I feel like I have come from this class learning a lot of practical things that I can actually use in my classroom one day. From discovering books that have deep meaning to them and activities behind them (like Ring. Yo!) to actually learning the way the brain reads - I feel like I am better equipped to one day teach. This is actually the first class that I have learned countless things that will help students relating to literacy. One specific example I can think of was the picture activities Pranuthi, Maria, and Taylor had us do tonight. English-language learners would benefit from this sort of activity because it contributes to their funds of knowledge (AHA, ANOTHER thing I learned about in this class). I just feel really enriched from taking X470.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how much my graphic on the reading process deepened my understanding. At first I felt like things were cloudy but then when I made the graphic, it all became clear!

I found a lot of value in watching the teachers in their classrooms trying to figure out what type of teaching model they are implementing. I have never thought about teaching models. Honestly, I just felt like teachers did whatever they felt like doing. When looking at the teaching models they're implementing, you can learn a lot. For example, you can see what important point they're trying to focus on (like the teaching drilling the letters sounds vs. the teacher having students make connections with books). One could also evaluate their own teaching style and think to themselves, "Am I focusing on what's important?"