The Beginning

I have have never been one to read blogs until recently. Now, I find myself reading blogs every now and then when I want to buy a new product and want to see other peoples thoughts on it. Creating my own blog seems a little intimidating because anyone can read my thoughts and opinions. For this class, I don't think our blogs will be controversial but it is still scary putting your own thoughts and opinions out into the world. I do think it will be fun to see how my thought process changes throughout this experience!

I feel like there is so so so much to learn before I start teaching! It is kind of overwhelming because I want to be the best teacher that I can be, but I feel like there is so much I still need to learn. I start student teaching in the fall and I think that I will learn a lot of new things. My cooperating teacher is an ELAR teacher so I am sure I will learn new strategies about how to teacher ELAR. I also hope that this class will be able to show me more literacy strategies and activities. Personally, I believe that ELAR is one of the most important subjects for students to know and learn. Reading will always be needed for any career, so I think it is so important that students are given the right tools to be successful readers. Therefore, before I begin teaching in my own classroom, I want to be able to plan the right strategies/activities for each students reading level. 

The first key element that is needed to an effective literacy classroom setting is to make it a safe environment for the students. By creating a safe environment students will feel safe and comfortable to make mistakes and try new things. Learning to read can make students feel vulnerable because they might mispronounce words. Therefore, having a classroom that is a safe environment students will feel comfortable to learn. The second key element would be to have strategies to help each student with their level of reading. The third key element would be to have a print rich environment. I think it is super important to have as much print around the room as possible to show students that print is important. Additionally, having different types of print around the room will familiarize students with different types of print.