance to me. I am hoping that with practice and in working in the school i will look at writing differently and no be so scared to actually do it. I just need to remember that it is a PROCESS.. WRITING IS A PROCESS!!!

EDRG 3321

Chapter 2
I found chapter 2 to be a really good read. The chapter discusses culture. Culture to me has always been about how you were raised, and what values your parents set forth for you in the home. As teachers we will see many different cultures in the classroom and we have to be able to embrace those different cultures with all students. When thinking about the Western ways of doing things in schools I automatically think about the spelling words as we talked about in class. I can always remember coming home with those words and thinking that was the most easiest part of my homework for the week. To learn those words. I was a very strong speller and even competed in some school spelling bee's. Now that I have my own child it has come full circle. He gets his words for the week and we make it a habit to study hard all week including practice tests into our routine, only he struggles with it. The book discusses how many believe that it's up to the students to make cultural shifts and adjust to school. I could not disagree with this more! If there is no one to guide them and help them through this they will be discouraged and they will end up giving up. We as educators have the huge responsibility of making sure we get to know our students on a personal level. Let them know we truly care about them, get to know what they do at home. What they celebrate, what they don't. If there are family traditions, what are they, how long have they been around? Make the students feel as though they are valued not only at home but with the teacher and peers as well.

EDRG 3344 T/R

What are some examples of Pre/During/Post strategies?
When reading to children you have to realize that there are going to be some in your group that may not feel like listening, some may get distracted easily, and then there are some that just may not enjoy reading at all. With all these cases you have to keep in mind that you want to engage everyone into the story and have them all pay attention. Let's say you are reading the book called There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Chick! It is a circle book that is about a woman who swallows a chick, some straw, an egg, some candy, a basket, and a bow. It is a book with an Easter theme, so maybe you could read it around that holiday, but before you read it you may point have either a stuffed chick or maybe even a real chick for the children to see then as you read and see the things that she swallows, maybe have each item ad bring them out as your reading about each one to show the students and keep them engaged in the story that way you know you have their attention. Then after you are done reading the story you can have them pick one item from the story that they might have at home to bring in to class the next day and discuss what they brought and in what part of the story was that item used. You may also want to have them do a post journal to continue the story as to what other things the woman might swallow and why she would do that, make it fun and interesting for them. Using these strategies helps not only keep the student listening to the story but it also helps them remember what it is that they are reading, and may even help to make reading fun and enjoyable for them.

Problems!

So I have been having blog problems and still trying to figure out this whole blogging thing! I had people going to the wrong blog but hopefully I have the right one now and I will get more followers and people will be at my blog instead of someone else's. :) Anyway, I hope the kinks get worked out and I hope you all have a great day!
P.S Gia, there was no homework for Child Development, see you tomorrow!

Samantha