July 9th

I take for granted everyday all the things I am able to do without thinking about them. The reading process is definitely not something I can personally relate to because I can not remember not being able to read! However, working in lower elementary it is clear to me that what comes easy for some students is not easy for others. I often wonder when its time to explore alternatives such as AT and/or  psychological testing? I find in the school system I work in that we like to provide the child with at least a minimum of three years (grade primary, one and two) to adjust/grow into the reading process. We have an excellent program called Leveled Literacy Intervention which is taught by an Early Literacy Teachers to students who are struggling with their reading and writing. If student are not successful in this program then they are referred to resource.
http://www.pearsoncanadaschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS1655

Check out a video as well for a brief overview of the program:

Highlights of Book Creator Presentations: ….

 Jonathan and Angela: I really enjoyed all of the tellagamis used to deliver information in all presentations. This presentation was the first one to highlight their use of the tellagami app. I think this app is very appealing to any audience.  

I agreed with Angela when she said that technology can be intimidating…it’s fun too!

The entire class did a great job of explaining all of the terms in a very interesting unique way.  The importance of using UDL in class is very clear to me. I liked when Barbra made us think about who UDL is the most important for and the answer was our non-verbal students who need to be provided with the tools for showing what they know.

One of my most favorite presentations was Ashley and Ainsley because they chose a curly 
hair theme.  Loved the film at the beginning with imovie trailer and then to find out that three groups used the same format for their imovie as well…great minds think alike

Ashely and Ainsley also introduced me to the Sock puppet app which would be useful with young children

The Videoscribe app was used by almost every group! I will definitely buy this app…for $5.99 I think it is very worth it.

Janet made some really good points about teachers being comfortable with the ipads in order to feel confident in our teaching.  

Simon and Eleanor used garage band and manipulated the sounds…did not get a chance to use this app so I would like to explore it J

Meghan and Candice introduce me to a new app called “download” made the resolution and quality of the video very good. It cost 4.99. and is user friendly.

 Overall, I think that any of the apps used in our presentations can be used with any grade level.

My favorite apps used for the presentations are:

Video scribe

iMovie

Stephen Hawkings was used in Simon and Eleanors presentation and his video is very inspiring:

Film:
The Myth of Average

I am a type of person who likes to type their notes on the laptop in a word document then copy and paste...I am a very messy writer so here is my copy and paste from Microsoft word (so boring I know!).

1)    The reference to fighter pilots and the relationship to the cockpit was very meaningful to me. I learn well from using real word definitions and relationships… same as many students!

2)    The statement about “average killing talent” was very powerful. How many times do I use the word average? Way too much!  We have to design our curriculum towards the jagged profile and 
not the “Average” which does not exist!

3)    The fact that the education system is spending more money but getting worse results. There is a very high dropout rate (U.S. statistics) and a high percentage of these dropouts are gifted.

My adjustable seat is to treat and gear my teaching towards individual and not the average!

Reading Process Task Analysis: we discussed it in a small group in point form...

-First of all I need to be able to visually see the text.

-Attention to task and have to be attending to all the tasks. This has to be done for the entire reading process.

-Tell your brain to send your eyes there

-Visualizing the word Dracula and other key words. This reminded me of the program "Visualizing and Verbalizing" and the importance of seeing in pictures.

-Journal so expect first person narrative. I am familiar to journals and knew what to expect for a journal entry

-Background knowledge and trying to put it in perspective to my own experiences. This is a vey important part of the reading process.

-Inferring: when he talked about starting on time in the journal I did not really know what he was talking about...

-Punctuation: knowing when to pause etc.

-Sight word recognition- ability to recognize sight words can impact students learning

-Sounding out words phonetically: this does not always work because there are so many exceptions. 

-Directionality: where to start on a page

-Paragraphs : what a paragraph signifies.

-Each letter represents a sound and vowel patterns represent a sound

Reading is a complex task and I would love to take some more specialized training through the Lindamood Bell Institute such as: Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing and LIPS.