Lighting the Way

http://www.quotes-inspirational.com/mary-anne-radmacher.php

I'm making plans for my 2nd make-up day next week....I'm trying my best to keep on top of things and meet the challenges in a positive light. I found that being around team MAGEC helps!! Thank you for making the gloomy days a little brighter!!

Go with the Flow.

"Plodding wins the race."

Today was a day to simply plod. My student had a stomachache and so I gave him options, with the exceptions of fables. I want to be introducing at least one new lesson each session. He chose fables first and did well, we did two together, and he discovered the moral of the last two on his own. We then moved to reading an edition of Shortcuts about motorcycles, he read that easily and we then had a race to see who could find the words first. After that we read several entries out of the Book of World Records and he journaled about the record that was most surprising to him. At the end we worked on sight vocabulary and had a brief vocabulary quiz. So, even though he wasn't reading poetry or the book about having a career in racing, I was happy with the change of pace, and I think that he also enjoyed doing some new activities.

Quotation Credit

://aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?sel&TheHareandtheTortoise2&&haretort.ram

Image Credit : http://scottkoon.net/files/tortoise_Hare1.jpg

"One Step at a Time"

"Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step." - Samuel Smiles

On the way here to our lab session, K.T. and I were listening to some music in the car. The song "One Step at a time" by Jordin Sparks was playing. There was once a time when I believed that there were signs everywhere. Little coincidental things that I perceived as a message. After hearing that song, I decided to look up the lyrics. The title itself is a saying that we remind ourselves daily..."One step at a time." There is definitely no need to rush in life. Any progress is good progress. What counts in our sessions is the effort that these students make. Even if K.T. concentrated on one particular story today as compared to the other sessions, the focus was mainly on spelling and building her word wall. If she strengthens her spelling skills, her writing skills will improve, which will therefore increase her reading fluency. At the end of the day, we have to give our students credit for their strengths.

Image courtesy of: http://lent2009.wordpress.com/

Laugh, and the whole world laughs with you

Photo of my goddaughter

"Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the day." --Ann Landers (http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=unexpected)

I was quite surprised when I called my student to let him know that I was on my way to pick him up and found that he had been mistakenly dropped or taken up to Dededo for his weekly Friday church service.  It will work out because now Mar and I will have a date next week.  In lieu of tutoring, I scouted through the Literacy Lab’s library to find books to use with my student in the future.  Additionally, I worked on my Case Study Report Addendum.  


Though next week is sure to be busier, I’m glad that I had an opportunity to pause, assess, and begin what else needs to be done for this course.  And it was nice to have some time to talk with Mar and Dr. R.  The laughs we shared (and Geri's never-ending stories) helped take my mind off of having to do an extra session next week--but then again it's always a barrel of laughs with Team MAGEC.

"Engaging's" the MAGEC Word!

Dr. Rivera brought up the word, engaging in our session today, and it reminded me of how this word is mirrored in all the courses that I've taken thus far. Teachers cannot just assume that learning is taking place by merely imparting information to students. Teachers need to ask themselves if they are teaching in ways that motivate and peak their students' interests so that they participate in active as opposed to passive learning. By listening to everyone's strategies and techniques in working with our students, I feel that we are doing our part to promote active learning. The mere fact that progress is being achieved, however small or large, speaks volumes of the effort that we put into our work.

If at times, when we feel that we haven't accomplished as much as we want to with our students, or if we're feeling frustrated because nothing seems to be going our way, here's a quote that I find inspirational and motivating:

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

Benjamin Franklin

image: http://www.bosqueschool.org/bemp.outreach.htm

quote: http://www.hubpages.com/hub/50_Inspirational_Quotes_for_Teachers

Whoo Poetry!

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. ~Kahlil Gibran

Wow, so my student came in rarin' to read poetry! I let him read for forty five minutes, and he even read a two page poem today, I convinced him that time was no object and any pace was fine. He let me know that he had shared the poem he copied last week with his family and they enjoyed it as well. Anyway, we read and discussed, added words to the word bank, and had a few good laughs. He even copied my "voice" as we read a poem, and we had a discussion about taking the persona of a character in a poem. After poetry we read about becoming a race car driver and he had to journal about how much of his life he would be willing to give up to be a race card driver. We also finished some homophones and worked on sight vocabulary of new words read today. That was it. I'm happy he's taken to poetry, I can only pray he sticks to it.

Quote credit: http://www.quotegarden.com/poetry.html

Image credit: http://www.haggardandhalloo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/poetry2.jpg

Along with the Downs are the Ups!

Today's session was awesome! My student was at his best, today; we accomplished basically every activity that I had planned. Along with identifying words from the word wall, he succcessfully identified and spelled most of the words from his word bank. As a reward, he received a token for each one. We followed through with more activities such as Paired Reading, the 3-Sentence Summary based on the story, creating a new word bank and finally, having Nobert write his reflection in his writing journal. Yes, there truly is a God...and thank you Nobert for making my day!

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.

(Leniqua)

image: www.cartoonstock.com
quote: www.yahoo.com/question/index?qid= 20100110182428AAMRCr5

Island English

Today I chose to do a lesson that focused on Chuuk.  I took a Chuukese legend of why needlefish taste bitter from Dr. Tom Tinkham's Island English for Micronesia.  My boy hadn't heard it before, though Chuukese students in my class had.  I let him take it home so he could share it with his family.  Dr. Tinkham's book features Micronesian stories and facts while also teaching English grammar lessons.  After reading the story and working together to correct the mistakes, he again tried the storyboard sequence.  I want to prompt him next session to see whether he volunteers that using pictures and his notes together would be a good way to help him remember.  As well as he does with me leading him to use such tools, I want him to automatically fall back on these when he is in school.  We should be ready to branch out to different graphic organizers next week.  While my boy was a bit under the weather and actually stayed home sick from school today, he was a good sport and worked as well as usual.  We might not have gotten to do the other things that I had planned, but at least he has a better understanding of tenses, was able to practice his written and drawing retelling skills, and now has a legend from his culture to take home to share and discuss with his family.


"When you learn something from people, or from a culture, you accept it as a gift, and it is your lifelong commitment to preserve it and build on it."  --Yo-Yo Ma (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/y/yoyoma236445.html)

from http://www.pangaea.org/images/island_english_caribbean_cover_lg.jpg

"Write away..."

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children."

-Charles R. Swindoll

K.T. did a whole lot of writing today. The writing consisted of completing the three sentence summary worksheet which she was able to expand in writing more sentences. The second activity was to create a version of her favorite poem titled, "What is Pink?" Her poem was also quite lengthy. The final writing assignment was the session journal for today. Aside from doing three writing activities, K.T. also read two books, one poem, and completed her word list. I don't know where she gets all that energy. I think I need some energy booster:) I don't want to get too far ahead of my expectations and goals. However, I'm just imagining the sense of accomplishment we will all feel when we can finally call ourselves Reading Specialists. I wish us all the best of luck as we are preparing for the Praxis II exam, continuing with our busy days at work, and doing the best we can to help our students improve in reading.

Image courtesy of: http://www.flash-screen.com

Moving right along!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a364/ksagrillo/LaoTzuQuotes002.jpg

We still have a long way to go and a lot more to teach and if you're like me, you'll have those assignments hanging in the back of your mind bothering you! I know we'll have the time to work and collaborate with each other, but I just keep thinking about them. I know I must be patient, just like my student's journey started with a single step, eventually we'll have to take our first step into our projects and assignments in due time!

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce

So, the simple action of my student writing down a poem to take with him to share with his family made my heart sing! I can only pray that they encourage him to continue doing so! I'm glad that I forced him to read poetry, it paid off, I told him he only had to read four poems, and somewhere in there he decided he wanted to keep reading, and he read eleven more poems, lost track of time, and laughed and the craziness that is Shel Silverstein. That was truly rewarding for me. I'm also glad that we've got his word bank consolidated in one spot, and can reference it as we move on in our sessions. I'm also excited that he used one of his new vocabulary words twice in his journal. I can only hope that future sessions will continue to breed an enjoyment of reading, and he may eventually "admit", that he likes reading. We shall see. Onward and upward!

Image Credit: http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_images_n300/clever_kid_enjoying_reading.jpgQuote Credit : http://www.quotegarden.com/books.html

Small Steps For Now, Giant Leaps, Later!

Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand...what he learns and the way he understands it.

Soren Kierkegaard

It was one of those days again where my student struggled through the session and not much was accomplished, as planned. He complained of a stomach ache, so that might have been the reason for his sluggishness. At any rate, we did accomplish a few things such as, reviewing word lists of onset-and-rime words, word lists from the QRI-3 text, and oral reading of a primer level narrative passage from the book. My student also copied his dictation story to add to his collection of stories using vocabulary words from his word bank. The highlight of the session was when he received tokens for correct identification and spelling of words from last week's word bank. Whatever stress I might have felt during the session, got erased when I saw the look of such happiness on his face as he put the tokens into his token box for safe-keeping until he could redeem them for prizes, later. This small gesture on my student's part certainly put my plan into perspective - small steps forward...giant leaps, later!

quote: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/soren_kierkegaard

image: http://www.missiontolearn.com/2011/01/achieve-learning-goal/

"What I want to be when I grow up..."

"The desire not to be anything is the desire not to be."-Ayn Rand

Have we ever taken the time out to ask our students, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I thought about that today after working with my student. If we add up all the hours we have spent from both semesters, it's enough to have a better understanding of their personalities. Not only are we seeing how they can develop as better readers, but we are gaining an awareness of their personal interests. Each day that we commit to our jobs as teachers, there are at least a handful of our students who will become successful teachers, lawyers, doctors, etc. Then there are others who may not have the best of jobs, yet will have the values and morals that will lead them to a good life. Even as educators, we can say to ourselves that a few of our former teachers have made an impact on our lives. Some of them guided us to make better choices in life. The best part about teaching is not just being able to see when you are making a difference, but when your students can see the difference in themselves.

Image courtesy of www.123rf.com

I think they call this irony...

Just last weekend, I was thinking how lucky I have been to rarely get sick--then my throat started feeling funny and now I have a cold that is still plaguing me.  Thankfully I was able to power through it yesterday and make it to my other class, but man, that was a tough one!  I squared things away when I arrived home and then fell into bed, sleeping earlier than I have been able to in a long while.  What a luxury!

"I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better." --Samuel Butler (http://www.quotegarden.com/health.html)

The quote above reminds me that a lot of what our students' academic troubles come from being overwhelmed.  They might not have fully understood Concept A and the teacher has already moved on to Concept B, C, and D.  In teachers' quests to cover everything laid out in the course description, we sometimes do our students the greater disservice of not covering concepts enough--the breadth or depth conundrum.  I'm confident that my student can succeed in school; it might just take him longer to express his "success" in a way that others can appreciate.  I hope I can stress to him just how much he has already done and how much more he is capable of!  I know that whatever he is accomplishing is not a result of my doing it for him.  I'm just angling the mirror (thanks, Mar!) in a way that shows his skills off better!

Taken from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxqZeXzbu_Baa1YL59ajIBz7Fkiajoz27mAyBL78q0DGMgWfC-Q5ChlKtLzZ-NbolDluYwVTm8xKL4mjc0A1sMDRQ71ZnF3ugCDr_K-ii1xRVym17fCp9PIES_9V8u__ldKS4gkShPWY7/s640/IMG_2834.jpg

To lie in bed and let the body do its healing is a luxury that few of us have.  To allow our students the time and opportunity to explore and appreciate how much they've grown is something we owe them.  Here's to taking the time to smell some academic roses!  Go, Team MAGEC!

Every Thursday is an adventure

http://photos.dreamthisday.com/keller-life.jpg

Every Thursday is an adventure for me, because of the "unexpected" but I have learned to find ways to move forward and remain positive! Today we read books and reviewed word lists as well as word strips, which he really enjoyed! I see that he's really getting into his reading. I can see the confidence growing in him. Despite the little setbacks, I am thankful that he made it in today, even though he was late because what is life without a little adventure?!

Hope Whispers

image: http://www.recoverresources.com/ /catalog/i68.html

Today definitely got my stamp of approval as far as productivity! First my student showed his willingness to try to read by listening to taped stories and attempting to read as best as he could. What's even more awesome is that there was a combination of three stories, total, which was no easy task for Nobert to tackle. Secondly, I was extremely proud of him when he was able to read and spell eight out of the nine words on his word wall; how cool is that? Apparently, Mom has been doing her part at home by helping him with his word lists. Teamwork really can be magical, and even though we are still a long way off as to where we want to be, I see the "MAGEC" starting to happen. This is positively affecting my student in his attitude toward improving his reading skills, which in turn makes me more determined to work harder to help him achieve our goal, together. Comparing the last session to today's, I'm reminded by this quote that I came across awhile back; though short, it should be a symbol of encouragement in the world of learning:

When the World says, "Give Up." Hope whispers....try it one more time.

quote: http://media.photobucket.com/image/quotes+about+life+/xxFunkalishes 15xx/life-hope-quotes-13.png

Jackpot?!

“You can't expect to hit the jackpot if you don't put a few nickels in the machine.”

Flip Wilson quotes (American Comedian, 1933-1998) Today I felt like I hit the jackpot because he became excited to tell me stories while he was reading. We read a book about dirt track racing, and he knew quite a bit of what was in the book, and he was able to teach me about dirt bikes as well. That was awesome. Next time I'm going to have him journal about what he has read, and have him write about any personal stories that come to his mind just to get him writing. We wrote down four new words in his word bank and practiced using them while waiting for his ride to come. We also worked on some more homophones, and that was all we had time for! Reading the book got both of us so involved we lost track of time. It was pretty informative for me too.:) Anyway, hopefully I've hit the jackpot with this group of books and he'll be animated while reading the rest of them and write his stories down. I'm going to keep putting nickels into the sessions and hopefully he'll come out with some literary cash. Quote Credit: http://thinkexist.com/quotation/you_can-t_expect_to_hit_the_jackpot_if_you_don-t/205822.html Image Credit: http://news.silveroakcasino.com/wp-content/uploads/p48-9-jackpot.jpg

Closer and closer to a thousand words!

(taken from http://www.wideawakeinwonderland.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/why-cats-paint1-258x300.jpg)

"If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint."  --Edward Hopper (http://quotations.about.com/od/famousquotes/a/famousart.htm)

As much as my student may struggle with showing off just how much he does know through words, he has such a way with pictures.  I asked him whether his other teachers ask him to draw in their classes, but apart from his health and art classes, they don't.  It's a shame because I think his teachers would better be able to appreciate how bright he is if they were able to see his drawings.  There are nuances that he picks up that answering comprehension questions alone cannot showcase.  I think the quote from Edward Hopper helps me make the point that sometimes art fills the gap that words alone would be unable to fill.

This session emphasized that the storymapping technique is a better format for him.  I want to work with him to adapt this to other subjects.  And while it was tough seeing him still struggle with the comprehension questions despite the reviews and discussions that we have had, I'm glad that we have a goal that we can work toward and a strategy that seems to help guide his writing.  I was struggling a bit with the direction that I wanted to take the remaining sessions, but it's getting clearer.  It's heartening that he's been writing more with less prompting from me.  Let's hope we can keep it up!  Go MAGEC!

"The goal is to keep reading"

"A drop of ink makes thousands think. If you've learned to read, you can learn to succeed."-Author unknown

Today's session started out interesting. K.T. had the opportunity to choose between two books. Judging a book by its cover, she chose the one that had the better picture. However, as she read the story and I recorded her, it took about over 20 minutes to complete the book. Who would've thought that the mouse was telling four separate stories within that book. It was actually the first time that I heard a different response from her at the end. "Whew that was a long book," were her actual words. I could tell by the look on her face that it might have been a bit overwhelming. Maybe even difficult to recall as much information as she could from all the stories. On the positive note, she read and continued to read. My theory is, the more reading, the more fluent she can become. After that story I knew I had to switch up the activity to writing. Kids need as much flexibility and a variety of activities to keep them motivated. Overall, I know the main thing we are hoping for is progression!

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The MAGECal Light

http://www.affirmwear.com/inspirational-desktop-wallpaper/012_Wharton_1024x768.jpg

I love this quote! I feel that we are the light, be it the candle or the reflection from the mirror to our students. The MAGECal light that guides them out of the darkness. It is my hope that we are successful in bringing our students up one reading level. Great working session today Team MAGEC, keep up the awesome work!!