Recording Myself

I can't believe this semester is almost over. It feels like everything is due at the same time! On Monday in class we had a workday to work or ask questions about any of our assignments. I think the professors taking the time to do that is great. For Wednesdays class we had to record ourselves teaching our lesson. I was a little nervous in the video just because I didn't think I was prepared to teach just yet. It was weird talking to an empty classroom. I think my major issue was that I talk way too fast. I don't think my future students' will like that very much. Being able to reflect and change some of the things I am doing will help me improve instruction and help students learn. Having the ability to change and adapt will help me with the NCTCS by learning from what does and does not work. I will use this technique when I have a classroom of my own.I am doing a lecture/presentation on the circulatory system and while I was watching myself teach I noticed how boring it would be if I just stood there and talked so I found some useful advice on how to keep the students engaged during a lecture.
http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/Tenwaystomakelecturesmoredynamic.aspx

I hope that when it is my turn to teach I will be calm and composed. I will have to make some changes but overall I am looking forward to it. But I am ready for Thanksgiving break! (:

SAMR

On Monday in class we learned about SAMR which stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. This helps us decide whether a technological tool is actually benefiting the assignment at hand. We watched a very meaningful video about what technology advances have done to improve the life of some of the disabled people in the world. It is crazy how many things technology can do. I didn't realize that you could control your house with just your phone! Computers can now follow your eye movements and can be controlled with just your eyes. Knowing all the latest technology advances will help me stay updated on trends and by using technology wisely I can improve my instruction. Being able to use and recognize SAMR will help me be proficient in the NCTCS and spark creativity in my students. For my outside research I found an article that talks about using SAMR and blending it with other resources to have the best learning outcome for students:

https://elearningindustry.com/applying-samr-model-create-effective-blended-learning-strategy

On Wednesday in class we got feedback on 2 of our assignments and it made me realize how important feedback is. Dr. Parker changed the due dates for the philosophy of education because he saw that were not going to be ready for the final due date. Him doing that made me realize that sometimes things don't go as planned but you have to adapt to the situation and make the best of it. If he hadn't taken the time to give us all feedback he would have been stuck with really bad educational philosophies and nobody wants that. Like Dr.Clark said this is the last final push of the semester so I'm going to try and work harder to end this semester well. 

TPACK

Today in class we watched a video that was very eye opening. It talked about how it was the first time that 4 generations were working together. It also talked about how we were preparing students' for jobs that don't even exist yet. We learned about TPACK, which stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. We learned about the diagram and how each of the things connect to each other. Blending all these together can help the teacher facilitate learning and have students' engaged. We learned the importance of having every single one of the components to ensure learning. Being able to use TPACK in my future classroom will help me integrate technology and differentiate learning. Recognizing the importance of technology in the classroom will help me be proficient in NCTCS. For my outside research I read an article that goes a little more in depth about TPACK and it's advantages. 

http://www.nadasisland.com/tpack/

Lets hope the rest of the semester goes smoothly! (:

Back at It!

Our Fall break is over and it was very much needed after having midterms drain my brain last week. We didn't have class on Monday and on Wednesday we had a walking classroom on our next group projects. I'm not going to lie these group projects have been very exhausting but I know that are professors are doing it so we can get used to working together and communicating effectively. In the walking classroom our professors pointed out to us what needs to be on our Assessment project. Assessment is a huge part of teaching and learning as well. Being able to understand what assessment is used for will help me out with the NCTCS. Comprehending what assessment will allow me to do and how to use the data given by the assessments will help me better prepare my future students'. For my outside research I found an article that talks about the usefulness of assessments and how they can be used to improve learning.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb03/vol60/num05/How-Classroom-Assessments-Improve-Learning.aspx

Week 7

Lesson Plan

This week in class we have worked on lesson planning and a group project that deals with content knowledge and integration. When it comes to lesson plans I've gotten a better understanding of every part that makes up the six point lesson plan. When I was in high school I never gave much thought on on how a lesson plan works. I thought you just wrote down what you were teaching and that's it. I have a greater appreciation for the teachers who took the time to do everything that is required to write a lesson. 

Group Projects

We have had to do a lot of group projects in Educ 250. I am not a huge fan of group projects but I understand why they are making us do it. They are trying to get us to communicate with each other and learn how to work as a team considering that being a teacher will include some team work and talking to others. This weeks group project is on content knowledge and integration. The whole project was explained by a flipped walking classroom where we, the students had to explain each part to our classmates. It was a little weird but it worked out. It was weird when they asked us what our definition of integration was because I had never thought about what that could mean in education. Being able to integrate different skills in my classroom will help me with the NCTCS. For this project I have to unpack standards again which is something we did in the beginning of the course. For this project I will need to pull back everything I learned about KUD. For this I turned to the internet to try and get a better comprehension on how to unpack standards and I ran into this little nice presentation that will help me with my standards: 

http://66.90.176.10/wacohigh/minisites/DI-conf/2011/docs/Session03/ClearFocusedGoals-KUDworkshop.pdf

Future Classroom & Reflections

I know that learning how to actually plan a lesson will benefit my future students because if I stay organized then we stay on track and can continue to learn. Knowing how to unpack a standard will help me be able to comprehend what is asking me to do as well as break it down for students to understand. Looking forward to next week and Fall break!!

High Observation!

This week in class we went to observe a high school. I was a little intimidating to be in that kind of setting again. I got the opportunity to observe a 9th grade math class. The math class was different than any of the classes I took in high school because it was Common Core Math 1. They were learning about linear equations and graphing slope. The teacher had the students make foldables and she had a projector up showing the students what to write down on each section. She had them explain how to do each step to solving the equation. One thing that I observed that I would love to incorporate into my future classroom was the interactive notebook. It's a nice way to keep all the notes organized in one place. After the foldable she gave them a worksheet for independent practice and gave them each feedback on what they need to work on. She did a good job on working through the 6 point lesson plan. She gave the students their target and made them write it down. We also talked about diversity in the classroom and what it meant to be diverse. Dr. Parker told us a story about one of his students who had a disability and what he did to make sure this student could participate in the same activities the other students could. I didn't realize what the whole scope of diversity was until we actually started to discuss it. I will make sure that every student in my class is treated with respect and equality. I will become knowledgeable on the students disability and ensure I have the resources needed to teach them the material that needs to be taught. This will help me with the NCTCS. Although this week was the last observation for this course I am looking forward to what the rest of the semester holds. 

Middle School Observation!!

This week we got to observe a middle school classroom and it was great. Considering that I am striving to become a middle school teacher you could see why I was really excited about this school visit. The awesome thing was that they were working on science when we arrived so it was just perfect for me. The teacher was really nice and kind. She told us before we walked in that this class was going to be boring because they were reading some article individually. There were a lot of differences between the elementary and middle school. In the middle school the class was a little bit more organized and for the most part the students were well behaved. Although the teacher said it would be boring, it was actually interesting to see how she gave each student help with the questions on the worksheet. The teacher mentioned to us that they were trying to do more literacy throughout the school. She was demonstrating the importance of literacy in her class which is one of the NCTCS. She also had good classroom management skills the students knew what she expected and so they did whatever needed to be done. I started doing a bit of research on ways to manage middle school students because well they are known for being rebellious. The following link is an article talking about ways to manage this specific age group and might be useful for other grades as well. 
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/art-of-managing-middle-schoolers-ben-johnson

 I can see myself teaching energy in my future classroom but I would try to make it a little bit more interactive. It was weird for me to realize that one day I will be in the teacher position and not the student. Having the opportunity to be in this class was very enlightening. I hope to be as good as the teacher I observed. High school is next!

First Observation!

On Monday for class we went to an Elementary school to observe in the classroom. What I observed was very eye opening. It was different this time to be in a classroom because I was there as an observer and not as a student. I understood the teacher position better and I saw things differently. Although I don't plan on teaching elementary school it was good to see how this school worked. It also made it very clear to me that I will never be equipped to teach elementary school. I observed a 1st grade class and it was hectic. When I arrived in the classroom the students were in centers that included writing and math. There was a group of students in the front of the class who were working on math problems on a smartboard. This was crazy to me because when I was in 1st grade the only things we used to learn math was some blue colored blocks. It's amazing how these students are already depending on technology in the classroom and how the teacher is using it to her advantage. Something that really hit me hard was how much we actually have to work on classroom management. Some of the students were getting up from their sits and interrupting class, others were not doing what they had been told. The teacher startled me when she blew a whistle, I then realized she blew it to get everyone's attention. While observing this classroom I got some ideas on how I want my future classroom to be like, I will make sure every student knows the rules and follows them. I will incorporate technology in my lesson plans to try and facilitate learning. I want to be able to use my time wisely and teach instead of wasting time trying to get the class to be quiet. I know that with observations I will be able to learn something from every class I sit in. Can't wait for next week!

Looking Ahead

This week in class we looked at what the next 2 years will look like. We had an orientation on Friday and the activities they made us do were really fun. The fun didn't last long though because they went and loaded us with a huge amount of information. It was good for us to hear everything. Everything is happening so fast and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. On Monday we discussed more about what we have to get done and about edTPA. Dr. Parker dropped some facts on us about how it takes 3 years to recover from a bad teacher and it made me realize how important our job actually is. We have the chance to shape a students life forever! When we talked about this I thought of my future students and how I don't want to be the cause for them to get behind. I will use things from each educational philosophy and use different teaching styles so that I am able to teach every single student in my class. I will look at the NCTCS and I will make sure I am reaching them all. I will do everything in my power to make sure each student reaches their full potential. 

On Wednesday we did another walking classroom where my professors talked about one of our group projects on relevancy and methodology. They mentioned DOK and I hope to learn more about this topic with some more research. This week has been very informative, maybe more than I ever expected but I am ready for the next couple years. 

Week 2

This week in class was pretty interesting. On Monday we did something called a walking classroom where my professors recorded a podcast and we listened while going outside and walking around campus. It felt weird doing something like that because I've never done something like that in any other class. In the podcast Dr. Clark and Dr. Parker discussed the 6 point lesson plan and this was brand new information to me but it made sense. The 6 points are; Learning target, setting the focus and link to previous learning, teacher input, guided assistance, independent practice and closure and look forward. Each one of this points has a focus and a time period. I feel pretty confident on most of these but the learning target is still a little iffy. I know that I will get familiar with this because I will need to learn how to write a lesson plan. I feel like this will help me with the NCTCS because I will need to know what I'll be teaching and I should know how to do it with structure. I want to be able to answer questions for my students that weren't answered for me when I was in middle school. I was reading an article about students getting out of control after a group activity and they were discussing having a "quick write" after the activity to calm them down but also to see what the student has learned from the activity. 

So far this class has been great. My professors are willing to help us be great teachers and they care about what we have to say. No other professor of mine has ever taken time out of class to discuss our understanding about a topic they just keep throwing information our way. I am looking forward to the next couple weeks, Can't wait to see what Team Clarker has planned for us. 

Ready or Not Here We Go!!

Welcome to my blog! In this blog I will be writing about my journey through Education 250, The first of many teacher education classes I will take at Gardner-Webb School of Education. Let me give you a little background on me. I was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina but now live In Greensboro, I am 19 and hope to someday be a middle school science teacher. Whenever I tell people what my major is they think I'm crazy. Middle school students are not so lovable and kind but I think I can handle it. Science has always been my favorite subject so teaching it will be great. I want to make students excited for science and teach them about the natural world around them. 

We have only had 3 classes yet there has been a lot information to take in. Dr. Clark and Dr. Parker have been amazing. They have the power to keep me focused during class and making this course my favorite so far. They engage us in the topics we are discussing and make things crystal clear. I knew this class was going to be very different from any other class I've taken because during the first class we did a scavenger hunt around campus. This activity was great to get to know some of my classmates but also to get us up from our seats and get our bodies moving. Too much time is spent sitting at a desk for hours so it's great to get students outdoors and do a fun activity. 

In the last 3 classes I have learned a lot, probably more than I thought I would. There are so many things teachers have to be aware of. I have learned about the NCSCOS and what seems like an infinite amount of other standards that I hope one day I will be familiar with. I have learned and practiced how to unpack a standard to make sure I understand it. I know that it takes a lot to be a teacher and that there will be times where I will be overwhelmed and nervous but I think I'm ready. Let the adventures begin!