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.