Winding Down!!

I can't believe the semester is over already!  This is very bittersweet for me since this is my last class before student teaching.  I am so excited to be student teaching next semester, but I will certainly miss all of the friends I have made!  This is the second class that I have taken with Dr. Smirnova and I am very grateful to her that she has taught me so many fun and exciting tools and ideas that I will be able to use with my students.

From Dr. Smirnova, I learned that even when I do not think I can do something, I can.  I really feel like I can succeed at anything.  Dr. Smirnova not only teaches the content, but she teaches engaging ways to teach the content to our students.  She also throws in activities to make her students to grow professionally as teachers. Overall, this was a very well rounded class and I will be a better teacher for having this experience.  

I take away from this course a feeling of accomplishment and a tremendous sense of hope. Just think of the difference we can all make with a little courage, an open mind, plenty of knowledge, and a healthy amount of enthusiasm.

I will leave everyone with words of wisdom from the great Dr. Seuss:

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Micro Teaching

Last week we had an opportunity to present our micro teaching to our fellow classmates.  Jesse and Corey taught a geography lesson that required each group to find different clues about our region, location, place, human-environment interaction, and movement.  This was a fun activity since we all got to go outside and look for clues.  Gina and I had "region."  We went outside and looked for different license plates and bumper stickers.

 

Faith and I went next and presented on a classroom museum I really loved this idea!  In this activity, students look at items (or pictures of items) from long ago and compare it with the same (or similar) item from today.  Faith created a fantastic Prezi that showcased items that changed over the years.  

That last group to go was Irene and Erica.  I loved this idea of having a mock trial.  They had a funny script and assigned everyone in the class parts to read.  Unfortunately they were unable to finish due to the time.  I would have loved to see the complete lesson!

It's Time to Role Play!

Last week in class Dr. Smirnova had us complete a role playing activity.  Angela, Corey, and myself were the "principals" and the rest of the class were the interviewees.  The 3 of us had to come up with 3 questions to ask during the interview.  We also added warm up questions and personal philosophy statements to our list.

I learned a great deal during this process.  I learned that keeping the questions short is the key.  My favorite question to ask was, "When you think of teaching, what type of music comes to mind?"

I loved the create responses that my classmates gave to this question.  This exercise showed me that when I interview for a teaching position, I must not only be prepared, but I must also be confident.  Believing in the answers that you give can make an enormous impact on the impression that you will leave on the principal.  I know that I have a list of the 100 most common questions asked on an interview.  I am going to have to dig that out and make sure that I am prepared for whatever question comes my way!  

My Teaching Philosophy

Teaching for me is a unique opportunity to invest in the future.  I believe students are agents of change, and in order for them to succeed and lead our society in the global economy, teachers need to teach social responsibility, a sense of community, and to empower students to take charge of their learning, not only in school but in lifelong learning contexts as well.

                                         

I also believe that teaching students to be responsible to themselves and to our world is very important.  This happens when students have responsibilities within a classroom and are taught how to make good choices.  In order for students to understand various responsibilities, students will need to learn how to determine these responsibilities by analyzing internal and external factors to self and the world.  One way teachers can help students become responsible citizens is to give them opportunities to think critically.  Critical thinking means that students consider their opinions and ideas in comparison to others and understand how their beliefs and actions shape their environments.

                                         

Every classroom should be a safe, respectful, supportive and caring place for students to grow.  When students feel a sense of belonging and ownership in the classroom, they are willing to contribute and participate.  This environment happens only when teachers and students have supportive and respectful relationships with each other.  In order to establish this, I believe open and honest communication is key.  

                                                                                      

My hope for my students is that they learn to take control of their learning and to use learning as a tool for future success throughout their lives.  For students to become life-long learners, teachers need to emphasize that learning happens everywhere, every day and anytime.  Students must be given the opportunity to construct their own understanding and build upon their prior knowledge. 

 

                                                                                

 I believe one way teachers can promote and support this idea is through peer monitoring or collaboration with others.  Many students may associate learning with academic subjects such as literacy from books or math from worksheets; however, learning takes place in many forms, in many different places.  For example, when students are working with partners to peer edit their writing, they are learning to be cooperative and value each other’s ideas and creativity, in addition to experiencing the writing process.  Teachers need to be aware and support this learning by discussing how being cooperative and working as partners are also considered learning and how one would apply those skills outside the classroom.  

                                                                               

Not only do teachers need to believe all students can be successful, but students themselves need to believe that they can be successful.  I firmly believe that setting goals and reflecting on past learning is an efficient way to further motivate students.  By setting goals, achieving them, or reflecting on the processes of struggling or overcoming hardships, students become active in taking control of how they learned and what they overcame, and they feel a sense of accomplishment. 

                                                                         

Let's Go On A Scavenger Hunt!

Dr. Smirnova allowed groups 3 and 4 to combine and create one fantastic and fun lesson for the fifth grade Bishop Dunn students.  We all combined out talents and came up with the idea to do a scavenger hunt with the students.  The weather report indicated that it would be a sunny day for the scavenger hunt, so we felt comfortable taking the chance.
On the day of the scavenger hunt, we had a map of the playground at Bishop Dunn which showed where the groups would find their clues.  Irene and I stayed outside to make sure the clues did not blow away while Corey, Jen, and Erica went inside to explain to the students what they were going to do.  I absolutely LOVED seeing the students run out of the door looking for their clues.  They were so excited to run around and collect what they would need to solve their riddle.



Once all of the clues were collected, we all went back inside because it was a bit windy and we did not want the clues to blow away.  Once inside, the students got into their groups and began analyzing their clues.  As they were doing this, we walked around to see if the students needed any assistance and to make sure they were on the right track.  We then had each group present their conclusion to the rest of the class and show what each clue was.  All groups got the correct answer.  I was so excited to be a part of this group and activity!
One thing I would have done differently was speak more to the students.  Corey did all of the talking, so I wish that I had done a little more.  Overall, I think this was a very engaging activity for the students that they thoroughly enjoyed!

Using Current Events In The Classroom

Bringing current events into the classroom can be a very powerful tool to the teacher.  I think that teachers do recognize the usefulness and importance of "using the news" -- and of developing students who have good newsreading skills and an awareness of current events. 

Some of the benefits that students can gain from using current events in the classroom can include:

• current events cover a wide range of subjects and connect to all areas of the curriculum.
• using them can build language, vocabulary, reading comprehension, critical thinking, problem solving, oral expression, and listening skills.
• current events develop informed citizens and lifelong newsreaders. Studying current events helps students understand the importance of people, events, and issues in the news; it stimulates students to explore and learn more about the news, and to pay attention to the news they see and hear outside of school.
• using current events activities can also open up communications between students and parents by talking about what is going on in the world.  
• this can offer ideal opportunities for cooperative-group instruction, classroom discussions and debates, purposeful follow-up writing, and much more.
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Dr. Smirnova gave us several great links that we can use in the classroom to make learning about current events fun.  I think I may have even gotten some ideas to use with student teaching next semester!

My favorite link is:  Current Events In The Classroom

Where in the world is...

Teaching geography to students is so important.  There are so many different activities to do with our students that teach them about important places.  Not only far away places, but important places nearby.  There are some great activities on the site that Dr. Smirnova provided to us.
Geography Awareness Site
This site has many different activities that we can do with our students.

WHY SHOULD GEOGRAPHY BE TAUGHT IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL?

Geography helps one understand the physical and cultural characteristics of the world. Geographic education provides the values, knowledge, concepts, and skills to better understand ourselves, our relationship to the earth, and our interdependence with other peoples of the world. The locational organization scheme of geography provides a framework for learning the physical, social, and historical phenomena that students will be studying in school.

Personal experiences begin with children interacting with their own environment. Children begin by recording their observations from walks and fieldtrips in essays, pictures, or simple maps. Children decide what is important to show on their maps and what symbols to use. By interacting directly with people from other places or vicariously through stories and pictures, children begin to recognize both the common and unique attributes of more distant locations. They offer explanations for locations and differences in the environment. Such interactions result in descriptions and definitions of places.