 Use this Blog Post to write about what you are "following"... You are responsible to post weekly:
424 Comments
9/4/2014 11:34:57 pm
I decided to get a jump start on this assignment because I do not have the slightest idea how to use Twitter and figured I'd better begin sooner than later! I asked my students about Twitter, and while they found it quite amusing that I was so far behind the times they are willing to help me this semester if needed.
Liz Orbon
9/16/2014 03:48:05 am
As a future math teacher, I love having the ability to tell students how certain math topics are relevant to real life as well! I really am interested in this website and definitely will be checking it out. It's cool that this exercise you found can be applied to various grade levels as well, which can make life a bit easier for us also.
Rahad Rahman
9/17/2014 04:26:23 am
I wanted to check out that link, It is important for math teacher to look into this link. It is important for us math teachers to look into this likes because it will help find activities for future. I agree with you on making connection with real life. I'm student teaching at a elementary school and i see it with younger children as well. They never understand why, they are doing math. They can't make connection and as future teachers we have to help them make connection.
Samantha Huber
9/20/2014 09:44:46 am
I completely agree with you that we need to incorporate their interests in what they are learning about especially in math. I followed this chat also, and I was amazed by how many resources were provided and how helpful they were with how to incorporate children's interests into math. This will enable them to grasp the concept better because it pertains to their life.
Whittney Smith
9/22/2014 10:27:27 am
I love rubistar but open caution about rubrics is that you get 'exactly' what you are looking for... How do you foster creativity
Tara Caprdja
9/25/2014 01:21:15 am
I typically use rubrics for things like notebook checks, projects and for group assignments. As for the notebooks, my students require a lot of prompting for things like putting a daily aim and date in their notes. Or copying down materials. I found that giving them a rubric for their NB grades (part of our report cards) helps keep them organized. For projects, it's a way to keep them organized in their timing, and ensure they are targeting all of the important aspects of the assignment. For group work, it is a way to help them learn to be a part of the group. One of the categories is even how many times to verbally participate because many of them have difficulty socializing. It's not a perfect system, but I think it helps them see what is expected of them in a setting like this so they will have a better understanding for the future.
Olivia Tobias
9/28/2014 05:14:14 am
To answer a question with another question, is it always a bad idea to include a Creativity section on a rubric? I've seen it a few times, myself—the kind of category that goes something like "Student uses creativity to demonstrate their knowledge of the topic," or whatever. But while we might be afraid of limiting creativity with Rubrics, is it necessarily right to DEMAND it, either?
Tara Caprdja
10/22/2014 12:27:04 am
Looking back I noticed your comment Olivia and agree that you can put it there and demand creativity as you said, however I think it's often very difficult to grade that. How do you measure a persons level of creativity? Last class we discussed praise etc. and I think this could fall under a similar scenario. I would be afraid to assign a grade to a students creativity in fear of discouraging them from trying the next time around.
Today, I decided to check out #hsmath on twitter, since I am a future middle or high school math teacher. While going through people's tweets, it was great to see how enthusiastic some teachers were or how proud of their students they were.
liz orbon
9/16/2014 03:49:45 am
http://teacherswithapps.com/t-w-a-infographic-math-apps/ here's the link! I put it in the website section of this post but it isn't showing up in my comment.
Jack Nielsen
9/23/2014 10:02:53 am
Liz I thought this link was very useful. I never realized there were so many different apps you can use for math. From the descriptions, I thought one game that would be good is Dragon Box. They mention they learn about linear equations "without even realizing they are learning". Those were always the games that I thought were the best because you are so focused on the game you forget how much you are actually learning. Games like these are great for kids to pick up and play because people don't realize how much they can actually help kids learn new things.
Tara Caprdja
9/17/2014 03:53:08 am
I'm glad there's another math person in the class! I often find that most students and even most people view math as the evil subject so it's great for us to have outlets like Twitter to find others who appreciate the content like we do!
Rahad Rahman
9/17/2014 04:42:40 am
I think you shared a great website for math teacher and elementary teachers as well. The link categorizes the math by game and it adds a video to it as well. I really like how everything is being incorporated with technology. I wish more elementary teachers were familiarized with this math technology.
Samantha Huber
9/20/2014 09:42:42 am
I think that technology is very useful in mathematics because there are so many apps and games that will get students engaged in the topic they are learning about. One really useful app is showme because students can go on and find a useful video that will help them with a problem they are working on. They also have the opportunity to come up with their own problems to solve and video them explaining it.
Ciaran Fox
9/17/2014 03:56:30 am
So for this weeks blog post, I decided to focus on #edtech which talks about the increasing use of technology in education, and how to improve students skills at using them.
Tara Caprdja
9/17/2014 04:01:50 am
This is a great idea, but I fear that it would be difficult to monitor and determine if the students are actually doing as they are supposed to. I know that's part of the point but it does make me nervous since there is SO much available on the internet, and especially with all of our conversations about "frogs" and bullying I am very hesitant. I will check out that website though and see what they say. It is something interesting to discuss.
Liz Orbon
9/19/2014 06:08:25 am
I really agree with you and the article. A major problem with technology and why some people are not on board with it still is, I believe, due to the fact that not everyone is on the same page with it. It should be briefly gone over or explained how to use different technology in whatever topic or activity it is needed in. This may be a time issue, especially with common core demanding so much out of teachers and students, so I can see that being an issue for some educators.
Whittney Smith
9/22/2014 10:25:28 am
Social responsibility on the web is an important part of any tech initiative in schools. It should be embedded in all you do.
Andriana Andriopoulos
9/24/2014 05:44:01 am
Ciaran,
Michael Blinn
9/29/2014 09:41:39 am
I found this article to be particularly interesting. Currently, I'm finishing up a project with my students on the Columbian Exchange. They have had to do a significant amount of research, but some students have had their research stalled because of the different blocks the school has. I spent a lot of time the first two days of the project teaching the students what was a good source and what was not a good source. Fortunately, some students were very self-directed and didn't need too much direct attention. The same concepts for internet sources can be applied to primary and secondary sources in history. So, a skill like this has multiple uses other than just technology. The district I'm student teaching in has a new bring your own device policy. Many teachers are hesitant to use it, but if the students could demonstrate the knowledge that the article stated, I believe more teachers would become more comfortable with the idea.
Rahad Rahman
9/17/2014 04:06:07 am
Today I looked up #ipadchat, it’s IPad in education Chat. I think it is important to incorporate technology into education. The tittle of the article is: “How to make education mobile find a path to success.” It gives you six tips to implement a mobile learning initiative. Schools around the world are transforming education through mobile learning creativities that engage students in positive and exciting ways. This benefits the mobile learning and it also gives us the benefits of using different resources and implements a program that introduces mobile instruction in the classroom. This also helps focus on concrete objectives; which includes: establishing and meeting your institution’s goals, selecting the right technology and instructional model for your students, rolling out and evaluating your district’s mobile initiative.
Jack Nielsen
9/23/2014 10:06:57 am
I think you nailed it when you said that students enjoy working with technology. And I think it is great that schools are finally coming around and diversifying education methods from the integration of technology. Last year I spent time observing a high school classroom and there was a scenario in which the students had to record the time for a lab. The teacher insisted on the students using old stopwatches that barely worked, rather than their perfectly functional phones. I didn't see a problem with the class using phones at all, but some people just have negative feelings towards technology in school.
Amanda Franco
9/25/2014 03:29:32 am
Seeing how technology is becoming an increasingly large aspect of education, I definitely thing this chat is helpful. I'm not too familiar with iPads yet, so having somewhere to go look at ideas and helpful apps and tools for my students, and myself, is extremely beneficial to me. I can see that students enjoy using technology, but I find it difficult to come up with ways to incorporate it into lessons completely on my own, so this is definitely a chat I need to check out so I can educate myself and in the end, my students.
Jessica
10/7/2014 02:20:31 pm
So many people, educators and non-educators, are all for incorporating technology within the classroom, but I personally think it is more of a distraction than a helpful tool. I can completely stand alone, but I don't think that students should be allowed to bring in their cell phones to look up a term because it is so easy to do. Use a dictionary, they exist for a reason. Touch a physical book because soon enough they will be a luxury and something worth a lot on Ebay since no one seems to care about the physical aspect anymore. I am 100% old school and I can admit that it could be because I am not technologically adept, but I still think that the majority will become distracted by Ipads in class or cell phones being taken out; I sure do. I don't mind the SmartBoard and use of movies on the computer, Youtube and the simple uses of technology, but as of now, I cannot completely support BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) or any other promotion of a technologically advanced classroom. Plus, I can almost bet that while you're off checking if they're doing the right thing on one side of the room, on the other, they are sneaking on to FB, Instagram, Twitter or Youtube since that is exactly what some of my kids did last year when I mentored in a district that integrated Ipads. Perhaps I should become more educated before I argue, but in a general sense, I would prefer the simple uses of technology in the classroom.
Samantha Huber
9/20/2014 09:40:07 am
I started following the #mathchat on twitter because I graduated with a bachelors in math and I hope to become a math teacher someday. Math has always been my favorite subject, and I am always interested in finding new ways to make math easier for kids to understand. This twitter chat was very interesting to follow because many of the people provided really helpful resources to help with teaching math. There were many apps and games that were referred to that will make learning math fun. I was amazed by how many different resources were provided to teach any type of math to any age group. I found a very informative article by mind shift during the chat that dealt with incorporating children's interests into math problems. They did a study that showed that the children that received problems that pertained to their interests scored higher than the children that didn't. Children will be more likely to understand math if it has to do with what they are interested in, and if they are able to relate to it.
Samantha Huber
9/20/2014 09:45:19 am
Here is the link to the article http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/12/to-learn-algebra-the-not-so-secret-way-to-students-hearts/
Amber Paradise
9/22/2014 12:05:20 pm
Samantha the article that you are referencing is awesome, and I am so glad that there is actual research that shows the difference incorporating students' interests into the curriculum can make. My children's literacy professor shared a small story with us about how she was teaching a math lesson one day and one of the boys in her class was not grasping what was going on. The problem might have said something along the lines of "Molly has 6 flowers. Christine took 3 flowers from Molly. How many flowers does Molly have left?" A little girl at the boy's table realized he was struggling and she knew the boy loved trains. She said to the boy, "Just change the word flowers to trains!" Right after he did this he was able to see the problem more clearly. Something as small as changing one word can make a difference in the learning of a particular child.
Taylor Barbarino
9/28/2014 12:40:23 pm
Samantha, this post really interested me!
Kristine Gavilanes
9/29/2014 02:06:35 am
I completely agree with the fact that if we as future math educators make the topic relatable, they will be more interested in the material. I feel that most students feel that the things they learn in school, will not be used in their later lives and careers. It is very important to mend this disconnection with the real world and what they are learning in school. It is important for them to feel that what they are learning is important to them today and for the future. We must also take into account that our students have very different interests, and it should be up to us to incorporate their interests within the classroom setting. We need to promote learning not as a necessity or an obligation, it needs to be something that the are anxious to do every day, to learn new things and find ways to apply it.
Michael Blinn
9/22/2014 09:54:51 am
Yesterday, I looked to see what twitter chat I may want to follow. Naturally, #sschat jumped off the page at me. It was a very active chat and the conversation topic for tonight was using primary sources. It was literally perfect timing because my cooperating teacher put an emphasis on primary sources for my future lessons. For the first unit, I had been teaching his lessons to get comfortable with teaching, the students, etc. The chat was very active and as I checked different people's twitter profiles I saw that they were from all over the country. This chat has a website too, www.sschat.org, which shows the different topics for each week. It even has archives of the previous chats, which doesn't surprise me when talking about social studies/history people.
Amber Paradise
9/22/2014 12:00:18 pm
Michael I really appreciate what you are saying about giving students more than one narrative of history. As a future elementary school teacher a good portion of my course curriculums have focused on making sure we are not teaching students history from only one view point and I think goes hand in hand with what you are saying. Whereas high school teachers may need to make sure they are providing students with information outside of textbooks and from various primary source documents that come from different perspectives, elementary school teachers need to make sure they are not using trade books (picture books) that are always depicting one side of history. For example, using a trade book where the main character speak from the Native American's perspective when Christopher Columbus landed in America, rather than solely books that depict history from Christopher Columbus' perspective.
Rahad Rahman
9/22/2014 12:44:29 pm
I agree about giving students more than one narrative of history. I think students should exposed and be able to balance between different source. Since everything is being shift to internet based, it will be interesting, they can find videos, etc.
Whittney Smith
9/22/2014 10:23:18 am
#edchat is live tomorrow at 7:00pm if you are interested in catching a live chat that is very active.
Amber Paradise
9/22/2014 11:51:29 am
As a future teacher I try to collect as much information and research as possible on differentiated instruction and making sure I am keeping in mind the individual make up of my classroom as I am creating lesson plans. With this in mind I chose to read through the English Language Learners Chat (#ellchat). What started off as the chat topic of "giving ELLs opportunities to work in collaborative groups - creating together!" turned into a surprisingly coincidental conversation about Project Based Learning and Culturally Responsive Instruction. Shaeley Santiago (@HSeslteacher) posted an article that speaks about this topic in relation to an AP Language Course for high school Juniors. At first I was not sure exactly how this article would help me, a future grades 1-6 elementary school teacher, but I was pleased to see that many of the points the author makes relate to educators of any age group. The reason I say this culturally responsive instruction topic came as a coincidence is because in my Masters Seminar class this evening we had a discussion centered around this same topic. We talked about how many future educators (some being in my own class) were taught to believe that culturally responsive learning solely meant incorporating multi-cultural materials into lesson plans.
Kyle Savage
9/23/2014 02:08:44 pm
This definitely sounds like an interesting twitter chat and something I might try to catch within the next few weeks. Especially after working with a group of English Language Learners last year in Mineola High School, I understand that the needs of this community of students are very high. I think your point about varying up the literature that is used in classrooms, as opposed to only handing out pieces written by prominent, dead white men is also very valid. Diversity in the classroom is very important and can really impact the way a student sees certain issues, not to mention effect him or her down the line. In saying this, I think there is a huge difference between being accepting of different languages and cultures, and actually trying to find a way to incorporate them into the curriculum. I would argue that we are doing our students a great disservice, especially on the middle school level, if we do not try to foster culturally diverse and reactive classrooms in all ways possible.
Andriana Andriopoulos
9/24/2014 05:08:39 am
Amber,
Nicole Osterhoudt
9/25/2014 07:26:05 am
Amber- This is a really great chat to follow, I really enjoyed it as well! After Dr. T's class on Monday night and reading this, it definitely made a lot of connections for me as well! Differentiating instruction definitely is not a simple task especially when trying to incorporate students with different learning and physical disabilities and students with language barriers. The website link that you posted has a lot of great ideas that I will definitely consider implementing in my classroom. For example; Interest-based negotiation!
Kristine Gavilanes
9/29/2014 02:11:04 am
I really liked how you started off by thinking that you weren't sure how the article would help you being an elementary major, because coincidentally I thought the same thing looking through the various blogs and trying to pick one. I stuck to things only relating to math without thinking that ELL's are a big part of any classroom! You just gave me another idea and chat to follow!
Michael Blinn
9/29/2014 09:47:39 am
I think this idea and the article is great. I have an ELL student in my fourth period class and in my ninth period class. My cooperating teacher has received emails about each one from the ENL teacher, stating each student has been having their own difficulties. I haven't seen any of the difficulties that she mentioned in my class, but I wonder if a project like the one stated in the article would benefit them.
Rahad Rahman
9/22/2014 11:52:53 am
I followed #alg1chat. In this chat they shared a video on A number trick to launch algebra instruction, which catches students attention. In this video Jane Kang explains how in exploring number tricks, such as the one shown here, students encounter many of the big ideas of introductory algebra; learn to express specific numbers with generic notations; experience the natural logic of the distributive property; and begin to shift their thinking from concrete procedures to the abstract reasoning success with algebra requires.
Jack Nielsen
9/23/2014 10:16:38 am
I was following the #edchat and there were a few different things I liked. One of the patterns I saw was how many people were talking about different ways to implement inquiry and why inquiry matters.
Kyle Savage
9/23/2014 02:01:31 pm
I love that you bring the up the idea of student-centered education. I think that having an education that is geared towards the students is so important; it is THEIR education, why should they not have a say in what and how they learn. Too many teachers (usually older) are stuck in their methods of the past and have no interest whatsoever in meeting students half way. Breaking teachers out of their comfort zones is a very important thing to do. I think when it comes to this, us new teachers are at a great advantage because we have not yet necessarily established our comfort zones. As new teachers we are still figuring out what works the best and what styles we like, this is why I think we can really have a huge impact on our students. It is very refreshing to see that so many of my peers and future colleagues value the same things as I do when it comes to education of students.
Tara Caprdja
9/25/2014 01:15:12 am
I agree completely with what you said about education not being about a teachers comfort zone. I find that this whole Twitter assignment pushes me way out of my comfort zone, but at the same time I can see the benefits of it. When I first started teaching, I was the young teacher who had all the new tricks in a school where everyone was so set in their ways. We had and continue to have teachers who are resistant to using the SmartBoards and the graphing calculator for more advanced material. I was always the one pushing them to do more, and faced a lot of their frustration and even resentment. After our first class, I went back to work the next day and shared my anxiety over having to create a Twitter account and write blog posts - not knowing how the heck to do any of it! I explained to my colleagues that I can now relate to their fears, but also remind them how important it is to our students to push forth because it isn't about us - it's about them.
Taylor Barbarino
9/28/2014 12:48:25 pm
Jack, your post really stood out to me because I believe that classrooms should be student- centered. Students should have a say in the classroom because it is their education that teachers are attending to. I feel that learning is not meaningful if the classroom is ran in a "traditional" teacher-based way. Many students learn better when they are able to contribute their thoughts and engage in hands-on activities. This also goes hand in hand with the statement, "its about the student and what they need/want". This is true and this is why it is beneficial to have student-centered environments.
Kyle Savage
9/23/2014 01:50:07 pm
I have to admit, upon first hearing about this assignment I was a little bit skeptical about whether or not I thought it would be productive. I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised and found this to be a very useful exercise. Firstly, I would like to say that I had no idea twitter could be used like this and I love the idea of social media being used as form of progressive education. I chose to check out the twitter chat on teaching writing (#teachingwrite) and I am amazed at how many helpful points were introduced. A very unique comment that stuck out to me a lot was one teacher who said, “Push students to take risks in writing without punishing grades. Have students select what gets assessed.” Although this may sound very strange at first, and perhaps a little too liberal, I do think there are great benefits that could come from this. I know that I personally do not always feel as if I can be myself when grades are into the picture. When a student knows that he or she is being graded on something, they are more likely to focus on writing to meet every expectation of the rubric, as opposed to really writing from the heart. I think that we should be encouraging students to take chances when it comes to writing, not for a particular grade, but rather for themselves. Students can learn a great deal about both the craft of writing and one another through writing exercises and activities; if we limit our students, however, by pummeling them with expectations and standard conventions, we are crippling their ability for experimentation and exploration.
Amber Paradise
9/29/2014 12:29:00 pm
"Giving students choices about what they write is going to increase their desire to write.” I agree with this line from the post you read and what you are saying about making sure students are writing about topics that are of interest to them. Although we may not always give students the total freedom of choosing what they are writing about, simple tweaks such as allowing students to work with persuasive (argumentative) essays and choosing a side in which they agree with, or giving them three homework questions to choose one from to answer can give students an opportunity to assist in their own learning.
Tara Caprdja
9/30/2014 05:46:40 am
I am glad that I am not the only one who was skeptical about this assignment! I also think that it's a pretty cool way to interact with other professionals to find support within our content areas.
Andriana Andriopoulos
9/24/2014 04:38:03 am
The twitter chat I chose is #ntchat which stands for New Teachers Chat. Scrolling through this chat I found a variety of posts from, quotes, articles, websites and videos. Overall, I find that this chat informs viewers with a variety of tips and advice for new teachers in the education profession. One blogger that caught my attention on this chat, was @WeAreTeachers. This twitter acount offers ideas, inspiration and information for your best days and double that for your hard ones. They say "Supporting kids means supporting educators, always". I came across a video called: "Teacher Talk: Advice for First Year Teachers". This video was posted from youtube. Different teachers share their personal advice about classroom management, passion, and building teacher-student trust relationships. I am going to follow @WeAreTeachers twitter and website www.weareteachers.com because, they have a wide variety of information from decorating bulletin board ideas to great Literature to use for lesson planning.
Liz Orbon
9/25/2014 01:22:15 am
As an almost, new teacher, I love getting as much advice as possible. I think this chat can be extremely beneficial to most of us. It can give us tips on how to deal with handling a bad day or even inspiration to keep working as hard as we can to get through to our students. I loved the video on youtube about dealing with classroom management and building trust relationships. I personally think those are two of the biggest, most important aspects of being a teacher.
Tara Caprdja
9/25/2014 01:23:44 am
That's a really cool thing to find! I love when you get to talk to, or hear from others who are in a similar position like that. It's really great that technology has allowed us to have so much support from all over!
Amanda Franco
9/25/2014 03:24:54 am
The tweet I blogged about was from @WeAreTeachers too! I found their twitter extremely helpful and insightful. Also, that video is extremely helpful. I love the notion of teachers supporting each other. I'm definitely going to check out the #ntchat when I get a chance. 9/25/2014 01:07:34 am
I searched #mathchat again because I found it pretty interesting the last time. I came across this website (http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/09/looking-for-real-world-math-problems-try-google-earth/) and think it's awesome! In a previous blog post, I discussed how difficult it is to make connections to the real world with the math content our students see each day. This article tells how Thomas Petra, a math teacher, created "Real World Math" (http://www.realworldmath.org/) a website that links the curriculum to the real world. One of the activities he uses is how to use the distance formula in the real world. The activity that I am more excited to look into though, is one that discusses the concept of variables - the unknown. He developed an activity where the students conduct a "search and rescue" for missing paddlers in a boating excursion. They use Google maps to help them. It seems pretty cool. By developing such lessons, he creates an environment for students to become active learners, which significantly increases their chances of truly learning the material.
Liz Orbon
9/25/2014 01:24:54 am
I love all the chats about math. It is soooo important to make connections to the real world, and what better way then to use our entire world with google earth. I have explored real world math before, and I thought Petra does an incredible job. His lesson are very intriguing. Hopefully, we can try to include them in our own curriculum someday to keep our students interested!
Liz Orbon
9/25/2014 01:34:10 am
This week, I decided to follow a general teaching chat that took place Wednesday night. It spoke about a wide variety of topics. However, one about teaching online caught my attention, due to our conversation about online classes when we meet last week. @CdnOnlineSchool tweeted an article about the importance of online school which was: http://123hongtai.com/importance-of-online-teaching/ .
Liz Orbon
9/25/2014 01:34:49 am
I forgot to mention I searched #teachchat !
Amanda Franco
9/25/2014 03:21:56 am
Unfortunately I haven't been able to catch a chat while it was live yet, but I have found some really cool resources. I searched #ellchat because I spent last semester working with ELL students and will continue to work with them this semester so I was hoping to get a few ideas.
Nicole Osterhoudt
9/25/2014 07:18:14 am
I will definitely be taking a look at this twitter chat! Its so important to look at different ways to approach lessons to incorporate ELLs, especially when it comes to new technology. Thanks for the website!
Samantha Huber
9/26/2014 08:58:02 am
I think that it's great that they have their own blog to share their ideas and experiences with others because it will help the ELL learners have a more positive experience in school!
Nicole Osterhoudt
9/25/2014 07:09:47 am
The twitter chat that I chose to follow was #langchat. I chose this chat because although my first certification will be in general education, I have my B.A. in Spanish and will be getting an advanced certification in Spanish Education. I found this chat to be very interesting because I do believe that teachers of all subject areas should try to incorporate culture and language into their classrooms.
Nicole Osterhoudt
9/25/2014 07:14:15 am
Also, for your own entertainment... I found this through the twitter chat as well..
Samantha Huber
9/26/2014 08:55:53 am
I think that the zumba instructor idea is a great way to get students engaged in what they are learning about. I feel like children never get the full effect of how different our culture is from other cultures, and this is a great way for them to get great insight into another culture. I think it's important for teachers to allow their students to gain knowledge from another person that might be more knowledgeable in a particular topic than they are!
Andriana Andriopoulos
9/28/2014 04:12:17 am
Nicole,
Amber Paradise
9/29/2014 12:35:42 pm
Nicole I have to admit when we learned about the flipped classroom in class I was not sure if I would actually work with such a concept in my future classroom. I can definitely see the benefits to the structure, I would just need practice in implementing it, and limiting it's use to every once and a while. I like how to saw the connection with using the flipped classroom for teaching foreign languages. I remember in my own foreign language classes where my teachers would say that we need to have more conversation in the foreign language to actually learn it. Yet, barely anyone in class could formulate sentences because we did not have the grammatical structures in place. Giving students information prior to class could allow more actual conversation to take place during class time, and assistance rather than instruction from the teacher with elements the students did not understand.
Liz Orbon
9/30/2014 06:57:56 am
Incorporating culture is so important in every classroom! That zumba class instructed by the Polish woman sounded really interesting. We forget how important it is to keep our students up and active. This was a great activity to get our students moving and learning, while also incorporating culture into it.
Samantha Huber
9/26/2014 08:53:13 am
After reading through and following #mathchat, I decided to start following #msmathchat. I am very interested to learn more about how math is being taught in middle schools at the moment because I have only been observing in elementary schools. Many of the people participating in the chat talked about how important group work is at the middle school level, especially in mathematics. This will help build peer support and prompt kids to be resources for one another. I feel that group work is critical during math because they can bounce ideas off of each other and come up with their own ways of answering the problem. Also, if one child is struggling, someone else in their group will be able to help them understand. I found a link to a website for combine like terms uno, which was created by a middle school math teacher. Each student gets an uno card and each card has a different term on it with a different color. Students combine the terms or the colors, and the link provides many different ways to extend the game so children are gaining more knowledge of like terms. I loved this idea because it is engaging, and the children will love to be able to play a game while actually learning something. Here is the link: https://sites.google.com/site/ipadsinmiddleschoolmath/home/blog-1/blog-2013-2014/playinguno-thecombineliketermsversion It can also be played on an iPad if the schools give their students iPads which I thought was awesome!
Michael Blinn
9/29/2014 09:58:52 am
Since #sschat went so well last week, I figured I would follow it again this week. The chat was just as active, but there was a slight twist. It was expanded to #engsschat and the topic was digital citizenship. I love the relevancy of the topics that I've seen thus far in my own following and throughout the blog posts. The chat tonight was more conversation with limited links to articles. The focus was on the positive elements of digital citizenship, how teachers can model it, and how we, as teachers, can change the image for students. Many students, including the ones in this class, may not realize the benefits of digital citizenship. The discussion included ways to get the students to change their idea of what it means to be a digital citizen. Although many preach about the consequences of what you post online, it never seems to truly hit home. One school has a digital citizenship digital compass to train students and faculty on how to be a good digital citizen (http://pddigitalcitizenship.wordpress.com/). I think it is a great example of one school being proactive in the digital citizen process, especially with how digital everything is becoming.
Amber Paradise
9/29/2014 01:09:50 pm
I decided to follow #ellchat for a second week now because I found it so interesting and very active last week. This week's chat topic was "Culturally Responsive Teaching and #ELLs." Andrea Honigsfeld jumped right into the discussion with a link to a short film entitled "Immersion" (http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/immersion). This short film is only about 12 minutes long, and I highly suggest everyone to take time to watch it. It details a day in the life of a boy named Moises, an illegal immigrant who came to the United States with his mother. Moises is an English Language Learner and you see through his eyes, and what could be the eyes of many other English Language Learners, the difficulties the come along with taking his first standardized test when he can barely understand English, facing peer pressure, and living up to familiar expectations. If a teacher ever wanted to see the world from an English Language Learner's perspective, I would imagine this film gives a pretty good account of what it is like.
Michael Blinn
10/6/2014 08:46:54 am
I found the quote by Alla Polatty in your second paragraph to be very interesting. I have two ELL students in my classes. One student is not putting forth their best effort, while the other is doing satisfactory work. I was hoping that the project we just did on the Columbian Exchange would be an opportunity for them to let their culture shine through. One girl made a Columbian restaurant and was very proud of her heritage. I encouraged her to run with the idea throughout and she produced some very good work. The two ELL students didn't theme their restaurant around their culture, so my idea didn't pan out. 9/30/2014 01:58:37 am
I am currently following a few blogs on twitter, #edtech, #edchat, and #ell. I found a very interesting article, Teaching Students, Not Subjects: Why We Need a Deeper Learning Approach, and something that really stood out to me was, "Kids before content". Before providing insight on the article, the article was basically about deeper learning approaches that will help prep our students for the future. For example, developing independent ideas and/or opinions about real world conflicts, communicating effectively with others, etc. The teacher in the article created a project called the Injustice Project, where each student had to choose a topic they felt strongly about as well as choosing a book that was relevant to the issue, thus leading them to do research and find a "solution" to their issue. I felt that this project was an amazing way to connect our students to issues that are happening around the world and not only in the US. It is a way for students to develop a deep understanding of what is going on in the world and also as a way to develop their own opinions on these issues, without outside influences. It is research that they are doing on their own and using their judgement, they are developing ways to solve these issues.
Liz Orbon
9/30/2014 07:02:32 am
Just the title alone of that article is so important in education today. We must teach our children, not just the content! We really get too caught up in our routine and wanting to see good results on paper alone. We must make sure that our children do understand the content, but can apply it to their lives. We should definitely be incorporating life skills into the classrooms as well.
Christina Lucci
10/1/2014 01:31:45 pm
That article sounds really cool! I love the "kids before content" idea and think that I'd definitely like to read up on it. I think that making our lessons relatable to students and to real-life applications is one of the main struggles of being a teacher and I think that as long as we keep our focus on the students, the best results will ensue.
Sabinekearney
12/10/2014 03:57:20 am
Greetings Kristine throughout the semester these are the chats that stuck with me. They provided such awesome insight for new teachers from some veterans and also teachers who have only been teaching for a year. 9/30/2014 05:32:01 am
Today I decided to check out a different Twitter chat and came across #smedchat (Social Media Ed Chat). I found an article that is promoting a Twitter Driven school culture. It gives tips about how to incorporate Twitter into your school while still maintaining those face to face relationships with colleagues. While the suggestion to do things such as create "back channels" and "speaker series" is foreign to me, it is possible that some of my colleagues may be more knowledgable and together we could make it work in my school.
Olivia Tobias
9/30/2014 06:59:16 am
I only got into Twitter myself just this week, trying to play the field a bit and wet my toes before starting in on this assignment. I thought about following some of the more obvious threads—an English Teacher's chat at #engchat or a New York teacher's chat at #nyedchat. I even thought about following a few other, more creatively titled chats (The Breakfast Club immediately comes to mind, at #BFC530). But then I made the mistake of scrolling down a little bit further, and all thoughts of practicality and obvious choices flew my mind.
Olivia Tobias
9/30/2014 07:00:33 am
By the way, you can find Teaching Like a Pirate at #tlap if you want to look it up.
Sabinekearney
12/10/2014 03:59:12 am
I have head about the teaching like a pirate but never ventured to the chat. I think I may look up the old feeds and get involved with that one. Heard good things about it. Thanks Olivia :)
Liz Orbon
9/30/2014 07:13:47 am
This week I decided to look into #MSMathChat twitter chat. This chat focused on mathematics in middle schools. The first thing that immediately caught my eye was a tweet from @Knewton saying "Math Lovers... we're building a FREE tool including automated differentiation & student learning analytics. Sign up!" This link was attached so I obviously had to check it out. http://learn.knewton.com/join-math
Christina Lucci
10/1/2014 01:24:27 pm
I think that this is definitely a chat that I'd like to check out in the future. As a future math teacher, I think that learning about these differentiated/digital math lessons could be very helpful for me, especially for diverse classrooms with students of varying abilities/backgrounds.
Jack Nielsen
10/2/2014 09:43:18 am
I really like the idea Knewton has to adapt digital lessons to students abilities and interests. One of the main things I have noticed is that it can be easy to make lessons interesting for the students if you are able to incorporate student interest and background knowledge into the lesson. I think it is a simple thing for a teacher to do, however, not every teacher would be willing to make a change. There are so many teachers who are comfortable teaching everything "their way" and fall into the same routine. Also, I think teachers can fall into a routine without even noticing it.
Tara Caprdja
10/16/2014 01:21:45 am
That's an awesome find! I can't remember which test, but I know that they are now doing certain tests in that format which is kind of cool. I think that differentiating allows us to help students find success and feel good about it too.
Andriana Andriopoulos
9/30/2014 07:56:43 am
For this week I searched the twitter chat #fooded. I love this chat because, it's perfect if you want to learn about making healthier choices. There are a variety of links you can find about healthy nutrition, food events, volunteer/community services, cooking skills and planting and harvesting. Here, viewers can find a wide range of activities that educate students about healthy eating habbits. While searching this chat, i came across the twitter account @KidsCookMonday. This is a twitter account that is an initiative encouraging families to cook and eat together each Monday. I think this is great as it may bring families together while bonding over healthy food. I think school administrators push for parental involvement and this is a great way to get parents involved with their kids and help them make healthier choices that will helps them be healthier adults.
Amanda Franco
10/1/2014 03:58:11 am
This is an adorable idea! It also takes some of the blandness out of Mondays - instead of a day that most dread, it can be one that families look forward to because they get to have this bonding time together. It's a great way to get families motivated to eat healthier and not opt for fast food just because it may be quick and fit into everyone's schedules.
Kyle Savage
10/1/2014 11:25:56 am
I love this idea. I never would have thought to follow a chat like this but I think I might check it out now. Nutrition is such an important part of life for a middle school student, even though they often do not make it one. With this being the case, however, I think that we should take the initiative to try and guide our students to make healthier choices. The idea of "Kids Cook Monday" is great. Perhaps having students bring in foods that reflect their heritage once a month, that way kids are not always eating the same gross cafeteria food. Advisory periods are also a great setting to inform kids about the benefits of eating right and having good nutrition. Overall, I think this is a topic that is very undervalued and should be more highly emphasized within schools, especially on the adolescent level.
Andriana Andriopoulos
10/5/2014 06:28:53 am
Kyle,
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/5/2014 03:36:25 am
Andriana-
Rahad Rahman
9/30/2014 10:26:22 am
For this week, I followed #21stedchat. In this blog they are sharing different idea on different topics. It is mainly about a typical Maker space is a community-driven work space, where people with common interests, meet and collaborate on Do it Yourself projects. DIY projects are real world and authentic; students can solve real-world problems with innovative solutions.
Taylor Barbarino
9/30/2014 01:19:13 pm
This week I decided to follow #engchat. I have never used Twitter before this assignment so at first I was confused as to what I was looking for. I never realized how educational Twitter could actually be! I was curious to see what was being discussed in this chat since I am going to be a future English teacher. Many of the posts discussed ways of improving English skills in the classroom and incorporating different methods and activities in the classroom setting to make lessons more interesting.
Samantha Huber
10/1/2014 10:16:25 am
Taylor, I think that incorporating twitter into the classroom is a great way to get students engaged in what they are learning about. It is crazy how many young kids these days are on twitter and Facebook, so this could be a way to relate to them. Twitter is full of useful tools that students can refer to when learning about any topic. It is also a great way to communicate with each other, especially for those students that have a hard time making friends and are shy.
Kyle Savage
10/1/2014 11:32:51 am
How interesting! I love the fact that this teacher was looking for ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. I firmly believe that teachers are doing their students a great disservice when they exclude technology from the curriculum. The world that our students live in is filled with technology whether it be facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. This being said, we need to appeal to our students on the mediums that they are familiar with. The days of students sitting around reading textbooks are coming to an abrupt end (and thank god!) We should most definitely be incorporating iPads and other technology in the classroom whenever we can. I think twitter is a perfect example of this. I for one have really enjoyed this twitter assignment and I could imagine it working really well on a middle school level as well.
Jack Nielsen
10/2/2014 09:53:08 am
Taylor, like you I never realized how Twitter has an educational world that can be so helpful. Before this class, I used Twitter almost solely as a way to stay updated in sports.
Amanda Franco
10/1/2014 03:54:48 am
This week, I decided to follow the #ntchat trend, which is for new teachers. There were a lot of awesome articles and resources posted, but the one that stuck on the most to me was a post by @Starlab2 about homeless youth and their public school education. The article (http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2014/09/29/homeless-high-schoolers-face-barriers-to-education) was really eye-opening because as a teacher, when I look out into the classroom I know that each student has their own baggage from their home life but I would never have considered the fact that they may not have a home at all.
Samantha Huber
10/1/2014 10:13:22 am
Amanda, this is a great article because it shows just how important it is to get to know the students in your class. I know from my own experiences in school that I learned the most in classes where I connected with my teacher, and my teacher took the time to get to know my needs. The only way to successfully teach a child is being able to tell how they learn, and to be able to notice when something might be going on at home.
Samantha Huber
10/1/2014 10:09:30 am
I was able to follow the #techeducator chat which provided me with a lot of different ways technology can be incorporated into the classroom. I believe that technology can be very useful for students because there are many different apps that they can download to help them with different topics we are discussing. This twitter chat showed me many different presentation tools students can use, and I found a link to different ways the app "Kahoot" can be used. I saw this used first hand last semester while I was observing at Jackson Avenue in Mineola. Each of the students had iPads, which was great because they had so many different apps available to them and different learning games. Kahoot is an app that allows students to create their own quizzes based on the material that they are discussing. For example, after reading a story the students would come up with their own questions and a list of answers. One of these answers is correct while the other answers are incorrect. After the student finishes creating his/her kahoot, they give the code to other students in the class so they have the opportunity to take their quiz. I think this is a great way to increase reading comprehension, and allows students to interact with their classmates.
Samantha Huber
10/1/2014 10:11:09 am
Here is the link to "kahoot" https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/8db3ecde-6aeb-4e5a-a342-bed3a93ccd42
Kyle Savage
10/1/2014 11:21:19 am
I am really enjoying this assignment and monitoring all of the different twitter chats. I am currently at the tail end of following the “new teachers” chat on twitter and these comments have honestly been so refreshing to read. So many times I feel like people discourage young people from becoming teachers. I can’t even begin to talk about how many times family members or friends have rolled their eyes or warned me when I said I wanted to go into education. I have even had Adelphi professors say to me that going into teaching would be a miserable experience for the first 3 years. According to a lot of the teachers on this chat, however, this may not be the case. I was pleased to see that one teacher wrote, “Many experienced teachers love learning from new teachers because it gives fresh perspectives.” I think this is so interesting and something I never thought of; I was glad to hear this coming from someone who is living through it now. One of my greatest fears regarding teaching is that my colleagues and fellow teachers would not take me seriously because of my age and since I have not been teaching for a very long time. If this post is true, and if older, more experienced teachers are willing to be flexible and learn from my ideas, I think we could work really well together. At the same time, I think that I have a lot to learn from the more experienced teachers as well. At the end of the day, whether an educator has been teaching for two years or 22 years, ultimately the objective is exactly the same…we all want to educate kids. If new teachers can learn certain techniques from older teachers and vice versa, we could really benefit our students and provide them with a solid education.
Christina Lucci
10/1/2014 01:21:00 pm
Kyle, I also loved this chat! I completely agree with everything you said. I think that sometimes, people make comments about future teachers that are a bit disheartening and so it's nice to hear this refreshing change of pace.
Jack Nielsen
10/4/2014 01:44:29 am
I think calling home once in a while can be good for middle school students. It can be important because calling home doesn't necessarily have to be for a negative thing, it could be positive as well. I remember when I first started middle school, my teaching called my house the first week to talk to each one of her students. I thought that was really nice of her because it is such a big leap going from elementary school to middle school.
Taylor Barbarino
10/5/2014 09:07:18 am
Kyle,
Michael Blinn
10/6/2014 08:15:44 am
Kyle, I love every word you said in your first paragraph about the new teachers chat. Similar to you, most people I tell that I'm going to be a teacher roll their eyes or tell me how tough it is. Most of the time I find a quick way to change the subject because I frankly don't care. So far with my student teaching experience, I've learned a lot from my cooperating teacher. On the flip side, a lot of the material I've created he is going to implement in the future. He keeps a binder for each unit and I've seen him modify his lessons to be more in line with mine. I definitely agree that we, as new teachers, can help veteran teachers out with some things.
Christina Lucci
10/1/2014 01:00:28 pm
I just managed to get onto twitter this week and dabbled in a couple of different chats so as to get a feel for the assignment/how it works. I liked #ellchat and how it focused on making sure students feel included and that their cultures/languages/backgrounds are appreciated. As a student from a public elementary/middle school myself, I frequently came across students of many different races, religions, and backgrounds and so this topic is always one that highly interests me. I also looked at the #fooded chat because let's face it, food is always a crowd favorite. I enjoyed reading about the different nutritional information provided and the healthy eating options, though I'm not sure how I'd incorporate it in my math classroom. Maybe some statistics about the nutritional facts? We'll see.
Kyle Savage
10/7/2014 01:44:22 am
Lucci I also browsed through the #ellchat this week; it's always one of my favorites to skim through. After working in Mineola High School last year with Diana Feige's Service Learning class, I have a much better appreciation for what it means to be an English Language Learner, and some ways that we can go about helping these students in particular. I think there is a very fine line that we need to be aware of because we absolutely want these students to assimilate into American culture, we want them to do well on tests and eventually graduate and get jobs, but we also do not want them to forget about their culture. I think doing things to celebrate their culture and their diversity is always a good way to keep them connected to their roots, while also slowly introducing them to the American classroom. Another majorly important thing to remember when dealing with this population is to be patient. These are usually students who up and left their entire lifestyle and are now feeling confused, possibly like an outcast, and most definitely overwhelmed. I remember that when I first started working with this population I was so frustrated that I could not reach them right away. I had never struggled with students not being able to comprehend what I was teaching them and I became very discouraged. As I continued along my experiences, however, I realized how difficult it must be for these ELL students. Patience is the key.
Ciaran Fox
10/8/2014 05:08:24 am
It is very important for students to learn at a young age that differences in cultures should be celebrated, and not punished, as some students today like to do. When people from different cultures come together and share with each other what they know, it allows everyone to grow and to develop something new.
Jack Nielsen
10/4/2014 01:49:06 am
I was looking through different chats on twitter, and I ended up going back and following the #edchat. One of the things I like about the #edchat is that at times, it can survey a variety of different topics. For example, I was looking through the chat and I saw a tweet about project based learning. In the tweet there was a link to a website used for project based learning. Here is the link:
Andriana Andriopoulos
10/5/2014 06:20:52 am
Jack,
Taylor Barbarino
10/5/2014 09:14:42 am
Jack,
Taylor Barbarino
10/5/2014 10:22:35 am
This week I decided to follow the twitter chat #artsed. This chat interested me because I know there has been a lot of talk about incorporating the arts and creativity into the classroom. In my own opinion, I feel that it is necessary to create a creative classroom in which students are learning, but being able to interact with others and engage in activities at the same time. I was curious to see what others had to share about this topic.
Amber Paradise
10/7/2014 11:24:10 am
Taylor I will definitely have to take a look at the #artsed chat. Before I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, I wanted to be an art teacher, and before that I strictly wanted to go to school for art. There are so many unseen benefits to incorporating the arts into learning. Have you heard of STEAM? It is an interesting concept that I learned about last semester in my Exploring the Arts class here at Adelphi. Using art in all subject areas goes beyond making posters, and some people would not even imagine the therapeutic effects art can have on students.
Kristine Gavilanes
10/12/2014 03:39:27 am
Wow that's awesome! I definitely have to look into that as well! I took a class over the summer that spoke about incorporating the arts and creativity into the classroom environment. I completely agree with you when you say that implementing the arts into the classroom can benefit all students because we are giving them the opportunity to explore their inner creativity, which is something that they do not often get to do. Being a math major I thought, was such a difficult place to explore the arts. But over the summer I learned that art and math (Geometry especially) go hand in hand. I did a lesson on Kandinsky's abstract art and related it to unit in geometry. Had I been able to actually play this out in a classroom, I think it would have been both fun and successful!
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/6/2014 02:48:01 am
After reading many interesting posts about #ntchat, I decided to follow it myself for the week. I found this chat extremely interesting and helpful as an aspiring teacher because not only is it a way for new teachers to support each other and share ideas, but it also allows for me to get advice from experienced teachers and see what works in their classrooms and what doesn't from their personal experiences.
Kyle Savage
10/7/2014 01:25:43 am
Thank you for the suggestions of some great accounts to follow; this will be really helpful. I think it is so ironic that you are talking about the importance of creativity because this is something that I just addressed in my response as well. "Teaching to the test" is one of the worst things that I think we can do as educators; we are not educating, we are simply dictating to our students how to achieve a certain score on an exam. When we do this immense disservice to our students, they are not actually learning anything except how to take one specific test. If we do not give students creative outlets or expressive ways to display their learning and individual growth, how do we really know what they are comprehending and how much legitimate learning has occurred? I commend the teacher who posted the "40 Ways to Make Time for Creativity in Your Lesson Plans" article and I think that this can be an exceptional resource for every single one of us. As new teachers, we are definitely not experts on writing lesson plans and I think there is always room for improvement. This is one of the ways we can hopefully grow and improve as educators.
Liz Orbon
10/7/2014 05:37:51 am
I really liked that article @weareteachers posted about 40 ways to make lessons creative. I think creativity and uniqueness in students' work is something we as teachers need to highlight. Lessons are often so monotonous, and are copied from one teacher to the next, year after year after year. I will definitely try to find ways to make my lessons for math creative, and allow students to be creative when working through different math topics.
Tara Caprdja
10/7/2014 09:51:19 am
Nicole - that looks like a great find! Students expressing their creative side is vital to their understanding of content. I think that if they are able to express what they've learned in a way that makes sense to them, it's proof that they truly own it!
Michael Blinn
10/6/2014 09:46:58 am
So, Monday night has become my twitter night. For a third consecutive week I am following #sschat. This week's conversation is about showing films in a classroom and their value. The first question was "How do we determine if a film is worthwhile to be utilized in our classroom?" A lot of the answers were similar, focusing mostly on if it will capture the student's attention, if it will help learning, and/or if it will help achieve curriculum goals. The second question was "How can commercial motion pictures be used to learn history?" This works in two similar but different ways. It can be used for historical accuracy and historical inaccuracy. If a film depicts something well and we, as teachers, can give the students a visual, it may enhance learning. If the film is historically inaccurate, it creates a discussion about what is inaccurate and why it may be inaccurate. In terms of drawbacks, time is the enemy and also the rating of the film. One person brought up in the discussion that you have to be aware of the rating and what may show up during the film or scene you use. This could lead to issues with parents who may not see the value of what you're showing in class. The last question was about using video as primary or secondary sources. Someone mentioned they enjoyed using Dr. Seuss' cartoons and Private Snafu cartoons. When teaching WWII in the future, I'm definitely going to look into these and see what I could possibly bring into the classroom to transform my students to what was going on during that time.
Liz Orbon
10/7/2014 05:35:00 am
This was an interesting chat to follow. Not only in social studies, but in other subjects as well, are movies constantly being shown. Whether it be in its entirety or just a clip of a movie, I find it interesting to focus on the accuracy or inaccuracy pertaining to the lesson at hand. I can remember reading a novel in my English Honors class about the war and an extremely violate clip being shown from a movie (cannot remember the name for the life of me right now). The clip was so gory, but it really helped put things into perspective and to show the class exactly what the book had taught us. It is interesting though, that no parent consent was required for my teacher. She did warn us that there would be blood and violence, and forewarned us right before these parts would come up in case we wanted to close our eyes or look away.
Amber Paradise
10/7/2014 11:30:15 am
Michael, I am really interested in the fact that there are pros and cons to showing commercial motion pictures in the classroom, and how teachers can use a film that inaccurately describes an aspect of history to spark a larger discussion in their classroom. I love how you brought up Dr. Seuss, and even though I am on the childhood track, last year in my Social Studies methods course my professor showed up how Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" can be used to teach literally any grade level from 1st to 12th grade, specifically it can be used to teach about the Industrial Revolution in high school grades.
Ciaran Fox
10/8/2014 05:11:10 am
I remember when I was a student, if a teacher told us we'd be watching a movie in class, that was always an excuse to do nothing. Some teachers don't properly take advantage of the discussions that movies can generate, and students need to be able to more critically examine what they've seen. The movie should relate to the information you're trying to teach, but also leave open ended questions, so that students can debate and discuss what happened, without giving yes or no answers.
Kyle Savage
10/7/2014 01:17:58 am
This week I decided to check out the #stuvoice chat because I am a firm believer in the idea that students should have an active role in their education. To be honest, as I browsed the list of some of the twitter chats last night I was kind of surprised to see that something like this even existed. I know that especially with the implementation of the common core, students don’t really have much of a say with regards to what happens in their education. It is kind of refreshing to see teachers that are currently involved in the system being so concerned for students having a role in what they are learning. One comment that really stuck with me is a teacher who said, “Enabling student voice means both listening and acting. Adults need training in listening to students.” I think this is such a powerful statement for a teacher to admit. It is so easy as authority figures for us to get so caught up in our own rules and regulations that we set forth, and not really pay much attention to what the students are saying to us. Often times if a student wants to learn about a specific topic or try out a variation of an assignment, then that is a cry for help from said student; if our students are eager to learn about something or do something, why should we take that from them? As teachers, we should want all of our students to be excited about education. In many cases, students are excited about education, but primarily involving the things that THEY want to learn about. Why can’t they learn about these things? I can think of so many times when teachers in middle or high school have asked me questions about “What I wanted to see in the class” or “What I wanted to learn” and then it never happened. What I think people forget sometimes is that children are very perceptive. It is easy to tell if a teacher is asking what his or her students want to learn because they are genuinely interested and genuinely listening, or if they are just asking because that’s the “right” thing to do.
Liz Orbon
10/7/2014 05:58:27 am
This week I decided to follow #flipclass, where they spoke about different techniques and resources you can use to help create a flipped classroom.
Tara Caprdja
10/7/2014 09:48:14 am
Liz, I love the idea of a flipped classroom. I've use Educreations a lot with my students and they seem to really enjoy it. I would like to check out the link you posted as well because it seems like such a great way to use technology to help our kids!
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 02:08:42 am
I think this a great tool to use in classroom and be creative. Which can help teacher incorporate a lot different strategy to learning, it is also user friendly. 10/7/2014 09:46:12 am
I checked out #pblchat - problem based learning and came across this: http://bie.org/for/teachers
Amber Paradise
10/7/2014 11:53:20 am
This week I decided to follow the Gifted & Talented Ireland chat (#gtie) since I have had a particular interest in gifted and talented students ever since I found out that my 11 year old cousin has been classified as such. I discovered this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1Be3FI65Q to a video clip that is a trailer for a book called "Why Smart Kids Worry." Although it is only a 2 minute video, it further peaked my interested in making sure every student on the learning spectrum, regardless if they are a child that gets a 504 Accommodation or sits bored in class because the material is too easy for them, gets the extra resources they need. The video briefly shows that some of the smartest students in your class, may also be some of the students that deal with the highest levels of stress and anxiety regarding various issues in and outside of school. Another item that caught my eye, and is really a testament to those who argue against standardized testing is a cartoon titled "Qualities Not Measured by Most Tests" (http://www.edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/whatedneeds.png). I can't wait to hang it in my classroom one day.
Jessica
10/7/2014 02:05:21 pm
I have always been interested in the classification of the "gifted and talented," ever since my cousin was classified as such too. What were his teachers doing to accommodate him? My aunt put immense pressure on him to succeed in an advanced high school in order to get into Harvard and Yale. I don't have anyone classified as gifted or talented, but I wonder what it would be like and whether I would have to differentiate all the time so that the student wouldn't get bored and would be challenged. I feel that so many times teachers are focusing on the IEPS and 504's and completely look over those who could be "gifted and talented."
Samantha Huber
10/9/2014 10:10:29 am
Amber, I feel that gifted and talented children are often overlooked in school because there is so much emphasis on the children with special needs. Gifted and talented children need to be recognized more and should be given curriculum that will challenge them. My cousin was also classified as gifted and talented, and this made me see just how important it is to give these children the resources they need.
Christina Lucci
10/12/2014 10:29:34 am
I would love to check out this chat. Without trying to sound full of myself, I was placed in a gifted and talented class as a middle school student and would love to be able to read about it from the other end. I think it's so true that while these students might do better academically, we should still show them attention as they still stress out and that they definitely should be given extra resources if they ask for them.
Manjot Khehra
10/14/2014 03:36:46 am
That was interesting video to watch. I agree with what everyone is saying that sometimes because we spend so much time focusing on the kids with 504s and IEPs that we might neglect gifted and talented students. But I would be wary to allocate too much attention to them, as much school might not be challenging for them, these kids do not need as much individual attention as the students with 504s and IEPs who I think deserve the most attention. I would not completely ignore gifted and talented, but I would differentiate the assignments for them by giving them harder material and see if they can tackle it on their own, rather than taking time away from the kids who I feel could truly use the 1 on 1 help.
Jack Nielsen
10/14/2014 10:06:03 am
I thought this post was really interesting, because everyone is right that we always focus on students with special needs, but we forget that gifted and talented students fall under that category. I think with this big focus on differentiated instruction to meet the needs of students with IEPs, 504s, etc, we forget to differentiate instruction to challenge students who are understanding the concepts quickly. I'm sure almost everyone can think of a time when either yourself or a student you teach is finished very early or is bored because they understand everything. I think sometimes these students can affect the class environment for the rest of the students because they may become disengaged in lessons because they are not challenging, and in turn may cause the other students in the class to become disengaged.
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 01:50:41 am
Blessy Thomas
11/4/2014 03:50:25 am
I think in today's education system, especially in public schools, our focus has become to accommodating students with IEP's and 504's in order to give them the same opportunities as other kids. While I understand that those who are on a higher level may be put at a disadvantage to this, I think its immensely important that we integrate our classrooms allowing equality for all and respecting one another. However, while the gifted and talented children need to be challenged a bit more I know certain districts are adhering to just having schools include Regular Classes and AP. There would be no in between.
Jessica
10/7/2014 01:55:43 pm
So, I am new to this whole Twitter bit, and have NO idea what I am doing but I believe I am reading them the right way. I wish there were more words..and less hashtags, but regardless, I found it interesting that there was a Jewish ed chat, so I decided to start looking into what they were saying.
Amber Paradise
10/13/2014 07:11:32 am
I agree with what you and the second tweeter are saying about higher expectations correlating with student achievement. As I stated in class last week I have heard of charter schools were in elementary school children are told that going to college is not only a goal, but an achievable goal. It is important to show even our most under-achieving students that we believe in them, and that they have a great potential to succeed if they work hard. However, this goes hand in hand with us as educators enabling students of all abilities to succeed.
Ciaran Fox
10/8/2014 05:04:42 am
This week I decided to check out the #ipadchat on Twitter, and read the following article:
Samantha Huber
10/9/2014 10:07:14 am
I think that iPads are a great resource in the classroom for any student that you have. There are so many different apps that can be downloaded to meet the needs of every students. They are especially good for children with special needs because many of the apps differentiate instruction, and it will allow them to record notes. I observed in Mineola last semester and every student had an iPad. I learned about so many different apps by observing this class, and the children loved every minute of being on their iPads.
Olivia
10/11/2014 01:46:39 pm
That is . . . a fascinating concept. Half of me wanted to scream SMOTHERING PARENTS/TEACHERS at the idea of a teacher literally tweeting what was going on in the classroom, but the other half of me was really intrigued by the idea of parents being able to be a part of their child's lives like this, even remotely. Keeping in mind that it's just first grade, it's actually a really cute idea. I definitely don't think it woud fly during High School or even Middle School, but certainly for the younger grades it's a pretty adorable way of keeping parents and kids in touch. (As for why I think it would be strange for middle/high school, I think because the older age of the students might take offense to the idea of their parents always knowing what they were up to in class — but maybe a -class- twitter, where not the parents but the students are following what is happening in class, could be a good idea).
Kristine Gavilanes
10/12/2014 03:52:42 am
Another great chat I am going to follow! Reading everyone's comments made me follow at least three more chats! It's awesome. I feel that technology sometimes has its downside to it but an elementary school teacher that is using it for this gets a plus in my book. I think this is great. It is seriously a fast and efficient way to keep parents posted on how their child is doing. I feel that upper level educators, like middle and high school teachers should incorporate this in their classrooms too.
Christina Lucci
10/12/2014 10:27:06 am
I went through the technology educators chat and think that this one would be a great follow up. While I unfortunately don't have an iPad myself, I think that it's an awesome idea and something that should definitely be considered for classrooms/schools that have the resources to do so.
Taylor Barbarino
10/12/2014 01:27:49 pm
I think it is super important for parents to be notified about what is going on in the classroom! It is great that this teacher uses Twitter as a resource to communicate with all of the parents. I believe that this is an efficient way to get in touch with parents because technology is now everything. If a parent cannot make a parent-teacher conference due to work or other reasons, at least they are able to view the tweets from the teacher so that they are updated on what their child is learning.
Michael Blinn
10/13/2014 11:19:06 pm
The new "bring your own device" (BYOD) policy in the district I'm student teaching in has become a hot topic among the teachers. I think little steps like this may help the teachers within the district feel more comfortable with technology in the classroom. I have a computer and SMART Board in my room, but other than that, we don't use too much technology. If the teachers were able to use this just to let parents know what they did in class today, in case the kids don't tell them, I think it would be a step in the right direction. In the context of a middle school (7th grade in my case), it is a little more tough to post more individual things from the day. But if this could be used to get teachers more comfortable with technology, then I'm all for it. It also helps keep parents informed so there aren't surprised when they come to parent teacher conferences or back to school night.
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 02:12:45 am
I totally agree with this, students enjoy working with technology. It supports schools to integrate e-learning into learning programs and I think that the originality of the tablet wears off fairly quickly when students become excited about how they can use them to enhance their learning. This requires the teacher to identify appropriate apps and sites as deliberate acts of teaching in planning to meet their students’ learning needs.
Blessy Thomas
11/4/2014 04:00:15 am
I definitely can agree that using technology can definitely keep parents updated on what goes on. In various schools I have gone to, they incorporate a site of some sort that allows parents to see what class their student is in, if they were present for that class, what homework they have in each period and their grades for what assignments they have done. While the teacher I'm currently mentoring sends biweekly/monthly progress reports for her kids (by paper though) she tells me this allows parents to stay up to date on whats going on with their kids and makes it easier for when they have to meet with her to know what's been going on and how they've been doing.
Samantha Huber
10/9/2014 10:04:34 am
I followed the #spedchat that provided many useful resources for teaching and working with children with special needs. People spoke about how important co-teaching can be for students with special needs because oftentimes they need that one-on-one attention that can only be provided when there is another person in the classroom. It also spoke about the importance of classroom management especially for children with autism. It is extremely important to incorporate scheduling into the classroom when working with children with autism. One person on the chat said "behavior is a form of communication. Every behavior serves a purpose." I thought this was very interesting because I never thought of behavior this way. No matter how a child is acting in class, it is their own way of communicating their needs. This chat discussed many different types of disorders and how to deal with them. I also found a great website called Power Up that works to differentiate instruction for struggling students and students with disabilities. Teachers can go onto this website to find different ways to differentiate their lesson plans to ensure they meet all of their students needs. Here is the link http://powerupwhatworks.org/page-about/what-powerup-what-works
Olivia
10/11/2014 01:36:03 pm
I've actually been very interested about what some of the Special Education feeds are saying, and what you guys, my classmates, are saying about those feeds. I have never taking any Special Ed. classes, and sometimes I worry about my ability to deal with students in my class who may be borderline but non-labeled. To that end, even if I've never taken a special ed class, and may not be certified in that area, I feel that it's important to at least read up on theories and to see what people have to say about the subject. As far as education goes, no feel seems so quickly growing or important as special ed these days, and for good reason.
Taylor Barbarino
10/12/2014 01:15:45 pm
Samantha,
Amber Paradise
10/13/2014 07:16:15 am
Sam, I appreciate what you are saying here about looking at students' behavior in a different way and really hearing the person on the chat who said "Every behavior serves a purpose." Although I do not work exclusively with students with special needs, one of the most important ideas I took away from my Child with Special Needs class here at Adelphi was to not take a child's behavior at face value. So often have I personally seen teacher's comment on a child's behavior and not analyze what is causing the behavior. This ranges from a child falling asleep in class, to a student that has wandering eyes during a test. The child who is falling asleep potentially did not get enough sleep the night before because he had to hear his parents fighting all night, or the child whose eyes are wandering may have undiagnosed ADD and cannot focus on his exam.
LIz Orbon
10/15/2014 05:39:55 am
I have looked at this chat as well. It is really good and gives some insightful info. Just as a side note, I have observed a classroom that has two teachers, co-teaching, and it was very cool to see. As you mentioned, it is always difficult for one teacher to walk around, checking hw, answering questions, dealing with misbehavior, all while trying to teach. It was definitely interesting and I learned a lot from it.
Blessy Thomas
11/5/2014 06:00:48 am
The classes I have observed and student taught at did have a cooperating teacher to work with the students with special needs. As said before, it's hard for one teacher to be able to take care of a class and know what's going on with each and everyone of them. Even when I was student teaching, there were 3 teachers in the classroom and only then where we able to take control of the classroom and set apart specific rows for us to observe and walk through. The day my cooperating teacher was absent and the co-teacher was not there it was really difficult to control all the students especially with them working in groups. It was equally as hard to make sure the students with special needs were able to understand what was going on. But having this experience I think I became aware of what it really takes to be an actual teacher with 30 students during this moment. However, I feel as I'm getting a better hang of it with my new placement teacher who tells me everyday that she can't be on top of everyone and doing everything all at once. Because of this, she makes the students in the classroom responsible and assigns them roles everyday to take care of minimal things that she can get out of the way and use more of the classroom time efficiently and effectively. 10/11/2014 02:42:21 am
I found this article last night on blended learning. Being that I have heard this term briefly in my classes, I decided to look into what it was about. I did, however, look up what it meant! "Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path or pace." The focus of this article was "Does blended learning really work?" Based on the article, some school have been hesitant to incorporate blended learning in fear that not all students will be successful. The author makes a wonderful comparison, in my opinion, to the questionable success of implementing blended learning with, "Do machines with wings fly?" Any one who has seen this for themselves know that machines with wings do indeed fly. But, is the machine able to do this alone, or do we as humans have something to do with it? Yes we do. As it states in the article, "Humans were putting wings on machines for millennia before figuring out how to get them to lift off the ground. Wings couldn’t produce flight until we figured out how to give them the right shape, size, weight, and configuration and engineers and scientists today continue to improve their understanding of wing design." The same applies to blended learning. By incorporating this type of learning and waiting to see the results afterwards, we are not always guaranteed that it will be successful. I feel that it is up to us to continuously work on new ways to make sure our students are successful in their learning. As the author states, "Blended learning models that work are designed and implemented according to our current best understand of what it takes to make them successful; and schools that use blended learning are still discovering new ways to configure their models in order to produce stronger results." We should not just initiate blended leaning and expect it to flourish on its own; just like a machine with wings. If we are not constantly trying to make it better who are we to demand that the outcome is always successful?
Olivia
10/11/2014 01:27:04 pm
It's an interesting, if frustrating, conundrum. I think a lot of times, when we see schools and districts act hesitant towards implementing new or modern ways of teaching, we have the instinct of calling them backwards or unimaginative. We might even accuse them of caring more about test scores than genuine education. We might not always be wrong in feeling that way, either! But we also have to consider situations like this, where administrators mean well, but who also have real and legitimate concerns over the implementation of these new ideas. What if it doesn't work? What if some students are left floundering or left behind? Why don't we just wait until we have all of the kinks ironed out before we implement it.
Olivia
10/11/2014 01:18:53 pm
Arrrrrr. I be sailin' the educational seas on this here twitter life raft, and the SS #TLAP has been goin' strong.
Christina Lucci
10/12/2014 10:04:55 am
Tonight, I tuned into two chats: the state chat for ed leaders (#gasspchat) and the technology educators chat (#techeducator).
Jack Nielsen
10/14/2014 10:00:46 am
I think the second chat you mentioned can be really useful, especially for people in our shoes, who are educators just entering the field. I definitely agree with you that information about interviewing and the hiring process can be very insightful and can give us a leg up on the competition. To get a teaching job these days, it is extremely competitive, and any I think it is important we use any advantage we can get, especially for people who are not comfortable during the interview process.
Liz Orbon
10/15/2014 05:41:57 am
I definitely would love to find out more info about the interview process. Stuff like that is often overlooked, I feel, even though it is so important for us to know as teacher candidates. I will be checking that out if I can find that link for sure.
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/16/2014 04:16:59 am
Wow this is a great tool for preparing for future interviews. Its great that twitter can not only give us advice for teaching but on becoming a teacher and what administrators are expecting of us! This will definitely help us to better prepare!
Taylor Barbarino
10/13/2014 12:22:07 pm
This week I decided to follow the chat #aplitchat. I thought that this chat would be interesting to look at to see if the tweets were similar to or different from the regular #engchat that I chose to follow the first week that we started these Twitter blogs. It turned out that many of the posts were very similar to those of the #engchat. A majority of the tweets had to do with implementing the arts into the classroom so that lessons are relatable to the students and help build creativity/ critical thinking skills.
Manjot Khehra
10/13/2014 10:38:02 pm
Michael Blinn
10/13/2014 11:10:48 pm
I've definitely become a big fan of this chat too. I love the idea of using Bad Romance to introduce a lesson on woman's suffrage. I remember being in high school talking about it and my teacher started the lesson by saying he didn't want to hear any bad jokes about women's rights and suffrage. For example, he held up a book about the movement and in the past students in his class asked how many pictures were in it, how large the font was, etc. So, I definitely think this could be a tool to get all students involved. Since its relatable to them, all students will most likely have an opinion, whether they like Lady Gaga or not. I definitely agree that as social studies teachers we need to bridge the gap between the history we teach and what is happening today. If that means showing Lady Gaga in class to get the students motivated, so be it. (But I would definitely try to find an alternative, her music is terrible, in my humble opinion).
Kyle Savage
10/17/2014 01:00:58 pm
I haven't followed this chat yet, but I saw Lady Gaga and got intrigued, so I read your post. What an interesting idea! I think that these things are exactly the kind of new and progressive concepts that education systems need to start examining. As teachers, we need to remember and hone in on who our target audience is: it is our students. We want to appeal to our students and try to reach them on a level that they find interesting. The purpose of school is not to bore our students to tears, but rather excite them about learning. Using something like "Bad Romance," or any other song that resonates with kids today is a great way to keep them excited about education. I definitely agree with this teacher and think that education needs to continue growing and modifying with the times.
Amanda Franco
10/14/2014 12:41:57 am
I love the idea of incorporating music into lessons. It's something that I plan to do in my own classroom because music has always been such an important and influential aspect of my life. The concept of using modern music to link these students to events in the past is a great way of proving that the undertones of events in the past are still present in the events of today. I think it would be a very eye-opening experience for a lot of the students by having that opportunity to connect the past to the present.
Ciaran Fox
10/15/2014 01:15:05 pm
I like that the teacher used Lady Gaga as a way of teaching women's suffrage, it's a great way of connecting the past with the present, and teaching students how to make connections.
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 02:21:44 am
I love the idea of incorporating music into lessons. I love the idea of using Bad Romance to begin a lesson on woman's suffrage. I think it would be a very eye-opening experience for a lot of the students by having that opportunity to connect the past to the present.
Amanda Franco
10/14/2014 12:35:55 am
This week I decided to follow #engchat and found a really cute idea from @tk_wood, who suggested having the students create memes for the stories they are reading. Because memes are so popular on social media, it would be a great way for kids to use a literacy skill that they already are developing while also needing to show some comprehension of the book that we are reading or have read. The example that @tk_wood posted can be found here (http://bhpenglish.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/literary-memes-love/). I personally found it hysterical and it's a great way to bring creativity into the classroom. I think this is an activity that a lot of the kids would get excited about as well.
Manjot Khehra
10/14/2014 03:31:41 am
I'm going to have to steal this idea, because I think it can applied across all different subjects and its hilarious. I always see the Joseph Ducreux memes and find them really clever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Ducreux#mediaviewer/File:Ducreux1.jpg). I think this can be used to units maybe as homework assignment for a particular to check up how much they retained from a particular lesson. I definetly agree that this will get the kids excited, it has great potential when applied with old historical pictures.
Liz Orbon
10/15/2014 05:43:38 am
I agree with you..I think kids would love to do this kind of activity. Memes are so popular on twitter, facebook, instagram, blogs, and other social media apps. Creating ones on their own but incorporating literature into it is a great way to have to children learn while they are enjoying themselves.
Kyle Savage
10/17/2014 01:07:58 pm
Thank you for posting that link! I'm obsessed. Just reading everyone's posts is giving me so many great ideas for when I get my own classroom. I am absolutely seeing the benefit of this assignment more and more, even though I was a little bit skeptical at first. The meme idea is very cute and I think could be used on any level, both middle and high school. Again, quite similarly to the Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" exercise, this is a way to reach students on a level that is interesting to them. Honestly, seeing all of these progressive and creative teachers on twitter is really a breath of fresh air and kind of makes me more excited about teaching.
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 02:26:15 am
I think this is a great idea to create memes for the stories they are reading. I think kids will love to do this activity. The meme idea is very cute and I think could be used on any level, both middle and high school.
Jack Nielsen
10/14/2014 09:56:01 am
For this week, I decided to explore twitter for something in my content area, which is physics. I tried searching #physicschat first, but I ended up looking at some information I found on #physicsed. For this chat, there is definitely a lot less useful information spanning the timeline, but when I scrolled up and down I eventually found some things that I find pretty interesting, and that can be useful for future lessons. I found for this chat, there are a lot more pictures and videos being posted, and some of the videos were really cool and would work great to show a quick clip in my class. For example,
Liz Orbon
10/15/2014 05:37:02 am
This week I decided to follow #iechat. This chat focuses on inclusive education. While looking through tweets, I noticed @think_inclusive posting what looked liked a bunch of great articles. They would tweet one or two almost every day, maybe even more. I decided to look at one entitled, "8 steps to accepting your disability". http://www.thinkinclusive.us/8-steps-to-accepting-your-disability/#sthash.Jzv6xQEq.dpbs
Samantha Huber
10/15/2014 11:53:35 am
Liz, this seems like a really great article and I really like that it was written by someone with a disability because it makes it more relatable for someone else with a disability that is reading it. It is so important to know what a learning disability is because their are many misconceptions about what it actually means. These articles can help teachers understand learning disabilities as well as how to determine whether or not a student has a disability.
Tara Caprdja
10/16/2014 01:26:58 am
This is a wonderful website, and I think this article is beneficial for everyone to read. I work in a special ed school and there was a huge learning curve for me to understand my students. I still find that I learn something new about them and their disabilities every day (sometimes several times in the day). I also think that there are many students with undiagnosed disabilities in main stream programs and having some information is always helpful. I plan to share this at work!
Andriana Andriopoulos
10/20/2014 12:54:02 pm
Liz, 10/15/2014 10:38:22 am
Tonight I checked out #geomchat and found this link: http://dailyteachingawesome.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/balancing-triangles-101414/
Samantha Huber
10/15/2014 11:55:24 am
Tara, This is a really great approach to teaching triangles! I also like that it provides the students with a challenge that they can only succeed at when they learn the necessary material. Children often lose focus when they are not actively engaged in a topic, and this approach will allow them to maintain focus as well as be engaged in why they are learning about.
Ciarán Fox
10/15/2014 01:16:44 pm
That's a great way to teach students about triangles, the more students are engaged and participate in what they are learning, the easier it is for them to remember the information to be able to draw upon it later.
Andriana Andriopoulos
10/20/2014 12:58:45 pm
Tara,
Jack Nielsen
10/26/2014 05:13:28 am
At my high school I was talking with the geometry teacher about his classes, and he has spoke about the dramatic changes that common core has created in his geometry class. This link is great because it is a source to help the teachers incorporate creativity and inquiry into teaching triangles, which may seem dull and boring at first. And I definitely agree with you that the students will focus more when they think the subject is important.
Samantha Huber
10/15/2014 11:50:33 am
I started following the #teacherwellbeingchat and found a lot of different ways to become a well balanced and effective educator. This twitter chat shows how important it is for teachers to have a passion for what they are doing. So much emphasis is put on how the students are doing and not enough is being said about the well being of the teacher, and how effective they are. I found a great quote that said "the love and joy behind your teaching is perhaps the strongest impression you will leave with your students". I love this quote because children will only respond to a teacher that is passionate about their job, and show that in the classroom. Children don't want to listen to someone lecture them in a monotone voice, they want someone that is loud and energetic because they will start to feel that way too. I also found different breathing exercises teachers can do when their job becomes hectic and stressful. This website edutopia.org provides a useful article thats titled: Helping Students Find Purpose and Appreciation for School. The article provides advice to teachers on teaching their students to appreciate what they are learning, and different ways to get them involved in what they are learning about. Here is the link to the article: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/helping-students-find-purpose-and-appreciation-school-maurice-elias?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-find-purpose-and-appreciation-question
Taylor Barbarino
10/19/2014 10:17:05 am
Samantha,
Ciaran Fox
10/15/2014 01:10:19 pm
I chose #teachchat and read the following link: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/812861/jewish/A-Pillow-Full-of-Feathers.htm
Amber Paradise
10/16/2014 01:58:47 am
This week I chose to look at the #1stchat which is the First Grade Teachers Chat. I have always wanted to teach the younger grades, specifically 1st and 2nd graders; however, for every placement in a school that I have had through Adelphi so far I have been in "upper" grades (4th, 5th, and 6th). This year as part of the Model Program I will finally have the opportunity to work in a 1st grade classroom, and I am super excited so I thought the #1stchat would be helpful in preparing for entering that setting.
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/16/2014 04:14:07 am
Amber- I also am in the same situation as you where I have only observed third and fourth grade and am moving down to second grade in a few weeks. Getting young children to sit still is definitely a struggle with my campers and the younger children that I babysit for. The stationary balls are a tool that a fourth grade "advanced" teacher in my district uses. She has six of these balls and beanbag chairs and finds that they allow her students to be more comfortable and engaged while they learn when they are using them! Its definitely something to consider when we have our own classrooms!
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/16/2014 04:41:18 am
This week I decided to follow #21stedchat. I found that this particular chat happens to talk about many different points that have come up in my current education classes such as flipped classrooms, the true meaning of collaboration, etc. What stuck out most to me was a portion of the chat that spoke about creating the most comfortable classroom environment for your students. This chat primarily talks about 21st century education therefore those who are posting in it are up to date with the curriculum and technology.
Kyle Savage
10/17/2014 12:55:29 pm
This week I decided to check out the #artsed chat which I thought was so interesting and inspiring. If I could be any type of teacher, it would be a teacher of theatre. When I was applying to schools and deciding upon majors, after talking with my parents we decided that it would probably be a better idea for me to major in English, because there were more likely to be jobs for English teachers than teachers of theatre and this is because arts in education programs are always the first to get cut. This is something that baffles my mind and is honestly such a shame. The arts have so much to offer and it is literally a shame that school administrators do not see this. The #artsed chat was filled with people who shared similar opinions as mine and that was very refreshing and gave me more hope with regards to the future of arts education programs. One educator commented, “An education without the arts is not an education.” This is seriously so true. The arts offer so many different lessons and experiences to students that no other disciplines do, such as expression, creativity, and freedom to experiment. Furthermore, the arts also appeal to the more emotional and spiritual sides of a student, as opposed to strictly cognitive or academic. We are really depriving our students of what could potentially be a core part of their education if we do not allow art, of some sort, to be a part of routine education.
Taylor Barbarino
10/19/2014 10:22:29 am
Kyle, I also decided to follow this chat two weeks ago and I found it to be so interesting! I agree with everything you said. It is necessary to incorporate the arts into each grade level curriculum in some way or another. Without the arts, students will suffer because they will be unable to express themselves and let their talents shine!
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 01:27:08 am
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2014/06/13/brevard-students-work-app-ealing/10512571/
Christina Lucci
10/19/2014 10:44:51 am
This technology-related chat seems like one I would have been a lot more engaged in than the one that I looked through. A friend of mine who student taught last year worked with her class to create an app and I certainly didn't realize how simple it is (or at least...it sounds simple). I also like the part that you mentioned about using different outlets for projects besides PowerPoint because I know that's something that definitely limits me. I can't figure out how to use Prezi and so having another method of presenting information would be amazing.
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 10:14:41 am
I followed #techeducator, Code.or's mission has been to get coding into curriculums for students as schools nationwide. It's a combined set of tools and curriculum to get students in kindergarten through high school interested in the underlying concepts behind coding through guided lesson plans.Rather than having kids pick up a language like Python or Java, Code Studio teaches the underlying concepts in programming through the manipulation of blocks of logic that, when stacked together in a particular order, move a character around a scene or draw a shape. Outside of the actual user interface, Code.org was able to take advantage of awareness around its cause to bring in big names like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates to film video segments introducing concepts as well as use assets from popular brands like Angry Birds in their lessons. What is great about this program is that it's so easy for any teacher to implement it in the classroom. It's not so much the idea of the graphic programming language and definitely not just about about using the language to draw on the computer, but all the support and structure for teachers to drop it into the classroom without a lot of trouble.
Christina Lucci
10/19/2014 10:40:48 am
I tuned into this chat tonight as well. I was a bit confused by the chat and by this Code.org website but it seems like it's something useful for teachers who plan on implementing coding into their lessons. It seems like you understood it a lot more than I did though and reading your post definitely helped my understanding of it!
Christina Lucci
10/19/2014 10:37:49 am
I tuned into the same two chats that I checked out last week because I thought they were incredibly interesting. The state chat for ed leaders was talking a lot about student involvement and activities/programs. As a student who loves getting involved myself, I really loved this. The importance of these clubs/groups and their impact on student life was discussed and I completely agreed with everything that was said. Different "tweeters" talked about their best programs whether they be sports teams, academic programs, or student clubs and it was great to read. They also talked about student/teacher relationships and how vital they are. I loved hearing education administrators talk about positively reinforcing their students because you could really tell that they love what they do.
Kyle Savage
10/21/2014 05:12:28 am
This is a great concept for a chat. I think that sometimes teachers and administrators place too much emphasis on academic education but choose to neglect all other aspects of school, such as student involvement. Especially in such a pivotal point of life such as Middle School, getting involved in activities with peers is really important and it can be detrimental to a child's social development if they do not get to experience this. Some of my fondest memories of middle school and adolescence do not come from my 7th grade science or math class, but rather they come from after school activities that I was involved with and the friends I made from said activities. I think that as teachers we should constantly be encouraging our students to get involved with different programs around the school building. I would also not mind leading or coordinating some sort of after school club, program, or committee for students. One of the greatest things we can do as teachers is share our personal passions and talents with our students by getting involved with extracurricular activities.
Tara Caprdja
10/22/2014 12:10:33 am
I think it's great that there was a chat that discussed extra curricular activities because it seems like we tend to put so much focus on the major subjects and forget just how important everything else is especially at this age.
Rahad Rahman
10/19/2014 10:38:01 am
I followed #titletalk, It Promotes reading and literacy. Teachers are talking about how to incorporate literacy and reading in other subject such as art, PE, math and science. There's a article, which talks about an Aunt Sarah who read to her niece Emma when her sister was pregnant. When Emma came into the world, we brought Aunt Sarah to the hospital to meet her new niece. They didn't need an introduction. Sarah leaned over Emma’s bassinet whispered and Emma turned her face toward Sarah. Recognizing her voice from all those read aloud. Emma turned out to love reading, the mother say, "Emma loves reading like I love reading. She’s my best reading teacher." She knows all the extra stuff about books that most people don’t know.
Jessica
10/19/2014 01:16:10 pm
Speaking of promoting literacy and reading into other subjects, I actually just had a conversation with my 12 year old cousin who informed me that she had gym homework. I was very confused considering gym in my days (which were not so long ago) were graded by participation, aka changing for gym and not just standing there doing nothing during an activity. According to my cousin, gym now gives out research projects on athletes, along with participation. I am not sure whether I am for this new method or against. If it is for the purpose of literacy and continuance of reading, great! But I always found gym to be the one time where students got to relax and participate in sports/active events to take their minds off the stress of writing papers. I wonder how many other schools will create lesson plans involving literacy and reading within gym classes.
Taylor Barbarino
10/19/2014 10:54:59 am
This week I decided to follow #ptchat, which is a parent/ teacher chat. While browsing this chat I found many interesting tweets that included links to articles on parent conference tips for teachers. It is important to be familiar with this specific topic because as an educator you need to know how to address and notify parents in good and bad situations all the time. Tweeter @SandraTrach posted a great link to an article called "How to make The Most of Your 10 minutes with a Teacher." The link is: http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/09/18/349337543/how-to-make-the-most-of-your-10-minutes-with-teacher?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=education. This article discusses how the parent and teacher both need to do their "homework" before meeting one another. This meaning that the teacher needs to be familiar with each student and the parents need to prepare the questions they want to ask the teacher. It is important that parents understand the teacher's expectations for their child by the end of the meeting. It is said that a good parent-teacher conference should cover three topics: the classroom, the child, and the future. I recommend all future educators to look through this chat because it provides valuable information and will give teachers advice/ ideas as to handling these parent-teacher conferences.
Jessica
10/19/2014 12:57:00 pm
The fact that there is a Parent/Teacher chat baffles me (in a good way). I think it is awesome that there is a chat where parents can tell teachers exactly what they want to hear and have teachers tell parents the point of the these conferences. I liked the article because it gets straight to the point so that there is no awkward tension and there are actual points of discussion.
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/21/2014 12:33:48 pm
I completely agree! This is such a great idea for a twitter chat! On the first day of my observations this year my mentor teacher explained to my class that there are three important parts of the "team" when it comes to being successful in school, the student, the teacher, and the parents. I will definitely be tuning in this week!
Michael Blinn
10/19/2014 11:05:15 am
So, I wanted to switch it up this week and wait all the way until Sunday for #hsgovchat. I log onto twitter a little before the chat and see this -- http://bit.ly/1nwCqtt -- bummer. I scrolled down in the hashtag to see what they were talking about last week and the topic was the midterm elections. I was happy to see some people from the #sschat in this chat also. This chat focused mostly on what you could teach in terms of the midterm election and some good articles you could use. The teachers were sharing their opinions on which seats were safe and which ones will be close. I think overall that its great that teachers are talking about how important the midterm elections are because I don't think most Americans in general know how important it is. The conversation from the week before looked lively, so I'm excited for next week, assuming they will be chatting.
Amanda Franco
10/21/2014 01:23:45 am
I agree; I don't think many Americans understand the importance of the midterm elections. I know it's not something that I even learned in school. I had to explore what these elections were and their significance for myself around the time that I registered to vote, but many people won't take it upon themselves to learn such things. It's great that these teachers are taking the opportunity to teach about it now!
Jessica
10/19/2014 12:37:48 pm
This week I followed the EngChatUK. I found them talking about "Slow Writing," which is something that I have never heard of until now.
Kyle Savage
10/21/2014 05:04:51 am
This is really interesting. I've also never heard of "slow writing" until now, even though it has been done with some of my classes before, I never actually knew what it was called. I'm not particularly sure how I feel about this. I definitely can see some of the value in it with regards to providing security to students in making them know they are not doing anything wrong. A lot of middle school students are really paranoid about their work and something like this could help them build more confidence. I COMPLETELY agree with you that after 6th grade students should not need this technique and should not need to be spoon fed. I think if we do the brunt of the work for them, we are in essence doing more damage for them than good. Furthermore, I think by breaking down step by step HOW to write and what structure to use when formatting our writing, we are eliminating creativity from the equation. I think that we should encourage creativity in writing and not demand that all students write in this uniform way. This is probably something that I would not implement in my class except for maybe the first or second day.
Andriana Andriopoulos
10/20/2014 01:18:53 pm
This week I decided to look into the #tlap chat. This stands for "Teaching Like a Pirate". I initially looked into this chat because well, who wouldn't want to teach like a pirate? This is a great chat if your looking for creative ideas for lessons and activities. In addition, I noticed people post quotes often. One of my favorites was, "Pedagogy is the driver, technology is the accelerator, and passion is the gas". I also found this awesome article on this website:
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/21/2014 12:35:22 pm
What great ideas! The name of the chat itself just shows how much creativity they put into their classrooms!
Liz Orbon
10/21/2014 01:02:51 pm
This idea is really cool, but I think it can mostly be done in elementary levels. I am not so sure if it would work in a middle or high school setting, where content is more of the focus. However, I do think it is important to create a fun environment, where students enjoy coming into your particular classroom. Talking like a pirate or displaying your classroom like the second grade teacher in that article would be a great environment for a younger child to learn in.
Amber Paradise
10/22/2014 01:49:11 am
Maybe it is because I am going to be an elementary school teacher, so I am mainly in that mindset, but it is interesting that you say in a middle or high school setting content seems to be more of a focus. Elementary school teachers are given the job of building a child's "tool belt" so to speak, with ALL of the basics of education that will allow them to participate in the larger world of middle school, then high school, and hopefully eventually college. There is so much content that we are expected to present to our students, I am starting to think now when am I going to have the time to make sure my bulletin boards look pretty? However, these bulletin boards are not going to be for myself. At any grade level, K-12 it is so important like you say, to create a fun environment, and I remember the classes I enjoyed most in high school were the ones that reminded me the most of being in elementary school. Obviously, not every student enjoys the same learning environments, but I think middle school and high school teachers should not be afraid of making their classrooms more elementary school-esq.
Ciaran Fox
10/22/2014 06:10:06 am
More creative lessons means students are more willing to participate, I know I was when I was in middle/high school. Getting students more enthusiastic about their learning is very important.
Jessica
10/26/2014 10:12:23 am
I absolutely love this blog. As a kid at heart, I love anything that is themed, but I find it easier to incorporate within an elementary classroom, rather than an adolescent classroom. I don't think I would be able to maintain one theme throughout the entire theme due to the various books we would be reading. I guess I really won't know until I have my own classroom. Regardless, it is a great idea to have a classroom theme!
Kyle Savage
10/21/2014 04:47:56 am
This week I chose to follow the chat entitled #collabed, which primarily focuses on collaboration in education. I think that this is so important on many different levels. Collaboration is ultimately the key for any business to run smoothly, education is no different. Without collaboration, teachers, administrators, parents, and students, may all find themselves on very different levels, not necessarily knowing where one another is coming from. Something that an educator tweeted last night that received a lot of favorites was, “Admins need to support teachers willing to take a risk.” This is such an important statement and I love that someone brought this up for discussion. Ideally, an administrator is a teacher’s biggest advocate. Unfortunately, however, many times in the classroom this is not the case. Teachers are constantly being restricted due to administration and they cannot take as much creative liberty as many times as I think they would like. Teachers are not only not supported, but they are held back and it is consequently the students who are made to suffer. I think this is really a crime because there are so many amazing teachers out there that could really do a lot with their students if they were given the chance. The role of an administrator, in my opinion, is to collaborate and work with teachers, not work against teachers; this is why I think that entitling this chat “collabed” is so witty, yet powerful. I wish that I could say that all education is “collabed” but sadly that is not the case. As teachers, I think it is our job to try and get through to our administrators. We need to understand that they are also in a tough situation and have certain requirements and expectations that they are expected to meet. One of the ways to really get through to these people is by maybe showing them a preview ahead of time of the content that we want to include in our curriculum for a given week and try to get them to see why it is important to us. One of my biggest fears about being a new teacher in the school system is that my administrators will not be supportive and I will not be able to teach everything that I want to. I always find this to be a huge internal conflict because as teachers we want to teach the students the material that we think is essential, but at the same time we don’t want to lose our jobs or forge tension with our administrators.
Amber Paradise
10/22/2014 04:40:12 am
Kyle, this tweet that you mention “Admins need to support teachers willing to take a risk” is so important to me, and I am sure many others, when we think about the ideal school environment we would like to work in one day. I for one know that it would be very hard for me to accept a job to work in a place where my administrators, primarily my principal, was not willing to support me to take risk in what I feel is best for my students' educations. While respect and trust should be earned, and I know that having this bestowed upon me as a first year teacher is most likely not going to happen, I cannot see myself being able to work in an environment where my ideals are not validated and appreciated. 10/21/2014 09:57:33 am
So, I'd like to begin by admitting that this was not directly part of a live chat and that while I was scrolling through the page when I searched #hsmath I came across this website. It discusses math and how the current high school curriculum is not appealing to adolescents, but yet society has put this huge focus on why we NEED math. The article makes an interesting comparison saying that when people want to learn more about music or art it is because they have reacted to either of these things. Most students, and even most people do not feel a connection to math because the content they see in school involves things that they wouldn't think to seek answers to, therefore making it a necessity to learn rather than a desire.
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/21/2014 12:51:24 pm
This week i decided to follow #ptchat (parent teacher chat). The idea behind this chat is so important because in order to be the most successful when it comes to their education, students need to be supported by their teachers in school and their parents at home.
Liz Orbon
10/21/2014 01:00:26 pm
I really enjoyed this link! We are so focused on what we do in the classroom sometimes that we completely neglect our student's parents and their role in the students's lives. It is important to get to know the parents just as well, so these tips to make conferences easier and more beneficial are very helpful
Tara Caprdja
10/22/2014 12:03:39 am
I agree that parent involvement is a key factor in student success rates. This is a great link to share with all that we've been reading about/discussing in class! Anything we can do to make the connections to home stronger is great!
Ciaran Fox
10/22/2014 06:08:30 am
Getting parents involved in their children's education is very important, many don't know what their children are learning, and have no way of easily finding out that information. I remember reading an article where a teacher was tweeting the lessons of the day at the end of the school day, which is a great way to stay in touch with parents.
Michael Blinn
10/26/2014 02:30:32 am
I remember that when I was growing up my mom would always ask if there would be any surprises when she went for my parent teacher conferences. I know with technology today, it makes it a lot easier for parents to know exactly what is going on in the classroom. The big thing towards the end of my high school career was taking attendance online so you could track if you went to every class. I love the ideas in the article to make the meetings less painful. If the parent-teacher relationship can grow and as a team, we can get the students to take ownership of their learning, it is much easier to maximize the results in the classroom.
Jack Nielsen
10/26/2014 05:10:20 am
I think parent teacher conferences are very important, because as the students' teacher, you have to leave a positive impression with the parents. And I think like teaching, parent teacher conferences is something that teachers will get used to through experience. It may seem nerve-wracking at first, but it is something that all of us will have to do. Especially for middle school parents, it is important to show the parents you take an interest in their child, and you will do what is necessary to help their growth.
Liz Orbon
10/21/2014 12:58:47 pm
This week I looked at #precalcchat to get a look at some ideas used in precalc classrooms. A woman named Lisa @lisaqt314 tweeted about a review game she used in her classroom that really got her kids involved. She got the idea from another twitter account @algebrasfriend which can be found in this website. http://algebrasfriend.blogspot.com/2014/09/mtboschallenge-week-5-fave-review-game.html
Jack Nielsen
10/26/2014 05:05:01 am
I used to really like these types of reviews when I was in middle school or high school. By using fun interactive games that engage the students, they end up learning much more than they would have if they were simply given a review ditto or practice problems. Also, by having a game in which the class is separated into teams, it can create a competitive environment in which the students want to help their team and work together to solve problems. But above all, I think it is a great strategy to engage the students in a review lesson.
Amanda Franco
10/22/2014 04:55:36 am
This week, I decided to follow the #eltchat, which is for English Language Teachers. The first account that caught my eye was the official ELT Chat twitter, @ELTChat. This led me to the official website (eltchat.org), which has a live countdown on the main page as to when the next chat will be which is really helpful. Both the website and the twitter account have a lot of great resources. They also have a podcast and post a transcript of each week's twitter chats, so I was able to go back and see what had been talked about in previous weeks.
Taylor Barbarino
10/26/2014 11:01:49 am
I love your points! I also believe that homework is only worthwhile if it relates back to the students. Relating back to my observations last year, the English teacher I observed would have her students write journals entries for homework based on what they learned that day during class. I could tell the students loved these assignments because they would always be willing to share their responses the next day in class! These "homework journals" allowed them to relate the lessons and information to their own lives, opinions, or ideas and this is what sparked their interest!
Amber Paradise
10/22/2014 05:10:53 am
This week I decided to follow #kidlit, a chat about literacy for children. Naturally I was drawn to the chat because it is directed at elementary teachers, yet I believe children's picture books can be used at various grade levels for various purposes. Take Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" for example, it can be used in grade 6 and above to teach about the Industrial Revolution. Don't believe me? Look here http://www.brighthubeducation.com/middle-school-history-lessons/38992-teaching-the-industrial-revolution-with-dr-seuss/
Samantha Huber
10/23/2014 09:20:12 am
Amber, I think that it is extremely important for teachers to incorporate different forms of literature into the curriculum. There are so many great books out their that will teach a specific topic to students in a fun and interesting way. I took a literacy class last semester that provided me with a lot of different children's books that could be used to teach any topic. Children will be able to visualize what occurred throughout the topic as well as have the opportunity to get creative with what they are learning about.
Ciaran Fox
10/22/2014 06:06:51 am
This week I decided to focus on #ipadchat and checked out the following link
Samantha Huber
10/23/2014 09:17:51 am
Ciaran, iPads are a great way to help children learn because their are so many different educational apps out their that make learning fun and engaging for children. I observed in Mineola where each child has an iPad so I know firsthand how beneficial they can be in the classroom. It provides the student with the opportunity to look up anything that interests them and can aid them with the curriculum.
Michael Blinn
10/26/2014 02:21:59 am
First and foremost, I love the idea of a paperless classroom. I just finished my first placement and I would spend at least two periods a week making copies. So, the iPads could save me some time and limit the amount of paper wasted.
Jack Nielsen
10/26/2014 05:01:58 am
Ciaran, this is a really interesting topic, and with the advancements in technology with the iPad, I can definitely seeing these changes happening in the near future. I took a physics class last semester that is a good example of how iPad technology can change the way we look at school.
Jessica
10/26/2014 09:55:41 am
I completely understand the want to switch from paper and pen to Ipads, but doesn't it pose more of a distraction for students? I remember working with high school students who were able to use Ipads to take tests and such, but they were so distracted by them that work didn't get done unless I was watching them.
Kyle Savage
10/26/2014 11:40:12 am
I think that all of this is very good news and I am happy to see that schools are moving in a progressive and positive direction. If technology is available, why not utilize this technology and find ways to incorporate it into education? I think that the benefits of incorporating technology into classrooms are endless. Students are already so knowledgeable with regards to technology and if we find ways to bring the technology into the classroom, I think that students will be more likely to engage with their learning if the forum of said learning is one that they are already exceptionally familiar with. Also the idea of collaborative learning and working on group projects can be made so much easier by incorporating the Google drive and other similar technology. Going along with this, as teachers, I think it is very important for us to be up to date on the latest technology and know how to use it with regards to education. The days of teachers not being well-versed in technology are over.
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/28/2014 06:11:22 am
I love the idea of this chat!! Implementing the use of the iPad in class is a great way to integrate technology into the classroom on a level that most students are already familiar with. This is also a great way to get schools and students more involved in going green and saving the environment by promoting awareness of how many trees you are saving in each classroom/school!
Andriana Andriopoulos
11/12/2014 06:08:56 am
Ciaran,
Samantha Huber
10/23/2014 09:16:13 am
This week I started following the #earlyed chat because I work as a teachers assistant at a pre-school so this has always been very important to me. I feel that it is important for children to go to preschool because it is a way to prepare them for what is to come later on in their education. All children no matter what class they come from should be given the opportunity to put their children into early education programs. What they learn in preschool can help them develop skills that will be useful later on in their education. I found a great article that explains how beneficial preschool can be for children as well as how important it is to give every family the option to put their children in preschool programs. I work with preschoolers everyday five days a week so I know firsthand how beneficial it can be for them to start out early on in life. It is also a great opportunity for them to gain skills in socialization. Here is the link to the article: http://www.edcentral.org/state-lawmakers-increasingly-realizing-importance-early-care-education/
Taylor Barbarino
10/26/2014 10:54:47 am
I agree! Preschool is very beneficial for children because it teaches them how to play, learn, and cooperate with other students at such a young age. It will also help prepare them for kindergarten, so that it is not such a shock for them when they have to start going to school Monday through Friday.It gives them a sense of freedom, even though it may be a few days a week for a few hours.
Kyle Savage
10/26/2014 11:10:04 am
I totally support this post! Pre-school is definitely one of the most important experiences a child can have. My parents sent me to a private pre-school when I was young and it was a very beneficial experience. In pre-school children learn essential lessons about playing, sharing, working together, making friends, and even independence. I absolutely think there is a difference in children who go to pre-school and students who don't with regards to separation from their parents and how they interact with other students when they grow up. If nothing else, pre-school is essential for students to build up their socialization skills and parents should not forget how effective this experience can be for their children in the long run. 10/28/2014 10:59:01 am
I agree. I think going to preschool is also beneficial to students. I learned in an article that there's increasing evidence that children gain a lot from going to preschool. At preschool, they become exposed to numbers, letters, and shapes. And, more important, they learn how to socialize get along with other children, share, contribute to circle time. Children who attend high-quality preschool enter kindergarten with better pre-reading skills, richer vocabularies, and stronger basic math skills than those who do not.
Jack Nielsen
10/26/2014 05:19:41 am
This week, I went back to #edchat to see if I could find any interesting articles. As I was looking through, I saw this link:http://t.co/RXzhNLNue0
Jessica
10/26/2014 09:35:16 am
I decided to check out a new chat this week called 21st century education. Although the chat doesn't technically start until 8, someone got a head start and posted about taking high school students to college libraries.
Liz Orbon
10/27/2014 10:47:27 am
I think this is an awesome idea!! To be honest, I hardly ever stepped foot into the library until I went to college. It was hard for me to adjust to this, so allowing students to get a head start on seeing what it is like and what libraries have to offer is a great idea. I had no idea until recently how many different databases Adelphi had to offer, and I wish that I knew sooner for writing research papers or projects. This is 100% helpful for the students!
Kyle Savage
10/26/2014 11:03:19 am
This evening I tuned into one of my favorite twitter chats of all, the #nbtchat, which is the “No Box Thinking” chat. The idea of thinking outside of the box is something that I am very passionate about with regards to education and something that I think should be strongly implemented in classrooms across the country. The highlight of the chat today was a picture that one tweeter posted which read, “I teach creativity more than I teach art.” The picture was posted by an art teacher and it took me a minute to actually process what this quote meant. When I finally realized, however, I think it is absolutely beautiful sentiment. What this teacher is referencing is that he encourages creativity in his students and inspires them to think outside of the box with their artistic liberties as opposed to actually teaching students a way to do art. I absolutely love this. As a future English teacher, this is definitely the type of style that I want to incorporate into my classroom. I think that there are so many different ideas and methods of teaching and learning that can be done in order to keep students excited and engaged about education. When I think about Middle School students I just think about how boring it must be to move from classroom to classroom and deal with the same thing over and over. There is something exceptionally tiring about being talked at and sitting through lectures. I know that personally, on the college level, I really struggle with staying focused in classes where the teacher talks for longer than 15 minutes straight. I find myself playing with my phone, falling asleep, doodling, or literally having to leave the room to stay awake. It does not matter who the teacher is, what the content is, how much sleep I had the night before, once a teacher talks for over 15 minutes I literally cannot stay awake. I feel that if I am having this problem on a college level, middle school students are definitely struggling with something similar. One of the things we’ve learned about through our readings is that middle school students really struggle with maintaining attention and sometimes they have attention spans that are really small. As teachers, we need to find ways to keep them engaged. We need to not only encourage our students to think outside the box but WE need to think outside of the box. We need to be the ones leading by example and showing them that there are tons of non-conventional ways to go about teaching and learning. Instead of assessing a student through a test, maybe have them create a CD or write a poem or act out a scene for example. I think that Adelphi education majors definitely have an advantage over other students because of all of the different ideas we get from our methods classes. The not box thinking chat is absolutely a chat that I want to continue tuning into when I start teaching to share and gain some ideas from colleagues on a national spectrum.
Taylor Barbarino
10/26/2014 11:23:46 am
This week I decided to follow #flipclass, which is a Twitter chat about flipped- classrooms. I have never heard of the term "flipped-classroom" until this class and I thought I would browse this chat to learn more about it. This idea is very interesting to me and I feel that it should have been used in my high school. It would have saved a lot of time for group work and hands on activities.
Liz Orbon
10/27/2014 10:45:02 am
I never heard about flipped classrooms until this class either. That link gave great examples that can be very helpful to us as future teachers. I think step 3 is one of the hardest parts about this flipped classroom idea -- being able to basically switch up your role entirely from the typical classroom setting. It may take hard work to make a flipped classroom effective, but it is worth the shot if it means possibly impacting your students postively.
Rahad Rahman
10/28/2014 09:37:37 am
I remember one of my professor introduced flip classroom to us. To this day, I still understand the concept of it. I don't understand how do you start a lesson from the end. It sounds pretty interesting to apply in a classroom.
Michael Blinn
10/27/2014 06:22:59 am
So this week, #hsgovchat actually happened. I assumed, like other chats, the topic would change from week to week. I was sadly mistaken, so this coming week I will be picking a new chat. This chat is a forum for people to talk about the government, and like two weeks ago, the midterm election. So, if you're a government teacher this is a great chat for you. It could also be a great chat to assign for homework for your students. The idea of teaching through social media seems appealing to me and maybe the kids would get into it. I'm just mostly disappointed that this chat wasn't more beneficial for me. But this chat makes it possible for people to talk about politics with someone they normally wouldn't
Liz Orbon
10/27/2014 10:55:32 am
This week, I followed #stuvoice which is a chat about student voice. It was crazy to see the live tweets pouring in about teaching students self-advocacy earlier in education and allowing them to speak up! Many tweeters were tweeting quotes such as @jacobaweir: " #stuvoice “Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” Albert Einstein"
Amanda Franco
10/28/2014 01:57:15 am
This is such an awesome idea! The more power students have in the classroom, the more willing they will be to learn and the more they will actually retain. I have a feeling that more and more schools will be following this NH school's example in the future once they see how beneficial it can be. Even if it's not as extreme of a change, schools need to practice giving their students more control of their own learning.
Nicole Osterhoudt
10/28/2014 06:05:06 am
This is such a great idea for a twitter chat! As educators we teach children to get a deeper understanding of things through questioning. In order to do this, students should feel that they have a voice in their education!
Olivia
10/29/2014 04:58:28 am
The other week, my sister told be about an instance where she asked her class what they wanted to talk about the following week, and how she was met with dumbfounded silence. It was like they couldn't fathom the thought that they were being asked what THEY wanted to learn. After a minute, they all began to talk over one another, many asking for college application essay help, others asking how to better strategize answering test reading questions and short responses.
Jessica
11/2/2014 12:46:58 pm
As I stated in a previous comment, I believe that student voice is extremely important. What I am starting to understand about teaching is that we are there to prompt more than lecture. We shouldn't be talking majority of the time, our students should be, so their voices should be our main concern. I love hearing what my students have to say, even if it is the most ridiculous comment or question because in the end, if I am creating an environment where they feel comfortable enough to say or ask anything, my job is being done. I would love to see what would happen if I were to give my classroom over to the students.
Amanda Franco
10/28/2014 01:49:36 am
I haven't checked out a twitter chat this week, but one of my best friends happened to send me an awesome website via twitter that gave me a great idea for my classroom and I really wanted to share it with you all. It's very similar to the meme post I mentioned a few weeks ago. There is a blog called Literary Starbucks, http://literarystarbucks.tumblr.com, and I find it absolutely hysterical. The owners of the blog post blurbs about what they think would happen if a given author or literary character was to walk into a Starbucks. A lot of them are really great and elude to details from the stories that the author's wrote/the characters are in. They post a few times a day and it's something that I enjoy reading when I have time. Giving my students the option to create their own Starbucks story that has to do with what we are reading in class would be a really fun way for them to demonstrate what they are grasping and what they find important.
Amber Paradise
10/30/2014 03:02:28 am
Amanda this blog sounds both hysterical and educational. Although it may seem like something small, you demonstrated exactly how the blog can be implemented into students learning in the classroom. Not every student may be going out and buying coffee from Starbucks, but it is a cultural reference that many students at least have heard of or have even been inside of with an adult. I believe making connections to students' lives is the key concept here. It is transporting characters from older books to the year 2014 and seeing what happens. This concept can be used across content areas with historical figures as well. Love it!
Blessy Thomas
11/5/2014 06:20:20 am
I'm so glad I came across your post because I find this tumblr post great. This is definitely something I can see myself including in an English class or something I can see other subject incorporating too. I think this would be an awesome project for kids to do after reading a novel and creating different scenarios for a character from that book. This definitely implements technology in and outside of the classroom and can also lead to other social networks these students can use for school! It's something they can relate to and have fun with!
Rahad Rahman
10/28/2014 09:25:41 am
I followed #reflectiveteacher, someone shared a article on wait time. Wait time is something I try to practice regularly as a classroom teacher. It is always in nature of teachers to want to jump in and solve a student’s problem, help them when they are stuck, respond immediately to a question they ask or problem they have. Wait time is allowed for several things to happen. One, the student have the opportunity to think longer, which usually allowed for deeper thinking as well. Two, it allows a teacher time to think about response and consider what to say to guide that student toward more critical thinking or problem solving. Wait time was something teachers struggle to develop and really hard to do. I think it will improve with time and experience, and age, comes wisdom. We are asking and reflecting on all the right questions and situations on our hero’s journey to being the best educator can be. We live in a culture where we’re conditioned to rush "time is money". The instant gratification mindset. We need to "unlearn" to learn and relearn the power of bring present and patient, the rewards are worth it, and it’s health physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Olivia
10/29/2014 04:27:00 am
I love your comment about "time being money." Especially in New York, there's the cultural tendency to think that every second is a 'New York minute' and if you're not doing in a second what you can do in a minute, your wasting time. And it can feel awkward for a teacher to stand up at the front of the room, faced only with silence.
Christina Lucci
10/29/2014 11:01:12 am
I love this concept. I went to a Catholic high school and our students went on weekend retreats in which I was one of the retreat leaders. Whenever we would have small group discussions, I always let my group members know that I'm comfortable in "awkward silences" and have no problem waiting for someone to chime in. I think it's especially important for teachers because you're right, sometimes all we really want to do is jump in and help the student out by saying the answer for them. And by letting students know that you don't mind the silences, they'll learn that the only way to move on is to participate so hopefully it'll encourage them to think harder and raise their hands!
Tara Caprdja
11/1/2014 06:40:08 am
I think this is a really interesting thing to consider. So many times we get caught up trying to get through material and we don't always give students the full opportunity to think through things. thanks for sharing!
Blessy Thomas
11/5/2014 06:17:02 am
This is something I'm constantly struggling with. I sometimes even find myself feeding students answers or the way I word my sentences. It's really just my eagerness for the kids to learn and then be able to move and solve the next task at hand. I think wait time is definitely something I hope to improve on so that I can allow students to think for themselves which in turn can help with high order thinking for the future. As you mentioned, I definitely believe that this will take at least a few years of development to work on especially for a new teacher.
Olivia Tobias
10/29/2014 04:18:42 am
As I continue to follow #tlap, is see so many teachers commenting on how revolutionary the book is. Several districts seem to even have incorporated "Pirateness" into their PD, faculty meeting discourse, and classroom practices as well. Especially with Halloween around the corner now, there are even teachers posting pirate costumes they plan to wear on Friday in honor of the book.
Christina Lucci
10/29/2014 10:57:20 am
I checked out a new chat tonight, the New Teachers chat #ntchat, and I really enjoyed it. This week's discussion focused on our digital footprints and I think that it's a topic that's definitely applicable to anyone around in this day in age. The moderator asked participants to define a digital footprint, asked how we could explain it to students, and asked how we could explain it to parents as well. One of the very first suggestions was having students google themselves which I thought was hilarious considering on the first day of this class, Dr. Smith had done just that and already knew that I could name all of the elements on the Periodic Table without me having told him (which I was sufficiently creeped out by). How we portray ourselves via social media is incredibly important not just as students, but as future teachers. It's important to remind others that once something is posted on the internet, it'll be attached to your name forever. One participant posted the acronym THINK which stands for asking yourself is the post True, Hurtful, Illegal, Necessary, or Kind before you post it. I definitely plan on sharing this with my friends who are a bit careless on social media and I'll definitely be incorporating it within my future classroom.
Amber Paradise
10/30/2014 02:57:47 am
I think discussing digital footprints is so important, and I think the "THINK" (no pun intended) acronym that someone posted is a helpful tool for students to know and consider when they are using social media. I can personally think back to freshman year of college and specific instances where I posted or was tagged in something on social media that I wish I had not. I knew that once things are out on the internet you can not take them back, but at a certain point I realized that those things could come up in a search on me. From that time on I never wanted anything I posted on social media to come back to haunt me on the road to my teaching career. Students get Facebook and Twitter at earlier and earlier ages now-a-days so it is imperative that we teach our students about their own digital footprints that can affect them in the future.
Jack Nielsen
10/30/2014 09:34:04 am
I agree that we should be aware of our digital footprint, and the affect social media has on the students. I was talking with one of the English teachers today, and he was telling me how he can see the texting mentality of the students in their writing. In this day and age, it must be so hard for English teachers to break the students of their bad habits, because they are spending much more time on social media and texting than in the English classroom writing. However, this may be an opportunity for the English teachers to use texting and blogging resources and help the students improve their writing.
Michael Blinn
10/31/2014 06:43:07 am
I spent all four years of my undergrad being very conscious of what I posted or what other people posted about me since I knew I was going to be a teacher. I love the THINK acronym and it absolutely needs to be shared with all students at a young age and not just new/future teachers. Like you discussed, how we portray ourselves on social media is incredibly important, but I think if we can get THINK out there more, it will have a strong and far reaching effect on students. My hope is that it could possibly also lead to a decrease in cyber-bullying. So, this idea has so many good things attached to it.
Amber Paradise
10/30/2014 03:10:33 am
Since Halloween is my favorite holiday, it is fitting that this week I am posting about something Halloween related. I browsed around #gifteded (a chat about gifted students) and came across this fun article that someone tweeted, from a very popular website (that I personally enjoy) called BuzzFeed. The article is called "19 Spooky STEM Projects For Kiddos This Halloween" (http://www.buzzfeed.com/morganshanahan/spooky-stem-projects-for-kiddos-this-halloween). If you are not really sure what STEM is, it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. This is a concept I learned about last year in my Exploring the Arts class, as I may have mentioned in an earlier post. STEM takes all four of those content areas and combines them into one learning experience. One area is not disassociated from another in this sense, so students usually need to explore all four to complete the task they are given.
Samantha Huber
10/31/2014 12:09:25 pm
Amber, this is a great website because it is always fun to do fun holiday themed activities in the classroom. I used to love to be able to make different projects for the holidays and bring it home to my parents. It is also very easy to use the creation to help teach any topic.
Tara Caprdja
11/1/2014 06:44:00 am
I think it's great when we can find activities/lessons linked to holidays or themes that the kids enjoy. They tend to be more engaged that way!
Jack Nielsen
10/30/2014 09:25:54 am
I just looked on the #PBLchat and I found a video by @edutopia and it was called "Five Keys to Rigorous PBL". Here is the link: http://t.co/0MmspaQORX
Michael Blinn
10/31/2014 06:38:42 am
I love the idea of PBL and I loved this video. Something I identified for my own life is that I want to be a life long learner and one of my goals as a teacher is to help my students become life long learners. I love the authenticity and rigor of PBL, it prepares them for life beyond school really well. I see the direct translations to science and I definitely think I would've been a much more engaged science student with this. I also see direct applications for seniors with a government class, I just wonder how this could be incorporated into a regents global class or US history class effectively.
Samantha Huber
10/31/2014 12:06:34 pm
Jack, that video is a great way of showing what a positive impact PBL can have in the classroom. Children thrive when they have the opportunity to get creative and do something fun. Projects are a way for children to express themselves and get creative with the topic that is being discussed. There are so many different activities that can be modified to fulfill any lesson plan.
Jessica
11/2/2014 12:36:05 pm
I completely agree with the first key of PBL being a real world connection. The main reason I wanted to teach English was because of the ability to use real world connections in every piece of literature and poetry that is discussed inside the classroom. I believe that everything can be connected to life and create life lessons. The reason I really enjoy PBL is due to the student centered learning that occurs. Students will learn more when they have a voice in what is taught.
Samantha Huber
10/31/2014 12:03:42 pm
This week I followed the #gbl or game based learning chat that spoke all about how great it is to incorporate games into the classroom. Allowing students to create games gives them that creativity they desire, and it is an engaging way to help them learn different topics. One game I found on this chat was called Geoguessr, which is a geography game that tosses students to random parts of the world and it is their job to figure out where they are. They have to think like geographers to figure out their location. This game will really promote creativity and communication in the classroom because the students can lead great discussions on the process they are taking to find out where they have landed. I also found a really great quote from the website that says "figuring out how to figure things out is valuable in itself, and can lead to great conversations in the classroom." The students will be given the opportunity to make their own discoveries and figure things out on their own without the teacher guiding them through it and dictating what they need to do.
Samantha Huber
10/31/2014 12:07:40 pm
Here is the link to the game https://www.graphite.org/blog/a-deceptively-simple-game-that-teaches-students-how-to-ask-the-right-questions?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=&utm_content=10262014&utm_campaign=thoughtleadership
Amber Paradise
11/6/2014 03:39:54 am
Sam, I have never really been good at geography myself (something I will definitely need to brush up on before starting my career), but this game sounds so intriguing that I might want to try it for myself. For this game students have to use problem solving as well as prior knowledge of different locations to figure out where they are. This is a great example of a computer game to suggest to students that is actually engaging, yet remains educational. 11/1/2014 06:17:19 am
While looking at #Algchat last night I came across this website. My assistant teacher told me about this app also so I was even more interested to look at what they had to say. This app allows a person to highlight a question in a text book and receive the answer automatically. This type of app forces us to question what math really is today. Is math solving questions independently using arithmetic on paper or are we now so reliant on technology that this is the direction we're all moving in? Up until the last year or so many teachers in my school have been against teaching with a graphing calculator. There are several reasons for their concerns such as the students ability to understand the many functions of the calculator at the same time as understanding the concepts discussed in the curriculum. The common core has forced those who were resistant to use a graphing calculator now because certain topics cannot be done without it. Just this past week one of the teachers was having a hard time accepting the fact that math was a matter of pushing buttons on the calculator as opposed to doing computations on paper. He was extremely upset because he felt that he was not doing his job the way that it should be done. So many people now rely solely on technology to do things that we were once told that we must do without. Many people now determine the tip at a restaurant by using the calculator on their phone or calculate a sale price the same way when shopping. So is it really so unrealistic to assume this type of app exists or could become popular? It does show you the steps of you are unsure on the answer, but what does that mean for us as teachers?
Andriana Andriopoulos
11/3/2014 04:49:38 am
Tara,
Jessica
11/2/2014 12:25:45 pm
This week I followed New Teacher chat where McGraw Hill Education posted an article called "It’s a Mistake Not to Use Mistakes as Part of the Learning Process."
Andriana Andriopoulos
11/3/2014 04:39:27 am
Jessica,
Amber Paradise
11/6/2014 03:44:51 am
Jess, reading your post makes me think about all of the times I have been in a classroom, whether it was during my own education or while observing, where the teacher wrote something incorrectly on the board or said something wrong out loud. Children are quick to correct their teachers, but in most experiences I would see teachers become offended or embarrassed by their mistakes. Those instances are such great learning opportunities to show students that even teachers make mistakes sometimes and not everyone is perfect. I also remember times where students would be reading a textbook and something would be spelled wrong or a word was missing. Students are baffled when this happens. These situations also allow students to gain a deeper understanding of questioning and analyzing information and texts they are given for accuracy as well as biases. Students will be able to better form their own opinions and higher order learning when they are not just accepting everything they are given right off the bat as fact.
Michael Blinn
11/6/2014 10:49:06 am
I absolutely love the article! On my first day in front of a class, I learned that it was okay to make mistakes. Had I not learned it that early, I firmly believe that my student teaching experience would be very different. My first day wasn't as successful as I had hope. I thought to myself, I know what good teaching looks like and I know what bad teaching looks like, so why I can't I produce the good teaching that I know is in me. That day I had conversations with my cooperating teacher, other teachers in the school, and a brief one with the chairperson. They all shared experiences with me and how their first day of student teaching went. It was my fifth day in the school and I already felt much closer to these people. I learned from my mistakes and used those people as resources and will continue to use them. In terms of students, I love teaching after they make mistakes. I find it easier to teach because I can gage what the student knows or doesn't know and fill in the gaps. It's even more rewarding when a student gives a wrong answer and I can redirect it to the class and someone clarifies the idea for that student.
Andriana Andriopoulos
11/3/2014 04:21:05 am
This week I decided to look into, #teacherwellbeingchat. I looked into this because, working in elementary schools for a couple of years now i observed a common statement teachers say in conversation. That statement is, "teaching can be very stressful and difficult". Every time I hear a teacher say that, I say to myself, "well every job or career can be stressful at times". I think the important thing to focus on when I here this statement, well at least for myself, is to learn how to cope with these "stresses", I think a better word for it would be challenges. Stress is too overrated now a days. Anyways, I looked into this website because, I knew I would find things about the well being of teachers and well being is essential and interesting to me. I like this chat because most people on this chat are positive and post about positive things relating to teaching and life in general. There is an interesting article i read:
Nicole Osterhoudt
11/4/2014 05:01:41 am
Andriana-
Liz Orbon
11/4/2014 06:50:59 am
I think being stressed really plays hand-in-hand with a poor attitude. Yes, you can be stressed and be positive, but most people thinking negatively when they are under stress. I really liked this article! It allowed us to see ways we can help our well-being and deal with the stresses of day to day life. I also enjoyed the video about relaxing and meditating. It is so important to focus on ourselves everyday for a little bit, even just 10 minutes!
Taylor Barbarino
11/4/2014 11:51:24 am
Meditation is definitely a great way to release stress/ anxiety and clear our minds. I am taking a Creative Movement class and just like you have brought up the points about teachers being stressed, we talk a lot about students being stressed with homework, tests, etc. We have learned beneficial strategies for students to release this stress, such as Brain gym, meditation, movement, etc. Great points and resources!
Michael Blinn
11/6/2014 10:41:10 am
As I'm grinding through this semester with student teaching, classes, and work, I've tried my best to be mindful of my well being. This has definitely been the most stressful time in my life. I've already implemented some of the things from the article you posted and I've found that they have worked for me. One of the main things is worrying/being upset. I've placed time limits on how long I let certain things bother me and I've seen it help me a lot mentally. I also realize that I have a mountain of things to accomplish by the end of December. It took time, but I have gradually broke this mountain down into things I can handle on a daily basis and I've trained my mind to focus solely on that. So for those who haven't yet student taught, maybe it can work for you too!
Michael Blinn
11/3/2014 08:50:50 am
So, last night I continued my pursuit of a new chat. I tried #aspiringadmin since its a thought of mine for the future. Unfortunately for me, that chat was not active. So tonight, I'm back to #sschat. With the midterm election being tomorrow, tonight's topic was about politics in the classroom. The first question asked how students felt towards politics and most teachers said that their kids are indifferent or they reflect what their parents believe. I was not overly surprised by this answer. The second and third question asked about how to approach the topic in the classroom because it could be one of controversy. People said that a safe environment in which the teacher remains as neutral as possible while empathizing with their students helps foster this kind of discussion. The main thing is trying not to alienate students in the class.
Nicole Osterhoudt
11/4/2014 04:59:48 am
This week, I started looking through #edchat and found myself reading down and clicking on so many different links. I ended up following #teacherchat and found that a topic that kept coming up was different ways to use technology to learn about the new common core math skills. This has definitely been a big part in my new placement in second grade. The math that my students are learning is still very simple math (for example; repeated addition) but the way that they go about teaching this math is very different from the way we were taught math. One particular article that stuck out at me was one about "digiblocks" that explains how the base-ten blocks work in math.
Liz Orbon
11/4/2014 06:53:20 am
This defnitely interested me, being that I am a math graduate. Common core really makes current math teachers stressed out, being that they are now expected to cover a lot more material that is difficult for the students to comprehend in such a short period of time. The idea of the digiblocks is great, and even though teachers find it difficult, it really will help the children who are learning it to develop better skills in math.
Kyle Savage
11/5/2014 04:59:17 am
I think it's such a good idea that you recommended a website to your former camper's parents upon finding out that the child was struggling. It is really important that parents are just as up to date with the technology that is being used in classrooms today as the students are. I know that something that many schools are trying to stress these days is family engagement. Parents and families are interested and deserve to be a part of their child's education. Furthermore, it is exceptionally beneficial for teachers if parents are well-versed in technology and what is going on in the classroom. Something good about websites, as you have pointed out, is that if a parent finds himself or herself unable to help their child, they can still refer said child to a website and sit with them as they do their work. I think that even a parent going to a website on his or her own could be useful as well, just to ensure that parents are familiar enough with the material to help their students. I know that when I was in middle school, my mom decided to be a stay at home so she could always be there for me to assist me with my homework. If there was a time, however, that she did not understand my homework, we were kind of at a standstill. In the year 2014, this should never happen because there are so many other different resources that students and parents have.
Kristine Gavilanes
11/7/2014 06:26:39 am
The teachers in the school where I am currently observing can definitely relate, and even I can! Common Core has basically recreated the definition of math, in my opinion, in such a way that the methods I was taught in HS no longer exist! I feel that students are stressed out with the work load common core as brought, and do not realize that what they are learning we have had to learn as well. It is definitely a working progress on both ends. I definitely see the difference with my 7th and 8th grade kids that I tutor!
Liz Orbon
11/4/2014 07:02:02 am
This week I followed #mchat which is about mobile learning on tablets, phones, etc. @RichardBadger2 tweeted this link: http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/02/what-will-it-take-for-ipads-to-upend-teaching-and-learning/
Taylor Barbarino
11/4/2014 11:46:18 am
This is a great article! While reading through it, I found it interesting how they viewed iPad's as ways of transforming and enhancing learning. I agree with this because with this device, students can look up information useful during the class and work more efficiently on in class projects/ assignments.
Taylor Barbarino
11/4/2014 12:12:12 pm
This week I decided to follow #stuvoice. This is a Twitter chat used to talk about the importance of student voice in the classroom. I enjoyed reading the posts and comments of these bloggers. A post that stood out to me was posted by @Deborahgist that said "Schools exist FOR students. Not listening to them, not making schools about THEM is missing the point big time." This is a great point that explains why schools have transformed from traditional to student centered.
Kyle Savage
11/5/2014 04:52:07 am
Taylor this is such a brilliant post! I agree completely with the individual who said that by not making schools about the students we are missing out big time on the overall point of schools. Students should most definitely have a say as to what they are learning in the classroom. I can think of so many instances where students miss out on many of the things that they want to learn because teachers spend an excessive amount of time forcing their students to learn things that are boring or not useful. The schools that have started to switch to student-centered learning are absolutely on the right track in my opinion. In the long run, these schools are the ones that are really providing students with the most valuable outlets because they are spending time educating students about what they actually WANT to learn about. If our hope as educators is to make sure that our children are actively engaged at all times, the best way to do this is to present them with an active voice in their education.
Tara Caprdja
11/7/2014 12:21:17 am
Taylor, I agree with Kyle and this is a brilliant post. Like we discussed in class, giving the students a voice and a choice in their learning gives them the tools they need to succeed. Like you said, it really IS all about them!
Samantha Huber
11/7/2014 07:54:56 am
Taylor, I completely agree with everything you have posted! It is so important to understand students and listen to them when they are speaking to you. Students need to be able to voice their opinions and should have a say in what they are learning about as well as how they will learn it. Teachers are there to help the students learn, but they need to work hand in hand with their students as a team to get the education they deserve.
Kyle Savage
11/5/2014 04:46:00 am
This week I decided to check out the #7thchat which focuses on teaching 7th graders. I figured that since this class particularly is primarily for Middle School students, this would be a good chat to take part in and observe. Interestingly enough, a lot of the topics that were being discussed and introduced during this chat were similar to what was brought up in “Learning How to Kiss a Frog” and “This We Believe.” I was pleasantly surprised to see for myself that many of these ideas are believed and practiced by current teachers who are actively involved in the field. One educator posted, “Develop relationships. Students will do more for me and push themselves more when they know I believe in them,” and I found this to be an exceptionally valid point. I am a firm believer in forging concrete and meaningful relationships in all aspects of life. A relationship between a teacher and a 7th grade student can be very powerful and life changing for both parties. Reflecting on my own experience as a middle school student, I was always more likely to do the homework and try extra hard for the teachers that I knew genuinely cared about me and treated me the best. Middle school children are the same as all human beings; they will respond in the most positive ways to those individuals who approach them with kindness, respect, and concern. I think it is important to get to know your students and see them on a personal level for who they are. No student ever wants to feel as if he or she is just a number in a classroom or a grade on a piece of paper. I really like that a current teacher cares enough to make this point on twitter and I think it is something that we should always take into consideration when educating, especially on a middle school level. Unfortunately, I think that sometimes teachers get so caught up in what they are expected to do by their district or administrators that they forget the importance of developing personal relationships with their students.
Jessica
11/8/2014 01:13:10 am
Having my first student teaching experience be with 7th graders was not only extremely rewarding, but extremely challenging. I was terrified at first because this is such a vital age and they are going through such extreme changes they do not understand so I felt I had to tread lightly. Through my eight weeks with these wonderful students, I learned that all they want to do is please, in any way possible. I never thought I would fall so in love with my students, but they taught me more about myself than I feel like I taught them. All they want is acceptance and attention. You show them you care about them and you have won them over in every single way. My mind is completely changed about teaching in a middle school.
Amber Paradise
11/6/2014 04:20:16 am
This week I decided to look at the #atpeeps Twitter Chat, for assistive device in education supporters. I came across this truly eye-opening article that reminded me of a boy in my school placement for observations last year. A woman by the name of Dana Nieder posted the article prefacing it with the statement, "Debating a communication device for your child/client? It shouldn't even be your choice." Here is the link to the article http://niederfamily.blogspot.com/2014/10/this-shouldnt-even-be-their-choice.html.
Tara Carpdja
11/7/2014 12:19:24 am
Amber - this is a really cool article. My Godson is 7 years old and has childhood apraxia which basically means he is non-verbal. He only has word approximations such as TaTa for me, or GaGa for grandma. My aunt is his legal guardian and together we have had many battles with his district to get him the services he needs, including a communication device. He has been using one the last two years or so now. There are so many different types of devices that are available for so many different reasons. It is of the utmost importance that people of all ages have them available. I know that having this device has had a positive impact on my Godsons life in a very positive way.
Jessica
11/8/2014 01:04:38 am
This article reminds me of one of my students in the middle school who is partially deaf in one ear and has to carry around a microphone for every teacher to use. Before her entering the class in the beginning of the year, we were told she could hear a pretty good amount, but the microphone device was to make it clearer. I felt that on the first day, she was ashamed in a sense and didn't want the other kids knowing that she needed this device. She would sneakily hand it to my cooperating teacher or to me so that no one really saw. I tried my hardest not to make it so obvious that it was hers, but students started to catch on and honestly, no comments were made. In her case, however, I think it is a matter of hearing and doing well, or not hearing and doing poorly, so I don't think she had much of a choice. Yes, there were days she didn't bring the device and I felt it was because of the way it looked, but in the end it was hurting her. I think by the end of my time there, she didn't mind it as much. In general, students should have a say in their accommodations, but if it's a matter of failing or not, they should have to do what is right and what will benefit them. 11/7/2014 12:13:28 am
While looking at #mathchat last night I came across this website that discusses whether or not playing video games can lead to better math skills.
Samantha Huber
11/7/2014 07:52:23 am
Tara, I completely agree with you about how important it is to get children engaged in mathematics by any means possible. Games are a great way to get them involved as well as making sure they understand the concepts. I observed in Mineola last year and every child had an iPad. My mentor teacher provided them with multiple different math game apps to help them will the lessons and the kids absolutely loved it because it was fun and engaging.
Christina Lucci
11/9/2014 01:50:33 pm
A math chat?! I would LOVE to check this out. I'm not a big video game player but if it would help students' skills, it could be something I look into. Math is always such a difficult subject to get kids interested in and so if there's any way to make it fun and enjoyable, I definitely think that teachers should look into it.
Liz Orbon
11/10/2014 05:42:18 am
Tara, I really agree with that quote as well. Students love learning through games. You should check out #gbl next week for game-based learning ideas! Students need to pay attention to all skills, not just math skills, in the classroom. Spatial skills and even socializing through playing games together can be all the difference for math skills to be improved.
Kyle Savage
11/12/2014 12:50:37 am
I also think this is a really great idea and could be so beneficial. I am not a math teacher by any stretch of the imagination, but just reflecting on my own days in middle school and high school, I found math and science to be the hardest subjects to engage with. I felt like with all of the other subjects I at least had some way to make a personal connection with, but math was always so precise and so distant. It is a common fact that middle school children love video games, especially boys. This could be such a great way to keep middle school boys engaged with what they are doing in class, especially if they seem to be veering off track. I even think that some of the online math games and workshop activities that teachers use can be helpful. If there was a "math video game" that teachers could assign for homework or something after school to review skills taught during the day, that could really increase a child's engagement with math overall. 11/7/2014 06:23:09 am
This article was awesome on so many levels! It talks about how we can encourage a growth-mind set in our classrooms. I feel that many students get discouraged when they do not do as well as they would have hoped, as well as their teachers and parents. It is important to encourage a healthy growth-set because when our students are not seeing the results they would let, they sort of "shut off", in a way that they no longer put any effort into anything they do. As stated in the article, "Values that you should encourage students to aspire to include: Making an effort in learning is important. Making mistakes is helpful and not something to be ashamed of. Feedback, including criticism from others, is important.
Amber Paradise
11/12/2014 07:48:32 am
Doesn't everyone love when something they learn about in one class appears soon after in a different class, almost like a work of magic of the universe wanting all of your learning to connect? This is exactly what has happened to me with growth and fixed mindset, and your post has reminded me of this alignment in my classes. At Mary Cowhey's presentation on campus last week as well as in my Master's Seminar class, the discussion of fixed and growth mindset has come up, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It is really so important to help our students believe in themselves by showing them that we believe in them. When students are confident with themselves they are able to try new things and hopefully break the mold of a fixed mindset. I even remember having a fixed mindset when I was in middle school because everyone would tell me how great of an artist I was. When I got to high school, not that my work was not good, but I saw for myself that I was not the only person who thought their artwork was super.
Samantha Huber
11/7/2014 07:49:34 am
This week I started following the #kidlit chat which speaks all about how important literature is for children in the classroom. I took a child literacy class over the summer that gave me so many great books that would be great to use in my future classroom. It was amazing to see how many books there are out their that have great lessons for children. I also feel that children learn best when some form of literature is incorporated into the curriculum because it is something they can relate to, and most books are fun and engaging for them. Incorporating literature into the classroom is also a great way to bring creativity into the curriculum because you can have students write their own creative stories based on what they read as well as draw their own illustrations. I found a link on the chat that provides some of the best nonfiction books for children which I found to be very useful because these are often the hardest books to find. These books that are listed are great books to get children excited about learning about real life events. Here is the link http://imaginationsoup.net/2014/11/nonfiction-books/
Liz Orbon
11/10/2014 05:40:18 am
Sam, I think it is really important to try incorporating literature into the curriculum as well. It's often hard for us, as future math teachers, to do this but I think it can be extremely effective. It allows of students to think in a different way, besides mathematically. They can be creative and find connections in the readings about math to real life or even their own lives. That link is helpful with all of its suggestions!
Jessica
11/7/2014 09:31:05 am
This week I wanted to check out #teacherproblems. I thought it would be interesting to see what teachers are complaining about, but instead I found a link to a beautiful and touching blog called "Affective Living- Teaching. Learning. Living."
Christina Lucci
11/9/2014 01:40:06 pm
I absolutely love this! I'd really like to check this chat out. I think that reading about the problems that current teachers are facing would be seriously eye-opening, just as this particular blog was. This teacher's blog was written straight from the heart, you can tell, and what he says really speaks volumes. So many students in the classrooms that I observe in are given a question and simply wait for the teacher or another student to answer it instead of challenging themselves. I definitely plan on looking at this blog and reading some of the future posts that are put on it.
Michael Blinn
11/10/2014 08:43:57 am
This is amazing. For anyone who may be reading my comment, Jess and I have been in the same schools for the entire semester. Most of our conversation has been about our students. I know I've lost sleep at night thinking about my kids and how I might be able to reach the ones I couldn't during the day. The open letter to the students is something I may consider doing in the future if I have a class that is particularly struggling for whatever reason. I definitely think I'm going to check this chat out in the future.
Christina Lucci
11/9/2014 01:25:15 pm
I visited the 21st Century Ed Chat tonight and the participants had a great discussion about hybrid teachers, aka teachers who not only teach in the classroom but who also act as coaches, extra curricular instructors, etc. This conversation was incredibly enlightening to me because as a student, I've always been interested in getting involved in different clubs and organizations. After having done it all throughout my educational career, I think it's safe to say that involvement definitely helps a student feel more enthusiastic about going to school. From the teacher's perspective, as seen through the twitter chat, being involved with extra curricular activities helps a teacher avoid getting "burnt out" as well as allowing teachers to begin relationships with other students that they might not see in the classroom everyday. It offers a new light to see these teachers in and I think that'll spur some students to grow close to teachers that they might not have done otherwise. As a student, it's important to have a faculty member that you feel comfortable with and often times for me, that adult was a teacher that didn't actually teach me in class. As a future teacher, I definitely plan on getting involved in other aspects of my future school so as to encourage relationships with students that I wouldn't get solely from classroom involvement.
Kyle Savage
11/12/2014 12:55:49 am
This is amazing! I completely agree with everything that you are saying. Some of my closest relationships that I have built with teachers were forged from after school or extracurricular activities. I think that from a student's perspective, this allows you to see your teacher in a different light; teachers seem more fun, more approachable, and more down to earth. From a teacher's perspective, being involved in other things around the school building puts you out there and helps you to meet and engage with students outside your classroom. Furthermore, getting involved keeps teaching fun! I think it would be so cool to supervise a club or direct a school musical. In addition to my daily teaching in the classroom, it would allow me to connect and bond with students who have similar interests as me. I definitely plan on getting involved in as many things as possible throughout the school, especially as a first year teacher. I could imagine that administrators think very highly of teachers that are constantly getting involved and signing up for extracurricular things. Lastly, a big part of my high school experience was all of the amazing after school programs that I was a part of, and I want to be able to give that to my students as well.
Amber Paradise
11/12/2014 07:56:11 am
Christina, I really agree with everything you say here, and it's one of the reasons I wish I had some more athletic bones in my body because I would love to be a coach as well a teacher for the sole purpose of being their for my students in an environment outside of the classroom. I hope to be involved in my school community beyond my classroom doors, but this also brings up an inner conflict I have been having after hearing the conversations teachers have in the teachers lounge/lunchroom. Some teachers frown upon other teachers participating in the school community outside of their classroom, not necessarily in the sense of being a coach, but perhaps starting a club at the school or providing a math strategy night for parents. This discouragement is directed at teachers who are truly passionate about teaching and working with children who may be willing to participate in the school community without necessarily getting compensation for what they are doing. Other teachers think these teachers make them look bad, and they may feel threatened by them and be fearful that their principal will look down upon them or expect more out of them without getting compensation. Personally, I want to do things outside of the classroom for my students whether compensation is involved or not, I just do not know how I will cope with other teachers being disapproving of my actions.
Liz Orbon
11/10/2014 05:37:34 am
This week I checked out #gbl chat for some game-based learning tweets. The followers of this chat recommended a lot of games that allowed for students to play games while learning, which in my opinion was always one of my favorite ways to learn in middle and high school. @Xaviar_Mas tweeted a link to an article about a program I found really awesome. It's called Ribbon Hero 2, a game produced by Microsoft. It teaches people how to use Microsoft Office, and all of its different programs such as word, excel, etc. in a fun, compelling game form. It is a basic training tool, essentially, focused on the infamous paper clip that always used to pop up on Word named Clippy. It allows you to learn different aspects of Microsoft Office in order to get to the final "level" which is finding Clippy a job. I thought this was really awesome idea and a great way for our future students to feel comfortable and informed about all the different and useful aspects of the program. It's so beneficial!
Liz Orbon
11/10/2014 05:38:11 am
Oops forgot the link --> http://www.groovypost.com/howto/reviews/ribbon-hero-2-training-tool-for-ms-office/
Andriana Andriopoulos
11/12/2014 05:47:33 am
Liz,
Samantha Huber
11/13/2014 07:49:05 am
Liz, I also started following this chat and I found really great games that I can incorporate into my classroom in the future. Games are a great way to keep the students engaged as well as get them excited about learning something new.
Taylor Barbarino
11/14/2014 06:36:16 am
Liz,
Manjot Khehra
11/16/2014 11:35:30 pm
is there a set time for this chat? or is it just revolving? I can't see the time on the Google Doc
Michael Blinn
11/11/2014 02:23:12 am
Last night as I was waiting for #nyedchat, I saw a link for an article on NPR titled "5 Great Teachers On What Makes a Great Teacher." The five teachers in the article have a combined 150 years of classroom experience and both men and women were represented, so I was intrigued. The first question was "what qualities make a great teacher?" The consensus answer among the three teachers that responded was focusing on the mind of the students and to get them to think about what they think. The next question that I found interesting is "what kind of training and experience makes a great teacher?" The teachers that answered believe that teaching is learned through apprenticeship, which I agree with because I've learned more in 9 weeks of student teaching than I did in four years of education classes. They stressed the importance of feedback and the proper environment for the person learning to teach. The last idea that I found interesting is they were asked how the definition of great teaching has changed over time and how it will change in the future. This was a source of disagreement among the four of the teachers interviewed. One person believed that the definition hasn't changed, but the stereotype has because of test scores and new ideas, which may cause issues for more experienced teachers. Another teacher felt that the definition has been changed from performance of the teacher to the facilitation of learning, which makes sense. I found the rest of the article to be very interesting. These people have been labeled as great teachers, so their opinions, as someone new to the profession, I find valuable. Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/11/08/360426108/five-great-teachers-on-what-makes-a-great-teacher
Manjot Khehra
11/11/2014 10:21:18 am
I just finished following #pblchat which was a little underwhelming because half of the chat was spent with the participants debating if the P in PBL could stand for something other Project, such as Product. So I felt the conversation got derailed a bit there and the second half of the chat focused on #cwrachat which stands for college and work readiness assessment. The chat focused on how PBL helps students prepare much better for college and the real world than standardized testing. The hosts of the chat were in some way affiliated with the New Tech Network, which is a non-profit group that focuses on project based learning. Much of the chat was not very helpful because I was hoping to see examples of how teachers have incorporated PBL into their curiculumn, the conversation did not really touch on that as much as I would have hoped. I did find this link that sums up PBL nicely, http://bie.org/blog/project_based_learning_vs._problem_based_learning_vs._xbl . This is another organization that is focused around Project Based Learning. The most interesting thing about this chat was a PBL example by a Spanish teacher who taught a whole unit on the environment by having the students actually plant, recycle and figure out ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Sadly, this was the only example I saw in the entire chat!!!
Michael Blinn
11/13/2014 09:08:38 am
I hate when the twitter chats lose focus! I really like the links to this article because it has some examples of PBL that fit with social studies. I remember either last week or the week prior that spoke about PBL and I was unsure on how to apply it to social studies. I think the PBL, whether you use project or problem as mentioned in the article, would be great with economics and government. It creates interdisciplinary options for economics with math and with government, there is an ability to interpret government documents from an English perspective. I just wish there was more to this chat and I would follow it in the future.
Manjot Khehra
11/16/2014 11:27:39 pm
I plan on checking it again tomorrow, it might have been a fluke, I've noticed that the chats are really dictated by the moderators, so this moderator wasn't so great, but next week might be a whole new different perspective. Only way to tell is to follow and find out, its a great subject, definitely deserves another chance!
Kyle Savage
11/12/2014 12:15:24 am
This morning I woke up really early for some reason and couldn’t find myself being able to fall back asleep. I decided to check out the Breakfast Club chat at 5:30AM. First of all, I am HORRIFIED that people are up at such an hour! I cannot even imagine having to wake up so early ever in my life. As I browsed through the chat, however, I found so many interesting things pop up. Something that I really enjoyed about this chat in particular is that it seemed to be very free flowing and spontaneous. I did not get the impression that those who were tweeting were all talking about one specific topic, but that they were bouncing all around onto several different topics. One person brought up the idea that twitter, in a sense, is its own professional development. This struck me as a very interesting idea and it made me wonder, “why not?” Why couldn’t twitter serve as a means of professional development? The whole idea behind professional development workshops and seminar is to network with other professionals in the field and get new ideas with regards to teaching. I have noticed that just from this Twitter assignment alone I have learned so many different things and found a wide variety of helpful resources that I plan on incorporating into my portfolio of ideas for when I get my own classroom. As educators, I would argue that the best resource we have is one another, and I think that multiple people agree with me; another individual tweeted, “Twitter is google for educators,” which is one hundred percent true. The best way to learn, network, and grow is from people who have already went through things in years prior. There is not a textbook or scholarly article in the world that can actually prepare someone for everything that teaching is. The only time you can actually fully understand the many hats that teaching encompasses is when you are in front of the room.
Andriana Andriopoulos
11/12/2014 05:31:35 am
This week I looked into #5thchat. I chose this one because, I am a teacher candidate in a 5th grade classroom in Valley Stream. I wanted to get some ideas that i could possibly use in the classroom. This chat is great if you want to find out about what goes on in a 5th grade classroom and things that can improve your lessons for a 5th grade curriculum. Something that stood out to me was an article about 3 strategies to improve student writing "instantly". The link to this article is:
Amanda Franco
11/12/2014 10:42:35 am
Thanks so much for posting these strategies! I am tutoring 5th graders right now in a group setting for reading and writing and I can definitely see myself incorporating this into a lesson.
Amber Paradise
11/12/2014 08:08:47 am
This week I decided to venture outside of the comfort of the content areas I know I will teach when I become certified and look at #pegeeks, a chat for Physical Education Teachers. At first I was thinking that I might find some useful techniques to keep my students active during class, or ways that general education teachers can help foster learning in the physical education classroom environment. What I was pleasantly surprised to come across was a teacher generated, by a Mr Fernandes (@mrfernandespe), worksheet on peer assessment. Here is a link to the worksheet http://i61.tinypic.com/ng9440.jpg.
Liz Orbon
11/16/2014 04:31:18 am
I really liked the idea of looking into another subject, as simple as the idea may be. I have only really been interested in looking into math ones, since that is my content area. However, I think things such as this peer assessment are great, unique assessments that we can mend to fit our own classes. These types of assessments allow the class to come together and work as a community or team, which is essential at the middle school level, as well as high school. They can learn to give and take constructive criticism at a young age, which is very important. You need to be able to grow and learn from your mistakes, which is not always stressed until late high school or even college years.
Manjot Khehra
11/12/2014 08:53:30 pm
Last night I followed #ntchat and it is my favorite chat I've followed so far and one I know I am going to be visiting a lot whenever I get a job. Last nights chat was focused around how principals can help new teachers, make them feel welcome and assist them. Even though it was geared more towards what a principal should do, there was plenty of great advice. The first was that you need a good support system, because many of the teachers said they were afraid to ask for help, due to potential consequences, and a lot of times would give up on things because of exhaustion. The theme of having a strong and capable support group in the school was something that came up over and over again because these teachers felt it was incredibly important for them to have someone to bounce ideas with and someone to help them reflect. The thing I took away most from this entire chat was that even for whatever reason the school we get hired at does not have or provide this strong and capable support system, everyone who participates in this chat is able to do that, so no new teacher should feel overwhelmed because they can have this support system via twitter. Everyone in the chat was so willing to help guide new teachers, it was great to see and gives me a ton of confidence going forward knowing that I can rely on twitter for help.
Manjot
11/13/2014 07:46:45 am
I completely agree with how important it is for young teachers to have that support system because working in a school for the first time can be very scary. Children also benefit from these support systems because then every teacher is communicating and discussing different ways to help these children learn.
Jessica
11/16/2014 11:07:17 am
That sounds like an awesome chat! It is definitely so important to have a close relationship with your principal and assistant principals. I absolutely loved my principal and assnt principals in the middle school I was student teaching at. They made me feel comfortable enough to come up to them whenever I needed. I could joke around with them and at the same time be serious. And even after I left and came back to visit, they all said if I needed anything, all I had to do was ask. So of course I asked the principal if I could come back because I was having a rough time adjusting to the high school and he said no because I needed to tough it out and experience the high school. He told me I could do it and that I would come back in a few weeks and tell him I was enjoying it..which I am now. Just that interaction alone is proof of the support that should be given to us as teachers.
Samantha Huber
11/13/2014 07:44:47 am
This week I started following the #kinderchat which goes into detail about different ways to make learning fun for early childhood students. I am interested in early childhood because I work as a teachers assistant in a pre-school so I am constantly looking for new activities to incorporate in the classroom. Many people on the chat spoke about kindergarten teachers allowing children from the older grades to come to their classroom and interact with the little ones. This is a great way to boost an older child's self-esteem and make them feel like they are mentoring these kindergartners in a way. It also spoke about how important it is for early childhood students to get the opportunity to tell their stories that they have. There are so many times that I have seen teachers pretend to listen to kids stories or tell them to go tell someone else. This is devastating for these children because they are just looking for someone to listen to them because some children don't get that at home. People on the chat also brought up how important hands on experiences are for kindergarten and pre-school children because they are engaged in what they are learning about. In my class for Halloween, we brought a pumpkin in that we had the kids carve and we talked about the different parts of a pumpkin. They loved getting the chance to do this because it is something they don't get to do everyday. I found a really great slideshow about incorporating iPads in the early grades and the different advantages to using technology at such a young age! Here is the link http://www.slideshare.net/karlaholt/ipads-in-the-early-years-classroom-41488822 I think iPads are great for kids at any age because of all the different apps out there!
Taylor Barbarino
11/14/2014 06:28:27 am
I agree with everything you just posted! It is so important for kids to engage in "hands on experiences" in the classroom. I am currently taking a Creative Movement course this semester and in this class we learn about how crucial it really is to get elementary kids involved in activities, cooperative games, and movement. Movement is thought to enhance learning, so hands on experiences are definitely beneficial!
Amanda Franco
11/15/2014 07:25:02 am
This week, I followed #pblchat. It was my first time following this chat and I was introduced to many great resources because of it. One twitter account that I stumbled across is Edutopia (@edutopia), which was extremely helpful and is an account that I will definitely be following. Scrolling through this twitter, I found this idea called "The Boss Level Challenge". For teachers, this is a time to plan project-based learning units that can happen outside of the classroom. For students, it is a chance to take on the role of an artist, filmmaker, chef, or any number of other real-life jobs and create/design something while in that role. The example I found (at http://www.edutopia.org/blog/boss-level-challenge-designing-doing-kate-selkirk?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-boss-level-challenge-list) involved students visiting an art museum and then designing an exhibit.
Taylor Barbarino
11/16/2014 02:26:16 am
This week I decided to follow #Nt2t. This is a chat for "new teachers that are new to Twitter." Tweeter @poida wrote "Why Twitter? Why #NT2T? COLLABORATION with like-minded colleagues, thought leaders, & provocateurs is EMPOWERING!" This post stood out to me because I agree, all teachers should use Twitter as a way of communicating with other educators, sharing their classroom ideas, and taking advice from others. It is a great way to become a better and more involved educator!
Liz Orbon
11/16/2014 04:27:38 am
I really never considered using twitter for the classroom, but after this class I can see all of the benefits for both teachers and students, and even some parents. I will definitely check out those websites because I want to try incorporating twitter into my classroom as a future teacher.
Liz Orbon
11/16/2014 04:26:11 am
This week I checked out #teachchat which is just a general chat about teachers. @Gabriella_Rowe tweeted a link I found very informative. It was about earning trust in your school as a teacher and as a faculty/administrative member. http://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/kim-worth/building-plc-possibilities-four-tenets-trust
Jessica
11/16/2014 10:54:54 am
You know, I always find it interesting how a new teacher integrates him/herself into a school setting, especially when it comes to the rest of the staff. Just being a student teacher, the other teachers know I am an outsider, yet majority don't approach me and ask who I am. I have had a total of 5 teachers between the middle school and high school actually come up to me and introduce themselves because they knew I was scared to be put in a new environment. How sad is that? And the majority were men. I find that female teachers could care less of my existence and the men feel more sympathy. What if I were a sub? Would I have to approach? How does one do that? Does it even make a difference? I just feel like it's such a difficult process unless it is a smaller school or you had the time to introduce yourself before the year started.
Manjot Khehra
11/16/2014 11:24:11 pm
I totally agree with you Jess, I feel that, with the exception of the department chair and mentor teachers, that I am largely ignored in the school. Though to be fair, I am sure they have many student teachers come and go over the years. What I find to be concerning is that many of the teachers have their own cliques and groups, I can pick out, within the history department alone, who gets along with who and who does not. These can definitely affect teaching because teachers sometimes tend of have a "me" mentality versus a group one. As educators we should be consistently working off each other to get new ideas and perspectives, not bickering about how many field trips a certain teacher has gone on and how it isn't fair!!!
Tara C
11/17/2014 12:53:12 am
I think that this is a really interesting pick! Gaining respect is not an easy task - I feel that it was difficult for me. I transitioned from a teachers assistant to a lead teacher within the same school and I found that both students and staff didn't really know how to handle it. I have thought about what it would be like for those who are fresh out of college and start working in a school that is completely new. I think this is a good read for anyone at any stage because there are always things to work on as a professional.
Blessy Thomas
11/18/2014 10:10:11 am
I think this is (usually) a universal feeling for being a student teacher. Especially in the program a majority of our class is in, we start student teaching this year while the other program allows for student teacher candidates to observe the first semester and then teach the next semester with the same students they've been with. It's so hard to create rapport with other teachers and even our students because we're with them for a brief moment and then move on. However, it's more so difficult to join with other teachers because they've established their roles in the school and the people they click with for numerous years now. Like Manjot said, some teachers do have a "me" mentality and only focus on what they're doing and keep their ideas and teaching methods to themselves. However, schools would be much better with professionals working closely with one another to benefit the students.
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:39:11 am
I think the best teachers are the ones that are nice to the students, and can interact with them in a friendly way that lets the students know that the teacher and students are not enemies, instead they're working together towards the same goal. Students also respond positively to teachers that they can have a conversation with about something outside of school.
Christina Lucci
11/16/2014 09:45:25 am
This week, I tuned into the No Box Teaching chat #nbtchat once I finally figured out the time zone difference between CST and EST. It wasn't anything extraordinary but it was interesting nonetheless. It went over different teaching styles as well as different learning styles. The concept behind the whole chat was that instead of "thinking outside of the box," we should remove the box entirely because every student is different and they shouldn't be placed in a box. One of my favorite tweets from the session said "Be water. Fill each student's container, no matter the shape or size." This metaphor was so interesting to me and it stood out to me from the rest of the chat. There was also an image that was tweeted that really encompassed the overall theme of the chat. I'll share it here with you all but it basically explained that while adults might see a box and only a box, children see a box and also a fort, a car, a castle, and a house.
Amanda Franco
11/18/2014 08:26:24 am
That's a really beautiful way to think about teaching. The idea of "removing the box" is really important for teachers to do, but it's really important that we teach our students that same idea as well. That's definitely a notion I will carry into my own classroom.
Jack Nielsen
11/18/2014 08:48:07 am
This is a really interesting concept, because it is true that there is no "typical" student anymore. There is no type of students that can represent the majority of students, because every student is different. Especially now, when classroom are becoming more and more diverse, both economically, socially, and educationally. Every student is different, and they are going to behave differently. Placing students in a "box" is a way to categorize them, which is unfair. Students should not be categorized because every student is going to have their own specific way to learn, and that is where differentiating instruction comes in.
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:37:03 am
I like the metaphor of being water and filling the students container regardless of their shape or size, because there are some students that would have smaller containers (ie. need less help), while there are other students that have a bigger container that needs more help.
Jessica
11/16/2014 10:44:01 am
I decided to follow #teachereval this week. While being an undergrad, we discussed the new ways that teachers were being evaluated. I found the system ridiculous then, and I find it even more ridiculous after reading this article.
Tara Caprdja
11/16/2014 10:07:19 pm
I agree that the evaluation system isn't always fair. I don't believe that it's fair for teachers to be rated on standardized test scores because there are so many factors beyond what is in our control as teachers. There are students with disabilities, students with test taking anxiety etc. Teachers may be doing everything they should be and still have students who just do not score well.
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:30:25 am
I agree, unfortunately the system is flawed, and cheapest way for people to evaluate students is for them to take state tests. These ignore a lot of the day to day effectiveness of teachers, and instead focus only on the students ability to take a test, and recall information. There are so many other factors that affect what the scores look like, and ruins a lot of really great teachers that end up having to teach for the test.
Michael Blinn
11/27/2014 12:43:48 am
My current focus has been on student teaching, so I haven't really asked too much about APPR and "highly effective" "effective" or "ineffective." When I first got to the high school, I was afraid to take risks in my Global II class because I didn't want the students to fall behind. I spoke to my cooperating teacher and expressed that I didn't want him having a student teacher to reflect poorly on his numbers. Everything is becoming data driven and I just think we need to alter the way the data is read. I don't think that low scores necessarily mean ineffective teaching. But I also agree, bad teachers need to go. I need a job next year! 11/16/2014 09:38:54 pm
I looked on #mathchat and came across someones tweet that had a daily problem. This caught my eye because I have a bulletin board at work (something my director laughed at me for asking for several years ago) and I am always looking for ways to bring math into the school as a whole. This would be a really cool way to get kids involved. I one time put up Pascal's Triangle and asked students to determine the next row. They had to submit their answers to me and some really got involved. This is a great way to find new questions!
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:32:08 am
This is a great way to get students thinking about math even when they're using social media. Maybe they could see who would tweet the answer back the fastest? Some students like to challenge themselves.
Manjot Khehra
11/16/2014 11:17:02 pm
Last night I decided to follow #hsgovchat and the topic was Immigration Reform, which is a current events topic. I am currently student teaching a government class with seniors, most of whom are totally disinterested in the class, and figured it might be a good place to get fresh ideas. However I was a little taken back at how this chat played out. The chat was run by students, whose government teacher was also participating. I think the point of this activity was to have a debate on immigration, but it turned into a chat where the conservative tweets far outnumbered the liberal ones. While the chat was interesting and great to see students participating in government related topic, refreshing because of my own group's lack of interest, it was really one sided and led to me to refrain from participating. My frustration stemmed from the fact that while I agreed with the students that President Obama is overstepping his constitutional powers, they used generic statements to support their thinking on other issues. The most common tweet during this chat was that immigrants took away jobs, as a teacher we should not just be satisfied with these generic claims, but we should demand real evidence from students to back their claims. In the entire chat there was one lone voice disputing these claims with evidence, but he was drowned out the "they take our jobs hysteria." So what could have been a really great structured chat turned into a partisan call for stopping immigration, which is extremely dangerous as a government teacher because we are picking sides. While the chat was extremely frustrating (and not very helpful in comparison to other chats I've followed and participated in), it give me a lot of direction in terms of how I plan on bringing up this topic. First to address the popular Immigrants take our jobs, I want to show the statistics on what kinds of jobs they take and how they affect the economy. It is easy to find statistics the support and refute the argument, but as a teacher I should be providing BOTH, not just one. The same goes for the debate over President Obama's decision to take unilateral action. I will have students look at the constitutional section that highlights the powers of Congress versus the precedents of the Presidential office that Obama is deriving his power from. By presenting both sides of the coin, I can have students make their own informed decisions. So while I didn't get any cool links for lesson ideas, One of the participants also shared this great link which shows the positive and negative impacts of immigration, this is going to be very useful when students bring up the "they take our jobs" argument.
Manjot Khehra
11/18/2014 01:00:30 am
Last night I followed #edtechchat to see if I can pick up on any neat tricks to use in my teaching. While the discussion early on was focused on the benefits and disadvantages of BYOD policy, towards the end the conversation turned towards apps that can be used in the classroom. While a lot were recommended, the one I found the most helpful was Socrative. This is PREFECT for me and I wish I had known about it sooner because in my government class a lot of my motivations are based around asking students questions. Normally I have to tally the votes and occasionally students end up in shouting fits. Today I had to teach a lesson the electoral college and for my motivation I asked students would they rather have a multiple choice test in class or a take home essay given a week in advance? Emotions were flying high and instead of wasting time tallying the votes myself I had the students send in their results via socrative. It worked out great for the most part, but some students were able to get on, so I had to resort to the tally anyway. I have to teach another period later so I'm hoping it works out better. I think this a great app that can be utilized by all subjects, I haven't had time to really mess around with it, but watching the overview video I know you can have students take quizzes for you. It will then tell you exactly what students are struggling with and this can really inform your planning as a teacher, my only concern with is that I'm worried students will google the answer as they see them come up. While I can come up with questions that would be hard to google I feel that is a gaping loop hole. Despite this I think its a great tool because the quick question and exit ticket aspect are very helpful.
Kyle Savage
11/18/2014 11:49:40 am
Yes - this is precisely what I was talking about before! What an excellent way of using new programs and softwares to advance the learning of your students. This is just merely one example of all of the many different ways that technology in the classroom can be beneficial. Thank you for sharing this with us. I can totally see myself doing something like this is an English classroom to get students to give feedback about a particular novel or character. I think it's so cool that the majority of these techniques and technological devices in the classroom can function in almost any subject or capacity. This kind of creates a universality with regards to curriculum and learning as a whole. Great post!
Jack Nielsen
11/18/2014 08:44:27 am
This week I took a look at #sciencechat, and while it was not as extensive and dense in material, I found some statistics and information that was actually quite interesting. There were different tweets that talked about data that supports different ideas such as marijuana use, treadmills vs. outdoor running, and statistics about ebola that could be used in the classroom.
Olivia Tobias
11/19/2014 12:19:06 am
I think the point you bring up, especially concerning the Ebola scare, is interesting. What is the point of science if not to broaden our understanding of the world, and fight senseless fear. Using science class (maybe something like Biology, but other sciences too, perhaps) to teach students the FACTS that modern media otherwise blow out of proportion in the name of sensationalism and a good news story will help students become more informed citizens of the world. If students aren't learning the scientific facts about the modern world, such as perhaps global warming, ecological conservation, and even things like combustive and nuclear energy, then how will they grow up and become informed citizens in a world shaped by these scientific concerns?
Blessy Thomas
11/18/2014 10:20:16 am
Last night I followed #edtechchat. The majority of the conversation focused on the benefits and disadvantages of the "Bring your own device" (BYOD) to school policy. It was interesting to hear what people thought about this policy and I was even more interested because I was able to chime in on the topic. Currently the district I am follows this policy and allows students to bring their devices to the school and even more so into their classroom. This has definitely shifted from the policy back when I was in high school only five years ago because back then we weren't allowed to have our cellphones in the classroom but instead must've been locked away in our lockers during the school day or left at home. I think this policy does wonder for educating students today because while many people may think this is an easy way out for students to get answers, it actually forces them to find correct answers and even learn for themselves. I've implemented this in some of my lesson already by having a topic and splitting the class into groups and giving them subtopics. The students would then have to use their device to learn as much as they can, and when we'd revert back to a whole class they would have to teach their peers everything they learned about their topic. I think BYOD is a good policy, which some student may take advantage of but the majority don't abuse.
Kyle Savage
11/18/2014 11:45:28 am
I just talked about this in my post on "This We Believe." I think that there are some great activities, ideas, and uses that can stem from the BYOD policy and from incorporating technology into the classroom in general. In the year 2014, there is absolutely no reason why we can't implement technology as a constant part of the work that we are doing. After all, technology is capable of doing some pretty amazing things and so are the children that we are working with. We should embrace this. While yes, it may be challenging and it may take a while to get used to…what type of example would be setting for our students if we run away from something at the first sign of it being slightly challenging? In my opinion, the world is evolving and if we want to be successful we need to continue to evolve with it and not get left in the past. A great way to move forward would be to educate teachers on the various uses of technology at something like a professional development workshop. I think that every teacher, especially those who are a little bit older and more set in their ways, could benefit from this.
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:34:46 am
While BYOD certainly works in an environment where every student has access to a device, what about in a classroom where some students have it, and some don't? As long as the teacher is prepared to use this method in a class where some students have access and others don't, then it is a great way to get students working together. Maybe some of them could share with others in the same group that don't have their own.
Samantha Huber
11/19/2014 10:16:12 am
Blessy, this seems like a very interesting chat because it is amazing how technology has changed since we were in school. I remember how strict my teachers were about having any electronic device in the classroom. I feel that students should be encouraged to use technology because there are so many different resources available to them.
Kyle Savage
11/18/2014 11:37:42 am
Tonight I had a little extra time around 7:00pm so I decided to check out the education chat (#edchat) because I never have before. I was really curious to see what this chat would entail because I felt like it had such a generic title. I honestly could not have picked a better day to browse this chat because the first post I saw read, “Only uncreative people think that art, music, and drama are not essential to a child’s education.” For my entire life I have always been involved in arts programs. I began private home piano lessons at age 4, drawing classes from 5-10, and theatre classes from 10 years olds until present. I currently work teaching musical theatre classes and directing children’s shows for youth ages 6-16 and have had this job for the past five years. From my experience, I have seen amazing results as a result of arts in education classes and I firmly believe that the arts offer opportunities to students that absolutely no other discipline in the world can offer. Arts classes not only allow, but encourage students to be who they are, to create, and to express. The school system has become so strict and rigid, especially with the implementation of the common core, and students do not even have any room to show individuality or creativity in the classroom. So many times creative students do poor in the majority of their mainstream academic classes because they are not given chances to express themselves in a unique way. Not all students are test takers or essay writers – the arts give students the chance to express their knowledge in different ways that they may be more apt to. Furthermore, arts classes, and theatre classes in particular, encourage students to come out of their shell and they have monumental effects of a child’s confidence and self-esteem. I have seen so many students come into my theatre class having major self-esteem issues and being quite shy or introverted, and by time they leave, they are so outgoing and have completely found themselves. Self-expression is so important and this is often times neglected in regular classes.
Olivia Tobias
11/19/2014 12:11:06 am
I agree with you 107%. The arts are so important in children's lives, and too often do children denied the opportunity to express themselves grow up into adults who diminish the arts or feel that they're not worth. But every child has a creative edge in them, and I think every subject teacher——not just studio or theater art teachers—should find ways to incorporate artistic expression into their classes. Sometimes I hear other teachers or student say, 'well, you're an English teacher, you're halfway to creative expression already.' But fractal art and graphic design have so much to do with math, and it's not so difficult that any math teacher couldn't spend a weekend looking into it to bring into a lesson one day, I believe. The rewards could surprise both the teacher and student. How often do math students say, 'when will we ever use this in the real world?' Well, "in graphic design" might just be one such answer.
Amber Paradise
11/20/2014 12:42:27 pm
Kyle, I so strongly agree with everything you said. Something that specifically resonated with me was when you said, "I think that even if budgets are being cut and the arts are the first to get dropped, regular subject teachers can incorporate creative activities into curriculum and I strongly encourage them to do so." It goes along with teachers realizing the influence they have on their students, and the potential teachers have to make a difference in their students' lives in so many ways. Incorporating the arts into the general education classroom setting is one of those ways teachers can benefit their students, especially if there is no room in the budget and classes are being taken away. Just like you said, I was lucky to have a middle school and high school had the money to have such strong art programs. My art classes in high school, especially my AP Art class, was where I grew the most as a person during my high school years. Art class was my second home, and thanks to my art program I was able to leave a lasting mark on a wall at my school with my own mural.
Olivia Tobias
11/18/2014 11:50:55 pm
Teach Like a Pirate practices continue to inspire me as I see twitters posts of teachers trying to think outside the box and make learning both meaningful as well as visually entertaining. Many photos of teachers dressing up remind me that teachers are supposed to have fun with teaching, too. That this is their life, and there's no reason they shouldn't be creating an environment that's as enriching for themselves as for the students. I've had professors tell me in the past that passion for learning in infectious, and TLAP seems to really bank on that notion. Beyond that, also, I've seen photos of teachers pulling up Google Earth on smartboards to show children actual locations in books like Number the Stars, or putting up Caution tape on the door of the room, seemingly not letting students out at they learn a Human Rights unit. I can only wonder as to the debates that might have happened, perhaps on the human right to water as students asked to leave the room to go to the water fountain.
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:04:34 am
Today I looked at #LDchat which focuses on learning disabilities, and this is the article I read.
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:14:02 am
Today I was looking at #ipadchat and read the following article
Amber Paradise
11/20/2014 12:45:31 pm
Wow, Ciaran I immediately want to download that app if my future classroom has access to iPads, or even if I can provide one for my class. I am just imagining the possibility with using the GoodReader app, and the opportunities students who are not yet proficient readers will have by using it. Especially for English Language Learners, sometimes teachers may not realize that for certain assignment the objective does not involve reading skills, but rather comprehension skills. So if we provide our students with this tool, the can focus less on trying to read words they do not understand, and listen to the document being read to them and have a better chance of comprehending the piece.
Ciaran
11/19/2014 04:23:06 am
Today I looked at #7thchat and read the following article;
Samantha Huber
11/19/2014 10:13:49 am
Ciaran, I couldn't agree with you more about how important it is for children to experience different cultures. As educators, we are going to have children that come from all different backgrounds so it is important we make them feel comfortable. The best way to do this is to incorporate some type of multi cultural unit where students will be encouraged to bring in a food and artifact from their culture, and share it with the class.
Samantha Huber
11/19/2014 10:11:50 am
This week I chose to follow the #1stChat which focused on different techniques that are useful for 1st grade teachers to incorporate in the classroom. Many of the people in the chat spoke about how important inquiry based learning is for 1st grade students. They need to have a say in what they are learning about, and the educator should incorporate their interests into any lesson plan. Children at any age should have the opportunity to lead a discussion or take charge in a lesson because they will be more engaged in what they are learning about. One quote that stood out to me during the chat was a woman that said "My best resource is my STUDENTS!!". I couldn't agree more with this because all work should be student-centered, and the best way to learn about their needs is to speak to them directly. The chat also talked about how science needs to be incorporated more into the curriculum and different resources to aid teachers. One resource that stood out to me was a Switch Zoo website. This website provides interactive science games and teacher resources to teach children about different animals and their habitats. Here is the link: http://www.switcheroozoo.com/educators.htm
Amber Paradise
11/20/2014 11:29:49 am
This week I ventured on #flipclass, a chat about using the flipped classroom approach. What interested me was an article that was not necessarily about flipped classrooms, but rather another topic that a teacher who started using the flipped classroom approach has been struggling with. An Algebra I teacher, Mickie Gibbs, posted an article that she wrote about her own classroom called "Retakes and Re-dos" (http://mrsgibbsflipsalgebra1.blogspot.com/2014/11/retakes-and-redos.html) Mrs. Gibbs says that throughout her teaching career she experimented with different methods of test and assignment retakes and re-dos. Personally, I am pro retakes and re-dos, and would carve a place for them into my own classroom. However, I do realize both sides of the argument, but Mrs. Gibbs mentions someone she discovered through Twitter named Rick Wormeli. Wormeli poses the concept that if all major exams in life- driver's license exams, ACT, bar exam, and even teacher certification exams- are allowed to be taken as many times as needed to receive a passing score, then why shouldn't students be allowed to retake or re-do a test or assignment, even students who get a 95, but really wanted a 100? This point makes so much sense to me and seemed to have struck a chord with Mrs. Gibbs as well. Yet, she did not just jump head first into incorporating such a concept into her classroom. It was well thought out, and there is a procedure that students must follow. She noticed a few times where students took advantage of the policy, but for the most part she has only witnessed positive outcomes and deeper learning. The bottom line is that giving your students the option of a retake or re-do requires more work on the teacher's end. Some teachers may not be willing to sacrifice this extra time; however, we need to consider what is the best for our students. If students are going to show the effort they take to perform better on an exam or assignment a second time, and they rightfully earn that second grade, then why should we not recognize it as worth the extra time? As Professor Smith said in class once, if you allow a student to re-do or retake an exam, you should not average the two grades, because it takes away from the students achievement the second time around. It is not a competition to only allow our highest scoring students the opportunity to achieve, we should be helping all of our students reach their highest potential in any way possible.
Taylor Barbarino
11/20/2014 11:58:06 pm
This week I decided to follow #mschat (Middle School Chat) since I just started my field hours at the middle school in Uniondale. I was currently at the high school, which I really liked, but I am enjoying this new transition into an entirely different atmosphere. It's amazing how different teaching really can be in the middle school compared to the high school.
Amanda Franco
11/21/2014 12:52:26 pm
Those sentences are so cute and powerful! That's something that I think everyone would probably like to hear more and definitely should say more. This is especially meaningful to hear during a transitional and/or struggling time, such as the middle school years.
Nicole Osterhoudt
11/22/2014 12:29:50 pm
These truly are such simple things that we should really try to say to our students more often. I know after reading this I am going to try to make myself more aware of it and try to say them to my second graders! Although with todays controversy I'm not so sure I would tell a student that I love them! Haha!
Michael Blinn
11/27/2014 12:33:59 am
Its unfortunate how little support some kids get at home. In my small time in the classroom, I've tried to make my classroom a safe, friendly environment where each child feels valued. I think attitude plays such a large role for these kids. I had one student that was not happy with her first quiz grade, but then I saw an increase in effort and it was reflected in her overall performance in the classroom. She was participating more, her grades improved, and she looked excited to be in social studies.
Nicole Osterhoudt
11/22/2014 12:22:56 pm
This week I decided to take a look at #21stedchat. I found this chat to be extremely interesting because it has a lot to do with the topic that my group is working on for the culminating project in this course; Project Based Learning.
Nicole Osterhoudt
11/22/2014 12:28:01 pm
Another chat that I found to be so incredibly interesting is #edunight. This chat is for educators that mainly post at night. I came across this chat at 11:30 pm while I was babysitting, around the time I usually get to my homework. As a new teacher, I can foresee myself staying up late at night trying to plan for the next day. This chat is full of educators that are in the same situation!
Amanda Franco
11/23/2014 06:02:59 am
I love the idea of this chat because I am a night owl myself. It's nice to know there is a community of people in the same position who are able to help each other while the rest of the world is sleeping.
Amber Paradise
11/28/2014 10:46:19 am
Sounds like a perfect chat for me as well! I always seem to be the most productive at night, and it is usually when I have the most time to do work. Some people are night owls, and other people I know can wake up at 5:00 am to do assignments that are due that same day. I think it is always comforting when we see that their are other people in our same shoes, regardless of the situation, from being new teachers, to seeing someone's Facebook status where they say they just got a speeding ticket, and you think to yourself, good thing I am not the only one! It takes a weight off of our shoulders.
Amanda Franco
11/23/2014 06:22:51 am
I finally ventured into the #tlapchat for my twitter time this week - I loved it! I came across a great article about time management from @MsClaraGalan at Edutopia, which is becoming one of my favorite resources.
Jessica
11/23/2014 12:31:21 pm
More than anything, I have learned that making lists, especially on post-its are the way to go when student teaching. I would not survive if it weren't for the lists I have made, even though I am disorganized with these post-it lists. Although I make lists, I have not put the time restraint, except for a DO ON MONDAY title at the top. I really like the time limit for each job that needs to be done. Time management is so tough with student teaching, so anything that will help you stay organized with school work, grading and lesson planning, do whatever it takes because then it piles up and you freak out. The best part about these lists is the ability to cross off a task once it is finished. Weight is lifted right off your shoulders.
Samantha Huber
11/25/2014 08:04:33 am
Amanda, this is a great article that provides many useful tips to time management in the classroom. I think it's a great idea to make a to-do list in order to map out what needs to be done on any given day. I love having scheduling in my life, and I know that students also enjoy following a schedule and routine throughout the day. I also feel that it's extremely important for teachers to keep up their energy in the classroom because it keeps students engaged. All the teachers I took a liking to were funny and outgoing and always energetic.
Michael Blinn
11/27/2014 12:28:51 am
I loved this article! I thought I had good time management skills in the past, but I find that whenever I think this, I get busier and feel like I have no time. I spent large parts of my undergraduate career without a planner, but making lists as a result. Self-imposed deadlines always help, which is why I'm commenting on Thanksgiving morning!
Rahad Rahman
11/23/2014 08:21:33 am
I followed #ITSnewbiechat MAD is short for “Mobile Application Development”. MAD-Learn is a rich, end-to-end program for teaching cross platform mobile application development. The program includes: an online graphical mobile app development platform, live educator support, an expert coding community, and a full programming curriculum. It inspires and nurtures innovation and scientific creativity in students at an early age that can develop into entrepreneurial skill and vocational prowess in programming. It attracts a young child’s interest in programming by providing a high degree of motivation and success with easy, rapid development of mobile applications in the introductory stages of the program. It enables the student to leverage an intuitive, child-friendly mobile learning platform to create their initial app, using their own ideas, without any knowledge of mobile app development, and then adopt a progressive learning framework that teaches everything. It gradually increase the student’s knowledge of programming principles at every stage of the program, until such time that students are proficient in MAD and are able to create their own mobile app features and functionality. This app provides readily available, dynamic, and safe entrepreneurial opportunities through an App Feature Marketplace to which expert students can contribute new features. They can contribute these features to the open-source domain for further use and expansion, or provide them as a paid feature. Finally, it inspires student creativity and entrepreneurship by creating a movement that encourages “Student Designed Apps” in industry, as opposed to those that were designed by for profit institutions.
Rahad Rahman
11/23/2014 10:02:43 am
I followed #1stchat, First Grade Teachers Chat, in this chat teachers talk about different issues happening in first grade. This chat was talking about were talking about Class Act and how to develop phonemic awareness skills in our students. These teachers were talking about teaching printing, as printing the letters is part of these skills they are trying to develop in our students. They always end up with questions such as, “Why do we always get hung up on printing? Why does it matter how the students form the letters? Is this really key to their success?” And that’s when the Speech Pathologist that was delivering the training, said some words that made them think differently. I think there’s a misunderstanding about modern learning strategies. People think they are connected with digital tech, but they aren’t. Lots of these “new” methods and strategies have been used for years and years in other forms. Tech can enhance and facilitate but the methods aren’t new. Let’s start discussing what pedagogy we want first. Then figure out the best tech. There’s nothing transformative about worksheets or flash cards on an iPad.
Rahad Rahman
11/23/2014 11:03:19 am
I followed #teacherwellbeingchat, Teacher Well Being Chat, this program talks about teachers feeling overworked, overtired and exhausted. The more we feel this way, the more hope and promise diminish. I’m left wondering: How do we manage our workloads and exhaustion? And How do we keep hope alive?
Jessica
11/23/2014 12:27:05 pm
As someone who is student teaching right now, I already feel exhausted. I have cried more than I thought I would and only because I want to make a difference to my students and I am learning slowly how to do that. I constantly complain how exhausted I am mentally, emotionally and physically, but what truly keeps me going is knowing that this is my purpose in life. I want to be a teacher, I want to make a difference, even a minor one. I want to wake up and see the faces of my students even when they don't want to see mine. I want to hear, "Wow Ms. Barkan, you're a weirdo." or "Ms. Barkan, you're extra mean today because you're giving us a test." Even those comments keep me going everyday.
Samantha Huber
11/25/2014 08:01:41 am
I completely agree with you on how important it is for teachers to take the time to relax and rid themselves of the stress of the job. Teachers face so much throughout the day and just getting a moment to take a deep breath at some point during the day can be very beneficial for them. I am very big on doing yoga, and I feel that yoga is a great way to relieve stress and free your mind no matter what work you do.
Michael Blinn
11/27/2014 12:17:51 am
Exhaustion is impossible to avoid. I'm student teaching now and I don't get much sleep at night, and the sleep I do get is very heavy. Teaching is the easy part, its everything else that leads to the exhaustion. My students are absolutely what keeps me going. Despite my exhaustion, they make it very easy to get up in the morning. Little breaks, even if for 15 minutes, definitely jump start you also. I try to have at least one period a day of nothing, usually lunch when I can.
Jessica
11/23/2014 12:17:30 pm
I decided to type in teacher in the search box and found this woman who is an English and Drama teacher. Although I never had the guts to do Drama in middle school or high school, I was always interested in it, so I wanted to see the kind of posts she was sharing. I found a link she tweeted about having to do with questioning and feedback. It is called "Questioning and Feedback: Top 10 Strategies."
Manjot Khehra
11/24/2014 11:59:51 pm
This is something I have a hard time with as well because its either that no one answers the question or there are only 2 kids talking the entire time. Because everything is so structured with my lessons in terms of time I always want the questioning to finish in the allocated time, unless the conversation is going really well. This never works out because the kids always take longer. I thought a good strategy in that link was to only limit yourself to 2 token questions. Which is good advice but hard to implement because when students struggle I always want to throw easy questions out for them to get my confidence and their confidence up.
Amber Paradise
11/28/2014 10:40:55 am
Even though I am going to be teaching on an elementary school level, I experience the same struggles with wait time as you and Jess are talking about. I am not sure if the structuring in your lesson planning is so strict currently because of what is required of you during student teaching, or if that is part of your teaching and preparation style. For myself, I don't know if any of my fellow childhood education peers could speak to this, many of my education classes focused on the "teachable moment": that point in class when a student raises their hand and says something completely unrelated to the lesson or an argument happens between two of your students disrupting your lesson, but rather than moving on to the next planned point you had, you allow the class to move in the direction of whatever just occurred. Obviously we cannot all live in an ideal world where we let every planned lesson go off on a tangent, but I think "teachable moments" and allowing flexibility in the classroom is something worth considering. Whether it was wait time or talking about the deer he almost hit on the way to school that morning, my favorite teacher of all time was my history teacher in high school. The thing I remember most from his class was not how well he was able to get to every single thing he wrote in his plan book for each day on time and on schedule, it was the life lessons we were taught because he allowed our class to flow in the direction that the day set the tone for. While getting yourself more accustomed to wait time, it may also be helpful to consider the awesome things that can come out of the unexpected and unplanned moments that are not written in your lesson plans.
Samantha Huber
11/25/2014 07:59:25 am
This week I chose to follow the #iechat that discussed the different advantages to an inclusion classroom. All children with special needs have the right to learn in the same classroom as their peers, and inclusion classrooms provide them this opportunity as well as gives them the chance to learn general education curriculum. This curriculum is differentiated to meet every students needs, and being able to work with other children will increase their socialization skills. One person on the chat also spoke about the importance of pairing the children with special needs with average students in the class so they can help each other. I found an article about how to implement a successful inclusion classroom, and the article says that it is not about the student, but the teacher relationship. I completely agree with this because the only way for the children in the inclusion class to get a quality education is to have that communication between the teachers to give them the instruction they require. The general education teacher and special education teacher need to collaborate to understand what the child's needs are and in order to meet these needs. Here is the link to the article http://www.thinkinclusive.us/the-secret-to-successful-inclusion-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-student/#sthash.DY225loo.dpbs I really feel that inclusive classrooms are beneficial for students with special needs because of that social interaction with other children. It can also be good for general education students because they will gain a better understanding of what a "disability" is as well as the best way to interact with these students.
Jessica
11/30/2014 11:59:40 am
I can definitely see both sides of having an inclusive classroom. I have been able to experience both types of classrooms and in the end, I think it depends on the students in the classroom. If a teacher doesn't know how to manage a classroom, this type of setup could be extremely difficult, especially with no special education teacher to help, which is what I experienced in the middle and now in the high school. In the middle school it is harder to control and pay attention to everybody equally, but I do truly believe that students with special needs benefit from being with other students. Middle school is a vital time for them and their development, so to seclude them even more can definitely be detrimental. A period of resource room or extra help after school isn't going to hurt them, but I do think it would be better for them to experience what every other child is experiencing. 11/26/2014 06:58:15 am
The article spoke about how doodling in fact helps stimulate your mind in such a way that it helps you remember things better than if you were to listen intently to a lesson. "The shapes, along with the movements of your hand and wrist, stimulate parts of the brain that allow you to make connections between things that you otherwise would likely have never come up with." I found this article interesting because you always hear about students being "diagnosed" with ADD/ADHD because they are either gazing out the window or doodling. I feel that teachers should try to understand that all the students in the classroom learn differently. If a teacher happens to see a student doodling they should not automatically assume it may be a learning disability. "...the fact is that doodling stimulates multiple parts of your brain that wouldn’t have been stimulated had you decided to sit, stare at a blank piece of paper and brainstorm."
Kyle Savage
12/1/2014 03:00:15 am
This is SO interesting to me and I am so happy that someone actually thought to write an article about this. I have always been a very heavy doodler in my classes and for some time I thought that teachers would get upset with me because of this. I can remember in middle school handing in work that had doodles all over it and some teachers not accepting it. I agree that sometimes doodling helps people focus and it is just another prime example of how different children learn different ways. It would be so ignorant of us to say that every single child we are educating has the same style of learning. For some, doodling may be the only way that the information stays. Why should we penalize a student for trying to learn the only way that he or she knows how?
Amber Paradise
11/28/2014 10:58:43 am
This week I decided to look on #nbtchat, which stands for No Box Thinking Chat. Right away I came across the following picture that a man named F.C. Tymrak posted:
Jessica
11/30/2014 11:50:20 am
Wow. This is a powerful picture and reminds me how much I despise even hearing the term "standardized testing." When I was in school, this wasn't made to be a big deal. It was mentioned once and that was it. Now, this is as popular as twitter, everyone is constantly talking about it, excepting instead of raving, they are booing. I hope that when I find a job, I will not have to solely test my students on their ability to take a test, rather assess their progress through trying.
Kyle Savage
12/1/2014 02:57:34 am
I cannot agree with you more! Tests should be the last way that a teacher evaluates the progress and growth of his or her students. As teachers, we should have existing rapports and relationships with our students and know them well enough to know when they are improving or struggling. We need to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses that our students possess and constantly be making evaluations. A teacher can evaluate a student by assigning a project, reviewing homework, or even observing said student in class and having a simple conversation with him or her. In a sense, I would argue that testing is sometimes the easy way out.
Jessica
11/30/2014 11:42:41 am
I haven't followed #engchat yet, which doesn't make much sense considering I am an English teacher, but regardless, I found this link to an article about pre-writing for an essay- either persuasive or argumentative.
Amber Paradise
12/9/2014 12:15:24 pm
Jess, I like what you say here about pre-writing not being restricted to an independent activity. In some cases classrooms foster a competitive environment where students do not want to share their ideas with their classmates. However, their is a benefit to turning pre-writing into a group discussion because just as you say, certain students might be stuck, others may have difficulty articulating what they believe into the right words, and hearing what their peers have to say may spark inspiration or give them the head start they need.
Kyle Savage
12/1/2014 02:54:19 am
This week, since it is likely to be my last blog about a twitter post, I decided to check out the teacher well being chat (#teacherwellbeingchat.) I thought that this was really important because teachers often times become so caught up in what they have to get done in a day, that they do not take time for themselves. The well being of the teacher is just as important as the well being of the student. If a teacher does not take care of him or herself or make time for him or herself, said teacher can easily become burnt out and fed up with teaching all together. I was happy to find that one of the posts I read on this chat was someone who wrote, “Teachers need to take time to breathe.” Such a simple post had such a strong impact on me. I have not even started student teaching yet and I find myself ALWAYS being exhausted. I can be up and about for only two hours and I am tired before noon. I think this is because as teacher candidates and teachers our lives are so hectic. Especially right now when we are in grad school, most of us are balancing, work, school, student teaching, family, social life, etc. I can totally understand how finding time to breathe can easily become last on the priority list even though in reality it should be one of the most important things we do. “Me time” is always essential in any profession and teaching should be no different. As teachers, we are constantly in interaction with people throughout the day. This can become very tiring and very frustrating. It is exceptionally important that we take time every now and then to take a breath and to recharge.
Michael Blinn
12/6/2014 11:13:46 am
I definitely need some help with slowing down. I've felt overwhelmed more times in the past semester than I did all of my undergraduate career. I hope you found the tips useful and if you can start implementing them now before student teaching, you may have an easier adjustment.
Sabinekearney
12/10/2014 04:03:31 am
This is right up my alley. I have to add this chat to my favs. I think we transition from being students, to be teachers and forget to take just a few minutes to refresh ourselves. This becomes such a vital part of who we become as teachers. No one wants to become the cranky teacher. Thank you sharing this chat :)
Blessy Thomas
12/10/2014 04:40:07 am
I don't think I've ever been more burned out than I have this semester with student teaching, classes, and work. I'm constantly going and moving that I don't have time for myself and when the weekends come, I crash and catch up on as much sleep as I can. I think that this is a huge part in why many new teachers burn out so quickly and easily because they have so much going on with their plate. My CP now barely gets to see any of her friends or even is able to talk to any because her off periods are used to plan and prepare for her 3 prep courses. I find myself caught up with this as well because I'm planning for my class and trying to put what I need for the entire week together. Feeling like it's not possible to take a sick day because of what your cp or chairperson may think, I definitely think its necessary especially for those who are starting out just so they can rest, refresh, and restart. Hopefully I can take a look at that link that was posted just to find ways to unwind.
Manjot Khehra
12/2/2014 01:48:40 am
Last night I decided to follow #ELLCHAT because in my current school district there are not many English language learners. In both my student teaching experiences I have not had one ELL student which is unfortunate because that gives me zero experience with that demographic. Chances are I will be working in a school district that has many ELLs. The chat had awesome insight, but the biggest theme that kept coming up was how important it was to connect with the parents of ELLs. I can speak from personal experience to how important this is because English is not my first language. I began to learn English as a 8 year old and a large part of success was due to how well the teachers communicated with my mom. It is impossible to teach a language to students within the 8 hours they are at school, in order to truly succeed they have to be constantly practicing at home. Many of the teachers in this chat stressed this very point. It can be hard getting this point across, but teachers have to make all efforts to do so. This is discussed further in this blog
Michael Blinn
12/6/2014 12:46:47 am
I enjoyed our little conversation about this in our social studies class on Wednesday night. When I was in the middle school student teaching, I had 2 ELLs. Early in the year, parent meetings were arranged for both students. I was able to attend one. In that meeting, the parents didn't come, but instead sent the sister who is 22. I spoke with their ELL teacher at conference day asking about the other meeting and the mother admitted that her son had been exhibiting some of the behaviors he showed in class, but I don't know how much action was taken. The parent involvement was minimal and I have to check in with my cooperating teacher from the middle school to see if any progress has been made. I connected pretty well with one student and he gradually began to participate in class and show some improvements in his work. I hope the growth continued.
Jack Nielsen
12/7/2014 09:11:47 pm
Manjot, like you, in my school district I have not had any English Language Learners, so I don't have any experience teaching them. And being able to teach ELL students is such a necessity now, I'm sure everyone in this class has had to take the EAS exam.
Amber Paradise
12/9/2014 12:21:19 pm
Your personal experience as well as the common topic on that chat of communicating with parents have further emphasized for me the importance of having open communication with the parents of my students. I can say that I have seen what good communication and poor communication with parents of ELL's can do. I am not sure of the specific strategies that your teachers may have used to communicate with your mother, or if she was able to also speak English, but there are a few strategies I have learned about that I am eager to implement in my future classroom. One professor I have sends all notes home to families electronically. She finds it beneficial because parents of ELL's who may not be able to have a phone conversation with her can put what she wrote in her e-mail into a translator and communicate via e-mail. Another way I hope to keep communication open with the parents of my students is to make them feel welcome in my classroom and show them how they can be active participants in their child's learning.
Rahad Rahman
12/5/2014 10:32:29 am
I followed #rechat, this chat is about rewind or rethinking STEM (STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education.) R. L. Dabney said, "The education of our children is the most important work on earth," but he didn't mention that it is the most difficult work on earth. Nobody has it just right and there's always room for improvement. Public schools, private Christian schools, and home schools can all point to particular successes and they also provide myriad examples of disasters. I know some rotten kids that have come out of public schools, private Christian schools, and home schools. Cultural conditions, educational difficulties, personal and corporate limitations, bad experiences and a host of other problems make our educational decisions complex, challenging, and often frustrating. I believe as teachers we have keep all this things in mind as we are teaching and making lesson plans. Therefore researchers thought of making education in STEM forms, so that students can show that they are learning by making things instead of reading and writing about it.
Rahad Rahman
12/5/2014 10:48:17 am
Michael Blinn
12/6/2014 12:41:39 am
I take a similar approach in one of the electives I'm student teaching. The class is called history of sports in American culture. I'm wrapping up a mini-unit on steroids and how that does or does not reflect our culture. When doing some history before discussion, one students said that when the players were complaining about salaries and the average was 1.2 million, that it was still too much. So, after unpacking that, I asked my cooperating teacher if we could do a unit on the economics of sports due to class interest. We're currently planning it.
Jack Nielsen
12/7/2014 09:16:43 pm
I really enjoyed the "No-grades" classes because there was always so much pressure to study, do homework, and get good grades in my graded classes, I never really had time to enjoy school. Looking back on college, I think it is the same story. There were so many physics classes I took at Adelphi that were so interesting, but I don't think I ever appreciated them for what they were because I was always nervous about my grades. I wish I could go back and have more conversations and just listen to my teacher in more of a stress-free mindset. I agree with you that we definitely rate our knowledge by numbers, and that is such a shame. Like you mentioned in your post, being able to have a conversation about something is another way to demonstrate knowledge, and take notice in how hard the students are actually working.
Michael Blinn
12/6/2014 11:42:08 am
As I sit at work at school, by myself, until midnight I figured now would be a good time to catch up on posts. Since I have been trying to balance everything in my life, I typed in #teacherwellbeingchat into search on twitter. I found a link to this ted talk about emotional well being: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rni41c9iq54&list=UUsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q
Rahad Rahman
12/7/2014 08:11:45 am
I followed #nbtchat, it is about teaching students to make them learn not measuring their knowledge based on points. Among the crowd of broken parts in the traditional educational system is the idea of extra credit. It causes an angry shiver and frustration that is hard to verbalize in an appropriate manner. Although I appreciate the conscientious student, who is watching his/her own progress and is desperate for those extra points, but it’s a little annoying that the idea that their learning can be accounted for in additional "credit", when we have already identified that this is NOT what learning is about. In a classroom that focuses on standards based grading or no grades at all, it's not about how much a student is able to jump through hoops, it's about mastery. It's about practice until there is evidence that learning is mastered and then able to be applied or transferred as needed.
Rahad Rahman
12/7/2014 08:20:00 am
I followed #bcedchat, in this chat they stress the topic about an approach to feedback. As teachers we should never use red pen to write feedbacks. Teacher should try to build into units of work multiple formative opportunities which allow students to try things, reflect upon their learning, and try again. Students should be encouraged see a mark, not as an endpoint, but as a formative learning opportunity. Students should explicitly be told that a mark is one number attached to one moment in time, not a judgment of them and their worth. That even summative assessments are really learning opportunities, to reflect on areas of strength, realizations of learning and areas for development.
Rahad Rahman
12/7/2014 08:36:58 am
I followed #titletalk, this chat talking about encouraging students to read books and promoting reading and literacy. The school I’m students teaching now is one of the developing schools in Harlem. In the beginning of the school year as I was assessing students on their running records, I would ask students what types of book they like reading and form most students would reply, “I don’t like reading.” Then I after the assessment I would realize the students who don’t like reading are the students who are the struggling readers. While, I am student teaching I try to make reading interesting. I try to give students books and show the book being read aloud to them on youtube. They find this interesting; also I try to make reading fun by making them draw the book on a graphic organizer by sequencing and ordering.
Amber Paradise
12/9/2014 12:48:26 pm
This week I looked at #edreform, a chat on education reform. I came across a tweet regarding a recent article that a man by the name of Howard Fuller wrote about anti-Teach For America protests (http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?DISPATCHED=true&cid=25983841&item=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2014%2F12%2F10%2Fthe-anti-tfa-protests-are-misguided.html). The part of the article that intrigued me the most was that the particular protesters that Fuller talks about in his article claim the people involved in Teach For America are "white, elite Ivy Leaguers out of touch with the needs of communities." Regardless of the demographic of the corps members involved in Teach For America, I like to believe that the people who are a part of the program have a passion for making a difference at all costs. Granted, there are people all over the country in teacher preparation programs at 4 year institutions who will graduate with a wealth of knowledge that goes beyond what a TFA member may learn in there two years of training. However, the reality that I have witnessed first hand is that the majority of those teacher candidates who are highly qualified and are the best of the best do not tend to willingly go into areas of poverty where there are limited resources and teacher supports and securities. I just wonder why an organization that, from an outsider, appears to only be trying to create better lives for the children who come in contact with the teachers in the program, is scrutinized. The teachers that come out of TFA may be out of touch with the needs of the community they go into at first, but many of the teachers that do have the knowledge of the quantity and quality of the needs the students in those communities need satisfied are not willing to accept jobs in those areas.
Ciaran Fox
12/10/2014 01:42:36 am
This week I decided to look at #LDchat and focus on the following article:
sabinekearney
12/10/2014 03:38:06 am
#ntchat 10/15 This chat focused on how to keep the parents in the loop with information about their child’s schoolwork, assessments and progress. In this chat I mentioned that my daughters 5th grad teacher uses the remind app to let the parents know about big assignments and exams that are coming up. We discussed the use of google drive as a way for the parents to see assignments that are submitted by the S and also feedback from the T. This chat was filled with various topics all S centered though. We discussed parent teacher conference frustrations. How to ease the complaints? Sometimes the parents are rushing from work and may be tired and hungry which may lead to bit of an agitated meeting. Sometimes providing snacks, fruits might help. Simply acknowledging a parents comments or complaints shows them you are not dismissing their concern. http://t.co/1LvmhUZP3A
sabinekearney
12/10/2014 03:39:11 am
#edtechchat 9/22 Student centered vs. teacher centered. Best quote “students don’t learn from technology, they learn with technology. Technology is a contributing factor not the only determining factor. Technology helps us do things differently. Technology allows for a creative spin on learning and the creative space. The chat focused on if learning allows us to do things so differently shouldn’t our classrooms look different. http://t.co/RiybojkW4H are we allowing our students to be digital citizens in the classroom as well as at home.
sabinekearney
12/10/2014 03:39:50 am
#nyedchat this chat session focused on explaining social media to Tier 1 teachers. This was my first tweetchat I actually enjoyed it. The conversation was focused on how to get educators to understand the link between the benefits of using social media to communicate with students and essentially meet them on where they play. 9/22 Cnnect, Contribute, collaborate One of the articles was “Harnessing Children’s Natural ways of Learning”. http://t.co/DzkHc4f9Tv
Sabine
12/10/2014 03:44:37 am
#ntchat http://t.co/kGk6QxJYW8 10/22 this chat focused on classroom management. How to reengage the students when they go off into daydream land or get a bit too noisy? In many of the classes where I have observed the clapping method seems to work throughout the school. We discussed rewards should not be expected when the class is on good behavior since that is expected from the students and the class. We do not want to create a trophy generation.
sabinekearney
12/10/2014 03:49:50 am
#edchat 11/10 What is the difference between a flipped classroom and flipped learning? http://t.co/jwvqFX9UpD during this chat we focused on flipped classrooms, flipped learning, and the types of technology used in the classroom. Some of the participants talked about using eportfolios with their students. At my daughters school they use googledrive as a way for them to save their work (too many lost flashdrives) and the parents have access to see what the student is submitting to their teacher.
Blessy Thomas
12/10/2014 04:35:27 am
Last week I followed the #ELLCHAT but forgot to post about it. Manjot explained what went on in the chat but I found this chat helpful because within both my student teaching experiences I've only had one ell students. Though many of may hope or believe that we won't have many ell students in our days, we must come to realize and understand that this is not true and that we must accomdate these students who are having trouble with the language. The student I currently work with speaks English decently but more so has trouble reading and understanding what he is reading. Because of this, all the tests and quizzes given in class is rated on a P/F scale for him and if he fails he must attend extra help (which he does) to work one on one with the teacher. The teacher I'm under is very understanding and works so much to make sure that the student is able to access everything he needs and is put in a group during group work that does everything effectively and efficiently. Like Manjot said, parents are also key to this relationship. The parents are always up to date one his progress due to weekly reports the teacher and I send out every two weeks that tells parents the grades their students received on different assignments and how they behaved. The ell students father also recently remarried and so his wife's daughter, the students sister, is also in this class so she helps him at home. In order to help these students we must be able to take time out of day and go the extra mile to help these students succeed not only in school but outside in the "real world" as well.
Blessy Thomas
12/10/2014 04:47:21 am
#7thchat was another chat that I recently followed. I decided to follow this class because I currently co-teach 7th graders in my student teaching placement. Although the kids in 7th grade this year are definitely a handful and wild, this chat helped me understand more about them and reminded me about how important it is to create a relationship with them. Most middle schools start with 6th grade, however the one I currently student teach at begins at 7th grade and these students feed in from 6 different elementary schools. So here, they are considered the babies when they just came back from being the top of the class a year ago. We have to be more understanding and caring with these students but also prepare them for being 8th graders and how high school will be for them and allowing them to be independent. Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
October 2023
Whittney Smith, Ed.D.Dr. Smith is the Principal of Mineola High School in Garden City Park, NY. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Ruth Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University. 
|
