Approaching the End...

It's become that time in the semester again when everything is due and everything seems to be happening all at once. It's overwhelming and can make you burn out very fast! I decided this week for my blog that I would write about my learning experiences from the end of semester chaos and how I am coping with it. It was good to do some outside research to see ways of dealing with it and it also gave me a mindset from a teach point of view on ways I can prevent from putting my students through so much.
Some ways I found of coping with the stress of the end of the semester:
1) Monitor your mindset: times like this, it's so easy to keep telling myself that I won't get through, but I should really be telling myself that everything WILL be alright and that I WILL get through it.
2) Maintain reality: It's important to stay focused on what is in front of me and focus on one thing at a time. I'm not superwoman so I can't do 20 things at once and I shouldn't try to.
3) Avoid isolation: When you have a ton going on like this, it's easy for our brains to go in thousands of different directions when we sit down alone in a quiet place. It's important to talk things out with others and let them know how you are feeling.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/design-your-path/201304/6-tips-not-freaking-out-about-end-semester-stress

I have thought about becoming a teacher and how my students will be in the same place I am in now and I thought of ways I could help them cope with the stress in my future classroom. I plan on not scheduling everything to be due at the same time as other classes probably assign things. Even having things assigned two weeks before everyone else assigns things could eliminate a ton of stress off of a student. I also want my students to know that I am there if they need help with anything and I also don't want assignments that I give them to overwhelm them so much that they don't even learn anything. I plan on making major assignments fun for them in a new way that they can learn from instead of the normal, boring ten page research paper. Having something fun to do can eliminate some stress and give them something to keep their mind off of everything else for a little bit.

This relates to the NCTCS because standard 4 states that teachers understand student learning. It's important for us as teachers to understand how students develop and their cognitive thought processes, so during this time in our students' lives when everything is going on it's important to take that into consideration and think about what we are assigning during this time and how it may affect our students.

I know I didn't really pull any significant learning moment from class this week, but I felt that this was the thing that really laid heavy on my mind and I did learn a lot especially with transforming into the teacher mindset of things.

Learning about SAMR

An impactful moment of learning for me this week was the class where we learned about SAMR. The video that was played at the beginning of class was mind blowing for me. Technology has advanced so far that people who can't move any part of their body from the neck down can edit video clips and create short films. That's crazy to me! I realized in just a short period of time after watching that clip that technology is no longer just one machine that everyone uses for the same things. Technology has advanced so far that it can accommodate a person's needs and fit whatever they need in life to make it easier. Also, I started thinking about how I, as a future teacher, will have to learn how to adapt to students in my class that could very well be using this same type of technology.

It's no surprise that times are changing and technology is still evolving and getting more advanced. These are some of the reasons to why SAMR comes into play. It's important for us as teachers to realize that we can still teach on the same topics and expect our students to learn about that topic, but we can expect them to do the assignment in a different way that would be more fun for them and would allow them to learn more while completing it. This was a great learning experience for me because advances in technology are not slowing down.

I found a video that talked more about SAMR and it talks about the threshold from augmentation to modification as a transforming process that allows students to analyze and use critical thinking skills which are expected of students now in the 21st century. It's important to modify our lesson plans in a a way that allow our students the chance to analyze issues, solve problems, and think critically. I have listed the website that I found the video below.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/introduction-to-the-samr-model

There are many teacher candidate standards that relate to us referring to the SAMR model while we are planning our lesson plans and ones that relate to us using technology and 21st century skills to ensure our students are learning problem solving and critical thinking skills. A few of these standards are teachers adapt their teaching to benefit students with special needs and this involves meeting the needs of all students and working with specialists to ensure we are meeting the needs of these students in the right way. Another one is teachers make instruction relevant to students. It's important for us as teachers to make our lessons relevant to our students in a way that they understand and can relate to. Which is another reason why the SAMR model is so important because it allows teachers to modify tasks to fit the needs of students in the 21st century and it activates learning that students can become interested in. Teachers are also expected to utilize technology into their instruction and this is how we can modify our lesson plans to interest our students. Instead of just having our students write a paper, we can have them take a virtual field trip.

I have made many connections this week and I can tell that in order to keep my students engaged and learning in my classroom, I need to go above the normal teaching ways. I can't expect my students to do what students did in 1950. Times are changing and evolving and my students have access to unlimited technology and it's my job to get them to utilize it and use it for their benefit so they can enjoy what they are learning.

In my future classroom, I want my students to see that I can utilize technology in a way that makes learning fun for them, but I also still have a ton of interaction with them because I don't want technology to be the only thing teaching my students. I will integrate technology into my lesson plans in a way that is fresh and new and allows my students to enjoy what I'm teaching instead of dreading it.

Don't Go Tech Crazy

Learning about TPACK in class, I had my moment of learning this week. Technology is a tool in the classroom, not a learning outcome. This was impactful for me. I have had teachers where they want to use nothing but technology and they throw away all the old ways and then I have had teachers where they won't even touch a keyboard on a computer and never will integrate any form of technology into their lesson plans. Being in the school of education now, I see that when I begin teaching I will have to use technology in my lessons. My kindergarteners will come to school knowing how to do more on a computer than I will ever even begin to know in all my years of education. However, hearing this statement made a lightbulb go off that made me realize that technology, just like books, is merely just a tool that we have the privilege of using now in our classrooms to help our students learn more proficiently. We are not there to let the computers teach our students. If that was the case, we wouldn't have even been hired to do the job. Teachers are needed always no matter how far technology advances. It is our responsibility to learn how to integrate that technology as an advantage to us so we can teach our students in ways that were never thought possible.

This connects to the NCTCS because technology is such a huge part in our society now that it is important for us to see and understand that in order to successfully teach our students we must also use tools that help us do that. Teacher candidate standard 4d states that teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction and to become proficient in that we must integrate technology with instruction to maximize student learning. Meaning, technology is just a small part in the huge puzzle that makes our students succeed. Technology must be integrated with instruction. We can't depend solely on technology nor can we depend solely on our instruction; both need to be present.

For my outside research, I wanted to find ways to integrate technology into my kindergarten classroom that was a little bit different than what they will be used to because let's face it, 5 year old children know more about a computer, iPad, etc. than we could have ever imagined knowing at that age. When we were 5, 3/4 of this stuff wasn't even invented yet and we were more concerned about making sure Mama bought us the 64 pack of crayons with the sharpener. Times are changing and they are changing fast. As a kindergarten teacher, I have to be ready. Here are a few things I found as ways to use technology in my classroom in a way that is different than just giving them an iPad or computer.
1) Use old technology devices in the centers: It's important for our kids to have a wide range of knowledge on what technology looks like today versus what it looked like even just 5 short years ago. Putting a cordless telephone out for the students to explore and play with opens up so many creative juices in their tiny little heads. Many of them might have never even seen a phone that looked like that, so allowing them to make the connections of what all phones can look like will help further their knowledge even more.
2) Combine technology with outside time: iPads are a great tool that we are blessed to be able to utilize in our teaching now. However, we don't want to teach everything off of an iPad and get our students to the point where they rely on sitting in front of a screen all day. Nature walks are a great way to get the students outside, learn and see what is in nature and the iPad allows them to take a picture of it so they can look back at it later and remember what they saw and learned.
3) Model good tech habits: With all the technology available, it will be easy to get in the habit of only wanting to use the technology in the classroom, but it's important for our students to also get experience with holding an actual book and reading it. If we don't continue teaching these techniques to our students then they will become extinct. Also, we can model how to handle gadgets that we use in the classroom by having a certain place in the center where the phone goes and handling it with care just like we would if it was real.
http://www.weareteachers.com/6-hands-on-center-ideas-for-using-technology-in-pre-k-and-kindergarten/

In my classroom, I want my students to be aware of all the technology around them and I want to integrate technology into all my lesson plans, not just because it's a requirement of me as a teacher, but because I see the importance in it. My students will be growing up in a time where technology is almost becoming a necessity to survive. Many people wouldn't know how to function if their cell phone was taken away from them. However, I want to use technology as a tool to help teach my students. I do not want the technology to take over and become the teacher. We have an important job as educators and it's up to us to continue that.

Going Back to My Philosophy

Personally, I feel that my biggest impact in learning this week was going back over and really reworking my philosophy of education. I feel like I have even changed and grown as a person and future educator since the first time we turned in a draft. I felt that I learned and really noticed what all goes into teaching. My students are all depending on me. Their futures depend on what and how I teach them. Obviously this is something I had known before, but reading back over my philosophy and seeing the words, "my classroom" and "my students," really hit me hard. I realized that in a few short years those students will be coming into my classroom to hear what I have to say, to expect me to keep them safe, and let them know that their opinions and lives matter to me. All of those kids will become my kids because I will be caring for them and making sure they are protected and learning all they can.

When I was thinking about what my moment of learning was for this week, I immediately had no idea of how I would relate this to the NCTCS because I felt it was more of a personal moment of learning than an actual policy. However, there is actually a teacher candidate standard that I feel goes hand in hand with my learning this week and that is 2a. Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. That's exactly what I came to realization with. My students will be depending on me. Their futures depend on me and what I teach them in kindergarten follows them through their whole life. If I don't provide them with a good experience then it stays with them and they have to recover from my actions. It's my responsibility to provide an environment in which my students can come and learn and feel comfortable with me as an adult who cares about them as a person and their future.

For my outside research this week I decided to take it another step further and find ways to make my classroom and all around better place for me and my students. Here are some of the things I found; some are ones we have already talked about in class:
-In the beginning, it's important to sweat the small stuff. If I start out the year by letting small things go, then my students will get the impression that I let small things go which could lead to a bunch of small things turning into a big thing.
-Identify yourself: I need to let my students know why I'm there, who I am, and what my expectations of them are.
-Have a plan: My lesson plans need to be very precise for each day and I need to have a clear plan of what the day is going to be like and how it should play out.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/7-tips-better-classroom-management-tyler-hester

In my future classroom, I hope to try and use all the things we have talked about in class and the few strategies I found in my outside research to manage my classroom efficiently and in a way that my students can learn and be successful. I'm so glad a philosophy of education is a requirement because it really made me stop and think about how I wanted my classroom to be and how I was going to make it possible.

Integration: How and Why?

Integration is the act of bringing smaller components in to make a large unit. How does that look in my classroom? All of the subjects I will be teaching to my Kindergarteners may have a connection and it's my job to make them aware of those connections so they can see them and apply them to better their knowledge of that subject or topic. My moment of learning this week was that it is my responsibility to make sure my students see and understand the connections of all the subjects they are being taught because this will make them better students because they can have a sense of confidence in knowing a topic already. 

This is important to us as educators because they are teacher candidate standards that require us to integrate. Such as, teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines and teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction. Both of these standards expect us to be able to make connections for our students through the various subjects and make our students aware of the resources they have around them that can be utilized. 

In my future classroom I plan on making the connections between the subjects as often as possible if that connection makes the subject easier to understand. I never want to confuse my students even more, so if there is a word used in two different subjects that means the complete opposite, I will probably stay away from using that connection because if it doesn't better their learning then I don't want to use it. I learned why I needed to incorporate integration in my classroom, but I wanted specific strategies I could use to ensure this was being done efficiently. These are a few ways I found in relation to integrating technology into my lesson plans: 

- Fuzzy image: Have only a portion of an object on the screen or zoom in to where the image is fuzzy and have the students guess what the image is as a hook for the lesson plan

- Slide for each day: After the lesson each day, the students add to a powerpoint slide their takeaway from that lesson so at the end of a unit there is a collaborative student piece that shows what the students have learned

- Lyric/Music video: Have the students take a song they like and change the lyrics around to fit the lesson

https://www.powtoon.com/blog/13-simple-ways-integrate-technology-lesson-plan/ 

My Own Personal Biases

I feel that I had an important moment in my learning this week when we had to think and talk about our own personal biases that we may have going into a classroom and how those could affect our students.

For me, I felt that I had a bias towards students that acted out in the classroom either by not listening or following directions or even just always being disruptive. I felt as if these students just didn't care about their work and they didn't want to be at school and that's why they acted that way. In reality, there could be so much more going on behind the scenes. For example, a student could act out because they are bored, want attention, have something going on at home, etc. There are a number of reasons as to why a student is acting out in class.

It's important for me as their teacher to still accept them and not have biases toward them because they have as much of a right to learn as the student sitting next to them that always does their work and never interrupts. I felt the need to research different ways that I can handle students like this in my classroom because I want to know how to talk to these students and how to handle the situation when it arises. Here are some strategies I found:
- Remain calm: There is no sense in "adding fuel to the fire." The student may be striving for attention and that would be a sure fire way to make sure they get that by getting upset about what they are doing.
- Make sure the student understands that you are not upset with them; you are upset about their behavior at the time: This was important to me because often times as educators we may be the only person in that child's life that doesn't scream every word they hear at them. It's important to let the student know that what they are doing is not acceptable, but that you still care about them as a student and want to help them.
- Listen: There is obviously a reason that student is acting out or upset and it's important to listen to find out what that is. Sometimes all a student wants is for someone to listen. We don't always know what the situation is like that we send our students home to.
- Speak to a student in private: There is no sense in humiliating that student in front of their entire class because they aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing. Students have feelings and nobody wants to be called out in front of their peers.
- Ignore minimal problems instead of disrupting: Some students are always going to tap their pencil, make noises, etc. If it's not seen as distracting to the other students, sometimes it's just best to let it go. I don't want to cause a bigger disruption by calling them out than the actual thing the student was doing.

This correlates directly with the NCTCS Standard 2: Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students. We are going to face many different types of learners in our classroom and we have to respect each one of those. We have to understand that some students are dealing with things at home, some are striving for attention, some are bored and need to be challenged more, and so much more. All of our students are diverse and learn in different ways. We, as their teachers, need to make sure they are learning based on their personal needs.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/25-sure-fire-strategies-handling-difficult-students

Seeing Firsthand on How to be a Successful Educator

My last two posts have been about my observations in the schools, so I can't leave our last observation at the high school out because it was actually very enjoyable.

I do not want to teach high school. I have a hard time leading and connecting with people close to my age. It's not because I don't try to, and that I can't. It's just that it's harder for me to develop a confidence to teach teenagers rather than elementary age children. Because of this, I thought that being in the high school I would be completely out of my comfort zone and probably not even enjoy it. However, that was not the case.

I was placed in a former Cleveland County Schools Teacher of the Year's classroom and I can honestly say there is a reason she was nominated Teacher of the Year. I have never seen a high school teacher relate so well to her students and take history and make it to where the students were excited to learn it and were actually recalling the information they were being taught. I took four units of history in the same high school and never had that type of experience.

You could very well see that she possessed all of the teacher candidate standards and carried them into her classroom, just as she should. You could tell that her students felt safe and comfortable in her classroom and it was a diverse environment where the students could freely come to learn and express themselves.

One thing that I loved about her teaching style was that she was very interactive with her students. She made guided notes for them to ensure that the students could follow along and have all the information they needed to be successful. She grabbed their attention by showing them a relatable video that put the national debt into perspective for a high school student. Also, before even starting the new lesson, she said, "candy time" and the students were prepared to answer review questions from the previous lessons to receive candy. I saw this as an effective strategy that I could even use with my kindergartners.

I felt that this observation was very successful to me because it showed me ways to relate to my students and to make them feel comfortable in my classroom. Even though I was in a high school class, the strategies she used to teach would work for even elementary school students. There are many articles out there that talk about how rewarding students makes them want to learn the material more because they are prepared to answer the questions so they can get candy. I enjoyed sitting in on her class so much!

Elementary School is the Place for Me!

Last week in my blog, I discussed my first observation in a kindergarten class about how joyful my experience was and how I knew that I was supposed to be teaching kindergarten.
This week we observed in a middle school and I learned so much from being there. Probably even more than I learned from being in the elementary school. One of the main things that the middle school taught me was that I'm really supposed to be teaching elementary school. I always knew that's what I wanted, but I felt like I needed the confirmation in that I was headed toward the right age group and the middle school was my confirmation.
I enjoy all kids, but to me it felt like 6th graders were mini adults and that was a little bit intimidating to me. I'm not good at leading other people close to my age. I've noticed through the years that my strong point is teaching and leading smaller children because they don't know any better and they rely on you to point them in the right direction. The 6th graders in the class I sat in on were very opinionated and didn't think twice about saying exactly what they thought in that exact moment. While small children are the same in the fact that they blurt out whatever they think, it's a different context I feel. Children know different things than children in middle school do. Middle schoolers are old enough to be aware of things going on around them and they are old enough to form opinions on various topics going on in the world.
Also, I feel as a kindergarten teacher I can ensure that my students are starting off on the right path. I enjoyed the middle school visit because it showed me what I need to prepare my students for in their future. Learning in class that it takes 3 years for a student to recover from a bad teacher makes me want to ensure that that doesn't happen to my students the first year of their schooling career.
The middle school visit was rewarding to me because I did learn so much about my future career and where I want to go with it. It was confirmation to me that I'm headed down the right path and I look forward to seeing what connections I make during the high school visit.

Observing for the First Time

My takeaway from this week's class was our observation in an elementary school. I had the privilege of being able to observe a kindergarten class and it was reassuring to me that I was supposed to be teaching. I felt so comfortable in the room and I couldn't wait until I was the teacher.

Some things that I took away from it was that when you have kindergartners, like I plan to have, it's important to have them focused at all times. During my observation, the students were doing literacy centers and I noticed the one center where the students were supposed to be working on puzzles, was actually being used as a lot of down time for the kids where they were losing their focus. The teacher was busy leading another center, so her attention couldn't be on the puzzle group the whole time. This was understandable, but I feel that it could be prevented by providing the students with an activity that wouldn't cause them to lose interest so quickly.

Also, I want to make sure that in my future classroom that I over plan for the day. I have noticed in past experiences and in the kindergarten class that it's better to have more planned for students to do and not get to that than have not enough planned and the students have a lot of down time where they are doing whatever they want.

I feel like these experiences have a lot of relation to NCTCS because it gives us real life situations that we will be faced with on a daily basis. It helps us see how we can teach certain material and ideas on how we can run our classroom.

I read an article that touched on many questions about literacy centers in kindergarten and how the centers can be successful and keep the students engaged and willing to learn. I thought this was a great website and would be helpful to others who are looking into teaching at the elementary level. I listed the website below.
http://www.kindergartenworks.com/kindergarten-teaching-ideas/back-to-school/smart-literacy-centers/

Drafting Our Philosophy

When we were first introduced to the idea of making an infomercial to discuss a philosophy in our future classroom, my partner and I immediately thought of the commercials you used to always see on tv where the person is way too excited about a product that is way too expensive. That was the approach we took when we discussed behaviorism in our infomercial. Behaviorism is a strategy that can be used in the classroom where students are rewarded for good behavior. The student wants the reward, so he/she will behave well. It also has an effect on students with bad behavior because those who behave poorly don't get the reward, which in turn should make that student want to start behaving better.

I researched sources that talked about those who incorporated behaviorism in the classroom and it adds a research method to the classroom because it gives you an aspect of observing and collecting data.

Learning about a part of a philosophy of education was very important to us because our future principles will be looking at our philosophy when they are making the decision to hire us. I feel that going in deep on one specific aspect of a philosophy helped us because it made us feel good about our aspect, but it also made us see the importance in all the other aspects because we know all the work that was put in to make the infomercials.

I learned from this week that our philosophies will change over time, as we continue throughout the school of education. I also made the connection while writing it that it was actually something that our future employers will read and that made everything real for me. It was a moment where I knew that our future careers are right around the corner.

In my future classroom, I will try my best to hit every aspect I listed in my philosophy. I don't see these as just goals that I hope I reach and if I don't, then it's okay. I want my students to feel important in every aspect of their learning and I want them to always feel comfortable in knowing that I will always be there for them. I feel that our philosophies are one of the most important things we have done so far!

Drafting My First Lesson Plan!

For my second blog post, I wanted to reflect on my experiences with drafting my very first lesson plan. You might be thinking, "A lesson plan in your first education course?!" Yes, it sounds crazy, but I did it and it has been so beneficial!

Using the standard we unpacked last week, we were told to draft a lesson plan teaching that standard to our class. I wondered why we would be writing a lesson plan the third week in our first education course, but I soon made the connections that this first lesson plan we drafted will look sort of rough. It will have holes in it that will need to be filled before we actually stood in front of a class to teach it. Starting this process this early will allow us to get plenty of feedback from our professors throughout the rest of the years in our time in the school of education so that way when we get to our own classroom in the near future we can be fully confident in the lesson plan we have prepared for our students that it will send them away having new information in their little heads.

The thing I loved about the six-point lesson plan was that it had each point and what needs to be accomplished for each point to make the lesson successful. Also, it's not as crucial to go in that particular order. Every lesson taught will be different and the different aspects of each lesson may be delivered at different times depending on the material being taught.

Learning how to complete a successful lesson plan is so important to the NCTCS because it is required of us to show that we can collect ideas and data to form a successful instructional plan. Learning how to plan a successful lesson plan already will build confidence in our ability to perform when we are evaluated.

I researched other teachers who have used the six-point lesson plan and the majority of what I read was restating what we learned from class discussion and from the podcast. When forming this lesson, all the points don't need to be met for every lesson we teach. The main goal is to make sure that the students are engaged and learning and having the students provide us with feedback that assures us that they have taken something away from the lesson.

In conclusion, for my future classroom, I can feel confident that I will be fully prepared to teach material to my students while learning right beside them. I don't have to sweat it when I don't get to every activity I planned for. It's important to keep the students engaged and if they need to spend a few extra minutes on an activity that I planned to only last 5 minutes then that's okay. The whole goal in this is that the students can recall the information taught to them and they had fun doing so.

The "Dreaded" Common Core

Growing up in the Cleveland County school system in North Carolina, I remember when the common core was created. Many teachers disliked it and so did many parents. All these years based on what I've heard others say about it, I thought common core was a bad thing. For my first blog post, I want to discuss how I learned otherwise.
In the second week of my first education course, the words common core came up in discussion. Right then, my thoughts jumped to all the teachers I had in high school who would start class that year by saying, "Well, you'll have to work with me because we're now required to teach common core and everything is new, so I'm learning the material with you." That was intimidating in itself because it's not a good thing to hear when your teacher tells you that they aren't even sure what they are teaching you. My professor asked me in my education course, "Why does the common core have such a bad reputation?" My answer was what I always thought and that was because teachers were given a set list of expectations that they had to teach and there were certain things that the students needed to know by the end of the class. Both of the professors quickly informed me that it's always been that way ever since the beginning of teaching. That was not why people dreaded hearing the words "common core."
People all over have somehow associated common core with the federal government. They believe that the government created these standards for students in all states. When in reality, that is far from the truth. Common Core was created by local stakeholders. This was very interesting to me, so I took it upon myself to come home and google "Common Core NC."
The first few hits on Google were the actual documents that showed the common core standards, but as I went down a few hits, I came across a Facebook page dedicated to stopping Common Core NC. With interest, I clicked on it to see what people were saying about it. In the about section of the page, it mentioned that Common Core standards were created by the federal government so that they could have control over public education. Quickly after reading that statement, I went right to the main common core webpage. In FAQs, the first one was addressing how people hear that common core was created by the federal government and whether the accusations were true or not. Right there on the Department of Public Instruction website for NC, it stated that the common core was created by local governors and state superintendents.
With all this to say, I am now confident that I will not be afraid to teach the common core in my classroom. Common Core was just a revised set of standards that allowed the students to critically think on a topic rather than just memorize it. After being in college for a year, I can see how critical thinking skills being taught at a young age can further prepare the students for their life after high school. It proved to me that there are so many things out there in the education field that people have made false accusations about just because they have taken someones opinion to heart instead of reading the facts.
Websites Used:
https://www.facebook.com/StopCommonCoreNC/about/?entry_point=page_nav_about_item&tab=page_info
http://stopcommoncorenc.org
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/core-explained/faq/