Blog 5....

In the 9th grade Physical science class, my host teacher is having the students read Rocket Boys (the October Sky movie). The students seem to enjoy the book. The teacher doesn't do anything but just review what the students have read and gives quizzes over the reading. My host teacher also has a book area that contains a variety of science related books. I am yet to see any students even look at any of the books though. I quickly realized that there is not much time to do much reading at school anymore. Everyone is so concerned, and rightfully so, about covering as much material as possible. In readicide, I really agree with him on the standards and how they are directing too much of the teaching. I've noticed in class when a student wants to go more in depth the teacher can't because they have to stay on topic and make sure they cover the standards. For the seminar, I'm just looking forward to seeing everyone, but hope we aren't there all night. No progress on the inquiry project....too much other stuff going on.............

Readicide Ch.2

Ok....So now we can understand why our government makes the decisions that it does; people that can't recognize the VP put these people in office, but that is another topic for another day. It is quite sad that students coming out of high school do not have the tools to be a productive citizen in today's society. Lack of reading is not the only factor in this, but it is indeed a large one. Gallagher was talking about the lack of Sustained Silent Reading, I remember in school every student up until 11th grade had a study hall period, and if you did not have any homework to do you were expected to read. Usually we were placed in another classroom with some other class going on so we could not talk. This was our valued time to read. Some students barely have time to complete regular homework after school, much less read for enjoyment. I really like the article of the week and I think I might try to incorporate that into my classroom, even if it is not about science because kids need to know what is going on in the world.

As far as my content area, I am still searching for ways to incorporate more literacy in the lessons. I think this will be a process that takes alot of time. I have noticed that most of the research for my inquiry project (increasing comprehension by starting out with simpler articles and building up) will be done by me. I like the fact that I will be able to see what happens first hand though. Understanding of reading as a learner in my discipline...I'm still learning this so it is kind of difficult to help my students out alot, but I guess we can do it together.