Blog #5: Final Course Synthesis

I really enjoyed this class. I feel like out of the secondary education classes it is the one in which I have learned the most applicable information. Because of this class I realize the importance of teaching literacy and comprehension strategies. I think this was really important for me to learn because I have always been a good reader and have never understood persons who struggle with reading or don’t read well. Teaching vocabulary words and using oral language fits in perfectly with the communicative approach that I have been learning this semester in my teaching foreign languages classes. To me this adds evidence to how important it is to teach vocabulary and use the oral language appropriately. However, I feel like it will be more of a stretch for me to do this in my health class, but it is definitely applicable. It is important for students to be able to talk about things orally and I think jigsaws would be a good way to do this in a health class. I am a huge fan of making different representations in health and not just writing essays. After this and my assessment class I have loved the idea of just making lots of different project options for each unit instead of having a test. I really enjoyed the RAFT concept and plan to use that. I hope to apply having students write to a real audience. It makes the writing so much more enjoyable. I loved making the text set for French. I plan to keep this text set up and use it in my classroom. I actually created the part on French musicians so that I could play music before and after my classes like Professor Wilson. It is also imperative for me to teach critical literacy, particularly in a health class. There is so much health information available today, but not all of it is accurate. It is important to develop critical literacy and I hope to be able to provide assignments that promote critical literacy. I could go on for a while, but I don’t want to yap anyone’s ear off. Happy Holidays!