Electronic Portfolio for EDUC 5314

The following is a link to my Electronic Portfolio in fulfillment of course EDUC 5314 for the University of Texas at Arlington

https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Electronic%20Portfolio.doc

My Summer at the Tetons-Voice Thread

Today I created my first voice thread project. This is REALLY COOL!http://voicethread.com/view.php?b=4107

My Immortal-Song Interpretation

After listening to the song My Immortal preformed by Evanescence these were my thoughts:

This song appears to be expressing the loss of someone dearly loved through death. The memories of the loved one resonates in the authors’ daily life and hasn’t’ found condolence in that loss.

This song could be a spring board for a writing invitation when there is death in the family or death of loved ones. There are many students who at an early age have experienced the death of some they know and a writing exercise following the introduction of this song could serve as an outlet for their emotions in a positive manner.

Further, this would be a great example to use in the classroom for student to analyze the text and to some extent find the connections in their lives to the text which would make the learning experience meaningful.

Increasing Academic Achievment Among English Language Learners

Final Paper-BWP Literature Review Document

https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/BWP-Lit%20Project.doc

Literature Reviews

Literature Review # 1
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20Article%20%23%201.doc

Literature Review # 2
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%202.doc

Literature Review #3
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%203.doc

Literature Review #4
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%204.doc

Literature Review #5
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%205.doc

Literature Review # 6
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%206.doc

Literature Review # 7
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%207.doc

Literature Review # 8
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%208.doc

Literatrue Review # 9
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%209.doc

Literature Review # 10
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lit%20Review%20%23%2010.doc

BWP 2007

Here's a short PP on our experience with BWP 2007. Thank you all! It's been a great journey.

P.P by Pat Huster, Leslie Hancock, Sugey Villareal, & Christina Castruita

https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/bluebonnet.ppt

Chapter 4

Text Types and Genres

In the fourth chapter Wilson presents the idea of the range of language uses in the classroom and the importance to provide time for students to develop their language for different purposes which will then lead to developing the skills necessary for writing for different audiences and purposes. The tables presented throughout the chapter were beneficial to outlining language purposes and genre types, which I think would be beneficial for students to see, posted in the classroom for reference. Yet, I would allow the students to develop the charts in groups for ownership and meaningful learning experiences. One of the most important points made throughout this chapter is “PRACTICE” and “MODELING” teachers must model analyzing author’s purpose through the texts read and then practice writing for specific purposes as well to develop the writing skills necessary to prepare for higher academia and the real world.

What do you with a tail like that? By Steve Jenkins

Writing Invitation

What is your gift?......................

What is my gift and how do I use it?

I truly don’t pride myself with anything, because the Lord is the source of my strength and success. Therefore, I would say that my “Gift” is my faith. Through my faith I am able to pray for others including my self. I strive to share my faith through my actions and my life as the saying goes, “actions speak louder than words”.

Invitation to Write Exercise

Like Stellaluna I will be in a new territory this upcoming school year and will spread my wings in a new direction. Hopefully, I will not crash into trees as she did at the beginning of the story, but continue to fly and stay true to myself.

This coming school year I will serve as a Instructional Facilitator on my campus, no longer will I have my own room and my own class ( I will leave my cozy and familiar nest). I will spend my time assisting other teachers and helping them better serve our students in the instruction of math and science. As, we have learned through this class writing is an integral part all across the curriculum. Therefore, I hope to share the many strategies learned through my experience with BWP with my fellow colleagues to help our students develop their writing.

Chapter 3 Writing to Live

Writing as a Social Practice,

In chapter 3 Lorraine Wilson presents the idea that writing is integral to life practices. For this reason, students should be given opportunities to write for authentic purposes. Children must be allowed to write about their families, hobbies, their community, things that relate to them and things that are important to them. Another, interesting point she made was the evolutionary change that has occurred in writing such as text messaging, and emails. She discusses these new trends as “new literacies” the children posses and can serve as resources in the classroom to promote writing. Finally, writing must be meaningful and serve a purpose in order for students to begin to see the value in developing this skill to enhance their present and future in society.

Your presence will be missed

The Lady Who Loves Adventures

She has short bronze hair with a touch of salt and pepper.

Outgoing, energetic always look for a new adventure and planting bluebonnet seeds along her way.

The seeds that fall on fertile ground and bloom are inspired to continue with her mission to disperse the seeds along the paths through their own adventures.

Dr. Hirtle you will be just a click away.

We wish you the best in Hawaii!

Lesson Demonstration-The Legend of the Bluebonnet

Please click to open link to lesson plan.
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Lesson%20Demo_Bluebonnet.doc

Forgot to add this to my lesson as an additional source to integrate a fun tech site with letter examples (interactive)

www.pbs.org/arthur
Click on on arthur and then letters to arthur

Chapter 2 Reading Response-Writing to Live

Writing Critically Chapter 2

Initially, I enjoyed reading the first chapter and agreed with the authors ideas to value students and strive for goals that promote social equity in the classroom. However, in the second chapter I believe this author is a bit on the extreme side of social justice and has transmitted her values and views onto her students. Not quite, sure that the student examples were true self critical analysis (student views). I believe that the teachers’ values are now being transmitted through the students work. I do agree that students should be presented with a variety of text and learn to critically analyze what they read and have the opportunity to express themselves and voice their opinions. However, I think students should be given the opportunity to self select topics of their choice and their interest versus the teacher imposing the issues of his/her satisfaction.

Someplace Special

Writing response:

Someplace special is a peaceful place,
Where I can hear the wind and feel it on my skin.

It a place where streaming water travels and the gentle sounds remind me that life continues on.

Someplace special I find myself and see the beauty of God’s creation.
Someplace special I speak with God and renew my soul.

Find your special place and you will find yourself again.

Chrysanthemum

Writing Response to Reading.

We all have something special to offer to those around us in this world. However, along the way we will have bumps on the road and find ourselves doubting the gifts we have to offer. There will be those who choose to turn away, not accept and even criticize what we have to offer. But, we will also have those that cherish us, uplift us and continue to remind us that we are special in our own way.

Reviewing Literature Example

Attached it the example of the literature review we did in class.

https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Reviewing%20Literature.doc

Life Map

We will see if this works. Here's the link to my story map.
https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/Our%20Life%20Map_hernandez.ppt

Nature has a message to share

Open your heart, free your senses, willingly listen, and discover the secrets unfold.

Nature has countless messages to share. Don't be surprised if you discover yourself as well along the paths that have always been there to welcome you in.

Through each clue we begin to unlock the truth and witness the circle of life unfold before our eyes. The old, the young, and the new rebirth they are all there waiting to share their message. Respect for those of our past and present and the responsibility to carry on the legacy for others to discover is the message that I discovered. Now, you must be willingly to listen and discover the message that Nature has been holding to share with you.

My walks through River Legacy.

Chapter 1- Writing to Live

Wow! This author is quite intense on social justice. I personally enjoyed the chapter because my background is in Social Work and I'm totally there on valuing each individual for who they are and everyone has something to offer in this world. I'm going to list some of my favorite statements within this chapter.

"How we as teachers envision the world shapes how and what we teach in our class" P. 1

"The aim of school programs should never be to contain difference or produce conformity; it should be to promote understanding of those who are different and explore ways of living and working together harmoniously." P. 3

....by sharing family histories, and hence the histories of different immigrant groups, they come to see there is not just one history for one country. There are many histories. P. 5

"Language enables us to work on our representations- to wonder, to question, to pose alternate possibilities. That its, we use language to learn . P 6

and finally

"Speaking and writing, as expressive modes of language, allow us to construct and order our lives, our experiences, our worlds." p. 7

Implications for teachers: We must allow students to find an outlet for expressing their inner thoughts...through language, through writing...... we must strive to provide opportunities for them to develop and analyze their ideas.

Weather Reports

Here's our weather report response to our reflective learning for the day.

Enjoy la playa!


https://mavspace.uta.edu/cxh5816/laplaya.mp3

Getting Real: Authenticity in Writing Prompts

Writing must have a purpose to be meaningful. This teacher allowed writing to come to life to her students as they developed thier voice and it was heard (read through their writing) outside the walls of the classroom.

Ratiocination and Revision

Enjoyed the looking for clues bit I made the connections to CSI. I'm sure students would enjoy solving the mystery to their drafts in writing. Personally, I would have to work a bunch on X-ing the word "very" in my own writing.

Mozartians, Beethovians and the Teaching of Writing

Truly, enjoyed this article by Boehm

Growing up, in school I felt I couldn't write because I had a hard time writing in the "sequential" form from intro to conclusion. Wish I would have known then the my ideas were like Beethoven's music (almost). Attempting to always follow the prescribed form the "critic" was well trained to shut up the "creator". Now, I hope to inspire the creators in my classroom and shut up the critics.....until needed (revising the work).

"Magdalena" ...Writing Piece

Magdalena,

Leader, smart, outgoing, and responsible. Magdalena was my top academic student full of joy, dedicated and willing to share her knowledge and lend a helping hand to her peers that struggled. Naturally, she would reach out to those in need this past school year.

A child loved by her family, friends and those who knew her well. .What could possibly be wrong? I wondered. Thoughts flashed through my head like a fierce whirl wind with out end and I hoped scenes from the past would not prevail in this child. I had seen that pain before in many forms in the eyes of the innocent who were robbed the joys of childhood. On a daily basis I had visited, interviewed, or rescued children from the arms of those that should had been their protectors. My role then was a child abuse investigator for Child Protective Services. I had visited many homes and schools and witness the other side of the coin. Too often, children carried a heavy burden that those around them did not know, but I vowed that if I switched my roles I would never forget that children too have their share of troubles and must be guided to relieve the load. Thus, I dreaded to know the source of Magdalena’s pain.

I do not recall the subject or what we were discussing in class, but I do remember standing in the classroom and looking to my right and my students at the blue team table looking puzzled. There they sat the group of four and three of them just gazed at each other confused by what they were seeing…tears rolling down Magdalena’s checks. They didn’t say a word or make fun of her because Magda was admired and respected by all. As I began to make my way towards her the room went silent and all eyes were fixed on my every move as I took each step I could hear the throbbing beats of each heart get louder and louder as I drew near her. As I reach out, the chorus of the beating sounds began to diminish into silence. Softly my hand touched her shoulder and then like a roaring cascade tears overflowed her checks and splattered onto the hard surfaced desk. Slowly, she folded her arms and over the desk laid them to rest with her head over them. At that moment I understood something was causing her great pain. I whispered to tell her it would be alright and to take her time and when she was ready we would speak in private. She nodded yes and continued to softly cry.

Her classmates did not ask questions or interrupt, but soon it would be P.E time. They quietly stood up and carefully pushed in their chairs. Moreover, quietly they all gazed back with empathic eyes as they walked out the classroom. Soon I discovered the source of her pain was the fear of leaving this country that she knew as home, but she suffered in silence the fear of having her mother deported to Mexico if things did not go well in the consulate office of Juarez, México to legalize her mother’s residency status in this country. As the date approached I witnessed her tears, fears which turned into struggles on academic work. I recall telling her not to be afraid that things would we alright. I assured her that her mother would be fine and that it was all a process. Magda would be out for the week during the process because she would have to go with her mother to the appointment in Juarez because there was no one to be left behind with. Prior to leaving I gave her a copy of Esperanza Rising and told her it would be her assignment to read the book and write reactions responses to each chapter during her week out of school. Like Esperanza she too was about to begin a new journey and face unforeseeable challenges Never did I imagine that Magda’s fears would become reality. Her mother was denied reentry into the country and she would not return to her home or school. I prayed for her safety and well being because I know she was about to face a great challenges in her life. New school, new friends, new systems, and a new culture.


As the days passed and she did not return her classmates began to ask questions. Where’s Magdalena? Why hasn’t she come back? Did something happened to her?. They would save her the daily class work and weekly flyers and file them in her desk. Yet, one morning right after the 1st tardy bell rang my dear Martin came running into the room and loudly announced Magdalena would not be coming back for ten years. At that point every ones eyes shot back at me waiting for an answer. I told Martin to take a seat and everyone else that I would have to look into it to find out what the status was on Magdalena. I spoke privately with Martin that day to find out who his source of information was and that next time he would come to me instead of shouting his announcement to the class. Yes, indeed after making some calls I spoke with Magdalena’s father and his wife would not be allowed reentry into this country for ten years. Like Magdalena her father too had great pain he carried the burden of having been separated from his family. He stated he was working a second job and trying to save some money to hire a lawyer and that he would not give up because he understood that his children identified this country as their home.

Now, I was faced with the fears of those like Magdalnea who began to make the connections that their family too could also face the same challenges some day. The issue had to be addressed in the classroom and questions had to be answered or attempted to be answered. We addressed them through news articles regarding immigrations reforms and the protests taking place in our country and in our community. Also, my students watched the news anytime immigrations issues were being presented and reported back. Finally, they wrote letters to Magdalena to keep her informed of any new things learned or new projects in the classroom and that indeed brought peace to the hearts of those who missed her.

It's all a learning process

i've gone back and copied my original posts that I posted as comments and posted them on the "POSTING" section. I'm learning.

teachtoinspire said...
Not quite a master blogger YET. Still work in progress.Posting very late or better yet in the early AM hours. I'll bring coffee to class.Regarding reading assignments a few comments.ForwardMs. Freeman expresses the on going positive changes over the years of the NWP Quarterly. Likewise, she stresses the willingness of NWP to collaborate as a community between researchers and teachers to progress as a publication and gain support.Letters to our readersGives a glimpse of the history of NWP quarterly. Develops into a journal for teachers by teachers and serves a venue for educators to express, reflect, explore writing issues.Twenty minutes of fluencyJames Gray stresses the need for students to develop writing styles. Students are not only challenged with their writing, but when it comes to writing for college entrance exams with a limited time to write, the pressure and challenges become greater.
July 10, 2007 12:56 AM
Comment deleted
This post has been removed by the author.
July 10, 2007 10:16 PM
teachtoinspire said...
Teacher as a ResearcherMiriam M. Mohr through her journal reflections discovered teachers can be action researchers in the classroom by carefully observing and reflecting on the learning process that takes place within students, one self as "the educator" and the classroom. Likewise, she states there is a.."close relationship between the writing process and the human growth process"...thus through reflective observations of that relationship one can learn much more about the process and help students become successful Her reflective discoveries led her to empower her student and take ownership of their learning. By keeping a journal of the context and discoveries she too became a learner and a model student for her students.We should consider keeping a journal in the classroom and writing our own observations in the context of our community as a school and be on the path of action research as well
July 10, 2007 10:40 PM

Applying the Learning

Had to do some reasearch on uploading files such a word documents on blogs. Hope it works.

I'm currently taking an online course at UTA and needed to develop a lesson and I used the strategy learned in class the one about reading a book to students and then allowing them to generate questions. Thought I'd share it with you all.


*For those learning the tech process like me. I uploaded my original word document to My Docs in Google then I copied the URL and clicked on the Link tool to paste the address and wala.

Just went back and am checking into the link. It did not work.

Lesson Plan Link

Okay just added. Think it will work!!!!!

i'm blogging

Yes! I've done it. My first blog. Still a little confused, but soon I will be a master blogger.