Hey Everyone! How are we already at the end of the semester? Time has flown by so fast. I am so excited for student teaching next semester. I have really enjoyed working in the classroom I have been placed in for clinical. I was placed in kindergarten for this semester and student teaching. The students are all very sweet and eager to learn. I have learned so much in science methods thus far. The work I am most proud of for this month would be the lesson I was able to teach for this class. I was able to teach my lesson during the students STEAM day. My lesson included literacy, science, and math. The students were able to read about the mayflower, then they built their very own mayflower out of tin foil. The students predicted if their boat would sink or float and the students counted how many passengers they put on their boat. I really enjoyed teaching this lesson and being able to have the students so interactively involved in the lesson. I have noticed kindergarten students need to be very hands on and have interactive task to stay engaged in the lesson and with the content. I encountered struggle with some of the parts of the unit last week. I was able to ask Dr. Parker for an example of the unit to see exactly what some of the sections were looking for. This has really helped me to understand the unit so much better. I look forward to completing my science unit and using it in my future classroom. I have learned and observed the power of integration of all subjects into one big lesson. The work that brings me the most satisfaction are the lessons I am able to create for the students where they are not sure which subject they are learning. The students are to engaged in the lessons to realize what subject they are own and are having fun learning. My goal for student teaching is to make sure all of my lessons are integrated and engaging for students. I could help my classmates more by creating a group chat to answer and ask any questions we may have.
I was able to find an article expressing why teachers should teach science in kindergarten. It talks about the importance of helping students to build a solid science foundation with the basics to help set them up for success with science in their future grades. The article talks about how kindergarten students are very curious so why not feed off of their curiosity with science. This was a great article to read and I encourage you to check it out when you have a chance. <https://www.science4us.com/why-teach-science-to-kindergarten-1st-grade-and-2nd-grade-students/> My current event is about the Georgia's educational center and aquarium, who had a male octopus in their watch. The octopus ended up being a girl who has 10,000 babies. I could use this current event to help students learn about the life cycle of an organism, in this case it would be an octopus. The students could also compare and contrast the life cycle of the octopus to the life cycle of humans. I like this current event because it has videos students could explore and see first hand. <https://www.popsci.com/male-octopus-thousands-babies>
By preparing my lessons I am following the NCTCS standard three, "Teachers know the content they teach." I am also demonstrating the NCTCS standard four, "Teachers facilitate learning for their students," by using technology and having interactive task for students to collaborate with and learn. In my future classroom I want to have integrated lessons and have my students to be so engaged in their learning that they have to stop and ask me what subject we are working on. I want my students to have interactive task so they are engaged in learning and not bored. I look forward to doing more with science during my student teaching experience. I am researching more strategies to use while teaching kindergarten students science. I look forward to seeing science taught more in classrooms and in my future classroom.
Resources:
https://www.science4us.com/why-teach-science-to-kindergarten-1st-grade-and-2nd-grade-students/
https://www.popsci.com/male-octopus-thousands-babies
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
EDUC 435 Last Blog
Hello everyone! Welcome to my last blog of the semester!! How are we already at the end of our fall semester before student teaching? This semester has flown by for me. I am excited and nervous for student teaching. I have been using my time in the classroom very wisely. Since, halloween I have been able to teach almost every Wednesday for the whole day. I want to get the feel for how it will be when I am teaching all day in the spring. The students have seemed to enjoy me teaching and are very engaged. I have learned how teachers have to be able to change plans or activities in a short amount of time. For example, some activities planned for the students they either finished early or was too difficult for them. This is when I find an additional task or alternative task for the student or students to do. One of my main goals in the spring semester is to have plenty of activities planned for the whole day so the students are not bored. When the students become bored their brains are not absorbing material and they tend to have more behavioral problems. I really enjoyed completing the clinical checklist for this class. I feel like I was able to gain more knowledge on aspects I may have never even thought about asking my clinical instructor about.
In my clinical placement we have had the students participating in more and more group work activities. I have noticed how some students seem to work together in the groups and how others stay to themselves and sometimes do not even try to work on or take part with the activity at hand. I remember this being an issue when I was in school. I was a very shy person and would end up not being able to take part in the activity or doing the activity by myself because I was not included. I decided to do my research on this specific dilemma. I found a video on edutopia that discusses a way to make sure every student is involved during group work. This teacher gives his students roles/jobs in each group. For example, each group has a speaker, manager, scribe, and an inquirer. The students know their jobs and they all work together to complete the task at hand. This strategy helps all of the students to have a part in the task at hand and everyone is able to work together. I feel like I will need to simplify the terms for my kindergarteners, but I do feel like I could implement this strategy into my placement for group work. I look forward to seeing how this strategy will impact and change group work. Please check the video out when you have a chance! < https://www.edutopia.org/video/60-second-strategy-cooperative-learning-roles>
I have been able to demonstrate standard 1-5 of the NCTCS standards during my clinical time in the classroom. I am a leader to the students by leading them through the content and learning task in the classroom. I have been able to follow standard two, "Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students," by creating a relationship with each student, making sure they feel welcomed when they come in every morning, and giving each student a chance to share. I have portrayed standard three, "Teachers know the content they teach," by being prepared and educated on the content before coming to school to teach. This helps me to be knowledgable of the content so I can answer any additional questions from students. I have followed standard four, "Teacher facilitate learning for their students," by using different instructional methods, using technology, having students work together in groups, etc. Lastly, I have been able to demonstrate standard five, "Teachers reflect on their practice," by reviewing over students work, their understandings expressed orally, and assessments. This helps me to see what standards I need to revisit/ reteach to help the class understand the content better.
In my future classroom I will continue to follow the NCTCS standards for my students. I feel like the best and most successful teacher is able to follow all six of the NCTCS standards. I will strive to follow these every single day. I also want to use the strategy for group work form my outside research in my future classroom. I want all of my students to feel included and to be engaged in their group work. I feel like by assigning jobs the students will all be able to take part in the group work assignment. In my future classroom I will also make sure to have plenty of other task and work for students to do when they finish early. I do not want my students to be bored or to become frustrated if a task is too hard. I want to be prepared and have a solution for either one of these dilemmas. I have observed a teacher in the past who had educational games created for students. I feel like this would be a great aspect to add into this classroom. What kindergarten student doesn't love to play games? I think students would enjoy this incentive, leading them to finish their work early and prevent behavior issues. I can't wait to have my own classroom and can see this dream coming true very soon!
Resources:
Person. (2018, November 2). 60 Second-Strategy: Cooperative Learning Roles. Retrieved November, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/video/60-second-strategy-cooperative-learning-roles
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
In my clinical placement we have had the students participating in more and more group work activities. I have noticed how some students seem to work together in the groups and how others stay to themselves and sometimes do not even try to work on or take part with the activity at hand. I remember this being an issue when I was in school. I was a very shy person and would end up not being able to take part in the activity or doing the activity by myself because I was not included. I decided to do my research on this specific dilemma. I found a video on edutopia that discusses a way to make sure every student is involved during group work. This teacher gives his students roles/jobs in each group. For example, each group has a speaker, manager, scribe, and an inquirer. The students know their jobs and they all work together to complete the task at hand. This strategy helps all of the students to have a part in the task at hand and everyone is able to work together. I feel like I will need to simplify the terms for my kindergarteners, but I do feel like I could implement this strategy into my placement for group work. I look forward to seeing how this strategy will impact and change group work. Please check the video out when you have a chance! < https://www.edutopia.org/video/60-second-strategy-cooperative-learning-roles>
I have been able to demonstrate standard 1-5 of the NCTCS standards during my clinical time in the classroom. I am a leader to the students by leading them through the content and learning task in the classroom. I have been able to follow standard two, "Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students," by creating a relationship with each student, making sure they feel welcomed when they come in every morning, and giving each student a chance to share. I have portrayed standard three, "Teachers know the content they teach," by being prepared and educated on the content before coming to school to teach. This helps me to be knowledgable of the content so I can answer any additional questions from students. I have followed standard four, "Teacher facilitate learning for their students," by using different instructional methods, using technology, having students work together in groups, etc. Lastly, I have been able to demonstrate standard five, "Teachers reflect on their practice," by reviewing over students work, their understandings expressed orally, and assessments. This helps me to see what standards I need to revisit/ reteach to help the class understand the content better.
In my future classroom I will continue to follow the NCTCS standards for my students. I feel like the best and most successful teacher is able to follow all six of the NCTCS standards. I will strive to follow these every single day. I also want to use the strategy for group work form my outside research in my future classroom. I want all of my students to feel included and to be engaged in their group work. I feel like by assigning jobs the students will all be able to take part in the group work assignment. In my future classroom I will also make sure to have plenty of other task and work for students to do when they finish early. I do not want my students to be bored or to become frustrated if a task is too hard. I want to be prepared and have a solution for either one of these dilemmas. I have observed a teacher in the past who had educational games created for students. I feel like this would be a great aspect to add into this classroom. What kindergarten student doesn't love to play games? I think students would enjoy this incentive, leading them to finish their work early and prevent behavior issues. I can't wait to have my own classroom and can see this dream coming true very soon!
Resources:
Person. (2018, November 2). 60 Second-Strategy: Cooperative Learning Roles. Retrieved November, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/video/60-second-strategy-cooperative-learning-roles
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Science Methods Blog 3
Hello Everyone!! Welcome to my blog for the month of October. I can't believe the semester is almost over. This month I have been focusing on the science fair project, water cycle project, the unit, and learning segment. I have been most proud of our science fair project this month. We were able to do a science experiment that was out of our comfort zone. I have always been scared to try certain types of science experiments for fear they wouldn't work. I am glad I decided to take part in this particular experiment and was able to learn a lot about myself and about science. We picked the science experiment where you use lemons as batteries to light an LED bulb. I have been able to take this experiment to my work and let my students take part in this experience for themselves. The students at my job have really enjoyed this experience and are learning science without even realizing it. I am struggling with trying to find more time in the schedule in my placement classroom to teach my science learning segment. The time I am able to have is during the end of the day right after recess when the students are very hyper and ready to go home. Once the students are back in the classroom from recess there is only around 15 to 20 minutes to teach the students their science or social studies topic for the day. This is not enough time to pull the students back into focusing on a topic and making sure the students have time to pack up for dismissal. The kindergarten students are the first to pack up and line up for dismissal, they are out of the classroom before the other grades. I am working with my CE to see if we can incorporate this learning segment into the literacy time instead of teaching it at the end of the day. The students seem to focus more in the morning, which is when they have their literacy lesson, this change would benefit the students. Having my learning segment complete and being able to teach it soon gives me the most satisfaction. Over the next week, I would like to complete our unit so that we can have it done early and can receive as much feedback as possible. I also would like to finish any other group work we may have so that my partner can enjoy her new bundle of joy that is coming very soon!! I do not want her to have to worry about work during this time. I was able to contribute to the class by working with my group on projects and being proactive for upcoming assignments. I can take part with my classmates more through twitter this week.
Outside Research
I found an article related to STEM and The Importance of Teaching Earth Science by Adam Stone. The article talks about how students today will one day have to make choices about resources. Therefore, students need to be educated about what resources we have, how we use it, and what are the consequences from certain resources. Some ideas the article gives teachers to do is to first help the students be able to have an experience with a concept before they teach it. Let the students discover and figure out the concepts for themselves. Teachers can do this by having hands on experiences with concepts available for the students. I am placed in a kindergarten classroom this semester and I have seen how much the students like to use their hands and get messy so I loved the one that talked about digging in dirt. The article talked about letting students dig in a garden. I feel like my students would really enjoy this experience and would absorb so much information and skills by taking part in this experience. The article also talked about going online to find experiences for students with concepts of earth science. I think this is a great idea and would open up the door for more experience than what we can provide in the classroom with more advanced concepts.
Link/Resource: http://teachmag.com/archives/10545
NCTCS
If a teacher is able to use these ideas and strategies in their classroom the students will be well informed and prepared for the choices they will make in their future about the earth they live in. The teacher will be demonstrating the NCTCS standard one, Teachers demonstrate leadership, by taking responsibility for their students learning and providing them with the information they need to be successful in school and in life. The teacher is also portraying the NCTCS standard 3d, Teachers make instruction relevant to students, by incorporating life skills into the content being taught. The third standard the teacher is demonstrating is the NCTCS standard 4d, teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction, by using the resources online to show and help students to experience aspects of concepts that they may never have been able to experience in their present setting, community, and classroom.
Resource: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
Current Event
My clinical placement classroom has been talking about bones and the skeletal system. I was able to find a current event about fossils of animals and humans that are being found at "Saudi Arabia’s Ti’s al Ghadah." I would show the students the picture of the antelope's jaw and teeth. I would discuss how bones can be found years and years later. I feel like the students will really enjoy learning about the aspects of this article. I look forward to sharing this with them next week. I am able to take the concepts they are learning in class and show them real life examples. The students love seeing what they learn in class being discussed in real life.
Link/Resource: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fossils-hint-hominids-migrated-through-green-arabia-300000-years-ago?tgt=nr
Future Classroom
I look forward to incorporating the ideas and strategies from the article into my future classroom. I will provide hands on experiences with my future students with new concepts. I want my students to be able to discover, question, research, etc on their own. I feel like the students will absorb and dig deeper in their understandings of the material. I also would like to have a classroom where my students are learning every subject throughout the whole day. This way I would not have to only teach certain subjects during certain times of the day and the students would not realize what subject they were learning. I feel like this would help the students to enjoy learning and be strengthened in every subject not just one. I know I use to struggle in reading so I would dread this time of the day. If students do not know what subject they are working on they will no have built up phobias or anxiety to develop during certain parts of the day. This is how I envision my future classroom.
I also will make sure to follow the NCTCS standards discussed above in my future classroom the way the teacher was able to in the article.
Outside Research
I found an article related to STEM and The Importance of Teaching Earth Science by Adam Stone. The article talks about how students today will one day have to make choices about resources. Therefore, students need to be educated about what resources we have, how we use it, and what are the consequences from certain resources. Some ideas the article gives teachers to do is to first help the students be able to have an experience with a concept before they teach it. Let the students discover and figure out the concepts for themselves. Teachers can do this by having hands on experiences with concepts available for the students. I am placed in a kindergarten classroom this semester and I have seen how much the students like to use their hands and get messy so I loved the one that talked about digging in dirt. The article talked about letting students dig in a garden. I feel like my students would really enjoy this experience and would absorb so much information and skills by taking part in this experience. The article also talked about going online to find experiences for students with concepts of earth science. I think this is a great idea and would open up the door for more experience than what we can provide in the classroom with more advanced concepts.
Link/Resource: http://teachmag.com/archives/10545
NCTCS
If a teacher is able to use these ideas and strategies in their classroom the students will be well informed and prepared for the choices they will make in their future about the earth they live in. The teacher will be demonstrating the NCTCS standard one, Teachers demonstrate leadership, by taking responsibility for their students learning and providing them with the information they need to be successful in school and in life. The teacher is also portraying the NCTCS standard 3d, Teachers make instruction relevant to students, by incorporating life skills into the content being taught. The third standard the teacher is demonstrating is the NCTCS standard 4d, teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction, by using the resources online to show and help students to experience aspects of concepts that they may never have been able to experience in their present setting, community, and classroom.
Resource: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
Current Event
My clinical placement classroom has been talking about bones and the skeletal system. I was able to find a current event about fossils of animals and humans that are being found at "Saudi Arabia’s Ti’s al Ghadah." I would show the students the picture of the antelope's jaw and teeth. I would discuss how bones can be found years and years later. I feel like the students will really enjoy learning about the aspects of this article. I look forward to sharing this with them next week. I am able to take the concepts they are learning in class and show them real life examples. The students love seeing what they learn in class being discussed in real life.
Link/Resource: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fossils-hint-hominids-migrated-through-green-arabia-300000-years-ago?tgt=nr
Future Classroom
I look forward to incorporating the ideas and strategies from the article into my future classroom. I will provide hands on experiences with my future students with new concepts. I want my students to be able to discover, question, research, etc on their own. I feel like the students will absorb and dig deeper in their understandings of the material. I also would like to have a classroom where my students are learning every subject throughout the whole day. This way I would not have to only teach certain subjects during certain times of the day and the students would not realize what subject they were learning. I feel like this would help the students to enjoy learning and be strengthened in every subject not just one. I know I use to struggle in reading so I would dread this time of the day. If students do not know what subject they are working on they will no have built up phobias or anxiety to develop during certain parts of the day. This is how I envision my future classroom.
I also will make sure to follow the NCTCS standards discussed above in my future classroom the way the teacher was able to in the article.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Facilitating Learning 21st Century Blog 3
Hello Everyone! Welcome to my blog and Happy Halloween!!! I can't believe this semester is almost over! This semester has flown by faster than I thought it would. I am trying to take in all of the information and feedback as I can this semester. I want to make sure I am fully prepared and ready to tackle student teaching in the spring.
In class this month I was able to complete my edTPA learning segment and the three task. I was able to teach my learning segment to the class I am placed in this semester. I really appreciate being able to learn more about edTPA and take part in a practice run this semester. I am learning as much as I can about edTPA by gathering all the feedback possible, so I am prepared for the real edTPA experience during student teaching. I decided to do another edTPA learning segment this semester in order to have more practice and feedback before spring semester.
I am really enjoying the kindergarten class I have been placed in this semester. The students are fabulous and are always eager to learn. My CE has been wonderful with helping me in any way she can. She is also very flexible and open minded to any changes I want to try in the classroom. I have been able to teach more this month than in September. I have learned a lot about myself, my lessons, and the students, the more I teach. I need to manage my time better during lessons so the students have time to get to all of the activities planned. I also have learned for kindergarten the lessons need to be very entertaining, hands on, active, and exciting for the students. If the students are bored they will not be engaged or learning. My focus has been to try and incorporate aspects they are interested in along with what they have to learn, this has seemed to help the students to be more engaged. I have been able to help my CE assess the students as well. I have seen the importance of taking time to assess the students individual and regularly. The students learn concepts at different rates and their levels of understanding change constantly. This helps the teacher to be informed on where the students are, what they need help on, where they need to move forward in, and what they are capable of. I have also asked my CE if I can take on more responsibility in the classroom. I will now be teaching every Wednesday, all day, until January. I want to get the feel for what it will be like to teach all day and I want the students to see me as a teacher and be comfortable with me teaching them.
By taking on the responsibility of the classroom and my students learning I am portraying the NCTCS standard one, Teachers demonstrate leadership. I have been working on creating relationships with each child in my classroom and treating them as individuals. I am demonstrating the NCTCS standard two, Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students. I also have been taking part in parent teacher conferences and communicating with parents about how we can best help their child together. This is also apart of the NCTCS standard two. I educate myself on the content being taught and on the needs of the students. I am portraying standard three, teachers know the content they teach. I group the students based on their abilities, I differentiate instruction and assignments to fit the needs of the individual learners. I am demonstrating standard four, teachers facilitate learning for their students. I reflected on what worked and did not work for my lessons during my learning segment and the lessons I have taught thus far. I am portraying standard five, teachers reflect on their practice.
In kindergarten a big part of what the students learn in the beginning and throughout is their social and emotional interactions and development. Students in kindergarten learn so much and grow tremendously in their social and emotional development. These skills are not only important for the students to be successful in school but also in life. The outside research I dove into this month was based on how to measure the social and emotional development of students. I found an article from edutopia discussing how we can measure social and emotional learning. I really think this is an aspect teachers and schools should take into consideration. The students should be assessed in this aspect just like they are assessed for reading and math skills. Teachers need to know how students are developing socially and emotionally. The teachers could discover students who may need more help in these areas and they could discover students who could be role models for their peers. I encourage you to take time to look over this article and consider if you would incorporate a way to measure the students social and emotional learning in your future classroom. https://www.edutopia.org/blogs/how-do-we-measure-sel-maurice-elias?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=facebook
In my future classroom I will continue to follow the NCTCS standards. I will also find a way to assess and keep track of my future students social and emotional learning. I want my students to not only be successful in school but to also be prepared to be successful in life. The students will face many obstacles in their lives that they need to be prepared to handle. I want to provide my students with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to reach their dreams and thrive. I will always assess my students as much as possible and change my teaching to fit their needs. All students are capable of learning they may just learn in different ways. It will be my job to determine how each of my students learn best. I will always empower and strengthen my students to be all they can be and more.
Resource:
https://www.edutopia.org/blogs/how-do-we-measure-sel-maurice-elias?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=facebook
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
In class this month I was able to complete my edTPA learning segment and the three task. I was able to teach my learning segment to the class I am placed in this semester. I really appreciate being able to learn more about edTPA and take part in a practice run this semester. I am learning as much as I can about edTPA by gathering all the feedback possible, so I am prepared for the real edTPA experience during student teaching. I decided to do another edTPA learning segment this semester in order to have more practice and feedback before spring semester.
I am really enjoying the kindergarten class I have been placed in this semester. The students are fabulous and are always eager to learn. My CE has been wonderful with helping me in any way she can. She is also very flexible and open minded to any changes I want to try in the classroom. I have been able to teach more this month than in September. I have learned a lot about myself, my lessons, and the students, the more I teach. I need to manage my time better during lessons so the students have time to get to all of the activities planned. I also have learned for kindergarten the lessons need to be very entertaining, hands on, active, and exciting for the students. If the students are bored they will not be engaged or learning. My focus has been to try and incorporate aspects they are interested in along with what they have to learn, this has seemed to help the students to be more engaged. I have been able to help my CE assess the students as well. I have seen the importance of taking time to assess the students individual and regularly. The students learn concepts at different rates and their levels of understanding change constantly. This helps the teacher to be informed on where the students are, what they need help on, where they need to move forward in, and what they are capable of. I have also asked my CE if I can take on more responsibility in the classroom. I will now be teaching every Wednesday, all day, until January. I want to get the feel for what it will be like to teach all day and I want the students to see me as a teacher and be comfortable with me teaching them.
By taking on the responsibility of the classroom and my students learning I am portraying the NCTCS standard one, Teachers demonstrate leadership. I have been working on creating relationships with each child in my classroom and treating them as individuals. I am demonstrating the NCTCS standard two, Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students. I also have been taking part in parent teacher conferences and communicating with parents about how we can best help their child together. This is also apart of the NCTCS standard two. I educate myself on the content being taught and on the needs of the students. I am portraying standard three, teachers know the content they teach. I group the students based on their abilities, I differentiate instruction and assignments to fit the needs of the individual learners. I am demonstrating standard four, teachers facilitate learning for their students. I reflected on what worked and did not work for my lessons during my learning segment and the lessons I have taught thus far. I am portraying standard five, teachers reflect on their practice.
In kindergarten a big part of what the students learn in the beginning and throughout is their social and emotional interactions and development. Students in kindergarten learn so much and grow tremendously in their social and emotional development. These skills are not only important for the students to be successful in school but also in life. The outside research I dove into this month was based on how to measure the social and emotional development of students. I found an article from edutopia discussing how we can measure social and emotional learning. I really think this is an aspect teachers and schools should take into consideration. The students should be assessed in this aspect just like they are assessed for reading and math skills. Teachers need to know how students are developing socially and emotionally. The teachers could discover students who may need more help in these areas and they could discover students who could be role models for their peers. I encourage you to take time to look over this article and consider if you would incorporate a way to measure the students social and emotional learning in your future classroom. https://www.edutopia.org/blogs/how-do-we-measure-sel-maurice-elias?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=facebook
In my future classroom I will continue to follow the NCTCS standards. I will also find a way to assess and keep track of my future students social and emotional learning. I want my students to not only be successful in school but to also be prepared to be successful in life. The students will face many obstacles in their lives that they need to be prepared to handle. I want to provide my students with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to reach their dreams and thrive. I will always assess my students as much as possible and change my teaching to fit their needs. All students are capable of learning they may just learn in different ways. It will be my job to determine how each of my students learn best. I will always empower and strengthen my students to be all they can be and more.
Resource:
https://www.edutopia.org/blogs/how-do-we-measure-sel-maurice-elias?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=facebook
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Facilitating Learning 21st Century Blog 2
Hello Everyone! I cannot believe we are already in the month of October! I love the month of October because this is my birthday month. I enjoy celebrating all month long! In class, I have really tried to focus on my edTPA task one and two. I am still practicing and researching the best way to word my answers to the questions on the edTPA commentaries. I hope to have a better handle on these tasks by the end of the semester. I believe this is possible with the practice we are given with edTPA this semester. I have continued to enjoy my time in my clinical placement. I have been able to create relationships with all the students in my class. I have begun to hear “Ms. Mitchell” many times throughout the day. I enjoy being able to teach, help, and guide the students each day I am in the classroom. I was able to teach my literacy learning segment since my last blog. I found that I need to really pay attention to the time and pace of my lessons. I found I was not able to have the students to complete all the learning task planned during the lesson because I would run out of time. I also need to plan simpler activities for my kindergarten students. The activities I had planned were a little too advanced for the students to complete at this point in the year. There are also lessons were students are highly engaged and lessons where students are not. I feel like the lesson where the students were very engaged aligned the best with their interest. For this particular lesson, I was able to find a story about a lizard who gets lose in a kindergarten classroom. The story I used is called, “Mary Had a Little Lizard” by Kayla Harren. This is a picture book and the students loved this learning experience. The students were able to help me use the pictures to tell the story. One of our students who misbehaves most of the time was the most engaged during this lesson. I will continue to align my lessons with the students' interest. I will also determine which learning task worked best for the students.
I was able to portray the NCTCS standard one, “Teachers Demonstrate Leadership,” by leading the students through the lessons. I was able to portray standard two, “Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students,” by creating a relationship with each student. Also, by letting each student speak and feel like they have a voice. I showed standard three, “Teachers know the content they teach,” by aligning my lessons to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I was able to depict standard four, “Teachers facilitate learning for their students,” by incorporating technology into the lessons. The story “Mary Had a Little Lizard,” was shown on power point slides. This way all the students could see the pages and feel like they were right there in the different settings. I was also able to take part in standard five, “Teachers reflect on their practice,” by reviewing the student's assessments and determining if they understood the information or not. This is a part of our edTPA task three.
In my outside research this week, I came upon an awesome article on professional development. As future teachers we are to continue our learning and become lifelong learners. I have noticed many of the professional development opportunities are normally lectures and sometimes hands on activities. This article discusses ways professional development opportunities could be differentiated for teachers. The articles four suggestions were to gauge teachers’ readiness, utilize teachers’ interest, get teachers involved, and provide opportunities for continual assessment. I think if schools considered trying some of these in their professional development times, teachers would benefit tremendously and absorb so much more material. If you have a chance take a look at this article. <https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-dont-we-differentiate-pd-pauline-zdonek?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow>
In my future classroom, I will always strive to follow the NCTCS standards so that my students are set up for success. I will create relationships with my students in my future classroom so that they trust me and believe in my teaching. I will also be able to know more about each students' interest when I am able to create a relationship with them. I will develop lesson plans, learning task, and individual assignments based on the students' interest and learning needs. I will also review the assessment data for my future students to determine if the students need the lesson retaught or if I can move forward to another standard.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Science Methods Blog 2
Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. This semester is flying by. I have really enjoyed my clinical placement this semester. I feel like kindergarten is a good fit for me. We are now able to start assessing the students to see where they are in their understandings and what they need more practice with. I was able to watch my CE assess a few students while I was there this week. The classroom I am in has a social studies/science block each day. The students have not started going to their groups or taking part in this yet. The teacher is still doing whole group instruction and activities at this point in the school year. I look forward to seeing the social studies/science block in effect in the near future. The themes my CE uses are aligned to either a social studies standard or a science standard. The students seem to really respond well to the themes being used each week. This past weeks theme was my community. I was shocked to learn the kindergarteners do not learn about being community helpers anymore, they do this part in first grade now. I am most proud of my work on the project science through your lens. I have really had fun looking for science in the world around me. I take pictures everywhere I go, so that I can use them for this project. I went hiking this past weekend and was able to gather a few more really cool pictures. It is amazing the amount of science taking place all around us, when you stop and observe. I encountered some struggle with our experiment for our science fair project. I was trying the experiment two different ways to see which one would be best. I believe I have chosen the better way to do the experiment. I determined this through trial and error. I am going to try one more time before finalizing. Over the next week I would like to get my unit done. I would like to continue working on the other learning experiences as well. My goal is to complete my learning task early so that I can receive feedback before turning them in to Dr. Parker as a final draft. I can contribute to the class more by responding to their findings on twitter.
The outside research I was able to find this week is an article from edutopia, "Using Science to bring Literature to Life." I found this article to be so intriguing and inspiring. This takes using science themes to guide the literature to a whole new level. Students are not only engaged in reading they are hands on in the reading and theme. The students are able to conduct experiments together throughout the book, relating to the book. For example, the students were able to create a moving monster to fight a character from the story. I would really encourage you to read this article when you have a chance. https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-science-bring-literature-life
I would use this idea in my future classroom by having students to conduct experiments and create products that connect them to the story. I also want my students to grow a deeper understanding on the story through these activities.
The current event I found is about a sea otter who uses her senses to find food after being blindfolded. I could use this current event to teach students about their five senses. The students could be blindfolded to and use their other senses to find objects in the room. https://www.popsci.com/sea-otter-blindfold-touch This week I have learned how the teacher needs to be the leader by leading her students in their learning. I was able to lead the students in their learning this week when I taught a literacy lesson about setting in the story. I was also able to demonstrate the NCTCS standard 2, Establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students, by making sure every student felt comfortable to answer questions and have a chance to speak.
Resources:
Eschner, K. (2018, September 17). A blindfolded sea otter named Selka shows how the critters find food in murky water. Retrieved 2018, from https://www.popsci.com/sea-otter-blindfold-touch
Schwartzbach-Kang, A. (2018, February 22). Using Science to Bring Literature to Life. Retrieved 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-science-bring-literature-life
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Facilitating Learning 21st Century- Ms. Mitchell's Journey
I cannot believe we are in week four of this semester. I feel like this semester is flying by. I am so excited for student teaching in the spring! I was placed with kindergarten and I love it so far. The students have been so excited to learn new things, especially letter land. I had never heard of letter land until this semester. I really love this program and feel like it will be very beneficial for the students. All of the students in my class participate and are engaged during the letter land lessons. Learning phonics is so important for students to learn to help them build a foundation for reading. My CE is so helpful and is very open to new ideas and strategies. We had staggered entry for the first week of school, this is where we had around 4-5 students come each day. The next week all of the students came and we focused on classroom management. It was very interesting trying to get the students to all walk in a line and to get their trays at lunch. I am glad I was able to experience these first days with the students. What I have been able to learn and observe will help me in my future classroom. I will also be able to see how much the students grow throughout the year from the time they first started on staggered entry day to their last day of school for the year.
In class we are working on edTPA. I am very nervous and excited to take part in this process. I am trying to soak all the information in now, so that I am successful with edTPA during student teaching. While I write the edTPA task, I do not feel like I am writing them using the right language. I look forward to receiving feedback on these task and having more practice with them. The edTPA learning experience connects with the NCTCS standard five, "Teachers reflect on their Practice." By the teacher analyzing data and determining the next steps and lesson they are portraying this standard. We have also completed a few classroom management learning experiences. I am glad to have had more practice with the classroom management aspect of teaching, before I have a class of my own. I feel like I will understand more and have a better handle on classroom management with more time in the classroom. The classroom management plan is connecting to the NCTCS standard two, "Teachers establish a Respectful environment for a diverse population of students." The teacher is setting up an environment where the students will be respectful to one another and feel safe.
Outside Research
The outside research I found is an article that talks about the importance of Welcoming Students with a Smile as they come into the classroom. I have found this to be very important in my clinical setting. My CE and I have made sure to great every student at the door when they come in. We tell each individual student good morning and let them know what they are supposed to do right away. This gives us a chance to talk to the students and to figure out if something is bothering them, if they had a rough morning, etc. We are then able to support the student in any way we can to help them to have a good day. I have noticed the students really light up when you meet them at the door and it helps the day to start off on a good note. Please take a moment and look over this article when you have a chance. I believe this will be very beneficial in our future classrooms. Link: <https://www.edutopia.org/article/welcoming-students-smile>
I have been able to observe many of the NCTCS standards being followed in my clinical placement. I have also been able to model some of the NCTCS standards myself in the classroom. My CE and I portray standard one, "Teachers Demonstrate Leadership," by determining what the students need to know, telling the students each morning what they are learning for the day and why, and by using data to plan and set goals for students. We also lead in the classroom by assessing the students in different ways, creating a safe environment, and encouraging the students to do their best on their work. For example, I had a student last week who did not want to draw a picture that he was asked to. I went over and discussed what his friends and him like to do and encouraged him to draw his picture. He started with one object and then I would go back and encourage him to draw the next object. He and I were so excited when he had completed his drawing. My CE and I welcome each student into the classroom and we encourage every student to participate during whole group and small group. My CE and I have been able to work on building our relationships with each student. We are protracting the NCTCS standard two, "Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students." My CE uses technology, hands on activities, auditory activities, pictures for the visual learners, etc. My CE is portraying standard four, "Teachers facilitate Learning for their Students." I have been able to help with this in the classroom by helping the CE determine what students should work in which groups. We have been able to see who works better together and how needs to be separated.
Future Classroom
In my future classroom I will make sure to greet each of my students at the door every morning. I want my future students to feel wanted and welcomed into my classroom each day. I will make sure to focus on making relationships with each of my students. I feel like this helps the students to trust you and open up to you about what they may not be understanding in class. I want to encourage all of my students to do their best each and everyday. I was so excited to be able to help that student to draw his picture. This experience showed me that every student is capable of completing the task and learning they just might need to be instructed or shown in different ways. I will also use the classroom management techniques I have observed in my future classroom. I love the colors idea for the behavior chart. I also know that not every classroom management strategy will work for every student or for every whole class. I also will definitely use letter land in my future classroom to help my students learn phonics. I was not taught phonics in school and had to go to a tutor to learn this skill. This was the only way I was able to learn to read. I am excited the schools are teaching phonics now and I look forward to teaching this in my future classroom. I will also use the edTPA process in my future classroom. I know when I learn how to plan, teach, analyze, and reteach will be very beneficial in my future classroom. I believe every teacher should have practice with this before they have a classroom of their own. I am also excited to learn how to collect data in an organized way and to observe some more testing, taking place in my classroom placement.
Resource:
Terada, Y. (2018, September). Welcoming Students With a Smile. Retrieved 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/welcoming-students-smile
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
In class we are working on edTPA. I am very nervous and excited to take part in this process. I am trying to soak all the information in now, so that I am successful with edTPA during student teaching. While I write the edTPA task, I do not feel like I am writing them using the right language. I look forward to receiving feedback on these task and having more practice with them. The edTPA learning experience connects with the NCTCS standard five, "Teachers reflect on their Practice." By the teacher analyzing data and determining the next steps and lesson they are portraying this standard. We have also completed a few classroom management learning experiences. I am glad to have had more practice with the classroom management aspect of teaching, before I have a class of my own. I feel like I will understand more and have a better handle on classroom management with more time in the classroom. The classroom management plan is connecting to the NCTCS standard two, "Teachers establish a Respectful environment for a diverse population of students." The teacher is setting up an environment where the students will be respectful to one another and feel safe.
Outside Research
The outside research I found is an article that talks about the importance of Welcoming Students with a Smile as they come into the classroom. I have found this to be very important in my clinical setting. My CE and I have made sure to great every student at the door when they come in. We tell each individual student good morning and let them know what they are supposed to do right away. This gives us a chance to talk to the students and to figure out if something is bothering them, if they had a rough morning, etc. We are then able to support the student in any way we can to help them to have a good day. I have noticed the students really light up when you meet them at the door and it helps the day to start off on a good note. Please take a moment and look over this article when you have a chance. I believe this will be very beneficial in our future classrooms. Link: <https://www.edutopia.org/article/welcoming-students-smile>
I have been able to observe many of the NCTCS standards being followed in my clinical placement. I have also been able to model some of the NCTCS standards myself in the classroom. My CE and I portray standard one, "Teachers Demonstrate Leadership," by determining what the students need to know, telling the students each morning what they are learning for the day and why, and by using data to plan and set goals for students. We also lead in the classroom by assessing the students in different ways, creating a safe environment, and encouraging the students to do their best on their work. For example, I had a student last week who did not want to draw a picture that he was asked to. I went over and discussed what his friends and him like to do and encouraged him to draw his picture. He started with one object and then I would go back and encourage him to draw the next object. He and I were so excited when he had completed his drawing. My CE and I welcome each student into the classroom and we encourage every student to participate during whole group and small group. My CE and I have been able to work on building our relationships with each student. We are protracting the NCTCS standard two, "Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students." My CE uses technology, hands on activities, auditory activities, pictures for the visual learners, etc. My CE is portraying standard four, "Teachers facilitate Learning for their Students." I have been able to help with this in the classroom by helping the CE determine what students should work in which groups. We have been able to see who works better together and how needs to be separated.
Future Classroom
In my future classroom I will make sure to greet each of my students at the door every morning. I want my future students to feel wanted and welcomed into my classroom each day. I will make sure to focus on making relationships with each of my students. I feel like this helps the students to trust you and open up to you about what they may not be understanding in class. I want to encourage all of my students to do their best each and everyday. I was so excited to be able to help that student to draw his picture. This experience showed me that every student is capable of completing the task and learning they just might need to be instructed or shown in different ways. I will also use the classroom management techniques I have observed in my future classroom. I love the colors idea for the behavior chart. I also know that not every classroom management strategy will work for every student or for every whole class. I also will definitely use letter land in my future classroom to help my students learn phonics. I was not taught phonics in school and had to go to a tutor to learn this skill. This was the only way I was able to learn to read. I am excited the schools are teaching phonics now and I look forward to teaching this in my future classroom. I will also use the edTPA process in my future classroom. I know when I learn how to plan, teach, analyze, and reteach will be very beneficial in my future classroom. I believe every teacher should have practice with this before they have a classroom of their own. I am also excited to learn how to collect data in an organized way and to observe some more testing, taking place in my classroom placement.
Resource:
Terada, Y. (2018, September). Welcoming Students With a Smile. Retrieved 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/welcoming-students-smile
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Science Methods- Ms. Mitchell's Journey!
Reflection
Hello everyone! Welcome to my science methods blog! I am very excited and a little nervous about this semester. There are many task to complete this semester, but with good time management it will be possible. Science has always been one of my favorite subjects in school. I look forward to learning how to teach science correctly to my future students. We are currently learning about the classroom management systems in our clinical placements. This is definitely an aspect every teacher needs to know about before they have a classroom of their own. The assignment I am most proud of is "my why" creation thus far this semester. I was thrilled to have the chance to create this infographic telling about why I want to be a teacher. This helped me to see and remember exactly why I am on this journey. I will be able to use this assignment to motivate me on the rest of my journey when things get tough. I would say my only struggle right now is waiting to see our final group of students in our classroom. The school I am placed at is having the kindergarteners to do gradual entry this week from Monday to Thursday and then Friday they will discuss which students need to move classrooms. Therefore, we will not know our class list for sure until tomorrow afternoon. I am enjoying the students I have had in the class this week and I have my video forms ready for next week. This week my goal is to start on my PDP goals and also get ahead on our science fair project. I would like to be able to finish our science fair project early so that we can submit it to Dr. Parker for feedback.
This week I was able to contribute to class by commenting on my classmates work we submitted Monday. I also have been able to discuss the science fair project with my partner. I could contribute more to my classmates by replying more to the discussion boards.
Outside Research
I decided to research more about teaching science in the classroom using the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). I found an awesome video about a classroom who bases their curriculum off of the NGSS. The students are engaged, it applies to all learners, incorporates interesting projects, and contains group work. The students learning is supported, they apply what they know on performance assessments, they have choices, and use decision making skills. Please check out the video, the link is attached! <https://www.edutopia.org/video/research-backed-science-curriculum>. The teachers in this video portrayed many of the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards (NCTCS). For instance the teachers were following standard one which is where the teacher demonstrates leadership. The teacher is leading the students in what they are learning or what task they are completing. The teacher is also establishing a respectful environment for a diverse population of students by having students in groups and every person having a job. Every student is able to contribute to the project and the group. Also, every student is able to learn with this curriculum and standards, they are for all learners. The teacher is also facilitating learning for students by having interesting projects and the students are able to make choices. The teachers also reflect back on their practices in the video, this is standard five. Lastly, standard six the teacher contributes to the academic success of students. At the end of the video it shows how this new curriculum has helped the students. I would like to use this way of teaching science in my future classroom. I feel like students will be more engaged when they are learning about interesting topics and completing group work/ performance assessments together. In my future science instruction I would like to model these six NCTCS standards the way the teachers have in this video. I believe if I am able to do so my students will be very successful academically and in the real world.
Scientific Thinking
This past week we learned about the phenomenon. These are things that happen and students have to figure out how. This is the hook, teachers can use to draw students into the science lesson. I really enjoyed learning about these and could really see myself using these in my future classroom. I feel like students would really enjoy these. I found two I believe students would enjoy learning about. One was ice circles and the fire rainbow. The use of phenomenon in the classroom hits every part of the scientific method. The students have to make a prediction of why the phenomenon happens such as why does the fire rainbow form. Then, experiment, observe and record, analyze, and share results with the class. I hope to use the phenomenons in my future classroom! Here is a link to the examples I found for the phenomenons. <https://www.zmescience.com/other/great-pics/totally-awesome-natural-phenomena-you-probably-didnt-know-about-000033/ > Thank you for reading my blog!
Resources:
A Research-Backed Science Curriculum. (2018, June 12). Retrieved August, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/video/research-backed-science-curriculum
Andrei, M. (2017, October 27). 8 totally awesome natural phenomena you probably didn't know about. Retrieved 2018, from https://www.zmescience.com/other/great-pics/totally-awesome-natural-phenomena-you-probably-didnt-know-about-000033/
Hello everyone! Welcome to my science methods blog! I am very excited and a little nervous about this semester. There are many task to complete this semester, but with good time management it will be possible. Science has always been one of my favorite subjects in school. I look forward to learning how to teach science correctly to my future students. We are currently learning about the classroom management systems in our clinical placements. This is definitely an aspect every teacher needs to know about before they have a classroom of their own. The assignment I am most proud of is "my why" creation thus far this semester. I was thrilled to have the chance to create this infographic telling about why I want to be a teacher. This helped me to see and remember exactly why I am on this journey. I will be able to use this assignment to motivate me on the rest of my journey when things get tough. I would say my only struggle right now is waiting to see our final group of students in our classroom. The school I am placed at is having the kindergarteners to do gradual entry this week from Monday to Thursday and then Friday they will discuss which students need to move classrooms. Therefore, we will not know our class list for sure until tomorrow afternoon. I am enjoying the students I have had in the class this week and I have my video forms ready for next week. This week my goal is to start on my PDP goals and also get ahead on our science fair project. I would like to be able to finish our science fair project early so that we can submit it to Dr. Parker for feedback.
This week I was able to contribute to class by commenting on my classmates work we submitted Monday. I also have been able to discuss the science fair project with my partner. I could contribute more to my classmates by replying more to the discussion boards.
Outside Research
I decided to research more about teaching science in the classroom using the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). I found an awesome video about a classroom who bases their curriculum off of the NGSS. The students are engaged, it applies to all learners, incorporates interesting projects, and contains group work. The students learning is supported, they apply what they know on performance assessments, they have choices, and use decision making skills. Please check out the video, the link is attached! <https://www.edutopia.org/video/research-backed-science-curriculum>. The teachers in this video portrayed many of the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards (NCTCS). For instance the teachers were following standard one which is where the teacher demonstrates leadership. The teacher is leading the students in what they are learning or what task they are completing. The teacher is also establishing a respectful environment for a diverse population of students by having students in groups and every person having a job. Every student is able to contribute to the project and the group. Also, every student is able to learn with this curriculum and standards, they are for all learners. The teacher is also facilitating learning for students by having interesting projects and the students are able to make choices. The teachers also reflect back on their practices in the video, this is standard five. Lastly, standard six the teacher contributes to the academic success of students. At the end of the video it shows how this new curriculum has helped the students. I would like to use this way of teaching science in my future classroom. I feel like students will be more engaged when they are learning about interesting topics and completing group work/ performance assessments together. In my future science instruction I would like to model these six NCTCS standards the way the teachers have in this video. I believe if I am able to do so my students will be very successful academically and in the real world.
Scientific Thinking
This past week we learned about the phenomenon. These are things that happen and students have to figure out how. This is the hook, teachers can use to draw students into the science lesson. I really enjoyed learning about these and could really see myself using these in my future classroom. I feel like students would really enjoy these. I found two I believe students would enjoy learning about. One was ice circles and the fire rainbow. The use of phenomenon in the classroom hits every part of the scientific method. The students have to make a prediction of why the phenomenon happens such as why does the fire rainbow form. Then, experiment, observe and record, analyze, and share results with the class. I hope to use the phenomenons in my future classroom! Here is a link to the examples I found for the phenomenons. <https://www.zmescience.com/other/great-pics/totally-awesome-natural-phenomena-you-probably-didnt-know-about-000033/ > Thank you for reading my blog!
Resources:
A Research-Backed Science Curriculum. (2018, June 12). Retrieved August, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/video/research-backed-science-curriculum
Andrei, M. (2017, October 27). 8 totally awesome natural phenomena you probably didn't know about. Retrieved 2018, from https://www.zmescience.com/other/great-pics/totally-awesome-natural-phenomena-you-probably-didnt-know-about-000033/
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Social Studies Methods- April
Classwork
I can't believe I am writing my last blog for this semester. This semester has been challenging but also very rewarding. I have learned an abundance of reliable helpful information and skills to use in my future endeavors as a teacher. At first I was nervous about some of the learning experiences in this class. After, completing the learning experiences I have found them to be very rewarding. I have learned a lot from the learning experiences and have been able to see what I need to improve on and strengthen in my journey to become an educator.
The main learning experience I was worried about most was the concept unit we had to create. I wasn't sure if I would be capable of planning something like this. After, completing the unit I feel like I surprised myself with a really engaging and interactive unit. This learning experience and my lesson plans have taught me what I can improve on and strengthen. I was able to show my unit to one of my previous clinical instructors and she really excited about it. She mentioned that she would like to use a unit like this in her classroom. I used geography and communities for my concepts for the unit. I want the students to understand that the geography can impact the community and vic versa. I was able to incorporate some new technology into the unit that I was not aware of before the unit. One of the types of technology was a virtual game where the students would be the frog who is trying to overcome geographical obstacles to get back to his home. I feel like the students will really be able to learn more about how the geography through this game. I was also able to incorporate an activity the school I have been observing is using in a few weeks. This activity is called the wax museum, this is where students dress up as a famous person and stand like statues with posters beside them describing themselves. The students can talk when prompted such as pushing a button beside the poster. I remember doing an activity similar to this one in school but it was called something different. I feel like this activity would allow the students to be creative and to be interactive in their learning. This activity would help the visual, kinesthetic, logical, and auditory learner. The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards that relates to creating a unit are; standard three "Teachers know the content they teach" and standard four "Teachers Facilitate learning for their students"(NCTCS). In order to make sure my students are receiving the information they need, the technology opportunities, group work time, etc I need to plan ahead and this can be done through a concept based unit. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to create a unit and I look forward to learning how to make my units even stronger.
Clinical Experience
I was able to reflect on my lesson and watch the video of my lesson with my clinical placement class. I have learned that I need to practice with my delivery of my lesson to the students. I would not always say what I had planned to say on paper when it came time to teach. I need to learn how to make sure I am covering every topic when teaching my lesson to the students that I had planned on covering. I feel like with more practice I will be able to express my topics better to the students. I was also able to see what parts of the lesson I need to improve on. For example, I learned I need to give better directions to the students for group work. The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standard this relates to is standard five "Teachers Reflect on Their Practice" (NCTCS). I was able to reflect on my lessons and determine what I need to fix, keep, and strengthen for the next time. I have learned by being in the classroom that timing is everything. In order for the students to receive all of the helpful information, take part in group work, have one on one time with the teacher, etc relies on timing. Teachers have to stick to a steady schedule in order to squeeze everything they need to in each day. While observing and working with my clinical placement class, I have noticed how the students know exactly when activities happen during the day and they know what to be prepared for next. I feel like by using more differentiation into the classroom the teachers will not have to be so focused on the time because the students will be receiving all they need to from each subject area at one time. I would like my future students to be so engaged in the activities and classroom atmosphere that they do not know what subject we are learning. I have also noticed in my observations how the students are only focusing on reading and math instruction. I would like to see more art, history, and science combined into their learning. The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standard that relates to these ideas is standard one "Teachers Demonstrate Leadership"(NCTCS). It is our jobs as future teachers to be responsible for our students learning, promote growth, etc (NCTCS). I also noticed in the fourth grade class I observed and taught in that they do not use graphic organizers, hands on activities, art, etc. This class the majority of the time reads stories, answers questions, has tests, and does math problems on the board. I feel like the students were bored and zoning out. Therefore, the students were not being challenged, were not engaged, and were not learning. This gave me even more reason to strive to have hands on activities for students in my future classroom.
Outside Research
The classroom I was placed in does incorporate some history into their lessons through stories they read for literacy. I wanted to research some other activities the teacher could use to help her students to become more engaged in their learning. I found this article on "Using Science to Bring Literature to Life." (https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-science-bring-literature-life) This article talked about performing science experiments and making robots. I feel like if students were able to do more hands on activities they would be growing in their learning in all subject areas. The second article I found from edutopia was "Building a Metacognitive Classroom." (https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-metacognitive-classroom) This article discussed how teachers should discuss with students about their brain and how it changes and grows when we learn. This would be very beneficial fro students to know how their brain works and I believe it would motivate them to learn. The last article I found from edutopia is called "60-Second Strategy: Snowball toss." This rang a bell for me because one of the teachers I was able to interview discussed the use of snowballs in her classroom. For this activity the students write about a topic on their snowballs, throw them around the room, then you pick up a snowball around you. By using this activity the students are able to get up and move around the room and then they have a discussion by reading what everyone wrote on the snowballs they pick up. I really love all of the ideas I was able to find in these articles. Please check this articles out if you have a chance.
Future Classroom
After this class I have been able to see what I need to practice and strengthen so that I am the best I can be as a teacher. I know now what I need to work on and research more on to make me a stronger, knowledgeable, and confident teacher in the future. In my future classroom I plan on incorporating concept-based learning and concept-based units into my instructions and plans. I will strive to help my students to see the big picture in their learning. I want students to be so engaged in the activities and assignments in my room that they do not even know which subject they are learning. I want my future students creative juices to explode, I will allow for this to take place by assigning hands on activities and activities with choices to reach each learner in the classroom. I will also teach students how their brains grow and develop while they are learning and engaged. I will reflect on my practices and teaching regularly to see what I need to change to help my students to be successful. This is how I plan to implement what I have learned into my future classroom.
Resources:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
links throughout the blog
I can't believe I am writing my last blog for this semester. This semester has been challenging but also very rewarding. I have learned an abundance of reliable helpful information and skills to use in my future endeavors as a teacher. At first I was nervous about some of the learning experiences in this class. After, completing the learning experiences I have found them to be very rewarding. I have learned a lot from the learning experiences and have been able to see what I need to improve on and strengthen in my journey to become an educator.
The main learning experience I was worried about most was the concept unit we had to create. I wasn't sure if I would be capable of planning something like this. After, completing the unit I feel like I surprised myself with a really engaging and interactive unit. This learning experience and my lesson plans have taught me what I can improve on and strengthen. I was able to show my unit to one of my previous clinical instructors and she really excited about it. She mentioned that she would like to use a unit like this in her classroom. I used geography and communities for my concepts for the unit. I want the students to understand that the geography can impact the community and vic versa. I was able to incorporate some new technology into the unit that I was not aware of before the unit. One of the types of technology was a virtual game where the students would be the frog who is trying to overcome geographical obstacles to get back to his home. I feel like the students will really be able to learn more about how the geography through this game. I was also able to incorporate an activity the school I have been observing is using in a few weeks. This activity is called the wax museum, this is where students dress up as a famous person and stand like statues with posters beside them describing themselves. The students can talk when prompted such as pushing a button beside the poster. I remember doing an activity similar to this one in school but it was called something different. I feel like this activity would allow the students to be creative and to be interactive in their learning. This activity would help the visual, kinesthetic, logical, and auditory learner. The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards that relates to creating a unit are; standard three "Teachers know the content they teach" and standard four "Teachers Facilitate learning for their students"(NCTCS). In order to make sure my students are receiving the information they need, the technology opportunities, group work time, etc I need to plan ahead and this can be done through a concept based unit. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to create a unit and I look forward to learning how to make my units even stronger.
Clinical Experience
I was able to reflect on my lesson and watch the video of my lesson with my clinical placement class. I have learned that I need to practice with my delivery of my lesson to the students. I would not always say what I had planned to say on paper when it came time to teach. I need to learn how to make sure I am covering every topic when teaching my lesson to the students that I had planned on covering. I feel like with more practice I will be able to express my topics better to the students. I was also able to see what parts of the lesson I need to improve on. For example, I learned I need to give better directions to the students for group work. The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standard this relates to is standard five "Teachers Reflect on Their Practice" (NCTCS). I was able to reflect on my lessons and determine what I need to fix, keep, and strengthen for the next time. I have learned by being in the classroom that timing is everything. In order for the students to receive all of the helpful information, take part in group work, have one on one time with the teacher, etc relies on timing. Teachers have to stick to a steady schedule in order to squeeze everything they need to in each day. While observing and working with my clinical placement class, I have noticed how the students know exactly when activities happen during the day and they know what to be prepared for next. I feel like by using more differentiation into the classroom the teachers will not have to be so focused on the time because the students will be receiving all they need to from each subject area at one time. I would like my future students to be so engaged in the activities and classroom atmosphere that they do not know what subject we are learning. I have also noticed in my observations how the students are only focusing on reading and math instruction. I would like to see more art, history, and science combined into their learning. The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standard that relates to these ideas is standard one "Teachers Demonstrate Leadership"(NCTCS). It is our jobs as future teachers to be responsible for our students learning, promote growth, etc (NCTCS). I also noticed in the fourth grade class I observed and taught in that they do not use graphic organizers, hands on activities, art, etc. This class the majority of the time reads stories, answers questions, has tests, and does math problems on the board. I feel like the students were bored and zoning out. Therefore, the students were not being challenged, were not engaged, and were not learning. This gave me even more reason to strive to have hands on activities for students in my future classroom.
Outside Research
The classroom I was placed in does incorporate some history into their lessons through stories they read for literacy. I wanted to research some other activities the teacher could use to help her students to become more engaged in their learning. I found this article on "Using Science to Bring Literature to Life." (https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-science-bring-literature-life) This article talked about performing science experiments and making robots. I feel like if students were able to do more hands on activities they would be growing in their learning in all subject areas. The second article I found from edutopia was "Building a Metacognitive Classroom." (https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-metacognitive-classroom) This article discussed how teachers should discuss with students about their brain and how it changes and grows when we learn. This would be very beneficial fro students to know how their brain works and I believe it would motivate them to learn. The last article I found from edutopia is called "60-Second Strategy: Snowball toss." This rang a bell for me because one of the teachers I was able to interview discussed the use of snowballs in her classroom. For this activity the students write about a topic on their snowballs, throw them around the room, then you pick up a snowball around you. By using this activity the students are able to get up and move around the room and then they have a discussion by reading what everyone wrote on the snowballs they pick up. I really love all of the ideas I was able to find in these articles. Please check this articles out if you have a chance.
Future Classroom
After this class I have been able to see what I need to practice and strengthen so that I am the best I can be as a teacher. I know now what I need to work on and research more on to make me a stronger, knowledgeable, and confident teacher in the future. In my future classroom I plan on incorporating concept-based learning and concept-based units into my instructions and plans. I will strive to help my students to see the big picture in their learning. I want students to be so engaged in the activities and assignments in my room that they do not even know which subject they are learning. I want my future students creative juices to explode, I will allow for this to take place by assigning hands on activities and activities with choices to reach each learner in the classroom. I will also teach students how their brains grow and develop while they are learning and engaged. I will reflect on my practices and teaching regularly to see what I need to change to help my students to be successful. This is how I plan to implement what I have learned into my future classroom.
Resources:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/effectiveness-model/ncees/standards/prof-teach-standards.pdf
links throughout the blog
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