American Foundation 12/08

We had a guest speaker who was really happy and peppy. She talked to us about teaching morals in school. What we should do, could do and what we shouldn't do. Although we have discussed it a few times it's letting me know that there is no way around it somehow and sometimes we will discuss moral issues. We as a teacher can try to avoid it but it will always come back to us. She also talked about teachers roles in 4 categories. The one I found to be interesting is having a role in political issues. We can teach our students about politics by holding democratic processes in our classrooms and by making them apart of the process.

American Foundation 12/1/08

We discussed in class the pros and cons of having a smaller class. Although I have really no impact on whether the school has smaller classrooms or not I can see the benefit of them and see why they could be stressful to obtain. I want my students to be well rounded and not burnt out from not having any specialty classes. Schools sometimes have to cut back on such classes as music and PE to pay for the extra teachers, classrooms and supplies. I think it would be stressful for me as a teacher to have high strong students. However classroom management is harder when there are more students. My school did early birds and later gators where they have 8 students come earlier then the rest. They get a lot more one and one time with the students during this hour. Then at the end of the day they go home an hour earlier then the rest and then they get one on one time. I feel like this is the best way to meet in the middle for schools, teachers and students for all to benefit the most out of it.

American Education 11/24

Today we talked in class about teaching students about characters and values, and if we teach students about them. I feel like in my class I will talk about things like good citizens. I feel like talking about something along the line of moral issues is overstepping our ground as teachers. It could upset the parents and their beliefs. However by putting up rules and discussing how to be a good citizen we can hope they will become a good citizen. I can't push my beliefs and morals onto my children I can just set classroom rules.

Field week 3

Well it was our wrap up week in the classroom. Geneva was an excellently ran elementary school where our teacher was well prepared. I enjoyed being out with the children and being able to teach the students about nutrition. We were wrapping up our personal readers with the children and our running record. I got lucky when doing my running record my student was able to do both of them in the realm of instructional. My partner had to do about 12 she was either perfect on them or completely bombed them. I really enjoyed my field work and it was hard to leave my students and go back to my classes.

Field Week 2

On Monday we taught our first lesson on nutrition. It was about the food pyramid what is in it and how much of each category is suppose to be eaten. At first the students struggled with understanding what we meant by the foods. They told me that eggs where a vegetable. I explained what puts each food into each category. What was the key part of each category. Tuesday we went over poem for the children and then recapped what we taught on Monday. We then did an assessment by having them put pictures of food in each category. If they put it into the wrong category we broke down why they thought that and then why it went in the other category. On Wednesday we went over what makes up the parts of nutrition. Everyday since Tuesday we have gone over the poem with the students to make sure they understood it. So far our lessons have went over well. Starting Monday we are doing our abc book and finishing up our case study.

First week of field

The first week of field was good because it helped me understand the 1st grade a little better. I'm in a classroom of about 19 children. They have a system where 9 students come in at 8 called the early birds. We focus in on them with writing stories, reading and reading groups. Then at 9:10 the rest of the students show up. They are known as the later gators and they will stay an hour after the early birds leave. Our group is with 3 students only they are ones who are struggling with reading more. Fluency doesn't come easy for them and they will sound out words and then guess a completely different word. For example one of the students was sounding out the word ran and he would say r-an, r-an, run. This has been hard for me cause we are teaching in an area that is a little more poor. I've watched children come to school without jackets on when it's snowing, or look like they haven't bathed much. They have to do charity drives for jackets and shoes for the students. We are now getting prepared for next week because we are teaching our science lesson on nutrition and starting our personal readers. I hope this week goes well.

American Foundation 10/27

Today we talked about school shootings and the fear they put into students, teachers and communities. This really hits home because every time a new fear is installed in me about the affect I could have on a student. Also when I was a student in middle school after Columbine I was scared to go to school. I feel like as a teacher I need to help children feel safe in my classroom by going over plans for students safety. Practicing what to do in case of an emergency so children do not get scared if it really did occur. Also by being a good teacher to all my students and not ignoring any of them especially if they are showing that they are outcast from the other students. We talked about introducing new groups and programs at the schools for the students. I would like try to help introduce some ideas to the principal and the society.

American Education 10/20

This week we talked about law and ethics dealing with class and how to motivate our students. The best suggestion they had was to motivate our students by complimenting them and when we need to help them with improvements we need to remember the 4 to 1 rule. The rule that says for ever negative comment we make we need to say 4 positive ones. Also we need to remember not to be to harsh with our negative comments but helpful. I feel like as a future teacher this is very important to remember because I want to install in children a desire to learn and encourage them to learn. I don't want to be the reason they hate school so much because I'm too negative. I also feel like now a days people should remember this because we live in such a pessimistic world. Also we talked about having enough material to cover all the information. That is pretty self explanatory and something we as teachers need to pay attention to.

American Foundation 10/13/08

From class today I have thought a lot about children not socializing as much due to technology. As a teacher I want to encourage my children to work together. I want to have them work in groups, pairs and as a class so they are able to discuss and spend time together. However I don't feel like technology is evil or destroys socializing so I plan on using as much of it as I can in my classrooms. When it comes to me taking classes or updating information online I would if they presented information for my career or if I found information I was interested in. I feel like this is a great opportunity for some people especially stay at home moms to continue to gain more knowledge.

American Education 10/06/08

This week 2 representatives from UEA came to help us to understand the rights and resources we have as a teacher. I never realized all the rights I had entitled to me as a teacher. I knew their were rights out there but I didn't know the communities participated in them so much. The cops who shop with students in needs. I think this would be good. I also didn't know that I could discuss my contract in many ways or so in-depth. I think that the UEA is a great cause and I could see myself joining them when I'm a teacher.

American Education Foundation 9/29

From the reading I was quite confused about teaching to the child and the whole man or citizen. I feel like as a teacher that what's important is teaching the students the most we can while not making it to boring. He talked about how the child learned from hands on experience. I feel like that is something I would use in my classroom because that is how I learned. Although I know it is important to teach to all ways of learning children need to learn by doing somethings themselves. I also like the St. Augustine writing don't just want to stand and talk at the children. I want to allow students to freely express themselves in my classrooms and feel comfortable being themselves. That is something I will take from our discussion and reading, children are children not adults. They don't need to be talked to or treated as such.

American Foundation 9/22/2008

I really enjoyed the discussion we had this week on Noack and Bartlett. I was part of leading the group and I thought I had a firm belief that Germany's system was the best system and that we should implement it. However when leading the discussion I tried to play Devil's Advocate which made me open my eyes and realize that both have good and bad. Although each system could use some improvements without improvements in the people the school systems can't change. I enjoyed everyones input because it made me realize that although I thought education system here was struggling it also does well in other areas. The Barlett reading was really interesting because it talked about students having dialogues with teachers, becoming friends with teachers. All my life I thought that when adults become friends with teachers they lose a part of their ability to control the students. I realized that when you get to know all the children well they open up more and feel comfortable to learn. I really enjoyed this class discussion I was sad it ended so soon. The video we watched made me realize that we are priviliged to have education, because back in the 1800's they weren't really allowed school. I'm excited to finish the video next week.

American Foundation 09/15/08

I really enjoyed the discussion in class on Monday. When I first read it I struggled with understanding why a teacher would want to separate boys from girls when it comes to having reading centers. I would be afraid that I would make it difficult for them to read books from the other areas. When the class discussed it I received a different view. Understanding that boys do have a hard time reading. My favorite part of the class was when we looked at the books and decided which category they would go under. I am nervous for Monday though I am one of the ones starting the discussions.

The reading

While reading Reynolds TaylorSounding I was very intrigued by the research done by Anderson, Reynolds, Schallert, and Goetz about the female music majors and the male physical education majors. I found it true that the students beliefs on certain ideas was affected by their sex and major. I have to agree that it is easier to agree or remember ideas or text that are more related to my culture, sex, religion and more. Although people don't think this is the case in many studies it is proven to be so. I had never thought that such a thing would have an impact on how a child learns. It is an interesting case and a sad one that children from all different backgrounds do not learn in a somewhat similar manner. I really enjoyed this reading.

First day of American History

The first day of American History I was really excited. I felt like I was more in my element using technology more. My husband is very tech savvy and keeps teaching me new things, so I finally get to put it into use. After looking at my packet I am a little confused on what all I will be doing, I'm sure soon it will make sense. I have to say though it is nice that Doc. Waters uses the same technology as we do so it will be easier to keep in contact with her. I feel like she can relate more to me then other teachers, especially when I saw she was reading the Twilight series like I did. Although that has nothing to do with the class I felt impressed and ready to learn. This should be a very good class.

Webquest

After everything with my accident I was still able to finish the webquest with my group. My partner and I started our webquest early getting everything prepared which in the long run helped us out. Without the pre plans of our webquest we would have been struggling to get it done. The hardest part was that outside of our partnership we had a very difficult time getting ahold of our group. She would not return our calls or answer them, also finding enough time to make it look exactly the way we wanted. What helped was the fact that our teacher is technology savvy. She explained webquest easier so it helped us understand what to do. Next time I would just make it a little more kid friendly. i really like the webquest we did and was proud we were able to do it.

My Car Accident

Monday night at around 7:00 P.M. Brena and her fiancee were trying to grab some keys that had fallen into a storm drain. When a truck that was going about 25 mph hit Brena and then her fiancee. The F 150 ran over them hitting them with both the tires. Brena has suffered 4 fractures in her pelvis bones and two in her right arm. Her right arm has been dislocated and will be in a cast. She is unable to walk yet and when she is able to she will have to use a walker for 6 weeks. She wants to finish out this semester after working so hard on it. They are both very thankful to be alive after such a severe accident.

1st week

So I started my first week out in the field and I am absolutely loving every minute of it. We are teaching in a 4th grade class at Rock Canyon Elementary. Our teacher is so fun and laid back that she is constantly giving us little information to help. Things that she has learned over the past 10 years of teaching. What kind of Christmas presents we should give that will save us money, how to have the parents help without doing much and more. We taught our first lesson today and although I know I was nervous, Brittany and I did fine. We taught them how to read maps and use coordinates. We played simon says using north, south, east and west; also used some body movements to become a human map of Utah. Splitting the students into 5 groups one being the mountains, one the rivers, one the lakes, one the forest and one the deserts. We also help our teacher a lot because the students are making books so we are editing them so we can have it sent out by the deadline. We are looking forward to next week teaching two more lessons and getting to know the students more. They are very friendly and fun. I am absolutely loving my time out in the field.

Reflection on Digital Story

First I actually learned quite a bit about the new subject of the food pyramid. The food pyramid was recreated to show all the food groups as equal. I hadn't really learned much about this since it was created past my time in 2nd grade. I also found the content flexible to where I could make it serious or fun for all ages. I really figured out that many technical skills were needed. It looks like you would have to be working on computers for ages but the fact is that anyone could do it. It does take a little amount of time from the beginning to the end especially while creating the script, but the actual work on the computer is simple. I learned that to start the process you must start with the script because my script basically stayed the same through the whole process, nothing else did. I choose over 4 different pictures for each slide trying to find my exact angle. I had a few songs in mind to tie it all together and I wasn't sure what the main point should be in each picture. Through out the process you will add and take away from the script but not as drastically as everything else. I learned how simple it was to incorporate media into my classroom. Techology really can be for everyone and it could add a new angle to every lesson. All students learn in different ways but this one really targets the visual, auditory and when teaching them how to make it the hands on students. I really want to use this in my classrooms in the future.

Digital Story

My digital story script

Script

Welcome class

Welcome my second grade super stars. I will be your teacher this year Miss Page; however, in May I will be getting married so my new name will be Mrs. Alford. I grew up in Durango, Co where I graduated from high school before I moved to Utah to earn my teaching degree. I will be teaching you in all important areas from science to creativity and everything in between. There are a few important rules we have to get out now. First the classroom is an equal place for everyone, so it is important that you treat others as your equal. No name calling, fighting, interrupting or hurting others allowed. Second this classroom is a place for your brains to grow, sometimes it will be fun but our main goal is to learn. Last will be to treat the classroom with respect just like you treat your homes. I do have a few expectations from my students. When you are here in class you will use everything you can to learn; for example asking questions from your peers and I, working in groups, and using anything else within your reach. The other expectation is that when you are at home to ask your parents, relatives, siblings or friends for help when you are stuck on a problem. If none of them are able to help you and with the permission of your parents you can write to me on this blog and I will help you. The look of our classroom will change from time to time, please just understand that I'm trying to set it up in the way I believe you will learn best. The very last thing that I need to let you all know is that we're here to learn, so let's enjoy it as much as we can.

Test Run

Testing Testing 1 2 3.
Take a moment and view my first google doc.