Final Blog

I learned so much from this class about content area literacy. Coming into this semester, I wasn’t thrilled because I didn’t anticipate it being so practical. Math is my primary and so I was honestly a little closed off to the idea of reading in the classroom. I was worried this class would be filled with big ideas that seemed great in theory but couldn’t actually play out. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of knowledge I gained and the practical tools I actually plan to use in the future. 

One of the most valuable experiences for me was the books clubs. I used to absolutely hate reading. The last book I read for school was the Giverin 6^thgrade. Then this semester changed a lot for me. I was assigned the Hate U Givein another class and Hidden Figuresfor this class. I finally understand the value of reading in the classroom. Young adult novels like The Hate U Give andThe 57 Busgive you a window into the lives of so many people. I learned personal thoughts of many groups of students I had never known about. Hearing stories in their world gave me a whole new perspective. It allowed me to picture situations and empathize in new ways. Reading Hidden Figurestaught me about pulling out excerpts to read to my class. This book has powerful accounts of life during the civil rights. Being able to pull out a story can allow my students to visualize a time rather than just reading dry facts from a textbook. It helps truly bring their education to life. None of the books I read really related to middle grades math content, but I can still see myself using them. They will add depth and value to my students’ education. I think it’s important for students to be able to see themselves in books. It helps create their own identity and empowers all groups of people. If my students only read books about a specific type of student, they might try to fit into that mold or think that’s the only way to be successful. However, if they find themselves surrounded by stories of every type of person, they can find value in themselves and strive for excellence with a hope for their future. 

Another practical aspect of this class was the strategy lessons. Subjects Matterpresents so many strategies to use around reading. Having our peers present on each one was so helpful. I feel so prepared with a whole toolkit of ideas. While there were some strategies that I might have trouble incorporating into a math classroom, I found others very helpful. Vocabulary predictions would be so fun and reasonable in a math class, especially since many math terms are also used in other areas. Some strategies like post-its or sketch the text could be helpful to keep students focused and on task during a reading. Math texts can be lengthy and contain a lot of content, so I like the idea of having something they can pace themselves with. For similar reasons a Guide-O-Rama might be great to help navigate a tricky textbook. In geometry or when learning about slope, front loading with images would be engaging. Some math concepts are so much easier to understand when we can really fully visualize them. Exit/Admit slips can be useful to get a quick check on where all students are. In math especially, the content moves so quickly, and it would be very beneficial for me as a teacher to have a general idea of where each student is after a lesson, so I can make adjustments for the following days. 

Overall, I feel much more confident going forward. Everything we learned in this class from universal design to classroom management helped. I feel like I added so many tools that I can actually see myself using in the future. Reading contains so much more than I would’ve thought at the start of this year. Texts can be powerful in all contents and can help our students have the most well-rounded understanding of our subject area. I am very thankful for this class. 

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