BLOG ENTRY #9

I have learned so much about teaching through my service learning opportunity.  Before I took this class I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I start the program at UVU in January 2016.  It's a 2 year program and I can't wait to start!

I've learned it's a lot harder than it appears.  The teacher has a lot of responsibilities its a busy day in this profession. It seems like it's one thing to the next, ALL DAY LONG. 

BLOG ENTRY #8

My service learning placement has sadly come to an end.  I sure miss those kids! I definitely had the chance to make some connections with what I've learned in this class and what I see in a real life classroom.  I've learned a lot about my own learning style and future teaching style.  I like to have FUN!

As I look through my older posts from this experience I realize how much I've done.  I have a new appreciation for teachers and the difference they can make if they give it their all.  I love how technology can be a teacher's best friend, like a personalized tutor and reporter for each student.

I have learned that concepts take time to teach and I don't like rushing through things just to check them off.  I like to have the time to immerse the students in an idea and not hurry on to the next task.  With that being said, I've realized there is NOT ENOUGH TIME to fully cover everything the teacher would like to.

BLOG ENTRY #7

While I attend my Service Learning Placement, I get to witness how standardized testing affects teaching.  One particular day in the classroom the teacher is reading two different passages and then students are comparing them.  The students are involved and participating.  The teacher announces that these types of scenarios will be on the end of year testing and the students go into panic mode.  "What will be on the test?"  they ask.  "Which question is on the test?"  they ask.  Later on the teacher tells me their reaction is the same when she mentions end of year testing.
The teacher feels like the pendolum will eventually swing the other way and standardized testing will be eliminated as a way to assess students.  She feels like they should be assessed individually on achievement and advancement, not on one test.

BLOG ENTRY #6

Service Learning has been a great opportunity to be in a classroom.   There are many things the teacher does behind the scenes that I wouldn't have noticed until now.  When the teacher gives student Z, a different book than the other students, I realize she is making the effort to give him what he needs.  When she helps student J with a different worksheet, I notice his worksheet has some spanish words and some english words.  At certain times I notice the teacher quietly telling student C and M to go to the resource room so they can get the extra help they need.

Blog Entry #5

I've been saddened and humbled while researching the historical events that shaped our public schools and made them what they are today.  I've also been inspired by their strength and courage.  Their courage paid off and I see it every time I go into my service learning classroom.

When I see the black kids in my class, I wonder if they know if they would've been born 60 years ago, they would have a much different school experience.   Before the supreme court case, Brown vs. The board of Education, schools were segrated by color.  The fight didn't end when the court case was won, blacks had to continue the fight and I'm so glad they did. 

When I'm reading to a little boy in the class who doesn't speak any English, I realized the impact of court case, Lau vs. Nichols.  The little boy in my class would be pushed to the back of the room, left to fall through the cracks. Some brave child before him, fought for change and won. 

I feel proud of my country and priveledged to be a future teacher. 

Blog Entry #4

My service learning assignment has given me several opportunities to witness great teaching....and a few times that weren't so great. 

Here are a few examples of when the teacher used great ideas to engage learners. 

To help them understand the ones place and the tens place, she gave them all a large squared graph paper and 2 different colored pens.   Then, she put the same paper on an overhead projector.  She wrote the ones place in red and the tens place in blue.  Then the lesson moved to adding 2 digit numbers on top of 2 digit numbers.    25 + 32.  She had them arrange the numbers in vertical positioning to make sure they were in the correct place. The students loved having their own markers and paid special attention to which column and place they were writing in. 

Another day the teacher pulled out a flip book for each student she had made.  It had a sound a letter or a combination of letters made, along with a picture that you would use the letters in. 

UI

Here is an example.  A picture of fruit, with the combination of letters UI.
The students were actively engaged at looking at the pictures and making the sounds.  She showed them what she expected them to do and then let them work with a partner. 

Another day while I was helping out, during math she got each student a mini white board, marker and cloth for erasing.  First she had them draw a line.  Then she had them label the line with a #1 at the start and #10 at the end.  She asked them to draw a dot that would cut the line in half.  She asked them what number they thought would go there.  She told them to raise their hand when they thought of the answer.  She then went on to explain rounding up and down, using that middle mark, which now had a #5 on it.  The students were very busy focusing on their white boards, it really made the learning individualized. 

Then there was a time when I thought the teacher could've done a better job at engaging her students. (What do I know, right?)  She was having the students do "packet" work for social studies.  When they were finished filling out all the information they had to color the picture of the solar system on the back, she told them to "color neatly."  I noticed some of the students seem to enjoy coloring, they took it very serious to color neatly.  Most of the students hurried and got it done and then wandered into the "DEAD TIME," which was discussed in this chapter.  I remember in school I HATED coloring, I thought it was such a waste of time!  

Blog Entry # 3 **Service Learning Placement**

Blog Entry # 3

During my first  visit to Mrs. Hutchinson's classroom, I noticed that she doesn't waste any time!  She is a Special Education teacher (resource), so children come and go from her classroom all day.  When they walk through the door she tells them to grab their box and what color folder they need to pull out and start working on. Her room is tidy and well organized.   Her routine and tidy classroom promotes a productive learning environment.

One of my classroom visits was during math.  Mrs. Hutchinson told them they had the choice of grabbing a mini white board or to grab the counting cubes, whichever they preferred.  This let the student choose whichever method worked for them to complete their math assignment.

Mrs. Hutchinson makes time for each student to make them feel safe and loved.  One student asked her when he would be on grade level for reading.  She assured him that he was working hard and she was working hard to make sure that happens soon.  She told him how well he was doing and that she was proud of his hard work.

Blog Entry #2 Assignment

The teacher at my service learning placement is amazing.  She has all sorts of bins full of tools to help her students learn.  She is definitely a constructivism theory type of teacher.  For example, on Thursday she had me help a student learn his letters.  She had plastic uppercase and lowercase letters.  She had me help the student find the matches, upper and lower.  Then, she had me help the student trace the letters with his finger.  I thought the student would lose interest, but he didn't.

All of the instruction started with me explaining it, and then she would have them do something more visual.  Between the two instructions the students seem to understand.

Service Learning Section

             

                  Blog Entry #1    Service Learning Section

     I'm excited to start the service learning section of this class.  Service Learning is where I go and volunteer at a school and assist the teacher, a total of 20 hours.  The school I have chosen is Legacy Elementary in American Fork, Utah.  My daughter went there and I think it's a great school.

     After getting familiar with the census website I learned some facts about American Fork.  The average home in Am. Fork is $216,600 and has 3.61 people in the household.  The 2010 census records show that 92% of the citizens are white and only 7.2% of the households speak non-english at home.  94% of the citizens have graduated from high school and 32.7% have bachelor's degrees.  It sounds like the community values education and the majority of the children will speak english in the home.

   

Breathe and Relax

Standard 1
The students will learn ways to improve mental health and manage stress.

Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5)

**This activity is great for the kids in my classroom.  I want them to know their feelings are important and real.  I want them to be able to deal with the stress and anger they will feel in life. Some days are happy, some days are sad.

HOW ARE MOUNTAINS FORMED?

Ed Tech Standard 8
Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities. (5, 6)

Standard 2
Students will understand that volcanoes, earthquakes, uplift, weathering, and erosion reshape Earth's surface.

**To help my students understand the plate tectonics lesson, I will do this experiment in class.  I think hands on experiences that engage students have a tendency stick with the student longer than facts.  I loved this lesson because we have many mountains in this area, I can help my students understand why we have so many here in Utah and how they were formed.

This section of the lesson is aimed at helping students understand the cause of earthquakes: movements in the tectonic plates. Here are two experiments to help the children visualize.

Using graham crackers, fruit roll ups & pudding/frosting/yogurt, students experiment to understand what happens when plates move: Snack Tectonics
Using paper plates, have students cut the plate into two pieces that fit perfectly together. Guide their understanding by asking them how the paper plate is like a tectonic plate. Then, ask them to model the main movements of the plates: divergent, convergent & transform. Ask: What happens to the land when each of these movements occur? Which movement occurred to create the new land in Pakistan? Can you think of any examples in the U.S. that have been formed by any of these movements (i.e. San Andreas Fault)?

MATH IS FUN

Standard 1
Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.

Ed Tech Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

I loved this assignment to bring math into my student's home.  The focus is to use mental math and watch for patterns.  I don't want them to focus on being fast, I want them to focus on understanding what they're doing and why. I always try to give an activity in every at home assignment, is this one I ask them to add things up in their house.

SAY NO TO DRUGS!

Standard 2
The students will adopt health-promoting and risk-reducing behaviors to prevent substance abuse.

Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5)

I want the kids in my class to understand the harmful effects of alcohol, cigarettes, chew and prescription pills.  I realize having a lesson one time in elementary won't change the course of their life, but my hope is if they hear this message over and over it just might stick.

To the parents in my class, I heard an addiction specialist relate this story to me and I've always remembered it.

Three seniors go out drinking on the night of graduation.  One kid gets so sick he is throwing up in the toilet all night long, this kid refuses to drink ever again.  The second kid has a good time, doesn't drink too much and for the rest of his life he will be a casual, responsible drinker.  The third kid has just unleashed a dragon into his life, he will battle this dragon forever.  The message is, don't try it and you won't gamble with releasing a dragon into your life.

America

Standard 2
(Citizenship): Students will recognize and practice civic responsibility in the community, state, and nation.


Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5)

This will give students a touch of history about voting and the American Flag.  We will then move into a classroom setting of voting for a class president and other officials.  We might even come up with a class flag.

I see the MOON!


Standard 1
Students will understand that the shape of Earth and the moon are spherical and that Earth rotates on its axis to produce the appearance of the sun and moon moving through the sky.
Objective 1
Describe the appearance of Earth and the moon.

Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5)

I loved using THINGLINK!   I love the idea of my students doing a VERY BRIEF assignment at home and then plugging in an activity to go along with it.  I think having my student go outside and look at the moon brings learning home to my student and their family.

Pinterest Board of FOLKLORE BOOKS 

Reading: Literature Standard 2
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.

Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5)

**I want the kids in my class to feel like they have a voice and I hear them.  With this assignment they can browse through the books I have pinned on the pinterest board and then we will vote for 5 books we will read in class.  Their opinion is important to me!

Living and non-living things in my neighborhood.


Standard 2

Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment.



Standard 7

Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5)


For this STORYBIRD assignment kids in my class will gain awareness of living and non-living things in their neighborhood.  After they are done reading this book, I would invite them to go outside and take a walk around their neighborhood and discuss living and non-living things with a parent or older sibling.

This is an assignment that used the Prezi tool.  This assignment will give students some freedom to choose their own adventure, they can click on any circle and answer the questions in the order they choose.

Ed Tech Standard 6:  Use telecommunication to access information.

Reading: Literature Standard 1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

December Newsletter

There is not a common core standard for this assignment.

Ed Tech Standard 6: Use telecommunication to effectively access information.

I love the idea of having a monthly newsletter specific for my classroom. Parents can view the newsletter and know what will be happening for the month, they can plan ahead and have access to the classroom events any time.

Personal Hygiene Poster

Ed Tech Standard 5
Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)

Standard 4
The students will understand concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention.

In this lesson I am promoting the importance of washing hands, especially in our classroom. I want the students to get into good habits at an early age by taking good care of their bodies.

GET FIT!  BROCHURE

Standard 1

Students will value physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self expression, and/or social interaction.

Standard 5

Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)

Fine Arts - Theater Standard 2
Acting A student will cooperate, imagine and assume roles, explore personal preferences and meanings, and interact in classroom dramatizations.

Edtech Standard 5
Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)

For this assignment, I made a flyer to promote the after school workshop which will give kids a taste of what actors need to know to perform certain roles.

Find a Friend

Please find a new friend in our classroom and read The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi. When you are done, answer the questions with your friend.

Find a Friend Form

Social Studies Standard 1: (Culture): Students will recognize and describe how people within their community, state, and nation are both similar and different.

Edtech Standard #6: Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests.

For the assignment today students will find a new friend to read a book with.  Then, with their new friend they will answer the questions and think of ways they can be a good friend.

Google Doc Assignment

The assignment for today instructed students to read 2 different books and find similarities and differences between them.

Reading: Literature Standard 1
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Standard 8
Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities. (5, 6)