Delicious. com. Wow!

Delicious.com Wow! Using technology takes practice. I was browsing through on mye learning to ensure that I read all articles related to my course EDRL 6004 when I came upon a video on 'Social Bookmarking'. I viewed it once, twice, three times before I ventured into delicious.com. What can I say? I am hooked. This website is simply amazing. It can make the life of a Reading Specialist much easier in terms of accessing articles related to whatever topic you may be dealing with.

Delicious .com is a whole new world for me. It is like research made simple.I would recommend all of my other aspiring Reading Specialist colleagues to get on board as this site will be an asset to us not only in our classrooms but as an instrument to assist us in gathering needed literature for our upcoming research.This 'social bookmarking' is yet another useful tool which allows us and our students to share links and communicate with other global internet users

My Webspiration Inspiration

As I indicated before I was very excited to learn about the different technological strategies which can be used to assist and improve classroom teaching and when our tutor introduced the class to the my webspiration website I was all ears and eyes. However my concentration was broken for a short while when I turned to assist a colleague who was experiencing some problems and as such got lost along the way. I do not give up easily so I persisted until I was back on track before class ended for the night but in that brief moment I missed some vital information and as such had to do some experimenting at home.

How many times have we used concept mapping ( semantic mapping, brainstorming etc..)in our classrooms to assist in getting our students to think outside the box and to develop concepts.Call it what you may but it is by and large the same thing.Children learn in different ways and concept maps is a visual learning tool which does the following:

a.converts abstracts ideas into visible and concrete ones

b.provides a link between prior knowledge and new concepts

c.allows the opportunity for thinking,writing, discussing, analyzing, planning and reporting

d.places emphasis on thoughts and ideas which leads to understanding and interpretation

According to the article at http://www.inspiration.com/Parents/Visual-Thinking-and-Learning 'Concept maps are ideal for measuring growth of and assessing student learning. As students create concept maps,they reiterate ideas using their own words. Misdirected links or wrong connections alert educators to what students do not understand, provide an accurate, objective way to evaluate areas in which students do not grasp concept fully.'

This technology demonstrates the ease with which concept mapping can be done on an individual basis or as a group and that it also leaves room for collaboration. Another great asset for the reading specialist and guess what I know how to use it.

Technology and my school

I have always depended on my children or other members of staff at my school to show me how to use different programmes on the computer.Imagine my surprise when I began speaking about 'blogs and wikis' only to realize that they did not have a clue about what I was referring to. For the first time I have had to explain about seemingly new technology 'blogs and wikis' to my children and my colleagues and to demonstrate how to set up and create both. I must state however that these applications in the first instance were very challenging for me but persistence paid of in the end.I am gaining some some ground and the anxiety which prevailed in the beginning is slowly disappearing and is being replaced by excitement.

I cannot wait to start using this technology in my classroom teaching. But alas there are no computers at my school and the possibility of acquiring any in the near future seems dim. Computer room but no computers.How can change really occur if schools are not provided with the necessary equipment? How can I as a Reading Specialist achieve success if the necessary tools are not provided?

Can Music Improve Reading?

As a teacher of Music and Reading I have always been curious about the impact of one on the other.In my daily interactions with parents some have stated quite emphatically that they do not see the importance of music in the school's curriculum. As a result I have decided to do some research on this topic in this blog. Investigations into children's learning revealed that spatial-reasoning skills, memory, emotional and social skills and stress management can be improved if music is introduced at an early age. These skills are able to improve comprehension in mathematics and also in developmentally challenged challenged children such as those with autism.

In an article by Larry M. Lynch entitled 'Using popular songs to improve Language Listening Comprehension Skills' highlights the importance of music once more. He lists the following factors which contributes to Listening Comprehension through the use of popular songs:

1.use of new vocabulary,idioms and expressions

2.pronounciation accent of the singer

3.use of new grammar and structure

According to Professor Lynch there is also a criteria for song selection. These are as follows:

1.popular songs must be used

2.songs must have clear and understandable lyrics

3.songs must have an appropriate theme

This is further corroborated in an article 'Music Education can help children improve Reading skills' taken from the ScienceDaily (Mar.16,2009). In this article the authors Joseph M. Piro and Camilio Ortiz from Long Island University,USA conducted a study at two U.S. elementary schools 'to investigate the hypothesis that children who have received keyboard instruction as part of a music curriculum increasing in difficulty over successive years would demonstrate significantly better performance on measures of vocabulary and verbal sequencing than the students who did not receive keyboard instruction. The results did show that the music learning group had better vocabulary and verbal sequencing scores than the other control group.

Why I want to be a reading specialist?

I have been privileged to be exposed to books and reading at quite an early age. I emulated my dad an avid reader who collected materials from magazines newspapers etc. Quite frankly I just love to read. Reading came naturally to me and provided me with a getaway.When I read I become part of the written word and the adventures and experiences they provide. Words intrigue me and the realization that many of the children under my tutelage are unable to comprehend reading matter, identify simple words or even pronounce them brings a great sadness to me.

I have been a primary school teacher for many years and have taught infants to standard five. Throughout my career I have always encountered pupils with varying reading abilities but in recent times the number of pupils experiencing serious reading problems have increased tremendously. This has led me to investigate the reason for the problems and to search for possible solutions. I want to provide the weak pupils with the skills needed to survive and to encourage, enhance and widen the scope of those who are already able to read.