Project 1 Expectations Post

          This week we are going to be looking into numerous places in Walled Lake. We are going to be visiting the local beach, restaurants that are in the area, the grocery store, batting cages, the dollar store, the laundromat and other places as well. These are some of the places where we have learned that students are interested in and are apart of their lives. When we are teaching our students, it is important to make our teaching meaningful. One way to do this is is to use students interests in our teaching. Because these spots are places that students visit frequently or have been to before, it benefits students learning if we can make our teaching meaningful and incorporate these places into our teaching. This also gives teachers an idea of where students do like to hang out and what types of places are available in our community. We also have to be aware of the places students are talking about to understand what their interests are. In respect to literacy, reading signs on the streets is a simple way that children and adults demonstrate their understanding.

         In the community, I expect to see people in the area and possibly visiting these places. I expect to see people reading directions that are given at places like the batting cages. I expect to see some advertisements and also see some signs for community events. I expect to see words on menus from restaurants and words on buildings. I expect that I will see many forms of listening whether it be through listening to people talk through communication, listening to radio, etc. I expect that I might see people reading whether it be a newspaper or other reading materials. Because we are focusing on our community, I also expect to find information and numerous types of text available throughout the community. 

       While my group was looking at our community, I did find that many of my expectations were found and fulfilled. I also noticed that not only were these places discussed by teaching and children, many restaurants and other places were very busy. This tells me that these places are very popular within many members of the community and not just the people in my school. I also noticed that you could find many types of literacy within the community. There were many types of text that were displayed including advertisements, food menus, newspapers, building signs, road signs, books, magazines etc. There were also numerous types of oral language taking place between people. These are skills that we are going to be teaching young children and you can relate to students based on communication that we see happening in our community. 

         Overall, I am very excited to continue looking into my community and learn more about what my students enjoy doing. As teachers, we should be able to relate to our students and by looking into our community, we are able to learn for our own purposes and relate to our own students better.