Mary's Blog

Giving Recognition

This week my class was given a list of questions and we had to pick one to answer. 

The question I picked was, "How do you give your students recognition? Do you think a student can have too much recognition?"

      One way my teacher and I give recogntion is if a student is doing their work and following directions the teacher will usually make it known to the whole class by saying something like, "I love the way so-and-so is doing their work." When all the students hear that not opnly does it make that one student feel good but it also makes all of the other studens start to do their work. Another way to give recognition is to display the students' work around the room whenever they do a good job. 

     To answer the second question I think that it is possible to give a child too much recognition.  I think that if you recognize one child all the time other kids in the class might get discouraged, because they may not be as smart as that one kid and they might stop trying and give up.

     Do you know of any other ways to recognize children in the classroom? Can you think of any ways to prevent children from getting discouraged if children are recognized more than they are?

As I have said before I am working with a first grade class.  So far I like first grade but I'm not sure if it's the grade that I want to teach.  I've learned a lot overthe past few weeks about first grade and how the act and what things they learn, but I think that I would like to see what it would be like to teach a kindergarten class.  I even might want to teach preschool, but I know that I don't want ot go any older than first grade.  If anyone one has any comments about teaching in different grades I would really appreciate it.  Also, if anyone has taught more than one grade level I would like to know which one was your favorite and why.

My first day in Elementary School

     Last week when we got back from winter break my class found out what teacher we would be working with at a local elementary school and what grade we would be working with. My teacher is Ms. Anderson and I work with first graders. The next day was our first day at the elementary school. When I first got there the teacher introduced me to the students and then she had the students introduced themselves. It was so cute because they were so quiet and shy. Then all of the students have to go reading class, so most of the students leaves while other students from other classes come in. When I first walked into the classroom I noticed that it was very bright and had a lot of posters all over the room. I also noticed that  the teacher had labeled a lot of things so that the children would know what it is and also how it is spelled. Whenever I arrive at the school in the morning the teacher usually has things that she wants me to do. Some of the things that I have done so far is grade papers, organize papers, get their homework together, print out their spelling word for the year and print out worksheets that go along with their spelling words. So far I like the grade I'm working with and I hope to get to have more time actually getting to work with the children by the end of the year. If anyone has any advice working with young children I would really appreciate it.

Making a Difference

   This week my class was given the assignment to think about a teacher that has made a difference in our lives. When I started thinking about which teacher I would write about I honestly couldn't think of one teacher that has made a huge impact on my life. Yeah, I had teachers that were nice and funny but they didn't really change my life. Then I started to go through each grade and think about the teachers I had. Then when I started thinking my eleventh grade year I remembered my English teacher, Mrs. Glenzer. The reason I didn't think of her right away was because she didn't impact me in one big way, but instead she done a lot of little things that helped me through her class and will help through the rest of my senior year and throughout college. When I first got into her class I really didn't want to be there because it was an advanced class and I thought it would be too hard. While I was in her class I didn't like it because first of all English is one of my worst subjects and second of all the work she gave us was really hard and there was a lot of it too. Now, though I realize that she didn't give us the work because she wanted to hear us complain and whine about it but she gave it to us because she wanted to learn as much as we could in her class. I honestly didn't realize how much she did have an effect on me until I was out of her class.  At the time I didn't realize why she gave us so much work and so many essays, but now I know that she wanted to prepare us for college.

   You may not realize it at the time but teachers usually try to challenge because they want you to succeed. Can you think of a teacher that has made an impact on your life?                        

   

 

Admiral Teaching Traits

Today my class was given an assignment to chose an article from a list that my teacher gave us and make a post about it. The article that I have chosen is called Admiral Teaching Traits. The article talks about different characteristics that administrators look at when they are hiring a new teacher. Here are the fifteen characteristics that they list with a brief description they have given.

1.Exhibit enthusiasm: If you seem eager about teaching it will help to make your students more motivated to learn.                                                                                                                     

2. Know your content: Keep up with your field of study.

3. Be organized: If you are organized it allows you to spend more time with your students than looking for papers that you have misplaced. Also, if you have a daily routine that you stick to it will help your class run more smoothly.

4.Teach actively: Being actively involved with your students and other staff shows that you are an effective and hard working teacher.

5. Show a good attitude: Have a positive attitude. You need to be aware of what you say and your tone of voice.

6. Establish successful classroom management: Establish rules the first day of class. Discipline and structure are essential for students to be on task.

7. Pace instruction: Plan out a time line of what you are going to teach for the year. This prevents getting to the end of the year and realizing that you don't have enough time to teach everything you wanted to.

8. Maintain good people skills: Administrators look for people who work well with others. If people don't like your behavior as a teacher they won't want to be around you.

9.Communicate clearly: In order to be a good teacher you have to be able to give information clearly.

10. Question effectively: Ask questions directed to the whole class and also to individuals. When asking a question to an individual do not call out their name then the question because if you call on one student before you ask the question the other students won't pay attention because they know that they aren't going to be called on.

11.Differentiate instruction: Teachers need to mix auditory, visual, and hands-on learning techniques in order to target children with different learning techniques.

12. Build success into your classroom: When students are not successful it is important provide further instruction or simplify the task because when students become frustrated it can result in behavioral problems or a loss of effort.

13. Hold high expectations: Administrators want teachers who expect their students to learn.

14. Create a pleasant atmosphere: Bright and fun classrooms help to stimulate learning.

15. Be flexible: In order to be a good teacher you have to learn to role with the punches. Not everything is going to go according to plans but you have to learn to go with it.

I think that all of these characteristics are right on point. In my opinion you have to possess a little of each trait to become a successful teacher.

Building a Sense of Community

This week my class had an assignment to find an article about education and write a summary on the article we chose. The title of my article is "Building a Sense of Community with School-age Children."

The aricle starts off by saying that community plays and important role in the development of a child's self-esteem. The article also says that children need to know haw they belong in the world and they also need to be more aware of the others in the community.  The first step to helping children become part of a community is to make them feel part of a group. The article lists ways to promote a sense of community in a group. The list includes: allowing children to make decisions, promoting leadership and communication skills, and encourage children to set their own goals. The article also lists ways to help children feel part of a larger community. The list includes: starting a 4-H club or scout troop, taking part in community activities, entertaining senior citizens, and collecting food for families in need. The article is summed up by saying that if children become involved in the community then they will learn to care about the people in the community.

In my opinion I think that the article is correct. I think that if children feel like they are making a difference in the community then they are going to want to help out more. Do you agree or disagree with the article? Do you think that children should be involved with the community?

Writing Tips

Today we are looking at writing tips from a 5th grade class called the "Blooming Bloggers." When I was reading their blogs I was amazed by how well they can write, I kept forgeting that they are only in the 5th grade. One tip that I thought was good was from Alejandra. She wrote that you should write our opinions, so people who read your blog can form their own opinions and they will find your blog more interesting.

This week in our class we are working on finishing presenting projects. We are also talking about how to raise money for our prom this year because we are in debt and if we don't raise enough money we will have to have it in the gym. We had a group of girls come in our class trying to get volunteers for a car wash we are having this Friday. We are also trying to come up with more ways to raise money. If anyone has any ideas we would really appreciate it.

FEA Conference

This Tuesday my class and a class from another local high school went to a conference for Future Educators of America. We had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Brenda Shuman-Riley who is the teacher of the year for the state of Georgia. We were also able to visit booths set up by different colleges and we got information about their school. Dr. Shuman-Riley talked about her different experiences throughout her career. But it was very hard for us to hear her because she would step to the side of the microphone and we were in the back so I was only able to hear bits and pieces of her speach. If anyone has any suggestions about how to handle a speaker who doesn't speak into the microphone I would appreciate it if you would tell me what you would do.

Introduction

Hi, I'm Mary and I'm a senior in high scool. I'm in a teacher cadet class and we are creating web blogs to share what we are learning. The reason I decided to take this class is because I want to become a kindergarten teacher. The reason I want to become a teacher is because I love kids and teaching is something I know I'll be happy doing.

In order to make us good teachers we are learning about ourselves and how we learn aand how we think. We have taken different test to understand what type of learners we are. We also learned the different qualities of each learner and what activities help them learn the best. We have also done self-esteem activities. We have learned a lot about how much self-esteem we have and what we can do to improve it. Right now we are learning about test anxiety and how to overcome it.

Next semester we will be going to a local elementary school and we will be helping a teacher. We will help the teacher teach a class and we will get to learn hands on what it takes to be a teacher.