PowerPoints
As I was reviewing what I already knew about PowerPoint and the ways in which is can get information across I couldn't help but think "Is PowerPoint dying? Is this the end?". As a classroom teacher who uses technology, PowerPoint is definitely not my first go to when creating a presentation as it is time consuming. I prefer to use my SMARTBoard Notebook software. I am also "old fashioned" and because I use workshop teaching I make charts on paper with different colored markers. I do agree that powerPoint is a great tool that I used throughout undergrad and graduate school, but I think now there are easier ways to get information across. I do believe that PowerPoints can be effective if used sparingly. I will never forget that professor that read straight off the PowerPoint in college.
In Duke's article about creating an effective and engaging PowerPoint there were many tips in way sin which we should be organizing our lessons and information. I liked the idea of using pictures that will catch the eye of our students. PowerPoints are meant to be a tool, not the teacher, an aide if you will. PowerPoints can be effective if used as a guide and a helpful tool. Using PowerPoints can be beneficial so that students are engaged by using a lot of pictures. These pictures are helpful so that students can imagine and see what they are learning about. Obviously, having less words is better than too many. Make your PowerPoints fun for your kiddos!
PowerPoint Game Resources and Kid Pixs and other Web 2.O tools are great tools that I was unaware of! I think that the students would love to collaborate and make books that they can share with other students!
Research is a part of learning. We should instill an urge to question in all of our students. EBSCOhost is a search engine I am very familiar with as I used it all throughout undergrad. This is a wonderful resource when looking for articles and other scholarly material. I am effectively and quickly use EBSCO to get information that I can use to share at my faculty meeting or with other educators. There are simpler, safer, sites for our younger students who are interested in research.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
EDRD 7718 Module 5 Learning Summary
This module was primarily focused on effective ays to teach literacy while engaging students and meeting the needs of all of the students in our classrooms.
I really liked seeing the word study activities at the beginning of the module. I was quickly reminded how I should not over-work my students during their word study time. These students can easily get overwhelmed and become self conscious when given a task too large to handle. It is so important to pick one skill at a time and focus on it before moving on to the next skill. I find this difficult. I have 4 word study groups all learning different sorts/sounds at one time. I sometimes think I ask too much of them but I need to remember to keep it simple and straightforward. After all, they're only 8!
Small group instruction is essential and expected at my school. I do not have centers in my classroom and because we are a primarily workshop based teaching school we often do a lot of small groups. During small group instruction I think it is so important to group students that have a common weakness together and work on ONE, just ONE strategy that can help them. If we give them worksheets and busy work are we helping them? Small groups are a great way for teachers to truly check in with every child while differentiating lessons for each student. Small groups require a lot of planning but if implemented correctly is an important teaching technique that can be used daily to reach all students in the classroom.
I liked learning about and seeing the various ways in which a classroom can be set up for the most effective instruction. Classrooms should be a place in which students feel safe and comfortable, a place where they can take risks, learn, and be heard. I personally have my classroom set up with the students in groups. At a young age (2nd grade) collaboration and cooperating are so important to their social/emotional development. I think that with the students in groups, they are able to learn, grow, and explore with their classmates. I also think that bing in groups allows the students to struggle and work out issues they might have. The classroom, mine at least is a sacred place where our "family" comes together every day to learn and grow individually and as a whole! :)
After seeing that little bit about Debbie Diller's book Spaces and Places I actually googled her and found more interviews of her discussing her organization and decorating theories and her successes she has had in the classroom. This book seems like an essential for all teachers to have. I really liked the idea of making a plan of where you want the students to do their work but also where whole group/rug lessons will occur. I like moving my classroom around and I think the students like a change of scenery and pace as well.
I really liked seeing the word study activities at the beginning of the module. I was quickly reminded how I should not over-work my students during their word study time. These students can easily get overwhelmed and become self conscious when given a task too large to handle. It is so important to pick one skill at a time and focus on it before moving on to the next skill. I find this difficult. I have 4 word study groups all learning different sorts/sounds at one time. I sometimes think I ask too much of them but I need to remember to keep it simple and straightforward. After all, they're only 8!
Small group instruction is essential and expected at my school. I do not have centers in my classroom and because we are a primarily workshop based teaching school we often do a lot of small groups. During small group instruction I think it is so important to group students that have a common weakness together and work on ONE, just ONE strategy that can help them. If we give them worksheets and busy work are we helping them? Small groups are a great way for teachers to truly check in with every child while differentiating lessons for each student. Small groups require a lot of planning but if implemented correctly is an important teaching technique that can be used daily to reach all students in the classroom.
I liked learning about and seeing the various ways in which a classroom can be set up for the most effective instruction. Classrooms should be a place in which students feel safe and comfortable, a place where they can take risks, learn, and be heard. I personally have my classroom set up with the students in groups. At a young age (2nd grade) collaboration and cooperating are so important to their social/emotional development. I think that with the students in groups, they are able to learn, grow, and explore with their classmates. I also think that bing in groups allows the students to struggle and work out issues they might have. The classroom, mine at least is a sacred place where our "family" comes together every day to learn and grow individually and as a whole! :)
After seeing that little bit about Debbie Diller's book Spaces and Places I actually googled her and found more interviews of her discussing her organization and decorating theories and her successes she has had in the classroom. This book seems like an essential for all teachers to have. I really liked the idea of making a plan of where you want the students to do their work but also where whole group/rug lessons will occur. I like moving my classroom around and I think the students like a change of scenery and pace as well.
EDRD 7718 Module 4 Learning Summary
Literacy Across the Curriculum
I found this idea to be absolutely adorable! I really liked learning and seeing how the teacher taught an entire unit on pirates across the curriculum. When I observed in college in a Title I school they did a lot of themes, not just for a unit, but for the whole year. I think that themes are a great and engaging way for students to become "experts" on a topic. I wonder how a teacher creates these units and how long the planning takes?
RTI
Schools are only as strong as their weakest students. And although this idea seems odd or unfair, let me explain. I do not mean test grades, but the help this student is being given. School must work as a community to collectively get to those students who are struggling. My school has something similar to RTI in which the learning specialists are made aware of what students are struggling or little things that classroom teachers are beginning to notice. This allows the learning specialists to become aware and be able to observe or put in place a plan for this student. Like RTI the overall goal is to target students early and put interventions in place to help students as early as possible.
Creating Sentences Video
I loved this video of the first graders creating sentences together. Using sentence strips is a way in which the students can remain engaged and feel like they are part of the lesson. I think that using the students to place things is a great way for students to explore and for inquiry to happen in a natural way in the classroom.
Strategic Reading Instruction PowerPoint
I liked this PowerPoint because it explained about reading centers. I work in a primarily workshop teaching school so centers are not very common. I love the ways in which teachers can incorporate so many lessons or ideas into different centers that help students become stronger readers.
WebQuest Guidelines
I found this information on WebQuests to be a wonderful tool! I have created a WebQuest in the past in which students did an inquiry on the Chattahoochee River. The students are so familiar with technology and they were able to grab the computers and get straight to work. I think that WebQuests need to be incorporated across the curriculum as technology is becoming more and more present in our classrooms.
I found this idea to be absolutely adorable! I really liked learning and seeing how the teacher taught an entire unit on pirates across the curriculum. When I observed in college in a Title I school they did a lot of themes, not just for a unit, but for the whole year. I think that themes are a great and engaging way for students to become "experts" on a topic. I wonder how a teacher creates these units and how long the planning takes?
RTI
Schools are only as strong as their weakest students. And although this idea seems odd or unfair, let me explain. I do not mean test grades, but the help this student is being given. School must work as a community to collectively get to those students who are struggling. My school has something similar to RTI in which the learning specialists are made aware of what students are struggling or little things that classroom teachers are beginning to notice. This allows the learning specialists to become aware and be able to observe or put in place a plan for this student. Like RTI the overall goal is to target students early and put interventions in place to help students as early as possible.
Creating Sentences Video
I loved this video of the first graders creating sentences together. Using sentence strips is a way in which the students can remain engaged and feel like they are part of the lesson. I think that using the students to place things is a great way for students to explore and for inquiry to happen in a natural way in the classroom.
Strategic Reading Instruction PowerPoint
I liked this PowerPoint because it explained about reading centers. I work in a primarily workshop teaching school so centers are not very common. I love the ways in which teachers can incorporate so many lessons or ideas into different centers that help students become stronger readers.
WebQuest Guidelines
I found this information on WebQuests to be a wonderful tool! I have created a WebQuest in the past in which students did an inquiry on the Chattahoochee River. The students are so familiar with technology and they were able to grab the computers and get straight to work. I think that WebQuests need to be incorporated across the curriculum as technology is becoming more and more present in our classrooms.
EDRD 7718 Module 3 Learning Summary
A Love for Reading
I really loved this video. I thought it was so important for teachers to watch. If we watch this and are aware of the importance of home life, we can easily remind parents the importance of reading at home. When children are exposed to texts and literacy at home they become more familiar with texts. Children learn from their parents. If parents love to read, children will want to follow them and learn to love to read as well. I constantly remind my students' parents to read to their children. It will help them learn fluency, expression, and see their parents loving to read.
SMART Tables
Although I am very familiar with SMART Boards I have only learned a little about SMART Tables. When I think of these tables, I typically think of the younger grades. I really do think that these tables could be amazing tools in the classroom. Even if there is only one or two in a school, they could be used for students to actually manipulate all types of materials in front of them on the table.
Exploring Social Studies and Technology
I really liked seeing how technology can be used to help teach Social Studies. I find that in many schools, Social Studies is taught straight out of the book. I think that using technology, such as the SMART Tables would be an amazing tool. I really liked watching the students in the video manipulate a map. I think that technology can be used across the grade levels and students can learn through exploration, watching videos, etc.
Integrating Science and Literacy in Early Childhood
When will we realize that textbooks don't teach children? So many schools continue to use textbooks as their ways to getting information across to students. Now, do I believe that textbooks should go away? No. But I do think they should be paired with other means such as technology, graphic organizers, teaching students to outline, etc. I really think that Science and literacy can easily be integrated so that students don't have to learn straight from the textbooks, but use the textbooks as a guide.
Development of Literacy
With this article I found out that Information Literacy, or IL is why information is needed. I think that IL, if taught to various grades is a great inquiry lesson for students. IL is going to continue to grow and we can use IL across the grades.
Expository Text Structures and Signal Words
In second grade we do two whole units on non-fiction texts. Non-fiction texts have specific cue words that can be taught to help students understand where the text is going or how to extract specific information. These cue words, can be very helpful with non-fiction texts as they can provide a map for students.
Article: Expository Text Structures- Moss
This goes along with what I just wrote above. Trade books are a valuable tool that can be used to teach text structure. Because non-fiction texts are so difficult, using trade books, particularly ones students are already familiar with will help them ease into a different genre and be able to understand and comprehend what they are reading.
I really loved this video. I thought it was so important for teachers to watch. If we watch this and are aware of the importance of home life, we can easily remind parents the importance of reading at home. When children are exposed to texts and literacy at home they become more familiar with texts. Children learn from their parents. If parents love to read, children will want to follow them and learn to love to read as well. I constantly remind my students' parents to read to their children. It will help them learn fluency, expression, and see their parents loving to read.
SMART Tables
Although I am very familiar with SMART Boards I have only learned a little about SMART Tables. When I think of these tables, I typically think of the younger grades. I really do think that these tables could be amazing tools in the classroom. Even if there is only one or two in a school, they could be used for students to actually manipulate all types of materials in front of them on the table.
Exploring Social Studies and Technology
I really liked seeing how technology can be used to help teach Social Studies. I find that in many schools, Social Studies is taught straight out of the book. I think that using technology, such as the SMART Tables would be an amazing tool. I really liked watching the students in the video manipulate a map. I think that technology can be used across the grade levels and students can learn through exploration, watching videos, etc.
Integrating Science and Literacy in Early Childhood
When will we realize that textbooks don't teach children? So many schools continue to use textbooks as their ways to getting information across to students. Now, do I believe that textbooks should go away? No. But I do think they should be paired with other means such as technology, graphic organizers, teaching students to outline, etc. I really think that Science and literacy can easily be integrated so that students don't have to learn straight from the textbooks, but use the textbooks as a guide.
Development of Literacy
With this article I found out that Information Literacy, or IL is why information is needed. I think that IL, if taught to various grades is a great inquiry lesson for students. IL is going to continue to grow and we can use IL across the grades.
Expository Text Structures and Signal Words
In second grade we do two whole units on non-fiction texts. Non-fiction texts have specific cue words that can be taught to help students understand where the text is going or how to extract specific information. These cue words, can be very helpful with non-fiction texts as they can provide a map for students.
Article: Expository Text Structures- Moss
This goes along with what I just wrote above. Trade books are a valuable tool that can be used to teach text structure. Because non-fiction texts are so difficult, using trade books, particularly ones students are already familiar with will help them ease into a different genre and be able to understand and comprehend what they are reading.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
EDRD 7718 Module 2 Summary
Planning Strategic Reading Lessons PowerPoint
I found this presentation to be extremely useful and insightful. I sometimes am quick to plan my lessons and often do not take into account all of the steps that go into making a strategic reading lesson. Although I am overwhelmed by all of the steps I think the most important part to remember is that these steps, all of this preparation is for the children. These students need these steps in a specific order in order for them to be ready to jump into reading. I specifically liked the point that said these lessons call for exploration. Exploration is such a "hot" word right now in education but I believe it is critical for students to learn, grow, and questions. I think the biggest take away is making sure that once you have planned this lesson and are ready for execution, it is essential that the student(s) understand the purpose BEFORE the reading activities begin. Giving them an idea of what learning is going to take place with help with readiness as well as make the students aware of the learning strategies that are occurring.
Literacy Practice: Promotion Content Area Reading PowerPoint
Content reading is very important in a student's later years. I believe that because there is such a heavy emphasis on it in middle and high school that teachers need to be aware and begin to implement it into their classrooms so that students begin to familiarize themselves with the process. Many schools, including my own, back away from textbooks. I believe that with the right text book and execution, that these texts can be powerful tools. Texts are not meant to be the teacher, but a guide, a tool, and framework that can help reach students in another form.
What was most important to me in this presentation was the scaffolding reminders. I remember my undergrad professor telling me that when providing scaffolding you are holding out the carrot right above their heads so that they can reach it WITH your help. That has always helped me to remind me what my goals are when working with each student. I think that when working with each student, the teacher must be totally aware and in sync with this student and his/her needs. Assessing, observing, and making goals/teaching points for this student is so important so that the teacher can prepare the student for what is to come.
Bloom's Taxonomy Wheel
I think this is such a great resource. Not only for lesson planning but for execution. I try to make a habit out of telling my students what they will be doing during each lesson. This wheel has great action words that I can use to take my lessons to "the next level"
Differentiated Instruction Dr. Coffey PowerPoint
I found this PowerPoint to be a refresher of the importance of differentiated instruction. Although I work in a private school my students are all on different levels and are all from different backgrounds. I think that what Dr. Coffey said about all students being given the opportunity to learn and reach their highest potential is my biggest takeaway. Each student in my class should be given the chance to learn the material I am teaching. It is my job to relay that information to each of them in a way that makes sense to them!
The Story of Differentiation- Carol Tomlinson
I enjoyed learning about Carol Tomlinson's story of differentiation. This presentation was also a refresher. What I liked the most about it was that she reminded me that I shouldn't differentiate for one specific set of students (high or low) but for ALL the students in my class so that each of their needs are met! :)
I found this presentation to be extremely useful and insightful. I sometimes am quick to plan my lessons and often do not take into account all of the steps that go into making a strategic reading lesson. Although I am overwhelmed by all of the steps I think the most important part to remember is that these steps, all of this preparation is for the children. These students need these steps in a specific order in order for them to be ready to jump into reading. I specifically liked the point that said these lessons call for exploration. Exploration is such a "hot" word right now in education but I believe it is critical for students to learn, grow, and questions. I think the biggest take away is making sure that once you have planned this lesson and are ready for execution, it is essential that the student(s) understand the purpose BEFORE the reading activities begin. Giving them an idea of what learning is going to take place with help with readiness as well as make the students aware of the learning strategies that are occurring.
Literacy Practice: Promotion Content Area Reading PowerPoint
Content reading is very important in a student's later years. I believe that because there is such a heavy emphasis on it in middle and high school that teachers need to be aware and begin to implement it into their classrooms so that students begin to familiarize themselves with the process. Many schools, including my own, back away from textbooks. I believe that with the right text book and execution, that these texts can be powerful tools. Texts are not meant to be the teacher, but a guide, a tool, and framework that can help reach students in another form.
What was most important to me in this presentation was the scaffolding reminders. I remember my undergrad professor telling me that when providing scaffolding you are holding out the carrot right above their heads so that they can reach it WITH your help. That has always helped me to remind me what my goals are when working with each student. I think that when working with each student, the teacher must be totally aware and in sync with this student and his/her needs. Assessing, observing, and making goals/teaching points for this student is so important so that the teacher can prepare the student for what is to come.
Bloom's Taxonomy Wheel
I think this is such a great resource. Not only for lesson planning but for execution. I try to make a habit out of telling my students what they will be doing during each lesson. This wheel has great action words that I can use to take my lessons to "the next level"
Differentiated Instruction Dr. Coffey PowerPoint
I found this PowerPoint to be a refresher of the importance of differentiated instruction. Although I work in a private school my students are all on different levels and are all from different backgrounds. I think that what Dr. Coffey said about all students being given the opportunity to learn and reach their highest potential is my biggest takeaway. Each student in my class should be given the chance to learn the material I am teaching. It is my job to relay that information to each of them in a way that makes sense to them!
The Story of Differentiation- Carol Tomlinson
I enjoyed learning about Carol Tomlinson's story of differentiation. This presentation was also a refresher. What I liked the most about it was that she reminded me that I shouldn't differentiate for one specific set of students (high or low) but for ALL the students in my class so that each of their needs are met! :)
Sunday, January 12, 2014
EDRD 7718- Module 1 Learning Summary
Struggling Readers Video
This video did a great job of catching my attention. I think that the strategies they gave, such as the nonsense word game are great strategies that teachers can use to teach kids without an actual structured lesson. Students who are struggling are almost always aware that thy struggle. I think that this video did a great job of sharing different strategies teachers can use that the whole class or a small group can grow from so that these child do not feel picked out of lower than anyone else.
Expository Texts PowerPoint
With this PowerPoint my greatest takeaway is understanding text organization. Text organization is not always evident. It is important to be aware of this so that when the students are looking through the text, the teacher and the students can take a moment to look at the structure and physical text, looking for cue words to have a better understanding. In my classroom we already have the sequencing words up but I think that teaching other signal words is a great way for student to dissect the text to figure out where the text is "going". As the children get older, they will see these same expository texts, and same signal words, but the content will be harder. Teaching them this at an early age is bound to be helpful as they progress throughout the different grades
Fry's Readability Test
When I first read this, I had a hard time deciphering the graph because of how the document was scanned in. After researching and reading about it in the Vacca test I think it is a very successful and strategic way to determine a reading level. There are so many ways for a child to determine if a book is too easy or too hard for them, and although this is nothing like that, it is another tool that teachers can use when teaching literacy in the classroom.
Vacca Chapter 14: Making the Transition to Content Area Texts
When I first read the title of the chapter I immediately thought of the difficulties of content area texts. As I began to read the chapter the author pointed even more of them out. When working with younger children like most of us do I sometimes find it hard to find just right texts for everybody because my students' Guided Reading level vary from a K-N. What I found to be most interesting in this chapter was the use of non-fiction trade books. In our units of study we do two whole units on non-fiction. This is a great way for students to learn not only about specific non fiction topics, but how to read these books. These students often pick up fun facts or content specific vocabulary that can be applied elsewhere. I absolutely loved when Vacca talked about using the interdisciplinary model when teaching reading. I often use reading in every subject, even math (problem solving). I think that by combining the subject areas the students are forced to see the connections across the disciplines. I find it very easy to incorporate more than 2 subjects together without even realizing it. It is important for students to realize that all of the subjects are not isolated, but strung together to give them a better understanding of the world around them.
This video did a great job of catching my attention. I think that the strategies they gave, such as the nonsense word game are great strategies that teachers can use to teach kids without an actual structured lesson. Students who are struggling are almost always aware that thy struggle. I think that this video did a great job of sharing different strategies teachers can use that the whole class or a small group can grow from so that these child do not feel picked out of lower than anyone else.
Expository Texts PowerPoint
With this PowerPoint my greatest takeaway is understanding text organization. Text organization is not always evident. It is important to be aware of this so that when the students are looking through the text, the teacher and the students can take a moment to look at the structure and physical text, looking for cue words to have a better understanding. In my classroom we already have the sequencing words up but I think that teaching other signal words is a great way for student to dissect the text to figure out where the text is "going". As the children get older, they will see these same expository texts, and same signal words, but the content will be harder. Teaching them this at an early age is bound to be helpful as they progress throughout the different grades
Fry's Readability Test
When I first read this, I had a hard time deciphering the graph because of how the document was scanned in. After researching and reading about it in the Vacca test I think it is a very successful and strategic way to determine a reading level. There are so many ways for a child to determine if a book is too easy or too hard for them, and although this is nothing like that, it is another tool that teachers can use when teaching literacy in the classroom.
Vacca Chapter 14: Making the Transition to Content Area Texts
When I first read the title of the chapter I immediately thought of the difficulties of content area texts. As I began to read the chapter the author pointed even more of them out. When working with younger children like most of us do I sometimes find it hard to find just right texts for everybody because my students' Guided Reading level vary from a K-N. What I found to be most interesting in this chapter was the use of non-fiction trade books. In our units of study we do two whole units on non-fiction. This is a great way for students to learn not only about specific non fiction topics, but how to read these books. These students often pick up fun facts or content specific vocabulary that can be applied elsewhere. I absolutely loved when Vacca talked about using the interdisciplinary model when teaching reading. I often use reading in every subject, even math (problem solving). I think that by combining the subject areas the students are forced to see the connections across the disciplines. I find it very easy to incorporate more than 2 subjects together without even realizing it. It is important for students to realize that all of the subjects are not isolated, but strung together to give them a better understanding of the world around them.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Trip to Hawaii
Prompt: Describe what you found most interesting during our trip to Hawaii.
At the beginning of the first video I really enjoyed how you got us all ready to go on the flight. I found it engaging that you went into detail and explained the order of events and preparation of our class "going" to Hawaii. During the second video, I found that the variety of examples of graphic oragnizers explained was thorough and engaging. I use a lot f graphic organizers in my room for every subject (being Type A) and I liked that it reminded us (teachers) to introduce these organizers creatively. I think that teaching students about graphic organizers for both narraitve and expository texts allows the students to begin to construst their answers. The oragnizers are merely a skeleton. I had never heard of the Frayer Model and found it to be a wonderful resource. I think that using words and pictures together really helps students understand and make a connection with a new vocabulary word. I found it interesting to see that all of these graphic organizers throughout the grades all include higher level thinking skills (Bloom's). This is what learning is all about. These organizers are not rote learning and allow the students to be engaged but not overwhelmed with the amount of material. I often use charts before a lesson and during a mini lesson to teach the students the type of thinking I want them to do on their own. I think that remembering to use graphic organizers at the end of a lesson would be a great way to recap and review what was taught. The most important take away from our trip is: match the tool to the text! Pinterest has so many wonderful charts, organizers, and graphs right at our fingertips! :)
At the beginning of the first video I really enjoyed how you got us all ready to go on the flight. I found it engaging that you went into detail and explained the order of events and preparation of our class "going" to Hawaii. During the second video, I found that the variety of examples of graphic oragnizers explained was thorough and engaging. I use a lot f graphic organizers in my room for every subject (being Type A) and I liked that it reminded us (teachers) to introduce these organizers creatively. I think that teaching students about graphic organizers for both narraitve and expository texts allows the students to begin to construst their answers. The oragnizers are merely a skeleton. I had never heard of the Frayer Model and found it to be a wonderful resource. I think that using words and pictures together really helps students understand and make a connection with a new vocabulary word. I found it interesting to see that all of these graphic organizers throughout the grades all include higher level thinking skills (Bloom's). This is what learning is all about. These organizers are not rote learning and allow the students to be engaged but not overwhelmed with the amount of material. I often use charts before a lesson and during a mini lesson to teach the students the type of thinking I want them to do on their own. I think that remembering to use graphic organizers at the end of a lesson would be a great way to recap and review what was taught. The most important take away from our trip is: match the tool to the text! Pinterest has so many wonderful charts, organizers, and graphs right at our fingertips! :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)