Sunday, September 22, 2013

Week 2 Reflection Blog #SEACCR


#SEACCR
Week 2 Reflection Blog:

This week’s Blog posts were extremely helpful for me.  Of course I have looked at the standards before, but never had I gone into much depth about the change that was taking place.  As a result of research and collaboration I was finally understand what exact changes were taking place.  One I discovered them, it became much easier to find resources that aided in helping others understand.  While collaborating with Hallie this week about our Action Research Project questions, we found that our two ideas sort of linked together.  As a result we will now be sharing resources back and forth that can help both of us. 
One idea I mentioned that could help her in increasing her student’s verbal skills (while also incorporating non fictional texts) was to have student’s host book talks about what they read, or even conducting interviews about the texts they read.  Doing so will help students begin to verbally express themselves, while also help aid in the comprehension of the text.  It would have the reader, and the interviewer. 
Also a great online tool that could help would be something called ‘Voice Thread’.  This resource would be a great one to use for students that are shy about talking in front of the group.  It could increase their confidence in speaking, while also engaging in discussion of a particular informational text.  Another resource that I shared with people who are looking to increase their use of informational texts, is to order ‘Scholastic News’ or ‘Time for Kids’ for their school.  These types of non-fictional pieces cover a lot of concepts within the news, as well as several columns that address other content areas.  I already subscribe to ‘Scholastic News’ and therefore I use it on a pretty regular basis.   
I believe that as a result of discussion about the new standards, others were able to clarify my understanding of the changes that are happening.  I believe I impacted others learning by introducing possible resources that could help them on their project.  I also believe that due to this class I was able to share resources that people have shared with me, to other teachers at my site.  I engaged in several conversations on how to incorporate informational text within the classroom.  In fact, in the next few weeks another teacher at my site will begin using ‘Scholastic News’ as a means to incorporate more informational text within her classroom.
Next week, I plan on reviewing other peoples research question a little bit more.  Doing so I believe I can help provide additional resources to help with their projects.  I plan on researching programs that are technologically based as well.
 As mentioned earlier, I was able to collaborate a great deal with Hallie from Stebbins.  In our discussion she mentioned the use of Podcasts.  Podcasts could be a very useful tool to help answer my Research Question.  Also, due to our discussion I have once more change my question.  It is as follows:

“How do I use non-fictional text to assist students in improving their speaking and listening skills?”

If anyone has an resources, other than what I have mentioned, I will be very interested! I will also post my new question on twitter tonight. 

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