I have created a Trackstar Project on the Digestive System!
Feel free to take a look! The number of my project is 351027. Go to the website and there is a place where you can type in the project number and it will automatically bring up my project!
Have fun!
copy and paste this web address into your browser
http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Content Standards
Content Standards seem to be a buzz word in education today. Technology is also another big word! These two combined produce just another huge concept in the era's education.
Integrating technology standards with content standards is a wonderful idea! (Remember, this is not fact...it is my opinion)! If the teaching gurus of today are wanting the students in our classrooms to learn technological skills, it is a good thing to put them in content standards. I think it helps the teacher know how to integrate technology into her classroom. If the teacher was only given the content standards and told that she had to incorporate technology, she might be completely lost as to what to do. But, if she is given a standard that says that students are to be able to make graphs using Microsoft Excel, she would have more direction and be able to better plan for her students.
I definitely think if the state or nation is going to require something of teachers, then need to be particular and put it out there for teachers to really know what they are expected to do, and I think that integrating content standards with technology standards, accomplishes that to some extent.
Integrating technology standards with content standards is a wonderful idea! (Remember, this is not fact...it is my opinion)! If the teaching gurus of today are wanting the students in our classrooms to learn technological skills, it is a good thing to put them in content standards. I think it helps the teacher know how to integrate technology into her classroom. If the teacher was only given the content standards and told that she had to incorporate technology, she might be completely lost as to what to do. But, if she is given a standard that says that students are to be able to make graphs using Microsoft Excel, she would have more direction and be able to better plan for her students.
I definitely think if the state or nation is going to require something of teachers, then need to be particular and put it out there for teachers to really know what they are expected to do, and I think that integrating content standards with technology standards, accomplishes that to some extent.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Say Cheese!
The words commonly heard when taking a portrait may now be words heard not only at family gatherings and birthday parties, but even in the elementary classroom. The use of digital cameras in the classroom is expanding, and for good reason!
There are so many ways you, as a teacher, could make learning more fun and beneficial by simply using a digital camera in the classroom.
Here are some of my thoughts on what you could do!
1. Have the students take pictures of one another, and make a powerpoint. Go through the powerpoint in class the next day and explain to the students how God has created each one differently!
2. Studying plants? Here's an idea! Gather all the materials you will need for planting, and plant some seeds inside your classroom with your students. Then assign a student for each day of the week to take a picture at a certain time of day. At the end of the month make a powerpoint of the pictures and watch the process of your flower growing!
3. Shapes are all around us; capture them! Allow students to go throughout the school or even outside and photograph shapes that they recognize. The compare the pictures with each other and see who was the most creative in picking a shape to photograph! Or make a graph by using the data of how many students photographed each shape.
4. Have a class pet? Want to know all about his life? Set up a digital video camera by his cage and then watch the video. This would be great if you were studying animal life.
5. Here's another animal idea! Set up a bird feeder right outside of your classroom window. Have the video camera recording throughout the day to moniter what type of birds come, how many come, when they come, how long they stay, etc.
6. Use a camera on a field trip! Many teachers do this already, but how about letting the students have their turn? Talk about getting a different perspective! Allow students to take photos during a field trip, and when you get back to the class, have each student write what that photograph means. It could be a story of why they took that photo, or why the think it is something important from the trip. Then compile the essays along with the pictures that go with them to make a field trip book for the students to look at again and again!
7. We have already thought about watching plants grow, but what about watching people grow? Take pictures of the students during different times of the year and compare the photos at the end of the year. See how they have grown tall, how many teeth they lost (or how many came in!), etc.
8. Here is an idea if you are in a culturally diverse school. During Christmas time there are many different holidays that are celebrated. For the children who celebrate each holiday, take a photo of them and have them write what the holiday is about, what traditions does their family have, and any other information about the holiday that they know. Compile a "Holiday Book" and read a few pages each day before Winter Break. This will be fun for the students to tell about their own family holiday traditions and it can be a great learning experience for those students who do not celebrate that holiday.
9.For studying weather, have students take pictures of the weather each day. It will be neat to see how the weather changes from day to day! You can also discuss the different details that go along with thunder storms, rain, snow, etc.
10. Make an alphabet book! This is for younger students. As you begin to study the letters, take pictures of those letters around the room, and make them into a book! By the end of the year, you will have a book with all of the letters of the alphabet that your students made!
Those are only a few of the things you could do with digital cameras in the classroom. The possibilities are endless!
There are so many ways you, as a teacher, could make learning more fun and beneficial by simply using a digital camera in the classroom.
Here are some of my thoughts on what you could do!
1. Have the students take pictures of one another, and make a powerpoint. Go through the powerpoint in class the next day and explain to the students how God has created each one differently!
2. Studying plants? Here's an idea! Gather all the materials you will need for planting, and plant some seeds inside your classroom with your students. Then assign a student for each day of the week to take a picture at a certain time of day. At the end of the month make a powerpoint of the pictures and watch the process of your flower growing!
3. Shapes are all around us; capture them! Allow students to go throughout the school or even outside and photograph shapes that they recognize. The compare the pictures with each other and see who was the most creative in picking a shape to photograph! Or make a graph by using the data of how many students photographed each shape.
4. Have a class pet? Want to know all about his life? Set up a digital video camera by his cage and then watch the video. This would be great if you were studying animal life.
5. Here's another animal idea! Set up a bird feeder right outside of your classroom window. Have the video camera recording throughout the day to moniter what type of birds come, how many come, when they come, how long they stay, etc.
6. Use a camera on a field trip! Many teachers do this already, but how about letting the students have their turn? Talk about getting a different perspective! Allow students to take photos during a field trip, and when you get back to the class, have each student write what that photograph means. It could be a story of why they took that photo, or why the think it is something important from the trip. Then compile the essays along with the pictures that go with them to make a field trip book for the students to look at again and again!
7. We have already thought about watching plants grow, but what about watching people grow? Take pictures of the students during different times of the year and compare the photos at the end of the year. See how they have grown tall, how many teeth they lost (or how many came in!), etc.
8. Here is an idea if you are in a culturally diverse school. During Christmas time there are many different holidays that are celebrated. For the children who celebrate each holiday, take a photo of them and have them write what the holiday is about, what traditions does their family have, and any other information about the holiday that they know. Compile a "Holiday Book" and read a few pages each day before Winter Break. This will be fun for the students to tell about their own family holiday traditions and it can be a great learning experience for those students who do not celebrate that holiday.
9.For studying weather, have students take pictures of the weather each day. It will be neat to see how the weather changes from day to day! You can also discuss the different details that go along with thunder storms, rain, snow, etc.
10. Make an alphabet book! This is for younger students. As you begin to study the letters, take pictures of those letters around the room, and make them into a book! By the end of the year, you will have a book with all of the letters of the alphabet that your students made!
Those are only a few of the things you could do with digital cameras in the classroom. The possibilities are endless!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
"Are we really what we eat?"
http://educate.intel.com/en/ProjectDesign/UnitPlanIndex/HealthyEating/
This website contains a unit plan for the Learner-Active Technology-Infused classroom (talk about a mouth full!). As I reviewed this unit, I really enjoyed the activities that students were able to participate in! Being the healthy person that I am, I was glad to see that someone was interested in teacher their class about healthy eating habits! While this may not sound like the most educational thing to some of you teachers out there, I believe that a students diet can have a role in how well he does in school.
This lesson teaches the child the food pyramid, and allows them to begin making healthy choices for themselves. They make a powerpoint presentation of healthy foods, and they also prepare a menu on a poster to present to the class what a healthy meal would be. I think it is a great way to begin teaching children, even at a young age, what is good for them to eat and what is not. America has such an obesity problem that it would be extremely beneficial if teachers (as well as parents) taught children what is best for them to eat. As Christians, it is doubly important. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which means we should be taking care of it and not allowing fleshly desires (yes, even hunger) cause us to destroy that temple.
I thought this unit had a good variety of teaching tools. It was not all technology, but it did incorporate the use of technology in a realistic way. They students were challenged to use a bit of creativity in making the powerpoint and the poster. They were also challenged to use their own thoughts in making decisions about what to eat, rather than a teacher just telling them the right answers. I think this would be a great lesson to use in a classroom sometime! There are so many other things that you could do with it besides what is already written out in the unit plan.
This website contains a unit plan for the Learner-Active Technology-Infused classroom (talk about a mouth full!). As I reviewed this unit, I really enjoyed the activities that students were able to participate in! Being the healthy person that I am, I was glad to see that someone was interested in teacher their class about healthy eating habits! While this may not sound like the most educational thing to some of you teachers out there, I believe that a students diet can have a role in how well he does in school.
This lesson teaches the child the food pyramid, and allows them to begin making healthy choices for themselves. They make a powerpoint presentation of healthy foods, and they also prepare a menu on a poster to present to the class what a healthy meal would be. I think it is a great way to begin teaching children, even at a young age, what is good for them to eat and what is not. America has such an obesity problem that it would be extremely beneficial if teachers (as well as parents) taught children what is best for them to eat. As Christians, it is doubly important. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which means we should be taking care of it and not allowing fleshly desires (yes, even hunger) cause us to destroy that temple.
I thought this unit had a good variety of teaching tools. It was not all technology, but it did incorporate the use of technology in a realistic way. They students were challenged to use a bit of creativity in making the powerpoint and the poster. They were also challenged to use their own thoughts in making decisions about what to eat, rather than a teacher just telling them the right answers. I think this would be a great lesson to use in a classroom sometime! There are so many other things that you could do with it besides what is already written out in the unit plan.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Scholastic Site
You may have noticed that I placed a links list over on the left side of the page. I was exploring the Scholastic webiste and it is amazing! So many wonderful resources for teachers, parents, and students.
Right now, I am playing with a homework helper that helps students study spelling words. You type in 10 words and it makes a game for you to play to help study your words!
There is a Clifford section for K-5 that has interactive games and books as well as teacher lesson plans that are already made that you can use with the resources on the site!
There are so many other things on this site! Check it out!
www2.scholastic.com
Right now, I am playing with a homework helper that helps students study spelling words. You type in 10 words and it makes a game for you to play to help study your words!
There is a Clifford section for K-5 that has interactive games and books as well as teacher lesson plans that are already made that you can use with the resources on the site!
There are so many other things on this site! Check it out!
www2.scholastic.com
Puzzling Questions
This semester I am taking some classes that require me to be out in a public school classroom for 12 hours to observe and help with math. I have only had the chance to spend 6 hours in a class so far, but some questions really puzzle me about the thinking process of public education system.
Each time I am in the classroom I have been asked to go over a worksheet with the students. The first few times I assumed the students had already completed that worksheet, but they had not. I was going over the worksheet with them and they were putting in the answers that were given either by me or by other students. This is apparently a common practice in that classroom because it has happened almsot every time I have been there. Don't get me wrong, the students do some of the problems. I have several come to the board to work a problem, of they work it at their desks, but I am still confused as to why we are not having the students do the work on their own and then go over it. If they have trouble, then we can help them, but why provide an answer for them either directly through the teacher or through peers? Is this something that is limited to the one classroom that I have been in or is it prevelent throughout the public education system (especially in West Virginia)?
Another puzzling thing that I have observed it help on a test. The other day I was in the classroom as they were preparing for math test for the next day. The host teacher asked me to go over the test with them, so I did. The day before the test we took time in class to go through and work the problems directly from the test. I understand making sure they have the concept down by doing problems that are similar, but doing the exact problems does not quite make sense to me. Then, the last time I was observing, the teacher gave out a test for them to start on (this is a different test than what I was referring to above). Before they started the test, she went through and had the students answer some different questions about some of the problem. Things such as, "How would we begin this problem?", or "What items do we need to focus on in this word problem?". Once again, I was confused. I thought it was supposed to be a test and directly before they started it she had them open the test and tell other students how they should work the problem.
Review is one thing, practically giving the answers is something completely different!
Does anyone else feel this way? Have you seen this before? Or better yet, can you help me understand why this is happening and the logic behind it?
Each time I am in the classroom I have been asked to go over a worksheet with the students. The first few times I assumed the students had already completed that worksheet, but they had not. I was going over the worksheet with them and they were putting in the answers that were given either by me or by other students. This is apparently a common practice in that classroom because it has happened almsot every time I have been there. Don't get me wrong, the students do some of the problems. I have several come to the board to work a problem, of they work it at their desks, but I am still confused as to why we are not having the students do the work on their own and then go over it. If they have trouble, then we can help them, but why provide an answer for them either directly through the teacher or through peers? Is this something that is limited to the one classroom that I have been in or is it prevelent throughout the public education system (especially in West Virginia)?
Another puzzling thing that I have observed it help on a test. The other day I was in the classroom as they were preparing for math test for the next day. The host teacher asked me to go over the test with them, so I did. The day before the test we took time in class to go through and work the problems directly from the test. I understand making sure they have the concept down by doing problems that are similar, but doing the exact problems does not quite make sense to me. Then, the last time I was observing, the teacher gave out a test for them to start on (this is a different test than what I was referring to above). Before they started the test, she went through and had the students answer some different questions about some of the problem. Things such as, "How would we begin this problem?", or "What items do we need to focus on in this word problem?". Once again, I was confused. I thought it was supposed to be a test and directly before they started it she had them open the test and tell other students how they should work the problem.
Review is one thing, practically giving the answers is something completely different!
Does anyone else feel this way? Have you seen this before? Or better yet, can you help me understand why this is happening and the logic behind it?
Do you know your 9 times tables?
My spring break was last week, and during that time off of school I had the opportunity to be involved in a small elementary classroom at the Christian school that I graduated from. The school is only in its 4th year and it is very small. The classroom I was in had 8 students who were either in 4th, 5th, or 6th grade. Talk about a handful! It seemed that the teacher rarely got to "teach" because she was always making sure the the students were on task and that each grade had something to do while she tried to teach another grade. It was constant back and forth to each grade. I am not really sure if I could handle that!
One day while she was teaching math, the teacher gave the students a hint to remembering their 9 times tables that I had never seen before. Did you know that for every 9 times table the answer adds up to 9? It is true!
1X9=9
2X9=18 (1+8=9)
3X9=27 (2+7=9)
4X9=36 (3+6=9)
And so on.
I just thought that was a really neat little trick for students who have a hard time recalling those facts.
I was also given another trick for the 9's a while back. This one requires your hands so it would probably be a great trick for bodily/kinesthetic learners!
Here is how it works...
Hold your hands out in front of you with all your fingers spread. For 9X1 put down the first finger (going from left to right,,,just like reading). How many fingers are you hold up now? 9! Now for any number more than one it can get a little tricky but you just have to pay attention. 9X2 you would put only the second finger down. Everything on the left of the finger is the tens place and everything on the right of the finger is the ones place. So you would have 1 on the left and 8 on the right which would be 18. It works for all the ( times talbes! Pretty cool huh?
Do you know any ways to help remember your 9 times tables?
One day while she was teaching math, the teacher gave the students a hint to remembering their 9 times tables that I had never seen before. Did you know that for every 9 times table the answer adds up to 9? It is true!
1X9=9
2X9=18 (1+8=9)
3X9=27 (2+7=9)
4X9=36 (3+6=9)
And so on.
I just thought that was a really neat little trick for students who have a hard time recalling those facts.
I was also given another trick for the 9's a while back. This one requires your hands so it would probably be a great trick for bodily/kinesthetic learners!
Here is how it works...
Hold your hands out in front of you with all your fingers spread. For 9X1 put down the first finger (going from left to right,,,just like reading). How many fingers are you hold up now? 9! Now for any number more than one it can get a little tricky but you just have to pay attention. 9X2 you would put only the second finger down. Everything on the left of the finger is the tens place and everything on the right of the finger is the ones place. So you would have 1 on the left and 8 on the right which would be 18. It works for all the ( times talbes! Pretty cool huh?
Do you know any ways to help remember your 9 times tables?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Just the beginning
This blog is starting out as a requirement for one of my classes!
Hopefully, this is going to turn into a resource as I add information that I gain from my classes as well as from being in elementary classrooms!
Feel free to use any of the information posted and please critique it if it needs it!
Thank you!
ENJOY!
Hopefully, this is going to turn into a resource as I add information that I gain from my classes as well as from being in elementary classrooms!
Feel free to use any of the information posted and please critique it if it needs it!
Thank you!
ENJOY!
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