Continuing Thoughts

I thought it was great that we were able to go over prepositions. The review helped me a lot and I enjoyed the example Barbara used of the plane and the cloud. A picture like that helps with any basic questions a person might have, reminding you of those prepositions dealing with location and direction.
I thought the second Socratic circle was a great success. Just about everyone had something to add to the conversation, and it was a lot easier I felt to participate. The atmosphere was more laid back. I didn’t feel like if I didn’t say something right away that I wouldn’t have the time to add something later. I also enjoyed the reading that we were given.
The reading was pretty controversial. Some people thought it was great, while others were much more skeptical. At the very least I liked how we got to read a fictional story about a kid that was going through the process of learning how to form sentences. I had no idea that it was such a long process. It was kind of funny that we were a little disbelieving of the story and how Dora seemed to be at such a beginning phase and was trying to master punctuation at the same time. There were many of us who wondered why she would be working on punctuation if she couldn’t even spell decently. At the end of the class Barbara explained that the phases that Dora was going through were accepted steps to mastering the sentence. I thought that was really interesting.
In going forward with the class I hope we continue to learn more about the different parts of the sentence. I think that we have learned a lot so far. We have learned about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. In addition we’ve also learned about adverbs, prepositions and pronouns. I’m not really sure what else is out there, but I feel it has been extremely beneficial to learn these details so that we are, as teachers, hopefully the best informed in the class. I dread getting up in front of the class and being told by a student that I am wrong. As a teacher I think you want to know when you’re wrong, but I would like to minimize the possibilities and hopefully not be told by a fifteen year old that I am incorrect.

Question: Are you allowed to list more than three things at a time? I don’t think you’re supposed to, but what if I need to list five things?
For example: pigs, horses, sheep, cows, and dogs

Week 3 with Socrates and Bill

I enjoyed learning about the Socratic circle. It was a new way to get discussion going and to delve deeper into the text. I liked that there were the two groups because as the inside group discussed the outside group was able to listen to what was said and then prepare their own questions and notes. I believe that this enabled us to delve even deeper into the different topics of the text.

The Socratic circle got people to talk. When everyone participates then you’re more likely to have a more interesting conversation because all those different viewpoints are out there. That’s what I enjoyed the most, hearing different people talk about what interested them the most. It helped lead to quite an interesting conversation and let me see what other people focused on as they read. It was a surprising result of the Socratic circle as we learned about different people’s reading techniques. It helped me find out that I needed to read more closely as I read even a short text like that.

I was kind of nervous when I saw that for Wednesday we would be looking at different aspects of the verb. Verbs always seem so self-explanatory but when you have to begin to classify what kind of verb is in the sentence and the sentence pattern used it can get scary.

The three main subcategories of Main Verb are intransitive, transitive, and linking verbs. I learned that intransitive verbs can be modified or stand alone, transitive verbs have to have a direct object, and linking verbs link a subject to a description. I think I need a little more work but I have a good foundation.

What really helped me to learn the different verbs was the way we practiced using them in sentences, the magnets and the boards. I have always found grammar to be a little mind-boggling so when I got to study the verbs using Shakespearean magnets it made the learning process much more interesting. It was also helpful that I had a partner because I was able to discuss my doubts and explain what I knew which made it more concrete to me.

Question: What are some techniques we could use to help younger students, like middle school students, engage in meaningful conversation?

Thus Far and for the Future

The most important lesson that I have learned thus far is that grammar is not something to drill into students’ heads but is something that they will eventually pick up. This wasn’t an idea that I had ever heard before but I do like it. I do not know the ins-and-outs of grammar and have felt a little unprepared for a career in teaching because of this. So it was a comforting thought to know that as student that was okay. I do not feel like it has been a huge hindrance to my writing a well written paper but I know that with this knowledge I am likely to be an even more successful writer and teacher.

Some specific things that I have learned lately include how to make words plural and the use of apostrophes. Although I have known for sometime to add an apostrophe to a singular noun ending in -s to show possession, I now have it more solidified in my mind. However, I hadn’t ever heard to add –es to a family name like Jones to make it plural. That is really interesting to me because in the past I would have just added an apostrophe. It has been good to go over these things because they seem simple but then again many people just don’t know how to do these seemingly “simple” things.

The pronoun was another thing made clearer to me in English 326. I had learned about “its” versus “it’s” a short time ago but it is rather confusing and I know that it was never explained to me in high school. On the purple sheet we were given there are also examples of other possessive pronouns. I don’t remember having ever before seen them written out and remember times that I have been writing a word like “whose” and have wondered whether or not I need to add an apostrophe to make “who’s.”

I have learned a lot so far, but I hope to learn more about things like semi-colons, dashes, and even commas. I use commas way too often in my writing and though we have gone over them a little hopefully as the class progresses I become better at knowing when and when not to use them.

Semi-colons and dashes are two types of punctuation I just never use. I think it would help my writing to know how to use them because punctuation can help to make a strong statement, or paper, stronger. I don’t really know the first thing about them, although I am more likely to attempt a semi-colon rather than a dash. My belief is that a dash can be used to set a statement apart for emphasis, but I have never looked it up.

Question: What is the purpose of a dash and how might I use one in a sentence?