Journal 3

• Journal III (4/28 or 5/19): Highlight anything that you have learned through this course and discuss why this is meaningful for your learning and instruction.




   This semester is already running to its very end. Only about three weeks are left before we close this semester. Feeling getting maturer, I reflect upon the days I have spent with this course. At the beginning, plenty of energy inside me drove me passionate. As the days kept going, I felt difficult to keep up with all courses I took. Yet I did not fully recharge the  energy I had lost, it is obvious that this time is a good time for reflection.
   At the very first of this course, I learned how novice readers begin to read. In order for them to start enjoying reading, they should recognize letter shapes first. Sounds, phonemic awarenesses, writing conventions and others come after. In addition, there were several activities help students understand them better.
   Reflecting upon the teaching experience I had with my pre-literate students in the states, I could not help but highlight this part. I think I merely repeated spellings and corresponding sounds over thousand times, rather than using strategic approaches. My supervisor teacher taught me an easy physical movement and phonemic deletion test to make them understand the fact phonemes are pronounced together as a syllable; however, it was too limited. I was not able to find other activities would make learning phonics and letter shapes easier at that time.
   This part might not be important for readers starting to read in L1 or Korean context, but for those who are not even literate in L1 happened to read in L2, the teacher should be fully aware of the techniques and processes in this book. Due to the fact that the novice readers are highly dependent on teacher at the period of time, the teacher is supposed to be attentive at every time. In this regard, this part is fundamentally meaningful. 
   Moreover, strategies and metacognitive skills which help reading faster and more efficient were seemed revolutionary to implement in real classrooms. I have evidenced number of students struggling with the dramatic level difference between middle school exams and high school exams. From high schoolers, they are supposed to read relatively long and many texts in exam, especially for Korean SAT. When they were in middle school, their reading strategies would be sufficient if they can memorize and understand some short texts, certain grammatical points and new vocabularies. However, things are drastically different in high school. All of a sudden, they face tons of texts they are supposed to read in a short time. They need new strategies to assist them otherwise they will be frustrated like some students who are called "영포자". 
  I believe there are strong demands to train strategies explicitly. Taking this fact into account, the section in this course was undoubtedly meaningful. Students especially in higher grades are in need of this kind of training. Teachers can support them with providing various strategies, such as skimming for details, getting main ideas only, checking comprehension throughout a text and jotting down their thinking. Without those strategies, students would feel chaotic first.
   Last but not the least, I was able to realize extensive reading is in part adaptable in English classes. Reading for fun in target language, at first, looked strange because I have never experienced such a thing. However, the school I went practicum have created a comfortable and accessible environment for extensive reading. There were several shelves full of intriguing stories in the English-only classroom. Whenever students visit there and read more than a story, they receive a sticker to win a prize. After I have taken the class about extensive reading, I thought of this kind of attractive environment for pleasure reading would promote students' reading skills.
   In sum, the three parts mentioned above were particularly meaningful to me. I presume that this course was rather practical than theoretical. The contents explained in detail were readily applicable to real teaching situation. Thanks to this fact, I have got lots of useful information about reading.
   The left time for this semester would also fly away very soon. Hoping to wrap this semester up without any regrets, I close this essay.

Short reflection on my teaching practicum

    I remember the very first day of practicum yet vividly. Teachers were running around, students are out of countrol, and I was there, leaved alone. Well, probably, I was full of confidence at the moment, now I think. Later on, as I am adopted to the school system, I was able to cope with the new encounters I had never experienced.
    Looking back, I have been able to experience what the real situation is. I have evidenced several things: how a theory happens, how teachers teach, how students act, and how the school system operates, and so the lists go on. As an observer and also a students teacher, I was allowed to examine those aspects unless forbiddened.
    The everyday life in school reminded me of the days when I was a middle school student. At that time, I was not aware of the teachers' efforts and school system, just as other students were. Although a short time passed after my graduation, the school was remained as same as when I leaved there. So when I got back there as a teacher, I felt a little strange because I was just a student a few years ago.
    I would keep the special memory with the teachers, the students, and the school assistants as far as I can remember. Close my mind and think, the days there just had passed like a mirage. However, it is up to me that holding the mirage tightly so that nothing would be gone.

Journal 2: reading skills

Discuss readings skills that you have learned in this class, but have rarely used in your reading. Do you think they are really necessary ones for better reading? Why or why not? .

   Skills rarely implemented to constitute meaning are just as important as other skills that are frequently used. As the rarely used skills are standing by, they are generating infinite potentials within. In this short essay, I will prove how this statement can be true through three major supporting points.

   Before that, first I have to set a background for this discussion. In my case, I think I generally use recognition, reorganization and inferential comprehension skills according to the table 4.3. When I skim through a text, I tend to first firmly recognize the details and important ideas, then fill in comprehension gaps by inferring skills. After I glanced one time, I try to reconstruct what I have read. In other words, I first build firm buildings by recognizing, and then build bridges among them by inferring, and at last I reorganize the buildings and bridges in my mind. As a natural consequence, the skills related to evaluation or appreciation are rarely implemented. This is my reflection on reading skills used in my mindset.

  Let us set a discussion on this background. I believe the skills unused are also to be given importance because skills required for better reading vary according to text, purpose, genre, and so forth. Although I love to read in the way I described, I have to leave room for other skills to take a part of reading comprehension. Otherwise I would end up with reading interesting novels interpreting details, main ideas and sequences, rather than appreciating the literature itself. In addition, it is evident that readers use different skills in different purposes. If I am to decode important details in a scientific journal, lower-level skills would play a significant role unless I have plenty of knowledge in the subject matter. In opposition, I would just enjoy if I am to read a short romance novel. In this case, I will use different skills than the skills in former situation. Skills seem to be unused have enough reason not to be ignored.

   Second, trying different reading skills in a context facilitates reading comprehension. Referring to my case, I would have to try evaluative skills and appreciation skills in order to compensate for my lack of comprehensive comprehension. Perhaps because the main purpose of my reading is to detect details and memorize whole, I was not given ample opportunities to train those skills, whereas basic academic skills such as predicting difficult words and overall comprehension were foregrounded. However in near future I will face such problems due to deficiencies of those skills. If I am to enjoy reading, the skills I had rarely use should be given importance.
   Third, the skills other than a person usually implement are not static. In other words, skills are subject to change and subject to merge with other skills as well. For instance, you will need a variety of subskills if you are to perform a higher level skill. The range of those subskills are too broad to be exclusive; that means, you will have to use almost every skill you can employ. In this regard, there is no skill can be ignored. You will eventually need all the skills if you are to read.
   In sum, reading skills we are not familiar with are as important as the skills we frequently use. We will need every set of skills otherwise cannot perform a reading task flexibly whenever we face different situations. All the skills should be given importance, for the ease and enjoyment of our reading.