Journal #4 Teaching and Instruction

Students in the classroom work in groups each day. During their different rotations they can work by themselves, work with another student, work in small groups, or work together as a whole class. They would work by themselves if they are reading to self, working on their journal writings, or working on a computer. The students work in pairs when they read to someone. They take turns reading their books to their reading partner. They work in small groups of three or four students for their reading groups. In these groups, each student will get the chance to read out loud to the teacher. They also work in small groups when they work on word work.

The teacher presents the material to the students in several different ways. She presents it verbally and visually. She is very expressive when verbally presenting information, and often uses visual charts for her visual learners. She also teaches her students her lessons by giving them hands on experience. For Spelling, they chomp out syllables of words on their arms. In Chapter six of the text book it talks about how teachers should allow their students to interact with the material. When they experience things for themselves, they send more input to their brain.

When assessing and evaluating her students' progress, she uses formal and informal techniques. The formal techniques would be guided questions, and having her students read to her to show their level of fluency. Also from Chapter six in the text book, it talks about how it is the teacher's job to push their students' thinking by asking probing questions, giving them alternative explanations, and challenging them to describe their ideas. Informal techniques are as simple as a thumbs up, thumbs to the side, or thumbs down to check their understanding on a particular topic.

I do see technology being used in the classroom. The students use the two computers in the classroom daily. They use them to play educational games and also for working on writing. I was so impressed that they were able to create power point presentations at such an early age. The teacher told me that her class was getting a smart board in their classroom. I wish I had the opportunity to observe how her teaching style would be transformed with technology.

When the students are asked what activity they want to do, they usually pick computers or word work. Working on the computers is very fun for them. They love working on their power point presentations about themselves and adding cool pictures of things they like. Word work is a popular rotation, because the students usually work in groups of three or four and they have fun playing word games. To no surprise, the students all love lunch and recess. I have heard students ask the teacher, "Is is almost lunch time?" Recess is of course a favorite time where the students can take a break from learning and be wild and crazy.

I have learned a lot about second graders. They are like little sponges that take in anything you give them. I can see many different types of learners within the class. There are some students that read novels, some that read chapter books, some that read picture books, and one student that is still learning their ABC's. I have also learned that second graders can be very independent. You can build up a trust with your students to allow them to successful work on subjects independently. Yes, they still need guidance and scaffolding, but they can also be very productive on their own. I see that this is a critical time in their lives to teach them values. They are not only learning basic subjects, but also life skills. They are learning what is appropriate, when it is the appropriate time for things, how they should act, how to work with others, and how to respect other people. I have learned a lot about these second graders and gained much knowledge from their teacher. Overall, it was a great experience, and I loved building bonds with many of the students.

Journal #3- Teaching and the Curriculum

The teacher begins each day by following a daily schedule. Each day starts off the same, as the students get settled in for the day. The first bell rings at 8:35 a.m. They put their stuff away and get settled in. At 8:45 a.m. a second bell rings and they listen to morning announcements and say the pledge of allegiance. During this time, the teacher has a check in period where the students sign up for their first rotation of the day.
At 8:55 a.m. they actually begin their school lessons. They work on their first rotation of the “Daily Five”. This is a system that rotates the students to different work stations throughout the day. Some of the work stations are: reading groups, computers, a listening station, a writing area, and a word work table. Each station is rotated each day in twenty minute intervals.
From 9:20 to 9:30 a.m., the students work on Geography or Grammar and Vocabulary. At 9:35 a.m., the students begin their second rotation of the daily five. This rotation lasts until 9:55. After that, for ten minutes, they work together on “read a loud” or “word comprehension”. Then, on Thursdays and Fridays they have Gym from 10:05 to 10:30 a.m.
On Monday through Wednesday from 10:10 to 10:30 a.m. it is time for their third rotation. At 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday is shared reading. Art is on Wednesdays from 10:45 to 11:35 a.m. On Fridays at 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. the students have spelling tests or they have free time if they have earned it. Sometimes the teacher gives four different spelling tests that are gagged for different learning levels.
On Mondays at 11:00 to 11:25 a.m. they go to Music class. Music is also on Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. On Tuesdays and Fridays this time gap is used for another rotation of the “daily five”. On Thursdays, they use this time for writing. Spelling is at 11:25 to 11:40 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. They usually play a spelling game and have a pre-test on Thursday. At 11:40 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays they have their final rotation for the day.

Tuesdays from 11:40 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. the students go to Gym or some students work on Phonics. On Fridays at 12:05 to 12:15 p.m. the teacher assigns daily jobs for the students for the following week. Lunch and recess are everyday at 12:20 to 1:25 p.m. After recess, they work on Math till 2:00 p.m. On Fridays at 2:00 to 2:25 p.m. they work with their first grade book buddies. From 2:20 to 3:00 p.m. the day closes with a writer’s workshop. Finally, at 3:00 to 3:10 p.m. the students pack up and get ready to go home.
As one can see, an average day for a teacher and their students is very busy and action packed. The teacher needs to stick to their schedule and be able to manage their time properly to fit everything in. Before the students start their different rotations, the teacher assigns activities for each student. I really like how she lets them pick what they want to do. If one station is already full, they can do that one on their next rotation.
The teacher spends a lot of time preparing for each lesson. Each day she comes to school two hours early. Some days she stays three to five hours after school to work on various projects. The teacher told me she spends on average of twenty hours of planning each week. Every lesson she teaches has a purpose. She would not do an activity if it did not relate to learning. Even if her class was allowed to watch a movie, she would still have them do a writing assignment and reflect on that particular movie.
I really like how the students often work together in small groups where they receive mini-lessons. She scaffolds the students and gives each child one on one instruction. The students also work individually as well. It allows them to work at their own pace and interest level.
Cultural needs are met within the classroom by the “pull out” method. Students are pulled out of the traditional classroom and work in ELL classrooms with special aids three to five times per week. The teacher also works individually with these students as well. She shows them rich pictures and vivid diagrams. Working with them one on one allows the students extra time for processing. The school also addresses cultural needs by providing continent studies and holiday cultural projects.
In the text from chapter five, it talked about how important it is to have a consistent, predictable daily schedule. This is very true and also very important. The teacher I observe writes down the daily schedule on the marker board. She has the activities and times listed. As the day progresses she takes down the activities they have completed. That way, the students will know what is next, and how much more they have in that day. It is also seen as a sense of accomplishment. The students can see that they have accomplished so many tasks, and that their day is half way over. The text also addresses how important it is to block enough time for each activity. If a student does not have enough time in each activity, they will never get anything accomplished. They need to be allowed time to get started, time to actually work on something, and time to wrap up to get ready for the next activity. It’s also a good idea to give them a warning when time is almost up. This will make a smooth transition to the next activity.
Overall, I have learned that teaching is a very important job. Teaching is definitely a skill. A teacher has to juggle many things at once. They need to know how to multi-task and manage their time as best as possible. They need to always stay on track and try not to get sidetracked. There has to be daily schedule that is posted for the student, to give them a clear understanding of what they will be doing for the day. Teachers also have to put a lot of time and energy into each day. Not only do they work a full day, but they also need to come early and sometimes even stay late. Teachers need to be flexible and able to handle anything that comes their way.

Editing Pictures

I researched many different photo editing sites. Many of them wanted you to sign up for accounts which would ask you if you wanted to upgrade. It was hard to decide which sites were actually free and which sites charge fees.
The first site that I tried was, adobe photoshop.com.
It required me to start up an account, which I was weary of. After finally accessing the site, I was disappointed with its features. Compared to photoshop this was a very basic program. You could crop, rotate, change colors, organize, edit, and add frames and borders. If you wanted to upgrade to a more advanced program, you had more options, but were required to pay a fee. This program I used to edit a Star Wars picture of me and a storm trooper. (By the way, it's my son who loves Star Wars, I'm really not obsessed.) I was not impressed with the results as it was pretty basic.
The second site that I tried was, picnik.com. I liked this one a little better. The program was pretty easy. You could adjust colors, rotate, re size, add text, add special effects, and add borders or frames. The editing was very easy and also easy to undue if you were not happy with the results. I really liked how you could add special effects such as creating your picture into a puzzle. I used this program to edit my "dog vader" picture. I liked the results.
The third editing site that I tried was phixr.com. This one also seemed pretty basic to me. I did like how you could put your head through a hole to be projected into images. I also liked how you could warp pictures to create funny faces. I would say this site was o.k. I used this site to edit the picture of my son with his big bunny. I like how the picture created a texture for the stuffed animal. To me it actually looks furry.
Of the three photo editing sites, I like picnik the best. I'm sure the advanced options would let you create some amazing pictures. However, in comparison to photoshop, all three would be seen as basic programs.

What are blogs, wikis, and nings?

A blog or word blog is short for web log. It is basically a online journal or diary. It allows you to share your opinions, questions, and experiences. It could be used for advertising or simply just passing on information to the next person. Anyone can read them. Your most recent postings will be at the top with the oldest posts at the bottom. The good thing about a blog, is that it can be used by both teachers and students. You can share your opinions with other teachers to support one another with common questions and answers. You can create a class blog for your students as well. You can post class assignments and their due dates for your students to check daily. Students can also use the blog to research certain topics. The students will also be learning from each other. They will be giving their own interpretations on particular subjects. They will also learn how to respect other student's work. By blogging, they will also be improving their own writing skills.
A wiki is a little different from a blog. It is a combination of a website and a word document. The great thing about a wiki, is that groups of people can collectively work on the content of the site. People can make changes to a wiki page, and then the revision will become the current version. I think this could be great to use in education for group projects. Students could collectively compile their research into one report. I can also see teachers using wikis to work on projects together as well. This would really cut out a lot of wasted time. They would already see what the other teachers have researched, and then they could build onto that foundation.
A ning is a social network. It is similar to facebook and my space, yet a little different. You can join different nings for specific topics. For example, you could join a ning for teachers or a ning for music and so on...... Teachers can get advice from other teachers. If you were to use a ning in education, you could first create a network for your class. You could post educational games and projects for your students. You could also create on-line chats for your students for any questions they might have. You would need to control the settings and create rules for your students. For example, you could limit the chat times to one hour every night. If a student abuses any of these privileges, they will be removed from the site. Nings can be very useful in the classroom.

Journal #2- Teaching and the Students/Teaching and the Profession

The students body of the class is culturally diverse. About seventy percent of the students speak two languages. In the school there are over forty different languages spoken. There are seven ELL (English language learners) classrooms in the school. Cultural diversity is very evident in this school. They have a large map in the lobby that has a pins which represents where each student is from. The school also has cultural assemblies. The individual classes take part in continent studies ,as well as holiday projects where the students preform a class presentation of different holidays that the students celebrate. These presentations allow the students to dress up in cultural costumes, and the students are welcomed to bring in different cultural foods for the class to enjoy.
The children in the classroom work together daily. They have a rotation system called, the daily five. This is where the students rotate five different work stations through out the day. There is a reading station where the students read in a group and sit at a table with the teacher. There is a word table where the students work on creating words with various letters. There is also a computer area where the students can work on typing their writings for various assignments. If the computers are full, they can work on their writings at their desk. Another rotation is where the students can read to another student or to their self. Lastly, there is a listening area where the students can listen to a CD or cassette while they follow along in a book.
All these rotations are done in twenty minute intervals.
Students who have special needs are given additional help. They use both the "push in" and "pull out" methods to assist the students. They pull out students who need additional help to work on ELL, speech, and reading. Students are also pulled out for enrichment in Math and Social Studies five times a week. Teaching is also pushed in for students who are on specialized programs such as, ELL and IEP (individual education plan).
Parents also get involved in helping the students. Parents volunteer to help, and one parent comes each week to work on various projects with the class. They also have a picture person, who is also one of the parents, who comes once a month to show the students pictures. When she is finished with her presentation, she has the students work on art projects that relate to the pictures she discussed. Parents can also get involved helping the school through joining the PTA or helping with fundraisers.
Teachers work together by creating book buddies for different grades. The second grade class was buddies with a first grade class. Also, some of the second grade teachers like to switch classes and teach a certain subject to a different group of second graders. This is great for the students, because they will be learning from two different teaching perspectives.
Besides teaching, teachers are required to perform additional duties. They are required to attend a teachers and faculty meeting, which are both once a week. They also can get paid extra money for performing additional duties, such as, recess or buss duty.
Overall, I have learned that a teacher has a very important job. They must be organized, manage their time wisely, stay on task, be flexible and accommodate different learners, work well with other teachers and superiors, accept and embrace other cultures, and make themselves available if they are needed for additional duties.

NETS-T

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity:
The first standard under the NETS-T deals with how teachers can teach their students by combining their use of subject knowledge with technology. Teachers can be very creative when making their lesson plans. They can use power point-slides to give the students visual aids of their lesson. They could also hyperlink a link onto the power-point slide and direct the class to a certain link that has examples that they could relate to. For example, if the students were studying the Supreme Court, the power-point could have a hyperlink that directs the audience to a page that actually shows the judges who are on the Supreme Court. By giving the students visual examples, the students will more than likely remember that information. Power-point and Word can also be used by the students. The students will be using creativity to construct their own power-point presentations. I have also seen students write book summaries and writing assignments using Microsoft word. This will also help them to form correct sentence structure as well as spelling and grammar.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning:
The third standard focuses on how teachers use their knowledge of technology to communicate with students, peers, and parents. Teachers can use excel to create a digital grade book. They will be able to monitor the progress of their students at a click of the button.
They can use this tool to help them make graphs to show the parents their child's progress. They would also be able to use excel for creating report cards for the students. Excel could also be used to create worksheets for the students. Microsoft word could be used for writing various letters to the parents throughout the school year.
Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership:
The fifth standard focuses on how teachers use technology to continue to learn and grow as an educator. Blogs are a great way for teachers to keep up with technology. They can research educational sites that give them tips on being an even better teacher. By blogging they will not only be reflecting on their own experiences, but also they can give and get feedback from other teachers. The teachers will continue to grow and gain more knowledge each day. The more they know, the better their confidence will be, and they will become strong leaders for their students.

Journal #1-Amber, Madison School, Second Grade

As I began my first observation, I noticed the classroom layout was very organized. The teacher uses the room to its full potential. Every wall in the classroom is used and even the windows and doors have information on them. The room consists of: two computers, one large marker board, a writing area, cubbies for the students, a classroom bathroom, a projector and overhead screen, a television, an American flag, a large alphabet, a cassette/CD player area, a globe, a reading area full of books and bins, a word wall, a daily schedule, a job chart, classroom rules, a large table, desks arranged in groups, a calender area used for Math, and a homework area with boxes for each student. The students in this class have no problem finding things in the classroom. The overall layout of the room is more child-orientated than teacher-orientated. Almost everything in the class is at the students' level. They have access to almost everything in the room. The teacher does not have her own desk, but rather a large table at the back of the room. She has shelves that contain her books as well as some personal items. I really liked how she was able to use her desk as a reading area for her students. During reading groups, some of the students met her at the large table and worked as a group. If she had a regular desk, she would not be able to do this.
In order to transition the students to the next activity she rings an electronic bell. As soon as she rings the bell and begins to count backward, the students start finishing up what ever they are working on to move on to their next activity. She also uses the lights of the room as a warning for her students if they are getting too loud. She turns one light off as a warning, and if she turns both lights off, the students are not allowed to talk.
The technology in the classroom consists of: the overhead screen and projector, the television, the two classroom computers, and a cassette/CD player.
There are many resources in the classroom. Different teachers are resources for the students. They use both the "push-in" and "push-out" methods for additional assistance for special needs students. The students have literacy resources where they have literacy centers and work stations. Technology is also a resource for the students. They use the computers to do reading and writing assignments. I was impressed that second graders were able to use micro- soft word and power point.
Overall, I have learned that the environment greatly affects teaching. Organization is the key to success. There were many different work areas, and even a central meeting area where the students gathered around for reading. Everything in the classroom needs to have a certain place it belongs, and the students need to know where that is. The classroom space definitely needs to be used to its full potential. At first I did not like the idea that she didn't have her own desk. Later, I understood how she was able to use that table not only for herself, but also for her students. A classroom needs to have many labels and work stations that are accessible for the students. I liked how she had a job chart that had all the students names on it. They each rotated daily jobs and were all given a chance to be in charge of something. I really liked her classroom library. She color coded a system where each book has a certain sticker on it and it was kept in corresponding bin of that same color. The students can determine what reading level is appropriate for them when they choose a book for themselves. There is also work from the students displayed throughout the classroom. This classroom is definitely very warm and welcoming. I would say, the students would feel that this room is a second home to them. I really liked that each desk had their name on it with their own personal goal written down as well. There was also a sticker sheet taped to their goal sheet. The teacher would walk around the room and reward her students with stickers when they were achieving their individual goals. It was definitely a positive work environment.