Teacher's Journal: December
December 2 1999
There are a mere 11 instructional days in this month. What
I am anticipating is the upcoming Krashen conference on the 6th of
Dec.
That said, I do have a problem with the Cloze
exercise in the Framing Literacy text, I see how it could be used to increase
comprehension, however personally I would use it more as an opportunity to
assess my students than strictly for instructional purposes. Maybe that
doesn’t make sense. Maybe what I mean is that there are few things that I
value more than free voluntary reading. I need to find a balance between the
instructional options and my class time. I also need to find ways to increase my
consistency when it comes to instructional tools.
The authors of Mosaic of Thought stress the
importance of hitting the same objectives or better termed STRATEGIES over a
period of four weeks to a month. I need to be able to rotate my instructional
tools to keep things fresh while at the same time maintain my focus on modeling
successful strategies.
So I would in the end, use a Cloze exercise in my
classroom for the purpose of reinforcing predicting. I might also see its use in
a small group format.
Justin Olmanson
Dec 7 1999
Good-bye Farewell and Amen for this year…
This will be my last journal entry. for
this the
second last year in this arbitrary grouping of one thousand years.
Krashen, Krashen on Reading, Krashen on Second
Language Learning, Krashen on the brain and in the blood.
Do you know what it’s like to go to a seminar where
the speaker is not only speaking authoritatively on the subject of interest but
also handles it in a rather entertaining way?
I came I went I kissed my building apathy goodbye.
I also kissed 15 bucks good-bye and purchased his
short but informative book The Power of Reading. Although he is a little
full of himself it seems to go well with his character and does not hinder his
performance / message. His insight on the link between reading, libraries, and
print environments alone were worth a day away from my kids.
The best thing one can do is read. The second best
thing one can do is set an example for others by reading and talking about what
one reads. The third best thing may be reading to someone else. I need to reread
The Power of Reading and compare the research with the content in Framing
Literacy and then complete the core questions.
Justin Olmanson
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