Entry 5: Midpoint Reflection

Dear Dr. Jones,

    This semester has been eye and mind opening as the first semester of my graduate school experience. This class has been not what I expected, but I have fully enjoyed your way of teaching. Coming into the class I thought that this class would just mainly be about reading dense materials and writing reflections about the article/book that we read. Instead, I feel as though we have created a classroom community and I am fully engaged with the assigned readings and conversations/ discussions that are held during and after class. There are several pieces of information that stood out to me this semester so far that I feel I will be carrying through the rest of my life. One of these pieces of information is Kucer's definition of literacy. To be able to view literacy as multidimensional creates a new outlook on literacy pieces, what literacy is, and what it means to be literate. To be able to see that literacy has different aspects such as the different dimensions (developmental, sociocultural, linguistic and cognitive) creates a better understanding of what creates literary events. 

    Another piece of information that I found interesting that I learned in class this semester was the SQR4 method for active reading. This method I believe has heavily influenced my way of reading and taking notes on the literature that is presented in class. I have been using the SQR4 method, analyzing what I am reading and creating notes has made me become a more critical thinker instead of just reading for knowledge. The SQR4 strategy has created a way for me to become a better active reader and be able to comprehend class material better, for example, before learning the method I used to only highlight the areas of the text that I deemed important. Now I question the text, create notes for myself, answer the questions that I create from the headings, and try to connect texts to other texts, text to self, or texts to the world to be able to comprehend the article/text material better! 

    Class hasn't been the only thing that has created an impact on my knowledge of literacy and teaching. Liz Kleinrock's presentation on anti-bias was also extremely informational. Liz Kleinrock's presentation supported the idea that we need to include literature that gives the viewpoints of happiness in all cultures. We as teachers need to include books for all ages in all grade levels books that respect and involve happiness for all races, genders, and heritages to create an inclusive classroom. I also learned that even though they are creating new standards for learning that will not let us teach certain subject matters, we can use primary sources so the students can still be educated on certain matters. As a future educator I believe both the presentation by Liz Kleinrock and the articles that we have been reading in class such as Muhammad's Cultivating Genius, articles that we have read for class, and Tompkins text I should find texts that help create and form identity while embracing different backgrounds. 

    Overall this class has been very informational so far. The only thing that I am struggling with slightly is time management which I have been improving with as I now use a planner and write down all assignments that are due! This helps me schedule my time out and visually see how much is due each week!