First Assignment

1. What content area are you teaching? Why are you teaching this subject?
I teach English to 6th and 7th graders at Kramer MS in Anacostia. I teach English because I have an undergraduate degree in English.

2. What have you noticed about the students you are teaching this year? Do they have particular problems with reading or writing? What are their strengths?
Writing Weakness: My students write the way they speak. They know how to write a sentence, but struggle to string several together into a paragraph. They do not always know when to end one sentence and start a new one.
Reading Weakness: My students have a hard time paying attention when other students read. But if I say they can read silently to themselves, more than half the class will immediately start goofing off.

3. What do you most want to learn in this course?
How to engage my students in reading during class. How to systematically improve their writing.