Ca never have too much TALK!

In class last week we discussed how valueable talk is. Sometimes in classrooms I believe that talk gets looked over. Children should have the freedom to talk and discuss on topics they feel passionate about, of even topics they don't care about. Talk is a way to communicate that is differentiated. When students discuss and talk I believe it is the teacher's job to make sure that all the students feel comfortable and have equal opportunities to discuess. In Freedom Writers, the teacher let the students discuss things that were on their minds that portrayed to their personal lives. She listened while they talked. I think that this is what we as teachers forget, we need to sit back and listen to the students talk, because we can learn just as much from them as they can learn from us!

The Importance of Listening

I believe that listening is a key component not only of education, but of communication as well. As a teacher you should always listen to your student, and hope that your students listen to you in return. Listening branches off from respect. But, unfortunately listening is one of the most neglected of the 6 Language Arts (talking, reading, writing, listening, viewing, and visual representating).

Within listening there are four different types. These are discriminative, aesthic, efferent, and critical. I believe that on a personal level I exclude efferent listening, which is listening to gather information. We take listening for granted on a daily basis. A lot of times, we want to hear what we want to hear and don't listen to other's point of view. It sounds completely selfish, but it is true. I am trying to make myself more aware of what others are saying and COMPLETELY listen to them. Once I sit down and think about it, I want others to listen to me, s I should listen to others just the same.

There is a difference between listening and hearing. Hearing is when you just hear the sounds and words, but listening is actually processing the information and put it to use. People on a regular basis put the two in the same category and they are completely different.

Propaganda
I believe that this is effective if it is used in an appropriate way. When propaganda is used against others and in a cruel way I do not think it should be used.

Field Experiences

I have been observing Mrs. Kimball's class for the past few months at Wildwood Elementary School. I am so glad that I got to observe her class because she is a wonderful teacher. She adores her students and they love her too. She is always so pumped about teaching and it makes her students even more engaged in learning. She always makes lessons interesting and fun for the students. I have seen writing workshops and reading workshops as well. The students are always wanting to learn more and the class seems very organized. The students have worked on learning the writing process and publishing a piece of work. They have also worked on poems. With reading workshops they have worked on inferring and the author's message. I had a blast every time I was in this classroom, and she honestly made me want to be a teacher even more now.

This was an amazing experience and I enjoyed every second of it!