June Brides
Video by: Katie Long & Megan Morgan
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
HELP!
I could not figure out how to get the video imported. I tried and tried and it kept saying that there was an error, and I needed to contact the blogger support team. I could not get the music files I downloaded to play in movie maker either. I don't know what is wrong. I am beginning to rethink this whole thing, and approach it from a new direction. Ugh! I'll keep trying, something has to give eventually.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New Media Text
Once we graduate from college it is our responsibility to keep up with technologies. However, the author states that teachers are still relying heavily on alphabetic text instead of visual text. When I first began reading the article, I was thinking, "What the heck is visual text?" After reading a little further I realized that visual text is text that uses pictures in stead of paragraphs of words. The author claims that teachers are less likely to use these text because they are not familiar with them. I can completely relate to that. I can see myself twenty years down the road using old school methods instead of new school methods because that is what I taught and that is what works for me. Hopefully, that will not happen. The author makes a good claim that we are doing our students an injustice by not teaching visual text. As our society has changed, alphabetic text have became the supplementation to visual text where as it used to be the other way around.
This article discussed different lesson plans that are possible when teachers want to include visual essays instead of alphabetic essays. One of the lessons that resonated the most with me was the robot vs. human visual essay. One question presented as one of the topics to argue really threw me for a loop. (Will robots have souls?) I could think of hundreds of arguments to make against that with visual representation such as the bible. I also liked looking at the evaluations provided by the author. I thought the questions were very comprehensive and I liked how not only other students peer reviewed another students work, but the student also had to critical evaluate their own work. This is great for constructive criticism. However, one question I had was what if something needs to be modified to make a strong correlation. It seems like too much work to go back and redo from the start.
I also think that visual essays would be more appealing to students who do not like to write. This would be a good place for those students to start. Then they can explain their position after their visual text. I would enjoy something like this, and I think it would be fun for the teacher as well as the students, especially if the topic was of interest to the students.
This article discussed different lesson plans that are possible when teachers want to include visual essays instead of alphabetic essays. One of the lessons that resonated the most with me was the robot vs. human visual essay. One question presented as one of the topics to argue really threw me for a loop. (Will robots have souls?) I could think of hundreds of arguments to make against that with visual representation such as the bible. I also liked looking at the evaluations provided by the author. I thought the questions were very comprehensive and I liked how not only other students peer reviewed another students work, but the student also had to critical evaluate their own work. This is great for constructive criticism. However, one question I had was what if something needs to be modified to make a strong correlation. It seems like too much work to go back and redo from the start.
I also think that visual essays would be more appealing to students who do not like to write. This would be a good place for those students to start. Then they can explain their position after their visual text. I would enjoy something like this, and I think it would be fun for the teacher as well as the students, especially if the topic was of interest to the students.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Chapter 11
We all remember the five paragraph essay that was stressed to us as high school students. However, I can honestly say that when I write a paper I do not use that format. In fact, I have never been good at writing five paragraph essays. When told to formulate a thesis statement, I always had problems. I also had trouble when it came to brainstorming activities. I know that brainstorming is a strategy that needs to be taught, but how do you teach brainstorming? Oh, yes, you can model brainstorming, but is that really teaching it to the students. I agree with Conley when he said that the school curriculum needs to be redone to include the kinds of writing that are needed in college and in workplaces. (310)
I certainly agree with him. Looking back on my writing experiences in high school, I do not recall writing memos or using charts or tables. One important writing topic that I believe Conley left out was resumes. We are all getting ready to graduate. We all have to have a resume when we go interview, but I do not remember anywhere in our course work that has helped us with composing a resume.
Writing is an important communication tool in our society. Students need to set their purpose for writing, their audience, and their position. I also agree with Conley that writing should have authentic purposes. Writing for no important reason makes writing become monotonous and boring. However, students need to see the importance and relevance behind their writing assignment. I remember doing a research paper on the Tea Pot Dome Scandal. You are probably wondering what that is? I was too. It was just a topic assigned to me by the teacher. I believe that students should be given the opportunity to select their own topics when writing. This makes writing more enjoyable for the students because they may acutally be interested in the subject matter which inturn makes writing much better.
I certainly agree with him. Looking back on my writing experiences in high school, I do not recall writing memos or using charts or tables. One important writing topic that I believe Conley left out was resumes. We are all getting ready to graduate. We all have to have a resume when we go interview, but I do not remember anywhere in our course work that has helped us with composing a resume.
Writing is an important communication tool in our society. Students need to set their purpose for writing, their audience, and their position. I also agree with Conley that writing should have authentic purposes. Writing for no important reason makes writing become monotonous and boring. However, students need to see the importance and relevance behind their writing assignment. I remember doing a research paper on the Tea Pot Dome Scandal. You are probably wondering what that is? I was too. It was just a topic assigned to me by the teacher. I believe that students should be given the opportunity to select their own topics when writing. This makes writing more enjoyable for the students because they may acutally be interested in the subject matter which inturn makes writing much better.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
SMART BOARD vs. PROMETHEAN BOARD
I have had experience with the Promethean Board last semester in Dr. Fox's class. I can see how teachers that have this technology in the classroom would not know how to teach without it. It is very versitile and easy to manage. I also think students enjoy this much more than just a power point. I think students are more interested in playing with the board, but in turn they are learning what they need to learn.
I am eager to learn about the differences between the Smart Board and the Promethean Board. I have not had experience with a Smart Board. I have not seen smart boards out in the clinicals but I have seen Promethean Boards.
I am eager to learn about the differences between the Smart Board and the Promethean Board. I have not had experience with a Smart Board. I have not seen smart boards out in the clinicals but I have seen Promethean Boards.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Chapter 7
I fimly agree with Conley's idea that students who fail repeatedly just give up and stop trying. As a teacher I see the importance in motivating and encouraging our students to perform well. Many students find it hard to get motivated because they are not encouraged. Conley believes that teachers can help this by being caring and passionate. The better a teacher knows a student and his or her history the more likely the teacher can motivate and activate the students prior knowledge. I think that these students are often times the ones that fall through the cracks.
As we all already know activating prior knowledge is a key component in student learning. We use strategies such as anticipation guides and K-W-L charts. One new strategy I learned was PreP which stands for Pre Reading Plan. This strategy includes brainstorming, associating, and elaborating. Not only do students have to think about what they know they have to apply it and elaborate. This is also a great assessment of what students know quantitatively and qualitatively. However, some students may just write something irrelevant or not respond the way the teacher wants them too. Conley made a good point when he said that teachers cannot assume that students know how to use any of the these strategies. I completely agree with him. I watch several students struggle today to complete a concept web and they were not getting the big idea of a concept web. They were trying to write sentences in a little bubble instead of key events. Maybe the teacher did not model effectively.
Motivating students seems essential to me. We motivate students by using affective hooks to make the content more interesting and appealing to the students. We also emphasize predictions by using DRTA stategies and games to help engage the students and activate prior knowledge. By activating the students prior knowledge and motivating the student opens to students' minds to learning. We have to connect what they know to form larger webs of information. (Much like relative understandings and conceptual knowledge from math).
Once the foundation is laid then the knowledge and understandings can be built. The height of the building depends on the depth of the understandings.
As we all already know activating prior knowledge is a key component in student learning. We use strategies such as anticipation guides and K-W-L charts. One new strategy I learned was PreP which stands for Pre Reading Plan. This strategy includes brainstorming, associating, and elaborating. Not only do students have to think about what they know they have to apply it and elaborate. This is also a great assessment of what students know quantitatively and qualitatively. However, some students may just write something irrelevant or not respond the way the teacher wants them too. Conley made a good point when he said that teachers cannot assume that students know how to use any of the these strategies. I completely agree with him. I watch several students struggle today to complete a concept web and they were not getting the big idea of a concept web. They were trying to write sentences in a little bubble instead of key events. Maybe the teacher did not model effectively.
Motivating students seems essential to me. We motivate students by using affective hooks to make the content more interesting and appealing to the students. We also emphasize predictions by using DRTA stategies and games to help engage the students and activate prior knowledge. By activating the students prior knowledge and motivating the student opens to students' minds to learning. We have to connect what they know to form larger webs of information. (Much like relative understandings and conceptual knowledge from math).
Once the foundation is laid then the knowledge and understandings can be built. The height of the building depends on the depth of the understandings.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lesson
Lesson Plan:
Audidence: 3rd grade
MS Social Studies Framework
2. Acquire the characterisitics to be a responsible citizen in the United States.
Recognize responsibilities of the indicidual as they relate to the student's community.
Big Idea: Conserving resources.
Objective: The students will infer the feelings of nonhuman lifeforms after reading the book The Tree to determine how the environment is effected by resource extraction.
Preparation:
1.) Read The Tree by Dana Lyons to the students.
2.) Ask the students open ended questions such as:
a. If there were no trees how would our environment change?
b. Could we survive without trees?
c. How would you feel if something you treasured was taken away?
3.) Ask the students to describe the emotions of the tree in various stages of the book?
How did the author personify the tree's feeling about being cut down?
5.) Ask the students why they believe conservation is important?
What happens if we do not conserve resources?
6.) Students will personify a resource such as oil, salt, gold, or copper and describe how the land around it is affected by extracting resources.
Guidance
1. ) Teacher models her example personification.
I am flowing down the mountain tops into the deep blue ocean. On the way down, there is nothing but pollution. They fill me up with chemical waste and even worse they dump their trash on my banks. I wonder if people will ever drink me again or while more chemicals have to be dumped into me to clean me up.
2.) Teacher helps students engage in the task by asking higher order thinking questions that have no right or wrong answers. Such as, if you were a lump of coal and all the land around you was being destroyed just so people could get you how you react? Would you be selfish or concerned about the environment?
Application
1.) Students will share with the class their personification of their resource orally.
2.) Students will compose a short paragraph about how their resource can be conserved.
Assessment
1.) Use I learned statements to discuss what the students learned during the other students presentations.
Audidence: 3rd grade
MS Social Studies Framework
2. Acquire the characterisitics to be a responsible citizen in the United States.
Recognize responsibilities of the indicidual as they relate to the student's community.
Big Idea: Conserving resources.
Objective: The students will infer the feelings of nonhuman lifeforms after reading the book The Tree to determine how the environment is effected by resource extraction.
Preparation:
1.) Read The Tree by Dana Lyons to the students.
2.) Ask the students open ended questions such as:
a. If there were no trees how would our environment change?
b. Could we survive without trees?
c. How would you feel if something you treasured was taken away?
3.) Ask the students to describe the emotions of the tree in various stages of the book?
How did the author personify the tree's feeling about being cut down?
Based on the author's words describe the tree's feelings throughout the story?
4.)Introduce the idea of conserving resources.5.) Ask the students why they believe conservation is important?
What happens if we do not conserve resources?
6.) Students will personify a resource such as oil, salt, gold, or copper and describe how the land around it is affected by extracting resources.
Guidance
1. ) Teacher models her example personification.
I am flowing down the mountain tops into the deep blue ocean. On the way down, there is nothing but pollution. They fill me up with chemical waste and even worse they dump their trash on my banks. I wonder if people will ever drink me again or while more chemicals have to be dumped into me to clean me up.
2.) Teacher helps students engage in the task by asking higher order thinking questions that have no right or wrong answers. Such as, if you were a lump of coal and all the land around you was being destroyed just so people could get you how you react? Would you be selfish or concerned about the environment?
Application
1.) Students will share with the class their personification of their resource orally.
2.) Students will compose a short paragraph about how their resource can be conserved.
Assessment
1.) Use I learned statements to discuss what the students learned during the other students presentations.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
I found a wonderful teacher blog for teachers and teacher candidates. One reason why I selected this blog is because this retired teacher is now a graduate professor at Furman University. She postedsurvival tips for student teachers which I thought is great for all us since we will be teaching next fall. She also has different websites posted that are teacher friendly. All of previous blogs can be found on the left side of the screen after you scroll down a little. I just thought her blogs would be useful to my performance as a student and I wanted to share that with you all as well. Click here to be a successful teacher.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 reiterates the importance of selecting the appropriate text in the classroom. I agree with the author that before the technology revolution most text in the classroom came from text books and basal readers. However, in today's technology savy society, teachers need to be looking for other forms of text to interest their students such as digital text. Just in the first month of this class we have been exposed to a few different types of digital texting such as Blogger, Twitter, and Goggledocs. These applications can be enjoyable. In my clinical class the teacher has set up a yahoo class account and the students write letters back and forth to the afternoon class. The teacher overseas what is talked about, but she looks for all the letter parts for instructional purposes. The students really seemed to enjoy writing and recieving emails from one another. I don't think the students really see the frameworks behind what they are doing. I thought it was a clever idea.
With different types of texts teachers need to be aware of the readability of the text. If the text is extremely hard for the student frustration occurs, and the student just gives up. But if the text is too easy for the student, the student will become bored. I also believe students' interests in texts also play a huge role in student comprehension. I experience this tonight as I overheard a student complain about a story she had to read in a basal reader, so I decided I would read a page or two to get the idea. And yes I completely agreed with the student. It was like torture for her to have to read this story. What I don't understand is: we are taught that we need to get our students interested in the topic, but practicing teachers just use basal readers for their lessons. How do we get around school implemented reading programs? As long as teachers are dictated what they need to teach and how they need to teach it, how can we practice all these wonderful scientifically-based teaching strategies?
With different types of texts teachers need to be aware of the readability of the text. If the text is extremely hard for the student frustration occurs, and the student just gives up. But if the text is too easy for the student, the student will become bored. I also believe students' interests in texts also play a huge role in student comprehension. I experience this tonight as I overheard a student complain about a story she had to read in a basal reader, so I decided I would read a page or two to get the idea. And yes I completely agreed with the student. It was like torture for her to have to read this story. What I don't understand is: we are taught that we need to get our students interested in the topic, but practicing teachers just use basal readers for their lessons. How do we get around school implemented reading programs? As long as teachers are dictated what they need to teach and how they need to teach it, how can we practice all these wonderful scientifically-based teaching strategies?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Chapter 4
Chapter 4 dicussses the importance of assessment and various types of assessment. Assessments need to be ongoing and evaluated to help guide instruction to determine if students are learning or if reteaching is needed. The different forms of assessment discussed include informal assessments such as conversations and observations and formal assessments such as classroom, state, and standardized tests. A good assessment of overall performance is a portfolio. Portfolios show things that tests and conversations don't. Portfolios can show student growth from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. When portfolios are used students can see their growth and development. I think that portfolios are a good motivational skill for students because when students think they can't do something they can see just how far they have came.
Another topic dicussed in this chapter was the reading interest inventory and attitude survey. I believe that teachers need to know how their students feel about a particular content area as well as what they are interested in. When teachers use this information effectively they can make the learning environment student friendly. I am looking forward to using a student interest inventory to get to know my student and help my student learn during my tutoring sessions. I also see why we had to write a literacy autobiography for this class. It was your way of seeing how we felt about literature and our past experiences. You will probably use this information to help plan your lessons and understand your student betters.
The last part of chapter four discussed how to interpret standardized test. Standardized test results are the foundation of No Child Left Behind regulations. Schools, teachers, and students have to reach their Adequate Yearly Progress goal or funding is lost, teachers are fired, or schools are closed. I honesty think standardized testing is a double edge sword. If a poor school has low scores they lose more funding when they do not make the grade. Why wouldn't they give more money to help improve the learning environment to schools that are functioning poorly. Closing schools and firing teachers is not going to solve the problems the our education system faces.
Another topic dicussed in this chapter was the reading interest inventory and attitude survey. I believe that teachers need to know how their students feel about a particular content area as well as what they are interested in. When teachers use this information effectively they can make the learning environment student friendly. I am looking forward to using a student interest inventory to get to know my student and help my student learn during my tutoring sessions. I also see why we had to write a literacy autobiography for this class. It was your way of seeing how we felt about literature and our past experiences. You will probably use this information to help plan your lessons and understand your student betters.
The last part of chapter four discussed how to interpret standardized test. Standardized test results are the foundation of No Child Left Behind regulations. Schools, teachers, and students have to reach their Adequate Yearly Progress goal or funding is lost, teachers are fired, or schools are closed. I honesty think standardized testing is a double edge sword. If a poor school has low scores they lose more funding when they do not make the grade. Why wouldn't they give more money to help improve the learning environment to schools that are functioning poorly. Closing schools and firing teachers is not going to solve the problems the our education system faces.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
13 Principles
Principle number 3 discusses how motivation and self-directed learning can make learning more authentic.Scaffolding seems like the underlying principle of motivating and self-directing student learning. Prior knowledge lays the foundation which can motivate the students when connections are made. Intriguing facts may make the students want to learn more about a particular subject matter which would self-direct them to their own learning. The teacher's job is to keep students motivated and interested in what they are learning. If students do not see the purpose or reason for what they are learning the less likely they will learn the material.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 taught me the difference between textbook based big ideas and standards based big ideas. It seems that the standards based big ideas require a higher depth of knowledge than text based. When assessing these big ideas teachers need to ask what do students know and care about when it come to the Big Ideas. This goes back to connecting ideas, building on prior knowledge, and using students' interests when planning. Standards based big ideas give teachers the chance to get out the text book and use other resources available to them. This will enable the teacher to personalize the students' learning. Teachers also need to teach students good learning strategies so they can succeed.
Two questions:
1.) Are the students really going to care about the Big Ideas? How as teachers can we make students understand why learning is important?
2.) Why is it college professors use the worst practice of teacher lecture, reading from and responding to texts, quizzes, and tests that ask students to recall what they know? If we should not do these things, then why do they model bad practices?
Two questions:
1.) Are the students really going to care about the Big Ideas? How as teachers can we make students understand why learning is important?
2.) Why is it college professors use the worst practice of teacher lecture, reading from and responding to texts, quizzes, and tests that ask students to recall what they know? If we should not do these things, then why do they model bad practices?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
