There are many texts we have read that I was able to gain positive information that I will take to my classroom in the near future. The ones that were included as favorite were John C. Bean’s Engaging Ideas, Gee, and Peter Elbow’s High Stakes and Low Stakes in Assigning and Responding to Writing.
I found John C. Bean’s Engaging Ideas to be the most useful text and practical text of the readings for this semester. This is an article that you can bring directly into your classroom. It was positive in a way because it written in forms of easy accessible paragraphs (which also takes from of the CRAP principles). I also found it most interesting to read of all the texts. I find that the ideas in this text help you to understand the concept of WAC. Bean was definitely one of the most important, as well as the one I got the most useful information out of. Bean's ideas were all about inter grading writing and active learning into the classroom, which is the core of WAC and also something that will help you to succeed as a successful teacher. He separates his ideas into Grammar, and what teachers in other disciplines need to know. Chapter 4 concentrates on Grammar is itself which is something I myself need help in, he makes it a point for us to realize that and to be able to teach and correct these errors you must be familiar with them yourself. It’s directed to all teachers and people who are looking to be educators. It incorporates so many positive ideas on WAC.
When it came to reading Gee he had made me see the ideas and concepts behind what WAC stands for I an un- conventional method. Gee explains that you can find literacy in video games. This is important because video games has been a strong component in a student’s life, and if used properly can teach literacy and will be useful in a classroom because students will learn to not be focused on learning. It also shows teachers that you can videogames into your classroom and have it be a learning experience. It also goes back to trying to engage your students by using a different approach on literacy.
In Peter Elbow’s “High Stakes and Low Stakes in Assigning and Responding to Writing” to be useful to me because it gave ideas on what assignments a teacher can use in the classroom to help students in writing. It shows the importance of both high and low stakes writing assignments, and really gave me insights on how low stakes writing can really help a student succeed. This is an article I can bring into my classroom to help my students succeed and to get them in higher levels of writing.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Blog #6 and Reflection
Dana,
I also enjoyed reading this week’s articles and chapters by different authors. They all were extremely enlightening and an easy read. Even though the McCarthy article was a bit lengthy and it hurt my eyes reading it from a computer screen I found that the most interesting. Mainly because it told a story instead of stating facts or giving us demands. The articles that most interested me were McCarthy’s A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the Curriculum, and Bean’s Engaging Ideas, chapter four.
McCarthy’s article was long, but like I said it as very interesting to read. McCarthy raised certain question that myself as a college student deals with on a daily basis. As you know McCarthy does a study case on a boy named David, and follows him through each of his college classes and observes David’s adapting style to each professor and what the professor’s requirements are. I really liked the quote you picked out when you added in your letter David said, “first you’ve got to figure out what your teachers want. And then you’ve got to give it to them if you’re gonna’ get the grade. And that’s not always so easy.” I like this statement because I go through the same experience as a student and learner myself. I completely agree with McCarthy when he ways “college writing is a process of assessing and adapting to requirements in unfamiliar academic settings”. Writing is definitely a process; it requires many steps to the actual final product. In that process you are assessed by your teacher and classmates
McCarthy says that you need to lean the languages of each class and each professor and he goes to show us how David is learning new languages in each new class, he must define and master the rules of use for written discourse from on classroom to another.
To answer your question Dana, I do believe that this a big task because you have to constantly separate each of your classes and think about them at separate times. You must use each of your professor’s rules and abide by them if you want the grade.
When speaking in terms of Bean, chapter four of Engaging Ideas gives us tips for teachers to follow to help make their classroom run much more smoothly. Kind of like a “how to.” He first mentions active learning, then gives us tips to keep teachers’ workloads manageable, and then how to grade your students. Bean believes ways teachers can save time marking and grading students is by creating scoring guides (rubric). I found these tips to be very helpful. I definitely agree with you by saying by giving your students grading criteria it will limit your work as a teacher but also let the students know exactly what you are looking for to receive the grade they want.
When discussing Bean’s techniques for grading students' work, I enjoyed reading this.. I especially like the tips when he says to be legible when commenting because I have had professor’s handwriting all over my paper in which I could not read it! I also agree with the over commenting because this could lower your students self esteem and also overwhelm them.
Over all, I agree with most of your statements Dana, and I definitely enjoyed this weeks readings. I think McCarthy and Bean both helped me as a teacher and also a learner. They both have quotes that will stick in my head.
Reflection on the “Letter Blog”
I completely enjoyed this Blog. I prefer to have written this Blog over the 2x journal any day! I think that by reading what my writing partner thought about the articles and readings really helped me understand more of what I read. It made me look at things in a different way and I liked how I was able to comment back and had the freedom to agree and disagree.
I think for sure that this letter writing could work effectively as a writing material or assignment in a classroom. It gives the assignment a more personal feel, which is not so overwhelming for the student. It has more leeway and is not an assignment they would be stressed to do. Also, I feel when you are writing a letter it gives the person a chance to add their feelings, and as a teacher I know this could be interesting to read. I will definitely add the Letter assignment into my future classroom.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Writing as a Tool..Blog #5
Dana,
I need to start off by apologizing for the delay on my blog! I had a tough weekend to get through with family, my job, and well, you know the rest. I was also working on our Theorist Card which is completed! And I know you were working on our Power Point Presentation to go along with the Theorist Card.
I want to comment on both Bean and Rose when they discussed “writing as a tool”. I certainly agree with this comment. When I think of tool I think of it as an instrument that helps you fix or do something. To me writing can help you do many things and can fix many of your academic problems. Would you agree with me on that? To me Bean was arguing that that writing is more than what is on paper. It is more then a grade, or more then spelling and grammar. It helps you in different ways.
When it came to reading Rose's article I found it both enlightening and also confusing. He explains that writing courses are "viewed with a curious eye" because they are seem "remedial" (342).I disagree completely! If it as not for writing courses then where would the structure of writing be taught? If a writing course has a “remedial” tone to it, it is only because the students in that class need extra help. I feel that removing writing courses from the curriculum gives students a huge disadvantage. What are your thoughts upon my opinions?
Sincerely,
Rosemarie Civitano
I need to start off by apologizing for the delay on my blog! I had a tough weekend to get through with family, my job, and well, you know the rest. I was also working on our Theorist Card which is completed! And I know you were working on our Power Point Presentation to go along with the Theorist Card.
I want to comment on both Bean and Rose when they discussed “writing as a tool”. I certainly agree with this comment. When I think of tool I think of it as an instrument that helps you fix or do something. To me writing can help you do many things and can fix many of your academic problems. Would you agree with me on that? To me Bean was arguing that that writing is more than what is on paper. It is more then a grade, or more then spelling and grammar. It helps you in different ways.
When it came to reading Rose's article I found it both enlightening and also confusing. He explains that writing courses are "viewed with a curious eye" because they are seem "remedial" (342).I disagree completely! If it as not for writing courses then where would the structure of writing be taught? If a writing course has a “remedial” tone to it, it is only because the students in that class need extra help. I feel that removing writing courses from the curriculum gives students a huge disadvantage. What are your thoughts upon my opinions?
Sincerely,
Rosemarie Civitano
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Letter...Blog #4
Dana,
I found your letter to be extremely insightful and it helped me out in understanding our readings on a different and deeper level. I want to start off by saying that I agree, the readings this week were overwhelming for me. There was a lot of information I learned, a lot I found insightful, and some information I already knew, and some I just did not understand.
I found your comments about the Fulwiler article intriguing because the issue of students writing as they speak is something that is an issue within class rooms of all ages, and grades. The quote that you pointed out to me that Fulwiler said was “Most people write letters in their natural voices: first person pronouns, contradictions, personal asides, digressions, humor, slang, expletives…I prefer dashes to semicolons, ellipses to transitions, sometimes sentence fragments, other times endless sentences” I also happen to agree and disagree. I have always been a huge fan of the “letter”. I was one to never show my feelings but tell them, and I would always write letters to express how I was feeling. There were some letters that I have written informally that took upon a language of a natural voice. But then there were letters I wrote that needed to be formal.
As a teacher I would encourage students to write letters and I would have them write both formal and informal letters. I would assign assignments that deals with having them write a letter to their friend or someone they want to tell something to (in an informal language). On the contrary I would assign something that they need to write a formal letter to someone important, or a company. It is very important to learn how to write a letter that is written in grammar that is acceptable.
Within the reading by Emig he says that "talk leans on the environment" which I believe is true. If we go by the statement in which Fulwiler said that we can say that some of the letters that children write will not be acceptable English. Some children grow up in an environment that they are faced with people using improper grammar everyday. There fore they will speak the same, and write a letter the same way.
When Bean said “Good writing, I like to tell my students, grows out of good talking-either talking with classmates or talking dialogically with oneself through exploratory writing (7)” I believe that this is true. I have to agree with Bean by saying what I believe in “practice makes perfect.” By practicing good speech and getting used to proper English you are basically forced to write that way because you do not know any other way to speak.
I have to say that I found your letter to be written formally but still have the tone of informal speaking. So you can mix the two! I enjoyed reading your letter and definitely liked reading your thoughts and opinions on quotes you pointed out. I look forward to taking our discussion further.
Sincerely,
Rosemarie Civitano
I found your letter to be extremely insightful and it helped me out in understanding our readings on a different and deeper level. I want to start off by saying that I agree, the readings this week were overwhelming for me. There was a lot of information I learned, a lot I found insightful, and some information I already knew, and some I just did not understand.
I found your comments about the Fulwiler article intriguing because the issue of students writing as they speak is something that is an issue within class rooms of all ages, and grades. The quote that you pointed out to me that Fulwiler said was “Most people write letters in their natural voices: first person pronouns, contradictions, personal asides, digressions, humor, slang, expletives…I prefer dashes to semicolons, ellipses to transitions, sometimes sentence fragments, other times endless sentences” I also happen to agree and disagree. I have always been a huge fan of the “letter”. I was one to never show my feelings but tell them, and I would always write letters to express how I was feeling. There were some letters that I have written informally that took upon a language of a natural voice. But then there were letters I wrote that needed to be formal.
As a teacher I would encourage students to write letters and I would have them write both formal and informal letters. I would assign assignments that deals with having them write a letter to their friend or someone they want to tell something to (in an informal language). On the contrary I would assign something that they need to write a formal letter to someone important, or a company. It is very important to learn how to write a letter that is written in grammar that is acceptable.
Within the reading by Emig he says that "talk leans on the environment" which I believe is true. If we go by the statement in which Fulwiler said that we can say that some of the letters that children write will not be acceptable English. Some children grow up in an environment that they are faced with people using improper grammar everyday. There fore they will speak the same, and write a letter the same way.
When Bean said “Good writing, I like to tell my students, grows out of good talking-either talking with classmates or talking dialogically with oneself through exploratory writing (7)” I believe that this is true. I have to agree with Bean by saying what I believe in “practice makes perfect.” By practicing good speech and getting used to proper English you are basically forced to write that way because you do not know any other way to speak.
I have to say that I found your letter to be written formally but still have the tone of informal speaking. So you can mix the two! I enjoyed reading your letter and definitely liked reading your thoughts and opinions on quotes you pointed out. I look forward to taking our discussion further.
Sincerely,
Rosemarie Civitano
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Belief of the Interdisciplinary Curriculum Blog #3
Russell: Every teacher should teach English (4)
Civitano: I found this essay to be very insightful. The writer really showed me the history and profound moments that writing across the curriculum came about. As I am completely in agreement with this quote I had taken out of the essay I think it is a very simple yet bold statement. My educational background is in teaching Elementary school. This means that I had one entire class all day long; a class in which relied on me to them every subject. This to me had its advantages. I was able to bring English into all of my subjects, which is known as a teaching style called “interdisciplinary”. I was able to throw in writing assignments in the subject of science and history and have my students not even realized they are practicing their writing as they completed each assignment.
Sadly this does not happen as students get older. They wind up having multiple teachers a day only concentrating on that subject they are in that particular classroom for. This is where I believe that it is more necessary to have teacher meetings and discuss how an interdisciplinary curriculum can work. I think it is extremely necessary for when a teacher gives out a writing assignment to be able to pick out “bad writing”. That no matter what subject it is to be able to help your students when writing and making sure they are writing properly for their grade level.
If an interdisciplinary curriculum can work with younger grades I certainly believe that it can work with older grades also because that it how they are trained when they are younger. Teaching English through out each subject will open many doors for the students and they will succeed at a higher level. “Faculty members and administrators have long agreed that every teacher should teach writing.” (4). Now it is a necessary component as a future teacher for me to establish a mind frame for other teachers to teach English.
Williams: When items are aligned on the page, it creates a stronger cohesive unit (31).
Civitano: As I am reading this statement I am thinking back to the thought I had about English being taught in every subject. Though this sentence is not direct in what I was trying to say I saw it on a deeper level. Williams is trying to say that when things are placed together in a certain way it creates something strong. Well I believe that if all subjects are some what “aligned” with each other (as in a interdisciplinary curriculum) it an create something strong.
Pratt: I was delighted to see schooling give Sam the tools with which to find and open all these doors(1)
Civitano: This happens to be a very enlightening statement from a parent of a child in school. I believe that if teachers have passion in what they do and give that off to their students then those students will succeed in life. No matter what classroom or subject you are in teachers hold the keys to many unlocked doors for their students.
Gee: Players can hook multiple controllers into one video-game platform (178)
Civitano: This just justifies my statement even more by saying that there can be many players hooked up into one game i.e. many subjects intertwined into teaching one thing.
Gee always says “Meaning/Knowledge is distributed across the learner, objects, tools, symbols, technologies, and the environment” (211). No matter what subject you are in knowledge and meanings are being transferred from the teacher to the student and from student to student.
Reflection
When I was first asked to keep a blog I had thought it was going to be something that I have already been asked to do before and I was not looking forward to it. But then when I was introduced to the different types of blog writings I became eager to see which ones were going to work for my writing style and which ones were not. I am actually a big fan of quotes and quoting people.
When reading something I always tend to highlight or underline something I like that they said to try and identity with what the author was trying to convey. So I have to say I definitely enjoyed this type of blog style. It was interesting to get to see in a simple way what the author said and what my response was.
I would like to introduce this type of blog style to my future classes one day because I think it really gets your point across by backing your statement up with the authors words.
Civitano: I found this essay to be very insightful. The writer really showed me the history and profound moments that writing across the curriculum came about. As I am completely in agreement with this quote I had taken out of the essay I think it is a very simple yet bold statement. My educational background is in teaching Elementary school. This means that I had one entire class all day long; a class in which relied on me to them every subject. This to me had its advantages. I was able to bring English into all of my subjects, which is known as a teaching style called “interdisciplinary”. I was able to throw in writing assignments in the subject of science and history and have my students not even realized they are practicing their writing as they completed each assignment.
Sadly this does not happen as students get older. They wind up having multiple teachers a day only concentrating on that subject they are in that particular classroom for. This is where I believe that it is more necessary to have teacher meetings and discuss how an interdisciplinary curriculum can work. I think it is extremely necessary for when a teacher gives out a writing assignment to be able to pick out “bad writing”. That no matter what subject it is to be able to help your students when writing and making sure they are writing properly for their grade level.
If an interdisciplinary curriculum can work with younger grades I certainly believe that it can work with older grades also because that it how they are trained when they are younger. Teaching English through out each subject will open many doors for the students and they will succeed at a higher level. “Faculty members and administrators have long agreed that every teacher should teach writing.” (4). Now it is a necessary component as a future teacher for me to establish a mind frame for other teachers to teach English.
Williams: When items are aligned on the page, it creates a stronger cohesive unit (31).
Civitano: As I am reading this statement I am thinking back to the thought I had about English being taught in every subject. Though this sentence is not direct in what I was trying to say I saw it on a deeper level. Williams is trying to say that when things are placed together in a certain way it creates something strong. Well I believe that if all subjects are some what “aligned” with each other (as in a interdisciplinary curriculum) it an create something strong.
Pratt: I was delighted to see schooling give Sam the tools with which to find and open all these doors(1)
Civitano: This happens to be a very enlightening statement from a parent of a child in school. I believe that if teachers have passion in what they do and give that off to their students then those students will succeed in life. No matter what classroom or subject you are in teachers hold the keys to many unlocked doors for their students.
Gee: Players can hook multiple controllers into one video-game platform (178)
Civitano: This just justifies my statement even more by saying that there can be many players hooked up into one game i.e. many subjects intertwined into teaching one thing.
Gee always says “Meaning/Knowledge is distributed across the learner, objects, tools, symbols, technologies, and the environment” (211). No matter what subject you are in knowledge and meanings are being transferred from the teacher to the student and from student to student.
Reflection
When I was first asked to keep a blog I had thought it was going to be something that I have already been asked to do before and I was not looking forward to it. But then when I was introduced to the different types of blog writings I became eager to see which ones were going to work for my writing style and which ones were not. I am actually a big fan of quotes and quoting people.
When reading something I always tend to highlight or underline something I like that they said to try and identity with what the author was trying to convey. So I have to say I definitely enjoyed this type of blog style. It was interesting to get to see in a simple way what the author said and what my response was.
I would like to introduce this type of blog style to my future classes one day because I think it really gets your point across by backing your statement up with the authors words.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Art of Practice (blog # 2)
Gee: “Allowing players to practice- a process that is the hallmark of “reflective practice” (87).
Civitano:I can remember it was a hot humid summer day and I found myself in a muggy filled basement hovering over a piano and playing the same piece over and over again to try and get it right by the demands of my mother. As I was listening to my family outside laughing and splashing around in the pool I had to listen to my mother and could not get up from the piano until I played that piece perfectly. A couple of hours later I got my hands to flow out this piece of music and after a lot of practice.
When I was a child I was forced by mother to practice the piano everyday for 2 hours straight. As I got older she did not have to force me to practice anymore because I saw the importance of practicing. It got me to where I am today as not only a musician but a piano teacher to be able to educate others. Practice is something extremely important in whatever you do. As Gee said practice is important “in areas like law, medicine, teaching art, or any other area where there are expert practitioners” (Gee 87). To me practice is important in any kind of area there is. But to be an expert at what you are trying to succeed in you need to put in many hours of practice.
As I am preparing to become a teacher in the subject of English it is very important to me that I get that practice in becoming a teacher. That is the importance in the amount of hours I need to put into teaching before I get to have my own students. After years of practice I will be considered an expert practitioner within teaching English.
Gee: “Practice is crucial not just to the development of the child’s mind” (Gee 89).
Civitano:As I find practice to be extremely important I will instill that within the minds of my students. I will actually prove to them that having them practice within writing they will become better writers. Practice is crucial within the mind but it is also crucial within the real world. For someone to succeed at something they need to practice at it. Practice is like setting goals, setting what you want to be in the future.
When some people (to me, especially children and teenagers) hear the word “practice” they think it is something that it not interesting and something they do not want to spend time to do. I know there where times when I wished I was just able to get the subject of Math without having to practice at it. My tutor in Math did not make practicing fun and exciting. She drilled it in me that I need to practice and made it very not enjoyable. Knowing this experience I had with practicing I will try and make the routine of practicing fun for my students. I want them to set up lessons that they do not even know they are “practicing” for what I have planned for them next. This will take effort and a sense of trust and a comfortable close environment within the classroom. Creating this will have the students succeed and enjoy the art of practicing.
Williams: “Physical closeness implies a relationship” (15).
Civitano:To me this implies in what I was just trying to state when I said I think in order to have my students succeed and enjoy the art of practicing and instill education within my students is to create a close safe environment. This means a close relationship with their peers, classmates, teachers, and parents. As a teacher I will incorporate lessons into my classroom where not only do they learn from me (the teacher) but they will also learn from their classmates which means for them to have a close relationship with them. When I read what Williams had wrote this statement hit close to home for me. This statement can really pertain to anything. Physical closeness can determine whether or not that relationship is worth keeping. Physical closeness does not necessary have to deal with being with a person. It can mean having passion for something that you feel close to it (i.e. my close relationship with music and writing).
Civitano:I can remember it was a hot humid summer day and I found myself in a muggy filled basement hovering over a piano and playing the same piece over and over again to try and get it right by the demands of my mother. As I was listening to my family outside laughing and splashing around in the pool I had to listen to my mother and could not get up from the piano until I played that piece perfectly. A couple of hours later I got my hands to flow out this piece of music and after a lot of practice.
When I was a child I was forced by mother to practice the piano everyday for 2 hours straight. As I got older she did not have to force me to practice anymore because I saw the importance of practicing. It got me to where I am today as not only a musician but a piano teacher to be able to educate others. Practice is something extremely important in whatever you do. As Gee said practice is important “in areas like law, medicine, teaching art, or any other area where there are expert practitioners” (Gee 87). To me practice is important in any kind of area there is. But to be an expert at what you are trying to succeed in you need to put in many hours of practice.
As I am preparing to become a teacher in the subject of English it is very important to me that I get that practice in becoming a teacher. That is the importance in the amount of hours I need to put into teaching before I get to have my own students. After years of practice I will be considered an expert practitioner within teaching English.
Gee: “Practice is crucial not just to the development of the child’s mind” (Gee 89).
Civitano:As I find practice to be extremely important I will instill that within the minds of my students. I will actually prove to them that having them practice within writing they will become better writers. Practice is crucial within the mind but it is also crucial within the real world. For someone to succeed at something they need to practice at it. Practice is like setting goals, setting what you want to be in the future.
When some people (to me, especially children and teenagers) hear the word “practice” they think it is something that it not interesting and something they do not want to spend time to do. I know there where times when I wished I was just able to get the subject of Math without having to practice at it. My tutor in Math did not make practicing fun and exciting. She drilled it in me that I need to practice and made it very not enjoyable. Knowing this experience I had with practicing I will try and make the routine of practicing fun for my students. I want them to set up lessons that they do not even know they are “practicing” for what I have planned for them next. This will take effort and a sense of trust and a comfortable close environment within the classroom. Creating this will have the students succeed and enjoy the art of practicing.
Williams: “Physical closeness implies a relationship” (15).
Civitano:To me this implies in what I was just trying to state when I said I think in order to have my students succeed and enjoy the art of practicing and instill education within my students is to create a close safe environment. This means a close relationship with their peers, classmates, teachers, and parents. As a teacher I will incorporate lessons into my classroom where not only do they learn from me (the teacher) but they will also learn from their classmates which means for them to have a close relationship with them. When I read what Williams had wrote this statement hit close to home for me. This statement can really pertain to anything. Physical closeness can determine whether or not that relationship is worth keeping. Physical closeness does not necessary have to deal with being with a person. It can mean having passion for something that you feel close to it (i.e. my close relationship with music and writing).
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Blog #1 Active Learning
Murray: You don't learn a process by talking about it, but by doing it.
Civitano: You can remember back to your younger years and recall the memory of learning how to ride a bike. It is probably a similar story to many people. Your parents talked about the idea of a bike. You knew what it was because everyday during last summer you got to watch your cool neighbor ride his bright purple bike up an down the block. He made it look so easy, that you knew you were able to do it. As your parents approached the day of finally going to the store and purchasing a bike they would talk about it every night.
They would speak about where you need to put your hands, where the breaks are located, how to position your body, why you need to wear safety gear. All of their talks just build up more anticipation within you, and you used to say to yourself and your parents I got this! I see my neighbor do it and it looks so easy! I will get on that bike and glide across the pavements of my block. The day finally came where you positioned your body on that bike seat, with all your safety gear on, you put your feet on the peddles and in a matter of seconds the bike tilted to the right and you feel to the gray concrete floor with the bike lying on top of you. You could not understand why this happened? Why is this harder then it looks? Why is this harder then how your parents talked about it? Eventually you got back on the bike and practiced. You knew that the only way you were going to ride a bike was practice. You learned to ride a bike by doing it.
This to me this is the foundation of everything else you learned in life. To use English as an example the only way a person can fully understand how to write (or the mechanics of writing) is to practice. There is no way you can learn how to write by someone telling you how to write. It needs to be practiced, and fully comprehended to understand. A teacher can tell his or her young students the sounds of the alphabet, but if the students do not apply those sounds of the alphabet to try and read something they will sadly never be able to read. This statement by Murray can apply to anything, any subject, and anything you have or ever will learn in life. I certainly believe someone learns by doing something, not by someone telling you how it is.
Gee: If learning is to be active, it must involve experiencing the world in new ways.
Civitano: As I want to keep the same theme in my blog I choose this quote because I believe it directly relates to the quote by Murray. I am a strong believer in learning from tactile ways. I do believe that when learning you need to be actively engaged to be able to fully comprehend what you are obtaining. You need to be able to apply what you have learned to fully move on and learn on a higher level. Learning in new ways can bring out many sparks within a person. To me active learning takes place beyond the lecture. It goes further from a teacher telling you how it is, or what to do. It is the actual process of learning through doing it.
Civitano: You can remember back to your younger years and recall the memory of learning how to ride a bike. It is probably a similar story to many people. Your parents talked about the idea of a bike. You knew what it was because everyday during last summer you got to watch your cool neighbor ride his bright purple bike up an down the block. He made it look so easy, that you knew you were able to do it. As your parents approached the day of finally going to the store and purchasing a bike they would talk about it every night.
They would speak about where you need to put your hands, where the breaks are located, how to position your body, why you need to wear safety gear. All of their talks just build up more anticipation within you, and you used to say to yourself and your parents I got this! I see my neighbor do it and it looks so easy! I will get on that bike and glide across the pavements of my block. The day finally came where you positioned your body on that bike seat, with all your safety gear on, you put your feet on the peddles and in a matter of seconds the bike tilted to the right and you feel to the gray concrete floor with the bike lying on top of you. You could not understand why this happened? Why is this harder then it looks? Why is this harder then how your parents talked about it? Eventually you got back on the bike and practiced. You knew that the only way you were going to ride a bike was practice. You learned to ride a bike by doing it.
This to me this is the foundation of everything else you learned in life. To use English as an example the only way a person can fully understand how to write (or the mechanics of writing) is to practice. There is no way you can learn how to write by someone telling you how to write. It needs to be practiced, and fully comprehended to understand. A teacher can tell his or her young students the sounds of the alphabet, but if the students do not apply those sounds of the alphabet to try and read something they will sadly never be able to read. This statement by Murray can apply to anything, any subject, and anything you have or ever will learn in life. I certainly believe someone learns by doing something, not by someone telling you how it is.
Gee: If learning is to be active, it must involve experiencing the world in new ways.
Civitano: As I want to keep the same theme in my blog I choose this quote because I believe it directly relates to the quote by Murray. I am a strong believer in learning from tactile ways. I do believe that when learning you need to be actively engaged to be able to fully comprehend what you are obtaining. You need to be able to apply what you have learned to fully move on and learn on a higher level. Learning in new ways can bring out many sparks within a person. To me active learning takes place beyond the lecture. It goes further from a teacher telling you how it is, or what to do. It is the actual process of learning through doing it.
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