Learning about word walls was actually very fun tonight! I have mainly worked with middle school aged students for the last several years and in special education so I unfortunately do not have a lot of experience with word walls. In fact, the school I work at now does not use word walls at all to my knowledge. So how will I use them in the future in my classroom? That is a really hard question. My goal right now is to teach at the school I'm at now...so if I teach here...I probably will not use word walls. Hopefully I can figure out how to incorporate it into my curriculum when that day comes, but it is really hard to do when your main focus is on the student's behavior first and then their education.
A little background on where I currently work. I work at an alternative program for students that have mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. Yes, we get the kids that throw desks at teachers and cuss them out just because they feel like it, because they were "bored". Some of our students are actually so smart that they do get bored with the curriculum we have to offer them and some of them are so low on the scale that they do not understand what we are asking them to do. The commonality of our students is that they all have a behavior plan. There are some days where the behaviors they exhibit do not allow them to actually complete any of the work we assign them, but we strive to help them the best we can and teach them when it's possible.
We have a separate teacher that teaches Wilson's reading to our students, but I am not sure if they do any type of word wall with her either...our language arts class focuses on journaling and reading aloud to our students with an occasional worksheet on grammar. Our students hate it! Maybe I can try and incorporate some of the harder vocabulary words from the books we are reading into a word wall? If I have the students help me "design" for our book, then maybe they will be more apt to participate in recognizing new words they do not know.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Word walls are good for any grade level student. In the sped department it would be better if you had a no excuse word wall. Where the students in 1st grade need to know how to spell the an it and is or whatever and have them in one color and do that for other grade levels because I know sped has many different grade levels. Another idea is just putting up the sight words that you have gone over with the students so that they can reference them when writing or reading. I think as a para something a long those two lines would be beneficial in helping the students have resources other than the para or teacher in the sped room. But, it is just a thought. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteThe age group I work with is mainly 6th-12th graders...they are all pretty "street smart", but are a little lower cognitively. They would be too embarrassed to admit where they are at academically and I would have to have a different word wall for each student in my class. It will be difficult, but I do like the idea of a different color for each student. Even if they only had a couple of words at a time it would be better than nothing.
DeleteI can see your point regarding word walls for special education students. I also agree with Mariah that you could use a "no excuse" word wall when it comes to working with words that students should know. I had the pleasure this last year working as a full-time substitute in speech with the special education department. Working with these students gave me new opportunities to use words in fun ways. Although we did not have a word wall in that particular classroom, the special education room did and often we would point to the words on the wall and students would have to say them. I love watching students faces light up when they are able to say new words.
ReplyDeleteThe students I work with definitely have a lot of excuses! (Whose doesn't lol) I feel like the older a student gets, the harder it is to do word walls.
DeleteWord wall discussion were enjoyable Wednesday night, I agree! I look forward to having my own word wall one day as well, but it is definitely difficult to pinpoint just how to do that. I like that you are a goal setter and are making educational/career goals. As much as I enjoy planning things, I really do not know where I'll be this time next year post-graduation. I definitely think the word walls/ways to use them depends on the age level you have.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your students would love a challenge? Learning new words get them a point toward a prize they'd like?
ReplyDeleteYour students could create their own no excuse words, too. It could be a lesson in compromise. You can always have a word wall, refer to it, tell them it is for their use, they can add words to it any time (except for bad words!).
ReplyDeleteYour students could create their own no excuse words, too. It could be a lesson in compromise. You can always have a word wall, refer to it, tell them it is for their use, they can add words to it any time (except for bad words!).
ReplyDeleteMaybe your students would love a challenge? Learning new words get them a point toward a prize they'd like?
ReplyDeleteI would definitely try and have the students help create the word wall. Dealing with behavior issues can take a lot out of you but maybe if they help provide input, it could help reduce some behavior issues and keep them busy and productive.
ReplyDelete-Darrien