End of the Year Animoto

Field Trip to SMU and the President George W. Bush Museum and Library

Click here to the assignment on Mrs. Kallas's wiki.

On Thursday, March 30 my Education and Training class visited SMU and Bush Library. We started out in the tech labs for the Department of Teaching and Learning (click here). To me, the most interesting part was learning about the different augmented reality apps, and how there were so many different apps that you could use. Seeing how easy it was to bring something technologically advanced into even a Kindergarten classroom was fascinating.

After we finished at SMU, we went over to the President George W. Bush Museum and Library (click here).  We got to see a model of the oval office and were able to sit at the president's desk. The office had a lot of natural light and places for other people to sit. Here's a picture of Makaylia, Brooklyn, and I at the desk.

My favorite part of the museum was the letters written by children from other countries to the president after 9/11. Seeing how other countries were viewing the situation was very interesting. It showed so much compassion for another country and really warmed my heart.

Book Study: Working the Crowd and Room Arrangement (Chapters 1-4)

For a link to the prompt click here.

Chapter One:
"... teacher quality is the single most important in-school factor influencing student learning and achievement."  Do you agree or disagree with this statement.  Support your answer with statistics, research, or personal experiences and observations (must give specific examples for experiences and observations).

-I do agree with this statement. If someone has a teacher that doesn't have the passion for teaching, then the students won't learn. I have had teachers who were amazing, cared about teaching, and I did very well in my class. Then I had teachers who didn't care about teaching, and I did poorly in their class.

Chapter Two:
According to Jones, what is the best way (3 steps) to give corrective feedback to a student who is stuck?  Give an example of how you can do this with a student in your field site classroom.  Write the dialogue of what you would say.

-The best way to give corrective feedback is: Praise, Prompt, and Leave. In my classroom this would look like:
Me: Good job! These first two problems were done exactly the way they were supposed to be! On the third problem, instead of doing "x" what should you do?
Then let the student correct the problem themselves.

Chapter Three:
Look at the room arrangement in your field site classroom.  What obstacle or obstacles prevent you from "working the crowd?"  Describe how they hinder the teacher. 

-In my middle school field site classroom, the desks are arranged in rows with the teacher desk at the front of the classroom. This prevents me/the teacher from "working the crowd" because it allows for there to be a large 'green zone', and the teacher cannot be near the majority of the class at all times.

Chapter Four:
According to Jones, where should the teacher's desk go?  Where would you position the teacher desk in your field site classroom?  Why would you select that location?  Give reasons supported in your reading.

-The teacher's desk should go 8ft within the students' desks. I would keep my desk towards the back of the classroom. I would do that because I feel like that way it is easier to see what everyone is doing when your students think that you're not looking.

Absences Add Up

Click here to go to the prompt for this blog on Mrs. Kallas's website.

Absences can severely affect a student's success in school. In past years, I have had a reputation of being absent frequently, and I can say that impacts one's learning and understanding of the material being taught. This year my absences have been minimal, and as a result my grades have been higher and I've had a better understanding of what's going on. I think that some good ways to encourage kids to attend school are to get them involved in after school activities such as a sport, choir, or another team like activity. This would give the students something to look forward to throughout their day and make coming to school a reward instead of a chore. Another way to encourage attendance in the classroom is to give them something to work for. For example if a teacher said "for every 5 days that everyone is in class, we will get an extra recess". This would not only encourage students to come to class, but it would help them peer police each other to show up.

To learn more about how absences affect students' education, and how to prevent them, click here.

Teachers Go Beyond the Call of Duty -- What's Your Calling?

Click here to go the prompt for this blog on Mrs. Kallas's site.

This past Saturday I competed at our TAFE Region XI competition in Crowley, Texas. I had chosen to compete in ELF Test, Breakout Sessions, Portfolio, and Impromptu Lesson this year, and I chose these competitions based on what I had seen other people compete in last year. Looking back I wouldn't have chosen to do so many competitions because I was fairly overwhelmed and felt that I wasn't doing my best in all of my competitions. Some of the obstacles I encountered were not being able to have time for everyone to get together and rehearse and not knowing doing practice runs with the Impromptu Lesson competition. I did however really enjoy my portfolio competition because I felt very prepared and comfortable presenting it to the judges. My least favorite thing about competition was the stress of not being ready and not going over our Breakout Session. Through this experience I have learned how to work with people that don't posses the same work ethic that I do. I did advance to state in ELF Test, Breakout Sessions, and Portfolio. I am looking forward to going to state because I made such good memories last year, and I want to make new ones this year.

If you are interested in seeing my state qualifying portfolio click here.

Here are some pictures from Region:

What Would You Do?

For a link to the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's blog click here.

For my response I choose scenario 3.

First I would explain to the sub that it is important for me to keep with the routine in order to help the students progress. If the substitute still requested my absence from the class, I would ask another intern's teacher if I could shadow their rom. Then I would text my EAT teacher to let her know the situation along with my site teacher. I would let them know that I was going to another intern's class in order to shadow another classroom where I would observe in the back or help out the other intern with their normal classroom duties.

My First Week as an Intern this Year

This year for my field site I am with Mrs. Becraft again, however, she has moved schools, so I'm at W. A. Porter now. I'm still in kindergarten, and when I am in class we are doing morning work, working on our alphabet, and reading. Mrs. Becraft has already let me work one on one with students in the hall with their writing skills, and on Thursday I was evaluating kids for their six weeks grade. I am really excited on starting new lessons and projects in the class and creating bonds with each of my students.

Click here to go to W.A. Porter's website.
Click here to go to Mrs. Becraft's website.

This is me on my first day meeting my new students.

Here is a picture of Mrs. Becraft.

My Plan of Attack

For a link to the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's website click here.

For this upcoming competition year, I am most interested in competing in Breakout Sessions, Portfolio, and Impromptu Lesson. Click here to go to the TAFE website for a list of the competitions. Last year I competed in Job Interview and Chapter Scrapbook. I managed to make it to state in both competitions. I feel like last year I was very successful in both competitions, so I feel like I will stick with my methods from last year. Impromptu Lesson and Portfolio are both solitary competitions, but Breakout Sessions is a group competition. I will be doing that competition with the other year two interns.

Click here for a link to Impromptu Lesson competition.
Click here for a link to Breakout Sessions competition.
Click here for a link to Portfolio competition.

Habits of Mind Project

Below is my SMORE project that I have completed about my Habit of Mind, Persisting:

Welcome Back!

The new school is here once again. Come join me on my senior year internship as I learn more about what it takes to be a teacher. I am now a Year 2 intern, so I will have new opportunities to help me develop my teaching strengths.

The Smartest Kids in the World Movie Trailer

End of the Year Animoto

Book Study, Part 1 - The Smartest Kids in the World

To see the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's blog click here.

In my class we have recently started reading a book called The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley. I have found it to be very interesting because of all of the different views on education around the world. It's fascinating to see how much other countries value education compared to the United States. Out of the three main characters, I find that I relate to Eric the most. I feel like I relate to him because we are both very comfortable in the education system, and we are both good at math. Eric is also not challenged much by his studies which I can occasionally relate to. I think that the best country to model is Finland because we shouldn't be afraid of being wrong and grades shouldn't be what school revolves around.

Live Binder

Here are all of the technology tools that my class used for our projects.

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1985434 

Book Creator

This assignment is from my teacher Mrs. Kallas. Click here to view her blog.

The web tool or app I chose to use is Book Creator.
Book Creator is an app for iPads and can easily be accessed over school wifi.
For a link to Book Creator's website click here.
For a link to Book Creator's app click here.

Here is a tutorial on how to use Book Creator:




The app:

With this app there is no account necessary to join, so it's perfect for students of all ages. If a teacher would like to have their students make one book, then there is a free version available. The free version of the book, however, while allowing you to use all the functions of the paid version, will only let you make one book. The paid version of the book is $4.99. There are no in-app purchases and no age restrictions. You will get all of the tools you use with the paid version when using the free version, but you will only be able to make one book instead of as many as you want.

Classroom Use:

Book Creator is the perfect way for kids to make a project or book report. 

For instance if my class had just learned about plants, then they could make a book about what they learned and then present it to the class.

In upper levels you could have the students make a presentation in a way that they would then use the book to teach the class on a subject they choose.

If a teacher only had one iPad or didn't believe their students could handle the responsibility, they could make their own book on the app to introduce a new topic instead of spending extra money on buying one.

A Visit to the Perot Museum

For a link to the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's blog click here.

Please enjoy my story of my class trip to the Perot museum in downtown Dallas. We had a blast, and I would recommend everyone to visit it!

Creativity Counts!

For a link to the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's blog click here.

I believe that what I am going to be teaching my students is killing creativity. I would like it to be otherwise, however, because of the school system and how my mentor teacher's classroom is set up, I cannot do what I truly wish to do.

Sir Ken Robinson describes creativity as "the process of having original ideas that have value". Creativity is important in education because without it many of the students would feel out of place or they didn't belong. The students would get bored and stop paying attention if every classroom had no creative ways of getting the information to the students.

I can remember in middle school having project after project being required to follow very strict guidelines, and when they were being presented it was almost the same project being repeated over and over with small details changed. This year in my AP English class we get to have almost complete control over what our projects get to be. For instance we get to choose our topic for the project, and how we present it .

One of the major problems that Sir Ken Robinson discusses in his Ted Talk about creativity is how our education system teaches to one side of the brain more than the other. If we started having more required creative classes, creativity would flourish. We are required to take 16 credits of combined math, english, social studies, and science, but we are only required to take one credit of a fine art. Creativity would grow in students if they were required to take not only more creativity oriented classes but also different types of creative classes like a musical class, a dance class, an art class, and a theater class.

For more on Sir Ken Robinson click here.
For more TED Talks click here.

My State Teach Tomorrow Summit Highlight

For a link to the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's prompt click here.

My state experience was a rollercoaster. I had so much fun getting to be closer to all of my classmates and getting to know the morning class and Stevens's class better. Although the hotel could be considered subpar and there got to be some tension between the roommates, I wouldn't want to spend the state trip with anyone else. We sang songs, saw very impressive key note speakers such as Dave Burgess, and got a blue ribbon on our chapter scrapbook that I helped on. The trip was so much fun, and I learned so much about everyone that went. I am definitely going to try and go to state next year, and I suggest that everyone should try it.

Fold It!

For a link to the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's blog click here.

For my foldable I chose to use the layered fold model, and I chose to have the topic be the properties of rock (TEKS 7A). For this foldable the students will need at least 6 different colored markers and 3 different colored papers. By doing this foldable, the students will practice observation skills, organization skills, and they will be able to have a little creative freedom.

Directions:
1) Align all three papers on top of each other.
2) Then move each paper up to where at the bottom you can see about one inch of each color paper.
3) Now fold over the top of the paper so you have 5 different sections and one section for a title.
4) Have the students title the foldable "Rock Properties".
5) Have the students label each of the flaps shape, size, texture, color, and mass.
6) Now the students must draw an example of one of each of the properties on each flap.

Built for Learning

For a link to the prompt on Mrs. Kallas's blog click here.

Personally, I believe that schools are not built for learning. An ideal learning environment, in which what was taught actually sticks in the students' mind, would involve movement, discussion, different scenarios that would stimulate new questions and a desire to learn. It is important for lessons to be interactive and make their minds work instead of simply spitting information out at them. Oftentimes students will zone out and not retain information when they are lectured or not shown why what they are learning is important. I have also found myself questioning why I would need to learn things in my classes, but wanting to learn more on a certain subject.

While it can be more difficult to implement these ideals in a kindergarten class, given that they are required to learn certain things such as the alphabet and numbers, it is still possible to create a stimulating environment in which learning is desired. For instance after a science experiment the teacher and/or I could begin a discussion in which we answer questions that the students have on why what happened, happened. In another situation we could read a story and have the children come up with questions they have for the author based on how he/she wrote the story. Later we could come up with possible answers to these questions. These situations reflect an ideal learning environment because they allow the students to partially dictate their own learning, which requires them to think for themselves.