Emma's Literacy Blog

  At the beginning of Tovani’s fifth chapter, she touches on her use of long term targets , student participation, and engag e men t with the world. She takes the time to list some long-term learning targets for the class she is teaching. This one assignment ties into several other goals for her students. Not only will these targets help them complete their writing assignment well, but they will also acquire the skills to continue using the writing process she has laid out for them to use. If all goes well, these tools to write well will follow them throughout their writing careers.   She also emphasizes the importance of speaking with and not to others at the conversation table. Small comments are often underestimated in the classroom. When appropriate comments are made, they can stick with students for a very long time. Often, I forget the larger themes of classes, but will remember something small that a professor or teacher said with no context or larger purpose. ...

  This chapter broke my heart! When her students tap into what they genuinely care about, magic happens. I remember in my younger schooling years when this would happen. It is so interesting that as continuous students, that we relate to all levels of learners.        The first thing that struck me from the reading was the use of photography as text for Caleb. Tapping into student interests outside of school via social media is genius! Personally, I don’t know if I would be comfortable checking out a student’s Instagram... but getting to know students on this personal level gives so much insight into what they care about. What do they want to share with the world? I feel that image is a form of text that gets overlooked often. In reality, sometimes an image can hold more meaning than a set of paragraphs. For example, when her students made connections between the Syrian refugees and the Mexican and South American asylees, image could have been anoth...

  I have been placed at West Frederick Middle School in Kristofer Roberson’s seventh grade Creative Arts class. This is a required course unless an art elective is put in its place (band/chorus, visual arts). Mr. Roberson is originally a music teacher, who somehow got stuck teaching art. But it’s not all that bad ; Creative Arts is a combination of visual art, music, and theater , two disciplines of which Roberson loves.   My observation time starts halfway through first period and ends halfway through second, so I get to see two different groups of students and the entirety of the lesson for that day. The two groups are blended together in my head, but there are students that I can pick out being in the individual class periods. On September 21 st I came into the classroom during first period ; t hey were practicing speaking rhythms as a class then moved into their independent/group work in which they practiced different rhythms to prepare for a drumming test. They ...

     Tovani’s focus in chapter three shifts to the masks that students wear. This is continued in chapter four, but that’s a topic for another day. She focuses specifically on the masks of anger and apathy in this chapter and how to deconstruct these masks as opposed to shutting down and ignoring the student’s needs.        At first, she lays out examples in a class she once had with a variety of personalities and learning styles/needs and how she handled the fight back. Thinking back on my schooling experiences, I can think of so many peers that had these same attributes, if not found in myself. Students so often hide behind masks; they could be anything. What Tovani emphasizes is getting to know your students as people and as learners will help break down the barriers that they come in with.        What does your student struggle with? Not so much with learning, but outside of the classroom? What keeps them distracted? Why ...

In chapter two, Tovani writes of her frustrations and stresses that come along with unpreparedness. What I would take away from this chapter is that it is important to never underestimate what you, as a teacher, will have to prepare for . I remember being a young student avoiding work at times because it  wasn’t interesting or felt boring. Tovani speaks a lot on finding interesting text that will engage her learners. As an Art Ed major, it’s hard to connect with this aspect of the chapter. However, I will always be looking for engaging activities for my students, especially since an art class is so activity-heavy . If I do introduce reading material for my older students, it would explicitly apply to one of our longer assignments. As students get older, it wi ll become easier to plan a long-term lesson ; the more advanced a class,   the more time is needed to work on projects . For younger classes that will meet with me less often, I may need to think outside the box to...

 Hi guys :) My name is Emma and I'm an Art Education major with a minor in Music. I love to create things, make music, go to concerts, travel, and spend time outside with friends.  Last spring break I went to Spain (and fed some cool, friendly birds)!  Here at the Mount I'm the craft manager for the new Makers House, as well as co-directing liturgical music and the chapel choir.  If you've made it this far, thanks for reading :)