Journal, Assignments, Reflections

Week 1

Schema Theory, Top-down and Bottom-up Processing of Text, and Literacy Development.

We should be literacy developers rather than reading teachers because we have to look at the holistic process of being a literate person.  I believe I am a literacy developer because I emphasize learning about all kinds of topics as a communication teacher.  The communication is the skill, but the literacy development is everything we use to implement the skill.  I think we should emphasize the Five Key Factors in Learning to Read well in this order.

1.  Volition (inner drive to read, learn, discover, and create) because this factor serves as a foundation for everything else.

2.  Very Big Chunks of story and non-story text (Macro-structure) because they have to put everything together in a framework that makes sense.

3.  Phonics, spelling, word study (grapho-phonemic complexity) because this will be essential for reading.

4.  Order of words in sentences (syntactic complexity) because this develops primarily through oral language.

5.  High level vocabulary (semantic complexity) because this factor comes when students read and talk.

b.  The best teacher in the world teaches 28 third graders.  The three most important things that the teacher does are the following:

1.  Uses diverse instructional and learning experiences for children.

2.  Listens to the children and respectfully interacts with each individual.

3.  Gradually transfers the responsibility for learning from the teacher to the student.

• Schema is the cognitive representation of a thing, event, person, place, structure (church), process, or system (banking).

• Schema development is the process of having new experiences for that new schema are available to the student.  Schema development comes from rich language and rich experience and their interaction.

• Schema activation is when the student uses the developed schema by applying something to significant and authentic experiences.  Significant features activate schema. Students can't read unless they have a high level of knowledge. Rich language and rich experience = schema.  (visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory).

Schema are hierarchically arranged.  Default schema--a backup idea.

The schema has to be developed BEFORE bottom up or top down processing can happen.

Bottom-up process is when thinking comes after the experience.  Experience comes before thinking.  After going to the zoo, a student might read a book about the zoo.  Reading about something after an experience might be bottom up.  Something with significant features triggers the process to begin.  Bridge, troll, river = Billy Goat Gruff. 

Significant SIGN.  There's an age factor in development.  Bottom up works best early and probably is essential in certain cases.

The teaching process should not be confused with the bottom-up and top-down processes.  In teaching, we try to engage as many senses as we can.  From whole to part is probably the best way to teach.

Another way we activate schema is top-down.  Activated in the head before we see what's out there.  I'm going to read the story of the Three Bears. . . (the student must have the schema in place).  Reading a book about an animal a child has never seen would be top down.  When the child looks at the animal, then based on certain characteristics decide what the animal is.  We look at some--a few aspects--to verify that you are right.

The more significant features you have, the richer the schema, and the more easily it's activated.  For literate children, need to develop as many schema and as much depth as possible for schema development.

An interactive process is circular and goes both ways in the reading process when the teacher and student is actively engaged in learning. The interactive process can activate and add to schema. There may be things they don't expect, trigger what they already know.  Schema development is separate.

Schema in the brain (the top or up part) is involved in and essential to both top-down and bottom up processing.  This enables us to process and recognize everyday wholes (things, persons, places, events, structures, processes, and systems.  In addition, this is essential to whole printed narrative or expository text. 

Children need millions of schemas.  Why aren't kids interested in what we're teaching?  They don't have adequate schema.  I heard on NPR that in one minute of driving we perceive 1300 things (or maybe I remember the statistic wrong).  It doesn't matter, the possible experiences and perceptions are enormous.  Students have to have millions of schema in order to read well.

The class was interesting.  I enjoyed hearing about various theories and some unique perspectives about learning.  Here are some points I thought were interesting.

Vgotsky discussed the Zone of Proximal Development.

Makhil Bakhtain believed that you have to get students to interact, dialog, and use arts.

Transformative intellectual.  Teach someone else what you learned.  Help others change their way of teaching and helping students.

Bakhtin says students and teachers need dialog.  There are two types of dialog:

1.  Magistral dialog (not so good, laying down the law)

2.  Socratic (good)

• 1st voice--initiates

• 2nd voice - responds

• 3rd voice - new insights and new understanding, motivating.

Semiotics--the arts and signs or significant features.  The arts:  Visual, performance, and language art.

Recognize (re-cognize)

The more significant features, the faster you recognize.

Week 2

Dr. Karen Kindle visited the class.  That was an interesting new dimension.

I'm very excited about working with the parents and kids in Power Literacy.  We'll have about 8 different lessons.  I've had classes next door and seen the students leave after class during previous semesters.  It always looks and sounds like so much fun.  I am so looking forward to this experience.

A picture walk is to look at the pictures and get kids talking about it first.  The children watch it more closely because they're developing the schema.  We need to wear clothes so we can sit on the floor.  We need dry-erase boards.  We'll learn scripts, make sets, act out scenes.  We have to remember the script, but we should have it in front of us while working with the children.  We have a script that we can use with the students that gives a step-by-step approach.

Do NOT ever tell a student to sound it out.

The best way to teach phonics is whole to part. They must learn letter sounds.  Won't hurt, but don't have to learn letter sounds.  Get off that quickly and work with word families.  Start with a story, then take some words from the story you wrote.

m     ake      make

c      ake     cake

sh    ake     shake

br     ake     brake

b      ake      bake

t       ake      take

s      ake     sake

sn    ake     snake

What do you think this word might be.  Let's take another run at it.  Sounding out slows them down.  Gets them on to the whole idea.  Dr. George is in the balanced literacy camp.  Need to connect to reading books, make it more exciting, and make connections.  The most important thing is to develop language and scheme and hook kids on reading.

Why teach phonics?  Not to sound words out.  There's a cuing system.  This cuing system has three parts to it.

1.  semantic cuing system--word meaning.  In the ball park.

2.  syntactic cuing system--word order of the sentence, the word order you can predict in a sentence.  Some word order is simple, and other is complicated.

3.  visual cuing system--visual clues--it's tied in with phonics.  You know some words because it's part of your visual memory.  That's why I need to write down a word when someone asks me how to spell it.  That's where you use phonics.

Phonics is learning the grapheme-phoneme correspondence.

A grapheme can be one or two--sometimes three-letters (e.g., s, ch). 

A phoneme is the smallest utterable sound in a word (sound unit in a word).

We use phonics to verify that our guess is correct!  Like top-down processing.

We absolutely have to know phonics.  You can't read unless you know phonics.  The whole word is in our head.  We just look at a significant feature.  You use a visual cue to get a significant feature or two.  We don't read from left to right because we know what word is coming next.  You may want to show syllables of large words.

slip  4 phonemes and 4 graphemes

ship 3 phonemes and 3 graphemes

sl = blend

spl = blend

ch = diagraph

FOR THE POWER LITERACY:  Each chunk is divided into four scenes.

How much phonics is enough phonics?

Based on the text, phonics are helpful, but need to be one part of the whole reading plan.

Explain why many of the best readers and writers of the world were never taught phonics.

When I was young, I was never taught phonics because it was on the outs.  I think that was a mistake because when I learned some phonics much later it helped with spelling and pronunciation.  Perhaps more importantly, the textbook recommends a whole language approach to learning to read.  Learning to read needs to be easy, accurate, effortless.  Phonics tend to be labored.  The emphasis needs to be on easy recognition so the reader can focus on attaching meaning.

WEEK 3  Critical Literacy

When you see oral, visual, print, or performance text, you say:  Is this true?

Get students to say to themselves:  Is this legitimate?  How are they trying to manipulate me?  What do they want to get me to think with this media or text?  What does the cameraman zoom in on?  What are they trying to do with the visual text?  When reading something, was it leaning a certain way? 

Get students to understand critical literacy on the Internet.

Often it's subtle stuff. 

Semiology

semiotics=study of signs

A significant feature triggers thinking about a certain schema.  An American flag pin triggers a person's American flag schema.  This becomes a psychological schema.  This will trigger a person, event, etc. which triggers another person, place, thing, event, process, and so on.  Idea from Charles Saunders Peirce about a chain of schema triggering other schema, triggering other schema, and so on.  We need to help children develop as much schema as possible.  Use the arts to represent meaning.

Piaget talked about how information was constructed up in the brain (Dr. George doesn't agree with his theories).  Vgotsky said it was constructed outside through the social interaction (use dialog and the arts).

Bakhtin=Dialogic process

1st voice

2nd voice

3rd voice= new understanding

It almost doesn't matter what students are doing so long as they are engaged, curious, and making progress.

Talking about the various items from NPR was interesting because of the way students interacted.  I felt pretty opinionated during the discussion.  I also had questions about what was being said, wondered about accuracy, thought about how each story was filtered by our perceptions.

Determinist believes things only happen one way.  Things either happen or not.

Dr. George thinks you should consider the values of the community and select books accordingly.

Chapter 2, Concept 4--Key Concept Oral Report

WORD IDENTIFICATION

K and first grade teachers should teach children to identify words quickly and accurately. 

• It should be automatic, effortless. 

• The less effort readers must devote to word identification, the more effort they can devote to comprehension and interpretation.

Picture Source

The goal of instruction in word identification is to help children use all three cue systems SIMULTANEOUSLY.

ship has three phonemes.  If there are three phonemes, there must be three graphemes.  sh - i - p

slips s - l - i - p - s 5 phonemes and 5 graphemes.  Teach phonics with words, not as separate sounds.  The reasons for teaching phonics is we use phonics to verify that our guess is correct.  Use phonics to verify your guess is correct.

Cross checking by using at least two cue systems leads to accuracy, while an overreliance on one cue system leads children to make miscues or errors when reading.

Most children can benefit from phonics (systematic instruction in letter-sound relationships) but it must always be seen as jut one part of reading instruction and as serving the larger purpose of reading for meaning.

Photo Credit

Spelling-to-sound regularities are preferred INSTEAD of letter-sound relationships because spelling patterns are a more reliable guide to pronunciation than individual letters.

Photo Credit

Don't buy Hooked on Phonics.  It's a ripoff.

1. How might students entry points be identified?

Constructivist teachers seek and value students' points of view. Knowing what students think about concepts helps teachers formulate classroom lessons and differentiate instruction on the basis of students' needs and interests.

2. What is involved in structuring the experiences that will build bridges from present understanding to new understanding?

Constructivist teachers structure lessons to challenge students' suppositions. All students, weather the are 5 or 50, come to the classroom with life experiences that shape their views about how their world works. When educators permit students to construct knowledge that challenges their current suppositions, learning occurs. Only through asking students what they think they know, and why they think they know it, the teachers and the students are able to confront their suppositions.

3. How might the selection of projects pose questions that relate to students' real-life experiences?

Constructivist teachers recognize that students must attach relevance to the curriculum. As students see relevance in their daily activities, their interest in learning grows.

4. What are the major concepts that students should understand?

Constructivist teachers structure lessons around big ideas, not small bits of information. Exposing students to wholes first helps them determine the relevant parts as they refine their understanding of the wholes. (Top-Down teaching strategy)

5. How might we move from right/wrong to monitoring students' understanding?

Constructivist teachers assess student learning in the context of daily classroom investigations, not as separate events. Students demonstrate their knowledge every day in a variety of ways. Defining understanding as only that which is capable of being measured by paper-and-pencil assessments administrated under strict security perpetuates false and counterproductive myths about academia, intelligence, creativity, accountability, and knowledge. http://online.sfsu.edu/

The constructivist theory of learning has, again, come to the forefront. Constructivism isn't new; John Dewey advocated it at the turn of the century. Jean Piaget developed the theory based on his view of psychological development of children, as did Jerome Bruner, and Vygotsky with the social constructivism.

Constructivism is child-centered; it proposes that learning environments should support multiple perspectives or interpretations of reality, knowledge construction, context-rich, experience-based activities. Constructivism focuses on knowledge construction, not knowledge reproduction. It is a belief that one constructs knowledge from one's experiences, mental structures, and beliefs that are used to interpret objects and events. The mind is instrumental and essential in interpreting events, objects, and perspectives on the base that is personal and individualistic. Our view of the external world differs from others because of our unique set of experiences.

"We don't describe the world we see;
we see the world we can describe."

An important component of constructivist theory is to focus a child's education on authentic tasks. These are tasks which have real-world relevance and utility, that integrate those tasks across the curriculum, that provide appropriate levels of difficulty or involvement. It would be impossible for us all to become masters of all content areas, so instruction is anchored in some meaningful, real-world context .

According to constructivist theory, children learn whole to part, not incrementally. The ideas and interests of children drive the learning process. Teachers are flexible; sometimes they are the giver of knowledge, but often are the facilitator. Dwyer (1991) asserts that this approach is child centered rather than curriculum centered, while Bagley and Hunter (1992) state that learning becomes a dynamic process. Bagley and Hunter (1992) go on to say that active learning leads to greater retention and higher level thinking. And as knowledge continues to double every two years, and since it also has a shelf life, students must learn to access information; there is now far too much information to memorize. http://online.sfsu.edu/

Five Guiding Principles of Constructivism:

. Pose problems of emerging relevance to students.

. Structure learning around primary concepts.

. Seek and value students' points of view.

. Adapt instruction to address student suppositions.

. Assess student learning in the context of teaching. http://www.thirteen.org/

A constructivist philosophy uses whole language.

1.  We suggest that teachers give children plenty  of opportunity to write and to use invented spelling.

2.  We suggest that teachers give students systematic instruction in spelling-to-sound regularities.

Photo Credit

How ADULTS use letters to identify words.

1.  Automatic recognition system allows word pronunciations and their meanings to be recognized directly and automatically. (sight words)

2.  Pattern-based system--words are recognized through letter patterns or clusters, analogies to known words, and rules.

Young children are dependent on the cue systems of sense and structure.

By the end of first grade, however, most children have acquired skills for recognizing many high-frequency words directly and are in the process of developing an understanding of the pattern-based system by making use of spelling-to-sound regularities.

Text understanding, not word identification, is the main goal of reading.

FOSTER WORD ID:
1.  systematic instruction by the teacher.

2.  informal instruction during teachable moments

3.  opportunities for discovery  when the child is trying to read and write on her or his own.

The teacher's job is to help the child achieve a balanced use of all three cue systems during reading.

Photo Credit

To help children deal with the rime or the rest of the word, teach them to read words by analogy.  Compare and contrast the unknown word to known words with similar letters and spelling patterns.

WEEK 4

Next week we're giving two tests.

WRAT--Just a word recognition test.  Gives you an idea where the child is.

Power Literacy Reading Test

Overdo with your outgoing personality so make a good first impression.  Important to appear friendly.  Sit in a big circle.  Some parents will come after 5:30.  Probably start about 5:45.

Draw their name and a picture of their family.

Bring crayons or markers.

Find a place to test.  Empty room.

Make sure you get all the information on the WRAT

Chapter 3

How do you go about structuring, or framing, a story in big chunks before you teach it?

I can look at the story organization, how it builds, key ideas, key locations.

How can you be certain that your students are completely aware of, and have in mind, the large meaningful chucks that make up the whole story?

I could have them write about it, draw them, act it out, create a mural.

List three of the best ways to establish "cognitive frames for story structure" in your students' minds.  List the best way first.

1.  Interpreting:  Personal Associations

2.  Reliving:  Identify vivid episodes. Imaging and picturing. Preferences.

3.  Free response, such as writing or discussing anything they want.

Genres:

1. Picture books.

2. Folktales.

3. Fables, myths, and epics,

4. Modern fantasy.

5. Poetry.

6. Modern fiction.

7. Historical fiction.

8. Biography.

9. Informational books.

Concept 3, chapter 3

Experience-Text-Relationship Approach

PLANNING:  Might use a picture to prompt for background.

TEXT

Individually, paired, or group reading.

Discuss or write a response.  Did you have a connection to a character?  Use sticky notes.  Text to world connections.  Did you get a mental picture of something going on.

Don't want to look up answers instead of reading book.

In literature response log talk about how kids feel, the efferent (information) aesthetically (feeling) response to literature.  Respond with emotion and feeling.  Much better chance of hooking kids on reading.  Arouse feelings so they want to come back to another piece of literature.  Appreciate the beauty and emotion of it.

RELATIONSHIP

Make connections to experiences.

Relate to other instruction.

TEACHER INVOLVEMENT

If teacher is only one talking, she's probably the only one getting smarter. 

Promote student independence.  Help with comprehension strategies.

Louise Rosenblack was the one who had the efferent-aesthetic idea.  You can read efferent text and have an affective or aesthetic response.  You can also read for information (efferent).  You can read a song or poem for information.

If teachers understood the philosophical and research base for developing literacy, they would be using an array of ideas and strategies to teach children.

Key ideas:

Students should have the opportunity to develop personal responses to literature and to read from an aesthetic stance within a classroom community.

Students should learn about different literary genres, story elements, and the relationships among literary works.

Students should receive active, systematic instruction in comprehension strategies, including teacher assessment of the effectiveness of instruction.

Test next week

Ch 1 concept 1,

Teachers should have a sound philosophy for literacy education, drawing upon constructivist principles.

Someone in class made the comment that "If the teacher is the only one talking, she's probably the only one learning."  I am particularly focused on three ideas:  whole language, constructivism, and individualized instruction (differentiated instruction).  I think the teacher needs to adapt to individual learner's needs, which is the fairest way to approach instruction.  In addition, although I believe that subject areas need to be emphasized in certain ways, I think they make more sense when approached in a cross-disciplinary way with whole language.  I think this approach comes from working with students in Communication Arts and ELL. 

Constructivism has been something I've been studying for awhile, but two math teachers--Eddie Smith and Denise Young--under whom I completed a couple courses last year, used constructivist approaches so I could understand the philosophy.  I learned so much, and was stunned how I would come out with what they had in mind.  "According to constructivism, learning is a process in which individuals construct their own understanding." 

People's learning is always influenced by the society around them.

Long ago, I de-emphasized lecture and increased student skill activity.  I believe the research that suggests almost any kind of lessons students do other than listen to me talk is going to lead to better learning.

Students need to be involved in real reading and writing activities.

1.  When I am teaching literacy, I use authentic activities with purposes that students can recognize as important.

2.  When I am teaching literacy, I have my lessons proceed from whole to part, rather than part to whole.

3.  When I am teaching literacy, I encourage students to construct their own understandings of text.

4.  When I am teaching literacy, I encourage students to interact with one another as well as with me.

chapter 2 concept 4

Students in kindergarten and first grade should learn to use a combination of cue systems, including spelling-to-sound regularities, so they will be able to identify words accurately.

1.  Sense and meaning:  semantics.  What would make sense?

2.  Grammar and structure:  syntax. What sounds right?

3.  Letters:  graphic or visual cues.  What letters do you expect to see?

Chapter 3 concept 3.

Students should receive active, systematic instruction in comprehension strategies, including teacher assessment of the effectiveness of instruction.

PROMOTE DISCUSSION

1.  Aim for a balance between teacher talk and student talk.  Create numerous opportunities for students to respond.

2.  In general, elicit answers from students rather than telling them the answers.

3.  Use lessons as an opportunity to build students' independence and to promote voluntary reading.

Encourage students to ask their own questions.

EXPERIENCE-TEXT-RELATIONSHIP (ETR) APPROACH

Planning:  Select a piece of literature.  When previewing, look for natural breaks.

Experience:  Find students' background experiences.

Text:  After reading, talk about feelings and ideas.

Relationship:  Draw relationships between the story and their own lives.  Themes, personal connections.

Write what the author says about the concept.  Organize into paragraph form.

How do you relate this to your own experience (as a student or teacher).

Describe the reading process.  Get in your mind how the bottom up and top down process works.  Nothing from Internet.

You develop schema through rich language and rich experience.

No multiple choice.

Write out as much as you can and relate it.

One hour to complete.

Whole to part instruction.

Peirce said you don't just activate a schema, it connects and connects.

John George said a cognitive representation of a person, thing, place.

If you want to interest someone in a book, do a picture-walk first.

Comprehension of Narrative Text

How do you go about structuring, or framing, a story in "Big chunks" before you teach it?

How can you be certain that your students are completely aware of, and have in mind, the large meaningful chunks that make up the whole story?

List three of the best ways to establish "cognitive frames for story structure" in your students' minds.  List the best way first.

WEEK 5

Comprehension of Expository Text.

How do you go about structuring, or framing, an expository text selection before you teach it?

How can you be certain that your students are completely aware of, and have in mind, the large meaningful chunks that make up the whole text selection?

How can you be certain that your students are completely aware of, and have in mind the large meaningful chunks that make up the whole text selection?

How can you be certain that your students have a cognitive scheme for various types of expository text structures--proposition/support, effect/causes?

List three of the best ways to establish these cognitive schemes for text structure in your students' minds.  List the best way first.

2.  Journal Response. 

I was absolutely fascinated by working with the children this week.  I couldn't believe how easily they could read the sentence with auditory memory.  What an amazing approach.  I was disappointed that we didn't have more children.  I was impressed with the way Maureen engaged our little charge.

3.  Maureen and I gave the two reading tests to our student.

WEEK 6

This week we had several more students.  They were energetic.  The group wanted me to lead the lesson, and Maureen would write the sentences.  I am probably the least experienced with young children, so it was kind of funny.  I had trouble remembering all the instructions.

Chapter 4:  Reading comprehension of nonfiction and report writing.

1. Students should learn from informational text within a classroom community where ownership of one's own learning is valued.

2. 2.  Students should use a variety of informational text resources and develop an understanding of how these texts can serve their purposes for learning.

3. Students should develop strategies for the comprehension of informational texts.

4. Students should be involved in research projects in integrating reading and writing.

When students read informational books, formulate their own questions, take notes, and write research reports, they engage in the same kinds of authentic activities in which all researchers engage. 

Role of Ownership is accomplished in these ways:

1. making choices.

2. setting students' own purposes

3. sharing

4. recognizing interests of others

5. connecting reading and writing

6. assessing one's learning.

In order to learn to read for information, students must have many opportunities to engage with a variety of informational texts.

Textbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses are kinds of reference books often used by students.

Series books are often popular among elementary children.

Hearing and reading quality nonfiction allow students to build on their current information and extend their knowledge of the subject.

Zarnowski suggests that biographies be used to build upon and extend students' knowledge and understanding of historical events.

Read alouds are often too difficult for the average student, so they are used to extend students' background experiences and expand their knowledge of vocabulary and sentence patterns.

When selecting nonfiction, consider the children's background knowledge, interests, and concerns.

Students' understanding of the genre of nonfiction and its contribution to their learning can be heightened by their reflection and evaluation.

Comprehending informational text.

Freeman and Person state that "a common goal of teacher

Top-down is verification of what you are thinking.  I could see her, smell her, and that verified that it was my friend.

Bottom up is putting the pieces together to make a conclusion.

Giraffe on the plaza.  You don't know what you are going to see.  You develop schema through rich language and rich experience.  You see a long neck, some spots, the form, and it activates or triggers your giraffe schema.  You activate it with significant features.

Schema has nothing to do with from top down or bottom up.

Top-down:  You have your best friend in your mind.  You expect to see your best friend, so you notice things.  Just look at significant features to verify. 

When a child comes in, just do WRAT to see word recognition. Our group will take second grade level or above.  I'm disappointed that we aren't going to be able to use the library.  It would be a nice connection to be able to have the children near the books.

Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processing

When an interpretation emerges from the data, this is called data-driven or bottom-up processing. Perception must be largely data-driven because it must accurately reflect events in the outside world. You want the interpretation of a scene to be determined mostly by information from the senses, not by your expectations.

What is data-driven or bottom-up processing? What is schema-driven or top-down processing?

In many situations, however, your knowledge or expectations will influence perception. This is called schema-driven or top-down processing. A schema is a pattern formed earlier in your experience.

Larger scale or more abstract concepts are referred to as higher level, while concrete details (such as the input from the senses) are referred to as lower level. Top-down processing occurs any time a higher-level concept influences your interpretation of lower level sensory data.

The "Rat-Man" picture

Subjects saw this picture after viewing earlier slides that showed line drawings of (1) animals, or (2) faces. Depending on whether they saw animals or faces in previous slides, subjects reported seeing either (1) a rat or (2) a man wearing glasses. They had been "set" for one or the other interpretation by the preceding slides. This is a form of top-down processing, in which a schema influences interpretation of the data.

In what respect do cartoons rely upon top-down processing?

Comics and cartoons provide many examples of top-down processing. Simple cues are used to suggest complex feelings and emotions. Cartoonists have a set of conventions for conveying information about mental and physical states. Tiny popping bubbles, for example, show drunkenness. Movement is shown by lines and little puffs of dust trailing after shoes. Spoken language is shown inside a bubble made out of a continuous line. A silent thought is shown inside a broken line. A sudden idea may be shown as a light bulb lighting up over a character's head. Beads of sweat flying off a character show anxiety or physical exertion. After one gains some experience reading comics, these cues are processed automatically; one is hardly aware of them.

In what sense do we go "beyond the information given"?

In general, top-down processing—information processing based on previous knowledge or schemata—allows us to make inferences: to "perceive" or "know" more than is contained in the data. Little cartoon droplets do not contain the information that a character is working hard. We add that information based upon our previous experience and knowledge of the conventions of cartooning.

Jerome Bruner titled a book about cognitive development Beyond the Information Given (1972) He was acknowledging the pivotal role of inference in cognition. We go "beyond the information given" constantly in our mental processes. We learn to add assumptions and supplemental information derived from past experience to the evidence of our senses, and that is how we make sense of our world.

http://www.psywww.com

I think I understand bottom up processing, although I didn't articulate it well.  I apparently didn't understand top down processing.  I also didn't realize I needed to put the five principles of constructivism on the test.

I find it a little difficult to hear all the instructions of how we will work with the children.  I like the prescriptive approach, however, which seems so viable for the children. 

Writing helps students think more deeply about topics. 

Students can clarify information for themselves as they reflect on it in a personal way. 

Writing research reports, based on a number of different tests, is a powerful way of learning.

Beach's approach:

WEEK 7

Schema is the cognitive representation of a thing, event, person, place, structure, process, or system. Schema development is the process of having new experiences so that new schema are then available to the student. Schema development comes from rich language and rich experience and their interaction. Schema activation is when the student uses the developed schema by applying something to significant and authentic experiences. Significant features activate schema. Students can't read unless they have a high level of knowledge. Rich language and rich experience = schema (visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory).

Bottom-up process is when thinking comes after the experience. Experience comes before thinking. Bottom-up process is information driven. In the case of finding a giraffe on the Plaza, this is not in my normal experience. I don't know in advance what I am about to recognize. So, I have to look at each piece of data and figure out what's going on. I see a long neck. I see brown fur. I see spots. These elements with significant features trigger the process to begin. I see long legs. I put all this information together in a bottom up way to make sense of the information or data as a way to interpret the scene. The information comes from my senses instead of my expectations (by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting).

In thinking about a friend while I'm using top-down process, I already have a schema or pattern formed because of my earlier experiences with my friend. I look at some--a few aspects--to verify that I am right. In this case, everything is activated in the head before I see what's out there. I know beforehand what I am about to recognize through my senses.  The schema of my friend is activated first, in that I have a good idea of what I will see (hear, etc.).  I verify for myself that all the significant features are there.  My friend's characteristics of being kind, loving, supportive, helpful, and talkative are already part of the schema I hold about her. In the case of my friend, I have many more significant features than I have for most people, so the richer the schema, and the more easily it's activated.

Constructivism "is situated in the here and now and depends on authentic rather than contrived tasks (p. 181). The teacher uses real questions and problems, not contrived ones. The five constructivist principles are as follows.

1. Whole to Part Teaching.  Engage students in constructing their own meaning of whole text. Following this principle, the teacher needs to ask question and pose problems that are clearly relevant to the student's real experiences. For Susan, she used lessons that proceed from the whole to part, instead of from the part to whole.

2.  Scaffolded Learning.  Provide demonstrations in writing and reading that ensure scaffolding.  The idea is to provide instruction that elaborates the concept in a way that makes sense with student's beliefs so they can understand the major concepts. In the Susan example, she acted as a "knowledgeable other" by providing demonstrations and scaffolding for students.

3.  Social Construction of Meaning. Engage students in constructing meaning socially.  This social construction may involve authentic assessment. I like to think of creating a learning community, where the interaction supports good learning results.  With this principle, the teacher monitors the student's understanding as part of the daily events, not a separate event. I encourage students to interact with one another as well as with me. In the Susan example, she encouraged students to interact with one another as well as with the teacher.

4. Construction of Own Understanding Related to One's Own Experiences.  Engage authentic teaching activities tat students can relate to their own lives.  There have to be real points of entry into the student's framework about what is relevant to him or her. In the example with Susan, she used authentic activities with purposes that students can recognize as important.

5.  Representation of Whole Text Meaning in "Big Chunks" through the Arts.  Move from the "big chunks" of the whole text to the parts when teaching by exploring through structure. There needs to be a structure building from the student's experiences to new understanding. In the Susan example, she encouraged students to construct their own understandings of the text, which could be accomplished through the arts. 

Chapter 5 VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Children's vocabulary expands at an amazing rate in the early and middle school years, perhaps as many as 3,000 words a year.

There's a shift around third or fourth grade, when students become proficient readers and enlarge their written vocabulary.

Key Concept 1:  Students should expand their vocabulary knowledge through a diverse set of listening and oral language activities.

• Ask student to act out the story and ask questions of one another.

• Make a list of synonyms and antonyms.

• Words tend to shift their meanings depending on the context, which makes effective vocabulary instruction difficult.

• Place within the text context and discuss word meanings as part of comprehension.

• Use oral language activities.

• Use listening activities.

• Young children enjoy hearing new words and talking about them, so when interesting words appear in stories they enjoy, and when the illustrations, story line, and style of the writer make the words sparkle with vivid meaning, children are likely to learn and remember a few of them.

• Use small group learning.

• Listen and discuss language.

In-Class Discussion

Chapter 4.3 Focus on comprehension What are some of the strategies for informational text.  KWL for one. DRTA.  We will model these. 

Chapter 5.1 focus on vocabulary.  Students should expand their vocabulary through a diverse set of strategies.  A student can't read any higher than his or her vocabulary level.  A fourth grader whose vocabulary is at a 2^nd grade level is going to read at the 2^nd grade level.

The best way to raise vocabulary is through listening, talking, having experiences.

Connect rich experience with rich language.

Prefixes, suffixes, don't work very well.

Every day motivate them like a cheerleader to get the excited about vocabulary development.

Talk about how important vocabulary is.  Make it a passion.

A lot of language , talking, listening, kicking it up a notch.  Use and focus on words beyond their grade level.

Mark the words in books you don't know, then continue to use and talk about those words.

Need a lot more than a word a day.

Most important!  The teacher must have in mind that vocabulary is important.  Most teacher's don't have that as a goal.

Key Concept 2:  Students should learn to use structural analysis to expand their reading vocabulary.

• In the early grades, most new words are already in students' oral vocabulary but are new for them to read.  In the later grades, many of the new words have familiar roots but look new because they have been combined with other words or with suffixes or prefixes.

• An average fifth grader is likely to read about a million words of text in a year.  About 10,000 of the words will be seen only once, often for the first time.  Over half of the 10,000 words are derivatives of familiar words (indebtedness, unromantic, metalware) or inflections of more frequent words (merges, merited).  About 1500 are proper names, and about 1000 are genuinely new words. 

• Students who understand how to identify and analyze words will be able to read and understand over half of the new words they see.

• Provide explicit instruction:  Carry out word analysis.

• Rely on examples to teach structural analysis:  begin to develop a sense of how root words are expanded to form other words.

• Meanings of words can be discovered within word families.

• Build up or connect word families by understanding how to analyze longer words into roots.

• A prefix is a group of letters that go in front of a word.  A prefix changes the meaning of a word.  When a prefix is removed, a word must be left.  Present alternative meanings of the prefixes.

• Make the limitations clear. 

• Apply structural analysis in context.  Look into words.  Look around the words.

Key Concept 3:  Students should learn to combine word- and text- reading strategies to increase their general vocabulary knowledge.

• We know that vocabulary knowledge is fundamental to reading comprehension because words grant an ever-expanding conceptual base for understanding texts.

• Integrate new words within a knowledge framework.  Help students form effective connections between new information and their background knowledge.

• To provide students with a general strategy for deriving the meanings of unfamiliar words in context, (a) substitute a word or expression for the unknown word.  (b) Check the context for clues that support your idea.  (c) Ask if the substitution fits all context clues.  (d)  If it doesn't fit at all, try a new idea.  (e) If it fits somewhat, revise your idea to fit the context.

• Since one of our goals is to help students become independent in learning new words while reading, it may be important that they have a good concept of definition.

• To construct an adequate word map, students need to bring together three pieces of information.  (a) The class of which the concept is a par.  (b)  The properties that distinguish the concept from others in the same class. (c) Examples of the concept:  What are some examples?

Chapter 5 Key Concept 4:  Students should be motivated to attend to new vocabulary during wide reading at home and at school.

Students view as many as 90,000 distinct words during their 12 years of school.

To nurture vocabulary development during wide reading our teachers maintained the following principles:  they varied their support of independent reading to fit the reading situations, they fostered wide reading, and they encouraged students to be attentive to words during their independent reading.

In Class this Week

Tonight we need to do another test.  Just do the word recognition test on the WRAT then just the read the word and draw the picture for reading comprehension.  Put that information on the front.  Test any students we haven't tested.

We need to copy one lesson from a child.  Between the last night of instruction and doing the videotaping, make a copy of one lesson for each group member.  We can  all have the same one.

I found it interesting talking about some of the challenges from last week.  The two groups have a wide range of abilities.  One child seems behind socially and academically.  For some children, this is all new.  We have to adapt to the zone of proximinal development.  Very young children might have very short sentences.  One older child, his mother thought it was too easy, so he won't be back.  It's hard to figure out when to move on.  We could have the children do the illustration at home. 

Review what they have.  Start working on the phonics.  Try to get each student in the zone of proximinal development Is it okay to write some sentences for them?  Have them or the parent print some words, have them print some words.

I think it's too bad that the more able child won't be back.  That was his first time, so we didn't have time to adapt.

We had a parent who wanted to sit outside and not participate.  Dr. Geogre suggested the person be in with the child.  Out thinking is that person shouldn't be here.  The person said the program would be too time consuming.  The hope is to help the child in a way the parent can learn something too about interaction.

The main thing is that everyone is participating and involved.  We will film the production.  We have to reserve 2 cameras for our group from the STAR lab.  Videotape the production, edit it to 15-20 minutes.  Add names on credits.

I volunteered to participate in the read-aloud.  The idea is to show the pictures while reading, holding the book to the side.

I'm kind of surprised how much I'm learning through approach and the practical applications of this course.

I really enjoy working with the kids although I'm tired when we finish. I liked doing the read aloud.  Given I'm a little nearsighted, I wasn't sure that would work, but it did.  I always loved reading to my kids.  I was touched by the way they clustered around the picture book I brought.   I think it would be difficult to have this kind of intensity for a whole day.  I do think it would be easier given that we already put in a full day at work before coming.  Of course, so do the children.  The energizing of the end was interesting to see given that kids were complaining of being hungry and tired.  I thought Sara did a great job tonight working with the kids.  She was a real natural, patient, upbeat.  It's fun to watch the strategies of different teachers.

WEEK 8

What is the best way for you to organize a classroom for instruction?

How would Vygotsky organize his classroom for instruction?

All students would be working at the appropriate level of development, adapting to many different levels in the classroom.

How would the best teacher in the world organize her classroom?

Should you do the same as Vygotsky and the best teacher in the world?

That's what I try to do.

I think it's important for the students to feel safe, engage, feel a sense of community, and to learn well.

List three ways to organize your own classroom for instruction.

Best:

1. Newer ways of teaching students to read and write and to evaluate their progress give them more opportunities to make decisions and more chances to work on their own and with classmates.

2. School tasks are shaped by productive teacher-student communications and peer interactions.  Teachers and students ask and answer real questions and solve real problems.  Teachers include their ideas in the inner workings of the classroom management and have students participate in decisions about their classroom routines.

3. Organize teaching so that students share tasks and work cooperatively. 

Many of the teacher's messages to students, especially corrections, relay the message that they had choices and could control themselves.

When students understand that their teachers want to establish a stable and supportive place for them to learn and that they will be able to play a useful role in building this structure, they are more likely to feel that they belong.

Their classrooms become safe, friendly places where students can explore new ideas and acquire new skills.

Constructivist

Giving students read choices makes them more involved in their own learning.

Students can understand how to take responsibility for their own learning from Kindergarten on.

Constructivism is situated in the here and now and depends on authentic rather than contrived tasks.

Teachers are sensitive to differences in rates of learning and success.  School achievements are treated as confidential and students are not competitive with one another.

An emphasis on personal goals helps students develop an interest in learning.

• Key concept 1: A prosocial environment serves as an effective structure for literacy learning.

A prosocial classroom environment is one in which students are offered opportunities to establish and work as a classroom COMMUNITY.

When students develop a sense of commitment to classroom norms and values, a prosocial environment is possible.

Teachers encourage collaborative learning in the readers' and writers' workshops.

Cultivate social understanding not only.

Reading and writing through projects but also through literature.

Teachers try to avoid using public and competitive recognitions.

Students might keep track of their progress with portfolios.

• Key concept 2:  Classroom management principles provide an indispensable framework for reading instruction.

Well managed classrooms are where students become fully involved and use their time wisely.

Characteristics of well-organized classroom:

1.  Rules

2.  Classroom routines.

3.  Materials

4.  Scheduling--everyone can anticipate

5.  Seating

6.  Rate of success--challenging but not discouraged

7.  Lesson implementation--develop lessons in advance.

8.  Lesson process--work with students individually, in groups, and as the whole class.

• Key Concept 3:   instruction should be organized and scheduled in ways that are coordinated with instructional goals.

Grouping should foster cooperation and shared responsibility.

1.  Fostering a multidimensional concept of ability.

2.  Improving the classroom status of low-achieving students.

3.  Heterogeneous grouping.

4.  Cooperative learning and flexible grouping.

• Teacher instruction to the group.

• Team practice in which students work in teams to master the material, using materials assigned by the teacher or determined in coordination with the team.

• Individual assessment by the teacher on students' knowledge of the information or skill in accomplishing the task.

• Team recognition with students' scores on individual assessments summed to form team scores that are used to earn certificates or other honors.

• Key Concept 4:  Reading and writing goals are better achieved when students are motivated and have the drive to learn.

Low achieving students typically decrease motivation over years.  This process can be improved if teachers shift classroom practices so that students learn to identify, work on, and master their own academic goals.  This orientation involves modifying six dimensions of the classroom learning environment, called TARGET.

 

TARGET Area		Strategies (Au, Mason, & Scheu, 1995, p. 196)
Task		Design tasks for novelty, variety, individual challenge, and active involvement. Help students set realistic, short-term goals. Help students develop organizational skills for task completion.
Authority		Involve students in decision-making and leadership roles. Help students develop self-management and self-monitoring skills.
Recognition		Recognize individual progress and improvement. Assure equal opportunities for rewards.
Grouping		Use flexible and heterogeneous group arrangements. Involve students in group learning.
Evaluation		Give opportunities to improve. Use criteria of individual progress, improvement, and mastery. Involve students in self-evaluation.
Time		Adjust time or task requirements. Use flexible scheduling. Help students organize and manage their work.

Volitions.  A belief that students can learn, an interest in learning, and a willingness to put forth effort to learn may not be sufficient to sustain all students.  Students need to understand how to work effectively and successfully.

Cognitive activities of selecting, comprehending, remembering, integrating, and monitoring are components in the process of learning. 

SELECTION ACTIVITIES

1. Where will I find materials that fit my goals?

2. What information do I need?

3. How will I record the information?

4. How will I use the information?

IN CLASS

DRTA

By Stoffer

Direct Reading Thinking Activity

Use with narrative text.  Divide into big chunks.

Once you have a story, find those chunks.

What do you think happens next?  Cliffhanger.

First show title.  What do you think this is about?  Why?

Groups of 3 discuss.  One group talks to another group

The Silent Couple

We will address this group.  Wait until we have their attention.

Last group to respond addresses all groups.

Then applaud.

Might have children illustrate next to the piece or summary.  Could have them act out each chunk.  Forms a schema for text structure.

It took us about 25 minutes to do.

What do you think happens next?

And why do you think so?

Try to get eye contact.

If teaching special ed.

Have someone read story.  Increase word recognition skills.  Increase fluency.

Within the group, come up with a little summary.  And be able to share with others.

Tell students to try to reach a consensus.

Have everyone together read the ending.

KWL  Donna Ogle

Know, want to know, and learn

KWLPlus  Do this activity, then add writing component to it.  Students are discussing and writing what they learned.

KWL is done by so many teachers in a lame way.  The lame way is having students sit in a seat.  The teacher puts a K W and L on the board.  Tell me what you know about topic (Effect Size). 

Don't do a KWL about something class knows nothing about.  Even have the students skim and not read in detail so there is some response. 

What do you want to know about effect size?  What do you want to know about it?

Then provide to a group, not to one student.  How do you know students are engaged?  Have them figure it out in a group.  Take five minutes, read the article, and list some things.

WEEK 9 

Part A. Chapter 4.3 Concept: Students should develop strategies for the comprehension of informational texts.

            Describe (in rank order from what you consider to be best to worst):

(a) the four strategies (e.g., DR-TA) for improving student comprehension of information text, and the KWL Approach.

1. Directed reading-thinking approach, or DRTA (Stauffer).

2. K-W-L approach (Ogle)

3. Concept-text-application approach, or CTA (Wong & Au)

4. Estimate, read, respond, question, or ERRQ (Watson)

 (b) the other four activities (e.g., learning logs) for developing comprehension of a piece of informational text.

1. Learning Logs

2. Diagrams

3. Summarizing

4. Note-taking

Explain your reasons for ranking the first item first in both instances.

1. Directed Reading Thinking Activity  DRTA. I ranked it first because it meant the most to me during the class. I liked the way it engaged students with each other. DRTA works with all grade levels, and I could see me using this approach with college students because it helps students develop their abilities. I really liked the way we divided information into big chunks. That provided a fascinating and suspenseful process through the cliffhanger: What do you think happens next?

2. Know Want Learned K-W-L approach (Ogle)

KWL seems like it would be very motivating. This approach honors what students already know, which for me teaching college students, usually students know something—sometimes misconceptions—about the concept to be studied.

K—WHAT I KNOW

W—WHAT DO I WANT TO LEARN?

L—WHAT I LEARNED

3. Concept Text Application CTA approach, or CTA (Wong & Au). I really like the constructivist approach in this case. CTA is for children who need considerable guidance and help with understanding the text. This approach would be effective when I work with special education students, but probably not needed with my college students. This approach takes students through prereading, guided reading, and postreading phases of instruction.

CONCEPT ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT is the prereading phase, where bring out what the children already know, discuss unfamiliar concepts and vocabulary

TEXT is the time when purposes for reading are set and guided reading and discussion of the text takes place.

APPLICATION is when students use the new information

4. Estimate Read Respond Question ERRQ (Watson) This approach seems like what we've been doing all along, and hasn't worked that well. I do like the estimate phase as an addition to the traditional.

ESTIMATE Ask students to scan the text.

READ Have students read the whole text straight through.

RESPOND Ask students to respond to the text in some way.

QUESTION Have students question themselves in some way.

1. Learning Logs. I put this first because of my experience with the learning log for this course. I find myself writing in the log mentally every day, which is rather unique. What this means that application learning is taking place for me at odd moments in unsuspecting places.

2. Diagrams I have started using them in my teaching because I'm sure some students process information well this way. Diagrams help students organize the information and put them in a framework, such as steps, categories, or comparisons, which is a fairly high level of thinking. For me personally, this approach is new and difficult for me to incorporate at this stage.

3. Summarizing is useful because it requires the student to put the material in his or her own words, but there is still no real application.

4. Note Taking certainly seems to help in the listening and retention process, particularly when reviewed. Note-taking seems the least valuable to me because it's just recording what other people say and not processing and applying for the student's own perception.

PART B. Concept: Classroom management principles provide an indispensable framework for reading instruction.

1. Describe what the text says about each of the management principles.

2. Rank order the principles from what you believe to be the most important principle to the least important principle.

3. Explain your reasons for ranking your first principle as the most important.

            Well managed classrooms are where students become fully involved and use their time wisely. The text talks about 8 characteristics of well-organized classroom:

1. Lesson process--work with students individually, in groups, and as the whole class. I cannot imagine any of the other characteristics working unless the students are experiencing a successful learning process. And conversely, even when other management principles may not work, if students are effectively engaged in the learning process, the classroom works.

2. Lesson implementation--develop lessons in advance. Preparation and planning are so key to classroom management. I always try to plan more than I can use so I have backup in case of problems.

3. Rate of success--challenging but not discouraged, which is a key balance.

4. Scheduling--everyone can anticipate. This process is something I've improved this term, and I'm amazed how positively a few students have responded. The students work to complete the list and things move smoothly because of the predictability.

5. Materials should be inventoried and supplemented every year.

6. Rules should involve the students so they buy into the rules.

7. Classroom routines are developed gradually in order to create a stable environment.

8. Seating can affect the way students interact with each other and the teacher. During my apprentice course, I started experimenting with this—and my changing location—and found it caused new and engaging dynamics.

 

Directed Reading Thinking Activity  DRTA	Know Want Learned K-W-L  (Ogle)	Concept Text Application CTA (Wong & Au).	Estimate Read Respond Question ERRQ (Watson)
Engaged students with each other. DRTA works with all grade levels, and I could see me using this approach with college students because it helps students develop their abilities. I really liked the way we divided information into big chunks. That provided a fascinating and suspenseful process through the cliffhanger: What do you think happens next?	KWL seems like it would be very motivating. This approach honors what students already know, which for me teaching college students, usually students know something—sometimes misconceptions—about the concept to be studied. K—WHAT I KNOW W—WHAT DO I WANT TO LEARN? L—WHAT I LEARNED	CTA is for children who need considerable guidance and help with understanding the text. This approach would be effective when I work with special education students, but probably not needed with my college students. This approach takes students through prereading, guided reading, and postreading phases of instruction. CONCEPT ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT is the prereading phase. TEXT Purposes for reading, guided reading, discussion. APPLICATION -use	ESTIMATE Ask students to scan the text. READ Have students read the whole text straight through. RESPOND Ask students to respond to the text in some way. QUESTION Have students question themselves in some way. 1. Learning Logs. 2. Diagrams. 3. Summarizing 4. Note Taking

Characteristics of well-organized classroom:

1.  Rules

2.  Classroom routines.

3.  Materials

4.  Scheduling--everyone can anticipate

5.  Seating

6.  Rate of success--challenging but not discouraged

7.  Lesson implementation--develop lessons in advance.

8.  Lesson process--work with students individually, in groups, and as the whole class.

WEEK 10

Chapter 7  Assessing Progress and Evaluating Instruction

Portfolio assessment can work.

Each student can take a few minutes each week to review their goals, look for evidence that they are working toward them, and share with a partner what they have done.

Key Concept 1:  Teachers should assess students at the beginning of the school year to gain information about their background knowledge and literacy development.

Traditionally, assessment of students has drawn upon only two aspects of ability:  verbal or linguistic abilities, and logical or mathematical abilities. Although these two aspects predict how well students are likely to do in school, they are not adequate measures of their successes after school.

You might assess students at the beginning of every school year by gathering information about several dimensions of ability.

Questionnaire

Talk with students and parents.

Send letters to parents.

Learn of the extent to which student' home and community environment supports schooling.

Students' portfolios are sometimes shared as sstudents move from grade to grade.  The artifacts contained in the portfolios will provide insights into each student's special strengths and interests.

Examples of beginning of the year assessments

Informal—questions or questionnaire about

Book sharing with friends

Use of school and community libraries

Opportunity to select and purchase books

Membership in book clubs

Subscription to children's magazines

Size of home library of books they can read

Amount of reading at home and whether it is a regular activity

Favorite book, author or reading topic

Diary keeping

Use of writing for certain purposes

Amount, purpose, and type of out-of-school reading

Interest in particular topics or literature

Educational television viewing

Question students about the time they spend with activities such as sports, music, art, TV viewing, and playing friends.

Show each students reading materials one at a time as part of a group of three items, asking the child to identify the one item she names (e.g., storybook, menu, newspaper, telephone book, magazine, shopping list, letter, TV schedule, calendar, set of directions)

Metacognition

Students out to be asked how they learn and what strategies they use to read, write, study, remember information, and complete assignments.

1. What is reading?

2. What is reading for?

3. What do people do when they read?

Responses were evaluated in four levels of ability:

1. A single idea

2. Relating one idea to another

3. Relating one set of ideas to another set

4. Describing abstract relationships.

Formal assessment

Word attack

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Norm-referenced, standardized tests are intended to show whether students have learned what others in the same grade typically have learned.

A grade-equivalent score compares the performance of a child to the average performance of groups of children in the different grades.

Key Concept 2:  Teachers should use portfolios to monitor and record student progress throughout the school year.

FOCUS  Most important reason for portfolio assessment.  There's no single best way, but think of what is the reason for portfolios:  So that students themselves can see what progress they're making in a particular content area of discipline.  ON TEST  Put an example of the student's work in each month or so, which has teacher comments so student can see the progress.  Make sure everything is dated so the student can see progress over time.  The student needs to see progress.  The student has something concrete, can look back on previous work.  Students need the idea that they are making continuous progress. 

This idea relates well to my public relations course, where students have to revise each writing assignment at least once--after teacher and peer feedback--then put together everything in a portfolio they can show a prospective employer.

Maurine talked about the power of individual feedback conference and how powerful that was. Portfolios should not be a collection of stuff!

1. Capitalize on the best each student has to offer.

2. Make an ongoing part of instruction.

3. Informs instruction.

4. Multidimensional.

5. Provides for active, collaborative reflection by both teacher and student.

6. Authentic.

Informal observations of students engaging in authentic literacy events give teachers an opportunity to bring together their knowledge about how children perform in certain ways.

Two guidelines for determining what and how much to record for each student:

1. Information on process not readily available elsewhere, such as artifacts or checklists.

2. Observe, but be selective, so notes are useful.

Teachers often find it difficult to maintain systematic observations within the context of a busy classroom.  To make recording a habit, many teachers begin with a recording schedule.

IMPORTANT:  Forms.  Student evaluation. Teacher evaluation.

Ongoing.

Clipboard

Class list

Checklists—a list of behaviors based on their instructional goals and knowledge of their students.

Students' work provide living proof.

Portfolio contents should be a collaboration between children and their teachers.

Teachers' goals also determine the selection process.

Time must be allotted for adding and removing portfolio samples.

Supporting evidence is selected independently by students or collaboratively by teachers and students.

Build a complete picture.

Organize work samples.

These forms usually serve to summarize and synthesize information related to student learning.

Add quarterly or when forms are complete.

Keep running records.

Portfolios are effective ways to engage students in the evaluation of their own learning.

Ask students to reflect:

1. What have you learned recently in reading (writing)?

2. What would you like to learn next to become a better reader (writer)?

3. How do you intend to go about learning how to do that?

Through portfolios and portfolio conferences teachers will gain valuable insights into their students' developing skills, interests, and attitudes.

Key Concept 3:  Teachers may use focused assessment of individual students to gain special insights into their strengths and needs.

There will be a few students in your class about whom you are puzzled.

Use observations and evaluations.

Specialized assessments can help.

Consider the authenticity of the measures.

Running records—note the strategies students are using or not using.

Informal reading inventory (IRI)

Provide information about the level of reading material the child can handle independently.

The IRI usually consists of several activities.

1. Discussion

2. The child's oral reading of the text.

3. Assessment of the child's comprehension of the passage.

4. Child's silent reading.

5. Assessment of the child's comprehension.

6. Evaluation of the child's ability to efficiently and rapidly locate information in the silently read selection.

7. An assessment of the child's listening.

A text is thought to be at the RIGHT level for instruction if a child reads 90 to 94 percent accuracy.

INDEPENDENT reading if the child can read 95% or more of the words correctly with 90 percent accuracy.

Word recognition of less than 90 percent or comprehension of 50 percent of less is thought to be at the FRUSTRATION level.

Organize important comprehension information on an individual profile card.

Key Concept 7.4

Teachers should integrate assessment with classroom instruction, recognizing the inseparability of instruction and assessment.

WEEK 11!

Quiz

Chapter 7.2, 8.4, 9.1

7.2  Make sure of two things:  Make sure the items are dated.  Most important reason for portfolio assessment is so student can see their own progress.  The teacher can sit with the student and say here is where you were, look how you improved, look how your paragraphs have improved, you have those nice transitions and cohesive ties, now what we need to work on is the language and action verbs.  Work on one item for a month.  Then talk with students about where they need to get to.  You don't put everything in the portfolio.  Needs to be organized.

In chapter 8, we want to look at love of reading.  Nothing more important to get students hooked on reading.  We don't have to worry about their scores if they love reading.  Kids who read book.  Read something every day for fun. 

We talked in class about Ideas for reading.

Get parents involved.

Use books the kids like, about their interest.

Inundate on the subject matter they love.

I doesn't matter what they read.

Book Club--make it something fun and interesting. 

Teacher generated enthusiasm.

I like creative visual books, such as graphic novels, books that are done by artists and open into intricate paper designs.

Make sure they have reading material they can handle--not too challenging.

Do you color code books or just a room that looks like a book store?

Pull books for each student.  Every kid has a bag or box of books they like or are at their level.  Student picks some and the teacher picks some.

Five finger rule.

If don't know five words in one page, the book is too hard.

Children with a lot of background knowledge can read books above their level.

Group according to what they were interested in.  Big ideas, such a Fahrenheit 451, give talk/report to rest of the class about censorship.  If you give background to illusions, they feel like they've really tackled something.

Intertextuality is an important concept. 

Select exciting reading material.  Know something well.  Use film. 

If a book is well written, it's fine to see the movie.  If you know the story, that's fine. 

We talked about the election and NPR.  There seems to be so much hatred brought out by this election.  We talked about the predictability of the modern age versus the post-modern age, which is unpredictable.  Dr. George thinks No Child Left Behind has been a disaster.  We talked about a NCLB recess, the 2000 platform differences between Republicans and Democrats.  The Democrats advocated teacher training.

FOSTERING INDEPENDENCE AND A LOVE OF READING

Teachers need to extend their students' enjoyment of reading.

Promote students' independent application of reading and writing strategies.

Key Concept 1:  Students should grow toward independence in literacy as teachers gradually release responsibility to them.

Johnston reminds us that the goal of strategy instruction is to have students

a.  recognize the strategy

b.  find it effective in attaining a desired goal

c.  adopt the strategy for their own use

d.  generalize it to other situations.

He makes several specific recommendations for meeting this goal.

1.  Have students describe the procedure in their own words.

2.  Have students discuss why the strategy is useful.

3.  Help students discuss why the strategy is useful.

4.  Promote self-monioring.

Activities

Skit

Write a new story

Create a chart, web, or poster

Do more research

Game

Learning center

Work of art

Advertise books with poster sandwiches

Create poems

Key Concept 2:  Students should have opportunities to read independently for their own enjoyment and information.

Make books accessible.

Classroom libraries.

Summer mailing program.

Guiding selection.

Establish time for reading.

Independent reading in the classroom.

Independent reading outside the classroom.

Assessing interest and involvement.

Key Concept 3:  Students should have opportunities to support one another's literacy development as members of an extended community.

The community of readers.

Children need guided practice if they are to work together in productive ways.

Teacher guidance is useful if students are to work together in supportive, productive ways.

Activities set the tone for future student response groups.

Once children feel a part of the classroom community, teachers often seek to extend their experiences beyond the classroom walls.

Successful sharing among students, including those of different ages, does not occur automatically.

An important component of cross age program was goal setting and evaluation.

Students benefitted from opportunities to extend their exploration of literacy and to gain greater control over their own learning.

Often whole schools, including nonteaching personnel, join together to promote the development of a literary community among students and adults.

SSR--Sustained silent reading.

A school wide author study provides teachers and students the opportunity to explore the connections between and across works of literature.

Book swaps are another way to extend the school's community.

It is important that school personnel work together to promote the social aspects ofliteracy.

Key Concept 4:  Students' proficiency and interest in literacy should be strengthened through connections between home and school.

GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

http://www.rit.edu/~comets/gowritingpatterns.html

http://www.rit.edu/~comets/gowritingpatterns.html

http://www.rit.edu/~comets/gowritingpatterns.html

http://www.rit.edu/~comets/gowritingpatterns.html

http://www.rit.edu/~comets/gowritingpatterns.html

http://www.rit.edu/~comets/gowritingpatterns.html

http://www.rit.edu/~comets/gowritingpatterns.html

http://www.cast.org/system/galleries/pics/publications/gocompmap.jpg

https://www.msu.edu/user/lambjen3/AGO.jpg

http://nsalibrary.com/Documents/Graphic%20Organizer.jpg

http://www.specialeducation.ilstu.edu/csss/solutions/documents/readingcomp_clip_image002_0000.jpg

http://scasscssap.org/liberty/spider_map.gif

http://www.getworksheets.com/samples/worksheets/science/graphic.html

http://www.geocities.com/enchantedforest/mountain/4240/graphicorganizer.htm

http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/graph.htm

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/lessons/ChristinaOconnor5232002324/Graphic.gif

http://media.nasaexplores.com/03-015/owngraph.jpg

http://www.midgefrazel.net/themes.html

NPRNPR

WEEK 11

They talked about calling the election for Obama before the New York polls close.  Okay, I'd say they already called the election for Obama by saying that.  When they call it early, that decreases voting about 2-3% in the West.  I would think it would only decrease it for people who aren't voting for Obama.  As a colleague said today, today will be about telling stories.  My son is studying in Spain, and althoughhe came home for a weekend last weekend, he forgot to bring his absentee ballot.  I told him he HAD to mail it when he got back to Spain because he'd talk about this election--the first presidential election where he's old enough to vote--for the the rest of his life.  He spent 30 euros to mail his ballot.

There was a piece about the Supreme Court and a profanity case.  I thought it was funny when they talked about whether the justices were using expletives during the case.

There was a program about holding an election night party.  The guy from Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me was on, and he was hilarious.  I'm going to download a new ring tone—We are the Champions.

There was an odd story about Wisconsin schools having borrowed money for investments, and now they could lose everything. 

They are talking about voting law suits and challenges that are already underway, and we're not half way through the day.

There was a strange story about a bacterium, which stopped Dutch Elm disease, but because the scientist couldn't get authorization, he had to cut down and burn all the trees he's inoculated and saved. t

There have been some interesting stories on the radio and tv about the election. One analyst says that people want to be a part of history, so even people who don't say they are voting for Obama will vote for him when they get in the booth.

I liked one story where the caller said "For the first time in my life I got chills when I voted." I felt the same way, and in fact teared up. After I started completing the ballot, I kept looking back at the mark by Obama. I looked back three times, wishing I had a camera.

This morning, I left the house in the dark and thought no one was out. When I came to the neighborhood's stop sign, the cars were bumper to bumper. As far as I could see in front and behind, a string of cars wound through the hills on the country road.

Our voting place is a club house in a neighborhood, and I always have trouble finding the place. This morning there was no problem. The stream of cars drove from my neighborhood into the area of the voting place, then they all just stopped on side of the road. I hadn't expected a traffic jam. Everyone got out and started walking. In the total darkness, I didn't really know where I had stopped, nor could I see any landmarks as people walked up the hills to the club house. And I did a lot of walking trying to find my car later.

When the clubhouse was in sight, I saw hundreds of people standing in line. I've never seen a line there more than about 6 people deep. What a sight. My heart nearly burst. Standing in front of me was a young man barely 18, and I was so happy to see him. When 6 AM came and the polls opened, the line started moving fairly quickly.

Although I discovered as I neared the clubhouse that the line wound around the cul-de-sac.

On NPR, there were stories about machines that didn't work.  Apparently there are a lot of electronic machines that have failed and poll workers not having paper ballots.  There was also talk of long lines before 6 AM.  That's the way it was where I went, and I felt delighted.  There was only one electronic machine, so nearly everyone was using paper ballots. They were filling out their ballots in voting booths, sitting on couches, on the floor, standing up and writing leaning on the wall. Like nothing I've ever seen.
 

There was also an NPR story about people in Colorado being purged from voter rolls.  I had check my registration at a site that was supposed to have all registered voters, and it said I wasn't registered.  I was glad there wasn't any problem where I went, and it didn't seem like anyone was having any problem.

Everyone was patient and friendly. As one man said, "Where else can you stand with your neighbors and watch the sun rise." I have never been so moved by seeing all those people waiting happily to then vote. What a day in history.
 

As I listened to all the voting stories on NPR, I mailed them mine.

Last night I heard one of the most touching stories about the election on NPR. I didn't hear who the speaker was or where he came from, but he was a resident in Europe. He talked about how the whole world is watching in disbelief that we are voting Obama to be president. They are surprised that we are truly in a meritocracy. Obama has achieved what he did by through hard work and talent, nothing more. The announcer said, well McCain has accomplished a lot. The guy said, no, his father was an admiral, he is not in the same category as Obama. And, he said, the rest of the world will have to rethink their own racism. I felt proud.

WEEK 10

There was a story about why Palin was elected and how frequently McCain had changed his message.  They also talked about how Palin has acted disloyal to McCain, which is something people can't do and expect a relationship with him.  They said there's a rift between them, Palin has damaged the campaign, and she's acting like she's out to help herself instead of the campaign.

There was a story about people from Iraq, who are frustrated with the US.  They want us to finish the job.  They don't understand why we don't just wipe out the Taliban.  They said we don't know what our policy is and we're very inconsistent in our actions.

There was a story about an Afghan business woman.  She didn't give her name, photo, or any information because she's afraid for herself and her family.  Women aren't supposed to work, none-the-less have a high powered business position for an oil company.  The company is providing training in the US, and she's become very successful.

There was an interesting story about mid-eastern perceptions about our presidential race.  Basically, more people preferred Obama because they think he'll be more willing to negotiate.

I heard a horrible story about a woman from Niger, I think they were saying, who was a slave.  The regional courts found that she was a slave and should be freed and receive some money from the government.  She was purchased at age 12 for $500.  She is now trying to free her two children held by the same man.  Slavery has only been outlawed there for 5 years.  I have seven students from various countries in Africa.  One gave a speech this week about human trafficking.  Afterwards, another student from Africa told about a friend of his who was taken into slavery and killed a few years later.  It's a horrible thing in this day and age, and so hard to believe.

There was a story about the view of the candidates internationally, especially in middle eastern countries.  In general, they perceive Obama as having more potential for negotiation.

Apparently we attacked people in Syria yesterday.  The state department has not said anything, but there are reports that we killed 8 people in Syria.  The story said that they thought it was a last stab from the Bush administration who is upset with Syria and thought we could attack without retaliation because they want to get along with the new administration.

WEEK 9

There was an interesting series of undecided voters.  I liked this one:  If you're still undecided, you are too disengaged and have a problem with your judgment, and we don't want to know what you think.  I thought that was interesting because people do seem to have figured out what they will do.  The recent week's speeches, debates, and advertisements seem to have polarized people.

There's a new safe haven law in Nebraska that has a law where parents can leave their child at a hospital.  No one envisioned that it would be children up to age 18.  People have driven in from other states and dropped teenagers at hospitals.  They are going to change the law so it is up to 3 days of age.  But you have to wonder what the heck is going on.  The Iowa and Michigan teens were returned to their families.  They are willing to work with the families, but they don't want to use the safe haven law.

Interesting story about Powell endorsing Obama.

There was a book author on who talked about how nasty the political campaign has gotten, and how small McCain has been.  He talked about the narrowing of the Republican party and how it could become the minor party because it's no longer in the mainstream.

Kaleen Jamison Hall is a communication professor I know who was on NPR.  She talked about deception in the political campaign and how deception is rewarded.  I think we have really changed in our use of reasoning and logic in our political campaigns today.

There was discussion about the debate, including information about Joe the Plumber.

One interesting story was about a bookie in Ireland, who had already paid off for everyone who picked Obama to win the election.

There was a story about voting rights for people in prison and on parole.  I have mixed feelings about this.

There was a story about the  lead singer of the Tops, who died.

WEEK 8

I heard a variety show with a play.

William F. Buckley's son wrote an article saying he was voting for Obama.  He was fired from the conservative magazine his father started.

There were a lot of stories about the election and the economy.

There was a story about the role of race in the election.  The question was whether or not people will actually vote the way they say they will and whether race is more of a factor than expected.  I think they said Obama was 6% lower in his lead than he would be if he was white.

There were a number of pieces about the economy.  I listened to many and clearly they affected the way I felt and behaved regarding my own investments.  The most interesting to me was This American Life, I think it was.  There was a guy there who really was quite clear in his explanations.  In fact, after I arrived at my destination, I sat in the car and continued to listen to him.  The economy is so complicated; it is helpful to have someone who is clear.  One of the things they discussed is that NPR is one of the few sources on the economy that doesn't seem alarmist or biased. 

One day, there was a guy who was a top banker.  He was talking about the new bailout bill.  He said that what had been developed in a few days—he had just seen the proposed law—would normally take YEARS to develop.  He said he hadn't had time to read everything, and he was very concerned about the path.

There was a story about Iceland's economy and how it could collapse.

There was a story about the international markets reacting to the US market and how the UK and France expected us to take action.

There was a story about Mike and Tanya who have half the income as they had before.  They are concerned about losing their healthcare, job, and house.  I worry about the healthcare situation too.  I cannot help but wonder if either candidate will be able to make a difference there given the economic situation.  I decided some time ago that health care is the single most important issue for me because it has the most significant potential effect.  My brother and father are GM retirees, and they've lost their healthcare program and have to select a new one from 28 choices.  This issue is key.

WEEK 7

Apparently we aren't good at multi-tasking, but we are good at switching attention.

I listened to a really informative discussion in American life about what the bailout means.  I feel like I better understand what happened in this whole situation.

A bunch of hockey mom's across the country are upset with the way Palin is portraying them.

I heard a fascinating piece about a civil rights leader who described the march on Selma.  The horrors that he saw and experienced were horrible.

There was a discussion of hearing things.  People who hear music are experiencing something totally different from people who hear voices, and they are not having a mental disturbance.

I listened to one discussion about the effect of our finances on Europe.  They had some English people explaining what our economy is doing to theirs.  I wondered about how the dollar is against the Euro.  My son is studying in Spain, and I wonder how that's going to work out for him.  I also wonder about his dwindling college savings.

I heard an interesting discussion about the inventor who invented the intermittent windshield wiper.  They talked about the film and other inventors on Science Friday.  They said this kind of difficulty is quite common among small inventors not associated with a big company.  They talked about additional similar stories.

OJ Simpson was convicted on all counts.

There was a story about the interaction between China and the US over the debt problems and mortgage bailout.

I heard discussion about the bailout multiple times every day. The no vote, the new votes.  One call in vote that grabbed me the most was "I guess you'd call me a 'Bubba.'  I live in a doublewide and drive an old truck I've had for years.  I don't have debt.  I've always wondered how people who make less can have a fancy car, big house, and more.  I live in my means.  Now I have to pay for their extravagance."  I feel the same way.

I heard a discussion of the upcoming Vice Presidential debates.  They were talking about what both candidates needed to do to be effective in the debates

WEEK 6

I listened to the most interesting Oxford-style debate on a national health care system.  It was presented by several experts, alternating pro and con.  I'm not sure it changed my mind, but I think I understand the pros and cons.  Very informative.  I'd like to see our Presidential debates discussed this way.

I listened to a program about saving a Jewish historical document from the Yugoslavian war.  A Muslim librarian risked his life to save the document during the war.  Another library risked his life to save the document from the Nazis.  They talked about how 90% of the national library was destroyed--I think it was of Herzegovina--which was devastating to the nation.

I listened to a program about Serbian music.  I was surprised they didn't play more music, but just talked about the nature of immigrants in the US and how this Kansas City group played at the Library of Congress and Kennedy Center.  I didn't really have a sense of what Serbian music is like after the program?

My husband and I listed to NPR for several hours on Saturday.  We listened to Car Talk, which we love.  There was some interesting information about wheel bearings and how they can disintegrate.

We listened to a variety show.  They talked some about the presidential debates Friday night.  I was surprised that neither of us could answer the questions on either quiz, which suggests we must not have been listening to world news much this week.  The most interesting call was to a farmer in Ohio who has a corn maze of Sara Palin's head.  He said the Republicans enjoy it because they can get inside Palin's head.  The Democrats enjoy it because they can walk on Palin.  

I listened to more than one program about the financial crisis, McCain suspending his campaign, and the bailout deal.  Pretty disturbing stuff.

I heard and interesting story about the tainted milk in China.  My daughter has said that China is just at an early stage of development compared to us.  The commentator said the same thing and explained that the US did almost exactly the same thing nearly a hundred years ago.  In the 20's was when we started having regulation about food, after Upton Sinclair.  I realized that I'm always saying--I can't believe in this day and age.  Just because our society is at a certain stage of development doesn't mean that other countries are at the same societal development.

WEEK 5

There was a program talking about how easy it was to get into Palin's email.  They had an interesting tip on using a password and password questions.  The talked about sidejacking.  You shouldn't access private accounts in any public locations.  Make sure you are sending email in an encrypted way. This was interesting after having an HR department send out confidential information today to 500 people I don't know.  Unbelievable.

A financial lobbyist was on talking about the president's financial bill.  The story said that by comparison, it makes it transfer of power to the executive branch look like nothing in the Patriot Act.  They said a bill that would typically take months and years to develop has been put together in a week.  Disturbing.

A researcher who has come up with a promising drug for Fragile X syndrome said "it's a dream come true."  The drug may reduce seizures, reduce symptoms of autism, and increase mental development.  They talked about a boy who has the rare disease and how his family is hopeful because of this new drug.

I heard another interesting story about the Emmy awards.  They said that television is tanking.  30 Rock, which won a number of awards, isn't even in the top 100 most popular shows.  The programs that won are seen by few people.  The network quality is in serious decline.  Last year's writer's strike has ended the normal cycles and investments.  The days of television as primary entertainment programming is over.

There was a story about a college student with ADHD.  The discussion reminded me of students I know.  They provide very clear instructions about time management, learning strategies, and keeping distractions to a minimum.  Something simple like clearing off the desk is crucial.

They had a piece about all the independent groups that are running political advertisements.  Sometimes I get irritated with some of those ads.  The ones from the candidate's party's don't both me, but these do.  The NPR piece talked about the importance of each party responding to the independent group ads.

There was an opinion piece about the British perspective of the US election.  Apparently Palin is attracting a lot of attention.  Apparently they like her, but not that she eats moose.  I'll say that this election is the most interesting in many years. 

There was a piece about the upcoming Emmys.  I started watching Mad Men because they were nominated for so many Emmys.  Years ago I didn't know many of the films nominated for the Academy Awards.  Now I don't know many of the nominations for the Emmys.  I guess I don't watch what other people watch or don't have access to the cable services.

The AIG bailout is rather disturbing.  They talked about how the government wasn't going to bail them out, and now they are.  The financial burden will be huge, but when they're the company that protects the other financial investments, it is understandable.

There were several stories about finances.  That is going to be an ongoing trauma for the US.  Actually, after listening to one story, I went back home and called TIAA-CREF and changed my investments.

WEEK 4

There was a story about the financial plunge on Wall Street.  Very disappointing.

There was a story about the NOW endorsing Obama.  They said that some members think they should stay out of politics and others are behind McCain/Palin.  They decided to endorse Obama/Biden because they have "stood by women."

There was a story about white water rafting.  A mother said to her adult son that she'd like to know where he goes when she sees that look on his face.  He's a white water guide and he thinks about the trips, the adventure, saving lives.  I've done this on some relative mild rivers over the years.  This summer, I went rafting in Alaska.  I was wearing a wet suit or maybe it's a dry suit, I can't keep it straight.  I've never been so cold.  Although I was not actually wet except in the face, every time the below freezing water washed over me, I just couldn't tolerate it.  I shook the whole way, trying to enjoy the scenery.  I also went kayaking in Alaska, which was much better because I never got wet.  They said if I turned over, I'd die in that temperature water within 15 minutes.  But to have wildlife brush against me--what an experience.  I agree with the woman's son.  It's easy to get lost thinking about those trips.

I heard a story about some government office in the department of the interior in Denver and all kinds of scandal, including one officer having sex with someone who was supposedly trying to influence him.  This kind of stuff is disturbing.  At some point, it seems like people should wise up.

I heard a story about tourism at the edge of Iraq, in a border area.  They were saying that it's a safe area, and they are trying to get tourists to come.  They didn't seem to have much to offer tourists, however.  I had a hard time imagining why anyone would go there.

I heard another story about Russia and Georgia this week.  I don't think I know enough about this Russia.  I'm supposed to go there in January or February to recruit students for Park, but I think I'm too ignorant on issues related to Russia.

There was a piece about ground zero and 911 and the bureaucracy infighting and slow progress on rebuilding the site.  I worked for DC public schools on first anniversary of 911.  I attended a memorial service for the students and teachers murdered in the flight that crashed into the Pentagon.  The piece talked about societal changes post-911, including less conversation, less friendliness, and more loneliness and isolation.

I heard a story about Wal-mart selling local produce.  I love this idea, and although I've noticed that at the local grocery stores, I didn't know Wal-mart was doing it.  The process saves money for Wal-mart, while providing a better product.

I listened to a piece about home foreclosures and the worsening economy.  They talked about how loans were offered that people couldn't really afford.  I've always thought the bank was willing to loan me more than I could afford.

They talked about how McCain and Palin are calling themselves the change candidate, when that's what Obama ran on.  This week I received an unsolicited bumper sticker from the Democratic National office.  I had sent money to Hillary Clinton's campaign.  The bumper sticker says something like We need change.  No third term.  Vote Democratic.  I will say that the message strategies are about the most interesting I can remember in a political campaign.

WEEK 3

There was a great piece on Google.  A couple people talked about trying to live without Google, and they didn't last very long.  Very thought provoking.

I heard another program about Georgia and steps the US is taking to shape Russia's behavior.  The more I hear, the more confusing this seems to be.

I listening to Walt Bodine's show about providing interpreter services.  As someone working toward certification for teaching English Language Learners, I found this fascinating. 

NPR discussed Carl Rove, which was interesting given Dr. George saw him at the airport.  They said that Bush's campaign released that McCain had an illegitimate Black child and his wife was a drug addict.

I have a small parrot.  Because these animals are so smart, it's recommended that when left alone, they have the stimulus of radio.  Of course I play NPR for my parrot.  This variety cannot talk, but I assume he does understand English.  (grin)

I listened to more about Palin and the election.  I find all that very interesting.

My husband and I listened to car talk.  We enjoy that program.  My husband reminded me that I could listen online.

On NPR, they discussed the lack of national unity and history in the Ukraine.  The nation has only existed for 17 years.  They are trying to decide on important historical battles.  A historical museum used to be about Soviet history, but now it is about the history of the Ukraine.

Next year I will probably go to Russia.  I was pretty negative about the idea at first, but my 97 has changed my mind.  This will be an amazing cultural opportunity, as I work to set up an educational exchange program between the University of St. Petersburg and Park University.

There was a woman on who is a mother, and she talked about the strategies she was using to make her money go farther.  She looks at the super sale items, and goes in to only buy them, and goes to the next store to buy their super sale items, and so on.  I think that's a great idea.  I never thought of it.  I could get the Sunday paper, look at the sale items, take the flyers as I plot a course to go from store to store during the week.

WEEK 2

I don't remember who the person was being interviewed, but she talked about the speech where Michelle Obama talked about how "this was the first time in my life I've felt proud to be an American."  That speech bothered me, but as this woman talked about the difficulties that face African-American women, I softened my perspective.  I must not understand the African-American experience at all.

I listened to some of the National Democratic Convention after class, when I was driving home.  The most interesting part was when Obama made a surprise appearance.  The radio announcers kept talking about the surprise, the excited crowd, but they didn't describe what was happening.  Finally, they said Obama was there. I feel like television announcers describe too much, as if they're on radio.  Then the radio announcers didn't describe the scene.

I listened to them discuss the Republican VP selection of Gov. Palin.  The idea that Hillary Clinton supporters will automatically switch because she is female is crazy.  Ideologically, she doesn't believe in any of the same things.

They talked about how many people are worried that Obama will be assassinated.  In pretty much every focus group conducted by one firm, someone raises this concern.  This made me think about how the comparisons of Obama to Kennedy make me wonder if that helps prompt this fear.

On science Friday they talked about how there's no evidence of vaccinations causing autism, yet, people think there is a connection.  They blamed the mistaken approach of offering personal opinion against science and how only science should be compared to science.  I thought that was an interesting way to put it.  When I found out that Palin advocates teaching creationism along with evolution, I felt really disturbed. 

There was an interesting segment on fly eyesight.  They actually combine everything through those lenses and see a single picture.  They see/recognize at an unbelievably fast, which is why it's so hard to hit one with a fly-swatter.

There was a fun piece about how the poor economy has prompted people to make short weekend trips.  With the cost of gas, a hotel, and German festival, a person can have a mini-vacation.  The woman went to a free dance at the senior center.  I thought it was an interesting idea, but we spent the most we've ever spent on vacation in our whole lives.  Due to one family member's illness, we decided to go on a trip of a lifetime to Alaska.  It was worth every penny.  I think we'll be doing the weekend mini-trips for the next ten years.

WEEK ONE

Biden is the VP candidate for Obama.  Biden is known as a gifted, but long winded orator.  He travels back to Delaware every night.  He dropped out of his first presidential bid because of scandal over plagiarism.  Biden voted against Clarence Thomas.

A book author and social psychologist, Cialdini, discussed persuasion.  The principle of social proof suggests that an idea is more grounded if it's part of the wisdom of the crowd. The large crowd of supporters for Obama's acceptance speech.  He began as a community organizer.  He marshals forces—not just changes minds.  Gifts work remarkably well.  We have a rule for reciprocation in our society.  In the moment after they have received, they are most vulnerable to that rule.  People want to be part of a unifying choice. Persuasion can backfire, however.  When people are uncertain what to do, they don't look inside themselves, they look outside.  They look for people just like them.  Prospect theory suggests that it's more memorable to hear about losses. Information about potential losses is more influential about potential games.  Negative information is more powerful.  The negative must be countered. Show steps to reduce the problem or eliminate the fear, which is quite motivating. Simply informing people honestly about the active nature of similar people who are doing what you want, people are more likely to do the action.  The single word that makes you more persuasive is "because."  And follow it with a reason.  People are ready to give assent to reasons, so always include reasons.  Even if the reasons aren't that great, the word "because" makes people more willing to succeed.  I had seen the book advertised and am on the waiting list at the library.  I really love that someone has taken the persuasion research and translated it for a popular market. Wish I'd thought of that.

I listened to one story about a reporter who had lived in China and returned recently to Beijing.  There was a perspective that although things are better economically for the people, there's still much oppression.  There was a park designated as a place where people could demonstrate while the Olympics were there.  There were 70 applications for demonstrations, but all were rejected.  I fell China has done an amazing job with the Olympics.  When I was there a year ago, I was astounded by the changes from two years earlier when I taught deep in the interior.  What I learned in teaching in China is that the country is too populated, expansive, and complicated for me to pass any judgment on anything.  My students would ask me about what I thought about one policy or another.  If the policy were in the US, I would have an opinion.  In China, I'm far to ignorant to have any opinions about their policies.  I am delighted with the way they are opening themselves to the world.  When my husband and I were watching the closing ceremonies, he said "Can you believe they spent $40 billion on the Olympics?"  I said:  "I think it's wonderful.  Seems like a better investment than our $600 billion on the Iraq war."

NPR had a story about the Clinton supporters who have not decided to vote for Obama.  The main reason is his lack of experience.  I felt like they were describing me.  I was on the faculty of the University of Arkansas at the same time as the Clintons.  Hillary had an excellent reputation, and I was delighted to support her bid for presidency.  I was also very interested in Obama.  Then I read his biography.  After reading the book, I said "I believe I have more leadership experience than Obama does."  What I learned was chilling.  The only reason I can think of voting for him would be that I'd like to vote for diversity.  I'm not sure I will.

NPR had a story about how the young voters love Obama.  I asked my two undergrad. classes today how many watched the convention.  One student.  My 20-year old son loves Obama.  He didn't both to vote in the primary.  He left for study abroad in Spain.  I wrote the letter to the Board of Elections and gave it to my son to sign.  I don't think Obama is going to get young people to the polls unless something seriously changes.

There was a segment about how Hillary Clinton supporters are not behind Obama.  They discussed what it would take to bring them into supporting Obama.  One woman said she didn't know what it would take, but she'll know it when it happens.  For me, it was when Hillary said "This isn't about me, it's about the kid whose mother lost her job. . . "

There was a story about Georgia.  I like the various points of view NPR gives, but clearly I don't understand this situation very well. Several years ago, my adult daughter said that she has been listening to NPR.  She was laughing that she was turning into an old person like her mother--listening to NPR is the first sign.  I often listen in the car and on the computer while I'm at work. 

Publications

Biden

I read an opinion piece in the New York Times about Biden.  It was an op-ed piece, which was interesting because it predicted Biden as the best choice, when in fact Obama had already selected Biden when I read the article.  The article was about all the reasons why Biden is the best choice, none of which really seemed compelling to me.  The part I did find interesting is that many people believe Biden is an excellent public speaker and would make a good attack dog for Obama.  So, here's the part that is so interesting:

"Biden’s most notorious feature is his mouth. But in his youth, he had a stutter. As a freshman in high school he was exempted from public speaking because of his disability, and was ridiculed by teachers and peers. His nickname was Dash, because of his inability to finish a sentence."

Brooks, D.  (2008, August 22).  Hoping it's Biden. New York Times.  Accessed August 25, 2008 at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/opinion/22brooks.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Neanderthal

I read an interesting article from the National Geographic about "The Other Humans:  Neanderthals Revealed" (October, 2008).  The most amazing part is they actually were able to access DNA.  In 1994, two people exploring a cave in Spain found parts jutting out of the soil.  Scientists were able to reconstruct a Neanderthal.  DNA was extracted from a arm found in 1997.  Scientists believe that Neanderthals used language and were not so dumb as we have thought.  Neanderthals were 99% the same as humans, but they had evolved to adapt to the cold weather.  Their brains were slightly larger than ours.  Women, men, and children probably hunted together.  Scientists think that most humans and Neanderthals never interacted.  The hunter gatherers were probably more confrontational that we tend to think.

Iran

I read an article in the Oct. 2008 Smithsonian called "Inside Iran's Fury."  The US overthrew a democratic government of Iran in 1953, and restored the shah, which was the worst dictator.  It said the humiliation of 1953 was exorcised by taking hostages in 1979.  Many countries in the Middle East were carved out of the Ottoman Empire by European powers after WWI.  Iran is located between Iraq and Afghanistan.  Saddam Hussein language and invasion of Iran in 1980.  Iran has as many as one million casualties, including thousands who were killed or incapacitated by chemical weapons.  The US was still mad over the hostage crisis, and sided with Iraq.  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad skillfully exploits the  country's nationalist sentiment, citing threats and demands from Washington to justify harsh crackdowns on students, labor unions, women, and other dissatisfied groups.  The regime feeds off US hostility.