Welcome to Blog 3

Hello Everyone,
Welcome to Week 3 

My proudest accomplishment this week was being able to teach two lessons in the classroom. My CE was having to give MClass testing for the BOY(Beginning of the Year). Forrest Hunt starts testing the second week of school to see what the students reading levels are currently on. I told my CE I would be happy to teach lessons if she needed me to. Fortunately, she took me up on the offer. I taught a reading lesson in the morning where I read a story called, "Wemberly Worried." Students then did a cutout craft of Wemberly. The second lesson consisted of Math. We worked on an addition problem and students were given out math papers. Each math paper had about forty questions consisting of counting circles or drawing circles to represent the amount or number. I was able to get some practice operating the Mac notebook and the Promethean board. Though I think the math lesson could have been improved partially due to the fact that I needed more practice with the Promethean board, I was still very glad my CE let me have the opportunity to teach those lessons. Reflecting on information I learned when teaching those two lessons, I do wish I could have looked over the math information a little bit more. My CE already had everything including the math worksheets ready. We went over the math problem first and I feel like I confused those poor students by repeating some of the information. Fortunately, I was able to see a math lesson demonstrated on Wednesday, so I have a better idea of what to do next time. My CE actually uses objects when describing word problems. If Anne has 3 apples and Sally has 4 apples, how many did they have together? For a problem like this, my teacher would put Anne's name and then 3 apples beside her name and then Sally's name and then four apples beside her name. The connections I made with math adhere to standard 4, teachers facilitate learning. More specifically, teachers need to have a clear understanding of how to work technolgoy. I will master that mac notebook so I will be able to use it effectively before student teaching begins. 

My struggle this week has been with time management issues. Some projects take longer than what they should take. Unfortunately, I am probably too meticulous by wanting everything to be perfect. Though this is good, I do need to speed up my projects where they do not take so much time. My major concern is to make sure everything is submitted on time. I have started writing down things which have to be done by the end of the day. Crossing off assignments throughout the day gives me a sense of confidence that I can get the whole page of assignments completed. Though this way is the old fashion pencil and paper, it really does work for me. 

The work which brought me the most satisfaction this week was my Science Through My Lens experience. Though I have not done that much except take pictures, I was able to get some beautiful pictures over the weekend. I was able to go up into the mountains with my family on a picnic. Some of nature's beauties like mushrooms, fungus, leaves, and one crawdad or fascinating.  I have come to appreciate science more by working on this project.

The action plan for next week is to go to my clinical experience on Monday and Wednesday, get my Checklist signed by my CE so I can go ahead and scan in that work, and begin earlier to complete discussion board post. The why reason is I want to work ahead as much as possible and I want to spend as much time with my CE and the students.  

For class this week, I went ahead and worked on the experiment for the science fair project. I am so glad I did because we changed our decision on the experiment as a result of what happened. For some reason, I could not master the experiment of the website selected for the experiment. The resource required three glasses filled with different kind of liquid: water, vegetable oil, and corn syrup. The experiment was to put four paper clips in each glass and then move a magnet to the side of the glass. The paper clips were supposed to attract to the magnet. Either my glasses were too thick or my paper clips had a plastic coating. The experiment had to be changed. I then put all three liquids into a plastic bag with the hypothesis that the nails would move across the bag with a magnet. The nails adhered to the magnet for all three liquids. I try to help my peers by scheduling meetings and playing an active part in participating in the assignment. For next week, I will schedule a meeting for our science meeting again. 

My outside learning this week has been researching about different books I could use for science instruction. I found a great website which has all sorts of different science books for upper and lower grade levels. Please click on the link to go to the website. I could use this website to get great ideas for science books in my classroom.
 I was also looking at Forrest Hunt's book fair which is coming up on Friday. They have a really neat book called "Rock on! Gems" by scholastics. This book would be a great science resource for upper grades who learn about various kinds of rocks. The book even includes four sample rocks. Students would not only study the different types of rocks, but they could also feel them and see what the rocks really look like. Many times pictures do not give justice to actual objects. Using books in science is a great way to integrate literacy and science into the classroom. Since classroom time is so limited, the teacher has to literally cram everything she can into instructional time.   

Happy Days with Twitter

 Though this picture relates to the business world, it can still apply to teaching as well. Though in the 20th-century students would need to know the answers to questions, times are now changing. Students are now given critical thinking questions which require thought and reasoning. There is room to be creative and innovative in developing new ideas. Therefore, fortunately, it is not this boring type of classroom setting where only one outspoken person is talking and everyone else looks blue or green while taking a cat nap.

Please check out the slide show I tweeted to you called "7 Educational Transformations for Any Classroom" The picture above is my tweet and one of the author's visuals on student inquiry. Structured inquiry is shallow water, but free inquiry is in the deep end. Students are now able to swim by choosing their own topics. 

Click Here to view a slide show.

This frightening but gorgeous picture is what I would call science phenomena. The earth and sky are both filled with energy. Lava from underneath the surface of the earth is pouring out of a volcano while lightning strikes in the air sending off electricity. This would be a great picture to incorporate into a volcano or electricity lesson.

Scientific Thinking
For current events, I am looking at the weather report of the three hurricanes which are headed this way. Check out this video when Hurricane Irma reaches the Carribean. Link to video. The governor of North Carolina has declared a state of emergency for all 100 counties. Another video I watched, it has been reported that the hurricane has gotten to 185 miles per hour wind gust occurring over a 24 hour period. The announcer on the news says that speed of wind gusts for 24 hours has never been recorded before (WPBF 25 News, 2017). The hurricane is expected to shoot straight up in the middle of Florida and go on to Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Many people are currently being evacuated.

 For the scientific component, I have mostly been doing research on the hurricane.
I am currently working on chapter two hyperdoc for this week. Hyperdoc is AWESOME. Teachers can literally place their students as the leader of their own learning. Students have everything they need in one hyperdoc including activities, information, and different assessments to check on emphasis. For chapter two, I will be expounding on the scientific method and how it relates to every experiment.
For NCTCS this week, teachers need to facilitate learning. For example, the Science through the lens facilitates learning because teachers have to use technology in taking pictures of the beauties of nature. Teachers also need to be able to share those technologies with the classroom. One science project I would love to do with a class would be to have them create their own "Science through the Lens." Perhaps I could get permission for students to take their Ipads outside to take pictures of flowers, leaves, bushes, and trees in the playground area. Students could then analyze their pictures. I have also been learning about standard 2, teachers use diversity in the classroom. My CE is trying to use her minimal knowledge of Spanish words to communicate with our new special student. In the classroom, every student is treated as an individual and no one is left behind.
I consider these times in the classroom very valuable. I can understand how situations connect with standards but now I can see these situations actually exhibited in the classroom.
I hope all of you have a great week.

Connecting learning to my future classroom, 

Work Cited

WPBF 25 News. (2017, September 6). Hurricane Irmas remains powerful, moving toward Puerto Rico. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-06gcfh-Ud8