Methods Once More

Although I am looking forward to the next month off, I wouldn't mind taking this class over again! I feel as if there is so much more to learn, if not just go over again. This has been such a learning experience, I don't want it to end. I know I have many more classes to take, important ones, but I feel as if Methods is a class that should keep going throughout my education here. It is such an important class but only lasts one semester long. I do feel I gave it my all and got out of it all that I could. It is up to me now to continue to practice what I have learned. I guess my next Methods class will be actual time in an elementary classroom working firsthand with other teachers.

Three Pluses and a Wish for My Experience So Far

Three Pluses:

1. I feel as if I have really grasped how to create lesson plans and unit plans using a variety of teaching methods.
2. I have broken out of my shell and now feel as if I am on the path to becoming a really good teacher.
3. I have learned how important collaboration is and how much I get out of it.

One Wish:

I wish that I continue to grow throughout my life as much as I have this semester.

Helping Hands

This has been quit an adventure. Going back to school in my mid-thirties with two young boys and a part-time job. I have had to rely on a lot of people. My parents have been incredibly supportive, babysitting whenever they can(even though they live 40 minutes away!) My husband has endured my new "stressed out" personality with total support and love. My friends have jumped in whenever they can, watching my kids or just calming me down. My new friends at school have been incredible as well. What a support system we have created. Since many of us have had many classes together, we have gotten to know each other pretty well. I don't think I would have made it this far if it weren't for them. It is always nice to hear you are not the only one feeling stressed out, neglectful of your kids or doubtful of your abilities. This has been a terrific experience and I am grateful for everyone who has supported me through it.

Technology in the Classroom

Just like anything, the more you are exposed to technology, the less scary it becomes. I am having so much fun learning new ways to bring technology into the classroom. I got to see firsthand how much kids love and appreciate it! I know that it will be a challenge. I see how busy teachers are and how it is not always practical for them to use technology but that is because it has not been made easy for them. There has to be support from the school you are working at. There needs to be classes so that using technology does not feel like such a big production. I want to keep expanding my knowledge in this area. I can't wait to sign up for the Whiteboard classes at my College. Maybe,in the future, I can be the one to show others!

What a Difference a Semester Makes!

Each semester has been a learning experience for me. Yet, this last semester, I feel as if I have had a huge growth spurt! I was so excited to begin my Masters to finally "be in it." Now, I feel I am there. Not only have I learned to create Unit Plans and Lesson Plans but I am now volunteering once a week in a classroom and am signed up for substitute teaching. This last class, Methods, has given me such a boost in my self-confidence as a teacher. I have a very long way to go but feel as if I am on the right track.

Student Teaching, What an Experience!

So for my Methods class this semester, I was able to teach three lesson plans that I created. I chose a second grade classroom at my son's elementary school. My cooperating teachers name is Mr. Pellegrino and he has been teaching for 28 years! What an experience. I was so nervous before I started and now I just want more! It is such a great feeling to have the kids excited about learning and how I, as a teacher, am presenting it to them. They were especially excited about a Webquest that I created on Animal Classification. I was worried that it would have many glitches, but the students are so advanced on computers already that it was flawless. I also did a lesson for the Social Interaction Model. It was really great to see the students get so into it. They really appreciated moving around and getting into groups. They also took the rules I presented to heart. As I walked around, they were showing such teamwork, even complimenting each other on their tasks. This is definitely something I will take with me into my own classroom!

What an Experience

Well, I taught my first lesson to a classroom of 2nd graders and it went great! I taught a lesson on Animal Classification through Direct Instruction. My anticaptory set was a hit with the students. I used the whiteboard to play a game of "What Animal Am I?" and they were so into it. It really showed me how much they love to do anything out of the ordinary and with interaction. My lesson was also well received, and each child was able to name all seven classifications taught by the time I was finished. The next day, we took them to the computer lab for my Animal Classification Webquest. I was a little nervous that they would have problems navigating around but it went so well. It was also the quietest I have ever heard the class! The kids took time to go through each link I provided and really enjoyed it. I am happy I ended the quest with many games to play to show what they learned. They were so excited that the computer teacher said she would save it for them to go through again the next day. I definitely feel better to have gotten my first lesson out of the way because now I am more excited about the next one than nervous. I think the kids can feel my enthusiasm and it rubs off on them. My cooperating teacher is VERY animated and I have been able to see how they respond to him over the past couple of weeks. It has been an incredible learning experience. He is also very big into creating healthy self-esteem for the kids and to promote empathy in his classroom. Even though I have my own seven year old, I never realized how many questions second graders like to ask!! Some pertained to the topic and some did not! One girl raised her hand and asked if I liked her haircut. Well, I have really enjoyed myself this week and feel I have grown immensely. I finally feel "in it" and am so excited for more.

Why Direct Instruction is Not Enough!

Direct Instruction is great for presenting basic information and skills. Yet after the student acquires this information, they must go on to more advanced learning. Indirect Instruction personalizes understanding through student-based learning. The student learns through problem solving and social interaction, they are active in their constructing of new knowledge. It is the teachers role to guide the student through discovery, experience and modeling. It was so nice to watch the video from LICM where the kids eyes just lit up as they discovered new things for themselves. You could actually see them processing it all by the looks on their faces! I know that when I was in school as a young kid, most of my classes were basically DI. It was that rare occasion that we did something different and were hands on in our learning that I came alive. I remember well how excited we would all become when the teacher would say"today we are going to do something special." It is so wonderful now that it is now the norm in schools to mix DI with Indirect Instruction and many different strategies of teaching.

Teachers Teach as They are Taught!

When reading The Practice Implications of Constructivism by Wesley A. Hoover, I was particularly struck by this passage, "It is also useful to remember the educator's maxim, Teachers teach as they are taught, not as they are told to teach. Thus, trainers in constructivist professional development sessions model learning activities that teachers can apply in their own classrooms. It is not enough for trainers to describe new ways of teaching and expect teachers to translate from talk to action; it is more effective to engage teachers in activities that will lead to new actions in classrooms." This is how our Methods of Instruction classroom is set up. We are constantly doing things in new and different ways, individually and in groups. Each method we learn we have to explore in all the different ways that our students will learn from us...it really is exciting!

Vertebrate & Invertebrate Animals

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Vertebrate & Invertebrate Animals

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Glogster

It's All Coming Together...My Reflections Thus Far

WE ARE ABOUT FIVE WEEKS INTO OUR METHODS CLASS AND I AM SO EXCITED WITH MY PROGRESS. WHEN I TOOK MY FIRST CLASS WITH DR. SMIRNOVA, CURRICULUM PLANNING, I WAS CONSTANTLY PANICKED. NOT ONLY WAS IT MY FIRST EDUCATION CLASS BUT MY FIRST CLASS HEAVY IN TECHNOLOGY. NOW, IN MY THIRD CLASS WITH DR. SMIRNOVA, I FEEL SLIGHTLY MORE RELAXED. I AM DEFINITELY MORE COMFORTABLE ON THE COMPUTER AND EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE LEARNED IN PREVIOUS CLASSES IS NOW COMING TOGETHER. AS MY FRIEND SALLY SAYS IN HER BLOG, MY EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE OF EDUCATION "THIS PAST MONTH HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST IN DEPTH LEARNING EXPERIENCES THUS FAR IN MY EDUCATION COURSES." (http://sally8971.blogspot.com/) WE HAVE REVIEWED MODELS, STRATEGIES AND METHODS TO WHERE WE HAVE REACHED AUTOMATICITY AND ARE NOW DELVING IN DEEPER TO THE DIFFERENT INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES STARTING WITH DIRECT INSTRUCTION. DIRECT INSTRUCTION USES TEACHER EXPLANATION, DEMONSTRATION AND MODELING. IT WAS EXTREMELY HELPFUL WHEN OUR CLASS WAS BROKEN INTO GROUPS, EACH REQUIRED TO TEACH A LESSON ON A DIFFERENT ELEMENT OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION. WORKING WITH MY PARTNERS JESSICA AND DAWN WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE IN ITSELF ON COLLABORATION, SOMETHING I HOPE TO DO WITH MY PEERS WHEN I BECOME A TEACHER. AS VYGOTSKY SAID "TEACHERS SHOULD BE ONE STEP AHEAD OF STUDENT'S LEARNING" THIS IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR A TEACHER TO PLAN. WE ARE LEARNING THE PROPER WAY TO WRITE LESSON PLANS NOW. THIS WEEK WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A LESSON PLAN TO EVALUATE. IT IS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN JUST WRITING YOUR OWN. YOU REALLY HAVE TO LOOK HARD AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR! IT IS STILL A BIT CONFUSING BUT I AM HOPING THAT BY THE NEXT "REFLECTION BLOG" I WILL BE SAYING HOW WELL I GET IT.

I Do It, We Do It, You Do It!

In class this week, we have been going over Direct Instruction, a teacher-centered strategy that utilizes teacher explanation, demonstration and modeling. The lesson is broken down into three sections: anticipatory set, development and closure. I really enjoyed Dr. Smirnova's breakdown of the development section. First there is "I do it" where the teacher directly teaches. this is where you present new material by presenting demonstrating and modeling. Next is "We do it together" where you provide the students with guided practice, which is very controlled. Finally there is "You do it" which is independent practice. This is done once the task has been mastered. This template makes development very easy to understand and easier to plan. We will be using this method this week to teach a lesson, so we will see!

Automaticity...Like Riding a Bike!

Automaticity is the ability to do things without occupying the mind with the low-level details required, allowing it to become an automatic response pattern or habit. It is usually the result of learning, repetition, and practice.

Some examples of automaticity would be riding a bike or driving a car, things that we are able to do without thinking about it. This is the point we want our students to reach through direct instruction. Teachers will first break a new subject up into sub skills, bridging new knowledge to old. The next step would be to present lots of examples and then to model. Finally, providing prompts and cues and lots of repetition and practice, the student will hopefully reach automaticity with that new subject.

Understanding Models, Strategies and Methods

Models, Strategies and Methods are always confusing to me until I see them presented in a diagram. I have reviewed them again and this is my understanding. Teachers use Models to select the Strategies, Methods and Skills to deliver curriculum. This includes information-processing, behavioral, social interaction and personal. Within each model, teachers are encouraged to use several strategies to meet their goals and to involve all types of learners. The different strategies include direct, indirect, interactive, experiential and independent study. Methods are more specific and involve such practices as lectures, case studies, cooperative learning, learning contacts and more. All of these methods may be in a variety of different strategies. Using all three is how a teacher selects the instructional practice to use. I should probably just keep a diagram in my wallet!

Learning to Change and Changing to Learn

The video Learning to Change and Changing to Learn from my Methods class was very interesting. It stated that in one survey taken of the most ineffective jobs, teaching ranked among the lowest, right below coal mining! One of the reasons is that teachers aren't embracing technology. Today's kids are brought up emailing, twittering, texting, and using social networking sites. They are immersed in a world of technology until they reach the classroom and then it is all about standardized tests and things that stifle creativity. Teachers have to accept that technology is not a choice, that it is here to stay! We need to be able to open the door to what is available online, to shift their academic experience and get them ready for a tech-savvy world. We need to teach students how to find information online, to validate it, to be able to collaborate with it and to problem solve with it.

A Class of Bloggers!

Well, I was checking out everyone's blogs and was really impressed. I don't think I saw one that I didn't learn from. Most people introduced their blog saying it was the first one they have ever done....we sure have come a long way.

All Good Things Come to an End

Well, five weeks have past and class is wrapping up. This has been a very intense five weeks. It was my first online class as well as being scrunched into a summer time-line! Did I learn a lot, absolutely. Googledocs, igoogle, Prezi, Jing, Glogster, Screenshots, Letterpop, these are all things that I am taking with me. I also got a chance to improve my collaboration skills. My group members, Sally, Pam, and Canaan were wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better team, Generation Text! It was a pleasure to work with them for the past 5 weeks and even nicer to have each other for support. I definitely have a different perspective on technology in the classroom. The generation of young kids today need it. It is up to us as teachers to find a way to bring it into the classroom. There are a myriad of ways, it just takes practice and planning. I, for one, am excited to think about how my future classroom will be, a 21st century classroom!

WOW, I Had Fun!

Here is a link to my WOW project.

I did my presentation on collaborative tools in the classroom. It's ironic, I came into this course not ready to embrace technology but had a ball with this assignment. I realized that I can figure anything out. Watch enough tutorials and there is no way you can fail. I had lots of fun with sites such as Cosketch, The Cutest Blog on the Block, glogster and more. It is so refreshing not to be intimidated anymore! That is not to say that figuring out some things didn't take me hours but I did it in the end.

Glogster...What Fun!

For one of my class projects, I had to investigate collaborative tools in the classroom. One of the tools was Glogster, which is basically an online poster web page. I can't tell you how much I wish this was around when I was a teenager. Not that I didn't enjoy it now(I did!) but to be a teen and have access to such cool tools!! You can't tell by my picture but the butterflies actually fly. There is so much that can be done. I can see using this in the classroom in many ways. What wonderful ways there are today for kids to get creative!

A link to my first Glog.
http://hedderheather.glogster.com/heather-stellas-first-glog/