Standardized Testing

Standardized tests were something that I used to dread. This also goes for my fellow classmates. This is something that I feel is not beneficial for students as they should not be afraid of what should essentially be bettering their learning experience. I remember always having two weeks before our standardized tests to review and for teachers to coach us on how to properly take the test. They taught us a variety of methods to cheat the system and better our scores as to make the school look as if they were doing everything correctly even if they were, in fact, doing just the opposite. Though these were supposed to reflect the school, I do not feel as though they served much more of a purpose than that. I don't believe that they gave an accurate account of how the school was progressing with all the coaching and what not going on. These tests did not benefit anyone, including the school systems. It may have if the information was correct, but due to the teachers trying so hard to make themselves look as if they had done their jobs appropriately, I do not feel that the tests were beneficial at all. The most excitement that came from these tests were when we got breaks to text, use the restoom, and eat snacks. That is not where education should be right now.

Lesson Plan Rationale

Our lesson plan consisted of  5 days-Monday through Friday. The subject that we chose to focus on was Science as we could see that the book we chose (The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl) related very well to science more than it did to any of the other subjects. The grade that we agreed to do a lesson plan for was second grade as I am an elementary ed major and so was one of the other girls in my group. This made it easier to brainstorm new ideas and such as a group dealing with age, comprehension, and picking actitivies that addressed the needs of students that have special needs such as ELL students. ELL stands for English Language Learners. The subject of a caterpillar is one of the easier ones to branch over from English to a different language. This is because the book can be translated, so can all of the worksheets as well as the video, and lastly, the caterpillars themselves can be seen in person and handled by those students. This ensures that the student learns certain things about caterpillars on their own personal level just as the rest of the class will though they may have an easier time identifying with the assignments.

On Monday, for science, "bring Caterpillars into the classroom for observation. As a class, research the anatomy of a caterpillar, life cycles, and other questions the students may have" This speaks again to what I mentioned with students being able to see the creature face to face and get to experience them firsthand. On Tuesday in science, we have the detailed lesson plan, which I will get into later. Wednesday, for science, we "Visit a park and see how many caterpillars and butterflies the students can locate. How are they all different? How are they similar? Colors? Designs? Have students write short stories with pictures about their discoveries." This also gives students another chance to experience the life cycle firsthand. This may be something that the students may become very excited about and therefore, really be encouraged to find as many examples as possible. The pictures are something that every student can do on their own, but ELL as well as the rest of the students may very well need extensive help at this grade level with writing a short story.

On Thursday for science, "Have students draw/make a collage of their own interpretation of what happens in the life cycle of the caterpillar in detail." This will hopefully show that the students know and understand the life cycles of the caterpillars that are located in the room. If the students still do not understand the process after 4 days of teaching this, then mabye it is time to reevaluate how the lessons are being taught and possibly spend a little more time on them depending on importance. Lastly, on Friday, "Visit a butterfly room at a museum or zoo and have students take vivid notes on what they learned." This gives the students the opportunity to learn a little more than they may have before by getting the word of an expert or someone who specializes in that field. ELL students may need a translator to help them grasp what they presenter may be saying. Besides that, this should be a pretty easy fieldtrip that the students would get really excited about. Even more so than the one before.

Classroom Management Part 2

Handling misbehaving students is just one of the multiple ways that teachers are expected to manage a classroom. As an elementary as well as middle school student, I was exposed to many fights in the classroom. Fights are one of the extreme classroom management tasks that need to be faced. Teachers should calmly assess and then handle the situation as to ensure that no one is harmed and that things do not get more out of hand than they already are. As for highschool, fights were a big deal, but bomb threats were even bigger. Though this may be far-fetched and not an everyday situation, it is still something that has to be dealt with from time to time, and every teacher should be ready to handle the situation effectively may it be presented. Handling either of these situations cannot be done unless all students involved respect the teacher. Respect is something that must be earned. I believe that the students will not respect the teacher unless the teacher shows some sort of respect for the students. This starts by giving them the appropriate space that they need, not exceeding giving them control to do whatever it is that they want. That can lead to many different problems that may not be able to be solved positively.

Motivation Part 2

Students can be self-motivated though it may take some work getting them there depending on their age. More towards the age of highschool, it is easier to find a self-motivated student as they are coming fast upon college and are motivated to achieve good grades as to prepare themselves for and to get to college. No matter what age, when a students sees something that they want, they go for it. Getting a student to be self-motivated simply means finding what they want or ways to interest them in the topics that need to be taught as they will then be interested enough to want to achieve their own goals and will move forward from there. For instance, relating subjects such as math to things that students can relate to and enjoy is a big way to encourage students to be self-motivated. Once they are self motivated, it may follow that they will bring their friends along for the self-motivated ride!

Motivation

Keeping students motivated is a really big part of teaching.Without motivation, students will not be willing to put in the proper effort needed to suceed in school. As an elementary education major, I will not have to deal so much with other teachers not keeping their students motivated as they will stay in my classroom for the majority of the day. It is a teacher's job to keep her students focused on the task at hand and make sure that they do not lose interest in it. Keeping students interested in the material that is being learned is a big part of this though a student will not always be interested in what has to be taught. That's just life. For elementary school- aged children, some of the classroom motivation aspects that we discussed in class would not be appropriate. For instance, letting young students grade themselves or treating them like adults will not benefit anyone. However, setting high expectations for students and making sure that they are aware that you expect them to meet those standards is just one of the many ways to keep young students motivated. This is because young children thrive to impress and please the adults that matter in their lives such as their parents, teachers, and older siblings. I feel that the environment also plays a big part in how a student stays motivated. A classroom should be colorful and keep a child stimulated, but too much going on on the walls and ceilings of students can be very distracting. Distractions make students lose their motivation as they are focusing thier attention on other things rather than classwork. Asking questions to ensure that they are understanding the materials can also be motivating going back to the aspect of students wanting to please the people that they feel are important. This also checks to see if the students are up to date on what is being taught enabling the teacher to figure out whether or not they should be spending more time teaching that subject or move on to something else.

Classroom Management

Classroom management is a big part of a student's education. Without proper classroom management, a student may not be able to learn to the best of his/her ability. For this reason,  I plan on implementing many different ideas that I have seen work in my years of attending school, in my practicums, and what I have learned in this class along with others at Drake. I first and foremost would make sure that my students understand that though I can be friendly and we can joke around, there are times to be serious. I am to be respected as their teacher and elder. I want my students to feel comfortable enough to speak with me about problems that they are having inside and outside of the classroom. That is the best kind of teacher, in my opinion, one that you can count on when help is needed.

As a preschool/ kindergarten teacher, I will learn my student's zone of proximal development and move on from there as that is the best way to reach everyone's learning level on specific subjects. I will definately have high expectations for my students, as I have seen that when teachers have a high expectation of their students, younger children tend to thrive to reach those goals, and at times, even exceed them. I want to be able to say that I made a difference in my student's lives and that they are something great in life like the President, Cheif of Police, Doctors, or Lawyers. To think that this would have all more or less started with me would be the most amazing feeling.

I want to make sure that all of my students are more or less on the same page before I move on to the next subject. Though there are standards and such that need to be met, I believe that it is more important to ensure that all of my students understand the material rather than teaching it, moving on, and keeping my fingers crossed that they got something out of it. I don't want them to just understand some of it, I want them to understand subjects close to completely, if not completely (as I understand that it is not always possible to get everyone on the same page without boring the individuals who understood it the first time it was taught).

Our Presentation.! :)

I feel that our presentation definately went as planned. Though I do believe that it was rushed, (because everyone was so anxious to get out of class early), it still went as it was supposed to. This activity is one that I have actually done with my kindergarten students various times, and the class reacted to the game about the same way as the kindergarteners had. I did, however, notice that group two got really bored and unmotivated and therefore never had their next teammate up and ready when it was their team's turn again, which in return, caused their team to lose as they were no longer actively mentally engaged nor were they  interested. This was the only problem that truthfully bothered me when I think of how the game went.

Tuesday Presentations :)

I definitely (Totally just struggled to spell that word once again ha) though that the presentations went well. I can honestly say that I learned a little something from all of the groups. I feel that everyone put in the same amount of effort and everyone seemed more or less motivated to get their lessons done in the most efficient ways possible. I loved the creativity that came with some of them and the different age levels that were taught was pretty cool. I very much enjoyed watching my classmates teach. I definately know that they will all be great teachers very soon :)

Class So Far...

So far, class is pretty intersting. I like the fact that as a class, we all stay engaged in the conversations that take place. This would not be nearly as possible if we did not have our little table discussions. I believe this is because often times, individuals are afraid to vent their feelings or thoughts about a subject simply because they do not want to be shot down by saying something offensive, or something that may make them feel as if what they said was dumb or unnecessary. With our various mini group discussions, the classroom environment has become much more comfortable and home-like as we begin to build relationships with the individuals at our tables that we are constantly engaging in converstations with.

As for the learning theories, I am pretty much understanding everything pretty well. However, I find myself fumbling to remember what CLT stands for. As I am writing this, I can sit here and think of what the C acutally stands for (Constructivist), however, when put on the spot, it is not so simple. I do always eventually remember. It's crazy that I understand what it is and all, and yet I struggle to remember what the C stands for. Sad, but true.

iWrite Words: An Educational app for iPad

iWrite Words is an educational appl that can be used for the iPad. This game is for children between the ages of three and six. It teaches children how to write words while working on letter recognition, letter writing, and sounding out words. I can truly see how this tool can be a big help in the classroom setting as students within the correct age range might struggle with a lot or most of the components that come along with reading and writing. this game can help to impove these skills in a fun-filled way.

This is the link to the app:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iwritewords-tracing-game/id307025309?mt=8

and here is a link I found on Youtube of a child playing the game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZTkPtAyqOY

and lastly, an article/review of the app:
http://appstruck.com/2009/06/iPhone-App-Review-look-mommy-iwritewords/

I can clearly see how this app can be used for educational purposes, for which I described earlier, however, I do not see how a child can be using this app on a regular basis and not learn from it. This is because what with all the letter tracing, sounding out of words and letters, and such, there is no opportunity for the child to play the game in some other sense where they will not learn anything from it. THESE are the kinds of games we should be allowing our children to play, something that they can learn from.

Including DLT, SLT, and CLT in the classroom

I feel that trying to incorporate the three learning theories that we have learned so far would be extremely difficult as well as easy. I say this because it is fairly easy to incorporate one or more of the learning theories without even realizing that you are doing so. This was shown clearly in class on Tuesday when we learned about the Constructivist Learning Theory as we did not know we were learning something new and relevant, but we most definately were. Some of the class even ventured to question why we were even doing certain activities as we did not realize that they tied into anything until we had already learned it. Whereas trying too hard to utilize the three learning theories can become frustrating and more difficult than need be.

Questions I would ask myself to ensure that I am utilizing these 3 learning theories:

1)  CLT (Constructivist Learning Theory)
                            ** What is the student's position on the topic at hand?
                            ** Will the student have to assimilate or accomidate their stance on the topic at hand at all?


2)  DLT (Developmental Learning Theory)
                            ** Where are the students on the concrete to abstract scale?
                            ** How am I determining the student's position on the conctete to abstract scale?
                            **Am I making sure that students are understanding both concrete and abstract parts of the topic at hand?
                            ** Am I leaving anyone behind, and do I need to go over things again to ensure that everyone is on the same page?
                            ** Am I breaking things down enough so students can understand it from the concrete point of view?
                            ** Am I making sure that the level of abstract thinking is age-appropriate for the students?



3)  SLT  (Social Learning Theory)
                            ** Am I allowing students to do group work as to essentially learn from one another?
                            ** Am I allowing students to  
                            ** Am I allotting time for students to use their peers to inquire with and bounce ideas off of one another?
                            ** Where are the students on the Zone of Proximal Development Scale?
                            ** If students are struggling, is there an opportunity for them to learn from the more knowledgeable student in the group/ classroom? If so, has that opportunity been seized?

DLT...like BLT..only it's not.! ha ;p

Math has always been hard for me. However, I did not figure this much out until I was in the fourth grade. I was constantly being yelled at and punished for not understanding the material that was being presented to me. I remember having to stay after school for detention to work on math problems that I had previously gotten wrong earlier in the day. Although I know that my teacher thought she was helping me, I definately was not feeling the love. I felt as though I was being singled out and overall, it made me feel dumb.

I see now that there were so many other ways that my teacher could have tried to reach out and help me when I wasn't conprehending the school work. I am definately a hands-on type of girl, and that alone would have helped me tremendously. Fractions were my worst nightmare! Blocks, or math pieces of some sort would have helped me figure some of the  problems out and I would have caught up with the class more easily.

For whatever reason, my teacher chose the method in which she did, and though my parents were giving me extra help at home, I still wasn't getting it. Even today,  I fully and whole-heartedly believe that if she would have chosen a hands-on approach to teach me, give me something visual, then I would not suck so horribly at mathematics! Though a lot of this was up to me, it is still the teacher's job to teach. As in the video we watched in class on Tuesday, "We always assume that when teachers teach, students learn". This is, in most cases untrue. It simply depends on the method that is chosen to teach each subject.

:) The Memories

I am an Elementary Education major! :) I love the children! They are our future. I have known that I wanted to be a pre-school/ Kindergarten teacher since I was about seven. Because I am the oldest child, grandchild, and cousin on my mother's side of the family, I was able to force the younger children to play "school" with me. They were my students and I was always the teacher. We had lunch, recess, and even homework!! I was really into making it as real as possible even though we were all in public school anyway. This would be the one thing that I always looked forward to doing in my Grandma's basement for every holiday that wwe went to visit. I will never forget those days. They made me realize that this is truly what I want to do. I want to make a differene in what will be our future. Those cute little faces will one day run this world. It is our job as teachers to ensure that they learn to run it correctly. :)






How's THAT for not knowing what I was going to write? haha