Rays of Light-teaching demo

References

The Secret Forest

Reflections of BWP

A Star is Born-Digital Story

A Star is Born

My Special Gifts

I have the gift of knowledge, love and some wisdom. And as you mature in life, this wisdom and knowledge get sharper. I try to share this gift with my students, sons and people that I meet in my journey of life. It’s not easy to share this gift—I found this out as I matured and started teaching seventh graders. Ah ha, the adolescent. They know all the answers to the questions—everything under the sun. However, I’m a persistent little ant and, in class, I try to camouflage this gift with different activities. With my sons, I’m a tape recorder and constantly repeat, and with the people I meet I simply answer when asked.

New Adventures for Stellaluna

You’re not going to believe this, but my colleagues back at school think I’m an odd ball anyway because, not only am I Puerto Rican but also from New York. However, I’ve already e-mail my principal to inform her of all the new ideas I have which I’m going to incorporate in my ESL classes.

At the beginning of each school term, my principal allows me to present strategies on how core teachers can help my ESL students write in their classes. I start from lesson planning to ideas on what to write and how to get that writing done. The teachers appreciate this information but don’t necessary use it in their classes. Therefore, I’m stuck in teaching the writing process to my kids and, practically, that’s the only writing they do.

This year will be different. Not only am I going to show them everything that I’ve learned here, but I’m also going to do follow-up to see how they have integrated writing in their classes.

Finally, I’m going to try and have a writing talent show for my ESL students and publish their writing! Wish me LUCK! If you have any ideas, please e-mail me and share.

Chicken Sunday

Is the community in Chicken Sunday a setting in which you would like to live?

I really enjoy little country towns because of the fact that they usually have a tight-knit community where everyone knows and looks out for each other.

The Sunday meetings at Ms. Ula's house reminded me of when my brothers and sisters got together at my mom's home for dinner. This was a family gathering where everyone would have something to say and where, sometimes, arguments between siblings would arise; making sure that these arguments were cleared up before returning to our individual homes.

My Special Place

Goin’ Someplace Special Jeannine


I have more than one special place. However, my backyard is my favorite. I think of the yard as my special place because it connects me with nature. I just take off my shoes and feel the cool earth beneath me—what a relief. I look back and thoughts of all my colorful orchids I used to talk to in my garden in Puerto Rico—such great memories. This yard also has three humongous oak trees that act as an umbrella and shield me from the sun. They greet me in the morning as the little bit of wind sways their leaves. I enjoy sitting back there, drink my morning coffee, and think of the day ahead of me. This place also gives me a little time in the morning to meditate and connect with myself and my awesome God, and thank Him for this special place and all the good things that He has given me.

The other place I enjoy is my bedroom. Unfortunately, my husband is a freight train at night, and after 34 years of listening to this train, I couldn't sleep in the same room with him—I still love him, but I need to rest. Therefore, I decided to take the guest room and make it my own. However, when we do have company staying over, I do give up my room and go back to the freight train.

Ch. 5: Bringing Writing to Life

Our trip to the River Legacy Center brought our writing to life. This is the type of writing that I really enjoy because you are experiencing what you're writing. Students also enjoy going on a trip then writing about it; their likes or dislikes.

Ms. Ward gives us great ideas for helping students bring their writing to life, and I'm sure I'll be using this with my students, but I'm also going to try this strategy using Aesop's Fables. Students like fables because they can associate the moral of the fable with some aspect of their life, a friend or family member. Fables also lead to class discussions, projects and creative writing.

Ch. 4 - Book-based journeys

Selecting age-appropriate and pertinent books is an important factor when it comes to responding to reading through writing. Books that are pertinent to our students enables them to associate what they're reading with any prior knowledge or experiences.

It's difficult, however, teaching ELL students who, sometimes, have not attended school in their country and don't have reading skills to connect what they're reading with experiences. Therefore, I believe in using picture books for these students. Picture books help them better understand the reading; thus, enabling them to do some writing.

Like Ms. Ward states, "reading is a springboard for writing." This is why teachers must encourage and teach our students to enjoy reading. It is through reading that vocabulary is built, learning takes place and writing begins.

“The Mystery of Nature”

Isn’t God’s handwriting beautiful? Nature is God’s way of telling us, “Take a moment, stop and smell the coffee.” Visiting the Legacy Foundation was like entering a secret forest where you could mingle with God’s creatures—big and small. I put on my “rose-color glasses” because I didn’t want to miss anything. It was exuberating and awesome connecting with nature—after all, we are part of it. Upon entering the Legacy’s grounds, I felt a tranquility that transcended me back in time to my childhood years.

I’m an inner city kid, but nature has always been in my heart, and I love it. Maybe I feel this way because my mom made it a point to send me to Puerto Rico during my summer vacations. There, even as a small child, I would connect with nature. I learned to admire the beauty, appreciate its calmness and the ability it gave me to connect with my inner self.
Nature has its ever-changing cycle—you never see it the same way; that’s why you need “rose-color glasses” because when there’s a change, you’ll be able to notice it. Every time you look, something new has grown or another thing has left us. Nature is a great teacher of life and death; it has a season for everything.

This is why it is important for our students to learn that they’re part of nature and to appreciate what nature has to offer. Therefore, making them aware of how to preserve nature is something that every teacher can do, and it’s very easy. I like to have my students observe nature, select something in particular then write about it. It can be something as small as an ant and as simple as a leaf. By keeping our students aware of the consequences that we can face when our environment is not cared for, Earth would be a better place.

This spider web has a spectrum of colors. A close-up shows the magnificent work of an expert artesian.

The sun’s reflection on the creek looks like a star shining on its audience.

Taking a break from a hectic day’s work, this beautiful creature rests peacefully on a leaf waiting for its next task.

This ivy has built its home on a strong and coarse tree bark; funny how nature is willing to share its habitat with others.

Can such a tiny dragon fly protect itself from danger? You bet, it’s not going to let anyone stand in its way!

Although man-made, this pond is home to many living and non-living things.

Book Reading: How Writers Grow

Although I have used some ideas that Ms. Ward writes about, the reading has lifted my teaching spirit. Just going over the ideas in chapter one; creating a good classroom environment, the five components to writers, playing with word--great idea, sensory walk, getting to the skills required to write and last but not least, RESPECT. This latter one is very important. Once respect is established, your students will do whatever you ask of them. Every teacher does one, some or, maybe, all these activities, however, some of us get overwhelmed with other demands, and we tend to take a detour. Therefore, Ms. Ward's chapter on Getting Started did get me to start thinking of ideas for the start of school which I will, hopefully, keep on track.

In addition, chapter two filled my heart with joy because I liked the fact of writing/playing with poetry; this being one of my favorite genres, and how students really enjoy these poetry activities because it empowers them to be creative and expressive. I also liked the activity of reading a daily poem. Believe it or not, one of my professors use to do this with us. He would actually recite a poem at least twice a week, and his class loved it.

However, chapter three gets a little more serious about the forms of writing and the publishing of the product; this will not deter me from really working on writing this year. Getting to the result and finished product is where my students begin to shy away from writing due to their lack, unfortunately, of some skills. This we'll have to work on.

Joyce Armstrong Carroll: The Language Game

When given the opportunity to write, students tend to do just that--write. They see revision as an unnecessary task because they don't like to reread their piece.

Ms. Carroll's piece is an enlightenment to my spirit. "Coding Clues", what a great idea. Students will actually see it as a game. This practice gives students the opportunity to go over grammar; which I really think is an important element of the writing process. It will also empower students with their writing because they have the responsibility of coding before handing in their paper, thus actually reviewing their paper.

I'll definitely be using this strategy in my class.

Lyrics to Pygmalion

I Stand in Awe

music by Mark Altrogge

I’ve never seen someone so beautiful,

Words cannot describe

If only my imagination

Could visualize this dream

Who would think that I would be blessed with

Such a beauty that I could endure

One Teacher's Journey

I so can identify with Ms. Paesano. I believed I was old school, and I thought my students could learn the same way I did--in a rigid classroom environment. Isn't that ridiculous!

However, I'm so happy that I have been given the opportunity of participating and collaborating with other writing teachers who have shared their experiences and strategies to the teaching of writing. Blessed are those who share!

Since my teaching audience are ELL students lacking many skills, our day in class begins with a grammatical warm up. The students work on a sentence, then we review and correct as a class. I believe doing these warm ups everyday have enabled some of my students to better understand grammar. I have seen the results on the TAKS.

In addition, I try to do as much as interdisciplinary lesson planning as possible. I believe that my students can associate and be able to write using "collaboration, discovery, and creativity" from their other subjects.

Also, in the beginning of the school term, I have a "word wall" where we place daily spelling/vocabulary words. However, “writer’s words" seems to be a better source for my students to use during their writing--Great idea!

On the other hand, this year I tried using literature circles in class. At first I thought, what a crazy idea, it will be a lot of planning, how will you control these students who love to socialize, and your giving them just that. Well, it did take planning, but I was in for a big surprise. I group them in threes, and each group had a novel to read. After each reading, students logged and discussed their chapters. Upon finishing their novel, each student in the group did an individual short book report on their particular book. Then the group had to collaboratively create a diorama which they would then present and explain to the class. I was only their facilitator, and it was a wonderful experience! As much as I complained that my students were slow and low learners, wow, their dioramas were GREAT! After listening and viewing every group's diorama, we voted on the two best ones, and those students received a treat ($5 Walmart gift card)--the rest of the class received a candy treat. They were all happy.

Authenticity in Writing Prompts

Of course the more pertinent a prompt is to the student, the better his/her writing will be, and I'm in total agreement of having authenticity in writing. However, we have to teach all modes of writing and sometimes prompts can be boring and mind blocking to students.

I'm a teacher in desperate need in getting my ELL students to read and write. Many ELL students have a very, very hard time when it comes to writing. Mention writing or give them a prompt, and they're completely blocked. The only time they're interested in writing is when given a prompt about their life, country, home, friends, family, etc. Yes, this is pertinent to them, and we do write about all these subjects. But, academically, we do have to write about other things. In addition, some of these students' developed level of vocabulary, sentence structure, and other grammatical conventions are lacking.

What does a teacher do? In my class, I start very slow. I start with descriptive writing using pictures, letters to a friend and small paragraphs which students try to expand on and write a composition. For some students, this is a very difficult task due to their lack of vocabulary and second language acquisition.

Therefore, during the first semester, I use the whole language approach to reading and writing. This has seem to help most students in doing creative writing, but I can't seem to get them out of that mode of writing once they've started.

Skeletons Out of the Closet

When doing writing in my classroom, I've observed that most students, the majority, don't reread what they've written. I always emphasize that rereading is an important part of writing because rereading a piece helps the writer come up with more ideas. Students just want to get the writing over with, and they are very easily satisfied with what they've put on paper.

Therefore, in trying to help my students become better writer, I have them read it to me; most of the time they pick up on their mistakes or think of an idea that would show a better picture of what they've written. I also encourage them to use their senses when writing.

I really like Mr. Pressnall's idea of skeletons, it's like cracking sentences open. This is teaching students to use elaboration for short, choppy sentences and making them come alive--showing not telling. This strategy also helps to empower the student with his/her writing because they're being creative on their own; not by someone telling them what to write.

Mozartians, Beethovians, and the Teaching of Writing

My ELL students have a very hard time writing. Many of these students lack grammatical, phonetical, and penmanship skills that enable people to write. I've tried all types of stategies in gathering ideas--from free writing to graphic organizers, and they just can't get it together.

We all have different learning styles and, therefore, I agree with Ms. Boehm's statement that "writing is individualistic". Unfortunately, teachers are under a certain time line and pressured to teach subject--not matter. Thus, making us guilty of not allowing our students enought time to develop their individual writing process and allowing the "creator" in them to generate ideas.

However, I believe most of my students, like myself, are Beethovians. The fact that they're learning a second language, and many of them never have had or did little writing, is a critical factor when teaching them how to write. This doesn't mean that I'm giving up on my students. On the contrary, I feel stronger and more confident then ever to start working closer with my students in order to enable them become better writers.

Crack open a sentence

I’ll never forget Ramon.


I’ll never forget that sunny August afternoon when this tall, rough-looking boy, in his worse stage of puberty, thunder voice and motor mouth, which I never saw shut, raced into my classroom like a horse without a harness. Yes, I'll never forget Ramon.

Wednesday, July 11th Logging

July 11, 2007 Logging

First reading: The Missing Piece
-belonging (it’s important to students to fit in)
-implementing a sense of belonging; creating a comfortable class
environment;
-the questioning activity is better than giving students a prompt; it
Becomes pertinent and empowers them to write.

Second reading: Wilfred Gordon
-memory jogger
-selecting an object to use as a writing prompt; great idea!
-hang small reminders on the wall to help students remember skill(s) until
it has been internalized.

Conferencing:
-very important to get good feedback; not just finding the errors on a
piece;
-write questions on the margin of paper for students to answer and help
them use more detail;
-Rome wasn’t built in a day. Our instructors gave us time to finish our
digital stories—while they were conferencing with students:
good classroom management.

Snapshot: detailed elaboration of previous piece on “getting to the heart of the
matter; it’s good to show and not tell;
-visualizing the writing.

That's all folks! It was an exciting day.

Four Seasons Weather Report

Hi, this is Windy Storm reporting for the Four Seasons weather channel.

To recap, Wednesday morning started out hazy--The Missing Piece Meets the Big O was a bit abstract--with no clear interpretation. However, the morning became sunny and bright with the light-hearted memory writing.A few light showers blew in with the Conferences, especially for those of us who needed to revamp our writing. However, the afternoon was sunny and breezy with the snapshot and thought shot writings.The forecast for Thursday includes scattered storms, some possibly severe, in the morning at the technology lab. However, we expect the clouds to dissipate and we will enjoy a sunny and very pleasant afternoon.

Technology in language arts

I believe I'm a dinosaur (not fossilized) when it comes to technology. However, during years of observing my students in the technology lab, I tend to look at writing as a skill that should be learned manually first. By this I mean that it should be hands on pencil and paper--not hands on a computer. In addition, not everyone has a computer or access to computers. This factor is something that has to be taken into account.

Mr. Marcus' article submits pros and cons, and I can visualize how students can really take advantage of the technology once they have a foundation in writing. Penmanship, spelling and generating ideas are skills that, I believe, can be lost if not practiced. Through the use of technology, there's no need to hand write, memorize words or--think on your own.

Am I a dinosaur?

"Whose Writing is it Anyway"? Kids Love To Write

The age of innocence. Primary school is so much fun, and we have to learn how to transfer this fun to secondary level. By the time children reach seventh grade, the joy of school is gone. Is it the fault of teachers? I believe so.

Most language teachers are language teachers. Many don't read a piece of work for the joy of reading it; they look for ERRORS. This is an automatic reflex. No one likes to get a paper covered in read, and this hinders a student's writing. However, I've learned to stay away from that during my first semester. I tell my ELL students to write the word as they pronounce it. I tell them that I'm not looking for errors--I'm looking for a story.

However, as much as I try to stay away from giving students prompts, it's very hard for me to do so because they have to get used to writing with a given prompt.

This coming year I plan to have writers in my classroom. I'll be using as many strategies possible from this summer's institute--one of them letting my students write about whatever (as long as it's appropriate). I will get my ELL students to write. I'm really looking forward to August.

Teachers as Writers and Models

It is so important for teachers to model what they want to teach; this is part of the learning process. As soon as an infant can identify with its parent, he/she begins to learn. This comes about because parents model.

When students observe their teacher working in unison with them, the skill that the teacher is conveying becomes pertinent to them.

Mr. Gillespie's article states that when we don't exercise writing, it becomes harder to write when given the task to write. I find this to be so true. I did a lot of writing while doing my graduate studies, however, after I was finished, my writing also diminished. I regret not keeping up with my writing training because I do find it hard to write although I enjoy writing so much.Therefore, I'm glad that I'm participating in the institute, and I will commit myself to write more, not just to myself but also with my students.

Coping with Tragic Events

Tragic events are very hard to cope with; not only for adults, but especially for children.

The tragic of 911 has been scarred in my heart for life. I had a view of ground zero once when flying over Manhattan to land at LaGuardia. It was horrifying. I saw a big, black hole that had swallowed part of the city. Although I have visited NY many times after 911, I've not been able to visit Manhattan. I empathize with Katrina victims and feel that the NWP did a GREAT thing for these children. Way to go!

The Teacher as Researcher

7/10/07

Gee, Ms. Mohr's selection was really an eye opener. It made me feel like a student teacher again.
I usually jot down a few notes on my observation box in my lesson plan, but I've really never thought of researching my classes. Great idea--I really like the journal keeping. Not only can this enable teachers to observe and determine their students' learning styles but also get different strategies and techniques for teaching.

On the other hand, I strongly believe and agree with Ms. Mohr in empowering students in their learning process. Having students give teachers feedback on what they want to write about and their needs is a strong factor in teaching.

I definitely will start my journal research come this August.

Monday, July 9th readings

I was surprised to find out that the NWP has been around for such a long time. The first I heard of it and became a participant was in 1993. It was called The Borinqen Wrtg. Project sponsored by Sacred Heart University in Santurce, Puerto Rico. I got great wrtg. strategies that I still use w/my students.

On the other hand, it's so true what James Gray comments about time and wrtg. We have to consider giving students more time when wrtg.
7/09/2007 6:10 PM