The past several Tuesdays I have been just a little worried about how all of this would come together and how I would one day use all the skills we have learned to create a classroom that would flow smoothly and permit learning for all of my students. Chapter 12 of Classrooms that Work really helped with this! Laying out a day in the classroom allowed me to see how all the skills that I have learned will one day culminate to create a learning environment for children. Some important concepts that chapter 12 emphasized included explaining to students why we read and write, using and activating background knowledge, phonemic awareness, some concrete words, letter names and sounds, and most importantly a desire to read and write. I think that all the subjects utilize reading, even math and so it is so important that our students are learning and perfecting their reading skills to the best of their ability. The Pinnell article also emphasizes putting teacher theory into action--to do this teachers must read aloud daily, engage in student workshops, make sure students write every day, teach vocabulary daily, and surround instruction with oral language (and think alouds). I really enjoyed these articles and they really made me feel more comfortable about having my own classroom one day--and really we are all almost there!
How do you feel about these articles and basing your future class room around the techniques and ideas mentioned?
How do you feel, in general, about organizing your classroom one day?
