Bloggers:
I hope you are all excited for our Thanksgiving break. I am so excited to just go home and relax for a bit. As you all know, we have a pretty big unit plan due for our final in Education 358. I looked at some of the models. I noticed some of the unit plans were over 60 pages long! Because we are all studying to become teachers, we ought to become familiar with this kind of work. Beside all of the work, I am actually kind of excited in creating this unit.
Since our professor suggested that we work on the unit with partner, Ashley F. and myself plan on working together. Ashley will be student teaching in a sixth grade class next semester and I am in a sixth grade class right now for my work study. With that said, we hope to create a unit aimed at a sixth grade classroom. Ashley has been in contact with his cooperating teacher, and she wants him to create a research unit where children are expected to research a topic, write an essay, and present the topic to the class. Not only will Ashley use this lesson in his classroom, I may also teach some of the lessons to my sixth graders.
Because we need to create eight lessons, each one of us will create four lessons that tie in together. We will have to conference together of course to make some smooth transition and connections. Ashley is still waiting to hear back from his cooperating teacher about what specifically she wants the project to be about.
I am confident many of you have done research projects in the intermediate and mid-level grades. I know I did! Do any of you have any suggestions about what we might do? What do you remember about your research projects in your schooling career? I am looking forward in hearing back from you all. I am sure I will blog about the unit plan later in the semester.
Carpe Diem :)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Writing Workshops: Quite an Effective Tool
Greetings bloggers! I am so happy you all have joined me once again. As you probably know, this week's blog topic deals with writing in the classroom. I am quite happy with the broad blog topics. I am given more independence and choice (something we look to give our children in our own classroom). To my surprise, I am actually taking another education course right now (Education 347) which is also teaching about writing concepts in the classroom. The two courses are overlapping a fare amount, reinforcing the learned concepts of writing in the classroom.
Because reading and writing are often paired in one subject or one lesson, they both often similar "rules." In both disciplines, teachers should create comfortable noncritical learning environments. Also, teachers should allow ample time for children to write and read in the classroom. Simple reading and writing are such effective ways of learning in a classroom! When children are reading or writing, the teacher has the opportunity to confer with individuals. Children should have choices when reading and writing, where the teacher acts more as a facilitator than a supervisor. Even though some of these concepts seem pretty basic, it is still necessary to acknowledge their importance in conducting a successful classroom.
I am so please to have these resources in teaching reading and writing. To my surprise, I actually like reading the textbooks and articles because they give me good ideas for my own classroom. When I am a classroom teacher, I will plan on using my college textbooks and articles for resources for possible lessons. I hope you all do the same too!
Carpe Diem! :)
Because reading and writing are often paired in one subject or one lesson, they both often similar "rules." In both disciplines, teachers should create comfortable noncritical learning environments. Also, teachers should allow ample time for children to write and read in the classroom. Simple reading and writing are such effective ways of learning in a classroom! When children are reading or writing, the teacher has the opportunity to confer with individuals. Children should have choices when reading and writing, where the teacher acts more as a facilitator than a supervisor. Even though some of these concepts seem pretty basic, it is still necessary to acknowledge their importance in conducting a successful classroom.
I am so please to have these resources in teaching reading and writing. To my surprise, I actually like reading the textbooks and articles because they give me good ideas for my own classroom. When I am a classroom teacher, I will plan on using my college textbooks and articles for resources for possible lessons. I hope you all do the same too!
Carpe Diem! :)
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
My Connection to Media Literacy at South
Subscribers:
I hope all is well out in blogger world. I know I am staying busy and happy. As we start a new unit on media literacy in the classroom, I am interested in seeing my own connections at South Junior High School. This blog topic could not have come at a better time. Ironically enough, my classroom has been integrating technology more and more. The students are expected to participate and even analyze the different uses of technology.
To my complete surprise, the cooperating teacher in my ESL classroom was able to have one Ipod touch for each student in the class. If only I had that luxury growing up! I was fascinated to see how technologically competent the students were. Because the classroom lessons focus mostly on English integration in the curriculum, my cooperating teacher makes it a priority to expose her students to the English language consistently. The children are often either reading independently, working in small groups to complete a reading textbook lesson, or working on the computers with some English activities. One day last week my cooperating teacher had each individual record his or her own voice in the Ipod. I had no idea the Ipod touch could do that! After reading into the added microphone, the children would then listen to themselves read, as well as follow along with the text. The kids absolutely loved this! They were so motivated to read fluently into the microphone and listen to themselves afterwards.
This use of technology really gave the students an opportunity to critique their own reading and listening skills. They were their own listeners! Students were also able to analyze and critique the effectiveness of this use of technology. Overall, as expected, they were very pleased with the activity!
I hope all is well out in blogger world. I know I am staying busy and happy. As we start a new unit on media literacy in the classroom, I am interested in seeing my own connections at South Junior High School. This blog topic could not have come at a better time. Ironically enough, my classroom has been integrating technology more and more. The students are expected to participate and even analyze the different uses of technology.
To my complete surprise, the cooperating teacher in my ESL classroom was able to have one Ipod touch for each student in the class. If only I had that luxury growing up! I was fascinated to see how technologically competent the students were. Because the classroom lessons focus mostly on English integration in the curriculum, my cooperating teacher makes it a priority to expose her students to the English language consistently. The children are often either reading independently, working in small groups to complete a reading textbook lesson, or working on the computers with some English activities. One day last week my cooperating teacher had each individual record his or her own voice in the Ipod. I had no idea the Ipod touch could do that! After reading into the added microphone, the children would then listen to themselves read, as well as follow along with the text. The kids absolutely loved this! They were so motivated to read fluently into the microphone and listen to themselves afterwards.
This use of technology really gave the students an opportunity to critique their own reading and listening skills. They were their own listeners! Students were also able to analyze and critique the effectiveness of this use of technology. Overall, as expected, they were very pleased with the activity!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Wonderful November 4th Opportunity!
Subscribers:
I apologize that it has been some time since my last blog post. As you may know, our blogs are now open for discussion. Because we have been working with the four ELA Minnesota strands (Writing, Reading, Language, Speaking/Viewing/Listening/Media Literacy), I believe it is appropriate to offer a wonderful opportunity to see all of these strands in one presentation.
On Thursday November 4th, Dr. Christopher Howard will be coming to St. John's University to speak. Dr. Howard is the 24th president of Hampton-Sydney College in Virginia. He is one of five African American college presidents. Howard was named a Rhode Scholar, and he attended Oxford University earning a Masters in Philosophy and a Doctorate in Political Science. In 2003 he graduated from Harvard Business School earning a Master of Business Administration degree. While at the United States Air Force Academy, he served as the class president.
Dr. Howard will be coming to campus to speak about engaging in service and leadership development. To learn more about Dr. Howard, simply follow this link.
Dr. Howard will be speaking at the Stephen B. Humphrey theater Thursday November 4th at 8:00 P.M., with a social gathering afterwards. I highly suggest everyone to attend.
I apologize that it has been some time since my last blog post. As you may know, our blogs are now open for discussion. Because we have been working with the four ELA Minnesota strands (Writing, Reading, Language, Speaking/Viewing/Listening/Media Literacy), I believe it is appropriate to offer a wonderful opportunity to see all of these strands in one presentation.
On Thursday November 4th, Dr. Christopher Howard will be coming to St. John's University to speak. Dr. Howard is the 24th president of Hampton-Sydney College in Virginia. He is one of five African American college presidents. Howard was named a Rhode Scholar, and he attended Oxford University earning a Masters in Philosophy and a Doctorate in Political Science. In 2003 he graduated from Harvard Business School earning a Master of Business Administration degree. While at the United States Air Force Academy, he served as the class president.
Dr. Howard will be coming to campus to speak about engaging in service and leadership development. To learn more about Dr. Howard, simply follow this link.
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