I have truly enjoyed this course. I think it has opened up my eyes to how creative you can be in the classroom and how engaging you can get the students. I really struggle with incorporating technology into my teaching and I have gotten better over the last few years. This class has really encouraged me and made me more confident to include technology into everything I do.
Having conversations with others in the class too and viewing their blogs has been insightful too. Reading the other students blogs have really been helpful and neat to see what types of things and activities they do within their classroom. Allowing us to communicate openly has been great and I truly rely on different opinions of others in the class too because they are beneficial and good.
I will take away the ability to use technology within the classroom. I'm anxious to move forward this school year and create some new use of technology within my room.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Instructional Lesson
My instructional lesson is going to tie in with my service learning project. My students are going to be cleaning up a section of our playground throughout the school year for our service learning project. I wanted to tie the two projects together so we are going to then incorporate recycling and dig deep into why recycling is important. My goal for this lesson is to have the students communicate to other grade levels and talk about the importance of the environment and why we need to work together to keep it safe and clean.
Within the project we are going to research why recycling is important and how we can make a small difference throughout our school and spread the word by including our friends and family that we come in contact with everyday.
Our assessment is going to be to create a survey monkey survey to determine how successful other individuals and students are throughout the year. I want the projects I create this year to develop over time and I want the students to really understand why taking care of our environment is important and even though they are students they can make a difference.
Within the project we are going to research why recycling is important and how we can make a small difference throughout our school and spread the word by including our friends and family that we come in contact with everyday.
Our assessment is going to be to create a survey monkey survey to determine how successful other individuals and students are throughout the year. I want the projects I create this year to develop over time and I want the students to really understand why taking care of our environment is important and even though they are students they can make a difference.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Co-Teacher Plan!!
For my co-teacher plan I have partnered my sister who is an editor for a publishing company downtown. I have also partnered with a teaching partner and we are going to incorporate editing techniques provided through my sister throughout the school year to help guide the students to learn how to write, create and be independent when working on portfolio pieces and other creative needs.
Contact Information:
Heather Churchman
Communications Specialist
Convergys Corporation
201 E. 4th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
p: 513-723-4940
e: heather.i.churchman@convergys.com
My sister and I have discussed including writing examples that she has created before and really looking at the beginning piece and the final piece and making a visual chart that the students can use to help guide them as they are creating and writing in their classroom. This will be a project we can work on throughout the year. I have also enlisted another teacher within my building to help me who will be teaching writing to our students. Our goal for this plan is to have the students learn things from a difference perspective. So my hope is bringing someone in from the outside world will inspire the students to see how important writing is and how much of an impact it has on a daily basis.
The technology we will be using will be email, and video chat so the kids may be able to send their writing pieces to Heather and then she can review them and then the kids can chat with her and get one on one experience and ideas. I will also use different writing checklists and visuals that the kids can keep in their writing folder for additional support.
The standards we will be addressing will be:
Writing Process: E: Use revision strategies to improve the coherence of ideas, clarity of the sentence structure and effectiveness of word choice
Writing Process: F: Edit to improve sentence fluency, grammar and usage.
Writing Applications: C: Use conventions of punctuation and capitalization in written work.
Writing Applications: D: Use grammatical structures to effectively communicate ideas in writing.
I will address the students learning through using rubistar to create rubrics based on the writing samples they pick and extend to write on. My hope is for the students to gain knowledge throughout the year of how to edit and use correct communication when writing. The rubrics will help the students have a visual to help support their ideas and guide them to use the right tools and tactics to use.
Contact Information:
Heather Churchman
Communications Specialist
Convergys Corporation
201 E. 4th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
p: 513-723-4940
e: heather.i.churchman@convergys.com
My sister and I have discussed including writing examples that she has created before and really looking at the beginning piece and the final piece and making a visual chart that the students can use to help guide them as they are creating and writing in their classroom. This will be a project we can work on throughout the year. I have also enlisted another teacher within my building to help me who will be teaching writing to our students. Our goal for this plan is to have the students learn things from a difference perspective. So my hope is bringing someone in from the outside world will inspire the students to see how important writing is and how much of an impact it has on a daily basis.
The technology we will be using will be email, and video chat so the kids may be able to send their writing pieces to Heather and then she can review them and then the kids can chat with her and get one on one experience and ideas. I will also use different writing checklists and visuals that the kids can keep in their writing folder for additional support.
The standards we will be addressing will be:
Writing Process: E: Use revision strategies to improve the coherence of ideas, clarity of the sentence structure and effectiveness of word choice
Writing Process: F: Edit to improve sentence fluency, grammar and usage.
Writing Applications: C: Use conventions of punctuation and capitalization in written work.
Writing Applications: D: Use grammatical structures to effectively communicate ideas in writing.
I will address the students learning through using rubistar to create rubrics based on the writing samples they pick and extend to write on. My hope is for the students to gain knowledge throughout the year of how to edit and use correct communication when writing. The rubrics will help the students have a visual to help support their ideas and guide them to use the right tools and tactics to use.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Service Learning Project!!!
Name: Mrs. Jallick's 3rd and 4th grade class
Number of Students to Participate: 8
Topic/Area to be addressed: While working with the regular classroom teacher in the areas of science and environmental issues I would like my students to clean up the walking trail located on our property and the property we share with the high school students. My students needs to have a good understanding of how important it is to keep the environment neat and clean and participate in helping keep our school grounds looking nice. I will also communicate with some high school students and have them come over and do a presentation to my students on the importance of leadership and keeping our environment clean and safe. I think having my students hear this information from older students who may have already experienced some of these activities will be helpful.
What do I want students to learn through this: I want the students to learn how to communicate and relate to other students and understand that the impact of keeping our environment clean will benefit them in the long run and they will learn skills that will help them become better individuals and make a difference in not only their lives, but all the lives of the students who attend our school. The students also need to know the impact of how keeping the environment clean will change the way the animals live within the environment and how they will be safe and healthy. Having an extension of this activity would also be helpful to the younger students and maybe even having them participate in the clean up. Each year our 4th grade students are paired with 1st grade students and while learning through science about the environment and service projects we could read with the 1st grades about cleanliness and recycling and share our knowledge that we learn as we develop the project.
Who will we service: We will service our school district and the individuals who work with us on a daily basis. This will also affect the animals in nature and the population that lives around the school because it will affect their property and how they keep it clean. When individuals care about their environment and share it with others the needs stretch far.
What service will be provided: The service provided with be to build on communication and teaching skills within different classrooms and between difference students and build on personalities and share and learn new things with students we have never met.
PLAN TIME!!!!
How long???
Start Date: September 2011-May 2012 (We will have several clean up dates throughout the school year depending on the weather and how it may impact the walking trail and how often other individuals within the school need and use the common sharing area)
How will classroom activities and learning be connected to the service: This project will be an extension of Language Arts as well as writing and technology. We will be able to incorporate all aspects into the introduction of the activity as well as learning throughout the whole year. Students can use their experiences to connect this with journal writing and even making a classroom book that we can make through pictures and items that we have collected as part of the clean up process. We will also incorporate science and the environment and how important it is to protect and keep things clean and healthy for our surroundings.
How will I engage the students in the project?: This project is going to be very hands on and I'm going to allow the students to make most of the decisions. My role in this project is going to be to support them with advice and technical support, but they are going to be the leaders and make most of the decisions. As an introduction we will review environmental information through some websites listed below and share with the students the impact of making a small change within the environment and how it affects all individuals around us. I think incorporating these websites and others that the kids may find on their own will be a great way to get them excited about the upcoming events. It would also be fun to make our own website and kids and administrators and other teachers can track our progress throughout each season because I definitely think this is something that can be completed more than once a year based on the seasons. Doing this will allow for more use of the walking trail and it will be open to all age groups.
Websites to be used for introduction and process of activities:
Action Steps!!!
What steps will we take to perform the task?
REFLECTION ACTIVITIES:
1. What did you learn from this service project and how will you use this in the future when you get older?
2. What was the most effective way of communication when working with a group of individuals and what where the strengths of using this type of communication?
3. What is the most important thing or idea you will take away from completing this activity?How has it impacted you as a student attending this school?
CELEBRATION
For our celebration we can put together a scrapbook or journal of all the communication and information we learned and shared throughout our clean up process. We will also make a slide show of all the pictures captured while doing this and present it to other classrooms around the building. We can also create a website and have the slide show posted so family members and others in the community can see the changes we made throughout the school year and how much fun the kids had while doing so.
Resources or outside assistance will I need?
I will use the online resources for assistance listed above and maybe communicate with some outside environmentalists for connections and important things that may also benefit the environment and simple things we can do to keep things consistent.
Number of Students to Participate: 8
Topic/Area to be addressed: While working with the regular classroom teacher in the areas of science and environmental issues I would like my students to clean up the walking trail located on our property and the property we share with the high school students. My students needs to have a good understanding of how important it is to keep the environment neat and clean and participate in helping keep our school grounds looking nice. I will also communicate with some high school students and have them come over and do a presentation to my students on the importance of leadership and keeping our environment clean and safe. I think having my students hear this information from older students who may have already experienced some of these activities will be helpful.
What do I want students to learn through this: I want the students to learn how to communicate and relate to other students and understand that the impact of keeping our environment clean will benefit them in the long run and they will learn skills that will help them become better individuals and make a difference in not only their lives, but all the lives of the students who attend our school. The students also need to know the impact of how keeping the environment clean will change the way the animals live within the environment and how they will be safe and healthy. Having an extension of this activity would also be helpful to the younger students and maybe even having them participate in the clean up. Each year our 4th grade students are paired with 1st grade students and while learning through science about the environment and service projects we could read with the 1st grades about cleanliness and recycling and share our knowledge that we learn as we develop the project.
Who will we service: We will service our school district and the individuals who work with us on a daily basis. This will also affect the animals in nature and the population that lives around the school because it will affect their property and how they keep it clean. When individuals care about their environment and share it with others the needs stretch far.
What service will be provided: The service provided with be to build on communication and teaching skills within different classrooms and between difference students and build on personalities and share and learn new things with students we have never met.
PLAN TIME!!!!
How long???
Start Date: September 2011-May 2012 (We will have several clean up dates throughout the school year depending on the weather and how it may impact the walking trail and how often other individuals within the school need and use the common sharing area)
How will classroom activities and learning be connected to the service: This project will be an extension of Language Arts as well as writing and technology. We will be able to incorporate all aspects into the introduction of the activity as well as learning throughout the whole year. Students can use their experiences to connect this with journal writing and even making a classroom book that we can make through pictures and items that we have collected as part of the clean up process. We will also incorporate science and the environment and how important it is to protect and keep things clean and healthy for our surroundings.
How will I engage the students in the project?: This project is going to be very hands on and I'm going to allow the students to make most of the decisions. My role in this project is going to be to support them with advice and technical support, but they are going to be the leaders and make most of the decisions. As an introduction we will review environmental information through some websites listed below and share with the students the impact of making a small change within the environment and how it affects all individuals around us. I think incorporating these websites and others that the kids may find on their own will be a great way to get them excited about the upcoming events. It would also be fun to make our own website and kids and administrators and other teachers can track our progress throughout each season because I definitely think this is something that can be completed more than once a year based on the seasons. Doing this will allow for more use of the walking trail and it will be open to all age groups.
Websites to be used for introduction and process of activities:
- LIVESTRONG.COM (This website has activities students can do at home as well as activities that have already been done based on recycling, there are videos to watch and hands-on activities kids can make)
- http://www.partselect.com/JustForFun/Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.aspx (This website is more informational and shows the importance of taking care of the environment and what you can do to make a difference. There are activities and games that can be used to supplement in the elementary grades, which would be a good way to incorporate our 1st graders if they would like to get involved.
- http://www.dailyecotalk.com/Recycling-For-Kids-7-Quick-Tips.html (This is a great website that has 7 quick simple tips for kids in making recycling easy and fun.)
Action Steps!!!
What steps will we take to perform the task?
REFLECTION ACTIVITIES:
1. What did you learn from this service project and how will you use this in the future when you get older?
2. What was the most effective way of communication when working with a group of individuals and what where the strengths of using this type of communication?
3. What is the most important thing or idea you will take away from completing this activity?How has it impacted you as a student attending this school?
CELEBRATION
For our celebration we can put together a scrapbook or journal of all the communication and information we learned and shared throughout our clean up process. We will also make a slide show of all the pictures captured while doing this and present it to other classrooms around the building. We can also create a website and have the slide show posted so family members and others in the community can see the changes we made throughout the school year and how much fun the kids had while doing so.
Resources or outside assistance will I need?
I will use the online resources for assistance listed above and maybe communicate with some outside environmentalists for connections and important things that may also benefit the environment and simple things we can do to keep things consistent.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Online Resources- Rubistar
- Rubistar is an online program that teachers can use to create rubrics with their students. You can go to rubistar.4teachers.org and create rubrics based on the type of activities or assignments that you are using in your classroom. Students can work along side of you as you are creating rubrics for oral presentations, classroom projects, group projects, math assignments or any other academic assignments given throughout the year.
- I will use this program with my students because I feel like it will suit their needs and be a great visual tool to help them grasp what is being asked of them, and with them having the opportunity to develop the rubric with me it will make them more successful on the project or task because they will have a good understanding of what to do.
- The visual aspect of how to create the rubric will be positive for them because most of my students are visual learners and they really enjoy knowing the process of something and how to do it.
- This tool will be a great positive to developing a good relationship with my students also because of having the opportunity to work together and making decisions that will affect them in the future. It will prepare them for other projects they may be assigned in different classes as well as mine.
Friday, June 10, 2011
First Blog!
I have really enjoyed teaching and I'm always looking for new ways to engage students. I'm glad to be taking this course because teachnology is one way that I love to engage students. We have a smartboard in our classroom which is one way I engage students. When teaching mathematics I download lessons that pertain to what I'm teaching and the students can interactive with the lesson. Another way I engage students is to use visual supports and incorporate that with partner interaction. My students love to work with partners and I allow it when I can. The last way I like to engage students is to use movement. My kids need a lot of movement and kinesthetics to maintain their attention so we incorporate a lot of movement into our daily work.
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