Thursday, January 8, 2015
Literacy Development Over the Years
I enjoyed reading from the Morrow texts about the various teaching strategies even though I didn't necessarily agree with all of them! It was also helpful as far as giving me insight into what the course will pertain in the future as well. I understand and agree with the idea of children learning through play and that their own imagination and creativity is necessary in order to transition young children into learning in school, but I disagree with the idea that formal education could potentially hinder students from learning up to their full potential. I didn't think formal education was necessary, then how could I be studying to become a teacher? Children use sensory methods in play and oftentimes learn really well from them, so why wouldn't we try to integrate the two concepts together? Another component that both formal education and play have in common that was discussed by Froebel is that both can occur with multiple children working together. When children engage in group play, they are able to use the skills and background knowledge from one another to make something really great. That also happens in the classroom; when a group of children of mixed intellectual levels work together, they can bounce ideas off of one another and use the information that each individual has to learn things that they might not have come up with on their own. The seven main theories of the practice of early childhood education also really opened my eyes to the many methods that are out there. I had heard words such as Montessori before, but never really knew what made it different from the learning I was doing. Did anyone go to a Montessori school when they were younger? And if so, do you think it helped or hurt you as a student? I would say my elementary school operated on a mainly progressive basis, even though looking back on it now I realize I probably would have greatly benefited from an education that also included Jean Piaget's cognitive development theories. Being able to interact with the world when have been helpful because I was kind of sheltered and "closed in" at my elementary school. It wasn't really until I went to high school and especially when I came to Ball State that I started to have more interaction with issues on a global scale and experience diversity first hand. The cognitive development theories also would have benefited me because as an elementary schooler, I was much more advanced than almost if not all of my classmates. But instead of having the opportunity to read books of a higher level and challenge myself, I oftentimes found myself bored and spending lots of time in school going over concepts that came very easily to me. I became so bored in fact, that in the fourth grade my teacher took me out of the classroom for a few hours a week and I worked one on one with students in the first and second grade on mathematics and spelling. At the time I was thrilled to be able to help those other children and get out of the classroom, but now I realize that they really weren't doing me any favors for my education, other than making it clear to me at a very young age what I wanted to do as a career. In conclusion, the information in this chapter was very intriguing and I greatly enjoyed delving into the various methods that other educators have tried. As a fellow teacher, what concepts do you find most successful?
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Kristin,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. The flow was very nice, and it kept me wanting to read more. I enjoyed how you included questions that addressed certain ideas specifically, because it got me thinking. I especially liked how you added a question toward the beginning of your post about integrating play and formal education. I also think it's true that students learn through play before coming to school, so they should obviously use play to transition them into school. It works best for them, and education SHOULD be all about them as learners. I also thought it was interesting to hear about your elementary school experience. I do think it is natural for teachers to be more concerned about helping those who fall behind, but benefiting exceptional students is often neglected and it shouldn't be. Part of being a great teacher is learning how to adjust material to all different levels of learning.
Montessori schools are very popular in the Northwest. I think that we have all had a bit of that type of learning in our lives. How did you learn to tie your shoes? Do laundry? Run the vacuum? Generally mom and dad are your first Montessori teachers. I really believe that children do learn best when you integrate several of the methods together. By mixing Pestalozzi, Foebel, and Dewey together, I believe you would be successful in teaching anything. However, I do think that it is important that children be taught phonics. It, in my opinion, helps to develop better, more confident readers. Also in closing, I agree with Maddy in that part of being a great teacher is being flexible and adjusting your material to all the differing levels.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein, “Play is the highest form of research.” I am a full believer in the fact children learn through playing in the early years of life. I agree with your comment on formal education and combing the methods to create a useful and productive environment for children. Even though I believe in play, I do not believe that children learn completely on their own without teachers. I am also a believer in order and consistency. I do agree with Brandy in that you have to mix all the theorists to create your own philosophy and build a successful classroom. However I would mix Sinner, Vygotsky, and Frobel’s approaches to create my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI never have actually been to a Montessori school, but I have done research on the Montessori approach and I think it is very interesting and unlike anything I have experienced as a student. I would LOVE to see one in action. Even though I did not go to a Montessori school, your question on helping or hurting a student, I do not think it would hurt the student. The student who spent time in a Montessori school might learn and have different approaches when it comes to learning but I do not think it would hinder student learning later in life.
Kristin, I would like to start out by saying that right away I agreed with your very first statement. I also though that the Morrow text was interesting to read and provided a lot of information on teaching strategies. But I also did not necessarily agree with each one of these teaching strategies or methods. I however do not necessarily believe that the text was trying to convince us of a certain strategy to follow but just providing us a little insight on the variety of different ways that teachers have taught literacy and other subjects throughout the years. Another thing that I agreed with in your post was that children do learn through play and that play is a very important aspect in a young child’s development. I also think that play and creativity is being overlooked in schools around the world today. When you talk about collaborative work with children I agree to an extent. I think that it the will bounce ideas off of each other and it will benefit their social and emotional skills but I also think that individual work is just as important especially because I have been in classrooms where there are some students who do not participate very well in group activities. These types of things just need to be monitored and observed by the teacher to figure out what works best for each and every student. I find your story about being in fourth grade and being taken out of the classroom to work with first grade students very interesting. I have heard of a whole class working with other classes but never just one student being pulled out because of how much more advanced they were than the other students. As a future teacher I think that reading and learning about all of these different types of education methods is beneficial to see what is best for me and what I would like to incorporate into my future classroom.
ReplyDeleteDear Kristin,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your first blog post. It was very informative and it made me re-think my own opinions about the theories I had just read about. I agree with what you said about how helpful this text was in shedding light on what we will do later in this course. Even though the chapter was about theories and theorists, it was more interesting to me than ever before because we are getting closer and closer to graduating and becoming teachers. We will be teaching these methods sooner than we think! I also liked your idea about putting formal education and play together; it makes sense to me to do it that way because it is a win-win situation: you are getting two different perspectives instead of just one- making the learning opportunity greater. When you talked about children with mixed intellectual levels working together in a group setting, I could not help but compare that with what we are and what we do as college students. You said, “they can bounce ideas off of one another and use the information that each individual has to learn things that they might not have come up with on their own.” As college students/elementary education majors, we are in classes that are meant to be interactive. We are put into groups to help each other out. Also, all of us are at different intellectual levels as well. If this method works well with us, it should be an opportunity given to elementary classes. I also believe that trying something new never hurts. If you find that a method does not work, then you do not continue it. But, if a method is successful you can use it and keep using it on students. You never know until you try. I think this is a philosophy that all teachers should implement in their classrooms. As for your elementary school background, I was in a school system that worked progressively too and I agree with you that being in a school revolving around Jean Piaget’s ideas would have been more beneficial to you and many other students that were in your position. I enjoyed the segment about your background information because it was personal and all about you and your experiences in school. I also liked that you related it back to the theories and made that connection with them. As a future teacher, I believe that Dewey’s concepts would be successful. As the book says, “Dewey believed that curriculum should be built around the interests of children.” I know that as a young child, I never wanted to learn anything that I did not previously enjoy. If it was something such as a music class, I loved it and I was successful in it because I loved making music and how it made me feel. Also, a child can learn much more than you think with any given subject whether it be cooking, sewing, or playing dress up. Children learn something from everything around them. Thank you for your enjoyable post.