Mr. D'Amato - My Education Blog

 The book that I am reviewing for the realistic fiction module is called "¡Fiesta!" by  Ginger Foglesong Guy. There are many reasons that I chose this book, but one of the main reasons was because it is bilingual which can be a very important aspect in elementary schools. It is common to have English Learners within your elementary classroom and to help them learn English it could be useful to have bilingual books. This type of book also exposes all of the students to different types of culture and languages that they may not be familiar with. The book has two different sets of text on each page, one is in English and the other is in Spanish. Therefore, no student is at a disadvantage and since the students are young this could benefit them in the near future when they are learning another language. This book does a great job of being interactive with the audience which will help keep all of the students engaged with the book while the teacher is reading. It also incorporates...

Why is it important to include many cultures in realistic fiction? Good realistic fiction books provide the opportunity for all students to be able to connect with the text; many cultures have different societal norms that are expected or acted upon. By allowing students to connect with the text, then they will feel that their culture is represented properly within the text. By involving many other cultures in realistic fiction you are allowing for students to also learn about different cultures that they may not be familiar with. When you familiarize students with different cultures then it will make it more normal and comfortable for everyone when they recognize the differences in real life. This also helps students appreciate the differences in cultures and will help them understand why one person may have a certain point of view in comparison to someone else from a different culture. In order for realistic fiction to be a genre for all people then it must include all different type...

Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney was a great biography to read and would work well for most elementary-aged students. This book combines the use of pictures on every single page while also providing the students with great information about Duke Ellington's musical career. The book attempts to connect with the audience by starting off with his childhood and what he liked to do. This will help engage the students and hopefully inspire them to be great like Duke Ellington. It also talks about Duke Ellington and how his parents wanted him to do certain things that he did not want to do; almost every child deals with this at some point so it should be relatable to the students. I believe that all of the students in the classroom even if they do not want to become musicians would enjoy this book because of the message that it is sending. There is also a magical feeling to the story; Andrea Pinkey wrote it in positive terms and is eager to share the positive outcomes even after sha...

      First, they use a picture of MLK when they are introducing what the read-aloud is going to be about; this helps put a face to the story for anyone listening. When they brought up what he noticed when he was younger they put up a picture/animation of him and his mother. Then the video switches to a picture of what the read-aloud is actually saying; this way the person watching the video can briefly read along.       Throughout the video, they switch between pictures of what is going on and pictures of the text. This is basically an interactive picture book that encourages both reading along and taking advantage of the use of pictures to better understand the story.      In some scenes, they combine the pictures and the text to go along with each other. This gives a choice to the audience, they can either read along or just listen and look at the pictures. This is traditionally how picture books are interpreted when being read l...

I believe that my lesson plan went very well; I believe that I was able o provide the students with a great format for planning their passion project. I was able to successfully model an idea for them and how to use the tool that I was providing to them.  If I were to have done this before I would have been able to show the students a project that was completed but this was my first time doing this type of project. After presenting, I believe that I was doing my best to engage with the students even though sometimes it hard to through zoom.  I was able to answer any of the questions that the students had; one student asked if they could make a game which was a great idea that I forgot to mention.  I look forward to using the skills that I learned by creating this lesson plan in my future classroom especially if I am teaching remotely. 

    Today in fieldwork we had another mentor present for the first time this semester. This was a great learning experience because even though I have been watching Dr. McVerry present, it was good to see someone with the same amount of experience as me doing it. I was able to learn some important transitions and ideas on how to engage the students. Since I am going next week, it was refreshing to see that I am definitely prepared to do the lesson plan.          Once again, Dr. McVerry did a great job of engaging the students even though he was not presenting very much at all today. It is important (especially during camp) to be able to have natural flowing conversations with the students. A good way to make sure that this continues is to keep up to date with the current interest of your students. I personally think that this is an underrated and important part of being a fun and relatable educator. I believe the best educators are great at t...

 The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires is a great book for young elementary students who still have a lot of creativity when it comes to picture books. The book is great for younger students because it breaks down how to complete a task which will help the students understand the topic of organization and doing things in order. The book uses humor to keep the students engaged but it also uses suspense about what this "magnificent thing" is going to be. The book is also great for younger elementary students because of the vocabulary that it uses; it talks a lot about shapes, tools, and different steps that are necessary to create something. This book would definitely capture the interest of younger elementary students who will be intrigued to figure out what she is making while laughing at the silly mistakes. I believe the students will find many parts of the book relatable when the little girl having trouble with her project. The book has a happy ending which is good fo...

Why is having exposure to diverse picture books important for young children? It is important to make sure that starting at a young age children begin to be exposed to diversity among humans. It is also important for ALL children to be able to see themselves within the books. For example, the white little boy or the black little girl should be able to relate to the books almost equally. This doesn't mean that every book should be based around one race but it means that it should be diverse throughout the year to make sure that everyone is comfortable and can relate to something. You also want the children's books to reflect the reality of the world that they live in; the world is a very diverse place and the children need to be exposed to that truth.  How can picture books help students learn English? Picture books are an excellent way for English Learning students to learn new words and practice their vocabulary. Picture books allow for the correlation of words to other words ...

    In many ways having  students write or read poetry can actually help them improve their imagination. From the Linaberger reading, we see how being able to read your poetry out loud and receive feedback will actually improve your confidence. This is great because when you are more confident about your writing then you will take more risks to create better material. Also, the Linaberger article, it mentions that students "had gained true inspiration from the reading of Blake's poems and the ensuing discussion." (Linabegrer, 2004) It is common for almost anyone to want to write a great poem after reading a poem that inspires them, as a teacher you can use this to your advantage. To address important issues in society, as a teacher, you can control the topics about which your students will write about. This can be beneficial to the students because oftentimes free-handed poetry can be harder.      In the Duthie article, they mention that students "should ha...

Dreams My dreams are fire  They spread recklessly  My thoughts make me tired Positive, Negative,  essentially  My brain creates the fire  My body bears the consequences  I keep reaching higher  I run through all of the fences  I wake up relieved  I wake up sad  I often feel deceived  But it's not that bad Because dreams are an escape It is something we all desire  I go through my days  Waiting until I am tired Dreams spread with fire  Dream only when tired  Dream dream dream Dreams are what I desire  Derrick D’Amato  (Recording of Poem) 

 The Grasshopper and The Ants which is an Aesop's Fables Series is great for elementary students because of the message that it promotes and vocabulary focus that is implemented into the book. The best way to teach vocabulary is to give the word context so that the definition makes more sense to the student. This book is also accompanied by a video which contains different images throughout the book, this can be beneficial to younger elementary students who are still interested in pictures books. This will capture the students much more easily, it is also nice because the teacher does not have to read it and can focus on pointing out things throughout the book by simply pausing it.  The book starts off with a grasshopper noticing  bunch of ants who are carrying seeds through the field. The grasshopper then asked the ants where they were going with the seeds; one of the ants replied and said that they were taking the ants to their nest. The ant told the grasshopper that it...

 I believe that "The Lion and the Mouse" from Aesop's Fables Series is a great book for a variety of reasons and can easily be implemented into a young elementary classroom. The first reason that I believe it can be easily implemented is that it is based around key vocabulary words that are important for students to learn about. This specific book is accompanied by a video reading that is great for all types of learners especially students who are younger and enjoy pictures books still. The book teachers an important life lesson and points out important vocabulary that the students should be learning. When a vocabulary word is said, it pops up in large letters on the video screen. The students can use context clues to figure out what the word means or the teacher can pause the video and discuss the word.  The book starts off with a lion asleep in the shade, a mouse sees him and decides to run over the lion which wakes him up. The lion catches the mouse which makes the mou...

Dr. Mcverry did a great job today of scaffolding the lesson plan to make it attainable for all of the campers and students who were on Zoom today. In order to make it attainable for all of the students he first shared his screen which is always beneficial when working with computer programs. This counts as the visual aid part of the scaffolding. Prior to doing the video editing, he provided a chart to the students where they can put their quote. The students had to come up with a 6-word quote and then create a short video. Dr. McVerry provided the image and asked them to write a quote on the google drive. Once all of the students did that g. He then showed the students how to do the video editing work that they needed to complete before sending them out to do it on their own. Guiding the students through the steps and not assigning it all at once it makes it a lot less overwhelming. It also makes sure that the students are understanding each individual step before moving onto the next ...

 Today during Tech4Teens I learned a lot from Dr. Mcverry that will benefit me in the future classroom. Sometimes in class, we will be teaching the students about things that they may already understand; therefore it is important to listen to what they have to say. Listening to their feedback or ideas can actually make your classroom better as the student will feel more comfortable. Also, just because you are the teacher, this does not mean that you will be the best at everything. It also does not mean that the students you are teaching do not have very important information that you can learn from them.  Once again, Dr. McVerry came into Tech4Teens with a lot of energy and was trying to get the student excited to start doing today's lesson. Since Tech4Teens is a drop-in camp and free, it is important to make sure that the students want to come back. This may not be a challenge that I will face in the classroom, but attempting to make the classroom as fun and useful as possibl...

       This week I learned more about creating a website; I decided to make a website about the Rugrats childcare. The coding website that Dr. Mcvery shows us allows for a lot of creativity; it is very helpful to me and obviously the campers because it provides a clear outline.       Before breaking out into groups, Dr. Mcvery does a tutorial through a shared screen. Sharing your screen with your students whenever possible and appropriate can be extremely beneficial. Instead of just handing them directions to follow, you can walk through it with them as they do it or you can show them how to do it so that there is a visual aspect.      Dr. Mcvery brings a lot of excitement when he does these types of lessons and is always reaching out to the campers to have them be more involved. For example, he will ask a different camper each week what music they want to listen to. He will also ask them if they want to share some of what they...

  Tech4Teens     Tech4Teens is a free camp that middle school students can attend through zoom. This camp or program's priority is to make sure that students a technologically literate and it helps them learn about different online programs that interest them. Some of the topics covered include video editing, coding, photo editing, podcast, and website building/design.     I have learned a ton from being part of Tech4Teens so far. The first thing I have learned is how to properly run an online class; you need to bring a lot of energy to keep the students engaged. Watching Dr. Mcverry teach has taught me some key things about enthusiasm and making sure the students feel comfortable. In order to be a great teacher, you need to help motivate your student to be great.       I have also learned the importance of sharing your work with the class when appropriate or modeling for the student before having them do it on there own. During Tech4Tee...

 https://soundcloud.com/dubl-dd-1/edu-307-why-read-alouds-are-important

 Learning about the different codes necessary to code a meme was very interesting. I have a slight understanding of HTML coding just from messing around on my own computer but it was nice to actually be able to learn from a reliable source (Dr. Mac!). I believe that it will be interesting to work on coding for Tech4Teens if that's what I end up doing. There is a lot of potential for coding especially in the future where computers will be even more important than they are already (is that possible?). The possibilities of coding are almost endless and the satisfaction you receive from a correctly written code is very nice. I am excited for the upcoming weeks in Tech4Teens and look forward to teaching and learning more. 

 - many factors that are considered barriers to achievement in African American Males. - this could be related to the disproportionate punishment that certain students face in comparison to others - external factors play a huge role... stuff that students may not be able to control.  - structural racism, community, parents, socioeconomic status.  - Soolutions? Teachers need to be involved.  - select appropriate reading material that people can relate to and has positive outcomes.  -modify the curriculum when necessary for your students. this will lead to better discussions.  - use text that matters for the students.  - enabling text - authentic discussions are a must - address the domains of your students.  - acknlowdge the development of the students.  - serve as soft role models.  - relevant reading will increase the amount of attention span. 

 I am very excited to start this journey! I believe it will be beneficial to my future teaching and the topics that we are exploring catch my interest.