After finishing the assigned readings I am excited for what I hope to be learning in TE 402 literacy this semester. Based on the first readings and the syllabus my goals are to have a better understanding of how to work with second language learners and gain more knowledge about how to be the best language/literacy teacher possible. I have had some experience working with students who are learning English as their second language, but feel that anything that I learn this semester will help me immensely in working with students who are learning English as their second language in the future. Overall I hope to learn skills on how to teach literacy to variety of students, including second language learners, students who may have disabilities, etc.
My major is deaf education, so I hope to be working with students who have a hearing loss in my future teaching career. Ideally I would like to work as an itinerant teacher with all students who have a hearing loss in one school district, and the main component of this job is to aid students in using the hearing that they have to hear speech and to use speech themselves to communicate and support these students with their language learning. Therefore, working with students who have a hearing loss will be the focus of my attention while in TE 402 literacy. I am sure that this course will provide me with many ideas on how to teach literacy/language to all students well.
Throughout this semester I want to learn a variety of ways to teach literacy well. After this course I want to be full of ideas on how I can teach language/literacy effectively. I have had experience in helping students with comprehension and fluency while reading, vocabulary and writing. I would like to learn some ideas of how to teach grammar and different ways that I can help students to become better writers.
I know how to read and write well myself, but teaching students to write well and with a purpose and how to read fluently and comprehend what they are reading is a completely different concept. I have had several experiences in helping students to become better language learners and readers. But, this semester I hope to bloom in my understanding of how to teach reading, writing and all of the components of literacy well to a wide variety of students.
I also want to learn how to teach language arts to a variety of learners, specifically to students with disabilities and English Language Learners. My major is special education, so while I am focused on learning about students with cognitive disabilities, I am also interested in deaf education, ELLs, etc. I have always considered Language Arts to be my strongest subject, and also the most interesting, so I think that I will take a lot from this class. In addition, I think that language arts is the most applicable subject to all the other subjects (science, math, social studies, etc.) because it includes reading, writing, spelling, etc., all of which are typically incorporated in all other subjects. With that said, language arts also holds one of the most common learning disabilities--difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling (dyslexia) are also additional contributing factors to those who are struggling readers and/or writers. Because of this, I want to learn how to accommodate to my students that struggle with these issues in my curriculum and lesson planning.
ReplyDeleteI also want to learn the difference between the terms "language arts" and "literacy." I feel like we (meaning, as a class) are confusing the two (if there even is a difference) by interchanging them, especially when talking about this class. I think the confusion comes from TE 301, which was focused on "literacy," whereas this class is focused on "language arts." What, if any, is the major difference? I know that we kind of touched on it the first class, but now I'm not sure if the two terms are interchangeable or if they aren't.
I am also very interested in learning how to work with students who are English Language Learners. I am actually going to be working in a classroom this semester, that is an ELL class. However, these students will be older students (college age and other adults), so I am not sure if the methods that I learn with the adults will be able to carry over to elementary age students. So I would really like to build on these skills this semester, so I will be able to be a successful teacher to any ESL students that I could have in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteLike Kaitlin, I have always found Language Arts to be my strongest subject all throughout my academic career, so that is the subject that I am most comfortable teaching. At the end of the semester, I would love to have tons of ideas that I can use during my internship year and beyond. I would like to learn ways that I can encourage students who struggle with reading and writing, to be more confident and succeed in these subjects. This is a tough area for me because I am dealing with this in my placement right now. I know that if the student tries hard, they will be able to complete the assigned task.
Since I do not have much knowledge of teaching to students with disabilities, I would like to learn more about how I can be a successful teacher for these students this semester. I know very little about deaf education and students with a hearing loss, but that's it! Since this course is about literacy and language arts, it would be especially helpful to learn about the disabilities associated with literacy, like dyslexia for example, so that I will be able to build lesson plans that will allow me to include activities that will benefit these students. At the end of the semester, I hope to walk into my student teaching with an overload of ideas in literacy!
Along with Kaitlin I also want to learn the difference between the terms "language" and "literacy." In my post I used the words interchangeably, or didn't choose to use one word or another and just wrote "language/literacy." I have an understanding of what each term means, but if I really knew what the words meant I could use them on their own. I am sure that this class will help to clarify what teaching language means and what teaching literacy means.
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