One More Semester Down, One More To Go!

As this semester comes to an end, I keep telling myself that I can do it! Like April said in her post, I've learned many applicable things, but I will be so relieved once graduate school is over. I'll miss seeing everyone, but I'll feel like I have a life again! Being a teacher consumes so much time anyway and grad school makes things even more difficult.  I'm always thinking about what I need to do and once I think I have one thing finished, there's always something else that needs to be completed.  I am going to enjoy this summer vacation more than any other I believe!!! :)

Thoughts of Randomness

I'm very glad I have finally come up with a 21st century lesson idea! :) It took a lot of thinking but I've got most of it figured out.  Now I just need to type up the lesson plan and teach it next week, but I think once the lesson plan part is finished, it'll all fall into place then.

Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow at 1:00-I cannot wait! The break is much needed and is going to be very much appreciated.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Catching Up

I haven't posted in quite some time! It's so hard trying to keep up with everything between grad school and work.  I give props to you ladies who are managing grad school with kids. I couldn't imagine!

A few random thoughts:

I think I've finished my multimedia project or at least almost finished. I was having some trouble with Voicethread tonight but I think everything ended up working out.

I'm starting to get the hang of third grade. SOLs still make me really nervous though! I'd rather be back in second grade due to the stress that SOLs bring, but I do like how the kids change classes.  It makes the day go by faster since I'm dealing with different groups of kids.  I also enjoy teaching only two subjects, Reading (to my homeroom) and Math (to all three classes).

I am looking very forward to this Friday's 1:00 dismissal for Veteran's Day and then Thanksgiving break in a few weeks....and then Christmas break! :) Hopefully Thanksgiving break and Christmas break will be filled with a lot of relaxation. I'm looking forward to not having any schoolwork to do, or is that even possible???

Contractions

Today in class, I gave each student an index card that had a contraction or the two words that make up a contraction.  The students had to quietly walk around the room and find their partner.  When they found their partner, they had to do a little hand clap that I showed them.  The students really enjoyed moving around the room, finding their partners, and performing the hand clap.   Does anyone have any other ideas for quick and easy contraction review activities? (or antonym/synonym ones)

Benchmark Tests

Testing, testing, testing! Oh, the testing! I feel that too much pressure is put on teachers and students in education today.  I have to give my students their Reading benchmark tomorrow morning, and I pray that they will do well.  We did a practice this week and some kids really struggled. I hope they will use the testing strategies we discussed and apply them to their test tomorrow. I can only hope...

Technology

Technology is so important in today's world! Teachers have so many opportunities to use technology in their classrooms...it's just a matter of us taking the time to research and discover things.  With that being said, if anyone has any ideas for third grade activities for incorporating technology into reading or math, please feel free to share! :)

Search Engines

In David Warlick's Redefining Literacy 2.0, he discusses the use of search engines.  I often use search engines but have never really thought about the process that goes on.  I just type in what I'm looking for and then look through the various links that it brings up.  There's a quote on page 35 that says, "The true intelligence of the World Wide Web is between your ears."  This quote is absolutely true.  If you take the time to use the internet, you can find so many resources that can be used in your classroom.  All you have to do is look for them!

Art Exhibit

My overall impression of the exhibition was that is was nice, but I was expecting a bit more from it.  I originally envisioned it to be bigger and have more examples of art in it.  The artwork that I chose was All that I need...is the air that I breathe.  It's an oil on canvas by Jennifer Groves (2006).  Her artwork showed an umbrella and shoes.  I chose this piece of art because it looked fun to me.  It made me think of a rainy day and just kicking off my shoes to relax.  I felt that this piece of art was one I could relate to the most.  It made me feel comfortable and at ease.  Overall, the trip to Green Hall was a nice trip and very relaxing.  It was nice to have a chance to go to another building and see things I normally wouldn't see and/or think about.

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Technology is all over the world. You can find technology almost everywhere you look. Children today are being exposed to technology at a very rapid rate. In my school, I feel that our school is not quite up to date with technology.  We are slowly getting there though.  When I got my SmartBoard two years ago, I was a bit weary at first. But, after playing with it and using it, I absolutely love it! I couldn't imagine what I'd do without it. I liked the slogan "Just Do It" that was used in this article.  It's the truth--teachers have to just do it and try out new things.  We have to overcome our insecurities and make sure that we are preparing our students for the future of technology.

Preparing Tomorrow's Language Arts Teachers Today

Language Arts teachers, regardless of what grade level they teach, need to be comfortable using technology in their classroom. Technology is a very important teaching tool.  Students become actively engaged when technology is being used.  My students love hearing/seeing books on the Tumble Books website.  I love using it as well because it gives them a chance to hear someone else read a book.  It also lets them make the verbal connection with the text that they are seeing on the screen.
Students need to be exposed to technology as much as possible because the world is becoming more technologically advanced at a rapid pace.  We, as teachers, need to expose them to the world of technology and let them see all of the magical wonders that it has to offer.

Cowan & Albers

Cowan and Albers article, "Semiotic representations: Building complex literacy practices through the arts"

I found the illustrations included in this article to be very interesting.  It was neat to see the various displays of artwork that were included. Cowan and Albers state, "Students must have experiences in which they construct and translate meaning across sign systems through what we call semiotic representations" (p. 124).  When students are participating in semiotic experiences, they are typically more engaged in the learning process.  They are making conscious decisions and becoming strong communicators by engaging in these experiences.  Semiotic experiences further give students a chance to develop strong literacy practices. By engaging in various learning experiences, students are gaining many important skills.  Students can often make connections with artwork, as stated by some of the students in this article. (For example, Sarah on page 132 said that art helps her imagine in her head.) Ultimately, the use of the arts and semiotic experiences have a positive outcome for students.

The Arts, New Literacies, and Multimodality

In today's society, things are constantly changing.  The world is much different today than it was when I was a child. Many young children in today's society have cell phones, iPods, MP3 players, and various other electronic devices.  We now live in a "high-tech world" (p. 17).  Teachers need to make sure that they stay up to date with all of the emerging technologies in order to fully promote the success of their students. By combining the use of the arts (visual, musical, and performance arts), multimodality (many modes involved in meaning making), and new literacies studies (literacy within a digital world), teachers can help "redefine literacy and what constitutes being literate" (p. 18). The definition of literacy is constantly changing because our world is constantly changing.  Teachers need to provide various ways for their students to practice being literate in today's society. By using the arts in classrooms, students are given the chance to express themselves in a fun and educational way.

Infographics

The video on infographics from Kathy Schrock was interesting.  It showed various ways that infographics can be used to assess students' understanding.  Instead of having students always write an essay or answer questions, they can use infographics instead to display their level of understanding.  Since I teach Language Arts and Math this year, I will share a few ideas where infographics could be used in those subject areas.  I feel that an infographic on cause and effect would be a good idea.  Students could use various images to display the cause of something and what happened as the effect of it.  They could add text and even virtual effects to the infographic.  An infographic could also be made for inferencing and context clues since those are complex topics for some students.  For Math, I think an infographic on liquid measurement would be very helpful.  Students have an extremely difficult time with cups, liters, etc.  I feel that an infographic would hopefully take that complex idea and help students understand it more effectively.

Task 1-Hurricanes

I found this site, http://whatworks.wholechildeducation.org/blog/before-and-after-a-hurricane/, very useful.  Even though I do not teach Science this year,  I'd like to remember this site for future reference to use when teaching about weather.  I really liked the Sesame Street hurricane tool kit (http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/topicsandactivities/toolkits/hurricane) and its efforts to help young children feel safe and cope with their emotions.  Students, as well, will enjoy seeing things that are familiar to them.  The Sesame Street characters will attract their attention, even if they think the characters are for babies, it will still get them interested.  I also liked the kids activity survival kit (http://www.fema.gov/kids/k_srvkit.htm).  I thought getting together a kit of "fun items" and storing it in a safe place is a wonderful idea in case evacuation has to be done.  The thinkfinity site, http://www.thinkfinity.org/hurricanes, offered good information about hurricanes but wasn't very kid-friendly.  It's a good site for teachers to get information from but I wouldn't show it to my 3rd graders because it's very wordy. (Even the links that I clicked on were too much print and not enough pictures, etc.) The whatworks site (referenced above) is more age appropriate for my students because it provides many kid-friendly links, such as the Sesame Street and activity survival kit links.

I also wanted to mention a sentence from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/teaching-911-why-how/.  This particular statement was very relevant to me: "We must engage our young people in the construction of history." We must indeed teach our students about history, no matter how difficult it is to talk about.  Students need to know the importance of historical events, such as hurricane destructions and 9/11.  As some links suggested off of our class page, it is important for teachers to talk about these items. It's up to the teacher in how much depth they provide because it's not a state objective, but it is important for students to know important dates in history.  In return, we hope they will become more compassionate for others and want to become better citizens.

Reading Response

I chose to do my weekly reflection on Johanna Riddle's Engaging the Eye Generation, Chapter One. There were several statements from this chapter that I wanted to reflect on. On page seven, Riddle states, "As teachers, our job is to help students do more than merely look at symbols; we must show them how to interpret and communicate the meaning of images, to develop intelligent vision."  She further states that children "use images to make sense of the world" (p. 8).  I think Riddle is right on target with these two statements.  As teachers, we indeed have to help children develop intelligent vision so they can make sense of the world around them.
Another statement that stood out to me was that students need "guided questioning, discussion, observation, and time to consider various forms of information before they can successfully integrate their understanding of text and images" (p. 10).  Teachers need to provide students with different types of learning strategies to help interpret texts and images.  I liked the section about Venn diagrams from Riddle's book.  I love using Venn diagrams in my classroom because it is an easy way to distinguish similarities and differences and can be used for all subjects.
I liked how Riddle stated, "Once we unlock the door to intelligent vision, we set the stage for richer understanding and communication" (p. 29).  When students can interpret and communicate the meaning of images, they get a deeper understanding and can understand the world around them in a more meaningful way.

Goals

The goals that I wrote down in class last night focused on my classroom and myself as a teacher.  One of my goals is to be more consistent with my classroom rules. I notice that I'll let some things slide or give students too many chances sometimes. Since I'll be going up to 3rd grade this year, a tested grade, I want to make sure all students clearly understand the rules and that they won't be getting away with things as easily because there is not enough time in the schedule to have to deal with behavior problems. I also plan to encourage my students to set high goals, both academic and behavior goals. I've always encouraged my students to set goals, but this year will be different since their ultimate goal is to pass the SOL tests. (My principal always says that you can't rise to low expectations so make sure your students know that you expect highly of them.)  I would also like to feel more accomplished and less stressed as a teacher. I know last year was pretty tough managing work and grad school, especially in the beginning, but I did it! However, I feel that this semester will not be as difficult, and I hope that I'll be able to plan better for my students. I kind of feel like I wasn't as good of a teacher last year as I should have been because I didn't have much extra time to plan fun stuff or additional activities because grad school took so much of my time and I was so exhausted. Ultimately, my goal for this school year is to feel confident and prepare my students for their SOL tests, a new experience to them as third graders and to me as a teacher who has never taught a SOL grade.

What I Have Learned

Wow, where do I begin? I've gained a lot of knowledge this semester in our integration classes.  The textbooks, blog posts, class discussions, and discussion boards have all provided a great input of knowledge.  I have gained many wonderful ideas that I plan to use with my class next year.  It makes me excited to go ahead and start planning some of the fun things I've heard others share! It's very nice to have a summer vacation to help us regain our thoughts and enthusiasm. We never really stop working, even with the summer off, because we are constantly thinking of things that we can do with our upcoming class.

Textbooks:  Schell and Fisher, in Teaching Social Studies: A Literacy-Based Approach, have provided many great ideas throughout their textbook.  I really liked the ideas we shared in class tonight with our tables from Chapter 9, such as Hot Seat, Graphic Organizers, Quickwrite, Quickdraw, and Tea Party. I also liked the ideas from Chapter 4, such as Book Talks, Book Bags, and Walk and Talk.  Also, the strategies found in Melber's and Hunter's book, 25 Strategies for K-8 Inquiry-Based Learning: Integrating Language Arts and Social Studies, provide great ideas that can be used in classrooms.  I like how this book provides grade-level modifications to suit all teachers. Throughout this summer, I hope to look through all of the strategies and really reflect on the ones that I could use with my class this upcoming year. I would also like to look into Daniels' and Bizar's Teaching the Best Practice Way: Methods That Matter, K-12, book in more detail. I think the textbook selections this semester were very relevant. They all provided a lot of practical information that we can use in our classroom.

I really enjoy teaching all subjects. (I've been teaching all subjects ever since I became a teacher.) This may change next year though if I move to 3rd grade. It kind of saddens me because I don't want to be limited to certain subjects.  Even if I am limited, I will still integrate as much as possible.  Children need to see the connections between the subjects.

Assessment

I, like many others, feel that students are tested way too much.  I understand that assessment is very important in an educational setting; however, I think it's done "over the top". Students have so many demands and stress placed upon them. In Daniels' and Bizar's Teaching The Best Practice Way, they go over many types of assessment tools.  Anecdotal records is something that I would like to become better at next year. I'd like to keep track of the students' progress better in written documents. I often take mental observations but I need to actually put my thoughts down on paper.

As far as my group's integrated unit goes, we are doing observations throughout the week and rubrics for certain tasks that the students have to complete. The observations are a good way to make sure that students are focused on their tasks and the rubrics provide clear guidelines for the students to follow.  The rubrics are being used so students will clearly know what they are being graded on.

A Bit Nervous

So, I was told yesterday that I was probably being moved up to 3rd grade. I taught 1st grade my first year and 2nd grade the past four years. Third grade is a big change--SOL tests, only teaching certain subjects, new people to work with, and the same kids from last year! It'll be a change, but if I have to do it, I will. I'm just worried with all of the new stress...

The Time Has Finally Come...

Today was the last day for the kids.  Tomorrow is my last day.  Just a little more packing/organizing, and I'll be done! It feels so good to know that summer vacation is about to begin.  ~RELAXATION TIME!~ Well, semi-relaxation for now, but full relaxation once our integrated unit is turned in. :) I don't know what I'm going to do with myself with not having to worry about any type of schoolwork. It's going to be nice!

Lesson Idea-Ancient Egypt

2nd grade lesson   Content Areas: Social Studies, Technology, Art, and Language Arts

The following link: artwork.http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/ancient/egypt.htm is a great resource for teachers to use that includes a brief description of the history of Ancient Egypt.

As far as my lesson goes, I would begin by showing the students where Egypt is located on the map. Next, I would create a word web on the board and tell the students that we will be recording information on our web throughout the showing of a video. (Since this lesson is supposed to focus on artwork, I would make sure that I find a video that includes some examples of Egyptian artwork.) I would stop the video at certain parts so we could discuss what we saw and record the information on our word web to describe some things about Egypt. After watching the video, I would go into more depth about some of the things that we wrote on our word web. (I would especially focus on the artwork section of our word web.) After the discussion, I would show students some more examples of artwork found on the ArtNC site.  For example, this site includes a picture of the Coffin of Djed Mut and Amunred and a model boat with figures (Middle Kingdom, XII-XIII Dynasty). http://ncmoa.org/artnc/searchresults.php We would discuss the characteristics of each piece of artwork and compare it to our personal artwork.  I would use a Venn Diagram to show the similarities and differences of Egyptian artwork to our "elementary" artwork. The ArtNC site also provides a great description of each work of art.  It includes communication and comprehension strategies for teachers to use as well. As a final fun activity for Egyptian artwork, I would provide each child a printout of hieroglyphics and have them write their name. (My students this year really enjoyed writing/drawing their names using hieroglyphics.)

Strategy 7-Developing Map Skills

I chose Strategy 7-Developing Map Skills in 25 Strategies for K-8 Inquiry-Based Learning: Integrating Language Arts and Social Studies by Melber and Hunter.  I enjoyed reading about this strategy because it is something that directly applies to me.  In VA there are two social studies objectives for maps in 2nd grade: 2.5 Map Skills (continents, oceans, etc.) and 2.6 Simple Map Skills (compass rose, title, etc.).  Melber and Hunter state, "Developing map skills in elementary students can help them as they explore and understand their own neighborhood and school" (p. 48). Students need to know the importance of map skills, both simple and complex.  I liked the idea of map walking and giving students the freedom to choose what they felt should be put on their map.  The K-2 grade level modification provides helpful ideas to use in teaching map skills.  Melber and Hunter suggest that students first begin by working with their families to create a map of their home. I plan to use this idea next year with my class.  I like the idea of starting out the creation of maps with something that is very common to them.  I plan to give them guidelines to use, such as make sure you give your map a title, include a compass rose, and provide a map key.  By creating maps, they will be learning social studies objectives while incorporating the arts (drawing) as well!

Teaching Social Studies for Understanding

Schell and Fisher, in Teaching Social Studies: A Literacy-Based Approach, state that we naturally organize information into categories.  Similarly, social studies information is organized in topical, conceptual, or thematic categories.  Last night after my group decided on a topic, we began categorizing our information in a standards cluster.  By doing so, our thoughts became clearly visible and easy to expand on.  Our next step will be to find some common themes and concepts that exist in our research.  We will have to examine the many aspects of railroad life to piece the information together for our unit.  Essential questions may be used in our unit to help assist students in uncovering the big idea.  Figure 4.4 on page 85 provides some examples of essential questions that can be used in geography, history, economics, and government.  Overall, I feel that chapter 4 has provided some helpful information that will assist in the social studies section of our integrated unit.

End of the Year

I, for one, must say that I have definitely been counting down the days until summer vacation. Nine more to go! My class this year has been a very challenging group, but I will still miss them, of course. (I think the stress of grad school has not helped any as well...) On Tuesday, we will be going to the VA Beach Aquarium which I am very excited about. I think it will be a great opportunity for the kids to learn more about living things, an objective that we cover in 2nd grade. There are many more fun activities planned for the end of the school year as well. I look forward to next year and hope I'll be in 2nd grade again because I've already thought of many new things that I'd like to do with my class next year. But until then, I'm ready for summer vacation and so are my students! I think we all need a break! :)

Literacy Workstations

I often feel like I have a hard time managing workstations.  I do not have an assistant in my room so I often feel overwhelmed trying to give my small group my full attention while also monitoring the rest of my class.  I think students benefit greatly from workstations, therefore, I want to keep doing them (and I really don't have a choice because we have to do them!).  Are there any suggestions anyone has for managing workstations and making sure that all students are on task/active that are not with me in my group? Also, I plan on redoing my workstations next year so if anyone has any suggestions for stations, that'd be greatly appreciated as well. I currently have guided reading (small group with me), poetry (which I'd really like to redo because students seem to run out of things to do or get bored), listening, computers/games, buddy reading, and word study (phonics). 

Addressing the Arts in my Classroom

I feel that incorporating the arts is very important in elementary classrooms.  I often use music and art in my classroom, and I try to use drama and dance when possible.  At my school, art classes are only held for third through fifth grade.  Since I teach second grade,  my students don't get the opportunity to go with the art teacher.  In an attempt to integrate the arts, I often get my students to illustrate their stories.  I also get them to use art to practice their spelling words.  I'll have the students write their words creatively using markers and draw pictures, if applicable.  Drawings are also used in Math, Social Studies, and Science to illustrate important concepts.  Our Reading series has a phonics chart for each week which includes a cd with all of the songs.  The children love singing along and dancing to the music.  I'll also often play classical music in my classroom while the children are working.  I feel that this eliminates extra talking and helps the children focus.  Last week our reading story was Stone Soup, a play.  I assigned parts to the students, and if their part required actions, they had to act it out.  For example, some kids had to act like they were handing another student an onion or carrot, etc.  Ultimately, the arts need to be integrated into classrooms.  The arts make learning more fun!

Reading as Thinking strategy

Chapter Two provides a great deal of information about reading as a thinking strategy.  I think the authors clearly state a valid point when they say, “reading is not an accumulation of subskills, but a complex and specialized form of thinking” (p. 33).  They further state, “Learning to read is a much deeper, broader, and more complex cognitive task” (p. 33).  It’s very important that children understand what they are reading.  They need to be able to make connections as they read.  I often get my students to stop and evaluate what they have read.  I’ll ask them questions about what’s going on, why it’s happening, and I'll get them to make predictions. By doing this, they are becoming active in their reading and practicing important reading and thinking strategies. 

We also discuss author’s purpose a lot.  (Author’s Purpose is “Easy as PIE” – Persuade, Inform, and Entertain.) This gives the students an opportunity to figure out why the author wrote the story for his/her audience.  Another strategy I use in my classroom is having the children connect things to their personal lives.  For example, one of our stories from our Reading textbook was about jellyfish.  I asked the class who had seen a jellyfish before and if they had, they shared the information about it with the class.  I recorded the information on a bubble map.  We watched a video on United Streaming about sea creatures after reading our story, and I made sure to emphasize the parts about jellyfish.  We also completed a fact/opinion chart on jellyfish.  All of these lessons allowed the children to form connections from their everyday lives to our reading story.  They became more involved and active in the text because of all of the teaching styles/strategies incorporated in the lesson.  I feel that students benefit from reading when they are using a thinking strategy.  It allows them to clearly comprehend what they are reading, and it sets a purpose for their reading.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to Crystal's blog.  I have created this blog for EDUC 520.