Portfolio Assignment

This semester, I learned a variety of different things that I never would have learned if I had not taken this class. While thinking back on everything, I think my favorite assignment was the digital document. I would have never learned how to do that if it was not for this class. I really want to make another one soon.
In the beginning of the semester we read Gee’s book about video games. I really found this book to be interesting. Some of the topics that Gee touched on I completely agree with. Kids learn everything they need to in order to advance to the next level in a video game. If kids could learn school subjects/materials like they learn video games then they would probably retain more knowledge. I learned so much more than just video games from Gee’s book such as semiotic domains and affinity groups. I really enjoyed this book.
The articles on the teaching of writing brought up some really interesting points. I always knew that I enjoyed writing about a personal experience better than some specific topic that the teacher assigned, but I never really thought to actually implement that into my classroom when I become a teacher. I learned that children actually write better when you allow them to choose their topic. I learned that as a teacher, you need to be a model for your students. Also, the way the teacher approaches the children about their writing affects how well they are going to write. I learned so many different ways to teach children how to write that I did not even think about prior to this class.
Harvey’s book was really interesting also. I liked that there were children’s sample writing throughout the book. She noted on some really interesting ideas. I really enjoyed the chapter on showing kids how. As I read it, I just wanted to remember everything so I will use it when I am a teacher. I know that I will not remember everything that I took out of the book. Therefore, I plan to keep this book and reference it later when I actually have my own classroom.
I loved doing the digital document. It was extremely time consuming, but I really enjoyed it. I learned how to use so many different features that I did not previously know. I also liked that this was different. It was different than just sitting down and writing a paper about something we learned or are learning. This was more exciting and entertaining while also giving you the same information the paper would.
I liked the blogs and the wikis because again it was different. I liked that we got to see what other people had to say about the same topic also. Our world is becoming so much more technologically influenced, so it was good that we actually got to use some of this for a real purpose.
The memo was hard. This was the first time I had ever written a memo of that type. I thought that it was somewhat difficult in the beginning, but it was okay once I got the hang of it. I am happy that we did this as an assignment because it is something that we will have to use later in life. This pertained to a real life situation and I liked that. I liked the assignment sequence. I thought of something that I would have enjoyed doing when I was in 2nd grade and then created my assignment.
Most of our assignments were things that we will have to use later in life. We can actually relate to them because as one time or another we will have to learn how to do all of these things.
I learned that as a learner, I like to learn things that I can relate to real life situations. Also, I like being able to talk to my peers about the assignment and get ideas from them or give them ideas. That really helped me. I learned that as a reader, I need a lot of time to read. I have to re-read things many times before it really sinks in. Also, I have a lot of trouble reading material that I am not interested in. If it is something that interests me then I have no problem reading. As a writer, I learned that it really, really helps to write about a subject that I can relate to or is a personal experience. I, also, like being able to talk about what I am going to write about with my peers.
I want to remember to allow my students to choose their own topics to write about. Even if you give them criteria to follow and then they get to choose, that is still better then you choosing what they are going to write about. I also want to allow my students time to talk about the assignment with their peers. I want to give them time to think about what they are going to write about and then share it with their peers. I want them to be able to read each others’ rough drafts. I want them to go to their peers for ideas and/or suggestions.
I learned a lot of information from this class that I hope will stay with me until I become a teacher. There were times in this class that opened my ideas to new ideas and ways of doing things.