Tuesday, October 25, 2016
The Finale
Today group 4, the final group, began teaching. The teacher candidates had to teach about plate tectonics. I completely forgot everything about that topic, until they introduced it today. The students were very chatty today, which unfortunately took away from their lesson a little bit. A lot of their lesson was refocusing students. They did their best quieting the children down, but there was only so much they could do. One criticsm against them was that the teacher raised her hands and everyone instantly quieted down and that they should have done that as well. I strongly disagree with this critic. The difference between a teacher and a substitute teacher, which we are basically portraying in fieldwork, is enormous to a student. There is no student that has the same respect and will corporate the same with their teacher verses a substitute. My peers attempted to use the schools terminology, such as "give me five" but it didn't have the same effect on the students for obvious reasons. Besides the behavior issues which were an uncontrollable event, the students still gained the knowledge the candidates were teaching. The lesson concluded with a critical thinking question which I thought was great. If the student can use critical thinking and come to their own conclusion it is obvious they understood the lesson. Overall every group has done a great job. Some of us it was our first time, others their second but overall everyone shined. I'm very eager to see what our final day of field work has to hold and how group four will finish the show!
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Teaching like a Pro!
Another great teaching day complete! Today was group two's second day teaching. Today's lesson really tied everything group two had taught together. The students were all given 3 different play-doh colors. Once again great choice of manipulative's.
Since the students don't use these type of things in class often it excites them and interests them, and they were very excited today! It's so crucial to introduce objects that grab students interest, it creates a more engaged learning environment. A lot of students learn by doing and supplying hands on activities expands their knowledge greatly. Group two made great usage out of materials.
The students were given instructions to create a rock, classify it as igneous or sedimentary and leave a clue to the observer to guess its classification.
Students used the steps of inquiry to solve the question.
The teachers did not model or tell the steps of inquiry to the class, they were given a worksheet following the steps. My group made a similar mistake, the purpose of explaining it to the class is to allow for multiple opportunities for students to hear directions and to receive directions in different formats. It's beneficial to provide different formats of direction because all students learn differently, some auditory and others visually. The opportunity we have to teach the whole class and observe other teacher candidates is very crucial. It's all a learning opportunity for us to prepare us for edtpa and the future in general.
Since the students don't use these type of things in class often it excites them and interests them, and they were very excited today! It's so crucial to introduce objects that grab students interest, it creates a more engaged learning environment. A lot of students learn by doing and supplying hands on activities expands their knowledge greatly. Group two made great usage out of materials.The students were given instructions to create a rock, classify it as igneous or sedimentary and leave a clue to the observer to guess its classification.
Students used the steps of inquiry to solve the question.
The teachers did not model or tell the steps of inquiry to the class, they were given a worksheet following the steps. My group made a similar mistake, the purpose of explaining it to the class is to allow for multiple opportunities for students to hear directions and to receive directions in different formats. It's beneficial to provide different formats of direction because all students learn differently, some auditory and others visually. The opportunity we have to teach the whole class and observe other teacher candidates is very crucial. It's all a learning opportunity for us to prepare us for edtpa and the future in general.
Monday, October 17, 2016
Group Two's First Experience
Group two completed their first lesson plan. Having went already I know how nerve raking it can be up there. Everyone is in the same boat and we are all bound to make some mistakes! They did a great job for their first time. The teacher candidates all spoke loud, clearly and evenly. It was great that everyone had an opportunity to take control of the lesson and speak. They engaged the class by asking questions and having students respond to pictures and vocabulary words in their slide show. Their slide show needed some improvement. The words and definitions came in together, there was not transitioning between slides and there were too many small font words. It seemed like the PowerPoint was used as a tool for themselves rather than the students.
We made the same mistake in our first lesson. I hope group three and four can learn from our mistakes!
The candidates did a check for understanding by asking students to raise their hands. It is a quick and easy way to check to see that all are understanding the concept. At first the check was being used properly but it got less purposeful as the lesson went on. One candidate asked the students to raise their hand if they agreed with a student, less than ten raised their hands. The lesson went on with out addressing the other 13 students. The first time is very stressful; between timing, getting students under control, and just being up at the front it's a lot to take in. Overall I think the group did great. The teachers brought in little white boards for each student. I thought this was such a great idea. Students don't usually use those tools in their classroom so it instantly engaged and excited the students. It was a great choice and I can't wait to see what they have planned for their second day! Awesome job Group 2!!!!
We made the same mistake in our first lesson. I hope group three and four can learn from our mistakes!
The candidates did a check for understanding by asking students to raise their hands. It is a quick and easy way to check to see that all are understanding the concept. At first the check was being used properly but it got less purposeful as the lesson went on. One candidate asked the students to raise their hand if they agreed with a student, less than ten raised their hands. The lesson went on with out addressing the other 13 students. The first time is very stressful; between timing, getting students under control, and just being up at the front it's a lot to take in. Overall I think the group did great. The teachers brought in little white boards for each student. I thought this was such a great idea. Students don't usually use those tools in their classroom so it instantly engaged and excited the students. It was a great choice and I can't wait to see what they have planned for their second day! Awesome job Group 2!!!!
Collaboration
What does collaboration mean to you?
Collaboration is just a word holding a definition until a group of people make it mean something! To collaborate is to work together as a team, discuss ideas, and achieve a common goal. Group projects has always been something I dreaded doing. I always ended up being the one stuck with all the work while no one else said anything. I remember my first semester in college I was assigned a group project and presentation. My group all exchanged numbers and planned to meet up in the library on numerous occasions. I was the only one to show. I ended up completing the entire project and presenting in front of the classroom by myself while my group stood to the side and then thanked me after class for pulling together such a wonderful project. Everyone got an A because of my work. I was furious and hated group projects since that day. When I heard we had to do a group lesson plan and teach as a group I became very nervous. After meeting with my group I felt completely different. Everyone had such great ideas to contribute. We all had the same common goal in mind and would do anything to achieve it. We always showed up for group meetings, we met after classes, before classes and even had a Sunday pizza dinner together while completing our planning. Everyone contributed evenly and we all came to mutual agreements. Everyone had different experience that contributed to our lesson and made it better. It was great to work with such awesome future teachers. Luckily four of us will be in Social Studies Methods together next semester, so hopefully we teach as a unit again next semester!
Collaboration is just a word holding a definition until a group of people make it mean something! To collaborate is to work together as a team, discuss ideas, and achieve a common goal. Group projects has always been something I dreaded doing. I always ended up being the one stuck with all the work while no one else said anything. I remember my first semester in college I was assigned a group project and presentation. My group all exchanged numbers and planned to meet up in the library on numerous occasions. I was the only one to show. I ended up completing the entire project and presenting in front of the classroom by myself while my group stood to the side and then thanked me after class for pulling together such a wonderful project. Everyone got an A because of my work. I was furious and hated group projects since that day. When I heard we had to do a group lesson plan and teach as a group I became very nervous. After meeting with my group I felt completely different. Everyone had such great ideas to contribute. We all had the same common goal in mind and would do anything to achieve it. We always showed up for group meetings, we met after classes, before classes and even had a Sunday pizza dinner together while completing our planning. Everyone contributed evenly and we all came to mutual agreements. Everyone had different experience that contributed to our lesson and made it better. It was great to work with such awesome future teachers. Luckily four of us will be in Social Studies Methods together next semester, so hopefully we teach as a unit again next semester!
Second Day Teaching
During my groups second lesson plan we recreated a Mineral show for the students to participate in. We began by reviewing previous material we covered during our direct and inquiry lesson. Students actively participated in the lesson. We introduced pictures to the students and Shannon shared her experiences at a mineral show. We broke up into the groups we were previously in and created advertising posters of a mineral we classified. The students were very excited and collaborated ideas of how to decorate their poster and what facts to include. The students in my group created a poster on silicon, here is the completed poster.
Here is our competition...
After students complete the poster they had a brief amount of time to look at their classmates and cast a vote for the mineral they would purchase. At this point the class got a little hectic. It was not as organized as we originally planned and it took extra time to get the students back to their seat. We gave each student a participation award and the winners received a metal.
And the winner is.....
Here is our competition...
After students complete the poster they had a brief amount of time to look at their classmates and cast a vote for the mineral they would purchase. At this point the class got a little hectic. It was not as organized as we originally planned and it took extra time to get the students back to their seat. We gave each student a participation award and the winners received a metal.
And the winner is.....
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
The First Day Teaching
The first day ever teaching an entire class and being the first group to go, can you imagine how nerve racking it was? We prepared for our first lesson for a week and a half. We met up after class, before class and even on the weekends. We were completely prepared and ready to go. Upon arrival, we are struck with the bad news, "there is no wifi". It felt like that was the worst news I have ever gotten. Our updated PowerPoint was threw google slides, it was perfect but now pointless since we couldn't access it. We had to use a previous unedited PowerPoint. The wifi issue really threw us off, but we were able to improvise and continue our lesson. The students engaged in our direct portion of the lesson plan. We transitioned to our inquiry lesson by using a voki Ms. Mineral. Since there was no internet access we read a letter from Ms. Mineral explaining that she has a mission for us. We broke up into groups and identified two minerals by using a variety of different tests. We originally had groups picked for the students but since the power point didn't work we didn't have that slide and it turned out the teacher had groups for the students already. There is a lot I wish we knew that the teacher didn't tell us till after our first lesson, I guess that's just part of being group one. One teacher candidate went to each group and helped the students identify the minerals. My group was very interested in the minerals but it took much longer to complete all the tests then expected. We should have changed our timing a little and it would have helped if students didn't show up late. At the end of our lesson we ran out of time and had to give the students homework as their independent practice. The students were given a worksheet to write a letter to Ms. Mineral explaining the minerals they had in their group. The students loved the concept of Ms. Mineral, I was really surprised since they were in 6th grade but most of them believed she was real and was very interested in knowing more about her.
Dear Ms. Mineral....
Overall the first day turned out to be a little unorganized, even with all of our preparation. It was disappointing that we didn't have internet but it was a learning lesson for all of us. Internet is a very valuable resource that can be incorporated in a classroom but do not rely on it. Some schools don't have internet at all, and sometimes the internet is just laggy. Always have a backup plan and other options available that aren't internet based. Now we know how to prepare for our second day teaching.
Dear Ms. Mineral....
Overall the first day turned out to be a little unorganized, even with all of our preparation. It was disappointing that we didn't have internet but it was a learning lesson for all of us. Internet is a very valuable resource that can be incorporated in a classroom but do not rely on it. Some schools don't have internet at all, and sometimes the internet is just laggy. Always have a backup plan and other options available that aren't internet based. Now we know how to prepare for our second day teaching.
Monday, October 3, 2016
The First Group
Field work preparation has begun. I am apart of the first group, it is very nerve racking to be going first. We are doing rocks and minerals as our lesson plan. I found a collection I had of rocks and minerals, which is a very handy tool to use during our lesson. It gives the students the opportunity to perform a variety of tests on the minerals and a chance to observe them. Hands on projects like this one is the reason I loved science growing up. It is wonderful that we have the tools to provide the students with this same experience. My group members are all wonderful, we collaborate ideas together and are able to come to decisions as a group. We all have the same availability which is very helpful. Everyone is working so hard together and we all have the same goal in mind. I'm proud to be working with such great peers.
We met the students for the first time on Thursday and it went very well. We introduced a few of our mineral and rock samples and created a "Sixth Grade Geologist" poster.
The students were very excited and were ready to learn. All of the students actively participated in conversation and shared their prior knowledge and what they want to learn about rocks and minerals.
After seeing the excitement from the students it was very comforting and it helped us prepare for our first lesson plan.
We met the students for the first time on Thursday and it went very well. We introduced a few of our mineral and rock samples and created a "Sixth Grade Geologist" poster.
The students were very excited and were ready to learn. All of the students actively participated in conversation and shared their prior knowledge and what they want to learn about rocks and minerals.
After seeing the excitement from the students it was very comforting and it helped us prepare for our first lesson plan.
Through the Eyes of a Woman
Make a list of famous scientist through out history....
1) Albert Einstein
2) Isaac Newton
3) Charles Darwin
4) Galileo Galile
5) Thomas Edison
6) Benjamin Franklin
What do these scientist have in common?
They are all males!
Can you name one female who was a scientist?
I couldn't, so I googled it.
1) Marie Curie
2) Rosalind Franklin
3) Lise Meitner
4) Ada Lovelace
5) Barbara McClintock
All of these women have impact the world of science. We often forget or never learn of these historical figures. In class today we all were asked to draw a scientist. Not surprisingly most of our drawing were of men with crazy hair and big glasses. After looking at everyone's drawing we all discussed the similarities between the drawings and pointed out the stereotypes associated with the profession. It was very interesting that even though most of the class is women, most of us all drew men.
1) Albert Einstein
2) Isaac Newton
3) Charles Darwin
4) Galileo Galile
5) Thomas Edison
6) Benjamin Franklin
What do these scientist have in common?
They are all males!
Can you name one female who was a scientist?
I couldn't, so I googled it.
1) Marie Curie
2) Rosalind Franklin
3) Lise Meitner
4) Ada Lovelace
5) Barbara McClintock
All of these women have impact the world of science. We often forget or never learn of these historical figures. In class today we all were asked to draw a scientist. Not surprisingly most of our drawing were of men with crazy hair and big glasses. After looking at everyone's drawing we all discussed the similarities between the drawings and pointed out the stereotypes associated with the profession. It was very interesting that even though most of the class is women, most of us all drew men.
I used this video in a past project to display the negative connotation that "like a girl" has and the activity that we did reminded me a lot of this video and the stereotypes of "only man occupations".
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