Describe different ways (strategies) the teacher presents material to the students.
Mrs. Davis has a systematic way of presenting material to her students. At the beginning of every unit, Mrs. Davis reveals the topic that the students will be focusing on for the next few weeks. Rather than immediately dive into the book material, Mrs. Davis relies on her students to enlighten her as to what they already know about the presented topic. In other words, she accesses their prior knowledge. While accessing prior knowledge, Mrs. Davis has the students in a whole group discussion setting where everyone can feel free to participate. She acknowledges their knowledge input by writing what the students say on chart paper in the form of a KWL chart. Recently, the students compiled a list about what they knew about the American Revolutionary War and the questions they wanted to know about the war.
In my observations, I have noticed that students like to see their work displayed around the room which goes back to the text chapter regarding “Pride of Place” in Teach Our Children Well. After discussing what the students know about the topic, Mrs. Davis has a “get to know the chapter” activity. This activity is a worksheet that the students have to fill in as they skim through the chapter. They have to comment on the vocabulary words they know and do not know; they have to look at the chapter titles and infer their meanings; they have to interpret pictures, and assess the purpose of the charts. For their social studies unit, some of the vocabulary the students wrote down was colonist, taxes, lobster backs, and parliament. I feel this is an efficient teaching strategy because it gives the students a preview of what to expect in the following weeks so they can prepare and anticipate what they will be learning about.
After the skimming activity, Mrs. Davis has the students open their books to the first page of the chapter and as a group they begin to read. During this whole class instruction, Mrs. Davis periodically stops to ask probing questions to the students, an excellent strategy that fosters elaborative thinking during reading. Probing questions serve as a red flag to students to let them know that a particular conflict or event is crucial in the chapter. Mrs. Davis also asks the students to predict what they think will happen further as they read which causes the students to make a connection between what they know and what they saw as they skimmed through the textbook. Mrs. Davis only reads one section of the book per day during social studies. After they read the first chapter about the French and Indian War, the students had to apply their knowledge to begin their causes of the American Revolutionary War domino diagram. The day before they created the domino diagram, the student were able to see how the “domino effect” actually works; Mrs. Davis brought in a domino set and the students got to experiment with what happens when you line the dominos up in a line. This activity is a good teaching strategy that got the students involved in an authentic activity. The students continuously add a domino piece to their chart with the cause written on it every time they read more of their textbook. This a teaching strategy that allows for hands-on activity and it serves as a way to connect the main ideas the students come across as the read through the chapter. For the American Revolutionary War domino board, the first domino was the French and Indian War, and as they read further they added the Proclamation of 1763 and taxation to their domino board. The domino chart, when it is finished, will serve as a visual outline for their unit.
After they began their domino board, the students continued to read on about taxation. To clarify the concept of taxation, Mrs. Davis had the student experiment with what it would feel like if you were taxed by the British parliament. This teaching strategy of allowing for experimentation allows students to develop a greater understanding of the concept they previously learned about while reading.
Preceding the unit on the American Revolutionary War, the students were learning about space. Near the end of their unit they were learning about space exploration. After they read about space exploration and had a good concrete understanding of it, Mrs. Davis had the students watch a YouTube video showing astronauts in space. In this lesson, Mrs. Davis presented the material to the students first so they would have a concrete understanding of space, then she showed a video that elaborated on their knowledge. Concrete experiences before elaboration is an excellent teaching strategy that Mrs. Davis uses frequently.
Also during the science unit, Mrs. Davis had the students engage in discovery learning to determine whether or not you need gravity to swallow food and drink liquids. Discovery learning allows the students to find the answer through trial and error. This teaching strategy helps the students become self-regulated in their learning. In all, Mrs. Davis utilizes many different ways of presenting material in her classroom and the attitudes I have observed in her classroom tell me that the students enjoy how they are learning.
What type of student groupings does the teacher use? (One-on-one, pairs, small groups, whole class?)
Mrs. Davis’ classroom is arranged in a way that fosters small group discussion. Like I said in a previous journal, the students are in three groups of about six students. Mrs. Davis frequently asks her students to confer with their group or their neighbor at their desks. By engaging the students in small group discussion, Mrs. Davis is giving her the students the opportunity to interact with their peers, formulate ideas, and communicate their thoughts. Mrs. Davis often pulls students aside for one-on-one instruction while the class is working in groups or independently at their desks. Whole group instruction is also utilized by Mrs. Davis.
What techniques are used to assess and evaluate learning? Describe any assessment technique you have observed.
I have seen Mrs. Davis use both formative assessments and summative assessments in her classroom.
In math, the students do “ad” pages daily. Their “ad” page is a math worksheet divided into three parts that covers basic math concepts the students should know, as well as more challenging tasks that force students to elaborate their thinking. I feel this is a form of formative assessment that tells Mrs. Davis where each of her students are at in math. I have been working with a girl in the class who Mrs. Davis has identified as having less of an understanding of basic math concepts such as multiplication and division. The “ad” page does not go in the grade book; it just serves as a progress tracker for each student in math. One summative assessment I have observed during math, is when the students complete their checkpoint page in their textbook. The checkpoint page is an assessment that evaluates the student’s knowledge of the first half of the chapter. The students work on the page individually at their desks and hand it in at the end of math. This assessment could also be a formative assessment because it tells Mrs. Davis which students might need extra help before they start the second half of the chapter.
During reading, Mrs. Davis meets one-on-one with about four students per day to track their reading progress. Mrs. Davis keeps a reading folder for each student for her reference. She has the student read to her for about 10 minutes while she notes their strengths and weaknesses while reading such as fluency and pronunciation. This one-on-one time is a chance for Mrs. Davis to see where each student is as far as their reading level. With this information, she may ask certain students to read a chapter in their textbook aloud for the class for them to practice their reading.
In spelling, Mrs. Davis has each student do a pretest for each spelling unit to see what words the student can already correctly spell prior to the unit. The pretest is a way to formatively assess a students’ knowledge. With this pretest, Mrs. Davis can decide whether or not she wants to add on some challenge words for the week for any students who she sees has done extremely well on their pretest. After a week, the students take a spelling test that goes in the grade book which serves as a summative assessment for that spelling unit.
What are you learning about this age group?
I have learned that fifth grade students love to give their input on everything. Some students are just beginning to become self-regulated in their learning, but others need constant reinforcement and instruction to get them through an activity. The fifth graders were very welcoming and respectful when I came into their classroom for the first time. Three girls in particular really love when I come in. I can tell this because they are constantly raising their hands for me to come and help them. I always acknowledge that their hand is raised, but I avoid just giving them the answer. I ask them what they are stuck on, then I ask them what they were thinking about when they got stuck, and then I ask a question to get them back on track. I enjoy working with fifth grade because most of the students enjoy learning and they like to challenge and question one another’s thinking.
What do students enjoy and dislike most?
The students love to go to their specials like gym, music, and art because they get to merge with another class and let loose. The students also love when they get to get out of their desks and do an activity. The students have engaged in doing a parliament activity, space exploration activity, vocabulary circle activity, and a snowball vocabulary activity. The students also enjoy reading their class novel together after lunch. Right now they are reading, The Fighting Ground and the students avidly listen while Mrs. Davis is reading. There has only been on instance, that I have seen, where the students groan. This groaning occurs when spelling homework is assigned. Recently, Mrs. Davis has been switching up the spelling assignment which has reduced the amount of groans from her students. In all, the students enjoy the school day because Mrs. Davis makes the day productive yet interactive.
Do you see technology being used in the classroom?
Technology has been used a few times in the classroom. After a math lesson on reading a protractor, Mrs. Davis rented the computer cart and the students got to play an interactive alien game on the computer revolving around reading a protractor. Mrs. Davis frequently uses the computer to show the students videos on YouTube to reiterate a lesson. The students have also watched a Bill Nye video on the television they rolled into the classroom. Technology is not utilized very much in the classroom, but the technological resources are not always available. There is one computer cart and one computer lab the school has, so time is limited. When available, Mrs. Davis utilizes technology.
Teaching and Instruction
In a classroom, the way in which a teacher instructs his/her students sets the direction and pace for the lesson. The teacher must understand the content that he/she will be teaching their students, they need to know how they will present the information, and how they will assess whether or not their students understood the material presented. I have learned that instruction always needs to be tailored to the learners in your classroom. According to Helen Maniates, “as teachers observe students’ preconceptions, they learn about the theories that students have constructed to explain the world and can help the students revise their thinking” (2001, pg. 81). By accessing the prior knowledge their students have before a teacher introduces a lesson, he/she can tailor the lesson to fit the needs of the students. By doing this, the teacher will not take up time teaching a concept that every student in their classroom already has a firm grasp on. I have also learned that instruction needs to be explicitly communicated to the students so that they know what they are suppose to do and what the teacher wants them to learn and accomplish. If the teacher does not share with his/her students the goal of the lesson, then the students will not have anything to work towards. Directions and goals need to be explicit to the learner so that they can develop a plan to reach that goal and become self-regulated in their own learning. If the student does not know what to do, they will resort to asking their teacher question after question rather than relying on their abilities to get the task done. Teacher need to give students the direction, tools, and goals for the lesson in order for students to become fully submerged in their learning. According to Maniates, “powerful learning occurs when students can become immersed in a topic, put their hands on the real thing, search out patterns, and put information into the big picture” (2001, pg.81). When students can experience what they are learning, they retain much more valuable information than they would have if they were sitting and listening to their teacher lecture on the topic. I have learned that teacher guided instruction helps the students attain higher levels of academic performance as well as support the learner to understand the ways in which they learn best.
Citation:
Maniates, H., & Doerr B. (2000). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, 81-110.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Journal 3, Domain 3: Teaching and the Curriculum
How is the day planned? What is the teacher’s daily schedule? How does it relate to the age level of the group?
The daily schedule of the classroom on Tuesdays begins with homework check-in. While Mrs. Davis walks around checking and collecting the homework, the students work on their Daily Oral Language (DOL). After DOL is corrected, they move on to social studies where they have just started learning about the events that lead up to the American Revolutionary War.
Social studies and science are two subjects that are rotated in and out of the curriculum. She divides the year into four “quarters:” first quarter is science material, second quarter is social studies material, third is science again, and then back to social studies. Preceding the social studies unit on the American Revolutionary War, the students were learning about space. By rotating the subjects, the students only have five core subjects to manage during the year; I think this is an appropriate work load for fifth grade students. This rotation also permits more time to be dedicated to reading groups called SPARK.
After social studies, the class goes to their specials. The class is divided into two groups: the red group and the white group. Depending on their color, they either go to gym or art. Each half of Mrs. Davis’s class merges with half of Mrs. Trujillo’s fifth grade bilingual classroom when going to each special. I like this arrangement, because the students have the opportunity to interact with students from another culture. When the students are at specials, Mrs. Davis takes that hour to plan what she wants to accomplish for the rest of the school day.
After their specials, the class returns to work on math. After math, they have lunch and recess which together lasts for about an hour. On Tuesdays, Mrs. Davis dedicates her lunch hour to running student council. Following lunch and recess, is language arts. The lesson always begins with a whole class read aloud of the novel they are working on and then ends with a quick grammar “ad” page (reviews basic grammar and introduces some complex concepts). This week they are working on reading “The Fighting Ground.” I have had a chance to read a few times aloud to the classroom. The novel is about a boy who decides to enlist in the Revolutionary War battle without telling his parents. The content the students are currently working on in social studies is reiterated in language arts, except during language arts the students are learning more about the emotional aspects of war. In my opinion, making connections is crucial for students of this age group.
The day continues as the students wrap up language arts and go to another special. The students flip flop their activities according to what they did in the morning. Students who did gym in the morning will go to custom typing on Tuesdays, not art. Students who did art in the morning will go to gym in the afternoon. Again, the class merges with the bilingual classroom. After their afternoon specials, the class returns to finish up language arts and then later transitions into their SPARK reading groups.
During SPARK, the class divides into their appropriate reading level groups. The students at a high level of reading proficiency stay with Mrs. Davis; those students that are average with reading go with Mrs. Buoy. During SPARK, the students collaboratively read a story and answer questions while employing the newly introduced QAR (Question-Answer Relationship) technique. Currently, the SPARK time is being replaced with ISAT prep for reading since the ISAT test is rapidly approaching. To conclude the day, the student work on their spelling words for the week.
I feel the school day is scheduled in a way that keeps the age level of the students in mind. Core areas are interspersed with specials throughout the day and the activities during core instruction promote active and meaningful learning that frequently involves student to student interaction and collaboration.
How is the classroom time used?
Mrs. Davis makes great use of time during the entire school day. If a student happens to finish an activity earlier than everyone else, she always instructs them to pull out the novel they are leisurely reading on their own and silently read. While Mrs. Davis has the students working in small groups, she always is monitoring their conversations and stepping in and out when needed. She asks probing questions if the students are not on the right track. If the students are on the right track, she often asks them an open-ended question that they are to discuss with their group while they work and then they will be able to share it with the class later. Mrs. Davis uses group work time to pull students aside to work with them one on one. Time is never wasted in Mrs. Davis’s classroom. I think that her activity to activity scheduling directly influences the on task behavior of all of her students.
What preparations were made to start and conclude various activities?
To start lessons, Mrs. Davis activates the student’s prior knowledge before the unit begins or she asks the students to summarize what they remember from the previous day. She always relies on the students to run the recap conversation; if a lull occurs in the conversations she asks a probing question such as, “What did we learn about the colonists?” Mrs. Davis never lectures. To begin math and language arts, she hands out an “ad” page. The “ad” page is divided into three sections. The students complete one section per day.
The students did a really fun social studies activity the other day demonstrating how the British taxed the colonies after the French and Indian War. To prepare, Mrs. Davis had me place fifteen m&m’s in zip lock bags, one for each child. Then I made a bag of cards that either had colonist, parliament, tax collector, or king written on it for the students to pick from. During the activity, the parliament members determined how much the colonists had to pay in taxes; their money was in the form of m&m’s. Mrs. Davis was very prepared for this activity and she new step by step what she wanted to do. To conclude the activity, she had the students write a journal reflection about how they felt as the role they were playing either: a colonist, parliament, a tax collector, or the king. Mrs. Davis concludes many activities with reflections or she asks the students to summarize or paraphrase what they learning after the activity in their small groups as she walks around the room.
Can you identify the purpose or objective of each activity?
The purpose/objective of every activity is explicit. Mrs. Davis sometimes, especially during spelling, tells the students what she expects them to learn after writing their spelling words. For example, she said, “I want you all to be able to recognize the root word, identify it as requiring a double consonant ending before the suffix or not, and be able to demonstrate that you know what the word means when you write your sentences.”
I thought the taxes activity was great! It was so fun to watch the kids actually experience what it feels like to see your hard earned money taken away to be given to a land-hungry king. I could clearly identify the purpose of the activity. The purpose of the activity was to show what taxing is since students are not familiar with it due to their age. The purpose also was to have the students emotionally understand what it was like to be in the shoes of a colonist, tax collector, or parliament back then. The journal reflection served as a formative assessment for the students to inform Mrs. Davis of whether or not they understood the purpose of the lesson and the reason for taxation back in the colonial days.
How are the cultural differences considered and needs met?
Many cultures are represented in Mrs. Davis’s class such as Polish, Ukrainian, Hispanic, White, and African American. No one culture dominates the room. Mrs. Davis is aware of all of the cultures present and gives equal attention to each and every student. From what I have observed, Mrs. Davis has not conducted a lesson revolving around one specific culture in her classroom. The “warm fuzzy” each week serves as way for each child to get to know other children in their classroom including cultural traditions if the student would like to share. Two students in the classroom chose to reflect and bring their culture into the classroom while writing their narrative stories. One girl wrote about being a princess from her East Asian culture and another boy described a Ukrainian church.
Teaching and the Curriculum
According to Helen Maniates, “asking students what they already know can inform our teaching in critical ways while showing students that we respect what they bring with them into the classroom” (2001, pg.83). Prior knowledge activation enables the teacher to decide whether or not any basics have to be covered to set the groundwork for the unit. If the teacher feels that most of his/her students have the base knowledge necessary to be successful in the activity, he/she does not have to take time covering what the students already know. One technique we discussed in class was dividing the class into groups according to their level of understanding. After a teacher discovers what prior knowledge his/her students have about fractions, for example, he/she can create groups according to the feedback received during the lesson introduction. Once the groups are divided, the teacher can assign higher level tasks to those students who have a solid grasp on fractions; those students who had an average understanding will comprise the second group who could be assigned to work with manipulatives like blocks to construct a more solid understanding of fractions; finally, those students that are completely lost could meet with the teacher so he/she can introduce fractions and then provide them with manipulatives and concrete worksheets to complete. All of the groups progress would be monitored by the teacher who would them move students to and from different groups depending on their fraction comprehension progress. The teacher could occasionally pair a higher-level student with a lower-level student to work on a worksheet. Both pair members would benefit from this setup; the lower –level child will learn and be exposed to other ways of approaching fractions while the higher-level child gets to practice communicating his thoughts to others. The higher-level student also will become aware of his metacognition. I have learned that teachers need to create a curriculum that fosters higher-level learning as well as active engagement and interest for the students. Maniates discusses how the physical structure of a child’s brain is shaped by the interactions and responses they have with their immediate environment (2001, pg.84). Hands-on learning is a part of every day in Mrs. Davis’s classroom. The American Revolutionary War activity was so effective in teaching the students the basics of taxation and evoking feelings of what a colonist truly felt like during the colonial days. I have noticed that hands-on activities work best when clear instructions and expectations are given, and when students have a solid knowledge base.
Maniates, H., & Doerr B. (2000). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, 81-84.
The daily schedule of the classroom on Tuesdays begins with homework check-in. While Mrs. Davis walks around checking and collecting the homework, the students work on their Daily Oral Language (DOL). After DOL is corrected, they move on to social studies where they have just started learning about the events that lead up to the American Revolutionary War.
Social studies and science are two subjects that are rotated in and out of the curriculum. She divides the year into four “quarters:” first quarter is science material, second quarter is social studies material, third is science again, and then back to social studies. Preceding the social studies unit on the American Revolutionary War, the students were learning about space. By rotating the subjects, the students only have five core subjects to manage during the year; I think this is an appropriate work load for fifth grade students. This rotation also permits more time to be dedicated to reading groups called SPARK.
After social studies, the class goes to their specials. The class is divided into two groups: the red group and the white group. Depending on their color, they either go to gym or art. Each half of Mrs. Davis’s class merges with half of Mrs. Trujillo’s fifth grade bilingual classroom when going to each special. I like this arrangement, because the students have the opportunity to interact with students from another culture. When the students are at specials, Mrs. Davis takes that hour to plan what she wants to accomplish for the rest of the school day.
After their specials, the class returns to work on math. After math, they have lunch and recess which together lasts for about an hour. On Tuesdays, Mrs. Davis dedicates her lunch hour to running student council. Following lunch and recess, is language arts. The lesson always begins with a whole class read aloud of the novel they are working on and then ends with a quick grammar “ad” page (reviews basic grammar and introduces some complex concepts). This week they are working on reading “The Fighting Ground.” I have had a chance to read a few times aloud to the classroom. The novel is about a boy who decides to enlist in the Revolutionary War battle without telling his parents. The content the students are currently working on in social studies is reiterated in language arts, except during language arts the students are learning more about the emotional aspects of war. In my opinion, making connections is crucial for students of this age group.
The day continues as the students wrap up language arts and go to another special. The students flip flop their activities according to what they did in the morning. Students who did gym in the morning will go to custom typing on Tuesdays, not art. Students who did art in the morning will go to gym in the afternoon. Again, the class merges with the bilingual classroom. After their afternoon specials, the class returns to finish up language arts and then later transitions into their SPARK reading groups.
During SPARK, the class divides into their appropriate reading level groups. The students at a high level of reading proficiency stay with Mrs. Davis; those students that are average with reading go with Mrs. Buoy. During SPARK, the students collaboratively read a story and answer questions while employing the newly introduced QAR (Question-Answer Relationship) technique. Currently, the SPARK time is being replaced with ISAT prep for reading since the ISAT test is rapidly approaching. To conclude the day, the student work on their spelling words for the week.
I feel the school day is scheduled in a way that keeps the age level of the students in mind. Core areas are interspersed with specials throughout the day and the activities during core instruction promote active and meaningful learning that frequently involves student to student interaction and collaboration.
How is the classroom time used?
Mrs. Davis makes great use of time during the entire school day. If a student happens to finish an activity earlier than everyone else, she always instructs them to pull out the novel they are leisurely reading on their own and silently read. While Mrs. Davis has the students working in small groups, she always is monitoring their conversations and stepping in and out when needed. She asks probing questions if the students are not on the right track. If the students are on the right track, she often asks them an open-ended question that they are to discuss with their group while they work and then they will be able to share it with the class later. Mrs. Davis uses group work time to pull students aside to work with them one on one. Time is never wasted in Mrs. Davis’s classroom. I think that her activity to activity scheduling directly influences the on task behavior of all of her students.
What preparations were made to start and conclude various activities?
To start lessons, Mrs. Davis activates the student’s prior knowledge before the unit begins or she asks the students to summarize what they remember from the previous day. She always relies on the students to run the recap conversation; if a lull occurs in the conversations she asks a probing question such as, “What did we learn about the colonists?” Mrs. Davis never lectures. To begin math and language arts, she hands out an “ad” page. The “ad” page is divided into three sections. The students complete one section per day.
The students did a really fun social studies activity the other day demonstrating how the British taxed the colonies after the French and Indian War. To prepare, Mrs. Davis had me place fifteen m&m’s in zip lock bags, one for each child. Then I made a bag of cards that either had colonist, parliament, tax collector, or king written on it for the students to pick from. During the activity, the parliament members determined how much the colonists had to pay in taxes; their money was in the form of m&m’s. Mrs. Davis was very prepared for this activity and she new step by step what she wanted to do. To conclude the activity, she had the students write a journal reflection about how they felt as the role they were playing either: a colonist, parliament, a tax collector, or the king. Mrs. Davis concludes many activities with reflections or she asks the students to summarize or paraphrase what they learning after the activity in their small groups as she walks around the room.
Can you identify the purpose or objective of each activity?
The purpose/objective of every activity is explicit. Mrs. Davis sometimes, especially during spelling, tells the students what she expects them to learn after writing their spelling words. For example, she said, “I want you all to be able to recognize the root word, identify it as requiring a double consonant ending before the suffix or not, and be able to demonstrate that you know what the word means when you write your sentences.”
I thought the taxes activity was great! It was so fun to watch the kids actually experience what it feels like to see your hard earned money taken away to be given to a land-hungry king. I could clearly identify the purpose of the activity. The purpose of the activity was to show what taxing is since students are not familiar with it due to their age. The purpose also was to have the students emotionally understand what it was like to be in the shoes of a colonist, tax collector, or parliament back then. The journal reflection served as a formative assessment for the students to inform Mrs. Davis of whether or not they understood the purpose of the lesson and the reason for taxation back in the colonial days.
How are the cultural differences considered and needs met?
Many cultures are represented in Mrs. Davis’s class such as Polish, Ukrainian, Hispanic, White, and African American. No one culture dominates the room. Mrs. Davis is aware of all of the cultures present and gives equal attention to each and every student. From what I have observed, Mrs. Davis has not conducted a lesson revolving around one specific culture in her classroom. The “warm fuzzy” each week serves as way for each child to get to know other children in their classroom including cultural traditions if the student would like to share. Two students in the classroom chose to reflect and bring their culture into the classroom while writing their narrative stories. One girl wrote about being a princess from her East Asian culture and another boy described a Ukrainian church.
Teaching and the Curriculum
According to Helen Maniates, “asking students what they already know can inform our teaching in critical ways while showing students that we respect what they bring with them into the classroom” (2001, pg.83). Prior knowledge activation enables the teacher to decide whether or not any basics have to be covered to set the groundwork for the unit. If the teacher feels that most of his/her students have the base knowledge necessary to be successful in the activity, he/she does not have to take time covering what the students already know. One technique we discussed in class was dividing the class into groups according to their level of understanding. After a teacher discovers what prior knowledge his/her students have about fractions, for example, he/she can create groups according to the feedback received during the lesson introduction. Once the groups are divided, the teacher can assign higher level tasks to those students who have a solid grasp on fractions; those students who had an average understanding will comprise the second group who could be assigned to work with manipulatives like blocks to construct a more solid understanding of fractions; finally, those students that are completely lost could meet with the teacher so he/she can introduce fractions and then provide them with manipulatives and concrete worksheets to complete. All of the groups progress would be monitored by the teacher who would them move students to and from different groups depending on their fraction comprehension progress. The teacher could occasionally pair a higher-level student with a lower-level student to work on a worksheet. Both pair members would benefit from this setup; the lower –level child will learn and be exposed to other ways of approaching fractions while the higher-level child gets to practice communicating his thoughts to others. The higher-level student also will become aware of his metacognition. I have learned that teachers need to create a curriculum that fosters higher-level learning as well as active engagement and interest for the students. Maniates discusses how the physical structure of a child’s brain is shaped by the interactions and responses they have with their immediate environment (2001, pg.84). Hands-on learning is a part of every day in Mrs. Davis’s classroom. The American Revolutionary War activity was so effective in teaching the students the basics of taxation and evoking feelings of what a colonist truly felt like during the colonial days. I have noticed that hands-on activities work best when clear instructions and expectations are given, and when students have a solid knowledge base.
Maniates, H., & Doerr B. (2000). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, 81-84.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Digital Images Assignment
Along the left panel of my blog, I have posted a slide show feature displaying two images in which I have photoshoped with Photoshop CS4. The first is an aerial view of the Chicago Skyline off of Lake Michigan; the second is a Frank Lloyd Wright house entitled "Frederic C Robie House."
I checked out a few other free online photoshop programs that I could utilize.
http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome
This first site is called picnik.com and I found it to be very easy to use. The tabs were clearly labeled and the purpose of each tab was explicitly stated. This program is much different from the photoshop I used which had pictures for the tabs whose purposes were ambiguous. I really liked the large array of picture tones (black/white, sepia, blurry) you could select as well as the fun borders/frames.
http://fotoflexer.com/
Fotoflexer was the second photoshop website I came across. I went through the steps to download my picture which to a very long time to load compared to the previous website even though I used the same picture. Once my picture loaded, it was very easy to navigate through the site. My favorite feature of the site was filed under the "Beautify" tab where you could select "Smooth Wrinkles" or "Fix Blemishes."
http://www.pizap.com/application.php
Pizap is definitely more for comical use than professional picture editing! You had the option of changing hair styles, adding wacky glasses to someones face, changing facial features, and much more. As far as future use of this site, I do not think I would use this to photo shop any images I would use in the classroom. Young students might enjoy adding funny accessories to the friends pictures though.
In my opinion, Fotoflex was the site I liked the most. It was easy to navigate once everything downloaded. The tabs were arranged on the page well and each feature had a picture along with a word describing what it does. In photoshop, there are only pictures not words so it is harder to navigate since you have to first experiment with the tab to see what it does.
I checked out a few other free online photoshop programs that I could utilize.
http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome
This first site is called picnik.com and I found it to be very easy to use. The tabs were clearly labeled and the purpose of each tab was explicitly stated. This program is much different from the photoshop I used which had pictures for the tabs whose purposes were ambiguous. I really liked the large array of picture tones (black/white, sepia, blurry) you could select as well as the fun borders/frames.
http://fotoflexer.com/
Fotoflexer was the second photoshop website I came across. I went through the steps to download my picture which to a very long time to load compared to the previous website even though I used the same picture. Once my picture loaded, it was very easy to navigate through the site. My favorite feature of the site was filed under the "Beautify" tab where you could select "Smooth Wrinkles" or "Fix Blemishes."
http://www.pizap.com/application.php
Pizap is definitely more for comical use than professional picture editing! You had the option of changing hair styles, adding wacky glasses to someones face, changing facial features, and much more. As far as future use of this site, I do not think I would use this to photo shop any images I would use in the classroom. Young students might enjoy adding funny accessories to the friends pictures though.
In my opinion, Fotoflex was the site I liked the most. It was easy to navigate once everything downloaded. The tabs were arranged on the page well and each feature had a picture along with a word describing what it does. In photoshop, there are only pictures not words so it is harder to navigate since you have to first experiment with the tab to see what it does.
Monday, February 8, 2010
TIE 300- Blogs, Nings, and Wikis
The ability to communicate with various people online is a luxury that our society has taken full advantage of in the last few years. My Introduction to Technology in the Classroom course has begun to familiarize me with the various forms of online communications such as blogs, wikis, and nings.
A blog enables you to create a site where you can basically document your thoughts about anything. In other words, it is the modern version of a written journal. This online journal allows you to put up any pictures, links, feed, or videos you want to share. As a future educator, I feel a blog can be a unique technological addition to my classroom. I would create blog that would serve as a resource site that would further supplement what I taught in class. On my blog, I would be able to post information that would reach every type of learner in my classroom. For example, if I covered various features of the moon during class I could post instructional videos documenting the first trip to the moon to supplement the material for auditory learners; I could also post a link to an interactive website where kinesthetic learners could see an animated diagram of the surface features; I could also put a list of useful moon books that auditory learners could check out of the library.
A ning is more private than a blog. A ning is a gateway that people use to create an online social association where only the selected few are allowed to access the site and join in with its conversations, discussions, and events. A ning is constructed by one person. That person then has the opportunity to design their social network site and then invite people they want to be a contributor to their site. I took a look at some sample sites created by nings and discovered that you can jump from your site to your network site; I think that is a unique feature of a site created by a ning. Ning made sites have the opportunity to be more private than a blog. I feel it is important for educators to know how to use a ning to create a social network where only their students can be a part of. Since the students would be the only members of the site, the teacher can feel free to post student work. Teachers can also use a ning to post a daily problem solving question revolving around the current content being learned. The site allows the students to share their thoughts and solutions regarding the problem in an organized manner. Ning created networks for classrooms also have the possibility of fostering a positive classroom community of learners in and out of the classroom.
A wiki is like an online workable document page. Information can be added, changed, and recorded by anyone aware of the site. It is a great way to track information as well. Wikis can be used by students as a way to virtually communicate with group members. If a group is currently working on compiling a PowerPoint discussing the causes of the American Revolutionary War, they could write down their information and sources on the wiki page. Other group members can then access the page and make changes or additions as they see fit.
Although blogs, nings, and wikis all deal with online communication, they do differ. Blogs are public sites created by one person where anyone can comment, join, or reflect. Nings on the other hand permit an individual to set up a private site directed towards a particular topic. That individual can then invite people who he/she feels would be a good contributor to their site. Wikis are also public and they can be changed or added to by anyone unlike a blog where you can only comment on the information, not change it.
A blog enables you to create a site where you can basically document your thoughts about anything. In other words, it is the modern version of a written journal. This online journal allows you to put up any pictures, links, feed, or videos you want to share. As a future educator, I feel a blog can be a unique technological addition to my classroom. I would create blog that would serve as a resource site that would further supplement what I taught in class. On my blog, I would be able to post information that would reach every type of learner in my classroom. For example, if I covered various features of the moon during class I could post instructional videos documenting the first trip to the moon to supplement the material for auditory learners; I could also post a link to an interactive website where kinesthetic learners could see an animated diagram of the surface features; I could also put a list of useful moon books that auditory learners could check out of the library.
A ning is more private than a blog. A ning is a gateway that people use to create an online social association where only the selected few are allowed to access the site and join in with its conversations, discussions, and events. A ning is constructed by one person. That person then has the opportunity to design their social network site and then invite people they want to be a contributor to their site. I took a look at some sample sites created by nings and discovered that you can jump from your site to your network site; I think that is a unique feature of a site created by a ning. Ning made sites have the opportunity to be more private than a blog. I feel it is important for educators to know how to use a ning to create a social network where only their students can be a part of. Since the students would be the only members of the site, the teacher can feel free to post student work. Teachers can also use a ning to post a daily problem solving question revolving around the current content being learned. The site allows the students to share their thoughts and solutions regarding the problem in an organized manner. Ning created networks for classrooms also have the possibility of fostering a positive classroom community of learners in and out of the classroom.
A wiki is like an online workable document page. Information can be added, changed, and recorded by anyone aware of the site. It is a great way to track information as well. Wikis can be used by students as a way to virtually communicate with group members. If a group is currently working on compiling a PowerPoint discussing the causes of the American Revolutionary War, they could write down their information and sources on the wiki page. Other group members can then access the page and make changes or additions as they see fit.
Although blogs, nings, and wikis all deal with online communication, they do differ. Blogs are public sites created by one person where anyone can comment, join, or reflect. Nings on the other hand permit an individual to set up a private site directed towards a particular topic. That individual can then invite people who he/she feels would be a good contributor to their site. Wikis are also public and they can be changed or added to by anyone unlike a blog where you can only comment on the information, not change it.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Journal 2, Domain 2 and 5: Teaching and Students/Teaching and the Profession
What is the student body diversity and how is cultural diversity recognized in the school?
Many cultures are represented in Mrs. Davis’s classroom such as Latin American, East Asian, Ukrainian, Polish, and African American. There is no one culture that dominates Mrs. Davis’s classroom, but a definite minority in the school as a whole is Latin American. Mrs. Davis and one other teacher teach fifth grade. The other teacher leads a bilingual classroom down the hall. Every morning, the announcements come over the intercom. The daily announcements are shared and the class stands to say the Pledge of Allegiance. After the pledge, the word of the day is announced first in English and then in Spanish. In addition to be said over the announcements, the word of the day is posted in certain locations around the school in English as well as Spanish. The word of the day is one aspect of the school that acknowledges the cultural diversity of the school.
How are the children involved in the classroom; how do they relate to one another?
The students are active participants in the lesson all throughout the day. Mrs. Davis runs the classroom in a child-oriented manner. There is rarely a time when she lectures the classroom. The only time she lectures, is when she is giving instructions or is previewing the day ahead. Students are always involved in brainstorming, questioning, discussing, explaining, or demonstrating. Just last week, the students started a new unit on the American Revolutionary War. The first activity they did for that unit was make a KWL chart. All of the students were eager to contribute what they already knew about the American Revolution. By the end, all of their contributions and brainstorming of questions filled an entire piece of chart paper. Students are also actively involved in discussing ideas with their group members as well as explaining their thought process. During Daily Oral Language (DOL), students are given a sentence on the overhead and they are asked to make corrections. Once everyone has made their corrections, Mrs. Davis calls up a student to fix the sentence and then explains to her and the class the change they made and the reason behind the change. Another instance in which the students must outline their thought process is during their math add page. There always is a section where they have to do a story problem. They have to explain how they first thought about the problem, what information they used, how they used that information, and why they think their solution is correct. The add page gets students involved in working out their thought processes involved when they approach a complex math problem.
After the first day I observed, I could tell who the friends were in the classroom. The classroom is mostly girls with the exception of about five boys. There are two girls that sit next to one another who really enjoy talking, but they are always respectful when Mrs. Davis is talking. The boys tend to stick together even though they are spread out in the room. All of the students are respectful of one another, there have not been any conflicts from what I have seen except for a conflict of who would help an injured student get her crutches; both girls were very eager to help. I have also noticed how some students rely one another for help or an opinion when they are working amongst their groups. Just the other day, one student had the hardest time deciding how to start her illustrations for her story, but after asking various opinions she settled on drawing a pink house.
How are the needs of students with exceptionalities met in the classroom and at the school?
I only know of one child in Mrs. Davis’s class that has an exceptionality. He has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). He is fully included in Mrs. Davis’s classroom, because he is not taken out of the class during any part of the day. I have not noticed Mrs. Davis make any obvious accommodations for him during class. He is very intelligent and always does his work in class, but rarely does his homework for the following day. I have graded a few of his math papers, and he always makes an attempt to complete them. Mrs. Davis acknowledges to him that she is glad that he attempted to do the worksheet. During one of the days I was observing, the students were doing a state reading test. They were being tested on how many words they could correctly read aloud in one minute. There were about five students reading aloud in one room and it was quite loud. When it came to be his turn, he had trouble concentrating with all of the noise. The teacher conducting the test was aware of his exceptionality so she took him into another room that was quiet so they could get an accurate test. I feel that with that situation, it was a reasonable and necessary accommodation.
The school has only about 300 hundred students enrolled, so it is a fairly small school. I have not had the chance to really explore the entire building, but Mrs. Davis informed me that there is one class that is entirely exceptional students. Their classroom is located on the first floor because the school unfortunately does not have elevators.
How do teachers and other school personnel work together?
Mrs. Davis is very involved with all of the other teachers as far as sharing lessons and giving input if they are new teachers since she has been teaching for 25 years. Mrs. Davis works the closest with the other fifth grade teacher. Each subscribe to fifth grade resource magazines and then for lessons they pool their resources together.
Every teacher/staff member in the school has a keychain that has kindness/helpful cards attached to them. When a student helps them do something or they see an act of kindness from one student to another, they tear a card off their keychain and give it to the student. Then when the student returns to their classroom, they put their card in the class jar. At the end of the year, the classroom that has the most kindness cards will get to have lunch with the principal. During lunch, Mrs. Davis spilled her water on the floor and one boy in her class quickly went to go and get paper towel to clean it up. Mrs. Davis thanked him for getting the paper towel and rewarded him with a kindness/helpful card. Any teacher/staff member can hand out the card to any student, not just the ones in their classroom. This is a school wide tradition that facilitates school community.
How are families and other community members involved in the school?
I have only observed at the school three times and I have yet to really see how family and community members get involved in the school community. Mrs. Davis has just started to hand out parent-teacher conference slips to the students to give to their parents so they can sign up for any time slot that will fit their schedule. I think that Mrs. Davis is being respectful of the parent’s schedules by allowing them to sign up for a time slot rather than have one assigned to them.
The parents are also responsible for signing their child’s assignment notebook every day. The signature shows Mrs. Davis that the parents are aware of what their child has for homework that day.
I have not seen any community members come into the school to volunteer, but I have seen many pictures in the classroom from the fifth grade class trip to White Pines. These pictures represent how the classroom has interacted with their community. The students were very excited to show me the White Pines pictures in the classroom, the first time I observed. I could tell that they had a great time there. Often during class discussion, the students reference something they learned at White Pines. This reference demonstrates how the students use knowledge they learn at home or within their community in the classroom.
How does the teacher keep track of student progress?
Mrs. Davis keeps track of all of her student grades in her paper grade book. She meets with each student individually during reading and writing to monitor their progress. During independent reading, she calls about five students up individually and has them read a page or two in the current novel they are reading. Mrs. Davis then jots notes down about their fluency, word pronunciation, and awareness of punctuation on a sheet up paper that is kept in the reading folder Mrs. Davis keeps on each student. After they have read together, she asks then to set a goal for the day they want to finish their novel. I got the opportunity to read with one student and jot down what I thought she did well and also made suggestions on how they should use inflexions in their voice according to what type of sentence it was they were reading. Mrs. Davis values the importance of meeting with each student individually and feels that reading is a great time to do so.
What extra duty tasks does the teacher perform?
Mrs. Davis is the teacher leader for the school’s student council. During the students lunch/recess period on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, she runs the student council down at the school store. Generally, student council members sell standard school supplies like folders, pencils, notebooks, and calculators at the store. When a holiday comes around, Mrs. Davis organizes a school fundraiser to either celebrate a holiday or support the school in some way. Currently, they are selling heart-o-grams for Valentine’s Day. Mrs. Davis monitored the students while they cut out paper hearts for the sale. She also bought valentine’s pencils that students could attach to their heart-o-gram not to their special someone or friend. All of the proceeds from the Valentine’s Day heart sale will be sent to help the relief efforts in Haiti.
In a paragraph, reflect in an analytical manner, what you learned about Teaching and the Students and Teaching and the Profession. You must integrate at least two ideas from the class discussion or text.
Every student has a unique contribution to make to their classroom and their community. I have learned that teachers have to allow students to express themselves as individuals while guiding them into engaging in social relationships that respect and build their school and classroom communities. I have also learned that school/community building is an ongoing process that should not stop after the end of the first day bell rings. According to Maniates, author of Teach Our Children Well, “Teachers can use opening-week assignments that showcase students as individuals and cultivate their respect for one another through read-aloud, shared reading, literature and writing topics, interviews and math surveys, science that uses the local environment, and cultural geography lessons where students’ families came from…traditions continue the process of building mutual respect” (2001, pg. 43). Through combining my knowledge learned after reading this chapter with the wall décor in Mrs. Davis’s classroom, I can determine which activities she most likely did in the opening week of school. One activity would be a class made graph on a poster displaying the favorite beverages of the classroom like Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Sprite. This activity familiarized each student with what others enjoy as well. Mrs. Davis’s “warm fuzzy” activity is a perfect example of how teachers can continue building upon the classroom community. Each week a new warm fuzzy is chosen and all of the his/her fellow students get to learn about what makes that student who they are as well as provide an opportunity for each student to write a reflection after their learn about their warm fuzzy for the week. I have also learned that building a whole school community is just as important as building a classroom community. South school does an excellent job of fostering school community through their distribution of kindness cards; this community building strategy is extremely similar to the flower activity utilized by the principal at West Portal School (2001, pg.44). I have also come to learn how important it is for every student’s voice to be heard in the classroom. When a student feels that they can openly share their thoughts, the learning atmosphere of the classroom will be productive. Mrs. Davis recognizes the importance of student participation. She engages the students in a lot of group discussions with their table group prior to whole class discussion. Her class has a few quiet students, so small group discussion is when they feel they can express their thoughts in a non-threatening situation. The teaching profession is one that always has a plate full of responsibility. Teachers have a responsibility to their students, colleagues, student parents, and themselves. Teachers also have to realize that their attitudes influence the attitudes of their students. If the teacher is not motivated to teach, the student will not be motivated to learn.
Citation
Maniates, H. , & Doerr B. (2001). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, pg. 43-44
Many cultures are represented in Mrs. Davis’s classroom such as Latin American, East Asian, Ukrainian, Polish, and African American. There is no one culture that dominates Mrs. Davis’s classroom, but a definite minority in the school as a whole is Latin American. Mrs. Davis and one other teacher teach fifth grade. The other teacher leads a bilingual classroom down the hall. Every morning, the announcements come over the intercom. The daily announcements are shared and the class stands to say the Pledge of Allegiance. After the pledge, the word of the day is announced first in English and then in Spanish. In addition to be said over the announcements, the word of the day is posted in certain locations around the school in English as well as Spanish. The word of the day is one aspect of the school that acknowledges the cultural diversity of the school.
How are the children involved in the classroom; how do they relate to one another?
The students are active participants in the lesson all throughout the day. Mrs. Davis runs the classroom in a child-oriented manner. There is rarely a time when she lectures the classroom. The only time she lectures, is when she is giving instructions or is previewing the day ahead. Students are always involved in brainstorming, questioning, discussing, explaining, or demonstrating. Just last week, the students started a new unit on the American Revolutionary War. The first activity they did for that unit was make a KWL chart. All of the students were eager to contribute what they already knew about the American Revolution. By the end, all of their contributions and brainstorming of questions filled an entire piece of chart paper. Students are also actively involved in discussing ideas with their group members as well as explaining their thought process. During Daily Oral Language (DOL), students are given a sentence on the overhead and they are asked to make corrections. Once everyone has made their corrections, Mrs. Davis calls up a student to fix the sentence and then explains to her and the class the change they made and the reason behind the change. Another instance in which the students must outline their thought process is during their math add page. There always is a section where they have to do a story problem. They have to explain how they first thought about the problem, what information they used, how they used that information, and why they think their solution is correct. The add page gets students involved in working out their thought processes involved when they approach a complex math problem.
After the first day I observed, I could tell who the friends were in the classroom. The classroom is mostly girls with the exception of about five boys. There are two girls that sit next to one another who really enjoy talking, but they are always respectful when Mrs. Davis is talking. The boys tend to stick together even though they are spread out in the room. All of the students are respectful of one another, there have not been any conflicts from what I have seen except for a conflict of who would help an injured student get her crutches; both girls were very eager to help. I have also noticed how some students rely one another for help or an opinion when they are working amongst their groups. Just the other day, one student had the hardest time deciding how to start her illustrations for her story, but after asking various opinions she settled on drawing a pink house.
How are the needs of students with exceptionalities met in the classroom and at the school?
I only know of one child in Mrs. Davis’s class that has an exceptionality. He has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). He is fully included in Mrs. Davis’s classroom, because he is not taken out of the class during any part of the day. I have not noticed Mrs. Davis make any obvious accommodations for him during class. He is very intelligent and always does his work in class, but rarely does his homework for the following day. I have graded a few of his math papers, and he always makes an attempt to complete them. Mrs. Davis acknowledges to him that she is glad that he attempted to do the worksheet. During one of the days I was observing, the students were doing a state reading test. They were being tested on how many words they could correctly read aloud in one minute. There were about five students reading aloud in one room and it was quite loud. When it came to be his turn, he had trouble concentrating with all of the noise. The teacher conducting the test was aware of his exceptionality so she took him into another room that was quiet so they could get an accurate test. I feel that with that situation, it was a reasonable and necessary accommodation.
The school has only about 300 hundred students enrolled, so it is a fairly small school. I have not had the chance to really explore the entire building, but Mrs. Davis informed me that there is one class that is entirely exceptional students. Their classroom is located on the first floor because the school unfortunately does not have elevators.
How do teachers and other school personnel work together?
Mrs. Davis is very involved with all of the other teachers as far as sharing lessons and giving input if they are new teachers since she has been teaching for 25 years. Mrs. Davis works the closest with the other fifth grade teacher. Each subscribe to fifth grade resource magazines and then for lessons they pool their resources together.
Every teacher/staff member in the school has a keychain that has kindness/helpful cards attached to them. When a student helps them do something or they see an act of kindness from one student to another, they tear a card off their keychain and give it to the student. Then when the student returns to their classroom, they put their card in the class jar. At the end of the year, the classroom that has the most kindness cards will get to have lunch with the principal. During lunch, Mrs. Davis spilled her water on the floor and one boy in her class quickly went to go and get paper towel to clean it up. Mrs. Davis thanked him for getting the paper towel and rewarded him with a kindness/helpful card. Any teacher/staff member can hand out the card to any student, not just the ones in their classroom. This is a school wide tradition that facilitates school community.
How are families and other community members involved in the school?
I have only observed at the school three times and I have yet to really see how family and community members get involved in the school community. Mrs. Davis has just started to hand out parent-teacher conference slips to the students to give to their parents so they can sign up for any time slot that will fit their schedule. I think that Mrs. Davis is being respectful of the parent’s schedules by allowing them to sign up for a time slot rather than have one assigned to them.
The parents are also responsible for signing their child’s assignment notebook every day. The signature shows Mrs. Davis that the parents are aware of what their child has for homework that day.
I have not seen any community members come into the school to volunteer, but I have seen many pictures in the classroom from the fifth grade class trip to White Pines. These pictures represent how the classroom has interacted with their community. The students were very excited to show me the White Pines pictures in the classroom, the first time I observed. I could tell that they had a great time there. Often during class discussion, the students reference something they learned at White Pines. This reference demonstrates how the students use knowledge they learn at home or within their community in the classroom.
How does the teacher keep track of student progress?
Mrs. Davis keeps track of all of her student grades in her paper grade book. She meets with each student individually during reading and writing to monitor their progress. During independent reading, she calls about five students up individually and has them read a page or two in the current novel they are reading. Mrs. Davis then jots notes down about their fluency, word pronunciation, and awareness of punctuation on a sheet up paper that is kept in the reading folder Mrs. Davis keeps on each student. After they have read together, she asks then to set a goal for the day they want to finish their novel. I got the opportunity to read with one student and jot down what I thought she did well and also made suggestions on how they should use inflexions in their voice according to what type of sentence it was they were reading. Mrs. Davis values the importance of meeting with each student individually and feels that reading is a great time to do so.
What extra duty tasks does the teacher perform?
Mrs. Davis is the teacher leader for the school’s student council. During the students lunch/recess period on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, she runs the student council down at the school store. Generally, student council members sell standard school supplies like folders, pencils, notebooks, and calculators at the store. When a holiday comes around, Mrs. Davis organizes a school fundraiser to either celebrate a holiday or support the school in some way. Currently, they are selling heart-o-grams for Valentine’s Day. Mrs. Davis monitored the students while they cut out paper hearts for the sale. She also bought valentine’s pencils that students could attach to their heart-o-gram not to their special someone or friend. All of the proceeds from the Valentine’s Day heart sale will be sent to help the relief efforts in Haiti.
In a paragraph, reflect in an analytical manner, what you learned about Teaching and the Students and Teaching and the Profession. You must integrate at least two ideas from the class discussion or text.
Every student has a unique contribution to make to their classroom and their community. I have learned that teachers have to allow students to express themselves as individuals while guiding them into engaging in social relationships that respect and build their school and classroom communities. I have also learned that school/community building is an ongoing process that should not stop after the end of the first day bell rings. According to Maniates, author of Teach Our Children Well, “Teachers can use opening-week assignments that showcase students as individuals and cultivate their respect for one another through read-aloud, shared reading, literature and writing topics, interviews and math surveys, science that uses the local environment, and cultural geography lessons where students’ families came from…traditions continue the process of building mutual respect” (2001, pg. 43). Through combining my knowledge learned after reading this chapter with the wall décor in Mrs. Davis’s classroom, I can determine which activities she most likely did in the opening week of school. One activity would be a class made graph on a poster displaying the favorite beverages of the classroom like Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Sprite. This activity familiarized each student with what others enjoy as well. Mrs. Davis’s “warm fuzzy” activity is a perfect example of how teachers can continue building upon the classroom community. Each week a new warm fuzzy is chosen and all of the his/her fellow students get to learn about what makes that student who they are as well as provide an opportunity for each student to write a reflection after their learn about their warm fuzzy for the week. I have also learned that building a whole school community is just as important as building a classroom community. South school does an excellent job of fostering school community through their distribution of kindness cards; this community building strategy is extremely similar to the flower activity utilized by the principal at West Portal School (2001, pg.44). I have also come to learn how important it is for every student’s voice to be heard in the classroom. When a student feels that they can openly share their thoughts, the learning atmosphere of the classroom will be productive. Mrs. Davis recognizes the importance of student participation. She engages the students in a lot of group discussions with their table group prior to whole class discussion. Her class has a few quiet students, so small group discussion is when they feel they can express their thoughts in a non-threatening situation. The teaching profession is one that always has a plate full of responsibility. Teachers have a responsibility to their students, colleagues, student parents, and themselves. Teachers also have to realize that their attitudes influence the attitudes of their students. If the teacher is not motivated to teach, the student will not be motivated to learn.
Citation
Maniates, H. , & Doerr B. (2001). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, pg. 43-44
Monday, February 1, 2010
TIE 300- Technology in the Classroom
In today’s society, most students are going to have an extensive background concerning new age technology. It only makes sense then, that teachers incorporate various technological resources into their lesson plans in order to actively engage students in the curriculum. As an undergraduate elementary education student, I am taking an introduction to technology in the classroom course where I am just beginning to learn how to infiltrate technology into the classroom. Up until this point, I have learned Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, and how to create an internet blog. With this background knowledge regarding the previously mentioned programs, I can begin to describe how these technologies will assist me in meeting the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). Below is a link to these standards created by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
The standards outlined in the link above are present so that teachers can read and reflect on what they mean to them. From there, teachers can think about how they can meet those standards in class using what they know about various technologies. They then can conclude with an explanation of the reason why their developed activity fulfilled the standard. This is the thought process I will go through for my course assignment.
Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
In my opinion, the goal of this standard is to have teachers recognize that technology is a resource that can get students more interested and involved during the learning process as well as foster individual creativeness and group collaboration. A great technological resource that teachers could employ in order to fulfill this standard is to start a class blog. On this class blog, a teacher can post a video or an article that reviews what concepts students learned during the day or a video regarding a current issue in the world. Once posted, each student would have the opportunity to comment on the video/article, ask a question if they need clarification, or maybe suggest another online resource that covers the same material. The blog will become a location where individual knowledge can be shared while group collaboration can also take place. In time, a teacher could ask a new student every week to find a news story that interests them and post it to the class blog in any visual manner they desire. Blogs allow for gadgets to be uploaded with ease. Some great gadgets are video clips, links, pictures, and real time news feed. Blogs allow for individual creativity as well as group discussion. The people involved in the discussion are not just limited to the students in the classroom. Blogs have a feature that permits anyone to respond to what is posted. Students then have the opportunity to read the views other students have in different parts of the country or world regarding the current issue. This international discussion has the potential to expand student thoughts about current issues. If the teacher creates a blog about current issues in the world they are allowing for individual creativity, individual expression, and group collaboration.
Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
To me this standard means that teachers should use technology in different ways in order to differentiate instruction during a lesson to accommodate the various types of learners. Teachers should use technology to support activities that involve hands-on learning activities. Teachers should also recognize that technology can help themselves as well as their students visually organize and document what they are learning and how they are progressing. Microsoft Excel is a technological resource that teachers can use in many classroom activities. Teachers can have students create an excel spread sheet displaying their multiplication math fact progress; after each math assessment the teacher can have the kids upload their score to their spreadsheet so they can see how they progressed that week in math. They can then turn their chart into a line graph so they can graphically see their progress. The graph then can become a motivational tool for the students. They can look at the graph and then set a realistic goal for what they want to accomplish on their test the following week. By incorporating excel into math, the teacher is allowing the students to visually see how they are progressing each week.
Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
This standard addresses how teachers should be able to effectively communicate with people involved in the school community in creative ways that utilize technology. Important members of the school community that the teacher should maintain regular communication with are the students, parents, colleagues, and other local community members. Microsoft Word is a great technological resource all teachers can use in order to maintain communication. The teacher could create a school newsletter every week that the students could take home to share with their parents. The school newsletter would communicate to the parents the activities their kids did throughout the week as well as goals for the following week. The teacher could also use the newsletter to identify lots of resources that the community around the school offers such as libraries, tutoring agencies, and stores that carry good school supplies. Microsoft Word allows a teacher maintain a constant connection with students and parents all throughout the year rather than just meeting and talking with the parents once or twice a year during parent-teacher conferences. A teacher can also create class blogs to maintain constant communication between teacher and student, and teacher and parent. A teacher can form a student resource blog where students can go to access teacher recommended sites for further review. The student resource blog would also encourage expanded learning at home. A teacher can also construct a parent resource blog where the curriculum is outlined in a detailed manner as well as post website links where the parents can visit to refresh their memory on a concept so they can help their children with their homework if needed. The parent resource blog also permits discussion between all the parents and the teacher which strengthens the classroom community. Microsoft Word newsletter and blogs both will help the teacher meet this standard because both establish constant lines of communication between the school community members.
Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
This standard addresses how teachers must model the importance of using technology in a lawful way as well as being ethically alert while using technology in the classroom. Microsoft PowerPoint is a great way for teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. PowerPoint is an easy tool that most school age children should be able to use. One activity that would get students involved with technology as well as bring forth compassion and understanding of other cultures would be to create a class culture PowerPoint presentation. The teacher could instruct each student to design one or two PowerPoint slides illustrating what they want their teacher and classmates to know about their culture. Once everyone has made their slides, the teacher cold demonstrate her knowledge of PowerPoint by compiling them into a class culture PowerPoint. In doing this assignment, the teacher must set aside class time to work on the slides so as to accommodate those students who do not have the luxury of a computer in their home. By doing this, the teacher is demonstrating that she is aware of the local issues facing her students and therefore is acting ethically when she gives all students equal time in the computer lab. By doing this PowerPoint activity, the teacher is demonstrating her cultural knowledge of her students as well as helping her students develop an understanding of their peer’s cultures in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.
Standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
This standard calls for the teacher to always be engaged in continued learning as a professional by communicating their thoughts surrounding technology in the classroom as well as continually build on their knowledge through participation in conferences and discussions with other working professionals. Teachers can keep up on the latest trends involving technology in the classroom by following and commenting on relevant educational blogs. By blogging, the teacher demonstrates his/her involvement in technology trends. At the same time, he/she is also engaging in constant evaluation of other professional’s thoughts, experiences, and opinions regarding technology in the classroom. Through this evaluation, the teacher becomes aware of their own knowledge base regarding modern technologies.
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
The standards outlined in the link above are present so that teachers can read and reflect on what they mean to them. From there, teachers can think about how they can meet those standards in class using what they know about various technologies. They then can conclude with an explanation of the reason why their developed activity fulfilled the standard. This is the thought process I will go through for my course assignment.
Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
In my opinion, the goal of this standard is to have teachers recognize that technology is a resource that can get students more interested and involved during the learning process as well as foster individual creativeness and group collaboration. A great technological resource that teachers could employ in order to fulfill this standard is to start a class blog. On this class blog, a teacher can post a video or an article that reviews what concepts students learned during the day or a video regarding a current issue in the world. Once posted, each student would have the opportunity to comment on the video/article, ask a question if they need clarification, or maybe suggest another online resource that covers the same material. The blog will become a location where individual knowledge can be shared while group collaboration can also take place. In time, a teacher could ask a new student every week to find a news story that interests them and post it to the class blog in any visual manner they desire. Blogs allow for gadgets to be uploaded with ease. Some great gadgets are video clips, links, pictures, and real time news feed. Blogs allow for individual creativity as well as group discussion. The people involved in the discussion are not just limited to the students in the classroom. Blogs have a feature that permits anyone to respond to what is posted. Students then have the opportunity to read the views other students have in different parts of the country or world regarding the current issue. This international discussion has the potential to expand student thoughts about current issues. If the teacher creates a blog about current issues in the world they are allowing for individual creativity, individual expression, and group collaboration.
Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
To me this standard means that teachers should use technology in different ways in order to differentiate instruction during a lesson to accommodate the various types of learners. Teachers should use technology to support activities that involve hands-on learning activities. Teachers should also recognize that technology can help themselves as well as their students visually organize and document what they are learning and how they are progressing. Microsoft Excel is a technological resource that teachers can use in many classroom activities. Teachers can have students create an excel spread sheet displaying their multiplication math fact progress; after each math assessment the teacher can have the kids upload their score to their spreadsheet so they can see how they progressed that week in math. They can then turn their chart into a line graph so they can graphically see their progress. The graph then can become a motivational tool for the students. They can look at the graph and then set a realistic goal for what they want to accomplish on their test the following week. By incorporating excel into math, the teacher is allowing the students to visually see how they are progressing each week.
Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
This standard addresses how teachers should be able to effectively communicate with people involved in the school community in creative ways that utilize technology. Important members of the school community that the teacher should maintain regular communication with are the students, parents, colleagues, and other local community members. Microsoft Word is a great technological resource all teachers can use in order to maintain communication. The teacher could create a school newsletter every week that the students could take home to share with their parents. The school newsletter would communicate to the parents the activities their kids did throughout the week as well as goals for the following week. The teacher could also use the newsletter to identify lots of resources that the community around the school offers such as libraries, tutoring agencies, and stores that carry good school supplies. Microsoft Word allows a teacher maintain a constant connection with students and parents all throughout the year rather than just meeting and talking with the parents once or twice a year during parent-teacher conferences. A teacher can also create class blogs to maintain constant communication between teacher and student, and teacher and parent. A teacher can form a student resource blog where students can go to access teacher recommended sites for further review. The student resource blog would also encourage expanded learning at home. A teacher can also construct a parent resource blog where the curriculum is outlined in a detailed manner as well as post website links where the parents can visit to refresh their memory on a concept so they can help their children with their homework if needed. The parent resource blog also permits discussion between all the parents and the teacher which strengthens the classroom community. Microsoft Word newsletter and blogs both will help the teacher meet this standard because both establish constant lines of communication between the school community members.
Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
This standard addresses how teachers must model the importance of using technology in a lawful way as well as being ethically alert while using technology in the classroom. Microsoft PowerPoint is a great way for teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. PowerPoint is an easy tool that most school age children should be able to use. One activity that would get students involved with technology as well as bring forth compassion and understanding of other cultures would be to create a class culture PowerPoint presentation. The teacher could instruct each student to design one or two PowerPoint slides illustrating what they want their teacher and classmates to know about their culture. Once everyone has made their slides, the teacher cold demonstrate her knowledge of PowerPoint by compiling them into a class culture PowerPoint. In doing this assignment, the teacher must set aside class time to work on the slides so as to accommodate those students who do not have the luxury of a computer in their home. By doing this, the teacher is demonstrating that she is aware of the local issues facing her students and therefore is acting ethically when she gives all students equal time in the computer lab. By doing this PowerPoint activity, the teacher is demonstrating her cultural knowledge of her students as well as helping her students develop an understanding of their peer’s cultures in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.
Standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
This standard calls for the teacher to always be engaged in continued learning as a professional by communicating their thoughts surrounding technology in the classroom as well as continually build on their knowledge through participation in conferences and discussions with other working professionals. Teachers can keep up on the latest trends involving technology in the classroom by following and commenting on relevant educational blogs. By blogging, the teacher demonstrates his/her involvement in technology trends. At the same time, he/she is also engaging in constant evaluation of other professional’s thoughts, experiences, and opinions regarding technology in the classroom. Through this evaluation, the teacher becomes aware of their own knowledge base regarding modern technologies.
Reflective Journal 1- Domain 1: Teaching and the Environment
ELE 300-Practicum I
How is the room physically arranged?
My first impression of the classroom was that it was well lit. One entire wall is just windows. Mrs. Davis had all of the blinds open and natural light just poured into the classroom. Granted, the windows were not the only source of light in the classroom the ceiling lights were on as well. As a student myself, I have learned that whenever my classroom did not have windows, I felt closed in and restricted both of which are not two emotions you want to have your students feeling in a classroom.
As I observed the classroom setup further, I noticed that Mrs. Davis’s desk was in the far right corner in the front of the room. The desk faced away from the corner so Mrs. Davis could comfortably sit in the desk while simultaneously monitoring her students with a simple glance up. Alongside her desk by the windows, she has a shelf where most of her teacher resources are kept. Also in the front of the classroom, there is an overhead and a small book shelf containing books that belong to their classroom library. The front wall has two bulletin boards, a chalkboard and a pull down screen for the overhead. Although there is a chalk board, most of it is covered with posters. The last two structures present in the front of the room are a chart paper easel and a smaller teacher desk pushed close to the wall. I gather that the purpose of the front area room arrangement is to create a space where Mrs. Davis can work, as well as visually communicate to students the resources available to them.
The middle of the classroom is dominated by student desks. They are arranged into three groups consisting of about six desks per group. There is ample space between each group of desks so Mrs. Davis can easily walk through when monitoring her students. All of the desks are arranged in a way where every student can easily see what is displayed on the overhead without straining. I assumed that the middle area of the class was physically arranged to promote collaborative learning between the students.
In the back of the classroom, there are three separate tables and a supply cabinet. The first table is round with about four chairs around it. The second table seems to be the location of all of the technology in the classroom; on it there are two computers and one printer. The last table is very similar to the students’ desks; there are just three desks pushed together. From what I have observed, all three tables in the back are used for small group or individual instruction. The back of the room also has a lot of open rug space, especially in front of the computer table.
Finally, the perimeter of the room is mostly shelves. These shelves stock their textbooks as well as games, journals, and visual aids. In general, the room is very organized and free of clutter.
Do children seem to know where things are in the classroom?
All of the students definitely know where the classroom supplies are in the classroom. Last week during the science unit about space, the students set up a simulation experiment that would help them decide whether or not gravity is needed in order for you to swallow your food. Mrs. Davis instructed them to push two chairs together and prop one chair up with their class dictionaries and their social studies books so they could create an incline. Once she instructed them to begin, the students knew exactly where to go to get the supplies they needed for the experiment.
The majority of the informational posters on the walls were made by the students, so they know exactly where to look in the classroom when they need to refresh their memory of a word, formula, or concept. One day, the students were doing their daily mental math problems and Mrs. Davis asked a question regarding galloons and pints. All of the student’s heads turned to the back of the room where I was sitting. I soon realized that they turned to glance at the “Galloon Girl” and “Galloon Boy” paper dolls they had made earlier in the year to help them solve the problem. Other student made resources in the room that they refer to are: an idioms poster, constellation worksheets, and an earth’s core poster.
How do learners and teacher’s use the classroom space?
Mrs. Davis uses the entire classroom for instruction all throughout the day. The overhead in the front of the classroom is used mostly used for whole-group instruction. She often puts the overhead of the worksheet they are going to be doing on the overhead so she can discuss what the students are going to be doing as well as what she wants them to finish.
The desk arrangement Mrs. Davis chose is a direct reflection of what she wants her students to be doing before and after a lesson. She frequently asks her students to collaborate with their table members to share their worksheets answers, brainstorm ideas, or summarize what they just learned. One day, they created a KWL chart about what they know about space. The students brainstormed with their table and then wrote down what they knew and what they wanted to know about space on a post it so that they could share it during whole class discussion. Later in the lesson, she taught them about the characteristics of meteors and meteorites. She handed out a packet with pictures and text describing each. After the class read the packet together and analyzed the pictures, Mrs. Davis asked her students to share with their group members what they learned from the lesson. Mrs. Davis uses the student desk space to facilitate collaborative learning.
Mrs. Davis uses the back or the room as a place to individually meet with students to review their writing and monitor their reading progress. She also uses the space in the back of the room as a whole class meeting place. There is ample space on the floor, so every student can sit comfortably on the floor. The only instance in which I have seen the whole class sit in the back of the room is when they watch a video on the computer. Mrs. Davis downloaded a video that discussed what space suits are made out of. In all, Mrs. Davis uses each part of the room in a different way; the front of the room is used to introduce a concept, the middle where the students’ desk are, is used to actively engage students in thinking about what they learned, and the back of the classroom is where technology comes in to play as a way to sum up what they have learned.
The main space used by the learners is their desk space. This is where they get most of their work done in the classroom. On occasion, Mrs. Davis invites students to come up to the front of the classroom to share their answers. From what I have observed, the students mostly stay in their desks during the day except for when they are doing an active activity like the space experiment I previously mentioned or when they go to gym, music, or custom typing.
Is the room more child-oriented or teacher-oriented? Give examples.
Mrs. Davis’ room is more child-oriented than teacher-oriented. Everything in the classroom, from the teacher to the posters, is there to facilitate and enhance student learning. There are grabber idea posters, good manners board, writing tips poster, introductory paragraph hints, constellation diagrams, an assignment board, and much more. All of the visual aids in the classroom serve as a visual outline for the students of what they are currently working on.
What resources are in the room? How do the adults and children use them?
Student dictionaries, textbooks, flash cards, board games, overhead, chart paper easel, posters, computer, protractors, and maps are some of the resources I have noticed in the classroom. The main resource that I have observed Mrs. Davis using a lot is the overhead. She relies on the overhead when she teaches a lesson, or if they are reviewing for a test, she writes down the key words they should know for the test. Mrs. Davis also uses the internet as a resource to reinforce concepts the students have learned. She supplements the material by finding a video on YouTube or a game on a math website. The main resource I have observed the students using would be their textbooks, especially during science. They use the textbook as a reference tool. One student took it upon herself to clarify the age of the earth by looking it up in her science book during the science review section when no one could recall the exact number. The number one resource that both student and teacher use in the classroom is one another. In their collaborative groups, students can talk with each other to come up with an answer or use one another to brainstorm ideas. When one student is struggling, sometimes one of their classmates will be the resource they need to understand.
What techniques are used to gain the students’ attention, to transition them from one activity or place to another?
Mrs. Davis uses verbal cues in order to gain her students’ attention and transition them from one activity to another. The day is divided up according to the subject starting with language arts, then math, specials (i.e. gym), reading, science, and writing. Mrs. Davis simply asks the students to put away what they were working on and take out the materials for the next subject.
One important component to Mrs. Davis’ curriculum is the daily math worksheet and daily language problem. Both serve as way to transition the students from one activity to another. The daily language problem is usually a sentence written on the overhead containing errors in which the students must correct. This activity transitions the students into the school day because it is always done first thing in the morning. The daily math worksheet is divided into three parts, each having three problems to complete. The problems address simple math concepts and formulas that the students should know. It is a quick activity that transitions the students into the math lesson.
When the students go to a special, Mrs. Davis has them line up outside of the room along the wall. Then they all walk together to the special. Once the special is over, they walk back in a line to their classroom where they have to wait in line outside of the class until Mrs. Davis comes. She makes sure they are quiet and then she lets them enter the classroom. By doing this, Mrs. Davis is ensuring that her students will be calm, quiet, and ready to start learning again.
What examples of technology are available?
The only permanent pieces of technology in the classroom are the computers in the back of the room. Mrs. Davis also has the option of renting out the computer cart. The computer cart has about twenty laptop computers that each student can use. Mrs. Davis rented the cart on the first day I observed and had the students practice reading a protractor by playing a game online. The only other place Mrs. Davis can take her students to use a computer is the computer lab down the hall. Other than the one computer in the back of the room, no other forms of technology are present in the classroom.
In a paragraph, reflect in an analytical manner, what you learned about teaching and the environment. You must use at least two ideas from class discussion or book.
Classrooms are not static environments. Classrooms are constantly changing whether it is the teacher that changes, the students, the walls, the curriculum, the traditions, or the conversations. In the beginning of the year, teachers have to change the setup of their classrooms to reflect who they are as a teacher. I learned that furniture arrangement is a good indicator of what style of teaching that teacher employs. Having desks in lines suggests a teacher-centered instruction approach, whereas having desks in groups suggests more of a collaborative style of teaching. According to Helen Maniates, “an organized classroom functions as a silent teaching partner” (2001, pg. 33). I had never thought of a classroom as a teaching partner until I read it and then went on to experienced it in Mrs. Davis’ classroom. The bulletin boards, posters, and student work are constant visual reminders of what the students have learned. From what I have seen, students create most of the resources that are displayed on the classroom walls. These created resources help the student establish a personal connection and belonging to the classroom. At the same time, they can take a quick glance at their work to refresh their memory of past concepts they learned. I now understand what it means for a classroom to be a silent teaching partner. In a learner-centered classroom, the current curriculum is illustrated all over the classroom; all the students need to do is know where to look and how to use the information they see, both of which are learned with the aid of their teacher.
Citation
Maniates, H. , & Doerr B. (2000). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, 33.
How is the room physically arranged?
My first impression of the classroom was that it was well lit. One entire wall is just windows. Mrs. Davis had all of the blinds open and natural light just poured into the classroom. Granted, the windows were not the only source of light in the classroom the ceiling lights were on as well. As a student myself, I have learned that whenever my classroom did not have windows, I felt closed in and restricted both of which are not two emotions you want to have your students feeling in a classroom.
As I observed the classroom setup further, I noticed that Mrs. Davis’s desk was in the far right corner in the front of the room. The desk faced away from the corner so Mrs. Davis could comfortably sit in the desk while simultaneously monitoring her students with a simple glance up. Alongside her desk by the windows, she has a shelf where most of her teacher resources are kept. Also in the front of the classroom, there is an overhead and a small book shelf containing books that belong to their classroom library. The front wall has two bulletin boards, a chalkboard and a pull down screen for the overhead. Although there is a chalk board, most of it is covered with posters. The last two structures present in the front of the room are a chart paper easel and a smaller teacher desk pushed close to the wall. I gather that the purpose of the front area room arrangement is to create a space where Mrs. Davis can work, as well as visually communicate to students the resources available to them.
The middle of the classroom is dominated by student desks. They are arranged into three groups consisting of about six desks per group. There is ample space between each group of desks so Mrs. Davis can easily walk through when monitoring her students. All of the desks are arranged in a way where every student can easily see what is displayed on the overhead without straining. I assumed that the middle area of the class was physically arranged to promote collaborative learning between the students.
In the back of the classroom, there are three separate tables and a supply cabinet. The first table is round with about four chairs around it. The second table seems to be the location of all of the technology in the classroom; on it there are two computers and one printer. The last table is very similar to the students’ desks; there are just three desks pushed together. From what I have observed, all three tables in the back are used for small group or individual instruction. The back of the room also has a lot of open rug space, especially in front of the computer table.
Finally, the perimeter of the room is mostly shelves. These shelves stock their textbooks as well as games, journals, and visual aids. In general, the room is very organized and free of clutter.
Do children seem to know where things are in the classroom?
All of the students definitely know where the classroom supplies are in the classroom. Last week during the science unit about space, the students set up a simulation experiment that would help them decide whether or not gravity is needed in order for you to swallow your food. Mrs. Davis instructed them to push two chairs together and prop one chair up with their class dictionaries and their social studies books so they could create an incline. Once she instructed them to begin, the students knew exactly where to go to get the supplies they needed for the experiment.
The majority of the informational posters on the walls were made by the students, so they know exactly where to look in the classroom when they need to refresh their memory of a word, formula, or concept. One day, the students were doing their daily mental math problems and Mrs. Davis asked a question regarding galloons and pints. All of the student’s heads turned to the back of the room where I was sitting. I soon realized that they turned to glance at the “Galloon Girl” and “Galloon Boy” paper dolls they had made earlier in the year to help them solve the problem. Other student made resources in the room that they refer to are: an idioms poster, constellation worksheets, and an earth’s core poster.
How do learners and teacher’s use the classroom space?
Mrs. Davis uses the entire classroom for instruction all throughout the day. The overhead in the front of the classroom is used mostly used for whole-group instruction. She often puts the overhead of the worksheet they are going to be doing on the overhead so she can discuss what the students are going to be doing as well as what she wants them to finish.
The desk arrangement Mrs. Davis chose is a direct reflection of what she wants her students to be doing before and after a lesson. She frequently asks her students to collaborate with their table members to share their worksheets answers, brainstorm ideas, or summarize what they just learned. One day, they created a KWL chart about what they know about space. The students brainstormed with their table and then wrote down what they knew and what they wanted to know about space on a post it so that they could share it during whole class discussion. Later in the lesson, she taught them about the characteristics of meteors and meteorites. She handed out a packet with pictures and text describing each. After the class read the packet together and analyzed the pictures, Mrs. Davis asked her students to share with their group members what they learned from the lesson. Mrs. Davis uses the student desk space to facilitate collaborative learning.
Mrs. Davis uses the back or the room as a place to individually meet with students to review their writing and monitor their reading progress. She also uses the space in the back of the room as a whole class meeting place. There is ample space on the floor, so every student can sit comfortably on the floor. The only instance in which I have seen the whole class sit in the back of the room is when they watch a video on the computer. Mrs. Davis downloaded a video that discussed what space suits are made out of. In all, Mrs. Davis uses each part of the room in a different way; the front of the room is used to introduce a concept, the middle where the students’ desk are, is used to actively engage students in thinking about what they learned, and the back of the classroom is where technology comes in to play as a way to sum up what they have learned.
The main space used by the learners is their desk space. This is where they get most of their work done in the classroom. On occasion, Mrs. Davis invites students to come up to the front of the classroom to share their answers. From what I have observed, the students mostly stay in their desks during the day except for when they are doing an active activity like the space experiment I previously mentioned or when they go to gym, music, or custom typing.
Is the room more child-oriented or teacher-oriented? Give examples.
Mrs. Davis’ room is more child-oriented than teacher-oriented. Everything in the classroom, from the teacher to the posters, is there to facilitate and enhance student learning. There are grabber idea posters, good manners board, writing tips poster, introductory paragraph hints, constellation diagrams, an assignment board, and much more. All of the visual aids in the classroom serve as a visual outline for the students of what they are currently working on.
What resources are in the room? How do the adults and children use them?
Student dictionaries, textbooks, flash cards, board games, overhead, chart paper easel, posters, computer, protractors, and maps are some of the resources I have noticed in the classroom. The main resource that I have observed Mrs. Davis using a lot is the overhead. She relies on the overhead when she teaches a lesson, or if they are reviewing for a test, she writes down the key words they should know for the test. Mrs. Davis also uses the internet as a resource to reinforce concepts the students have learned. She supplements the material by finding a video on YouTube or a game on a math website. The main resource I have observed the students using would be their textbooks, especially during science. They use the textbook as a reference tool. One student took it upon herself to clarify the age of the earth by looking it up in her science book during the science review section when no one could recall the exact number. The number one resource that both student and teacher use in the classroom is one another. In their collaborative groups, students can talk with each other to come up with an answer or use one another to brainstorm ideas. When one student is struggling, sometimes one of their classmates will be the resource they need to understand.
What techniques are used to gain the students’ attention, to transition them from one activity or place to another?
Mrs. Davis uses verbal cues in order to gain her students’ attention and transition them from one activity to another. The day is divided up according to the subject starting with language arts, then math, specials (i.e. gym), reading, science, and writing. Mrs. Davis simply asks the students to put away what they were working on and take out the materials for the next subject.
One important component to Mrs. Davis’ curriculum is the daily math worksheet and daily language problem. Both serve as way to transition the students from one activity to another. The daily language problem is usually a sentence written on the overhead containing errors in which the students must correct. This activity transitions the students into the school day because it is always done first thing in the morning. The daily math worksheet is divided into three parts, each having three problems to complete. The problems address simple math concepts and formulas that the students should know. It is a quick activity that transitions the students into the math lesson.
When the students go to a special, Mrs. Davis has them line up outside of the room along the wall. Then they all walk together to the special. Once the special is over, they walk back in a line to their classroom where they have to wait in line outside of the class until Mrs. Davis comes. She makes sure they are quiet and then she lets them enter the classroom. By doing this, Mrs. Davis is ensuring that her students will be calm, quiet, and ready to start learning again.
What examples of technology are available?
The only permanent pieces of technology in the classroom are the computers in the back of the room. Mrs. Davis also has the option of renting out the computer cart. The computer cart has about twenty laptop computers that each student can use. Mrs. Davis rented the cart on the first day I observed and had the students practice reading a protractor by playing a game online. The only other place Mrs. Davis can take her students to use a computer is the computer lab down the hall. Other than the one computer in the back of the room, no other forms of technology are present in the classroom.
In a paragraph, reflect in an analytical manner, what you learned about teaching and the environment. You must use at least two ideas from class discussion or book.
Classrooms are not static environments. Classrooms are constantly changing whether it is the teacher that changes, the students, the walls, the curriculum, the traditions, or the conversations. In the beginning of the year, teachers have to change the setup of their classrooms to reflect who they are as a teacher. I learned that furniture arrangement is a good indicator of what style of teaching that teacher employs. Having desks in lines suggests a teacher-centered instruction approach, whereas having desks in groups suggests more of a collaborative style of teaching. According to Helen Maniates, “an organized classroom functions as a silent teaching partner” (2001, pg. 33). I had never thought of a classroom as a teaching partner until I read it and then went on to experienced it in Mrs. Davis’ classroom. The bulletin boards, posters, and student work are constant visual reminders of what the students have learned. From what I have seen, students create most of the resources that are displayed on the classroom walls. These created resources help the student establish a personal connection and belonging to the classroom. At the same time, they can take a quick glance at their work to refresh their memory of past concepts they learned. I now understand what it means for a classroom to be a silent teaching partner. In a learner-centered classroom, the current curriculum is illustrated all over the classroom; all the students need to do is know where to look and how to use the information they see, both of which are learned with the aid of their teacher.
Citation
Maniates, H. , & Doerr B. (2000). Teach Our Children Well: Essential Strategies for the Urban Classroom. Portsmouth: Heineman, 33.
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