Missed Class :( - May 16th

Well, due to technical difficulties involving a severed fiber optic cable for my provider I was unable to be in class on the 16th.  I have had the chance to watch the recorded version of class and so I thought I'd give a short reflection on what I observed.  

Even though I am a teacher, my eyes were opened today as I learned about the reading process.  It amazed me the number of steps our brain has to go through just to read a simple paragraph.  How our brain is able to put together all the information in the correct order to make sense of even a simple word is truly mind boggling!  I now have a greater understanding and appreciation for something I always took for granted.  I can also now understand more clearly what happens to students in my class who because of one or more misfires or disconnections have such difficulty with reading what's put in front of them.  Connecting this to the next class when we watched  Misunderstood Minds, it's good to know that there are interventions and technology that can help these students overcome the disconnects.

We were also introduced to Inspiration.  We have this and kidspiration at the school where I teach, and I have dabbled in it before.  Even though I knew the general idea of the program, I've never really used it with my students.  Now, I can see what a valuable tool this is and am excited to use it in my classroom.  Pairing this program with the information about on how the reading process works, I put together a diagram.  Although not as intricate as I'd like, I hope you can see from the diagram that this is a very complex process!!  Check it out below!

Reading Process