Reading Philosophy

I plan to have a print rich environment for my students with plenty of books, and things to read on my classroom walls. I will use all the strategies I have learned so far. I will make sure to give my students time for independent reading as well as shared, and read aloud sessions. It is my goal that every child will leave my class a fluent reader. Reading is so important, and not only is it important, but it is also a lot of fun.

Assessment Section

Assessment is a very important part of teaching, and one that I am continuing to learn about. There are all types of assessment, listening to the students, tests, homework, and projects. We had to work with a struggling reader this semester, and we had to assess his grade level, strengths and weaknesses, and how we might help him. It was a challenging and rewarding experience. Here is a link to my assessment profile.

Five Essential Components of Reading

There are five essential components to reading, comprehension, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and fluency. It is important to develop proficiency in each one. I wrote a paper for another class explaining these five components. Here is a link to that paper. Click here.

Read Aloud Section

Reading out loud to the students is a great way to model fluent reading. I always enjoyed when my teachers read a story to me. I think kids really enjoy this activity. I plan on doing plenty of reading to my students, and hope they will enjoy it as much as I did when I was read to. I taught a read aloud lesson at my school that incorporated a social studies aspect to it. The kids seemed to really like the story, and it was one that all of us can relate to. Here is the link to my read aloud.

Shared Reading

I taught a lesson on shared reading when I was at the school. I read a poem that was humorous, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. I made them all a copy, and had them echo read after me and also read the poem as a group. Shared reading is important, because it allows the struggling reader to read along with the good readers. It also models what good reading sounds like, and gives the kids a chance to practice right after hearing it done correctly. Here is a link to my shared reading lesson.

Guided Reading/ Small Groups

Out of everything I did this semester, teaching the small group reading lessons was my favorite. I was fortunate in that I got to teach the small group reading every day I was at the school. I really enjoyed the personal interaction with the children. We read stories from the Reading Street program mostly, and some from their leveled readers. I like being able to ask each child in the group for their responses to what was being taught. It was really fun to interact with the children on a smaller, and more up close and personal level than when teaching the whole group.

Using Reading Programs Effectively

It is important to understand and use reading programs. Currently the reading program in the schools is Reading Street. I think the book is good, but can be confusing with all the side notes and different pages. I think to use this program effectively it should be reviewed before you teach it, so you can get the maximum benefit from it. Here is a link to my reading block plans.

Independent Reading

It is very important that children are given time to do independent reading. Children need to be given time to read in school and at home. It is important that they be allowed to choose reading materials that are of interest to them, and that are also on the right level. I have already started a collection of reading materials for my classroom. I hope to have a classroom that is print rich with lots of different, and interesting materials for the children to read.

Parental Involvement

Parental involvement is extremely important. It is important that parents show interest and concern in their children's learning. If a child sees that their parents are interested in their work, they will strive to do better. At the beginning of the school year I plan on trying to involve the parents as much as possible in their child's work. I will create a website that the parents can log into to easily see what their child is working on, and their progress. They will have work sent home that will also need to be signed by the parent. I will also have an email and phone number that parents can reach me on. I plan on inviting the parents to the school to help with activities that their child might be involved in, and will let them know that they are welcome in my class at any time.

Mathematics Philosophy

Math was always a hard subject for me. The older I have gotten though the more I enjoy working on math problems. I want to incorporate as many different strategies and manipulatives into my teaching as possible. Math does not have to be as hard as it seems, and I want to unlock my students potential in this area with clear and interesting teaching. Here is a link to my mathematics autobiography.

Working with Struggling Mathematicians

During the semester we worked with a student who was struggling with math. Math was always a class that I struggled with too. With today's technology though, teaching math is getting easier, and there are so many great resources available now through the internet. I hope to make my math lessons interactive and fun for my students. I plan on doing this through the many great resources available on the internet, and as many manipulative math kits as I can get my hands on. Here is a link to my math assessment profile on my struggling math student. Link to assessment profile.

Teaching with Manipulatives

Teaching with manipulatives is a great way to increase the learning of your students. It helps children to learn when they can see, feel, touch, and manipulate objects. I taught a math lesson using ten-blocks as a manipulative in the classroom. The children were able to group these blocks in an array system to solve for the correct answer. I think using manipulatives also makes a lesson more fun for the students. Here is a link to my lesson plan where I used the ten-blocks. Link to lesson plan.

Teaching with Technology

Today with the use of computers it is very easy to incorporate technology into ones teaching. There are many great websites that have interactive games, and other learning tools. The children love going to these websites, because it makes learning fun. As teachers it is very important that we keep up with the latest technologies, so that we can use this information to help us become better teachers. Most classrooms are now outfitted with smart boards which allow for a lot of different opportunities to use technology in our lessons. With these smart boards we can now pull up these interactive websites easily, and incorporate them into our lessons. Here is a link to good interactive math web site.

Teaching with Children's Literature

Teaching with children's literature is a great and interesting way to develop a math lesson. Children love stories, so it really helps get their attention. I have done several bulletin boards on children's literature, and this is a great way to display this type of activity in class. Here is a link to my weekly math lesson plans, and on Friday is a lesson incorporating children's literature. Link to math lesson plans.

Science Philosophy

Science is the most interesting and fun class for me. I still remember many of the science experiments that I did back when I was in school. I want to try and incorporate as much science into my classroom as possible. I plan on buying and keeping as many science kits as possible in my classroom, so that the children will have a wide variety of experiences to explore. One of the things I like about science is that it is a very hands on type of learning. I plan to have posters and bulletin boards around my room with a rich display of scientific information to hopefully create life long learners out of my students in the area of science. Here is a link to my science autobiography.

Science Experiment

Science experiments are so much fun. We had to do an in class science experiment, and I did mine with play dough. My experiment was a sink or float experiment. The play dough that is in the shape of a ball will sink to the bottom of a glass of water, but when you form it into the shape of a boat it will float. This is an easy and simple experiment to do with your class. Here is a link to my science experiment lesson. Link to science experiment.

Teaching with Manipulatives

Teaching with manipulatives is very important. Children often learn better by actually doing, touching, and manipulating something. It is very important to incorporate this type of learning into the classroom. It is also a lot more fun to learn this way than just memorizing facts, and doing worksheets from a book. We did a really fun AMSTI lesson in our class, and here is a link to my reflection on it. AMSTI reflection link.

Teaching with Technology

Teaching with technology is easier than ever now with the use of computers. For one of my lessons I used an interactive website that the students could use to learn about animals, and their food chains. The children seem to really love using these websites that have interactive games, and other activities that the children can manipulate. It is important for us as teachers to keep up with and be aware of the latest technologies to help us in our teaching. Here is link to my lesson plan which also has a link to the website I used. Link to lesson plan.

Teaching with Childrens Literature

Children's literature is a great way to incorporate social studies lessons. It is an intersesting and effective way to get, and keep the students attention while at the same time teaching them important social studies concepts. At the same time as your teaching them social studies concepts you are also modeling fluent reading for the children. Here is a link to my lesson plan that incorporates children' literature. Link to lesson plan.

Teaching with Art

I love art, and want to try and incorporate more of it into my teaching. Studies have shown that children who participate in art also do better in other academic areas. One of my classes at South was an art class, and that is where I got the idea for this art activity lesson. Its a great lesson for teaching about the early Indians, and the early pilgrims when our country was just starting out. Here is a link to the lesson plan.

Teaching with Manipulatives

I taught a lesson about geography, that focused on volcanoes. I used an interactive website that the kids could come up and change certain conditions to change and view the type of volcano those adjustments would make. They really had a lot of fun with this, and then we also went out on the playground to do an experiment. I had the kids build a mountain in the sand, and then I filled it with baking soda, vinegar, and food color to make it erupt simulating a real volcano. The kids really loved this lesson. Here is a link to my lesson plan.

Social Studies Philosophy of Teaching

I have always enjoyed social studies, and learning about history and other cultures. I want to create a classroom that is rich in social studies learning. I want globes and maps, bulletin boards, and other items that will teach the kids about social studies. My philosophy will be to use interactive websites and projects to facilitate learning social studies topics. There is so much to learn from history, and he we have to teach our children the value of diversity.

Final Reflection Post

This was one the most interesting classes I have ever had. I learned a lot about different kinds of websites and applications, and also the concept of a personal learning network. I experienced what making a blog is, and how to add links, pictures, and video. There were many challenges in this class, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure things out. I got to work in a group with two really cool people, and that was a lot of fun. I really like the project based learning structure. I think you learn so much more with this type of teaching method. The projects for this class were all really fun and interesting. I think this should be a two semester class, because there are so many things out there to learn. I had not thought about how I would use technology in the class room until this class. It totally woke me up from my technology slumber, and I got inspiration for what I wanted to do with technology in my classroom. This class has opened my eyes, and now I hope to incorporate as much technology as possible into my classroom. I think I will be a much more interesting and effective teacher because of the things I learned in this class. Beyond the actual physical things I learned in this class, the class sparked an interest and awareness inside me to use and learn about different technologies. I am very thankful I was able to take this class, and I am very thankful for the approach that Dr. Strange used to teach this class. Even though the actual class has ended, I feel as though the concept of the class will continue in my personal life, and has only just begun. Thank you Dr. Strange for making this a really great class.

Final Summative Project

The link to my glog on glogster that I did for our summative project.. My glog

Blog Post 12

Mr. McClung Reflects On Year Two.

I liked his post. He is learning and growing as a teacher, and he really cares about his students. I liked his advice about finding a school mom who knows the system. It is obvious that he is continuing to learn and adapt his teaching style. The students are all important, and not letting other problems affect you in the classroom was a great piece of advice.

Principle of least change
School 3-d Printer
Childrens Engineering Initiative

The above videos that I watched taught me that kids love doing hands on projects. The video Principle of Least Change talked about starting where teachers are comfortable and then make the least amount of change that will still enable them to think about new ideas and produce new behaviors. I did not know a 3-d printer like that existed for schools. Very interesting new technology. The school engineering initiative talked about integrating the stem disciplines, and teaching it in the elementary schools, where kids are still developing there team work skills.

CKC 4

I watched a video that was made by Jessie McFadyen. It was a very well made video, I was very impressed. Kids today are so smart. The video was about a dog that was digging up some worms. I thought the music matched the video very well also. Here is a link to his video. Digging For Worms

My PLN.

My PLN is currently on iGoogle. I have many things added to the page to help me learn and stay informed. Here is a list of the things I have added so far, U-Tube, date and time, weather, G mail, Yahoo mail, CNN.com, NY Times.com, recent news, calendar, Fox news, Google translate, Doppler radar, Spanish word a day, how to of the day, Google map search, BBC technology news, BBC world news, and a few other things of personal interest. I am also following Mr. McClung, Alana Carpenter, Dillion McRae's Professional blog, and At The Teachers Desk on blogger. And I am also following Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange on Twitter along with some other people I am interested in. My PLN is something that I will continue to work on and revise.

Google Forms/ BP Oil Spill

One of the interesting facts I thought was the large percentage of people that didn't know if we should look for alternatives to oil. Other than that the responses were what I expected. You can take a look for yourself by clicking on the picture. Thank you to the people who participated in the survey.

2nd Comment for Teacher/ c4t 6/ Assignment 13

My second teacher to follow was Paula White I enjoyed reading her posts. She seemed like a teacher who really cared about her students. She has a wisdom and special understanding of student needs. In one of her posts she talked about the need of students to have a friend and make a bond with someone, and how important that is. And how important it is to place gifted students properly so they can bond with someone in their class. I thought her posts were very informative and thoughtful.

Blog Post 11

Ms. Cassidy is a great example of how a teacher can use technology with young children. I would like to use pod casts and blogs in my classroom. I would also like to have the kids start developing there own PLN. The impediments I might encounter I think might be some security concerns since the children will be so young. I think screening comments before they are posted to my children's blogs would be a good idea. Would also need to make sure my kids understand what kind of personal information they should not post. I think the benefits of using technology in the classroom are priceless. The students begin learning at a young age what can be done with computers, and I think it really makes learning fun and interesting. I think if the kids are excited and having fun while they are learning, it will be something they will remember about my classroom forever.

C4K 3

The post I was assigned to was a post for their band of the week. Here is a link to it. Band of the week I did not find this band to be very good, in fact they were not something I would listen to, but I am sure they have their place in the world!

Blog Post 10.

A Seventh Graders PLE.

I really liked her video presentation, she did an excellent job. I also really liked how organized she was. I think her PLE was better than mine, although I am only in the beginning stages of developing mine, and really look forward to having some time to work on mine.

Two Questions That Can Change Your Life.

I think it is an interesting idea. It is always good to examine oneself in order to progress, and learn from past mistakes. I am wondering if one sentence is to self limiting. So I will have to think of my sentence, and see how I feel about it. I think it is a very good idea to have a goal, or a direction in your life to follow. One sentence keeps coming to my mind when I think of my life, and whats important, so here is my sentence.

I want to stay relevant to the people in my family, and make a difference in their lives, and the lives of others.

Blog Post 9

An Open Letter To Educators, by Morgan Bayda

I enjoyed this post, and video. I think that many of my experiences have been the same, especially since I went to high School and college back in the eighties. Ive had teachers recently that do nothing more than regurgitate facts that I can easily read, and I have others that use technology to various degrees. I like what she said about making teaching relevant using a project based type of learning.
The video she had on her page was interesting. I just had a class that dealt with institutional learning, and the white power structure that set it up. The comment about education not changing was very interesting, and makes you wonder why change is happening so slowly. The one thought that really stood out to me was where Dan Brown said that facts were free in the information age, there was no longer a need to memorize facts. Basically implying that this type of learning is out dated and irrelevant. I think he is correct, we must change the way we learn in order to stay relevant in the world.

ALEX, Alabama Learning Exchange.

ALEX is a great site. I have actually already used this site in another class when I needed to look up some lesson plans. The site has a menu that you can click on to go to the areas you are interested in. There are seven choices, they are: courses of study, web links, lesson plans, search, personal workspace, professional learning, and podcast treasury.
I think this site will be very useful when I begin teaching. It has a wealth of information on all different kinds of subjects related to teaching. I can also share and store my own lesson plans. This site will be invaluable as a tool for researching, and learning about related school subjects.
The ACCESS program being developed in Alabama is really great, giving people in rural areas a chance to get the education they need. The program uses web based technology and video conferencing to bring a long distance learning experience to students.

Comments for kids 2

I checked out Amelia's blog. She is 11 years old and loves chocolate! Chocolate is one of my all time favorite foods. I cant get enough chocolate, so I enjoyed reading that. Her blog is at Amelia's blog

Blog Post 8

"What Ive Learned This Year", by Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung said some interesting things. One of them was the lesson you plan on giving is not the lesson that actually comes out. He also talked about listening to his students, and how important that is in building rapport and respect. It made me think about how I would approach giving lessons, and how I would try to build rapport with my students by listening to them, and really caring about them as individuals. One thing that he talked about was gauging the students comprehension of what you are trying to teach them, and how important that is to do. Listening to other people I think is a skill that all of us need to practice.

Blog post 7, Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.

It was a very interesting lecture. It seems to me the teaching method that he advocated was a project based learning style. He wanted his students to actually do something as opposed to just reading about it. The brick wall he said was to keep people out that did not want it bad enough. His message was to not ever give up no matter how tough it might seem.
Randy said when people give you feedback you should cherish it, and use it. When people do not give you feedback, even if they see you doing something wrong, that is when you need to start getting worried. Randy also said the best gift an educator can give is to get a student to be self reflective. That was interesting, it shows how important it is to be honest with ourselves.
A very inspiring speaker, and considering his illness an inspiration to us all on how to be positive, and upbeat. His approach to learning was to actually do something, not just read about it, and to also make it fun at the same time. Make your dreams come true. Work hard, and your dreams will come to you.
He got to meet Captain Kirk! It was very interesting to me when he talked about Spock, and how the people surrounding Captain Kirk were smarter than the Captain. What was it that Captain Kirk had that made him special, it was his leadership ability. We do not always have to be the sharpest tool in the tool box, but we should surround ourselves with people who are, and learn from them.