Class Conclusion

I can't believe this semester is coming to an end. Through everything we have done, it has been a great class experience and I feel as though I have learned more about myself and who I am. I have regained my passion for writing and expressing myself in different ways. I have learned about different stages of writing that will be extremely useful when I am in my classroom and I have learned more about who I want to be when I am in the classroom.
I enjoyed this last week in class because the spirit in the classroom was so high. You could tell that everyone was so ready for break and so happy that we were almost done for awhile. I love the group I sit with and get to work with because we all have so much fun. It's nice being able to sit with people that you enjoy and that you feel comfortable working with. Just like in an elementary classroom, if you don't feel comfortable then you won't want to share and my friends make me feel comfortable about my writing, ideas, and where I am in on my journey. I am excited that we decided to work on Christmas for our digital story. Christmas is definitely the most wonderful time of the year and the girls I work with share my excitement about the holiday. We were able to include some of our favorite things about Christmas and even pictures from our own families. I am anxious to work on it more and finish it up because I think everyone will enjoy what we have.
I am very excited to work on publishing my final piece from my writer's notebook. I have decided to take a bit of what I have been doing all semester which is writing about me; writing about my life, my ups, my downs, my challenges, my struggles and turning that into an ABC children book. I have always wanted to write a children's book so this is giving me a great opportunity. Since it's about my life though, it's just something that I maybe would show in my classroom and read a few things from it and then we could make our own in our class. Depending on my class, I could give each student a letter and we could make our own talking about each of their own lives or we could even work on one individually. It's a great project that I think children would enjoy. I have had fun and I hope it all turns out.
I am happy with my progress and I am happy with this semester. I look forward to taking what I've learned and applying it into the classroom.

Writing Analysis

I absolutely loved being able to look at our kidwatching child's writing sample. I took 3 different samples to be able compare and contrast the work between a rough draft and a published piece. She has great writing abilities and is confident in what she does. Of course, there are areas where she can grow, but that's how it always is going to be with everyone. We all have areas we can continue to grow. I love being able to watch her in class and talk with her because she is so proud of her work. When I asked her why she likes to write, she responded with, "It is a way to express my feelings and emotions." She is only in 3rd grade and already knows that she can write to express the way she is feeling. She also said she works with her younger sister at home on writing and reading. I liked being able to here Linda talk about the different aspects in writing and the strategies and stages a child may be at and then be able to utilize what we learned in our writing analysis.
I had fun at University Elementary School and was able to work in the computer lab with some children. I was faced with a couple children that gave me challenges but I felt like I only grew that much more from that experience.
I look forward to taking my seed idea from my writer's notebook and publishing it into a children's book. This is definitely a work in progress but I look forward to where it's going to take me. I can't believe we are almost done and I am so happy with how this semester has gone so far! I love everything I've learned.

MGRP

I had so much fun at class this week! It was a great way to get to know some of my peers better and to learn about some of their interests. It was a wonderful opportunity to research in new ways. My teachers in high school and even middle school always assigned the traditional paper. It had to be 3-5 pages or even longer with however many sources and the topic was usually given to us. This was such a great way to be creative and show our interests in different things. For example, I did my paper on single parents. I was able to use poems, word searches, bumper stickers, scrapbooks, and a certificate to talk about my topic. I was actually interested in other people topics more than I thought I would be because they used such creative genres.
On another note, I am having a great time observing at University Elementary School. My class is so exciting and I am learning not only from the teacher but from the students. I am anxious to get my writing sample and dive right into the work we are going to do with them. I love my kidwatching child and know that I am going to learn so much from her! I look forward to working with her! 

MGRP

I am focusing my blog this week on my MGRP project. I have worked so hard and it is definitely something that is close to my heart. I chose something that I connect with: Single Parents. I wanted to find research and try to rid society of assumptions and judgments. I had a great time working on this project because I was able to take something that I live everyday and express it through different genres. While looking through our book, I was able to find pieces such as a bumper sticker and a word search and put my ideas in those. I would have never considered that those would be considered a genre piece and it was nice to be able to express myself through those. I had a great time and I am anxious to show my peers what I did and also see what they did themselves!