10/12/06 Training

I really enjoyed the presentation by Barbara Hruska.
Looking at reading from the TESOL perspective, it
made me more aware of the special needs of those
students who are trying to learn English as their
second language.

I especially thought the exercise of looking at Arabic
was very interesting and reminded me of my own
past experience as an ESL student.

Oct. 11, 06 Training

Definitely, the video by Joe Yukish was a huge help in
trying to figure out some of the teaching strategies and
tactics that I can use for my future students.

I especially liked the easy five-fingers rule and the
"retelling the story" strategy!!

10/10/06

I thought today's training was extremely helpful in that
it dealt with specific instructions for identifying the "right"
book according to a student's reading level and for teaching
how to read.

Once again, the necessity of taking into account the student's
prior knowledge and experience into the reading process
was emphasized. Also, the teacher should be sensitive and
attentive to the child's effort and progress and avoid telling
judgmental remarks based on what he or she has done.

I thought the sentence exercise ("An Indian rode into the
sunset.. on his motorcycle.") was really interesting, and it
spoke, once again, of the need to constantly evaluate upon
the student's past knowledge and experience, which had led
to his or her own inner "workings" of words, meanings, and
images. Also, as the speaker mentioned, an adequate mix
of the two views of reading process, the bottom-up and the
top-down, would be an effective teaching method to use.

10/05/06

When I was taking the survey, it was surprising
to me that I didn't remember any particular
incidence of learning "how to read" in Korean
(my first language). All I remember is reading
some Korean texts out loud in class when I was
in the elementary school.

However, I do remember more of my years of
learning English as a second language. I distinctly
remember my first ESL teacher who motivated
me to try my best through her constant
encouragement and care.

Like today's speaker pointed out, I think it's
important to encourage the student by recognizing
the child's effort and progress and not by what he
or she actually achieves. Particularly, giving
attention to the specific procedures or strategies
employed by the student to get the "right" answer
seems to be a very effective tool in building up the
child's self-esteem and motivation.

10/04/06

Today's training session mostly focused on some of the basic
phonic skills that are essential to a child's developmen of
phonological awareness. Without a doubt, phonics is a very
useful reading instrument that can help to further the child's
overall reading ability.

Also, some of Dr. Arno's accounts about the past RB experiences
and the schools were very insightful and reminded me of the
things that I will need to keep in mind (or even look for) as a
participant in this program.

Reflection on 10/03/06 Training Session

Yesterday, we talked about two main aspects of book
preparation : readability and interest. I think there
should be a certain balance between these two factors.
Of course, the readability of a book must be challenging
enough for a student to acquire new vocabulary and
increase his or her level of reading comprehension.
At the same time, the book should be interesting enough
to hold a child's attention, despite of its seemingly
challenging readability.

Mandated Reporter Training

Overall, I enjoyed the training.. especially hearing from others
about their own personal accounts of discipline, punishment, and
abuse. There were some interesting points raised during the
workshop, and they made me re-think about some of the
assumptions I've had toward different kinds of violence/abuse
existing in our society. Though I was shocked to hear some of the
real-life stories about victims of severe physical and emotional
abuse, they made me more conscious of my role as a mandated
reporter during my future participation in the RB program.

Sept. 28, 06

Once again, the session today made me think about,
perhaps, the most essential aspect of this teaching
process: how am I going to connect with the child?

Doubtlessly, for teachers, there is a definite need for the
continuing assessment of his or her views of the world---
how I perceive others and my own self in relation to them.

Initially, the teacher must be willing to put himself or
herself in vulnerability and uncertainty in order to establish
a relationship of trust with his or her student. This takes
time, and, definitely, much courage.

I believe that the most central component in establishing
this relationship of "trust" is love because it is what relates
and connects one person to another; without it, it is
impossible to create any kind of true understanding of the
other person or that of one's own self.

Hopefully, this kind of understanding will arise out of this
program through us! =)

On Today's Session

Today, I found out that there are so many different ways to
approach reading and that it is so critical to assess the
strengths and weaknesses of a child for the best approach
possible. More importantly, as emphasized by Dr. Arno,
the teacher must be able to "engage" the child in reading,
which is an essential aspect of the whole teaching process.

I think teaching itself is a learning process through which
one learns more about himself or herself and about others.

When you teach, you learn.
When you learn, you can teach.