INQUIRY BLOG #5
DATA REFLECTION BLOG
INQUIRY: Kagan strategies and whole brain teaching to improve student communication, involvement and learning.
PART A: TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER:
This week I focused on collaborating with my peers and fellow teachers on my ideas and questions relating to Kagan strategies. Then I really focused on my students learning and this week I wanted my students to gain control of their own learning and for them to understand how to gain knowledge by self-motivation and cooperation. I also implemented my research this week and I taught 90% of my lessons using whole brain/Kagan strategies. This week was the first official week of teaching using Kagan methods. Since there are only 6 more weeks left in the semester I am excited to test my inquiry on my students and then the week we get back from spring break I will start to see if my teaching methods are helping my students.
What did you do first: First I collaborated with my Kindergarten team and shared with them what my inquiry was and I wanted to see if they had any ideas on planning or attention getters, resources or ideas on academic findings. (We all teach the same thing every week so sometimes we share worksheets etc.)
Next: I started teaching with giving my students a more upper hand in their learning. For example, every day we have an hour block where we learn in “centers” or “stations” “rotations” we call it daily 5. This is where I get to practice with my guided reading groups and my students rotate with either writing, phonics (word work and sight words) and then they do independent reading. This week I had my students pick their own rotations and I implemented some new activities that my students can explore. I found that by the end of the week they were creating more substantial work because they were in charge of their own learning.
Finally: I collected as much data I could and I started to organize this according to my student’s individual level and individual goals. I decided to create an individual folder for each student that had their works, notes, and I created lists for these students on weaknesses and strengths. I will use these data/evidence folders to help my individual students and I will use these folders to help me differentiate my lessons.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher? I took these actions as a teacher because when I become a real licensed teacher I will be expected to work on my professional growth and I need to be able to collaborate with my colleagues and peers on my inquiry. I feel that I successfully interfaced with the kindergarten team and I feel that I am a better teacher for it. Also since it is close to the end of the year I need to prepare my students for 1st grade in having them do more independent work and be more involved in their learning.
What was the student experience? How did they respond? My students over all experience this week was great. There were 2 students who really struggled with following directions and taking their learning into their own hands and I think that is because these students are not used to working independently. For these students I made it their goal to work on daily 5 after we get back from spring break without any teacher help or without student cooperation. My students should be able to complete tasks themselves now. My students (other than the 2 I mentioned) really responded well! They were excited about learning; they were excited about doing activities. I took observation notes throughout the week and I noticed that my students seemed happier and more engaged than the previous weeks which means my class is making huge progress because of the Kagan strategies I’ve been implementing!
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING
This week I used many field notes, videos and pictures. I also started a journal that I wrote many things down in regards to my students. This helped me in planning and also helped me get to know my students learning styles better. Video and pictures are the 2 most important pieces of data I can collect and analyze within my inquiry because my inquiry involves student interaction so I need to be able to visually see my students interacting and having conversations with each other about their learning so I can better understand what I need to do. In a video I can see what worked what didn’t work and also I can see things and understand things more deeply after my lesson. I also focused this week on organizing my evidence and notes so I can read it better. I added sticky notes and highlighted things in my notes. I have all my pictures and videos on a thumb drive that I can use while planning.
What did I learn? I have learned that collaborative Kagan teaching have improved my students engagement level. After analyzing my students interview responded I have come to realize that most of my students felt like they were playing a game or socializing when in reality they were learning! The more interactive learning I incorporate in the classroom, the more my students will retain information better! I have learned that I need to call on more of my students who do not raise their hand because my students need to be recognized by the teacher more and not just by their peers. I have learned that I need to give my students more wait time when we are having whole class discussions. I also have learned that I need to implement more exit tickets and ways of measuring student learning by interaction. A simple sentence on a sticky note or conversation ending to a lesson can be a perfect way to end a lesson and allow me to measure my students thinking and learning. I also have learned that collaborating with other Kindergarten teachers will make me a better, well rounded teacher and it will help me with planning and incorporating unique ideas in the classroom.
I believe this was important to my inquiry because last week I worked on team building skills to my students and this week I am in full swing with the collaborative learning. Its important to plan and teach surrounding my students because the students who are the lowest in my class have the most behavior issues or they are the quietest and shyest so I need to find a way to include them in the learning process without calling them out in front of everyone or without ignoring them. If all of my students feel that they are apart of a classroom team then they are going to want to be self-motivated and in turn they will gain more in their learning during lessons/collaborations.
How does my data support this learning? Within my data I noticed that the students who normally get lower scores in reading comprehension, re-telling the story and telling main idea/theme of the story made huge improvements after I did the Kagan strategies and especially after I did a few rounds of Timed-Pair-Share and Round Robin. My students who normally are the lower scored students have retained information more easily and more accurately from after doing these strategies. In my data I have student quotes of successful collaboration about re-telling the story accurately and I am very proud of those students.
What actions/changes will I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I will try to go to a Kagan workshop to improve on my Kagan/whole brain teaching strategies. If I implement more Kagan strategies within my teaching and I will also collect student work and test scores so I can show evidence of my student learning and growth. Based on my learning I can plan lessons more that cater to my students.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder How can I take my evidence of student work, evidence of pictures a video and field notes and use it to plan for future lessons? Can I bring my students outside for their learning? Would a change in environment help my inquiry?
INQUIRY: Kagan strategies and whole brain teaching to improve student communication, involvement and learning.
PART A: TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER:
This week I focused on collaborating with my peers and fellow teachers on my ideas and questions relating to Kagan strategies. Then I really focused on my students learning and this week I wanted my students to gain control of their own learning and for them to understand how to gain knowledge by self-motivation and cooperation. I also implemented my research this week and I taught 90% of my lessons using whole brain/Kagan strategies. This week was the first official week of teaching using Kagan methods. Since there are only 6 more weeks left in the semester I am excited to test my inquiry on my students and then the week we get back from spring break I will start to see if my teaching methods are helping my students.
What did you do first: First I collaborated with my Kindergarten team and shared with them what my inquiry was and I wanted to see if they had any ideas on planning or attention getters, resources or ideas on academic findings. (We all teach the same thing every week so sometimes we share worksheets etc.)
Next: I started teaching with giving my students a more upper hand in their learning. For example, every day we have an hour block where we learn in “centers” or “stations” “rotations” we call it daily 5. This is where I get to practice with my guided reading groups and my students rotate with either writing, phonics (word work and sight words) and then they do independent reading. This week I had my students pick their own rotations and I implemented some new activities that my students can explore. I found that by the end of the week they were creating more substantial work because they were in charge of their own learning.
Finally: I collected as much data I could and I started to organize this according to my student’s individual level and individual goals. I decided to create an individual folder for each student that had their works, notes, and I created lists for these students on weaknesses and strengths. I will use these data/evidence folders to help my individual students and I will use these folders to help me differentiate my lessons.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher? I took these actions as a teacher because when I become a real licensed teacher I will be expected to work on my professional growth and I need to be able to collaborate with my colleagues and peers on my inquiry. I feel that I successfully interfaced with the kindergarten team and I feel that I am a better teacher for it. Also since it is close to the end of the year I need to prepare my students for 1st grade in having them do more independent work and be more involved in their learning.
What was the student experience? How did they respond? My students over all experience this week was great. There were 2 students who really struggled with following directions and taking their learning into their own hands and I think that is because these students are not used to working independently. For these students I made it their goal to work on daily 5 after we get back from spring break without any teacher help or without student cooperation. My students should be able to complete tasks themselves now. My students (other than the 2 I mentioned) really responded well! They were excited about learning; they were excited about doing activities. I took observation notes throughout the week and I noticed that my students seemed happier and more engaged than the previous weeks which means my class is making huge progress because of the Kagan strategies I’ve been implementing!
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING
This week I used many field notes, videos and pictures. I also started a journal that I wrote many things down in regards to my students. This helped me in planning and also helped me get to know my students learning styles better. Video and pictures are the 2 most important pieces of data I can collect and analyze within my inquiry because my inquiry involves student interaction so I need to be able to visually see my students interacting and having conversations with each other about their learning so I can better understand what I need to do. In a video I can see what worked what didn’t work and also I can see things and understand things more deeply after my lesson. I also focused this week on organizing my evidence and notes so I can read it better. I added sticky notes and highlighted things in my notes. I have all my pictures and videos on a thumb drive that I can use while planning.
What did I learn? I have learned that collaborative Kagan teaching have improved my students engagement level. After analyzing my students interview responded I have come to realize that most of my students felt like they were playing a game or socializing when in reality they were learning! The more interactive learning I incorporate in the classroom, the more my students will retain information better! I have learned that I need to call on more of my students who do not raise their hand because my students need to be recognized by the teacher more and not just by their peers. I have learned that I need to give my students more wait time when we are having whole class discussions. I also have learned that I need to implement more exit tickets and ways of measuring student learning by interaction. A simple sentence on a sticky note or conversation ending to a lesson can be a perfect way to end a lesson and allow me to measure my students thinking and learning. I also have learned that collaborating with other Kindergarten teachers will make me a better, well rounded teacher and it will help me with planning and incorporating unique ideas in the classroom.
I believe this was important to my inquiry because last week I worked on team building skills to my students and this week I am in full swing with the collaborative learning. Its important to plan and teach surrounding my students because the students who are the lowest in my class have the most behavior issues or they are the quietest and shyest so I need to find a way to include them in the learning process without calling them out in front of everyone or without ignoring them. If all of my students feel that they are apart of a classroom team then they are going to want to be self-motivated and in turn they will gain more in their learning during lessons/collaborations.
How does my data support this learning? Within my data I noticed that the students who normally get lower scores in reading comprehension, re-telling the story and telling main idea/theme of the story made huge improvements after I did the Kagan strategies and especially after I did a few rounds of Timed-Pair-Share and Round Robin. My students who normally are the lower scored students have retained information more easily and more accurately from after doing these strategies. In my data I have student quotes of successful collaboration about re-telling the story accurately and I am very proud of those students.
What actions/changes will I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I will try to go to a Kagan workshop to improve on my Kagan/whole brain teaching strategies. If I implement more Kagan strategies within my teaching and I will also collect student work and test scores so I can show evidence of my student learning and growth. Based on my learning I can plan lessons more that cater to my students.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder How can I take my evidence of student work, evidence of pictures a video and field notes and use it to plan for future lessons? Can I bring my students outside for their learning? Would a change in environment help my inquiry?
INQUIRY BLOG #4
DATA REFLECTION BLOG
FIRST, remind the reader of the inquiry topic/question you are exploring.
INQUIRY: Kagan strategies and whole brain teaching to improve student communication, involvement and learning.
PART A: TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER:
This week my class and myself focused on team building activities. This is so important to my inquiry because Kagan strategies are all about communication and active learning. My students cannot fully participate in a Kagan classroom if they are arguing with one another during our group work. The most important way I took action this week related to my inquiry is that I had my students contribute in 10 minute fun team building activities to get them used to working in a team and practice listening, talking, being polite and being nice to one another so that this way when it comes to participating in academic conversations there will be no arguing or off topic conversations.
What did you do first: First I had a whole class conversation/discussion about what it means to be kind. I asked my students to think about things we can say to one another that is kind and then I had my students in their teams (tables) talk about what we can say to be kind. Then I asked my students to think about things we can DO to show our kindness. I had my students discuss in their teams about ways of showing kindness.
Next: We as a class took out chart paper and we made a T-chart on things we can say to one another to be kind and things we can do that is kind. We wrote down all of our ideas and we hung the chart in our classroom so each student can see and be reminded that we need to treat each other with respect.
Things we can say: “Thank you”, “can you help me?” “I liked the way you…” “You are awesome”, “good job”, “great idea”, “your turn”
Things we can do: High five each other, smile, listen without interrupting, talk loud enough so everyone can hear, help each other out, work as a team, be supportive, be a good friend, do not laugh at our classmates, ask what’s wrong if someone is crying.
Finally: We started a morning routine to add to our morning meeting that will remind my students how to work together as a team. We will have “a topic of the day” and my students will share with their team mates for 5 minutes each morning so they can be reminded on how to work together, this way it will eliminate confusion and off tasks students when we split into teams for academic purposes.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher? I took these actions as a teacher because Kagan strategies incorporate collaborative teamwork. My students couldn’t achieve Whole brain learning without working on their teamwork skills. It seems silly, but Kindergarteners who are 5 and 6 years old need to be taught sometimes how to be kind to each other and they need to be taught how to work together. Since my whole inquiry is about Kagan style teaching, which promotes cooperation and communication in the classroom, I needed my classroom to practice their communication skills. I found that once my students understood how to properly communicate with one another they had more meaningful and better conversations, they were more engaged, and they were cooperating at the highest level. This will help them when we do team work activities that involve their learning.
What was the student experience? How did they respond? The student experience was great. At first my students were confused on why we were talking about favorite rides at Disney or favorite foods but then they realized that they were practicing good talking and listening skills. Later on in the day I taught a lesson on comparing and contrasting characters in a story. I had my students discuss at their table how the characters in the story are different and I had them discuss why they were different by using specific evidence from the text. They were required to speak one by one in a circle and then once they all shared they had to choose 1 person to write one sentence that describes how the characters are different on a sticky note (with help from the sentence already written on the board). Once my students accomplished these tasks they were expected to come back to the carpet as a group and sit quietly until all groups were done. My class did excellent. I know that without the team building activity we did earlier, they would have argued or would have been off task. My students responded the whole day and with other assignments really well because of my Kagan kindness lesson.
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING- FORMATIVE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
I collected data this week in form of observation notes, pictures/video and also I interviewed my students to see what they liked about my kindness lesson. After the lesson my students and myself had morning meeting just like every other morning, then I had my students take a little survey at their desks using pictures to indicate if they liked the team building activity (happy face) if they didn’t like it (sad face) or if they didn’t really know (serious face). I also asked each one of them before the day was done what they thought about working with their team. I took notes on their answers. Also throughout the week I’ve been taking observation notes and field notes on my students conversations and body language to determine how well they worked in a team.
What did I learn this week about my inquiry topic? I learned that Implementing Kagan strategies within lesson plans require a lot of pre-planning and it takes time for kindergarteners to get the hang of teamwork. I also learned that there are many tips and tricks to get my class to focus on the task at hand and also I needed a reward system of positive praise for my students to stay on topic in their conversations. On the Kagan website there are many resources for me that I can use in my classroom.
· I believe this learning was important for my inquiry because I realized that once my students felt valued as a part of a classroom community the better they were in their teams. This means that when I have my students go in their differentiated groups and collaborate in their groups they are getting the most out of their conversations because they know how to work as a team.
· How does my data support this learning? In my data I found that the quieter students who usually get the lowest scores were the ones who were contributing the most in the teams. I looked at those specific students writing and classwork and I noticed that they were improving almost a whole letter grade! this means that the more my students interacted with each other in terms of collaborative learning the better they were at retaining information and they were getting more out of the lesson/assignment because they were learning at a higher level.
· What actions/changes might I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I would have planned a little bit more within my teaching. I found that there were problems within my class that prevented my students to open up and feel safe in their learning. I needed to plan more and add in transition times with a timer and give my students clues to help them stay on task. I needed to implement the “kind chart” a lot earlier in the year so my students can understand how to teach each other and this way they can learn without fear.
· Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder how I can make more meaningful conversations within my student’s collaborative learning.
FIRST, remind the reader of the inquiry topic/question you are exploring.
INQUIRY: Kagan strategies and whole brain teaching to improve student communication, involvement and learning.
PART A: TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER:
This week my class and myself focused on team building activities. This is so important to my inquiry because Kagan strategies are all about communication and active learning. My students cannot fully participate in a Kagan classroom if they are arguing with one another during our group work. The most important way I took action this week related to my inquiry is that I had my students contribute in 10 minute fun team building activities to get them used to working in a team and practice listening, talking, being polite and being nice to one another so that this way when it comes to participating in academic conversations there will be no arguing or off topic conversations.
What did you do first: First I had a whole class conversation/discussion about what it means to be kind. I asked my students to think about things we can say to one another that is kind and then I had my students in their teams (tables) talk about what we can say to be kind. Then I asked my students to think about things we can DO to show our kindness. I had my students discuss in their teams about ways of showing kindness.
Next: We as a class took out chart paper and we made a T-chart on things we can say to one another to be kind and things we can do that is kind. We wrote down all of our ideas and we hung the chart in our classroom so each student can see and be reminded that we need to treat each other with respect.
Things we can say: “Thank you”, “can you help me?” “I liked the way you…” “You are awesome”, “good job”, “great idea”, “your turn”
Things we can do: High five each other, smile, listen without interrupting, talk loud enough so everyone can hear, help each other out, work as a team, be supportive, be a good friend, do not laugh at our classmates, ask what’s wrong if someone is crying.
Finally: We started a morning routine to add to our morning meeting that will remind my students how to work together as a team. We will have “a topic of the day” and my students will share with their team mates for 5 minutes each morning so they can be reminded on how to work together, this way it will eliminate confusion and off tasks students when we split into teams for academic purposes.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher? I took these actions as a teacher because Kagan strategies incorporate collaborative teamwork. My students couldn’t achieve Whole brain learning without working on their teamwork skills. It seems silly, but Kindergarteners who are 5 and 6 years old need to be taught sometimes how to be kind to each other and they need to be taught how to work together. Since my whole inquiry is about Kagan style teaching, which promotes cooperation and communication in the classroom, I needed my classroom to practice their communication skills. I found that once my students understood how to properly communicate with one another they had more meaningful and better conversations, they were more engaged, and they were cooperating at the highest level. This will help them when we do team work activities that involve their learning.
What was the student experience? How did they respond? The student experience was great. At first my students were confused on why we were talking about favorite rides at Disney or favorite foods but then they realized that they were practicing good talking and listening skills. Later on in the day I taught a lesson on comparing and contrasting characters in a story. I had my students discuss at their table how the characters in the story are different and I had them discuss why they were different by using specific evidence from the text. They were required to speak one by one in a circle and then once they all shared they had to choose 1 person to write one sentence that describes how the characters are different on a sticky note (with help from the sentence already written on the board). Once my students accomplished these tasks they were expected to come back to the carpet as a group and sit quietly until all groups were done. My class did excellent. I know that without the team building activity we did earlier, they would have argued or would have been off task. My students responded the whole day and with other assignments really well because of my Kagan kindness lesson.
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING- FORMATIVE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
I collected data this week in form of observation notes, pictures/video and also I interviewed my students to see what they liked about my kindness lesson. After the lesson my students and myself had morning meeting just like every other morning, then I had my students take a little survey at their desks using pictures to indicate if they liked the team building activity (happy face) if they didn’t like it (sad face) or if they didn’t really know (serious face). I also asked each one of them before the day was done what they thought about working with their team. I took notes on their answers. Also throughout the week I’ve been taking observation notes and field notes on my students conversations and body language to determine how well they worked in a team.
What did I learn this week about my inquiry topic? I learned that Implementing Kagan strategies within lesson plans require a lot of pre-planning and it takes time for kindergarteners to get the hang of teamwork. I also learned that there are many tips and tricks to get my class to focus on the task at hand and also I needed a reward system of positive praise for my students to stay on topic in their conversations. On the Kagan website there are many resources for me that I can use in my classroom.
· I believe this learning was important for my inquiry because I realized that once my students felt valued as a part of a classroom community the better they were in their teams. This means that when I have my students go in their differentiated groups and collaborate in their groups they are getting the most out of their conversations because they know how to work as a team.
· How does my data support this learning? In my data I found that the quieter students who usually get the lowest scores were the ones who were contributing the most in the teams. I looked at those specific students writing and classwork and I noticed that they were improving almost a whole letter grade! this means that the more my students interacted with each other in terms of collaborative learning the better they were at retaining information and they were getting more out of the lesson/assignment because they were learning at a higher level.
· What actions/changes might I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I would have planned a little bit more within my teaching. I found that there were problems within my class that prevented my students to open up and feel safe in their learning. I needed to plan more and add in transition times with a timer and give my students clues to help them stay on task. I needed to implement the “kind chart” a lot earlier in the year so my students can understand how to teach each other and this way they can learn without fear.
· Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder how I can make more meaningful conversations within my student’s collaborative learning.
INQUIRY BLOG #3
INQUIRY: Kagan strategies and whole brain teaching to improve student communication, involvement and learning.
PART A: TAKING ACTION:
During my data reflection this week I came to realize that I needed to implement more research of Kagan strategies within my teaching style. This means that I need to understand more about how/what Kagan strategies are and how they will help my students.
What did I do?
First: I researched so much information about Kagan teaching methods. I gathered some notes and I looked up many relevant articles about teaching with whole brain.
Next/Lastly: I took what I researched and learned and I put it towards my teaching. I learned that I needed to play lots of music to stimulate my student’s engagement in learning. I also learned that my students need to be constantly communicating with each other to foster a team work atmosphere that allows my students to feel comfortable and thus makes them learn to their fullest potential because they are not holding back. I allowed my students to talk some more while also making sure they were always busy working/talking about what I was teaching. By the end of the day I was an exhausted teacher but I know that my students benefitted from the busy and high-energy lessons.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher?
I took these actions because I needed to learn more about how to teach using Kagan methods so I can further explore my inquiry.
There are 5 essential Kagan strategies for teaching.
Rally Robin- a pair talks about a subject or subjects
Timed-Pair-Share- a pair talks about a subject and it’s timed
Round Robin- In teams student’s talk
Rally-Coach- Partners take turns solving a problem and then they reverse roles
Stand up, Hand up-Pair up-Students stand up and quickly find a partner for a task.
What was the student experience? How did they respond?
My students loved all of the new Kagan strategies. Last week my students were put in their designated groups and now I explained to my students that they were going to try new communication methods and I explained it to them as if we were playing little games to enhance their learning. At first it took about a day to get the kinks out and it was about trial and error. The following day my class really responded well! They loved how they got to talk to their partners or groups about what they were learning about!
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING- Formative data collection and analysis
(Observation notes and Field notes)
What did I learn this week about my inquiry topic? I learned that it is extremely hard and takes a lot of energy to teach through Kagan methods! It takes a lot of planning and knowing your students academic levels to achieve a successful Kagan classroom.
I believe this learning was important for my inquiry because…I know now what I am getting myself into when it comes to whole brain Kagan teaching. This is important because I know that I need to have my lessons planned out very detailed so my transitions and my mini lessons will run smoothly.
How does my data support this learning?
In my research articles I’ve come across a trend in Kagan/whole brain teaching that helps improve student behavior problems, achievement gaps and classroom community. This information in my research goes along with my data because I am starting to notice the same trend in my classroom.
What actions/changes might I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I would spend less time trying to get my students in their groups. I would take more action on figuring out how to time my students in their communication/think pair share.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder...How I can I take notes while I am teaching?
PART A: TAKING ACTION:
During my data reflection this week I came to realize that I needed to implement more research of Kagan strategies within my teaching style. This means that I need to understand more about how/what Kagan strategies are and how they will help my students.
What did I do?
First: I researched so much information about Kagan teaching methods. I gathered some notes and I looked up many relevant articles about teaching with whole brain.
Next/Lastly: I took what I researched and learned and I put it towards my teaching. I learned that I needed to play lots of music to stimulate my student’s engagement in learning. I also learned that my students need to be constantly communicating with each other to foster a team work atmosphere that allows my students to feel comfortable and thus makes them learn to their fullest potential because they are not holding back. I allowed my students to talk some more while also making sure they were always busy working/talking about what I was teaching. By the end of the day I was an exhausted teacher but I know that my students benefitted from the busy and high-energy lessons.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher?
I took these actions because I needed to learn more about how to teach using Kagan methods so I can further explore my inquiry.
There are 5 essential Kagan strategies for teaching.
Rally Robin- a pair talks about a subject or subjects
Timed-Pair-Share- a pair talks about a subject and it’s timed
Round Robin- In teams student’s talk
Rally-Coach- Partners take turns solving a problem and then they reverse roles
Stand up, Hand up-Pair up-Students stand up and quickly find a partner for a task.
What was the student experience? How did they respond?
My students loved all of the new Kagan strategies. Last week my students were put in their designated groups and now I explained to my students that they were going to try new communication methods and I explained it to them as if we were playing little games to enhance their learning. At first it took about a day to get the kinks out and it was about trial and error. The following day my class really responded well! They loved how they got to talk to their partners or groups about what they were learning about!
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING- Formative data collection and analysis
(Observation notes and Field notes)
What did I learn this week about my inquiry topic? I learned that it is extremely hard and takes a lot of energy to teach through Kagan methods! It takes a lot of planning and knowing your students academic levels to achieve a successful Kagan classroom.
I believe this learning was important for my inquiry because…I know now what I am getting myself into when it comes to whole brain Kagan teaching. This is important because I know that I need to have my lessons planned out very detailed so my transitions and my mini lessons will run smoothly.
How does my data support this learning?
In my research articles I’ve come across a trend in Kagan/whole brain teaching that helps improve student behavior problems, achievement gaps and classroom community. This information in my research goes along with my data because I am starting to notice the same trend in my classroom.
What actions/changes might I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I would spend less time trying to get my students in their groups. I would take more action on figuring out how to time my students in their communication/think pair share.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder...How I can I take notes while I am teaching?
INQUIRY BLOG #2
INQUIRY: Kagan strategies and whole brain teaching to improve student communication, involvement and learning.
PART A: TAKING ACTION:
During my data reflection I came across lots of evidence of my students wasting time with transitions during a lesson and also I noticed my students having a lot of side bar conversations and working off task. So for this week I focused on Kagan strategies within my lesson so my students can get the most out of their conversations.
What did I do?
First I had my students be assigned to different groups/seating chart according to their level, gender, personality, needs and behavior. This way when I say “Get into your groups” my students immediately know who they are supposed to be with and it is a lot faster for my students to get into their groups. I also gave my students numbers in their group so they know who is 1 2 3 4.
Next I had a Kagen timer for Round Robin. Round Robin means my students will discuss and collaborate in their groups about main idea and theme of the story (That was the topic we were talking about at the time). I told person #2 to go first (This eliminates arguing or off topic discussion about who should talk first). I put the timer on and the person who is talking gets to talk for 1 minute while the other students are listening. With a mini discussion like this it would normally take about 8 minutes but instead it took exactly 4 and a half minutes (1 minute for each student and 30 seconds to group up). This was amazing because it took half the time and my lesson was way more successful because of time, no side bar conversations, my students did not talk over each other and everyone had a chance discuss their thinking.
Lastly I brought the class together to finish our lesson on main idea and theme of a story. We talked about the characters in the story and I was able to give a closing/exit ticket in time and since I utilized the timer and new grouping method I was able to make the most out of the time I had to teach. Also my students were using different parts of the room and get up and move so their learning was more involved with whole brain instead of sitting at a desk getting lectured.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher?
I took these actions because I needed to find solutions to the community in my classroom when it comes to whole class/small group discussions and collaborations. I felt that If I used differentiation strategies in grouping and a timer while I was giving explicit instruction then it would improve my student learning and it did!
What was the student experience? How did they respond?
My students were very successful in this Kagan strategy because it provided self worth for each of my students. This strategy caused no child in my class to feel left out and this strategy also gave me a deep understanding of my students thinking because I was able to informally assess my students thinking and development. My students were really happy and they liked the fast pace of the Round Robin. The timer had a cool ring tone too so when the timer went off some of my students yelled “Switch!” I thought it was great.
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING
Video and pictures are the 2 most important pieces of data I can collect and analyze within my inquiry because my inquiry involves student interaction so I need to be able to visually see my students interacting and having conversations with each other about their learning so I can better understand what I need to do. In a video I can see what worked what didn’t work and also I can see things and understand things more deeply after my lesson.
What did I learn? I have learned that I need to call on more of my students who DO NOT raise their hand because my students need to be recognized by the teacher more and nit just their peers. I have learned that I need to give my students more wait time when we are having whole class discussions.
I believe this was important to my inquiry because the students who are the lowest in my class have the most behavior issues or they are the quietest and shyest so I need to find a way to include them in the learning process without calling them out in front of everyone or without ignoring them. If all of my students feel that they are apart of a classroom TEAM then they are going to want to be self-motivated and in turn they will gain more in their learning during lessons/collaborations.
How does my data support this learning? Within my data I noticed that the students who normally get lower scores in reading comprehension, re-telling the story and telling main idea/theme of the story made huge improvements after I did the Kagan strategies and especially after I did a few rounds of Timed-Pair-Share and Round Robin. My students who normally are the lower scored students have retained information more easily and more accurately from after doing these strategies. In my data I have student quotes of successful collaboration about re-telling the story accurately and I am very proud of those students.
What actions/changes will I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I will implement more Kagan strategies within my teaching and I will also collect student work and test scores so I can show evidence of my student learning and growth.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder… How can I implement whole brain teaching/Kagan strategies with math and science?
PART A: TAKING ACTION:
During my data reflection I came across lots of evidence of my students wasting time with transitions during a lesson and also I noticed my students having a lot of side bar conversations and working off task. So for this week I focused on Kagan strategies within my lesson so my students can get the most out of their conversations.
What did I do?
First I had my students be assigned to different groups/seating chart according to their level, gender, personality, needs and behavior. This way when I say “Get into your groups” my students immediately know who they are supposed to be with and it is a lot faster for my students to get into their groups. I also gave my students numbers in their group so they know who is 1 2 3 4.
Next I had a Kagen timer for Round Robin. Round Robin means my students will discuss and collaborate in their groups about main idea and theme of the story (That was the topic we were talking about at the time). I told person #2 to go first (This eliminates arguing or off topic discussion about who should talk first). I put the timer on and the person who is talking gets to talk for 1 minute while the other students are listening. With a mini discussion like this it would normally take about 8 minutes but instead it took exactly 4 and a half minutes (1 minute for each student and 30 seconds to group up). This was amazing because it took half the time and my lesson was way more successful because of time, no side bar conversations, my students did not talk over each other and everyone had a chance discuss their thinking.
Lastly I brought the class together to finish our lesson on main idea and theme of a story. We talked about the characters in the story and I was able to give a closing/exit ticket in time and since I utilized the timer and new grouping method I was able to make the most out of the time I had to teach. Also my students were using different parts of the room and get up and move so their learning was more involved with whole brain instead of sitting at a desk getting lectured.
Why did you take these actions as a teacher?
I took these actions because I needed to find solutions to the community in my classroom when it comes to whole class/small group discussions and collaborations. I felt that If I used differentiation strategies in grouping and a timer while I was giving explicit instruction then it would improve my student learning and it did!
What was the student experience? How did they respond?
My students were very successful in this Kagan strategy because it provided self worth for each of my students. This strategy caused no child in my class to feel left out and this strategy also gave me a deep understanding of my students thinking because I was able to informally assess my students thinking and development. My students were really happy and they liked the fast pace of the Round Robin. The timer had a cool ring tone too so when the timer went off some of my students yelled “Switch!” I thought it was great.
PART B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING
Video and pictures are the 2 most important pieces of data I can collect and analyze within my inquiry because my inquiry involves student interaction so I need to be able to visually see my students interacting and having conversations with each other about their learning so I can better understand what I need to do. In a video I can see what worked what didn’t work and also I can see things and understand things more deeply after my lesson.
What did I learn? I have learned that I need to call on more of my students who DO NOT raise their hand because my students need to be recognized by the teacher more and nit just their peers. I have learned that I need to give my students more wait time when we are having whole class discussions.
I believe this was important to my inquiry because the students who are the lowest in my class have the most behavior issues or they are the quietest and shyest so I need to find a way to include them in the learning process without calling them out in front of everyone or without ignoring them. If all of my students feel that they are apart of a classroom TEAM then they are going to want to be self-motivated and in turn they will gain more in their learning during lessons/collaborations.
How does my data support this learning? Within my data I noticed that the students who normally get lower scores in reading comprehension, re-telling the story and telling main idea/theme of the story made huge improvements after I did the Kagan strategies and especially after I did a few rounds of Timed-Pair-Share and Round Robin. My students who normally are the lower scored students have retained information more easily and more accurately from after doing these strategies. In my data I have student quotes of successful collaboration about re-telling the story accurately and I am very proud of those students.
What actions/changes will I take in my teaching based on my learning this week? I will implement more Kagan strategies within my teaching and I will also collect student work and test scores so I can show evidence of my student learning and growth.
Based on the data I have collected, I still wonder… How can I implement whole brain teaching/Kagan strategies with math and science?
Weekly Blog- Week 13
EDE 4504
Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
All Tasks completed.
This week was a fun week in internship. This week we finished the story Bear Snores On and we moved into rhyming and identifying, and creating rhyming words. This was a fun week becuase teaching students about rhyming words involves songs and interactive activities and also in Kindergarten my students are allowed to create "Nonsense words". This means when I say "What rhymes with funny?", my students can say "dunny, plummy, wunny" and it would be fine becuase right now we are just focusing on the ending sounds of the words. My CT and myself were cracking up this week teaching about rhyming. My students had a blast coming up with awesome nonsense words in our lesson. We also had a "Thanksgiving day feast" today (Wednesday 11/16/2016) which my students got a little history lesson on why we celebrate thanksgiving and what it means to be appreciative and thankful.
For my rhyming activity I referred to the book that they were studying "Bear Snores On" this book had rhyming words in it and as we were finishing up our unit on re-telling the story from beginning, middle end I talked to my students about the specific WORDS in the book. I pointed to the word "Gnarls and Snarls" and I told my students to say these words out loud. Then I asked my students "What do these words have in common" we talked about the way these words sounded when we said them out loud. we talked about how these words sounded like and we talked about how these words physically looked alike. The endings in particular were the same endings in spelling and in sounding. I explained that there is a reason for this, "These words are rhyming words, these words rhyme becuase they share the same ending sounds and are similar in the way they are pronounced." we then talked more about rhyming words and we had a guided writing activity where I would write a word on the board and we had to come up with different words or letters that were similar in that they rhymed. We had lots of fun, we also started creating sentences with our rhyming words and we were trying to create a sentence with as much rhyming words as possible. I then had my students sit back at their desks and work on their rhyming words that we came up with in their writing notebook.
Later on in the day we had a mini-thanksgiving feast! some parents, myself and my CT brought in Thanksgiving day food like stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy etc. As they were eating my CT and myself talked about how the pilgrims came over in the mayflower and started building houses, planting crops and starting a life. I then told them that native Americans were already inhabitants there and the pilgrims and Native Americans needed to get along and exchange goods and food. They had a thanksgiving day feast to celebrate their different cultures, to celebrate things they were thankful for (Family, food, shelter, the earth, friendship and good health) and the feast symbolized peace within the land. We ate and sang songs, watched some thanksgiving history clips and Charlie brown Thanksgiving clips. It was so nice becuase some parents stayed with their kids and my students really appreciated everything.
Towards the end of the day we had a thanksgiving craft. we made pilgrims out of paper plates. We had 2 parent helpers who stayed in the classroom to help students cut, glue, color and decorate their pilgrims. it was a fun, hands on activity and I walked around and helped students as well with their crafts. Over all the whole day was very memorable and I cannot wait until I have my own classroom and own students so I can do fun, interactive things with my future class. Before dismissal and after clean-up we all enjoyed a little slice of pumpkin pie and we went around and reviewed our rhyming words! we called on each student and we played a game on rhyming words (we would say a word and the student had to come up with a word that rhymed, of they said a word that didn't rhyme they had to sit out, the last one standing was the winner and would get a sticker). This was a VERY fun and creative day!
All Tasks completed.
This week was a fun week in internship. This week we finished the story Bear Snores On and we moved into rhyming and identifying, and creating rhyming words. This was a fun week becuase teaching students about rhyming words involves songs and interactive activities and also in Kindergarten my students are allowed to create "Nonsense words". This means when I say "What rhymes with funny?", my students can say "dunny, plummy, wunny" and it would be fine becuase right now we are just focusing on the ending sounds of the words. My CT and myself were cracking up this week teaching about rhyming. My students had a blast coming up with awesome nonsense words in our lesson. We also had a "Thanksgiving day feast" today (Wednesday 11/16/2016) which my students got a little history lesson on why we celebrate thanksgiving and what it means to be appreciative and thankful.
For my rhyming activity I referred to the book that they were studying "Bear Snores On" this book had rhyming words in it and as we were finishing up our unit on re-telling the story from beginning, middle end I talked to my students about the specific WORDS in the book. I pointed to the word "Gnarls and Snarls" and I told my students to say these words out loud. Then I asked my students "What do these words have in common" we talked about the way these words sounded when we said them out loud. we talked about how these words sounded like and we talked about how these words physically looked alike. The endings in particular were the same endings in spelling and in sounding. I explained that there is a reason for this, "These words are rhyming words, these words rhyme becuase they share the same ending sounds and are similar in the way they are pronounced." we then talked more about rhyming words and we had a guided writing activity where I would write a word on the board and we had to come up with different words or letters that were similar in that they rhymed. We had lots of fun, we also started creating sentences with our rhyming words and we were trying to create a sentence with as much rhyming words as possible. I then had my students sit back at their desks and work on their rhyming words that we came up with in their writing notebook.
Later on in the day we had a mini-thanksgiving feast! some parents, myself and my CT brought in Thanksgiving day food like stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy etc. As they were eating my CT and myself talked about how the pilgrims came over in the mayflower and started building houses, planting crops and starting a life. I then told them that native Americans were already inhabitants there and the pilgrims and Native Americans needed to get along and exchange goods and food. They had a thanksgiving day feast to celebrate their different cultures, to celebrate things they were thankful for (Family, food, shelter, the earth, friendship and good health) and the feast symbolized peace within the land. We ate and sang songs, watched some thanksgiving history clips and Charlie brown Thanksgiving clips. It was so nice becuase some parents stayed with their kids and my students really appreciated everything.
Towards the end of the day we had a thanksgiving craft. we made pilgrims out of paper plates. We had 2 parent helpers who stayed in the classroom to help students cut, glue, color and decorate their pilgrims. it was a fun, hands on activity and I walked around and helped students as well with their crafts. Over all the whole day was very memorable and I cannot wait until I have my own classroom and own students so I can do fun, interactive things with my future class. Before dismissal and after clean-up we all enjoyed a little slice of pumpkin pie and we went around and reviewed our rhyming words! we called on each student and we played a game on rhyming words (we would say a word and the student had to come up with a word that rhymed, of they said a word that didn't rhyme they had to sit out, the last one standing was the winner and would get a sticker). This was a VERY fun and creative day!
Weekly Blog- Week 12
EDE 4504
Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
All Tasks completed.
All Tasks completed.
This week in internship I lead and implemented a read aloud. This was on the task list, I successfully completed a read a loud back in September but I taught a lesson to my Kindergarteners this week about Re-Telling a story from beginning middle to end. This task was challenging to me the first time I did it becuase I was nervous and I wasn't sure how to properly implement a read aloud to Kindergarteners. I am used to a 4th grade internship class so I am used to more complicated text/books. With saying that I feel that my second time around teaching a lesson using a read a loud technique was very successful and my students gained a lot of great skills and techniques for reading comprehension.
I started out by having my students join me on the carpet. They each have their spots on the carpet and they were expected to sit criss cross applesauce! I sat in the teacher rocking chair and I started to talk to my students about what they notice while looking at covers of books. I asked "What can you predict this book would be about just by looking at the cover?" 'What can we Infer about this book?" "Who do we think the characters are just by looking at the cover?" we had a discussion about what it means to infer. We discussed about how we can tell who the characters are, how we can tell who the MAIN characters are and what we need to do in order to understand the setting of the story and what the story is about. I told my students that the "characters" of the story are the people or animals in the story. The MAIN characters are the people or animals the story is all about. I told my students that the setting of the story is WHERE the story takes place and sometimes throughout the story the setting changes and the characters change. I told my students how to figure out the theme of the story by noticing what the characters are saying/doing and then we can make our judgment on what the story is about by listening and re-telling the story. I then began to read them the story "BEARS SNORES ON" I told them that they had to listen really carefully and pay attention to the words and pictures. I read the WHOLE book very carefully to my class. I stopped at many spots and gave them hints and little topics of discussion for them to mull over. After I finished my close reading/read aloud I then gave my students each a sticky note. and told them to go to their desk and draw a picture and LABEL their picture by either writing a sentence or one/two words about the BEGINNING of the story. "What happened in the beginning of the story?" I gave them about 6 minutes to do this. Then they came back to the carpet and One by one I called on my students to get up explain what was on their sticky note and then stick it to the chart paper. 85% of my students accurately wrote/drew correctly about what happened in the beginning of the story. we had a discussion about how we remembered what happened and how we could re-tell the story using details from what we remembered. I then had my students take another sticky note and write the middle of the story. They were to draw a picture of what happened in the middle of the story and label their drawing, we then all gathered together on the carpet and discussed what we learned. 80% of my students accurately described what happened in the middle of the story with correct detail. We had a class discussion about who the characters were and how we can tell what happened in the middle of the story based on details from the. We then stopped for the day and my CT was going to finish the lesson tomorrow (Thursday) about the end of the story.
Over all this read-aloud was very fun and successful. I feel that I completed this task very accurately and effectively. the more activities and lessons I do using these strategies the easier and more effective I as a teacher will become. My students LOVED how they were able to express themselves, they loved the sticky notes and they loved learning about reading comprehension. I enjoy going further and deeper in their knowledge about how to decode and analyze a text.
I started out by having my students join me on the carpet. They each have their spots on the carpet and they were expected to sit criss cross applesauce! I sat in the teacher rocking chair and I started to talk to my students about what they notice while looking at covers of books. I asked "What can you predict this book would be about just by looking at the cover?" 'What can we Infer about this book?" "Who do we think the characters are just by looking at the cover?" we had a discussion about what it means to infer. We discussed about how we can tell who the characters are, how we can tell who the MAIN characters are and what we need to do in order to understand the setting of the story and what the story is about. I told my students that the "characters" of the story are the people or animals in the story. The MAIN characters are the people or animals the story is all about. I told my students that the setting of the story is WHERE the story takes place and sometimes throughout the story the setting changes and the characters change. I told my students how to figure out the theme of the story by noticing what the characters are saying/doing and then we can make our judgment on what the story is about by listening and re-telling the story. I then began to read them the story "BEARS SNORES ON" I told them that they had to listen really carefully and pay attention to the words and pictures. I read the WHOLE book very carefully to my class. I stopped at many spots and gave them hints and little topics of discussion for them to mull over. After I finished my close reading/read aloud I then gave my students each a sticky note. and told them to go to their desk and draw a picture and LABEL their picture by either writing a sentence or one/two words about the BEGINNING of the story. "What happened in the beginning of the story?" I gave them about 6 minutes to do this. Then they came back to the carpet and One by one I called on my students to get up explain what was on their sticky note and then stick it to the chart paper. 85% of my students accurately wrote/drew correctly about what happened in the beginning of the story. we had a discussion about how we remembered what happened and how we could re-tell the story using details from what we remembered. I then had my students take another sticky note and write the middle of the story. They were to draw a picture of what happened in the middle of the story and label their drawing, we then all gathered together on the carpet and discussed what we learned. 80% of my students accurately described what happened in the middle of the story with correct detail. We had a class discussion about who the characters were and how we can tell what happened in the middle of the story based on details from the. We then stopped for the day and my CT was going to finish the lesson tomorrow (Thursday) about the end of the story.
Over all this read-aloud was very fun and successful. I feel that I completed this task very accurately and effectively. the more activities and lessons I do using these strategies the easier and more effective I as a teacher will become. My students LOVED how they were able to express themselves, they loved the sticky notes and they loved learning about reading comprehension. I enjoy going further and deeper in their knowledge about how to decode and analyze a text.
Weekly Blog- Week 11
EDE 4504
Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 20 out of 20 tasks completed= ALL TASKS COMPLETED
- FEAPS focus- #2 "The Learning Environment"
- All FEAPS completed through-out this task list
- #3 Instructional Delivery and facilitation. "The effective educator consistently"
- e.= Specific FEAP Relate and integrate the subject matter with other disciplines and life experiences
- # 5 Continuos Professionnel Improvement, The effective educator consistently:
- c. = Specific FEAP Uses a variety of data, independently, and in collaboration with colleagues, to evaluate learning outcomes, adjust planning and continuously improve the effectiveness of the lessons
- TWO WEEKS WORTH OF TASKS (10-25/16 and 11/2/16)
The past two weeks in internship has beed very chaotic in a good way. Since last week i blogged about philosophy of classroom management I wasn't able to blog about what I did in internship the week of 10/25/16. I got a lot of things accomplished in my classroom last week, and this week (11/2) I was able to explore more with my students and teach them in a more in depth way as well.
Last week 10/25 I accomplished a lot of the same tasks. as you can see on my task list I put black asterisks by the tasks that I basically do every day while Im in internship. This task list was designed to build on each task and repeat tasks diligently so that by the time I am taking over the classroom in it's entirety I am familiar and comfortable in any teaching situation. Last week I also completed the FEAP #5 (c): "Uses a variety of data, independently, and in collaboration with colleagues, to evaluate learning outcomes, adjust planning and continuously improve the effectiveness of the lessons." I completed my connected lesson for my supervisor to observe me. I completed this FEAP along with my lesson becuase I used a variety of student data to collaborate with my CT and other Kindergarten teachers in planning my lesson. We created an informal assessment at the beginning of the lesson to plan and execute the next lesson which had a formative assessment. I taught a science lesson on heavy vs light and objects that are associated with being heavy and objects that are associated with being light. We compared objects and then my students were required to experiment and facilitate their own judgments on different objects. My lesson went well becuase I conversed and collaborated with my CT and other Kindergarten teachers on creating this lesson surrounding student data and my own observation notes. First I gave the students an informal lesson/assessment on wether certain objects were heavy or light by picking them up. Then I have them a worksheet to complete that involved coloring. I gave my students basically no background knowledge about properties of light/heavy objects and I wanted to see their cognitive level of pre- knowledge on this topic before I taught it. I realized that for my connected lesson (Day 2 of the lesson) I needed to EXPLAIN about heavy objects and light objects a lot more so my students can understand better. I also planned according to the answers they gave me on the worksheet, I was able to track which students got it, which students kind of understood or had some background knowledge and which students were completely lost. The next day for my lesson I used lots of examples, lots of visuals and we spent a good amount of time discussion as a class about heavy and light and what they mean compered to each other, we weighed objects and I gave my students appropriate wait times for their higher order thinking questions "Why is a beach ball lighter than a rock when the rock is much smaller than the beach ball?" Over all the lesson was a success and I know understand why teachers have to use students data, researched data, observation notes and collaborate with their peers in order to create a well rounded lesson. On day 2 of my connected lesson for my students assessment they had to work individually on an interactive worksheet where my students were expected to cut out objects and glue them either on the "Heavy" side or "Light" side. My students completed this assessment/lesson with 95% accuracy! I was very pleased and my supervisor was happy too. Over all last week went very smoothly and my observation went great, my lesson plan was very neatly organized with my connections showing and I feel like my students learned a lot. In the slide show below the name "Christian" is made up due to privacy purposes. The color worksheet and observation notes are from the first day of the lesson and the heavy/light cut and paste worksheet was from day 2 of the lesson. (Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of my students COMPLETED day 2 worksheet)
Last week 10/25 I accomplished a lot of the same tasks. as you can see on my task list I put black asterisks by the tasks that I basically do every day while Im in internship. This task list was designed to build on each task and repeat tasks diligently so that by the time I am taking over the classroom in it's entirety I am familiar and comfortable in any teaching situation. Last week I also completed the FEAP #5 (c): "Uses a variety of data, independently, and in collaboration with colleagues, to evaluate learning outcomes, adjust planning and continuously improve the effectiveness of the lessons." I completed my connected lesson for my supervisor to observe me. I completed this FEAP along with my lesson becuase I used a variety of student data to collaborate with my CT and other Kindergarten teachers in planning my lesson. We created an informal assessment at the beginning of the lesson to plan and execute the next lesson which had a formative assessment. I taught a science lesson on heavy vs light and objects that are associated with being heavy and objects that are associated with being light. We compared objects and then my students were required to experiment and facilitate their own judgments on different objects. My lesson went well becuase I conversed and collaborated with my CT and other Kindergarten teachers on creating this lesson surrounding student data and my own observation notes. First I gave the students an informal lesson/assessment on wether certain objects were heavy or light by picking them up. Then I have them a worksheet to complete that involved coloring. I gave my students basically no background knowledge about properties of light/heavy objects and I wanted to see their cognitive level of pre- knowledge on this topic before I taught it. I realized that for my connected lesson (Day 2 of the lesson) I needed to EXPLAIN about heavy objects and light objects a lot more so my students can understand better. I also planned according to the answers they gave me on the worksheet, I was able to track which students got it, which students kind of understood or had some background knowledge and which students were completely lost. The next day for my lesson I used lots of examples, lots of visuals and we spent a good amount of time discussion as a class about heavy and light and what they mean compered to each other, we weighed objects and I gave my students appropriate wait times for their higher order thinking questions "Why is a beach ball lighter than a rock when the rock is much smaller than the beach ball?" Over all the lesson was a success and I know understand why teachers have to use students data, researched data, observation notes and collaborate with their peers in order to create a well rounded lesson. On day 2 of my connected lesson for my students assessment they had to work individually on an interactive worksheet where my students were expected to cut out objects and glue them either on the "Heavy" side or "Light" side. My students completed this assessment/lesson with 95% accuracy! I was very pleased and my supervisor was happy too. Over all last week went very smoothly and my observation went great, my lesson plan was very neatly organized with my connections showing and I feel like my students learned a lot. In the slide show below the name "Christian" is made up due to privacy purposes. The color worksheet and observation notes are from the first day of the lesson and the heavy/light cut and paste worksheet was from day 2 of the lesson. (Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of my students COMPLETED day 2 worksheet)
This week in internship (Week of 11/2) I accomplished a lot and I am teaching more and more, I am feeling more and more comfortable too becuase I am getting to know my students. As for the task blog I completed the last and final task! I completed "Lead a community building activity". This tasks goes along with FEAP # 3 (e): Instructional Delivery and facilitation. "The effective educator consistently" e.= Specific FEAP Relate and integrate the subject matter with other disciplines and life experiences. Since it is the first week in November my students were closing on their pumpkin unit. My students completed a pumpkin unit that involved them gutting out pumpkins, counting the pumpkin seeds, observing the pumpkin and writing about it in our science notebooks. My students also had a pumpkin at-home activity that I blogged about 2 weeks ago. We had a social studies lesson on the pumpkins they were observing and learning about, along with team work, problem solving skills and following directions quickly and affectively. The unit ended on Monday (10/31/16 Halloween!) so on Tuesday my CT brought all the students and myself baked pumpkin seeds with seasoning on them! they were very tasty and it was cool becuase my students were just using these very seeds with their learning and my CT was creative and showed my students that we can eat the pumpkin seeds too. I wanted to include this pumpkin unit into a community activity so my class along with the other kindergarten teachers PLANTED THE PUMPKIN SEEDS! The elementary students at my internship school has a school/community garden. We created a little section and my CT and myself invited my students parents to come in right after lunch time to help their children participate and plant the left over seeds. (My CT took some of the seeds and kept them so we could plant them). It was a great team building activity and community activity. To be honest when I first looked over the list of tasks I was worried that I would not be able to check this item off considering it would have to take a big project or big idea to complete. I am glad I had the idea of planting the seeds for my students to be involved in their community. Not only did my students learn about the process of planting and growing, they also got to learn about what it means to give back to their community and their environment. This project was a great success and my students got to experience first hand everyone working together to make a beautiful garden! My students can not wait until next season when they will begin to see their pumpkins grow. We can use this activity as a stepping stone for our long term science investigation too! This week was so much fun and its weeks like this when I cannot wait to be a real paid teacher working for the county because I feel like I can make a difference.
And here is a picture of my daughter on Halloween! just to brighten your day! :)
Weekly Blog- Week 10
EDE 4504
This week, write a reflection on your philosophy of classroom management (from the Play Doh lesson).
As my days of being an intern are still consuming my life I am constantly reflecting off of my own classroom management system and management style. In management class we did a little creative activity to show our classroom management style through a play-doh! We first had to write down a couple sentences that expressed what our classroom management philosophy is. Then we had to use play doh in constructing our classroom philosophy. I really liked this activity becuase it brought a cool new way to express our classroom management style through art. We also did a gallery walk within our classroom and then each classmate had to write down what our play-doh creations represented and how our classroom management philosophy reflected from our art work. This was a great way to get different opinions and perspectives within the classroom, and this ultimately shaped my own classroom management philosophy.
1. What did you learn about your philosophy from making a model?
I learned that play-doh is very fun to play with! I learned that it was not easy trying to mold play-doh into a 3-D model that represented something complex like a philosophy. I Learned that i want my philosophy to be surrounded by love and structure. when I was making the model It was hard to build what I wanted to represent. What I wrote down was something very different than what I made and That was very interesting to me becuase then that made me want to reflect off of my own philosophy and change it slightly. I learned that making a physical model of something requires a different part of your brain and thus makes you think differently than before. For example, when I was writing my philosophy of classroom management mission statement I was thinking a lot about what I wanted to write or say and I wanted the wording to be right, but when I constructed the play-doh model I didn't really think about it I just crafted what I wanted my classroom to look like and it almost changed my perspective in a good way. It required more skills from myself in order to build on my previous philosophy.
I learned that play-doh is very fun to play with! I learned that it was not easy trying to mold play-doh into a 3-D model that represented something complex like a philosophy. I Learned that i want my philosophy to be surrounded by love and structure. when I was making the model It was hard to build what I wanted to represent. What I wrote down was something very different than what I made and That was very interesting to me becuase then that made me want to reflect off of my own philosophy and change it slightly. I learned that making a physical model of something requires a different part of your brain and thus makes you think differently than before. For example, when I was writing my philosophy of classroom management mission statement I was thinking a lot about what I wanted to write or say and I wanted the wording to be right, but when I constructed the play-doh model I didn't really think about it I just crafted what I wanted my classroom to look like and it almost changed my perspective in a good way. It required more skills from myself in order to build on my previous philosophy.
2. What did you learn about your philosophy from your classmates observations/comments?
I learned that people from my class understood that I wanted love in my classroom and that they understood that I wanted to guide my students through their learning and learn together and grow together. I was surprised that my classmates even understood what I was trying to create because the balls in the middle of a heart is kind of confusing, but they understood that the balls represented the students and the heart represented the fact that I wanted to bring each student love, motivation and guidance for school and for their life. My classmates wrote "peaceful, love, inclusive, harmony, peas in a pod, community learning, collaboration, unity". All of these things were so nice and great becuase these are all aspects I want to have within my classroom and in my classroom community and classroom environment. Some words like team effort or teacher leading student were written and I did not even consider these terms or words if someone hadn't have written them so I was surprised but in a good way becuase this made me reflect off of my own teaching style and made me want to work on my mission statement a little more. I leaned that I want to have a more collaborative classroom and maybe I should have put the teacher INSIDE the heart with the students. Also this made me want to maybe include my students in the making of rules and regulations in my classroom. Over all I really liked all of my peers comments and they helped me in shaping my philosophy.
I learned that people from my class understood that I wanted love in my classroom and that they understood that I wanted to guide my students through their learning and learn together and grow together. I was surprised that my classmates even understood what I was trying to create because the balls in the middle of a heart is kind of confusing, but they understood that the balls represented the students and the heart represented the fact that I wanted to bring each student love, motivation and guidance for school and for their life. My classmates wrote "peaceful, love, inclusive, harmony, peas in a pod, community learning, collaboration, unity". All of these things were so nice and great becuase these are all aspects I want to have within my classroom and in my classroom community and classroom environment. Some words like team effort or teacher leading student were written and I did not even consider these terms or words if someone hadn't have written them so I was surprised but in a good way becuase this made me reflect off of my own teaching style and made me want to work on my mission statement a little more. I leaned that I want to have a more collaborative classroom and maybe I should have put the teacher INSIDE the heart with the students. Also this made me want to maybe include my students in the making of rules and regulations in my classroom. Over all I really liked all of my peers comments and they helped me in shaping my philosophy.
3. How did you expand your philosophy? Explain?
I expanded my philosophy by adding more things to it and making it more student centered. I did this by changing some of my wording in my original philosophical statement on classroom management. I adapted more of an Alfie khon approach to management style and I want my main focus to be love and support, then discipline and behavior. Learning has to be done from within and from each individuals motivation and drive so I want a classroom that focuses on the student Interest and student goals, growth and motivation.
4. How will you implement this philosophy in the classroom during internship (provide examples)?
I will implement this philosophy in the classroom becuase every student needs to feel loved and respected. some students do not get the proper love or care when they are at home so it is my responsibility and duty as a teacher to provide positive reinforcement, love and respect to my students each and every day. I wrote in my philosophy that classroom management is and should be consistent, positive and student centered.Each student should feel loved, valued, supported and respected to maximize learning and foster a collaborative learning environment. This time I would add that love needs to be valued through each individual student and personal/academic goals need to be implemented with motivation strategies. I would also add teamwork and I would want my classroom to be cohesive. I liked this activity a lot becuase it shed some light on my own classroom and what I would value out of having a great well thought out classroom management philosophy.
I expanded my philosophy by adding more things to it and making it more student centered. I did this by changing some of my wording in my original philosophical statement on classroom management. I adapted more of an Alfie khon approach to management style and I want my main focus to be love and support, then discipline and behavior. Learning has to be done from within and from each individuals motivation and drive so I want a classroom that focuses on the student Interest and student goals, growth and motivation.
4. How will you implement this philosophy in the classroom during internship (provide examples)?
I will implement this philosophy in the classroom becuase every student needs to feel loved and respected. some students do not get the proper love or care when they are at home so it is my responsibility and duty as a teacher to provide positive reinforcement, love and respect to my students each and every day. I wrote in my philosophy that classroom management is and should be consistent, positive and student centered.Each student should feel loved, valued, supported and respected to maximize learning and foster a collaborative learning environment. This time I would add that love needs to be valued through each individual student and personal/academic goals need to be implemented with motivation strategies. I would also add teamwork and I would want my classroom to be cohesive. I liked this activity a lot becuase it shed some light on my own classroom and what I would value out of having a great well thought out classroom management philosophy.
Weekly Blog- Week 9
EDE 4504
> Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 19 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #2 "The Learning Environment"
- All FEAPS completed through-out this task list
- #4 Assessment. "The effective educator consistently"
- d.= Specific FEAP Modifies assessments and testing conditions to accommodate learning styles and varying levels of knowledge.
- # 5 Continuos Professionnel Improvement, The effective educator consistently:
- a. = Specific FEAP Designs purposeful professional goals to strengthen the effectiveness of instruction based on students' needs. ELL
This week in internship I introduced my students to guided reading. We also had our students work more on their independent reading. For this week on the task blog I helped my ELL students in a guided writing assignment. During Daily 5 my students broke into their groups and stations for reading/literacy/sight words practice. I pulled aside our 2 ELL students who's first language is Spanish. I had them sit down at the guided reading table with me and I picked out a bi-lingual book on cassette-tape and a worksheet with their sight words for practice that went along with the book that we went over. Since all of my students are doing guided reading as a whole class with either me leading or my CT, I needed to figure out how to include my ELL students in a productive way. I guided my 2 ELL students in the reading of "Mañana Iguana". I discussed what we noticed about the book before we read. The over-all guided reading lesson was about imagery (what we noticed about the pictures that describes the story and makes the pictures in the story help us understand the theme of the story or message of the story). My ELL students were so thrilled that they would be included in the guided reading lesson today. They each had headphones and while they were reading they had to point at each word. I helped them through the book and we stopped a few times to have a mini discussion on the theme relating the the pictures. This guided reading activity was very productive for them becuase they learned a lot of english while also brushing up on their Spanish language letter sounds. I also have been slowly changing their environment with Spanish labels around the classroom. This will build confidence in my ELL students becuase sometimes I notice that they are shy or unintentionally misbehaving or not following rules. I noticed the majority of why this is happening is becuase they cannot read the english labels (Pencil boxes, mail boxes, library cards, hall passes, rocking chair, math notebooks). My CT and myself will give instruction to my students to build their independence and Ive noticed that my ELL students will have a hard time following instruction becuase they cant read the labels in the classroom. I am very glad that I have been adapting my classroom environment to meet the needs of my ELL students. When I looked at this task list in the beginning of the semester I did not think I would have checked off this task, but i am glad that I can check it off and contribute to help my ELL students.
This week I always complete the majority of tasks becuase I am taking over my classroom. This week my students learned about polygons and theme in storytelling. This week was very productive and I cannot wait to teach more next week!
This week I always complete the majority of tasks becuase I am taking over my classroom. This week my students learned about polygons and theme in storytelling. This week was very productive and I cannot wait to teach more next week!
Weekly Blog- Week 8
EDE 4504
> Internship
- Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 18 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #2 "The Learning Environment"
- All FEAPS completed through-out this task list
- #3 "Instructional Delivery and Facilitation. The effective educator consistently utilizes a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the subject taught
- a.= Specific FEAPS Deliver engaging and challenging lessons
This week in internship I taught from the minute the bell rang until noon. That's 4 hours straight. We started centers this week and that means that my students had to rotate between different learning stations. For kindergarten this was not an easy task to master. My CT and I have been slowly trying to implement centers in our classroom and now we are in full swing. Centers are designed to bring independence to their learning and thinking. It allows my students to be self-motivated and learn through an excellerated scaffolding. We set up these groups and centers to use differentiation too. We have a technology center, independent reading center, sight word/letter sounds. Science station and math. I was heavily involved in my students transitions and helped them in their stations by walking around, observing, and getting hands on in their learning. That is why this week for my task list My CT checked off "Assume the responsibility of handling at least three transitions" I did this on Wednesday October 12th.
When the bell rang I Told the students to clean up quietly and join me on the carpet for morning meeting. That is the 1st transition. We started the day like every other day with our morning meeting routine, morning message and then we talked about the calendar (Days of the week, months of the year). This week we added another activity into our routine, we started to log the temperature outside with our thermometer. We are having long investigating science skills be introduced. after we logged the temperature on our graph and sang our morning song I then told the students to head back to their seats to start our lesson on social studies. I called them back to their seats by table color. This was my 2nd transition of the day. I then proceeded into the social studies lesson on good citizenship and laws by reading a book under the elmo. We talked about descriptive language and what the book tells us about what it means to be a good citizen using the pictures as references. We had a class discussion and activity involving my students drawing a picture of what they think it means to be a good citizen based off of the text. I modeled how I would draw and label my picture. This activity took 30 minutes and I walked around and helped my students with their labeling (if they didn't know how to spell a word I had them sound it out and try their best at spelling). I then had one student come to the elmo projector and present his/her drawing and labels and explain to the class his reasoning behind the picture he drew and how it relates to being a good citizen. I then told my students to put their drawings in their mailboxes. I called each table one by one by their color. After my students completed this task I then assigned them to their daily 5 centers. My CT and I talked about centers to my students earlier in the week so they were familiar with what to do. I called each GROUP to their stations one by one. My CT organized the groups in a certain way relating to their cognitive level. This was done as differentiation. Once each group was in their stations I told them to begin their learning. This was my 3rd time of the day accomplishing transitions. I had a timer on for 10 minutes so they can be reminded to switch stations when the timer was up. we did this 4 times, meaning 4 different transitions. I helped them rotate and I also guided certain students through their activities. This was successful but we still needed some work done with our stations. I believe that next week we will accomplish their daily 5 centers with more accuracy. I am proud of my students for trying their best and they actually did very well with their independent learning! I Then had my students go back to their seats and we started our Math lesson of the day on the number 15. We were focusing on greater than, less than, equal to and also writing the number 15. drawing sets of the number 15, counting by 5 to get 15, drawing a number line with 15 on it, drawing tally marks up to 15 and drawing a tens table that represented 15. I had my students do this in their math notebooks and we accomplished this activity with 80% accuracy. I then had my students transition into lining up for art. Over all I accomplished MANY transitions through-out the morning and I am very excited on how well and smoothly they went. I cannot wait until next week when i teach more and take over afternoon activities as well.
When the bell rang I Told the students to clean up quietly and join me on the carpet for morning meeting. That is the 1st transition. We started the day like every other day with our morning meeting routine, morning message and then we talked about the calendar (Days of the week, months of the year). This week we added another activity into our routine, we started to log the temperature outside with our thermometer. We are having long investigating science skills be introduced. after we logged the temperature on our graph and sang our morning song I then told the students to head back to their seats to start our lesson on social studies. I called them back to their seats by table color. This was my 2nd transition of the day. I then proceeded into the social studies lesson on good citizenship and laws by reading a book under the elmo. We talked about descriptive language and what the book tells us about what it means to be a good citizen using the pictures as references. We had a class discussion and activity involving my students drawing a picture of what they think it means to be a good citizen based off of the text. I modeled how I would draw and label my picture. This activity took 30 minutes and I walked around and helped my students with their labeling (if they didn't know how to spell a word I had them sound it out and try their best at spelling). I then had one student come to the elmo projector and present his/her drawing and labels and explain to the class his reasoning behind the picture he drew and how it relates to being a good citizen. I then told my students to put their drawings in their mailboxes. I called each table one by one by their color. After my students completed this task I then assigned them to their daily 5 centers. My CT and I talked about centers to my students earlier in the week so they were familiar with what to do. I called each GROUP to their stations one by one. My CT organized the groups in a certain way relating to their cognitive level. This was done as differentiation. Once each group was in their stations I told them to begin their learning. This was my 3rd time of the day accomplishing transitions. I had a timer on for 10 minutes so they can be reminded to switch stations when the timer was up. we did this 4 times, meaning 4 different transitions. I helped them rotate and I also guided certain students through their activities. This was successful but we still needed some work done with our stations. I believe that next week we will accomplish their daily 5 centers with more accuracy. I am proud of my students for trying their best and they actually did very well with their independent learning! I Then had my students go back to their seats and we started our Math lesson of the day on the number 15. We were focusing on greater than, less than, equal to and also writing the number 15. drawing sets of the number 15, counting by 5 to get 15, drawing a number line with 15 on it, drawing tally marks up to 15 and drawing a tens table that represented 15. I had my students do this in their math notebooks and we accomplished this activity with 80% accuracy. I then had my students transition into lining up for art. Over all I accomplished MANY transitions through-out the morning and I am very excited on how well and smoothly they went. I cannot wait until next week when i teach more and take over afternoon activities as well.
Weekly Blog- Week 7
EDE 4504
> Internship
- Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 17 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #2 "The Learning Environment"
- All FEAPS completed through-out this task list
- #5 "Continuous Professional Improvement. The effective educator consistently: Collaborates with the home, school, and larger communities to foster communication and to support student learning and continuous improvement.
- d.= Specific FEAPS .
This Week I taught another science lesson on smell and taste, we had 5 stations for my Kindergarteners to rotate and smell the objects and taste the food to dive deeper in their understanding of their 5 senses. We also completed tasks regarding science olympics coming up. My students had to practice stacking cups with some other materials, it was a competition on who could stack the cups to make the highest tower. It went great becuase my students got very involved and some of them told me they wanted to do this more often (Hopefully I will be influencing our future engineers!) From now on I will be taking over the majority of science lessons in my classroom and I will soon start taking over math! This classroom will be my spring placement so I am very excited and eager to begin taking over more teaching responsibilities.
For the task list and task items: This week I completed the task "Create a way to welcome parents as partners." I did this by creating a small project/assignment for my students to complete WITH THEIR PARENTS at home! It was a cut out of a pumpkin from orange construction paper. I had my students cut out the pumpkin I traced for them. My students then had to write their name on the bottom corner. The rest of the assignment was to be completed at home within the next couple of days. The instructions were written on a sheet of paper stapled to the back of the pumpkin. my students and their families were expected to decorate their construction paper pumpkin together to represent their personality. put on stickers, glue objects, put pictures, color or paint the pumpkin, put anything that fits that would represent their individual child.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Dear parents/guardians, This is an 'At Home' assignment for you to get involved in your students learning activities! please decorate this pumpkin anyway you like to represent your child's personality, his/her likes, favorite things, movies, items, etc. You can use any materials you want. On Monday we will be sharing our pumpkins as a class and then I will hang them up on our door to show the school just how terrific and unique our Kindergarten class is! This is a fun project to spark the Fall sprit, along with building our classroom community and getting families involved in our classroom learning environment.
I created this project and wrote the letter to for my students to bring home. I really wanted an assignment that would involve my students home life and community. I truly feel that this will allow my students parents to feel like they are involved in the learning and school. Parents are partners and they should be reminded that they are a huge help and influence to their child's growth and learning goals. I know that this assignment will bring parents more into my classroom and also help with communication, along with helping me get to know my students further by knowing more about their personality and home life/relationship with their family!
Weekly Blog- Week 6
EDE 4504
> Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 16 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #2 "The Learning Environment"
- All FEAPS completed through-out this task list
- #3 "Instructional Delivery and Facilitation. The effective educator consistently utilizes a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the subject taught
- h.= Specific FEAPS
This week in Internship I implemented a new seating arrangement/seating chart in my classroom. normally my CT and myself have the students sit at tables with assigned seats. On Wednesday I had my students choose places around the classroom to read and write in their journals. They each have a pencil box with their name on it with crayons and other school supplies that they need. The students were allowed to bring their pencil box with them and a clip board (To use for a hard surface to write on). When they were seated around the room (We had to spread some people out) they began to work on their lesson. The students had to work on their letter writing and handwriting by tracing the letter Y and Z in their letter writing packets. Normally some students get bored or frustrated when we are doing this lesson at their desks, but today I noticed that those students were working diligently and very effectively becuase of their environment change. I feel like my students worked better becuase they were able to relax on the floor and concentrate on their work, rather than concentrate on sitting down at a chair. After my students completed their task of writing in their handwriting notebooks they were allowed to take out a book and read quietly. Since this is a Kindergarten classroom their "Reading" consists of looking at pictures and sounding out words in their head. This teaches them to build the discipline of "Read-to-Self" for when they get older. I wanted to take this new take on seating arrangement and new environment to the next level. So the day before 9/27/16 we were not allowed to go outside and have recess because it was raining, since we did not get to go outside I wanted to have a lesson either in the media center or outside. My CT and I decided to take the students outside and teach a math lesson. Every day they have a 45 minute block on math (learning their numbers) They are taught a new number each day and they need to know how to write the number, write the word, draw a number line with their number on it, write a set of the number, draw a tens table with the number and then draw the correct tally marks with the number. Today we learned about the number 9! Before we went outside I showed them under the elmo how to correctly complete all the tasks (They should have a basic knowledge and understanding of the tasks because they do them every day). When we were outside my students were so happy and they listened very well and completed their math lesson with 80% accuracy. My CT and myself were very hands on in the lesson and we helped each student with their number. This week was very interesting and it actually sparked me in my inquiry of seating arrangements and flexible seating. I do not have evidence of student work since I forgot to take pictures of their work. But I do have a picture of their number charts that they look at in class to remind them of how to write each number. I cant wait until next week to complete another task and also to explore my Kindergarten class even more.
Weekly Blog- Week 5
EDE 4504
> # 4 "Assessment: The effective educator consistently"
> b. e. = Specific FEAPS
> b. e. = Specific FEAPS
- Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 15 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #1 "Instructional design and Lesson Planning. Applying concepts from human development and learning theories.
- c. f. = Specific FEAPS
- #3 "Instructional Delivery and Facilitation. The effective educator consistently utilizes a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the subject taught
- i. = Specific FEAPS
This week in internship I dove right into the busy schedule of planning and teaching. For my task blog I
completed 1 task : Organize the materials for a lesson (Particularly one with manipulative). The other tasks I have completed in the past are done on a daily basis for me now, so I am excited that I am getting in the swing of things/tasks every time I teach. This new task I needed for my science lesson. I taught a science lesson on our 5 senses (Specifically on touch). It was an interactive lesson using hands on materials like cotton balls, sand paper, ribbon, bubble wrap and popcorn seeds, paint and construction paper. The over view of my lesson was a science lesson on why/how we use our sense of touch. I lead a class discussion on what our sense of touch is. It is using our hands to feel things and our skin sends signals to our brain to tell us how they feel and our sense of touch helps us understand what we are touching and it helps us describe what things are. I explained this to my class and we had a mini discussion about it. Then I read a book regarding our sense of touch to further their understanding on the lesson. I wrote on the board words that would describe touch (I had my students come up with words, I also used this as an informal assessment) Then I called my students back to their seats so we could start the second half of the lesson. I had students the previous day take their hand prints with paint so we could have this lesson go smoothly with no mess. I gave my students each object 1 at a time, we talked about each object "what does this feel like? smooth? soft? hard? Bumpy?" we talked about what we learned previously and related it to the objects that they had in their hands. I then had the students glue each object to the fingers on their hand print to represent that we touch things with our finger tips. After they all were glued (With the help of my CT and myself walking around) my students then took out their science notebooks and wrote the word "TOUCH" at the top of the paper (I had an example on the board so they knew how to write the word). They had to write the word and then draw a picture of an object that they wanted. I used this as a formal assessment becuase I wanted to test their knowledge on what we just talked about and experienced. I liked this lesson a lot and it went very smoothly becuase my I gave my students clear and specific instructions, and also they had an intro to the lesson when we had a discussion on the carpet, so they knew what they were learning about. I took the time to organize the materials and assessments for this lesson. I successfully completed this tasks of lesson materials being implemented into learning. since it was not a math lesson I did not use manipulatives. I video taped myself teaching this lesson for my own reflection and feedback from my CT but I have attached screen shots to this blog post of student work, materials, the book we used, and what their science notebook looks like. I cant wait for next week so I can further my teaching and start a new subject/unit to teach.
completed 1 task : Organize the materials for a lesson (Particularly one with manipulative). The other tasks I have completed in the past are done on a daily basis for me now, so I am excited that I am getting in the swing of things/tasks every time I teach. This new task I needed for my science lesson. I taught a science lesson on our 5 senses (Specifically on touch). It was an interactive lesson using hands on materials like cotton balls, sand paper, ribbon, bubble wrap and popcorn seeds, paint and construction paper. The over view of my lesson was a science lesson on why/how we use our sense of touch. I lead a class discussion on what our sense of touch is. It is using our hands to feel things and our skin sends signals to our brain to tell us how they feel and our sense of touch helps us understand what we are touching and it helps us describe what things are. I explained this to my class and we had a mini discussion about it. Then I read a book regarding our sense of touch to further their understanding on the lesson. I wrote on the board words that would describe touch (I had my students come up with words, I also used this as an informal assessment) Then I called my students back to their seats so we could start the second half of the lesson. I had students the previous day take their hand prints with paint so we could have this lesson go smoothly with no mess. I gave my students each object 1 at a time, we talked about each object "what does this feel like? smooth? soft? hard? Bumpy?" we talked about what we learned previously and related it to the objects that they had in their hands. I then had the students glue each object to the fingers on their hand print to represent that we touch things with our finger tips. After they all were glued (With the help of my CT and myself walking around) my students then took out their science notebooks and wrote the word "TOUCH" at the top of the paper (I had an example on the board so they knew how to write the word). They had to write the word and then draw a picture of an object that they wanted. I used this as a formal assessment becuase I wanted to test their knowledge on what we just talked about and experienced. I liked this lesson a lot and it went very smoothly becuase my I gave my students clear and specific instructions, and also they had an intro to the lesson when we had a discussion on the carpet, so they knew what they were learning about. I took the time to organize the materials and assessments for this lesson. I successfully completed this tasks of lesson materials being implemented into learning. since it was not a math lesson I did not use manipulatives. I video taped myself teaching this lesson for my own reflection and feedback from my CT but I have attached screen shots to this blog post of student work, materials, the book we used, and what their science notebook looks like. I cant wait for next week so I can further my teaching and start a new subject/unit to teach.
Weekly Blog- Week 4
EDE 4504
- Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 14 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #1 "Instructional design and Lesson Planning. Applying concepts from human development and learning theories.
- b. = Specific FEAPS
- #2 "The learning Environment"- To maintain a student-centered learning environment that is safe, organized, equitable, flexible, inclusive, and collaborative.
- h. =Specific FEAPS
- #3 "Instructional Delivery and Facilitation. The effective educator consistently utilizes a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the subject taught
- b. c. = Specific FEAPS
Week 4 in internship this week went pretty well. I was able to really get the hang of a routine for my classroom. I also talked and planned with my CT about a science lesson I will be implementing next week, also I confirmed that this classroom will be the classroom that I will be completing my Final Internship which I am very excited to do. I honestly wish I had more time planning and being involved in test making and project that the students do but I know I will be able to get more hands on in due time.
This week I completed 2 more tasks, making a total of 14 tasks all together so far. "Lead a morning meeting" and "Try to implement techniques I've learned from Weistein chapters 8-11" were the 2 tasks I completed. This week my CT and myself decided that I am going to be taking over mornings from now on. since i am dealing with Kindergarteners (5-6 year olds) the students still have social circles the first 5 minutes of class until the second bell rings. I then tell the students to quietly clean up and sit at their desks until I call their table to the carpet. One by one I call their table to the carpet so we can start our morning meeting. I make sure all students are sitting criss cross applesauce and their eyes are on me, ears listening. I sit in a rocking chair facing them. I then begin by saying good morning boys and girls, please turn and talk to your parter and tell them how your morning is (They sit next to their buddy partner for one on one turn and talks). I then put on the good morning CD that we sing to, and use sign language. following that song we sing a number song to get their brains moving. (hand motions with number song). The students then go to their perimeter spots on the carpet to create a big open square. This making it easier for sharing time. I start off so the students have someone they can model. My CT and I use a stuffed animal monkey to symbolize that whoever is holding the monkey gets to talk, every one else stays quiet. I share what my favorite color is and then I give the monkey to the next person so they can share. This goes all around until everyone has shared. we then stand up and sing another song that gets their "Wiggles and Giggles" out. After that the students stay standing and go back to their perimeter spots where we play a game called "Zap" where I show them cards with 1 letter of the alphabet on each card, one by one each student has to say the letter on the card, if they get it wrong they sit down (they are out of the game), some cards are wild cards, if that card is pulled then that person has to sit down (They get zapped), this goes on until 1 person is left standing and that person is the winner. We then sit back down and start our lessons for the day; usually with a book or mini math refresh lesson on numbers. This morning routine works really well becuase it gets the students talking, sharing, dancing, listening and is curriculum based. throughout my morning routine I am aware of behavioral adjustments with seating arrangements I learned from the readings for this class. The books and articles for this class is really teaching me first hand how to differentiate my instruction and even make accommodations during informal assessments and morning meetings. This week was very successful becuase I am learning how to bring my morning meetings to another level for cognitive thinking for my students. I feel that every week I can get better and better at my morning meetings.
This week I completed 2 more tasks, making a total of 14 tasks all together so far. "Lead a morning meeting" and "Try to implement techniques I've learned from Weistein chapters 8-11" were the 2 tasks I completed. This week my CT and myself decided that I am going to be taking over mornings from now on. since i am dealing with Kindergarteners (5-6 year olds) the students still have social circles the first 5 minutes of class until the second bell rings. I then tell the students to quietly clean up and sit at their desks until I call their table to the carpet. One by one I call their table to the carpet so we can start our morning meeting. I make sure all students are sitting criss cross applesauce and their eyes are on me, ears listening. I sit in a rocking chair facing them. I then begin by saying good morning boys and girls, please turn and talk to your parter and tell them how your morning is (They sit next to their buddy partner for one on one turn and talks). I then put on the good morning CD that we sing to, and use sign language. following that song we sing a number song to get their brains moving. (hand motions with number song). The students then go to their perimeter spots on the carpet to create a big open square. This making it easier for sharing time. I start off so the students have someone they can model. My CT and I use a stuffed animal monkey to symbolize that whoever is holding the monkey gets to talk, every one else stays quiet. I share what my favorite color is and then I give the monkey to the next person so they can share. This goes all around until everyone has shared. we then stand up and sing another song that gets their "Wiggles and Giggles" out. After that the students stay standing and go back to their perimeter spots where we play a game called "Zap" where I show them cards with 1 letter of the alphabet on each card, one by one each student has to say the letter on the card, if they get it wrong they sit down (they are out of the game), some cards are wild cards, if that card is pulled then that person has to sit down (They get zapped), this goes on until 1 person is left standing and that person is the winner. We then sit back down and start our lessons for the day; usually with a book or mini math refresh lesson on numbers. This morning routine works really well becuase it gets the students talking, sharing, dancing, listening and is curriculum based. throughout my morning routine I am aware of behavioral adjustments with seating arrangements I learned from the readings for this class. The books and articles for this class is really teaching me first hand how to differentiate my instruction and even make accommodations during informal assessments and morning meetings. This week was very successful becuase I am learning how to bring my morning meetings to another level for cognitive thinking for my students. I feel that every week I can get better and better at my morning meetings.
Weekly Blog- Week 3
EDE 4504
- Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 12 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #1 "Instructional design and Lesson Planning. Applying concepts from human development and learning theories.
- a. e = Specific FEAPS
- #2 "The learning Environment"- To maintain a student-centered learning environment that is safe, organized, equitable, flexible, inclusive, and collaborative.
- a. b. e. g. i. =Specific FEAPS
Week 3 in Internship was very busy and eye opening. I accomplished a lot in my classroom as well as connected with my collaborative teacher. As a pre service teacher i am still getting my feet wet in the actual process of creating and executing lesson planning along with developing my students knowledge on curriculum. This week I really began to take over the classroom in a constructive way and not just as an observer.
For the first two tasks that I completed on 9/6/16 "Try at least 1 NEW attention getting strategy" and "Use non verbal cues to keep a group of students on task". Since I am in a Kindergarten class my students get social circle time, which means that they get to explore puzzles, games, computer time, play time. This gets their brain awake and gets them loosened up before a sit down lesson. They get 10 minutes of this in the morning BEFORE our morning meetings. The class was particularly loud and talkative on Tuesday (9/6/16) so for a NEW attention getting strategy I decided to walk over to the light switches and turn all of them off. The class immediately stopped talking and looked toward the door where I was standing. I then said "Ok boys and girls, I want all of you to quietly clean up social circles and then sit at your table with your head down until I call you to the carpet. I'm going to turn on the lights and I want you to continue to stay this quiet in 3.2.1". I then turned on the lights and my students followed directions perfectly. My CT was very impressed with my new attention getting strategy becuase she has never used this method before. I am glad that it went well and I can use this strategy in my own classroom. Later that day I thought about the second task that was my goal for the day "Using non-verbal cues", I noticed that after lunch when we work on our writing some students get easily distracted or bored and they sometimes goof off and get off track. My CT sometimes used CLAPS to get attention. my CT would clap 2 or 3 times (sometimes in a pattern) and then the students had to clap too. Also in the classroom there is a task chart that has labels that say listening quietly , working together, follows directions, on task etc. Also with the chart there are colored close pins-Green-Yellow-Red. Red means they are in trouble, green means they are great and yellow is a warning. When those same students were off task during writing I quietly walked over to the chart and changed the green close pin to a yellow one on the "On Task". I then pointed to those kids who were not writing. They immediately looked shocked and then picked up their pencils and started writing. I noticed that this non verbal cue is great becuase it doesn't cause the teacher to yell and disrupt everyone and it also allows a team effort to be a good class becuase if one student is affecting the behavior chart than they all get reprimanded, so it causes each one to feel responsible to stay on task.
The next day of internship (9/7/16) I completed 2 more tasks. "Write something on a board or a poster" and "Manage the materials needed to integrate technology". This day I was prepared for a lesson on identifying theme and mood of a story/book or poem. All my students were sitting on the carpet criss cross applesauce with their ears listening and eyes on me. My CT has huge chart paper like poster paper that is on an easel board. I wrote the word Theme on the top and then drew a vertical line down the middle. On the left I wrote Predictions and then on the right I wrote Evidence Based Thoughts. I introduced the word THEME to them and explained theme in a story. We then explored a book called "Your Alien". I showed my students the cover and the back and I asked them questions about the book "What can you predict this book will be about just by looking at the cover?" "what do you see?" "Can you predict the theme?' "Why?" I wrote down their thoughts and predictions on the paper and then I told them to think about theme and their thoughts while we read. After I read the book to them we then had a discussion and I wrote their thoughts about the theme of the book on the paper. We then had a little writing assignment/drawing activity afterwards. This mini lesson was great because I got to test their knowledge of theme and I was able to connect with their learning.
For the first two tasks that I completed on 9/6/16 "Try at least 1 NEW attention getting strategy" and "Use non verbal cues to keep a group of students on task". Since I am in a Kindergarten class my students get social circle time, which means that they get to explore puzzles, games, computer time, play time. This gets their brain awake and gets them loosened up before a sit down lesson. They get 10 minutes of this in the morning BEFORE our morning meetings. The class was particularly loud and talkative on Tuesday (9/6/16) so for a NEW attention getting strategy I decided to walk over to the light switches and turn all of them off. The class immediately stopped talking and looked toward the door where I was standing. I then said "Ok boys and girls, I want all of you to quietly clean up social circles and then sit at your table with your head down until I call you to the carpet. I'm going to turn on the lights and I want you to continue to stay this quiet in 3.2.1". I then turned on the lights and my students followed directions perfectly. My CT was very impressed with my new attention getting strategy becuase she has never used this method before. I am glad that it went well and I can use this strategy in my own classroom. Later that day I thought about the second task that was my goal for the day "Using non-verbal cues", I noticed that after lunch when we work on our writing some students get easily distracted or bored and they sometimes goof off and get off track. My CT sometimes used CLAPS to get attention. my CT would clap 2 or 3 times (sometimes in a pattern) and then the students had to clap too. Also in the classroom there is a task chart that has labels that say listening quietly , working together, follows directions, on task etc. Also with the chart there are colored close pins-Green-Yellow-Red. Red means they are in trouble, green means they are great and yellow is a warning. When those same students were off task during writing I quietly walked over to the chart and changed the green close pin to a yellow one on the "On Task". I then pointed to those kids who were not writing. They immediately looked shocked and then picked up their pencils and started writing. I noticed that this non verbal cue is great becuase it doesn't cause the teacher to yell and disrupt everyone and it also allows a team effort to be a good class becuase if one student is affecting the behavior chart than they all get reprimanded, so it causes each one to feel responsible to stay on task.
The next day of internship (9/7/16) I completed 2 more tasks. "Write something on a board or a poster" and "Manage the materials needed to integrate technology". This day I was prepared for a lesson on identifying theme and mood of a story/book or poem. All my students were sitting on the carpet criss cross applesauce with their ears listening and eyes on me. My CT has huge chart paper like poster paper that is on an easel board. I wrote the word Theme on the top and then drew a vertical line down the middle. On the left I wrote Predictions and then on the right I wrote Evidence Based Thoughts. I introduced the word THEME to them and explained theme in a story. We then explored a book called "Your Alien". I showed my students the cover and the back and I asked them questions about the book "What can you predict this book will be about just by looking at the cover?" "what do you see?" "Can you predict the theme?' "Why?" I wrote down their thoughts and predictions on the paper and then I told them to think about theme and their thoughts while we read. After I read the book to them we then had a discussion and I wrote their thoughts about the theme of the book on the paper. We then had a little writing assignment/drawing activity afterwards. This mini lesson was great because I got to test their knowledge of theme and I was able to connect with their learning.
For the second task I brought my students to the schools computer lab. Myself and my CT helped each student log onto their learning portals. I then guided them onto their specific learning tools/interactive lesson that tests their knowledge on subjects of letter sounds and other phonics. This computer program allows teachers to assess students learning in an interactive was using technology. The students don't understand that its a test becuase the computer program uses games. It was difficult to log each student on the computer becuase of their age level. most of them did not understand how to use a desktop. Next time I will plan to use technology within a creative lesson in the classroom using a program called "Prezzi" or I will use kid friendly YouTube videos to teach.
Over all this week was very fun. I completed most of my goals for my classroom and these tasks go along with FEAP 1 and FEAP 2 because I Aligned instruction with state adopted standards and appropriate level rigor like I did for my reading/language arts lesson. I also collaborated a lot with my CT and looked over students previous work/data to evaluate their progress, outcomes and this helped me adjust my lessons. Also I organized, allocated and managed the resources of time, space and attention. I integrated current information and communication technologies, as well as current and emerging assistive technologies that enabled my students to participate and achieve their goals. I cannot wait until next week so I can explore and grow with my students some more.
Over all this week was very fun. I completed most of my goals for my classroom and these tasks go along with FEAP 1 and FEAP 2 because I Aligned instruction with state adopted standards and appropriate level rigor like I did for my reading/language arts lesson. I also collaborated a lot with my CT and looked over students previous work/data to evaluate their progress, outcomes and this helped me adjust my lessons. Also I organized, allocated and managed the resources of time, space and attention. I integrated current information and communication technologies, as well as current and emerging assistive technologies that enabled my students to participate and achieve their goals. I cannot wait until next week so I can explore and grow with my students some more.
Weekly Blog- Week 1 and 2
EDE 4504
- Internship Class- Kindergarten (Hillsborough county)
- 7 out of 20 tasks completed
- FEAPS focus- #2 "The learning Environment"- To maintain a student-centered learning environment that is safe, organized, equitable, flexible, inclusive, and collaborative.
- c. d. f. = Specific FEAPS
The past two weeks have been so exciting, rewarding, fun and educational. This is the first time I am interning in a classroom grade lower than 4th. Kindergarten is very different and eye opening. I really enjoyed teaching my new students and getting to know their learning styles, personalities, home life, and potential. I even lead a morning meeting routine!
The first week I took lots of observational notes and got to know the students names and seating arrangements. I also learned a lot from my collaborative teacher about lessons, Kindergarten curriculum, classroom management and routines. I planned a little bit as well which was very fun becuase I am using all that I will learn and put that towards my own classroom soon.
The second week in Internship I really wanted to get very hands on and complete some of my tasks on my list for EDE 4504 (Creating and Differentiating the learning environments in elementary schools) The first task was "Introduce yourself to the class, and learn all the students names" I gave the classroom my little introduction speech and told them who I was with a little activity with sharing. I also wrote everyones name down so I would remember and I took time to talk to each one, even if it was for 20 seconds or so, just so i can start to really get to know who my students are so I can better teach them.
The second task I completed was "Line up students and take them to specials or lunch" Each of my students have assigned seating in the class and each table has a different colored basket. I called the tables by color one by one so each handful of students could gather their lunch and line up accordingly. (Kindergarteners can get distracted easily and sometimes have a hard time following directions so going slow and being clear and efficient with my instructions really helped). I walked them to lunch and then later in the day I took them to art and back. I made sure we had a line leader, a door holder and made sure we were being quiet in the halls. This task was a success. My last task for that day was "Try an attention getting strategy my CT uses". My CT uses a strategy of Reapeat-After-Me. This means she will say "CLASS CLASS" in a silly voice or stern voice or high pitched voice or even sing it, and the class has to say "YES YES" back to her in that same tone of voice. The students know then to stop talking immediately and put their eyes on the teacher. Throughout the day when the classroom was getting a little too noisy during their activities I would use this attention getting strategy and it was very helpful to set a tone of respect and also to get my students to pay attention.
The Next day of internship I completed 4 tasks with the planning and help from my CT. The first task I completed was "Greet every student and learn something about each one". I greeted every student as they walked in and by the end of the day I learned a new thing about each one of them by talking to them one by one. The next task I implemented that day was "Take a lead of at least part of a morning routine". I lead a morning meeting and I implemented their normal morning routine in the meeting as well as brought my own twist and fun for the day. I started off with their morning routine of singing the "Numbers Song" and dancing to get their wiggles out. I then lead them into a connect and sharing circle which I participated in. I then had them stand up and sing the Tooty-Ta song which lead us into our "Calendar and "Days of the Week" activity. I then had a read aloud activity planned. The task "Plan and implement a read aloud" was very successful becuase my morning meeting and routine lead me into the read aloud book I was going to share with them. I enjoyed sitting and reading with my students and getting their Wanderings" and 'Predictions about the characters in the book" (We were learning about predictions and educated guesses based on looking at the pictures on the cover and title of the book). This whole morning went very successfully. Later on in the day I resolved a conflict between two boys in the class at recess. One boy was crying because the other one won a game they were playing. I resolved the conflict by telling them that winning does not mean that you are better and loosing does not mean you are bad. I told them that they have to have a good attitude and be kind to one another regardless of who wins or looses. They both apologized and hugged each other. I am very excited to see what next week has in store for my students and me as well for teaching.
These tasks went hand in hand with FEAPS #2 becuase the interactions I had with the students the past 2 weeks were all about fostering a learning community and individual behavior and learning styles. I organized and allocated resources of time, space and attention. I managed individual behaviors through classroom management. I conveyed high expectations to all students. I respected each students cultural backgrounds I maintained a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and support. I adapted learning environments.
The first week I took lots of observational notes and got to know the students names and seating arrangements. I also learned a lot from my collaborative teacher about lessons, Kindergarten curriculum, classroom management and routines. I planned a little bit as well which was very fun becuase I am using all that I will learn and put that towards my own classroom soon.
The second week in Internship I really wanted to get very hands on and complete some of my tasks on my list for EDE 4504 (Creating and Differentiating the learning environments in elementary schools) The first task was "Introduce yourself to the class, and learn all the students names" I gave the classroom my little introduction speech and told them who I was with a little activity with sharing. I also wrote everyones name down so I would remember and I took time to talk to each one, even if it was for 20 seconds or so, just so i can start to really get to know who my students are so I can better teach them.
The second task I completed was "Line up students and take them to specials or lunch" Each of my students have assigned seating in the class and each table has a different colored basket. I called the tables by color one by one so each handful of students could gather their lunch and line up accordingly. (Kindergarteners can get distracted easily and sometimes have a hard time following directions so going slow and being clear and efficient with my instructions really helped). I walked them to lunch and then later in the day I took them to art and back. I made sure we had a line leader, a door holder and made sure we were being quiet in the halls. This task was a success. My last task for that day was "Try an attention getting strategy my CT uses". My CT uses a strategy of Reapeat-After-Me. This means she will say "CLASS CLASS" in a silly voice or stern voice or high pitched voice or even sing it, and the class has to say "YES YES" back to her in that same tone of voice. The students know then to stop talking immediately and put their eyes on the teacher. Throughout the day when the classroom was getting a little too noisy during their activities I would use this attention getting strategy and it was very helpful to set a tone of respect and also to get my students to pay attention.
The Next day of internship I completed 4 tasks with the planning and help from my CT. The first task I completed was "Greet every student and learn something about each one". I greeted every student as they walked in and by the end of the day I learned a new thing about each one of them by talking to them one by one. The next task I implemented that day was "Take a lead of at least part of a morning routine". I lead a morning meeting and I implemented their normal morning routine in the meeting as well as brought my own twist and fun for the day. I started off with their morning routine of singing the "Numbers Song" and dancing to get their wiggles out. I then lead them into a connect and sharing circle which I participated in. I then had them stand up and sing the Tooty-Ta song which lead us into our "Calendar and "Days of the Week" activity. I then had a read aloud activity planned. The task "Plan and implement a read aloud" was very successful becuase my morning meeting and routine lead me into the read aloud book I was going to share with them. I enjoyed sitting and reading with my students and getting their Wanderings" and 'Predictions about the characters in the book" (We were learning about predictions and educated guesses based on looking at the pictures on the cover and title of the book). This whole morning went very successfully. Later on in the day I resolved a conflict between two boys in the class at recess. One boy was crying because the other one won a game they were playing. I resolved the conflict by telling them that winning does not mean that you are better and loosing does not mean you are bad. I told them that they have to have a good attitude and be kind to one another regardless of who wins or looses. They both apologized and hugged each other. I am very excited to see what next week has in store for my students and me as well for teaching.
These tasks went hand in hand with FEAPS #2 becuase the interactions I had with the students the past 2 weeks were all about fostering a learning community and individual behavior and learning styles. I organized and allocated resources of time, space and attention. I managed individual behaviors through classroom management. I conveyed high expectations to all students. I respected each students cultural backgrounds I maintained a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and support. I adapted learning environments.
LITERACY VALUED CLASSROOM
Blog #2 RED 4724
Every teacher at some point in his or her career faces a question. “How does my classroom environment foster literacy and growth in reading?” Since I am an Intern I can only absorb information and practice as much as I can before I set up my own classroom. Experience, practice, research and collaboration are the steps that I am continuing to take to becoming a well rounded- literacy focused teacher.
HOW I PLAN
to make my classroom into a social and academic environment for my students
I plan on creating an environment that is surrounded by the love of books and the love of reading. I plan on creating a book of the week/month bulletin board where students vote on a book by researching in the library by grade level. I then would make a bulletin board explaining what the book is about and research on the author and make it a fun and interesting classroom ritual. We would make this book either a classroom read aloud book where I would read to them every day, OR this book would be read independently by my students and it would be like a book club. This activity and environment will cause my students to feel like they can collaborate and connect with each other about books! As a teacher it is my responsibility to create a social aspect to literature. talking about books should be fun and interesting. book talks and reading groups can be so successful if the teacher approaches it in a positive way! I plan on introducing books in my classroom in a fun way to keep my students engaged and interested.
Topics for reading every day in my future classroom:
Predicting
Setting a purpose
Making connection
Visualizing
Making inferences
Main Idea
Using context clues
Asking questions
Fact or opinion
Cause and effect
Characters, setting, plot and solution
Topics for reading every day in my future classroom:
Predicting
Setting a purpose
Making connection
Visualizing
Making inferences
Main Idea
Using context clues
Asking questions
Fact or opinion
Cause and effect
Characters, setting, plot and solution
CLASSROOM LIBRARY=physical components of the environment
A classroom library should be the #1 focus when a parent, or student walks into a classroom. Reading is such an important skill to have in life and reading constantly enforces higher level thinking and even develops other skills like social studies, math word problems and science. my students will understand that we read every day and the material we read will only get more complicated. the sooner I make reading fun and interesting, the sooner my students will develop better reading skill. independent reading time during downtime in my classroom will help tremendously in my classroom because my students will be constantly doing productive things. They will be excited to finish their work in time to catch up on a good book. I want my students to feel like they can kick back, sit on a bean bag chair and explore into a literary world of imagination. I will elaborate to my students how books have changed my life and helped me in so many situations and reading is like exploring someone else's mind. A happy and healthy escape into the book they are reading. I plan on using word walls, anchor charts, book of the month, book talks, book clubs, independent reading, turn and talks, research projects using biography books, guided readings, reading logs/ reading journals, writing journals and many more to influence my students in a positive way and get them in the routine of reading for an hour or more every day! It is important for me as a teacher to get my students interested in what they read, reading comprehension is not a born skill and it is my job as an educator to motivate and educate and help my students grow and improve in their reading levels.
References:
Fountas,I.,& Pinnell, S. (2001). Guided Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy. New York: Heinemann.
DATA COLLECTION and CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION: 101
The past year I have been collecting folders of data on my students, and research that relates to my inquiry. I have found answers and also made new questions on my inquiry.
The first thing I did was create a question to a problem that I have been noticing. I noticed through my observation notes that two students were having a very hard time finishing work and focusing. I had to create a question for my research, so I could have a focus point in inquiry.
MY QUESTION: How can I get the students in my classroom motivated to read and be active classroom participants?
Step 1) First, Gather lots of information in your classroom, anything that would help you or give you information towards your question. Videotape lessons, take pictures, have a journal for writing down behavior patterns. Try new things in the classroom and record, and reflect off of what worked and what didn’t work. Collect data on students and try to connect with them one on one to get to know their home life because it can relate to their schoolwork.
Step 2) Developing a research plan
Through all of the teacher strategies of data collection there needs to be evidence backed up with research. We research our ideas In order to have VALID ARGUMENTS. And in my case my question had to do with students having a hard time in school due to lack of motivation, I had to research many research based articles on MOTIVATION. We as teachers need to know how to research our wondering and collect information to help us teach every student in our classroom successfully. Data Analysis is also ery important because a good teacher should reflect and be able to document their research notes.
Step 3) Transform your teaching practice to create the most successful and inquiry based teaching philosophy. All of this research will help you create the most successful and positive classroom environment and routine.
For my research on MOTIVATION I created a potential answer to my question. I just need to collaborate and connect more with the student in order to see if my theories are working. I believe that reading needs to be approached in a different manor to the students, so they will be excited to read.
My Inquiry and research is not finished yet, but I am constantly working towards a successful answer to my big question. I know that all teachers out there can reach the same goal as I have!
The first thing I did was create a question to a problem that I have been noticing. I noticed through my observation notes that two students were having a very hard time finishing work and focusing. I had to create a question for my research, so I could have a focus point in inquiry.
MY QUESTION: How can I get the students in my classroom motivated to read and be active classroom participants?
Step 1) First, Gather lots of information in your classroom, anything that would help you or give you information towards your question. Videotape lessons, take pictures, have a journal for writing down behavior patterns. Try new things in the classroom and record, and reflect off of what worked and what didn’t work. Collect data on students and try to connect with them one on one to get to know their home life because it can relate to their schoolwork.
Step 2) Developing a research plan
Through all of the teacher strategies of data collection there needs to be evidence backed up with research. We research our ideas In order to have VALID ARGUMENTS. And in my case my question had to do with students having a hard time in school due to lack of motivation, I had to research many research based articles on MOTIVATION. We as teachers need to know how to research our wondering and collect information to help us teach every student in our classroom successfully. Data Analysis is also ery important because a good teacher should reflect and be able to document their research notes.
Step 3) Transform your teaching practice to create the most successful and inquiry based teaching philosophy. All of this research will help you create the most successful and positive classroom environment and routine.
For my research on MOTIVATION I created a potential answer to my question. I just need to collaborate and connect more with the student in order to see if my theories are working. I believe that reading needs to be approached in a different manor to the students, so they will be excited to read.
My Inquiry and research is not finished yet, but I am constantly working towards a successful answer to my big question. I know that all teachers out there can reach the same goal as I have!
RESOURCES:
Dana, N.F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
The Road in Becoming a Teacher
Teacher Reflection
Every teacher has his/her own philosophy on education; one could say that this philosophy is developed through the teacher’s personality and beliefs about the classroom. I feel that in order to develop a true teaching philosophy there needs to be constant reflection. Reflection is a skill and valuable tool for a teacher because reflection allows us to see, think and progress through our teaching styles, strengths and weaknesses. As an educator I am asking myself questions every day like-
“What did my students take/understand after my lesson?”
“How effective am I”
“What can I do to be better?”…Etc. All these questions can be answered with REFLECTION. Reflective teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works - a process of self-observation and self-evaluation.
As a level 2 intern at USF I am constantly reflecting and evaluating myself, and the people around me. Teaching isn’t just a future job to me, it is a passion and it is a lifestyle. I intend to work on my weaknesses and perfect my strengths because I want to prepare myself so I can be a successful teacher.
In order to gather my thoughts, ideas, and plans I will create goals for myself according to the FEAPS goal setting form. This form will help me work on my teaching and help me face my challenges and weaknesses. Solving these problems now will make me a prepared teacher in my real practice. Feedback and consideration mixed with reflection, collaboration and support will overall help me in being a well-rounded educator for my students.
Tips to help teachers who are starting their reflection
· Collect information that is about your teaching and what goes on in the classroom
· Observation
· Recording/video-some type of visual to help you watch yourself and see things you might have missed during your lesson!
· Teacher diary (I know its sooo middle school, but honestly keeping a note book or a list book where you can physically write things down will really help you while you try to gather your thoughts or answers to your questions)
· Student feedback
· Peer feedback
· Research- sometimes reading about different perspectives and different situations can spark your own ideas and confirm things
· Blog about it- connect with other teachers
Every teacher has his/her own philosophy on education; one could say that this philosophy is developed through the teacher’s personality and beliefs about the classroom. I feel that in order to develop a true teaching philosophy there needs to be constant reflection. Reflection is a skill and valuable tool for a teacher because reflection allows us to see, think and progress through our teaching styles, strengths and weaknesses. As an educator I am asking myself questions every day like-
“What did my students take/understand after my lesson?”
“How effective am I”
“What can I do to be better?”…Etc. All these questions can be answered with REFLECTION. Reflective teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works - a process of self-observation and self-evaluation.
As a level 2 intern at USF I am constantly reflecting and evaluating myself, and the people around me. Teaching isn’t just a future job to me, it is a passion and it is a lifestyle. I intend to work on my weaknesses and perfect my strengths because I want to prepare myself so I can be a successful teacher.
In order to gather my thoughts, ideas, and plans I will create goals for myself according to the FEAPS goal setting form. This form will help me work on my teaching and help me face my challenges and weaknesses. Solving these problems now will make me a prepared teacher in my real practice. Feedback and consideration mixed with reflection, collaboration and support will overall help me in being a well-rounded educator for my students.
Tips to help teachers who are starting their reflection
· Collect information that is about your teaching and what goes on in the classroom
· Observation
· Recording/video-some type of visual to help you watch yourself and see things you might have missed during your lesson!
· Teacher diary (I know its sooo middle school, but honestly keeping a note book or a list book where you can physically write things down will really help you while you try to gather your thoughts or answers to your questions)
· Student feedback
· Peer feedback
· Research- sometimes reading about different perspectives and different situations can spark your own ideas and confirm things
· Blog about it- connect with other teachers
