Reflection #3

I liked the two readings for class this week. I found it interesting that even though both were not written recently, they both had really good points about teaching. I really liked how Rousseau talks about how a child needs to be a child, and we should not try to reason with them. A child can't reason like and adult can, and we are not teaching them if we are doing that, because they will not be able to understand. I also really liked that at the end he says that his 'Emile' may not be great at one thing, but he will be better at another. I believe that it is important to focus on the strengths students have, so they know that they are good at something, and we could use their strengths to improve their weaknesses. The thing I liked the most about St Augustine was the way he said to teach. if you notice a student is bored or already knows the subject just touch on it, or do something to make them interested. I also like that he talked about how if we don't teach in the same peaceful environment that we learn in, we really can't expect the students to pick it up as easily.

Reflection 9/28

I learned a lot more this week after having the discussion in class. Archetypes are really important to have for examples for the boys especially, but also for the girls. Reading about the different types was really a good learning experience, but when we had to actually decide which archetype the picture book we were looking at, it was a bit harder. That made me think and I believe teachers should be careful to make sure that they really look into a book and that it is the archetype that they are looking to introduce to the child, and that the child won't get something different out of it. It would also be really helpful to have discussions with the child after reading the book.

Reflection 09/13/08

I really liked the first article I read, which was the one about helping boys enjoy literature by reading them picture books and regular books with Archetypes. I think that if we find boys or girls that we notice are having a problem in a certain area, especially reading we can really find an archetype that would help this student, and read and discuss the book with them. If we are helping them implement the characteristics that the books give in more situations throughout the day then it can help them even more. I loved that she tied the importance of visual literacy into the article, because I had to read another article for a different class talking about the importance of visual literacy. I think it will be interesting to hear the views and interpretations people have about the two different articles that were read