I created a website for my teaching portfolio. I hope to add a resource and links page someday very soon!
Click here to see it.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Dolch Sight Word Games
In student teaching, I add one subject each week until I am full time. For this week, I am adding on "Double Dose" where I work with the on-level and below-level students to improve reading fluency. I am wanting to begin with some sight word study and decided some games were in order, as an incentive for these groups since Double Dose means they have to meet with me twice per day.
I first thought about making a set of playing cards with the sight words. We could play a memory matching game or if I make a set with 4 cards for each word so we can play Go Fish or Old Maid. I'm thinking a lot about how traditional card games could be used with words. I am wondering if i could adapt War with the cards- with words closer to A being the winner. Students would be practicing putting words in alphabetical order.
I found a website with some sight word board games that I decided I could very easily just make. Imagine a rectangle, with spaces like Monopoly. In the middle are 4 stacks of cards. Students each have a game piece and roll two dice to advance their piece. In each space there is a sight word written. In the middle there are four stacks of cards, with the words showing. If they land on a space that matches the sight word they can take that card if they can use the word in a sentence. I am not sure if they should end their turn or get to go again if they take a card.
Last week, when I made my first set of cards, I gave each student a stack and tried a matching game I made up on the spot. I gave each student a stack of cards and had them place them on the table. If there was a match, they put the second card from their hand on the card, if there was not a match, the put it on the table to make a new stack. This way, we quickly sorted the cards. After this, I held the cards and flashed them the cards and prompted, "say it" and for each card one student used it in a sentence.
I am really excited to start playing these games this week. I am going to try the board game first. Luckily, my school has a laminated that we are allowed to use for free!
I plan to post some links on here soon, after I have evaluated the games or activities I find. I'm still working on incorporating the Active Board in my lessons and hope to use this soon for sight word games.
I first thought about making a set of playing cards with the sight words. We could play a memory matching game or if I make a set with 4 cards for each word so we can play Go Fish or Old Maid. I'm thinking a lot about how traditional card games could be used with words. I am wondering if i could adapt War with the cards- with words closer to A being the winner. Students would be practicing putting words in alphabetical order.
I found a website with some sight word board games that I decided I could very easily just make. Imagine a rectangle, with spaces like Monopoly. In the middle are 4 stacks of cards. Students each have a game piece and roll two dice to advance their piece. In each space there is a sight word written. In the middle there are four stacks of cards, with the words showing. If they land on a space that matches the sight word they can take that card if they can use the word in a sentence. I am not sure if they should end their turn or get to go again if they take a card.
Last week, when I made my first set of cards, I gave each student a stack and tried a matching game I made up on the spot. I gave each student a stack of cards and had them place them on the table. If there was a match, they put the second card from their hand on the card, if there was not a match, the put it on the table to make a new stack. This way, we quickly sorted the cards. After this, I held the cards and flashed them the cards and prompted, "say it" and for each card one student used it in a sentence.
I am really excited to start playing these games this week. I am going to try the board game first. Luckily, my school has a laminated that we are allowed to use for free!
I plan to post some links on here soon, after I have evaluated the games or activities I find. I'm still working on incorporating the Active Board in my lessons and hope to use this soon for sight word games.
Monday, August 23, 2010
5 years
As of tomorrow night at about 11:15 pm, I will have lived in North Carolina for 5 years. I find it curious that the eve of one of the most monumentally important days in my career, my first day of student teaching, coincides with the anniversary of one of the most life changing events in my personal history.
I moved to North Carolina after spending the summer working as a Director of the ceramics department at a sleep-away summer camp for girls in Maine. I taught girls ranging in age between 6 and 16, seven classes per day for 6 days per week. I got that job because I had “some” experience teaching afterschool art classes when I was working on my undergrad degree in Fine Arts.
That job hasn’t crossed my mind in months, mostly because I have been so busy with summer classes and preparing for student teaching. But today I can’t help but think about how it was the pivotal moment where I began to realize that teaching is something that I enjoy doing and do very well. To be honest, I had no idea about what tasks are age appropriate, classroom management, let alone curriculum. I remember spending the first few days before camp obsessively organizing the space and thinking about systems for firing and glazing. I made a notebook for lesson planning and drew pictures of projects I thought I could make with each age group.
To say the least, it was exceptionally difficult. I worked all of the time and struggled with loneliness and burnout. But my students were productive and enthusiastic. At every age the campers wanted to try new things and many returned during open studio hours to spend more time working on their projects. I remember helping a 7 year old make a gigantic hand-built teapot- she cried but I refused to do the work for her, only showed her how to proceed, and encouraged her not to give up.
And now as I am thinking about that experience, I wonder what it was that made my students feel so successful. For the first class session with each group, I purposefully used a sweet clear voice and when it was time to go over the rules I changed to a very serious, low tone when I told them my main rule: “No negativity.” I explained to them that there is no right or wrong answer in art and that they would most likely experience difficulty, and the reason I was there was to help them through it. I encouraged them to persevere, and they accepted my challenge. A few weeks later, I heard a 15 year-old girl chide another when she was complaining and I was surprised that they remembered.
In my personal life, I think a lot about cycles and patterns. Tonight, as I am relaxing after one of the busiest and most confusing weeks of my life where I prepare for what is to come over the next four months, I find myself in the same place I was 5 years and 10 weeks ago. Just like right now, I felt like I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and was just using what I knew to survive. The difference is now I know about differentiation, age appropriate tasks, curriculum, planning, and integrating content. For the past few days I have felt like a deer in the headlights, but my spirits are lifting, I am feeling more comfortable, in control, and am beginning to understand the complexities of what is to come over the next few weeks.
I moved to North Carolina after spending the summer working as a Director of the ceramics department at a sleep-away summer camp for girls in Maine. I taught girls ranging in age between 6 and 16, seven classes per day for 6 days per week. I got that job because I had “some” experience teaching afterschool art classes when I was working on my undergrad degree in Fine Arts.
That job hasn’t crossed my mind in months, mostly because I have been so busy with summer classes and preparing for student teaching. But today I can’t help but think about how it was the pivotal moment where I began to realize that teaching is something that I enjoy doing and do very well. To be honest, I had no idea about what tasks are age appropriate, classroom management, let alone curriculum. I remember spending the first few days before camp obsessively organizing the space and thinking about systems for firing and glazing. I made a notebook for lesson planning and drew pictures of projects I thought I could make with each age group.
To say the least, it was exceptionally difficult. I worked all of the time and struggled with loneliness and burnout. But my students were productive and enthusiastic. At every age the campers wanted to try new things and many returned during open studio hours to spend more time working on their projects. I remember helping a 7 year old make a gigantic hand-built teapot- she cried but I refused to do the work for her, only showed her how to proceed, and encouraged her not to give up.
And now as I am thinking about that experience, I wonder what it was that made my students feel so successful. For the first class session with each group, I purposefully used a sweet clear voice and when it was time to go over the rules I changed to a very serious, low tone when I told them my main rule: “No negativity.” I explained to them that there is no right or wrong answer in art and that they would most likely experience difficulty, and the reason I was there was to help them through it. I encouraged them to persevere, and they accepted my challenge. A few weeks later, I heard a 15 year-old girl chide another when she was complaining and I was surprised that they remembered.
In my personal life, I think a lot about cycles and patterns. Tonight, as I am relaxing after one of the busiest and most confusing weeks of my life where I prepare for what is to come over the next four months, I find myself in the same place I was 5 years and 10 weeks ago. Just like right now, I felt like I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and was just using what I knew to survive. The difference is now I know about differentiation, age appropriate tasks, curriculum, planning, and integrating content. For the past few days I have felt like a deer in the headlights, but my spirits are lifting, I am feeling more comfortable, in control, and am beginning to understand the complexities of what is to come over the next few weeks.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Blogging about blogging.
For my last blog assignment, I have been asked to reflect on my blogging experience thus far.
I am very glad to be using this blog as a place to chronicle my ideas and links related to my professional life. I have saved so many links to articles or resources that I have wanted to post, but have not had the time this summer with my busy school and life schedule. Time is the most difficult aspect to blogging - I don't want to rush through writing a post because I have a real audience (including my Dad) so I feel like I have to share my best work. I also like the idea of using this blog as a way for future employers to get a better sense of who I am and what I am interested in. I also hope that this will continue to be a method for me to keep in touch with my cohort from Meredith.
In the end, I am thankful that my professor required me to start a blog because it was something that I had wanted to do for a long time.
I am very glad to be using this blog as a place to chronicle my ideas and links related to my professional life. I have saved so many links to articles or resources that I have wanted to post, but have not had the time this summer with my busy school and life schedule. Time is the most difficult aspect to blogging - I don't want to rush through writing a post because I have a real audience (including my Dad) so I feel like I have to share my best work. I also like the idea of using this blog as a way for future employers to get a better sense of who I am and what I am interested in. I also hope that this will continue to be a method for me to keep in touch with my cohort from Meredith.
In the end, I am thankful that my professor required me to start a blog because it was something that I had wanted to do for a long time.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Excited!
I finally received my student teaching assignment via email tonight! It's late, and no one in my neighborhood wants to hear me shout and there is no one around to see my happy dance. So, I am going to shout it out on my blog:
I AM STUDENT TEACHING THIS FALL IN THIRD GRADE!!! YAHOOOO!!!
I am not sure how to do a "virtual happy dance". Goodnight.
I AM STUDENT TEACHING THIS FALL IN THIRD GRADE!!! YAHOOOO!!!
I am not sure how to do a "virtual happy dance". Goodnight.
History and Bias in the classroom.
When teaching history, a teacher needs to consider and plan for varying points of view and perspectives in his or her classroom. These biases can come from three places: the textbook, the teacher, or the students. It is important for every teacher to emphasize that there is ALWAYS more than one side to any story.
It is pretty much a fact that textbooks in the United States are written from a Western, “pro-america” perspective. But, it is frightening that many teachers still use the textbook for most of the Social Studies instruction in their classroom. In my program we use the phrase “mile wide and an inch deep” when we talk about textbooks because they only cover the surface.
A few months ago, Texas changed their history curriculum standards. It was in the news but I’m not sure if many people really knew why the issue was getting so much attention. The reason is because Texas buys one textbook for every student in its state, and since the textbook industry is for-profit, it means that they write one textbook for Texas and tweak that textbook for other states. The problem with the changes is the fact that the committee was comprised mostly of special interest groups with an agenda to bring a religious tilt to the curriculum. It may sound like I am just pointing fingers and carrying my own bias here, but when you read the proposed changes, its pretty clear what these groups were trying to do. They succeeded in making these changes, like taking Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson out of the spotlight when teachers talk about the Founding Fathers, and instead focusing on clergy members who may have not been as important. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Teachers also need to be aware of their own biases and prejudices in the classroom. In fact, it is illegal and unethical for teachers to use their position of authority in the classroom to express their own political or religious beliefs. Because of this, teaching history puts teachers in a precarious situation where they have to think carefully about the things they say and the perspectives they personally support in the classroom. The best thing for any teacher to do is to plan ahead and prepare questions that would help the students think about the multiple perspectives.
And then teachers must always remember that their classroom is diverse place, with many differing and possibly conflicting perspectives. The teacher needs to balance respect in the classroom with respect for home cultures. The only way to maintain this balance is to make the classroom a neutral zone where students feel free to express themselves and free to try another idea. In math, we know that there is more than one way to solve a problem, therefore in Social Studies there must be more than one way to look at a problem.
It is pretty much a fact that textbooks in the United States are written from a Western, “pro-america” perspective. But, it is frightening that many teachers still use the textbook for most of the Social Studies instruction in their classroom. In my program we use the phrase “mile wide and an inch deep” when we talk about textbooks because they only cover the surface.
A few months ago, Texas changed their history curriculum standards. It was in the news but I’m not sure if many people really knew why the issue was getting so much attention. The reason is because Texas buys one textbook for every student in its state, and since the textbook industry is for-profit, it means that they write one textbook for Texas and tweak that textbook for other states. The problem with the changes is the fact that the committee was comprised mostly of special interest groups with an agenda to bring a religious tilt to the curriculum. It may sound like I am just pointing fingers and carrying my own bias here, but when you read the proposed changes, its pretty clear what these groups were trying to do. They succeeded in making these changes, like taking Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson out of the spotlight when teachers talk about the Founding Fathers, and instead focusing on clergy members who may have not been as important. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Teachers also need to be aware of their own biases and prejudices in the classroom. In fact, it is illegal and unethical for teachers to use their position of authority in the classroom to express their own political or religious beliefs. Because of this, teaching history puts teachers in a precarious situation where they have to think carefully about the things they say and the perspectives they personally support in the classroom. The best thing for any teacher to do is to plan ahead and prepare questions that would help the students think about the multiple perspectives.
And then teachers must always remember that their classroom is diverse place, with many differing and possibly conflicting perspectives. The teacher needs to balance respect in the classroom with respect for home cultures. The only way to maintain this balance is to make the classroom a neutral zone where students feel free to express themselves and free to try another idea. In math, we know that there is more than one way to solve a problem, therefore in Social Studies there must be more than one way to look at a problem.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Teaching Children about Capitalism and the NCSCOS
The following is an excerpt from a paper I just finished on student's thinking about Social Studies. For this assignment, I interviewed two 4th graders using questions provided by my professor. The questions I asked the students were:
When you buy something from a store, who decides how much the price is?
How do they decide how much to charge for it?
Where does the store get the things it sells?
If you paid $5 for something at the store, how much would the store have paid for it when they got it- $5, more than $5, or less than $5?
Again, this was only part of the interview. I hope you comment and let me know what you think about this issue!
(On a side note, I replaced the students' names with my friends Becky and Thom- if you two are reading, I can't wait to come to dinner next week! Carol and Matt are my other friends who caught word that I was using Becky and Thom for my paper, so they get credit too because I have the greatest friends ever.)
****
One of the most important conclusions I made through this interview is the discrepancy between how economics is taught across all grades and the importance of capitalism in our society. I was surprised when both Becky and Thom told me that the manufacturer spends more money on producing a product than the store or consumer spends on purchasing a product. I am curious if the wording of this question was misleading. I also recognize that through experiences at school and at home, children are always learning about how to be consumers, but I am concerned that they are not learning about how the system works and how we are active participants in the system. In today’s economic climate, I think public education may be contributing to the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” by not addressing debt and interest in developmentally appropriate ways.
When I asked Becky about banks, money, and loans, she used what she knew from playing the game “Life” – that a person can take out loans for college- but didn’t say anything specifically about paying back the loans. When I probed his thinking, Thom was very clear that when you pay back a loan you “pay back every cent” and no more or no less. I asked him twice to see if he would revise his statement and he was very adamant that it was just “every cent.”
Personal debt is a real and pervasive problem in American society. I decided to look through the NCSCOS to see how and when economics is taught. I was looking to see what the objectives would tell me about Becky and Thom’s educational background and when personal economics would be covered in the curriculum. The NCSCOS Social Studies objectives cover economics in each elementary grade. In 1st grade, students learn about saving and spending money. In 2nd grade, they learn about basic economic concepts and evaluate the use of economic resources within communities. The 3rd grade curriculum focuses on the division of labor and the cost of resources, goods, and services in communities. Finally, these 4th graders will be learning more about economics as it relates to North Carolina by categorizing the state's resources as natural, human, or capital; recognizing that money can be used for spending, saving, and paying taxes; and by analyzing the choices and opportunity cost involved in economic decisions. Students in 4th grade do begin to make connections with themselves as participants in a market economy. In 11th or 12th grade, students can take an economics course where they learn the specifics about market economies.
The problem I have with the NCSCOS is that it is not specific enough about a person’s role in a capitalist economy. I trust that a responsible teacher would teach about debt, and I think they best way to do this would be integrating math with the social studies objectives to reflect real life. Using problem solving, a teacher could help students realize that when you borrow money you have to pay back extra money. In the early elementary grades a teacher could pose problems like, “Carol borrows ten dollars from Matt and tells him she will pay him one dollar for every day it takes to pay him back. If Carol pays Matt back in one week, how much money does Carol give Matt?” In the 3rd grade, students begin to learn about fractions, and in 6th grade they learn about percents. Both fractions and percents can be learned through authentic problem solving scenarios that include money.
I am interested in finding out more about debt and how it is taught in schools because as educators, our job is to prepare students for life beyond school. I am also wondering whether learning about debt is “too real.” Would it frighten students? For students with low SES backgrounds, learning about debt may bring up family issues, but a teacher could use this as a way to empower students to make choices that will allow them to have control over their financial stability beyond school. Ultimately, I think that relevant connection to real life lends itself to critical thinking about the consequences of debt and prepares students to be productive adults in our complex global economy.
When you buy something from a store, who decides how much the price is?
How do they decide how much to charge for it?
Where does the store get the things it sells?
If you paid $5 for something at the store, how much would the store have paid for it when they got it- $5, more than $5, or less than $5?
Again, this was only part of the interview. I hope you comment and let me know what you think about this issue!
(On a side note, I replaced the students' names with my friends Becky and Thom- if you two are reading, I can't wait to come to dinner next week! Carol and Matt are my other friends who caught word that I was using Becky and Thom for my paper, so they get credit too because I have the greatest friends ever.)
****
One of the most important conclusions I made through this interview is the discrepancy between how economics is taught across all grades and the importance of capitalism in our society. I was surprised when both Becky and Thom told me that the manufacturer spends more money on producing a product than the store or consumer spends on purchasing a product. I am curious if the wording of this question was misleading. I also recognize that through experiences at school and at home, children are always learning about how to be consumers, but I am concerned that they are not learning about how the system works and how we are active participants in the system. In today’s economic climate, I think public education may be contributing to the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” by not addressing debt and interest in developmentally appropriate ways.
When I asked Becky about banks, money, and loans, she used what she knew from playing the game “Life” – that a person can take out loans for college- but didn’t say anything specifically about paying back the loans. When I probed his thinking, Thom was very clear that when you pay back a loan you “pay back every cent” and no more or no less. I asked him twice to see if he would revise his statement and he was very adamant that it was just “every cent.”
Personal debt is a real and pervasive problem in American society. I decided to look through the NCSCOS to see how and when economics is taught. I was looking to see what the objectives would tell me about Becky and Thom’s educational background and when personal economics would be covered in the curriculum. The NCSCOS Social Studies objectives cover economics in each elementary grade. In 1st grade, students learn about saving and spending money. In 2nd grade, they learn about basic economic concepts and evaluate the use of economic resources within communities. The 3rd grade curriculum focuses on the division of labor and the cost of resources, goods, and services in communities. Finally, these 4th graders will be learning more about economics as it relates to North Carolina by categorizing the state's resources as natural, human, or capital; recognizing that money can be used for spending, saving, and paying taxes; and by analyzing the choices and opportunity cost involved in economic decisions. Students in 4th grade do begin to make connections with themselves as participants in a market economy. In 11th or 12th grade, students can take an economics course where they learn the specifics about market economies.
The problem I have with the NCSCOS is that it is not specific enough about a person’s role in a capitalist economy. I trust that a responsible teacher would teach about debt, and I think they best way to do this would be integrating math with the social studies objectives to reflect real life. Using problem solving, a teacher could help students realize that when you borrow money you have to pay back extra money. In the early elementary grades a teacher could pose problems like, “Carol borrows ten dollars from Matt and tells him she will pay him one dollar for every day it takes to pay him back. If Carol pays Matt back in one week, how much money does Carol give Matt?” In the 3rd grade, students begin to learn about fractions, and in 6th grade they learn about percents. Both fractions and percents can be learned through authentic problem solving scenarios that include money.
I am interested in finding out more about debt and how it is taught in schools because as educators, our job is to prepare students for life beyond school. I am also wondering whether learning about debt is “too real.” Would it frighten students? For students with low SES backgrounds, learning about debt may bring up family issues, but a teacher could use this as a way to empower students to make choices that will allow them to have control over their financial stability beyond school. Ultimately, I think that relevant connection to real life lends itself to critical thinking about the consequences of debt and prepares students to be productive adults in our complex global economy.
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