My biggest concern in teaching is getting moved around between grades. To start in kindergarten, then get moved to 5th grade the next year...somewhat terrifying! Sometimes we get stuck thinking that what works in kindergarten won't work in 5th grade. However, I was reading a blog written by a teacher from Texas whose main focus is reading and ESL. It is called, Cardigans & Curriculum. What I have understood from a few of her posts is that she began teaching in the primary grades, and is now a 5th grade teacher. In February, she posted "What's New in Room 410." In this post, she expressed her love for the Daily 5 groups in the younger grades, and how she wanted to find a way to bring it in to her less spacious 5th grade room. She explained the process of which she made it work, and now her 5th graders love it! What I liked best about this post is that it goes along with what I have previously posted about keeping the hands-on activities and mobility in the classroom throughout all grades. This teacher knows the importance of students working together, individually, in groups, and especially getting individualized instruction with the teacher. She made it happen even in the 5th grade, by modifying the strategy she used in the primary grades.
Aside from "What's New in Room 410," she posts about the science projects they do in the room, different ways she teaches concepts like, sensory speech and foreshadowing. I really loved reading her blog posts because they are positive and some focus on what makes her happy about being a teacher, as well as what makes her happy in her life outside of the classroom.
You should definitely visit this blog:
http://cardigansandcurriculum.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Giving Life to Learning
For just a second, I want you to close your eyes and remember your kindergarten experience...
Really, close your eyes... :)
I'm hoping you pictured all of the fun and excitement you had. There were probably many colorful objects and posters in the classroom setting, you were remembering many of the songs you sang, and my guess is that you don't have many memories of sitting in your seat for very long.
Now, quickly scan through your experiences in grades 1-6. If your experiences were like mine, all of the colors, songs, and out-of-seat activities started dwindling down very quickly throughout those 6 grades. As I gain understanding through my field experiences, I'm beginning to understand that teachers are pressured to teach sooooo many skills to their students, AND teach them to be good test-takers. What I see to be lost, however, are the hidden lessons and the love for learning that we find in hands-on activities.
I was surfing the web a couple of days ago and came across this blog (which I of course pinned on pinterest.com!). Mall-ard's "Incredible" Kindergarten Happenings 2011-2012 is a blog where two looped teachers, Mrs. Mallon and Mrs. Dillard, post pictures and videos of the activities their students do in the classroom. As I was skimming through some of the stories, I found myself questioning why this classroom "fun" has to stop after the early education years. Then, I began wondering what education would be like for grades 3-6 if we continued the rich, hands-on experiences. Would our students still be excited to get up and go to school in the morning? Would it increase test scores? How much more effort would it be to plan out more engaging activities for our students, rather than struggling to keep students still and in their seats for lecture and worksheet lessons? I understand that the above mentioned blog is based in a classroom with two teachers as opposed to one, but they have their class for kindergarten and first grade. This means they have to keep things interesting for the same group of students for two school years. The pictures show the students having fun and engaged in what they're learning. I also saw many diverse lessons; one that stuck out to me was the Korean culture lesson. The teachers posted a slideshow of the lesson, and underneath the slideshow were comments that parents and blog visitors left. One said,
"Lourdes said...
What a blessing to be in this class. The children have had so many cultural experiences. Within the classroom walls, they have traveled so much already. Oh, the places we go!
Thank you Ms. Hanna for sharing Korean traditions with the class.
Happy New Year!
This one comment expresses the experiences that these students have when they come to school. I find these two teachers, and their blog, to be quite inspiring in my education of becoming a good, effective teacher.
What I gained from visiting this blog is inspiration to make education come to life, regardless of the age group/grade level.
Really, close your eyes... :)
I'm hoping you pictured all of the fun and excitement you had. There were probably many colorful objects and posters in the classroom setting, you were remembering many of the songs you sang, and my guess is that you don't have many memories of sitting in your seat for very long.
Now, quickly scan through your experiences in grades 1-6. If your experiences were like mine, all of the colors, songs, and out-of-seat activities started dwindling down very quickly throughout those 6 grades. As I gain understanding through my field experiences, I'm beginning to understand that teachers are pressured to teach sooooo many skills to their students, AND teach them to be good test-takers. What I see to be lost, however, are the hidden lessons and the love for learning that we find in hands-on activities.
I was surfing the web a couple of days ago and came across this blog (which I of course pinned on pinterest.com!). Mall-ard's "Incredible" Kindergarten Happenings 2011-2012 is a blog where two looped teachers, Mrs. Mallon and Mrs. Dillard, post pictures and videos of the activities their students do in the classroom. As I was skimming through some of the stories, I found myself questioning why this classroom "fun" has to stop after the early education years. Then, I began wondering what education would be like for grades 3-6 if we continued the rich, hands-on experiences. Would our students still be excited to get up and go to school in the morning? Would it increase test scores? How much more effort would it be to plan out more engaging activities for our students, rather than struggling to keep students still and in their seats for lecture and worksheet lessons? I understand that the above mentioned blog is based in a classroom with two teachers as opposed to one, but they have their class for kindergarten and first grade. This means they have to keep things interesting for the same group of students for two school years. The pictures show the students having fun and engaged in what they're learning. I also saw many diverse lessons; one that stuck out to me was the Korean culture lesson. The teachers posted a slideshow of the lesson, and underneath the slideshow were comments that parents and blog visitors left. One said,
"Lourdes said...
What a blessing to be in this class. The children have had so many cultural experiences. Within the classroom walls, they have traveled so much already. Oh, the places we go!
Thank you Ms. Hanna for sharing Korean traditions with the class.
Happy New Year!
This one comment expresses the experiences that these students have when they come to school. I find these two teachers, and their blog, to be quite inspiring in my education of becoming a good, effective teacher.
What I gained from visiting this blog is inspiration to make education come to life, regardless of the age group/grade level.
Fun Activities Blog
The best part about being an elementary education major is that I can now see the educational gain in many children's games/activities. Recently, I was visiting pinterest.com and saw that a friend of mine had pinned a blog listing 75 activities for children to do at home. Out of curiosity, I decided to see what this blog listed. As I was reading through the activities, I realized almost all of them have potential educational gain. All of the activities that are listed on this blog can be done at home, but why not do them at school, too? Some may be a bit expensive to do with an average class size of 26, but most are definitely doable and have minimal amounts of prep time. I really enjoyed the cloud activity, the book making activity, the egg activity, picking an animal and researching it for an entire day, letter writing to family, popsicle stick puzzles, and paint and roll marbles. If you have children who will be home over summer break and you are looking for fun, educational activities that don't include the television or the computer, I highly recommend visiting this blog!
http://cuegly.blogspot.com/2011/09/75-kid-activities.html
http://cuegly.blogspot.com/2011/09/75-kid-activities.html
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sweet Child O' the 80's
In our last class, groups presented their Decades Project for anyone who happened to pass through the lounge in Greenlawn, the education building. As you can guess, I was part of the 80's group. Quite possibly the most fun decade, in my biased opinion. Though, I'm sure the 90's would have been a blast as that group got the chance to revisit their childhood!
For this project, we had to dress in clothing that either was from our decade, or resembled the clothing from our decade. You can only imagine half of the stares we received in the parking lot, as we dragged all of our artifacts in... Especially if you have teased hair, black AND brown eyeshadow, and this dress.
I can say many things about the 80's starting from music and ending with groceries. I learned all of those things because of all of the research my group had done. We were asked to approach this project as if we were doing this with students in the classroom; so naturally, our teaching practices kicked in and we wanted to know everything we could possibly retain about the 80's.
What I found interesting about this project was that there wasn't one table that had artifacts that I didn't recognize...all the way back to the 1950s. The other section went as far back as the 1920s, and I still recognized the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that they had made! What would we do without the PB&J sandwich?! This project taught me that we may grow out of trends, but there are still parts of our history that stay with us. That, my friends, is why we teach social studies.
[Other ideas I had for this project: Hold the presentations on Halloween if you teach in a school that doesn't allow students to "Dress up for Halloween." This way, they have a purpose for dressing up, it is educational, and you have some control over what their costume entails (ie. No blood dripping Halloween masks...). Also, these projects could be used as a thematic unit. The students can do the projects, gather all of the random information, and present what they have learned. Then, information centered around economics can be pulled from these projects (now prior knowledge) and used in future lessons. The same can happen with technology.]
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