Digging in the archives...

My past experiences with Literature Circles was great! I had great Language Arts teachers in 4th and 5th grade and Literature Circles was definitely their forte. I remember reading Shiloh in my literature circle in fourth grade. It was intriguing and it taught us about growing up and letting go. I really like the fact that we were "on our own" and it was almost as if we were teaching each other. The only complaint that I really had was that I was always the Discussion Leader and we never switched roles. Therefore I felt like most of the weight in my group fell on my shoulders. I did like the big project we did at the end. We had to go to the local animal shelter and "adopt a pet". Basically we had to advertise and rally for "our" pet to be adopted. I remember having a Beagle and getting someone to adopt him within two weeks. What can I say...I'm a recruiter!
In sixth grade I had another experience with Literature Circles. This time I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I didn't particularly like this book because I could never understand the "magical stuff". My sixth grade teacher was big on "magic" and everything we had read had something to do with flying animals or walking wizards. I liked what we did we the book because we rotated roles. If it would not have been for rotating roles, I would have quickly lost focus.
While we did have Literature Circles in fourth grade, we also had Writer's Workshop. I used to think it was the devil! I saw no point in writing in class for 40 minutes, just to have my teacher bleed all over the darn thing. I wasn't as great as some of my friends in writing and they used to make fun of me because I was the "world's worst person" at getting a paper started. Then they used to look at my papers when I got it back and would laugh because I had the most red markings. Fourth grade is when I started disliking writing. We had to follow the 5 paragraph rule and I never got to finish what I was writing about. Good thing my seventh grade teacher fixed this. He made writing an activity and not a chore. Thank you Mr. Proctor!

The chapter book that almost brought me to tears...

Last semester when I took EDU 255, I had no idea that reading this children's book would influence me to include it in my classroom library. I stumbled across the book while reading in literature circles with my peers. After reading "Esperanza Rising" by Pam Munoz Ryan, I knew that middle grades ESL students would fall in love with it. The theme of the book is all about growing up and overcoming daily struggles of being in a new place. I immediately knew that my students would relate to it by being English Language Learners. I can only imagine all of the pain, excitement, and overwhelming feelings that ELL students have by being citizens in a new country. It's almost like dropping someone off in the middle of nowhere. You have to just pick up the pieces and move on; even if you don't want to.
I could use this book in many ways. I could use it to get my students to open up about there feelings of being in a new country and adjusting to change without losing their heritage. I could teach them that it's ok to find a true friend to release your emotions to. This chapter book is very powerful in those ways alone. I could also use it to celebrate their heritage. Maybe using it during Hispanic Heritage month would be ideal since the author is of Latino descent. I just cannot wait for the day to buy classroom copies for my kids...it will be an emotional ride...of one I am willing to take with them.

To Blog or Not to Blog?

So I think this response to this question is pretty predictable for me. I LOVE BLOGGING (almost as just as much as I love talking). I enjoy blogging and being reflective because it gives me time out of my day, just to do nothing but think and write it down. Most of the time I do not see blogging as just another assignment from another professor; but something that will genuinely prepare me for the real world and just growing as an individual.

Everyone who knows me can easily tell you that I am the world's BIGGEST chatterbox :) I talk all the time and when I'm not talking, I pretty much think about what I'm going to talk about next. Pretty sad, huh? Yeah I know, but it's just the way I was made. I like to express my opinions to others and let my thoughts become statements. So I think of blogging as that extra ear whenever nobody else wants to listen to me. I mean...I can always rely on a keyboard and a blog posting to listen to what I have to say...