Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Unit Plan Presentations

Carman - I like that you are aware to incorporate all aspects of English Language Arts into your lesson plans.  I think it's a great idea to include other subjects into your Language Arts lesson, too.  It makes the information more important in the students' eyes because they see how different subjects are related and intertwined.  Great and insightful response!  I think students will really enjoy being in your class and will learn a lot.  Your open and creative mind will take you far in the teaching career.

Michelle Simons - You're right!  There are SO many ways to include fun, interesting, and engaging activities in Language Arts' lesson plans.  Technology is one of the many ways that students will love and be engaged in.  I love that you put some challenging statements in your response stating that we are hindering our students if we are not creative and incorporate these activities.  Teaching is a never ending learning journey.  I believe you know this though and will continue to do whatever you need to do to refine your teaching skills and strategies because you have the students' best interest in heart.

Danielle Nardi - It sounds like the Scope and Sequence made you reflect a lot, which is great!  I think a teacher needs to reflect, think critically, and more in-depth about what is best for your students to be a great teacher.  You need a plan for the lesson and a direction that you're leading them, so you were spot on when you said creating lesson plans are intentional and precisely planned.  Your insight and persistence will help you be a highly effective teacher.  Great job, Danielle!

Jordan Burford - N/A

Michelle Perry - You have a positive and uplifting point of view on Scope and Sequences.  The two times that I've had to complete a Scope and Sequence I was not looking forward to it because they tend to be tedious.  You helped me see this document in a different light, which encourages me to put more effort into it next time I need to complete one.  Your response was great and informative.  You're going to do great and influential things in your teaching career!

Amanda Stander - I agree with you that Scope and Sequences can be confusing.  I also understand how you got overwhelmed with writing one in a previous course.  I remember having to complete a Scope and Sequence in a science course and when she mentioned this assignment I had no idea how to do one properly.  This time around it wasn't as bad to complete, but it is still a tedious task.  I'm glad you have a better understanding on these, too.  This knowledge and prior experience will definitely benefit you as a teacher.  You'll do great!


I think y'all did a fantastic job!  I enjoyed having each of you in my class (again).  I hope to have you in another class soon.  If not, I wish y'all nothing but the best in your future endeavors and your teaching career! 🙌😃

Let's keep in touch, please!

Friday, May 25, 2018

Week 4 - Narrative Writing

I remember the night before my first day of school.  I was near the dining table with my mom and older sister anticipating how the next day will be.  I had my school supplies laid out and organized in my school box.  Mom was going through the checklist and naming the items off to make sure we had everything.  The next morning the school bus came to a halt on my long dusty gravel road.  My sister was entering the 8th grade while my three older brothers were in high school.  I was relieved to have my sister along with me to make me feel better about this new journey as a Kindergartner.

I remember my Kindergarten teacher.  She was stern, knowledgeable, and had many years of experience as a teacher.  She was intimidating and even scary to us at times, but her classroom was fun and memorable.  I learned a lot of information from her and my other teachers at High Point.  High Point is a small rural K-8 school.  Besides the Kindergarten class, we had two grades in each classroom.  I was blessed to have multiple memorable and influential teachers that made a positive difference in my life both academically and personally.  They taught me how to read, write, speak, history, science, math, etc.  I enjoyed school during most of these years, until I reached 7th and 8th grade.  I started to lack in my studies during 6th grade due to my increasing interest in my social life and sports.  My grades began to decline during 7th and 8th grade, which was largely due to my 7th and 8th teacher (1 teacher per classroom of 2 grades) that lacked the heart to teach.  This teacher was new to our district and did not put forth the effort into teaching.  I began to fall behind in math because I wasn't able to understand the concept(s) before we moved on to a new one.  Although this teacher was not the best one I had, he taught me how important it is to provide examples, give great instruction, reach different learning styles, and put forth the effort into my teaching.  Otherwise, I enjoyed school and excelled in it until around the 6th - 7th grade.  I loved reading, English, and writing.  I even enjoyed and excelled in math until 7th grade.  I used to be on the math team and would compete in math contests.  Once I started to get behind though, I became disappointed, disengaged, and frustrated.  This is when my interest and grades in school declined.

Unfortunately, this attitude stuck with me throughout my high school years, too.  I no longer enjoyed reading and I especially didn't enjoy math.  I was more focused on my social life and sports during high school and did enough to get by when it came to academics.  In high school, most students want to fit in and/or gets caught up in other social aspects.  I regret not trying and applying myself during my high school years.  I can admit that I've paid the price for that throughout my college years.  I will use my experiences and knowledge to inform my future students how important it is to apply yourself in your studies.  I will also encourage them to speak up and let me know when they are confused or not ready to move on so they don't feel like I did.  I want to be that influential teacher that will be able to reach each student and help them succeed.

I have been enrolled in college since I graduated high school in 2008.  I was not focused or motivated to be in college and my grades reflected that.  I took extended breaks throughout these 10 years because of my grades and did not know what degree I wanted to pursue.  Once I decided that I will pursue my childhood dream of becoming a teacher, I became motivated and determined.  School became my priority and nothing stopped me from excelling in my courses.  I had to overcome many obstacles throughout the years.  It took me 10 years to graduate with a Bachelor's degree, which I just accomplished this last month on April 28th.  I was supposed to student teach in August along with many of my classmates that I've been on this journey with since the beginning.  Due to family situations and financial reasons, I had to make a difficult decision.  The logical answer versus what I want to do are two different things.  I had to make the difficult choice of withdrawing my student teaching request (already placed at the school just not with a teacher yet) and postpone it.  That's why I decided to graduate in April and go post-bac to finish out my student teaching to become certified at a later date.  Unfortunately, many people have to make tough decisions in life that may detour them from their goals for however long and this time it was me.  Although I recently made this decision that truly saddens me, I will not quit.  I will fulfill my dream of becoming a teacher within the next year or so.  I can't wait until the night before I anticipate my first day of school as a teacher.  I'm sure i will have all my supplies laid out and going through my checklist in preparation for the big day just like I did before my first day of Kindergarten decades ago.

http://quotesfact.com/going-away-to-college-quotes/going-away-to-college-quotes-012/

Friday, May 18, 2018

Week 3

We just finished week 3 and now onto week 4.  This past class challenged me to think creatively and on my feet when our professor assigned us to choose one of these random 5 words that I've never heard of and think of a way that I would teach it.  We were given a time limit to figure out the word and come up with an idea.  I chose the word nesh, which means delicate or overly sensitive to cold.  The way that I would teach this word is to have the students write a story about the time that felt nesh.  Then, I would instruct them to share their stories with a partner or the whole class.  I would encourage them to illustrate their story, too.  Young students love to draw and color.  I want them to explore their artistic and creative side as well.  I enjoyed hearing my classmates' ideas to teach their chosen words.  I also enjoyed hearing the definition of these words.  I've never heard of these words before, so this activity was interesting.

Another concept that we discussed was word walls, which I have seen in most classrooms that I have observed in over the past couple years.  The recent teacher that I observed had a word wall on the other side of her bookshelf.  It was colorful and organized.  Her whole classroom is full of color and organized.  The first time I walked in her classroom I just felt at ease.  I loved her environment within the classroom and I know the students did, too.  I will definitely want to incorporate word walls in my classroom as well as a theme.  I aspire to teach Kindergarten or 1st grade and these younger grades tend to enjoy themes.  One of the many themes that I like is camping.  I think it would be fun to add a tent in my classroom with this theme for a reading area.  I found this cute idea for a reading poster that goes along with the camping theme.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/177610779034170494/?utm_campaign=networkstorydigest&e_t=97b65b91234042f68de122cb6434b336&utm_content=177610779034170494&utm_source=31&utm_term=1&utm_medium=2026

Overall, this past class was fun and challenged me to be on my toes so to speak.  There will be many times when teachers need to be "on their toes" and think of an idea for their students within a short time frame.  I believe this was good practice.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Week 2

Ashley Pearson
Ashley
Empathetic, Genuine, Insightful, and Caring
Sister of Matt, Jason, Tony, and Mandy
Lover of God, Family, and Sports
Who feels thankful for my loved ones, proud of my success and persistence, yet confused about my future endeavors.
Who fears losing my mother as well, being diagnosed with cancer, and/or not able to have children of my own one day. 
Who would like to see positive changes in this world, my loved ones who passed away, and the Northern Lights.
Resident of Wardsville, Mo.
Pearson

One of the vocabulary words from chapters 1-3 that stood out to me was special needs students.  Now, this isn't a new topic to me, but I'm not fully confident in my abilities to help my future students with special needs yet.  I aspire to be an effective and influential teacher that truly makes a difference in children's lives.  I think I need to learn more in-depth about different strategies and approaches to help students with special needs though.  The strategies that I have learned from various courses have been helpful, but I still feel like I have so much to learn.  I'm interested in continuously learning new tactics that work best for each special need so I can reach these students and help them succeed.

Another vocabulary word that I learned more about in chapter 3 was emergent literacy, specifically emergent literacy evaluations.  I think it's important to assess the level that each student is reading on instead of assuming each child is on the same level and ready to begin the program that is planned for them.  Instead of assuming the students are ready for the planned program, complete an assessment on each student by working individually with them at the beginning of the school year.  I love this idea and plan to use it in my future classroom.  I want to ensure that I am meeting the needs of my students before moving on past their level.  I think this causes them to be frustrated, discouraged, and/or lose their appreciation of reading.  I don't want any of my students having those feelings.  Overall, I want my students to learn, evolve, and succeed.  It is one of my many responsibilities as a teacher to ensure this happens, so I will do my best.  I believe that an emergent literacy evaluation is one of the many strategies that I can use to help reach this goal.  What are your thoughts on emergent literacy evaluations?  Do you think these evaluation are worth the extra time spent in class? 

The key point that I learned from week 2 is that I still have a lot to learn even though I'm nearing the end of this journey in school.  My teaching journey will be filled with many moments, feelings, success stories, and even failures.  It's important for teachers to continue learning new strategies and techniques to use in the classroom to continue growing as a teacher.  To be an effective teacher, one must continue learning.

https://www.quotemaster.org/lifelong+learn

Friday, May 4, 2018

Week 1

Our first class for this course, Teaching Language Arts, was on Wednesday evening.  I'm looking forward to this course because Language Arts is my favorite subject.  Even though our time in class seemed to fly by, we covered a lot of content about our future assignments.  The first thing that we did was an ice breaker activity.  We talked about books that influenced us as children.  I had to think about this for a couple minutes.  As a child I loved to read.  I remember getting upset if I was not done reading a book yet and the next day was library so I would have to check it back in.  I would stay up late just to finish the book.  I was read to a lot as a toddler, which I think really helped me grow to appreciate reading as a child.  My appreciation for reading helped me excel in English, spelling, writing, and reading classes as well.  As I aged, I began to lose interest in reading.  I am not quite sure what exactly pushed me away from reading, but it may be due to my interest and time spent in sports.  I was actively playing softball, basketball, and track during middle school and high school.  Today, I do not read often.  I have read a handful of books since I was in high school (10 years ago) and that is pretty sad.  I would like to have free time to read though.  If I do have the free time to read material other than news articles or magazines, I read a devotional book that I have on my bedside table.  I learned about the books that my classmates' were influenced by though, which was interesting.  One of my favorite books is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.


We discussed the assignments we have due throughout this course, especially our unit plan and Scope and Sequence.  I remember completing a Scope and Sequence during a recent science class, but need to refresh my memory on that task again.  I have used the Missouri Learning Standards on the DESE website several times over the past couple years and just learned of the simpler view, which is referred to as Crosswalks.  That would have been helpful in the past!  Haha!  At least I know now for one of my last courses though, right?  ;)

I included 2 truths and 1 lie below.  Let's see if you can decipher which is true and/or a lie!

2 Truths and 1 Lie

I like peanut butter.
I have never had the flu.
I like my steak well done.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Week 6

I started my observations on Thursday this week.  I'm observing a 1st grade classroom with the same teacher that I observed previously and I'm really enjoying it.  I like her teaching techniques, strategies, and her classroom environment.  She is very nice to work with and is willing to take the time to talk to me during her down time.  I was pleasantly surprised that the students remembered my name and were happy to see me.  I observed again today and will be back to observe all day on Monday and Tuesday, too.  I will teach my lesson on Tuesday morning.  I am working with the teacher's set plan for the week.  The book that the reading lessons will be focused on all next week is The Dot by Peter Reynolds.  This is a cute story with a big influential meaning.  I think the students will enjoy it.  I'm not sure which thinking map I will utilize for this lesson plan yet, but I'm leaning towards a bubble map or flow map.

I was one of the several people this past week to give our lesson plan presentations.  I thought each lesson that my classmates presented were great.  I liked seeing the variety and different ideas within each lesson plan.  One of my ten lessons that I presented to the class was about fractions.  I used a variety of strategies and resources within my lesson plan to reach each learning style.  The hook that I used was about pizza.  I asked the students what their favorite pizza toppings were and wrote their responses on the board.  Next, the students read the book Fraction Fun in popcorn style.  After we finished the book, I worked out their responses about pizza into fractions.  Then, I would present my slideshow presentation that includes YouTube videos to teach students more in-depth information about fractions.  I found an app that is an educational fraction game, so I would allow the students to play this game for about 8 minutes.  Once the timer goes off, they will complete a bridge map and a worksheet.  For my closing activity, the students would receive a Hershey's bar and tell me what the denominator of the fraction would be.  The students would represent the fraction that I state with their Hershey's bar, then they can eat it.

As I mentioned above, I enjoyed seeing what my creative classmates came up with for their lesson plan(s).  I also liked seeing which thinking map they chose for their given topic.  As of now, I haven't finished my lesson plans but I'm slowly getting closer.  These lesson plans are time consuming, especially when you tend to overthink like I do.  Haha!  Overall, my classmates have done great on their lesson plans and I look forward to seeing my other classmates' lesson plans next week.

Friday, March 30, 2018

Week 4

During this course, one of our assignments is to write 10 lesson plans, which will include specific strategies, activities, and criteria.  The fun yet challenging thing about these lesson plans is that I am able to choose any text for each lesson plan.  One of the books that I chose to create a lesson plan on is Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  I chose this story for many reasons.  One of those reasons is that this story is insightful over a topic that needs to be discussed, which is bullying.  This kid receives insults and gets bullied due to medical issues that resulted in him looking different than his peers.  I think everyone needs to be aware of how painful negative words and actions can be on another person.  This book will provide a great insight into this kid's life and the concept of bullying, which will hopefully help students be more understanding and empathetic to others.  I like choosing books that have meaning and will increase the students' personal and academic skills.

Honestly, there are so many great activities that I could implement into this lesson plan.  It was hard to narrow it down, but I knew I wanted to assign a group activity that would be meaningful.  The main activity, aside from the thinking map, that I chose for this lesson plan is a writing activity.  I will pass out two worksheets that have a helmet (like Auggie wears) with open shapes for the students to write about each other.  Once I pass out the worksheets, each student will cut their helmet out that will state "I am a wonder" or "You are a wonder".  The students will write their name on the helmet, then color the two pages with whichever colors they want.  Next, I will give clear instructions to the students to help alleviate any confusion.  I will instruct the students to pass their papers to the person next to them and then write down a genuine compliment about them.  This activity is meant to encourage the students to uplift one another and give a reason why he/she is a wonder.  Some questions for the students to consider during this activity are as follows:

1. What makes this classmate special?
2. What do you admire about this classmate?
3. Why is this classmate important to you?
4. What do you like the most about this classmate?

I will write these questions on the board so they can use it as a reference.  I will reset the timer each time they pass their sheets on to the next classmate.  Once each student has filled out a bubble or shape on each of their classmate's sheets, we will hang these up on the classroom's bulletin board.  This activity will be encouraging, powerful, and teach kindness.

I think this activity meets the criteria because it challenges the students in different areas.  The students are required to write full sentences about the students, so they are practicing their writing skills, which includes correct spelling and grammar.  They are also challenged to think of genuine and kind compliments to give to each of their classmates based on what they know and/or observe of them daily.  This teaches students to be kind, caring, and supportive of one another.  These are admirable traits to possess that will also benefit them throughout many aspects in their life.  I think filling out the thinking map (which I have not completely decided which one yet) and completing this activity will help teach the importance of empathy and that bullying is never okay.  I think this activity integrates and connects well with the book.

So, what are your thoughts?  I'd love to hear!

Unit Plan Presentations