Student B As A Reader

“The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshman Year” reflected my writing experience while I transitioned from elementary writer to a critical writer. Sommers and Saltz write, “freshmen need to see themselves as novice in a world that demands ‘something more and deeper’ from their writing than high school” (Sommers and Saltz 134). This line highlights the hardship that most students face when trying to write successfully. My earlier written works were much weaker than my current pieces because I often wrote for the sake of passing the class. While developing my writing, I focused on the new ideas that were introduced rather than limiting my argument to familiar techniques and ideas. Because of my new attitude towards writing, I began to demand

What about the student as an individual (experiences, skills, interests) provides insight into his or her work samples and your analysis of them? In a class where most students either fall into the categories of being high achieving or low scoring, Kaylee is one of few students in the middle. Next year, students have the choice of going on the college track in language arts and I would like Kaylee to feel comfortable in her abilities to choose the college track. She feels that she is not good at reading and therefore, she needs to stay in regular language arts next year.

Additionally, Paula struggles staying focused and on-task during class instruction. Paula frequently gets lost and distracted with the material in front of her, but Paula makes up for it with her dedication to answer the question correctly. Frequently, Paula observes her peers respond during whole class discussions and also answers some of the questions asked during these discussions. The teacher uses these opportunities as a learning opportunity to highlight the correct answer or guide the students into saying the correct answer. It is great that Paula wants to participate in classroom discussions because she remains fully engaged and frequently offered the opportunity to state his own understandings about the concept or skill he is being taught. Drawing on this observation and the use of intervention work, the teacher can plan future opportunities to allow the students to not only communicate their understandings about the content they are being taught, but to also further drive in the content he is being

Jenny is very good at whole word discrimination. She did not miss a single one and understood the sounds that the words made. She knew grip-grip was the same word and slip slit were not even though they were close in sound. Rhyming is also a strength for her. I think that rhyming is one of the easiest applications for children. I believe it is also the most fun for them. Syllable counting is also an easy concept for her; she didn’t miss a single one. She even got that hippopotamus had 5 syllables; that’s a big word. She also was correct that elephant had 3, which can easily be mistaken as 2 syllables.

Ms. Felkins started out with their read aloud, The Odyssey. The students were focused, but occasionally would get carried away with unrelated questions. After read aloud, the students moved on to their word study lesson. Each student had words to cut out and sort. After they cut their words they had a worksheet and made sentences that incorporated their words. As the students were working, Ms. Felkins was walking around the classroom assisting the students if needed. While the other students were working, I individually worked with a student who recently started third grade. First, the student read a short story book to me, and I assisted her with any words or sounds she was struggling with. She practiced her numbers by matching one through

From the early beginning of the school year to the current day, my writing skills and knowledge have improved and broadened over time. If not drastic, the change is noticeable nevertheless. For almost an entirety of eighth grade, assignments of varying difficulty challenged me to a degree. To be frank, some seemed as though they were beyond my comprehension and ability. However, determination amalgamated with knowledge obtained in advance helped me to overcome my doubts, for I exceeded my expectations; surprisingly good grades and comments are a delight, owing to the fact of that I don’t tend to think of myself as being proficient at writing. Consequently, the assignments given to me this school year shaped me into who I am as a writer.

As a student, Sara becomes noticeably distracted in class when she must listen to information that has been repeated to her. Sara’s capacity to quickly store new data in her inventory the first run through compared to her classmates’ capacities to do so explains why she tends to tune out and drift away. Sara’s teacher should make an adjusted instructional plan for Sara, for instance, assigning Sara with small tasks such as counting down from ten to keep her engaged while the other students transition into the next session of class or allow Sara to read every other page to the class to engage her in the story-telling process.

    My daughter, on the other hand, loves to write, and are taking Creative Writing in High School. This

Presently, Madison is in the 8th grade and she attends resource room daily for 40 minutes in a small group (5:1). Mrs. Crilley reported the change from the integrated class to resource room has helped Madison take on more responsibility. She has current concerns about Madison utilizing resource room effectively and not picking up notes in class. Also, Madison receives counseling services with a counselor for 30 minutes twice a month to address anxiety and self-confidence. Her testing accommodations include extended time and refocusing/redirection. Program modifications incorporate special seating arrangements, refocusing and redirection, check for

Marissa Speroni is one of my fourth-grade students at Bobby’s Run Elementary School. Marissa is very proficient in writing and comprehension because enjoys reading and writing, she prefers opened ended writing essays and assignments. Her advanced proficiency in language arts lends to her love for reading and writing. Marissa is a visual learner, she enjoys hands-on and visual activities and working independently. Marissa is a very organized student who prioritizes her work and task material well. Her learning is driven by her emotions and leadership skills, her leadership skills often lead to helping others resolve conflicts, understand concepts, and holding conversations. A subject area that Marissa is weak in, is mathematics because she has

My character’s name is Katy James. She is 15 years old and a ninth grader. Katy’s family is a middle-class German immigrant family, and she is the youngest of three children. Her parents both immigrated to the United States when they were children, so they are a bilingual family. Katy loves to talk about her German heritage, but she must have a good relationship with her teachers and peers before she will share her heritage. In terms of school, Katy enjoys school, especially in classes that she can be creative. Her favorite subject in school is Art. She likes to build sculptures, draw, and paint. In addition, Katy is visually impaired (has low vision), which has made her an auditory learner. Because of her low vision, she likes to be placed at the front of the classroom, and she likes modifications to be made so she can listen instead of read.

How did your instruction support learning for the whole class and students who need greater support or challenge?

During my conference period, I ran across one of my students from my fourth period class in the hallway reading a book because her current class was taking a test and she was absent the day before. I told Naidhruva (nah-dru-va) that I wanted to conduct a short student interview with her for my graduate class. She smiled and said” okay”. Naidhruva is a seventh grader who is a 12-year-old South Asian currently attending a middle school in Round Rock Independent school district. I learned that Naidhruva love Language Arts because she gets an opportunity to read her favorite type of books which is historical fiction. As a competitive dancer, most of her afternoons and weekends are busy which is why she strongly dislike math, she states that “I

This classroom is designed to assist students with any school work they may struggle in. The classroom has three TA’s. One that is assigned to all of Hallway’s classes, another that assist the students in math and a third one that assists in language arts. The students keep journals to record their daily progress in their assignments that the TA’s mark off on. The students also receive backpack checks to make sure the students are keeping their backpacks organized. If the students get positive marks on both of these aspects then they are rewarded with a program that reflects the one Mrs. Whitelaw uses.

My objective for my students were to demonstrate over time, the growth of reasoning through writing and help to create more confident, independent thinkers who can critically assess and analyze their thoughts and use reflection to fine tune and refine their processes. I wanted to grow this year with more rigorous writing assessments and lessons as it also became a school focus initiative to improve reading and writing. While I already previous completed more writing assignments in AP classes, I wanted to have more writing assignments that required students to critically think and analyze; to learn how to support their arguments with evidence. In Assignment 1, I required the students to write in both analytical writing (#1 & #2)