Chapter 10

This chapter is exactly what the title says, “Going Beyond the Classroom.” All it says is that you need to get your students out and involved outside of the classroom. Take them on field trips and let them meet with experts. I haven’t done that yet because I am a practicum student, but I do agree with the concept. I believe that hands on stuff are the best way for anyone to learn no matter how old you are. I love going on field trips and meeting with people that what they are talking with. Also some students like it if you give them little summer projects to do so that they have something that they can do and further their learning. I love this chapter and it gives a good ending to the book!

Chapter 9

One of the biggest things that students face in a school that affects school work is the social life that goes with it. Once the social life goes to hell, so doesn’t the school work. I have a student in my class that just gave up because his parents just got divorced and they don’t want anything to do with him. I wish I could fix his social life, but unfortunately I can’t do that so I have been working with him one on one and trying to get him up with the rest of the class. He is steadily improving and I hope that since I am not there for the next three weeks he will do it on his own.

When the end of the quarter or period is coming to an end ask students to write down how they think that they are doing so that you know what they expect. Once you have that down you can go through them ands meet with students if necessary to try to get them to their goals. Don’t give it to them make them earn it. If they haven’t done it yet tell them that the grade might go up if they do it and hand it in. This will motivate the students as well. This is the kind of stuff that I have been doing in my classroom. I gave students a good amount of time to do my homework so that their grades can be boosted. I also have allowed students to make up quizzes and they are allowed to, but the make up quiz is harder than the original. Lastly, this chapter talks about students skipping school and to show students that teachers are human and that you can be wrong and should apologize. That is pretty much the only thing that I got from this chapter.

Chapter 8

This chapter confronts an important issue that teachers everywhere in America face at some point in their profession. They have to teach a student that is not fluent in English. This can cause a lot of problems for the teacher and for the student. The best way to help someone in this situation it to first learn cool stuff about them like where they are from, what they do for fun, what they like, and so on. This will give you an insight on how to teach the lesson so that the student can understand it. Chances are that if you can teach it to someone that doesn’t speak fluent English then your English speaking students will pick it up quickly and that is an assumption that I am willing to make. Give them homework that they can do and don’t just think that they can be held responsible for the same things that English speaking students can do. Give them something that is a little challenging for them even if your students already know how to do it. Since I don’t have any of those types of students in my class at Madison I can’t really give an example other than the information that I gather from the book. This chapter will save me someday because I know that I will have a student that doesn’t speak English and I will know how to teach them based on the content in this chapter. This chapter is awesome!

Chapter 7

When you start out every unit it is a good idea to give a pretest to see what students know and what you have to teach to them. Also make sure that the pretest is not a recorded grade because that will make students uneasy. Once you do this you can dive into your lessons as planned. As you get going you will encounter material that might be hard for students to do, so make it a fun way that they can learn it like in the form of a movie, a play, a comic, and so on. If this doesn’t work them think of other ways to present the material then just reading it from the text. When you read it from the text students get bored and loose interest. Break it down into a simpler form so that students can understand it. Make sure a person that has no knowledge of the field can solve it then you know that you have something good to work with. Also ask questions that push students to think, but be careful on how many you ask and how hard they are. If they are too hard them you might as well hang it up. The last thing that this chapter offers is the idea to incorporate as much technology into a classroom that you can. It will make it fun and students will learn a lot!

Chapter 6

Students tend to find that information that is presented to them in a way that interests them and sticks in their minds. I have incorporated many things into my classes such as my senior class. All of the students were singing rap and I told them that it wasn’t rap theory day of Lil’ Scrappy. He was the artist that sang the song. Then they started talking in Spanish. I had no choice to speak to the students, but I did so in a very fluent Spanish speaking voice. They were stunned that I was so similar to them. Once we had it established that we had things in common I used what I knew about them to help them understand and relate to the material. I also found it to be helpful to relate everything to the real world like the chapter says. Students can also stay motivated and active if the classroom is conducted in a formal matter so to speak.

When it comes down to giving homework don’t just give a worksheet or something of that nature. Give them something that they can engage in as well. When I say this I mean have them write down their thoughts about the class in a journal form that way you get to see their opinion as well. This will not only help the students, but will also help you when it comes time to check their knowledge. Remember worksheets plus opinion equals fun. When you give the homework make sure it can be done in a reasonable amount of time like half an hour to an hour. This will get the student engaged just enough to get excited and do a good job.

Chapter 5

This chapter is all about the different multiple intelligences inside of the classroom, but it isn’t worded just like that. It talks about the eye rollers, the talkers, and so on. It tells you some of the stuff that you can expect from those children. I have several kids like this in my classrooms so I apply all of the multiple intelligences into every activity that I do. This allows me to reach every student in a different way. I teach everything the same, but the message and means of delivery gets transformed to help each student. It makes the students happier and they learn more. Also this chapter deals with how to set up group work and assign roles so that every student has something to do. We learned this from Dr. Grace and it works just like the book mentioned. I give group work only when the situation calls for it. I assign roles and each group pairs by random chance with a program that I use on a calculator. It is equal, random, and fair. Sometimes I become nice and let them pick their own groups. Like I said before in the above sentences, this chapter is about knowing students and relating material to them and how to get them to work effectively in groups by assigning roles.

Chapter 4

It is the teacher’s job to push every single student to their fullest potential until they succeed. You also need to set a clear understanding of what is to be expected out of the student and you have to give them feedback in order to further their learning and increase their potential. From what I gather from this chapter is that most students want to be pushed by their teachers because their learning, productivity, and creativity increase. If a students does well then you should make little comments to them on their paper or one on one. When you make a big deal out of the work the student might feel embarrassed so they will not put as much effort into the next thing, but instead they will do average work so that they fit in. Public praise can be detrimental to a struggling student as well as an excelling student.

When it comes time for students to learn you can’t think that every student understands what is going on. You need to give students practice or a worksheet for in class that is not graded. This will let you know if students are having a hard time or not. I do this in many of the classes that I have been teaching with my smart board. The reason that I do this is to see who is having troubles and it gives me a way to find out without giving them a grade. If I see that they are having trouble I will review that material because like this chapter says, “Grades are a judgment of every teenager!” (pp. 78). This is true so I try to avoid giving students a bad grade as a grade. They get informal grade that shows knowledge and learning. Also to me the best way to get those students to excel is to push them and reward them for a job well done. This chapter is pretty cool too.

Chapter 3

This chapter has several things within it that I think are true for every beginning teacher and for every practicum student in regards to teaching for the first time. When I entered the classroom for the first time at Madison High School I used several things that we had learned from Dr. Grace and Dr. Theresa. Most of the things that they taught to us were covered in this chapter. For instance this chapter mentioned things like how to start a class off, what you do on the first day, how to prepare for your class based on what the school wants, etc. After reading this chapter and thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that all of the material in it is worth the money that we paid for the book. This book is very insightful as to how to handle many situations that can arise.

The first day of school I made my presence well known by looking like this big bouncer guy outside of a club. Maybe I looked that way because I have been a bouncer before and I still have it in me. I made myself look professional so that the students would take me seriously and they have so far. I have given them guidelines that they have to follow when they are my students and I reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. I have been able to make everything interesting so that the students get into the material and this comes not only from the book, but all of my practicum teachers. This chapter can be compared to the lectures at my school in the sense all that it is is a paper version of my teachers and I love it. This chapter also contains some fun and new things that I haven’t learned yet from my teachers and I have learned some things from my teachers that aren’t in the book. Overall, this chapter is good and very informative when it comes time for setting the tone of the year and individual class periods. I like this chapter a lot!!

Which strategies are most effective for teaching and learning with technology?

Every different strategy that we have been introduced to was effective. They all have there upsides and they really don't have that many downsides if they have anything at all. Pod casts are amazing because they allow students to listen to lectures later and that way they can have it in a hard copy. Students can also create studying tools for themselves by listening to their voices on pod casts. Some students like it when they can hear their own voice because it helps the material sink in better. You can create wiki's because it allows students to access stuff from when they are unable to come to school because they are sick. They can get the notes from that class and see what the homework was. Blogging is another cool strategy for teaching because you can have students read homework and blog about it or you can have them blog about reflection pieces. We do this all of the time for both of my practicum classes and it allows the teacher to see where we are and if we need to review anything that may be misunderstood. The teacher then revisits the stuff and the students get a review that need it. It is really hard to progress if students don't understand it. There are also endless strategies that we have covered, but I chose to only list few of them. The ones that I listed are the ones that I like the most. I am kind of partial to them I guess because they are really helpful ways to express yourself and learn new things!

The only question that I have is, what is the most effective teaching and learning tool that has been statistically tested for? I am really curious and I also want to know, how can it be used if it is something that we haven't already seen yet?

How can you effectively integrate technology into your teaching and learning?

I can integrate technology into my classroom by including it in my lesson plans. We have created wiki's and web quests and they are effective tools in learning. With a wiki you can post homework and examples online for your students to access when they are home and have questions. You can also create a web quest like we have and put up places that students can go to find other resources for the unit that you are working on. These are a couple of ways that technology can be integrated into your class and as a class we came up with the consensus that they are both effective tools. There are an endless number of things out there, but these are the two that I am familiar with the most. I know that we have used others and an example would have to be blogging. It allows use to reflect and it uses technology. It is very effective and environment friendly.

The only question that I can think of is what are other major ways can you use technology to effectively teach students? I am talking mostly about software! There must be other cool software out there that we can use right? If so then what is it and how can we use it?

Why might it be important for students to learn with technology?

I believe that it is very important for students to learn with technology for a few reasons: 1) Technology can help them learn things better that they may have had a time with before. An example would be using a smart board. It allows the students to interactively get involved with the class discussion which allows them to have fun and learn something that is exciting. 2) Technology can help students get out of the traditional rut of just reading books and doing problems. They can do stuff that is more hands on like the Google Earth software. It allows students to not only see their homes, but do other fun things like seeing if a house is below sea level or above sea level. It gives the students power in their hands and it lets them control the flow that they are comfortable with. 3) Everyone knows that when students are given options and a chance to use a variety of resources the product will come out better. I believe that the practicum survivor showed us that technology can be expressed in a few different ways. The first would be the skit that they did. It showed student shaving fun and it led to an awesome performance from them. They had endless possibilities that they could have used and they picked one that worked better for them and they produced a really good project! Those are a few examples of how technology is important for students to have!

I like the fact that we are incorporating technology into the classroom, but I fear that it will consume the classroom and everything will be done on computers. I believe that there are still a few traditional ways that can help a student learn and I feel as if they are being replaced. I think that there should be a balance between the two and everyone shouldn't say that every lesson plan should include technology. My concern is that technology will cut the throat of the traditional experience and keep students from learning different things.

Wiki

I posted a few things on the procrastinating list such as: hunting and fishing, going to wal-mart, playing poker, and watching Chuck Norris TV shows. I think that this wiki will be a good tool for the use of communicating ideas to other people in the block. It will allow us to post organized thoughts about the class (NOTE: this doesn't mean a way to slam the course!) and get our thoughts to other fellow classmates. This is a very effective way to allow students to see/talk about the things that we have learned from both of the practicum teachers. I find it to be helpful and I believe that it will help us all to survive practicum sp07.

I think that I could use wiki's in my class to allow students to further their learning. I could have them do a project on a famous person in math that had to do with the subject topic and I could have them post facts about it to my wiki. I also like it because I could post the class list along with homework and other stuff of that nature! I will make it become an important tool in my classroom for the purpose of benefiting my students. I can't wait to use it when I become a teacher! Having students get involved with researching information and viewing stuff that other students have found will only make them more interested in the subject topic at hand. By getting them involved with a wiki they feel that they can help shape the course and that they feel that they have a say in what can be posted and what is a cool and interesting/useful facts. Having them research and post will only get them more involved when it comes time to do class work!

NYT Middle School Article

This article is about whether schools should switch to K-8 or 6-12 and get rid of middle schools. There are several people on both sides of this debate and they range from parents to teachers to principals. Some of the parents, students, and teachers like having a K-8 that way 6th graders wouldn't have to jump right in with high school seniors. The students like it because they can relate and talk to the teachers that they feel comfortable with instead of approaching a perfect stranger. The students and most parents/teachers like it based on the fact that it is a comfort thing for the students. Other parents and principles like it because they feel that the students are able to perform better and are more serious when it comes to going to college. Some principals like the fact that they have the students for seven years that way it gives them more time to prepare the students for what they want to become. They feel that K-8 have a tendency to baby the students instead of making them young adults. In the article there are some facts about the progression of students in different schools. In a K-8 school the teachers are more capable of seeing that a students is missing as opposed to them being in a middle school. Also the article mentions that grades are better in a K-8 school any way. This is pretty much the whole summary of this article!

I would much rather have the schools set up as a K-8 and a 9-12. I like this setup because that is what I am used to have seeing. I believe that this would help the younger students feel better about themselves if they were separated from the high school students. I always felt safer when I was in a K-8 and not only did I feel safe, I had several teachers that I knew and could talk too. I also think that students don't need to be treated as adults when they are 11 or 12 years old and this would happen if you made a 6-12 grade school. Those children need to have a fun and typical kids life. Why take away all of their fun and suck the life out of them. I believe that a student would perform better in a K-8 than a 6-12 because they wouldn't fear school. They would love school and that would make them want to come back and learn more everyday. The biggest concern for these students is safety, which influences learning. Most people know this, but are just afraid to say so. Get rid of middle schools and have a K-8 and a 9-12. In most places in Maine this is how schools are setup and they have been proven to be effective, even if it was a hundred years ago. I always say don't fix it unless it is broken!

Podcast Internet Information (that I find interesting...ex. qoutes)

I found that in 2005 the word podcast was added to the dictionary as a word. This shows that pod casting has a made a huge impact on the technology world. Many teachers throughout the world have commented on the fact that it is easy to use even if you are not that good with technology. On the website that I am going to list later in the blog there are several different quotes from students and even teachers about pod casting. There are so many I am only going to choose a few to include in my blog entry. One teacher is quoted as saying that pod casts are essential in a classroom setting. They can be a pain in the butt, but when used right they make the classroom come alive. Pod casting gives students a better understanding of the material that is used in class and one example from the website would be listening to lectures on political science and history. They also like it because they can listen to it and pause it if they have to do something else. This is a good feature because they will not end up missing anything important to the class lecture. Another teacher has reported that the ability to combine sound and images makes the learning process go even faster! There are so many things that I find interesting in these quotes from teachers. I like things that are said from users and not just the company that created them. I find that they sell better when people that have experience tell you the facts about them instead of some Joe Shmoe that makes a profit off of it!


http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2006/03/03/Features/Podcasting.Hits.The.Classroom-1654124-page2.shtml?sourcedomain=www.tuftsdaily.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

Podcast 110

1) Basically all that a podcast is is a combination between an ipod and broadcasting. Hence the name, podcast! Podcast is better than a radio because when you want to listen to something the choices are unlimited. When you listen to a radio station the choices that you have are limited and have been selected for you already. They both let you listen to music and interviews, but with a podcast you can listen and watch things at the exact same time.

2) There are a whole bunch of examples out there that show how a podcast be used in any classroom setting and how it can help the students learn better. You can students access there homework from home if you list and assignment after school for them, they can listen to famous people give speeches that are sometimes hard to read, you can record sounds for blind students to listen to, you can have them make a project using both pictures and sounds and produce something like a movie, you can also make a lesson for a student to listen to if they are having a hard time in a math class like the lady did on podcast 110, and it allows students to communicate with other students on the other parts of the world.

3) Teachers like pod casting because they can post homework online for kids that have accounts, it allows them to demonstrate things such as field trips because the student can hear sounds that are recorded on a podcast, and the last thing is that students can study while entertaining themselves by listening to their voice while going over their homework.

4 and 5) Some teachers don't like pod casts because they feel that it can hinder a child's learning. Also from other things that I have seen or heard about children like to recreational things sometimes instead of studying. This is the only real problem that I could see from this and I to had a hard time listening to the podcast because my body had other things that I could be doing. I guess it can be effective if the student forces themselves to listen and only listen. If they can't do that then they make a problem with learning in the classroom.

Copyright and Fair Use LR

I agree with the first question on the quiz about teachers making back up disks and if it is fair or not. I agree in most part with the answer behind the question. I believe that the teacher should be allowed to recreate disks and make copies of them if they are only for her use. If she doesn't share them with anyone then she is OK with me. I don't like the part where she has to leave the copies with the library to be put in the archives. It is her back ups and she should be able to get to them quick if she needed to. At the end of the answer they say that copies may be used if you can't get a copy of the original because it gets lost, stolen, or broken. This would take a long time and possible more money. In the mean time the teacher can't do there lesson because they have to wait for someone to come up with a copy of the disk so that she can use it! That doesn't seem fair to the teacher to me! i agree with the overall answer, but I don't agree with most of the reasons for this question. My only question is, "What harm does it do for the teacher to make a back up and only use it for her and only if it is an emergency?" I believe that teachers should be able to do this without jumping through so many hoops. This is just plain ridiculous!

Copyright and Fair Use QR

1) I thought that this question is very true and that the teacher is allowed to make a back up copy so that way in case something happens she will be prepared to teach. I believe that it is a very good idea!

2) I believe that the tech was in the wrong because we are not able to make copies of Cd's and share them with friends. This is the same idea and I don't think the tech should be allowed to do so even only one person can use it at a time.

5) The teacher was in the wrong and this question relates to my reaction to question 1 in that you can't mass copy Cd's for several people. That is not fair to the software company and he should be punished.

6) This teacher downloaded info from the web for her classroom and I feel that it is fair for her to do so because the web is there for research. I personally don't believe that a teacher would not copy someones work and not sight it!

7) This question is very true and my reaction is that I know several schools that do this and get away with it so I feel that it is OK. I don't believe that the state or country would allow this if it wasn't OK and safe to do!

9) All of the mp3.com files are already paid for so it is fair and up for grabs for anyone that wants to visit and use mp3.com. I doubted this question at first, but when I found out the answer it seemed logical and I believe in the answer.

10) A teacher copies and puts clip art on a school web site. I am surprised that you can't do this and I think that it is very unfair to do. I don't care if it gets re-posted or if it only gets used in class. There shouldn't be different rules for this. They should all be the same!

13) This question deals with the sharing of a web page created by kids and being posted on the web. I am mad at the fact that they say that it is fair to use other people's work. I believe that you should have to ask for permission, but if the site allows you do use it then I guess it is fair. If it is copyrighted and you take it, then that would be wrong to do.

QR Blogging

The whole blogging experience to me was new. I have never had to or had created a blog in my life. It was fairly easy to create and was really easy to edit to my liking! I think that I am going to love blogging all of the time and I think that it will make me a better blogger in the future! I think that somehow I will bring this to my classroom! It would be an effective way for students to post questions and such that everyone can see so that a teacher can answer without having twenty questions sent to them! Blogging is da bomb!

NetDay Results

I picture myself being a digital immigrant in today’s world. I think at first that I being a digital immigrant will hold me back, but once I get to use the equipment I will be able to fly ahead without hesitation. I really have never had to use a computer until I have come to college and seen that it is an important way to talk to peers and teachers. I am the kind of person that learns when you do something hands on a couple of times. I might not get it the first time, but I guarantee that I will be able to grasp the technology and will be effective when communicating to my students whether it is in a classroom or at home.

After reading the 37 pages on the NetDay Results I am aware that society today is very advanced and dependent on the constant use of technology in the classroom. I think that the older people are now the less they know about technology. It seems to me that children today are born with a cell phone in their hands. Whenever you see someone young now a day they have to have there life lines the cell phone or maybe an iPod. Children need technology to keep them entertained and they can’t function without it. I think that someday every class will have a computer for every student to use based on the fact that all students and teachers want this to be the case. I think that we can teach effectively without needing a computer for every student. If it comes down to the point where students need to use a computer then I believe that teachers should have student locks. This will stop them from playing games during class and things like that. I know this to be a problem because I see kids on a daily basis doing so in college classes even. I also go against the thought that students should be able to use a cell phone during a school day. We have a problem with student’s attention know as it is and that will only add to the problem. School is a place for learning and not a place for socializing. Overall, I think we will end up having too much technology in classrooms and then teaching will no longer be as effective as it is now and as it has been in the past!

QR Chapter 2

1) This whole chapter is very interesting to me and I have insight on how an effective classroom should be run. When it comes down to liking the teacher and respecting the teacher, you want to be respected by the students rather than liked. That then leads to them striving to do better and that gives the students and the teacher both satisfactions. Another way to be effective is to be fair and equal with all of the students because they learn better. When being respectful students like you better and they understand you more.
2) The reason that I liked these things is because it shows most of the weaknesses that a teacher can have at any given time. This allows the teacher to be able to change and to have a more productive classroom on a daily basis!

QR Chapter 1

1) In this chapter there were a lot of things that jumped out at me and they all in someway can be related to each other. I like the thought of the teachers going to the students “home land” and seeing what they have to go through on a regular basis and how they deal with stuff. I like the student/teacher questionnaire and the way the questions are worded and set up. I also like the idea of letting the children reflect I in a journal on a weekly basis because that lets the teacher know what is going on with the students and how the teacher could possible make the class better. The last thing that is important to know is that you need to find a way to present the information to the students in a way that interests them.
2) These all jumped out to me for pretty much the exact reason and that reason would be you need to know your students weaknesses/strengths and interests/dislikes when trying to effectively give, grade, and teach the subject area at hand. This will give any teacher the ammunition that they need in order to kill the procrastinating/no homework monster!

QR Introduction

1) At the beginning of the chapter I really liked the list of all of the qualities that a good an effective teacher should have in order to reach out to the students and be successful. I also liked the part where the lady didn’t force the students into doing something that they didn’t want to do and instead she listened to them being more of a friend than an enforcer and that is how a teacher should be.
2) The list of qualities make the section and you can see that by how the lady teacher handles the students and how she goes about fixing the problem(s) at hand. You have to have many of these qualities or all of these qualities before you can be taken seriously as an educator. I think that I will try to add more of the qualities on the list to the person that I am now and I think it will help me in the long run to be effective with students. One last thing, you can never force someone to do something and when you do they try to work against you. If you try to help the person and understand the person then they will work with you and that is what makes a teacher an educator!

QR Preface

1) One of the things that jumped out to me was the facts about how many teachers stop teaching within their first five years or so of being in a classroom full of high school students. There was also one other thing that jumped out at me in the chapter also and that dealt with the student teacher relationship whether it be in the classroom or outside of the classroom. This section of reading even tells future teachers that in order to be an effective teacher you need to be prepared fully to teach the students and you need to be able to listen/talk with the students if you notice something wrong. Students are better off in a classroom when the teach cares about them.
2) The thought that 60% of teachers within the first five years stop teaching was a really high number and it makes me wonder why! It doesn’t give a list of factors, but rather it makes you think of all of the possible factors regarding both the students and the teacher. I believe that in order for a student and a teacher to connect on a solid playing ground they have to know where each one is coming from. This is more or less a relationship and it takes two people to run it without any flaws. Most teachers would agree with me when I say that in order to be effective you need to know the material and you need to know the people that you are teaching. That is a very true statement and that is why it stuck out most of all to me!