Craft Lessons and Punctuations

Today was a fun day! I truly enjoyed class today but I actually enjoy class everyday. This was a great way to learn from others. I was able to find out great new books that I would like to use in my classroom and new ways to teach a lesson. I think it's great to collaborate with our table and learn other ideas. The punctuation activity was fun and interesting as well. I think that Eats, Shoots and Leaves was a wonderful resource and would be something that I would love to use in my classroom. It was a great way to show student's how commas work and that we definitely do need them in our sentences.
I am very excited to work and collaborate with my partners for my writers notebook as well. I learned some new ideas that I want to add and we worked together to talk about new things that we can put in our notebook. It was a great class and of course, I enjoyed getting out early! Our professor is awesome!

Reading like a Writer

I truly do enjoy this class! It is so much fun and I find that it is going to be something that I will get the most out of. I will be taking everything I learn into my classroom someday and I like that. Some classes I feel like I'm just doing busy work-which I hate! I think that reading like a writer is a great way to open our minds and explore new ways of thinking. We discover new techniques, vocabulary, and words that can make our writing better. It helped me in knowing ways to engage my audience when I'm writing by things such as descriptive words and illustrations.
I am very anxious to start working with my partners and collaborate on our writers notebook. I think this will be very beneficial for all of us! I also enjoyed reading through our craft lesson book! This is definitely one that I will keep with me for a long time! I am excited to see the different lessons that are out there!

Creativity at the Core

This class was so much fun! I already enjoy journaling and writing about anything that is boggling me or if I need to vent about my frustrations or irritations but now I have a writers notebook that defines me and who I am for people to see. I thought that finding images from magazines was such a great way to explore a new way of telling someone who we are. It's a great way for someone to look at our notebook and see that we like the color purple or daisies. It gives more insight into who we are and I truly enjoyed doing that.
I enjoyed reading Writers Notebook. I thought it was a cute, fun book and it wasn't what I expected. It talked about all the different ways we can use our notebook and it gave me some ideas. I love writing about memories but I have found myself since last class writing more about what is going on around me. I find some really interesting conversations or lack there of going on around me.
On another note, I love spelling. However, for me being 27 and having a 3 year old of my own, I was probably taught spelling than some of my other classmates. We always had a list and a test of Friday. Somtimes are tests were even timed, which always gave the class pressure. I remember always going home and practicing and trying to memorize my words and I loved it. I was always in class spelling bees and even in middle school came in the top 10. The ways we teach spelling now though have changed, which I think is a good thing. I think every teacher should know their students and focus on each of their individual needs and come up with a strategy that way. Not every student is going to learn the same way and it's our job to reach them on their level. I look forward to meeting each one of my student's needs and coming up with my own creative, fun strategies for my classroom.

First Class Fun Facts

I am actually very excited about this class. I am a little apprehensive about everything that we will be doing however I think this class is something I will be able to take with me as a future educator. I truly enjoyed the literature we read and listened to and I loved the name activity we did. It is so fun to think of what our names mean and I think that was a great way to get to know some of our other classmates. I enjoyed reading about the little boy that recognized that the letters in his name were also in his mom's name. I think we all learn so much from kids. Working in classrooms and being a mom to a 3-year old, I am constantly learning something new and I am anxious to learn in this class from others.

I have always loved writing. I had amazing teachers that shared stories with me and the class that allowed us to feel comfortable to share our own stories. My teachers were always giving constructive criticism and allowed writing to be something that we wanted to do. I have many journals and diaries that I have kept and I think that keeping a writing notebook is a great opportunity for us to express ourselves.

I look forward to what the semester has to bring!