The Teaching Channel

On the website, Teacher Channel, there are several videos that are perfect for my specific grade level or just a good classroom teaching technique.

1. Roll the Dice: Participation Exercise

I think this is a great strategy because dice are luck. You can roll the same number three times, so the students always have to be ready instead of other common participation exercises like the popsicle stick or game cards. Once you draw one, they go in a separate pile, so they will not be repeated. This strategy gets the whole class involved and prepared to answer every question. 2. Switch the Sign Song

Anytime a song is played, the students retain information better than if someone just spoke the information. The song sang in the video is relevant to the information that my students are currently working on. I definitely think I will use this method in my teaching. These teaching methods can be transferred to different subjects and grade levels. I can see how applying these in my class would be a benefit for my students learning.

Humor

After reading this article about using humor in the classroom, I reflected on teachers I had that use funny characters, pictures, or videos to enhance learning.

My sophomore and junior year history teacher, Mr. Burdock, would break up rigorous notes with a funny youtube video. Most of the time, it would be several clips from the TV show, Wipeout, of the worst "wipeouts" they have had on the show. By showing these videos, our hand and mind got a break, we could get a good laugh, and then refocus on the next section of notes. Another way humor was used in his classrooms was during test review games. We played review basketball or history bingo almost weekly to review. He had to use humor in the questions asked and answer choices to keep us motivated and interested. In basketball, he would make up ridiculous basketball shots to attempt to get point. Everyone wanted to try in, so the whole class wanted to answer the questions correctly to get the opportunity. We were able to laugh at ourselves and other classmates as we attempted crazy shots from all areas around the room. This gave our brain a break between questions and motivated us to learn the material.

Blabberize is a neat website that I definitely can see myself using in my classroom in the future. This tool can be used for reports and presentations for explaining information or solving a math problem by verbally explaining the steps. My students would enjoys finding a funny picture or character to use, but they would complete the problem and enjoy the math because it is funny.

Below are 2 funny pictures I could use in my class to show kids how not to solve before I show them the correct way to solve for "x" and "y". These pictures should grab the attention of and engage students to learning to find "x".

Click here to watch a video that I can use in my classroom the week when they are learning to combine like terms and use the distributive property.

 

My Internship so Far...

In response to Mrs. Stevens' Blog, below is an update on my internship.

I am in Lexy Smith's 7th grade math class at North Ridge Middle School. I am there for 2 class periods, one On-Level class and one PreAp class. She has been teaching there for 3 years now. Click here to go to her webpage.

Walking into the classroom, I felt a little nervous. It is always intimidating walking in for the first time and meeting a whole new class, but I was very excited to get back in the classroom. When I am at the middle school, I can do anything I want. I have already taught 2 lessons, and I work with the students one-on-one and in small groups almost daily when they are struggling. Since they do flipped classroom, I am usually helping students understand the notes and figure out homework problems. I am looking forward to teaching more lessons, and getting to interact with the students even more this year.

There are many difference from my experiences last year to this year even though I am in the same grade with the same teacher. Last year I had an inclusion class, so the students were all below grade level and very slow learners. They all needed constant help and explanations. This year, the On-Level class still needs some help, but the PreAp class usually understand concepts quickly and they behave better than the other classes. Also, all the TEKS have changed for math, so the material is completely different from last year.

TAFE Region Reflection

In response to Mrs. Stevens' Blog, below is my reflection on the competition.

I competed in both Inside Our Schools and Lesson Plan STEM at region. 

The hardest part of both events would be the preparation. Both competitions required a video and presentation. My lesson plan video had to incorporate the teaching, activity, and assessment of the lesson and had to be less than 10 minutes. Because my entire lesson was 45 minutes, it was difficult to cut down to make the video. For Inside our Schools, the video was simple to put the images and videos together, but it was difficult to voice over at the right length. Some clips required a 20 second talking clip, so we would have to add or take out information accordingly. 

From competition, I learned not to get fluster when something doesn't work out. I couldn't upload my lesson plan video while competing because the video could not be played on the certain video player. I had to remain calm and try to figure out a different way to pull up the video. The judge even tried to help me play it, but he was not able to figure it out. Thankfully, I had the video in my Dropbox, so I was able to upload it from that. I also learned to stay calm through the chaos of competition. Our first event was running an hour behind, so it was difficult to wait, then my second event was moving the order around and lost a judge. Before I could present, they had to find a replacement judge, so it was extremely chaotic. 

Next round, I will take in a rubric and storyboard for Inside Our Schools, so the judges will be able to actually read it. Also, I will figure out how to play the video on a non Macbook computer. If my lesson advances, the judges suggested that I include a stronger introduction to the lesson, so that would require to redo that part of the video. I would also have a more organized reflection presentation. At region, I rambled on and didn't have specific speaking points. I just talked my reflection out load and skipped over some parts, so I would have more of a presentation. 

The best part was interacting with the judges after presenting the videos. It was fun to reveal my passion and explain the videos in a non formal way. The judges were smiling and laughing with me and I enjoyed playing off their energy and getting feedback on teaching that I will use in the future. 

Genius Hour

In response to Mrs. Stevens' Blog, and after watching the genius hour video, I first started brainstorming a subject that I am passionate about to do research and share a project on. After much consideration, I decided that I want to spend my free hour in class each week digging deep into the Bible and journal my findings.

 

 

 

 

Different questions I would research are: a timeline of Jesus' life, understanding the roles and relationships between people in the Old Testament, and a verse by verse breakdown of specific books in the Bible. I would start my research from reading; the Bible provides the answers, but it is difficult the read chapter after chapter and retain the names and places, so that is why journaling is so important. The Bible does not always refer back to the past events that a person has done, so by writing them down, as I read, I will be able to make connections that I would not be able to do other ways. For the timeline, dates and order is important. By reading through the Gospels, I can use Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John's memory of the events the order it. The verse by verse break down of books require a softened heart and open ears. There are times that a verse will be read multiple times, and a different meaning are taken from it each time, it just depends how the holy spirit works through the verse to reveal different things to you. It is especially important to write down the things the Holy Spirit is placing on your heart for future reference to remind yourself.

Not only does God reveal himself through the Bible, but He reveals who we are in Him, so the deeper we dig in, the deeper the understanding and relationship we will have of Christ. This learning isn't something for a test or for college, it is for eternity, so I am extremely passionate about discovering more about my Savior and by having an hour each week during school to do so, it allows me to be alone with Christ is the mist of a busy schedule.

Significant Relationships

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, I have been blessed to have several teachers that I have had great relationships with, but one that stands out is Mr. Burdock. I had Mr. Burdock for both 10th grade World History and 11th grade United States History at Richland High School. History is a difficult subject because it is just information, memorizing, and lecturing. Despite that, Mr. Burdock was able to use games and activities to break down the lectures and force us to understand the information because we are applying the information to make a song or an advertisement.




Although I was in an On Level history class that effort was not always mandatory, I wanted to work hard for him because I know that he is doing all he can to prepare each student, so he deserves the same effort in return. Not only did Mr. Burdock teach me in the classroom, but he was preparing me for my future. He taught skills not just information. He is a caring person and listener. His heart made a student work hard and everybody always wants him because of the person and teacher he is.

In my future classroom, I am going to be a stable person in each students life. Now-a-days, it is common for families to be broken and neglectful, so I am determined to prove to each student that they are cared for and loved. They need to feel important because they are important and they do matter. I am going to be a motivated teacher, so I can have motivated students. Attitudes are contagious, so having energy and working hard can be contagious. I am going to be a teacher that will stay on each student until they do what they need to do because I care for them. I will be flexible and available to help students before and after school, so they can understand. I am going to be a teacher that pushes kids beyond what they think is there limit to prove what they are capable of. I will do whatever it takes for my students to be successful both in the classroom and in life.

Useful Websites

In response to Mrs. Steven's Wiki, below are some useful links for lesson planning.

I am wanting to be placed in 7th grade math again and I am really looking forward to it because I will be able to teach a normal 7th grade class as well as a Pre AP class which is Pre Algebra. Below are some websites I feel like I will use to make lessons for my classes this year.

1. coolmath4kids is a very helpful website for math of all grades. There are games, lessons, and example problems for multiple topics that are extremely useful. Especially in the classrooms that have access to Chrome Books, this website is a great self passed tool to use.

2. mathgoodies is a great site for teachers to use because it has each topic along with notes, rules, and examples. It is helpful to look at before teaching a lesson, so I can have multiple wordings I can use to explain it so all my students can understand it.

3. hotmath has many helpful tools for teachers and students. You can view online tutorials, find lessons, play activities, and watch videos. I can use this for ideas and I can give my students the website that they can go to for extra practice in class after finishing their homework and classwork.

Should Spelling Count

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, the article, Should Spelling Count, shows a person's view about school subjects. 

The author does not believe in having subjects, he just believes in teaching students life skills. And when a student focuses on just one subject or task, he or she will forget all the other skills that are included in other subjects. The author wants the students to learn, not just get by. By students just learning what they need, they will not be prepared for life when all skills have to be tied together. 

The author makes good points that most people do not consider in education. The point of education is to prepare students for life, so it is important for that to be the number one goal, and the author's idea about a new look towards the classroom will better prepare students. 

I think the author has a good point that I didn't consider. I think it is important to teach students for life which includes all subjects grouped into one, instead of dealing with one at a time. Once kids understand that, they will be more well rounded and be more prepared for the future. I think this style of teaching is worth a test to see how successful it will be. Most of the time, certain skills are left out of a subject, so by eliminating subjects, students will be more skilled and more successful. 

My Favorite Memory

By far, my most favorite memory from this class is going to the site schools and working directly with the students in my class. I was able to see them bloom as students and people. When the class was divided into review groups, I got to work directly with seven students to prepare them for their EOC test. Because I was in an inclusion class, most of the students in my group had little to no understanding of the topics in the beginning. After lots of time and practice, the light bulb switched on. Soon students were asking for harder questions to try. Being able to watch the students go from little understanding to complete mastery of the topics is such a blessing. Seeing the people you care about succeed is my favorite memory from this class. 

TAFE Plan 2014-2015

Next year for TAFE, I am looking into Lesson Plan and TAFE Moment to compete in. I feel like I would be very successful in both.

Lesson Plan
I have a great site school teacher that allows me to do anything I would like to do and aids me along the way. Math, especially in middle school is a tough subject to learn and understand, so I feel like, having the correct topic, I can create a fantastic hands-on lesson that note only teaches the kids, but shows them the lesson. I have the time commitment and determination necessary to create a good written lesson and presentation of the lesson.

TAFE Moment
Coming into this year, I did not want to be a teacher, I wanted to be a physical therapist. I was going to be partnered with a trainer to learn more about their career, but the scheduling did not work out. I am so thankful that it did not work out because I discovered the job I am designed for. I would love to share my unique story of being placed in not just a math class, but an inclusion math class with the judges. This would be a great event for me because I can share the passion that I have of my future with the judges.

I plan to manage my time wisely. If I plan my time and stay on schedule, I will not be stressed and overwhelmed when the deadlines are approaching. I will keep in contact with Lexi and start early and be creative, thinking of the kids and not myself.

For service project, I want to work with the retired teachers. We would like to expand the already successful tech time class to other places as well, so teaching them technology would be great because we would be directly giving back to people that have shaped our district.

For leadership positions, I would like to be vice-president of competitions. I have competed in region and state and I understand the importance of being involved in those events. I also understand the importance of the deadlines, so I feel like I would be successful in that position.

2014 the Year in Review

Below is my end of year Animoto video.

Classroom Rules

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, I created rules for my classroom.

For my 7th grade math class the rules I think are important to enforce are shown below.

1. Be on time and prepared for class with all necessary materials before the bell rings.
2. Raise your hand to answer or ask a question, otherwise, listen when notes are given.
3. Perform things asked of you the first time.
4. Respect classmates, teachers, and objects in the classroom.
5. Have a positive attitude! Wear a smile!
6. Show your work. That way, I know you doing your own work.
7. If you see a classmate struggling, help him/her out.
8. Complete flipped and turn in your work when it is due.

If anyone breaks a rule, a warning will be given the first time.
The second time, you will have to call a parent and have an afternoon d-hall.
The third time, you will have to call a parent, a lunch d-hall and afternoon d-hall will be given.
The fourth time and after, a Friday night school will be given.

Ron Clark Thinklink

Fear of Failure

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, I read to article titled How to Help Kids overcome the Fear of Failure.

As a student, I deal with failure very poorly. I strive for perfection and am accustomed to being successful in nearly everything I do the first time. Most things is school come rather easy to me, so my grades have a tendency to be rather high. When something is tough or I fail at something, I get extremely frustrated, extremely fast. I know that I should learn from failing, but in the moment I have trouble seeing past the situation, to see the positive outcome out of it.

As a teacher, I want all my students to succeed, but by that, I mean, I want them to learn the information forwards and backwards. I can fail teaching them as well, but by making mistakes, I can learn how my students learn best and can adjust future lessons for the good of my students instead of convenience for myself.

As important as I view my grades, grades are definitely not an indicator of learning. Grades are just a number. If a student can not correctly answer a specific question, they still may know information on that specific topic, but just not that one detail being tested on. Also, sometimes students may be too busy to study or were absent when they teacher went over the information, so they will not do well on the test.

Not being successful can encourage me to try harder and not give up. Especially since I crave success, failing something will push me to do even more than before to find success. Plus failing something can give yourself perspective on life. Not everyone will master everything they try, so it is important to be able to except and learn from failure instead of dwelling on it.

I handle criticism differently for the person that gives it. If a teacher, coach, or parent criticizes me, then I handle it gracefully and honestly consider the advice they are giving me. If a peer or someone that is a stranger to the subject criticizes me, then I respectfully let the criticism go right past me and not give it a second thought.

Live Binders

Visit the Live Binder from my education and training class.

Surveymonkey Investivation

To access Surveymonkey directly, Click here.

The APP for Surveymonkey was recently released.

• Click here to directly go to the APP store to download Surveymonkey

Watch the quick video below to get an idea of the website and how to manage it. 

Surveymonkey is a helpful website for having questions answered and provides easy analysis options.

To get started:
1. Either go to the website, or download the app
2. Click "sign up for free"
3. Register by just giving a password, username, and email address and you'll enter the full site

To create your own survey:
1. Click the create survey button
2. Type the question you would like to ask in the space provided for a question
3. Select the way you want to answer to be given (multiple choice, ranking, essay)
4. If answer needs to have choices or options, there will be a box for you to put them in
5. Click save and move on to next question, to start another entry

After you have written all the questions and answers you want to include and you want to send it directly to specific people to answer, you will enter their email, name, and a color they will be represented as. After, you can send the survey to the group you created and once they have completed the survey, the results will be on your page to view the results.

There is a free version for anyone wanting to use this web tool, but you can get an upgrade if you are wanting to have unlimited questions and answers, print reports and data, or have your own logo or brand onto the survey you created. It costs starting at $17 dollars a month if you are wanting the upgraded version.

There is not any age restrictions.

This website is excellent for receiving feedback in the classroom. You can create a questionnaire for your students to take the get their views on something or theirs thoughts on improving the classroom. I could use this in my high school class to monitor the books my class is reading and how many pages.

My teacher does not use this her classroom.

It would be best to use this for a reflection activity, for a group project, to give feedback about the classroom or an activity, and to give ideas on things to do in the future. It would be best for older students in an english, history, or science classroom. 

Truth About Rigor

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, I read a very interesting article called "7 Myths about Rigor" that
disproves common misconceptions about rigor.

Rigor to me is going deeper into your learning. It is beyond surface level learning; it is a true challenge for students when their work is rigorous.

To add rigor to an assignment, it is necessary to add more steps to a process. Rigor proves students understanding, so when a little bit more thinking is being asked of, students learning will be tested. Adding rigor is not always difficult, you can just deeper the question you ask your students. Instead of asking students to identify the causes of  The Revolutionary War, ask them to debate which cause had the greatest impact on the start of the war and why.

Rigor is often viewed as more work, higher standards, and less help; but it is not. Rigor can be going from a math worksheet with 15 questions to a project that students design a game that includes the same problems. Allowing students to create their own game or write their own song will be a fun way to challenge students into going deeper into their understanding on the subject than just a worksheet would demonstrate, while students may not even understand that they are doing more because it is so different than a simple assignment that they are used to.

Creativity Counts

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, below is my thoughts about creativity.

Creativity

• Creativity is being original and trying new things without being afraid of being wrong.
• It does not have limits.
• It is structureless and a completely new idea that has never been done before

Why does it Matter in Education?

• Creativity is just as important as academics in education.
• It helps our future country because preparing creative people will allow our country to expand and advance in ways other people do not think is possible.
• It gives students value, especially the ones that may not be the best in math and science.

How can we Fix this?

• By putting the same level of importance on academics and creativity will encourage students.
• By not punishing students for being wrong and failing something, they will be more open to trying creative ideas outside the box.

The Future of Texas Education

In response to Mrs. Steven's blog, I read two very interesting articles about the future of education in Texas from a few angles like opportunities and changes that may occur. Below is my reflection.

The Texas Monthly article focuses on the opportunities future teachers will have.

• The article shows the results from the crazy budget cut back in 2011 and I was shocked at what I learned. I knew that many teachers were laid off, but I had no idea that the number of schools asking for wavers to have more than twenty two students in a classroom nearly tripled.

• The article also focuses on a problem that education will have in a few years. There is going to be a large demand for teachers in Texas, but there will not be people to fill those positions because fewer people are getting teaching certificates.

•  This shows that people that are going to graduate college in a few years with a teaching certificate will probably have several job opportunities.

The Great Teachers article focuses on Wendy Davis' platform for changes in education.

• By having some of the programs that Davis wants to pass, more people that are in the top of their class may be more interested into going in the educational field.

• Having more counselors that were teachers, so they have the experience to give advice that will benefit student's education.

• Bring Texas teacher pay in line with the rest of the country's teacher pay.

My Year Ahead

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, there are many things that I should reevaluate for the new year.

1. I am wanting to be more organized at both school and my house. I can do this by taking the time to put things in their correct spot instead of throwing it in a random spot and letting things pile up. In school if I am more organized, I will be able to work more efficiently and save time, so my grades will benefit. I am hoping to create habits that I can carry out throughout my life to stay organized.

2. I am going to balance my schedule better this year. I am going to keep my priorities straight and manage my time wisely. I will get all my school work done, go to practice, spend time with friends and family, and continue my tutoring job. In order to do so, I am going to have to limit my time on each and  complete the most important first. I am hoping that my life will be less stressful if I remain balanced.

3. I am going to work hard in volleyball this year. I am going to work on techniques, skills, and strategies that will benefit me in the long run. I am going to do my best every time I get on the court, so I will not let anyone down. I am hoping that all my hard work will pay off this year and I will be getting  a volleyball scholarship.